Issue 11 - Winter 2021

RAMSGATE Winter 2021 – 2022

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RECORDER

Modern-day Seaside Stories

FREE

WANTSUM MUSIC?

FISH FOOD

SOUND SCAPES

A new local record label getting ready to launch

From sea to plate: the future of sustainable local fishing

Emily Peasgood: making an artful noise

"Both the quality of the the pupils' academic and personal development received the highest grading of excellent" INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS INSPECTORATE

AN OUTSTANDING PREP & NURSERY SCHOOL in Broadstairs www.wellesleyhouse.org Private Tours Available Contact: admissions@wellesleyhouse.net

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ramsgate recorder Editorial

Editor Lila Allen

Sub-editor John Murphy

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Founder & Editor-in-Chief Clare Freeman

Contents 5

Co-founder & Advertising director

Design director

Welcome to our winter issue!

Lizzy Tweedale

Publishing assistant Esther Ellard

Emily Hebe

From the Editor Lila Allen

ur cover story, delving into the depths of Ramsgate’s historic fishing industry and its modern engagement with the world we live in today, is both fascinating and inspiring. It reconnects us all with the sea we live by and the food we find on our plate.

It is a call to each of us to engage meaningfully with the challenges we face collectively; how we feed ourselves has impact and there is power in that knowledge. Discovering the local fish that are caught and landed here in our harbour has made me rethink not just what I cook, but what and where I buy; that Friday fish and chips tradition may just have taken a more imaginative culinary twist greatly assisted by some of Thanet’s best

Mortons Print

Issue eleven

regulator

♻ We print on recycled paper

Winter 2021 – November to January

Writers Ros Anderson Russell Chater Gemma Dempsey Vanessa Fairley Sean Farrell Andrew Flood Lynsey Fox Emily Hebe Katy Lassen Laura Nickoll Keith Ross Elinor Seath Christabel Smith Jaron James Russell Pullen Storme Sabine Ed Thompson

Stylists Katy Lassen

Illustrators Molly Pickle Jade Spranklen

cover image Ramsgate fishermen from left to right Ed, Chris and Tom by Jaron James (left and middle images) and Storme Sabine (right image)

Print

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Your Christmas gift guide – it’s never too early to start shopping local

8 Hotlist – get your diaries at the ready 10 From sea to plate – the future of fishing locally and sustainably

12 Coastline kitchen – recipes from Thanet’s chefs sharing their kitchen secrets.

You don’t have to go far to find an accompanying tipple for your fishy fare as we’ve been discovering speaking to the people behind our local vineyards, brewers and distillers. And if you never want to leave local comforts we’ve been meeting the people who can feed your mind (our Ramsgate writers), your soul (our resident musicians, with news of a new Ramsgate record label launching), not to mention the creative crafters who can clothe you.

Less comforting news close to home has been seeing the stark warning signs in recent weeks at the entrance to the majority of our beaches.

Plunging into the sea as the weather gets colder isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but reading the council’s ban on swimming has been chilling. The discharge of sewage or wastewater into our seas is something Ramsgate residents aren’t taking lightly and the weekend after we go to press we’re sure to see significant numbers joining a protest on the Western Undercliff (30 October midday-1pm) calling for Southern Water to act now and stop future spills occurring.

What this brings into sharp focus again is that we are dependent on the landscape we inhabit, and perhaps more than ever we are rediscovering that connection, having been in such close proximity to our small but precious bit of it in recent months.

Contributors

Photographers

Gemma’s Jaunts – our columnist has been

dancing

Jen Brammer

Social media manager

The Scoop – a round-up of what’s happening

in town

leading chefs

14 Three cheers! – the local tipples to keep you merry this Christmas

17 Meet the musician: Marianne Dissard 18 On record – producer Al Wootton shares the tracks he’s listening to

20 Lost and sound – artist Dr Emily Peasgood on her latest sound installations

24 Inspirations and literary locations – three authors on writing in Ramsgate

28 Style on the street – finding fashion on Addington Street

30 Stepping out – the future of Saltworks is bright and big

33 A pint down memory lane – a guide to the historic pubs of Ramsgate

36 Craft work – the artful crafters of Ramsgate 39 Give me a sign – meet the man keeping hand drawn sign writing alive

41 I Wantsum… We Wantsum music! – the team at Pie Factory Music launching a record label

44 Unsung Hero: Beverley Perkins – the Chair of

the Friends of Ellington Park on her role in its renewal

45 Thanetians – meet actor Jim Arnold, the latest subject of this photography project

46 Birdwatch – introducing our winter thrushes sister publications

Contact

Website brightsidepublishing. com

Social Media @ramsgaterecorder

Advertising and distribution enquiries info@brightside publishing.com

Published by Brightside Publishing Ltd © All rights reserved Copyright 2021

We are regulated by IMPRESS. If you wish to make a complaint about anything that appears in the Ramgate Recorder, please visit the website brightsidepublishing.com/contact

Margate Mercury

Broadstairs Whitstable Beacon Whistler

Deal Despatch

MID-CENTURY FURNITURE AND LIGHTING. FROM DENMARK.

HOMEWARES, CERAMICS, TEXTILES AND PLANT SHOP

68 High Street, Ramsgate, 01843 595 464 www.simplydanish.co.uk

72 High Street, Ramsgate CT11 9RS 01843 591 800 www.pottersramsgate.com

ramsgate recorder

NEWS

Have your say! Encouraging footfall...

Thanet District Council are asking you to have your say on a scheme to encourage pedestrians and cyclists from the busy areas of the harbour, seafront and surrounding roads to filter further into the town centre, reducing the reliance on cars, and helping reinvigorate the high street. Respond to the survey by 26 November.

Written and compiled by Emily @pinkredcreative

Travellers in Italy are finally here!

Travellers in Italy is a beautiful new Italian restaurant based in the Old Pizza Express building.

The stunning location overlooks the Royal Harbour at sunset. You’ll find Italian interiors and an exciting authentic menu with traditional hand-stretched sourdough pizzas, rotisserie chickens and a varying selection of good wines.

Looks like the holiday might have just come to us!

travellersinitaly.co.uk

June Bug pop-up A new record and book shop has popped up in Addington Street with the brilliant June Bug. The quirky haven for all things preloved has a treasure trove of vinyl records, comics and books.

Run by couple Peter and Lizzie and Mick, the shop both buys and sells pre-loved goods. Here until at least November. @junebug_ramsgate

Writer

Gemma Dempsey

Illustrator

Jade Spranklen

A dose of Ramsgate life from a lady about town

D

espite the cold, winter is one of my favourite seasons, which for me begins with festivities connected to the Day of the Dead – or the Celtic version, Samhain –

Ramsgate reads Local author Gary Wright released his debut novel A Parent Apart this year. Written during lockdown and self-published, the book is now being turned into a screenplay. A crime-thriller, drawing inspiration from Ramsgate, it tells the story of two families who go on a trip to the beach – but one child does not return.

@gazwrightwrites

thanet.gov.uk/campaigns/ramsgate-future

Happy birthday Ramsgate Radio!

Stretching out

Ramsgate Radio celebrates its first anniversary on 31 October. Hard to believe it is only a year since the station’s first broadcast from its home in Ramsgate Harbour. Offering live and on-demand programming there’s lots to discover: shows on wild swimming, and local cook-alongs to vinyl tunes sourced from nearby shops are just two examples. We’re loving the latest next-gen series which speaks to Thanet’s emerging creatives and gives a voice to today’s young minds.

Union Yoga’s class list has expanded and will include new teacher Matt Ryan who brings the discipline of ashtanga from his studio in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, to Ramsgate. A sometime DJ at the Hacienda in Manchester, Matt hung up the headphones and headed to Mysore, south India, to study ashtanga yoga and has taught a bunch of rock stars and movie stars over the years. mattryan.yoga | unionramsgate.com

Ramsgate Arts Barge Thanet District Council have approved the full planning application for the barge. The application grants permission for the permanent mooring of the Ramsgate Arts Barge in Ramsgate Royal Harbour, for mixed use incorporating exhibition, event, performance and community space, artist studios, bar and kitchen, and a biodiversity-supporting top deck garden seated area. Included within the application is permission for a private gangway which will attach from the harbour wall to the top deck of the barge for entry and exit.

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ramsgateradio.com

New home for Kent Film Foundation

ramsgateartsbarge.org

The Kent Film Foundation has officially set up residence with Pie Factory Music in St Lawrence.

It offers free film workshops, screenings and film clubs including Girls Film Club, LGBT Film Club and New Talent Film Club. The charity has also pitched an ambitious proposal for the Granville Theatre. Plans for the building include a workshop space, and a new youth theatre and orchestra, alongside Pie Factory Music, cinema screens and theatre as well as a bee-friendly roof terrace and organic restaurant. Watch this space for future updates! kentfilmfoundation.co.uk

a poignant opportunity to celebrate those who we’ve lost, before careening into Christmas, short days, brisk walks and eating copious amounts of stew. It is also a chance to take stock of things and, despite all the challenges, there’s been a number of highlights. One of these was the unexpected merging of my previous life in Los Angeles and my current one in Ramsgate. This occurred on the opening night of the Ramsgate Festival of Sound, which kicked off with a fantastic show by Screaming Alley Cabaret at the beautiful bandstand in Ellington Park. As part of the cabaret’s dance troupe They Don’t Care, I’d told my colleagues I’d be too busy with the festival to find time to rehearse, but I soon changed my mind when I was told that the entire show was to be a George Michael celebration and our opening routine would be to “Outside”, a song which connects two chapters of my life on either side of the pond. George was arrested in a Beverly Hills park in 1998 and I was really angry at how judgmental much of the US news coverage was, especially given this happened in Tinsel Town, a place fuelled by gossip and much worse behaviour than George’s unveiling in a public restroom. So I was delighted when just two months later he released the brilliant video for “Outside”, embracing his sexuality and reminding us that we all have the right to love who we choose.

Another highlight was being part of Make

The Wave, a UK-wide protest/procession and synchronized swim in various coastal towns during the G7 talks to highlight climate change and sea level issues. Organized by Shala Rushworth on Ramsgate Main Sands, there were three categories of participants – Sand Angels, Floaters and Anchors – choreographed to Will.i.am’s “S.O.S” and Jack Johnson’s “Reduce Reuse Recycle”. Not being a strong swimmer I chose to be an Angel, and also tbh I thought it was an easier option. As it turned out my core muscles took a beating (well they hadn’t been used in some time to be fair, so it was more of a “rediscovery”) but it was a great day – the sun shone and it felt fantastic to be part of a strong local community connecting to a nationwide movement, united in concern for our seaside towns and planet earth.

As the year draws to a close, I’m already looking forward to 2022 and to finally feeling the wind beneath my wings out on a sailing boat! I’m on the list for the next open day hosted by the Royal Temple Yacht Club. The last of the season was over-subscribed which, although disappointing, was also good to hear that so many people want to get out on the water and connect with harbour life. Seeing the sailboats each Sunday brings a smile to my face. Wintertime means less sailing, but it’s reassuring to know they’ll be back in full force next year, and hopefully I’ll be on one of them!

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ramsgate recorder

SHOPPING

Your Christmas gift guide Written & compiled by Emily @pinkredcreative

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Here to give the gift of local: a guide to shopping that helps you support your high street. When you buy local, you are buying more than a gift; you are buying into the people who run the businesses, your town, a future bustling with independent shops.

We think there’s something really magical about that…

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ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, 45 QUEEN STREET

“A small but perfectly formed independent gift shop” – the one-stopshop for any problem relative, purely because you’ll find something to suit literally anyone. Excellent pitstop for stocking fillers and baubles.

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SALTWORKS, CHARLOTTE COURT

Perfumery and soap shop selling more than nice smellies – from luxury faux fur coats, woolly scarves to shell jewellery and boutique scented candles. For those who like quirky, luxurious pieces.

