Broadstairs
Encyclopedia
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet
Isle of Thanet
The Isle of Thanet lies at the most easterly point of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the nearly -wide River Wantsum, it is no longer an island ....

 in the Thanet
Thanet
Thanet is a local government district of Kent, England which was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, and came into being on 1 April 1974...

 district of east Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England, about 80 miles (128.7 km) south-east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's
Broadstairs and St Peter's
Broadstairs and St Peter's is a civil parish in the Thanet district of Kent, England. The parish comprises the settlements of Broadstairs, St Peters and Westwood, including Westwood Cross. It is a successor parish, created in 1974 to replace Broadstairs and St Peter's Urban District. It is governed...

, which includes St. Peter's and had a population in 2001 of about 24,000. Situated between Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....

 and Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...

, Broadstairs is one of Thanet's seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...

s, known as the "Jewel in Thanet's crown". The town's crest motto is Stella Maris ("Star of the Sea"). The name derives from a former flight of steps in the chalk cliff, which led from the sands up to the 11th-century shrine of St Mary
Shrine of Our Lady, Bradstowe
The Shrine of Our Ladye Star of the Sea was an old chapel on the cliffs at Broadstairs . Dating back at least to the 1350s, the two towers of the chapel were a major landmark for sailors in the area...

 on the cliff's summit.

The town spreads from Haine Road in the west to Kingsgate
Kingsgate
-Places:* Kingsgate, East Kilbride, Scotland* Kingsgate, Kent, England, part of Broadstairs* Kingsgate, Washington* Kingsgate, Winchester, Hampshire, England-Church:...

 in the north (named after the landing of King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 in 1683) and to Dumpton in the south (named after the yeoman Dudeman who farmed there in the 13th century). The hamlet of Reading (formerly Reden or Redyng) Street was established by Flemish
County of Flanders
The County of Flanders was one of the territories constituting the Low Countries. The county existed from 862 to 1795. It was one of the original secular fiefs of France and for centuries was one of the most affluent regions in Europe....

 refugees in the 17th century.

Before 1400

The inland village of St Peters
St Peters, Thanet
St Peters is an area of Broadstairs, a town on the Isle of Thanet in Kent. Historically a village, it was outgrown by the long dominant settlement of the two, Broadstairs after 1841. Originally the borough or manor of the church of St...

 was established after the building of a parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 in about 1080. On the nearby coast was a cliff-top shrine, the Shrine of Our Lady
Shrine of Our Lady, Bradstowe
The Shrine of Our Ladye Star of the Sea was an old chapel on the cliffs at Broadstairs . Dating back at least to the 1350s, the two towers of the chapel were a major landmark for sailors in the area...

, at what was then called Bradstow(e), meaning "broad place" (perhaps referring to the wide bay). A fishing settlement developed in the vicinity of the shrine in the 14th century. This came to be called "Broadstairs", after a flight of steps which was made in the cliff to give access to the shrine from the bay. Older forms of the name include Brodsteyr Lynch (1434), Brodestyr (1479), Broadstayer (1565) and Brod stayrs (1610). Charles Culmer, son of Waldemar, is supposed to have reconstructed the stairs in 1350.

1400-1600

In 1440, an archway was built by George Culmer across a track leading down to the sea, where the first wooden pier or jetty was built in 1460. A more enduring structure was to replace this in 1538, when the road leading to the seafront, known as Harbour Street, was cut into the rough chalk ground on which Broadstairs is built, by another George Culmer. Going further in defence of the town, he built the York Gate in 1540, a portal that still spans Harbour Street and which then held two heavy wooden doors that could be closed in times of threat from the sea. Richard Culmer
Richard Culmer
Sir Richard Culmer is listed by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as being of unknown parentage, although some sources indicate that he was the eldest son of Sir Henry Culmer , the first Baron Culmer...

 was the son of Sir Richard Culmer by his first wife and was born in 1640/41. Richard was buried in the parish church of Monkton
Monkton, Kent
Monkton is a village and civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent, England. The village is located at the south-western edge of the Isle of Thanet and is situated mainly along the B2047 road, leading off the A263 road between Canterbury and Ramsgate. The civil parish stretches south to the...

, on the Isle of Thanet. Of his legacies was the endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....

 on Broadstairs of an area of six acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...

s (24,000 m²) of ground for the poor of the parish. The name survives to this day as "Culmer's Allotment" as does the allotment.

