When the sun is shining and the skies are blue Margate is a lot brighter and happier, the beach is jam packed and most people have a smile on their face. And the sunsets are beautiful.
Unfortunately though it’s litter problem is so bad, we moved from Westbrook in Margate, two minutes from the beach, two years ago, we are now in The beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds and up here it’s really noticeable the difference being virtually no litter or graffiti, we still own a house in central Margate that the local oxygen thieves keep on with the graffiti Margate is a dump, sunny weather or not, take a walk up the high street!
Margate is a curates egg. Parts of it are lovely. The beach isn't bad. The old town part looks nice. I can see that it's turning into a kind of "Shoreditch on Sea." Parts of it are a hipster colony with weird quirky eating places etc. The problem is that Margate is too small and too poor to sustain a huge hipster colony. I doubt it has the market for it. It is certainly no Islington or Camden. And the streets full of litter look disgusting. At the moment it fulls between two stools. Not as hip as Brighton but more Boho than Skegness. But at least in Skegness you USED TO be able to walk into any seafront pub and order a bowl of chips with ketchup for a couple of quid, and it was relaxed (off season at least.)
I moved from Scotland to Margate in 1986 worked in the Pizza Hut and a couple of pubs best summer of my life still go back nearly 40 years later just love the place
Fantastic main sands, incredible views and skies, Old Town area vibrant (at times) but always pretty. Interesting bars (e.g. the Fez), and some good restaurants. What the hell do you want in a British seaside resort?
Affordable hotel prices ? That would help. Margate is ridiculous. The hotels are all £ 200 plus per night. Tbf, Ramsgate seems more reasonable with quite a few in the £ 60 to £ 70 bracket, with prices going upwards from there. Margate has some nice bits, but really ? £ 220 per night ? It's not THAT great. As the lady in the video said, you can have a WEEK in Turkey for £ 250. And people wonder why English seaside resorts are empty in peak season.
Hi i live in margate. The top four council workers are earning about £200,000 a year each . While most of the drains are full to the top with rubbish and soil. In some places the weeds in the curb and on the pavements are well over a foot high. COUNCIL NEEDS A SHAKE UP . Think I'll do a shaming video .
Disgusting that these councillors are hogging so much money from the trough , yet watching places deteriorate. I spent many a great days and nights in Margate , as lived in Ramsgate from 17 old years until I had my first son in 89. I am now 58. Some brilliant memories. Margate used to be heaving in the summer months
Just discovered your channel and as I live in Kent I was especially interested in your reviews of our Kentish towns. The visit to the Turner Contemporary absolutely cracked me up. I totally agree with your view and I've spent many a hour in the galleries staring at a pile of bricks 😂😂 Keep up the good work and the great videos 👍❤️
Glad you enjoyed a coffee in the old kent market. I have a little shop in there. With the bus they took the market front off and chopped the bus in half. There is a video on UA-cam of them doing it 😊
I’m a local and your comments about Turner Contemporary had me in stitches. The Old Town is fantastic, but when I was a child it was very rundown and squalid and one of the worst places to live in the town. When you came out of the Grotto, if you’d continued up the hill to Northdown Road and turned left, a few minutes walk would have brought you to the Margate Caves.
I’ve just come back from Margate. I took a trip to shell grotto after watching this vlog and it was worth the trip. Such a special place and my son loved it too. Thank you. Margate was a lovely place with nice weather. Not loads to see or do but worth a visit. Plus we did ramsgate and herne bay. Such a lovely weekend.
I lived there in the late 80s early nineties and it’s changed beyond belief like you said it no longer feels like a seaside town at all anymore and since Bembom brothers was shut down even when it reopened as dreamland it was never the same it’s so sad that our seaside towns have mostly all gone downhill. Love the channel👍
The amusement park opened in the 1880s and was first called Dreamland in the 1920s. The Bembom Brothers name was a short-lived blip. I lived in Margate as a child and live close by now. I never stopped calling it Dreamland; I suspect I wasn’t alone.
Wow very rough like most costal places now .. too expensive compared to trips abroad and that’s killed it. Sad but true. And I can’t see them ever recovering.
Welcome to Margate. I love living here and when the weather is nice it's extra special. There's loads to offer visitors and yes its under funded by TDC and we have a litter, that aside the beach is beautiful but the best part are the sunsets. Totally agree with the chap about the Turner Gallery. ☀️🕉
It’s a shame, how much places have deteriorated. My grandmother was from Kent ( Canterbury/ Felixstowe) and it was gorgeous in the 1800 hundreds until now!! I boarded a ferry ( in the early 80’s ) from Ramsgate on a 21st birthday celebration! Couldn’t believe what a lovely area it was! Really sad? Downward spiral is happening everywhere!! Agree about the modern art ,,,,load of tosh!! Xx
Well you’ve done a great job at promoting Margate. The shell grotto looked like an Arabic bath house. We are off to Bilbao soon and if the art inside the Guggenheim gallery is all modern we will admire the building from the outside. Thanks James and Helen.
"Load of old shite" My thoughts exactly on that so called art. loving the banter as usual. Never been Margate but remember it was the place visited in the only fools and horses special Jolly boy's outing .
That building at about 25:50 was used in the Sam Mendes film called Empire of Light with Olivia Coleman. It is set in the early 1980s and the building was renamed "The Empire" for it. I think it was only used for external shots though.
Wow!! 😳😳😳 That shell grotto, what a stunning place, 4.6 million shells 😳😲😮 that must of taken years to do and someone truly talented to do that.... Now THAT'S art!! 😍😍😍😍💖 Stunning!
