15 minute read
What’s in store for Ramsgate Market?
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WHAT’S IN STORE FOR RAMSGATE MARKET?
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Ramsgate Market has been trading for half a century, but could a relocation due to social distancing measures spell the end for this much loved mainstay of life on our High Street? Kate Walters investigates
Photographer Eleanor Marriott
Among many distractions during lockdown, I became seriously interested in the fate of our High Street market. It started when I discovered a small pocket of traders selling their wares at Staffordshire Street Car Park - a temporary move from the High Street by Thanet District Council due to concerns around social distancing on Ramsgate’s main shopping streets. It was a surprise to find our subsequent Recorder Facebook post announcing the change of location was shared 68 times reaching upwards of 12,000 followers. People cared.
Shortly after, the magazine was approached by Gurpreet Singh who owns a popular mobile phone stall, Phone Care, and has traded on the market for 20 years. “We desperately
From left to right: Davinder, women’s clothing; Tony, key-cutting; Richard, market manager; Dave, bedding and household items; Rosy, fruit & veg; Gurpreet, mobile phone services; Alan, driver
need support. Business is at about 2% of what it was pre-Covid,” he wrote. Soon after Gurpreet’s email, the market dropped its Saturday offer and we later learned the remaining traders were making a financial loss, but still turning up to “keep the market alive”.
When I started to investigate the matter further, the picture was far from clear. A District Council trying to meet government guidance, and a Town Council struggling to promote the market on a day to day basis. The traders wanted one thing: to trade on the High Street again. But among all the indecision surrounding this, they were seriously falling through the cracks.
As I visited the market and heard the cry “two pillows a fiver!” I was reminded of what makes a market special - the patter of traders, shouting out to passers-by, unabashed and proud, hustling for business. It is a tradition which dates back 800 years to the UK’s first markets.
As it happens, Richard Lumby, the man behind the yell, is Ramsgate Market’s manager and founder. If anyone knows how to keep business churning, he does. His Ramsgate story began almost 60 years ago. Aged 15, Richard ran a successful fruit and veg stall in Sittingbourne, but in 1964 he was threatened with closure when his proprietor, Ernie Lea, decided to set up a new market nearby. Richard’s early business instincts shone through and he offered to work for Mr Lea. Over the course of the next decade, Richard established multiple markets across
the south of England, as far as Oxfordshire, but Ramsgate was special - in his own words his “baby”.
He discovered the first Ramsgate Market site on an ill-fated trip to a concert at Dreamland, Margate. The band didn’t show, so Richard and a friend tried the greyhound races at Dumpton Park Stadium. “I couldn’t really focus on the dogs because all I could think about was the great potential of the site for a new market, from the large car park to the nearby train station, it had everything,” he says.
As it happens, the owner of the greyhound tracks was John Isles (also the founder of Dreamland.) Richard remembers going to sign the contract at Mr Isles’ office in the heart of Margate’s famous amusement park. “We sat there surrounded by cages of lions and tigers,” he chuckles. Once the Town Council approved it, Ramsgate Market hit the tracks in 1959.
At its height, Richard tells me, he hosted as many as 600 stalls at Dumpton and always had two or three times the number of enquiries per available pitch. Traders travelled from as far as Manchester, Wolverhampton and Birmingham, and customers came in their coachloads. In an interesting twist, when the stadium went into liquidation overnight during the recession of the 1980s, Ramsgate Market was briefly relocated to Staffordshire Street Car Park, where I now found it. According to Richard, “it never worked then” and he secured a new location along Ramsgate High Street.
This brings us up to date where, fifty years later, today just four or five traders remain. It turns out the stallholders today helping to keep the market alive owned some of the most successful businesses at Dumpton Park Stadium. One trader, Davinder Singh, lives in Grays, Essex, and has operated a women’s clothing stall at Ramsgate Market for almost fifty years. “I forget how long,” he laughs. Davinder, who also goes by the name of Joel, is hard to interview even now, as devoted customers keep interrupting.
John Beaneys from Sittingbourne was also one of the first at Dumpton. His father, who started the fruit and veg stall, was an old school friend of Richard’s, and today it’s staffed by younger members of the family.
Alan Reynolds, a driver, who directly reports to the market’s owner and licensee Lew Hughes (of the company HughMark Continental Ltd), has worked on the site every week for 30 years. He tells me there was an awful moment the morning of our interview, when Davinder hadn’t yet turned up and they nearly all went
home. They operate more now as a family unit.
