Ramsgate August Bank Holiday 2012 Pictures Steam, Boats and Art

If you are wondering what to do this weekend, you could do worse than go down to Ramsgate Harbour and enjoy the event on there.

If you take some old rope with you, you can like in Aladdin exchange it for new rope, the old rope will form rope sculptures that will replace Rodin’s The Kiss in the foyer of The Turner Contemporary.

While on the subject of rope, you can learn to make rope, courtesy of Chatham Dockyard, while you are there.

There is a rather unusual beam engine running there there, which I think is called a steamboat doctor pump and was used on these vessels in America to pump water, from the river to the boilers until the 1850s. 

 As someone who once owned a Reliant Regal, I never aspired to the more advanced and expensive Robin, I was rather taken by this 1919 AC trike, AC went on to produce the faster Cobra series.

It is possible to go on some of the vessels there, which particularly amused my children so is a consideration if you have children about you this weekend.

Ramsgate events are often difficult to describe, it is a case of we all enjoyed ourselves, perhaps the pictures on my camera card will help, here are the links:

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/laptop812/id8.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/laptop812/id9.htm

Talking to various volunteers there, I gather the event was restricted to only two days by the council who wouldn’t allow it to run for the whole three days of the bank holiday. Presumably they are wary of people in Ramsgate enjoying themselves too much.

There was also some concern as one of the café owners has threatened to sue because of smuts on their upholstery caused by the coal fires powering the various steamboats there.

This was an aspect of the compensation culture we now live in that I had never considered, perhaps we should all be careful about lighting a coal fire this Christmas.    

I may ramble on here some more.