Ramsgate

Good morning everyone!

It's the start of a new week so I wanted to write a new blog entry.

I decided to change the location to a different place, other than London.

Welcome to Ramsgate!

This beautiful coastal town in England is in the southeast, part of Kent.

The administrative capital of Kent is Maidstone although the most well-known and representative in the county is Canterbury, which is known as the cultural and historical capital. I'll talk about Canterbury in another post.

Kent not only borders London, but also the euro tunnel which goes to France. When it's a clear sunny day, you can even see the coast of France, the nearest point is Dover, at only 25km from Calais in France. Ramsgate is only 35km from the French coast.

Kent is formed of a number of cities such as Maidstone, Canterbury, Dover, Rochester, Thanet, etc.

Thanet is a place made up of Margate, Boradstairs and Ramsgate. Beforehand, this part was separated from the county of Kent by a river called "Watxum" and it therefore formed a small island named the Isle of Thanet. Over timer, this small island started to move and join the other side as the width of river got smaller. Nowadays, we can see on the map of England that it's united and now part of Kent.

According to the latest census (2011) carried out in Ramsgate, it has a population of over 42,000 inhabitants. In England, censuses are carried out every 10 years. In general, it's quite a young population, you will see children in the streets and lots of families.

The town of Thanet is proud to have the most blue flags in all of England's beaches. Thanet has been awarded 7 blue flags this year and 4 special "Seaside" prizes. Amongst these flags, you can find the most famous in Ramsgate and it's called "Ramsgate Main Sands".

But if this information seems surprising, I'm just saying that over the years Thanet has been awarded 140 blue flags and 111 special "seaside" prizes for all it's hard work and tourism.

The most characteristic and well-known place in Ramsgate, apart from its beach area, is the port. That's where lots of boats dock daily and where you can take the most traditional photo of the area. I recommend going for a walk in the port at night and enjoying one of the most beautiful scenes here with all the boats lit up and lights everywhere. It really makes Ramsgate a special place.

Ramsgate lives survives off of fishing, tourism and of course, farming. Tourism has powered this place for many years although motives have changed over the years. Many years ago, and during the years of war, in general inhabitants in England didn't have money to go and travel or to buy plane tickets and go to the Costa Dorada or the Balearic Islands like they do now. Therefore, they had to find a place to enjoy the good weather where they could stay with relatives. In addition, Ramsgate has always been considered as a working-class place with little money, so it's the most popular place for Londoners to go to on holiday where they can save money. To give you an idea, it's just like when Spanish families go to Benidorm or the la Manga beach. Since then, Thanet has always been a tourist place. Nowadays, due to our intercultural society and globalisation, prices of holidays are more affordable for British families who prefer to spend the summer in the Mediterranean Sea.

These days, tourism in Ramsgate is still important but tourists come from all over the world. Ramsgate is the headquarters of British schools who teach native English to foreigners. Ramsgate receives around 10,000 students alone a year, thanks to the language schools. In my own experience, as a student and worker here, I can promise you that people come back to repeat the course the following years. I've been working here for the past 3 summers and I can assure you that people fall in love with this place and want to come back.

There are two seasons in particular which made me really fall in love with this small town. Summer and Winter. Winter because the view of the port is amazing, where all the boats are decorated with Christmas lights, Christmas trees and it looks like a typical postcard of a true Christmas landscape. Summer because of the terraces which overlook the port and the beach where you can feel the sun and the sea breeze without suffocating from the heat. You can have a cold drink whilst having a pleasant conversation with someone.

Why did I decide to write a blog about Ramsgate and not another place?

For me, Ramsgate has special sentimental value. I came for the first time as a student when I was 17 years old. I went to "Churchill House School of English Language". I was there for a whole month studying English and meeting people of different nationalities. I fell in love so much that two years later I came back to work as a camp rep at the same school. Today, after all that time I'm still working here, and it's my third summer as a rep.

This school has been teaching since 1971 and it has different summer camps all over England, but the headquarters is the one in Ramsgate. This headquarters is open all year round receiving international students. The students stay with host families because it's part of the immersion programme, to be immersed in the language completely.

If you're thinking of improving your English and want to get a certificate, think about coming to this place, it's the ideal place. Incredible reps, teachers, families and superb sea views. During summer, the weather here is very similar to the north of Spain, so there won't be any heatwaves nor will it be too cold.

For more information and if you want to come, here's the link so you can find out more.

http://www.churchillhouse.com/

In addition, shortly you'll be able to know more about this place and part of its history because the're a film called "Dunkirk" which is about to come out at the cinemas (in Spanish it's called "Dínamo"). It's based on real facts, and it's about rescuing some troops from the British navy during the Second World War in Dunkirk (hence the name of the film). All units of the English, French and Belgian army had to get away from the Germans, and ended up being trapped on the beaches in Dunkirk. It was a huge catastrophe where many soldiers died. But thanks to the actions of certain English coasters, they managed to save many of them.

All the boats, or almost all the boats who went out on the water to save the soldiers left from the port in Ramsgate. Currently, Ramsgate still keeps one of the boats they used. It's called "Sundowner" and they still use it for tourist trips now.

