Broadstairs

[edit] Broadstairs is within the Thanet local government district. The town contains the five electoral wards of Bradstowe, St Peter's, Beacon Road, Viking and Kingsgate. These wards have eleven of the fifty six seats on the Thanet District Council. The 2023 Local Elections saw major changes in the political make-up of Broadstairs, with the Conservative Party retaining only four of their previously held eight seats. Four seats were won by the Labour Party, two by the Greens with an Independent taking the remaining seat. Broadstairs and St Peter's Town Council has 15 members, who are elected every four years, led by the mayor. The Member of Parliament (MP) for East Thanet is Polly Billington of the Labour Party. She has been the constituency's MP since the 2024 general election. Broadstairs and St Peter's have been twinned with Wattignies in northern France since the early 1980s.

[edit] White cliffs at Kingsgate beach The town lies above a harbour with cliffs on either side. It has seven bays of golden sand, which are (from south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay. North Foreland rises between Stone Bay and Joss Bay. On the cliffs above Kingsgate Bay is Kingsgate Castle, formerly part of the estate of Lord Holland but now converted into private residences. Broadstairs has a very mild maritime climate.

[edit] This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (May 2026) Broadstairs and St Peter's 2001 UK census Broadstairs and St Peter's Thanet District England Total population 24,370 126,702 49,138,831 Foreign born 5.3% 5.1% 9.2% White 98% 98% 91% Asian 1.0% 0.6% 4.6% Black 0.2% 0.3% 2.3% Christian 75% 74% 72% Muslim 0.4% 0.5% 3.1% Hindu 0.3% 0.2% 1.1% No religion 14% 16% 15% 65+ years old 24% 22% 16% Unemployed 2.9% 4.4% 3.3% At the 2001 UK census, the parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's had 24,370 residents in 10,597 households. Of those households, 34.2% were married couples, 6.7% were cohabiting couples and 8.3% were lone parents. 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.9% had someone living alone at pensionable age. 25.7% of households included children aged under 16, or a person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education. The parish has a low proportion of non-white people compared with national figures; the ethnicity recorded in the 2001 census was 97.9% white, 0.7% mixed race, 0.3% Chinese, 0.7% other Asian, 0.2% black and 0.2% other. The number of foreign-born residents is relatively low; the place of birth of residents in 2001 was 94.7% United Kingdom, 0.7% Republic of Ireland, 0.5% Germany, 0.9% other Western Europe countries, 0.3% Eastern Europe, 0.8% Africa, 0.6% South Asia, 0.5% Far East, 0.3% North America, 0.2% Middle East, 0.2% Oceania and 0.1% South America. Religion was recorded as 75.3% Christian, 0.4% Muslim, 0.3% Hindu, 0.3% Buddhist and 0.3% Jewish. 14.3% were recorded as having no religion, 0.5% had an alternative religion and 8.6% did not state their religion. The age distribution was 5% aged 0–4 years, 14% aged 5–15 years, 5% aged 16–19 years, 26% aged 20–44 years, 27% aged 45–64 years and 24% aged 65 years and over. There was a high percentage of residents over 65, compared with the national average of 16%, mainly due to seaside towns being popular retirement destinations. For every 100 females, there were 87.1 males. Employment[edit] At the 2001 census, the economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 34.1% in full-time employment, 12.8% in part-time employment, 10.0% self-employed, 2.9% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 4.1% students without jobs, 20.0% retired, 6.5% looking after home or family, 4.9% permanently sick or disabled and 2.4% economically inactive for other reasons. The percentage of retired people was significantly higher than the national figure of 14%. The percentage of unemployed people was low compared with the national rate of 3.4% and the district rate of 4.4%. Only 12% of residents aged 16–74 had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 20% nationwide. The Office for National Statistics estimated that during the period of April 2001 to March 2002, the average gross weekly income of households was £522 (£27,219 per year). The industry of employment of residents, at the 2001 census, was 15% retail, 14% health and social work, 13% manufacturing, 13% education, 10% real estate, 8% construction, 7% transport and communications, 6% public administration, 5% hotels and restaurants, 3% finance, 1% agriculture and 5% other community, social or personal services. Compared with national figures, there was a relatively high number of workers in the education and health/social care industries and a relatively low number in finance and real estate. Many residents commute to work outside the town; at the 2001 census, the town had 9,842 employed residents, but there were only 9,049 jobs within the town.

