Walpole Bay Event May 24th

This is going to be a wonderful event on May 24th.

In the last year or so, great things have happened for the amazing Walpole Bay area. From the listing applications that resulted in both the pool and lift being awarded Grade II status, the campaign to not de-designate the bay for bathing, the valuable restoration work on the lift undertaken by volunteers, to the dedicated swimmers of Walpole Bay Tidal Pool Swimmers.

Heritage protection of valuable assets opens up the door to further external funding options that can then bolster the efforts of the community to protect and keep them in use. Many funding avenues are only available to listed structures. We should be thankful to the pioneers of Cliftonville past that they left us with such quality assets that are still with us. I'm proud to have played my part in the protection of heritage assets in Margate. Heritage is a key tourism driver and attracts valuable inward investment.

Walpole Bay and indeed the Cliftonville seafront is a special place that is loved and treasured by the community and vistors. Protecting heritage assets in this way for future and present day generations of people to enjoy the outdoors and helth benefits of bathing and enjoying the seaside.

Do check out the wonderful SEAS Phototography collection: http://www.seasphotography.org.uk/

In other news, I'm proud to have Mr Ed Targett  as my running mate for the council seats for Margate Central on May 7th. We're both standing as Green Party candidates and we both live in the Margate Central Ward. Ed's post is here.

Check out our Margate Spring Clean Facebook Page to get involved with the  campaign to bring positive change to Thanet Council for Margate.  Posters and leaflets are coming! If you can help, drop us a line at margatespringclean@gmail.com or via my own contact form on this blog.

#MargateSpringClean #LoveMargate

'Stylish' Walpole Bay Cliff Lift Grade II Listed

What a marvellous bit of good news to come home to this evening! English Heritage have approved my application and have designated Walpole Bay's 1934 Art Deco cliff lift at Grade II.

The Advice Report from English Heritage states:

"The Cliff Lift, Queens Promenade is a stylish 1934 Art Deco style concrete cliff lift which survives externally unaltered. It is an example of a very rare building type of which only four examples nationally are currently listed and the published criteria state that these are 'generally listed'. It is comparable with an inter-war cliff lift at Ramsgate which is listed at Grade II. It is part of a series of seaside structures in Cliftonville ranging in date from the early C19 to the 1930s, most of which are listed. It therefore meets the listing criteria for its building type."

The Cliff Lift now joins the recently designated Walpole Bay Tidal Pool at Grade II. Along with the rejection of the de-designation of Walpole Bay for bathing, the future for bathing at Walpole Bay looks ever more secure. If the Walpole Bay Swimmers keep at it they'll still be swimming at Christmas. 

In recent months, residents rallied and undertook the hard work of organising and painting of the lift's sadly dilapidated facade. The indefatigable Kate Harrison, while working as a Community Organiser for Locality, came across local painter and decorator Mark Johnson-Cooper who was eager to work to improve local historic buildings and get them looking better. They got others involved locally. The team was made up entirely of volunteers. Funding for the painting project was through the Community Organiser project and the Margate team that were in place at the time. The Margate Community Organiser team was the result of local residents successfully applying to Locality.

2012

Transformed in 2014:

Photo Ian Venables

There is a dedicated Facebook Group for the lift. Join!

The listing now opens the door for further funding opportunities for this stretch of Cliftonville seafront. It's one of only four listed cliff lifts nationally. Taken out of service in 2009 when Thanet Council closed it, I hope that the dream of the lift working again and enabling easier access to and from the lower promenade can soon become a reality.

Walpole Bay Tidal Pool

Cliftonville has so many beautiful assets from the era when Britain proudly invested in building facilities for people to enjoy bathing along this unique stretch of coast. Protect them, love them and the community will flourish. They lie on the walking route from Margate Harbour along to the jewel in the crown of Thanet's beaches, Botany Bay and on to Broadstairs. For the last five years this has been a really popular pastime for our guests at our B&B throughout the winter months as well as the summer. This route aka, Cliftonville is the crucial link between the towns of Margate and Broadstairs. It's a place in its own right. Where else can you ride an art deco lift down to a 4 acre tidal pool at the end of your road? Viva Cliftonville!