Glad you took a look at Margate drove through there about 14 years ago and didn't stop. Did enjoy Broadstairs though and visiting Dungeness was very interesting.Hope you are both better soon I sympathise as we once got food poisoning on a flight into San Fran 3 days in a motel room.Arrowroot biscuits and cream soda was our diet. Enjoy your videos as well as Gary Eats.Thanks for talking so kindly about him
Its amazing how differently we all see things. I really enjoyed the Ed Clark exhibition the beautiful colours and his experementation with pigment, shapes and texture. I didnt like everything but I came away seeing the world a bit differently and feeling that I experienced somethig quite special and out of the ordinary I also enjoyed learning a little more about cultural history it felt exciting that this artist was breaking new ground. ❤ Margate
I spent a weekend in Margate two years ago for a music event. I hadn't been properly since childhood in the 1970s when we had a family holiday there (cheap holiday option for less than wealthy Kent families!). And early 1980s many times for the former Dreamland, then called Bembom Brothers, with its Looping Star ride. And briefly in the 1990s. I was pleasantly surprised. It certainly took a bad turn in the 1990s, and there's still run down streets and deprivation. But it was a vast improvement on the '90s. Many nice streets off the high street with friendly, trendy little bars, microbreweries, coffee shops, bakeries, and restaurants. And traditional older pubs. We had good coffee, food and drinks, not too expensive. Great curry! The beach is nice, there's a music scene (am not into art so didn't explore that side of the town), and fish&chips on the seafront is still good! The beach was the place for staging a weekend of motorcycle races, and there were bikes, scooters and nice cars coming in from all over the country. We stayed in an old fashioned B&B that had been modernised and was close to the beach. Communal breakfast room, took me back to my childhood! I just had a feeling that it was a place on the up, accepting it had problems, but was trying to overcome them. I'd certainly visit again.
Ha ha ha! You remind me of me dad! And that is a huge compliment! He were born in Scarborough. Raised in Halifax. Had absolutely no truck with pretentiousness!! I love Northerners!
Its a shame you didn't get to see the best of margate. Dreamland brings many folks to margate for concerts. A grest venue. Please give it another try on a busy sunny day.
‘Here we have Dreamworld’….😂 Last time I was in Margate it was rammed, we had a fantastic night out at the micro pubs on the front followed by a great restaurant and sat on the front watching the amazing sunset over the beach…but you know, each to his/her own
I've been meaning to visit there since I moved over from N.I. 15 years ago. I've always wanted to visit the grave of Robert Calvert, visionary genius, he's buried in Minster Cemetary. Thanks for taking us with you as always.
One of my colleagues at Sainsbury's was so gormless that he booked a holiday for himself and his parents in a hotel that had an hourly rate. It kept us amused for weeks.
I’m not sure we were ready for the bedroom scene😂 we were in Margate on Monday it’s definitely a different place when the sun is out and 25 degrees, but your right it is run down, but the old town is worth a visit. The old Dreamland has some good music events on
Great video again guys , especially under the circumstances (with you both having food poisoning) Hope you are feelimg better now .Although it takes a while to feel 100% again 😢....... Oh dear we won't be visiting Margate anytime soon, every year Skegness is voted the worst holiday destination, but Margate is far far worse . Such a shame what's happening to a lot of places. Anyway was still nice seeing you guys....Ann & Dale ❤
🤣😂 Yellow dungarees and funny shaped glasses. I hope you two are feeling better after the oyster colonic irrigation, I had a similar thing in France, thankfully the bidet was right next to the WC for synchronised evacuation.🤕😷😏
I still can't believe that British people think that bidets are for weirdos, they are an amazing invention and so useful. I have only ever seen one bidet in an English home and that was my aunt.
Most abroad places are not cheap, it's a lot of greedy UK resorts cost more, so makes abroad look more affordable, also with almost guaranteed warm and sunny weather.
Yet another great vlog i love helen so much i could watch her all day her comments are so funny , james you are getting better and better your none ranting ranting vlogs are so funny. On a serious note we would like to send our most heartfelt condolences, and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have so tragically lost their lives in southport lynn and john❤❤❤❤
Dreamworld, Margate looks brilliant. It has that whole Pripyat look and feel to it. There is an amusement / theme park in Pripyat (the city near Chernobyl evacuated after the nuclear reactor accident in 1986). I think those blocks of flats and Dreamworld could quite convincingly stand in for Pripyat, if ever somebody wanted to film a drama about the 1986 reactor meltdown.
8:35 not sure if you missed it or noticed it but there is chinese vases (I'm guessing repros) but also coming from an antiques background, knowing how the chinese market is hot for old pieces, there looks to be a bronze vase 3rd one on the top shelf. I would of taken a look at. But as they sell chinese inlaid boxes it could quite possibly of been bronze. 😳
spot on my old friend, your take on modern art is spot on. so honest and love that. its shit.... Anyway you guys need to check out Hythe, My town and many bargain charity shops and coffee places, and have a walk along the military canal. chip shop not good but many other places to eat without getting poisoned !!
Went to Margate last month with the missus as I hadn’t visited in about 20 years and I had heard Thanet council had injected a lot of money to rejuvenate the old place….. Wasn’t quite what I expected. It was like a day trip to Bangladesh and my wife saw a woman washing her hair in the sink in the women’s toilet. Not quite what I was expecting or looking for in an English seaside resort. We stayed about 15 mins and drove on to Broadstairs, which is very nice. Great video by the way.
“I’ve got me underpants on don’t worry”😂😂 Holiday inn express, what does the express bit mean? “It just means it’s gonna be crap” 😂😂. And the painting named Beige 😂 Brilliant ⭐️
You will like broadstairs better, its the more upmarket area of thanet (Margate, broadstairs, and Ramsgate) Dreamland is mainly a music venue these days, i saw Bryan Adams there a couple of weeks ago, the beach gets packed solid on a sunny day on weekend this time of year.
My wife and I (girlfriend at the time) went to Margate 34 years ago and rather liked it, interesting to see what it's like today. Good show James & Helen.
We would love a trip to Margate too but with time been tight, it’s such a long journey from Sheffield. I know you’ve done it but time is precious on our days off. A bucket list item for retirement I think
Thanks for showing us Margate so we don't have to go, but amazed you could stand visiting a sea shell temple after the oyster troubles. Oh dear, it takes a while to get over seafood poisoning - our clapped out old labrador looks perkier than you both in the final scene.
