The Grove Ferry Inn, walk through the nature reserve and some pictures

My day off yesterday and a very warm day it was too, our days off are relatively short because of having to pick the children up from school, this combined with not wanting to drive very far, mainly for environmental considerations means making the most of what’s local to us.

Grove ferry is about 6 miles from Ramsgate and offers good food, wi-fi and children’s outdoor play facilities at the Inn or good picnic facilities, toilets, parking, limited – but improved - disabled access to view the nature reserve, plenty of walking by the river and through the nature reserve.

We haven’t been there for some time and the Inn must be under new ownership as the food was excellent and greatly improved on our previous visit, we both had a steak baguette and a drink total cost about £17.

We didn’t have the children with us but children’s meals on the menu were about £5 so we will go back there with them soon.

Something that is always difficult here in Thanet is finding enough destinations, with something to do for all the family that fits within a fairly limited budget, particularly when you don’t have time to drive far.

I wouldn’t say that we are foodies, we hardly ever eat out in the evening, but about once a month like to have a fairly light lunch somewhere, preferably where there is something to do.

I am afraid that I didn’t take a telephoto lens with me so such birds that I managed to photograph were those that put themselves in front and pretty much posed for me.

Click on the links for the pictures, they are uploading as I write (10.45 am) so you may have to wait for them all to appear.

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/410b/id16.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/410b/id17.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/410b/id18.htm

Anyway if you want to look at birds the best local blog that I know of for this is http://dylanofdumpton.blogspot.com/ and the best local website http://www.planetthanet.org/

What you get here is just a walk with me snapping away at what’s there, often without breaking my stride, my contention being that while shown other peoples holiday snaps is enough to turn the brain to cream cheese, looking at when they aren’t there, particularly with companions with a sense of humour can be quite entertaining, particularly when the bad shots haven’t been deleted.

If you do this as an economy mission the car park costs £1 for all day and there are several good picnic spots.

The bad side to this was the amount of dog mess on the footpaths, frankly as bad as the Thanet towns, this surprised me as I assumed that people who made for the countryside would be more responsible. If you walk and take snaps it is a serious hazard, children would definitely need wellies.

I did take some pictures of the rubbish on the paths but to be fair here I believe this is mostly deposited by the river.

There was some sort of environmental study going on and the people doing it said the water quality and the health of the fish was pretty good, as some of our drinking water comes from this river this is important.

One thing that did surprise me was the environment agency notice in Polish, there wasn’t one in English so I don’t know what it says.

Ramsgate Gasworks demolition more pictures and some environmental considerations.

As you can see the demolition work is going on a pace, I have made some enquiries about possible health and environmental implications; this is tempered by the urgent need to get the site developed.

One aspect that concerns me is the dust coming from the site that may be contaminated, another is the ground water pollution. As most of you who read this blog know I have a background in science and engineering, so I sometimes see things from that perspective.

My understanding of the situation is that this site has been partly remediated and that is probably the most contaminated part of the site, click on the link to see what the council have to say about chemicals present on the site http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/410b/id11.htm

I believe that the council is taking my concerns seriously, but has had some difficulties from the gas companies involved so that further intervention may be necessary, many thanks to Alan who has offered to help with this one, for those of you who wish to know more about various aspects of this issue here is the link to his website http://www.hatheway.net/

Click on the link for more pictures of the demolition http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/410b/id12.htm the dust cloud that appeared to be emanating from the site may show up in some of the pictures, depending on your computer monitor.

The other aspect that concerned me were the groundwater implications, click on the link to relevant extracts to the replies I have had about this http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/410b/id13.htm while I accept that it is unlikely that the gasworks contamination would impact on our drinking water, I was interested to see the adit leading from Ramsgate to the water abstraction point.

It certainly makes one aware of how vulnerable our aquifer is to pollution from within the town.

Lord of the Manor pumping station is in a bit of a difficult position one way and another, with one adit running under Manston runway and the other a fairly built up area, sorry the maps didn’t line up see http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/410b/id14.htm

Anyway on a lighter note – apart from the ones that came out too dark that is – here are the pictures of Ramsgate from the last couple of days http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/410b/id15.htm

More art in Margate

Many thanks to Your Thanet for the video of this Margate arts event.

Thanet south general election candidate starts blog.

Peter Bucklitsch the Liberal Democrat candidate has started a blog see http://petersouththanet-libdem2010.blogspot.com/ there is no comment moderation set, although it has got irritating word verification.

He had also pointed me to his website http://souththanet-libdems.org.uk/ it is all a bit in an early days state as the two sites don’t seem to be linked, but does seem to be a movement by a local candidate to engage in open debate on the internet.