1700-1815

In 1723, Broadstairs had a population of about 300. A brief outline of the history of Broadstairs Pier
Pier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...

 is given in Broadstairs, past and present, which mentions a storm in 1767, during which Culmer's work was all but destroyed. At this time, it was of considerable importance to the fishing trade with catches as far afield as Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

, Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....

, Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...

, Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 and Torbay
Torbay
Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. Part of the ceremonial county of Devon, Torbay was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998...

 and elsewhere being landed. It had become so indispensable that the corporations of Yarmouth, Dover, Hythe
Hythe, Kent
Hythe , is a small coastal market town on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the District of Shepway on the south coast of Kent. The word Hythe or Hithe is an Old English word meaning Haven or Landing Place....

 and Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

 with assistance from the East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

 and Trinity House
Trinity House
The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond is the official General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and other British territorial waters...

 subscribed to its restoration with a payment of £2,000 in 1774.

By 1795, York Gate needed repair to repel any threat from the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

. The subsequent renovation was undertaken by Lord Hanniker in the same year as the first lightvessel
Lightvessel
A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship which acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction...

 was placed on the Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands
The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...

.

On the occasion of the landing at Thanet of Major Henry Percy of the 14th Dragoon Guards, on 21 June 1815 with the captured French eagle standard taken at Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

, a tunnel stairway from the beach to the fields on the clifftops above was excavated, and christened "Waterloo Stairs" to commemorate the event. Broadstairs was supposedly the first town in England to learn of this historic victory, although there is no written evidence of this.

Smuggling was an important industry in the area, and the men of Broadstairs and St Peters
St Peters, Thanet
St Peters is an area of Broadstairs, a town on the Isle of Thanet in Kent. Historically a village, it was outgrown by the long dominant settlement of the two, Broadstairs after 1841. Originally the borough or manor of the church of St...

 became very good at outwitting customs agents. This was very profitable because of the very high duty
Duty (economics)
In economics, a duty is a kind of tax, often associated with customs, a payment due to the revenue of a state, levied by force of law. It is a tax on certain items purchased abroad...

 payable on tea, spirits and tobacco. There is a network of tunnels and caves strewn in the chalk strata which were used by smugglers to hide their contraband
Contraband
The word contraband, reported in English since 1529, from Medieval French contrebande "a smuggling," denotes any item which, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold....

.

Development as a seaside resort

By 1824 steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

s were becoming more common, having begun to take over from the hoys and sailing packets about 1814. These made trade with London much faster. The familiar sailing hoys took anything up to 72 hours to reach Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....

 from London, whereas the new steamships were capable of making at least nine voyages in this time. Mixed feelings must have been strongly expressed by the Thanet boatmen in general, as the unrivalled speed of the steam packet was outmanoeuvering all other classes of vessel, but it brought a new prosperity to Thanet. In the middle of the 19th century, the professional classes began to move in. By 1850, the population had reached about 3,000, doubling over the previous 50 years. Due to the fresh sea air
Sea air
The air at or by the sea is traditionally thought to be healthy. This was variously attributed to iodine or ozone but its cleanliness or salt may be more significant....

, many convalescent homes for children opened towards the end of the 19th century.

Railways

Although numerous holidaymakers
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

 were attracted to Broadstairs and to other Thanet
Thanet
Thanet is a local government district of Kent, England which was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, and came into being on 1 April 1974...

 seaside towns during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

, it was not directly served by the railways until 1863. This was a time of great expansion for railways in the South East
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...

; in 1860 Victoria Station
Victoria station (London)
Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It is named after nearby Victoria Street and not Queen Victoria. It is the second busiest railway terminus in London after Waterloo, and includes an air terminal for passengers...

 had been completed, followed by Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...

 and Cannon Street
Cannon Street
Cannon Street is a road in the south of the City of London. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, and about 250 metres north of it. It is the site of the ancient London Stone.-Etymology:...

. Rail access to Broadstairs had previously relied heavily upon coach links to other railway stations in the district or region; with firms such as Bradstowe Coachmasters, operated by William Sackett and John Derby, principally involved. Their coaches connected Broadstairs to Whitstable station
Whitstable railway station
Whitstable railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in north Kent, and serves the town of Whitstable. Train services are provided by Southeastern....

 where a railway service had begun as early as 1830 (one of the first in England, with its pioneering Stephenson
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...

's engine Invicta
Invicta (locomotive)
Invicta is an early steam locomotive built by Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1829. She was the twentieth locomotive built by Stephenson, being built immediately after Rocket.-History:...

