We do like to be beside the seaside. It’s the best. And temperamental weather aside, no-one does the seaside better than the UK, with our candy-coloured deck chairs, sticks of rock, fish and chips and donkey rides. And right now, no-one is doing the British seaside better than Margate.
A massively popular holiday spot a few decades back, the Kent seaside town fell into a state of decline once everyone discovered package holidays, but it’s on the up again, helped partly by the hoards of artists and young creatives starting businesses and opening galleries, cafes and shops. Lots are attracted by the cheap rents (£400pcm for a one-bedroom flat — put that in your pipe and smoke it, Dalston).
People have been banging on about Margate’s revival for a while, but with the reopening of the town’s famous Dreamland amusement park in June, it really does feel like the most fun place you can be right now — a brilliant mix of Kiss Me Quick cheek and cultural cool.
Radio One’s Gemma Cairney was smitten after her first visit last year — so much so she bought a flat on the seafront, which she just started renting out on Air BnB. (It’s got its own jukebox. We’d quite like to live there tbh.)
‘My boyfriend Jim and I were giddy the first time we went to Margate,’ she tells us. ‘The future sizzles there, as does its rich past. There’s beautiful buildings and it’s full of wild, old tales like how when Dreamland once had an animal park, the owner would walk the elephants and lions on the Margate beach in the dead of night to stretch their legs.’
She continues: ‘Right now though it’s a place full of giant-hearted artists and big personalities with vision. It’s pretty magic. Sweet Dreams (our holiday let), is our love letter to a town that should be enjoyed, danced and romanced in by everyone.’
Twenty-six year old photographer Meg, who writes the blog, Meg of Margate, grew up in the town. ‘A few years ago there was nothing going on, but it’s a totally different place now. When I left to go to university in London I never thought I’d move back. But I graduated in 2011, the year the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery opened and the scene was all kicking off. Suddenly it was OK to be here again. Lots of people are coming down and opening businesses here, and there’s a massive art community.’
Even if you don’t up sticks and move to Margate, you should at the least go for a weekend (fast trains from London take approx 90 minutes). Here’s five reasons to visit…
Dreamland
The re-opening of this amusement park — the oldest in the UK, which shut in 2003— is the main reason Margate has been getting loads of attention of late. After a big campaign to save it from demolition, it’s been redesigned by Wayne Hemingway into a retro-kitsch, fairground of dreams with lovingly restored vintage rides — think multicoloured dodgems painted with the faces of Cher and David Bowie, a beautiful old Helter Skelter, and a Wall of Death with a gravity defying stuntman.
It’s more about retro-fun than full-on thrill seeking, although Waltzer-meets-Rollercoaster ride Crazy Mouse is terrifying enough for a wimp like me. The staff — who wear vintage 501s and ‘We Cater For Pleasure’ T-shirts — are pretty much the happiest people you’ll ever see. We would be too, if we got to hang out here every day. There’s even a roller disco, for heaven’s sake.
Dreamland, Tickets £14.95 in advance, £17.95 on the door
The art
Margate has long inspired artists, the most famous being painter JMW Turner who said, ‘The skies over Thanet are the loveliest in all Europe.’ He wasn’t wrong. Turner may be long gone, but the dreamy sunsets remain — though these days they’re immortalised on Instagram, not with oil paints.
Tracy Emin grew up in the town and calls it ‘romantic, sexy and weird’. She opened the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery in 2011 (there’s an ace Grayson Perry exhibition on there right now). There are tonnes more smaller galleries and artists studios — check out Resort Studios, Limbo and Vortigern for starters.
The grub
Margate is a bit of a dream for foodies. There’s seafront restaurant GB Pizza, where Zoe Williams, restaurant critic for The Telegraph, said she had ‘the best pizzas she’s ever tasted.’ The folks behind it are opening a chicken place, Roost, later this month, which promises equally great things.
Elsewhere, Fort’s Cafe ‘is hands down the best breakfast in Margate’, says Gemma Cairney. It also does Jack Daniels and candied bacon doughnuts. I mean, C’MON. And there’s Hantverk & Found — ‘an incredible new fish restaurant,’ says Gemma. ‘And I love Bangkok Thai – sublime Thai food in a restaurant a little off the beaten track which feels like you’re in someone’s lounge.’
The bars
The Lifeboat is a gem of a pub in the Old Town that specialises in locally made booze and food and is open until late, late on the weekend — the kind of place you go in for a quick one and end up chatting to a stranger until 2am. Elsewhere, Meg recommends The Glass Jar , ‘A great bar on the seafront. Rickus do good cocktails and overlooks the beach, so you really feel like you’re on holiday, and the LightHouse Bar at the end of the harbour has live music and is really popular.’
The shops
The Old Town is a moocher’s dream, with tiny boutiques, quirky shops and vintage troves. ‘Haeckels is a natural skincare range that makes all their stuff out of local seaweed,’ says Meg. ‘Also worth checking out are lifestyle and interiors store Plinth and vintage shops
Gemma loves Margate Retro, ‘An awesome antiques place run by local legends Kelly & Joe.’ The fashionable mutts of Margate even have their own fashion shop,
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Like this? Then you might also be interested in:
How To Have A Cheap Weekend In Brighton If You Can’t Afford To Leave The UK
How To Travel Like A Kardashian When You’re On A Backpacker Budget
Follow Clare on Twitter @Thorpers
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.