Incidentally blogger seems to be playing up a bit this morning with comments taking a while to appear, delete and feed, so don’t be surprised if your comments don’t appear immediately.

The General Election in Thanet South on the internet and other Sunday ramblings.

The way the local politicians here are handling internet use in what is likely to be a closely fought seat is something that I find most interesting.

Putting up their press releases on http://thanetpress.blogspot.com/ is a continual reminder to me, today I noticed that Steve Ladyman is once again ahead of the game in that he has hosted his first video on youtube

I have embedded it below.




In the past he has just put his videos up on his own website http://www.stephenladyman.info/ this has one advantage from a politicians point of view, which is that no one can tell how many people have watched it, a bit cynical of me perhaps, but it wouldn’t look good for any politician if hardly anyone watched it as was the case with The Turner Contemporary’s videos.

Conversely this has the great disadvantage that people can’t embed the video in other websites, so far fewer people are likely to watch the videos.

On the whole Steve’s website is a pretty slick affair IT wise the only thing that I have noticed technically wrong with it, is that not all of his press releases feed properly.

Frankly the only big blunder on it is the link that says, “we want to hear from you” off you go to comment and then you find you can only do so if you are a member of The Labour Party, bit tough if you are just one of his constituents, and PR wise not so good.

Laura Sandys the Conservative Party candidates website is not so good http://www.voteforlaura.org.uk/ as it often has technical problems, at the moment there is a lot of HTML visible on the home page.

The video embedded there dates from February (Labours Death Tax) and not even Members of the Conservative Party can comment there.

Peter Bucklitsch The Liberal Democrat candidate’s only web presence seems to be 6 paragraphs on the party’s site http://www.libdems.org.uk/parliamentary_candidates_detail.aspx?name=Peter_Bucklitsch&pPK=5f985397-2dd8-44d7-aec8-9e5189577fb6 since is says that he works in computing, it rather suggests that he is only contesting the seat, in word and is neither trying to win it or expecting to get very far.

As for Trevor Shonk the UKIP candidates web presence at http://www.ukipthanet.co.uk/ from an internet point of view, it as though he is actively trying to lose. It’s worth having a look at just to see how not to do it, is closest to one of those blogs that are coverd with advertising and where only one comment has been made since 2008. if it tells you anything about their candidate I couldn’t find it.

The BBC website has a page where you can click on the latest polls and see what the result of the election would be if people voted that way see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8609989.stm

Apart from all of the poles for ages predicting a hung parliament, something that seems increasingly more likely, it highlights how ridiculous our current, first past the post, electoral system is.

What the technical explanations are I haven’t really looked into, but very roughly if Labour gets about 28% of the vote they just get the most seats, if the Conservatives get about 30% of the vote they just get the most seats and if the Lib Dems get 40% of the vote they just get the most seats.

From where I am sitting the system looks to have been rigged for benefit the main parties, if I behaved like this in business the trading standards people would be down on me like a ton of bricks.

There are several humorous election videos on the internet, below is an example.




The picture is of the tram accident is when a tram jumped the rails on Madeira Walk in 1905. I believe the building in the background with the advertisements on it is probably the old Queens Head one of the last of the buildings to be demolished on Harbour Parade to make way for the Customs House new Kings Head etc.

As I have said before I am still undecided about which way I will vote, here in Thanet South the only two candidates who appear to have a chance of getting elected are Steve and Laura and both of them have always responded courteously and helpfully to me.

I believe either would make a reasonably good MP from my point of view as constituent.

This rather leaves the decision a national one and because of the way the election is being fought, increasingly a battle between the leaders.

Previously the main two have been telling us that if the other party gets elected economic disaster will ensue, I have to say that I am inclined to believe both of them on this point.

Now they are saying that a hung parliament will result in economic disaster and once again I am inclined to believe them.

So it really is about a choice between the lesser of three evils from my point of view, I was talking to a someone who has been involved in politics much more deeply than I ever have the other day and he said that he intended to spoil his ballot paper.

I still take the stance that I will vote as I see it as my civic duty, however in a way the third option now of course is that voting Lib Dem even in a seat where they don’t stand a chance of the candidate getting elected, could help to cause a situation where they get the highest percentage of the vote, but don’t get elected.

I wonder if this could cause a situation where Nick Clegg became leader of a coalition, it is as they say an interesting point, I am certainly not that keen on having a hung parliament where the leader expects this to result in economic ruin.

If all went well at TDCIT the webcast of last Thursday’s council meeting should be available tomorrow, it’s always good to see our democracy in action.

I may well ramble on as the day progresses.

