News, Local history and Thanet issues from Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate see www.michaelsbookshop.com I publish over 200 books about the history of this area click here to look at them.
Comments, since I started writing this blog in 2007 the way the internet works has changed a lot, comments and dialogue here were once viable in an open and anonymous sense. Now if you comment here I will only allow the comment if it seems to make sense and be related to what the post is about. I link the majority of my posts to the main local Facebook groups and to my Facebook account, “Michael Child” I guess the main Ramsgate Facebook group is We Love Ramsgate. For the most part the comments and dialogue related to the posts here goes on there. As for the rest of it, well this blog handles images better than Facebook, which is why I don’t post directly to my Facebook account, although if I take a lot of photos I am so lazy that I paste them directly from my camera card to my bookshop website and put a link on this blog.
Stuffed with Easter eggs, all the bloggers fell asleep and left the more active to stand around in the cold admiring shelters devoid of both double glazing and central heating. Surprised Cllr Driver was not there pushing his credentials to be a Ramsgate representative on the KCC, but perhaps he was shouting at sheep down by the harbour.
ReplyDeleteIn rather more positive mood than the previous commentator, it's great to see seafront improvements, albeit modest ones, coming to fruition. And good to see the event being marked by civic and parliamentary notaries.
ReplyDeleteFar be it for me to decry a truly heart warming local event, Anon, and if I was in anyway negative it was not intended. My comment was more a reflection on the lack of temperature when it is supposed to be spring and, perhaps, of surprise that he of the camera chasing style was not there. Perhaps the absence of BBC south east explains that.
DeleteI am on the duty rosta for below the belt comments this Easter. I think the restoration project, with a view to attracting the interests of said Driver, should have been called "Shelter With Pride". Diminutive SWP.
DeleteBut I think even Rebecca, Gazette stalwart, could have made something out of the Cllrs presence. So the poor fellow may have been wise to dodge the prestigious occasion.
mmmmm "Fellow travellers waiting at the shelter for the busy Driver to appear" ?
Engineering quip Michael. Nostalgia humour.
ReplyDelete11th Photo
"A project completed in Ramsgate ? That has to be of static trickery significance."
Feel free to moderate.
"From this shelter the view of the sea may call to mind the Battle of the Kentish Knock. One stricken enemy vessel grounded just below us at what is now the historically significant Grade 2 listed Pleasurama eyesore. But it was not our gallant Interregnum sailors who had done for the enemy. In fact the enemy had fallen ill and quite erroneously steered their ship aground. But that's Dutch Helm Disease for you."
ReplyDeleteMichael, your publication of photos on the internet, whether yours or other people's, is greatly appreciated. I missed the opening because I was travelling back from France yesterday.
ReplyDeleteGot there in the end Ken, and yes I promise lot more photos
DeleteThe politicians have a nerve showing up for this: they provided nothing from the millions and billions of quid at TDC and KCC.The Ramsgate Society sought the grants and commissioned the work despite the failure of TDC.
ReplyDeleteLayers of ceremonial duffers and idle civil servants doing nothing. And how awful the towns look over Easter with the most feeble seafront fair. Sure it's cold but this is the biggest bank Holiday of the year. Useless. We need a clearout at the May 2nd elections.
I share your frustration 11.10. There is a much bigger shelter along from there in Winterstoke Gardens that is in a really bad state of repair. I have emailed so many council people about it, but no-one seems to want to know? We even formed a small community group with a constitution and bank account and everything, thinking we might have a go at it at some stage? The other founder members have lost interest now. We might have been able to do something at one point when everyone was keen, but for the fact the listed tiled roof has been estimated to cost about £25k to repair?
DeleteStill, you never know, a new committee might turn up in the not too distant in the future and get stuck in? The Ramsgate Society (or the Ramsgate Heritage Regeneration Trust?) have offered to help us with their grant funding expertise. We even struck the "Gay" word out of our constitution, because we didn't want people to think the group is just for gays. And if by chance this Winterstoke Shelter does get refurbished, we could always have our Beverly Sisters Tribute Act to cut the ribbon instead of local dignitaries? Well, push them into the background at least!
Nice one, Solo Gays, the Beverley Sisters Tribute act bit. You are starting to recognise one anon from another.
DeleteAgree with you about shelters. All around Thanet these have been allowed to fall into a state of dereliction needing tens of thousands to restore them. A regular programme of routine maintenance could have made such a difference.
Unlike, Anon 11:10, I do not expect a major clear out on 2nd May, it will not effect TDC in the slightest, and, at best, we will simply see the odd politician of one party replaced by one of another. The real answer lies in people action groups, but maintaining interest and momentum is the difficulty. Still worth trying because much that is good, like the newly restored Ramsgate shelter, is down to people, not councils.
