insideKENT Magazine Issue 22 - January 2014 | Page 94

DAYSOUT

Turner and Dickens Walk
STRIDE FROM TURNER’S MARGATE TO DICKENS’ BROADSTAIRS ON THIS 4MILE ROUTE ACROSS THE ISLE OF THANET. EXPLORE THE AREA’S
CONNECTIONS WITH THESE TWO CREATIVE GIANTS WITH COLOURFUL
MOSAICS DOCUMENTING THEIR LIVES AND WORKS.

Reaching Holy Trinity and St John’s CEP School, you’ll find the Margate
mosaics. These colourful creations were produced by children from the
school, their parents and locals with the help of mosaic artist Martin Cheek.
Each mosaic depicts a famous Turner painting or imagined scenes from
his life.

Your walk begins at the visually dynamic Turner Contemporary gallery, which
is sat at the very heart of Turner’s links to Margate, on the site of the guest
house where Turner stayed. Turner first came to Margate at the age of 11
and from then on became a regular visitor. His legacy of over 30,000
paintings and drawings contains over 100 which were inspired by Margate’s
unique quality of light.

Drapers Mill lies along your trail, a smock mill built by John Holman in 1847
and one of only two mills left in Thanet. In 1960 this mill almost shared the
fate of other mills in Thanet when it was due to be destroyed; fortunately
the then headmaster of a local school which shares its name saved it.

The town itself is recognised today as a cultural and artistic hub and a
wander around the Georgian squares of Hawley and Cecil will reveal elements
of the town when it first became fashionable.

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