Eastern Eggs

It's a four day weekend coming up! Hurrah! Hopefully we'll get lots of lovely visitors cramming down here to the far eastern tip of Kent to enjoy all the superduper stuff we've got going on, as well, of course, as our gorgeous seascape, architecture, nosh and booze.

To that end, I've updated my What's On In Thanet guide in the sidebar on the right. If you're on a smartphone, you'll have to click on 'view web version' to see that. To be frank it's not as comprehensive as it once was, given that the Visit Thanet website has improved over the years and is now pretty kushti. So apols if your particular shindig has been left out.

Also in my sidebar is my Recommended Nosheries column. This, er, needs a bit of updating, especially the Margate and Broadstairs sections.

I'll be tooling around the towns over the Easter break to sample the delights of the island's eateries, and reporting back. So restaurant owners beware! Prime cuts only please - no fingers in pies!! And if any of you lovely readers have any grubby experiences to report, do drop me a line in the comments section below.

As ever, I like to promote Ramsgate over Margate, especially given all the public dosh that's been spent attracting tourists to the north side at the expense of the south side over the past few years. So I'm pleased to announce that the Millionaires' Playground can now boast a new museum and gallery to equal the Turnip Contemporary! Step forward The Micro Museum, which boasts a collection of computers, electronics and video games from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. What with that and our Pinball Museum, all we need now is a glass eye collection and the tourists will be flocking!

Haha, no, only kidding. Ramsgate is a great place to visit, and this will be the first Easter for a century during which the happy holidaymakers won't be deafened by knackered old jumbos dive-bombing their barnets.

Still, the powers-that-be have done their best to put the mockers on it all, what with giving us concrete piles and now a burst main poo-drain down on the port, near, appropriately enough, the fart farms. It's not the first, and almost certainly not the last time Southern Water has treated us to this shower of proverbial during the summer season. Crimminy!

Right! I'm off to stuff some carbs in ahead of the Planet Thanet Beer Festival, which kicks off tomorrow. It'll be the ninth year in a row that I've sampled the delights of 180 real ales, then suffered the torture of beer-a-rear for the following week. To be honest, it's not been the same since it moved from Thanet's premier town to Margate Winter Gardens after the first year, but with Wetherspoons now looking like the faves to revamp Ramsgate's Royal Pavilion who knows, next year we could be welcoming the beardy beer imbibers back - to the biggest pub in Britain! Pip pip!

Manston Owner Backs Brownfield Village Plan

Yes folks - it's Manston Week in your super, soaraway Eastcliff Richard! And here's yet another clue to the future of our lovely airport. Its minted owner, Ann Gloag, is behind plans to build homes, shops, offices and a restaurant on a brownfield site that used to employ 100s of people.

That's got your attention, hasn't it?!?!!

Well, they don't call me Tricky Dicky for nothing. I'll have to come clean and say that the site isn't the airport, it's where an old sausage factory used to be, in Scotland. Apparently the Dutch owners pulled out their sausages (it also used to make the 'the UK's best-selling haggis') last year, after losing £79,000 a day, making 1700 people redundant.

According to the Scottish Herald, Airport Annie believes her new scheme could create 200 jobs. Naturally enough, the local council and the Scottish Government look set to bend over backwards, and forwards, to help her.

Thing is, the sausage site is only 18 acres. Just imagine what she could do with 700!

Meanwhile Norf Fannit Tory, Sir Roger Wind MP, has revealed that a letter offering to buy Manston will be sent to Annie Get Your Gloags today, from his mystery 'consortium'. That'll be the consortium about which even he admits 'I don't even know whether they have the resources to buy the airport'. Or, indeed, whether Annie Get Your Housing Estate wants to sell.

So, er, good luck with that, Rodge!

Click here to read the full story in the Scottish Herald.
Click here to smell more Wind in the Kent Messenger.

Thousands Watch Boat Burn In Broadstairs

Ha ha! No, not another of those 'earner burners' that are our speciality here in the tip of Kent. No, reader Colin writes:

Hi Ricky! As if to prove the old dictum that they'd flock to the opening of an envelope in Boredstares, there must have been thousands lining the cliff tops last night to watch a very small Viking boat being set on fire on the beach in Viking Bay.

Apparently it was all in aid of the 100th anniversary of Bradstow School and supported by Wandsworth Council and those Mears people who do public sector building maintenance, who had even brought a film crew all the way from Manchester to capture the momentous event. I suspect they won't be doing that in future, once Eric Pickles has got hold of them.

The cops were out in force, bumping up their overtime and pensions by ensuring the serried ranks of octogenarians didn't start a riot, but they were almost outnumbered by the health and safety police who had everything cordoned off. The fire brigade were also there just to make sure the boat didn't set fire to the sand or the sea. The do-gooders also apparently insisted the fireworks went off at 9:15, in broad daylight, which rather spoilt the effect if you ask me.

It struck me, seeing the Viking Warlord's body being placed on the boat and then set fire to, that this would be an appropriate send-off for a local amusement park magnate who seems to have a lot of bad luck with insured property being burnt down, as and when his time comes!

All the best, Colin

Well Colin, I take your point about Eric Pickles. With 25% to slash off local government budgets it would seem obvious that the axe should fall on events first. They aren't really an 'essential service', are they? Besides, with all the talented, professional people (moi) round here who are prepared to organise better things at no cost to the taxpayer, surely the private sector should be getting first dibs!

Blazing Margate

Nope, nothing to do with the weekend weather. While I've been off cavorting with my new druid chums, it appears half of Cliftonville has gone up in smoke. For those of you who are still unaware of the major fire in Northdown Road, you can catch up here, here, here, here, and here.

Inspector Knacker is said to be investigating. Not for nothing is it called the Arsonists' Playground!

Updates here and here. Anyone with any information should contact Margate police station on 01843 231055 or talk to one of the Cliftonville plastic bobbies as soon as possible.

Grubby Thoughts

During my assignation with one of our lovely local authors earlier this week, the discussion turned to the woeful lack of fine dining hereabouts. Of course, it would be great if the island's papers carried restaurant reviews. But you could be certain that the first mention of a dodgy prawn at a Thorley establishment would see their advertising revenue going down the gurgler along with everything else. So that's out of the question.

There are some excellent eateries - the Indian Princess in Margate springs to mind, or the relatively recent Age and Sons in Charlotte Court here in the Millionaires' Playground. But how do you tell the perfectly matured fillet of beef from the Turkey Twizzler if you've never been before?

That's why, as a service to my fellow Thanetian gourmets, I'm offering you the chance to put your restaurant reviews here on the island's premier blog. And if you can give the place a knife and fork rating out of five, I can begin to build the ECR Guide To Good Food In Thanet. So, whether it be a simple pub meal, a great curry, perfect fish and chips, or the dining experience to die for (from E. Coli or not as the case may be), send your reviews to richardeastcliff@yahoo.co.uk

Deja Vu?

So, a derelict site in a seaside town has burnt down, not long after it was bought by an arcade owner. Hmmm. Why does that not surprise me?

Ramsgate's Burning! (Again)

Flaming caffs! I'm just getting reports here in 'the smoke' that one of those restaurants in Harbour Street has gone up in flames. My sources back in Ramsgate say the stench of cremated chicken parmaganas has been pouring across the town from Cavallinos since lunchtime.

That's one more place the tourists won't be flocking to during the Easter break then.