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It was a cold windy night when a group of keen ‘locals’, from various backgrounds, got together to discuss the idea of creating a guide book for Thanet.  What with the hordes that will be arriving here from the beginning of April it seemed obvious of the need to tell the visitor all the quirky, hidden away gems that this little Isle had to offer, that may go undiscovered if it wasn’t for a recommendation from a trusted voice. So it was decided, we owe it to the DFL’s and all the others to show them what makes Thanet great! And with that Discover Thanet was born.

(What I didn’t realise, at the time, was that the guide book might have other uses. Only the other week a lady came into the shop to proclaim that she had lived in Westbrook for 26 years (I kid you not) and didn’t know there was an Old Town in Margate! I had no answer for that one.)

With all that Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate and surrounds have to cater for the tourist it was tricky to decide who should go in and who should absolutely be left out… luckily Harvey’s closed before we got too far in, so that little problem was solved.  With restaurant critic Marina O’Loughlin on the case for the best places to eat, be it fine dining to a bucket of chips, contributions from IsleOne, and Stewart Turner pulling it all together as editor, we were the dream team to write such a fabulous page turner. Except that none of us were designers and lacked the skills to produce the book. The solution came in those wonderful designers PatrickGeorge, who without them, would have left us colouring in bits of paper.

With Ann and Peter Scott’s beautiful, bold colours and designs we… and I mean Thanet here, really do have a guide book to be proud of. Gone were shots of men in Bermuda shorts, gone were couples with 2.4 children playing on the sand, gone were a man and woman gazing longingly into each other’s eyes with Droit house and the fronds of a palm in the background. And in came arty, stunning, atmospheric shots of all that places have to offer. Bakewell tarts, Belgian beer and stuffed animals… oh yes, we know how to put a look together!

So without giving too much away you’re probably now thinking, ‘And where can I find such a fine book?’. Well it just so happens that pre-ordering is available on-line! With the book going to print as we speak first copies will be dashed out to your door as soon as they are available. Order now by clicking here… or join us in our Pop Up Shop in the Pie Factory, Broad Street April 13th – 25th, to meet the authors and find out more about the wonderful new book!

Oh yes, and we did get some help from Guardian’s own Iain Aitch, internationally acclaimed artist Ann Carrington and local journalist and authors Jane Wenham Jones and Kiki Case… but we did most of it… honest.