The Louis Bleriot Memorial from South-East Northfall Meadow, Dover Castle, Kent, UK

Prior to the July 2009 Centennial of Louis Bleriot's historic first flight across the English Channel, the immediate area had been landscaped and new access pathways laid. Even so, the location is still hidden from view and not a place visitors would find by acident. This view is from the south-east:


(Click this Louis Bleriot Memorial text link to see the largest size)

The inscription on the 'Cockpit Stone' between the propellor and fuselage reads:

After making the first Channel flight by aeroplane
LOUIS BLERIOT
Landed at this spot on Sunday 25th July 1909
This memorial was presented to the Aero Club of the United Kingdom (1) by Alexander Duckham

The memorial is located in Northfall Meadow, now a wooded area, behind Dover Castle.

Extract from an Aviation Online Magazine article (2):

July 27, 2009, Edmond Salis a Frenchman restored a Blériot XI Monoplane and flew it from Calais to Dover on Saturday to commemorate the centennial of the first airplane to cross the English Channel.

Other news articles about the anniversary can be found at The New York Times, Life Magazine, and The Observer (UK).

Bleriot XI Video Links

Lord Warden House at Daybreak, Admiralty Pier, Western Docks, Dover, Kent, UK

A zoomed view from 600 yards of the former Lord Warden Hotel, a Grade II Dover Listed Building, situated at the landward end of the Admiralty Pier in the Western Docks of Dover Harbour:


(Click this Lord Warden House text link to see the largest size)

Notes on the architect and architecture begin at HISTORY and MATERIALS, respectively.

Western Docks at Night

Lord Warden House appears in the Western Docks at Night photo (left).

The three-arched structure behind Lord Warden House began life as Dover Town Rail Station (alt. Dover Town Railway Station, Dover Town Train Station). It then became Dover Marine Rail Station and finally, Dover Western Docks Rail Station.

Today, it is the Cruise Terminal 1 (CT1) building, the first of three on the Admiralty Pier, and provides a reception area for passengers from the cruise ships that visit Dover throughout the summer season.

This pre-sunrise photo was taken from the Victorian and World War II coastal artillery position known as St Martin's Battery (located on top of the Western Heights cliffs) at 5.40 am on the 25th of August, 2010.

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Lord Warden House Listed Building

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