Tuesday 1 March 2016

West of the harbour

This is the current view of Ramsgate harbour but it hasn't always looked like this, in fact the extension to the Military road to the Westcliff lift was only completed to accommodate the building of the port.
Westcliff Hall is visible bottom right and next to it is Paragon Baths now completely gone.


Military Road was built for the embarkation of troops during the Napoleonic wars (1792 1802) when Ramsgate was a troop depot and access to the west pier arm was only available via Jacob's ladder.
this is a modern version which is much safer than the original wooden structure
The original view along Military Road is seen here from both East and West

In 1893 construction of what is known as "New Road or "Royal Parade" was started to reduce the strain on the roads into Ramsgate from the West which was expanding between Grange Road and Nethercourt. Now the current view we have of the brick arches is becoming apparent. The arches were constructed of red engineering bricks to last and at the same times Pulhamite was incorporated as the town fathers wanted a unique look.


There was one mishap in 1926 but soon corrected.
Some general pictures of the view from the Paragon and Nelson Crescent







One building at the bottom of Jacobs ladder that is is danger of demolition is the former icehouse serving the fishing fleet

This is part of the 1872 map showing the area of the blog before the New Road was built.

Next stop the Eastern part of the Harbour

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