A February Thursday provided the opportunity for a first ever visit to Margate. A walk along the beach, a stroll round the old town’s growing number of retro shops, and fish’n’chips al fresco across the road from the harbour when the sun came out. The attempts to revive this Kent seaside town merit closer study, especially as the Mary Portas designed scheme is proving controversial. There were French school parties gathering on the steps of the Turner Contemporary gallery, business people bustling away and a handful of anglers and birdwatchers on the prom. We saved the Dreamland and penny arcade side of town for another visit, and walked past the Winter Gardens – coming soon Simple Minds – and the crumbling Lido built into the cliffs above sandy Walpole Bay beach in Cliftonville. The water quality failed some pollution tests in 2012, which is a shame. Click on the photograph for the gallery. More at http://margatearchitecture.blogspot.co.uk/ Photographs: Paul Nettleton
Margate: a faded seaside town in February – gallery
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