Some old and new Ramsgate pictures, Marian Padina exhibition in Nice Things and car imports

  I acquired these pictures today, I think they were produced as notelets or something

 Despite what it says I think this photo dates from around 1880

 And this one is a photo taken after 1870 because you can see the Granville tower but before 1900 when the tower was reduces in height

 The rest are copies of prints originally produced between 1826 and around 1870

Next the Marian Padina exhibition in Nice Things Harbour Street Ramsgate is worth a look at.

On to today's out and about photos, mostly looking down onto the port and the car imports This is the link to all of them 

Car transporter ship back at Port of Ramsgate

The Port of Ramsgate welcomed its first car transporter ship today (Tuesday 19 January) marking the start of a new port operation by transport and logistics company GEFCO UK Ltd.

The Autopremier arrived in Ramsgate at 05:45 transporting 1000 cars from Zeebrugge, Belgium using one of the Port’s existing Ro-Ro (roll on roll off) berths.

GEFCO import and distribute 500,000 vehicles annually through UK ports for several major vehicle manufacturers.

Under a licence which has been granted by Port owners, Thanet District Council, GEFCO have commenced a new operation to import and store cars at the Port of Ramsgate prior to onward distribution around the UK.

Ramsgate Harbour has a history of car importation going right back to the 1960s which was continued when the port was constructed in the early 1980s.

Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Enterprise Services, Cllr Hunter Stummer-Schmertzing, said: “It’s fantastic to see another business operating out of the Port of Ramsgate. This new operation uses the Port’s existing infrastructure and a portion of the freight and car lanes, all of which are ready to accommodate this new business, without compromising additional new ferry opportunities. This is a great message that the Port of Ramsgate is open and ready to do business and that the industry is recognising the potential opportunities that our facilities have to offer.”

GEFCO is pleased to be working with the Port of Ramsgate to add more flexibility in import solutions available to its customers.

The above was the council's press release and photo, on of their best and most usable and below how Ramsgate car imports were done in the 60s

Anyone able to identify the car?

Trains, planes, boats and aeroplanes, the Thanet transport issues.

 Somewhere around 200 years ago, local history books differ on he exact date, the first paddle steamer arrived in Margate, this predated the railways and provided the first comfortable, economic and reliable means of transport for Londoners to the coast.

In terms of ordinary people this was the beginning of the holiday and modern travel i.e travel that was faster than a horse or subject to the whim of wind direction.

Recently with the coming of the new fast train service and the completion of the Ramsgate end of the duel carriageway to London, the local transport situation has changed.

 Essentially though, apart from some fairly short lived efforts travel beyond Thanet has been a bit sporadic, centred around Manston Airport and Ramsgate Harbour. Looking back over my association with Ramsgate that extends over about the last 45 years, I would say it has been the hovercraft and the Sally line that appeared to have the most positive economic impact on the area.

It is looking increasingly likely that KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, will be starting a service from Manston, as you see from this news article they are holding a dinner in Canterbury http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/could_klm_dinner_in_canterbury_reveal_decision_on_manston_1_1667532 I guess that Canterbury is the economic hub of this part of Kent.

 Apparently 9,066 people have filled out their online form, saying they want their air service from Manston. To me this seems like a very large number of people to fill out an online form.

On the ferry front Transeuropa Ferries who run the ferry service out of Ramsgate have put the following notification on their website:

Due to temporary changes in our fleet we apologise that we are unable to accommodate passengers in wheelchairs.  Customers with walking difficulties should be aware that there are approximately 25 stairs to the passenger facilities. Please note that on the Gardenia there are no separated areas for freight drivers and passengers. Due to the lack of a children’s play area, this ship is not really suitable for young children.
If we experience operational difficulties the schedule may be changed.

 Added to this information Larkspur their main ferry doesn’t seem to have crossed to Belgium recently, producing concerns that there may be problems with what is an increasingly aging fleet.

Obviously the real benefits to Thanet, is having passengers arrive here, passengers and freight that passes straight through only really benefits the people working within the transport industry and indirectly Thanet if they happen to live here. 

