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Newsletter February 2012
Dear Friends,
Well doesn't time fly? It’s now a year since the Friends of Margate Caves was formed with the aim of seeing Margate Caves open again as a tourist attraction, and our group is growing in number day by day.
2011 was a very exciting year for Margate and 2012 holds just as much promise. The 100% increase in the predicted number of visitors that the Turner Contemporary has experienced since opening in April 2011 has shown that Margate is a tourist destination that needs more all-weather tourist attractions. The current success of the Turner & the Elements exhibition also shows that Margate can be a year-round destination.
You may remember that last year we managed to secure Dr Graham Daws, who is a leading geotechnical expert, to assess the costs of the works required to remove the Health & Safety Executive’s Prohibition Notice, which closed the Caves in 2004. Based in Derbyshire, Dr Daws works with English Heritage at a number of their underground sites, including Silbury Hill and Dover Castle (both of which include chalk excavations) and advised on stabilisation works at Margate’s Shell Grotto. Since he has a passion for this type of work, he offered to visit the Margate Caves, carry out an inspection and produce a report with costings for remedial works on the basis of simply covering the costs of his team. The FOMC liaised with Thanet District Council to gain access to the Caves site and Dr Daws’ inspection took place in August.
FOMC was able to meet the cost of the inspection thanks to a £900 grant from the Kent County Council Member Community Grant scheme, having been recommended by councillors Michael Jarvis and Chris Wells.
FOMC are excited to announce that they are now in receipt of Dr Daws’ report and the findings are very positive. Treasurer Claire Blackwell reveals: ”The costings for the remedial works are not nearly as much as first thought, totaling less than £40,000. This is such encouraging news! We’re now organising a meeting between Dr Daws and officers at TDC to ensure that everyone is clear on the scope of the report, and to agree the next steps.”
The next step for us is to produce a detailed business plan and initiate a fundraising campaign. If you have experience in either of these fields, and would like to assist us, FOMC would love to hear from you.
As part of the opening weekend of the Turner & the Elements exhibition at the Turner Contemporary, poet and playwright, Lemn Sissay was commissioned to write a piece, ‘For Work, For love’ inspired by Thanet. It was projected last weekend on the facade of the Turner Contemporary. We are very pleased and inspired to read Lemn Sissay’s vision for Margate , “To the caves, the open caves”.
For Work for Love
A Flint night falls the smuggler wakes Horizon melts sky and sea
Punch sleeps where Judy wept For a dawn of fire and earth to come
She descends beneath a Thanet sky The sun the sun…
Calcareous clouds of hops and hope Cold air pushes her chalk face
Underground Water traces her toes as
A candle paints on the tunnel wall Blue pencil around a child’s fingers
An iris between the loom and luminous The trace sea
A lunar corona a dull echo of light With cold hands grabs her ankles
(Within this fist of sight she steps) She becomes an immigrant
Inwards onwards as darkness retreats She tastes salt immigrant salt
Fossils break beneath her feet The moment she steps into the sea
In gulping eyes a gull’s glare “One Day I Will Leave Here” she screams
Deeper into underworld At the tide and the Margate Moon
Beneath the workhouse, beneath royal sea baths “And I will make something of myself”
Beneath Arlington house Her breath becomes the waves
Beneath the clock tower a penny shudders “we’re all immigrants” said a woman old enough to know
On its pendulum then beneath Turner As she foxtrots’ alone in the community centre
To the caves, the open caves “This was an Isle after all. We all crossed the waters for
Work or for love and some if lucky
Return with the same”
In the meantime, if you would like to make a donation these can be given by PayPal via the website www.margatecaves.co.uk or alternatively cheques can be sent to Margate Caves, c/o The Shell Grotto, Grotto Hill, Margate, Kent CT9 2BU. Please make cheques payable to The Friends of Margate Caves.
Once again, thank you very much for your support. We are always looking to increase our numbers so if you are aware of others who would wish to join the Friends of Margate Caves please ask them to email info [at] margatecaves [dot] co [dot] uk to receive updates. Until the next newsletter...
Kind regards,
Peter Davis, Liaison Officer
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