On another Thanet

After a month in London I'm headed for the coast again but in the other direction from Cornwall---east Kent. I know Ramsgate, a town of about 40,000 people, from family trips long ago on my father's boat. On one famous occasion, after a gruelling 12 hours across the Thames estuary from the boat's home port in Essex, the helmsperson failed to stop our boat in time to prevent the bowsprit smashing through the window of a moored boat. History doesn't record the reaction of that boat's owner.

This time I am staying on dry land but the harbour is still a great attraction. The work of engineer John Smeaton, it dates from the late 1700s to reinforce defences against the Napoleonic forces and indeed, the French coast can still be seen on a clear day. All kinds of dignitaries have stayed here, from George IV (who gave the town royal status), Princess Victoria, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Vincent van Gogh. The reformer Elizabeth Fry attended to the needs of female convicts bound for the colonies and supplied each of them with clothing and a Bible.

The first two pictures show the opposite ends of golden hour---a gorgeous sunrise over the harbour, and the lighthouse in late afternoon. What follows is an image of the 200-year-old clock house where Ramsgate's own meridian was established as 5 minutes 41 seconds ahead of that of Greenwich. Nearby is the town beach where in the distance, swimmers can be seen emerging fearlessly from the October water.

The town also boasts some beautiful early 19th century squares that wouldn't be out of place in Islington and their names are, if anything, more fanciful. One is La Belle Alliance Square, with the Camden Arm (sic) at one corner. The S fell off but no arm in that! Another is Liverpool Lawn, whose connection with Merseyside is a former Prime Minister of that name. One could buy a house here for a third of the London equivalent and be within a two-hour commute of the Big Smoke.Read more