Broadstairs, Kent

Children's beach events, mid-1950s

I can remember organised races and games, promoted by the publishers of 'Sunny Stories' and the Hulton Press comics, which took place on Viking Bay or Louisa? Bay. You needed to have a copy of one of the papers to participate; in my time it tended to be the 'Swift'.
The Punch and Judy shoes put on by a guy... [more]

Fun on the beach

In the year 1950 (or thereabouts) we lived in Reading Street, a village quite close to Broadstairs. 'Mr. Broadstairs' used to organise events such as sandcastle competitions, races and each week held a contest amongst the children to choose a 'Prince' and 'Princess' for the week. He also used to put on shows on the jetty such as... [more]

The Post in the Centre of the Bay

I am not sure which grandfather it was (how many greats do you want?) but the old part of my family, the Strevens, have lived in Broadstairs for the last five hundred years, and have the honour of having erected the post in the middle of the bay. This was one of five snubbing posts that allowed the barges to warp... [more]

It's still there after all these years...

This photograph from 1887 shows a post in the middle of the picture, standing upright in the sea - to this day it is still there. As a child it was always a point at which I arranged to meet with my brother, or my mum if I wandered off whilst on the beach. Growing up in Broadstairs was just the... [more]

Was anyone else convalescent here?

I think this was where I was sent at age about 4. I lived in London and was packed off with some other children on a train. I remember the nuns that looked after us and the stone steps cut in the cliff where we would access the beach. It was winter and freezing cold. I was there for a month... [more]

Broadstairs and St Mary's Home 1957

I was 6 years old and had had bronchitis and asthma and so I was sent away from smoggy London to St Mary's Home in Broadstairs. I was taken with other young children on a train by a nurse in a brown uniform. We all slept in dormitories and every Wednesday we had early morning exercises. Sometimes we were taken down... [more]

The Grand at Broadstairs

Laurie used to play at the Grand every Saturday night. In the afternoon he would play the piano at Booby's, an upmarket sort of Debenhams in Cliftonville. My mother and I would go and have tea in the restaurant, which served a three tier tray of cakes, my favourites were Kunzle cakes. They were a case, either round square or oblong,... [more]

I got married here.....

I got married in this church in 1994 and my daughter was christened here in 1995. What a beautiful church and great memories to hold forever. Jo Laight

Thanet Pocket Album

We are looking across Main Bay (now Viking Bay) towards the harbour, the pier and the prominent mansion Fort House (now called Bleak House), prior to its extension and castellation in 1901.This house was Dickens' summer residence in 1850, and here he completed 'David Copperfield'.The old pier, which dates from 1808, stands on the site of a Tudor pier destroyed by storms.

Kent A Century Ago Photographic Memories

The 'rare good sands', as Charles Dickens described them, still form the focal point of this 'old-fashioned watering place' where 'Nicholas Nickleby', 'David Copperfield', 'The Old Curiosity Shop', and 'Barnaby Rudge' were all written by him in houses overlooking this same view. A fishing hamlet in 1837 when he first visited, it quickly expanded into the quiet family resort it remains today.

Victorian and Edwardian Kent Photographic Memories

The 'rare good sands', as Charles Dickens described them, still form the focal point of this 'old-fashioned watering place' where 'Nicholas Nickleby', 'David Copperfield', 'The Old Curiosity Shop', and 'Barnaby Rudge' were all written by him in houses overlooking this same view. A fishing hamlet in 1837 when he first visited, it quickly expanded into the quiet family resort it remains today.