We can go a lot more into that historical line but I’m more interested in 1949 rather that 449 and I’ve come across these great videos from British Pathe that show the Hugin arriving at Viking Bay (originally known as Main Sands until this event), the thousands who celebrated its arrival, and the presentation ceremony in 1950 by Prince Georg of Denmark with the ship on display at Pegwell Bay.

Just click on the photo and you’ll be taken to the relevant video.

VIKING SHIP ARRIVES

KENT GREETS VIKING INVADERS

THE VIKING SHIP ‘HUGIN’ AT RAMSGATE

It really is amazing having such a link into the past. Yes it’s a relic that’s only 60 years old but it signifies something a lot older and normally gets me spouting off about Vikings et al.

You will shortly be able to watch the programme on BBC iPlayer on this link.

I’m not sure of the viewing figures for the programme but I’m sure that quite a few people in the South-East watch it so it really could be seen as a good PR opportunity to set the record straight and let the public know what is happening, something the blogging community has been asking for the past year, but Euroferries declined to be filmed and instead released another press release (some of which contradicted what Thanet Council were saying.)

Glenn went down to their ‘offices’ at the Port of Ramsgate to find that there weren’t any, and then went to find Adrian Gillan (Director of Euroferries), but he wasn’t available either, so yet again it was left to the viewer to speculate and grow even more pessimistic about the chance of a cross channel ferry from Ramsgate to Boulogne.

Announcement was made today at 1pm. Norman Spirit to run out of Ramsgate and to be renamed Ostend Spirit. LD Lines in partnership with TEF, service to start approx 15th March !!! Whats next ? perhaps a fast craft to Boulogne or Ostend ??? – Auntymoo 8th Feb 2010 @ 2:29 pm

This has also been corroborated by Your Thanet via twitter and also by the Thanet Extra.

So Ramsgate does get a new passenger ferry, but not to Boulogne. I somehow have more confidence with this than with you know who. There will be two return crossings a day which will be 4 hours each way, and single tickets will cost £24 for a car and five passengers.

Useful Links:

• LD Lines
• Trans Europa Ferries
• The Noman Spirit

As I mentioned in this post Euroferries will be the subject of tonight’s Inside Out programme (7:30pm on BBC1 South-East or Sky 983) where Glenn Campbell asks whether Euroferries will ever start a new ferry service from Ramsgate. It should make good viewing.

There has been some chatter on the bfenthusiasts forum with regard to the old Speed One ferry now called Sea Leopard and you can follow the whereabouts of the Sea Leopard by using this handy link: http://www.shipais.com/showship.php?refresh=2&count=2&map=-1&mmsi=235007470

Of course this is all speculation, but now that we can’t talk about the Bonanza Express anymore it’s good to talk about something! If you want to know more about the Sea Leopard (including photos) then click here.

Don’t forget that on Monday 8th Feb Euroferries are featured on BBC1’s  ‘Inside Out’ programme at 7:30pm. For those of you not in the South-East region you can also see the programme on SKY channel 983.

Jane wrote this article after another delay to the proposed Ramsgate-Boulogne ferry service along with legal threats to local bloggers (myself and ECR) so if you haven’t read the article then I’d recommend it to you, and also make sure you tune in to ‘Inside Out’.

Useful Links

• BBC Inside Out
• This is Kent article
• janewenham-jones.com
• twitter.com/JaneWenhamJones

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).

I duly obliged and send them a link to my Flickr set and told them to take any they wanted and so now I’ve got some photos in the Thanet Extra! There are some published on an online article (with an odd gallery widget) which you’ll have to click through to get to my photos, but rather impressively they are in the print edition too (15/1/10 edition).

Don’t worry if you haven’t got this week’s Thanet Extra as you can view it online here.

The pages with my photos are:

Page 2 pdf (original photo)

Page 3 (original photo)

page 5 pdf (original photo)

One of my ‘Targets for 2010‘ was:

5. Take more photographs - and ones that other people may find interesting

And I think that having some photos in the local paper constitutes some fulfillment of that target. I’ve set the bar high now so will have to see if I can get any more photos published throughout the year.

I’ve had to put my wellies on for trips outside, which not only keep my feet dry but which also have very good grip, but what about those who are less confident on their feet such as the elderly or infirm?

On one of my trips to see my Mum last week (along with food supplies) she commented that in the past residents would’ve been out there shovelling the snow from the front of their houses but that didn’t seem to happen anymore and I guess she was right. Perhaps we should all be taking a bit more responsibility? Yes I know we pay our council tax for matters exactly like this, but we should also have a social responsibility to make our streets safer if we know that the authorities are unable too.

I suppose this is indicative of the way we live now where we don’t know our neighbours that well, where community has been removed, and where our number one focus is on ourselves and as long as we’re okay then that’s all we need to worry about. Is that me being pessimistic?

Update: Apparently you could end up getting sued if you don’t do a good job and so people are being warned not to clear snow. “If you do nothing you cannot be liable. If you do something, you could be liable to a legal action.” :
Health and safety experts warn: don’t clear icy pavements, you could get sued (Daily Telegraph 9/1/10)

Update 2: IOSH urges businesses and communities to do the right thing by clearing snow and ice and were misquoted by the Telegraph and Mail on Sunday. Blog article here.

I did look like a farmer didn’t I?