). By 1851, the region's network was still more complete, being supplemented by the London to south coast
Southern England
Southern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...

 route, including the coastal link from Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...

 to Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...

, the cross-country service between London and Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 and the Mid-Kent line that linked Redhill
Redhill, Surrey
Redhill is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead, Surrey, England and is part of the London commuter belt. Redhill and the adjacent town of Reigate form a single urban area.-History:...

, Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...

 and Ashford
Ashford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...

 to London's new terminal at Waterloo (opened in 1848). Broadstairs station
Broadstairs railway station
Broadstairs railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in north Kent. It serves the coastal tourist town of Broadstairs and is located at the inland end of Broadstairs High Street. The station is south east of London Victoria...

 (unlike neighbouring Margate) is a 10 minute walk from the beach. Although rebuilt in the 1920s, electricity was not installed at the station until well into the 1970s, and the buildings and platforms remained illuminated by gaslight
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...

 until then.

1840-1900

In 1841, 44 mariners were recorded as resident in Broadstairs; nine of these being specified as fishermen, and of course the residual boat-building activity that remained after the Culmer~White yard closed in 1824 (under pressure from the steamships), still continued (though there were only four shipwrights recorded in the census: Solomon Holbourn and Joseph Jarman among them). Others may have been at sea on census day: Steamer Point, as the pier head at Broadstairs was then known, would have been fairly busy with shipping movements since consignment
Consignment
Consignment the act of consigning, which is placing any material in the hand of another, but retaining ownership until the goods are sold or person is transferred. This may be done for shipping, transfer of prisoners, to auction, or for sale in a store Consignment the act of consigning, which is...

s of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 and other produce would have been traded along the coast and there would have been regular work on the steam packet to and from Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...

. By the 1840s, the smuggling had ceased.

Present

By 1910, the population had reached about 10,000. A "guide book
Guide book
A guide book is a book for tourists or travelers that provides details about a geographic location, tourist destination, or itinerary. It is the written equivalent of a tour guide...

" of the 1930s by A H Simison (the photographic chemist) entitled Ramsgate (The Kent Coast at its best) Pictorially Presented, describes Broadstairs town as having approached modernisation and urban development "always with a consistent policy of retaining those characteristics for which it has for so long been renowned". The town has retained a great many aspects of historical interest, besides its maritime history
Maritime history
Maritime history is the study of human activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant...

. Amongst these is its notable religious history, evoked by places such as the Shrine of Our Lady, Bradstowe
Shrine of Our Lady, Bradstowe
The Shrine of Our Ladye Star of the Sea was an old chapel on the cliffs at Broadstairs . Dating back at least to the 1350s, the two towers of the chapel were a major landmark for sailors in the area...

.

Today Broadstairs is a magnet for visitors year after year and has been likened to a "Cornish
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 fishing town".

Lifeboats

Lifeboat
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...

s arrived in Broadstairs in 1851. News of the loss of the Irish packet with 250 lives, on the sands off Margate on 6 April 1850, may have been the prompt that led old Thomas White to present one of his lifeboats to his home town of Broadstairs that summer. The lifeboat saw its first use on 6 March 1851, when the brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 Mary White
Mary White (ship)
The Mary White was a lifeboat based in Broadstairs, Kent, England, named in 1851 after the completion of a heroic rescue of a brig, the Mary White....

 became trapped on the Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands
The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...

 during a severe gale blowing from the north. A ballad was written to celebrate the occasion, "Song of the Mary White
Song of the Mary White
"Song of the Mary White" is a ballad written in Broadstairs, Britain around 1850.It has been suggested that news of the loss of the Irish packet Royal Adelaide with 250 lives, on the sands off Margate on April 6, 1850, prompted old Thomas White to present one of his lifeboats to his home town of...

".

Solomon Holbourn, coxswain
Coxswain
The coxswain is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives us a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from cox, a coxboat or other small vessel kept aboard a ship, and swain, which can be rendered as boy, in authority. ...

 of the Mary White
Mary White (ship)
The Mary White was a lifeboat based in Broadstairs, Kent, England, named in 1851 after the completion of a heroic rescue of a brig, the Mary White....

of Broadstairs had an aunt, Sophia who married at Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...

 in 1813 to William Stevenson. His eldest son William became a mariner and boatman, and married an Elizabeth Wellard in 1839 at St Peter's, Broadstairs. One of their children, born in 1848, was named after his father, William, but in his adult life was better known as Bill "Floaty" Stevenson, and as a member of the Frances Forbes Barton lifeboat crew. The "Frances Forbes Barton" was originally, in 1897, the legacy of a Miss Webster to the boatmen of Broadstairs. It is recorded as having remained at that station until 1912, when it was moved to the Walmer station
Walmer and Deal lifeboats
Walmer Lifeboat Station was established in 1830. Over two thousand ships are believed to have been wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, and the masts of several wrecks are visible from the shore at low tide...

 when the Broadstairs one closed, during which time it had been taken out on 77 launches and saved 115 lives, by far the most effective of the RNLI craft stationed there.

