For the Love of the British Isles: MARGATE

Margate takes its name from a pool gate or cliff gap where there are pools

Margate is a typical British seaside holiday resort. Although over the past few decades it has been allowed to get a little run down and tatty, it is now on the up and up, with the building of the new Turner Centre for Contemporary Art, and a regeneration of the Old Town area.

The harbour arm is a pleasant place for a stroll in the sunshine, and the Old Town is full of quirky, independent shops and little cafes

Add to this the town's wonderful, almost flat, expanse of sandy beach, and the coming of a rejuvenated Dreamland pleasure park, and Margate will have a lot to offer in the very near future.

Meanwhile, here's some shots of the seafront, taken on the day of the annual Motorcycle Meltdown event.

the Jubilee Clock Tower on a quieter day! It was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887. It has a time ball on the top, where the ball is hoisted and drops at exactly 1pm each day to enable shipping to set their chronometers.

It eventually fell into disrepair, but was fully restored and came back into use on the anniversary of Queen Victoria's birthday, 24th. May 2014.

looking across from the harbour arm towards Dreamland

the sands at low tide

The Turner Gallery & Droit House

The Turner Contemporary, is named for J.M.W. Turner, who loved the light at Margate, and who believed that art could be an agent of change. Turner lived at Sophia Booth's house (who we will meet again further down the page) between 1827 and 1847. After Sophia's husband Mr Booth died in 1833, Turner adopted the name Booth and lived at her guesthouse, becoming Sophia's long-term companion.

Droit House is a Grade II listed building and former customs house in Margate that was redesigned by William Edmunds. It was originally built in 1812 and rebuilt in 1828–30.

It was destroyed during the Second World War but was rebuilt in 1947. It is currently the tourist information office.

On the wall of Droit House is a plaque commemorating the crews of the Margate and Ramsgate lifeboats in the evacuation at Dunkirk.

Unusual bench in the memorial gardens, and the Town War Memorial

The oldest building in old Meergate, built in 1525, the Tudor House was originally a yeoman farmer's house. It is a unique example of a ‘transitional house’ – bridging the gap between medieval open-hall and early-modern houses with two storeys throughout. The building was clearly of high status with distinctly ‘showy’ features. Many of these were advanced for its time, including glazed windows and two chimneys in an age when one would have been noteworthy.
Over the years, the building has been home to Master Mariners, Flemish weavers, Cordwainers, and farmers. A 1776 map shows a sizable farmyard surrounding the dwelling, including a malthouse which still exists to the rear. In the 18th Century, a maltings was built at the rear to make Barley Beer. Between the late 17th and 19th centuries, much of the land belonging to the house was sold off, and the building itself had been subdivided into 3 cottages by 1867.
The remaining site was purchased by the council in the late 1930s as part of a slum clearance scheme, and it was due for demolition before a local builder spotted the Tudor beams and alerted the Mayor, Alderman Cllr Claude Hosking. He funded the restoration, which was completed in 1951, using mostly Tudor construction methods and materials. The House was Grade 2* listed in the same year.
The Gardens have been lovingly restored with a Tudor Knot garden and box hedge squares with climbing plants on frames. At the moment it is closed for essential repairs, but beyond that, is generally open to the public

Statue in College Square shopping centre. Sorry, I don't know anything about it yet.

Phyllis Harriet Wright Broughton was born in 1862 to a theatrical family and studied dance during her childhood. By 1880, aged 18, she was established in the Gaiety Company and went on to become the “toast of toasts among young London clubmen”. It was said of her that “if there were players of more genius at the Gaiety there was no more lovely woman.” From 1886 she was widely accepted as one of the most beautiful women of her day.

Phyllis Broughton became engaged to nobleman Lord Dangan, the eldest son of Earl Cowley, who was four years her junior. He then broke off the engagement and she sued him for breach of promise in 1888, four or five months after their engagement was announced. Phyllis obtained damages of £2,500. Actresses were infamous for their targeting of rich men at this time and Phyllis found herself on the wrong end of the press which speculated that she was copying another actress, May Fortescue, who received a large settlement from Earl Cairns in another breach of promise case.

At the height of her fame, a colliery owner named John Hedley fell in love with Miss Broughton and they were engaged. The wealthy son of a Northumberland coalmine owner, his affection for the actress was beyond question. In 1889, a few days before the wedding, however, Broughton jilted Hedley in a curt telegram cancelling the engagement.

Aged 55 in January 1917, Phyllis married Dr Robert Thomson, the previous owner of India House in Margate, and apparently a long term admirer, at the Parish Church of St James, Piccadilly.

Despite her betrothal and the passing of close to 30 years, John Hedley continued to send Phyllis Broughton a basket of fruit and flowers cut from the gardens at his house, Longcroft, week after week. His last gift was sent when Phyllis was dying. The two never met again after their engagement was broken but Hedley hugged the romance to the end, not only of Phyllis’s life, but of his own

'Ghost' sign for a Temperance Commercial Hotel

These two plaques are on the wall of the former police station, now the Margate Museum. The top one celebrates the towns that are 'twinned' with Margate, and the lower one is a Town Pride Award for 2002

the weather vane on top of the museum building

This was formerly the Crown pub and hotel. It was established in the 1830s and ceased trading in 1971.

