May 2009
Cinque Ports Campaign Launch
26th May 2009
Popular TV historian Dr David Starkey was guest of honour at Dover Castle on Friday, May 15, for the launch of a new DVD and tourism campaign promoting the Cinque Ports region.
Dr Starkey, a Kent resident and passionate promoter of the county’s heritage said the story of the Cinque Ports was a ‘remarkable piece of our history’ which should be more widely recognised.
He went on to say it was important that communities ‘recover their pride in locality,’ and the importance of local heritage. Kent he said, “does this particularly well, but there is always more we can learn.”
The DVD, narrated by Dr Starkey, is the centrepiece of the campaign which features a new visitor leaflet and website - www.visitcinqueports.co.uk. In September the DVD will also be sent to primary schools across Kent and East Sussex to encourage more youngsters to engage with the story of the Cinque Ports.
At the event Dr Starkey officially presented the DVD to the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Admiral the Lord Boyce, while guests including Visit Kent chairman Amanda Cottrell and the 14 mayors of the Cinque Ports found themselves in the Royal presence of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Earlier in the day, Dr Starkey also joined the officers of naval fisheries vessel, HMS Severn at the Port of Dover to welcome the DVD into Kent waters from the crew of a traditional Hastings fishing boat.