The Sandgate Society are delighted to host a FREE weekend event by The Shorncliffe Trust at The Old Fire Station, 51a Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3AH this weekend.

On 19th & 20th September The Shorncliffe Trust is partnering with the Sandgate Society for the Heritage Open Days 2026.

Step back in time and discover the men behind the history…

This September, come and experience the remarkable story of the Riflemen of Shorncliffe, from the battlefields of Waterloo in 1815 to Vimy Ridge in 1916.

As part of the nationwide Heritage Open Days, the Old Fire Station will open its doors for a fascinating weekend of military history, rare artefacts, colourful displays, films and living history — and it’s completely FREE!

Doors open each day 10.00am till 4.00pm

The weekends events also include each day:

Tours of Shorncliffe Redoubt and the WW1 trenches @ 11.00am Saturday and Sunday – meet at Shorncliffe Military Cemetery.

Film Show about local WW2 veteran and poet “Meeting Stanley” @ 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday @ the Old Fire Station, Sandgate Society.

A memorial plaque discovered more than 150 miles away after a storm has been returned to its original location on a Kent beach.

During Storm Goretti earlier this year, a wooden bench along the seafront in Sandgate near Folkestone was swept into the water.

Read the full article.

The Shorncliffe Trust have produced a video “Meeting Stanley about Stanley Robinson – Son, Father, Grandfather and WW2 veteran from Folkestone, but born and brought up in Sandgate.

Stanley is an quiet, humble man, who thinks he is an unremarkable man – but he is definitely not. He is a Poet and an inspiration to us all at the age of 98.

To Stanley and the surviving veterans of WW2 – thank you for your service.

The first 10 minutes of Remembering Stanley centers on his early life in Sandgate, through to his time in the Home Guard as a teenager, keeping guard on Sandgate Castle.