Margate - A Town on its Knees?

[mazzolaro1]

we moved to margate in 85, used to have a cafe up cliff'lle , since then it's been all down hill, sad to say we had enough and moved on , i hope they give it a decent burial r.i.p.

[anjahofmann1]

hello. i was just wondering what happened to margate. im interested in this places history?

[bonobo2go]

My son lives there and I have just come back from visiting.....what a great shame that Margate has been left to rot. There's a new art gallery but who is it for? This once beautiful place needs a revival. So sad to see this once great lady on the floor. :-(

[Stefjeff]

Margate is a complete and utter shit hole and a dumping ground for asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.

[MyWorldIsPurple]

@Stefjeff The asylum seekers and immigrants we have are the only decent people we've got here!

[davelikesnachos]

dreamlands coming back and i find it hard to believe why shops r closing its packed

[barrowboy6]

Really nice Vid. I too have many great memories of the town. Unfortunately Westwood has killed the town.

[BluHorizonProduction]

Margate has been literally left to rot. Such a shame.

[monkeybobbin]

I grew up in margate, the 70's 80's were fantastic loads going on, but now.... an absolute utter shithole. Iwork in margate and it's so sad to think what it was like, and what it has become.

[redpat11]

I'm frm Bolton and i lived here 4 a year and 2 me Margate is good with me it maybe old but it aint dirty so FUCK U

[MoorLetoh]

@Popsicleculture-and all who sail in her.

[333leecey]

i moved to margate about 2 years ago from manchester. i think its a top place ith nice people, but i dont think the council invest any money any where. they seems to be alot of people makin money in the area aswell as alot of wealthy ppl in the area but nil investment. if i had to live here for a long time i would be askin my mp's alot of questions and i would be starting up commitee's to account for where money is being spent.

[MoorLetoh]

@Popsicleculture -Well from what I heard from what she said on the TV,...she said she known as the town slag.

[MoorLetoh]

Poor old Margate,someone must love you?

Don't the Eastenders lot film there every four or five years or so?

[MrPlanetthanet]

This cannot be blamed totaly on the council although TDC is probably one of the worst i have come across. Margate has hit rock bottom but is now on the rise again. The restoration of Dreamland is starting from feb 2010 with a number of sea front buildings having been or being restored in 2010/11. The change is becoming noticeable.

[theblitzer123]

OMG, i lived in margate from 1984-1999 when i moved to sheffield it was falling apart, it has fallen apart, theres just nowt there, i feel sorry for the kids and families in the summer. KENT COUNTY COUNCIL DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS FOR GOD SAKE.

[lost4life2010]

yeah they make it like that i knew a lass from there who used a guy to get pregnant so she can get benefits its the highest place in uk for welfare why make a video showing it and say complain you clearly wont help yourself s why should the rest of uk help you ?

[fannybaba]

is this where that Tracy Emlin came from?

[ChickenDippazZ]

Margate isnt what it used to be.. Im 16 and have grown up here and the history of this town is amazing with one of the best episodes of only fools and horses being made here.. what needs to be done is all the chavs to be kicked out, the harbour cleaned up and dreamland and dreamland cinema to be built back up.. then the town can make more and more history and make it great again.. I hope so anyway :/

[aadder444]

What a shame to see Margate like this. A real shame.

[BratzVideo1201]

sweet magic closed!!!!!

i went there in holiday and it was really good

now everything is closed including dreamland

it does look like a dirty old town

[geoff4101]

What sort of a country allows a gem like Margate just degenerate into the tip that it now is? If I had the power I would ressurect every Kent politician from the past 50 years and not allow them to rest in peace until they put back into the condition was before it fell into their care. I could cry over Margate and I don't even live there.

[mexicodriver]

thanet council are bloody f*ckers. probably the greatest seaside resort in the UK left in tatters to rot.

[99fruitbat]

Wish I was a billionaire....I wish .......would love to regenerate this lovely resort....truly very upsetting to visit after so long and find so much degeneration....I only visited on holiday from Scotland,but so sad to see how Margate has changed.Poor Margate...u do not deserve this.

[99fruitbat]

Last visited in 1978,just been back.How sad.Poor Margate.Been abroad all these years....So sorry to see how this town has changed.

