Coffee Afternoon with Leas Lift Reminisce

Free coffee afternoon with Leas Lift reminisce.

Join our drop-in session at The Community Room on The Bayle for free refreshments between 3 – 5 pm.  Share your Leas Lift memories and memorabilia, or simply have a chat and learn about their oral history project.

This is the first of our regular Coffee Afternoons, which will take place on the second Thursday of every month.  We hope to have a theme each month with a guest speaker.

ABOUT THE THEME & GUEST

Do you have photographs, postcards, old receipts, tickets, or other memorabilia linked with the Leas Lift or surrounding Leas area?  Come along to our Coffee Afternoon for an opportunity to talk to the Leas Lift team and contribute to their digital archive.

The Folkestone Leas Lift Company Charity was set up to restore the Grade II* Listed funicular railway – one of the few left in the country.  Having secured £6.6 million, the team’s appointed contractors have commenced work, with the lift set to reopen in 2026.

ABOUT THE VENUE

The Community Room is located at 19 The Bayle, where Dance Easy used to stand, in an attractive Georgian-style townhouse.  It is run by the Sunflower House team on a partnership model, where local groups and organisations offering community benefits with similar values are able to utilise the space.

TRAVEL TO THE VENUE

By Bus:

The venue is about a 600 metre walk (one-third of a mile) from the bus station.  Head down West Cliff Gardens (between the HSBC and Lloyds banks) and straight through the churchyard, turning left when you get to the British Lion pub.  The room is opposite the Bayle Pond.

For step-free access avoiding cobblestones, go down the pedestrian precinct to the Town Hall and turn right onto Church Street.  Follow that to the end (past the school), turn left and veer left as above.

By Car:

The nearest Pay and Display car park is Upper Payers Park, accessed from Dover Road (passing the F51 skate park) next to the amusements where the Banksy was located originally.  Walk to the end of Payers Park, turn right onto the Old High Street and walk up to the top.  Turn left, then take the first right.  The building will be on your right after the Glendale building.

For step-free access avoiding cobblestones, walk out to Dover Road and turn left.  Walk around the amusements building to the front, carry on down Rendezvous Street, cross the road and turn left at the gate (onto what is still Rendezvous Street).  Walk to the top, turn left onto Church Street, follow it to the end (past the school), turn left onto The Bayle and follow the road, which veers left.  The room is on the left, opposite the Bayle Pond.