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MCGILLAN AND WOODELL, 43 QUEEN STREET

Independent gift shop and art gallery. For those that appreciate quirky prints and local jewellery, screen printed tea towels and creative presents. Supplying an eclectic mix of artistic styles to resonate with anyone and everyone.

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NICE THINGS, 19-21 HARBOUR STREET

A selection of Nice Things, quite literally. The shop is an amalgamation of local artists and makers almost acting as a mini-market. Particularly great for finding something unique and one-off, from coasters and knitted head-warmers to freshwater pearl necklaces.

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10 LIMARNI, 26 HARBOUR STREET

Handmade leather artisan shop and seller of vintage antiques. This small independent shop owned by Coco and Tak sees them working late into the night crafting handmade leather backpacks, bags and purses of incredible quality.

Perfect for something personalised and unique.

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TALES ON MOON LANE, 43-45 ADDINGTON STREET

Bookshop of dreams for the young at heart, get lost in this whimsical haven of literature and illustration. With beautiful children’s books and a curated selection of adult reading – this shop brings out everyone’s inner child. We particularly love the illustrated poetry selection.

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NO. 26 BY SP, 26 ADDINGTON STREET

“For all things lovely” – a beautiful collection of beautiful things; from homeware, artisan flowers, Christmas wreaths to the boujie lamp you’ll buy for yourself. It is literally a treasure trove of interior aspirations, but be warned – hard not to buy “one for you, one for me”.

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MARGO MCDAID, 2a ADDINGTON STREET

The brilliant Margo McDaid, local artist and printmaker whose Addington Street shop promises emotive art that will capture your heart. Contemporary style prints, often featuring women, catch the eye with vibrant colours and unique personality. This gift is the fun, unpredictable one they won’t see coming.

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ARCHIVE, 17 MILITARY ROAD

A café and a homestore boasting a wealth of unique pieces, including photographer Jaron James’ prints and Loel & Co jewellery, as well as luscious coffee table lifestyle books. For those that need to escape monotony, give them the gift of inspiration with books including Van Life and Accidentally Wes Anderson.

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MOLLY PICKLE STUDIO, 20 QUEEN STREET

Molly is an environmentally conscious illustrator and printmaker.

For your eco-warrior friends and those conscious of saving our planet, one thoughtful gift at a time – check out her work. From bumblebee prints, seaweed tea towels, rockpool tote bags to botanical temporary tattoos – her products mix nature with nurture. Molly’s incredible studio will also be home to a pop-up of local makers while she works at Christmas markets.

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STORIES AND THE PAST, 84 QUEEN STREET

An Aladdin’s cave of vintage and antique delights for your retro, fashionloving divas and those that favour items rich in history. You never quite know what you’ll find in this time capsule of collected pieces.

Go searching for the gift you didn’t know you needed to give.

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BOARD AT HOME, 107a HIGH STREET

Reinfuse the family atmosphere with board games this Christmas. Who hasn’t had a mild family feud over Monopoly at some point right? Find your new favourite family pastime with this board games specialist. Our personal favourite is the Harry Potter 3D puzzles – we might just rebuild Hogwarts on the coffee table.

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POTTERS, 72 HIGH STREET

Independent homewares and plant shop, selling ceramics, plant pots, woven rugs and big leafy monsteras.

For your green-fingered friends, new home owners or anyone who loves a coffee from a fancy mug. This place hits the spot.

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POSITIVE RETAIL, 26a ADDINGTON STREET

Retail store supplying sustainable and eco-conscious preloved pieces. Focusing on mid-to high-end brands such as Whistles, Acne and Ralph Lauren – the shop aims to offer second-hand clothing that is far from second best. Perfect for those that love their clothes but love their planet too.

L A U R E N T

DELAYE

Laurent Delaye Gallery | 1 Addington Street, Ramsgate, CT11 9JN Thursday-Sunday 11-6pm and by appt. | 07798 606 780 | www.laurentdelaye.com

Winter Hotlist Winter Hotlist OCTOBER

Blend – For Everyone Who Loves to Sing

Drug Store Romeos

June Bug pop-up

Turn up and join in for a sing-song.

19 November

Used vinyl, book and comic pop-up shop.

4 November, 10am – 11am

28 Addington Street

NOVEMBER Newington’s Chill Club Each week young people have the opportunity to get involved in many activities including arts and crafts, film-making, music, sports like Serves Tennis (a brilliant indoor version of tennis), dancing, music, cooking, games and much more.

1 November, 6pm – 8pm Newington Community Centre

Over 55 Silver Screen Film and Social Club The Kent Film Foundation presents the over 55 Silver Screen Film and Social Club.

1 November

Janie Grout – painter and mixed media artist Work inspired by the everyday, the beauty in the objects that enable us to go about our activities without giving them a second thought.

A new independent, artistled gallery on Ramsgate High Street to showcase work of both amateur and professional artists.

Photography studio/dark room and a “dirty studio” (to make messy work in) also available to hire. Plus private space for vlogging, podcasts and counselling/ therapy sessions, as well as communal space for workshops, events, meetings and artist’s talks.

Opening early November The Wooden Box Gallery & Studio, 92 High Street

Barbara Antinoro: Walking on Broken Hearts Installation and performance.

Preview evening Friday 19 November.

19-28 November Hold Creative Spaces, Penstone House, Albert St

4-30 November janiegrout.com IG: janie_grout_artist

Rebecca Whiteman: Being Forgotten Becca’s work is driven by a fear of loss triggered by her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, bringing her to the slow crafts of hand-stitching and patchwork as processes of meditation and acceptance combining familial textiles like her father’s shirts to unite people in personal but collective memory.

Preview evening 5 November 5-14 November Hold Creative Spaces, Penstone House, Albert Street

The Old Chapel, 10 Cliff Street 10:30am – 12noon

Opening of The Wooden Box Gallery

Ramsgate Music Hall, 13 Turner Street

The Centenary Hall, Hardres Street

Until 28 November @junebug_ramsgate

Hazy dream pop from the Hampshire three-piece that ooze cool.

A Guy Called Gerald Expect acid-house, electro and techno delights. Gerald has been a real trailblazer of the music industry for over 30 years.

6 November

Whitehawk FC vs Ramsgate FC First team play Whitehawk FC in non-league division one game.

20 November, KO 3pm Southwood Stadium Contact: 01843 591662

Ramsgate Arts Barge Winter 2021 Art Auction A fundraising auction featuring some of the most exciting visual artists from across Thanet and further afield.

22 November – 5 December To view artworks and bid, visit: jumblebee.co.uk/ ramsgateartsbarge

Emily Tull Hand stitched paintings.

Oil paintings from a year of travelling.

10-17 November York Street Gallery, 22 York Street yorkstreetgallery.co.uk

York Street Gallery, 22 York Street yorkstreetgallery.co.uk

Litter Pick with the Mayor of Ramsgate Free litter-pickers will be given for you to keep. Refreshment will be provided after the event.

Laurent Delaye Gallery Christmas Show Mixed media group exhibition.

18 November – 24 December 1 Addington Street, Ramsgate CT11 9JN @laurentdelaye

An exhibition for McGillan and Woodell Christmas Shop.

Open exhibition by local artists.

McGillan & Woodell Gallery, 43 Queen Street

The Salvation Army, 167 High Street Contact: 07528 804959

Cray Valley PM vs Ramsgate FC First team play Cray Valley PM in non-league division one game.

9 December

1-25 December York Street Gallery, 22 York Street

Keep Dancing Inc

yorkstreetgallery.co.uk

French groovers bring their infectious disco to town.

10 December

REWRAPPED

Ramsgate Music Hall, 13 Turner Street

Original paintings and prints capturing the space between, the glue along the seams. From artists Natasha de Samarkandi and Lucy Troubridge.

Three Bridges vs Ramsgate FC

1-12 December @natashadesamarkandi @lucytroubridgeartist 28 Addington Street

First team play Three Bridges in non-league division one game.

11 December, KO 3pm Southwood Stadium Contact: 01843 591662

Celebrate A winter open exhibition, exploring the importance of celebration and social joy.

2 December – 18 January IG: @nicethingsramsgate thegallerynicethings.co.uk The Gallery Nice Things, 19-21 Harbour Street

Winter Tales Open submission for group exhibition.

Advent Doors/opening event evening on 3 December 3-5 December (6-24 December on demand/ by appointment) Hold Creative Spaces, Penstone House, Albert Street

Ramsgate Arts Barge Christmas Ball A night of fun and fundraising for the Ramsgate Arts Barge.

5 December, 6pm – 12am Tickets available via: ramsgateartsbarge.org/shop Ramsgate Music Hall, 13 Turner Street

Silverland Studio Silverland Studio is the home of artists Joe Allen and Christine Henn. For two weekends before Christmas enjoy their annual exhibition showing selected major large works and smaller pieces.

11-12 December and 18-19 December, 11am – 5pm joe-allen.de 18 Military Road

Holly Horton: August A collection of abstract pieces created over the summer of 2020, along with a selection from an ongoing series of vase paintings.

14-20 December hollyhorton.com @hollyhorton 28 Addington Street

Hythe Town vs Ramsgate FC First team play Hythe Town in non-league division one game.

27 December, KO 3pm Southwood Stadium

25 November, 10am – 12noon

thewoodenboxgallery.com @thewoodenboxgallery

York Street Gallery Christmas Show

24 November – 1 December

Ramsgate Music Hall, 13 Turner Street

Julian Lovegrove

DECEMBER

McGillan and Woodell Christmas Shop

Ramsgate Blitz Walks with Bob Pryor Meet at Ramsgate Library for the Ramsgate Blitz Walks.

5 December, 10am Contact: 01843 599755

Contact: 01843 591662

Ramsgate Soul Train For lovers of soul funk and disco, the Ramsgate Soul Train returns for its biggest and best party yet… for a Studio 54 – New Years Eve special!

27 November, KO 3pm

31 December

Southwood Stadium

ramsgatemusichall.com

Contact: 01843 591662

Ramsgate Music Hall, 13 Turner Street

OPEN 9.30am–2.00pm 2a West Cliff Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT11 9JW

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday Closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Between Addington Street and Waitrose, next door to Kwik Fit

Ask us about the

01843 210111 EMAIL

themodernboulangerie@gmail.com

£200

The Modern Boulangerie

Join to get up to -worth of our delicious products for just

@themodernboulangerie

es ak m

Pi la te s

£25 a year.

www.thefalstafframsgate.com

Union Yoga + Cafe

u ve yo Mo moveroom.co.uk

Ro ha om pp y

We offer yoga classes, workshops and teacher training programmes in our beautiful studio with our team of friendly and highly skilled teachers.

@@@move_room

Ramsgate

Our cafe offers excellent coffee alongside a locally sourced, seasonal menu serving breakfast, lunch and sweet treats.

Cafe opening times Tuesday-Saturday 9am-3pm Yoga classes Classes every day. Please book ahead either online or in the cafe.

25-27 Queen Street Ramsgate CT119DZ unionramsgate.com

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ramsgate recorder

FOOD & DRINK

FROM SEA TO PLATE

Writer

Laura Nickoll

Photographers

Storme Sabine and Jaron James

Ramsgate’s fishing industry is as old as the town, and for centuries locals have been fed from the fruits of the sea. In today’s choppy fishing waters a new drive is underway to get us to eat more local and sustainable fish.

Laura Nickoll has been finding out more

F

ish and fishing have long been an intrinsic part of Ramsgate life: at one point there were almost as many fishing boats as there were houses. In centuries past, our harbour town was once a busy trading port and the harbour thrummed with seafaring activities – the row of cafés on Military Road used to be netting shops and boat repair businesses, and there was an icehouse (now the HQ for Ramsgate Sea Scouts), and of course the Smack Boys’ Home and Sailors’ Church, places of refuge and guidance for sailors and young apprentices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Once a prosperous local business, fishing is now a precarious way of life. The factors that have led to the diminishing of Ramsgate’s fleet are complex, explain Merlin Jackson and John Nichols, treasurer and chairman of the Thanet Fisherman’s Association (TFA), a voluntary organisation that represents fishing vessels along the North Kent coast. Together with other fishing industry representatives, they are working tirelessly to advocate for

▲ Ian Cannon, photographer Storme Sabine

local fishing businesses and make it a viable way to make a living for future generations.

