Zumi - Canterbury and East Kent

Hooray.

'Nuff said.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 5:25 PM Comments: 1

Eeek . . .

Ever felt the foundations of your own personal universe weren't quite as solid as they should be? Google home page disappearing has that effect on me!



I'd better go for a lie down in a dark room and hope the World has got back to normal when I wake up. I mean, if you can't rely on Google...

posted by ZumiWeb @ 2:33 PM Comments: 5

Grrrr . . .

So much for that hanging basket. Damn and double damn. The caterpillars have munched their way through the pretty bits, and the little black beasties are lurking, ready for the rest. Sigh. I thought birds liked feasting on stuff like this?

posted by ZumiWeb @ 2:10 PM Comments: 0

Ramsgate Carnival 2007

An unexpectedly sunny day, despite rainy forecasts, so a great start to Ramsgate Carnival 2007. An impressive carnival parade and a nice little funfair, perfect for younger carnivallers, meant a perfect Sunday which we decided was the day when Summer officially returned. A few pictures below - and these and a few more on Flickr (especially useful if this page loads slowly). Enjoy. (***I've removed a few pictures from the blog entry to try and speed up this page's loading time, but you can see them all on Flickr, just follow the link above***)

And if this has whetted your appetite, the Herne Bay Carnival site lists dates for all the other Carnivals coming up, including Whitstable, Margate, Herne Bay and Sandwich (among many others). Excellent.

Although we didn't see it on the way out, by the time the procession came back to Government Acre, the Mayor's bus had joined, so it was official, anyway.



Miss Ramsgate and ladies-in-waiting did their stuff beautifully of course, soon to be followed by the representatives of many other Kentish towns and districts.




Miss Romney Hythe and Dymchurch looked a bit like a locomotive to me, but it was my first carnival...



And a couple of stretch limos promoting the virtues of... er... stretch limos...










Not sure it's the right way to treat a car, but it looked quite cool...



Apparently Miss Sheppey must not be crossed, according to the notice on the towbar anyway... is she really that fierce?







And we all agreed this one was particularly a good float...

posted by ZumiWeb @ 7:31 PM Comments: 6

Cliftonville Car Fest

An unexpected bonus today- Cliftonville Farmers' Market had expanded to include a singer or two on the band stand and a Classic Car show. Just a few dozen cars, but some looking very shiny and well-loved - and a parrot. I'm not quite sure what the parrot was doing there, but it seemed to be happily walking along in front of the car display behind its owner.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 3:40 PM Comments: 0

Seaside Postcards 13 - Fishing for Compliments

Time for another old postcard- this delightful item dates from 1913, and was sent to M. et Mme. Lacau in Montmartre, Paris, and described great fishing - La peche miraculeuse - and the front of the card reflects that with the jolly fishermen retrieving a briefcase containing a drop down set of old photos of Ramsgate.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 8:59 AM Comments: 0

Cool Thing of the Day: Internet Trend Map

OK, so you have to be a bit of an Inernet nerd to like or even pretend to understand this one, but it's an attempt to 'map' the relationships and trends of the 200 most successful websites on the web, ordered by category, proximity, success, popularity and perspective. Based on the Tokyo underground map, it is really interesting. Really, it is.

Click on the map to get the full explanation, as well as high resolution versions and further information. And if you like 'interpretations' of the classic London Underground tube map (a nostalgia kick for all us DownFromLondoners!), have a look at the "Silly Tube Maps" web site. Excellent use of time and space...

posted by ZumiWeb @ 7:21 AM Comments: 3

Ramsgate Mini-guide

The observant may notice a new button over on the right hand-side of the page. You may find it interesting, even useful, but I confess it's mostly a shortcut to many of my favourite sites, a simple shortcut to stuff about Ramsgate and Thanet, so please don't be offended if your site isn't there (yet). Feel free to link to it if you think it's useful. And suggestions for additions are welcome (no guarantees though).

posted by ZumiWeb @ 9:43 AM Comments: 0

Beached?

A wander round the Royal Harbour yesterday raised a couple of questions. How do ships the size of these get through an entrance as sandy as this? Has it always been like this, or are we going through a particularly silty period? Shouldn't the dredger be working here? OK, presumably this is not a new phenomenon, at high tide there is obviously enough clearance or the Grand Turk, the Customs and Excise boat and these two little ships wouldn't manage it, and obviously the harbour management are aware of this. But to the casual observer (me) it seems a little curious that the beach is so big at low tide.






