Here in Ramsgate, it seems most of the news is in Margate at the moment,
what with Tesco and now this. Ironically the Belgian Café here in Ramsgate has
recent installed a pizza chef and although my being in there yesterday evening
meant that I missed the bbc news item and what councillor Driver said, I actually
had chocolate cake and not pizza.
First off here is the link to the news item, Ian Driver et
al
http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01nr2mz/
the item is at 28.50, please let me know if this doesn’t work properly for you.
BBC news items are inclined to vanish so I recommend if you
want to see this one you do so fairly promptly.
We now come to the issue of DFL, I should explain myself
here, my mother came down, up, well sideways from Salisbury in the 1960s bringing us children with
her, and more recently I recame down from Biggleswade twenty five years ago to
open the bookshop.
Here in Thanet we have some sort of indigenous population
that probably goes back to Hengist and Horsa. Trouble is that since about 1815 when the first
paddle steamer arrived in Margate from London giving reliable transport, years
before even the Brighton Line, our whole economy has been a bit of an up and own
from London, even councillor Driver sounds a bit DFL as long as the L is Leeds.
Now the article in question http://civilianglobal.com/features/gb-pizza-company-margate-turner-contemporary-emin/
by Margate’s purveyor of pizzas seemed fairly balanced and realistic to me.
Perhaps the question we should be asking is did the, “lowlifes wielding tins of
Tennent’s Extra” come down from London at some time, and even did they come of
their own volition, or were they forced to move by one of the London councils
engage in. What? At best, social engineering, at worst social cleansing.
I am not saying here that either all our low
life is indigenous, or it is all DFL, however I don’t think that it is a problem
that will go away if we pretend it doesn’t exist, or talking about it should lead to problems.
Staying with the Margate theme, here is the
letter from Mary Portas to Eric Pickles that has been mentioned a few times with
reference to the Tesco public enquiry http://michaelsbookshop.com/laptop1112/id3.htm
I will ramble on here between book customers trying to work
out the ins and outs of this one.
I'm wondering how long it takes to transform from being a DFL to becoming a local? I've been here (Thanet and Herne Bay) since 1985, and more or less consider myself a Thanetarian, but I still also have enough of London in me to see how far behind the times many born and bred locals are. We've seen that with the bigotry displayed by many (whether taxi drivers or councillors), and I've witnessed the 70s throwback behaviour many times myself, particularly when a doorman at a well-known local theatre (when are local businessman going to realise that it's NOT ok to pat waitresses arses?!).
ReplyDeleteBut it is OK to photogtaph them without their knickers on! Bizarre values you Margate folk seem to have.
DeleteYes, because it's WITH THEIR CONSENT!!!
DeleteI would've thought even a born and inbred local like you would know the difference between molestation and modelling.
Bradstow Boy @7:53,
DeleteFurthermore not only does he photogtaph them he also photographs them. Oh rue the day.
Peter,
DeleteDo you really photogtaph them? Would this be a Tantric technique perhaps?
Regarding Tesco at Arlington, I was somewhat surprised to see (as revealed by "Smudger") that Louise Oldfield (of Margate Architecture / anti-Tesco-at-Arlington fame) shops in Tesco at Westbrook. I'm not putting her down (she's a nice person who genuinely cares about Margate), but it does make me wonder if / when Tesco is built at Arlington whether she'll walk or drive past it to use the smaller Tesco (with less choice and higher prices) down the road?
ReplyDeleteAbout Pizzagate:
ReplyDeleteLisa Richards has invested in Margate, provided some much needed employment and trade. Whereas Councillor Driver has ......?
I wish Lisa Richards well and so should Driver. Hot air will not fuel Margate's recovery. We need more Lisa Richards and fewer Councillor Drivers.
Here here well said that man Councillor Driver is as always full of hot air
Deletebuild the tesco,s anything will make that sea front look more modern stuck back in the days of tony savage and he,s organ at the lido oh ya turner centre the saviour of margate do not think so do,nt believe the hype
ReplyDeleteThe Turner Contemporary has never claimed to be the saviour of Margate, its one part of a jigsaw puzzle of investment, and its doing pretty well.
ReplyDeleteThe TC itself is doing wellnumber but I dont see any fall in the unemployment figure for the area. Many of the footfalls are there to ue the toilets and the cafe.
DeleteWith councils and the Art council being short of funds I think it about time to charge an entrance fee to make it self financing rather than costing the £2 millions a year to run.
There is one piece missing from the jig saw puzzle that is vision
ReplyDeleteVision isn't missing hmm, the vision is to regenerate Margate and Thanet, and as the Anon said before Turner Contemporary plays a part, as does Dreamland and the smaller businesses that have sprung up.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame the massively grant-aided "vision" concentrates only on Turner, Dreamland and the Old Town and ignores the greater reality of Cliftonville, the High Streets and the rest of Thanet.
DeleteI've been saying for a while now that the place should be rebranded "Margate and Cliftonville" (similar to "Brighton and Hove"), perhaps even renaming Margate station.
DeleteGood idea Peter
DeleteI think the hope was always that regeneration of Margate would rub off on Cliftonville... Fingers crossed.
DeleteOh no no no Peter, We Cliftonville folk can't be getting too chummy with the Margate locals. One must keep a sense of proportion you know.
ReplyDeleteLOL
Delete