I remember being taken to Margate when I lived in London by the local vicar and his family and it was run down even then and that was 1980s. There is a photo of me and his 3 their 3 kids trying to have ice cream in the wind and rain.
It looks a bit drab but I think most seaside towns seem to be a bit run down these days. Thanks James and Helen for the trip and tour of Margate, would probably give it a miss!
Not kidding, I was crying with laughter , watching you n Hellybobs strolling round Margate!! What a wet weekend of a resort- loved your modern art description!!! Hope all was well at the Holiday Inn Express! 🤡👍⭐️❤️
Whitchurch is the oldest town in Shropshire - you could camp at Hadley park (breakfast cabin), visit Raven antiques, eat at Moo and Boom and investigate the cancel festival or dagfields. Fridays is market day.
margate was fun, enjoyable, exciting in the 70's and 80's i loved it, now i hate it and avoid it, such a shame that the young generation like my son will not see the margate i used to love years back , the fantastic fun we had every saturday of the crazy amounts of arcades, delicious fish&chips, a fab high street, and the popular thrilling dreamland, i used to cry when we had to go home, all gone such a shame,x
@@marianneharris-ux9pq Kids can play better quality video games in their bedrooms these days than Pac-Man/ Tetris etc, so pointless having 99% of those, then the gambling machines, the law changed so you had to be 16, then 18 to play them, now I think it’s 21 so they’re treated like casino’s, then token jackpot machines were banned, the 1p /2p machines also fell under stricter gambling laws, which were hardly ever played or earned any money, so the amount of slot machines has been reduced to the ones that earn/are played the most by the suppliers and then made more space for the family friendly, games, so basketball, win an i phone on the grab machines (no chance! Barring if you put in £1500+ and maybe the claw will grab it properly once)
First of all, congratulations on putting together such a good video together when you were both obviously feeling way below par...As someone who has been to Margate almost every year this century for the Soul Festival, I've got to know the seafront / old town area pretty well and thought you might find it interesting if I filled in a few gaps for you - not that I suspect you will ever return !! ;-) ... The festival takes place on the first weekend in August every year and coincides with the town's annual carnival so this weekend will be a total contrast to what you experienced, it WILL be rammed down there ! The Soul thing all started when a couple of DJ mates of mine from the town set up a pair of decks on a table right outside where the Old Kent Market where you went, and played tunes for the carnival crowd in the area - I actually stood for an hour in the doorway, chatting, taking photos and even dancing (a little!) back in 2022 to mark what I think was the 20th anniversary and the first one back after c***d. When you stood looking at the information office on the edge of the harbour, there are cafes and bars along the harbour arm there, the best one being The Lighthouse Bar and on a hot summer's day it is just the best place to be, an oasis of calm away from the crowds with the DJs always playing some great 70s & 80s soul tracks. As for the Turner gallery, the best thing about that is it is free to get in and an easy place to use a nice clean toilet over the weekend!!! There are at least three open air stages in the area, one is set up under the trees outside the Wig & Pen in what is the Old Town Market Square and when you showed Helen standing there, rght behind her was the Town Hall and Margate Museum, but as you found out being 5-6pm on a rainy Thursday, most things were closed. The main stage used to be on the plaza on the seafront where there are loads of tables and chairs for the cafes & bars there now. I can't believe you missed Peter's Fish Factory it was just on your right as you walked round the corner hunting suitable food and always seems to be the must go to place for fish n chips in between the afternoon & evening gigs. It must have been closed or I am sure you would have smelt it !! The Harbour Bar Cafe just along from there does really nice homemade burgers and last time I went we had a very reasonably priced and generously portioned pub meal in Charlies Bar wich you walked past too. Right at the start of the video you showed the remains of the famous old Lido which this weekend will be magically transformed into the new Sunset Stage where Heatwave and Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes (neither with many surviving original members alas!) will be headlining on the Saturday & Sunday. This replaces the old site, also right on the seafront behind the famous Winter Gardens, just down the road which has now sadly closed down - I can't wait to see how the guys have achieved this. I saw excellent performances by Deniece Williams and Gwen Dickey of Rose Royce on the old Sunset Stage, really special atmosphere. I am glad you liked the Old Town generally, also known as the Arts Quarter, and found the Shell Grotto which I went in myself for the first time last year - totally unique and mysterious ! The Margate Caves are nearby , but I haven't visited them yet and they are on the list for my next trip. As for Dreamland, well, you eventually found the pedestrian main entrance leading to the music venue, roller disco and other indoor attractions, but these are just the modern extension of the vintage theme park behind, which is best accessed from the huge car park the other side from where you glimpsed in from Arlington House flats. As well as bumper cars, waltzers, etc and The Big Wheel (which you can't miss) from the car park you get a great view of the amazing restored WOODEN rollercoaster ride. Margate is certainly full of character and seaside history, and admittedly parts off the beaten track are very depressing, but my weekends there in the sun amongst fellow Old Gits with great old soul music songs pouring out of every bar & venue are some of my facourite memories in the last 20/25 years. PS : I was amazed you hadn't stayed at a Holiday Inn (Express) -generally speaking you've got Travelodge (lovely bed but virtually nothing else) Premier Inn (also lovely bed but with a pub across the car park for breakfast or evening meals) and the Holiday Inn with it all on site - and the reason me and my son often used to stay there on our road trips, the all you can eat unlimited breakfast included in the cost of the room. I think it's changed now, I haven't stayed in one since he started senior school, but it was great being able to go down in your trackies & slippers and stocking up before the next day on our adventures ! Hope you got to read all this ... sorry, I suffer from Diarrhea too - VERBAL Diarrhea !! Good luck with your van issue - what a nightmare !!
lol….fantastic truthful video. I was brought up in Kent and in the early 80s it was a beautiful family resort but now it is a bit of a druggie dump. It used to have easy train access from most of Kent but the last time I went I was frightened to leave my car in the car park lol lol
In fairness, access from other parts of Kent by rail is probably better now than it’s ever been since the opening of HS1 and the introduction of the Javelin services.
