Sign up to our What's On newsletter for a weekly email covering the best of Kent's food Thank you for subscribing!We have more newsletters The Dream Lands is an upcoming six-part series based on Ramsgate author Rosa Rankin-Gee's gripping novel Dreamland a young woman navigating the throes of early adulthood while trying to survive a crumbling world In this dystopian vision of the near future while the waters themselves have turned toxic Marine Drive and Margate Sands have seen a Mad Max-esque makeover this week as shooting for the production continues Cast members and extras have been spotted around the town in costume The Dream Lands stars Pascale Kann as Chance This TV adaptation is being produced by SISTER which also worked on Gangs of London and This is Going to Hurt The series is to be released on BBC One and BBC iPlayer though an exact date has not been confirmed 24-hour security will be in operation at the sets with a large police presence spotted at the seafront this week while shoots took place on the beach Notices have been displayed near the filming locations advising members of the public of the production One such notice reads: “If you enter the area you may be captured on film The footage may be made publicly available in any media as part of the production and promoting those productions “By entering this area you will be deemed to agree with this said: “Telling stories I care about alongside a team of women I admire is the very reason I do this job so working on The Dream Lands has been a gift It’s an honour to be adapting Rosa Rankin-Gee’s beautiful “Especially as it’s given me an excuse to collaborate once more with my old friend And I’m so thrilled we’ve found a home with the BBC who support artists’ visions like no one else.” Director of BBC Drama added: ‘With an amazing protagonist at its heart I’m really excited to have Kayleigh Llewellyn back writing for the BBC collaborating once more alongside Lucy Forbes and the team at SISTER.” Find out more about things to do in Kent with our free What’s On email HERE. Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right Access to a range of accounts to suit your savings needs Provided by award-winning mortgage broker Tembo insight and guidance into helping your money work as hard – and stretch as far – as possible The UK's bestselling subscription magazine Memories of the remarkable network of air-raid shelter tunnels that saved hundreds of lives during WW2 breezy morning in the Kent resort of Ramsgate, 15 pensioners sit enjoying the sunshine Beside them is the portal to the UK’s largest system of air-raid precautionary (ARP) tunnels – reimagined as a visitor attraction gallery, museum and café – to which thousands owe their very existence.  Men swap stories of wartime escapades – of playing on bombsites clambering on Bofor anti-aircraft guns and watching ‘dogfights’ overhead.  after the war when the tunnels were closed they would find ways to sneak into their great subterranean adventure playground.  a club for people born or raised in Ramsgate in the Second World War.  the club was born after a Ramsgate Tunnels Veterans Reunion in March 2022 reclaiming a nickname bestowed on them by exasperated adults.  The story of Ramsgate Tunnels begins in 1938 with borough engineer Richard Brimmell, supported by mayor Arthur Kempe at work on plans for a network of deep shelters to be hewn out of Ramsgate’s chalk foundations overlooking the English Channel and just Spitfire seconds from RAF Manston Brimmell’s scheme envisaged a 31/4-mile semi-circle linking into a Victorian railway tunnel, ensuring no one would be more than five minutes from an entrance As many as 60,000 people would be able to take refuge The first section was opened by the Duke of Kent on 1 June 1939 the town would have felt like Hamelin after the Pied Piper departed, but for a small number of children who stayed behind of diphtheria and meningitis, and her parents couldn’t bear to part with little Ethel She remembers with a shudder 24 August 1940 while people were strafed with machine-gun fire only 29 civilians and two soldiers were killed "We were in the garden when we heard the drone of aircraft We just stood there staring at what looked like a swarm of bees we could see the iron crosses painted on them The bombing was over in five minutes but then there were fires to contend with The smoke played havoc with his ruined lungs and he had to stand down after that day.  Determined to carry on helping his country he volunteered as a Civil Defence Warden when he had sufficiently recovered Community stalwarts, the wardens offered guidance and leadership to the public he couldn’t bear the thought of coming home in the morning and finding us gone," says Ethel and their mum descended the tunnels to their bunks where they kept eiderdowns and pillows One night a drunk fell into my bunk," she recalls had begun to resemble a "town beneath the town" as 300 homeless families took up residence ornaments – even gave their makeshift abodes a name or number Life underground is evoked in the memoir, A Ramsgate Boy’s Memory of the Second Word War written by Denis Rose before his death in 2001 It was about 8ft by 6ft… and two sets of bunk beds… We had Valor stoves to cook on and lived mainly on stews… Saturdays were party nights Even in the times of