My name is Bill Grove and I have been a member of English Heritage for many years. I worked in the UK Immigration Service (now the UK Border Agency) from 1965 until 2005. In the 1970s the Immigration Appeals Court used to sit in the old Officers' Mess at Dover Castle and I have fond memories of working there for a few months. My last posting was in Dover and I still live in Walmer in retirement.

Along with four former colleagues I help manage an informal network of well over 400 ex-immigration officers with a combined service record of hundreds of years. It has occurred to us that the long history of migration of people into the United Kingdom might be of interest to the wider public and we have been wondering how and where this could be developed into a project or exhibit.

One reference book with which I am familiar is "The Key in the Lock. Immigration Control in England from 1066 to the Present Day", published in 1969. The author was the late Mr T W E Roche, an erstwhile senior manager and something of a legend in the Immigration Service. As we are being reminded at the present time, Dover has been a trust port for over 400 years and served as a point of entry to England for many years before that. Not surprisingly, Dover features quite significantly in Mr Roche’s book. In the 40 years since the book was published there have been many more interesting tales to be told about our Immigration Service, not just in the context of Dover but across the whole of the United Kingdom and the rest of the world where our colleagues have served as immigration officers and visa officers.

Through our network we have access to memorabilia and contemporaneous reports which will elaborate on Mr Roche’s work and other historical pieces about migration into our country. We are keen to develop this theme and wondered whether we could explore it further with you and English Heritage managers. The ultimate aim would be the creation an "immigration" exhibit within the Dover Castle complex, overlooking one of the busiest ferry ports in Europe. Where better?

It is a natural aspiration by Bill Grove to want to see the creation of an 'immigration' exhibition. The committee suggested the above text could appear in the magazine and website. For the project to progress it will require support so if anyone feels it is a good project please Email mmcfarnell@hotmail.com