The event was reported elsewhere in the press. I was a boy soldier in the Army Apprentices College at Harrogate at the time and I recall my astonishment at turning a page of the Daily Telegraph and seeing a photograph of Graham Barker, my brother-in-law (see below) working on the cliff face!
This is another still photograph of Graham at Alamy that is available for personal or commercial use only (you can see it at Strengthening the white cliffs). It has the following caption:
9th September, 1968 - Strengthening the white cliffs.: With a fine view of Dover Harbor in the background, Mr. Dennis Smith, 29, of Dover and Mr. Graham Barker (right), 32, of Sheffield, prying loose chalk and flints from the face of the ''White Cliffs'' (nb it might have been clearer if the text said Graham is above Dennis!)
They are undertaking the first stage in an operation to lessen the constant danger of falls caused by erosion and water see page.
Marples Ridgway and Sir William Halcrow and Partners, consultant engineers, under contract to the Ministry of Public Building and Works, are working on about half a mile of the worst affected section, part of the boundary of Dover Castle.
Sixty-four bolts up to 25ft. long have been set in concrete in the cliff face to secure the surface sections to firm bedrock. Each bolt has been checked at the outward end with a Horstman tension meter, a small cylinder of glass which discloses changes in stress when viewed by polarised light.
No changes have been recorded since the bolts were installed a month ago. (Credit Image: Keystone Pictures USA/ZUMAPRESS)
The first photo is a panorama of the white cliffs below Dover Castle. The workmen were working on the left-hand half of the cliffs above the unseen street of East Cliff:
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| East Cliff and History |
This next photo shows the street of East Cliff that is obscured in the panorama photo by the Georgian houses of East Cliff (Marine Parade), or more commonly these days, just "Marine Parade":
These are the houses whose back gardens are shown in the British Pathé (alt. British Pathe) film clip.
This street contains the "First and Last" pub: the first public house to be found after landing in England, and the last public house before sailing from it at the nearby Eastern Docks and cross-channel ferry terminal
Excerpt from the Alamy caption:
"...Mr. Graham Barker (right), 32, of Sheffield..."
Graham did indeed originate from Sheffield, Yorkshire, but at the time the film was made he was living with his wife, Rosalie and two children, Jeanette and Graham (Junior) at 81 Clarendon Place, Dover:
Number 81 is the magnolia coloured house on the left with the antique-looking outside light fixture (photo taken 6th of June, 2009)..
Graham was stationed at Dover Castle in the mid-1950s as a National Service soldier in the York and Lancaster regiment ("York and Lancs").
He met and married my eldest step-sister, Rosalie Higgins and moved into the above house around 1963 or 1964.
Rosalie and Graham now live near Maison Dieu Road in the center of Dover.
Graham's best friend in 1968 was a chap called "Buller" who also appears in the video.
The panorama photo and view of the houses of East Cliff were both taken on the 20th of April, 2020 during a permitted Coronavirus (Covid-19) Lockdown bike ride.
A cycling route map and biometrics can be seen on this Polar Flow web page.
Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.
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