...at my parents' house in Margate, Kent. Margate is part of the Isle of Thanet, which was a true island until the Middle Ages. This overview explains some of the history.
I have been on a campaign since Boxing Day to walk around the entire coastline of the Isle of Thanet. I have also been driving around the island. The depressing reality is that this is an economic black-spot. Until the 1970's Thanet made a lot of money off of summer tourism. However, the foreign package holiday boom blew the bottom out of that economy, and the towns in Thanet spent a long time in denial about the change ("they's ll be back!") instead of adapting. As a result, the landscape on the sea-front areas of the major towns (Margate and Ramsgate) is dominated by old, run-down hotels and guest houses, with evidence of lack of money everywhere.
There never was much in the way of industry (except for the nearby Kent coal field, which closed in the 1980's), so unemployment has always been high here, and periodic attempts at introducing new industries always seem to end in failure. Currently, Ramsgate harbour has a fully-equipped ferry terminal sitting idle; the ferry companies all quit the harbour nearly 10 years ago and moved to Dover. There is also an airport with a 10,000 foot runway (the former RAF Manston) that has been renamed Kent International Airport, but apart from some freight operations taking place using old Boeing 747s, attempts to operate passenger services from there have all failed. The area badly needs some visionary re-generation based on bringing craft industries and creative people here, but given the prevailing attitudes, that is a long shot. Returning here reminded me of most of the reasons why I left in the first place...
I have a Photo Album here containing a number of pictures taken on this trip.