Ramsgate in 1912

 I am still focused in the period just before WW1 here in Thanet, I guess there is something tantalising about this period, when I was young the older people around seemed to feel that there was a sort of watershed caused by WW1 that changed our society enormously.

Looking at the picture here I think this would have been a  cinema, showing silent films, Cleopatra came out in 1912, here it is.       

The toy rooms at the Central Library - paradise?  

 By way of explanation, “The Husband Boat” holidays at this time lasted for months, one rented a house and departed to Ramsgate with – as a husband, that is, wife, children, servants, horses, dogs, etc on Saturday morning, on Monday morning one returned to London and lived in one’s club theoretically going to work from there, returning to one’s family the following Saturday.

 Back in the 1960s I used to go to boarding school by train, this involved making for the restaurant car and having a leisurely breakfast, four courses or more arriving satiated in London with hours to enjoy myself before taking the school train, a very different and ghastly mode of transport.

I think that aspects of my school mean perhaps I can be forgiven for this somewhat callous approach.

I suspect that in 1912 young gentlemen had an even better ride and with the trenches t look forward to laxity may be forgiven.  

The pictures so far in this post come from the book we publish “1912 Ramsgate a Complete Holiday Resort” worth a browse in the bookshop, is you can’t get here this is the link to buy it online http://michaelsbookshop.com/catalogue/id354.htm

This is a photo of the back of The San Clue aka Hotel St Cloud immediately after the fire that destroyed about a third of it.