Purple Reign

It’s taken a while to sink in, but you’ve probably seen by now that the results of the Kent County Council elections in Thanet have certainly been… well, how can I put it?! I’m gonna opt for ‘interesting’. That’s a good adjective in these circumstances. 

As reported by Thomas Brown on This Is Kent's website, 7 out of the 8 KCC councillors elected to represent the Isle of Thanet were UK Independence Party candidates. The only candidate without a purple rosette to his name who bagged himself a place in County Hall was Labour activist and former Mayor of Margate, Will Scobie. This is, without a doubt, a momentous result. 

Let’s not beat around the bush – I don’t honestly believe anyone could have expected the scale of UKIP’s electoral success in Thanet. The inroads made by UKIP candidates surpassed all of my expectations, so you’ll understand me if I admit that I didn’t expect this outcome. It’s unprecedented, as far as I can see. But it’s also fairly unanimous, clearly. So what else is there to say? 

In the end, it appears as if the people of Thanet have made their choice. Perhaps we should start getting used to the purple reign.

See what I did there?! Although, I suppose the real question is: Would Prince have voted UKIP?

Don't You Forget About Them

Eighties rock band Simple Minds are coming to Thanet to play the Margate Winter Gardens on Tuesday 16 April. Still going strong after years on the road, frontman Jim Kerr and his band are swapping the glittering stage of their Wembley-headlining heyday with a performance in a long-forgotten seaside town. Finally, he's big enough to play Margate. 

I guess that's why it's reflected in the £37.50 ticket prices. He wants to make it worth our while, bless him. I'm sure there are many local people who've waited a long time for a band of their stature to show us how they're 'Alive and Kicking' despite being well into their fifties. What’s a few grey hairs between friends, eh? 

If you've seen the film The Breakfast Club by director John Hughes, I'm sure you'll fondly remember hearing Simple Minds' biggest hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)" which is still something of a playlist staple on Absolute Radio, my favourite radio station. Admittedly, I'm not averse to enjoying a bit of dadrock, despite not having a dad to introduce me to bands like Simple Minds.

Unlike most people of my generation, however, I'm willing to give Simple Minds time of day, bored as I am of having dross like One Direction and The Wanted shoved down my lugholes. I'm not sure if this gig has sold out, but it does look set to be a very memorable night.

Have you bought tickets? Let us know what you think of Simple Minds...

Photo credit: Oyvind Solstad via Flickr under this Creative Commons License

It's Flippin' Pancake Day!

Well I never! I had no idea that it was Pancake Day until I saw it mentioned on Twitter first thing this morning. Has it really been a year since I saw pancakes sizzling on my frying pan last Shrove Tuesday? I suppose it must have been.

I noticed that SEAS Photography has been tweeting some historical pictures from the South East Archive of Seaside Photography today.

Taken at the 1958 Pancake Race at Station Road in Westgate-on-Sea, the photos are well worth a look so I asked for permission to share them on this blog to see what you think. Here's a couple more:

Do you remember the 1958 Westgate-on-sea pancake race? Were you there when these photos were taken? Share your memories below. 

Photo credits © SEAS Photography & Margate Museum via Twitter.

That's the Hemingway to Do It

If you were in any doubt that Margate is indeed on the uppers in the fashion stakes, Wayne Hemingway has released another advert with Hush Puppies which shows Margate in all its retro chic glory. 

Featuring a rabble of Fred Perry-shirt wearing cool cats, dressed in vintage garb with braces, lollipops and Mary Quant haircuts, they storm the beaches like Quadrophenia-meets-Reservoir Dogs. 

It is undeniably cool, even if it does at times feel like this is purely adland territory - only in a parallel universe could a hipster with an Errol Flynn moustache actually work in Beano café flipping burgers. Still, the vibe is street-smart and snappy, and it only reinforces my own belief that Margate is indeed standing on the vanguard of great change. 

An influx of boho sorts and fashionistas are clearly trying to move mountains to bring Margate's idealised nostalgia for its mod past into back the mainstream. That is something something which must be welcomed, and this video proves it. Enjoy.

HemingwayDesign for Hush Puppies SS13 from Jack Hemingway on Vimeo.

Photo credit: Video still from the above 'HemingwayDesign for Hush Puppies SS13' video.

Is Malaga better than Margate?

I'm sure by now you've all seen the Twitter storm about EasyJet's latest promotional poster as reported by This Is Kent which implores holidaymakers to "end up in Malaga, not Margate."

I feel quite flattered that Margate has been subjected to a dose of shock advertising. Sure, it's a bit rich that a British company with a total revenue of £3.8 billion can afford to belittle a seaside town on its home turf in a side-swipe to the UK tourism industry, but if there's anything that's likely to get tongues wagging, it's controversy.

But I guess the real question is: Is Malaga better than Margate? I suppose it depends. Spain, after all, have a worse unemployment problem than the UK, with 26.2% of Spaniards out-of-work as opposed to Britain's 7.8%, and Time Magazine reported in the last few months that Spain's economic outlook is positively dismal.

Since the poor old folks of Malaga are in such a sorry state, maybe the allure of warmer weather and a desire to help an ailing nation by giving them a tourism boost will win out? After all, getting us Brits to book a holiday in the capital of the Costa del Sol is a far more appealing way of being charitable than doing a sponsored egg and spoon race, don’t you think?!

