All aboard the Arts Barge - a plan for a

Architects image

Strolling along Harbour Parade you can’t fail to notice a new summer arrival, a 51-metre Dutch barge that took up her permanent mooring right by the harbour wall. The 130-year-old vessel Vriendschap, Dutch for friendship, plans to stay there.

A social enterprise, not-for-profit organisation, Ramsgate Arts Barge community interest company became Vriendschap’s new owners in August. They plan to turn her into a community-centric creative arts hub, encompassing multiple affordable artist studios, a large events and performance space, and an upper deck area and garden, to open to the public in September 2021 ready for Ramsgate’s bicentenary celebrations of the harbour’s royal status.

The project is the brainchild of Kevin O’Connor and Natasha De Samarkandi, who moved to Ramsgate a year ago. Kevin, with a background in marketing and music management, and Natasha, an artist and illustrator, have engaged Ramsgate architects Del Renzio & Del Renzio who are providing concept design assistance for the renovation and refurbishment of Vriendschap.

A £100,000 crowdfunding campaign, running for eight weeks from 19 October to 13 December, will help raise vital funds towards the cost of refurbishment works.

The project has already attracted 60 volunteers offering practical help once works begin, including electricians and carpenters. Others are assisting with publicity, photography and research. There is plenty to do and Kevin and Natasha

All aboard the Arts Barge

Plans are afoot for a floating community hub in the heart of Ramsgate Harbour and it needs your help

are keen to hear from anyone wanting to get involved.

“This is an incredible opportunity for all of Ramsgate, Thanet and Kent to come together with positivity and optimism after a tough year,” said Kevin. He stresses the hub would be for “everyone - current and future generations. The project will create jobs and boost the local economy by driving footfall into Ramsgate twelve months a year.”

Ten hours of free events space per week will be offered to communityfacing groups, including charities, schools and societies, for workshops and educational programmes. Addington Street’s Moon Lane is exploring how the project can help extend its programme of improving children’s literacy across Thanet. The children’s bookshop is launching a Kent-wide school competition alongside Ramsgate Arts Barge to design a logo for the project.

Submissions open from October with the public voting on a shortlist to decide the winning logo. For further details and to enter visit ramsgateartsbarge.org

Vriendschap invites anyone interested to jump on board and hopes that can translate to a physical invitation once the project is fully afloat.

To see full plans for the Ramsgate Arts Barge and support the crowdfunding campaign visit crowdfunder.co.uk/ ramsgateartsbarge

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Let it glow!

Writer

Christabel Smith

Images courtesy of

Brian Whitehead

Year on year, the Harbour display of Christmas lights glitters ever brighter as boat owners and businesses alike compete in the now world-renowned Ramsgate Illuminations. We meet some of those preparing for this year’s ambitious display

Nights may draw in early, but December in Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour is never dark. The Victorian arches of Military Road are ablaze with decorations, while the boats’ light displays grow more dazzling by the year.

Come late November, in search of ever-more creative ways to shine, owners of yachts, cruisers, barges and waterside businesses can be spotted winding long strings of lights around their doorways and decks. By Christmas Eve, the heart of the town is a flashing feast of colour, attracting attention from all over the world.

“Last year, the Ramsgate Illuminations even reached Australian TV news,” says Martin Morgans of the Royal Temple Yacht Club, Christmas Lights Coordinator. “They’re unique and an indication of boatowners’ pride in our marina.”

Martin is one of a panel of four who judge the lights in advance of the annual awards ceremony at the Yacht Club. Owners fund the illuminations themselves and while some engage in healthy competition, others are more shy. “One winner turned down his trophy, saying he did it purely for fun and the community.”

The tradition began informally, with a smattering of boats lighting up, and judging started in 2014 as a way of boosting winter visitor numbers and raising money for the RNLI. Back then, there were 24 illuminated boats; last year, there were 88, raising over £800 for the second year in a row.

“The feeling of community pulling together is typical of Ramsgate,” says Rebekah Smith, town promoter and judge. “I’d like to see us get to 100 lit-up boats this year.”

Dulali, a 26-foot yacht belonging to Ramsgate resident Phil Shotton, will definitely be one. “It takes my wife Deb and me a good couple of hours to dress the boat. We use strings of LED lights to keep the environmental cost low, 196m in total. We wrap them around the halyards, boom, guard wires and stays, across the cockpit cover and down the coachroof.

“We have to use the tender to row around the side and once came close to falling in as we stood up and wobbled around. We had on lifejackets, like good yachties, and just managed to stay dry! It’s wonderful seeing how much people love the lights and playing a part in such a lovely tradition.”

Natasha De Samarkandi, new coowner of the Arts Barge, Vriendschap, also intends to join in the festive festooning for the first time this year. But she’ll be needing more than a few fairy lights: “At 51metres, the Dutch barge is the longest vessel in the inner Harbour for 40 years.”

Advice will be on hand from the Cromptons, proud owners of Gloriana and winners of the cruiser category for the past two years.

“We go to town, inside and outside the boat,” says Gloria, “and we’ve been planning our 2020 lights for months. It will be a difficult Christmas for lots of people and we’re working hard to bring them something bright and sparkly.”

As a thank-you to the generous owners for the seasonal boost, many local businesses donate per lit-up boat, as well as contributing vouchers for free drinks, chips, or discounts in the local shops.

“It’s a fantastic event for Ramsgate, creating footfall and interest from all over,” says Jim Barber, manager of the Queen’s Head on Harbour Parade. “We serve mulled wine or hot chocolate to visitors and give participating owners a free pint.

“For my family, looking out on more and more boats coming alive every night is like an advent calendar and we always walk around after Christmas dinner to choose our favourite.”

We all need a little magic right now and Ramsgate’s Harbour lights will warm the cockles of even the hardest heart.