We are extremely pleased to announce that from Monday 12th April we will be opening our new and improved garden area for outside dining. There’s no need to book- please come along and choose a table when you arrive.
We will be open 7 days a week and are serving food from 12 noon with last orders at 6.30pm.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed for some much needed warmer weather- it is April after all!
We will be following the strict governments guidelines regarding maximum group sizes and number of households. We also ask that every member of your party checks in to the “track and trace” QR codes that we have made available. We also ask that you don’t move any furniture.
We will have a strict and well-defined system of taking orders and social distancing in place. We would also ask all customers to respect these rules, as well as being patient, polite and kind to other customers and our staff in these unprecedented times.
Huge apologies for all the rules and regulations; but they are there for the safety and well being of yourself, our staff and the local community.
We look forward to seeing you all soon. We can’t wait!
Best Fishes,
The Pilot Team
The engine and propellor, in the garden of The Pilot, is one of four Wright/Cyclone engines and propeller from a WW11, B17 Flying Fortress bomber (the same aircraft as The Memphis Belle). The artefact was accidentally snagged off Dungeness on the 18th of September 2017, by Joe Thomas and Tom Redshaw (local fishermen).
The isolation of Dungeness had proved an irresistible lure to smuggling gangs; the absence of prying eyes and wagging tongues meant that they could carry on their work undisturbed. In a single week of 1813 free-traders were knows to have landed 12,000 gallons of brandy here. Nor was this the first cargo of spirits to cross the coastline illegally at Dungeness; 180 years earlier the local smugglers lured aground a Spanish vessel, Alfresia. They murdered the crew and looted the cargo of spirits. The ship was used to build the original Pilot which stands in the same place to this day.
The Holy Stones of Dungeness
Hagstones are stones that have a hole running all the way through them, and are usually found in streams or rivers, and at the seashore, where running water has created the hole in the stone.
This may be one of the reasons why they are considered so powerful, as it is a common belief that magic cannot work on running water, and these stones have been holed by running water and so retain that influence of protecting from magic. A Hagstone Hagstones are also known as Holy Stones, Holey Stones, Ephialtes Stones, Wish Stones, Nightmare Stones and Witch Riding Stones.
