Skulferatu #60 - West Pier Lighthouse, The Royal Harbour, Ramsgate, Kent

 

The town of Ramsgate is dominated by the rather impressive Royal Harbour and the lines and lines of boats moored up there.

 

The Royal Harbour, Ramsgate

 

After lunch of cod & chips and a cup of tea at a local chippy, I wandered off to have a look around the harbour.  In the afternoon sunshine it was busy with sightseers, fishermen and people pottering about on boats.  There were also flocks of noisy, squawking seagulls zooming around in their self-assured and cocky way.

 

The Royal Harbour, Ramsgate

 

West Pier Lighthouse as seen from the East Pier

 

Ne Pas Nager, Ne Pas Plonger, Ne Pas Courir

 

The Royal Harbour was given its title by King George IV in 1821, after he had visited the town several times. Seemingly he had so much fun in the place that he felt he had to bestow some honour on it, so he decreed that the harbour should be given the title of royal and that it could fly his royal standard three times a year.  It sounds a bit like one of those look at me presents where the giver doesn’t really give that much and it’s really all about them.  Still, saying that it, Ramsgate Harbour is the only Royal Harbour in the UK. 

 

In 1940, during World War II, Ramsgate was one of the places where many small boats gathered to take part in Operation Dynamo.  They sailed over to Dunkirk where they helped to ferry men on to waiting ships so that they could be evacuated back to Britain.  Over forty thousand of the men rescued during this operation were landed at Ramsgate.

 

After walking to the end of the East Pier at the harbour, I made my way round to the more picturesque West Pier and the lighthouse there.

 

West Pier Lighthouse and Seagulls

 

West Pier Lighthouse, The Royal Harbour, Ramsgate

 

Detail of lighthouse roof

 

The lighthouse was designed by the architect John Shaw and built in 1842.  It is not the original lighthouse, as the first one was built close to the end of the pier and was frequently damaged by ship’s yardarms as they entered the harbour.

 

I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk in a metal structure at the side of the harbour, near to the lighthouse.

 

Skulferatu #60

 

Metal structure on the pier

 

Skulferatu #60 in the metal structure on the pier

 

Skulferatu #60 on the West Pier

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #60

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 51.327809

Longitude 1.421615

I used the following sources for information on the Lighthouse –

 

Tourist Information at site

 

Port of Ramsgate

Port of Ramsgate

 

Ramsgate, Kent's Coastal Heritage Town

Ramsgate Town - The Royal Harbour

 

 

Skulferatu #59 - Sea Cave, Dumpton Bay, Broadstairs, Kent

 

On a cold, but sunny winter afternoon I walked along the coast from Broadstairs to Ramsgate.  As the tide was out, I walked along the sandy beach by the cliffs at Dumpton Gap.  In the bright sunlight the lower part of the beach, nearer to the sea, reflected white through the rocks and seaweed. The white of crumbled and sea washed chalk from the cliffs.  The sea was a Turneresque blue green and was a flat calm stretching out into the curve of the horizon.

 

According to the amateur geologist Cecil Carus-Wilson, who specialised in the acoustic qualities of rocks, the sands around Dumpton Gap are musical.  A rare phenomena that only occurs in a few places around the world.  Seemingly if you strike the sand, it makes a musical note.  I tried this but it just went ‘thud’.  I must have been doing something wrong.

 

As I walked along, I passed many little sea worn caves in the cliffs and then came across one large enough to wander into. 

 

Sea Cave at Dumpton Bay

 

Sea Cave at Dumpton Bay

 

Looking out from the cave

 

The pitted walls of the cave, slimy with green seaweed

 

I wondered if it could be the same cave that Samuel Taylor Coleridge had found on one of his many visits to Ramsgate.  A cave he had used to strip off in before having a ‘glorious tumble in the waves.’  Looking out from the cave I could almost imagine a naked, opium addled Coleridge lolloping around as he headed down to the sea.

