We’re quite a pessimistic lot over in Thanet and for the past few years there hasn’t really been a positive thing said about the Turner Contemporary by the residents of the Isle and so to have thousands of people heading in mass exodus to Margate shows that something has changed. I even found myself heading over there on Saturday and I felt a huge wave of optimism and hope as I made my way to the newly opened art gallery.

I didn’t even go into the gallery as it was a bit too busy but just walking around, hearing people excitedly talk about the future of Margate, seeing all the busy shops, seeing the busy harbour arm, made me feel that maybe the Turner Center is the catalyst that the place needs. Throw in the Dreamland Heritage Park, add it to the amazing beach, cafes and restaurants, and other attractions such as the Shell Grotto, and you have a place that I really do believe tourist will want to come to.

The other fact was that there were actually things going on, it wasn’t just smoke and mirrors, people were actually enjoying themselves… in Margate! Now there are more things to be done to the town but having spent millions on the Turner Contemporary there is no chance that we can let this momentum stop and think that the job is done.

So it’s finally arrived and the Turner Contemporary art gallery in Margate is due to open at the weekend. There was a time when I thought it would never happen, when £7,000,000 was spent without even laying a brick, but here we are, an exstimated £20,000,000 later and it’s actually happening. So 10 years in the making and here’s the history of its development:

• October 2001: £7,000,000 design unveiled and due to be completed by 2004 (link).
• February 2003: Planning permission granted and due to be completed by 2006 (link)
• August 2005: Work due to begin, and completed by 2007 (costs now £25,000,000) (link)
• October 2005: Projected costs rise to £29,500,000 (link)
• February 2006: Design Scrapped after projected costs rise to £50,000,000 (link)
• April 2006: KCC promises Turner Contemporary will cost no more than £15,000,000 (link)
• June 2007: £17,500,000 design unveiled and due to be completed by 2010 (link)
• February 2008: Planning permission granted and due to be completed by 2010 (link)
• November 2008: Work starts on Turner Contemporary and due to be completed by 2011.

Two years ago I wrote an article called “The Future of Thanet” and it was all very doom and gloom, but now that something concrete (pun intended) is in place then perhaps there is a future for Margate, and hopefully the rest of Thanet too. What is needed now is continued investment and belief in Margate so that the shops start opening again, Dreamland Heritage Park becomes a reality, and so that tourists start coming back to what was once a popular seaside town.

Hopefully the Turner Contemporary can be the catalyst for this.

I’ve made a trip back into the Google library and today have for you sections from ‘A practical, guide to the watering and sea-bathing places, on the coasts of Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire‘ published in 1846.

The three larger towns of Thanet are reviewed in detail and I had a smile when I read this passage:

Of the three watering places in the Isle of Thanet, Ramsgate is considered as the most fashionable, Margate as the most lively and bustling, Broadstairs as the most quiet and retired.

Things don’t change that much do they? (Apart from perhaps Margate but hopefully her glory days will return.)

The book provides a good read and I always enjoy reading about the history of the local area. The section starts with Margate (page 14), moves on to Ramsgate (page 18), and then finishes with Broadstairs (page 21). You can view the sections below in the embedded reader or you can view the whole book online here or you can download the complete book in Abobe PDF format (2.2MB).

Reading yesterday’s Thanet Times I was a little shocked to see that the Britannia Pub in Margate has closed down, which is bad news for Thanet as I would consider it one of the best live music venues in the local area. I wouldn’t say I was a regular but the Brit is always good for a few beers before going to the Winter Gardens, or walking down from Bugsy’s Bowling into Margate on a BDOF (Boy’s Day Of Fun), or even just to make a nice change from the usual pubs/bars around Thanet.

A Facebook group has been set-up ‘Save the Britannia Margate‘ which currently has just under 1000 members and is aiming to raise money to keep the venue open.

The group is aiming to run a fundraising live music event in an effort to raise enough money to keep it open, which will be fine in the short-term but is not really a long term solution. It’s been a very tough time for the pub industry and I’m not sure if this is enough to save the Brit.

Ramsgate High Street

Way back in March I blogged about the possibility of a Thanet Loyalty Card and how such a thing could help local businesses, and reading in today’s Thanet Gazette it looks as though Thanet Council have pulled their fingers out and are looking at ways of helping local sole traders.

