When was Thanet a proper island?

This is a question I often get asked and I think the answer is roughly between 1400 and 1500. I will do my best to back this up with some maps. 

The first map, the one that says “mappa thaneti insule” along the top in latin dates from around 1400, different historians date it between 1380 and definitely before 1414 as it appears in the book by Thomas Elmham called “Historia Monasterii S Augustini Cantuariensis” Definitely and island then.

The second map, the one with the yellow and green watercolour shading on it, is a detail from a navigational chart for 1590. As you can see the Wantsum channel that used to separate the Isle of Thanet from the rest of the UK has silted up by then. 

The third map, the one with the blue sea and green land, is one I drew to show the approximate situation back in 1400 and before. 

In terms of books that explain about Thanet as an island, the main one and the one from which pretty much all of the information is derived is from 1736 “The History and Antiquities as well Ecclesiastical as Civil of the Isle of Tenet, in Kent The Second Edition, With Additions.”   An original copy of this will set you back anything between £500 or £1,000 depending on the state it's in and whether it's got all of its pictures. A word of warning here: don't buy or read the first edition which I think was 1723 as it's only got about half the information in it. Here at Michaels bookshop in Ramsgate we do a cheap modern reprint of the 2nd edition, so you can always come into the bookshop and give it a browse.

The Royal Victoria Pavilion Ramsgate

With Papa’s Fish & Chips, due to open soon in the part that was empty next to Wetherspoons. I thought I should do a post about it.

Anyone who has lived in Ramsgate is likely to have memories of it.  I first remember it as The Show Bar in the 1960s (The Golden Goose comes to mind, is that right?).

Sometime in the 1970s I worked for a bit in Stardust amusement arcade that was in the bit where the fish and chips are going. I certainly remember the nightclub that was there for a while, see the picture with the banana. And of course Tiberius Casino especially for their superb breakfasts after working in a nightclub. And more recently going to Wetherspoons to have a meal and do a watercolour sketch of the inside. When it first opened in 1903 its main function was a theatre. See the picture showing the inside with the stage in the distance.

There is a very good full page spread advertisement in the 1904 tourist guide to Ramsgate, we publish a cheap modern reprint of this guide here at Michaels Bookshop so you can always come in and give that a browse.

The main snag with the building is that it's a bit too low relative to spring tides and tidal surges, picture 2009. As you can see from the picture, even during a normal spring tide the water gets very close. In the 1953 tidal search storm it was washed through completely and was left in a position where it looked like it was in the middle of the beach.

WELCOME TO RAMSGATE

 

Many thanks to TDC for putting the sign back to. “WELCOME TO RAMSGATE" 

Sorry about the lack of blog posts recently here at Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate we have been much busier than I would expect in June.

Sign of the Times

 

I complained about this sign to TDC by email

On Friday, 10 April 2026 at 15:57:50 BST, michaelchild@aol.com <michaelchild@aol.com> wrote:


Hello

I wish to complain about the sign on the London Road coming into Ramsgate. See photo (taken yesterday) attached.

I used to alternate between saying "Welcome to Ramsgate" and various other messages, it then got stuck on saying "Please park in designated places" I think this is an entirely inappropriate and unnecessary message to display to people coming into a tourist town.

I would also like to ask the following as an FOI request.

1 Which council is responsible for this sign?

2 Which council department is responsible for this sign?

3 What have been the costs of supplying and maintaining this machine?

Best regards Michael
http://michaelsbookshop.blogspot.co.uk/ Pictures of books going out on the shelves in my bookshop
http://thanetonline.blogspot.co.uk/ My general pictures and writing
Due to the nature of Clown Computing this email has been sent to you from some sort of fruit, it may make you more comfortable to know the following:- If it makes sense, it was sent by my PineApple Device, which has an ordinary keyboard. If it contains random wrong words, it was sent by my RaspBerry Device, which has predictive text and a small screen that I can’t always see properly. If it makes no sense whatsoever, it was sent by my new BaNana Device, with which I develop the persona of a chimpanzee and hit keys randomly hoping it will produce the works of Shakespeare, or at least something coherent

Contraband Corner Smuggling in Thanet Legends and Folklore

 “Contraband Corner Smuggling in Thanet Legends and Folklore” booklet. Back in 1986 there was a project in Thanet run through the Manpower Service Commission this booklet. It was compiled by a group of local historians, Peter Douch, Gillian Hinton, Margaret Irving, Timothy Jones, John Land, Caroline Mills, Robert Parker, John Williams.

