Historic pub opens  its doors once more

From the Dover Mercury 16 August 2001

NEW LIFE: Nigel Wydymus and Sam Robinson-Wildman at The Coastguard.

A NEW lease of life has begun for an historic pub at St Margaret's which only a year ago was threatened with closure.

New licensees Nigel Wydymus and Sam Robinson-Wildman officially opened The Coastguard, overlooking St Margaret's Bay, on Monday.

There had been fears the 300-year old pub would close after an application was made to convert it to a dwelling.

The proposal for the only pub in the Bay stirred much opposition from locals and the Campaign for Real Ale. It was thrown out by Dover District Council in January.

The picturesque seafront location is a main attraction for Mr Wydymus and Ms Robinson-Wildman who are taking on the business, having previously tackled high-powered London jobs.

Ms Robinson-Wildman's parents live in the village and she knows the spot well.

The pub is the nearest British hostelry to France with good views on a clear day. There is a shipwreck a few hundred yards off shore and a pill box and Napoleonic wall behind it.

Mr Wydymus has Scottish roots, but previously worked in London as a project manager for large scale events including rock concerts.

Ms Robinson-Wildman's background is in theatre and catering. She has worked as stage manager for West End hits including Oliver and Phantom of the Opera.

Their vision for the pub is to create an active and lively community asset which attracts both locals and visitors. Special events such as Beaujolais nights will be on the itinerary.

It will be open daily from 11am to 11pm around the year with food being served throughout the day.

Developing a reputation for excellent cuisine is a priority and the plan is to open up the first floor restaurant.

The emphasis will be on modern British cuisine, using local produce including game, seafood and vegetables.

"Being on the beach is such a good location and the main thing we love about the spot," said Ms Robinson-Wildman.

The pub was originally called The Green Man. It was accidentally flattened during the Second World War by the Canadians on target practise. It was re-opened and the name changed in 1951 to The Coastguard.

The pub of his dreams.

From the Dover Mercury 17 January, 2002

CHANGE OF SCENERY: Nigel Wydymus, new landlord of the Coastguard Ref 27623

Two years of scouring the South Coast has given Nigel Wydymus, with his fiancée Sam Robinson-wildman, the pub of his dreams - The Coastguard at St Margaret's.

"There's the location, the views, the atmosphere, the relaxed mix of people, the gorgeous scenery and you can just sit and watch a couple of ships going past."

Which is as dramatic a contrast as can be imagined from working on Rolling Stones and U2 tours and delivering the Millennium Dome contents on time.

His unusual surname is owed to his father's luck in escaping his homeland at the outbreak of the Second World War.

"He was on the last ship to leave Poland," said Nigel, 42. "He went to Canada, then to Britain to join the Free Polish Navy and saw service on the convoys and a good few battles.

 "Stationed in Scotland, he met my mother and in 1948 they married."

Nigel was brought up in Ardrossan on Scotland's West Coast and friends introduced him to the music business. "I started hanging out with them having a great time and ended up going to Glasgow for training."

It was an endlessly challenging and rewarding experience as he worked on the concepts and designs for the Rock world's greatest talents.

"You have to be tremendously focused, because everything is to an absolute deadline - if you have 30,000 fans waiting you've got to get it right first time there's no room for: 'Sorry, oops, it'll be another half hour.'

"Outside it looks a really aggressive place to work but it's very, very focused and a hell of a lot of fun! People are relying on you to get the tour on to the next night, the next country, the next continent and you have to make sure that Part A fits into Part B every time!"

Delivering the Dome contents meant that he and Sam knew what would be inside years before the rest of Britain and he has very positive memories of what it meant to non-politicans.

"The Dome was absolutely brilliant - it's just a shame that it became a politicians' football."

They found The Coastguard because they were visiting Sam's family in the area and knew-instantly it was all they hoped for in a pub/restaurant.

Now they are busy preparing for their wedding: "We've chosen January 25 - it's Burns Night so there's no danger of me ever forgetting the date" said Nigel.

From the Dover Mercury, Thursday 21 January 2010.

SOUR BREAD IS A SWEET ADDITION AT RESTAURANT.

 CHEF Sam Wydymus is reviving the old tradition of bread being baked in St Margaret's.

"Many moons ago, long before supermarkets took over the world, the little village of St Margaret's at Cliffe had its own bakery," she said.

"In my never-ending search for good bread, I have decided to re-establish the tradition."

Armed with a bucket, some grapes, some Crabble Mill flour and a rolling pin to bash it all up with, she is growing her own wild yeast to make the first sour-dough loaf to be baked in the village for many years.

Sam is head chef at The "Coastguard" in St Margaret's Bay, which has been known for the freshly baked bread served in its restaurant since opening nine years ago.

"When snow recently cut the village off from the rest of the world, I was called upon to bake extra and the idea was born. We are making bread the way our Neolithic ancestors would have done," she said. "We have to feed it twice daily and you are under no doubt you are dealing with a living breathing organism - we've even given it a name!"

