If ever there’s a patch of sea that’s taken for granted it’s the English Channel. But far from a featureless expanse of water it is a submerged landscape of shifting sandbanks, of tides and eddies, cables and tunnels, shoals of fish and plant life, and countless shipwrecks. Also out there are centuries of history: invasion, exploration, tragedy, disaster and triumph. From the Romans to the Normandy landings via the Armada the Channel has been the site of some of the world’s most famous and significant military and political encounters. But most of all when Charlie Connelly looks out from his home on the shore in Kent he sees stories. The English Channel is – and has been since it was first formed some 10,000 years ago – about those who live by and in it and those who work and play in, on and under it. The Channel has also helped define Britain as a nation. It’s been a bulwark, an impenetrable barrier that helps guard us against mass invasion and keeps us separate from the rest of the world. Here is a timely account of a fascinating year exploring and experiencing the English Channel in order to assert its importance to England’s history, geography and society.]]>
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