Further to recent reporting on King Charles III being urged to protect the Goodwin Sands from dredging, readers have written in to highlight the area's historical significance and the Crown Estate's role.
Dr Diana Hirst of Rye, East Sussex, recalled the 1847 poem "Goodwin-Sand" by German poet Theodor Fontane, whose final lines describe mast-spikes as crosses over the tomb: "This is a churchyard, half sea, half land, / These are the shoals of the Goodwin Sands." She noted that at least two such crosses still existed on the Sands when she was a child, and have since disappeared.
Dr Hirst reminded readers that a "huge graveyard" containing countless bodies from more than 2,000 wrecks lies a few miles off the coast at Deal.
In a separate letter, Paul Tothill of London expressed astonishment at discovering the Crown Estate owns nearly all UK seabeds out to 12 nautical miles and manages rights for the continental shelf. He described the estate's statement as "pettifogging" and said it is time King Charles took "a little direct action".
