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The side entrance of the Lord Warden Hotel (later Southern
House, local headquarters of the Southern Railway) used to connect via a covered
walkway to the Town Station. Passengers disembarking from the packet boats on the
Admiralty Pier could put up for the night before continuing their journey to London.
Similarly, passengers would stop at the hotel to await the tide, or the weather,
before embarking for France.
Dover Town Station
Dover Town Station in Beach Street was the terminus for the South Eastern Railway
(SER). The rival London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) had its terminus a few
yards away at the Harbour Station in Elizabeth Street.
I can remember a few houses in Beach Street when I was young, but even these are long
gone. |
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Shakespeare Cliff
The station was demolished many years ago and the site has been used as a loading area
for the Motorail service. As can be seen from the pictures, no trains have been near
this station for some time. It has also been used as a lorry park and now a car
park.
The Lord Warden Hotel and the two terminii became less important due to three factors:
the merger of the two railway companies into the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, the
building of the Marine Station and the advent of the
steamship.
The final decay of this once busy part of Dover was brought about by the introduction
of the roll-on, roll-off car ferry and the building of the Channel Tunnel. The
building of the Cruise Liner Terminal is an attempt to bring back some life to this end of
the harbour. |
