SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE OUTING

[Grandad]

Contrary to the forecast this morning was bright and sunny so coffee this morning would be taken at The Continental Hotel at Whitstable, just 7 miles from home. The Continental is right on the beach and has always been there from my recollections and is certainly Art Deco in its design. I remember it in particular because before and during the war years there was a bank of swing boats on the beach across from the hotel.

Holidays in those days would usually amount to a few day trips on the Number 4 bus with a picnic spent on the beach near ‘The Swings’. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of them to show you but I did find this old postcard online. I believe it was a penny a ride. The bank of 5 swings is in the centre of the picture, the harbour is in the distance beyond the tall Tar Macadam plant, and The Continental is to the left just out of frame.
Sorry it is such a small file size.

Whitstable is a small quaint town that retains much of its Victorian and Edwardian character. None of the large high street chains have branches here and the main street contains only independent small shops offering good personal service. The town appeals to Londoners looking for a weekend retreat and, as a result, property prices are sky high.

The harbour which was very active in Victorian times is very small and home port to a small fleet of inshore fishing boats. On Sunday morning the quayside is busy with stallholders offering a range of items including local crafts, seafood, and seaside items for the children. Here is a selection of pictures that I took around the Harbour.

The man in this picture is Derrick West of West Whelks working at his seafood stall. You may like to see a short video about his company at http://www.westwhelks.com/ with him featured. It also gives a flavour of the Harbour.


One of the stalls had put some of their windmills allong the quay making a pretty picture.


These bicycles caught my eye, behind them is the MV Culex, an oil products tanker bringing materials to the asphalt plant on the harbour.


This is the harbour looking west with the narrow entrance to the right.


There were fishing nets spread all along the quayside.


The harbour looking east. An uncle and his son (my cousin) operated a fishing boat very similar to the two in the foreground. They would go out on one tide and return on the next and if one of them was ill, the other would go and handle the boat and the catch single handed. Hard life and they had my deepest respect.


The Sea Kestrel is moored on the west quay outside the harbour. She is a bulk carrier of just 1380 tons but still too large to enter the small harbour.


My mothers family all came from Whitstable and, whilst writing these notes, it occurred to me that you may be interested in some of the features of the town that relate much to its fishing and contraband history......that will save for another day......Ha! Ha! Jim Lad

[LovelyLadyLux]

Super interesting Grandad - you do live in a really interesting place.

Neat that all the fishing nets are different colours and I think my favourite photo is the one of the windmills although I also like the last photo of the Kestrel and the small sailboat in the background.

[Horus]

I agree on both pictures LLL, the windmill shot is my favourite abd the nets one second.
Once again Grandad a great little piece on the town you visited, it would make a good entry in a pocket travel book. The story of the swingboats took me back a bit what a shame that they have now gone, the last time I saw some it was in Egypt over on the West Bank!
Looking forward to more information regarding you family memories of the place, that camera is performing very well by the way and nice to see that you had better weather than we did.

[Kiya]

Sounds like a really enjoyable day out

I like all your photos & did notice the pram in the postcard, changed days when you see how they are made now.

I'm not sure why but " Whitstable " is ringing bells with me, I'm sure well in the past I've heard my father speak of Whitstable, not sure if there is any connection of Peterhead fishing with Whitstable with years gone by.

Looking at your photos reminds so much of the fishing/harbour here

[Grandad]

that camera is performing very well by the way:)

Actually H I used the SLR in case I needed a longer zoom. But that is the first time I have used it for a couple of months.

Sounds like a really enjoyable day out
Looking at your photos reminds so much of the fishing/harbour here

Only out for a couple of hours Kiya, had to be back for the MotoGP I expect my little harbour is a minnow compared to yours at Peterhead.

Thanks for your comments folks, and as we were agreed on the fav pic I have submitted that one for 15 September to the Whitstable 365 that is running at present. I also submitted the Sea Kestrel which I like, and I thought others would post pictures of the nets on the Quayside. There were quite a few people around with cameras.....some with expensive looking kit

I did return this morning to try to replicate the postcard image. I could not find a spot that created the same image and this is as near as I got. The swings were on the beach nearest foreground. I have repeated the postcard for comparison.



Whilst there I took a snap of The Continental that the reception confirmed was built in 1930.


I will collect some notes about the town and some of the history about its fishing heritage. I will also include a bit about my mothers family who were mostly fisher folk and seafarers.....

[Kiya]

How bare it looks today in comparison to the view in the postcard.

The hotel looks really nice

Look forward to reading about the fishing history & of your mother's