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NeilClasper

Tag Archives: Kent

A Week in Whitstable – August 2020

16 Sunday Aug 2020

Posted by Neil Clasper in Diversions

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Kent, Summer holiday, Whitstable

There was a spectacular sunset 5 out of 7 nights we were in Whitstable. I’m not sure why it’s not more famous for them given they’re not usually a feature of the east coast.

Away to Whitstable for the week: a summer holiday so unambitious we could have popped home to put the bins out without too much inconvenience. But still, away from home for the first time since March and with low risk of ending up in quarantine immediately afterwards. The weather was too hot for us during the day for much of the time, but the chance to swim in the sea seven days running – with high tide conveniently arriving with the warm evenings – made up for it.

We’d originally thought we’d use the place as a base to explore other parts of Kent, but in the end didn’t get much further than Canterbury and Margate, and found enough to do around Whitstable with various friends either living nearby or visiting for the holiday.

We had no real idea of how busy it would be or how it would feel pandemic-wise, but the weather meant we were outdoors almost all the time we weren’t in the rental cottage and didn’t need to linger in shops or restaurants. How this all works when the weather changes, I don’t know. It was clear that the Eat Out To Help Out scheme was really generating business Monday to Wednesday, but Thursday and Friday felt much quieter, particularly in Margate which felt subdued compared to past visits. Dreamland being closed seemed significant; we saw one amusement arcade open but gave it a very wide berth.

In Canterbury the restaurants seemed busy but the shops were largely deserted. From what I saw this week, I think the food and drink part of our service economy will return fairly strongly unless we have a new surge of coronavirus cases, but the future for retail looks pretty bleak and it’s hard to be optimistic about the future of our high streets and town centres as a result.

It was interesting seeing all the different adaptions to the new way of ordering and paying: standing outside a fish’n’chip shop on the high street trying to phone in an order while four other parties stood next to us attempting to do the same was novel, but not particularly effective. Elsewhere, places were using a mixture of JustEat/Deliveroo and their own homegrown apps; eventually I guess some of these will become standardised and second nature but it all feels a little interim at the moment.

Flowers and cards are so passé: say it with a wheelie bin in 2020

Seen in Rochester, Kent – August 2018

25 Saturday Aug 2018

Posted by Neil Clasper in Diversions, Photography

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Kent, Rochester, Rochester Castle, Rochester Cathedral

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A trip down the A2 to Rochester, to take my Dad – a former history teacher – to see Rochester Castle, the seige (1216) of which he taught generations of schoolchildren in Co. Durham. We also took in the cathedral – pretty vast and somewhat sprawling but also quite beautiful; I particularly liked the floor tiles and Wheel of Fortune. Then a wander along the High Street, with its ‘biggest in England’ secondhand book shop, charity shops, daughter-pleasing sweet shop, and array of Dickens-themed cafes.

Dreamland, Margate; August 2016

01 Thursday Sep 2016

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big wheel, bike, Dreamland, funfair, Kent, Margate, margate beach, rollercoaster, thanet

Down to Dreamland, Margate on a scorching hot day in the last week of August.

untitled-10 Dreamland, Margate Dreamland, Margate Dreamland, Margate Dreamland, MargateDreamland, Margate

And a bonus pic from Margate beach.

Bike, Margate Beach

Margate, Kent; May 2015

21 Sunday Jun 2015

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Fuji X100T, Kent, Margate


Down by the river: Greenhithe; March 2015

28 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by Neil Clasper in Down by the river, Photography

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Estuary, Fuji X100T, Greenhithe, Kent, QE bridge, River, shopping trolley, Thames, Thames Foreshore

Shots from the riverside at Greenhithe. The QE bridge looks delicate and quite serene from here; a contrast to the experience of driving over it. The river is wide here, the riverside a mixture of industry and the sort of new developments that allow grudging access to the riverbanks. Asda trolleys abound.

Down by the river: Gravesend; March 2015

27 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Neil Clasper in Down by the river, Photography

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Fuji X100T, Gravesend, Kent, River, Thames, tilbury

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A look at the Thames at Gravesend, early-ish on a Friday morning.

‘Family Entertainment Centre’, Gravesend, Kent; March 2015

27 Friday Mar 2015

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Amusement Arcade, Fuji X100T, Gravesend, Kent

Seen in Deal

17 Friday May 2013

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Deal, England, Kent, photography, seaside

A few days in Deal, Kent.

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The concrete pier.

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A look back from the pier.

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Vintage East Kent bus on the seafront.

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A windy afternoon on the beach.

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This sinister character’s been following me round Kent. First spotted on Whitstable Harbour in April.

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Some classic two colour print and illustration work from HMSO, circa 1962.

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