Formerly a barber's shop, latterly the home of the local paper, the Thanet Times

Francis 'King' Cobb, baker, brewer and 'King' of Margate. He was an evangelical who was involved in the anti-slavery movement.

During his time Cobb owned a large part of King Street, buying up the buildings to house his brewery and all the essentials needed by an 18th Century gent including his personal hatter, tailor, stables and even his own bank

JMW Turner was not the only artist resident in Margate. The other was George Morland. His early work was influenced by Francis Wheatley, but after the 1790s he came into his own style. His best compositions focus on rustic scenes: farms and hunting; smugglers and gypsies; and rich, textured landscapes informed by Dutch Golden Age painting

Not really my taste, but I can see why he was well thought of.

Two more hostelries in the old town area.

Eric Morecambe married the daughter of a former landlord of the Bull's Head Hotel. She was a local beauty queen, and they were married until Eric's death in 1984

Eric Morecambe was not the only famous person to fall in love with a woman at the Bull's Head Hotel. J.M.W. Turner attended Thomas Coleman's school in Margate, and he fell in love with Elizabeth, the sister of one of his school friends. Turner went to London to further his studies, and later returned to Margate, with the intention of proposing to Elizabeth.

She, meanwhile, had become engaged to Richard Wiles, the innkeeper of the afore-mentioned hostelry.

Even Karl Marx visited.

Go on - I dare you - Sing it...............................

There are theories that the rhyme could be referring to Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany who commanded the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars – successfully to a point, but ultimately with the legacy of having been pretty ineffectual against Bonaparte’s campaign.

The Old Kent Market occupies a site opposite the Turner Gallery

Statue of the Shell Lady of Margate by Ann Carrington, celebrating the life of Mrs. Booth, Turner's companion.

Booth was born in Dover in 1798 to German parents. She then moved to Margate where she married a local fisherman John Henry Pound in 1818. In 1821, he drowned at sea leaving her with her two sons Daniel and Joseph. Joseph died before he was six years old.

Later, she married John Booth and they opened up a guest house on the seafront of Margate. They had a son, John Pound Booth in 1826, but he died of cholera at the age of 10.

It was around 1829 that Turner started visiting Sophia’s guesthouse, the quality of light around that area intrigued him and inspired many of his paintings. After John Booth’s death in 1833, Sophia was a widow once again, and so she and Turner became life partners. While they never married, the two were known as Mr. and Mrs. Booth.

The sculpture stands at 12 feet tall and is composed of bronze. The sculpture is known as “The Shell Lady,” because it takes inspiration from the shell lady souvenirs sold at gift shops across Margate. The site of the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery was once the location of the famous guesthouse in which Turner stayed.

The lighthouse on the end of the harbour arm

This marble memorial is also on the harbour arm. Sadly, like a lot of Margate, it is very neglected and almost illegible, but commemorates the sinking of a lugger called the 'Victory', with the loss of nine lives. On January 5th 1857. The ‘Victory' had been to the aid of the crew of the American sailing ship Northern Belle. The disaster prompted a silver medal to be struck and given to those involved in the rescue, by Franklin Pierce, the President of the United States of America.

The northern belle was en-route from New York to London when it encountered a fierce blizzard that drove it partially on to rocks off the coast of Kent. The twenty eight men on board set the anchor to stop the ship from completely foundering, said their prayers, and waited for rescue. In the early hours of the morning three luggers from Margate, Ocean, Eclipse and Victory arrived on site and soon Ocean managed to get five men on board the sailing ship to help with the salvage, and make sure that the ship did not go further up onto the shore. Unfortunately the weather was worsening all the time. The wind was now a screaming gale, mixed with hail sleet and snow. Soon the anchors dragged, and the Northern Belle found herself completely stuck on the rocks with the crew in a very perilous situation.

The Ocean closed the wreck and managed to take off five of the crew, but the Victory was completely swamped by the heavy seas and disappeared, drowning all nine of its crew. The Ocean and Eclipse could do no more, so the crew of the Northern Belle had to stay where they were for the night, lashed to the rigging of the only mast left standing. Because of the wind direction, the lifeboats at Broadstairs a few miles down the coast, could not be launched, so they were hitched up to teams of horses and dragged two miles over the hills to a place where they could be launched in daylight. When dawn broke the lifeboats, ‘Mary White’ and Culmer White managed to make three trips between them, taking off all of the Northern belles crew and the men that Ocean had put aboard. One of the lifeboat men, George Emptage, made three trips to the stricken vessel, in part to persuade the Captain to leave. He was all for going down with his ship, but was eventually talked out of it.

The Gina Malick memorial garden. In summer 2001, Gina Malick tragically fell from the cliff top at Fort Hill. The young girl’s mother campaigned regarding the safety of the area and to create something positive from the tragic death of her daughter.

The coastal road at Margate boasted two wonderful entertainment complexes. The Lido, which I haven't covered yet, has been allowed to deteriorate to a deplorable condition, and it begins to look as though the Winter Gardens venue may follow.

I've been to some good gigs here (notably several Levellers concerts, and Ocean Colour Scene), and it will be a shame if this important venue disappears. It is now looking very shoddy in its' boarded-up state. It is covered by posters stating that the council are considering their options.......................sadly, this council does not have the best record in this respect