[edit] As a seaside resort, the economy is mainly based around tourism; there are hotels and guest houses on and near the seafront to accommodate the influx of all-year-round visitors. Although the number of hotels in recent years has declined because of the high land redevelopment values, this has resulted in an improvement in quality of the existing premises. The High Street has a wide variety of independent shops and services and there are several factories, mainly situated on the small industrial estates on the town's borders. The above-average population age has led to many health- and social-care jobs at local care homes. At the 2001 UK census, 1.8% of the population resided in a medical or care establishment, which is more than double the national average of only 0.8%. Many jobs in education are provided by the town's relatively high number of schools and colleges. Kingsgate Castle has been converted into flats. Broadstairs' & St Peter's Chamber of Commerce has existed for over 100 years and has been instrumental in establishing links between traders and authority and raising money for projects including the town's CCTV scheme. It organises events and promotes tourism to benefit the town economy, the local customer and visitors. The largest of Broadstairs' industrial estates is at Pyson's Road. Residential building land is now scarce and property prices within Broadstairs tend to be higher than the rest of Thanet. Broadstairs has seen major development in its area recently with a large out-of-town shopping development at Westwood called Westwood Cross. This has attracted national retailers, a new Travelodge hotel a bingo club, a casino, a vue cinema, a new fitness centre, and an Ask, Nando's, Frankie & Benny's restaurants. Land is currently being redeveloped to extend the existing Westwood Cross shopping centre. Within the Broadstairs boundary there are three large supermarkets: Asda, Sainsbury's and a Tesco Extra, which, before redevelopment, was the home of a large Co-op store (one of the first hypermarkets built in the UK). Tesco has a metro store in the town. Tesco also has a convenience store (Tesco Express) in the town and there is a small Co-op in St Peter's village. Motor and household insurance claims of Saga Insurance Ltd. are managed in Broadstairs (as an extension of their main offices in Folkestone).

[edit] There is a small cinema, "The Palace Cinema" (formerly known as The Windsor), in Harbour Street. A photograph of the Broadstairs Dickens Festival 2013 with Bleak House in the backgroundThe Broadstairs Dickens Festival is held annually in honour of the novelist Charles Dickens around the second or third week of June. The festival includes a production of one of Dickens' novels, with people about the town wearing Victorian dress. The festival first took place in 1937, when Captain Miles Conway Robson conceived the idea of commemorating the centenary of the publication of The Pickwick Papers by creating a festival to draw people to the town including a grand ball and a production of The Pickwick Papers, a novel partly written in the town. Morris dancers at Broadstairs Folk Week In the second week of August each year, the town holds Broadstairs Folk Week music festival. The main acts perform at the Concert Marquee in the town's main park (Pierremont Park), with smaller musical events held in public houses, restaurants, cafés, and at the town's bandstand. Itinerant musicians and Morris dancers perform along the bay promenade. A school and playing field becomes an organization centre and campsite for entertainers. The town's population significantly increases with tourists, day-trippers and holiday makers. During the summer season, and on 5 November, there are firework displays every Wednesday evening on Viking Bay.[citation needed] In August the town holds an annual Water Gala. In the past this has included a visit by the Red Arrows, a hovercraft and lifeboats. Beach-based competitions and shows continue through the day. A funfair is on the cliff-top gardens, and a small air display takes place.[citation needed] In the village of St Peter's, tours are held throughout the summer. More recently, a new event has been added to the mix – the Big Broadstairs Weekend. Starting the season in May, the event is themed, comprises a dance at the Pavilion on the Friday night, Film on the Beach on the Saturday night and a Guinness World Record Attempt on the Sunday. Broadstairs currently holds the record for biggest remote dance class.

