Birchington Heritage Trust

Publications

"Dangerous Coastline 1939-1945" by Derek Hart
- War-time Childhood in Birchington -
Edited by Jennie Burgess

The story is unusual because most of Birchington's children were evacuated during the War. None of the other 40-45 children who remained, nor any of the adults, have written of their experiences so far, and the local press gives very little information about this end of Thanet. Derek, aged 5 in 1939 and his brother of ten, were in the midst of a war-zone without realizing it. The story is both amazing and sometimes very funny. It is well illustrated with black and white photos and drawings and four useful maps of the area.

The book, in A4 format and limp cover, has a coloured wrap-around picture specially commissioned for the occasion from a talented local artist, Charlie Smart, which illustrates an incident in Derek's story.

The book is on sale now and can be obtained from Birchington Library
or contact Birchington Heritage Trust

The book costs £7.95 (+ P.P. of £1.05 for those who live outside Birchington). Only 1,000 copies are being printed, and only 20 remain. Cheques should be made payable to the Birchington Heritage Trust (Hart Book) and all profits will go to the Birchington Heritage Trust.