Saturday 28 January 2012

Westcliff Concert hall/aka Motor Musuem jan 2012

Now I know you’re probably thinking. Another rambling Wevsky intro.Well im not going to disappoint chaps.

This building as it’s in my home town and as a child was just up the road. Shame on you mum and dad for never taking me here as a child. Since I became interested in UE it’s been something I have wanted to visit even though I knew it was stripped bare from its closure in 2006 as I’d seen some pics a friend took early last year when he found his way in, despite that I still wanted a look inside this building I must have wandered past several thousand times since I was old enough to venture out on my own. So it’s been on the list but I’ve never actually put the effort into getting in here up until now and im so glad I did..it has the still semi intact bath’s/toilets which has its original staircase leading up to the now capped off entrance along the promanade,not every ones cup of tea old loo’s etc but the tiling is all original!
Enough from me, here’s some brief History and some snaps from back in the day..

Visited with Obscurity and Mrs Obs




The West Cliff Hall was opened in 1914 as a theatre, concert hall and promenade venue, staging outdoor plays in the garden amphitheatre with indoor weather cover .

The West Cliff Hall and Gardens was one of three indoor/outdoor performance spaces constructed into the cliffs of South East England prior to World War 1 including the Winter Gardens in Margate and Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone. However, the West Cliff Hall and Gardens is the only site to retain its garden and so keeps its indoor/outdoor performance capabilities making it a unique piece of South East England’s heritage.

The building has been empty since closure of the Ramsgate Motor Museum in 2006,in its previous life as a concert hall amongst others the Rolling stones played here back in 1973 I believe! It has a 600 Square metre terrace which over looks the Port and is the only cliff top hall left in the country. That being said its left rotting at the moment even though there are plans by some actress to open it all back up again as a entertainment venue!

Some old pics


Now for some pics of how it looks today !!





















Thanks for looking!!

4 comments:

  1. I prefered the old staircase myself but each to their own

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  2. The Rolling Stones certainly didn't play there in 1973! It was either late 1963 or 1975 (I have the exact date somewhere). Fascinating building, such a shame (like much of Ramsgate's heritage) it's been allowed to rot like this.

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  3. peter i realised my mistake not long after id written all that out and posted it was in 63 it was the motor mueum i think from 1970 onwards

    ReplyDelete

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