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Everyone agrees; the South East corner of the British Isles, Margate to Bexhill-on-Sea, is a funny old place. Mysterious, beautiful, sinister, ugly, inspiring, quaint, cosy, threatening, seedy - decidedly odd. Everybody thinks so. Some say that people wash up here when they don't fit in anywhere else. We've just been back, we can't keep away for long.
On this break from the usual routine I had time to bury myself in the broadsheets - what did I read? An interview by author William Boyd (fascinated by the South East) with the (South Eastern) rock band Keane about their new album Strangeland (inspired by the South East). Click on the link to see the video. As William Boyd remarks, many writers and artists have been inspired by this place, from Chaucer to Nicola Barker, J.M.W. Turner to Tracey Emin.
HASTINGS
BROADSTAIRS
At the Dickens Festival Queen Victoria buys MORE Victoriana
DOVER
DEAL
MARGATE
The Turner Contemporary Gallery
Local people were invited to send in photos of themselves to make into this clever mosaic of the Queen. They came in their thousands to search for their own portraits. Result!
She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea - Tracey Emin's latest show...
...must try harder Trace, they're all looking out of the window.
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Hello,
ReplyDeleteI have a day off, soo am catching up with you!
Pictures are wonderful again, love the seagull!
We have a Dickensian festival here in the lake district also, around xmas time....
I can't help but notice how wintery our summer seems on your shots (dreadful)
Off to listen to the Keane link...
Maria x
Our son reported more rain in Yorkshire than Kent last week (some photos were taken in the evening too, so the light was fading.) I'm off to buy Keane's album today - and to wallow in nostalgia!
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures - did you photograph the little pair of shoes on the railings made by Tracey?
ReplyDeleteand, are you watching the little love stories from Margate each evening this week on BBC1?
I love the sea on the first photo.
Yes, I love those rolling waves - and shingle beaches. Happily our hotel overlooked this view. The little shoes are, I believe, in Folkestone which we didn't get to on this trip. I did try the first little play and found it too poignant and sad, though I recognised the bench on which David Tennant was sitting & had to smile because they managed not to include the sad, burned-out Georgian houses around the park. My son says I must persist with the plays, so I'll try again tonight.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a part of the world I know very well but your pictures capture that strange something you mention. Like the costumed characters in the Dover picture too - and the mosaic of the Queen is brilliant. Great stuff, Nilly - thanks for this glimpse that conveys such a lot.
ReplyDeleteAxx