ILLUSTRATION
RADIO
PHOTO
GETTY
Go to the pictures
Created in 1937 by Dixon
Scott, great uncle of
directors Ridley and
Tony, Tyneside’s
art deco cinema
is
Britain’s most beautiful picture
house. Perfect for the ultimate
night at the flicks.
tynesidecinema.co.uk
Return to Margate
Artist JMW Turner loved the light here;
TS Eliot wrote
The Waste Land
looking across
its sands and local girl Tracey Emin declared
it “romantic, sexy and weird”. After years of neglect, Margate
is back on the map. The town’s stunning bucket-and-spade
beaches and fish-and-chip charm remain; and now, into the
mix, there are funky art spaces, vintage boutiques and cute
cafés. Shopping in the bohemian
Old Town
is a breath of
fresh (sea) air for anyone bored with identikit high-street
chains – plus there are the eccentric
Shell Grotto
and
Dreamland
attractions. But is it really “one of the top 10
must-see destinations in the world”, as chosen by Rough
Guide for 2013? “It’s certainly high on the list of coolest
seaside towns,” says Victoria Pomery, Director of
Turner
Contemporary,
the huge £17.5m art gallery at the forefront
of the town’s revival. “Margate’s always been cool, it’s just
more people are discovering it now.”
margateoldtown.co.uk
Play Pooh sticks
Barring the hoop and
stick beloved of Victorian
urchins, few games are as
quintessentially British.
Made famous by the
Winnie the Pooh
stories,
there’s even a world
championship.
Find a bridge over a
stream and select a stick.
First stick to float out the
other side is the winner.
Count down to drop your
sticks in at the same time.
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Wake up and
smell
the... gnomes?
Rightly lauded
the greatest spectacle of its sort on
Earth, the
Chelsea Flower Show
,
21-25
May, is a nirvana for the
green-fingered. Certain aspects of
the floral displays are especially
popular with traditional fans.
“
When you get oohs and ahs from
the crowds, it tends to be for the
classic English gardens,” says
Roger Platts, a five-time-gold-
medal winner who’s pinning his
hopes for victory this year on a
geranium gardens inspired by
Chelsea’s 100th birthday. Most
eyes, however, are likely to be on
another chap, as Chelsea has lifted
a ban on the common garden
gnome for the first time. “I’m happy
for there to be gnomes,” says Platts,
“
but probably not in our garden.”
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