Introduction from our Chairperson, Jocelyn Augustus McCarthy

I am delighted to be introducing the Ramsgate Society's new website to our Members home and abroad, and to non-members in Ramsgate, Thanet and beyond.

Have you ever lived in or visited our town Ramsgate on the Isle of Thanet in East Kent, England? Do you live in Ramsgate, Australia or Ramsgate, South Africa and would like to make contact with your 'twin' town in England?

The Ramsgate Society, based in Regency/Victorian Ramsgate, Kent is both a civic society and historical group which aims to take care of our town and to help make it a better place in which to live, work and enjoy leisure. We publish a quarterly magazine called About Ramsgate, which is full of interesting articles, and illustrations of our town - past and present.

We organise regular Costumed Walks during the summer when our many famous residents and visitors 'come to life'. These include Princess Victoria, King George IV, A.W.N. Pugin, Vincent van Gogh, and Elizabeth Fry.

We hold monthly meetings where Members can get together to listen to a speaker, catch up on the Society's latest activities and enjoy light refreshments. Our membership Secretary has books on sale depicting the history of our town, along with a few items of merchandise which we hope will help to boost our Society's funds.

Our Royal Harbour, the only one in the British Isles, granted to our town by King George 1V our town has a long line of History, Ramsgate has taken part in both wars, the vacation of Dunkirk all the little ships left from the Royal Harbour.

There are Regency and Georgian squares set around their own gardens, elegant terraces and handsome red-brick Victorian villas. And we have the finest award-winning sandy beaches in southern England.

The town has many places of interest, and special events are held throughout the year on land and on sea. Our website hopes to carry details of all of these, so if you are organising a Visit to the Isle of Thanet, stay a few days and enjoy some of our hospitality.

Many local people now belong to the Ramsgate Society and would welcome you and could arrange a guided tour with one of the greeters of Thanet.

You will always be sure of a warm and friendly welcome in Ramsgate from members of the Ramsgate Society and other voluntary groups. You will also feel very much at ease with all those enjoying our shops, pubs, eating places and hotels. In a recent survey, 'friendly' was considered by both residents and visitors as a very appropriate word to describe Ramsgate today.

Why not contact us at The Ramsgate Society if you would like further information about the town or the work we do. Or better still why not become a member of The Ramsgate Society? You can join online, at a meeting or by post. See 'Contact us'.

Chairperson

Jocelyn Augustus McCarthy