Ramsgate Harbour, the Sailor’s Church and the Home for Smack Boys

Here are some more photos from Ramsgate – this time of the magnificent harbour, a proud Dunkirk Little Ship, the memorial plaque to the men and boys of HMS Fervent, Timothy Spall’s Princess Matilda, and some models and fine nautical memorabilia in the Sailor’s Church.

If you pass by, do drop in to have a look – it’s often open during the summer months.

 

 

The Royal Temple Yacht Club, Ramsgate

My son and I had a grand sail to Ramsgate and back last week with fair winds, good tides and plenty sunshine – and we also enjoyed Ramsgate itself even more than I had expected, even after many visits over the years.

Of course the harbour, the sailor’s church, and the ice cream and fish and chips (there’s a great chippie offering gluten free food, by the way) all came up to expectations, but we were also glad we took up a fellow Hollowshore Cruising Club member’s recommendation to visit the Royal Temple Yacht Club. The club, which was founded in 1857 and moved to Ramsgate in the 1890s, turned out to be very grand but also friendly (they didn’t mention that we’d forgotten to fly our own club burgee), and it has the most amazing collection of trophies and memorobilia, of which this is just a sample…

 

Shtandart in Ramsgate Harbour

The modern Shtandart – a replica of the frigate Shtandart that was the first ship of Russia’s Baltic fleet launched in 1703 by the decree of Tsar Peter I – was tied up in Ramsgate Harbour over the weekend.

My pal Ian Carter kindly sent me these photos.

She’s 90ft in length on deck and 23ft wide – which doesn’t seem very large when her original crew complement in 1703 was between 120 and 150! Read about her here and here.

Thanks Ian!