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New Dover Road
Capel-le-Ferne
Above shows fire damage at the former Whitecliffe Inn.
Photo by Terry Scott pd1399667
From the Dover Mercury, Thursday, 17 April, 2008.
Derelict pub is damaged by fire.
THREE fire engines attended a fire at a derelict pub in Capel on Friday.
Firefighters wore breathing apparatus to extinguish the fire in the roof
of The Whitecliffe Inn, New Dover Road, at 8.43pm on Friday.
They left the scene at around 1am. No one was injured and the cause of
the fire is not known.
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 Above photo taken by Tony Wells, 23 May 2011.
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Above photo taken by Tony Wells, 23 May 2011. |
Above photo, 2026, kindly supplied by Tony Wells. |
I can remember this pub being open during the 1980s and it was situated
next to the "Royal Oak" on the Folkestone side. As to when it first opened
and closed, to date I unfortunately do not have that information. Jan
Pedersen kindly informs me that it was originally only serving teas and
operating as a cafe, but gained its full license in the 1980s. They had a
team in the local cribbage league.
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From an email received 17 Jan 2011.
This property was owned by my grandparents (and I think built by
them) in the 1930s. Their names were Percy & Rosa Philpott and there was
a little transport cafe on the right hand side which they ran for many
years.
They also ran the caravan park on the opposite side of the road. It
was then called High Hope.
They lived there until their deaths on the same day, 20 December
1966, in separate hospitals, and their ashes were scattered over the
cliff top.
Patricia Bailey (nee Philpott)
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From an email received, 28 September 2024.
My parents had leased this
at one time from John Crudgington who owned the caravan park across the
road. We had the cafe on the side of patio which my dad built & still is
standing. We had the cafe for 4 to 5 years till 1979. We left in
1979 and moved to Australia in 1980.
John the owner redesigned the layout to make a little inn. We were
highly regarded for our for fish & chips. Summer was busy with
foreigners from across the pond and campers up the road. In winter we
accommodated passing through truck drivers. Mum, dad and me, 2 sisters
and 2 brothers ran the "White Cliffs cafe" as we called it.
My sister on a visit to England having seen that it had suffered a
fire asked John if he knew how it occurred and he said an electric wire
upstairs had somehow over-heated while he was doing renovations.
Regards,
Lyn. |
LICENSEE LIST
PHILPOTT Percy & Rosa 1930s-66
http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/whitecliffe.html
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