[screammac]

all the sea side towns have fallen in to disrepair all this has been achived way laber has been in power voting consertive will see places like this across the contry reawaken under laber peopil are tax beyound there means so they have no money to spend on littel jolly cut taxs will see peopil have money and come bk just day triper and weekend but if laber get bk in this whant happen

[GismoGirl79]

I did not see margate when it was in it prime which is ashame because it looked so much fun in Jolly Boys outing lol. It's ashame that council won't invest to make this a better place, as it was, and deserves to be again.

[stumpysteven73]

I was in Margate today as hadn't been there since 2004 and i was gutted to see how much town has been run down!

[EssexBoy696969]

Prior to this fire, what exactly happened to Dreamland?

As someone from East London (now in Essex) I used to drive down to Margate almost every other Sunday (from 1981) with mates - then it became a fortnightly excursion once I got hitched and had a Son.

A few years ago we drove down to Matgate - the first sign things were bad was when the previously busy NCP car park looked like a bombsite. There were half a dozen rides owned by Gippos that I wouldn't have pissed on.

What the F*** happened?

[nicodurancomes]

It`s happened before. The british currency is the most expensive currency in the world , it cannot create jobs, it only creates speculators.

It`s like europeans have a Ferrari ( the Euro, Sterling Pound ) but they

dont have any job and live with their parents. Its a policy , make others believe you are rich , but its fake. Its sad.

[sammipink]

I REMEMBER MARGATE IN ALL ITS SPLENDOUR, SO SAD HOW RUN DOWN IT IS NOW. iN THE 1950-1960S IT WAS GREAT LOVED DREAMLAND WENT THERE FOR MANY A WEEKEND LIVED IN CROYDON THEN, ALSO NOW BECOMING RUN DOWN

[EssexBoy696969]

@sammipink

Sammi it wasn't too bad even going back to the mid 90's - it was a fortnightly day out from East London from 1981 with friends - then, after getting hitched, with Wife my Son during the 90's - we adored the character of the place.

Visiting a few years ago, we were devastated.

The place is now nothing more than a ghost town and I really feel for the people living there.

Well done Thanet Council - the closure of Dreamland and subsequent lack of investment was a master stroke!

[luciejs]

I used to live there about 7 years ago and it was becoming run down then. My mum used to go there on holiday when she was a kid and it was the best place to go on holiday in the uk, but these days its filthy. If the council could find the money, like they said they were doing about 9 years ago then they could make it nice, the way it used to look like. They could bring back the fair ground cuz that has got history behind it and i used to love it

[alphabetaxenonzzzcat]

Margate is terrible nowadays. The arcades are so run down. Dreamland is gone. I don't know how much business the beach does nowadays. Ironically 10 - 15 years it was still doing good business.

[Airbus294]

Well, like everything in Britain, Margate has been lost to social deprivation. No wonder so many Brits emmigrate, and the immigrants are asylum seekers. Great.

[dragonbuster619]

Is this Margate Forida?

[dippydipper]

No, Margate, Kent, England.

[GINGERNINJA2823]

guys!!!! my god chill!!! im visiting margate october31 st for the first time :>

[drichatl]

There used to be a round building near the station that housed the Margate Publicity Dept. I worked there for a little under 2 years in 67 and 68. It was a bustling place and we'd send out thousands of the holiday guide book all over the country. You either came for a week or a fortnight then and the hotels and b&b's were full booked most of July and August. We staffed that building 7 days a week in the summer giving information and finding accomodation for visitors. Good days for the town then.

[CarpMagic95]

So then came the yobs who just sit in the theme park causing trouble, then came J Godden who is a theif and fucked the whole place up and yep now margate thanks to him and Koso`s is a shit hole. No moneys being put into it and the magic is gone for ever. So yeah youngsters it is a shit hole and yeah your best to get out whilst you can but it wasnt always.

[CarpMagic95]

All these youngsters lol margate has always been a shit hole etc, You dont know what the hell you are talking about, Margate used to be actually a nice place! People from all over came to visit. It was nice and a place to be. The theme park was great cos you paid 10.00 to get in and that was it, great rides for the time etc, then it got taken over and turned into any yob can walk in for free and pay for rides, thats when margate turned into a shit hole.

[ThatWikiGuy]

we all know its sh*t, so at lease vote somebody decent in live us, or the BNP.