“In 2000 there were 39 boats between the three harbours [Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate], but now there are just 16,” explains Merlin, who joined his family’s fishing business when he left school and now represents the industry in numerous roles, including acting as fisheries liaison across the Thames Estuary. “I am passionate about this industry and we need to keep pushing forward. If we thought there was no hope, we wouldn’t be doing what we do.” John started as an apprentice in boat building, and since then has “done everything on the water that’s legal”, from fishing and diving to ship attendance and commercial fishing.

“I just made the most of what was going on at the time, to earn a living,” he says. As well as working alongside Merlin at the TFA, John has been vicechairman of IFCA (Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority) for the last 25 years.

Of the many issues threatening the industry, pollution of our coastal areas due to sewage spillages, resulting in warnings not to swim in the water, are a major concern. Fishermen are looking to Southern Water to discuss changes that need to be made. Furthermore, Brexit, quotas, offshore development, dredging and industrial trawlers that decimate the seabed (and therefore fish stocks) have dealt a hammer blow to local fishing fleets over the past few years, whose inshore dayboat operations are what many consider the future for sustainable fishing. Unlike industrial trawlers, they fish with small boats for just a few hours at a time, using traditional nets, pots and lines, and leave the seabed undisturbed, which is critical to sustaining the ecological health of the sea. “We’re a non-nomadic fleet: we catch what comes to us, rather than going on search for it, working at maximum 25-mile radius of the port. What comes to us arrives on a seasonal basis,” John explains. What comes into Ramsgate includes Dover sole, skate (thornback

ramsgate recorder

FOOD & DRINK

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WHAT’S IN SEASON AND AVAILABLE NOW Dover sole

Skate (thornback ray) Whelks

Cockles Lobster

Herring Sprats

Huss (rock salmon) Rig (dogfish)

▲ Ed unloading the catch, photographer Jaron James

ray), plaice, bass, cockles, herring, lobster, crab and whelks – currently one of the most lucrative catches landed in Ramsgate. A type of sea snail, whelks are landed on the quayside then taken by lorry up to Kings Lynn, where they are processed and packaged for selling abroad, mainly to South-East Asia.

Much of the fish goes to Fruits de Mer in Broadstairs, the main local outlet, and to Ian Cannon, whose harbourside seafood stall is the last remaining fishmonger in town. Ian comes from a family of fisherman and runs Ship Shape café alongside coxing for the RNLI lifeboat. Every once in a while, he heads out potting for lobsters (getting a decent haul, if the spider crabs don’t fill the pots first). “For me, fishing is a way of getting away from everything. It’s enjoyable but I’ve not got to rely on it for my sole income,” he says.

It’s a “difficult time to be a fisherman”, says Merlin, and “skills shortage is an issue. The intake has declined enormously as there’s not the appeal there was.” If the marketplace can change, a career as a fisherman can once more be an attractive prospect. Merlin confesses that there are easier jobs to do, but “once you’re sucked in, that’s it”.

As an island nation we eat a surprisingly small quantity of seafood (bar fish and chips, of course), and it has a reputation for being hard to cook, and fiddly. However, most fish can be bought from fishmongers ready-prepared and needs little more than a brief sizzle in a hot pan and a squeeze of lemon juice.

In a bid to get people more excited about the fish we land in UK waters, Fish Local, a non-profit initiative, has been developed to support and champion the Kent and Essex inshore fishing industry. Fish Local’s objective is to get people excited about eating

▼ Fresh haul of sea bass, photographer Jaron James

the species we catch, reconnecting consumers with local fishing outlets and getting large retailers and supermarkets on board too. Their website – fishlocal.org – is a good resource of simple cooking tips with a supplier directory and a link to the Fish Local Facebook group (which welcomes both trade and consumers).

Championing unloved and underused species could help the industry recover. “Herring used to be massively popular,” says Merlin.

“Twenty years ago, we sold thousands of herring to Ramsgate residents every week – sprats too. We need the public to understand that these fish are delicious, and we need more opportunities to sell fish from boats and local fishmongers to the local community.” Herring and bass are there for the taking, and for bass, John tells me, “the demand is there, but although we’re rich in stock, the quota isn’t sufficient. Quotas need to be more regionally specific”. With the herring, the opposite is the case: there’s the quota, but not the demand.

Most of us are familiar with rollmops (pickled herring fillets), whitebait (usually small sprats), and kippers (smoked herring) and oatmeal–coated herring fried in butter, a Scottish classic – but there are other ways to prepare this nutritious, abundant fish, and a few of our finest local chefs are here to help (see page 12).

No one understands the current predicaments faced by the industry better than John, Merlin and Ian, but they remain determined that Ramsgate’s fishing fleet has a bright future. It’s all hands on deck, for the authorities that have the capacity to make fishing to be a viable business, and for us, the consumer, to buy local and enjoy the abundance of our seas.

fishlocal.org

▼ John Nichols and Merlin Jackson, photographer Storme Sabine

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ramsgate recorder

FOOD & DRINK

Coastline kitchen How to cook that local catch: Thanet’s leading chefs and restaurateurs share their recipes to try at home

Whelk escabeche Jack Hancock of Hearth at the Empire Rooms shares his light, fresh Spanishinspired dish that works with almost any seafood, including steamed mussels and grilled mackerel SERVES 6–8 AS A STARTER 1kg fresh whelks (or 500g cooked, shelled whelks) 100ml extra virgin olive oil 2 banana shallots, sliced as thinly as possible into rings

3 garlic cloves, crushed 2 red chillies, diced 1 bunch lemon thyme 1 bunch fresh oregano 2 bay leaves 150ml white wine vinegar 150ml water 150g caster sugar salt 1. If you’re using fresh whelks, blanch them in salted boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and plunge into iced water. Leave to chill for 5 minutes, then drain, remove from the shell and clean by cutting away the soft stomach sack, leaving the firm meat. Rinse well.

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a low-medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic and chilli and fry gently for 5–10 minutes until soft and sweet.

Add the herbs, then the vinegar, water and sugar. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat. Once cooled to room temperature, add the whelk meat. Season with salt and adjust the acidity, if necessary, with more vinegar or lemon juice.

Serve immediately or leave in the fridge for a day or two until needed.

Serve at room temperature with crusty bread.

Hearth at the Empire Rooms is a modern British pop-up.

10-12 Nelson Crescent.

Open Tuesday – Saturday evenings

54-56 Harbour Parade Ramsgate CT11 8LN

Herring Schnitzel and Cabbage Mallung Rachel O’Sullivan aka Rakookoo is a Ramsgate-based chef who cooks the flavours of South-East Asia. Mallung is a spiced Sri Lankan side dish of greens and coconut. Prentis greengrocer can get curry leaves for you if you request them a day in advance – freeze what you don’t use SERVES 4 For the cabbage mallung 1 tbsp ghee, coconut oil or butter 3 sprigs fresh curry leaves (stalks removed) 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 20g fresh ginger, finely chopped 1 small Savoy cabbage (or cavolo nero, kale, hispi or Brussels tops), cut into 3cm-thick strips 2 tsp toasted ground turmeric 3 spring onions, thinly sliced ½ bunch coriander, roughly chopped (stalks included) 50g desiccated coconut, lightly toasted juice of 1 lime, plus wedges to serve salt and pepper For the herring 2–3 tbsp seasoned plain flour 1 large egg, lightly beaten 120g dried/panko breadcrumbs 4 fresh herrings, butterflied or filleted

½ tsp each of cumin seeds, chilli powder, freshly ground black pepper, turmeric 2–3 tablespoons neutral oil or ghee, for frying 1. For the cabbage mallung, heat the ghee, coconut oil or butter in a wide saucepan over a medium heat and add the curry leaves. Once they sizzle, add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute, then mix in the cabbage and turmeric and cook on low heat, covered, for 2 minutes or until the cabbage is wilted, then remove from the heat, add the spring onions, coriander, coconut, lime juice and season well.

2. Put the flour in a bowl, egg in another, and breadcrumbs and spices in a third bowl. Coat a fillet/ butterflied herring in flour, shake off excess then coat with beaten egg.

Coat with seasoned breadcrumbs, transfer to a clean plate and repeat with the rest of your herring.

3. Heat the oil or ghee in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the herring and cook for 1–2 minutes until golden brown, then cook on the other side until golden brown. Season and serve with lime wedges and cabbage mallung.

Order @rakookoo's food on Instagram to eat at home. Rachel also has a regular Thursday residency at Margate’s Hantverk & Found

㈀㤀 圀攀猀琀 䌀氀椀昀昀 刀漀愀搀Ⰰ 刀愀洀猀最愀琀攀Ⰰ 䌀吀㄀㄀ 㤀䨀倀 ㄀㠀㐀㌀ 㔀㈀ 㔀㤀㤀

01843 585008

We are a harbourside restaurant and café in Ramsgate offering relaxed all day and evening dining, using local fish, free-range meat and produce from our allotment.

Open 7am-9.30pm

www.littleshipsramsgate.co.uk

吀栀攀䈀攀搀昀漀爀搀䤀渀渀⸀挀漀⸀甀欀

䤀渀猀琀愀最爀愀洀⸀挀漀洀⼀䈀攀搀昀漀爀搀䤀渀渀刀愀洀猀最愀琀攀 䘀愀挀攀戀漀漀欀⸀挀漀洀⼀吀栀攀䈀攀搀昀漀爀搀䤀渀渀

ramsgate recorder Grilled sprats Aleksandar Taralezhkov is the Balkan chef behind Margate’s Dolma Bar: “This very simple recipe with only three ingredients is a perfect excuse for a winter barbecue, but works equally well under a hot oven grill. Any small fish that can be eaten whole are perfect, so choose what’s in season and locally caught. You’ll find that when there’s a spate of bad weather there’s a corresponding lack of small local fish (fishing day-boats struggle with bad conditions) so, if it’s been windy or stormy, leave it a day or two before heading to the fishmonger”

FOOD & DRINK

Mackerel or herring with celeriac and apple remoulade Marc-Pierre’s Kitchen offers modernclassic European cuisine. Here MarcPierre shares his culinary twist for the humble herring

pickled herring

SERVES 4 ½ celeriac, peeled and grated 2 apples (we like to use Cox), peeled and grated 4 tbsp white wine vinegar juice of ¼ lemon 4 tbsp mayonnaise 1½ tbsp wholegrain mustard small handful of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley 4 fresh herring fillets a little olive oil salt and white pepper

1. Put the grated celeriac and apple in a bowl, add the vinegar and lemon juice and mix to coat. Add the mayonnaise, mustard and a large pinch each of salt and pepper and mix again. Fold in the parsley.

500g small fish, such as sprats 1 jar/packet preserved vine leaves salt

1. Preheat your oven grill or barbecue.

2. Wrap each fish in a vine leaf, adding

2. Coat the fish fillets in olive

salt to taste (Note: jarred vine leaves are preserved in a salty brine so keep that in mind when seasoning.)

oil and grill skin side up for just a few minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

3. Cook for 3–4 minutes on each side.

3. Plate the fish on top of the

Enjoy hot.

remoulade.

Dolma Bar, 2A Eastern Esplanade, Cliftonville (above the Tom Thumb Theatre).

4–5 West Cliff Arcade, Ramsgate Thursday – Saturday 12–9, Sunday 12–4

Bar Thursday – Sunday evenings; Food Friday – Saturday evenings

A design-led lifestyle store and cafe offering a fresh approach to eating, drinking and shopping. Find us in one of the Military Road Arches, overlooking Ramsgate’s Harbour.

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Toby Cushnir of Dory’s, the noreservations seafood bar and little sister of renowned restaurant Angela’s, tells us how to pickle a herring 1. Cover herring fillets lightly with salt and leave for 12 hours in the fridge, then wash off the salt thoroughly and pat dry.

