Day 77- Tuesday 2nd August- Ramsgate to Margate by bike

Today I cycled around the "Viking trail", from Ramsgate to Margate via Broadstairs, in order to visit the Turner contemporary Gallery. From what Jane had told me I was expecting somewhere as dismal as Grimsby. I discovered a town with a lot to offer, and one  benefiting hugely from the investment in this gallery. It was an unashamedly arty farty day.

Just outside Ramsgate, Thanet District Council was clearing the beach of sea weed. Margret had told me on the phone last night that people were complaining about the sea weed in Margate. The farmers used to collect it to put on the fields, but when the council tried to collect money for it, the farmers stopped.Now the Council has the cost of removing it.

Broadstairs is a pretty little drying harbour. I saw it first at low tide early in the morning. I saw it on the way back at high tide, when it had quite a different character,

A bit further along the the North Foreland light house claims to be the last one to have been automated, though I thought I'd come across other places that made that claim.

Just before Margate at North Foreland, I came to the pumping station that the town uses to push its treated sewage out to the point where the the Thames currents meets those of the English Chanel.Its probably an ideal spot, but it changes my view of this headland I enthused about yesterday.

As the tide was out I was able to see what sort of place Margate would have been to come into by boat. Apart from the exposed nature of the place, I am not so sure it is a good idea to anchor in such a busy resort. In Broadstairs, when the tide was in, the kids were playing around with the few boats that were there. It would mean you could never leave it.

My first visit in the town was to the shell Groto. It had an unpromising exterior and had the sort of tacky shop inside that you might expect. However, the shell clad caves inside were worth a visit. There was a lot of conjecture about how old the place was and English Heritage seemed to have undertaken serious research to find out.Whether it is just a Victorian hoax or something older it's a quirky and interesting place to visit. I prefer the appearance of the entrance in the 1870s though.

My art tour started with the "Scream and Rocks" gallery. The owner plays loud rock music and displays a variety of stuff, much of which seems to be his work.

Sometimes its difficult to know what is supposed to be art and what is not. I had to conclude this was just his dog on a lead on the sofa,rather than a thought provoking installation.

Next was the "Outside the Square Gallery". It had some very expensive stuff inside, suggesting someone has some serious money in Margate. However, the piece that "spoke to me" was the nude with an Apple laptop. Nothing could date a picture more than an iconic item like this. How long will it be before people will look at this and wonder what she has in her hands?

In the Old Pie Factory there was an exhibition of saucy postcards.I hadn't appreciated that in the 50s there had been a lot of prosecutions to rid the holiday resorts of these things.The reason why so many escaped censorship was because of there being another more innocent way to take the meaning of the card. Others, though, seemed to have no more innocent way to take it.The one seemingly without 2 meanings in this bunch is the one where there was most prosecutions.

I met Charlie and Margret at lunchtime at the the new David Chipperfied designed Turner contemporary gallery.Both had been several times. Margret's conclusion was that there needed to be a bigger turnover of works to keep people coming back. Also there needed to be more art.She had written to them saying as much a couple of weeks ago, but had not received a repy.

The big round window and the mirrors was her favourite thing.This was an installation by Daniel Buren called "borrowing and Multiplying the Landscape". Yep, that's me in the bottom right hnd corner.

Also the one with the three hanging spheres based on landscape themes was liked the two of us.

Charlie, who prefers water colours, liked the back lit scenes of Margate though.

Overall, we agreed that whilst, in Charlie's words, it may look like a chicken shed, the impact it had made on the town in such a short time was amazing. The old centre of the town has seen many new businesses start up and there were good cafes and galleries. I know Jane may take some convincing, but I suggest she visits Grimsby!