[pottsking]

It's been a shit hole since the early 80's. I just thank God that I managed to get out in 1989. The only reason I ever go back is to visit my family, who for reasons best known to themselves still live in the dump. It doesn't help that the town is populated by the brain dead who continue to vote the tories in.

[CarpMagic95]

If you got out whilst you could then you are actually from Margate? So will always be from Margate and therefore always one of the Brain dead, Moving doesn't change that and your comments quite honestly prove it, also You say Margate was a shit hole since early 80's? You have no idea what you are talking about as up until around 1990 it was a very nice place. Yep now its a shit hole. Oh by the way change your profile page as its a very hard to read and to be honest looks stupid the way it is.

[pottsking]

I'm originally from Aldershot and moved with my family aged 7 to Margate in the late 60's where we lived in Arlington House for 2 years before moving to Cliftonville. I loved living there, what kid wouldn't want to live at the seaside. I accept that Margate might have been a nice place for you to live in, in the 80's and if your 30 now, you would only have been a child anyway. I however stick by what I said.

[CarpMagic95]

Oh yes and before i forget claiming that all people in Margate vote tories in and all are brain dead is actually a brain dead comment of your own simply because you are talking about 1000s and 1000s of people. I for one do not vote the tories in and im sure im not alone. At the end of the day where do you live? as im pretty sure i can dig up dirt on your location to and it to has shit hole features, the picture as a whole is the Uk is becoming one large SHIT HOLE. Simple as that. Bye

[pottsking]

Margate has been in decline since the 80's and even in the boom years of the Thatcher and Major governments always had some of the highest unemployment figures in the South East and lowest rates of pay(this was before the minimum wage) and highest rate of teenage pregnancies in the UK. It's true you didn't have the amount of boarded up shops that you see now but the quality of life for most people in Margate has been poor for the last twenty five years or more.

[pottsking]

I have to correct you on a few points, I did not claim that all people in Margate vote Tory and are brain dead. I was referring to the large number of brain dead ones,who have voted Tory and kept Roger Gale in since 1983 and who in 2007 not only kept Thanet Council in the hands of the Tories but gave them an increased majority. Anyway mate, I'll let you get back to your fishing now because I have to change my profile page, as it's very hard to read and to be honest looks stupid the way it is.LOL

[kingtwilliam]

Lol I was there watching dream land burn down i live near it and was like wtf when i saw it burn

[CaroLionn6OH9]

margate, nj ?? thats where i live lol

[twinturbo199]

TDC watch this vid, its really sad but brutely honest, i live in margate i know what it was , what it could be ....bah stuff all that lets build a completly unwanted arty farty center

[speedybb]

Just come back from here for a day out.......it lasted 30 minutes....what a dump.....dont go....It was great when i was a kid......shame

[CpBaaProductions]

dey r planning to rebuild dreamland as the world's 1st heritage theme park

[MrBusterbloodvessel]

you bet, ya ass its on talking officially by someone whos lived here all there all there life. washed up by people stuck in a constant bubble, adding on there greed from the right to buy and penny pinching, sad, safe and sound life styles. for god sakes the tories are running thanet stop voting them, there screwing it up.

[PrintingMatters]

i think the word is:....................Sad

[2puttking]

see why i moved to new zeasland

[rayyyyyy1]

The local councils Kent and Thanet should be ashamed of themselves.But they don't give a damn about the type of people who live in Margate.

[HugoRune1976]

TMS = TEAM OF MASSIVE SHIT HEADS

Wanna be thug lite twats

[pink2bubble]

well its ashame to say that its a year later and those shops are still empty, with birthdays, peter newmans, waverly, yates, and more soon going!!

[nurfnurder]

The Waverly?!!!

[SammyboyMusic]

this video is so depressing and sad

[jakewoodgate100]

dont bother saving margate, its a shitter

[kentmistress]

Margate needs to be turned into a cultural place, Sexual, Circus like and loads of Caberet.... Someone needs to invest alot of money! Take a Risk and save it.... i.e put the Pier back in!

[magpiemover]

Its very sad to see the state Margate is in. I visited regularly in the late 70s and went to Drapers Mill school in the early 80's before moving back to Newcastle... i visited in 2000 and was shocked at the change...rundown and neglected....council should be ashamed!!