despair there were some highlights." "But always there was fear – particularly of the flying bombs an ominous silence then the crash as the engines cut out and they dropped "The Spitfires would fly alongside them and try to tip them into the sea," says Brian Woodland Brian makes short work of a flight of 144 stairs leading down to the tunnels at the deepest point Poor Ethel once took a tumble down these same stairs when, reaching the top one frosty morning she was distracted by the sight of a Hurricane chasing a Messerschmidt as German bullets grazed the threshold Brian would grab his red Mickey Mouse gas mask and be led to the nearby tunnels entrance I can remember seeing all the people living down there when the guns were firing and the searchlights were shining While Brian and his younger brother were sent for a while to relatives in Hertfordshire, Joyce Battery "My mum wouldn’t let us be evacuated, because Dad was abroad with the Air Force and she didn’t want to split the family up more." Joyce would be taken into the tunnels with her classmates "She didn’t want to go down there I imagine. She just believed if your number was on [a bomb], you’d get it For the then nine-year-old Ethel, it was a time of sadness but more concerned with the people who were sick." remembers a street party ("just a small affair") and movie newsreels – "Churchill of people frolicking in Trafalgar Square fountains, but in Kent’s ‘Hellfire Corner’ it was not one big knees-up according to University of Exeter historian Professor Richard Overy.  but they didn’t know when their loved ones serving in the Armed Forces would return… Others had experienced terrible losses The end of the war was a difficult period of transition for many." with the tunnels rocking to the sound of jazz and swing band Hullabaloo there will be more celebrations for what Churchill called 'a miracle of deliverance’ It was from Ramsgate that the 850 ‘Little Ships’ – the most raggle-taggle armada in all history – sailed to the aid of Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk between 26 May and 4 June 1940, helping to rescue more than 336,000 trapped British The townsfolk turned out to welcome survivors, kettles were boiled This year, more than 70 of these cherished vessels will arrive in Britain’s only Royal Harbour, in preparation for a return crossing on 21 May (see adls.org.uk) It will be a stirring sight and another memorable day for this small town with a very big history Every issue of Saga Magazine is packed with inspirational real-life stories brain-teasing puzzles and travel inspiration expert advice on everything from health and finance to home improvements With the start of the new financial year on 6 April our money expert explains the changes to your pension Sign up to our daily newsletter for all the latest Kent stories and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox Reform UK had a very successful 2025 Local Election in Kent as they won all seven of the seats on offer in Thanet district taking wards that were previously held by both Conservative and Labour councillors which has also taken overall control of Kent County Council won two seats from the Tories in Birchington Rural and another one from the party in Broadstairs Reform also won the second Ramsgate seat from Labour and also took Margate from the same party Overall on Kent County Council Reform UK now has overall control and holds 57 out of the 81 seats the Lib Dems are the second largest party with 12 councillors The final two seats are taken by Labour councillors down from the five the party held before the election Full results for Thanet district are listed below: Birchington Rural -REFORM GAIN FROM CON X2 For a full list of results from across Kent click here: Kent Local Election results full list For detailed results from the other 11 Kent County Council areas Ashford Canterbury Dartford Dover Folkestone and Hythe Gravesham Maidstone Sevenoaks Swale Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships will commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Allied evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940 including by retracing a route many vessels took To mark the 85th anniversary of the Dunkirk Little Ships toiling over nine days to evacuate Allied soldiers in 1940 during World War Two a fleet of over 70 Little Ships used in the operation will sail from Ramsgate to Dunkirk The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS) is organising the event which will run from the 17th to the 26th of May and feature commemorative occasions open to the public in Ramsgate and Dunkirk ADLS defines a Little Ship as ‘all craft that were originally privately owned and includes commercial vessels such as barges Belgian and Dutch fishing vessels and pleasure steamers’ used in the mission The Association also includes some ex-service vessels The organisation comprises current Little Ships owners who gather every five years to retrace the route many vessels took in 1940’s Dunkirk evacuation window._taboolaSlots=window._taboolaSlots||[];window._taboolaSlots.push({"mode":"thumbnails-a-mid","container":"taboola-mid-article","placement":"Mid Article","target_type":"mix"}); ‘Ramsgate is my hometown; it will be great to have a fleet of the Little Ships here again for our five-yearly crossing to