Some old Ramsgate and Margate photos and a ramble from the bookshop

 

Back at work in Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate today, we were closed for three days because of the bank holiday and being closed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. We went to some of the charity bookshops during the break, mainly to stock up on books we have been asked for but haven't had on the shelves.  We do buy a lot of our stock from walk in customers, but it makes a pleasant change to be on the other side of the counter. 

I have been working through the military history section in the bookshop today, checking the books for condition and to make sure our prices are competitive.  On the whole I haven't seen any sign of price inflation with secondhand books, either online or in the dedicated charity bookshops.  The most notable thing all the way through this is that Amazon is much more difficult to use for secondhand books than it was a few years ago.

Link to the books we put out today

 

Ramsgate 1966 Guide

 At the end of a busy day as a shop assistant here at Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate what you get is a few pages from one of the local books we publish.

We are closed until Wednesday and looking forward to the break as it has been so busy. Too busy to do the buy it now button for the 1966 guide so if you want it at the moment you will have to come to the bookshop.

I have been working on our military book section today, taking every book off the shelves and checking the price against the books online to make sure we are competitive. 

Having previously just done the English Topography and local history sections I am coming to the conclusion that there hasn't been much in the way of inflation in secondhand non-fiction book prices in the UK during the last four years. Overall I have been reducing prices on about 25% of the books on the shelves. We put a date code on when we price so it's a pretty good indicator.

Here is the link to the books we put out today

Click to expand Thanet pictures, Ramble from Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate

 I have just price adjusted The Red Guide to the Complete South-East Coast for 1974 at £3.99. The main tool for doing this used to be Amazon. Somehow though Amazon seems to shot itself in the foot a bit when it comes to being the main source of secondhand books.  Difficult for me as I used to use Amazon as the main source for getting rid of the books my customers didn't buy here at Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate. 

These are Thanet pictures from the guide.

As the guide was published in 1974 I assume the pictures were taken in 1973, or at least they must have been taken before 1974.

The pictures in old guide books are one of the best sources for dating other pictures that have no date at all.

Note here for instance the lights on the clock roundabout. I worked in Margate and Ramsgate around this time and it looks about right.

Anyway I digress, the book is on Amazon, here is the link https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-South-East-Coast-guide/dp/0706315286  although I don't think it would be possible for anyone to find it there without putting in the name of the editor instead of Red Guide.

Some local books went out on the shelves today

Here is the link to the books that went out today

Margate and Ramsgate click to expand and Monday's answers

 

Thanet Lifeboat Flag Day, there is something timeless about young adults in this one

This one of Margate clock says 1946 on it

On to Ramsgate

Steam trawlers in the harbour I would guess around the time of WW1

Fishing Smacks in the harbour

I would guess 1920s or 30s

I guess early 1900s

the answers to Monday's quiz

which photos are the oldest

Photo 1 Ramsgate - now Harbour Parade - this is the oldest of the two Ramsgate ones, you can see the Royal Albion Hotel in the picture below it has been replaced by the National Westminster Bank now Travelers in Italy, so before 1895 

Photo 1 Ramsgate - now Harbour Parade

Which of these two photos do you think is the oldest. The two main clues are look carefully at the buildings and the clothes people are wearing. 

On to Margate

Photo 3 Margate Marine Terrace This is the newer of the two Margate ones, certainly after  22nd March 1935 when Dreamland cinema opened

Photo 4 Margate Marine Terrace with this one you can see the clothes are before the 1920s hemline, around the knee by 1925

This next group are all 1911, from The Kent Coast Arthur Lewis which I just priced at £9.99 

link to the pictures of the books we put out in the bookshop today

2 Ramsgate and 2 Margate photos which are the oldest?

 

Photo 1 Ramsgate - now Harbour Parade

Photo 1 Ramsgate - now Harbour Parade

Which of these two photos do you think is the oldest. The two main clues are look carefully at the buildings and the clothes people are wearing. 

On to Margate

Photo 3 Margate Marine Terrace

Photo 4 Margate Marine Terrace

Which of these Margate photos do you think is the oldest?

My plan with this post is to link it to the main local Facebook groups and respond to comments on Facebook. My main reason for doing it in this rather clunky way instead of just posting the pictures directly to Facebook is became of the way Facebook handles pictures. The problem is that on Facebook the images don't expand well if click away at them and I can't put up 4 pictures one above the other with text under them.  

I have braved up to doing another quiz post as people seem to like them, from my end they can be a bit time consuming, so we will see how it goes. 

This link takes you to pictures of the books we put out in the bookshop today

Ramsgate and Margate Harbours back in the day

 A few pictures of both harbours in the days of sail, which roughly speaking is before WW1

Having read most of the history books about Thanet in the days of sail, I think that Margate probably had a harbour well before Ramsgate. 

This is to do with the Wantsum Channel that separated the Isle of Thanet from mainland Kent up until about 1400 and the Port of Sandwich having some viability into the1600s

Here you see the harbour with two lock gates on the cross wall

During the 1700 and 1800s I think the main activities in both harbours would have been fishing boats and importing of coal the main source of energy back then. 

A question I get asked quite a bit is, Do you buy books? One answer to this is about 200 a day that said looking at the photos of the books we put out for sale every day we are open is a very good indicator of what we buy here is the link

Thrown by the loss of the Queen, some thoughts on Library/Bookshops in the context of Thanet local history.

If you go back to about 1850, about 100 years since the coronation and you wanted to buy a book about The Isle of Thanet, history or guidebook, the I expect Hunts Library, and believe it or not Bank, here in Ramsgate would have been a favourable destination. 

Similar for Bettison's in the centre of Margate

Books back then were expensive (a large proportion of a weekly wage) and with many they were rented out by these private libraries.

Here is Hunts Library on the 1849 Map of Ramsgate 

Like Hunts Library we sell the whole map on a sheet, unlike Hunts Library we have also put it on the internet here is the link

At the moment and from at least as early as 1896 it became entirely bank. I guess the writing is on the wall for banks as well as shops now. Back in the good old days a very big factor here was people working for less than a living wage.

Bit of a sad day I despite her great age, she has been queen all of my life and perhaps signifies an era, or even more than one era.

Workwise here at Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate this is the link to the pictures of the books we put out today