 

This area was also notorious for being a landing site for a gang of local smugglers and this is something Coleridge referenced in his poem ‘The Delinquent Travellers’ -

 

Methinks, along my native shore,

Dismounting from my steed I'll stray

Beneath the cliffs of Dumpton Bay,

Where, Ramsgate and Broadstairs between,

Rude caves and grated doors are seen:

And here I'll watch till break of day,

(For Fancy in her magic might

Can turn broad noon to starless night!)

When lo! methinks a sudden band

Of smock-clad smugglers round me stand.

Denials, oaths, in vain I try,

At once they gag me for a spy,

And stow me in the boat hard by…

 

If you are worried as to the fate of the hero of this poem then take comfort in the fact that he is allowed to disembark from the boat when it arrives at Boulogne, and he then heads off to Australia.

 

Inside the cave the chalk walls were pitted and green with seaweed slime.  There was a pungent smell of the ocean as if the sea had scented the very rocks with its salt.

 

I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk in a gap in the chalk wall of the cave.

 

Skulferatu #59

 

Skulferatu #59 in gap in wall of cave

 

Skulferatu #59 in gap in wall of cave

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #59

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 51.347914

Longitude 1.438490

 

I used the following sources for information on Dumpton Bay

 

Ramsgate Recorder, Winter 2021-2022

 

The Isle of Thanet News, Thanet History with Martin Charlton: Coleridge and Ramsgate, October 26, 2021

The Isle of Thanet News

 

Field Excursion and Science Lecture

The Thanet Advertiser, June 13, 1903

Skulferatu #58 - Viking Bay, Broadstairs, Kent

 

Viking Bay is one of the main attractions for visitors to the lovely seaside town of Broadstairs.  A town that I saw a decade or so ago on a television programme and thought I have to go there.  So, I did, and I’ve been many times since.

 

Greetings from Beautiful Broadstairs

 

Broadstairs is a town with a history rich in art and literature.  For many years it was the favourite holiday destination of Charles Dickens who wrote David Copperfield while there.  He also celebrated the town in an affectionate piece of writing entitled Our English Watering Place.  John Buchan, author of The Thirty Nine Steps, recuperated there while recovering from illness.  Frank Richards, the author of Billy Bunter, lived there as did Bruce Robinson, the author of Withnail and I, and most importantly, so did Oliver Postgate, the creator of Bagpuss and The Clangers.

 

View over Viking Bay

 

Beach huts at Viking Bay

 

Beach huts at Viking Bay

 

Signpost on the beach at Viking Bay

 

A seagull by the sea

 

The Old Boathouse

 

Viking Bay used to be known as Main Bay.  It was renamed in 1949 following the celebrations of the 1500^th anniversary of Hengist and Horsa landing at the bay in 449 AD.  It is a horseshoe shaped bay with a beach of golden sands that for much of the year is bustling with holiday makers and tourists.  At one end of the bay there is a harbour on which sits the Old Boathouse.  Looking out to sea on the building is the figure of The Scotsman.  This was recovered from the ship Highland Chief, which sank on the Goodwin Sands in 1869.  Running up to and around the cliffs are numerous colourful beach huts and by the cliffs there are stairs and a lift up to the promenade.

 

Cliff side beach huts at Viking Bay

 

Cliff side beach huts at Viking Bay

 

Bucket and Spade at Viking Bay

 

A seagull enjoys the view over Viking Bay

 

Walkway over cliff side beach huts

 

On my visit there today, I wandered along the beach in the bright winter sun.  Even on a day like this when a cool wind blew in from the sea there were families and children playing on the sands of the beach.  I walked past them and made my way up the walkway above the colourful blue and yellow doored beach huts.  There in a crumbling hollow in the chalky cliffs that look out to the sea, I left a Skulferatu.

 

Skulferatu #58

 

Skulferatu #58 in the crumbling chalk cliffs above Viking Bay

 

Skulferatu #58 in the crumbling chalk cliffs above Viking Bay

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #58

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 51.357397

Longitude 1.442300

 

I used the following sources for information on Viking Bay and Broadstairs –

 

Broadstairs Town Trail Leaflet

Broadstairs Town trail - visitthanet.co.uk

 

Tourist Info at site

 

Wikipedia

Broadstairs - Wikipedia