Often it only needs a word or a phrase to reach your ears to take you back into Whitstable's past. On this page we are collecting those words or sayings to record them as part of the Whitstable dialect and language. See if any remind you of the past.

As we are reminded of others, from you, or through talking to Whitstable people, we shall add them here.

THE BUNG. This was the name the schoolchildren used for the Whitstable and Canterbury Railway. It came from the way the train entered and exited the Tyler Hill Tunnel, as in 'Shooting the bung'.

The SALTS. Not often heard around town now. The local description for the low lying area that was once marshland - the golf course and Cornwallis Circle. Aerial photographs from the 1953 flood outline this area well, it looks like a large lake with bits of houses protruding from it.

SPLUT. The past tense of 'split'. If the English language didn't provide the word Whitstable people required then they made their own up.

THE RED SPIDER. The cafe on the beach in front of the sea-wall.

JUMPING THE COAL. A method of using the weight of men, jumping from a platform at the end of a roap, to lift coal out of the barqentines onto the quay at the harbour.

THE CROSS. Few people could direct you to this today as they no longer use this name. It is the area in front of the Duke of Cumberland and the Bear and Key which was used for public meetings. It may also have a religious connotation as many church groups held outdoor meetings in this area before they built their churches.

"She's no better than she should be." No matter how you disect this one it makes no sense. You would overhear it from a discussion about a woman 'living in sin'.

UP THE LINE. London.

A woman that went into a public house alone was "only there for one thing."

The area around the Harbour was not considered an advisable area for a 'nice' young lady to be seen in.