MY COAST
Actor Neil Stuke on his Kent coast hometown of Deal
I was born in Deal in 1966 so the sea has always been part of my life. My parents had a restaurant 500 yards from the beach so we used to have the best summers ever. Mum would put picnic blankets out and the windbreak up and we’d spend all day on the beach. I moved away when I was 16, but I was always back and forth seeing my parents. In 2015, with my wife Sally-Ann, I bought a Georgian house in Farrier Street to turn into a holiday home, we also have a cottage on the beach at Kingsdown three miles south.
Deal has lots on offer – the Astor Theatre, The Rose hotel, bar and restaurant, and my favourite pub, The Deal Hoy in Duke Street, which is named after a traditional Kentish sailing vessel. The town is becoming a really eclectic mix, attracting artists, young families and creative people – it’s changed for the better and we get down from London as often as we can. Once the chores are out of the way it feels sopori c compared to the city – the sea air knocks you out and Deal’s micro-climate is sunny and warm.
From May, I go sea-swimming and a fantastic day out would be taking the kids to the beach. We get out the paddleboards and the kayaks, then cook up a barbecue in the evening – some fresh sea bass from Jenkins & Son shmongers, and burgers from The Black Pig butchers.
Nothing beats a burger on the beach.
Deal has a long seafront with great vistas. We often walk to the end of Deal Pier to look back at the town, followed by brunch at Deal Pier Kitchen. Some days, we go out early to watch the sunrise, which is renowned. At the top of our road is a cycle path – one way takes you to Kingsdown, the other over to Sandwich Bay – and both are lovely rides. Most evenings we’ll cycle up to Walmer Castle, built by Henry VIII to protect against French invasion. If it’s a Friday or Saturday night, we might join the queue for sh and chips at Middle Street Fish Bar.
Neil Stuke, star of BBC legal drama Silk, is appearing in new TV crime series We Hunt Together, on Alibi.