Dunkirk Ramsgate and Dunkirk are pulling out all the stops to commemorate celebrate and educate throughout our stay in the very centre of these two excellent ports’ the BBC announced the following over radio: “The Admiralty have made an Order requesting all owners of self-propelled pleasure craft between 30′ and 100′ in length to send all particulars to the Admiralty within 14 days from today if they have not already been offered or requisitioned.” large numbers of those with privately owned boats in the UK travelled across the channel and rescued stranded allied troops from France’s Dunkirk beaches between 26 May and 4 June 1940 Little Ship Breda won Best in Show at the Thames Traditional Boat Festival in Henley in 2021 and was chosen as one of three National Historic Ship UK flagships The Little Ships participated in Operation Dynamo which involved Ramsgate as a major departure point ‘approximately 850 private boats sailed from Ramsgate,’ and over 250 were lost during the Dunkirk evacuation Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Admiral Ramsey hoped that the operations would rescue between 30,000 and 40,000 troops Thanks to the combined effort of the Dunkirk Little Ships the response from the Little Ships’ crews and owners was hugely important for saving Allied lives and keeping British forces strong enough to continue fighting the war Photo: Association of Dunkirk Little Ships The mission’s outcome turned a military disaster into a symbol of courage in adversity The term ‘Dunkirk Spirit’ is still used to describe bravery and solidarity in very difficult situations the anniversary voyage is long-awaited for those in the Association The last passage was in 2015 because the coronavirus pandemic prevented a 2020 event Little Ships will arrive alone and in small groups at Ramsgate Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning 2016 film The public is welcome to view the Little Ships from the harbour or pontoon to get a sense of life during the historical evacuation Honorary Vice Admiral of The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships “The fleet will soon gather in Ramsgate for this return to Dunkirk which is made all the more special by the number of Little Ships involved A vast amount of work is going on at present to make sure the Little Ships look their very best and are fully prepared for the channel crossing” the Association plans a full day of commemoration including a parade through the town and on the harbour front This event will involve unveiling the refurbished Ramsgate Operation Dynamo memorial and dedicating the bell from the large paddle steamer Crested Eagle which was sunk off of Bray Dunes beach east of Dunkirk on 29 May 1940 A service will follow in the Sailor’s Church the ADLS will hold a briefing for skippers making the crossing giving final details and deciding whether it’s safe to proceed restored Quisisana after becoming inspired by chatting to a marina neighbour with close ties to the ADLS He was honoured to welcome a delegation from the Coldstream Guards aboard the refurbished vessel the Little Ships will leave Ramsgate to arrive in Dunkirk by 1600 local time the ADLS will host further commemorative events in Dunkirk To learn more about the event, click here Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market Voters across Thanet district will head to the polls on Thursday (May 1) to elect seven councillors to represent them on Kent County Council Residents in Thanet district including in the towns of Broadstairs have the chance to use their vote to influence policies on issues such as roads Thanet district has 36 candidates standing across five wards with each ward electing one or two councillors to county hall the seven Thanet seats are held by four Conservatives and two independent councillors and one for Reform Cllr Trevor Shonk of the Ramsgate ward was elected as a Conservative and served as some time for an independent before joining Reform 425 candidates are standing for your votes in 72 wards across the 12 boroughs and districts that make up the Kent County Council region Medway Council does not have elections scheduled in 2025 Kent County Council currently has a Conservative majority with the Lib Dems as the next largest party on six Labour and the Green Party hold five seats each three members for Reform and one each for the Heritage Party and the Swale Independents Elections in Kent are going ahead this year despite the ongoing devolution process that is set to see the county’s current councils abolished to be replaced with a smaller number of unitary authorities A full list of candidates for all of the Thanet district seats in the 2025 Kent County Council elections are listed below: For a full list of candidates standing in ever area of Kent in the 2025 Local Elections click here. For a detailed list of Ashford candidates click here For a detailed list of Canterbury candidates click here For a detailed list of Dartford candidates click here For a detailed list of Dover candidates click here For a detailed list of Folkestone and Hythe candidates click here For a detailed list of Gravesham candidates click here For a detailed list of Maidstone candidates click here For a detailed list of Sevenoaks candidates click here For a detailed list of Swale candidates click here For