The Isle of Thanet

The first thing a modern explorer notices about Thanet is that it is not, in fact, an island. It sits on the northeast corner of the very southeast of England, sticking out as though a toe on a giant foot. This was not always the case. When the Romans made their first encampments in England, in about 43AD, there was a body of water later called the Wantsum Channel that separated the Isle of Thanet from the rest of what is now called Kent. It was quite wide at that time (a mile or more in some places), and ships sailed through the channel on the way to Canterbury, or around to London.

The Wantsum channel filled in slowly, such that the lsle of Thanet has the river Stour (about 30 yards wide in most places) to its south, but no significant water border to its east. The river Wantsum is just a collection of ditches at this point, and one can walk from Birchington-on-sea to Reculver. (Map taken from Google Maps). Thanet has a reputation that is not entirely enviable. Many of its residents are on the older side of the curve. In addition, many of the residents have, shall we say, a unique view of reality? Whatever the case, the area is occasionally (affectionately) referred to as "Planet Thanet". It took a while for the area to catch my fancy, but now it seems like the perfect place to set a geocaching goal: Find all the Geocaches in Thanet!