Or maybe you’re more inclined to take Chas & Dave’s advice and would rather have a day down Margate with all your family. I know which I’d prefer. What do you think?

Photo credit: Broadie Mag's Facebook post. The inclusion of this image is not an endorsement of this blog entry.

DFL-ephant in the Room

Lisa Richards, owner of local restaurant Great British Pizza, has stirred up a hornet’s nest by writing an article about the regeneration of Margate. Described as a 'love letter to Margate', the article appears to perpetuate some negative and rather patronising stereotypes about local people – something which, let's be honest, I'm sure we've all been guilty of at some point – and the resulting public backlash has gone viral.

I feel very bad for Lisa. Even though she’s apologised, she’s rapidly become a victim of cyber bullying and I don’t think she deserves such vitriol. I once emailed her asking for an interview about how her use of social media had helped promote her business and she was kind enough to respond. Regrettably, with this incident, it seems like her Midas touch has backfired somewhat!

However, Lisa’s article does confirm what some locals have feared about DFLs for years - that they regard local people as 'lowlifes' and that before rich Londoners came to save the day our town was a 'no-go area, full of drunks waiting for their benefit cheques to clear.' There's a word for that, and it's 'snobbery', sadly. I doubt whether Lisa meant it to come across like that, but it does make Margate seem like it's nothing more than a slum tourist destination for the 'well-heeled'.

However, I do hope Lisa's business survives this media furore. Great British Pizza is an asset to the town, so let's hope that the phrase 'no publicity is bad publicity' holds true! I am yet to visit Lisa's restaurant and this incident certainly won’t put me off doing so. However, I’ll probably avoid asking for a can of Stella at the bar!

Image © John Mallon via Flickr and licensed for reuse. The inclusion of this image is not an endorsement of this post.

White Light Paranormal Investigations Q&A

With Halloween looming over us, it’s hard to avoid thinking about ghosties 'n' ghoulies. Do ghosts exist? Do you believe in the supernatural? Is there such a thing as an afterlife? To tackle these big questions, I was surprised to discover that Thanet has its own team of paranormal researchers going by the name of White Light Investigations.

I decided to send some questions to Claire Clifford-Fennell, Lead Investigator for The White Light Investigation Team to find out more about them:

Can you tell me a bit more about White Light Investigations?

CLAIRE: “White Light Investigations have been going for around 6 years now with more or less the same Team as we started.  I wanted to get a Team of people together, Spirit sensitives, open minded sceptics, and sceptics, to record paranormal activity for people to see what I have seen with my own eyes. 

I like to think that with the mixture of people we have, we acheive a balance in our findings. We are a Team of 8, 6 of which live in the local area, 2 live in Essex. We all trust each other and we all strive for the same thing -- to find out the truth behind paranormal activity.”

Who are you, and what got you into the business of paranormal investigations?

CLAIRE: “I am a Spirit sensitive, and have had many paranormal experiences from an early age, I sometimes wondered if I was going mad!! after a lifetime of experiences, I wanted to delve deeper into the Paranormal to try and find answers, and also ask "why me".

I dont know how, but I have found myself at this point in my life -- being Lead Investigator and Founder of White Light Investigations! It is something I feel very strongly about, and I am very proud of what I do.”

Do you personally believe in ghosts? Would you care to share any stories or experiences?

CLAIRE: “I believe in Ghosts! My experiences in Life have proved to me that there is something else out there, a thin veil between our reality and the "other side". I have had many strange, and also scary experiences with the Paranormal.

On one particular occasion, I was alone in my house, when I felt a nudge in the middle of my back, and I proceed to tumble to the bottom of my stairs! I was quite angry about this as you can imagine.  Not long after this "episode", I found out that the Lady who had lived in the house previously, had died in hospital from falling down the stairs.

Another incident that springs to mind, was at Crampton Tower in Broadstairs when we were investigating. Myself and my Sister Emma (who is also a Spirit sensitive -- it runs in our Family), were both touched on our bottoms by what we feel was a rather cheeky Spirit!”

Which locations in Thanet would you say have the reputation for being the most haunted? Have you witnessed any spooky occurrences in those places?

CLAIRE: “There are many locations in Thanet which I believed to be "haunted".  The Tudor House in King Street Margate has never failed to deliver activity.  We have investigated there several times, and feel that the house "knows us", as soon as we walk in the door, there are bangs, knocks and footsteps to greet us.  The Margate Museum is also very atmospheric, as well as the Tom Thumb Theatre, The Brittania pub, and most recently The Hoy pub, which was extremely interesting.”

Have White Light Investigations got any special plans for Halloween this year? How can people get involved in what you do?

CLAIRE: “Unfortunately we won't be conducting any investigations on Halloween, as I will be on a busman's holiday, in Edinburgh!  I will drag my Family on all the Ghost walks, and also down to Mary Kings close.  Edinburgh is extremely haunted as a City, and I just love it!

We have done many public investigations, where people can come and investigate with the White Light Team. We dont have any planned for the rest of the year, but hope to organise one in the New Year.  We show people how to use equipment, and guide our Guests through the night using our experience and ways of trying to engage Spirit.”

If you’d like to find out more about White Light Investigations, please visit their website www.white-light-investigations.com. You can also follow them on Facebook and on Twitter.

What do you think? Have you ever had any supernatural experiences in Thanet? Please feel free to share your spooky stories below.

Image © Copyright Claire Clifford-Fennell and the White Light Investigation Team.