On 25th July 1909 at 4.37 am, a Frenchman named Louis BLERIOT took off from France to fly over the 22 miles of the English Channel. An attempt 5 days earlier, by Englishman Herbert LATHAM, had ended when LATHAM had ditched in the Channel.
Louis BLERIOT, a motorcar headlamp manufacturer, had walked to his aeroplane that morning on crutches following a recent crash. With the aid of smoke from a French naval destroyer, he flew across towards the Kent coast but soon lost sight of the coastline due to fog. He flew on and hoped for a break in the fog. The break did indeed occur but BLERIOT realised he was heading for Deal. Turning back towards Dover he saw a French journalist waving a tricolour to mark a landing spot, but circling to land, his aeroplane was hit my gusts of wind and was all but uncontrollable, so BLERIOT cut his motor at 60 feet and thudded on to the hillside behind Dover Castle, at Northfall Meadow. The landing had been heavy enough to have broken the aeroplanes undercarriage and propeller.
In order to commemorate the great Channel flight of BLERIOT, the Aero Club at once announced their intention of erecting a monument upon the spot of landing. Mr. A. DUCKHAM, a member of the Club, then generously offered to defray the cost of this, and a full-sized BLERIOT aeroplane, made in stone, was set into the ground on the spot where Bleriot had landed.
Until recently, this was the view at the site.
Thankfully it was seen fit to upgrade the site for the Centenary in July 2009. One casualty of the amazing transformation at the site was the loss of the original hiding place for our LOUIS THE FIRST cache, hence the change of co-ords from the original hide. Landscaping has produced the current view.
Part of the landscaping has seen the introduction of strategically placed wooden posts at the original off road parking. However, a new car park is to be found on the site of the old Sergeants Mess at N51 07.907 E001 19.192. At present the parking is free, although some restrictions are made, i.e. no caravans, trailers, coaches etc. Please note that the car park is only available from 8am - 4pm October to March and 8am - 7pm April to September. Outside these hours, PAD parking can be had opposite the car park entrance.
The opportunity has arisen for us to upgrade from the original small container (due to the hiding place) to a regular one. It has been stocked with the usual goodies so please
Stealth will be needed due to the new openness of the site, as you will see on finding the cache.PLEASE DO NOT destroy the vegetation used to conceal the cache. Ensure that the cache is replaced correctly and that it is NOT on view from either side before leaving. Good Huntin'
Covid-19: If you have no intention of signing the physical logbook in this geopot at this time, please visit when you are prepared to sign it. ALL physical logbooks MUST be signed for a claim to a find to be made.
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