Broadstairs' lifeboats were further supported by a fund established in the 1860s by Sir Charles Reed FSA.

Governance

Broadstairs is within the Thanet local government district. The town contains the five electoral wards of Bradstowe, St Peters, Beacon Road, Viking and Kingsgate. These wards have eleven of the fifty six seats on the Thanet District Council
Thanet District Council
Thanet District Council is the local government body for the Thanet district. Its administrative centre is Margate. It is one of the district councils in Kent...

. As of the 2007 local elections
United Kingdom local elections, 2007
The 2007 UK local government elections were held on 3 May 2007. These elections took place in most of England and all of Scotland. There were no local government elections in Wales though the Welsh Assembly had a general election on the same day. There were no local government elections in Northern...

, all eleven of those seats were held by the Conservative Party. Broadstairs and St Peters Town Council has 15 members, who are elected every four years, led by the mayor.

The Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for South Thanet
South Thanet
South Thanet is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

 is Laura Sandys
Laura Sandys
Laura Jane Sandys is a British Conservative Party politician. She has been the Member of Parliament for South Thanet since the general election on 6 May 2010.-Early life:...

 of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

. She has been the constituency's MP since the United Kingdom 2010 general election, when she took the seat from the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

's Stephen Ladyman
Stephen Ladyman
Stephen John Ladyman is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for South Thanet from 1997 until 2010.-Early life:...

. He was preceded by Conservative Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken is a former Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, and British government minister. He was convicted of perjury in 1999 and received an 18-month prison sentence, of which he served seven months...

. At the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

, Labour won South Thanet by 664 votes, with 40.4% of the vote. Conservatives won 38.8% of the vote, Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 13.2%, United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...

 5.0%, Green Party
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...

 2.2% and an independent 0.5%.

Broadstairs and St. Peter's have been twinned with Wattignies
Wattignies
Wattignies is a commune in the Nord department of northern France. It lies to the south-west of the Lille conurbation. It covers an area of , and as at 1999 its population was 14,440.-Neighboring communes:...

 in northern France since the early 1980s.

Geography

The town lies above a harbour with cliffs on either side. It has seven bays of golden sand, which are (from south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay
Botany Bay, Kent
Botany Bay is a bay in Broadstairs, Kent on the south east coast of England.Botany Bay is the northern most of seven bays in Broadstairs. It features chalk cliffs and is a popular tourist location...

. North Foreland
North Foreland
North Foreland is a chalk headland on the Kent coast of southeast England.North Foreland forms the eastern end of the Isle of Thanet. It presents a bold cliff to the sea, and commands views over the southern North Sea.-Lighthouse:...

 rises between Stone Bay and Joss Bay.

On the cliffs above Kingsgate Bay is Kingsgate Castle
Kingsgate Castle
Kingsgate Castle on the cliffs above Kingsgate Bay, Broadstairs, Kent was built for Lord Holland in the 1760s. The name Kingsgate is related to an incidental landing of Charles II on 30 June 1683 though other English monarchs have also used this cove, such as George II in 1748...

, formerly the home of Lord Holland, but now converted into private residences. Follies surround the castle.

Broadstairs has a very mild maritime climate.

Transport links

The town is situated 20 miles (32.2 km) from both Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 and Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

, and about 60 miles (96.6 km) from the M25
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...

, London's orbital motorway.

The town is also served by Southeastern
Southeastern (train operating company)
London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern is a train operating company in south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...

 train services to/from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, via either North Kent and Medway
Medway
Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County...

 or Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

 and High Speed 1. It is unusual in the sense that trains to London can run either way through the station.

