There is a funfair on the Margate Dreamland site at the
moment, I was fairly certain about this having seen a poster and vaguely taken
it in.
It is, as you can see from the picture of the poster, very
good value if you have children, they can ride for four hours for £6.99, the
thing I couldn’t remember was which four hours.
If any mention of the funfair is on the council financed
Thanet leisure website http://www.visitthanet.co.uk
I couldn’t find it, so I didn’t take my younger children to it today.
This sort of nonsense can’t be good for Thanet, I wonder is
it possible that the council don’t know that there is a funfair on the Dreamland
site.
When they grow up children need something requiring a little
more skill and manual dexterity than a funfair, so I helped the youf of today
with dinghy launching, the council provide launching slipways for this and
there is only one in Ramsgate where you are allowed to launch sailing dinghies
from.
Most people in Ramsgate know that the prevailing wind comes
from the west, so the east side of a concrete jetty is going to be sheltered
and the west side not, if you look at the sea in the picture above you can see
what I mean, no prizes for guessing which side of the jetty the council put the
slipway on.
It wasn’t a particularly windy day today, just about right
for dinghy sailing, frankly about the only difficult and bumpy place in the
whole of Pegwell Bay is the launching slipway, being blown towards the jetty
makes things a bit difficult for a craft without an engine too.
Writing a blog pretty much exclusively about Thanet I do
wonder if local people are interested in reading about this sort of thing, I
noticed just now when looking at the other local blogs that Simon Moores is
speculating about bloggers block, see http://birchington.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/silence-of-lambs.html
with me I don’t seem to have a problem writing something. My problem is much
more do other people want to read it, frankly if I didn’t take a few photos and
write something down the day would soon be lost to my memory and for the most
part lost.
There are about 350 days in a year, 3,500 in ten so seven
thousand in twenty meaning in my three score there have been about 21,000 days
and frankly with out some sort of notation outside of my mind, most of them
would be lost. Since taking up sketching again I guess it is the watercolour
and pencil sketches that work best for me in terms of recording life for me.
For the most part I don’t bother publishing them unless the
are of local views as I guess most people wouldn’t be interested here is
yesterdays watercolour, see what I mean.
But yes I guess, like Simon, I do wonder about continuing
blogging, I also wonder if there is any point in continuing to point out simple
things to the council, like publicising a funfair on the Dreamland site.
Like every other council, they don't sit there trawling around to find out what is going on - it is up to people that are arranging events to they them know what is going on. The same as I have to for events I help organise....
ReplyDeleteMichael has pointed out events to them many times, but they STILL don't get put on their website...
Delete11.36 I think you have to take this in the context of the serious economic problems in Thanet.
DeleteWhile I agree with you that the council couldn’t be responsible for missing minor events and wouldn’t take them to task over this, a funfair on the Dreamland site that has been running since Friday, isn’t an event they could have reasonably missed, with the council offices being situated in Margate and the Dreamland site being so prominent.
We just can’t afford to lose the money that would have been spent by in local businesses by the people who didn’t turn up, because the fair wasn’t publicised properly.
As it was I couldn’t find out the timings so didn’t go, so didn’t get lunch in Margate for me my wife and two of my children, this was money lost to one of the businesses in Margate.
Keep up the blog! I find your posts of extreme interest. It would be a shame if you did not continue them!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the blog! I find your posts of extreme interest. It would be a shame if you did not continue them!
ReplyDeleteWell said!
Michael, for once I know exactly where you are coming from when you start to wonder "Is there any point to anything." Time and again I have raised disturbing issues with a whole host of what we might call authorities, MPs, councils at various levels and police, seemingly to no avail. Then one looks around the blogs where some are attempting, like you and Simon, to highlight issues only to find your attempts ridiculed by some whilst others infest the ether with their inane conspiracy theories or asking idiot questions to which they will only accept the answer they want. Sometimes one is tempted to just chill out with a single malt bottle to hand and sod the world.
ReplyDeletePoliticians at all levels of whatever flavour and however well intentioned seem incapable of delivering sound governance. Petty politics rule the day with pathetic press releases more about point scoring than taking anything forward. All too frequently those meant to lead us are promoted above their level of competence whilst we are perpetually told that lessons will be learned and they never are. Like all the wars to end wars or the monies poured into aid programmes that simply seem to fuel the next crisis.
Can we make a difference? Has anyone ever in the longer term? Possibly the messiah and the odd scientist has created something lasting and beneficial to some, but politicians, what exactly? Grandiose business development plans without real substance, legislation to supplement existing legislation already not enforced and change in order to demonstrate they are doing something to justify their existence. In raising a family how many changes to the education system through successive governments do parents and teachers have to endure? And to what end?
All in all it is a bit of a horses breakfast, but at least, your pictures are bloody good.
Tom I guess what riles me the most is spending our money but getting the wrong result, like putting the slipway on the wrong side of the jetty.
DeleteYou can see from the picture that the jetty is getting to the end of it’s life and yet when they rebuild it, I am as certain that I can be that it will be rebuilt in the same wrong way.
Like the street and pavement design here in King Street, wide pavement on one side of the road and too narrow for a large pushchair on the other, since I have been here the grey pavement and kerbs were all ripped up to be replaced with red pavement and then again all ripped up to be replaced with grey. Various attempts to get the council to move things about a bit, when the money is being spent anyway, have failed.
Glad you are enjoying the pictures.
Tim,
ReplyDeleteIn the main I agree with you. Though there have been a few politicians in recent times that have done good for us. There was Churchill, during the war; and post war I would suggest Clement Attlee, Ernest Bevin at the Foreign Office and Margaret Thatcher. Regrettably, there has been no one since then.