James helen,im surprised you didn't play everybody's talkin,song by neillson to margate,jolly boys outing,from the movie midnight cowboy,or would that of occurred a copyright strike.
Nowhere looks good in the rain. Hope you feel better. Years ago I went to a hotel in Deal for Sunday Lunch. It was nice. Sandwich is a good place to visit also.
I live about a 10 minute walk from that poncy art gallery, it was the biggest waste of money I’ve ever seen, the council honestly thought it would attract people to Margate. What would have been better is not selling off the decent sodding rides in Dreamland. I’ve not been for a few years but the last few times I’ve been to Blackpool it was absolutely heaving. Margate really has bugger all to attract people now.
It’s 200% better than it was when I moved down 20yrs ago. Like all sea side town away from the front it’s run down but there is lot of investment from the DFL’s (down from Londoners) and the arts side. I proffer margate to Brighton give it a couple more years it will be up there again as a top place to visit. Next time try and time it for the soul festival.
If you go first weekend of August during soul weekend you’ll see a very different Margate, you missed a lot of good places to eat… and you didn’t go to the caves… good video though 👍
Reculver is a great place to stay in your van which is down the road , and you can walk either to hernebay or the other way minis bay love that coastline
when tony blaire and labour got into power margate got no money and the town went to ruins and all the seaside shops closed down the arcades barely survived and basally is now just keeping it's head above water.
The building with ‘Dreamland’ written vertically down it, used to be a cinema. You’re about 40 years too late to see Margate in its heyday. In would have been heaving at this time of year.
Yourself and Helen on a Jolly Boys Outing. Thanks for showing us how Margate is today, it would have been lovely to visit over 30 years ago, but not now. Dave
Dreamland used to be a very busy fairground with the oldest wooden rollercoaster the Scenic Railway . What killed it was cheap air travel so more could go abroad instead , then better competition arrived in the shape of Thorpe park, chessington world of adventure etc which were just bigger and better than Dreamland with better infrastructure. They did try to re invent it as a historical theme park ( oldy worldy type rides from the past) but it never really got the visitor numbers they had hoped.
Went to Margate on holiday in the late 80's when I was in my 20's. It was in decay then & the only attraction to speak of was the shell grotty, all the shells are ruined because of the lighting they used before electricity, I nearly got beaten up in pubs on several occasions because I'm Northern, and I discovered I was allergic to cats as the couple me and my girlfriend stayed with had three and my airwaves closed up and I couldn't breathe. It was great (to get home), had to leave after a few days because of the cat allergy. Happy days.
I am the sort to plan my trips way in advance and stick to the plans, I had planned Margate. Then at the last minute I did something unheard of - I changed the plans and booked Ramsgate. No idea why I did that but when we drove in to Margate for the day I was glad I had 😂 The flats had me perplexed. We drove right back out again 😂 Although now you've shown us the old town area I am a little disappointed we didn't explore a bit. Thanks for ALL your very entertaining vlogs 😊
You were very kind on my home town.. The messy part is populated by the Eastern Europeans who love to live in squalor. (Or Cliftonville as it's otherwise known by).
I remember about forty five years ago aged about 17 I went to an open day at Manchester Polytechnic where my brother was studying art, there was one student whose entire portfolio was ladies foo foos in various mediums, never got modern art since then
Fisherman's wives waiting for the men to come back home from war or long haul fishing, along with a nunnery for old nuns made the memorial prayer caves is what my grandmother told me in the 70s.. shell trinket boxes were made to raise money back in late Victorian times
When the sun is shining and the skies are blue Margate is a lot brighter and happier, the beach is jam packed and most people have a smile on their face. And the sunsets are beautiful.
Unfortunately though it’s litter problem is so bad, we moved from Westbrook in Margate, two minutes from the beach, two years ago, we are now in The beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds and up here it’s really noticeable the difference being virtually no litter or graffiti, we still own a house in central Margate that the local oxygen thieves keep on with the graffiti
Margate is a dump, sunny weather or not, take a walk up the high street!
Thanet poking out into the sea as it does, makes the light great for artists, and has done historically
Margate is lovely
@@vijayafernando1 depends on what your comparing it with!
Margate is a curates egg. Parts of it are lovely. The beach isn't bad. The old town part looks nice. I can see that it's turning into a kind of "Shoreditch on Sea." Parts of it are a hipster colony with weird quirky eating places etc. The problem is that Margate is too small and too poor to sustain a huge hipster colony. I doubt it has the market for it. It is certainly no Islington or Camden. And the streets full of litter look disgusting. At the moment it fulls between two stools. Not as hip as Brighton but more Boho than Skegness. But at least in Skegness you USED TO be able to walk into any seafront pub and order a bowl of chips with ketchup for a couple of quid, and it was relaxed (off season at least.)
Please you two don't ever stop being you. Love you two. Your videos always make me laugh.
So spot on about 'art" James, totally agree with you there!😂
I moved from Scotland to Margate in 1986 worked in the Pizza Hut and a couple of pubs best summer of my life still go back nearly 40 years later just love the place
Fantastic main sands, incredible views and skies, Old Town area vibrant (at times) but always pretty. Interesting bars (e.g. the Fez), and some good restaurants. What the hell do you want in a British seaside resort?
Affordable hotel prices ? That would help. Margate is ridiculous. The hotels are all £ 200 plus per night. Tbf, Ramsgate seems more reasonable with quite a few in the £ 60 to £ 70 bracket, with prices going upwards from there. Margate has some nice bits, but really ? £ 220 per night ? It's not THAT great. As the lady in the video said, you can have a WEEK in Turkey for £ 250. And people wonder why English seaside resorts are empty in peak season.
Your trip and tour around Margate was exactly the same as mine 40yrs ago, it has always been a run down place, enjoyed your banter, good luck!
Hi i live in margate. The top four council workers are earning about £200,000 a year each . While most of the drains are full to the top with rubbish and soil. In some places the weeds in the curb and on the pavements are well over a foot high. COUNCIL NEEDS A SHAKE UP . Think I'll do a shaming video .
