Seaside rollercoaster restored

BRITAIN’S oldest wooden rollercoaster – built in 1920 and now Grade II listed – has been restored and is back in action on the seafront in #Margate, Kent. 

The scenic railway fell into disrepair when the town’s Dreamland amusement park closed in 2006, and was destroyed in an arson attack in 2008. But leading restoration experts have spent more than a year re-building the roller coaster, retaining its original character while ensuring it meets 21st century standards.

Its restoration marks the completion of the new amusement park at #Dreamland, a £28 million development project with more than 17 restored rides and amusements recalling the golden age of the British seaside.

Eddie Kemsley, CEO of Dreamland, says: ‘The opening of the UK’s oldest wooden rollercoaster is another fantastic reason for people to come to Margate and to visit Dreamland. This historic milestone comes after the enormous success of the opening of the park, which contributed to a 55% increase in hotel stays in Margate, year on year.’ 

The rollercoaster – operated by a full-time brakeman – comprises more than 320 tons of timber, 100,000 screws, and a mile-long track.

www.dreamland.co.uk

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Picture Credit: The Parade, Margate by Poliphilo - Own work. Licensed under CC0 via Wikimedia Commons 

Kent top spot for family holidays

KENT is Europe's top spot for a family holiday, according to the compilers of Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2015, with County Kerry in Ireland in second place. Two other UK destinations – the island of Skomer off the Pembrokeshire coast and nearby Marloes Sands – were combined by the compilers and took ninth place in the top ten list.

Singled out in #Kent was Broadstairs, the White Cliffs of Dover, and #Margate which has become 'gentrified without losing its personality'.

Lonely Planet also drew up a list of the ten best beaches in Europe, with two UK beaches in it. In sixth place was Bantham Beach near Kingsbridge in Devon, and in seventh place was Sandwood Bay, in Sutherland, Scotland.

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Picture Credit: Leeds Castle -Kent -England by Martin Pettitt - originally posted to Flickr as Leeds Castel Kent 3 July 2007-102. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons 

The pleasures of Margate

AN addition to the delights of Margate, Kent, this year will be the Dreamland Pleasure Park which, say its promoters, ‘will re-invent the classic seaside experience’.

A 16-acre, vintage-themed leisure complex, it will have all-weather attractions, including a re-built Grade II-listed scenic railway, the UK's oldest roller coaster, plus a collection of fairground rides from 1910 to the present day.

The opening date has yet to be announced. Get more info - www.dreamland.co.uk

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Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou?

THE answer could be that he’s on the beach............ 

Kent’s Changeling Theatre stages Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet on Margate Main Sands on July 19. Reserve your deckchair – for £5 – now.

changeling-theatre.com


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What’s on … in Kent

Mondrian and Colour - Turner Contemporary, Margate (to September 21) – Turner Contemporary offers an exclusive UK viewing of the first exhibition to consider the significance of colour during Piet Mondrian's early career. 

"Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow" Mondrian - 1930

Mondrian and Colour traces the painter's use of colour from figuration to early abstraction. Bringing together some 50 paintings by the artist from collections in Europe. See - www.turnercontemporary.org

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