Herne Bay, United Kingdom

Herne Bay is in north-east Kent, on the coast of the Thames Estuary. The town is situated 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east of Whitstable and 6.6 miles (10.6 km) north-north-east of the city of Canterbury. The village of Herne is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the south and the village of Reculver is about 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east. The town's suburbs are Hampton, Greenhill and Studd Hill in the west, Eddington and Broomfield in the south, with Beltinge and Hillborough in the east. The drowned settlement of Hampton-on-Sea once existed beside what is now Hampton.

The landscape of the town has been largely influenced by the Plenty Brook, which flows northward through the centre of the town and into the North Sea. It is thought to have been a much larger stream in ancient times. The coastline has two distinct bays, separated by a jut of land created by silt from the outflow of the brook into the sea. The first buildings in the town were built along the east bay, a short distance from the brook outflow, where the road from Canterbury met the sea. The town has since spread across both bays, across the Plenty Brook valley and onto the relatively high land flanking both sides of the valley. The land to the east of the valley reaches a height of 25 metres (82 ft) above sea level and to the west reaches 10 metres (33 ft). Cliffs are formed where this high land meets the sea.

The advent of overseas travel and changes to holiday trends eventually caused the town's economy to decline after the 1960s; regular flooding of the Plenty Brook prevented redevelopment of the town centre. However, extensive seafront regeneration in the 1990s followed the creation of the Neptune's Arm sea defence jetty. The jetty has created a small harbour used by leisure boats and from where tourists can take sailing yacht trips to a seal-watching site in the Thames estuary. The Victorian gardens on the seafront were then able to be fully restored. The Central Bandstand, built in 1924, was refurbished after years of disrepair and closure to the public. A swimming pool and cinema were added to the town centre in the early 1990s. In 2005, a wind-farm with thirty 2.75 MW wind turbines was built 5 miles (8 km) off the coast of Herne Bay and Whitstable, generating a total of 82.5 MW of electricity. The recent upgrades by the Council have helped improve the image of the town and raise its profile. It is hoped this will attract new investment in tourism and business by the private sector, and lead to the regeneration of the town's economy.

Herne Bay Festival happens every August with ten days of almost every event being free, including live music, performance, creative commissions, cultural treats, family fun, workshops, competitions, walks, talks, exhibitions and family entertainment.

Other summer events include Happy Days, a programme of bandstand concerts and family entertainment, Herne Bay Carnival through the town centre, a travelling funfair at the Memorial Park and Herne Bay Bus Rally. Each summer, the council runs a gardening competition, "Herne Bay in Bloom", which encourages residents and businesses to keep the town looking well presented.

Herne Bay's secondary school is the modern Herne Bay High. It is a mixed ability foundation school with about 1,500 students. In 2002, Herne Bay High was designated a specialist school and Sports College. In 2005, 14% of the school's pupils gained at least five GCSEs at grades A*–C including English and maths, ranking it 107th out of Kent's 120 secondary schools. Many students commute to schools in other nearby towns, especially to the grammar schools in Faversham, Ramsgate and Canterbury.

Herne Bay Junior School, situated in the town centre, has about 500 students. It was originally established in the late Victorian era and was formerly joined with the neighbouring Herne Bay Infant school. In 2006, Herne Bay Junior School's Key Stage 2 results ranked 139th out of Kent's 386 state primary schools.

The village schools are Herne Primary School, Herne Church of England Junior School, Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School, Briary Primary School in Greenhill, Hampton Primary School and Reculver Church of England Primary School. The Church of England schools are voluntary controlled (that is, owned by the church) but, like the other schools, are run by Kent County Council. In 2006, Reculver Church of England Primary School achieved the best Key Stage 2 performances of the schools in the Herne Bay area, ranking 133rd out of Kent's 386 state primary schools.