Jimmy Godden has died

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

I was following the story on the day that Mr. Godden died, and around a dozen or so comments were deleted by moderators on the "This is Kent" website. All of these had one common theme, namely insinuations about the serendipitous fires which had occurred at premises owned by Mr. Godden.

Comments on "This is Kent" can be voted up or down, and this comment-

“Jimmy was a helpful business friend on several occasions, though I have not seen him since he moved away I am sad to learn of his death. My condolences to his wife and children”

Is by far the worst-rated, having so far received a rating of -39. So I think it is fair to say that news of his death was not universally received with the community grief of, say, Princess Diana.

Other stories about Mr. Godden's life and business activities are making a resurgence too, one such being the death of eight-year-old Erin Griffin at the Rotunda, Folkestone in September 1999, an event which later caused her father to commit suicide.

Earlier, ride operator Neil Underwood wept as he told how he watched Erin “fly through the air”.

He said he had been worried about safety prior to the accident.

Another operator, David Williams, said: “Customers complained the bars wouldn’t come down, they wouldn’t lock.

“For a ball-park figure for a Sunday, which was the busiest day, we had about 20 to 30 complaints.

“I told one of the managers and he said, ‘What do you expect me to do about it’?”

Rather cynically, in my opinion, Mr. Godden cited Erin Griffin's death as his reason for moving away from the amusement side of his business and into property development. Even if this was the case, then Mr. Godden, whose company Dreamland Leisure was then worth £139 million, might have done better to have retired and sold Dreamland to somebody who did have an interest in operating an amusement park.


As I've said before, simple humanity requires sympathy for his family at this time. I don't feel any satisfaction about his death, but I do regret the day he first arrived in Margate, and the long anticipated arson attack on the Scenic Railway caused me more grief and upset than I have ever felt for any non-living thing.


For me personally, "a ruthless operator who held towns to ransom" will be his epitaph.

[AJ]

Vince, again I find myself nodding along in complete agreement as I read your post.

[Chris-46]

Condolences and all of that, but does this change anything? I'm still confused about this 50% land thing. Is it impossible to acquire all the land now that he is gone?

[vann98]

As I've said before, simple humanity requires sympathy for his family at this time. I don't feel any satisfaction about his death, but I do regret the day he first arrived in Margate, and the long anticipated arson attack on the Scenic Railway caused me more grief and upset than I have ever felt for any non-living thing.

For me personally, "a ruthless operator who held towns to ransom" will be his epitaph.

I could not agree more with these statements! I understand that there may have been various factors which led Godden to abandon his fairground business but at the end of the day I still hold him mainly responsible for letting Dreamland get into the state it is today. In my eyes he basically let it rot and allowed alot of heritage to be thrown away when it could have been preserved. I am looking at rotunda here aswell!
He should have just given it to Phillip Miller while he had the chance and then maybe I would not have thought so badly of the man.

Is it impossible to acquire all the land now that he is gone?

Well as I understand it Godden had a 40% share in MTCRC but had taken a back seat so he was no longer responsible for the site's future. Now that he has passed I imagine that someone like his family may inherit it. In terms of the CPO though, the site is still remains in the hands of the rest of MTCRC and therefore nothing has actually changed.
It would however be nice if someone could confirm that for me.[/quote]

[Jim Douglas Jr.]

He got grants to buy Dreamland? The government should have stopped him from selling off its assets.
You people need to force your civil servants to start doing their jobs.

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

Condolences and all of that, but does this change anything? I'm still confused about this 50% land thing. Is it impossible to acquire all the land now that he is gone?

On the face of it, it shouldn't make any difference to the outcome of the enquiry, which has now concluded and is under consideration. However, nobody knows what goes on inside a person's mind and it is just possible that Mr. Godden's demise may have some psychological effect on the committee which are considering the case. There can be little doubt that Mr. Godden's death marks the end of an era for Kentish seaside towns and the committee may subconsciously view this as a time for a change of direction.

He got grants to buy Dreamland? The government should have stopped him from selling off its assets.
You people need to force your civil servants to start doing their jobs.

Jimmy Godden received eu funding of £800,000- approximately $1.27 million- to purchase and refurbish Dreamland. I'm not quite sure why this should be- seven years earlier Dreamland Leisure had a capital value of £1.39 million and a turnover of £6.27 million and one would imagine that a company of this value could have afforded to fund the purchase itself.

As far as most of us could see, the only refurbishment which took place was the removal of trees, permanent buildings, and the disposal of the Big Wheel, Looping Star and Water Chute.

Yes, maybe government should have done more to protect Dreamland, although in this case we are talking about local government rather than central government, and of course the grant was an eu grant rather than one provided by any UK authority.