a detailed list of Tonbridge and Malling candidates click here For a detailed list of Tunbridge Wells candidates click here This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page DON\u2019T MISS THIS YEARS ALTERNATIVE GIFT GUIDE Get the \u2018cene CULTURE SHOT straight to your inbox on each release By using this website, you agree to our T&C\u2019s, privacy policy & use of cookies. We use analytical data to provide you with an enjoyable experience and to help our website run effectively Ramsgate’s Harbour Street houses a hub of international food purveyors from Italian to Turkish and Polish to Indian a Caribbean diner offering a super-chilled atmosphere and cracking food.   guests can settle down with a few games of dominos and a Goslings black rum and ginger beer to set the mood The emphasis is on taking your time and enjoying your meal And so to warm up we chose the beautiful salt fish fritters (£6.50) The Caribbean-style dumplings are made with saltfish (traditionally preserved cod in salt) and a mix of spices served alongside a homemade mango chilli sauce for dipping and a wedge of lemon We also chose the crispy potato croquettes (£7.50) stuffed with rich curried mutton and served with a creamy island aioli sweet but mild sauce with beautifully cooked segments of boneless chicken and a healthy portion of rice we had to take on the jerk half chicken (£14.50) Marinated in the famous Caribbean seasoning for 24 hours the tender meat was served with a homemade jerk barbecue sauce and coleslaw independent and multi-award winning magazine which focuses on sub-cultures in-and-around the county of Kent ‘cene endorses those who use their ideas and originality to revive the creative landscape of the South-East high-quality content and an approachable tone ‘cene continues it’s drive for inclusivity in the subjects and delivery of it’s free-to-take printed magazines and online platforms Get the ‘cene culture shot for updates on local offers Also don’t miss when the latest print edition is available to pick up or buy We won’t share details with third-party companies other than the Auditing Bureau of Circulation for proof of ‘cene’s annual circulation figures We may also send interesting updates about our partner’s news Please check your inbox to verify your email address We will keep you posted on all the good stuff Kent has to offer KENT PRESS & BROADCAST AWARDSMAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 2023Magazine of the Year 2022Magazine of the Year 2020Magazine of the Year 2019Magazine of the Year 2018Design of the Year 2017 SALES : +447510 066 610EDITORIAL + STUDIO © 2017-2025 CENE MEDIA LTD | All rights Reserved | All content on this website is not to be copied or distributed | ‘cene® and KEEPITKENT® are Registered Trademarks of CENE MEDIA LTD A SPACED AGENCY WEBSITE the ‘silent Reform voter’ may give Nigel Farage his greatest victoryOn the campaign trail in Ramsgate the Reform leader was keen to talk immigration and his distrust of the Tories Farage Composite: PA / Guardian DesignNigel Farage grinned as he clutched an inflatable blue lilo at a seaside shop in Ramsgate just hours after holding a press conference about immigration that’s what it is,” he joked to the throng of press photographers possibly tickled by its resemblance to the migrant dinghies that wash up on the nearby beaches Dressed in a blue suit and £300 Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses with built-in cameras, Farage had embarked on a busy day of campaigning across three towns in Kent, one week out from England’s local elections Nigel Farage clutches a blue lilo after visiting a shop in Ramsgate Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PAIt was just after 2pm and the sun was shining over Ramsgate where Farage began his whistle-stop tour by eating cockles and talking to scrap metalworkers But his walk to the Royal Victoria Pavilion the largest Wetherspoon’s pub in the country was interrupted several times by people wanting selfies and asking questions One man, a former newspaper journalist, grilled the politician about his assertion that Reform UK could ultimately usurp the Conservatives Nigel Farage was more than happy to sample Ramsgate cockles Photograph: Sean Smith/The GuardianFarage told the man: “Our voters loathe the Conservative party [Making a deal with them] is the last thing they’d ever want me to do drinkers outside the Queen’s Head pub cheered An older man in a hi-vis jacket patted him on the arm and said: “You’ve got my vote.” Nigel Farage told people in Ramsgate he doesn’t trust the Tories Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PAFarage is a man who likes an audience and Ramsgate is certainly a place where he wouldn’t expect to get a rough ride the signs are that Reform UK is making a genuine impact across the country Keir Starmer’s government, still less than a year into a five-year term, is unpopular. The Tories under Kemi Badenoch appear still in shock from last year’s general election implosion Farage has seen the gap and charged into it And next week could be quite a moment for him said he believed Farage would win up to 450 seats while the Conservatives would lose up to 525 in the local elections Reform was also said to be on course to win two mayoral contests according to a YouGov poll released on Friday