Shop Local is a new scheme running initially for a year which involves 100 business located in the five pilot shopping areas of  Birchington, Broadstairs, Margate, Northdown Road and Ramsgate. These stores have signed up to the scheme by contributing £25 and promising to offer incentives to those shoppers who present an incentive card. For every £25 contributed Thanet Council will match that with another £25 and this money will go towards promoting and marketing the scheme.

If this scheme proves successful then it will be extended to other parts of Thanet.

Click the links below to find out who is offering discounts in your town:

• Birchington
• Broadstairs
• Margate
• Northdown Road
• Ramsgate

The scheme kicks off in November and from Monday 2nd November you can pick up your card from:

• -the 100 businesses taking part in the scheme
• -in Council offices and libraries
• -by calling 01843 577000 or emailing customer.services@thanet.gov.uk

I really hope this works and that it gets the publicity it deserves, as there would be nothing worse than getting people’s hopes up, taking money from local businesses, and then letting it flounder which can sometimes happen when effort is gone into setting something up but then it is not followed through.

I saw on Meridian News this evening that Dreamland at Margate has been awarded a 385K grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which is great news although that figure is a drop in the ocean considering the amount it will cost to get the Scenic Railway up and running alongside a Dreamland venue we can be proud of.

Dreamland Trust is now Lottery Funded

The Dreamland Trust will now submit an application for £2.65million, and this initial grant should get things rolling, and will hopefully lead to the Heritage Amusement Park that has been planned out.

You can read an article on this at Thanet Extra via Kent Online.

I haven’t really got anything to blog about at the moment, well, anything interesting to blog about, so I won’t. If you are around Thanet this weekend then can I point you in the direction of Margate’s Big Weekend,“Kent’s Leading Air and Land Festival”.

This is another event I usually miss out on but I will see if I’m able to pop over sometime this weekend. I managed to get across for the Margate Big Sky Beach Cross Weekend in March which was great but it’s the Summer Ball at work tonight and I won’t be getting home until around 5:30am, so I think Saturday will be a bit of a right-off, but I’ll try and get over on Sunday (programme of events) and maybe take my camera along.

Packed Beer Festival

Yesterday was the first day of the 2009 Planet Thanet Easter Beer Festival and I am still alive today to tell you about it which is a good thing. It’s great to see something like this succeeding and pulling in such a crowd, with not just locals, but many people travelling some distance to sample the huge (200+) range of ales and ciders.

The event was so busy that when I arrived at 4pm there was a “one in, one out” policy in operation but it was worth the wait as ten minutes later I had my glass and my tokens and was ready for the some supping.

Luckily I marked off the beers I had in my guidebook so I don’t need to try and remember them. They were only half pints but they soon add up!

• Stronghold 4.7% (Arundel, West Sussex)
• Farmer’s Stout 4.5% (Bradfield, South Yorks)
• Top Dog Stout 5.0% (Burton Bridge, Staffordshire)
• Blonde 4.3% (Butcombe, Somerset)
• Hop Head 3.8% (Dark Star, West Sussex)
• Dark Tranquility 4.5% (Elland, West Yorks)
• Thrappledouser 4.3% (Inveralmond, Perth)
• Bob Wall 4.2% (Matthew, Somerset)
• Port Stout 4.8% (O’Hanlon’s, Devon)
• Zebedee 4.7% (Rebellion, Buckinghamshire)
• Native 3.7% (Whitstable, Kent)

You may notice that this year I didn’t automatically go looking for beers with the strongest ABV, a lesson learned from last year, when a very strong cider completely ruined my palette…. well it tasted horrible and put me off my beer. I also opted for quite a few dark beers and stouts too as I’ve mostly been drinking Guinness this year.

The Festival is open today too so if you missed it yesterday then pop down today! £2 entry, see website for more info.

As promised in yesterday’s post here are my photos from the Margate Big Sky Beach Cross Weekend. I took quite a few and it made a change to be taking photos of something different. I put a slideshow below or you can see the photos on my Flickr page.

I had a cycle over to Margate today to get a little bit of exercise and to also see some of the quad biking at the Margate Big Sky Beach Cross Weekend.

I also took a lot of photos which I need to go through and upload.. but that will be for tomorrow, so for now here’s one to give you an idea.

Getting some 'air'

Update: You can now see slideshow of photos below.