What has happened has happened, and you can't un-ring a bell. All we can hope for is a positive result with regard to the Compulsory Purchase Order and better days ahead.

[vann98]

As far as most of us could see, the only refurbishment which took place was the removal of trees, permanent buildings, and the disposal of the Big Wheel, Looping Star and Water Chute.

The only really good thing he did was restore the Scenic. Unfortunately that is no longer relevant after what happened to it in 2008.
I do however remember that he blew most of the money on repaving the entire park, covering up the majority of remaining grass land. Fairground rides were then slapped on top of the concrete without and real thought or consideration...and yet somehow the park still managed to remain as one of the top ten attractions in the UK.

[Jim Douglas Jr.]

Yup, learn form the past and on to the future.

What seams unthinkable is that this is dragging out for YEARS. Nobody benefits in the meantime. No jobs created, no park open.

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

NOT since Royal Ascot has one field seen so many personalised number plates on ginormous cars.

It was possible to guess the names of the well-to-do visitors to this particularly charming Kentish corner by the initials.

​

Beamers, Audis, Freelanders, Bentleys, Jags, Mercs, Rollers, sporty types, 4x4s, Range Rovers and the like gleamed, despite the April showers which sought to soak all the mourners on their way into St John the Baptist church.

Packed to its wooden rafters with an estimated 400 folk known to the businessman Jimmy Godden, this splendid English church in a lovely churchyard set the scene for his final farewell.

The brass-handled coffin arrived by open carriage at its gates drawn by four twitchy, cobble-scraping black horses. A bell tolled in monotone. Against the showery darkness of the afternoon sky, it could have felt rather foreboding.

The coffin was late in entering the church due to the numbers of people being guided through the village via great yellow signs.

The family trooped in. The pall bearers seemed to be struggling with the casket, their rain-soaked shoulders hunched and awkward.

For the many standing at the rear of the church, screens had been erected to relay the service conducted by the Rev Canon Norman Woods. A few nervous coughs and shuffling of brogues on pew boards preceded a rather touching but apt rendition of Morning Has Broken.

The congregation, old and young, were bound to know that one.

Martin Burlin led tributes from the amusements and fairground industry, later describing Mr Godden as "eminent in life and in death" whose opinions were sought and respected, often delivered in a direct manner.

Clive Emson, the ebullient auctioneer (himself the owner of a soft top Roller with a personalised number plate), claimed never to have had an agent's agreement with Mr Godden in all their property dealings together since the early 1980s. "It was a waste of a stamp," he said, to a fair few laughs.

Mr Emson was a companion in Marbella, too, where the Goddens would take holidays.

In his favourite Spanish restaurant, the local chefs had perfected a particular favourite Italian dish which earned him the nickname Cannelloni Jim.

Mr Godden was rather fond of his food, it seems, sometimes turning up at the restaurant, slapping his girth with the bellowed command: "Fill that!"

(He was a regular, too, at the Tavernetta in Folkestone where his latest Range Rover might be seen parked up outside.)

But, in seriousness, Mr Emson contended his friend was "a fighter. He died fighting."

This newspaper's coverage of Mr Godden's death was alluded to by the Rev Canon Woods, the extent of which is not likely to be replicated by the Queen's Jubilee celebrations or, indeed, the Olympics.

Singer Bill Jones sang "To Where You Are" to a bow-tied piano accompanist before prayers and then that most English of hymns "And Did Those Feet In Ancient Times."

How that tune lifts the voices, stands stiff the neck hairs and stirs the spirits. Certainly, it felt that way last Wednesday.

St John the Baptist rang to the final line of "In England's green and pleasant land" with rolling Kentish farmland just over the wall.

And so it was coming to its conclusion, this coincidental gathering for a man known to all as Jimmy, but just "Jim" to his wife and friends.

The Nunc Dimittis was read ("Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace") as the coffin left the church, followed by close family, some in tears.

One paused as he approached the door, turned to his companion and uttered, barely audibly: "Look, it's stopped raining." In fact, the sun had just come out.

http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Hundreds-ga ... story.html

[EAS]

Yes, just been reading that.

Not excactly a tribute is it?

"The sun had just come out..."

Let's hope so, for Dreamland.

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

Let's hope so, for Dreamland.

Yep....

The Nunc Dimittis was read ("Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace") as the coffin left the church, followed by close family, some in tears.

One paused as he approached the door, turned to his companion and uttered, barely audibly: "Look, it's stopped raining." In fact, the sun had just come out.

That's the kind of literary metaphor Charlotte Brontë or John Steinbeck would be proud of.