Economy

As a seaside resort, the economy is mainly based around tourism; there are hotels and guest houses on and near the seafront, to accommodate the influx of all year round visitors. Although the number of hotels in recent years has declined because of the high land redevelopment values, this has resulted in an improvement in quality of the existing premises. The High Street has a wide variety of independent shops and services, and there are a small number of factories mainly situated on the small industrial estates on the town's borders. The above-average population age has led to many health and social care jobs at local care homes. As of the 2001 UK census, 1.8% of the population resided in a medical or care establishment, which is more than double the national average of only 0.8%. Many jobs in education are provided by the town's relatively high number of schools and colleges.

Employment

As of the 2001 census, the economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 34.1% in full-time employment, 12.8% in part-time employment, 10.0% self-employed, 2.9% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 4.1% students without jobs, 20.0% retired, 6.5% looking after home or family, 4.9% permanently sick or disabled and 2.4% economically inactive for other reasons. The percentage of retired people was significantly higher than the national figure of 14%. The percentage of unemployed people was low compared with the national rate of 3.4% and the district rate of 4.4%. Only 12% of residents aged 16–74 had a higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

 qualification or the equivalent, compared with 20% nationwide. The Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...

 estimated that during the period of April 2001 to March 2002, the average gross weekly income of households was £522 (£27,219 per year).

The industry of employment of residents, at the 2001 census, was 15% retail, 14% health and social work, 13% manufacturing, 13% education, 10% real estate, 8% construction, 7% transport and communications, 6% public administration, 5% hotels and restaurants, 3% finance, 1% agriculture and 5% other community, social or personal services. Compared with national figures, there was a relatively high number of workers in the education and health/social care industries and a relatively low number in finance and real estate. Many residents commute to work outside the town; as of the 2001 census, the town had 9,842 employed residents, but there were only 9,049 jobs within the town.

Industry and commerce

  • Broadstairs' & St Peter's Chamber of Commerce has existed for over 100 years and has been instrumental in establishing links between traders and authority and raising money for projects including the town's CCTV scheme. It organises events and promotes tourism to benefit the town economy, the local customer and visitors.
  • The largest of Broadstairs' industrial estates is at Pyson's Road.
  • Residential building land is now scarce and property prices within Broadstairs tend to be higher than the rest of Thanet
    Thanet
    Thanet is a local government district of Kent, England which was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, and came into being on 1 April 1974...

    .
  • Broadstairs has seen major development in its area recently with a large out-of-town shopping development at Westwood called Westwood Cross
    Westwood Cross
    Westwood Cross is a shopping centre in Westwood in Thanet, Kent. It is circled by Broadstairs, Margate and Ramsgate. It was built by Carillion and opened in June 2005...

    . This has attracted national retailers, a new Travelodge
    Travelodge
    Travelodge refers to several hotel chains around the world. Current operations include: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and Australia...

     hotel a Mecca bingo club a casino, a ten screen state of the art vue
    Vue (cinema)
    Vue Entertainment , formerly known as SBC International Cinemas, is a cinema company in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The company was formed in May 2003 when SBC acquired 36 Warner Village cinemas. There are now 69 Vue cinemas, with 654 screens totaling 140,500 seats, including the rebranded...

     cinema, a new fitness centres, and an Ask
    Ask (restaurant)
    ASK, also known as ASK ITALIAN is a British casual dining restaurant chain that serves Italian cuisine. It operates in 120 locations in the UK. It is operated as part of the Gondola Group....

    , Nando's
    Nando's
    Nando's is a casual dining restaurant group originating from South Africa with a Portuguese/Mozambican theme. Founded in 1987, Nando's operates in thirty countries on five continents....

    , Frankie & Benny's
    Frankie & Benny's
    Frankie & Benny's is a chain of Italian-American restaurants in the UK with numerous outlets nationwide run by The Restaurant Group plc. Its first location was Leicester in 1995 but now the chain has over 150 locations across the UK and also abroad, and smaller branches called "Little...

     and Chiquito
    Chiquito (restaurant)
    Chiquito is a UK-based restaurant chain specialising in Mexican food. The company was established in 1989 and has 68 restaurants across the country. It dubs itself as 'The Original Mexican Grill & Bar' and has been described as the United Kingdom's best-known Mexican chain...

     restaurants.
  • Land is currently being redeveloped to extend the existing Westwood Cross
    Westwood Cross
    Westwood Cross is a shopping centre in Westwood in Thanet, Kent. It is circled by Broadstairs, Margate and Ramsgate. It was built by Carillion and opened in June 2005...

     shopping centre.
  • Within the Broadstairs boundary there are three large supermarkets: Asda
    Asda
    Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...

