the 1970s the Redoubt was being used by the British Army for training soldiers for urban combat. The ranges remain in the possession of the Ministry of Defence. Governance Dymchurch is part of the electoral ward of Dymchurch and St Mary's Bay. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 6,291. In 2018, Thomas Quaye was elected to the Parish Council. Famous residents and cultural connections In January 1867, the Courier de Dieppe was spotted foundering in a gale off Dymchurch, with the crew clinging to the rigging and one by one dropping off into the sea. After repeated attempts, a line was thrown to the boat, but by this time there was only one of its crew left. The Reverend Charles Cobb, rector of the parish, volunteered to swim to the boat to try to save the last man. Encouraged by his wife and the gathered crowd, he dived into the troubled waters and swam the 50 feet or more to the vessel. He was then joined by a local coastguard, John Batist. Together they reached the trapped man, and managed to carry and drag him back to shore, where they received much applause for their heroism. The rescued man was the only survivor of a crew of four from the ship. Cobb was awarded the Albert Medal of the First Class and Batist was awarded the Albert Medal of the Second Class. The street nearest to where this heroic action occurred was later named "Charles Cobb Close" in his memory. The artist Paul Nash settled in Dymchurch in 1919, and lived there for a number of years, painting a number of important paintings, as well as producing lithographs and wood engravings, based on the sea wall and the surrounding countryside. Dymchurch is the setting for the opening and concluding scenes of 1964 film First Men in the Moon, although these sequences were not actually filmed in the town. Transport The main road into the village is the A259. The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway was originally opened in the 1920s, but closed temporarily during the Second World War. Dymchurch railway station was reopened after the war by Laurel and Hardy. Bus routes Three main bus routes serve the area: the 100, 101 and 102 Dover to Lydd-on-Sea or Hastings via Lydd, operated by Stagecoach. Tourism Beach Dymchurch has a blue flag awarded sandy beach and is