The booklet itself was published as crown copyright and at that point its reprinting became something of a matter of Thanet local history as the copyright is held by the government and the only book on smuggling in Thanet became very rare and expensive. 

I have now just received permission to reprint it and have produced a cheap facsimile (A5 staple bound £5.99) which is available at Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate.

Sample pages

A5 size staple-bound booklet, reprint of the 1986 publication. The text is quite small but well spaced. Some of the photographs are grainy and too dark for definition. B&W illustrations, but overall an interesting read. Smuggling in the Thanet towns with descriptions of their haunts, the development of the coastguard, Customs and Excise services, Glossary of smuggling terms, custom's reports from the Thanet area, important dates in the history of smuggling, and some poems. Also includes newspaper reports, maps of the tunnels and caves in Thanet, and a bibliography.

If it proves popular I will do an enhanced edition sometime.

Ramsgate Streets Book

 

Ramsgate Streets Book

.So starting with the new book about Ramsgate, picture above. This is called Ramsgate Streets written by Benedict Kelly and Gerald Tripp. Stock of the book has just arrived here at Michael's bookshop in Ramsgate. This is a very large A4 730 page detailed history of some selected Ramsgate Streets. Queen Street, Charlotte Court, York Street, Bath Place, Goldsmid Place, York Terrace, Farley Place, Leopold Street It sells for £30 and I think it's going to appeal to Ramsgate historians who are interested in very detailed aspects of the town centre through the years. It pretty much goes through each building individually so if you own a building in the streets it covers it will probably have some information about it.

   

A couple of sample pages to give you some idea of the scope of the book.

Next

Thanet District Council is planning to apply new legislation, under the High Street Rental Auction (HSRA) scheme, to proactively tackle the issue of long-term vacant commercial properties. The aim is to revitalise the district’s high streets and town centres, ensuring they remain vibrant hubs for the community and local economy.

That was council speak for the new scheme which forces landlords with empty shops in Ramsgate and Margate to put them into a rental auction for a 5 year lease, so that they can come back into use .

There's no way out of this for the landlord as the lease will carry on with the property even if the landlord sells it. 

This is particularly good news for Ramsgate where the empty shops tend to be very large ones and the rents incredibly high so they stay empty year after year.

Latest arrivals here at Michaels Bookshop in Ramsgate

A page from an old Thanet history book, a wander around Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate with me and a visit to the town of Deal in Kent.

 

A couple of pages from a book called 1831 book “The Picturesque Pocket Companion To Margate Ramsgate Broadstairs & Parts Adjacent” by GW Bonner.

Picture from two different copies available here at Michaels Bookshop and Ramsgate. Our cheap reprint which I think is £6.99 or an 1831 original copy.

The picture will expand to readable size with bit of clicking or tapping depending on whether you are looking at this on copter or smartphone.

Next a video I made yesterday of a look around Michaels bookshop where I work in Ramsgate.

The idea here is to have something for people who are not familiar with the bookshop so they can decide whether or not it will be worth them coming to have a look.

Next we went to the town of Deal in Kent yesterday. This was mostly to buy some books from the Oxfam Bookshop there. But we did get out our mobile phones and take a few pictures which you can see here.

We had lunch at Acordo Lounge there which is part of the group that has the very good cafe on Ramsgate seafront called Perico Lounge. The same good quality and relaxed atmosphere in both places.

I also got out my paint and brushes and started painting a picture from there.

here is the link to the books that went in Michaels bookshop today

Lighting up Ramsgate in 1951

I think most of these pictures show "The Ramsgate Festival of Light" in 1951. This was done for the festival of Britain.

  

And this is a picture of Dinah Sheridan who did the turning on, of the illuminations that is, Festival of Britain 1951.. The following pictures are of people looking at the lights I think they were easier to photograph than the lights. 

On to 2025 the lights in Ramsgate are looking good, a bit wet and windy yesterday evening so a very short video 

Here in the bookshop we have just got most of the Christmas decorations up. 

I am very optimistic about the future of Ramsgate town centre as the council has made it one of the designated areas for High Street auction powers.

This means that the long-term empty shops in Ramsgate can be subject to rental auctions where the landlords have to rent out the buildings at the auction price. 

Obviously this hardly costs the council anything and should hopefully bring the town centre rents down to an amount that's related to the current town centre footfall.

That said, we sold about 100 books a day when I opened the bookshop here in 1987 and we still sell about 100 books a day now in 2025.

Here is the link to the latest batch of books to go out for sale at Michaels Bookshop in Ramsgate