    , Sainsbury's and a Tesco Extra, which, before redevelopment, was the home of a large Co-op store (one of the first hypermarket
    Hypermarket
    In commerce, a hypermarket is a superstore combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full groceries lines and general merchandise...

    s built in the UK). Tesco
    Tesco
    Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...

     has a metro store in the town. Tesco also has a convenience store (Tesco Express) in the town and there is a small Co-op in St Peter's village.
  • A high speed train link to London Via Canterbury
    Canterbury
    Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

     and High Speed 1 has been running since December 2009.
  • Motor and household insurance claims of Saga Insurance Ltd.
    Saga Group
    Saga is a British company focused on serving the needs of those aged 50 and over. It has 2.7 million customers. The company has five call centres. All are in the UK, three in Folkestone, Kent at Middelburg Square, Enbrook Park and Cheriton Park; the fourth at the Eurokent Business park in...

     are managed in Broadstairs (as an extension of their main offices in Folkestone).
  • Insurance Company www.immediatequote.co.uk is based in Broadstairs

Demography

Broadstairs and St Peter's
2001 UK census Broadstairs and St Peter's Thanet District England
Total population 24,370 126,702 49,138,831
Foreign born 5.3% 5.1% 9.2%
White 98% 98% 91%
Asian 1.0% 0.6% 4.6%
Black 0.2% 0.3% 2.3%
Christian 75% 74% 72%
Muslim 0.4% 0.5% 3.1%
Hindu 0.3% 0.2% 1.1%
No religion 14% 16% 15%
65+ years old 24% 22% 16%
Unemployed 2.9% 4.4% 3.3%

As of the 2001 UK census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

, the parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's
Broadstairs and St Peter's
Broadstairs and St Peter's is a civil parish in the Thanet district of Kent, England. The parish comprises the settlements of Broadstairs, St Peters and Westwood, including Westwood Cross. It is a successor parish, created in 1974 to replace Broadstairs and St Peter's Urban District. It is governed...

 had 24,370 residents in 10,597 households. Of those households, 34.2% were married couples, 6.7% were cohabiting
Cohabitation
Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...

 couples and 8.3% were lone parents. 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.9% had someone living alone at pensionable age. 25.7% of households included children aged under 16, or a person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education.

The parish has a low proportion of non-white people compared with national figures; the ethnicity recorded in the 2001 census was 97.9% white, 0.7% mixed race, 0.3% Chinese, 0.7% other Asian, 0.2% black and 0.2% other. The amount of foreign-born residents is relatively low; the place of birth of residents in 2001 was 94.7% United Kingdom, 0.7% Republic of Ireland, 0.5% Germany, 0.9% other Western Europe countries, 0.3% Eastern Europe, 0.8% Africa, 0.6% South Asia, 0.5% Far East, 0.3% North America, 0.2% Middle East, 0.2% Oceania and 0.1% South America. Religion was recorded as 75.3% Christian, 0.4% Muslim, 0.3% Hindu, 0.3% Buddhist and 0.3% Jewish. 14.3% were recorded as having no religion, 0.5% had an alternative religion and 8.6% did not state their religion.

The age distribution was 5% aged 0–4 years, 14% aged 5–15 years, 5% aged 16–19 years, 26% aged 20–44 years, 27% aged 45–64 years and 24% aged 65 years and over. There was a high percentage of residents over 65, compared with the national average of 16%, mainly due to seaside towns being popular retirement destinations. For every 100 females, there were 87.1 males.

Education

Junior and infant


Secondary modern and grammar

  • Dane Court Grammar School
    Dane Court Grammar School
    Dane Court Grammar School is a mixed-sex grammar school in Broadstairs, Kent, UK with approximately 1,200 pupils.-History:The school was officially founded in 1957 and was, until 1980, designated as a selective Technical High School rather than a Grammar School...

  • St Georges C of E Foundation School
    St Georges C of E Foundation School
    St George's C of E Foundation School, often abbreviated to St George's is a Business and Enterprise Secondary school in the South East of the United Kingdom in Broadstairs, Kent...

  • The Charles Dickens School
  • Hereson School for boys
  • Chatham House Grammar School
    Chatham House Grammar School
    Chatham House Grammar School, often abbreviated to "Chatham House" is a grammar school in Ramsgate, Kent, England, founded in 1797 as a private boy's boarding school by William Humble, under the name Humbles Boys' School...