2. Make a pickle liquor by pouring 1 litre of cider vinegar into a pan and adding 200g sugar and toasted aromatics (bay, mace, star anise). Bring to the boil to infuse the aromatics and dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and, once cooled, pour the liquor over the herring fillets, making sure they are all covered.

3. Store in the fridge for at least five days before eating. The longer you leave them, the softer and more pickled they become, and they last for up to a month.

4. To serve, drain the fillets from their liquor and accompany with spinach purée, boiled potatoes and crème fraîche.

Dory’s, 24 High Street, Margate Thursday – Monday 12–9pm

CLASSIC DISHES

LOCALLY SOURCED

Available for events & private hire.

17 Military Road Ramsgate CT11 9LG Tel. 01843 580666

COOKED TO ORDER

archiveramsgate

4-5 West Cliff Arcade, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 8LH HARBOUR VIEWS

01843 446558

Call to book on or email info@marcpierreskitchen.com or book online www.marcpierreskitchen.com ALFRESCO DINING

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ramsgate recorder

THREE CHEERS! Writer

Andrew Flood

Photography Courtesy of businesses

Kent has long been the home of brewing, distilling and fermenting in England. What better way to celebrate that heritage than highlighting three local businesses carrying on the traditions of old while creating something completely new. Cheers to that!

Spry Not quite a snaps, not quite a gin, not quite a liqueur, Spry is in a world of its own according to its co-founder Anne Qvortrup. “We are not a snaps because snaps normally contains no sugar. Our drinks are normally between 2-4% natural sugars. It’s heavily regulated so we fall outside the category. We have created something we love but it’s difficult because people say is it a gin, and we say no it’s not a gin because the main ingredient is not juniper. We are not a liqueur because we have too little sugar. So it is really a new thing in the market.” What it is, is an ethically made, Danish-inspired, British-crafted, small-batch sipping spirit.

Anne, with a background in finance, and business partner Kirsten, a trained chef, had both grown tired of their jobs and in 2019 decided to pursue a shared childhood dream and start their business together. “In November 2019 we did a small event with randomly picked people to see if there was an appetite in the market for something like this,” says Anne.

Normally such an experimental start-up might be associated more with the London drinks scene, but all of this has happened in Thanet, with their production facility located in Manston. “We chose Ramsgate because we can be in the middle of the Garden of England and have a close connection to all our growers.”

A unique aspect of the business is that no two batches are the same, each bottling produces different results

according to what is available locally each season. “We go out to our growers and say, what’s coming up now? We have beetroot or we have gooseberries and we think oh that’s exciting! Then we can start to think about how we could mix it up and extract the flavours,” explains Anne from her lab where she is surrounded by an array of mixing and bottling paraphernalia.

There are all sorts of foods around her, macerating in alcohol. Kilner jars of wild garlic, lemongrass, beetroot, chillies and strawberries to be used in upcoming concoctions. “We have many different ways, sometimes we infuse it, room temperature distilling, some of them we make a juice, sometimes we cook the ingredients to get a different flavour.”

Anne and Kirsten have tried to tailor an experience for each blend: “The idea was that you would have a short drink that you could sit and enjoy.

When some people have a whisky or rum, why not have a Spry instead? The flavour is completely different but it is that thing when you are sitting with friends and feeling cosy, that feeling we call it ‘hygge’ in Danish, and that is what we wanted to create.” Each blend really has a unique flavour, dry and bitter but also with an underlying sweetness of fruit and a warm kick to finish; a perfect winter warmer for these cold evenings.

Our choice: Perfect for

The Darlings (Rhubarb, apple, cardamom, vanilla) To be enjoyed: Neat, mixed with sparkling wine or apple juice

SPRY can be purchased from drinkspry.com or thedrinkshop.com

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FOOD & DRINK

Gadd’s

Barnsole Just ten miles away on the other side of Ash is Ramsgate’s closest winery, Barnsole, which over the last decade has been lovingly owned, tended and slowly expanded by Addington Street’s Phill and Sally Watts. “We were three acres when we bought and now we’re at seven. We can produce 20,000 bottles a year. Half still, half sparkling,” Phill says. A seven-acre vineyard is well below average, but this means that every aspect of the business from vine to bottle is carefully overseen by Phill and Sally directly, with the help of two trainee viticulturists. “Everything is done by hand on-site, which is why we can call it artisanal. The principle of our business is to sell local and direct.

Sales from the cellar door, that’s what we do. We do also stock some key stores and restaurants like Marc Pierre’s in Ramsgate.”

There is no rulebook, no formula and no pressure to create the same wine each year. By working with the elements, using small-scale machinery and allowing nature to dictate the harvest, no vintage is the same. “In big vineyards, the winemaker’s job is to keep the wine the same time after time. Here, we wait for the grapes and then we decide what wines we can make from them. Right now we’re harvesting and starting to formulate in our minds what wines we can make this year. If you can’t ripen grapes, which we can’t this year, you make sparkling wine,” says Phill.

It is this sparkling wine that the area and indeed the UK in general is best known for and is by far its most widely produced wine style at 66% of overall output. “Champagnes are actually English originally! Captain

Kenelm Digby was the first person to make glass reliably hard enough to take the pressure of sparkling wine.

Without him, you couldn’t make sparkling wine. In 1668 Christopher Merrit thought to put wine into Digby’s glass with Caribbean molasses and seal the top – 35 years before Dom Perignon!” Phill proudly points out. This fact is not lost on the French, with Pierre Emmanuel Taittinger (now owner of a 550-acre vineyard up the road in Chilham) hailing it the true home of world-class sparkling wine.

Despite English sparkling wine garnering the most attention over the last decade, winemakers like Phill and Sally are now turning their attention to other possibilities due to changes in climate. “Ten years ago we planted pinot noir that wouldn’t ripen to make sparkling wine. Now it’s ripening, we just made our first pinot noir! I never thought I’d make a still pinot noir. But more and more are coming to the market. Jancis Robinson [wine critic and writer] has pronounced that England is now a pinot noir nation.”

Phill admits that the business is right where it wants to be; the stars are aligning in the English wine industry right now. In recent years wineries like Barnsole have been making the best wines in their history and putting their head above the parapet with unprecedented varieties being grown and blends being bottled.

And the rest of the world is starting to pay attention.

Our choice: 2016 Old Vine Sparkling

Description: The perfect bubbly.

Fresh and light with hints of apple and pear and a lively character

Barnsole wines are available direct from the winery door in Staple or online at barnsole.co.uk

Gadd’s brewery needs no introduction. A tried and tested stalwart of the Ramsgate pub scene, providing quality beer locally for two decades. But it wasn’t always plain sailing for founder Eddie Gadd.

“We’ve been going 20 years next year.

It was such a slog starting out, if you were in it for the money you’d have got out quickly. In those days there were literally six pubs in Thanet that were interested and allowed to buy beer off us and one of them closed before we even started! They were hard miles but brewing was the only thing I could do.”

It is a good thing he did stick with it because you couldn’t imagine a local pub now without a No.3, No.7 or Seasider on tap. In fact, No.5 is as synonymous with Gadd’s as it is with Chanel for most Ramsgate locals. “The first beer we brewed was No.3 and it hasn’t changed since. I’m a purist, I just wanted to brew one beer that was so perfect.

Then we made No.7 and look at us now, our range is ridiculous.”

The pinnacle of the Kent brewer’s calendar, the hop harvest has just been and gone, which means the ultimate in seasonal beer, Green Hop Ale, is here. To make this, local hops are picked and dropped straight into the brew within 12 hours of harvesting, rather than being dried out as is traditionally done in the Oast houses scattered

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throughout the county. “It’s like cooking with fresh herbs and dried herbs, there’s a huge difference. We use freshly harvested hops and throw them straight in every day for two weeks. When done right you get a beer that’s a bit zingier, fresher, unlike the beer you drink all year round. It captures the spirit of the east Kent hop harvest.”

Having learnt the ropes in Holland, Eddie knew to make the most of Kent’s rich agricultural and brewing history when he set up, taking great care in the provenance of his ingredients. “When I came to Kent, I knew it was the home of hop-growing, so I said I better get to know the growers because that’ll make me a better brewer. Which isn’t normal at all – brewers rarely have a direct relationship with the hop-growers.”

That attitude is undoubtedly what has shaped Gadd’s legacy, “We deliver into south-east London once a week, but 75% of the beer we make is sold within 10 or 15 miles. It’s really local. It’s quite unusual but I like it that way,” explains Eddie.

There is no nonsense with Gadd’s.

They are good people, making good beer for the local palate. That is beer brewing as it should be, according to the boss: “The beer that we’ve always made is a good, drinkable beer. You can have a few pints and it won’t slap you round the face, it’s there to be your friend and an easy drink.”

Our choice: Green Hop Ale Description: Fresh, zingy, seasonal beer at its best

Gadd’s is available in all good local pubs and off licences or direct from ramsgatebrewery. co.uk

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MUSIC

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MEET THE MUSICIAN: MARIANNE DISSARD

Writer

Andrew Flood

Photograph courtesy of

Cynthia Karalla

Marianne Dissard’s genrespanning sounds capture her identity as a musician in a state of constant flux.

The Recorder caught up with her to discuss her recent release of cover songs and how she has found a home here on the south coast You have travelled and lived all over the world but what drew you from the dry sands of the Sonora desert to the alluvial sands of Thanet?

I had this notion I could run away from the Sonoran desert to a “desert” island, and reinvent myself. I’d get a boat, learn to sail the wide seas, and be freed from borders and attachments.

A boat, I fantasized, would be key to a renewed sense of self-sufficiency. I dreaded the apocalypse and was tired of myself. Sailing, I’d forget about the Trumps of this world. I’d be safe.

I woke up from this dream in Ramsgate Harbour, greeted by strange birds and people who became my friends. Classic wooden boats are beautiful nostalgic artifacts. Mine had a powerful new engine and a new set of sails that respected only capable hands. I never left the harbour though.

For the record, I did sell the boat a couple of years ago. You can’t win with a wooden boat. They require constant care. So does my “creative” career.

You are a multi-disciplined and undeniably prodigious artist. From your film documentary work with projects like Low Y Cool or Drunken Bees to your photography seen in the recent Hands, Faces, Ramsgate exhibition, to writing your memoir Not Me. But is music at the core of all of it?

To get to the bottom of “me” is what gnaws at me day to day. I’m a chameleon who relishes a new environment, a new challenge – a context – for the colours they will bring to my mind. Is it fate that, as a wideeyed 18-year-old, the day after leaving my family home in Arizona to go strike

filmmaking gold in Los Angeles, I met and befriended some truly incredible and generous musicians? I wanted the kind of fun that Stanley Kubrick was having – it’s been a waltz ever since. I have this great appetite for finding the most elegant way out of an overabundance of options. Call it the French touch in America.

Your most recent musical output has been a slew of cover songs released over the last 18 months.

The idea of how to approach a cover song is often polarised. Stay true to the original or let it mutate in your hands? Your stance is clear as each song you have done is beautifully unique. What was the idea behind this project?

The idea was to work with Ramsgate producer Raphael Mann. I thought we might have something to say, as humans and artists, not just to each other but to anyone who might enjoy our “drastic reimaginings” of music and friendship.

Raphael was one of the first people I met in Ramsgate when I moved here in 2017, and witnessing the way he fondles a bass guitar, I didn’t waste any time asking him to start playing with me. We formed a short-lived French chanson duo named St Tropez, a winking nod to the possibly “English

riviera”- like atmosphere of Ramsgate Harbour, and played our first gig at the then – Vinyl Head Café, whispering Gainsbourg-Birkin numbers to the Addington set.

I’d become obsessed with the music of Harry Nilsson, one of the greatest singers and songwriters from that stupendous musical era. From the ashes of the Nilsson album project grew this current crop of cover songs (most of them, like Nilsson’s best, originally recorded in the late 60s and early 70s), which I’ll eventually compile into an album named Rappel if I can ever agree with Raphael on its tracklisting.