And then overcome by nerdiness, I looked up the ships registrations. Finding myself in the world of Vesseltracker, ShipSpotting, and the World Shipping Register I learnt that the Hoo Swift and Hoo Pipit were built by the Yorkshire Dry Dock Company in Hull in 1989, managed by Coastal Bulk Shipping Ltd, Rochester and are of 794 GWT (that's Gross Weight Tonnage - cargo and related equipment). Lordy, lordy, where will this thirst for knowledge take me next?

posted by ZumiWeb @ 8:08 AM Comments: 0

Flickr Maps

Fiddling with Flickr, I saw this for the first time, although I'm sure it's been around for a while. Yet another great example of integrating a database and a map (others include OnOneMap for property search). Click on the map to go to the 'real' one at Flickr, then explore - the numbers in circles take you to the picture for that spot, and of course you can go off anywhere in the world for a look at which photos have been added. This does rely on the photo-taker adding a 'geotag' so it's not EVERY photo, just those where people have taken the extra step to map it. But it can only grow...




Now I suppose I have to geotag my own photos. Sigh.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 10:18 AM Comments: 3

Don't Adjust Your Set

I'm not sure anyone cares about the techy detail here, but just for the record - in case you're banging the side of your monitor because it doesn't look the same - I have widened my blog from 738 pixels to 960 pixels wide (to most of you, that just means it fills more of the screen). Only 2% of my visitors have 800x600, so although one or two (literally) might have to scroll a little to see the full glory of my stuff, the other 98% get the chance to see even bigger, brighter pictures. And as I seem to be mostly focused on pictures, that seems a good thing.

Watch this space for bigger, brighter things. And just as an example, here's a piccie I took at Dover Castle a few months back. More luck than judgment, but I thought it came out ok . . .

posted by ZumiWeb @ 9:44 AM Comments: 2

And then it was gone...

OK, I give up. The boingy thing has now gone, after just one day as far as I can tell. So for pictures of the current 'funfair' please scroll down to the previous picture of the empty site. Sigh.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 4:08 PM Comments: 0

How many rides make a funfair?

More than one I expect. That big catapult-you-in-to-the-air thingy is back, but that seems to be it, so "good news bad news" for the funfair-expectant... Maybe the others are on the road, or temporarily delayed by floods or something. One £15-a-go ride isn't exactly going to make a Summer.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 7:21 PM Comments: 3

West Cliff Concert Hall (again)

Another nice view of the West Cliff Concert Hall and the Royal Crescent. Click on the picture for a larger view. Just to the right of the Concert Hall are yet more windows, under the roadway in fact - was there a tunnel from the Churchill (or whatever the building on the corner was back then)? Or did the Hall reach sideways?



All my West Cliff piccies on Flickr . . .






*And Also* in one of those coincidences that show that there is just one brain available for use in blogging and we all share it in turn, East Cliff Richard has just mentioned a fabulous web site with photos of the rather disastrous interior of West Cliff Hall. So - with due acknowledgement to ECR - have a look at Broken Britain (just do a search for Ramsgate) - especially Motor Museum visit 1 and Motor Museum visit 2, and also the Marina Restaurant while you're at it. Then explore the rest of the site for adventures through abandoned buildings... grrrreat...

**And Also, part 2** It's in the comments, but easier to click through here - Michael Child has provided a link to his set of photos of the former Motor Museum. More old cars than architecture in the photos of course, but at least the building was alive... Thanks Michael.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 12:09 AM Comments: 2

Funfair arriving soon?

Well not yet it isn't. Despite predictions of the 16th, it's still a little bit too virtual. Any day now, I expect.



Oh well, the sea was looking lovely, even lively, and Summer can't be too far away now, surely...

posted by ZumiWeb @ 4:48 PM Comments: 1

Summer

Not much happening this week, apart from work (yuk). Still, all this rain is doing amazing things to the garden, and the bees are just loving the sunflowers... and the other flowers too. If nothing else, it reminds me a little of sunshine while I'm watching the rain and listening to the thunder outside. Summer...hmmm...

posted by ZumiWeb @ 5:25 PM Comments: 2

Kent Show 2007 - overview

Our first visit to the Kent Show at Detling, and a great day out for us and the other 50,000 or so who were there. More pictures (86 altogether!) from today on Flickr.
And some sort of elephant hiding inside a bull costume. I mean how big does a bull need to be for goodness sake?
The vintage section had the Detling steam fair and as many hissing, steaming bits of cast iron as you could shake a stick at, as well as a proper funfair. One with fairground organs. And a proper carousel.
And a vulture.
And raspberries.
And a dalek. It was a day of variety . . .
And of course the steam. I have a few more pictures of the steam - both the engines and the vintage funfair, and you can see them (and the other usable pictures I took today) on Flickr.