I realise that my mention of Maggie runs the risk of bringing out the knee jerk Maggie haters.
Actually, John, it is I, Tom Clarke, not Tim Clark, but I will forgive you. Agree with you about Churchill, in his hour, though not so sure about Attlee. A bit short on leadership qualities and his government embarked on the social spend culture, before we could afford it, whilst the rest of Europe, including our former enemies, were investing in rebuilding their shattered countries. Bevin had his quailities and Thatcher, of course, dragged us back from near oblivion to some standing in the world again. Sustained direction is the main problem and even Maggie did not know when to go. Ego seems to replace good sense and they cling to office too long. Perhaps they should be stamped with 'use by' dates.
DeleteYou mention the knee jerk Maggie haters who only serve to emphasise my earlier point about petty politics. That mindset that demands that we must hate the person with the wrong coloured rosette regardless of qualities. Having said that, qualities seem pretty scarce these days with far too many professional politicians seriously lacking in real life experiences.
Back to the single malt I think.
oops - sorry Tom.
DeleteWhen history has settled down I think historians will list our great statesmen of the period as Churchill followed by Thatcher. There has been no one else of their magnitude in our recent history. History shows us that each time in our hour of peril we have thrown up a great Pearson to rescue us. We are in serious trouble now - help.
Please see my IPB: curse the spell checker. 'Pearson' should read 'person'. Unless, maybe the spirits are trying to tell me something - is there a Pearson set to ride to our rescue.
DeleteCould of course be someone from the aristocracy, John, and your spell check should have changed it to peer's son. Perhaps there is a Wellington or a Marlborough out there somewhere though don't hold your breath.
DeleteYou may be right about history, though beware even there of the political slant. Look how the Left still bring up the Suez Canal invasion when they want to attack the Tories. Then stop and think about that. The Arab world was generally more settled and peaceful when the European imperial powers controlled it, often through their own Arab kings and sheiks. The French with their Legion kept the lid pretty much on north Africa through to Lebanon ans Syria whilst the British controlled things down from Lybia and Egypt to the Persian Gulf states. The British Militarised Canal Zone was a great policeman for the area, but after our withdrawal the rot quickly set in.
As a result, just maybe, as many senior American military strategist have suggested since, the US should have backed Britain, retaken the Canal zone and deposed Nasser. Who knows, but one thing is for sure, it has been an area of endless strife and countless wars since with little sign of settling down. Could hardly have been worse.
You two keep to the subject of this post please and stop trying to impress each other with your historic knowlege. If thats what you want to do find another blog.
Deleteanonymous @ 1:50pm,
DeleteI have known many clowns like you, historically speaking.
Anon, 1:50, the thread of this blog ranges from an apathy towards blogging through to despair at the failure of those elected to govern to actually perform that role. Within that wide ranging topic there is ample scope for relevant diversification which is all John and I were doing. If our combined historic knowledge amounts to impressing each other it is news to us, but then, perhaps your own is a bit sketchy.
DeleteAs to your advice to us to find another blog, precisely on whose authority do you make this demand. Presumably this blog is that of Michael Child and as long as he does not object I would suggest it has sweet nothings to do with you. (Sweet Nothings, in the immortal words of Brenda Lee if you want some more history, this time from the pop world.)
Hi Michael
ReplyDeleteYour blog inspired me to start my own a year or so ago. It still provides a source of local information that I believe is more accurate, trustworthy and better written than our pathetic apology for a local newspaper. [When will they appoint a professional editor and sack those two whinging columnists ... the alcoholic obsessed novelist and the grumpy old git?]
For the last three months I have had too long to think whilst sorting out various medical problems.
That doesn't 'arf focus the mind on what is really important in life. It puts the posturings of our local councillors and the management of TDC into sharp propsective. It seems that they are incapable of anything other than name-calling, mud-slinging, changing sides and ego tripping.
They even get annoyed if they're not given a title [Cllr, Dr etc] Take a look at the endless cock-ups re Arlington/Royal Sands/Pavillion/Lido/Dreamland etc and ask, do they DESERVE any title?
Whilst I had a week away from any tv/radio/blog/papers etc, the world seemed a brighter place.
So please do keep the blog going kind Sir, just avoid too many rants.
Many thanks
Col
Ooops! I obviously meant 'perspective' and not that garbled word that appeared above.
DeleteBlame the medication!
A general reply to the rest of the comments. It isn’t my intention to stop blogging, more to check that during the amount of time I devote to blogging I am providing what interests the people who read the blog.
ReplyDeleteThere is a sense in which I find my ongoing battle with the council to improve what they do very tedious, if the need for better services here in Thanet wasn’t so much greater than in say Canterbury, I wouldn’t bother.
But yes, what I think am trying to do here is just to check that I am getting the focus of the blog roughly right, news, whinging a the council, photos, sketches and so on.
Tom asks whether anything can be achieved by protest
ReplyDeleteDoor Steward Licensing Schemes
Changes to Care Home Law
Creation of IPCC
Creation of Article 2 Inquests
Creation of new security of electrical supply regs for NHS hospitals and recommendations to the post Jap tsunami review of UK nuclear safety and security
I thank you. Chief Inane Conspiracy Theorist.
Admittedly I am dealing with the period 1975 to date. Blogging role ? No use except to trawl for information and evidence which arrives by private email. Blog threads tend to be trolled by people accusing others of being conspiracy theorists.
You lost me, mate, and I was quite enjoying the interesting debate between Tom, John, Col and Michael before you popped up and, as usual, ruined it 6:49. Can't you find something useful to do like chaining yourself to some railings somewhere or, better still, throw yourself under the Queen's horse.
Delete