I try to find songs that haven’t yet said everything they can say. Some will whisper their secrets to you if you approach them as a woman when they were written by and for a man from the 70s. Others need a good dusting to reveal, like the Phil Ochs song, that their story of political corruption tragically remains unchanged. The approach is that of a detective, to find all the versions that have been recorded, to study them. Jazz musicians do that a lot.

Many have categorised your music as “desert noir”, but it is farther reaching than that. How do you go about making music? Must you be in a certain space for it to flow? ►

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ramsgate recorder

MUSIC

on record Music always finds a way. Like water, it flows in between the things I do day to day. I don’t have a name for the music I make and I don’t make music like most people who are able to play an instrument. I prefer to leave the composition to others who can really compose, and the playing to others who can really play. In a sense, I’m like the old-school French chanson interprètes like Edith Piaf or Yves Montand: performers, actors who knew to pick tunes that fit. “Couture noir”, “desert couture”?

From your time in Tucson, you have worked with some renowned musicians and groups such as Calexico, Giant Sand, Orkesta Mendoza and Xixa. Is collaboration key to your work? How did the more recent connection with legendary saxophonist Terry Edwards come about?

Before film school, I was dribbling alone over my notebooks, a teenage “poet”, a shy loner. But there is real joy in working with others. Sometimes I’m at the right time at the right place, and someone like Terry Edwards walks in whose work with PJ Harvey I’m very aware of, and we end up collaborating because we share a language. But I don’t always want to have all in common with a collaborator. I learned a tremendous amount from BKOne and Budo, two artists then on the Rhymesayers label. We worked together in Minneapolis and Seattle when I wanted to shake the dust from my “desert” sound. BK-One, from his work with rapper Brother Ali, and Budo, producer for hip-hop star Macklemore, got me interested in other sounds and connected to other engineers. My Tucson crew, you could say we grew up together, with friendships and collaborations stretching over a couple of decades, even longer now. Homies. But you got to leave home sometimes.

You have toured on donkeyback in the Pyrenees and performed at MOMA in New York. Is live performance integral to your music? Do you see it as a completely separate form of expression?

Yes, I enjoy it tremendously and feel very much at home on a stage now.

Despite the world being globalized, I can still perform in China and be perceived very differently than I would in Germany. Each country brings its own filters to my work, maybe because it is hard to classify or function on enough levels. Performance art, theatre, poetry, folk storytelling, rock tropes, visuals... I use all of these practices during my live shows.

Performance is not so much a separate

AL WOOTTON

form of expression as the one that truly brings it all together.

Your memoir Not Me is a no holds barred synopsis of your life in music and the struggles faced along the way. Has your time in Ramsgate been a key factor in allowing you to reflect on the past and to write your story?

When I beached here, I was pretty beat up. In Ramsgate I finished writing my book and took baby steps in being human again. I dared to let people in, fell in love, got my heart beat to a pulp, survived it, made some really great friends, learned to love Marmite, and capped it all by taking photographs of the town through two winter lockdowns. I’d say I’ve made a good deal out of my time in Ramsgate.

What is it like to live in a town that looks across the water to your homeland? Do you think this is a stepping stone to the next chapter or have you found an indefinite home here?

Ramsgate is a border town. I’m used to border towns. They are zones of friction, struggles, and human tragedies of a very specific kind.

They’re contested territories and history in the making. It wasn’t so awfully obvious when I first got here in 2017, but this year, how many thousands attempted to cross the Channel border on small boats at the risk of their lives? Just like thousands and thousands cross the Sonoran desert into the US from Mexico every year, and hundreds, children included, die on the way before they can even reach Tucson. As for my next chapter... maybe I’ll join the exodus to Scotland and document the tremors that are certain to radiate from that predictably tectonic plate. Saltires and dragons.

Can you tell us what the future holds? What else are you working on?

Hands, Faces, Ramsgate: The Year Christmas Was Cancelled has morphed from a large-scale outdoor public installation to the world of the art gallery. In a few weeks, framed under glass, some of the “fence” photos will be exhibited at the Laurent Delaye Gallery on Addington Street, before moving on to Paris in February for a solo show. I’ll have a photo book by then. As for music, I’m taking my Ramsgate lyrics and some music Raphael composed for me to Tucson. I’ll record my fourth studio album there with my old posse.

See, sometimes you have to go back “home”, if only for a bit.

mariannedissard.com

Writer

Andrew Flood

Image courtesy of Elise Carter

Al Wootton is a Ramsgate-based producer whose percussive techno productions for labels such as Livity Sound and his own Trule imprint are heavily influenced by dub and UK garage. He is also a member of the experimental dub/post-punk outfit Holy Tongue. He has a monthly radio show on Peckham-based Balamii Radio. His most recent release is a four-track EP of percussive, textural rhythms titled Maenads. Head to alwootton.bandcamp.com for more.

What are you listening to?

AFRICAN HEAD CHARGE Stebenis Theme I moved to Ramsgate because the day we were viewing houses in Margate I went to see African Head Charge at the Ramsgate Music Hall and decided to move here instead.

The album this track is on came out in 1981 and it sounds like it was made last week. A really vital band that have massively inspired me over the years.

SHACKLETON Blood On My Hands (Ricardo Villalobos Apocalypso Now mix) Going two for one here as both Shackleton and Ricardo Villalobos are big influences on my own music, and this one is both of them at

their prime. Both experts at weird percussion workouts.

HOLY TONGUE Bracha I’m too embarrassed to include my own music but this is a collaboration between me and percussionist/ drummer Valentina Magaletti featuring Ben Vince on saxophone.

We are now doing live shows as a band which has been really fun.

INSTINCT X 0113 Apache This is something I’ve been playing in all my sets lately. UK Garage is a massive part of my sound, especially when it sounds more like techno, and the vocal sample from Koffee always makes this one go off.

KING TUBBY Great Stone I had to include some King Tubby. I’m a big collector of dub reggae and this one is just a perfect militant stepper from the master.

RHYTHM & SOUND See Mi Version (Basic Reshape) An absolute classic but one that really affected the way I made music when I first heard it. Just perfect texture and sound and very little else.

Three Rooms

Ivan Seal David Brian Smith Sebastian Stöhrer 9 October - 28 November 2021

CARL FREEDMAN GALLERY 28 UNION CRESCENT MARGATE

Ivan Seal (2020)

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LOST AND SOUND Writer

ramsgate recorder

ART & CULTURE

Russell Chater

If you have recently waited for a train at Ramsgate station and wondered what the soundtrack is, or stumbled upon a crowd of people singing rude carols outside Rubber Chicken House (the artist’s home), you will have experienced the work of Dr Emily Peasgood. The sound artist and composer discusses her practice and three latest projects in and around Thanet

“

I’ve done dancing, acting, music technology, led choirs, computer programming… My practice is all of that, baked into a big yummy cake.” So says Emily as we sit down for coffee and, er, cake for a chat that will cover everything from climate change to spiritual altercations; colonial archives to comedy choirs.

Emily first moved to this corner of the UK in 2006, buying in Whitstable on a whim. While there, she became acquainted with the incredible music scene of Ramsgate and, needing a fresh start, moved here ten years later.

By 2016 Emily had already been operating successfully for a few years. Her practice kicked off with her involvement in the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, where she successfully pitched to compose and arrange for a brass band and lead and conduct a choir, both of which she had never done before. It was very much a case of fake it till you make it, and Emily is certainly fearless. After her initial music degree at Guildhall School and City University, she trained as a paralegal. This has been very helpful for drawing up legal documents in relation to her projects, another indicator of Emily’s ability to take control of all aspects of her practice.

This practice sees Emily create research-led, site-specific interactive artworks for galleries and outdoor

▲ Emily Peasgood: Image courtesy of Robert Greshoff

public spaces, ranging from largescale community events to intimate sound installations. Often using innovative technology, her works aim to transform how we perceive our environment by creating invitations to connect with people and places that are forgotten or overlooked. Her latest three projects are no exception.

Isle of Sound celebrates the sonic diversity of Thanet, with a unique sound piece installed in each of Thanet’s seven train stations until 17 December. Emily worked with over 100 people from across the Isle, developing sounds that included everything from the tinkling bells of Broadstairs’ morris dancers, to the reversing of mobility scooters in Ramsgate, and the bleating of the sheep kept by the Benedictine nuns at Minster. (One of the nuns had read about the project on Twitter and asked if she could be involved.) Participant Shirley Jones says it encouraged her to listen “more mindfully” and increased her “appreciation of the rich and varied soundscapes”.

Interbeing, an exploration of collaborative ceramic and sound art practice in China and the UK, saw Emily paired with Hong Kong ceramicist Annie Wan. Their collaboration is exhibited at the Powell-Cotton Museum in Quex House, Birchington until 30 ►

THRIVE with Embodied Wisdom

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22

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MUSIC

October this year under the title No Interdependent Origin. Responding to a specific theme of “vanished history”, Emily chose to focus on the women of Quex House in the 1900s, as a way of telling stories that are in danger of being lost. Wan’s work, meanwhile, explored the legacy of the museum’s colonial-era collection.

Finally, I Would Rather Walk With You is a permanent site-specific sound installation in the West Wing Battery at Fort Burgoyne, Dover. It features a choral work composed by Emily and sounds recorded by over 400 local people, recreating its history as well as reinforcing its current potential as a community space. It is commissioned by Pioneering Places, a cultural project for East Kent whose aims are to engage the community and improve the quality of people’s lives. This is echoed by participant Anthony Browne: “It was great fun and the whole process proved to be a very welcome distraction.”

Emily’s projects are often concerned with giving voice to those who historically have not had one, and this is arguably driven by the fact that Emily’s own voice has often been undervalued. She says that the world of music technology can be very male dominated, and recounts,

without seeking sympathy, stories of being overlooked and paid a lesser fee. To her knowledge, she also remains the only person with five Ivors Composer Awards nominations not yet to have a publishing contract or agent, although she readily concedes that this may be because she doesn’t easily fit into a category, refusing to identify solely as either a composer or sound artist.

Although she loves her job, Emily still feels that she really has to fight to be heard or taken seriously. This led to her undertaking a PhD (completed

last year) and she reports that things have, thankfully, become easier in the last few years despite a hipreplacement operation. She recorded the surgery to make into an artwork, and then travelled to Dover the week after to pitch for a job, reiterating her indomitable spirit.

As for a typical day, Emily explains that “one minute I’m knee deep in mud, measuring an area of land for a new work, the next I’m sat at the table with felt tips, planning a soundscape.”

She is often also away, although the combination of Covid and Brexit

has recently necessitated different approaches. The collaborative nature of her practice and working with culturally significant sites also means that she can never foresee what each day will bring. She recalls her 2018 project Requiem for Cross Bones at a post-medieval burial site in Bankside, London, where a group of spiritual (and spirited) individuals vociferously expressed their personal take on the site.

So what’s on the horizon?

Emily reports several confirmed projects, from Beacons, a work in response to the climate crisis to be staged in Folkestone, to a solo show in Southampton next year.

The publication of a book is also imminent, and Emily is setting up a comedy choir in Ramsgate.

On that note we finish the interview and go our separate ways, with this interviewer left marvelling at Emily’s energy and ability to combine the silly and the serious in her practice. As Christmas approaches, I’m also left wondering just how long we’ll have to wait until we’re enlisted into that comedy choir. “All together now…”

emilypeasgood.com ◄ The Advent Doors comedy carols outside Emily’s.

Image courtesy of Chris Constantine

Nice Things gallery and shop, nestled

by Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour, sells beautiful and unique art and gifts.

Vintage Specialist Our collection includes handmade jewellery, pottery, glass, textiles and stationery by independent makers and artists.

19-21 Harbour Street | Ramsgate CT11 8HA www.nicethingsramsgate.co.uk Q E

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24

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BOOKS

Inspirations and literary locations

MAGGIE GEE Writer

Christabel Smith

For centuries Ramsgate has inspired writers to capture its essence and tell its stories. As the season for settling down with a good book gets underway, three local authors explain why the town does it for them

“

It’s about Ramsgate’s physical beauty for me. I’ve written two novels since we arrived, one set here, the other in New York.

