We Are Out For A Couple Of Days,

to Ramsgate, Kai stayed with us overnight, 

so glad rags on for a early start to the nearly 2 hour train journey, but it was not to be, there was a train cancellation, we were going to go by train from Beckenham Junction to Bromley South and then Ramsgate, but it was all aboard a bus for the next hour, worse still was the bus that should have taken us to Swanley and the the train to Ramsgate did not appear, and nobody knew how we could get to Ramsgate with all of the trains cancelled until Monday! Luckily Diana worked her magic with her telephone, she had worked out the the bus that only went as far as Orpington, we could use, and then take a train back towards town to Sevenoaks, and then a train to Ramsgate, 

 

at Orpington, 

it was time for a coffee, 

and then a long wait at Sevenoaks, 

at last we were on the last stretch of our journey, 

we left home at 09.00 to catch the 09.28,

we took a taxi from the station to the restaurant, 

and arrived outside just in time for our 2.30 in the afternoon table! we were travelling for nearly four and a half hours, with no help from the rail companies whatso ever, every time we asked for help we were told, "not my section of the transport service" and the greenies and tree huggers keep telling us to leave the car at home and use public transport!

at least we were here now, 

the Albion House, 

we were not staying there, but had booked a table for a Sunday lunch, luckily we did not book a earlier table or thanks to public transport, (or lack of it), we would have missed our lunch, 

the inside was nicely laid out, 

a couple of mocktails for the girls, 

and a wine for myself, 

'Cheers!', from the girls,

Kai had the top one, Diana the one below it, 

a huge roast lunch each, 

'Cheers!', the bill for the three of us came to £110.00,

then out and down the steps, 

looking back,

around the bend, 

and into town, 

where it was all happening, lots of food stalls, especially bar-b-q's,

plus live music, 

there were also lots of craft stalls, 

and lots of fun for the kids, 

and a fly past by a recue helicopter, 

crowds everywhere, 

and there had to be a Ferris wheel,

we continued our walk, 

looking across the basin,

some people here had serious kit when it came to photographs and videos,

many of the buildings gayly decked out in Union Jacks,

we went back to the basin, 

where the heroes of the day stood at rest, 

all of the boats here were a part of the armada of "Little Ships"

for anyone that does not know, the "Little Ships" were civilian vessels, including pleasure boats, fishing boats, and lifeboats, the owners volunteered to participate in the Dunkirk evacuation, Operation Dynamo, during World War II. These vessels, along with larger naval and merchant ships, helped evacuate Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, in May and June 1940, they were used to ferry soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk to larger ships, which would then transport them across the English Channel to safety, they played a crucial role in the evacuation, particularly in collecting troops from the beaches where larger ships couldn't reach, 

the Little Ships, alongside other ships, helped evacuate over 330,000 British and French troops from Dunkirk, to this day the Dunkirk Little Ships continue to be commemorated and honored for their bravery and contribution to the evacuation, as it happens it is thought that some 40,000 soldiers were brought ashore at Ramsgate, it is a sobering thought that over 200 "Little Ships" were lost during the evacuation of Dunkirk, with some estimates exceeding 250, most were private boats and crewed by their civilian owners,

one of my favorites types of craft, if I were ever to own a vessel,

there are some 70, surviving Little Ships here today, 

we walked past some of the sights, 

this part of the road looking like the strata of rocks in the earth,

and this is where we are staying, 

a quick photograph in the lift, 

our room, booked in and down again, 

as one of the Little Ships, 

maneuvers in the basin, 

and this is her, 

another craft in the style I like,

photograph time!

we walked along the basin side shops,

under the arches, 

above them the yacht club,

it was a glorious day, but very chilly in the wind, 

I was a tad ahead, 

so I waited for the girls' to catch up,

I had spotted this beauty, my dream boat,

 

the Llanthony registered in London, a 77foot gentleman's yacht, perfect for myself and Diana, and what a history the vessel has!

we made our way past a strange looking craft that we had seen on previous visits to Ramsgate, 

one of the few boats afloat that you need to have a lawn mower on board!

