These interviews are 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.

Margaret Care’s memories offer a personal glimpse into everyday life in Folkestone from the 1950s onward. For her, the Leas Lift was a familiar route — linking childhood visits to Pets’ Corner with tea at her grandmother’s on Manor Road. As she grew older, she came to appreciate its water-powered engineering and quiet role in the town’s landscape.

She reflects on a changing seaside town — from bustling harbours and family-run shops to demolished hotels, filled-in smuggling tunnels, and disappearing landmarks. With warmth and wit, Margaret shares stories of goats and budgies, holiday crowds, and the creak of the lift as it climbed. Through it all, the Leas Lift remains a steady thread in her life — a symbol of place, memory, and the need to preserve what makes Folkestone unique.