Monthly Archives: November 2014

This has been my first week in Cliftonville, Margate and so far it has surpassed my expectation. The people I have met, the communities I have been in touch with have been so friendly and inviting.

At the start of the week I met the owner of Walpole Bay Hotel, Jane Bishop. She was giving a talk to a group of 40 seniors about the history of her Edwardian hotel and invited me to tag along. She retold the fascinating story of her and her husbands love affair with the hotel, and purchase in the 90’s when it was about to be demolished. Not only has the hotel been restored to its former Edwardian style glory, but Jane has created a museum dedicated to memorabilia and documentation of the Isle of Thanet, where people are so dedicated to the cause that they donate their precious historic artifacts to Jane and the museum for their display. Brilliant stuff! Jane was a top host, friendly and full of stories, and even offered me tea and a biscuit in china from a by gone era.

I have lots more planned for next week, let’s see what direction the project will take! So I’ll leave you a beautiful view of the coastline I took whilst out running this morning.

Hello! I’m writing this post from Cliftonville, Margate. I’ve been appointed as an artist in residence for the month of November at Resort Studios. I’ll be off wandering around the town and meeting locals who will be sharing their stories with me. This will in turn be developed into an interactive map where I will create various narratives of plot points on a map of Cliftonville. Areas of interest will include: Shell Grotto, Lovely’s Gallery, Walpole Bay Hotel, Oval Gardens, Winter Gardens, and many more. Do you have a story to share? If so, please do get in touch, as I’d love to hear from you.