Deal, Kent

Deal made its fortune off ships that were stuck, rowing anchors, dinners and passengers out to hundreds of vessels sat in the Downs waiting for the wind to change its mind. When the boatmen got a bit too good at smuggling, the government smashed their boats, then needed them the moment Napoleon turned up, which is the town's relationship with outside authority in one sentence. Henry VIII built three castles to keep foreign navies off the beach, and the shingle has done an even better job of keeping off anyone who came for sand. The whole place still runs on the same principle: stay put, let everyone else be in a hurry, and charge them for it.