  • Clarendon House Grammar School
    Clarendon House Grammar School
    Clarendon House Grammar School, or simply "Clarendon" is a grammar school for girls in Ramsgate, Kent, opened in 1905. The school was granted specialist language school status in September 2004.-Relations with Chatham House:...


The Charles Dickens, Hereson, and St George's are below the 30% GCSE target.

Foreign language

  • Hilderstone College
  • Broadstairs English Centre
    Broadstairs English Centre
    Broadstairs English Centre is a small language school in the seaside town of Broadstairs, England. It offers courses for teenagers, adults and students preparing for Cambridge/TOEIC examinations. It takes up to 90 students....

  • Kent School of English

Entertainment and leisure

  • The Broadstairs Dickens Festival is held annually in honour of the novelist Charles Dickens
    Charles Dickens
    Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

     in the third week of June. A Christmas event in December is now part of the calendar. The festival includes a production of one of Dickens' novels and people about the town wearing Victorian dress. The festival first took place in 1937, when Gladys Waterer, the then owner of Dickens House, conceived the idea of commemorating the centenary of the author's first visit by putting on a production of David Copperfield, a novel written in the town.
  • In the second week of August each year, the town holds the Broadstairs Folk Week music festival. The main acts perform at the Concert Marquee in the town's main park (Pierremont Park), but smaller gigs are also held in many pubs, restaurants and cafés as well as at the town's bandstand. The playing fields at Upton Junior School become a vast campsite (as visible on the Google Maps view of Broadstairs taken during a Folk Week in the mid-2000s) as the town's population swells with thousands of tourists, both the traditional folk reveller, and the curious visitor keen on imbibing seaside culture. Whilst Folk Week's origins are centred around Folk music and its appreciation, for many this period is simply an opportunity for general festivities in which pubs and bars have later opening hours and the main streets are closed to traffic in order that revellers may fully enjoy open air drinking and social merriment.
  • Music continues throughout the year in the many pubs in the town. The popular Broadstairs Live!!! website carries up-to-date details of past and upcoming events.
  • During the summer season, and on 5 November the town hosts firework displays every Wednesday evening on Viking Bay, with hundreds of people lining the overlooking cliff tops.

Sport and recreation

  • Thanet Wanderers Rugby Union Football Club is based in Broadstairs at St. Peter's Recreation Ground.
  • Sandcastle building competition takes place annually.
  • Broadstairs has a Green bowling club.
  • Beach Volley Ball is held on the beach in the summer.
  • Broadstairs is home to the North Foreland
    North Foreland
    North Foreland is a chalk headland on the Kent coast of southeast England.North Foreland forms the eastern end of the Isle of Thanet. It presents a bold cliff to the sea, and commands views over the southern North Sea.-Lighthouse:...

     Golf Club.
  • Broadstairs Sailing Club in Harbour Street once had former prime minister Edward Heath
    Edward Heath
    Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....

     as a member.
  • Fishing competitions are regularly held in the Harbour.

Local media

Broadstairs has two paid for newspapers, the Isle of Thanet Gazette and Thanet Times, which are owned by Northcliffe Media
Northcliffe Media
Northcliffe Media Ltd. is a large regional newspaper publisher in the UK and Central and Eastern Europe, owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. The company's name was changed to Northcliffe Media from Northcliffe Newspaper Group in 2007.It operates from over 30 publishing centres, and also...

. Free newspapers for the town include the Thanet Extra, part of the KM Group
KM Group
The KM Group, formerly known as the Kent Messenger Group until 2008, is a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England...

; and yourthanet, part of KOS Media
KOS Media
KOS Media is a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England. The company operates local newspapers and internet sites throughout the county.-History:...

. Isle magazine is published quarterly and includes listings of events as well as accommodation and tourist information. A digital edition is available online.

Local radio stations are KMFM Thanet
KMFM Thanet
KMFM Thanet is an Independent Local Radio serving the Isle of Thanet and the surrounding areas in Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group.-History:...

, owned by the KM Group, community radio
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...

 station Academy FM (Thanet)
Academy FM (Thanet)
107.8 Academy FM is a non commercial community 24 hour local radio station based in Ramsgate, Kent and serving the Isle of Thanet. It launched on 5 April 2010, Easter Monday.107.8 Academy FM is based within The Marlowe Academy,Ramsgate...

; and the county-wide stations Heart Kent, Gold and BBC Radio Kent
BBC Radio Kent
BBC Radio Kent is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Kent.It broadcasts on FM on 96.7 , 97.6 and 104.2 also 774 and 1602 MW and DAB.- History :The radio station was launched in 1970 under the name of BBC Radio Medway, originally only serving the...