This despite, or perhaps because of, his willingness to cause offence and peddle populist ideas. On Thursday, his assertion that the UK is “massively overdiagnosing those with mental health illness problems” was predictably provocative The National Autistic Society said his remarks were “incorrect He has described net zero as “lunacy” and vowed to scrap carbon targets entirely So far, there is little sign of any lasting damage to his brand from his relationship with Donald Trump or the fact he has seemed sympathetic to Vladimir Putin One of his own MPs, Rupert Lowe, even condemned him for being the messianic leader of a protest party His burly security guards hovered nearby as there were more photo opportunities this time with five male Reform candidates wearing rosettes Nigel Farage has a drink with Reform UK candidates at the Royal Victoria Pavilion Photograph: Sean Smith/The GuardianBut before he could finish his pint Farage was approached by a 57-year-old man who said he has struggled to find work since moving back to Ramsgate from Spain He feared he was being discriminated against “But I believe in what you’re doing,” he told Farage “I would love to meet up with you some time and have a chat Farage introduced the man to the party’s local chair before heading upstairs to the balcony overlooking the harbour for an arranged interview with the Daily Mail he had a cigarette in the sunshine while surrounded by the council candidates and Ukip and Tory councillor who recently defected to Reform In 2014, Shonk told the BBC’s World at One programme that Britain had become a “racist” country because Conservative and Labour governments had let in too many immigrants who campaigned for Farage when he stood in Thanet South his seventh unsuccessful attempt to enter parliament said door-to-door campaigning in recent weeks had gone so well that people had been chasing him down the streets As Farage and his mostly male entourage prepared to leave the pub to drive to Sittingbourne a group of young men at the New Belgium Bar opposite cheered and asked for selfies he’s more like a commoner like us,” one said of the privately educated MP for Clacton “He’s definitely got the celebrity status.” ‘He’s a man of the people’ Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PAThe longtime Eurosceptic politician reportedly made a joke about the name of the drinking establishment saying: “Why are you drinking in the Belgian bar?” the man said “he just walked off because nobody was giving him any attention” one woman who seemingly had no idea who Yusuf was had reportedly asked if he could take a photo of her with Farage Yusuf is said to have politely declined before walking off said the politician seemed to be the only person listening to local concerns about immigration “Not everybody would voice their opinion because we all know the racism card comes out it’s about money being spent and we’re not seeing any benefit of it,” he said Kent county council has been run by the Conservatives since 1997 but an Electoral Calculus poll of 5,400 people predicted last month that Reform UK would take control Serveld said that he hoped Reform would change Kent so “the normal working man was looked after”. Earlier, at the Best Western hotel in Dover, about 20 miles (32km) away, Farage had held a press conference in which he announced Reform would be appointing a minister for deportations. Introduced on stage as Britain’s next prime minister by Yusuf, Farage reeled off a bunch of statistics about immigration. “We’re in Dover because it was here in 2020, just as the pandemic was kicking in and lockdown was starting, that I began to go out from this port to film the migrant boats crossing,” he said. “I said that, frankly, you might as well put up a sign on the white cliffs of Dover, [saying] ‘everyone welcome’. And I predicted there would be an invasion, the word that got me in very big trouble, but have a look at the numbers that have come.” Farage claimed there had been a trend of Palestinians from Gaza making the crossing in recent weeks. “Frankly, letting people in from war zones, young males of fighting age from war zones, when you don’t know what their involvement in those areas might have been, is an incredibly dangerous thing to do,” he said. His words were echoed by one of the two would-be Kent councillors filming his address from the front row. Read more“It does feel like an invasion They’re all fighting age men and that’s scary,” said Paul King the chair of Reform’s Dover and Deal branch and a candidate for Dover West With a blue rosette pinned to his dark suit the 56-year-old said he had been heartened by the local support after delivering thousands of leaflets in recent weeks “Virtually everybody I speak to is fully behind us Not very many people want to be publicly supporting us King, who lives in a village outside Dover, blamed the silent majority on the public’s fear of being labelled racist. But he said Farage’s distancing of Tommy Robinson had worked in the party’s favour: “Because then we could actually explain that we’re not far right the campaign manager of the Dover and Deal branch said there had been an uplift in support since last year’s general election when she was spat at and called names while leafleting “Now they’re grabbing papers off me,” the 62-year-old claimed.