Whitstable Town

Whitstable Town is another delightful ground on the Kent coast, currently in the Ryman League Division One South. I visited this for a Dulwich Hamlet game at the weekend. I've been here once before, for a Hamlet Youth Team John Ullmann Cup Final, in May 1994. I vaguely recall we lost to a dodgy penalty in the last minute; but it was back in my drinking days, so don't recall too much about the ground, so it was a pleasure to finally go back, having missed the previous Dulwich Hamlet First Team visits here, as I was working.





A few minutes before kick off, I approach the turnstiles.



The local paper gives good coverage of their matches.



One of our fans shows off his betting slips from the local William Hills, which offer correct score odds on all Whitstable Town games. Sadly he never had nil nil!



As you come through the turnstiles the bar is to the left, as is hard standing in front of it. But you can't go further down this side, as it's blocked off for the changing rooms & dugouts. So we will go round the ground anti-clockwise.



To the right, as you walk in is their club shop. They sell red & white bar scarves, hand knitted by the wife of the club chairman apparently!



The Club flag flutters in the wind, sadly I didn't quite get a full shot of it.



From this corner we look across to the stand on the far side, I loved the club name on the roof, and the lettering on this gate.



Here we see the tea bar, & the covered terrace behind this goal.



Before moving round we look back down the side, where you can see how fae spectators can go, to the end of the building.



The cover behind the goal, with path at the front.



A good shot of many of the Hamlet fans who'd travelled to the Kent coast...two from Belgium!



Moving round we continue past the covered terrace.



Here we look across to the strange dugouts. A modern one, to the right past the pylon, for the away team. The home staff & substitutes in the lder ones in front of the changing room building, to the left of the pylon.



Back behind the goal two Hamlet fans are engrossed in the match.



A lovely shot of the main stand.



Here we look back behind the goal, from the corner.



With a corner flag shot over to the dugouts.



Now we're heading down the other side, with the grass behind the path, within the ground, doubling up as an extension to the car park!



From here we look back behind the goal.



Moving along we reach the stand.



I go to the back & take a picture to the left.



And one to the right.



In the centre is the directors' box, for club officials, & assorted hangers on, no doubt!



To the side of the stand, at the far end, is this entrance.



Another look at the stand, from this end.



And it's open hard standing for the rest of our journey around the ground.



Now we've turned behind the goal, there appears to be a step of terrace right behind the goal.



Or is it? This looks like the concrete base for some sort of stand that hasn't been built.



Onto the far corner at this end, a look over to the main stand again.



And down the final side, that's a toilet block on the right.



From here we look back to the open end.



There's a children's playground along this side, and these strange 'stand alone' steps. Was there once steps all the way along?



The older home dugouts, in front of the changing rooms.



This is my good friend Nicolas, who travelled over from Namur, in Belgium, with his fiancee Danuta. If anyone from Whitstable Town stumbles across this post may I say a big thank you for giving them a name check in the programme.



Flags out behind the goal in the second half (nowhere to hang them properly in the first forty five minutes!) Note the Belgian flag on the left, and the Paris Saint Germian one! Nicolas is an ardent PSG fan.



In the middle is Jack McInroy, editor of the esteemed fans' journal the 'Hamlet Historian'. He is sitting with two Hamlet old boys, who played for the club in the early fifties!



Nicolas again, with the Dulwich Hamlet First Team manager Craig Edwards.



And as they shake hands it's time for us to say goodbye to Whitstable Town as well, one of the more delightful trips at a very friendly ground in the Ryman League Division One South.

Herne Bay

I've only been to Herne Bay once, back in the late nineties the Hamlet had an FA Cup tie here. I do recall the ground being half decent, but it had just been turned down by the Southern League ground graders, which I thought was crazy. Looking at it again now, as I visited the ground before another Hamlet game at nearby Whitstable Town, I cannot believe it was turned down.
Wandering around it you get the feel of a well kept, but at the same time almost ramshackle ground, despite it being tidy. Close your eyes and you can conjure up a picture of several thousand locals packed in for Kent League derby matches half a century ago. I don't know if that was the case, that's just how I imagine it!

As I was walking round a chap came out of the clubhouse, I explained I was just taking a few photos, & that I was a Dulwich Hamlet fan going to Whitstable. He was none to complimentary about them, and compared their fixtures to Celtic playing Rangers!

The ground is less than ten minutes from the station, easy to find, helped by these signs.



As you approach the ground you see the car park, and this view belies what a delight this ground is.



Club board outside. On the day I visited, & Kent League new boys Norton Sports-who groundshare here-were due to be at home. But there was nothing at all to suggest that Norton Sports are based at Herne Bay.



The general price for this level, but it's apparently cheaper in the equivalent leagues up north.



These are the turnstiles, from just inside the entrance.



Just inside the gates is this wooden shed, some sort of club building, though I'm not sure exactly what it is.



We're going to move round the ground in a clockwise direction, & along this side are the clubhouse, with the changing rooms & dugouts part of a strange small stand further along, the blue structure.



Before we walk along there we look across the pitch to the main stand on the far side.



Hard standing in front of the clubhouse.



From here we look back behind the goal, where there is some covered terracing.



Here we reach the stand/dugouts.



Built with the help of outside funding.



As you can see from this angle this 'stand' has the dugouts built in, and the small amount of seats in it are for home & away club officials only, now you know why i described it as 'strange'. I can't recall having seen anything similar.



Here is the home bench.



Past this stand there is open hard standing up to the corner.



Has a neighbours fence been broken deliberately, converted to a makeshift ladder, to retrieve balls hoofed out of the ground?



From the side we get our first decent glimpse of the cover behind the far goal.



Before we move round there we glance back down the touchline.



Behind the goal, it's more hard standing, up until the terrace.



Close up you can see it's an old, but smart example od decent terracing.



From the back of it we look to the left, at the main stand.



And down the right, where we've already been.



From the front you can see why this must be one of the best grounds in the Kent League.



From behind the goal (well ok, I did go on the pitch!) we see the main stand.



A view of the behind the goal cover before we turn round the next corner.



Down the side it's more hard standing, up to the stand.



Here we are right up next to it.



In the centre there's a set of gates, here is my poor attempt at an 'arty' shot!



At the rear is one of the poorest attempts I've ever seen at having a 'press box'!



Further down the stand we look down the rows.



And past the stand is more hard standing, with some grown over bankin behind it. I'm wondering if there is some ancient old terracing underneath it?



And we turn the corner for the last leg of our tour.



From behind the goal we look up to the other end.



Here is the clean, painted in club colours, terrace.



Good of serco to suppport the local club...shame they couldn't get their name right!



A look down the side where we started our walk around the ground, before we leave.



On the way out I spotted this sign on the wall, which amused me!