The Hovelling Boat Inn Ramsgate, ten year anniversary and a ramble from the Bookshop.

Michael's Bookshop, where I work in Ramsgate was once a pub but I don't expect the building will ever return to being one. 

Stranger things have happened,  The Hovelling Boat Inn became The Perseverance Dining Rooms in about 1910 and didn't change back to being a pub for 104 years. 

Below is what I wrote here when it reopened as a pub 10 years ago.

 After being closed for 104 years The Hovelling Boat Inn, 12 York St, Ramsgate has reopened as an Ale and Cider House with no music, TVs or games machines.

 Ale and Cider straight from the barrel in a relaxed and friendly setting wine and soft drinks are also available but no spirits.

picture of The Hovelling Boat from Ramsgate Remembered website

 I note that ten years ago I didn't go for a pint there but instead I was painting in the dark in the Belgian Café

I expect an expert could enhance the picture, but it was pretty dark and it looks pretty dark.

As you see from above I have been messing about with photos that display well on a smartphone.

As far as I can see most people will be reading this on their smartphone, so this probably makes sense.

Next AI I, asked Google's Bard to "produce an article about Ramsgate's obelisk" the following is what it came up with:-

The Obelisk of Ramsgate

The Obelisk of Ramsgate is a monument located in the town of Ramsgate, Kent, England. It was erected in 1823 to commemorate the visit of King George IV to the town in 1821. The obelisk is made of Dublin granite and weighs 100 tons. It is 52 feet high and was unveiled by Lord Liverpool.

The locals at the time referred to the obelisk as the royal toothpick.

The obelisk is located on the harbor front, close to the Royal Harbour Hotel. It is a popular tourist attraction and is often used as a landmark for navigation.

The obelisk is a Grade II Listed Building and is considered to be an important part of Ramsgate's history.

History of the Obelisk

The obelisk was erected in 1823 to commemorate the visit of King George IV to the town of Ramsgate in 1821. The obelisk was designed by the architect James Wyatt and was built by the local masons.

The obelisk was unveiled by Lord Liverpool on July 19, 1823. The unveiling was a public event and was attended by a large crowd.

The obelisk was originally located on the beach, but it was moved to its current location on the harbor front in 1868.

Description of the Obelisk

The obelisk is made of Dublin granite and weighs 100 tons. It is 52 feet high and has a square base. The obelisk is topped by a pyramid-shaped capstone.

The obelisk is inscribed with the following words:

"This obelisk was erected by the inhabitants of Ramsgate to commemorate the visit of King George IV to the town in 1821."

Importance of the Obelisk

The obelisk is an important part of Ramsgate's history. It is a Grade II Listed Building and is considered to be a landmark for navigation.

The obelisk is also a popular tourist attraction. It is often used as a backdrop for photos and is a popular spot for picnics."

As you would expect it is American.

Far less blog posting recent as I have been busy at work in the bookshop here is the link to the books we put out recently

The Royal Victoria Pavilion Ramsgate aka Spoons and where to go after work.

 

I have been painting a watercolour from the gallery in Wetherspoons Ramsgate

This is the second large one I have tried in there

This time of year, by the time I have got to the end of the working day in the bookshop I find I'm developing something like cabin fever. What I would like to do is go outside and paint, in practise when you go outside after work it's dark.

The only place that comes close to being outside when you are inside in the light is Wetherspoons in the Royal Victoria pavilion.

Before that I guess it was the Belgian Café. I find it isn't just enough to have a seat and some food and some drink but that I need to be surrounded by quite a few other people.

If anyone has any ideas for alternative indoor places in the area where I might go go and paint after work I should be very interested to know where they are.

My relationship with the royal Victoria pavilion dates back to the 1960s. I think when I first started going there it was called The Show Bar

But fortunately still a big busy venue where you can just go and sit down for as long as you like with as little as a cup of tea.

Sorry for not posting regularly recently, we are very busy where I work here at Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate here is the link to the books that have just come in

Two new Thanet local books and a ramble

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while, I have been busy with work-related to Michael's Bookshop here in Ramsgate. Mainly buying and selling secondhand books which is what we do most of.

We normally sell about 100 books a day and that means we have to buy about 120 books a day to replace them. Something around 20% of the books we buy don't sell.

You can keep a check on this as we put pictures of all the books that we price on the bookshop blog here is a link

Other major activity is producing local history books and these are split into reprints of books at already been in print and new publications about Thanet local history.

Reading this you are probably familiar with our reprints of old local guides, back before the pandemic I got permission from Richard Styles the then town clerk to reprint some of the old Ramsgate guide books that are still in copyright.

It's taken a lot of time and money but this is now coming to fruition

these next few pictures are from the 1966 guide, you can come and browse it here at Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate or buy it online here is the link

The next one will be the Ramsgate guide for 1962 as you can see from the pictures from it below we still have quite a lot of work to do particularly enhancing the pictures.

The other new publication is Remembering Margate Jetty and The Marine Palace by Martin Easdown who is the author of various National Piers Society books here is the online link

As I said I haven't had the spare time to engage with the internet social media

I've started a new watercolour painting in wetherspoon's aka the royal Victoria pavilion

I have started doing a bit of preparatory work for some photos particularly of Ramsgate the photo above seems to be about the best camera and the photo below about the best phone camera both taken from the same place

I am still doing a fair amount of painting and drawing which I put on my Facebook page here is the link

Valentine's Day at the royal Victoria pavilion and banksy in Margate

 

This is my large ongoing watercolour painting from one of the seats in the Royal Victoria Pavilion. I haven't done much to it for quite a while but yesterday evening I had it with me and found myself sitting in the right seat to paint a bit more.

A couple of pictures of the inside of the pavilion taken in 1903

Below are the links for the pictures I took inside the pavilion in 2010 before it had the wetherspoons treatment

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/pav2010/index.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/pav2010/id3.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/pav2010/id4.htm

I guess everyone in Thanet watched the news of the Banksy painting in Margate unfolding yesterday. 

Michael's bookshop in Ramsgate which is where I work is closed on Tuesdays so we thought we would pop over to Margate and take some photos of the Banksy while it was still there.

By the time we got there are the council had removed quite a large chunk of it so like many other things related to the council it didn't make sense anymore.

I think I was more taken by the paintings being painted by an artist called Pete who was recording this artistic event unfolding.

Workwise I have been fairly busy with Michael's Bookshop where I work in Ramsgate, so not much internet activity, here is the link to the books we put out today  ironically we bought the book about banksy in Margate yesterday.