Tony Humphreys, who runs a key cutting stall, lost his mother just over a week before, but still turned up to support the market. This family spirit they all speak of is another enduring charm of market life. Leaving for work so early in the morning and returning late at night, has meant that Richard and many of his colleagues missed out on their children’s early upbringing. Meanwhile, they have watched punters in Ramsgate grow up from “babies in the pram to seven foot giants”. Despite the sacrifice, it is clear that the markettraders love their job, praising the freedom of being your own boss, the open-air, or turning up to work with your best friends.
Through tough economic times, the market has prevailed. “The last influx of traders came during the last recession,” Richard tells me. “People needed to find a cheap way to put food on the table.” One shining success story is Dougie Chapman, who ran a stall on the market 41 years ago and went on to open Ramsgate’s highly successful Haberdashery Shop on ►
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King Street. “Ramsgate needs the market,” Doug tells me. “It helps my shop get business, but it must return to the High Street.”
The biggest threat to Ramsgate Market has been Covid-19 and social-distancing measures, which means the Council has not currently granted it permission to trade on the High Street. Traders have proposed setting up in front of empty shops on Ramsgate’s main shopping streets to ease concerns, but a representative from TDC has stated that this is not an option commenting “there is not enough evidence to confirm social distancing guidance can be followed.” The Council also stressed the need to find a more permanent solution.
In the meantime Ramsgate town promoter, Rebekah Smith of Ramsgate Town Council, is proposing a “hyperlocal market” at Charlotte Court, collaborating with talented local makers to offer a weekly programme of stalls and street entertainment. RTC have recently acquired Charlotte Court, installing new iron gates, festoon lighting and security cameras to create a welcoming, safe environment.
In August, London-based architects MATA conducted a piece of research focusing on high streets shortlisted for the government’s £1bn Future High Streets Fund. Director Taylan Tahir reimagined Ramsgate market, proposing an indoor-outdoor space to house a changing programme of mixed activity, showcasing local talent and independent businesses.
“High Streets can be anti-social after the shops close,” he explained. “Incorporating evening activity helps to keep town centres animated and less desolate, while maximising income streams for existing retail spaces.”
At the time of publication, Ramsgate Market has ceased trading. Richard, Gurpreet and the other traders are in talks with Thanet District Council and Ramsgate Town Council to establish a safe way to resume business. A spokesperson from TDC said: “The council remains determined to restore a market in Ramsgate and the leader has therefore instructed officers to report to the October cabinet meeting with draft proposals.”
Like so many things we took for granted before the pandemic, the future of Ramsgate Market is uncertain. However I sign off feeling reassured that community support for Ramsgate Market is unquestionable, and that so many are determined to continue the Market’s legacy into the next decade.
To support the traders from Ramsgate Market contact Gurpreet Singh via: facebook.com/Gravesend26 ADDITIONAL USEFUL LINKS: Ramsgate Market facebook.com/ramsgatemarket Rebekah Smith, Ramsgate Town Promoter visitramsgate.co.uk MATA architects mata-architects.co.uk
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Preparing for broadcast: (from left to right) Jon Nickoll, Rachel Mills, Filipe Gomes, Mark Bandola, Charlie Anson, Laura Nickoll, Lydia Laitung and Bettina Ji
Good morning Ramsgate!
Interview Lila Allen
Photographer Ed Thompson
Ramsgate Radio is a new station taking to the air to offer music, debate, food, travel and most importantly a sense of local identity. We speak to its creator Filipe Gomes as he prepares for launch
What can listeners expect from the new station?
Ramsgate Radio is a mix of nonmusic and music content. Our ambition is to create audio output that truly represents the identity of Ramsgate.
Where did the idea for Ramsgate Radio come from?
Lockdown shook up my life. Work, as I had known it, was pretty much over for the foreseeable future. But I felt this overwhelming sense of freedom to explore and build something else.
I’m inspired by the celebrated chef and writer writer, the late Anthony Bourdain. I admire the way in which he explored stories through food, often using the simple act of eating to initiate deeper conversations. Like him, I’m interested in the impact gentrification has on a locality, particularly on those excluded by it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m for a place developing, or redeveloping, I’m just challenged by the fact that so many people living in Ramsgate don’t feel they are a part of it. I see the radio station as a way to engage with these issues whilst also offering valuable entertainment.
What do you hope it will bring to Ramsgate?
My biggest ambition for the station is to bridge divides, to include, celebrate and listen to one another. I accept that’s much easier said than done, just know this mission runs in the DNA of the work we produce.
