The 1912 Motorbike, Broadstairs and Ramsgate Pavilions and the inevitable photos old and new

 First this group of four Thanet photos all date from 1912

 when confronted by a particular date I find it helps to have some photos that were taken around that time.

 Today it was a 1912 motorbike, usually for me it's a bit of local history

Anyway having gone to Canterbury this morning and sat down to a breakfast of toast and jam outside eleto chocolate cafe a very old motorbike pulled up and parked in front of me. Obviously I painted it.

 this was a 1912 500cc Triumph for the aficionados and I suppose the for the practical biker the interesting feature is that it had no clutch.

No gearbox either, but yes, how do you pull away at the lights?

Open the decompression valve - a sort of tap on the top of the cylinder head, when the lights go green you pedal away as you would with an ordinary pushbike, until you reach a reasonable speed and then you close the tap. At this point either the engine starts or you grind to a halt.   

the rest of the pictures? here are the links

This is the link to the pictures I took with a camera 

This is the link to the pictures I took with a phone

and work - bee ready for mundi  

This is the link to the books we put out on Saturday 

Broadstairs in 1967, the Wetherspoon’s effect and some pictures of Ramsgate and Folkestone.

You know how it is with 1967 guides to Broadstairs – you don’t see any for 50 years then you go to Folkestone and buy two in one day, I suppose it’s like buses or something.

Note the ashtrays on the tables in Morellies and some minor changes to the ceiling 

Some photos from the last couple of days phone camera and bridge camera, here are the links

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fLLofs3fr7lXwfR52

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/418v/id6.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/418v/id7.htm

Beavering away in my shop assistant capacity here in the bookshop today and suddenly completely thrown off track by a person shouting at me because they wanted to pay 50p for a book that had 99p written on it, left looking at this computer and wondering what that was all about. I went to check the review sites, recently Tripadvisor had taken second place to Google on this front, not only with the quantity of reviews as my mind was still focused on the motives of unreasonable people which I think probably comes into sharpest relief with reviews of the new Ramsgate Wetherspoon’s in The Royal Victoria Pavilion. I am always interested in the way humanity ticks along and what it is that makes a few people want to throw a bit of grit in to the mechanics of life and rubbing along.

Even my bookshop picks up recommendations, stars and reviews in both places, although nothing in the league of the reviews of the Drifs Guide to Bookshops, see https://www.inprint.co.uk/thebookguide/drif.htm and http://liberalengland.blogspot.co.uk/2006/09/guide-to-secondhand-bookshops.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driff_Field

Of course in the book world having unkind things said about bookshops in print for over thirty years means the novelty has worn off. As we don’t, never have let dogs, people eating, drinking or smoking in the bookshops during tat time, there has been some fairly adverse comment over the years.

But yes with us recently – particularly in the hunt for bookshops, café’s, art galleries, museums, libraries it is the combination of Google maps and the associated reviews we use.

Wetherspoons in Ramsgate yesterday evening we had our supper out on the roof, quick service, courteous staff, good quality food. We go there more than once a week and have never had a really bad experience, so what do so many bad reviews on Tripadvisor signify?

Sometimes you can spot, we tried to sneak a dog in, we were under age and tried to buy alcohol, but sometimes it seems to be just malice, but why, what for? I have talked to a few people who say things along the lines of It's far too busy and the food is no good, I think yesterday evening there were around 2,000 people there and it was pretty packed this afternoon, the cafe culture is fairly busy, but I would think the main issue the Harbour Parade cafe culture faces is the traffic associated with about 30 parking spaces that bock the view from the cafes.

Anyway sorry that I haven’t put up a post in thelast few days, the build up of  paperwork or at least emails that just had to be done, well it reached a point where I did the essentials.

Ramsgate Art Group at York Street Gallery in Ramsgate

The current exhibition is by - Ramsgate Art Group 18 April - 25 April 2018

Old Ramsgate and Margate photos including some Pleasurama ones

These first ones sent to me by blog reader Phil

 For anyone who doesn't know what this is. It's the narrow gauge railway that ran through the disused mainline railway tunnel from Dumpton Park to Ramsgate seafront

He also sent me this link to the National Fairground Pleasurama ones which I hadn’t seen before.

http://cdm15847.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15847coll3/searchterm/ramsgate/order/nosort

Next some photos from today

 In terms of bucket and spade this group are not messing about on the bucket front

 I sort of wonder on an April weekday lunchtime with the cafe culture fairly busy, where did the extra people at the Pavilion come from?

 A big buoy in the harbour

 Work continuing on the Belgian Cafe.