The roads in Thanet seriously need sorting! I've sold 2 of my previous cars mainly because low profile cars and Thanet roads are INSANE!!!!!!
Disgusting that these councillors are hogging so much money from the trough , yet watching places deteriorate. I spent many a great days and nights in Margate , as lived in Ramsgate from 17 old years until I had my first son in 89. I am now 58. Some brilliant memories. Margate used to be heaving in the summer months
@@wezking3000I feel your pain, I had to go my rear shock absorber thanks to that poxy pothole in Nash Road
Please do. I'm from here too. Something has to change
We visited yesterday and have posted a video of the beach. We were amazed by the crowds of people we saw enjoying themselves on the beach.
Margate is fine. The hot sunshine will bring hoards back. I agree The Shell Grotto is amazing.
Just discovered your channel and as I live in Kent I was especially interested in your reviews of our Kentish towns.
The visit to the Turner Contemporary absolutely cracked me up. I totally agree with your view and I've spent many a hour in the galleries staring at a pile of bricks 😂😂 Keep up the good work and the great videos 👍❤️
Glad you enjoyed a coffee in the old kent market. I have a little shop in there.
With the bus they took the market front off and chopped the bus in half. There is a video on UA-cam of them doing it 😊
I’m a local and your comments about Turner Contemporary had me in stitches. The Old Town is fantastic, but when I was a child it was very rundown and squalid and one of the worst places to live in the town.
When you came out of the Grotto, if you’d continued up the hill to Northdown Road and turned left, a few minutes walk would have brought you to the Margate Caves.
I’ve just come back from Margate. I took a trip to shell grotto after watching this vlog and it was worth the trip. Such a special place and my son loved it too. Thank you. Margate was a lovely place with nice weather. Not loads to see or do but worth a visit. Plus we did ramsgate and herne bay. Such a lovely weekend.
Brought up in Leeds, and that was such a good video showing familiar sights and changes since I was last there. More like this please!
Omg that shell house was one of the most amazing things ever. I would go to Margate just to see that. Thanks great video once again.
I lived there in the late 80s early nineties and it’s changed beyond belief like you said it no longer feels like a seaside town at all anymore and since Bembom brothers was shut down even when it reopened as dreamland it was never the same it’s so sad that our seaside towns have mostly all gone downhill. Love the channel👍
The amusement park opened in the 1880s and was first called Dreamland in the 1920s. The Bembom Brothers name was a short-lived blip. I lived in Margate as a child and live close by now. I never stopped calling it Dreamland; I suspect I wasn’t alone.
Wow very rough like most costal places now .. too expensive compared to trips abroad and that’s killed it. Sad but true. And I can’t see them ever recovering.
Margate brings tons of nostalgia for me i love ❤️ margate
Welcome to Margate. I love living here and when the weather is nice it's extra special. There's loads to offer visitors and yes its under funded by TDC and we have a litter, that aside the beach is beautiful but the best part are the sunsets. Totally agree with the chap about the Turner Gallery. ☀️🕉
It’s a shame, how much places have deteriorated.
My grandmother was from Kent ( Canterbury/ Felixstowe) and it was gorgeous in the 1800 hundreds until now!!
I boarded a ferry ( in the early 80’s ) from Ramsgate on a 21st birthday celebration! Couldn’t believe what a lovely area it was! Really sad?
Downward spiral is happening everywhere!!
Agree about the modern art ,,,,load of tosh!! Xx
Yes me and my ex went on the France and back ferry trip back in the 80s. Good times
Well you’ve done a great job at promoting Margate. The shell grotto looked like an Arabic bath house. We are off to Bilbao soon and if the art inside the Guggenheim gallery is all modern we will admire the building from the outside. Thanks James and Helen.
"Load of old shite" My thoughts exactly on that so called art. loving the banter as usual. Never been Margate but remember it was the place visited in the only fools and horses special Jolly boy's outing .
That building at about 25:50 was used in the Sam Mendes film called Empire of Light with Olivia Coleman. It is set in the early 1980s and the building was renamed "The Empire" for it. I think it was only used for external shots though.
Dreamland is now owned by Live Nation and regularly hosts concerts by major artists. Quirky venue but I have seen some good bands there.
Wow!! 😳😳😳 That shell grotto, what a stunning place, 4.6 million shells 😳😲😮 that must of taken years to do and someone truly talented to do that.... Now THAT'S art!! 😍😍😍😍💖 Stunning!
We went there last year as we used to
Go
As kids -it’s a shit
Hole we left days early
Discovered by someone while walking in his garden, inthe 1800s nobody knows how it got there
Glad you took a look at Margate drove through there about 14 years ago and didn't stop. Did enjoy Broadstairs though and visiting Dungeness was very interesting.Hope you are both better soon I sympathise as we once got food poisoning on a flight into San Fran 3 days in a motel room.Arrowroot biscuits and cream soda was our diet. Enjoy your videos as well as Gary Eats.Thanks for talking so kindly about him
Its amazing how differently we all see things. I really enjoyed the Ed Clark exhibition the beautiful colours and his experementation with pigment, shapes and texture. I didnt like everything but I came away seeing the world a bit differently and feeling that I experienced somethig quite special and out of the ordinary I also enjoyed learning a little more about cultural history it felt exciting that this artist was breaking new ground. ❤ Margate
I spent a weekend in Margate two years ago for a music event. I hadn't been properly since childhood in the 1970s when we had a family holiday there (cheap holiday option for less than wealthy Kent families!). And early 1980s many times for the former Dreamland, then called Bembom Brothers, with its Looping Star ride. And briefly in the 1990s.
I was pleasantly surprised. It certainly took a bad turn in the 1990s, and there's still run down streets and deprivation. But it was a vast improvement on the '90s. Many nice streets off the high street with friendly, trendy little bars, microbreweries, coffee shops, bakeries, and restaurants. And traditional older pubs.
We had good coffee, food and drinks, not too expensive. Great curry!