We’re working with incredible content makers whose values are echoed in the ethos of the station. Our music programming will support and amplify Ramsgate’s amazing music scene. We’ll feature dedicated local music segments on shows like The Bandcamp Show, and tap into the musical tastes of the people that so often flood our local music venues. We’re fortunate to be working with inspiring presenters and DJs,
The Vinyl Voyage presenter Jon Nickoll
including Jon Nickoll, DJ Hooch and Mark Bandola. However, expect our music output to grow and diversify as we continue to connect with the Ramsgate community.
Our non-music, story output will aim to amplify what it means to be part of Ramsgate. We’ll look at the things we love about this place and the things that divide us, we’ll champion our local heroes and share the hard to pallet realities.
I don’t feel we’re fully representing this incredibly diverse community yet, so we also need people to come to us: whether you’re a fisherman willing to take us out to sea, want to pitch a music show, or have been inspired by our concept. Please help us be a reflection of this place we live in and build content that deserves to be heard.
Tell us about you and your Ramsgate story.
I didn’t speak a word of English so, as you can imagine, it was pretty tricky fitting in. But I found music could protect me and help me make friends. Like so many kids then, I was obsessed with Michael Jackson. I’d learn every song and, move for move, the choreography for every track. I started to build a reputation and became known as Michael Jackson Junior!
I’ve always worked with music in some form, I honestly don’t know what it’s like to not have it at the very core of my life. In the noughties I was in a touring band and worked as a youth worker trying to engage young people through creativity, particularly music. These were often hard to reach kids, but it was so rewarding to see a young person go from not playing any music to actually improvising in a couple of weeks. The confidence they found, and the level of trust they placed in me, was humbling. I want the radio station to bring some of that inclusiveness; we’ll be telling the stories of people who often go unheard, and hope this will present
an honest picture of this complex and beautiful place we all call home. We’re also gearing up to mentor people in the area in the different elements of radio production. Look out for that if it sounds like something for you.
Over the last ten years I’ve worked as a lecturer in Kent, and a sound designer and sound artist conceiving new interactions with the “sonic world” in galleries and theatres across the UK and Europe. In 2015 my partner Lydia and I obtained the lease for an old maritime arch in Ramsgate Harbour which was transformed into Arco Barco, a coworking space, recording studio and now the headquarters of Ramsgate Radio.
How and when can people tune in?
We launch 9am Saturday 31 October on ramsgateradio.com and will be running a fortnightly programming schedule.
Ramsgate Radio's Shows
AWARENESS Presenter: Bettina Ji
An 11-minute daily morning meditation setting listeners up for the day.
JAMMING THE PHANTOM FREQUENCY Presenter: Mark Bandola (The Ramsgate Hovercraft and formerly The Lucy Show)
Charting the incline and decline of both accessible and challenging genres, each show will be asking what (exactly) becomes progressive music?
THE BANDCAMP SHOW Presenter: Filipe Gomes
Diving into the world of Bandcamp - a platform for artists and labels to share and earn money from their music - to deliver eclectic sounds, and a dedicated slot to music created in Ramsgate.
THE VINYL VOYAGE Presenter: Jon Nickoll (musician and resident singer and pianist in The Savoy Hotel American Bar)
Playing nothing but original, wondrous, sometimes dusty vinyl from Jon’s collection which he started at just eight years old. Expect treasured sounds from the early 20th century right up to brand new releases.
BEING SYMONE Presenter: Filipe Gomes
Shining a light on individuals living in Ramsgate, this series focuses on Symone, an artist and lifelong resident of Ramsgate. Recorded over the course of a day, some very difficult topics, including self-harm and abuse, are candidly discussed, but ultimately this is an inspirational story of transformation.
STORIES ON OUR PLATE Presenter: Laura Nickoll (Guild of Food Writers member, Great Taste Awards judge, The Vegan Kitchen co-author and Ramsgate Recorder Food Editor)
Capturing the sounds and stories of the most passionate local chefs, food producers, authors, home cooks and growers dedicated to food in Thanet’s diverse culinary culture.
OVER HERE Presenter: Rachel Mills (Rough Guides writer)
An exciting and upbeat travel series showcasing a town, city or region. The first season focuses on Ramsgate’s marina and the people making a living here.
WALK WITH ME
An interactive series of sonic excursions guiding the listener through Ramsgate to hear what it means to someone else. Available “off line” to allow you to physically follow the guide’s directions around town.
OUTERNATIONAL Presenter: DJ Hooch
Hooch is the man when it comes to Funk & Soul, and you can expect a lot of that from the man that ran the Funkin’ P club in the heart of London’s Covent Garden for 15 years, has DJ’d all over the globe and was one of the chief instigators of the Funk resurgence in the early ’90s.
