Comments on: Holly Hill Tower, Hernhill, Kent

By: Editor

Editor — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 19:13:44 +0000

In reply to K Rose. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post. I’m delighted that you enjoyed learning more about the tower. Thankfully we had good maps when we explored, or we would have been desperate for a local to pass by and point us in the right direction!

By: K Rose

K Rose — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 18:48:32 +0000

It is thrilling to see this tower written up here. I moved to Dunkirk nearly twenty years ago and love to roam the forest, but would never have found Holly Hill Tower, had I not been pointed to it by a local person in a chance encounter in the woods. I have wondered about its history ever since. Thank you for writing about it and also for providing the photos of the tower in its former glory.

By: Editor

Editor — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 20:59:29 +0000

In reply to Gary Tong. Hello Gary. Thanks for sharing your childhood(and later) memories. You are right to say that it is sad to see the tower’s decline. I really hope it can be maintained in the future. Thanks for getting in touch.

By: Gary Tong

Gary Tong — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 17:46:24 +0000

Back in the early 50’s we used to still be able to climb to the top, as the spiral staircase was still in situ although a few steps were missing at the bottom. We also had to jump across a gap at the top to the top floor. A few of us kids used to get our young jackdaws up at the top where the birds nested every year. The jackdaws could be taught to speak and became very friendly and lived a number of years. I lived in Courteney Rd Dunkirk and used to be able to see the top of the tower from the road. In one of my old photos of the tower you can make our some gargoyles they look as if they’re made of ĺead. I still live locally and often visit the tower, sad to see the slow decline these last 60 years!

By: Editor

Editor — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 23:22:07 +0000

In reply to Hugh Featherstone Blyth. Good evening Hugh. Well I must admit that when I used the phrase ‘bedraggled belvedere’ I had an architectural rather than human model in mind. But I am delighted that it has resonated with you. Good luck with the beard decision!

By: Hugh Featherstone Blyth

Hugh Featherstone Blyth — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 19:31:27 +0000

i’m with moira! i looked at myself in the mirror today and thought: keep the beard? scruffy. lose the beard? scraggy. trim the beard? poseur! so … i think i’ll just go with “bedraggled belvedere” for the next decade.

By: Editor

Editor — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 14:17:15 +0000

In reply to Moira Garland. Hello Moira. It's good to hear that you like the bedraggled belvedere - the building and the phrase!

By: Moira Garland

Moira Garland — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 13:17:05 +0000

In reply to Editor. Too far for me to travel, but I hope it gets restored in some fashion. I do like its design. Also I feel 'bedraggled belvedere' is such a pleasing phrase. On some days I might describe myself like that

By: Editor

Editor — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 12:15:44 +0000

In reply to Garance Anna Rawinsky. Good afternoon Garance, and thanks for the kind words. I was indeed suffering from website weariness with the IT problems, but it is good to be back!

By: Editor

Editor — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 12:14:35 +0000

In reply to John Davies. Hello John. It is a beautifully placed tower, and what it has lost in loftiness is replaced by the mysterious walk through the woods in search of it. Happy New Year to you too.