 I will try to add to this one.

Live animal exports from Ramsgate response from Thanet District Council

The thing at the top of the picture above is not an animal as it may be a pig or a cow, possibly a pow, the animal at the bottom of the picture is probably a dog and therefore not allowed in Ramsgate Harbour.

I sent this query to the council:

Subject: the live animal export issue

Date: 18/05/2011 10:19:37 GMT Daylight Time

Hi ***** could you sort this one out soonest for me as if I have got it wrong then I think I ought to print a retraction, I think this is going to be very emotive issue and as you know I have a fairly high web presence, judging from the amount of comment recently possibly more than some of the local papers.

It relates to my blog post about the animal exports, see http://thanetonline.blogspot.com/2011/05/import-and-export-of-live-animals.html 

Two councillors have commented publicly on the post and it think I recognise the comments of at least one other.

My questions relate to the repeal of harbour bylaw 44, if this had any relationship with the live animal export issue, if the proper procedures were followed in repealing it, if its repeal is completed, in fact any information you can give me that clarifies the issue.

There are some questions below, although as I don’t really fully understand the issue according to Ken Gregory and Simon Moores, so there may be other questions that I should have asked as well that would have helped clarify the issue.  

Did the bylaw cover the port or just the Royal harbour? Ken implies it didn’t.

Did any animal cargoes go through Ramsgate while the bylaw was in place?

Where did the proposal to repeal the bylaw come from?

Has the bylaw repeal process been completed?

I noted that the report recommending the repeal is dated the same date as the council meeting to decide if the bylaw repeal process was to be started, does this mean that the statutory notification period wasn’t followed correctly?

Probably whether the bylaw would have stopped live animal exports would only have been discovered when the council had instigated judicial action based on the bylaw to prevent live animal exports.

Not sure if you can expand on this one, possibly the export company has already successfully fought such an action, which is part of the reason for the repeal of the bylaw, as I said anything to expand on this would help.

Regards Michael.

Here is their reply:

Subject: Live animal exports from Ramsgate

Date: 20/05/2011 09:08:29 GMT Daylight Time

Hi Michael

We're aware that understandably there's been a lot of discussion on your site about the issue of live animal exports from Ramsgate, especially with reference to the repealing the byelaw at Ramsgate Harbour that bans dogs.

We're also aware that people have been keen to see a statement from the council and I'm happy to supply you with that, which hopefully clearly states the situation. As you will see, the repeal of the byelaw has no relation whatsoever to the commencement of live animal exports at the Port of Ramsgate:

"The byelaw has not yet been repealed, so the shipments taking place now are totally unrelated to that. The byelaw has nothing to do with livestock movements, as it was based on animals that could potentially transmit rabies. This is not the case with the livestock involved in the export.

Even if this was not the case, the byelaw is overridden by European law, adopted by Britain, guaranteeing free trade between member countries. As a result, the council is duty bound, as set out in law, to provide the Port of Ramsgate for the use of vessels for legal trade, including livestock movements."

This information will be appearing on our website shortly, as part of a series of frequently asked questions. I'd be grateful if you would also put this statement up on your site to set the record straight on this issue.

Regards,

*****

Press and Media Manager

Thanet District Council

www.thanet.gov.uk

This is Bylaw 44

PART VII - ANIMALS

44. (1) Save as hereinafter provided in paragraph (3) of the byelaw, no

person being in charge of an animal shall cause, permit or suffer

such animal to enter or remain in the harbour and, without

prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, no person shall take or

keep such animal on board, or land such animal from, any vessel

within the harbour.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) of this byelaw, the owner of an

animal shall be deemed to be in charge thereof unless the owner shall

prove that, at the time the offence against this byelaw was committed,

the animal had been placed in or taken into the charge of some other

person.

(3) This byelaw shall not apply to the use by any constable, or member of

Her Majesty's Customs and Excise or any member of Her Majesty's

Armed Forces, of any dog or other animal in connection with the

detection of crime or the enforcement of the law.

