Banksy’s Brexit mural has helped halt Dover’s decline

When people come to Dover, it’s usually to pass through. The magnificent castle on the cliffs may be a tourist attraction in its own right, but for the most part, Dover has been a place people go through on their way to or back from the Continent. It’s never been much of a seaside destination. The rise of cheap flights, the end of duty-free and the advent of the Channel Tunnel diminished its status as a port, and the 2008 crash hit it hard. The number of vagrants, street drinkers and empty shop premises in the centre bear witness to a town that has seen better times.

Yet things are looking up. Back in May, to the surprise of Doverians and the world’s media, a new Banksy mural was unveiled on the side of an old amusement arcade in York Street. When I went to look at the work, it was clear that Dover had a tourist attraction — people were coming to see it.