So many of my friends have recently moved out of London and chosen to live by the sea in Kent. If for some reason I got lost in Whitstable, Margate or Broadstairs, I would probably (hopefully) find a bed or two to stay the night.
Many of them have moved out mostly because property prices in London have reached obscene levels, others simply got tired of the endless rat race in the capital and wanted a change in scenery.
And a change it is. I decided to spend a day in Margate with my camera and – to my surprise – I really enjoyed it. Yes, Cliftonville still is a bit rough around the edges, the old Victorian charm of the nearby seafront buildings is long gone and the influx of Londoners has brought with it its inevitable gentrification (I haven’t seen so many Scandi-design shops since I last visited Islington and Shoreditch).
Margate seafront
But the Old Town with its galleries, cafes and shops is lovely as is the seafront parade by the sandy town beach. Not just fish’n’chips, you know.
Then there is the stunning Turner Contemporary gallery and the nearby Gormley sculpture, visible only when the tide is low (which it wasn’t when I was there).
I found Margate’s famous Dreamland fascinating and depressing in equal measure. If you want to see a living, breathing, screaming and screeching definition of a misnomer, do visit Dreamland in the middle of the high season.
But other than that, I did find the town fascinating and would love to go back to explore it a bit more.
I’ll wait till it’s sunny and warm though.
Here are my visual highlights from Margate:
SEE ALSO:
Golden sun and green leaves. Kew Gardens in winter.
Fuji x100F is the perfect street photography camera. Here are my favourites from Venice.
Street portrait session with a London-based musician and performer.
Cyclades before the tourists arrive…
When a new day quietly sneaks in…
Matthew James Morrisson is a London-based actor and model. I photographed him in February 2018 in Southwark, London.