a strange craft indeed, 

we passed another craft we had seen before, 

the Starbuck, 

looking back towards the Llanthony,

a quick pose from the girls,

as we passed the the Ramsgate Home for Smack Boys, founded in 1881 on Ramsgate Harbour, this home was for boys apprenticed to the smack fishermen. The boys were taken from the workhouse and were often orphans or abandoned, smacks were large sail boats, 

and as I mentioned on a previous visit, 

if you are into keep fit, 

this staircase would be good for you, up and down 10 times a day should do it!

the girls were doing a photo shoot, 

I kept out of the way!

the skies were starting to clear,

but despite the sun I was still wishing I had put an extra layer of clothing on,

we turned the corner, 

and there was the funnel of the Medway Queen, 

crowds ever present, 

some wild flowers growing from the edge of the pathway over the marina, 

turning the corner, 

a Spitfire on display, 

on the same mole,  

the Medway Queen was berthed,

a paddle steamer, she played an important part in the evacuation, going to Dunkirk 7 times to ferry troops home,

the girls contemplating, I am not sure what about, 

maybe the meaning of these flags? 

meanwhile I was looking at chains,

and bollards, 

whilst taking a few photographs of the girls,

I chanced upon another photographer, that put my kit to shame, not only did he have a Hasselblad large format camera, 

but he was shooting in film! I forget whether it was Ektachrome or Kodachrome, booth of which give such excellent results, I shot countless rolls when I had my own now defunct Mamiya 645 camera, 

we passed back by the Medway Queen, 

arriving back at the arches I noticed this piece of Americana, 

a Ford Mustang, 

left hand drive of course, 

above this door, 

the local radio station,

the bike shop was still here, 

with rows, 

upon rows of bikes to hire out, 

looking at the numbers here,

I am guessing the take up of people hiring bikes is a bit low at the moment, 

past a few more arches on our left, 

boats moored on our right, 

the moorings here, 

were on our last few visits normally pretty full, 

and today with the arrival of some 70 Little Ships, 

the basin was full to overflowing, many of the vessels double or triple berthed, 

I would just love to own any of these, 

far superior to the floating gin palaces that seem popular nowadays, well I have always preferred the 1920/30s style of 'gentleman's yachts', 

like these three beauties, 

alongside each other, 

that one will do nicely!

back to all the fun of the fair, 

we had a short walk on the beach, 

low tide as it happens, 

we had a look inside the Royal Victoria Pavilion, 

where we will be having breakfast tomorrow,

back into the crowds, 

the seafood stall open, but I was so full, also I never buy from anywhere where the prices are not displayed, and none were on display here, 

I mentioned earlier that some people had impressive camera or video kit, 

this bit of kit looked very professional indeed, 

looking down to the three boats we looked at a few photographs earlier, 

across the basin the arches, 

this boat all decked out in flags, 

just these few were a lovely sight, 

and there were lots more,

the bows of these three all just slightly different, a measure of how design changed over time, 

back to our hotel, 

and then out again, 

clouds were rolling in, 

and it was getting a tad darker as the evening took hold, 

we walked up over the arches to a Thai restaurant, but alas it was full we had not booked, 

we walked back down to street level,

past the basin, 

so on to plan 'B', 

as we went into another Thai restaurant on the seafront, 

they got my vote straight away, 

with a special offer on Change beer, 

we ordered a selection of Thai food, 

'Cheers!',

meal over and here we are, 

well I just had too! the restaurant was the Tuk - Tuk Thai Kitchen, the bill came to a reasonable £70.00, 

by the time we came out, 

night was drawing in,

and lights were going on, 

as we made our way back to our hotel,

we settled in the hotel bar, 

tea and coffee for the girls,

a large spiced rum for myself, I have to say I was surprised how reasonable the drinks were here, a double rum £4.20, back home that would be the price of a single!

a coffee for Diana, tea for Kai, 

the coffee was a tad hot, also as the drinks were so reasonable I had to have a few more, before we were all off to bed, if you want to see our second day in Ramsgate, please hit the 'Older Posts' on the bottom right of the page.