[ollie673]

margate may have history on its side.

but it dosn't have fire on its side

[katieluvzyhuu]

shame margate used to be where every one went when they went on a day out. who wants to go there now

what i dont get is the fact that there building that shitty turner centre. hows that gunna make margate any better i mean who is gunna go there :S

[DuaneMoore]

It is so fucking sad to see this. I spent the first five years of my life in Margate and the next twenty five visiting regularly. I haven't been down there for ten years now but have friends there who said everything has changed.

Thanet Council never used to take the Christmas decorations down in Minnis Bay so it was a bit weird seeing them there when I went down for a summer holiday once.

Such a shame, it really is.

[fuckingsniffglue]

margate when i was little use to be fucking brilliant, but now thanet council have spent all this money on fucking westwood cunting cross when they could have spent it on renovating margate.

fucking disgusting, all there fucking worried about is trying to unite margate ramsgate and broady by wanting to build that fucking westwood town.

thank fuck they didnt get away with it.

[redpat11]

Thanet Council shame on you this is a disgrace.

[romax01]

Lived here all my life....How sad to look at this vid....as i sit here remembering how it was....

[casba1981]

i used to go to margate regularly as a kid in the 70s and it was fantastic. me and my brother returned there in 1995 and were dismayed at how the town had declined. everywhere seemed to be crumbling, the only place that felt safe enough to go for a drink seemed to be a boozer next to the police station going up towards cliftonville. the place needs some serious money spent on regeneration.

[BIOCIDEXYZ]

Yeah , the pub you mentioned is The Brittania.

I'm from from the West Midlands and have lived here in Thanet nearly 10 years !

Crying shame to see what's happened over these years........:-(

[threedoubles]

the brittania

[SchickeriaUM]

sorry for double-posting

[SchickeriaUM]

hi i´m from germany and i´m going to be an exchange student in margate next year^^

[DanReborn]

A German exchange student, going to Margate?

Be sure to pack a tazer gun or Pepper spray.

[WattsDaBest]

why?

[rockoverlord]

clearly you've never been to margate

[HugoRune1976]

Don't, but if you must if ANYONE under the age of 30 asks you for a light or a cigarette PUNCH THEM, you are about to be robbed.

[SchickeriaUM]

hi i´m from germany!

i´m going to be an exchange student in margate next year^^

[CnCKing]

I left Margate in 2002, and went back late last year. I have to say I was extremely appalled by how run down it's gotten in these last 6 years.

In the time I have been away, I have visited many other coastal towns (now I live Inland in Wiltshire) and it always occurs to me how Margate still stands out as the worst in the country. Not only for it's seaside location, but the shopping.

Having lived in Margate for 18 years of my life, I fail to see why the council can continue to let the town rot!

[Jeremycj]

The wrong people, besides they have no money

[airmaxer]

Why do people keep saying Connor Silvers name?

He is my mate at school, in my yeah. Excluded now though.

Anyway, Margate is good. I don't understand why you have dirty old town as the music?

We may have some YOBS and JUNKIES but doesn't mean the place is bad...

Look at all the places in london and up north...

Shit holes FULL of YOBS and JUNKIES.

Same goes for knife and gun crime.

[Jeremycj]

....and now the donkeys are going. Things going from bad to worse

[SlipknotBootlegs]

lolz 0:49 i walked past that bit and thought of this video lol

[Kimmybabez]

talk about over exaggeration!

haha

[rayyyyyy1]

Sad. The Local council and government need to get a plan together. Margte was once a popular place for holidays and day trips. It is now about as welcoming as Baghdad.

[iloveplanetrock]

The council cant plan. They are a bunch of fucking idiots. It is because of the council that Margate has these problems.

[sdangerforth]

As a Margatonian i agree and disagree, yes shops you have closed but some have reopend as different shops and then closed again.whats wrong with margate is the Council.

