Nostalgic memories of Westgate on Sea's local history

Share your own memories of Westgate on Sea and read what others have said

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.

Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.

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It's easy to add your own memories and reconnect with your shared local history. Search for your favourite places and look for the 'Add Your Memory' buttons to begin

Displaying Memories 11 - 16 of 16 in total

Pav's Tea Gardens in St Mildred's Bay was a place where I spent my youth, owned by Herbert Smith the famous film producer, the cafe was full of stills from the films he had worked on, there must have been over three hundred photos covering all the walls. Great music coming from the Rock-ola juke box.
I was born in Dartford and at the age of three I was adopted and brought up in Westgate. I can recall the good old days of the steam trains running through Westgate from London and I can remember running down to the main road running through to Margate by the Walmer Castle pub on a Saturday and Sunday morning around lunch time, to watch the London buses bringing the day-trippers from ...see more
St Mildred's Hotel, commonly known as Millies, was a hive of activity in the 1950s/60s when I was a teenager. Joe used to play there for crowds of dance-mad youngsters, sometimes he used his own material which was a bit saucy.  We would travel over by train on a Saturday and spend all evening there meeting our friends and then go off to Cliftonville for a curry before going home.  Life was fun! Susan Robinson
As a member of the 6th Brockley Scout Group, I visited Westgate 3 or 4 times during the early 1950s for the annual 2-week camp in August, our tents being pitched in the grounds of the then Catholic Church on the London Road. I remember that we loved buying jam-doughnuts from the Devonshire Bakers, often burning our mouths on the hot jam, as the doughnuts were usualy just made! I saw the film, "Reach for the Sky" at ...see more
My earliest memories of the seaside are from the 1950's. We lived in Bexleyheath and - like most people - did not own a car in those far off austerity years after the war. For this reason our summer holidays were always on the nearby north Kent coast and we would travel by train! Our family had two summer holidays in Westgate-On-Sea - each of them a fortnight staying in a hotel. I ...see more
Westgate-on-sea pavilion will soon be a cherished memory. Thanet Council are choosing to dispose of it rather than installing a disabled access and disabled toilets. If anyone out there cares about this unique part of Westgate then pelase do not let it become a memory! Help please. Contact John Bunnett at TDC and ask him who will profit for the loss of this memory, not the people of Westgate, we again will be the losers.