Apparently the donkeys have now gone from Margate beach - suprising eh? Anyhow TDC are now looking for someone else to do it!!!!
Wondering when the penny will drop??????
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For the first time in more than 200 years, the braying of stubborn quadrupeds will not be heard echoing around many beaches in Kent this summer. Nick Gunn, owner of Britain's oldest donkey ride outfit, is retiring his animals from service on the beaches of Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs. "It's really sad I've had to close after 15 years ... because my mother is extremely ill and I've had to give up to look after her," he said. The council is looking for someone to take over Gunn's contract so that donkeys can continue to ply their beach trade as they have done since 1790
Margate Britain’s oldest donkey rides have been cancelled. Nick Gunn, the owner of Margate’s donkey ride company, said: “It’s sad I’ve had to close, but my mother is extremely ill and I’ve had to give up to look after her. I’ve rehomed the donkeys.” Margate first held donkey rides in 1790, and Thanet council is seeking someone to set up another such outfit. A spokesman said: “We are optimistic the donkeys will be back on the beach before too long.”
Donkey rides are no more
Wednesday August 6,2008
A SUMMER tradition stretching back more than two centuries has come to a sad end.
Donkey rides on the sands at Margate, Kent – where they were introduced in 1790 – are no more.
Families enjoying bucket and spade holidays there and at neighbouring Broadstairs and Ramsgate were met by signs this week saying owner Nick Gunn had been forced to close his business.
“It’s really sad I’ve had to close,” he said yesterday. “It was because my mother is extremely ill and I’ve had to give up to look after her.”
He has found new homes for all his charges, including popular Bramble, Fury, Rocky and Rosie, who helped him win the runners-up prize in last year’s Britain’s Best Beach Donkey competition.
The demise of the £2 rides is a big disappointment for many families. Mother-of-two Jane Ramsbottom, 34, in Margate on a day trip from Dover, said: “It’s such a shame. I brought my two little ones here for a summer treat and they would
have loved a ride on the donkeys. They are such a British seaside image.”
Londoner David Vickers, 38, in Broadstairs with his wife Sandra and three children said: “It’s a massive disappointment. It’s part of our culture and now it’s gone.”
Thanet Council is hopeful someone will take Nick’s place. Peter Sampson of the British Resorts Association, said: “There’ll always be kids wanting donkey rides.”
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