But the writing started on my very first weekend visit, when I wrote a short story inspired by the wide, bright stretches of chalk and sand and the haunting nature reserve above Pegwell Bay. It was published in the New Statesman and later in my collected stories, The Blue.

In 2019 I published Blood, a black comedy about a murder which has an unstoppable six-foot heroine called Monica, and climactic scenes set in Ramsgate’s Harbour Brasserie, on our cliffs and in Waitrose.

Coming up next spring (April

2022) is The Red Children (Saqi), a much gentler, sweeter novel about Ramsgate, set in the near future but inspired by all the real-life arrivals on these coasts, from Julius Caesar and St Augustine to present-day migrants. People who enjoyed Monica may be glad to know she makes a comeback there, while the rest of the new cast are notable for their kindness – the quality my husband Nick Rankin and I have loved finding here in our friends and neighbours. There are talking ravens and tortoises, sea cadets and Viking ships… Thanks, Ramsgate.”

Twitter: @maggiegeewriter Instagram: @maggiegeenovelist

Tales on Moon Lane 43-45 Addington Street Ramsgate CT11 9JJ

01843 654730 | helloramsgate@moonlane.co.uk

Term time opening hours: 11am - 4pm Thursdays - Sundays Christmas holidays opening hours: 11am - 4pm Tuesday - Sunday from 21st to 24th December

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BOOKS

WENDY WALLACE (PEN NAME ROSE BLACK)

“

Why does Ramsgate inspire me? It may be the layers of history that are so visible in the architecture, or the dramatic topography, the epic height of the cliffs and expanse of the beaches. I find the juxtaposition of wild nature and centuries of human life very dynamic. As a historical novelist, I love details such as words on gravestones, houses built into the cliff, the wind shelters. Ramsgate was booming and fashionable during the period I’m interested in – the mid-19th century – and so much evidence of life then remains, in the paintings of Frith, Tissot, Dyce and others, and in the names of inns, streets and alleys that are still there for exploring.

In my Victorian novel The Unforgetting, described by The i as “deliciously haunting gothic fiction”, I’m partly writing about my own ghosts. My mother and aunt were schoolgirls at Clarendon House after the war and I was taken by my granny to shows at the Granville Theatre and

the model village that used to be on the West Cliff. I was thrilled by the new hovercraft. The place swirls with lives past, which feel present – people rattling around on trams or setting out to sea, milling flour, birthing babies, attending gala dinners in long satin gloves.

My character Lily Bell is horrified when she comes across a carved angel tombstone bearing her name and cause of death: Slipped from a cliff.

I found these poignant words on a stone in St Laurence’s graveyard. I also saw a real carved angel there, but when I went back, despite searching, I couldn’t find it anywhere…

The East Cliff houses built into the cliff, with no windows or means of escape at the back, were not there in the early 1850s, when the novel is set, but I took them as a model for the cottage Lily moves into. I liked the idea of her being hemmed in by the cliff, and her unwanted pregnancy, trapped and sheltered all at once.

The beach itself is the setting for many events – it’s like a second stage on which many things happen, as everyone who lives here knows.”

rlf.org.uk/fellowships/wendywallace

Ramsgate writers of yore Ramsgate received mixed reviews from these old-timers:

CHARLES DICKENS When writing his short story “The Tuggses at Ramsgate”, Dickens complained to his fiancée Catherine in 1836: “I never worked with so little pleasure.”

JANE AUSTEN Historian Norman Thomas says in Austen’s time, seaside resorts were considered to be “socially dangerous” places, where “foolish, immoral people get up to foolish, immoral things”.

The novelist came down hard on the town, associating Ramsgate with “bad taste”, and it’s on a visit here that 15-yearold Georgiana Darcy is persuaded to elope with caddish Mr Wickham in Pride and Prejudice.

Austen’s beloved brother Francis married a local woman when stationed in Ramsgate in 1803, and it’s possible she blamed the town for stealing him away.

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE The poet, who wrestled with addiction to opium, was a frequent visitor to the town he called “Porta Arietiná”. He would walk to the “secret cave” at Dumpton Gap, strip off and have a “glorious tumble in the waves”.

In “The Garden of Boccaccio”, he wrote: “Wild strain of Scalds, that in the seaworn caves Rehearsed their war-spell to the winds and waves.”

BERNIE MORGAN

“

Those blood-red sunrises, miles of sandy beaches, moon sprinkling silver on the sea, all inspire and influence. Those of us who live in Ramsgate are so lucky to be able to drink in the views, any time, any day, and use them to break a block, create a scene or describe a feeling. Beautiful buildings, some with faded glamour, others reviving themselves to face the 21st century with renewed vigour, inspire curiosity and spark the creative mind into telling stories past and present.

My favourite place for inspiration

is the East Cliff on a dry sunny day.

Babies in buggies, grandparents with slowing gait, children on scooters, young adults chatting and laughing…

I take the happy atmosphere home with me and use its warmth when I write.”

The Amazing Life of Cecilia Chattergee, Bernie’s biography of her pioneering greatgrandmother, is available from Nice Things in Harbour Street, Amazon and Waterstones Podcast: amazingwomeninvisiblelives.com

WILKIE COLLINS First holidaying here with his family aged five, Ramsgate was a place of adventure for young Wilkie and he became a lifelong visitor. His love life was nothing if not complicated. When accompanied by mistress Caroline, he would stay in 10 Nelson Crescent. But with his commonlaw wife Martha, he shifted to the East Cliff to rent in Wellington Crescent.

In his 1879 novel The Fallen Leaves he describes “the cries of children at play, the shouts of the donkey boys driving their poor beasts, the distant notes of brass instruments playing a waltz, and the mellow music of small waves breaking on the sand.”

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FASHION

STYLE ON THE STREET Styling, casting & words Katy Lassen @weseafaces

Photographer Ed Thompson

Model

Sophia Shorr-Kon

A

s the warm weather and tourists retreat, taking with them memories of ice cream, sunscreen and sandy toes, we find ourselves looking towards winter with a renewed focus on the burgeoning local community that makes Ramsgate so special all year round.

For this issue we wanted to focus on the flourishing Addington Street area and the businesses that are energising this part of town. Opening a permanent space mere months ago, Positive Retail has secured its spot as a destination for pre-loved clothes where style needn’t cost the earth. From Levis to Celine, there is something to suit all tastes and budgets.

A short hop across the street is the Sewing Room where the offering of vintage, pre-loved and customised pieces continues to grow.

Take a stroll round the corner to Queen Street and you will find an expanded range of vintage fashion at Stories and the Past; from kimonos and tea dresses to sequins and shoulder pads.

▲ Top and trousers from Positive Retail ► Coat and trousers from Positive Retail

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FASHION

29

▲ Kimono, dress and belt from Stories and the Past ◄ Dress from The Sewing Room Our model Sophia Shorr-Kon is an artist, soulful doula and resident of Addington Street. Sophia works symbolically with sensuality and the surreal and explores the relationship society has to the erotic through her multi-disciplinary practice, moving between collage, chiaroscuro, video works as well as ritual and participatory installation sophiaschorr-kon.com themodernerotic.com Positive Retail 26 Addington Street The Sewing Room 24 Addington Street Stories and the Past 84 Queen Street

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BUSINESS

Stepping out Writer

Sean Farrell

With plans for a new shop, a growing online presence, and new clothing lines to launch, Ramsgate’s Saltworks is finding opportunity in challenging times

“

Never let a good crisis go to waste,” said Winston Churchill in the aftermath of the second world war. That phrase has become a business dictum that Ken Orbeck, the owner of Saltworks, is acting on for the second time.

Tucked away in Charlotte Court, Saltworks sells women’s clothes and accessories and fragrance products to a loyal group of customers from Thanet and beyond. Ken started the business in 2013 and has expanded during the Covid-19 crisis.

In October 2020 he opened a second store on Upper Street in Islington, north London. Now he is preparing to open a shoe shop on Harbour Street at the space formerly occupied by footwear retailer Brewer & Howard.

Ken had been looking to expand for some years in Canterbury but had struggled to convince a commercial landlord to sign a lease with an independent retailer from Ramsgate.

The Islington opportunity arose in a conversation with a longtime customer who owned the building.

“It seemed mad because it was the middle of the first lockdown but the opportunity wouldn’t have come up if not for the pandemic,” Ken says. “I thought … OK … but then I realised this chance might never come round again.”

Ken says the money made available by the government to support small businesses during the pandemic also helped him finance his plans after a

frustrating experience looking for support from high street banks.

The previous global emergency – the financial crisis of 2007-2009 – was partly the catalyst for Ken to launch Saltworks.

After 25 years working in the City he started rethinking his priorities and in 2010 he left his job with accountants Ernst & Young to work as a freelance consultant based in Broadstairs.

“You get to a point when you think: ‘Is this what makes me happy every day?’ And the answer was no,” Ken says.

In 2007 he bought the building in Charlotte Court at auction and was featured in the BBC’s Homes Under the Hammer. As he refurbished the space he spotted a niche for a women’s clothes store that would stand out from the chains that dominate shopping centres.

Saltworks stocks a shifting range of established brands such as Masai, Seasalt and Great Plains, and also has its own range called Alchemy sourced from factories in the UK and Europe. The in-store vibe is leisurely and no-pressure, catering for “ladies who lunch” but also a wide range of customers.

“We wanted to make this a democratic place,” Ken says, gesticulating into the store. “Some quality things cost a bit more but

▼ Saltworks team from left to right: Jen Nash, Ken Orbeck, Isabelle Phillips and Jade Hanks

Limarni

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Open Thurs-Sun 11:00-4:00 Come and visit our brand new shop Limarni in fabulous Harbour St. We are an eclectic mix of people, reflected in our offering: antiques, collectables, gifts, designer bags and accessories.

Bespoke services also available.

Mention the Ramsgate Recorder with your first purchase and get a 10% discount.

we’ve also got a basket of bracelets that cost £5 because we believe in making sure there’s something for everyone.”

In 2013 Ken added perfume products to his range, drawing on an interest in fragrance and chemistry that started in his teens when he created essential oils from his neighbours’ lavender and lilac bushes.

Saltworks sources its ingredients from Grasse in France, the world’s fragrance capital, to make perfumes, soap, candles and other products.

Fragrances are unisex and are sold wholesale at trade fairs and at retailers as far afield as Scotland and Cornwall.

Charlotte Court remains Saltworks’ nerve centre, housing the shop, a fragrance workshop on the first floor and Ken’s flat at the top.

The business isn’t a one-man band.

Ken has two full-time employees – Isabelle Phillips, who joined in 2015, and Jennifer Nash. Isabelle and Ken work closely together including travelling to trade fairs, working on products and alternating to oversee the Islington store.

“Isabelle is kind of the face of the business,” Ken says. “People come into the shop when I’m there and ask me: ‘Who are you?’”

With a trace of an accent from his native Canada, Ken is an ideas

machine with huge enthusiasm for what he does. With slicked back hair, bookish glasses and a fuschia-striped shirt matched with a paisley tie, he rattles off thoughts about the next stage of Saltworks’ development.

A website to sell fragrances direct to customers is on the way to meet demand from customers who buy products on holiday – either in Ramsgate or other destination retailers across the country – and want to restock. Then there is the shop in Harbour Street.

The plan is to open by spring 2022 with mainly women’s shoes and some for men. Requirements have changed during the pandemic and Ken is thinking hard about getting the right balance between leisure and formality.

He is also going to test the water for menswear – an underserved market in the town centre – at Harbour Street.

The store will get a revamp and Ken will use the space upstairs to work on a range of clothing he will design and make himself.

Ken says he already stays up till 2am thinking about Saltworks’ direction so how will he get any sleep with all these extra activities?

“Exactly! That’s the constant question,” he replies.