The beach is nice, there's a music scene (am not into art so didn't explore that side of the town), and fish&chips on the seafront is still good!
The beach was the place for staging a weekend of motorcycle races, and there were bikes, scooters and nice cars coming in from all over the country.
We stayed in an old fashioned B&B that had been modernised and was close to the beach. Communal breakfast room, took me back to my childhood!
I just had a feeling that it was a place on the up, accepting it had problems, but was trying to overcome them.
I'd certainly visit again.
I like how you have a rant,then say you’ve done with your rant ,and proceed to have another rant 😉👍🏼
I cant resist!! 😂
Ha ha ha! You remind me of me dad! And that is a huge compliment! He were born in Scarborough. Raised in Halifax. Had absolutely no truck with pretentiousness!! I love Northerners!
Its a shame you didn't get to see the best of margate. Dreamland brings many folks to margate for concerts. A grest venue. Please give it another try on a busy sunny day.
‘Here we have Dreamworld’….😂 Last time I was in Margate it was rammed, we had a fantastic night out at the micro pubs on the front followed by a great restaurant and sat on the front watching the amazing sunset over the beach…but you know, each to his/her own
I've been meaning to visit there since I moved over from N.I. 15 years ago. I've always wanted to visit the grave of Robert Calvert, visionary genius, he's buried in Minster Cemetary. Thanks for taking us with you as always.
I agree, that shell cave gave off weird vibes and I could feel it from the interwebz.
One of my colleagues at Sainsbury's was so gormless that he booked a holiday for himself and his parents in a hotel that had an hourly rate. It kept us amused for weeks.
Absolutely priceless!!!🤡🤮🥲👎
@@KateGreenhalgh-n5u no it wasn't priceless, they charged by the hour! 🤔
that dreamland building was a cinema....down the small road next to the building is the dreamland park.
I’m not sure we were ready for the bedroom scene😂 we were in Margate on Monday it’s definitely a different place when the sun is out and 25 degrees, but your right it is run down, but the old town is worth a visit. The old Dreamland has some good music events on
Great video again guys , especially under the circumstances (with you both having food poisoning) Hope you are feelimg better now .Although it takes a while to feel 100% again 😢.......
Oh dear we won't be visiting Margate anytime soon, every year Skegness is voted the worst holiday destination, but Margate is far far worse . Such a shame what's happening to a lot of places. Anyway was still nice seeing you guys....Ann & Dale ❤
🤣😂 Yellow dungarees and funny shaped glasses. I hope you two are feeling better after the oyster colonic irrigation, I had a similar thing in France, thankfully the bidet was right next to the WC for synchronised evacuation.🤕😷😏
I still can't believe that British people think that bidets are for weirdos, they are an amazing invention and so useful. I have only ever seen one bidet in an English home and that was my aunt.
Well done both considering how gippy your feeling. How about an airtag in the van make finding it easier😊
Most abroad places are not cheap, it's a lot of greedy UK resorts cost more, so makes abroad look more affordable, also with almost guaranteed warm and sunny weather.
Your spot on with the modern art.....love the shell grotto.....you two are just so natural and tell it as it is.
Yet another great vlog i love helen so much i could watch her all day her comments are so funny , james you are getting better and better your none ranting ranting vlogs are so funny.
On a serious note we would like to send our most heartfelt condolences, and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have so tragically lost their lives in southport lynn and john❤❤❤❤
Dreamworld, Margate looks brilliant. It has that whole Pripyat look and feel to it. There is an amusement / theme park in Pripyat (the city near Chernobyl evacuated after the nuclear reactor accident in 1986). I think those blocks of flats and Dreamworld could quite convincingly stand in for Pripyat, if ever somebody wanted to film a drama about the 1986 reactor meltdown.
Subscribed, honestly your just like me, honestly. Loving the channel, just found you.
By the look of this video, I won't be planning a trip to Margate any time soon. Poor Helen looked so exhausted. I hope you both feel better soon ❤
I think I will be giving this place a huge swerve...shame.
Get well soon ❤
Please don't let this video sway your decision
Thanet inspires Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in all of us.
That's great 👍🏼 we don't want little cretins like you here anyway
8:35 not sure if you missed it or noticed it but there is chinese vases (I'm guessing repros) but also coming from an antiques background, knowing how the chinese market is hot for old pieces, there looks to be a bronze vase 3rd one on the top shelf. I would of taken a look at. But as they sell chinese inlaid boxes it could quite possibly of been bronze. 😳
Love it J&H so true. Your introduction music James topped the vid. 👍 more please ❤
spot on my old friend, your take on modern art is spot on. so honest and love that. its shit.... Anyway you guys need to check out Hythe, My town and many bargain charity shops and coffee places, and have a walk along the military canal. chip shop not good but many other places to eat without getting poisoned !!
Went to Margate last month with the missus as I hadn’t visited in about 20 years and I had heard Thanet council had injected a lot of money to rejuvenate the old place…..
Wasn’t quite what I expected. It was like a day trip to Bangladesh and my wife saw a woman washing her hair in the sink in the women’s toilet.
Not quite what I was expecting or looking for in an English seaside resort. We stayed about 15 mins and drove on to Broadstairs, which is very nice.
Great video by the way.
It’s totally different on a sunny day, the beach will be packed, stick to the old town area, the rest of the high street is pretty barren.
“I’ve got me underpants on don’t worry”😂😂 Holiday inn express, what does the express bit mean? “It just means it’s gonna be crap” 😂😂. And the painting named Beige 😂 Brilliant ⭐️
Honestly Helen, how do you put up with such a grouch? You are always so positive.
You will like broadstairs better, its the more upmarket area of thanet (Margate, broadstairs, and Ramsgate) Dreamland is mainly a music venue these days, i saw Bryan Adams there a couple of weeks ago, the beach gets packed solid on a sunny day on weekend this time of year.
My wife and I (girlfriend at the time) went to Margate 34 years ago and rather liked it, interesting to see what it's like today. Good show James & Helen.
