There are a number of interesting memorials on the seafront. The first is a bust of Captain Matthew Webb who, in 1875, was the first man to swim the Channel unaided. Webb gave up his job as a ship’s captain to train for the ordeal. His first attempt, on 12 August, failed when a storm blew up but on 24 August he succeeded, taking 21 hours 45 minutes and actually swimming 64 kilometres rather than the 34km straight line distance. Webb died attempting to swim across the Whirlpool Rapids below Niagara Falls in 1883.
