Margate, the Scenic, and today's Observer... GRRR!

[porf]

Bob,

You would be hard pressed to find a decent restaurant.

Weird that, I can think of plenty of places down there I'd happily eat in when I visit and I'm relatively foodie!

How hard were you looking or have you not been there for quite a while?

Yes parts of the town are a dump, other parts aren't. The point of regeneration is to improve the town - why do you appear to labour under the misapprehension that people in some way think the current state of the town is great?

[aweber1us]

I have just come home from a touring caravan holiday at a 5 star camp site which is in Margate.This is one of the best sites in Kent and is full for most of the season.Me and the kids have eaten out and spent the day on Margate sea front.I was amazed at just how many people were on Margate sea front and how busy it was . The fair in Dreamland was even doing fairly well.
Margate is run down but is still a great day out and can only do better once Dreamland re opens.

[Jim Douglas Jr.]

What I don't understand is all the naysayers.
If people want to try to actually DO something about their towns/situations/etc, I don't understand why there are always so many people sitting on their duffs whining about it.

Just because people are tired of their own boring lives doesn't mean they have to force their lazy, negative attitudes on everyone else.

[Bob]

I have just come home from a touring caravan holiday at a 5 star camp site which is in Margate.This is one of the best sites in Kent and is full for most of the season.Me and the kids have eaten out and spent the day on Margate sea front.I was amazed at just how many people were on Margate sea front and how busy it was . The fair in Dreamland was even doing fairly well.
Margate is run down but is still a great day out and can only do better once Dreamland re opens.

Ross tinted glasses I am afraid. On practicaly any day Margate is practically empty. There are hardly any shops left open and its full of empty boarded up and derilict shops. Dreamland will make not a jot of difference. Seaside fairgrounds are an attraction from a bygone age , they have little interest nowadays other then from small bands of enthusiasts. Many in the UK have closed and those that are left are struggling. The very low standards of many of these resorts is a futher problem. It is no unique to the UK across europe & in the US they are closing down as well.

[EAS]

Bob - when exactly were you last in Margate?

And so far, you've not exactly covered yourself in glory in the prediction stakes, have you?

Dreamland will make a difference, alongside the Turner and a decent programme of events to continue to make Margate attractive. That's my prediction.

So just go back to sleep, and allow those who are actually achieving so much to try and make Dreamland a reality get on with it. A fat donation from you will be much appreciated, however.

How about it?

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

Seaside fairgrounds are an attraction from a bygone age , they have little interest nowadays other then from small bands of enthusiasts. Many in the UK have closed and those that are left are struggling.

Is Adventure Island struggling?

[EAS]

Don't confuse Bob with facts, his brain might explode.

On the other hand, would anyone notice?

[RJW]

Well - I just got back from a trip to Weston-Super-Mare. The fair that Carters are currently presenting on the seafront gardens consists of the kind of vintage rides that will be present in the new Dreamland.

None of the rides are the modern, chequerplate floor, airbrush artwork and strobe-lighting type that most teenagers seem to like, but there were teenagers aplenty enjoying the rides. Most of them ended up screaming their heads off on the Dive Bomber and Octopus. Parents were riding the Skid with their children and they were all laughing their heads off as the cars gathered speed.

It was an overcast day with frequent showers, but the rides were running to capacity virtually all day - people were getting onto the Octopus even though it was raining.

A number of the people I spoke to had come to Weston because they knew that Carters were in town. A well-presented seaside fair is just what every seaside resort needs.

Of course, the Dreamland we ended up with before it closed could hardly be described as well-presented. The new Dreamland will be a completely different kettle of fish!

[Jim Douglas Jr.]

Bob, your world of empty pizza boxes and internet porn must be so lonely....

[sonjabigg]

Having spent a lifetime of loving British holidays and having moved to Thanet several years ago, I find it a tragedy for the locals when articles like these are written by people who are unable to see beyond a few closed shops and see what Margate and the rest of Thanet really is. There's a heart and soul here, people (like us) who truly love the place and the people. Margate reminds me of Hoxton pre its meteoric rise. We started a business there 20 years ago when it was a hole. But a hole with soul! Look at it now! Greenwich and Portobello too have been as run down as Margate – poor, forgotten, neglected, with bad press. With an injection of some good investment by the councils, locals refusing to give up on the areas they love and some individuals tackling the problems in great ways, these areas have all risen from the ashes. I lived in each one when it was a dump and was excited to be part of it changing. Good press about a few good things as they start to happen has an immense knock-on effect. It gives a few more folks the courage to start making more things happen in an area.
Margate is run down and battered. But it's also exciting, full of character and just begging to be given the chance to be the thriving, cheeky, joyful resort it could so easily become again. It's infinitely possible. And there are enough great people behind it to make it happen. In fact, it's starting, bit by bit.
Did the journo not go to the Old Town? Great shops and units, great, inspired people doing great work. There are amazing places to eat and folks who are passionate about what they do. Dreamland has the chance to be an absolute one-off and bring people from all over Britain. Margate may have been on its knees, but I can see it picking itself up. And it's beautiful.
Whitstable and the like bore the pants off me. If you dig a bit deeper than a bored day trip with the intention of putting together an article (that you've already mostly written from some misinformation from the internet) then you see the potential that Margate has in spades. It just needs a helping hand.
Margate rocks!

[sam]

Seaside fairgrounds are an attraction from a bygone age , they have little interest nowadays other then from small bands of enthusiasts. Many in the UK have closed and those that are left are struggling.

Is Adventure Island struggling?

Dont think it is everytime I have seen the park from the webcam it seemed very busy over the summer.