[edit] Botany Bay. The beaches at Botany Bay and Joss Bay were awarded the Blue flag rural beach award in 2005. Viking Bay beach, the main beach in Broadstairs, won the Blue Flag in 2006.[citation needed] In summer, this bay is often very busy with tourists enjoying cafes and ice-cream outlets. On Harbour Street, the Pavilion on the Sands hosts a summer show and all-year entertainment, with extensive views across the bay. Its location and facilities make the Pavilion a popular wedding venue. The Dickens House Museum on the seafront, displays many artefacts relating to Charles Dickens and his life in Broadstairs. Crampton Tower by the railway station houses a museum containing Thomas Russell Crampton's working drawings, models, graphics, patents, awards and artefacts connected to his life and works. Other galleries illustrate the history and development of the railways, the electric tramways, road transport and other aspects of local industry. The original Broadstairs stagecoach, built in 1860, is displayed alongside seven working model railways in gauges N, OO, O and Gauge One.[citation needed] Reading Street leading to St Peter's church

[edit] The town is situated 20 miles (32 km) from both Dover and Canterbury, and about 67 miles (108 km) from the M25, London's orbital motorway. In 1851, the region's rail network was supplemented by the London to south coast route, including the coastal link from Chichester to Ramsgate, the cross-country service between London and Dover and the Mid-Kent line that linked Redhill, Tonbridge and Ashford to London's first Eurostar terminal at Waterloo (opened in 1848). Broadstairs station (unlike neighbouring Margate) is a 10-minute walk from the beach. Although rebuilt in the 1920s, electricity was not installed at the station until well into the 1970s, and the buildings and platforms remained illuminated by gaslight until then. Since 2009 Southeastern have been operating a high speed train service between London St Pancras and Ashford International which then runs on to Broadstairs at conventional speed cutting about 40 minutes from what was once a two-hour journey to other termini in London. It is unusual in that trains to London can run either way through the station. Lifeboats[edit] Lifeboats arrived in Broadstairs in 1851. News of the loss of the Irish packet Royal Adelaide with 250 lives, on the sands off Margate on 6 April 1850, may have been the prompt that led old Thomas White to present one of his lifeboats to his home town of Broadstairs that summer. The lifeboat saw its first use on 6 March 1851, when the brig Mary White became trapped on the Goodwin Sands during a severe gale blowing from the north. A ballad was written to celebrate the occasion, "Song of the Mary White". Solomon Holbourn of Broadstairs, coxswain of the Mary White, had an aunt, Sophia, who married William Stevenson at Folkestone in 1813. Their eldest son, also William, became a mariner and boatman and in 1839 married Elizabeth Wellard at St Peter's, Broadstairs. In 1848 they had a son, again named William, who in adult life was better known as Bill "Floaty" Stevenson, and became a member of the Frances Forbes Barton lifeboat crew. The "Frances Forbes Barton" was originally, in 1897, the legacy of a Miss Webster to the boatmen of Broadstairs. It is recorded as having remained at that station until 1912, when it was moved to the Walmer station when the Broadstairs station closed. In its time at Broadstairs it had been launched 77 times and saved 115 lives, by far the most effective of the RNLI craft stationed there. Broadstairs' lifeboats were further supported by a fund established in the 1860s by Sir Charles Reed FSA.

[edit] East Kent College in Broadstairs State schools[edit] Infant and Primary St Mildred's Infant School Upton Junior School St Peter in Thanet CE Junior School St Joseph's RC Primary School Bromstone County Primary School Secondary Modern and Grammar Dane Court Grammar School St Georges C of E Foundation School The Charles Dickens School Special schools[edit] Bradstow School Stone Bay School Independent schools[edit] Junior and Preparatory Wellesley Haddon Dene School (merger of Haddon Dene School and Wellesley House School in 2022) Colleges and universities[edit] East Kent College Canterbury Christ Church University (the Broadstairs campus was sold on and disbanded in 2018)

[edit] The original Shrine of Our Ladye Star of the Sea is believed to date back to at least the 11th century. The chapel on what is now Albion St was destroyed by a storm in the 16th century but was restored in 1601. It gives its name to the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea in Broadstairs. The Anglican parish church is Holy Trinity, dating from 1830, and which was described by Dickens as "a hideous temple of flint, like a petrified haystack". The church of St. Peter-in-Thanet has one of the longest churchyards in England.[citation needed]

