The outfall from the marsh drainage channel known as "New Sewer" (not to be confused with the modern usage of the word sewer, as it was only for excess water from the marsh) cut across the beach. This provided a perfect place to go fishing for crabs with lugworms dug from the sand.

Sands Holiday Motel - May 1981

A short walk inland, down Jefferstone Lane, brings one to the station for the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Light Railway. Other web sites, such as the official RHDR site, do much better justice to this marvel of miniature engineering than I can hope to, but suffice it to say, that it is the smallest passenger carrying steam railway in the world. The station has been known, over the years, as Holiday Camp, St Mary's Bay, and for most of the 1980s and 1990s, Jefferstone Lane. Recently the decision was made to rename it St Mary's Bay, which seems the most appropriate. From this station it is possible to make very pleasant journeys southwest to Dungeness, and northeast to Hythe.

The Motel at night - August 1982

The Motel's heyday was in the 1970s and early 1980s. During this period it was always fully occupied in summer and during a number of other holiday periods throughout the year. The pool was always bustling with children and parents enjoying the generally pleasant Kentish summer weather.

The Pool - August 1982

However, with the rise of cheaper foreign travel and the demolition of the School Journey Centre, it became uneconomical to run. For a period during the mid-late 1980s, the Motel was used by Social Services to provide housing.

Aerial view after the demolition of the School Journey Centre - mid 1980s.
Photo courtesy of Tony Wiggins.

The motel was severely damaged in the Great Storm of 1987. The roof of the north-eastern (Dymchurch) wing was almost completely destroyed, and the windows in a number of chalets on the upper level were blown out.

The aftermath of the Great Storm, 16 October 1987.
Photo courtesy of Tony Wiggins.