Towns fair better (not much) up the coast. But as a person who was born and lived here all my life i find it hard to take a dig at the town ( ok hopefully not your intention )

your right about the art stuff and pizza hut is no more and the cross is mightier. but i can watch the sun rise and sun set from the same place

[keeley210207]

what the hell are you on about bake67s if u really lived here you would see what a shit hole margate has become only 2 shops closed lol try re lookin, the only thing margate has is unemployed bums and drunks and just for the record who the hell is connor silver? we ment to of heard of him or something lol

[bake67s]

sad ac you cant even say that in a reply to me and yer im lieing bout live in fucking margate coz im that sad.... and if you havn heard of him you must be proper old explans why you can see any open shops

[keeley210207]

lol look seriously if u wanna continue this you really need to learn to spell cause your making no sense what so ever! no i aint heard of him nor has anyone else in margate cause he is prob just one of the druggies and drunks no one gives a shit about bit like you really. try walkin thro margate and looking at the so called open shops before you reply again yeah!!!!

[bake67s]

this is all ballshit i live here and they took pic when there shup but the shops open like the next week

[dippydipper]

Ok... you have trouble speaking.... I think you are trying to say the shops have reopened? You clearly don't live here(margate). You would know that only one of the shops in the video is not empty still. In fact you can add Shoe Express and Pizza Hut to this.......maybe I will. I see a sequel coming.

[bake67s]

well really i do why wood i lie bout liveing here, and yer i cant spell loads of people cant so shut up and trust theres like only 2 shops closed in the high street

[dippydipper]

Can't count either... never mind, loads of people can't do that either. Loads of people are unemployable wasters. I'm sure you won't become one.

[BluHorizonProduction]

@bake67s How many are closed now? ;-)

[ChewSpot]

@dippydipper margate aint that bad i live here as well you makin it sound like its a right dump

[RJMacCready]

To quote Ripley from Aliens:

"I say we nuke the place from space. It's the only way to be sure"

[Cimmerian2008]

Went to Margate last in 2003 and it was dead then, didn't think it could get any worse but after seing this! Was amazing as a kid, what a shame! Oh and the people of Margate are generally scumbags, you know a town is shit when you encounter a grade A weirdo before leaving the station and then witness some girls probably 7 or 8 y/o spraying an old man with a can of fart gas! As for Dreamland, seriously about 4 rides were open and seroiusly pikey!!! Won't mention scenes from the pizza hut buffet!

[eastcliffrichard]

I think you've captured the spirit of the place splendidly. A potentially magnificent spot, completely ruined by years of council ineptitude and incompetence. Talk about lack of vision!

[UKNightClubber]

just like Clacton on Sea... and Felixstowe... look at them...

[lovelymo69]

My God... I can't believe it>>> Margate became like that!!! No way.... last time I have been there was about 5 years ago. My first visit to Margate was in 1984 it was really great. I used to live in Birchington with friends whenever I visit UK. It really makes me sad. Just wondering if Mac still there.

[gremlinfeatures]

I hate living in Thanet, but by no means is it as bleak as you've tried to make it look.

You KEEP showing the ONE tower block in Margate town center. If it bothers you that much then be thankful there aren't more like it most places. Thanet's not a bad place, it's just a shithole and not to be taken seriously.

[goggles219]

who cares i live their i love it no annoying coppers to cut u when doing parkour

[dippydipper]

You will care when you get older. Same as you'll care how to spell and speak properly.

[BIOCIDEXYZ]

The decline of Margate is very sad.I'm originally from the Midlands and have lived in Margate for nearly nine years.Very good video , and I will get on to Thanet council.

Well done you :-)

[redpat11]

its not just the place thats a bloody disgrace but also the people who live there ,Margate has become a shit hole,and to think what it use to be like SHAMEFUL.

[grinninggooner]

don't knok the ppl who live there i am 1 of them.

the council are more interested in buildng a art gallery than doing he area up

[s0352mount]

So that's it then. Are the council just going to let Margate degenerate from being a bustling seaside resort into a ghost town? Without even a fight to keep it going? I feel so sad. I spent my chuldhood holidays there and I remember how it used to be.

Well at least they haven't taken the statue down yet.

[louthesz]

Thanet District Council have destroyed the town through pure laziness and lack of common sense. They should take notice of this video and The Save Dreamland Campaign but they don't - they are a deceprid bunch of greying, weak, disconsolate scumbags who need replacing asap with people who give a damn.

[EVC1]

The mysterious fire happened on Monday.

See Save Dreamland Campaign website

[bigell2007]

I want to know where do i join??

