The island we lived on was essentially a pile of mud. Roughly eleven miles long and seven miles wide. The mud was called London Clay and had been washed down from inland by the river Thames. On the island were two towns, three villages (used to be four but one fell into the sea) and some places that only existed because of the caravan sites around them. There was also an open prison but we won't talk about that.
Much of its coast that faced the sea was cliffs. These cliffs were not stone, The island was made of mud so they would not be. They were mud. In the main it was firm and dry mud but weather and the sea was and is slowly wearing them away. {For those interested it seems that the mud is being dumped by the sea around the Romney, Hythe marsh area and between Ramsgate and Deal.}
As kids we loved climbing over the cliffs. In most places if we slipped we slid down no more than ten feet or so onto earth (dry mud). We were never stupid enough to go there in the rain.
When we were young teens we would camp there overnight. Especially if we were setting lines on the old boom. The boom had been erected in the war and was a series of very tall poles stretching way out to sea. It was supposed to discourage U boats and had steel nets hung between the poles I am told. Anyway we used to set lines between them that had hooks along them every foot or so. Once the lines were in place we would work our way back to the beach baiting the hooks. We had to use catapults to keep the gulls away until the tide came in and covered the lines. Then we could have a fry up and wait for the tide to go out again. Once the tide was low enough we would go along the lines and take off the fish, dumping them in sacks. We would collect up the lines and take the whole lot back. It was not unusual to get two sacks full of fish. Keeping a small fire going, it kept the gulls away, we would gut and clean the fish. Taking it in turns to get some sleep. Early the next morning Mr. J, he ran a local fish shop, would turn up, see what we had and buy most of the fish, we always kept some for cooking at home. We would pack up and head home. If we were lucky we may have snared a hare or two but more often than not it was hedgehogs that we had to release from our snares.
The other thing we had there as young teens was a cycle course including areas for skidding, jumps and so on - this was in the days before BMX!
As older teens we used to go there and light fires, cook, play music and dance. It was away from the holiday makers and so the occasional girl you took to one of these gatherings who was a holiday maker felt as though she were being treated to something special. Made for some very enjoyable evenings.