A day in Margate

Last Friday we took the train to Margate, to visit the exciting new Turner Contemporary art gallery that's opened on the seafront, and have a ramble around the town. It was cold and foggy in the morning - classic weather for a trip to the British coast - so we looked around the gallery first of all. The Turner Contemporary is built on the spot where JMW Turner used to live and from which he painted many of his amazing landscapes of sea and sky. The gallery seems to have had a positive effect on the town, and whilst half of it is still very run down and seedy (the tragic fate of many seaside resorts), the older part is actually rather nice, with beautiful buildings and lots of lovely cafes, vintage shops and retro signage.

We saw the 'Turner and the Elements' exhibition, which was brilliant. I've always loved Turner. We have a huge print of Rain, Steam and Speed on our wall which I've sat and gawped at since I was tiny. His use of light and colour is so uplifting. It seems to draw you right into the painting. 

We also saw an exhibition by Hamish Fulton, an artist previously unknown to me, whose art is inspired by long walks he takes all over Great Britain and Europe. Some of these walks last for months on end and each piece documents a walk in a very graphic way, using typography and simple line and shape. I really loved his work - it made me think a lot about how we represent events, and how we represent art itself. It also made me want to go on a long walk.

We emerged from the gallery into glorious warm sunshine, and after walking around the seafront we sat outside in the gallery cafe and had an incredibly tasty mug of vegetable soup with a hunk of artisan bread. Then, with an hour before we had to catch our train back to London, we decided to walk around the old town. The bright blue sky meant it was great for photographs so I'm afraid we looked very touristy. Margate has some great vintage shops - sorely tempted by a couple of Laura Ashley dresses though at £50 they were sadly out of my price range. I did make a couple of purchases however which shall be blogged about soon!

All in all, a lovely day. Margate is highly recommended if you like sea air, art galleries, independent coffee shops and vintage rummaging. I haven't been to Kent since I was small and although its coast seems really flat and neat to me (rugged Cornwall and Devon have my heart) the towns seem to be sprucing up quite nicely. Siobhan recently posted about a daytrip to Whitstable, another place which sounds good for a visit - its beach huts did look pretty from the train window.