Beside the Sea Side

Oh I do like to be beside the sea-side; well I do, and I was today…beside the seaside with my wife… in Ramsgate. I hadn’t been there for years. It was a town where a lot of my neighbours always went for their holidays, after they had been hop-picking in the hopfields of Kent. There was a sort of ritual about it. Spend all the money just earned and really have a good time. But that was all a long time ago and I was prepared to see a lot of changes….and I did. As I drove into the town I was instantly struck by the air of dilapidation; the houses looked old, tired and in need of a great amount of tender loving care. Even the railings and roofs seemed to have a layer of dust over them, making everything look rundown. No signs here of the resurgence of interest in Victorian and earlier property so obvious in other towns and the older parts of London. I drove on to the parking spaces on the East Beach feeling very sad and with the intent of turning round and heading for Margate, another town I once visited, and for which I had the same sort of clouded memories as Ramsgate.

I’m glad I didn’t. All along ‘the front’ were masses of people thronging the promenades, they hadn’t changed, and were clearly enjoying the “Monster Bass Festival”. I must be honest and admit that I haven’t the faintest idea what the festival was all about. But the atmosphere the event generated and the entertainment on offer was brilliant. The local radio station provided a variety of music, Jazz came from a number of other sources, one of them on board a very large boat moored by the side of the prom. The Ferris Wheel turned as Ferris Wheels do, all the fun of the fair was in full swing, children, laughed, screamed and cried as every parent knows they will wherever they are. Ice creams and lollies were being consumed by the ton. Along the parade a number of acts performed to the delight and wonderment of the crowds. Here two ‘iron statues’ of fishermen suddenly moved to the astonishment of passers by, causing children to run to their parents in fright. Over there a juggler and contortionist performed his tricks. Yes it was all going on. The food on offer had, at first sight, changed but here and there the cockles, whelks and other sea foods so popular for so long were still to be found, beer and soft drinks slid down thirsty throats and the meal we ate in Alexandra’s Italian Restaurant was superb. Clearly I had assessed the town incorrectly, come into the place by a back route, I must have, this was a town pulling out all the stops, marketing itself as a modern seaside resort capable of competing with any other town anywhere.

Encouraged by the atmosphere we went into the town to have a look at the shops….Oh dear! My first impressions were not so wrong. The main street has a number of buildings that look as though they have been hit by a bomb in the last few weeks or so, shops selling junk and I don’t mean kiss-me-quick hats or that sort thing I do mean junk and old, second or maybe even third hand junk. In what was once the main street from the beach to the town centre I was struck by the number of charity shops selling more stuff that had seen better days and the beautiful old stone buildings that once housed high street banks were now being used as cafes or selling other cheap merchandise, they looked embarrassed  to be so used. We only went about two thirds of the way down that street, the whole area almost destroyed all the joyous atmosphere created by those who had clearly spent a lot of time and effort in trying to put the town on the map as a holiday resort. As we walked back to the beach we passed groups of German and French students all gazing into shops that were either closed, selling fast foods or the poorest selection of merchandise I have ever seen. Moored in the Marina were yachts and cruisers from the continent, their owners presumably wandering about that part of the town too. I have no doubt that finance for holiday towns is difficult to come by but the impression of Old England those visitors from Europe will take home with them will need the marketing genius of all our most gifted agencies put together to rectify. Ramsgate today was a town of two halves, the sooner they start to weld both parts together and polish the finished article the better. We enjoyed the day enormously, the weather was warm and sunny but the sea looked cold, grey and angry…...I could understand why.