Dungeness - the desert in the fifth continent.

From the beach in front of the little yellow cottage, we look out across Hythe Bay, and in the distance on most clear days you can see the distinctive outline of Dungeness power station. Dungeness is a unique place.

 Although not really a desert it's a desolate landscape with a few hardy plants growing between the acres of shingle. The whole Dungeness estate is a nature reserve and a designated site of scientific interest. Sitting on the exposed headland it feels extraordinarily open to the elements. This is somewhere that you must visit at least once.

You can easily travel from Sandgate to Dungeness by car it's a 40 minute drive following the coast road. Alternatively, you can cycle there partly following Route 2 of the national cycle way which passes in front of the cottage along the sea wall to Hythe where it turns in land following the military canal before joining quiet marsh roads to Old Romney, then leave route 2 heading out to Dungeness along the coast road. It is a good flat ride, but headwinds can make it hard work on some days.

There is, of course, one thrilling way to travel and that is by joining the RHDR little railway at Hythe Station going through the heart of the Romney Marshes with views of the downs on one side and the flat marsh on the other. The trains run seasonally from Easter to late October stopping at Dymchurch, New Romney and Dungeness.

The full journey is about an hour and a quarter from Hythe to Dungeness. The timetables vary and there are limited number of trains, so you need to plan your journey around these. The engines are all beautifully kept by local volunteers, and the sound and smell of steam quite evocative.

As you enter the last half mile or so of the journey you are in the centre of the Dungeness estate, you go past some of the huts and houses that scatter across the remote landscape. Some were originally built around old railway carriages, some wooden fisherman’s shacks, and some now bought and converted into modern holiday homes.

When you leave the little railway station in front of you can see the black tower of the old lighthouse, and to your right the huge foreboding presence of the power station. I just remember when Dungeness B was being built quite a few of the physicists lived locally in Hythe and surround. It took many years longer than it should have to build, each of the power stations cost more, and each generated power for less than 40 years.

Further to the left is the new lighthouse built for the light to avoid being masked by the power station. As you walk towards the new lighthouse there is the Brittania Inn, a family friendly pub. There is nothing swanky about this place, but on a windy day nowhere better to be for a fresh fish and chips and a local pint. I don’t think there is ever any need to book, but it can get busy.

Alternatively, there is the Snack Shack open March till November is a good place when the sun is shining. The fish is caught by the family on their two boats off Dungeness. Its fresh fish served simply and well worth it. They also sell wet fish in the hut next door.

A little further down the road is one of the iconic buildings Prospect Cottage, the home of film maker Derek Jarman. It is now owned and run by Creative Folkestone. You need to visit their website to book a visit inside, but you can wander around the garden freely. Dungeness has often been a place of inspiration for artists, its light, wide open space and eeriness is the draw. My artist daughter, however, gets the creeps whenever she visits.

Because of the nesting birds on the estate, you are not encouraged to leave the main paths and routes, but this leaves a lot of places you can wander and just look at the buildings, the boats and the flotsam and jetson.