[edit] Viking Bay Thanet Wanderers Rugby Union Football Club is based in Broadstairs at St. Peter's Recreation Ground. Sandcastle building competition takes place annually. Broadstairs has a Green bowling club. Broadstairs & St Peter's Lawn Tennis Club Beach Volleyball is held on the beach in the summer. Broadstairs is home to the North Foreland Golf Club. Broadstairs Sailing Club in Harbour Street once had former prime minister Edward Heath as a member. Broadstairs squash club. Sea swimming[edit] Sea swimming is popular, especially on the beach at Viking Bay, which is patrolled by lifeguards during the summer. Dickens swam here and British comedian Frank Muir grew up as a 'Beach Boy' in the town, describing his experience in the sea and on 'the sands' in a chapter of his autobiography. There are public toilets at the beach level in Viking Bay, but no changing facilities and one very basic freshwater shower (summer only). There is a freshwater tap at the bottom of the steps at the north end of the bay. The bay is marked by striped posts on rocks at either end. The bay is alternately full of water at high tide or completely dry at low tide. At high tide, the beach shelf drops off quickly and a swimmer can be out of their depth within a few feet of the shore. At middle and low tides, the shelf is much more gently sloping and it is possible to play in the surf, and even swim, in water that is only waist high. At high tide and middle tide, swimmers that stay within the bay (within the posts) are completely sheltered from the tidal stream of the English Channel. At any tide, swimmers venturing out beyond the striped posts may encounter a strong tidal current running parallel to the coast, flowing either from south to north or north to south, depending on whether the tide is coming up the English Channel or draining out through it. Even strong experienced swimmers will find it difficult to make progress against this tidal stream at its greatest flow, and swimmers in difficulty should swim directly towards the nearest part of the shore, rather than try to return to the point where they originally entered. Stone Bay to the north of Viking Bay also has a lifeguard in summer and attracts swimmers at all times of the year.

[edit] Broadstairs has only one paid-for newspaper, the Isle of Thanet Gazette. Its sister publication, the Thanet Times, closed in October 2012 after 116 years; both were owned by Northcliffe Media. Free newspapers for the town include the Thanet Extra, part of the KM Group; and yourthanet, part of KOS Media. Isle magazine is published quarterly and includes listings of events as well as accommodation and tourist information.The Broadstairs Beacon magazine has been published three times a year since 2019 and is available online or in printed form for free at several places in the town. Local radio stations are KMFM Thanet, owned by the KM Group, community radio station Academy FM (Thanet); and the county-wide stations Heart South, Gold and BBC Radio Kent. Thanet Community Radio also offer an online community podcasting service for Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Margate and the wider areas of Thanet. National broadcasting channels include BBC South East and ITV Meridian (East)

[edit] This list of people may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please help improve it by adding reliable sources for existing names which prove they are members of this list. Unsourced names may be challenged and removed. (August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Main article: List of people from Thanet People from Broadstairs are called Bradstonians. Bleak House where Dickens wrote David Copperfield in a study overlooking the harbour and the sea William Bridges Adams, locomotive engineer and inventor of the Adams Axle, died at Broadstairs in 1872 and was buried at St Peter's Church. Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, composer and pianist, was born in Broadstairs in 1936. John Buchan apparently based the title of his novel, The Thirty Nine Steps after the set of steps on the beach at a house called St Cuby, Cliff Promenade at North Foreland, Broadstairs, where he was recuperating from illness in 1915. Thomas Russell Crampton, railway engineer, was born in Broadstairs in 1816. Charles Dickens visited Broadstairs regularly from 1837 until 1859 and described the town as "Our English Watering Place". He wrote David Copperfield while staying at Bleak House. Tim Edey, multi-instrumentalist and composer, grew up in Broadstairs. Sir Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974, was born in Broadstairs in 1916 and lived there until going to study at Balliol College, Oxford in 1935. Edward Higgins (E. O. Higgins), fiction writer, podcaster and performer lived in Broadstairs for two years from 2009, whose novel Conversations with Spirits is based in the town Oliver Postgate, writer of the Clangers animated TV series, was a longtime resident of Broadstairs and his life is commemorated by a mosaic of the Clangers and a blue plaque on the front of his former home in Chandos Square. Writer and filmmaker Bruce Robinson set his first full-length novel The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman in Broadstairs and included characters from his childhood in Broadstairs. Robinson is from the town and the novel is semi-autobiographical. Tallulah, DJ who studied catering at East Kent College. Jennifer Vyvyan, operatic soprano, was born in Broadstairs in 1925.