Sunset Chasers
The first airbnb we stayed in here in Margate was on Forts Crescent, about 5 mins walk from where we now live. It was a top floor flat of a Georgian townhouse in, what google street view showed me, was a grand looking but a bit rundown crescent of buildings opposite the sea. So far, so Margate. The listing made me and my husband laugh as the owner mentioned sunsets any chance she could get. ‘BEAUTIFUL SUNSET VIEWS…PERFECT PLACE TO PREPARE MEALS WITH VIEWS OF SUNSET…STUNNING VIEWS FROM THE LIVING ROOM OUT TO SEA AND OF COURSE THE SUNSET’ Clearly this person loved sunsets, but blimey how great could they be?!
This sunset mania remained a running joke until we got here and actually saw a sunset in Margate for the first time. Then we became sunset chasers. A sunset in Margate is pretty unique, we sit on the edge of North East Kent, but Margate itself actually lies on a spit of land which goes up and around a bit, facing west, famously where the sun actually sets. The shape of the harbour and the swoop of the main sands reflects this. This means that if you’re around the main sands or harbour at sunset you’ll have a very clear view of the skies as the sun is setting over the sea. Alongside our geography is meteorology. Our weather is very changeable. Storms can rush in from the North Sea, or the high winds and blast the cloud cover away in a matter of moments. So there’s always some clouds in the sky to create some drama. An overcast late afternoon sunset will suddenly change to something spectacular as the orange sun pokes through and creates an absolutely stunning view.
After the first view sunsets we witnessed here, we were hooked. The Harbour views and the wonderful Kings Stairs running down to the Harbour are the perfect venue to view sunsets from and during the summer months it’s the site of a mini festival each evening. One of the bars at the end of the harbour arm plays music which resonates across the water (or sand, depending on the tide) daytrippers sit about with their fish and chips, the rest of us watching the seagulls circle around and then swoop in for free chips. Peter’s Fish Factory, the chippy right in the old town even advertises the time of that day’s sunset on a board outside their shop. People sit together in groups drinking prosecco and oysters they’ve picked up from Mannings Seafood stand, or beers they’ve bought from the off licence in the old town. Everyone slows down a bit to look out, take a few pics and enjoy the view, even if they off somewhere else. It’s amazing to watch the beautiful vibrant oranges, peaches, pinks and turquoise blues wash across the sky, like some giant living watercolour. Often people are out walking on the main sands enjoying the view from there. The view is also stunning from the end of the Harbour arm by the lighthouse.
It’s a sight to behold and the pictures do not do it justice. Talking of pictures, when I searched for the word ‘sunset’ in my photos app on my phone it revealed that I took 69 pictures of sunsets during the 12 years I lived in London and 356 pictures of sunsets from the 6 months I’ve lived in Margate. No wonder I’m always running out of bloody icloud space.
Part of the million new things we discovered when moving here was a more keen awareness of sunrise and sunset. During the winter months we have started getting up and going straight out for walks in the morning, when we started this in late December it was just as sunrise was about to happen, even now in early February the sun is already a bit higher in the sky when we’re out there. The blast of chilly air and sunlight has helped us both wake up and start the day in a nicer way than just rolling out of bed to go start work.
Similarly, sunsets are a little daily event that we try to schedule our lives around if we can. On my non-working days I’ll often go on a sunset stake out, popping out for a nice long walk around the time my weather app tells me it’s sunset, so I can make it down to the harbour to take some more pictures and enjoy the atmosphere and the beautiful colours. It’s lovely to have the excuse to just stand and watch the light change and the procession of clouds and aeroplane trails across the wide sky. Sometimes on weekends we’ll pop back out again for another walk at sunset to get pictures from the main sands or we’ll walk further down to Palm bay for the view from there.
In London we rarely saw sunsets. They were there, of course, but geography and the fact that the areas was quite built up meant that we didn’t often see them. Only in certain open spaces places, the fields in Highgate Wood or Coldfall wood if we were there at the right time. We always appreciated them when we saw them but it’s strange to think that they weren’t really a thing we noticed each day. The sunset here is impossible to ignore, it is everywhere. The light and clouds reflect on the sea and the whole place radiates with the light as it shifts from blues to oranges and dark pinks.
Having these views available to us so regularly is such a gift. Obviously not every day is clear and fine enough, but it is pretty consistently spectacular. Looking at the views sometimes you can really see why Turner was so inspired by Margate, you can see the swirling complex colours in the clouds of his paintings here on a Tuesday evening in February for free. (Remember, don’t go looking for any Turners at the Turner Contemporary Gallery…!) Having this regular access and relationship with the natural world is really amazing, it’s something we hoped for when we left London. Something we didn’t realise just how much we missed by living in the city for so long. Being in tune with sunsets has helped us both slow down, appreciate the beauty of the world and to stop and be grateful for the present moment. I might sound like a nutter, but you’ll feel the same when you come and experience one for yourself. Just be careful of the seagulls if you do get a chippy from Peter’s.
