The Ramsgate Society : Our Role

Our Role

Vice-President: Mr. J.R. Adsett.
Chairman: Mr. J.I.A. McCarthy.
Vice-Chairman: Mrs. M.M. Knight.
Hon. Secretary: .
Hon. Treasurer: Miss. J.M. Smith.

Executive Committee:
Mr. G.Longden - Planning & Environment
Mr. R. Gibb - Buildings at Risk.

The aims and objects of the Society are: "To encourage high standards of architecture and town planning; to stimulate public interest in, and to care for, the beauty, history and character of the Town and its surroundings; to encourage the preservation and improvement of features of public amenity or historic interest in Ramsgate."

Some of you may remember a local magazine called the East Kent Critic. It was the brain child of Derrick Molock, a prominent and widely respected local councillor and immediate past Chairman of Kent County Council. An article in the July 1964 edition contained the following invitation:

Next time you bump into a Councillor, whisper in his ear 'East Cliff Lodge'. If he has any sort of conscience, he'll blush to the roots. But don't expect him to - they are, on the whole, a thick skinned bunch.

The East Cliff Lodge story is very simple. The Council bought it, neglected it, pulled it down. They did the same thing to Nethercourt. Give them a free hand and the Ramsgate of the past will disappear.

But it is our intention to see that they are not given a free hand. We are forming a preservation society that will fight tooth and nail to see that Ramsgate retains the best of its old buildings. We are going to appeal that Queen's Court should be preserved, and we will take it to the Minister of Housing if we have to. (Queen's Court is still believed to be the oldest house in Ramsgate and, at that time, was threatened with demolition).

Effingham Street will not disappear either if we have our way. The preservation society, to be known as The Ramsgate Society, will be the conscience of the town.

These are its aims:

to see that buildings of historical interest or architectural merit are preserved

to see that new developments are in keeping with existing buildings

to see that the citizens of Ramsgate are better informed about their town

and to make the merits of Ramsgate known throughout the country.

The aims of The Ramsgate Society today are very similar to those laid down by Derrick Molock and other founder Members of The Society in 1964.

Thanks to our Founder Members, we have a very clear idea about what we should be doing. We seek to fulfill our aims in three ways.

Firstly, we believe that we should know in some detail what each section of the community thinks about heritage today.

Secondly, we should have a vigorous programme of work and campaign activity designed to achieve our aims and to address the views of the community.

Thirdly, we should be continually learning from our experiences of working with the community and putting this into effect through imaginative future development schemes for local heritage. We take the word heritage to include buildings, natural resources and all matters of historical interest.

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