Making bread entirely from scratch using local ingredients not only fits in with The "Coastguard's" local produce ethic, but has the added advantage of making bread with character and a naturally long life. The first loaves of St Margaret's Bay Sour Dough will be available in late February with plans for a twice-weekly baking service.

Now Sam is researching some historical recipes for spring including a yeasted simnel cake and even a beer brewed from the mother yeast just in time for Easter.

From the Dover Mercury, Thursday 6 January 2011.

FRANTIC SEARCH AFTER CHALK CLIFF COLLAPSES.

Pictures by MAX HESS and PHIL LOWRY

A HUGE rumbling noise and clouds of dust marked the massive fall of chalk from the White Cliffs at the bay at St Margaret's on Saturday.

Walkers on the beach fled and at first there were worries children, seen playing on the foreshore, could have been trapped under the 30 square metre mass.

Emergency services were called and specialist equipment brought in from across Kent, but no one was found.

Nigel Wydymus, from The "Coastguard" pub and restaurant at the bay, said: "Luckily the children had moved away literally seconds before the chalk fall. "They thought it was all great fun, but the parents were not so sure."

Mr Wydymus said chalk falls were not so much a surprise after 10 years at the pub, which was built on the edge of the sea front.

"Thankfully there are no cliffs behind or to the side of us, but people should have a healthy respect for the area. I do try to discourage walkers, especially visitors who want to walk from St Margaret's to Dover along the shoreline."

Mr Wydymus paid tribute to the big response from the emergency services, who he described as fantastic.

The Coastguard's restaurant supervisor Karen Phillips, who said there had also been a small cliff fall on December 23, heard Saturday's crash about 1pm and saw the huge puff of chalk.

She added: "Customers came running in to tell us and we raised the alarm. It was a worry when we thought there were people trapped."

Fire-fighters from Deal and St Margaret's were called, as well as the coastguard and ambulance service, police, Kent Air Ambulance and Walmer Lifeboat. There were also Kent Fire and Rescue's search and rescue dogs.

Deal fire station watch manager Dave Potter said; "It could not be confirmed that everyone had been accounted for, so a thorough search was carried out in the joint exercise.

"It was fortuitous that the tide was out and the incident closed at 4.45pm."

LIFEBOAT JOINED IN SERACH

WALMER'S RNLI inshore lifeboat was called out shortly after 1.20pm after fears people were trapped under the huge cliff fall.

The crew searched the shoreline and joined other emergency services on the beach at St Margaret's on New Year's Day.

Walmer Lifeboat Station's press and publicity officer Andy Roberts said the 999 call came into Dover Coastguard from The "Coastguard" pub on the foreshore.

Rubble

He added: "We were informed that a nearby section of cliff had collapsed and it was feared that two people were missing and one person was trapped under the rubble and chalk.

"Walmer ILB helped in searching the foreshore near the fall and the crew interviewed members or the public who had witnessed the collapse of a large section of the cliff.

"After an extensive and thorough search it was decided that there was no one missing and the lifeboat was released and returned to station at 4pm," Warmer lifeboat operations manager Denis Brophy said: "Following the recent lengthy cold-snap, coupled with a wet few weeks, the alternating freezing and thawing of water in the fissures in the cliff have made certain areas very unstable. "People should treat both the cliff edges and below the cliff face in that area with extreme caution."

From the Dover Mercury, 2 May, 2013. 80p.

RESTAURANT'S TREAT FOR CHEESE-LOVERS

CHEESE-LOVERS are being invited to a special event at The Coastguard at St Margaret's Bay next week.

The restaurant is reintroducing its famous Waterloo cheese board and to launch it a cheesey evening with world-renowned cheese expert and author Juliete Harbutt will be at the pub on Wednesday at 7pm.

The evening will begin with a tasting selection from the summer menu followed by a tutored cheese extravaganza, pitting Britain against the rest of the cheese world, hosted by Juliette.

Accompanied by beers, wines and ciders, salads and freshly-baked breads, there will be a Cheese Challenge prior to coffee and a preview of summer desserts.

The cost is £25, or £20 per head for groups of four or more. Places are limited and can be booked on 01304853176

From the Dover Mercury, 28 January 2016.

Bay’s Coastguard still going 300 years on.

Britain’s nearest pub to France, which is more than 300-years-old, has been taken over by Kent’s oldest brewery, Shepherd Neame.

The Coastguard in St Margaret’s Bay has survived two world wars (just), sitting as it does only yards away from the English Channel and directly in line with enemy shelling and bombing.

The official change in management went ahead on Monday, January 11.

The pub is shut for six weeks while a £160,000 refurbishment goes ahead that will include a repaint and complete internal refurbishment.

An outside bar and barbecue are also be installed, as well as kitchen improvements.

The pub was formerly known as The "Green Man" before the First World War and during the 1930s it sat alongside a cluster of houses at the far end of the bay.

The St Margaret’s Village Archive said that land under the cliff was “almost a separate community in its own right”.

It was given its new name The Coastguard after it was accidentally flattened by the Canadian Army on target practice during the Second World War.

It was rebuilt in 1951, and named in honour of the original coastguard station built in 1737, that housed six men and a boat.

