News Rubble

A story about the, er, spot of local difficulty on Facebook has finally appeared in the Observer. Click here to read that. Plus, of course, there's more background on our local flying doctor's blog here.

I should also have alerted readers yesterday to the fact that there is a series of concerts happening at St Augustine's Church here in the Millionaires' Playground, to celebrate Pugin's birthday, the first of which was, um, last night. No matter, there are two more coming up in March. The poster for the concerts is below.

That has also been mentioned on Simon Moores' blog, so really, just pop over there and you should be alright. He's much more sober than me - especially at the weekend - and therefore generally less prone to dropping a bollock. You really wouldn't want to be sitting in a teeny-tiny plane with the likes of me piloting it. Oh no. No siree.

I Do Like To Stroll Along The Prom...

Meandering along the East Cliff prom this morning, I clocked one or two changes. First off, our Grade II listed Pugin lion has been restored after its encounter with the East Cliff Chopper last year. Hurrah!

Bull Rushes

Holy Moses! I almost forgot to remind you that it's Thanet Night tonight on Channel 4!

It kicks off at 9pm with a repeat of the Time Team special on Pugin. That's followed by the premier of Margate blockbuster Exodus. With all the bad coverage the north side's been getting recently, this ripsnorter should help redress the balance. Michael Caine stars as the babe in the basket who's transported to the Arsonists' Playground, where he finds love (Angelina Jolie), and goes on to part the Thames Estuary and lead his chosen people to the promised land of Southend. On the way, several things burn down (natch), but it's OK because they talk to him! Unmissable!

All Mod Cons

Augustus Pugin, Ramsgate's most illustrious architectural son, is featured all this week on Radio 4. God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain by Rosemary Hill is currently Book of the Week, and it's just getting to the interesting stuff about the Millionaire's Playground.

Apparently our Puge was besotted with the place, and built what's described as the world's first 'modern home' here. The Grange, pictured above, was way ahead of its time, and boasted plasma tellies, Smeg appliances and a wet room.

Don't worry if you've not tuned in so far. You can listen to all five episodes, narrated by Haydn Gwynne, on the Radio 4 website for the next seven days. You'll just love the part where the plumbers arrive with the wrong Jacuzzi!

Pin Back Your Eraholes

OK, I'm off the crack now. I think. Mind you, looking at that headline, maybe not.

So the Biggles Brigade, clearly rather rattled by my Thanet Is Beautiful video, have aborted their scheduled landing on the East Cliff tomorrow night and gone round for another circuit. Instead of being graced by Infartil, the owners of RAF London Kent Ramsgate Manston International Airport, the Eastcliff Residents' Association AGM will instead be hosting a talk on 'The Pugin Family' (what did happen to David Cassidy?) by Nick Dermott, Chairman of the Pugin Society. It kicks off at 7.30pm at our crumbling Albion House.

Meanwhile I've received a reply from Oasis Hong Kong Airlines to my email complaining about their infernal oozalum flights. Here's what I wrote:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Yet another Sunday ruined here in the pretty coastal resort of Ramsgate, Kent, UK as your 400 tonne aluminium lump flies over every ten minutes, feet from everyone's heads, on its training circuits from Manston. I presume the Reverend Lee approves of people's Sunday's being devastated in this way, and that he is therefore more interested in Mammon than God.

Yours etc.

Here's what they wrote back:

Dear Mr Eastcliff,

Thank you for your email and your feedback. This is to let you know that we were doing pilot training. Please note that this happens on most weekends. Thank you for contacting us.

Yours sincerely

Johanna Chan, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines

Ah, the inscrutable Chinese. Johanna. What a lovely name. I wonder if she's got a boyfriend? I've replied thus:

Dear Johanna,

May I call you Johanna? I am a very wealthy millionaire here in England. Do you ever come to England? If so, perhaps we could sort this whole thing out over dinner?

Yours ever,

Dickie

West Cliff Story

So I thought I'd tootle along to the West Cliff to see what all the fuss was about (see previous post). Talk about timing! The day after the kind of exposure on primetime national TV that most PR people would cream their jocks over, the Grange is closed to visitors.

That got the old grey matter going. What else on Ramsgate's West Cliff could I do to while away the time? Ah yes, the Motor Museum.


Er, no. Not unless I'd brought my hard hat. This is what West Clilff Hall used to look like in its heyday:


Gallery IOTA, maybe? Nope, in a fine example of arts regeneration, that's had to make way for a kiddies playgroup.

Oh well, the pub it is then!

PS: Apologies to Vince Runacre for shamelessly purloining the idea behind his superb Old Ramsgate (then and now) blog. There's some terrific stuff there, so do pay him a visit.

Puge Cock Up

Well what a disappointing old pile that Time Team special on Pugin turned out to be. All the money shots were of the famous Victorian architect's cliff top mansion, and bits of the West Cliff.

I know the occasional glimpse of The Lookout would have got old Nethercourt's pulse racing, but where was the rest of Ramsgate? And by that I mean our trend-setting, go-ahead, rinky-dink East Cliff.

No wonder Baldric finished the show beside Pugin's tomb in that flint monstrosatery behind the Grange with these words: 'It's amazing that this great man lies forgotten here in this part of England that time has been unkind to.' Precisement!

By the way, I've emailed Tony with the details of a good, reasonably priced plastic surgeon in Poland. I don't know about you, but he's looking like something he might have dug up on his own show these days.

Tune In For Pugin

I see our Monte Carlo style megalopolis is to be featured yet again on Channel 4 this week.

My old TV chums Tony Robinson and that nice Kevin McCloud from Grand Designs are presenting a Time Team special entitled Pugin: The God of Gothic. Of course, I exclusively revealed this upcoming treat back in April 2006 (Time Team Comes To Ramsgate).

The famous Victorian architect's own cliff top mansion over on the rather less salubrious West Cliff will be featured. I'm not sure if the splendid fellow above who sits on our trendy and stylish East Cliff is the same chap, though, as the Pugins were Catholics and consequently there were 496 of them.

The new show comes hot on the heels of January's RamsgateFest on Relocation Relocation. All Channel 4 need to do now is get rid of That Bloody Awful Noel, and I for one will be supergluing their button down on my remote!

Time Team Special - Pugin: The God of Gothic, Thursday 1 March, 9pm