We would love a trip to Margate too but with time been tight, it’s such a long journey from Sheffield. I know you’ve done it but time is precious on our days off. A bucket list item for retirement I think
Thanks for showing us Margate so we don't have to go, but amazed you could stand visiting a sea shell temple after the oyster troubles. Oh dear, it takes a while to get over seafood poisoning - our clapped out old labrador looks perkier than you both in the final scene.
Hi Guys, brilliant video as always...Come down really South to Southsea, you will love it here !
I remember being taken to Margate when I lived in London by the local vicar and his family and it was run down even then and that was 1980s. There is a photo of me and his 3 their 3 kids trying to have ice cream in the wind and rain.
Another great video, keep the good informative work up.
Well thanks for the Heads Up! I will give that place a miss. Thanks for taking one for us😂
Thanks ever so much for the tour of Margate, it saves me going there😉
Another funny honest review...think your both great ..(gaz an shaz)👍👍
It looks a bit drab but I think most seaside towns seem to be a bit run down these days. Thanks James and Helen for the trip and tour of Margate, would probably give it a miss!
Not kidding, I was crying with laughter , watching you n Hellybobs strolling round Margate!! What a wet weekend of a resort- loved your modern art description!!! Hope all was well at the Holiday Inn Express! 🤡👍⭐️❤️
Whitchurch is the oldest town in Shropshire - you could camp at Hadley park (breakfast cabin), visit Raven antiques, eat at Moo and Boom and investigate the cancel festival or dagfields. Fridays is market day.
You should do the ceiling of the van in shells from all the places you visit
margate was fun, enjoyable, exciting in the 70's and 80's i loved it, now i hate it and avoid it, such a shame that the young generation like my son will not see the margate i used to love years back , the fantastic fun we had every saturday of the crazy amounts of arcades, delicious fish&chips, a fab high street, and the popular thrilling dreamland, i used to cry when we had to go home, all gone such a shame,x
U tube “the day trip” (1974) a MAN ALiVE ,it’s fantastic snapshot of what we once had..
@@marianneharris-ux9pq Kids can play better quality video games in their bedrooms these days than Pac-Man/ Tetris etc, so pointless having 99% of those, then the gambling machines, the law changed so you had to be 16, then 18 to play them, now I think it’s 21 so they’re treated like casino’s, then token jackpot machines were banned, the 1p /2p machines also fell under stricter gambling laws, which were hardly ever played or earned any money, so the amount of slot machines has been reduced to the ones that earn/are played the most by the suppliers and then made more space for the family friendly, games, so basketball, win an i phone on the grab machines (no chance! Barring if you put in £1500+ and maybe the claw will grab it properly once)
I hear you, I lived through that era. Hard to recreate, but so is it in many UK towns, especially the seaside ones.
Hi considering you both feeling rough a great down to earth blog as always and Margate look rubbish for July anyway keep it up get well very soon 😊
First of all, congratulations on putting together such a good video together when you were both obviously feeling way below par...As someone who has been to Margate almost every year this century for the Soul Festival, I've got to know the seafront / old town area pretty well and thought you might find it interesting if I filled in a few gaps for you - not that I suspect you will ever return !! ;-) ... The festival takes place on the first weekend in August every year and coincides with the town's annual carnival so this weekend will be a total contrast to what you experienced, it WILL be rammed down there ! The Soul thing all started when a couple of DJ mates of mine from the town set up a pair of decks on a table right outside where the Old Kent Market where you went, and played tunes for the carnival crowd in the area - I actually stood for an hour in the doorway, chatting, taking photos and even dancing (a little!) back in 2022 to mark what I think was the 20th anniversary and the first one back after c***d. When you stood looking at the information office on the edge of the harbour, there are cafes and bars along the harbour arm there, the best one being The Lighthouse Bar and on a hot summer's day it is just the best place to be, an oasis of calm away from the crowds with the DJs always playing some great 70s & 80s soul tracks. As for the Turner gallery, the best thing about that is it is free to get in and an easy place to use a nice clean toilet over the weekend!!! There are at least three open air stages in the area, one is set up under the trees outside the Wig & Pen in what is the Old Town Market Square and when you showed Helen standing there, rght behind her was the Town Hall and Margate Museum, but as you found out being 5-6pm on a rainy Thursday, most things were closed. The main stage used to be on the plaza on the seafront where there are loads of tables and chairs for the cafes & bars there now. I can't believe you missed Peter's Fish Factory it was just on your right as you walked round the corner hunting suitable food and always seems to be the must go to place for fish n chips in between the afternoon & evening gigs. It must have been closed or I am sure you would have smelt it !! The Harbour Bar Cafe just along from there does really nice homemade burgers and last time I went we had a very reasonably priced and generously portioned pub meal in Charlies Bar wich you walked past too. Right at the start of the video you showed the remains of the famous old Lido which this weekend will be magically transformed into the new Sunset Stage where Heatwave and Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes (neither with many surviving original members alas!) will be headlining on the Saturday & Sunday. This replaces the old site, also right on the seafront behind the famous Winter Gardens, just down the road which has now sadly closed down - I can't wait to see how the guys have achieved this. I saw excellent performances by Deniece Williams and Gwen Dickey of Rose Royce on the old Sunset Stage, really special atmosphere. I am glad you liked the Old Town generally, also known as the Arts Quarter, and found the Shell Grotto which I went in myself for the first time last year - totally unique and mysterious ! The Margate Caves are nearby , but I haven't visited them yet and they are on the list for my next trip. As for Dreamland, well, you eventually found the pedestrian main entrance leading to the music venue, roller disco and other indoor attractions, but these are just the modern extension of the vintage theme park behind, which is best accessed from the huge car park the other side from where you glimpsed in from Arlington House flats. As well as bumper cars, waltzers, etc and The Big Wheel (which you can't miss) from the car park you get a great view of the amazing restored WOODEN rollercoaster ride. Margate is certainly full of character and seaside history, and admittedly parts off the beaten track are very depressing, but my weekends there in the sun amongst fellow Old Gits with great old soul music songs pouring out of every bar & venue are some of my facourite memories in the last 20/25 years. PS : I was amazed you hadn't stayed at a Holiday Inn (Express) -generally speaking you've got Travelodge (lovely bed but virtually nothing else) Premier Inn (also lovely bed but with a pub across the car park for breakfast or evening meals) and the Holiday Inn with it all on site - and the reason me and my son often used to stay there on our road trips, the all you can eat unlimited breakfast included in the cost of the room. I think it's changed now, I haven't stayed in one since he started senior school, but it was great being able to go down in your trackies & slippers and stocking up before the next day on our adventures ! Hope you got to read all this ... sorry, I suffer from Diarrhea too - VERBAL Diarrhea !! Good luck with your van issue - what a nightmare !!