And then I found myself enjoying a flower show. Unbelieeeevable. But the Bonsai and Fuschia sections were amazing. The bonsai display from The Bonsai Shop in Whitstable was a particular treat.
The spitfire gave us a great display over the Parade of Steam, which seemed to satisfy pretty much everyone.
And later on there was that flying advert plane again - everywhere I go, he goes. I'm starting to wonder...
Show jumping, birds of prey, a spitfire for a few minutes and an aerial advertisment for a few minutes more, plus food, shopping, sunshine and - did I mention - crowds. Brilliant day. These are my favourite pictures of the day - you can go direct to my Flickr Set and see the lot as a slideshow if you're a real glutton for punishment.
And venturing in to the judging tents, it was nice to see a Ramsgate address on the label of the honey that won first prize. K P Flynn, whoever you might be, well done!
Oh yes, and thumbs up for organisation - no traffic problems, sensible parking, enough toilets, bins and catering, it all looked like an amazing triumph of planning. But then I suppose they have done it once or twice before... And we even found the car without difficulty. Grand.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 7:14 PM Comments: 1

Auction News: Dreamland history...

Perusing the advert for Sunday's Westgate Auction I noticed the entry "large collection of Dreamland memorabilia dating 1950s-1960s, posters etc". Putting on my (virtual) investigative hat I called them for more info. What's up for sale is a whole load of stuff - over a dozen 50s and 60s posters, a framed picture of the Daily Sketch from 1963, lots of photos of stars and some more posters advertising their appearance, all as individual lots.



So look at it two ways - your chance to get a souvenir, or someone's chance to rescue a bit of local history. Viewing is tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday 10-12, auction starts at 12. Don't say you didn't know. Not sure I can make it myself this time, so hopefully someone will let me know how they went...

By the way, I have no connection with Westgate Auctions (except I occasionally spend too much money there), and none with Dreamland (except that I do like old steam and funfair stuff - see my website Galloper.co.uk for the sad evidence).

posted by ZumiWeb @ 12:22 PM Comments: 3

Just because it's nice...

Nice people doing a nice thing, just because it's nice.

This story today on the BBC web site actually brought a tear to my cynical old eyes - have a read, cheer yourself up... Here's the story, and here's the punchline: I was so overwhelmed, I cried like a baby and then passed out (the bloke in the story, not me). Classic.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 9:40 AM Comments: 1

Who's chasing whose Powerboat?

A bit late, but here are a couple of shots from the water-ski racing at the powerboat weekend. Fun to watch, amazing that their leg muscles can cope with that level of punishment for so long! And a lot more pictures of the weekend from ThanetOnline, including lots on the funfair and harbourside, so prepare to do some scrolling and clicking to see them all - and more of mine from the weekend further down this page of course...





So we're definitely looking forward to our first Regatta week - slower, less noisy, but just as many pictures!

posted by ZumiWeb @ 10:02 AM Comments: 5

Hammering it Home

Take one semi-derelict property at the end of our road recently sold at auction, one film crew trying to get a shot in the can so they can go home, and one constant stream of traffic at school going-home time, and what do you get? A presenter looking wearier by the second! Martin Roberts seemed to be keeping his cool admirably, as they filmed this bit for BBC's Homes Under the Hammer, but what with planes, cars and a small but appreciative audience you can see how the glamorous life of a TV star might not always be perfect...







As they haven't started any work on the house yet, I don't suppose the programme will be aired for at least 3-4 months, but it's still good to know we're of interest to the media . . . it'll be interesting to see if he describes Ramsgate as 'on the up' because of the forthcoming lightning fast rail connection to London. The Guardian at the weekend managed to get the 'under an hour' myth in to its mention of Ramsgate as a top seaside place to live. Sigh.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 4:14 PM Comments: 1

And then there were fireworks

Filmed on Chris's phone...

posted by ZumiWeb @ 11:48 PM Comments: 0

Ramsgate Powerboat Grand Prix 2007

A sunny day (mostly), a crowded harbour area, and a good sense of what Ramsgate is meant to be like!

A bit of racing - I only stopped for the one race as there was so much else to do, and so little time to do it - Vale Square summer fete, Wimbledon finals, watering sunflowers and even some work - it can be very tricky fitting it all in you know.










There seemed to be a high calamity rate, in this race at least. By the time we left, it wasn't over, but only about 4 boats were still running!

