Folkestone

51.0813888888891.1661111111111Koordinaten: 51 ° 5 ' N, 1 ° 10 ' E

Folkestone [ fəʊkstən ] is a city and the administrative headquarters of the district of Shepway in Kent in the UK and is located on the English Channel.

The city has about 43,000 inhabitants. Some suburbs and neighborhoods are Capel- Le -Ferne, Cheriton, Hythe and Hawkinge.

Geography

Folkestone is located in the southeast of England on the north coast of the English Channel, which connects the Atlantic Ocean as a strait in the West with one of its marginal seas, the North Sea to the east. It is located about eleven kilometers southwest of Dover.

History

In the Middle Ages the fishing village of Folkestone was one of those owned a Norman knight barony of Folkestone. This resulted in the 13th century, the assignment to the Association of Cities of the Cinque Ports, which led to a prosperous trading port for the development of the place. At the beginning of the Tudor period Folkestone received city rights.

Due to the wars with France 's defenses and the port were expanded. As in many other settlements of the south coast developed in the 18th century in Folkestone smuggling. After commissioning of the port to 1800, the connection to the railway network in 1843 had a great influence on the development of the city. Thus, tourism came to blossom.

Traffic

North-west of Folkestone is the UK portal of the Euro tunnel. Large commercial systems allow the exit of the cars and trucks of the shuttle trains and their shunting.

In Folkestone, the M20 motorway begins to London.

Through the Southeastern Folkestone is connected to the railway. Originally, there were four stations: Folkestone West, Folkestone Central, Folkestone Junction and Folkestone Harbour. Folkestone Junction was closed in 1965, Folkestone Harbour in scheduled traffic in 2001/2002, but it will continue to be used for tourism purposes.

Economy

Hovercraft and ferry services presented earlier the connection with the French port cities, Boulogne -sur -Mer and Calais on the mainland. Today at Folkestone is the British end of the Euro tunnel.

In the city there are many language schools that are particularly in demand in the summer months because of the coastal location.

Sons and daughters of the town

  • William Harvey (1578-1657), English physician and anatomist, discoverer of blood circulation
  • William Hall -Jones (1851-1936), New Zealand politician
  • Noel Redding (1945-2003), British guitarist and bassist
  • Richard Ashworth ( born 1947 ), British politician ( Conservative Party ) and Member of Parliament for South East England
  • Pete Kircher ( born 1948 ), British drummer
  • John Inge ( born 1955 ), Anglican theologian
  • John-Dylan Haynes (born 1971 ), German neuroscientist

Twinning

Folkestone is connected by twinning with

  • Boulogne -sur -Mer in France
  • Middelburg in the Netherlands

In addition, the city belongs to the league of cities Cinque Ports, to work together in the towns on the English Channel coast.

Southeastern (train operating company) Landmass Hastings Hythe, Kent New Romney Sandwich (Kent) Rye (East Sussex) Winchelsea Deal (Kent) Ramsgate Faversham Margate Lydd Tenterden
341231
de