.Thanet Community Radio also offer a online community podcasting service for Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Margate and the wider areas of Thanet.

Landmarks and places of interest

  • There is a small cinema, "The Palace Cinema" (formerly known as The Windsor), in Harbour Street.
  • Also in Harbour Street, the Pavilion on the Sands hosts a summer show and all-year entertainment. There are extensive views across the bay. Its location and facilities make the Pavilion a popular wedding venue.
  • The beaches at Botany Bay
    Botany Bay, Kent
    Botany Bay is a bay in Broadstairs, Kent on the south east coast of England.Botany Bay is the northern most of seven bays in Broadstairs. It features chalk cliffs and is a popular tourist location...

     and Joss Bay have both been awarded the Blue flag
    Blue Flag beach
    The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards.The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe,...

     rural beach award in 2005. Viking Bay beach, the main beach in Broadstairs, won the Blue Flag in 2006.
  • The main beach (Viking Bay) has a number of cafes and ice cream outlets. During the summer, this bay is often very busy.
  • Punch and Judy and donkey rides a feature of the summer beach entertainment.
  • There are four firework displays on Wednesday evenings over Viking Bay in the summer and a free display on 5 November.
  • The Dickens' House museum is situated on the seafront, which displays many artifacts relating to Charles Dickens and his life in Broadstairs.
  • Crampton Tower by the railway station houses a museum. The museum contains Thomas Russell Crampton
    Thomas Russell Crampton
    Thomas Russell Crampton, MICE, MIMechE was an English engineer born at Broadstairs, Kent, and trained on Brunel's Great Western Railway....

    's working drawings, models, graphics, patents, awards and artifacts connected to his life and works. Other galleries illustrate the history and development of the railways, the electric tramways, road transport and other aspects of local industry. The original Broadstairs stage coach built in 1860 is displayed alongside seven working model railways in gauges N, OO, O and Gauge One.
  • In the village of St Peter's, tours are held throughout the summer.
  • The church of St. Peter-in-Thanet has one of the longest churchyards in England.

Notable residents and visitors

  • Thomas Russell Crampton
    Thomas Russell Crampton
    Thomas Russell Crampton, MICE, MIMechE was an English engineer born at Broadstairs, Kent, and trained on Brunel's Great Western Railway....

    , MICE, MIMechE, railway engineer, was born in Broadstairs in 1816.
  • Sir Edward Heath
    Edward Heath
    Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....

    , former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

    , was born in Broadstairs in 1916 and lived there until going to study at Balliol College, Oxford
    Balliol College, Oxford
    Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

     in 1935.
  • Charles Dickens
    Charles Dickens
    Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

     visited Broadstairs regularly from 1837 until 1859 and described the town as "Our English Watering Place". He wrote David Copperfield
    David Copperfield (novel)
    The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery , commonly referred to as David Copperfield, is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial...

    while staying at Bleak House
    Bleak House, Broadstairs
    Bleak House, formerly known as Fort House, is a large house on the cliff overlooking the North Foreland and Viking Bay in Broadstairs, Kent. Although the exact date is unknown, it is suspected to have been built around 1816...

    .
  • Oliver Postgate
    Oliver Postgate
    Oliver Postgate was an English animator, puppeteer and writer.He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television programmes...

     (he of the Clangers) was a long time resident of Broadstairs and his life is commemorated by a beautiful mosaic of the Clangers and a blue plaque on the front of his home in Chandos Square. The mosaic was made by local artist Martin Cheek.
  • Derek McCulloch
    Derek McCulloch
    Derek Ivor Breashur McCulloch OBE was a BBC Radio presenter and producer, who is best remembered as "Uncle Mac" in Children's Favourites and Children's Hour and for playing 'Larry the Lamb' in Toytown.-Early life:...

    , the presenter of Children's Favourites and Children's Hour on BBC Radio and who was known professionally as Uncle Mac, visited Broadstairs often.

However, the stone cairn and plaque dedicated to "Uncle Mac" in Victoria Gardens on the seafront is in memory of J.H.Somerton an entertainer whose venues were the Pier and the Beach during the 1890's - 1930's and who was also known as "Uncle Mac".
  • John Buchan apparently based the title of his novel, The Thirty Nine Steps after the set of steps on the beach at a house called St Cuby, Cliff Promenade at North Foreland, Broadstairs, where he was recuperating from illness in 1915.

See also


External links

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