''Whitstable is a stirring little town, with strong business proclivities, and a history stretching far back into the remote past.'' So wrote a Kentish Gazette correspondent in 1873, although he could have been writing of Whitstable today. Roman soldiers are thought to have dined on its oysters, and the area was certainly settled at the time of the Domesday Book. Over the years, the lives of Whitstable''s people have been inextricably linked with the sea. Sea salt production, diving, smuggling, shipbuilding and fishing have all sustained the lives of the townspeople, along with copperas mining and tourism. Today, Whitstable is a vibrant and creative town with boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, cafes, and pubs, but it retains its working harbour and its people have a strong sense of pride in this ''stirring little town'', and the bright, prosperous future before it.