This interview is part of the Folkestone Leas Lift Oral History Project, created to capture and preserve personal memories of the lift and its place in local life. While the Leas Lift undergoes restoration, we’ll be sharing a series of selected highlights from the interviews. Full recordings are held in our digital archive.

Astrid Amos’s memories paint a vivid picture of post-war Folkestone, seen through the eyes of a local teenager. For her, the Leas Lift was both a treat and a gateway. Leading to open-air swimming lessons, visits to the pet’s corner, and long afternoons at the Rotunda amusement arcade.

Astrid speaks warmly about seaside traditions, bandstand concerts, and a time when the class divisions of the Leas still lingered. Her stories offer a rich snapshot of the changing town, from the Switchback and ballrooms to bicycles and glove-wearing promenaders — with the Leas Lift always quietly at the heart of it all.