Some pictures of Margate in about 1900

Trials and Errors, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/trialsanderrors/ has just remastered some more Photochrom prints by Photoglob Zürich, of Margate between 1890 and 1900, from the Photochrom Prints Collection at the Library of Congress and emailed me so that I can publish them too. He has also reworked the one he published before.Click on them to enlarge and then click on them again to make even larger.

When I posted the picture above before Tony Beachcomber commented.
“The original photograph is the "Royal Sovereign" at the jetty 1894. This is dated by the colours of the funnel of the "Royal Sovereign" at the time. On the right the walk way leading to cold harbour is open. This was damaged during the storm of 29th November 1897 and never reopend, which is a handy thing to know when dating prints., etc. This colour format is the one used on boxes of sweets, rock etc., that were sold as gifts at the time. I think the originals carried "a present from Margate".”

I am not very good at dating and identifying Margate pictures, so this was of help and any more would be welcome.

Incidentally when the jetty appears in later pictures there is a barrier between the jetty and the spur walkway and part of the planked decking is missing.

I find that I am particularly attracted to this method of presenting photographs.

Ramsgate Maritime Museum, full steam ahead?

I was most encouraged to see in yesterday’s Isle of Thanet Gazette an article that quoted a Thanet District Council spokesperson as saying, that the council are prepared to offer The Preston Steam Trust a 25 year lease on Ramsgate Clock House.

The article hasn’t yet appeared on the Gazette’s website so I am unable to link to it.

This is the building within the harbour area that has housed the maritime museum since it first opened, and because of its proximity to Smeaton’s Dry Dock, which I believe would also be likely to be leased to the museum under the same terms, is really the only practicable building to house the museum.

I have made some enquiries and gather that a 25 year lease would be sufficient to allow the museum to obtain the grant funding that it needs for the work it intends to do to the steam tug “Cervia”, the dry dock and museum.

The steam trust has the resources to offer a considerable amount of leisure activities for Ramsgate apart from the museum and the vessels I gather that it intends to hold a series of events in Ramsgate.

For those of you that are interested in what this could mean the following links take you to some pictures and videos of past events that they have held, adjacent to the other museum they run, at Preston near the village of Wingham in Kent.

http://thanetonline.blogspot.com/2009/06/preston-steam-rally-videos.html

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/psr2008/

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/prestonsteamrally/index.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/prestonsteamrally2009/

For those of you interested in the last surviving ocean going steam tug “Cervia” click on the link for some pictures video below, these were taken before the recent restoration work, I promise to get down there and take some updated ones soon.

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/cervia/


For those of you who prefer something more professional, than the disorganised web publishing of a deranged shop assistant, here is the link to The Preston Steam Trust website http://www.thesteammuseum.org/

For those of you who haven’t ever visited Ramsgate Maritime Museum click on the link for some pictures of inside it.

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/blogpicts11/id4.htm

For those of you interested in the early history of Ramsgate harbour and Smeaton’s dry dock click on the link to read Smeaton’s report.

http://www.thanetonline.com/AnHistoricalreportonRamsgateHarbour/

Cooking, the books and reflections about racist penguins and kosher cookery.

Having recently published a reprint of the first Anglo Jewish cookery book, something that may seem, in the first instance, to be a little strange for a local history publisher who is a gentile, see http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/catalogue/lady_montefiore_s_cookbook_1846.htm

However recent research discovered this to be the work of the wife of one of Ramsgate’s most important residents and therefore an insight into the life and particularly the cookery of the gentry in Ramsgate in the middle of the 1800s.

The first printing produced a few errors now corrected, partly because of my woeful lack of knowledge about Ramsgate’s Anglo Jewish heritage and partly because this is the first time that I have published a cookery book.

Anyway having produced 20 copies with these minor errors and given them away to various well-known locals, mostly chefs and Jews, plenty of each here in Ramsgate although most don’t fit with the stereotypes, I was amused to note that a much larger publisher had also produced an initial run of a cookery book that had an error in it that made it unsaleable.

The Australian edition Penguin's Pasta Bible had to be pulped costing the publishers at least $20,000. after a member of the public complained that a recipe for tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto, called for 'salt and freshly ground black people'.

More information at http://www.penguin.com.au/new/new.cfm

Illustration above for the back cover of Montefiore's home in Ramsgate, Eastcliff Lodge © Mark Negin More information about the Montefiores the synagogue in Ramsgate and I will do something about Eastcliff Lodge soon.

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/Montefiore/index.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/clock/index.htm

http://thanetonline.blogspot.com/2009/09/montefiore-synagogue-and-mausoleum-open.html