The 39 Steps
Thanet Area

Many people would have read a book by John Buchan entitled, "The Thirty-Nine Steps", and wondered, do they really exist? The answer is yes. They are situated at North Foreland, not far from Broadstairs on the Isle of Thanet, they are a set of tunnelled stairways leading down to the beach from a private estate.

The only access now is via the beach entrance.
 

The author was staying in the town recovering from illness in a villa, St Cuby, owned by a friend of the family, at the top of the stairs. At this time, 1914, he could have been inspired to write a spy story by the fact that a German spy had been captured on the clifftops nearby, signalling to an unknown vessel.

The finale of the story is set near a town called Bradgate, a derivation of Bradstow, an ancient name for Broadstairs. The story continues as the main character, Richard Hannay, persues a suspected spy from the villa, "...Franz sped on over the road towards the railed entrance to the beach stairs ... The gate of the stairs locked behind the fugative ..." then, "...I saw a cloud of dust pouring out of the stairway ...". This is an exact description of the stairs, and the route from St Cuby, as they are now.

The stairs actually consist of two shafts and three tunnelled sections down to beach level, completely surrounded by bushes which, as in the novel, obscure the passages from view from the road. Although there are now 108 steps, at the time of John Buchan's visit there were 78 oak steps which was reduced to 39 as a more suitable title. They were replaced by concrete in the 1940's, book-ends being made of some of the wood and presented to the owner of St Cuby, the author's family and Alfred Hitchcock, who produced a film on the book.

Nearby there also exists two other tunnelled staircases, but these have unfortunately been totally sealed up. Although on a private estate, the 39 steps are still accessible from the road which runs along the cliff tops.
 

This is the entrance from the top......

.....now access is blocked by a locked gate.
 

Looking up the staircase from the lower entrance.

At the top of the stairs the tunnel turns to the left, showing these stairs.

On the landing between two flights of stairs.

Stairs leading up to locked upper staircase.