A couple of days ago I went to Folkestone to catch up with Anthony Gormley’s Iron Man on the Harbour Arm. Mistake number one as the weather was pretty wild with waves splashing not just over the Sunny Sands promenade, but also on to the arm itself. Also I misjudged the tides so the Iron Man was half submerged by the time of my arrival. My photo opportunities were therefore quite limited, but it was not a day wasted as the temperature was twenty-three degrees and rather pleasant.
I first visited The Leas, a promenade which in my view is one of the most spectacular in the country. Unlike other promenades which are only a few feet away from the sea, this promenade is over one hundred feet above the sea and commands absolutely magnificent views over the English Channel. I was lucky as the very high winds were breaking the clouds up and the light was at its very best.
Without sounding like a doomed Romantic poet, the views almost brought tears to my eyes such was the beauty. In a matter of less than a mile, I experienced the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, the seascapes of Turner and a strange meeting with Wilfred Owen. You might wonder why I am mentioning Wilfred Owen as he was a war poet and not an artist. The reason is that Wilfred Owen stayed at the Metropole Hotel in 1916 (he was an officer) on his way to France.
I knew that Wilfred had passed through Folkestone but was totally unaware that he had stayed at “The Metropole” which along with “The Grand” is about half a mile from the Road of Remembrance. The history of The Metropole and The Grand is another subject and well worth sharing but this is for a future article. I will leave this part of Folkestone with a mention of the Memorial Arch which is a must if you are visiting the town as it was the port of departure for thousands of soldiers during WW1. The Arch is a very haunting place which remembers the fallen but at the same time celebrates the living.
But what has Shakespeare got to do with it you might ask? Well, as I strolled around The Leas nothing as Will was the last person on my mind. This said, I adore Shakespeare and his works as from a young age I was taken to see his plays and although I was slightly too young to understand some of the more difficult ones, I could feel the comedy and the tragedy all the same. As I grew older I would go under my own steam and took in many of the most memorable productions of the 1970/80s. I preferred the tragedies to the comedies but I was a Shakespeare freak and still am. At the age of twelve I found his sonnets and have been searching for the Dark Lady ever since.
Ok Stuart we are still waiting what has Shakespeare got to do with Folkestone? Does the town appear in his plays (not as far as I am aware). Did the Dark Lady of the Sonnets live in Folkestone (not sure on that one but I have been told that she lived in a flat above Burger King). Well what was it then? That is easy as I found a commemorative plate dating from 1964. 1964? Yes, does it ring any bells? No, when was Shakespeare born? 1564. Oh I get it Stuart you found a plate celebrating the 400th anniversary of his birth.
I had actually popped into a number of charity shops as I was looking for some coasters as Wild Child and Damien had eaten the others. But I was out of luck as the coasters I found were pretty grim but I found a Shakespeare Plate which was selling for a pound. Believe it or not I had never come across one before and snapped it up immediately. The stamp on the back noted that it dated from the Shakespeare Exhibition in 1964 and for some reason W H Smith were connected with the fun. Also there was a gold label noting that it was from The Roman Baths in Bath (my home city).
All possibilities opened up to me as this very plate might have been at the baths in the tac shop during one of my frequent visits in 1964/65. I might have actually picked it up. who knows, the possibilities were endless. However it was the bowl side of the plate that I found more interesting as there was a selfie of Will plus eighteen autographs of famous actors and actresses. I soon realised that these were or had been members of the RSC.
Some of the autographs were hard to read but there was Judi Dench, Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Vanessa Redgrave, Laurence Olivier and many many others. What was really haunting was that most of the actors and actresses who had autographed the plate were now in that great theatre in the sky. As far as I know only Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave and Peter McEnery are still with us.
I suspect the plate is not that rare and it is likely that you might find one at the Arcade from time to time. Obviously, you can see them for sale on the internet (expensive) but I am sure that one of the dealers can point you in the right direction should you want one.
That in a nutshell is how William Shakespeare and Folkestone came together.
God had smiled on me and I knew this to be even more true when I found both Stephen Spender and Willa Cather first editions in Oxfam Books. I had only travelled to Folkestone to see the Iron Man but ended up wandering around with Will, Willa and Stephen in my bag. My day could not have gone better and all this because I had actually remembered to say my prayers.