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HISTORY

A pint down memory lane Writer

Christabel Smith

Illustrations courtesy of Betty Boo Onion

History is never far from the surface in atmospheric Ramsgate. Whether you choose to drink in the vibe at your local or embark on a pub crawl (purely in the interests of research), it only takes a little imagination to picture the scenes from centuries gone by

The Queen Charlotte

The Queen’s Head

The Queen Charlotte is believed to have been built between 1801 and 1821 on Addington Street, Ramsgate’s historical high street. It was granted its first licence in 1875, but the landlord clearly found the restrictive hours left him unable to quench his customers’ thirst, because in 1896 the Thanet Advertiser reported he had applied for an early-morning licence, in order to supply the shipwrights and fishermen with refreshments at 6am. As the Hovelling Boat Inn already had such a licence and had clearly cornered the dawn-drinking market, his application was refused. To keep afloat post-pandemic, the QC is currently available as a townhouse/pub to hire on Airbnb. Between bookings, it opens its doors to punters as before.

Across Harbour Parade, The Queen’s Head, established in 1773, makes ’Spoons look like the new kid on the block. Demolished in the 1890s, it was rebuilt in its present style in 1921, retaining its reputation for being a seafarers’ pub. In November 1861 the Kentish Chronicle and General Advertiser reported that landlord William Toup pleaded guilty to opening on a Sunday “before the time stipulated”. Twelve fishermen and other residents had asked him to let them in so they could “settle some fish transactions”. Mr Toup, who was fined five shillings and ordered to pay 10 shillings in costs, said he would take care the offence never happened again. Nine years later his successor behind the bar, a Mr Lawrence, had to deal with a serious charge of assault against a fish dealer, involving a controversy over rotten herrings.

Magistrates sentenced the defendant to 14 days’ hard labour in Sandwich.

Jim Barber, current landlord of The Queen’s Head, is proud of his pub’s rich history: “I wish CCTV had been invented in the 19th century, it would have been fascinating to see what went on within these walls.

Great drinks, customer service and providing a safe and welcoming environment are what we’re about and I’m sure that was true in yesteryear, although my predecessors didn’t have to think about Sky TV, contactless payments, espresso martinis and vaping back then!

“We still serve the seafarers, not so much commercial fishermen, but charter boats, wind farmers, Border Force and various harbourside businesses. We’re the last traditionallooking pub on the harbour and have a mix of tourists, sports and live music fans, a lovely community of regulars, and, according to a medium, a ghostly ‘motherly spirit’ in the back bar. I’ve not met her, but our cleaner Sue is convinced!” ►

The Royal Victoria Pavillion Today the Royal Victoria Pavilion may be all about all-day brunch and pitchers of cocktails, but as waiters and waitresses carry huge trays around the vast space, its theatrical past isn’t hard to evoke. In 1903 Stanley Davenport Adshead, who also designed Ramsgate Library, conceived the classic Edwardian pavilion as an entertainment complex, with a firstfloor promenade and viewing platform.

Despite its scale, it was due to be completed in six months, although, like all good building projects, it over-ran and wasn’t opened until the following year, when Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Louise attended the ceremony. It became a casino in 1970, but after its closure in 2008 the building dilapidated until given a new lease of life by Wetherspoon’s, who refurbished and reopened the “Pav” as a pub that can hold close to 800.

Claims it can be seen from space are unsubstantiated and most likely fuelled by cheap beer!

33

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Artillery Arms A military air clings to the Artillery Arms on West Cliff Road, with its leaded glass panes depicting scenes from the Napoleonic Wars. Built around 1810, it was reportedly used as an officers’ billet and/or a brothel.

Back in 1934 the 24-year-old licensee Mr Drapper, an ex-Navy man, shot himself in the head in a taxi, just minutes after arriving at Paris’s Gare du Nord station. The driver was crossing Place de la Republique en route for Gare de Lyon when he heard the shot and turned to see the Mr Drapper, revolver in hand. Originally known as the Ash Arms, the Artillery is allegedly haunted by a man in early Victorian-style military uniform, who leans on an external wall to observe passers-by. He is sometimes joined by a female ghost in a long white dress and cotton cap, who sits on top of the short flight of stairs from the bar’s ground floor.

Horse & Groom Brewers Tomson & Wotton (once “Britain’s oldest”) bought the Royal Arms, Charlotte Court, in 1865 and renamed it the Horse & Groom as it was close to Sackett’s livery yard. In 1960 Charlotte Cottage was added, redesigned and redecorated in keeping with the old pub. There was further renovation when Faversham brewers Shepherd Neame (“Britain’s oldest”) took it over in 2000.

RAMSGATE’S FIRST PUB? The Red Lion in King Street, according to Ramsgate Historical Society. An alehouse since 1650, it was used by parish officers for “council meetings” until 1785 when the Town Hall was built. dover-kent.com has a wealth of information on Ramsgate pubs past and present

Pub portraits The pubs of her hometown inspired artist Betty Boo Onion. “When creating these pieces, I was looking to share the beauty of Ramsgate’s architecture in a way people of the town could appreciate,” she says. “In my opinion, these pubs represent foundations of community and many of us will recall meeting interesting characters in at least one of them!

“The pubs included in this series have unique qualities and different personalities, which I aimed to represent through the use of a single colour. They also come together to represent Ramsgate’s social landmarks.” bettyboosigns.com

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36

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ART & DESIGN

CRAFT WORK Writer

Lynsey Fox

Images

Courtesy of the creatives

Green-minded Ramsgate designers, sewers and makers are using traditional techniques and pre-loved materials to create ethical and sustainable works of fashion and art – and with the opening of a new scrap store, it is a perfect time for any hobbyist to give it a try

▲ Image courtesy of Jaron James

THE ART OF MEMORIES ▲

CRAFTING FOR ALL ►

Textile artist Jessie Cutts, founder of Cutts & Sons, uses her background in art and design and applies it to fabric to create colourful and graphic patchwork and quilted art pieces.

Jessie has skilfully pushed her pieces into being art rather than just useful objects. Previous work include beautiful memory wall hangings artfully created using clothes from now grown up children or lost family members. Jessie’s unique aesthetic, which breaks away from traditional square patchwork, uses the smallest scraps of fabric off-cuts from previous projects, which only lends to the distinctive wobbly graphic look.

While showing me her baskets full of colourful fabric trimmings, I ask Jessie about her no-waste sewing. “I like to be playful and have fun with my work and see how small a piece of fabric I can reuse. I find a lot of pleasure in thinking how far can I push it and what’s the tiniest piece I can reuse to avoid waste,” she says.

On a quiet road behind Ramsgate High Street you will find the Scrap Store, an exciting new initiative that not only supports charity but helps reduce waste. East Kent Mencap, based in Foresters Hall on Meeting Street, delivers support to independent people with learning disabilities. Their Scrap Store works on three levels.

First, it relies on clean and reusable donations which are sorted, weighed and recorded to track exactly how much has been saved from going into landfill. (A staggering 1078kg of fabric was donated since opening!)

Second, it makes affordable materials accessible to those who might otherwise have thought crafting is an expensive hobby. Customers are spoilt for choice – donations include fabric, wool, paper, craft kits, sewing patterns as well as crafting books and magazines, and the well stocked haberdashery section is a dream, filled with all the sewing paraphernalia any new or seasoned crafter could possibly need.

“The appointment-only shopping

Instagram @cuttsandsons

experience creates less waste as it’s possible to buy items in small quantities, meaning customers can buy just what they need for each project,” explains Amy, Community Coordinator. “There is a suggested donation of £5 for a basket, but we adopt a ‘pay what you can afford’ policy, making crafting accessible to all.”

Third, it provides employment skills and community integration for its members who volunteer to run the store, as well as an aptly named “crafternoon” session for members.

For more information including when the Scrap Store is accepting donations and to book Covid friendly private appointments (currently available on Wednesdays) see Instagram @scrapstore.ekm or visit eastkentmencap.co.uk/old/thescrapstore-east-kent-mencap

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CLOTHES THAT TELL A TALE ► Elizabeth Cake (a recent satisfied customer of the Scrap Store) creates handmade one-off garments from found fabrics for her sustainable brand A Circular Story. With a background in pattern-cutting and a love of vintage fabrics, Elizabeth likes each of her beautiful pieces to tell a tale – from pretty blouses made from secondhand cotton tablecloths adorned with embroidery and lace details, to a recent art piece she handappliquéd and quilted using found souvenir tablecloths and tea towels from Thanet and other places she has lived. The jacket evokes nostalgic memories of childhood holidays and seaside gift shops. While visiting her studio, I spotted a fun and vibrant patchwork curtain. Elizabeth explains, “I made that from old handkerchiefs.

Patchwork is something I’ve always been interested in. I love the look of it and the idea of using every little scrap.

If you’ve got a worn out favourite item of clothing, you can continue finding joy in it by cutting it up and making it into a patchwork cushion.”

Instagram @a.circular.story

◄ REUSING WASTE TO WASTE COLLECTING Sustainability is at the heart of Forivor, which is co-run by Ramsgate resident Alice Ruby Ross. The brand creates nostalgic memories with its ethereal illustrated organic heirloom children’s quilted bedding.

The storytelling designs help children get passionate about conservation and nature.

“The popularity of quilting is not only about the repurposing message, but provides a much-needed comforting feel,” Alice says.

The brand has a strong ethical policy, including reducing air freight and planting trees in India for every product purchased.

Wanting to go deeper with the ethical

business message, Forivor has recently collaborated with bag designer Martina Spetlova to eliminate waste from both their practices. Together they have created a practical quilted tote bag, repurposing production offcuts and waste trimmings from the bag-making process. Cleverly, it includes a waterproof bag inside made from reclaimed parasol or tent fabric rescued from landfill.

The multi-purpose bag can be used for packing wet swimming gear in, or even for a bit of impromptu beach litter-picking.

Instagram @forivor or visit forivor.com

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ramsgate recorder

ART & DESIGN

GIVE ME A SIGN Writer

Ros Anderson

Images courtesy of Gary Wells

Gary Wells, sign-writer, has worked all over Kent, settling in Ramsgate five years ago. He has painted signs for a number of local businesses and here talks about this historic profession, working outdoors, and how to inspire sign-writers of the future What brought you to Ramsgate?

I worked in Whitstable for 20 years before moving to Ramsgate five years ago. Whitstable is much smaller. I was the only sign-writer there. Being a sign-writer you tend to follow where you think the work may be. Ramsgate doesn’t seem to get much press coverage but it’s a nice town, and a lot bigger.

How do you find your clients?

I get most of my work through word-ofmouth and I find that I get enough, as much as I need. Because it’s handdone, people assume it’ll be expensive, but it isn’t really. You have to work quick, but with quality. You’re only as good as your last job.

How does the process work?

First, I go to meet the customer – it’s always best to meet face to face I think. I interview them, really! Get a sense of what colours they do and don’t like, discuss ideas. Then I design some thumbnail sketches in pen and ink, giving them two or three to pick from. Then we’ll tweak it from their feedback.

How did you get into this profession?

I attended Medway College of Art and Design and studied sign-writing and heraldry, from 1976 to 79. I’d already been drawing and going to evening classes and I’d just got back from travelling. I got a City & Guilds and worked for the Brompton Trolley Company. In 1984 I became freelance, after I was made redundant.

Is most of your work done outdoors?

I’d say 70 per cent of my time is working outside, more so in the summer. I’ve done a lot of boats, down in the harbour. I do them when they’re in the dry dock – or occasionally from a dinghy when they’re in the innerharbour, with the boat going up and down.

Do you consider what you do to be art, or design?

The thing is, only in this country do we divide it like that. There seems to be a bit of snobbery around art. I started oil-painting when I was 15 with no inclination for studying it. But I was studying it anyway! The painting process is always the same – you’re in the zone. I come home from work and I like working with charcoal and paper, I like working in oils.

How do you see sign-writing’s future?