Another thing that Ramsgate has is a replica of the "Viking Ship Hugin" which commemorates the 1500th anniversary of Hengist and Horsa when they got to the Isle of Thanet in 449. Legend has it that at the beginning, the ship was supposed to go to Broadstairs but as they thought it was a replica and not the smaller original, when it got there they didn't have any space for it so they sent it to Ramsgate and since then it's been kept here. It's on "Sandwich Rd, Cliffsend, Ramsgate CT12 5HY". You can visit it and go inside for free.

Who are Hengist and Horsa?

They're two Viking brothers who led the Saxons and the Angles in their invasion of Britain in the 5th century. In the beginning, they were invited to England to help in invasions and they ended up being mercenary soldiers in England. They got there on the Viking ship Hugin, to the Isle of Thanet. Later, these brothers rebelled against England and betrayed the people. Horsa died in a battle but Hengist was successful at conquering Kent, becoming the first Jutish King of Kent.

In Ramsgate you can see a church and monastery which were built by Augustus Pugin. This architect was born in Ramsgate, he built both buildings next to his house, well one next to his house and the other one in front of it. Both were donated much later. It was the first Benedictine building to be built after the reform. This architect, Augustus Pugin, was also the one who designed the inside of the British Houses of Parliament in London. The English church called San Agustin, is situated next to the Royal Esplanade and they say it contains one of St. Augustus Pugin's finger.

Many well-known artists chose to stay in Ramsgate. Amongst them are Vincent Van Gogh who lived there for 2 months in 1866 until his post as a teacher moved him on (from 16th April until 23rd June).

Also, Charles Darwin, a famous worldwide writer, lived in Ramsgate in 1850 whilst he was writing his book "On the Origins of Species".

Now I'm going to talk a little about this small town in general. The centre is made up of a crossroads of 4 streets which are called:

• King Street,

• High Street

• Queen Street

• Harbour Street.

  

Harbour Street is the one which passes by the port going towards the beach. You can see lots of little shops, a homemade pastry store where the cakes are delicious, and they usually have offers on every day. You'll also find a pub called "The goose" where you can have a beer and something to eat. If you thought that eating out in England was expensive, in this place you can have food and a drink for less than 10 euros. On the corner there's an old sweet shop called "Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe". Turning right at the corner, you can go up a hill and there are 4 different restaurants, amongst which you will see my favourite. It's called "La Magnolia", a typical Italian restaurant from Tuscany. They make really good pizza and pasta. The view is unbelievable.

If you turn left instead of right, there are more restaurants and bars/clubs which is full of life at night. Close to the beach there's quite a big building called "Royal Victoria Pavilion". It had been abandoned for many years but they spent more than 6 months doing work to it and it's going to be finished at the end of the summer. They're turning it into a club and the biggest "Wetherspoons" in England. Before they started working on it, it was divided into two rooms. The room on the right was a casino which closed 10 years ago and the room on the left was a bar/club which closed almost 25 years ago.

Another activity you can do on your excursion to Ramsgate is to visit the tunnels. I'll speak in more detail about this tourist attraction in my next blog, as there's so much to say.

Around the 3rd or 4th week in July, there's a "Music Festival" in the Royal Esplanade in Ramsgate. It's a weekend festival where artists sing live in an open-air concert and there's a little fair. You can enjoy the fresh air, lying on the grass or in the hammocks whilst drinking a beer.

More interesting facts about Ramsgate

Did you know that one of the first ministers of England (1970-1974) called Edward Richard was born in Broadstairs and studied in the Grammar school in Ramsgate (Chatham House Grammar School)?

George IV, the regent prince who acted as king due to his father suffering from a mental illness which prevented him from ruling (George III) loved Ramsgate. He loved the welcoming he had, so much so that he gave the name the Royal Harbour. The only royal harbour in all of England!

And that wasn't the only royal visit Ramsgate has had since then.

Did you know that princess Victoria (before becoming the current queen) used to spend her summer holidays in Ramsgate?

One of my other favourite things I love doing is going for a walk along the beach towards Broadstairs. It takes around 45 minutes to walk there, you can get there by walking along the seafront or by going through a park which connects both towns together. The bad thing about this is that you have to be careful of the tides. At certain hours of the day when the tide comes in, it's impossible to cross and you may even find yourself stuck before you get to Broadstairs. I recommend doing this walk in the morning between around 11a. m and 3p. m.

The nearest shopping centre is called Westwood, an hour's walk from the city centre or 15 minutes by bus. There are cinemas, numerous restaurants and bars, and clothes shops. From big labels to a Primark which has 2 floors, being one of the biggest in the UK. The bus fare is £1.50.

Although this shopping centre is quite near, Ramsgate also has a cinema and theatre. They're small but enough for a small town.

How do you get to Ramsgate?

You can get here by car or by train. Going by train is the easiest option if you're coming from abroad and you're staying in London. Trains run every hour from Victoria station or St. Pancreas train station. There are also trains which run from Charing cross, but they're less frequent. Depending on whether you take the fast train or the normal train, it'll take around the same time to get there. The minimum time is an hour and maximum 2 hours and a half. If you buy an "off peak" day ticket, it means you can travel at any off peak time. The maximum you would pay for a return ticket is 37 euros and you could get it for under 30 euros if you travel at specific time which isn’t as busy.

I hope you liked my post and it will encourage you to come. I will post more about the Isle of Thanet, Kent and tourist attractions to see and other places to visit.

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