As you can see from the picture above I have added to my
local publications a history of The Granville. It is rolling of the press, on
and off as I write, the press or presses in this case, being
computer-controlled printers, so stocks may not last. The computer in question
seems to have developed an intense dislike for me.
What to say about The Granville?
We moved to Ramsgate when I was about fourteen, my mother
bought a guesthouse in Augusta road, and the bar of The Granville was the
nearest to a local pub that I remember from that time.
I looked old for my age and don’t ever remember any
difficulty in getting served beer there, no age ID cards in those days, and in
the 60s The Granville was already part of this countries redundant splendour.
The guesthouse had a side effect of making me fairly wealthy
as a teenager during the summer season, for most of the rest of the year I was
away at a boarding school for the disabled.
At that time there was very little appreciation for great
Victorian buildings, we had previously lived in a fairly substantial and
virtually unheatable ten bedroomed Victorian house I Salisbury, so I wasn’t
greatly impressed by The Granville as a teenager.
Over the years I think I have come to appreciate Victorian
architecture and have to admit that I find the more splendid Victorian town
houses more interesting than many of the Regency and Georgian houses that
preceded them.
For the most part apart from the occasional beer in The
Granville I have to admit that I didn’t really notice it much until the bar
closed, and then after that the front part that had been destroyed by a bomb in
the war, was rebuilt in the same style as the rest of the building.
I guess I looked at it and thought how much better this was
than building a dull modern looking structure on the site.
My interest in local history, which started about seven
years ago, means that my interest in Ramsgate buildings and the overall look of
Ramsgate has become keener. From not caring very much at all, well I guess more
not noticing that much, I have formed an opinion that new buildings here should
harmonise with the look of the town and preserve its distinctive character.
This is particularly the case with the seafront viewed from the harbour walls.
To me the majority of the post-war built Ramsgate skyline that isn’t built in
the style of what was bombed, demolished or burnt doesn’t fit in too well.
Attempts at using non-traditional building materials in our
sea air don’t seem to work that well either, modern concrete blocks tend to
soon become nastily stained, whereas the more traditional stuff tends to just
look interestingly weathered.
Quite a few of our buildings were bombed during the war and
after the war a mixture of neglect, the council and various property
speculators probably caused even more damage than Hitler did.
The great Granville complex of the hotel and the Granville
Marina resort are an example of this. As I mentioned the front bit was bombed,
however the bits at the side and back, ballroom function rooms baths and so on
were a victim of a property speculation and Thanet district Council’s rather
lax approach to our architectural heritage. Down on the seafront the theatre,
that turned into a cinema and then Nero’s was vacant, council owned and of
considerable architectural importance when the council decided to demolish it.
By that time I was beginning to lose confidence in our council and tried to reason
with them, not perhaps the best course of action with an organisation run by
civil servants who live well away from the area and elected members who seem to
behave like sheep, when these highly paid individuals tell them what to do.
Back to the book, the printer having spat out a couple of
copies, has just gone into some sort of cleaning mode that seems to have
consumed several ink cartridges, I read the book last week with considerable
interest and enjoyment.
The story of The Granville starts when Edward Welby Pugin
and other speculative investors purchased the land in 1867, the intended to
build a terrace of grand gothic houses, but the other investors fell out and
pulled out leaving Pugin who poured his fortune into creating a grand gothic
hotel. Pugin went bankrupt in 1873 and the following bitter litigation this
lead to his untimely death two years later. The next owner going bankrupt in
1881 and the next in 1895.
The tower wasn’t primarily a decorative adornment but was
built, originally extending about twice as high above the roof of the building
than I does now, to hold the massive water tanks for the baths. Lowered in 1899
because of the strain of the massive weight of water and now looking rather
strained again.
Anyway the book is out now, priced £9.99 and I will
endeavour to write some more about it and print some more copies of it.
if you want to read another publication about The Granville
here is The Granville Illustrated News http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/gt/id7.htm
Anyway thanks to Ben Kelly who has done a considerable amount of research, I now have some idea of the history of The Granville.
I took some pictures in and on
The Granville last year, here are the links
Anyway thanks to Ben Kelly who has done a considerable amount of research, I now have some idea of the history of The Granville.
Fantastic piccies Michael,, In a previous life I was a roof tiler and I have been really impressed with looking at the views.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Granville both as a child and a teenager. As a child my mother took me to a New Years Eve Party and I remember dancing up and down on the maple wood sprung dance floor. It was sinking and rising a good foot under the feet of drunks bouncing to the Hokey Kokey. Then as a teenager my grandmother introduced me to the joy of whiskey macs in the Granville bar. My great uncle lived in 32 Augusta Road and I often stayed there in the 50s & early 60s.
ReplyDelete