Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
Apologies for the yoof-style headline of this article, but the Telegraph today publishes a guide to the Kent coast which highlights Thanet’s nine Blue Flags beaches, praises ‘old-fashioned’ Broadstairs, identifies an emergent restaurant culture and a new wave of boutique hotels, and predicts the Turner Contemporary will cement Thanet as a fashionable tourist destination. Gosh.
Botany Bay is the Telegraph’s pick of the beaches and the Albion is the pick of the hotels (yes, really).
The article also mentions a couple of other places, like Whitstable and Sandwich, in passing.
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I don’t think the Telegraph “bigged” up Thanet as you put it. The article actually stated:
“The opening in 2011 of the Turner Contemporary in Margate, Tracey Emin’s hometown, should cement the Kent coast’s status as a fashionable destination”.
This is a bizarre notion – don’t get me wrong – I’m pleased that it’s helps to put Margate on the map but it is no panacea for Margate’s problems which arguably started in 1939. I’m not certain as to what the “Kent coast’s status as a fashionable destination” actually means. A fashionable resort is a town not some obscure “coast”. Fashionable, in resort terms, to my mind means St Tropez, Milano Marittima, Carmel and certainly not Margate.
(Margate is not Tracey Emin’s hometown. She was born in Croydon)
Thanks Jeremy but we’re going to put our necks on the block here and say we’re pretty sure the Telegraph bigged up Thanet. Apart from your quote above, it used phrases like: “photogenic backdrops”, “picturesque coastal towns and villages are the stuff of English Heritage calendars”, ” restaurant culture is emerging alongside the new wave of boutique hotels”, “dramatic scenery” and more.
We think that’s bigging up in anyone’s book.
And surely a “fashionable destination” means just that – somewhere fashionable that people go. That doesn’t have to be St Tropez.
You raise valid points and I’m pleased that things appear to be improving. You cannot though compare Margate 2010 with Margate1950. I wrote a piece about Margate recently and there’s this to enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSgGHh6zap0
That’s a fantastic video – is it new?
We don’t think the Telegraph mentions the 1950s and really it only mentions Tracey Emin in passing.
Though if you’re interested in the extended Emin family’s artistic endeavours, here’s news of her brother Paul’s latest exhibition.