The White Cliffs of Dover are a very famous attraction along the Southeast coast of England. They were actually voted the most popular stretch of coast line in Britain! There are many reasons for this. One reason is that on a clear day you can see 21 miles across the English channel to France! When I went there I was lucky enough to be able to see France in the distance. It was very cool!
Believe it or not England didn't used to be a an island. It used to be connected to France! England became an island about 500,000 years ago when a giant ice burg melted and made a huge gouge in the land. The water wore away at the soft chalk which now makes up The White Cliffs of Dover, making England an island. The water is still eroding The White Cliffs of Dover and 2-5cm on average are lost each year, but more than a meter can be lost in one large cliff fall. As sea levels rise the cliffs will probably retreat more quickly. There is a nice little trail going from one end of the cliff to the other that I went on. It goes right up to the edge of the cliff with no railing to keep you from falling off! While I was walking on the trail I saw a part of the cliff that looked on the verge of falling off! It was kind of scary considering that piece was part of the trail and we had to walk over it to get to the other side.
At the end of the trail there was a lighthouse called the South Foreland Lighthouse. The South Foreland Lighthouse had the very first electricity-powered lighthouse lamp! It also had the transmission of the first ship-to-shore and international radio message! That's pretty cool for one little lighthouse.
This is a picture of the very famous White Cliffs of Dover. If you look closely at the cliffs you can see the trail I was on. Scary!
This is a picture of the South Foreland Lighthouse.
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