By the millennium it was threatened with closure until it came under the new ownership of Nigel Wydymus and Sam Robinson-Wildman for more than a decade.

This newspaper reported that an application was made to Dover District Council to convert it into a dwelling.

The proposal stirred much opposition from locals and the Campaign for Real Ale.

This was rejected by Dover District Council in January 2001, and the couple were featured in the local press as trying to revive custom by bringing back village-wide traditions such as bread making.

Licensees Tom and Karensa Miller, who have run the "Zetland Arms" in Kingsdown since 2013, have expanded their business by taking on the pub.

It will soon serve Shepherd Neame’s Faversham ales along with wines, a menu of light bites and main meals and teas and coffees.

From the Dover Mercury, 19 May, 2016.

Pub looks shipshape after £250,000 refit.

A Dover charity benefited from a £500 donation at the official launch of The Coastguard pub after its £250,000 refurbishment.

Jamie Clark and his mother Sue of the Pegasus Playscheme hold the cheque with, from left, Coastguard licensees Tom and Karenza Miller, dad Thomas Clark and Jonathan Neame.

Dozens of guests turned up at the St Margaret’s Bay pub - said to be the UK’s closest watering hole to France.

The pub, dating back more than 300 years, was officially taken over by Kentish brewery Shepherd Neame in January.

In keeping with its seafront position, The Coastguard’s new look is inspired by maritime heritage, with red and white light-house-style pub fascia and sign-writing.

It has been completed with boat-shaped planters and lifebuoys as decoration.

An outside bar and barbecue have also been installed.

A new menu has been devised by the licensees Karensa and Tom Miller.

The first pint of the night was pulled by Jamie Clark, 25, who has called St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe home all his life.

Mr Clark has Down’s Syndrome and is the ambassador for Pegasus Playscheme, the Mercury’s charity of the year.

It supports children with severe and complex disabilities and is run by his mother Sue Clark.

Shepherd Neame chief executive Jonathan Neame attended the launch event, and handed the check to the pair.

He also gave Jamie an engraved pewter tankard.

Mr Neame said: “The Coastguard is in a spectacular seaside location, and we are confident that following our investment in the site, it will prove a popular destination for residents and visitors to the area.”

For more information visit www.thecoastguard.co.uk or call 01304 853051.

From the Dover Mercury, 11 Thursday, 2016.

Police appeal following raid at seafront pub.

Police have released an image of a man they would like to speak to in connection with a burglary at the Coastguard pub in St Margaret’s.

Cash was stolen from staff accommodation at the pub in The Bay, between 11am and 6.46pm on Sunday, July 17.

Police would like to speak to a man in his 40s, of slim build, about 5ft 10in tall, with dark brown hair and a beard.

He was wearing a T-shirt and had a jumper tied around his waist.

It is thought to be connected to two other burglaries at a pub in Herne Bay where the thieves made off empty-handed.

Also, three men were reported to have been seen breaking into a pub in Margate Road, Herne Bay, between 1.58am and 2.06am on Monday, July 18, just eight days after intruders were spotted at the premises before.

The men, who were all wearing dark trousers, dark hoodies and balaclavas, are believed to have got into the pub via a flat roof but made off empty-handed when they triggered the alarm.

Acting Det Sgt Richard Allen said: “We are keeping an open mind as to whether or not the incidents are linked and are following a number of lines of inquiry.

“We are keen to hear from anyone who recognises the man or who was in either area at the relevant times and might have seen any suspicious activity.”

If you know who or where he is, call 01843 222289 quoting reference ZY/24289/16.

Alternatively, contact Kent Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

From the Dover Mercury, Wednesday, 18 March, 2020. By Beth Robson.

Seaside pub's quiz backs RNLI in Dover and Walmer.

Staff and drinkers of a seaside eaterie put on their own Pub Aid World’s biggest pub quiz in aid of the RNLI.

The "Coastguard" at St Margaret’s Bay is now holding regular quizzes and this month they decided to support the sea rescue charity.

General manager Charlotte Hogben said: "The idea behind the scheme is to bring the UK Pub industry together to raise money for good causes.

"The RNLI is obviously very close to our heart at the "Coastguard" considering our location.

"As we are placed half way between Dover and Walmer we decided to split all the money raised between the two lifeboat stations."

The quiz, held on Wednesday, March 11, was a sell out with two extra tables representing the two local RNLI teams.

The winning team won vouchers for Beach Street Restaurants, the company that owns the "Coastguard," 81 Beach Street in Deal & the "Granville" just outside Canterbury.

But the losing team didn’t lose out completely. They received an RNLI pencil and yellow wellies key ring.

The event raised just over £250 which included a raffle with a mischievous twist - picking or stealing raffle prizes from previous winners.

The "Coastguard" has become avid supporters of the RNLI since becoming the first place in the area to have the Betty’s 5p pots on their tables. Since then, they have hosted many events to support the charity.

Walmer and Dover lifeboat teams joined the Coastguard pub's quiz. They are pictured with management team Charlotte Hogben, Ben Foreman and Maria Anderson.