I think it’s dying fast. I work alone but I am thinking of setting up something in the workshop with a few people who are interested in producing sign lettering. And if I find someone who has an aptitude – and the patience that it takes – then I’d consider training them up as an apprentice. If I can pass on the joy and the independence that I’ve got from it, that’d be great. It’s kept me going. Forty years now I’ve been on the brushes.

Find Gary and more of his work at Brushscribe Gallery on Facebook

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ramsgate recorder

MUSIC

41

I WANTSUM... WE WANTSUM MUSIC!

▲ From left, Adam Pullman, Connor Beerling, Conor Stanfield and Claire Pitt Wigmore

Writer

Elinor Seath

Images courtesy of

Steve Kreeger

This winter a group of talented young local producers from Pie Factory Music’s Emerging Artists programme launch Ramsgate’s very own record label

I

n an unassuming building on St Lawrence Road, you will find the doors to Pie Factory Music, behind which lies a youth project that is all about making noise. The youth music charity’s Emerging Artists programme, now into its third year, is an initiative where music industry professionals work alongside local young talent. Mentors include Michael McClatchey of Moshi Moshi Music, Beth Clayton from Boom Shakalaka Productions, Harriet Jordan-Wrench from Secret Sessions, Bianca Rose and Loretta Andrews from I Am Independent and Kimberly Ann, creative director of Palm Bay Records.

18-year-old Conor Stanfield, who

plays guitar in post punk band Malpractice, 24-year-old Adam Pullman, singer-guitarist in band Rats Nest, and 23-year-old Claire Pitt Wigmore, a solo artist who plays electric guitar and sings, have all been connected to Pie for a number of years. Claire remembers having guitar lessons here when she was 11. The support and opportunity they have experienced as part of the Emerging Artists programme is something they want to share. And so the idea of creating a new record label was born.

Wantsum Music? will give emerging artists across East Kent a platform to find their voice and footing in the music scene.

Adam is now in a paid role at Pie as Programme Assistant and said being a part of a community of musicians is an important aspect of the programme. “Young musicians need and deserve a way to showcase their talents,” he says. Asked about whether WM? will focus on a particular genre, Claire says no, “it’s about giving opportunity to young home-grown talent, whatever their age and genre.”

The label is supported by Pie Factory Music through generous funding from Youth Music and Moshi Moshi Music. The group are busy with the background work, branding, legal stuff and organising a launch party. But as mentor Michael ►

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MUSIC

observes, there is plenty of ambition, and under the careful watch of Pie a real sense that WM? will go on to be a huge success. “Their enthusiasm and ambition has been a tonic for me,” he says.

Pie celebrates its 20th anniversary next year. The charity specialises in working with young people from challenging circumstances and believes in the power of music to help transform lives. They offer a mix of workshops, youth clubs, training, studio and venue hire, counselling and have a large youth engagement programme working across East Kent.

Zoë Carassik-Lord is the programme manager and explained where the idea for Emerging Artists came from.

“I found that I was being approached by more and more young musicians in our Pie Factory Music youth club sessions about how to get gigs, how to release music, how to ‘get signed’, and I realised there was a real need for a programme for young musicians dedicated to learning this stuff,” she says.

The programme piloted in 2018.

Participants were paired with a mentor and over one year were given a platform to perform live, put on their own gigs, attend masterclasses and importantly spend time with

other local musicians. Following the success of the pilot, national charity Youth Music agreed to fund the programme for another two years.

The music industry is notoriously hard to break into with any success and you hear many stories where young artists are exploited by record labels. The Emerging Artists programme gives young musicians the tools and knowledge they need to avoid this happening. In her mentoring sessions with Kimberly, Claire was learning about music licensing and copyright, a minefield if you don’t receive the right guidance.

Importantly the mentoring aspect of the programme also connects the wealth of musical talent in Thanet with local young people. For the mentors they are reminded why they got into the industry in the first place, and for the emerging artist they get to learn from industry professionals.

“There wasn’t always a connection between the new arrivals and the local musical community,” explains mentor Michael. “It seemed a shame they weren’t benefiting from this influx. Mentoring seemed like an obvious way to try and remedy this, and I know a lot of musicians and producers have come to the same conclusion and got involved. For

AUTUMN AT

October 31st

Addington St Trick or Treat Trail 12 -4pm

CHRISTMAS

Join us for the festive season! Let’s make up for last year in style Loads of brilliant live music Christmas themed nights and Carol singers A delicious seasonal menu from our exquisite chef Nómada_Ramsgate Mulled Wine/Winter cocktails

NEW YEARS EVE BIG BLOWOUT

Get your Glad rags on!

Buffet, Special live music & fireworks on the beach PARTY TIME! We hope you spend your New Year with us to see in 2022

2-3 The Broadway, Addington Street, Ramsgate CT11 9JN

▲ Adam Pullman

me the ultimate goal is for Thanet to become known as a place that produces great music and musicians of its own.”

The Wantsum Music? label launch party is on Thursday 2 December at the Tom Thumb Theatre, £3 for under 18s, £5 for over 18s, pay on the door

Join Pie Factory Music’s Emerging Artists programme, email zoe@ piefactorymusic.com Get in touch with Wantsum Music? email wantsummusiclabel@gmail. com piefactorymusic.com

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ramsgate recorder

COMMUNITY

Unsung hero: Beverley Perkins

Writer

Vanessa Fairley

The newly restored and revamped Ellington Park is down to the work and efforts of many people and volunteers, not least the chair of the Friends of Ellington Park, Beverley Perkins. What we see now is just the beginning of a promising new beginning for this buzzing community centrepiece

▲ Photo from the day the Heritage Lottery Fund came to inspect Ellington Park. From left to right, Hayley White (Project Manager), Scott Sullivan (Project Mentor), Beverley Perkins (FoEP chairperson), Lesley McCarthy (Heritage Lottery), Grant Burton (TDC), Clive Bowen (TDC), Janice Tinsley (FoEP trustee), Julie Wing (FoEP trustee)

B

everley is late for our meeting.

Waiting in a blaze of autumn sunshine in the newly opened Ellington Park café, surrounded by the chatter of locals gathering for the good coffee and beautiful surroundings, make this slight delay a welcome moment of calm. When she does appear it transpires she has been perfecting a new skill: breaking into her own home having been locked out. “Looks like I’ve got a new career,” she chuckles, before sitting down for a relaxed and enjoyable chat in which she repeatedly insists she doesn’t want this to be about her.

“I don’t like the idea it is all me, me me, because it isn’t.” But despite her attempts at distraction, it is time to acknowledge her long and committed work in maintaining and improving Ellington Park, securing funding to create the nature area, install sports equipment, table tennis and benches, and of course most recently to restore the bandstand, build toilets and a community café, with still more to come in the future.

Given that Beverley really does not think talking about herself is as important as championing the team that made it all possible, she is hard to draw on what motivates her to devote so much time and energy to her local community.

She grew up in Stratford and says that there weren’t any parks around.

But there were bomb sites. As she puts it: “It wasn’t very lovely.” Asked what brought her to Ramsgate, she explains

simply that she came to stay with a friend, and liked it here. She worked for the mental health charity Mind on Grange Road, and became a volunteer in the park around the corner.

In 2013, when a chairperson was needed, they asked her to take on the role. “I said I’d do it for six months until they found someone else. But I’m still here. Look, it’s not all about me.

We are a team. And if I sort of lead it, it’s probably just because I am the bossiest.” It is unlikely however that a team that has achieved so much has managed it with a leader that is merely bossy. Securing £1.8 million funding from the National Lottery takes a serious level of diligence and efficiency, and working with the council effectively. “Grant Burton at the council has been really excellent, so helpful,” and she goes on to list more names. “Alan, Janice, Julie, and Pat who runs the park bookshop.

They’ve all made it all happen.”

Beverley makes it sound completely natural and obvious to get involved with your local community and find a way to help and improve it for everybody. She lights up as she mentions the concerts they plan to stage in the bandstand. “We want a whole plethora of different genres of music and are open to suggestions.

Everyone is welcome.”

There will be a pétanque playing area beside the café that will double as a market stall area, with regular farmers’ markets and whatever else people want to arrange. “Steampunk...

cosplay... if it’s legal and open to anyone we will support you!” It is surely this spirit of openness and enthusiasm that drives her, and thankfully a significant level of persistence. It was their third attempt at securing lottery funding. Again she dismisses any hint that this is less than ordinary. “I’m retired. What else would I be doing?” She is fairly certain that sitting in front of the TV is not for her.

What is she most proud of? “The restored bandstand. Because it was in such a terrible state of repair and now it’s like it was in 1910. That is great.

And the café, because it is not for profit and so it will keep giving back to the charity, helping fund a park keeper and apprentice positions.”

And what has been her greatest challenge? “Staying within budget.”

I think we can all agree that Beverley should put her burgeoning career as a burglar on hold, and continue her positive and inspiring work for Ellington Park.

If you want to keep supporting the improvements and future projects why not become a Friend of Ellington Park. Have a coffee and request the membership form.

Or email friendsofellingtonpark@ gmail.com Your membership fee will go towards adding more accessible play equipment in the play area. There is more to achieve and lots to look forward to including a Christmas carol concert at the bandstand, look out for details

ramsgate recorder

PHOTOGRAPHY

Calling all Thanetians!

To mark the 200th anniversary of Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour, Level Eleven Studio owner Russell Pullen began photographing characters from across Thanet.

Here he introduces Jim Arnold who works in the world of film and has been photographed for the project

J

im Arnold was one of the first people I photographed for my Thanetians project. Jim is a screenwriter and talented character actor with over 40 years experience in the industry. He has appeared in a number of films such as Savage Grace, Second Name and Grand Piano. Having moved to Spain from his home in Ramsgate a few years back, he returned to the town and was looking for some new portfolio headshots. Once we’d done these, it was time to play and I wanted to reference Jim’s recent UK return in one of his shots.

If you or someone you know would like to be considered for the Thanetians project email info@level11.co.uk or pop into the studio on Military Road

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ramsgate recorder

NATURE

Bird Watch THE WAXWING & OTHER WINTER VISITORS Writer

Illustrator

Keith Ross

Molly Pickle

ne of the most symbolic birds of autumn and winter in Ramsgate is the redwing.

They often migrate at night and can sometimes be heard overhead calling “tsee”. These birds arrive in large flocks from Russia and Scandinavia to feed on our berry and apple trees. I can remember standing on the Eastcliff one autumn watching hundreds of them stream over the rooftops, past Granville House on their way to feed around Pegwell Country Park and Stonelees.

They are our smallest thrush species and are an easily recognisable brown bird with a distinct white eyebrow stripe and a red patch under the wing that gives the bird its name.

The fieldfare is another winter thrush that arrives at this time of year.

This is a larger bird with a chestnutbrown back and pale cream breast, streaked with black. It has a black tail, dark wings and pale blue-grey rump and head. These too can sometimes be seen in large flocks moving from berry tree to berry tree.

My final winter arrival is quite special: the waxwing. This is a spectacular looking bird with a majestic pink crest and breast, a black mask and throat, a black tail that is tipped with bright yellow. It also has small bright red markings on its wings that look like they have been dipped in wax hence its name. It does not breed in the UK, but is a winter visitor from northern Europe. Waxwings prefer rowan and hawthorn berries and they are not fussy where the bushes are, sometimes frequenting towns, car

O

parks and gardens. Sudden arrivals of large numbers of waxwings (called “irruptions”) occur when the berry crops fail in northern Europe. Some years we don’t get any, or just a few, but in other years we can get hundreds.

Our last big arrival was in 2016 when several hundred arrived feeding on the berry trees along the cycle path at Stonelees. It was an amazing sight.

Just beware: the berries soon go in and soon come out; bird poop was coming

down like rain!

If you have a garden or local park you can help these birds by putting out some apples as they love to feast on them.

If you’d like the chance to see redwing and other wildlife I do guided nature walks from Ramsgate to Pegwell Bay. Contact me at keithross1@hotmail.com for more details

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ramsgate recorder

ADVERTORIAL

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