THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER

The White Cliffs stand for England and the English. They’re our mental bulwark against invasion, a natural landmark overlooking our busiest port – which for aeons made them the last thing people saw as they left our shores and the first thing to be spotted when they returned. When Julius Caesar arrived in 55BC, he avoided landing under the White Cliffs, lined with fierce tribesmen (he touched land a few miles east). There are no tribesmen today, but the cliffs retain their significance.