[begent1973]

Of my course bigell all Kentish men and Ladies welcome in the struggle to have the Kingdom of Kent formally recognised! The Cornish are also rejecting this false system of so called democracy and proudly display the flag of St Piran, our flag should also replace the no longer recognised union flag! Web site going live in July, the KENTISH NATIONALIST MOVEMENT COUNCIL will make an official annoucement on here and other prominent Kent related sites! Look up Kent on the web and see who we are!

[dippydipper]

Would the flag be 'piss-yellow' with Bull Terrier on it?

[begent1973]

Utter idiots! Fear not the KENTISH NATIONALIST MOVEMENT will be coming very soon! Thanet council first on the list!

[bigell2007]

I want to know where i join your movement as long as its more than just a bawl movement??

[bigell2007]

I want to know where i join your movement as long as its more than just a bawl movement??

[bigell2007]

I want to know where i join your movement as long as its more than just a bawl movement??

[wobblefunk]

well, you all have it wrong. sure margate has dipped a bit, but you fail to see things with your eyes. i was born and live in margate. the highstreet is packed on saturdays and quite busy on sundays. the shops on the highstreet are always doing business. working it maragte too, i am helping the town, as we are trying to get it on the map via our gigs. I'm one of those kids you think are scum, climbing and being vile, but i freerun, stay healthy and love margate. its really no that bad.

[dippydipper]

I have read the comments again but still can't see where it calls kids in Margate 'scum'. If you don't do anyone or anything any harm by free running then keep on running and enjoy it. If you do damage to property or hurt people then that would make you scum. BTW I heard that Yates is closing down. Another one bites the dust.

[theefishlippedone]

i hope Yates and Weatherspoons close and Escape too-they are all toilet!And have done sweet f.a. for margate.

[justchilling78]

margate is and always has been the under dog, you have broadstairs and ramsgate all having new shops, bars, decorations etc. and what has margate had put into it lately ? i tell you what a new batch of forigners which have just raped margate up the behind and now it is a dirty trampy place to live or visit. THIS COMMENT MAY BE HARSH BUT YOU KNOW ITS THE TRUTH

[hunterkillertank]

Time to move on..... and upwards.

[nok32uk]

I left Margate in 2002, having been at a nearby schools for about 10 years. Sad times. Looks like the spirit of Margate left with us. I've been back a few times and it's certainly in a sorry state since the X opened.

[inspiration2006]

oh and the flats aren't that ugly, well they cud use a paint job or sumthin, maybe sumthin to do with the turner contempory, but how can u say sumthin that is home to hundreds of people is ugly, wen its not bloking anything thats beautiful in the first place,to me, i used to see it on the skyline and no im home

[inspiration2006]

Hey man, i no most ppl will disagree with me, but i don't think margate is as bad as u portray it.

You seem to film all the nasty bits, and none of the good bits. Ok it's gone down since the millenium!! i can admit that. But, cardfair, round the corner is clinton cards and birthdays, gamesworld is gone, well there's gamestation round the corner aswell, carphone warehouse, wots round the corner?? the only problem is we have nothing to fill in the gaps and thats wot needs to be sorted!

[dippydipper]

not trying to put Margate down. There are some( a few) good bits but it is declining before our eyes and something needs to be done to stop it or else the likes of Gamesstation and others will go to and it will be too late. I deliberately didn't want to slag the place even because it is not MY hometown. It is home to thousands who love it but probably feel just as sad at its decline

[DanReborn]

complaine to the council? pfft. They's rather see it swept into the sea by a violent storm.

[mikeeb1984]

Its a seaside town that just got left behind.

To somebody who grew up loving Dreamland and seeing its decline - which has occurred under Jimmy Godden's control. I am really surprised that the Scenic Railway hasn't had a mysterious fire yet.

Not saying that i think he is responsible for all the previous fires but hey, if u search for "Jimmy Godden fire" on Google u get 6200 results.

the only restoration that was done when I was a kid was some1 putting a tank top on the statue that is 2:02

[lythe2001]

Wow great video! didnt realise how bad its gone since i left in 2004! no wonder i moved and now live in Dallas, Tx USA

[gray1oops]

Your film does Margate a great injustice......Its a lot worse than your film portrays.Will it ever attain its former glory???????

[doncorellicyf]

superb,just how margit in fanit is well done fanit council.