AnonymousMarch 31, 2013 11:10 pm, you are factually incorrect, TDC provided 45% of the money, TDC officers and Councillors did the work persuading Heritage Lottery to provide another 45% of the money. Of the other 10%, that the Ramsgate Society raised, £4k came from a KCC grant from Cllr Elizabeth Green, and £4k came from Ramsgate Town Council. That is not to detract in any way from the efforts of the Ramsgate Society and Ken Read in particular who were magnificent and fundamentally instrumental in the success of this.
ReplyDeleteSologays, I agree with you about the Winterstoke Shelter, nd I think I have TDC agreement to restore it. I think the delay is sourcing the roof tiles.
Thanks for pursuing the Winterstoke Shelter repair David. I know in fact its not always practical for you to provide updates; and you may already be aware, but I should caution about the use of lead flashings and how they are applied, since a lead thief last year ripped some of it out causing quite a few tiles to slip.
ReplyDeleteHot on the trail of equality - Liz green and John Kirby did arrange grants from Kent County Council of £3600 each from their Community grant budgets towards the restoration of the shelters around Ramsgate -I was sorry I could not be there - but my eldest son was getting married in Sidcup - best wishes to all concerned with the Shelters project - John Kirby
ReplyDeleteIn the absence of much comment lately, I just thought I'd mention that I had the most ever pageviews on my locked blog over the two days following this cheerful Easter Holiday post. 23 in all, as opposed to 1 or 2 every four or five days. I guess this should encourage me to start blogging if I can find someone to show me how to set it up right?
ReplyDeleteSolo,
ReplyDeleteIf you use the Google Blogger it is easy to set up - just choose your template and off you go. Then it's up to your imagination and interests in deciding which pictures to use and what to say. A few years ago I set one up in 10 minutes - if I can do it then so can anyone else. Just do it.
John, yes, as you say; I read the terms and conditions, got registered with google blogger, and did my first post all in the space of one evening. I am having difficulty using the various tools to make adaptations, and to make the page presentation more eye-catching and informative.
ReplyDeleteI am sure there could be funding for novice bloggers to get help with this? Just for the educational angle alone?
Solo,
DeleteYou can use your own photos. Plus there are also literally thousands of pictures and animations that you can download from the internet and use on your blog free of charge.
Just let your imagination run riot. You have to decide whether you want to advocate your own point of view, or start a debate, in which case you could try posing some open questions to get people going.
Funding is a good idea - just so long it does not come out of my taxes.
Use your own initiative, common sense and resourcefulness. Do not wait for someone else to tell you what to do; do what you know is right. Just get on with it. Get writing, stick it up on your blog and watch what happens. Learn as you go along. Just get on with it. Mao said that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
Thankyou John for encouraging me to take the second step of my thousand mile journey. The first being last September when I purchased this old re-conditioned PC for just £120 from CyberCentral in Broadstairs.
DeleteThis included a new keyboard and mouse and runs on windows 98. The monitor looks like something out of the eighties and talks to you when turned off by way creaking and crackling. The sound no longer works, which means I cannot hear the latest broadcast from comrade Driver.
It seems that spike in viewings of my one and only blog was from the USA. This led me to discover my blog "Gay in Thanet" is listed with similar labels on Google. I guess some could have been checking out gay outlets prior to a visit? They'll be lucky!
I read somewhere that the way to get a depressed economy going is to steadily increase transactional activity between people as much as you can. This is where I guess I should consider placing my second step?
Don't be so cheap, buy a new computer and monitor, you can't take it with you.
DeleteSteady on 10.31. For the past five years I have been running my group using the computers at Ramsgate library. I'm only seven months into enjoying this purchase?!
DeleteBtw the £120 was inclusive of the home set-up fee. At the moment I am blissfully happy with my £80 product and have not needed to go anywhere near a computer magazine (or any other magazine for that matter, if you know what I mean-nudge nudge, wink wink;-)
Solo,
ReplyDeleteWith a PC as with anything else you gets what you pays for. The best place to get value for money in buying a computer is on line, Dell is the best, in my experience.
Personally, I would avoid any Windows operating system prior to Windows XP. There are other modern OS that you can download free online.
Magazines can teach you much. Computer Active is very good.
In my view, the best way to get the economy going is to start a small business.
I wish you luck in your endeavour.
Solo Gay,
ReplyDeleteI have just had a look at your blog "Gay In Thanet". You do not permit comments. Which is a pity because I wanted to tell you about my official contact with transgender males pre and post op, which I though you might find interesting. It's nothing provocative, I promise you.
I don't know how to permit comments John?
DeleteI have just sent out an invitation to members of a new LGBT group here in East Kent to join in the conversation here, they are a bit slow on the uptake! I have explained you can comment anonymously. They also have access to funding expertise, but they need to be telling us about this.
I am not personally looking to start a new business John.
ReplyDeleteAnd although I would like to increase my blogging activity a little, and improve the presentation, I most definately do not want to be expanding the time I spend researching, procuring and operating a PC alone from home too much. It's not about the money. I do however appreciate your advice which I note.