When the millennium dawned 22 years ago, the thought of Kent being rocked by earthquakes seemed about as likely as Woolworths going out of business. It was the talk of the deluded.

But by the time the Noughties were through, life in the county had seen some pretty seismic changes.

In the first of a two-part special on the first decade of the 21st century, we take a look back at some of the biggest stories in Kent.

Whole lotta shakin' going on

Did the earth move for you, darling? Well, if you were in Kent on the morning of April 28, 2007, the chances are it did...quite literally.

At just before 8.20am on a bright Saturday an earthquake off the coast of Folkestone registered 4.3 on the Richter scale and damaged several hundred buildings in the town – many seriously.

Electricity supplies were interrupted and plenty of chimney pots, fragile walls and parked cars were damaged. In total, around £10 million was paid out by insurance companies for the damage caused.

The 'quake could be felt across the county and into neighbouring counties. Remarkably, there were no reports of any injuries.

And if you missed it, well, two years later there was another. Also in Folkestone.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 3, a tremor registered at 2.8 on the Richter scale – much smaller, but no less unsettling if you felt it.

Here today, gone tomorrow

When the sun rose on the morning of February 22, 2006, no-one could have imagined the scale of the crime which had taken place in the county overnight.

In the early hours, seven masked men, brandishing guns, burst into Securitas Cash Management Ltd’s building in Vale Road, Tonbridge, tied up 14 staff members and, in just over an hour, stole £53m belonging to the Bank of England.

The gang left almost £154m behind as they could not fit any more into their seven-and-a-half tonne lorry.

They had obtained access to the site by kidnapping the depot manager – along with his wife and son – and threatening them.

Over the following years seven men were jailed for more than 100 years and £21m has been recovered.

The Securitas raid made headlines around the world and remains one of the biggest robberies ever committed.

That deflated feeling

When hovercraft services first started across the English Channel they seemed the epitome of transport progress – high-tech looking machines which skimmed the water, at speed, and brought our continental cousins that little bit closer.

But while they were a popular and impressive sight, their hey-day would be shortlived.

Struggling to combat the might of the ferries – which offered a less vomit-inducing journey for many – the arrival of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 signalled the end.

On October 1, 2000, the hovercraft left Calais and arrived at Dover for the very last time, bringing to an end a 32-year stint linking Kent to France.

A messy start to a work of art

As the 21st century dawned, Margate looked back at a period where it had gone from one of the South's most popular tourist destinations to one of its most deprived.

Its architectural splendour was fading, Dreamland was a shadow of its former self (it would go on to close in 2005) and its economy was paying the price.

But ambitious plans were afoot to use art as a catalyst for regeneration – and the idea of the Turner Contemporary was born in 2001.

It would not be all smooth running, however. The original designs were certainly dramatic and garnered national attention. Plans by a firm of Norwegian architects envisioned a gallery jutting out of the end of the sea wall – half on land, half at the mercy of the North Sea.

While few could argue it wasn't eye-catching, the problem was the price tag which was eye-watering. Original estimates of £7m soon spiralled to £50m and Kent County Council, which was funding the scheme, pulled the plug in 2006.

A rather more modest proposal was, instead, put forward and adopted. As work during the decade continued on the building we're now familiar with, KCC was occasionally distracted by a legal case with the aforementioned Norwegian firm, which were not best pleased to have lost the lucrative contract.

Dreamland, meanwhile, spent several years empty – only seeing a crowd when the historic Scenic Railway was damaged in an arson attack in 2008.

The Turner Contemporary gallery would finally open in 2011 – and cost £17m. The Dreamland site was sold and reopened in 2012 as a heritage theme park.

Both have gone on to become key drivers of the Thanet town's revival over recent years.

Going for gold

For many years, Kelly Holmes was an athlete who seemed destined to be close, but not close enough, to fulfilling her dream.

In a career dogged by injuries, the athlete who had grown up in Hildenborough and attended school in Tonbridge, approached the season leading up to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games with a calf tear and, she would later reveal, having suffered from depression. Salvation – and the record books – were just around the corner, however.

After arriving in Greece in good shape, she announced just days before the events she would compete in both the 800m and 1,500m.

The 800m had been something of a bonus – the smart money had been on her competing only in the longer discipline. It made no odds, she ran a perfect race and secured her dream – a gold medal.

Full of confidence, five days later she took part in the 1,500m and won that too. In doing so, she became Britain's most successful middle-distant runner of all time.

On her return to Kent, she was greeted like the superstar she had become and was given an open-top bus ride around her home town which saw thousands line the streets to cheer her on.

Dancing with dolphins

People pay a lot of money to see dolphins in their natural habitat. In 2006, a quick trip down to the south coast delivered that special moment for free.

Dave the Dolphin (as they were originally called before someone noticed 'he' was actually a she and efforts were made to call her Davina) was a remarkable creature.

She appeared off the coast of Sandgate, near Folkestone, and became a tourist attraction. She could be seen swimming and leaping out of the water for months.

Needless to say, the idiot brigade spoilt it by trying to swim with her or going out on kayaks to stroke her, prompting countless concerns for her welfare. In one case, some half-wit was spotted trying to put their child on her back.

She sustained several injuries after being hit by vessels trying to get close to her.

From May to November she was a regular but then she disappeared and was never seen again. Here's hoping she decided to head off to somewhere a little less, shall we say, 'hands-on'.

Give peace a chance

Leeds Castle often makes a great play of its picturesque status. But sometimes it is the good old-fashioned basic design which proves so functional for exceptional events.

After all, it you need to host important figures where security is a concern, where better than in a castle surrounded by a moat?

In 1978 it had hosted the foreign ministers of the US, Israel and Egypt as part of Middle East peace talks and in 2004 it played host to key figures in the Northern Ireland peace process as discussions took place to restore a devolved government to the country.

Then Prime Minister Tony Blair – who had brokered the historic Good Friday Agreement in 1998 – met with Irish PM Bertie Ahern and various other key players, among them Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and the DUP's Ian Paisley (who was joined by a youthful Arlene Foster, who would go on to become Northern Ireland's First Minister).

However, the pleasant setting didn't lead to any agreement and talks ended without a deal being struck.

Burn, baby, burn

Scenes of dead cattle being torched in fields was one which will send a shiver down any farmer's spine. But in 2001 it was the reality as Kent found itself gripped by an outbreak of the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease.

The highly contagious virus in livestock was first detected in Essex but cases started to occur in Kent just weeks later.

Farmland and country rights of way were put out of bounds to the public because humans could carry the virus on their shoes and clothes. Exclusion zones were thrown up around any confirmed cases.

To prevent its spread, animals infected – or even just believed to be infected – were culled.

It led to 2,026 cases of the disease in farms in this country from February 20 to September 30 and more than six million sheep and cattle ended up being killed – their remains burnt under carefully controlled conditions to prevent further spread.

It is estimated to have cost the UK economy some £8 billion.

Coming up in part two...how Madonna rocked Maidstone, when smoking was banned inside and the loss of one of the high street's most cherished brands.