Ramsgate’s town halls,

The first picture shows the old Ramsgate town hall, I think it is decked out for Queen Victoria's jubilee, this is the town hall that appears the most often in old Ramsgate photos. This was built in 1839 and was situated in the middle of Ramsgate where the Halifax bank or building society is now. The second picture shows the previous town hall before 1839. This was on the same site. Before we had a town hall local decisions were made in the Red Lion. The third picture shows the 1839 town hall in 1846 with Queen Street on the right. The fourth picture is probably fairly near the end of its life; you can see the supports on either side where the building had developed structural problems. It was demolished in 1955. Talking to people who were adults in the 1950s for some reason that wasn't really expressed at the time it appeared that the locals didn't like the town hall building. The fifth picture is of the inside of the town hall. The sixth picture is a detail from the 1822 map of Ramsgate that we sell here at Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate. This is what I used to confirm the position of the pre 1839 town hall.

Ramsgate Margate and Broadstairs postcards

 Ramsgate Margate and Broadstairs postcards with the backs of the postcards so you can read what our ancestors were up to. Apart from books, the only other thing that I buy over the counter here at Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate are interesting old local pictures and postcards. This is why I am able to post a lot of pictures that haven't been posted all over Facebook before. I should stress here that I don't sell postcards and only buy them to enjoy and share with other local people on the internet. At the moment I am very keen to buy photographs of Ramsgate, Margate and Broadstairs  town centres in the 1950s 60s 70s 80s and 90s.

Blogger has put them up backwards so the backs before the fronts

This post is about Harbour Parade during the 1800s when it was called Harbour Street.

The first picture of what became Albion Hotel looks to have been painted around 1820. Many thanks to Sally and Rob who bought it for bringing a decent copy here to Michael’s Bookshop so I could share it with you.

The second picture is an engraving from the 1817 book Picturesque Views of Ramsgate by Henry Moses. We do a cheap modern reprint and you can come and browse it in the bookshop, alternatively you can buy the original online for about £500.

The third picture is the Albion Hotel that was demolished to make way for Madeira Walk in the 1890s.

The fourth picture is taken from what is now Pier Yard car park and shows the back of some of the buildings facing the harbour side of Harbour Parade. Note the police station on the left of the picture.

The fifth picture, a general view, the entrance to what is now Harbour Street being in the middle.

The sixth one is taken from the cross wall next to the second set of lock gates that were removed. 

The seventh is a detail from the sixth with coloured arrows that point to the buildings of interest

The red was built as the harbour offices on the ground floor and the commissioners wosisname upstairs, committee room, dining room and so on depending on what you read. This later became the custom house.

The Green one I think is the Harbour Master's House.

The purple one points to the Clock House, which is still there.

The blue one points to the Harbour Store.

The Clock House shown 1842 to 1881 when it had a black face

The last one is a section from the 1849 map, we sell this a paper sheet here at Michaels Bookshop in Ramsgate. I have also put a link to the whole map below.

https://www.michaelsbookshop.com/1849map2/

Ramsgate York Street shops back in August 2009 + Book recommendation video

Only 17 years ago. I've tried mostly to put in pictures where things have changed. This is part of my obsession with local shops and obviously stems from opening Michael's Bookshop here in Ramsgate in 1987 and watching virtually every other independent shop and Ramsgate close in that period of almost 50 years. I'm sorry it wasn't until about 2009 that I realised what was going on and started taking pictures of Ramsgate's shops.

Nights at the Circus a fantastical book by Angela Carter

Ramsgate King Street, Harbour Street and Harbour parade in August 2009

Only 17 years ago. I've tried mostly to put in pictures where things have changed. These are snapshots on an early morning walk, hence the uncollected rubbish and the poorly aligned photos.