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.