27 March 2023 - Margate part 2
Miles driven today = 3
Total Miles to date = 213
Yeah maybe it wasn't the brightest idea of mine to leave the van by the sea wall last night. It was high tide at a little after 4am and for an hour and a half either side of that we intermittently had sea spray thrashing against the back of the van which jolted us awake every time we started to return to the land of nod. So suffice to say we have been a little tired today.
As forecast, the weather took a giant leap for the better this morning and, although rather chilly, we've had blazing sunshine all day so we decided to take ourselves off for a stroll eastward along Palm Bay Beach. The golden sands were deserted but for a few dog walkers. I'm sure it's a completely different story in the summer.
At Foreness Point there are rock pools formed in the chalk bed at low tide. If you zoom right in you can just about make out our van parked at the far end of the beach.
We ticked off most of our to-do list for Margate yesterday but we had already decided to stay a second night so we moved the van to a slightly more sheltered position where it wouldn't get battered again by the incoming tide.
One additional attraction which had piqued our interest was the Walpole Bay Hotel, which is only a short distance from where we were parked.
The hotel first opened in 1914 and still has its original Otis lift in full working order.
The walls of the corridors on the first and third floors are covered with "napery". Dozens of napkins have been embellished by guests over the years.
Some have paintings, drawings and collages.
Others are embroidered or have poems or short stories relevant to peoples' stays here.
The second floor has more in the way of quirky 19th and 20th Century museum pieces. Tiny broom cupboard sized rooms are stacked full of all manner of memorabilia.
There are also lots of old black and white photos of the hotel and of Margate in general.
In the basement is a ballroom, and a billiards room with a full sized pink snooker table.
They don't charge you to have a look round the hotel's exhibits but they do offer cream teas. We had not long had lunch so we opted for a stiff G&T at the bar instead.
Given last night's broken sleep I decided to have a little nap and I was dozing away gently when a council worker came tapping at the door giving us 30 minutes notice that they would be closing the car park at 4:30 for the pre-warned repair work. Just as well I wasn't tempted into having a second gin!
So we have found our way to another car park 3 miles down the road at Joss Bay. It seems very popular with the surfing fraternity and we are just downhill from the North Foreland lighthouse at what is pretty much the most easterly point of the toe of Kent.
Parking restrictions are all a bit confusing really. There are 3 dedicated motorhome spaces with instructions to pay £10 for 24 hours but less than 10 feet away there is another sign seemingly forbidding motorhomes altogether.
The locals seem to think we will be OK though and some of the signage indicates that there are no parking restrictions before 1 April so here's hoping we don't get any over-officious traffic wardens wandering around in the dead of night because having chocked up the front of the van I may just have intruded into the bay in front of us by 3 inches.
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