See The New Year In With A Bang!

I dunno. I seem to be the only person still functioning after the Daily Thanet office party the other night. Quite why we had to top a case of Krug off with Espresso Martinis, lord knows.

Any-old-hoo, I trust all is well with you, dear reader, and that Santa emptied his sack in your chimney with the desired results.

TBH, there's not much news around to talk about. I see that Scobie The Younger has been arguing against spending dosh on the refurb of Ramsgate Station on the grounds that it'll soon be made obsolete by the ridiculous new Thanet Parkway. Quite why someone who wants to be the next MP for South Thanet would undermine the main railway station in the chief town in his potential constituency is a bit of a poser.

Ah, but then our foetal Labour candidate lives in Cliftonville, doesn't he? So I suspect he's more aligned with the Margate Mafia than us minted Ramsgate DFLs who want to walk to a station where we can be whisked to God's Own North London in just over an hour!

Speaking of Margate, this year the town will be putting on a New Year's fireworks display. It's the first time for ages, and it's been instigated by those nice hedge fund people who run the Sands Hotel. Of course, in past years Margatonians have just had to make do with watching another amusement arcade burn down. Oh how times have changed over on the North Side!

Meanwhile Ramsgate will be continuing its long tradition of seeing the New Year in with a bang, so do pop over and say hello!

Oh yes, and to show that I don't just make this bilge up, I heard a rumour the other day that those pyrotechnics people out at Manston might be pulling the plug, due to their lives being made a misery by the elf 'n' safety types. It comes to something, doesn't it, when the council can't be arsed to inspect restaurants, but can make life hell if you're just cooking up a few bangers!

Ramsgate's Big Weekend

Just a reminder that this weekend we have Those Magnificent Men In Their Floating Machines racing up and down along the Ramsgate costa, thrusting their 3,000,000 horse power beauties to a potential maximum of 900mph! I gather the spectacle is mostly centered on the seedier west side of the Millionaires' Playground, based around the port. More details here.

And up on Government Acre, also on the west side, you can wallow in nostalgia with Thanet At War, an exhibition of military vehicles and other 1940s stuff. Entry to that is a paltry two knicker. I must say, I went last year and the tea and buns were rather good!

So forget grooving to the tunes of Plan B and Jessie J over at the Sound Island Festival in Quex Park, come to, er, stormy Ramsgate and thrill instead to the sound of V8 engines and Vera Lynn!

Update: It seems that no actual powerboat racing took place on Saturday, due to a rather gloomy mist that has descended on the Millionaires' Playground. Oh well, that's Blighty for you. You pays your money, then the fog takes it away!

Update update: My spies tell me that there will be racing today (Sunday) as the weather's much improved. It should all kick off around 3pm. Hurrah!

Noises Off

New reader Lynn writes:

I have recently moved 'out of town' to the quiet (or so I thought) realms of North Foreland, only to hear what I would describe as a sonic boom every half an hour. What on earth is it? Any ideas?

Yours, baffled!

Well Lynn, we've had reports on this blog before of pile driving for the Thanet Offshore Wind fart farm causing this sort of disturbance, so it may be that. Or it could be those army wallahs letting a few big ones off at their Shoeburyness testing range across the Thames Estuary. If any of you lovely readers have any other thoughts, do pass them on.

Meanwhile, still on the theme of annoying noises, reader Millicent writes:

Is it just me or does anyone else hear a constant hum in Ramsgate at night? I remember someone else mentioning it a few months ago. For weeks I do not hear anything then suddenly it is back with a vengeance. It is driving me to distraction this week - all I want is a good night's sleep. And no I don't think I have tinnitus as I don't hear it when I sleep in hotels and elsewhere.

Well, I can't say I've heard a hum Laura. Smelt one down at our lovely Royal Harbour where the duffers can't be arsed to clear the icky detritus from the water, yes. But heard one? Nope. Anyone else having the same problem?

Mystery Banging Was Wind Farm Work

Just a quick update on Monday night's mysterious banging. Turns out it was indeed nighttime construction work at the Thanet Offshore Array, where they're pile-driving 100 wind turbines into the sea bed off Margate.

The array's owners, Vattenfall, have apologised for any inconvenience to the isle's inhabitants and said that Monday's disturbance was caused by an unusual combination of weather which drove the sound inland. They say it's unlikely to happen again as they did five years of environmental studies before work began to minimise the impact on residents. However, they've promised to consult on what can be done to change the situation should it happen again.

Contrast that with Manston owners Infratil. They want to fly jumbos over us all night, every night. No environmental studies. No apologies. No nothing. Perhaps they could learn something about being good neighbours from Vattenfall. With that, I'll stop banging on!

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Mysterious Banging

Reader Tom of Westgate writes:

Have you noticed a loud banging in the air lately? I was kept awake by it last night from about 11pm, when I first noticed it, to about 2.30am, when it seemed to stop. It was a distant thud, almost like a huge gun firing every two seconds. I tried to record it on camcorder and dictaphone but it didn’t register at all. When I first heard it it sounded like the steady beat of dance music but after a bit I noticed it hadn’t changed.

I opened the window and listened and it was like the very ground was shaking with each strike, shuddering like the T-Rex scene in Jurassic Park. I am totally perplexed. The only thing I could think it might be was the boats that are doing the wind farm, doing the foundations. It seemed to be emanating from the direction of the sea but then again, would they do all that late at night? Perhaps it’s just a phenomenon up on the north side of the isle.

Any ideas? It was driving me to distraction last night and I want to know if anyone else heard it. I asked my flatmates this morning but they looked at me like I was mad. They probably don’t have trouble sleeping like me.

Hmmm. A mysterious, regular nighttime banging that shakes the whole room. What on earth could it be? Over to you luvvly readers!