lol….fantastic truthful video. I was brought up in Kent and in the early 80s it was a beautiful family resort but now it is a bit of a druggie dump. It used to have easy train access from most of Kent but the last time I went I was frightened to leave my car in the car park lol lol
In fairness, access from other parts of Kent by rail is probably better now than it’s ever been since the opening of HS1 and the introduction of the Javelin services.
James helen,im surprised you didn't play everybody's talkin,song by neillson to margate,jolly boys outing,from the movie midnight cowboy,or would that of occurred a copyright strike.
I would have loved to its one of my favourite songs but unfortunately its unavailable to licence
Nowhere looks good in the rain. Hope you feel better. Years ago I went to a hotel in Deal for Sunday Lunch. It was nice. Sandwich is a good place to visit also.
Hope you both feel better soon xx
I remember when the lido used to be open for swimming
I live about a 10 minute walk from that poncy art gallery, it was the biggest waste of money I’ve ever seen, the council honestly thought it would attract people to Margate. What would have been better is not selling off the decent sodding rides in Dreamland. I’ve not been for a few years but the last few times I’ve been to Blackpool it was absolutely heaving. Margate really has bugger all to attract people now.
It’s 200% better than it was when I moved down 20yrs ago. Like all sea side town away from the front it’s run down but there is lot of investment from the DFL’s (down from Londoners) and the arts side. I proffer margate to Brighton give it a couple more years it will be up there again as a top place to visit. Next time try and time it for the soul festival.
Dempsey and makepiece are at it again top man and lady keep them coming always quality 🍷🍷🍺👍
If you go first weekend of August during soul weekend you’ll see a very different Margate, you missed a lot of good places to eat… and you didn’t go to the caves… good video though 👍
Reculver is a great place to stay in your van which is down the road , and you can walk either to hernebay or the other way minis bay love that coastline
when tony blaire and labour got into power margate got no money and the town went to ruins and all the seaside shops closed down the arcades barely survived and basally is now just keeping it's head above water.
Great One guys ❤."Hope You Guys Are feeling Better".
Excellent video James and Helen.
James was smoother than a cashmere codpiece during the sunglasses try on 😂😂😂😂❤
The building with ‘Dreamland’ written vertically down it, used to be a cinema. You’re about 40 years too late to see Margate in its heyday. In would have been heaving at this time of year.
Yourself and Helen on a Jolly Boys Outing. Thanks for showing us how Margate is today, it would have been lovely to visit over 30 years ago, but not now. Dave
That's when I was last in Margate, (the early 90s.) I must say I really liked it. Now it just looks sad and drab.
Awww bless ya, you can still manage to entertain us when you are both ill and worn out ❤ 🤗
Rising Damp ringtone, love it🤣🤣🤣 xx
Hi there guys. its a shame with all that rubbish laying around the streets it let's the place like run down and no way give
a shit .
Dreamland used to be a very busy fairground with the oldest wooden rollercoaster the Scenic Railway . What killed it was cheap air travel so more could go abroad instead , then better competition arrived in the shape of Thorpe park, chessington world of adventure etc which were just bigger and better than Dreamland with better infrastructure. They did try to re invent it as a historical theme park ( oldy worldy type rides from the past) but it never really got the visitor numbers they had hoped.
The old Kent market is fantastic,well worth a visit ❤
Margate is a dive. Try visiting Rye, it will restore your love of seaside towns.
Went to Margate on holiday in the late 80's when I was in my 20's. It was in decay then & the only attraction to speak of was the shell grotty, all the shells are ruined because of the lighting they used before electricity, I nearly got beaten up in pubs on several occasions because I'm Northern, and I discovered I was allergic to cats as the couple me and my girlfriend stayed with had three and my airwaves closed up and I couldn't breathe. It was great (to get home), had to leave after a few days because of the cat allergy. Happy days.
I am the sort to plan my trips way in advance and stick to the plans, I had planned Margate. Then at the last minute I did something unheard of - I changed the plans and booked Ramsgate. No idea why I did that but when we drove in to Margate for the day I was glad I had 😂 The flats had me perplexed. We drove right back out again 😂 Although now you've shown us the old town area I am a little disappointed we didn't explore a bit. Thanks for ALL your very entertaining vlogs 😊
Hope your both feeling better xxx ❤
You were very kind on my home town.. The messy part is populated by the Eastern Europeans who love to live in squalor. (Or Cliftonville as it's otherwise known by).
Dedication - carrying on through it all! HIE pretty good.
I remember about forty five years ago aged about 17 I went to an open day at Manchester Polytechnic where my brother was studying art, there was one student whose entire portfolio was ladies foo foos in various mediums, never got modern art since then
Ladies foo foos...I love it!! LOL
Hope you soon get your mo Jo back, enjoyed being with you, but agree the place was dismal,
Lots of love, Lyn 💕
Yep. lots of naked ladies in art galleries.
Fisherman's wives waiting for the men to come back home from war or long haul fishing, along with a nunnery for old nuns made the memorial prayer caves is what my grandmother told me in the 70s.. shell trinket boxes were made to raise money back in late Victorian times
I think it will be nicer in good weather 👍💖💙🦋
I think the skip wagon had just dropped the latest exhibition off !