A HOME TOWN - AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS

AS I WALK ALONG THE STREETS OF MY HOME TOWN sometimes I remember the almost forgotten days of childhood, when there were all sorts of places to play - some where we should be playing and some where we were not supposed to be.  
Places that have changed so much over the years it is hard to remember what was there before and others that seem to have remained the same for ever.

THIS IS MY PERSONAL RECOLLECTION OF RAMSGATE not the town where I was born but where I have spent most of my life.

 Ellington Park:- so much of my childhood seems to have been spent here. Playing on the rockery, collecting conkers (Chatham House School was better), and playing on and around the bandstand.

http://oldramsgate.blogspot.co.uk/2006/05/ellington-park.html 

What used to be one of the many sweet shops we used to go to - this one was very small inside.  It is just outside the park.

This was a fairly large wood yard on the corner of Southeastern Road. It doesn't seem that long ago it was still being used.  They seem to have managed to get a lot of accommodation on the site.

The shops that are now concentrated at the bottom of the High Street, Harbour Street and part of King Street and Queen Street once used to extend out in all directions.  
This used to be COLES a store similar to Wilkinsons but it was not part of a chain.  A little further down there used to be Skitt's the Chemist.  Further back towards the park was a Co-op and one of the many toy shops.  I think it was KINGS and I got my Britain's animals from there.

This row of three houses used to be among my favourite shops.  This is where Lovely's Art supply shop and the Albion Book shop used to stand on the corner of Chapel place.  The book shop wasn't big but it was the best place ever!

 This was Fine Fare where my brother worked after he left school.  But more importantly the cafe above the supermarket was where my friend and used to go after trying on all the hats in Littlewoods.  This is on the corner of the High Street and George Street, George Street was important to me because this was where the fabric shop was and another toyshop.

Coomes that can be seen here was once part of Littlewoods (the part with the hat department) and just a little further down the road behind the tree was Woolworths - home of broken biscuits, loose biscuits, wonderful Easter Eggs made of sugar and toys and all sorts of other good things.

From here PIG ALLEY next to what was the Freemasons pub can be seen.  We used to live near the top of the alley and spent many happy Saturdays going down it at speed on our scooters.  On the corner of the alley was a very good sweet shop.

  Saint Georges Church.  One of our many playgrounds was the churchyard, the Vicar didn't mind us playing there as long we didn't go in the Garden of Remembrance.  The gravestones against the dividing wall to Chatham house School made it easy to climb over so we could collect conkers and pretty much just run around (these were the days before anti-Vandal paint)  I do remember a rope burn on my neck where I hadn't noticed the cricket pitch roped off.  This is where I went to Sunday School and my Brownie pack was based here.
Going out to play always gave a host of opportunities - from parks and the beach where we should have been to the derelict buildings (and the piles of rubble they became), burn out Tizer lorry on some waste ground and the waterfall at Maderia Walk that we were supposed to not to be.