Dear <<First Name>>,

This will be our last newsletter of the year and we wish you all a very happy Christmas from the Executive Committee and Trustees of the Ramsgate Society. It was also lovely to see many of you at our Advent Door celebration outside the Maritime Museum – a place that we trust will be the centre for much renovation work next year.

Photo Richard Oades : Sue Gyde and Irene Seijo prepare for boarders

In a slightly more playful vein, as the year’s end will soon be upon us, we thought we might offer some help with compiling some New Year’s Resolutions!

Terry Prue

Resolution 1: A cold dip on New Year’s Day?

Postcard circa 1908: TuckDB Postcards

Why not join the Ramsgate tradition of sea bathing on New Year’s Eve to raise money for charity? Bathing costumes are preferred and this year the event sponsor promises a medal for every registered dipper.

Details here: https://www.facebook.com/ramsgatenewyearsdaydip/

Resolution 2: Register to Help Paint Our Seafront Shelters

Photo: John Walker

Many people will already know that the Ramsgate Society renovated the 14 Seafront Shelters back in 2011 and have been maintaining them regularly since then thanks to help from a number of volunteers.

The Covid Pandemic made it very difficult to maintain our regular maintenance regime, but we are now planning a “big push” to get on top of things.

We quickly realised that the amount of preparation work was very extensive and beyond the scope of our normal volunteers so the Society agreed to engage Tim Rowan to do the heavy lifting to get the shelters ready for redecoration. Over the last few months Tim has been gradually working through the replacement of large amounts of rotten timber in the facias and soffits, and has replaced equally large amounts of the special timber mouldings that are a feature of the shelters. He has also ground out the rust that has attacked the metal frames and treated them with red oxide which is a rust preventative. The result is that the five shelters on the East Cliff are now ready for redecoration.

This is where you can help. We plan to start repainting the shelters in March next year and continue through the Spring with a view to completing the work by Easter (Friday 7th April) in time for the Summer Season. We will need a number of volunteers- about 12 people- to work with Davena Green and Becky Wing to complete the task. The work is not arduous and we will supply the necessary materials.

It’s worth mentioning that the work is very satisfying because the shelters look terrific when they are well maintained and they give our sea front promenade a very elegant look when they are newly painted.

Ramsgate Glass are always very supportive with the re-glazing of the shelters and take as much pride in their appearance as we do. They often spot any broken class before we do and replace it as soon as they can work it into their busy schedule. They have agreed to do any necessary re-glazing once the repainting has been completed and I would like to extend our appreciation of their ongoing support.

If you would like to volunteer to help with this project, please email Davena Green and she will add your name to our list of volunteers and get in touch with you nearer the time.

John Walker

Resolution 3: Start thinking about your nominations for our Design Award 2023

The Falstaff Hotel: Previous overall winner of the Ramsgate Society Design Award.

Our Design Awards return in 2023. As before, they aim to recognise and celebrate buildings, spaces, shops, and places that are valued by the local community and show the very best design and construction process throughout the project whether building from new or repairing the old.

As you walk the streets of Ramsgate, we would like you to start noting examples of residential and commercial buildings that you feel enhance the built environment of our town. More details will appear in the New Year on our website and in the January newsletter. The online nomination form in various categories will also be available on the Society website in early January.

Paul Shearer

Resolution 4: Help our membership drive

As a fully paid-up member we hope you will be happy to renew when the time comes – we will let you know but for most that will be in March 2023. There are only three month’s left of this subscription year so to encourage new members to join we are offering 15 months of membership for the standard annual cost of £15 a person or £20 for a couple at the same address.

Do please pass this on to anyone you know who you believe is in tune with our aim to make Ramsgate a better place to live. You might even consider paying for their membership as a Christmas gift! As well as supporting activities like our renovation of the Maritime Museum and Seaside Shelters, members, of course, get a monthly newsletter, free entrance to our talks programme and the twice-yearly Ramsgate Matters magazine.

Click here to set up a new membership: https://ramsgate-society.org.uk/become-a-member/

Terry Prue

Resolution 5: Supporting our Talks Programme

Our planned next talk is hoped to be on January 20th and to be in, and about, Radford House – the old fire station in Effingham Street. Apologies that I am unable to confirm details and open reservation bookings yet but hopefully you can enter this in your 2023 diary.

We end with some more follow-ups from earlier talks:

1. The Heritage Lab has announced that funding for the ‘Pugin Studios’ at Granville House is progressing. Current news can be found here and a new crowdfunding page here.
2. From the Arts Barge we can report that on December 8th Vriendschap went into dry-dock at Ramsgate Slipway, for the 1st phase of works to begin with hull repair & painting. They promise a new website in 2023 but, in the meantime, if you wish to offer support email them here

Terry Prue

Contact the Ramsgate Society

If you have any queries about or for the Society please get in touch

Members with events, workshops or news that you would like the Society to consider featuring in its newsletter please contact: news@ramsgate-society.org.uk