This is my formal retraction of any misleading information I may have published about this issue. 

The import and export of live animals through Ramsgate Harbour

I did cover this recently in the comments and now the BBC have confirmed it I thought I ought to say a bit more about it.

A few weeks ago the council issued a seemingly innocuous press release saying that they were repealing the bylaw that prevented animals going into the harbour area.

What I didn’t realise at the time was that this seems to have opened the way for live animal imports and exports via Port Ramsgate.

Personally I am not at all keen on the business of transporting animals across Europe to the slaughterhouse.

However whatever your view on the subject, this will inevitably lead to animal rights protesters and although these people are probably not at the front of the queue when it comes to tipping paint over the leather jackets of Hells Angels, I suspect that they will see the small port of Ramsgate with its restricted access, either through the tunnel or along Military Parade as a softer target.

One is inclined to wonder what motivated the council to repeal such a useful bylaw.     

Euroferries Bonanza Express on the move

I have just noticed that Bonanza express is on the move, despite rumours that she had been laid up and all her crew had been laid off she is moving towards Santa Cruz de Tenerife at 17.4 kn course 288 degrees.

Any ideas what this means for the Ramsgate Boulogne service.

I gather negotiations are continuing between TDC and Euroferries but not much else.

Click here to trak her
MarineTraffic.com

Euroferries still working towards operating from Ramsgate

Euroferries have updated their website to the effect that preparation work is going on at the port and the service is due to start imminently.

The Bonanza Express is still tied up at Las Palmas de Gran Caneria you can click here to see when she stars to move and plot her position.

As always click on the picture to enlarge it

Ferry fumes

Sitting outside The Lookout Café the other day, looking out over a very good and inexpensive nosh, I was surprised at the amount of smoke issuing from the ferry in the harbour. The ferry wasn’t going anywhere so presumably such engines that were running were only to keep the onboard electric generators going, well certainly what was coming out of its funnel wouldn’t have passed any MOT if it were a road vehicle.

I thought I had read somewhere that the ferries now had to pass much more stringent emission tests, obviously this one hadn’t.

Looking down on the port which frankly is a horrible ugly mess and losing a huge amount of money, compared with the marina which is pretty much full and obviously bringing considerable prosperity to Ramsgate once again why not convert the port to leisure use.

Beach parking

Obviously the key to the amount of tourism a seaside town attracts is either related to the amount of leisure facilities it has, or if as is the case in Ramsgate where the leisure facilities have closed, the amount of parking close to the beaches.

In the case of the main sands where the majority of the parking has been removed to make way for various schemes to use the Pleasurama site, I have asked the senior councillors and council officers to let people park on the site until work begins.

It should be understood that work can’t really start on the site until plans that address the concerns raised by the environment agency about flood, storm and emergency escape issues have been approved by the council and the environment agency, this is yet to happen, so the main leisure and parking site there remains deserted but the council seems loathe to let us use it.

Then there is the western undercliff, the beach there was awarded the highest levels of water purity available, however the council has failed to stop lorries parking illegally in the car parking spaces there. As you can see from the pictures taken yesterday one lorry and trailer is even parked on the pavement. One of the worst effects of this is that the lorry drivers use the beach as a toilet.

Now here all we are asking for is bollards that allow cars to park but prevent lorries, not much to ask really.

Port Ramsgate Profit and Loss

I don’t think anyone in the town would dispute the fact that the lorries using Port Ramsgate make the western undercliff unpleasant and difficult to use for leisure. Since it’s the beach there that has scored the highest possible rating for water quality three years running I thought I would enquire how much benefit financial Port Ramsgate is to us.

The answer is frankly astonishing, the port lost £692,000 in the last financial year, and this is just the port not the rest of the harbour.

The rest of the harbour lost £130,000 much of this I assume is attributable to trying to dredge it instead of using the sluices to flush the sand out.

So why not turn the whole port area into a residential and leisure complex based around water sports?

The land sales alone would net TDC millions.