WHERE IS IT? Lazing on a beach wondering why on earth The Da Vinci Code was so popular just isn’t summer enough for some people. For several dozen every year, summer has only really happened when they’ve smeared themselves with grease and ploughed across the 21 miles
of dirty grey water, storms, killer tides
and shipping lanes between Dover’s Shakespeare Beach and Cap Gris Nez in France. Some do it the other way, a hard core goes there and back again in one trip, but the crucial moment for most Channel swimmers is when they fall, shivering and delirious, into The White Horse to register their triumph on the walls, before going home to have a breakdown.

WHAT’S IT LIKE? Lying at the foot of the hill on which Dover Castle stands as a warning against crossing the Channel at all, The White Horse has become the unofficial HQ of Channel swimming. This cosy little pub, with its comfy old sofas and huge fireplace, is filled in summer with those preparing to take the plunge and those basking in the glory of success, as well as the pilots who skipper the support boats – easily identified by their bulging wallets and lack of jellyfish stings. The walls are gradually being covered with chronicles of heroic effort. There’s the quiet signature of Alison Streeter MBE who, having done the trick 43 times, demurely updates her number. There are the profound words of those who pass on some epiphany they had in the middle of an oil slick. And there’s one, boldest of all, who admits to having broken all records by catching the ferry.

WHAT DO THEY DRINK? Fourteen hours ingesting Carbo-Pro and bilgewater can give you a terrible thirst, and well-kept pints of Timothy Taylor Landlord, Titanic and Brakspear are just the thing to break it. They also produce a good frame of mind with which to reflect on the experience, to wonder at the human body’s resilience, and to book the next flight to Tenerife.
Richard Brass

The White Horse, St James’ Street, Dover, Kent (01304 242974)

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