And a lot more pictures of the weekend from ThanetOnline, including lots on the funfair and harbourside, so prepare to do some scrolling and clicking to see them all.

Not sure the council had quite worked out the principle behind this sign. I'm sure it made sense to someone to put this up at the start of a pedestrianised zone . . .

And just one representative of the zillion insects that seemed to be waiting for me as I strolled up the East Pier.

And just one representative example of the lovely food on offer in the continental food market - I actually went for thr Tartiflette - that's the bacon, chesse, onion and potato mixture in the huge frying pan in the background here. Yum.


Oh and you-know-who was doing his thing of course. Except we were already in Ramsgate, so apart from showing off to the advertiser's staff, I'm not entirely sure how useful it was!

Good day all round, just time to catch the rest of the tennis, relax and prepare before heading back for the fireworks.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 3:12 PM Comments: 3

Latest Sunflower news

Well, I'm sure everyone
is as excited as me that
our best sunflower has
now reached the dizzy
heights of 7 ft 10 inches.

We have a few more that
could do better, and I know
it's hardly a world record,
but I'm so amazed that
something I helped grow
is actually alive after a
few weeks, let alone still
looking healthy, that I
felt I owed it to the world
to share the joy!

The current Guinness World
Record for the tallest plant is
25 ft. 5 ½ in. (7.76m) tall
grown by M Heijms in Oirschot,
Netherlands in 1986. So I
have a way to go yet, obviously.

Still, they were all grown in
the ground, and mine is coming
out of a very unexceptionally sized
pot, so I shall carry on feeling
slightly pleased with myself for
a short while.

Saturday tomorrow. Hooray. Jet engine
day (the powerboats, not the Jumbo).

posted by ZumiWeb @ 1:41 PM Comments: 1

Broadstairs beach even more famous...

Today's Gazette pictures Catherine Tate filming her Christmas special on the beach at Broadstairs. Maybe the Tardis will pop by to save time (Catherine Tate is the Doctor's assistant in the next series in case you didn't get the connection...)

posted by ZumiWeb @ 11:42 AM Comments: 2

Seaside Postcard 12 - The Silver Screen

Continuing the current movie theme, here's one that reminds us of Ramsgate's lost cinemas - well it reminds me, and I wasn't even here...

This card dates from the 20s, judging by the old strip of photos that pulls out from beneath the screen.

Sadly, there are very few lovely pictures here now - the Granville offers the only local opportunity to enjoy the movies in town, although we are lucky to have some quirky and interesting cinema buildings in nearby areas - Broadstairs, Westgate, Margate and Sandwich all have cinemas whose architecture is a little treat. I doubt the same can be said for the forthcoming Westwood Cross multiplex.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 9:36 AM Comments: 0

Too much time on my hands

A slow afternoon, so I counted up how many of the Guardian's 1000 Films To See Before You Die I had actually seen.

612.

Only another 388 to go then... although I had seen Ace Ventura, I don't think I need to see Dodgeball, and I'm not sure where I'll find the Czech, Chinese and Korean films in Thanet. I couold wait till they come on to the programme at Thanet Film Society, but I may need to look elsewhere... Funny how just reading the list gives a warm glow of happy film-watching memories though.

I can't believe none of the films filmed or set in Thanet made the list... here are the ones I know of - can you add to the list?

• A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square (1980) (scene filmed at Pegwell Bay apparently)
• A Nous les Petites Anglaises (1975)
• Castle Sinister (1948)
• Contraband (1940)
• Donovan Slacks (2007)
• Exodus (2007)
• Gypo (2006)
• Last Orders (2001)
• Last Resort (2000)
• Ruby Blue (2007)

posted by ZumiWeb @ 7:54 PM Comments: 3

Boys' toys...

A busy weekend coming up - The Tour de France, A Vegan Fair (St Lawrence Parish Hall on Saturday if you're interested) and slightly noisier, the 2007 Ramsgate Powerboat Grand Prix. Souvenir programmes in shops around town, so you can see the full range of fun - the noise might even drown out the Jumbo jet!



One slight quibble - there's always one - the course map shows Kent International as London Manston Airport. Given that this company went bust two years ago, and the airfield has been known as Kent International since 1989 (according to Wikipedia anyway), isn't it time this map was changed? Unless they know something that we don't of course...



Still, you can expect a picture or two after the weekend, weather permitting. Can't promise pictures of vegans or cyclists, but one or two of powerboats, yup, definitely.

posted by ZumiWeb @ 4:52 PM Comments: 0