Cliftonville - Palm Bay Prior to 1932

pepandtim posted a photo:

The Postcard

A postcard that was published by Sunbeam Photo Ltd. of Northdown Road, Cliftonville. The card has a divided back.

The card was posted in Streatham, London S.W.16 using stamps to the value of 1d. on Tuesday the 5th. April 1932. The card was sent to:

Mrs. Davey,
2, St. Julian's Farm Road,
West Norwood,
London S.E.27.

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

"19, Leigham Vale,
Streatham S.W.16.
Dear Mrs. Davey,
Will it be convenient
for John & Denis to
have their lessons
tomorrow morning
(Wednesday) at 11.30
instead of 5.30pm?
Will call on chance.
Hope you are feeling
much better.
Love,
D. Pearce."

Cloche Hats

Some of the women in the photograph are wearing cloche hats. Cloche hats were the most fashionable form of women's headgear in the UK during the 1920's.

They were close-fitting, helmet-shaped hats that hugged the skull. They had deep rounded crowns with no brim or just a small curve at the edge. Cloche means bell in French, and these hats were so named because they resembled large bells.

By the end of the 1920's and into the 1930's, it became fashionable to turn the brims on cloche hats upwards.

Cliftonville

Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town. It contains the area known as Palm Bay.

The original Palm Bay estate was built in the 1930's as a number of large, wide avenues with detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, garages and gardens. This land was sold by Mr Sidney Simon Van Den Bergh to the Palm Bay Estate Co. on the 23rd. June 1924. Such avenues include Gloucester Avenue and Leicester Avenue.

East Cliftonville

The Palm Bay estate covers the eastern part of Cliftonville, and was fields before the first avenue was built. It extends east beyond Northumberland Avenue and has been developed in phases. The later phase extending eastwards of Princess Margaret Avenue is a modern-style housing estate with small houses largely identical in appearance and of less substantial build quality than the original 1930's estate.

The eastward expansion of Cliftonville has included much of the former parish of Northdown, including Northdown Park and House.

West Cliftonville

West Cliftonville was originally developed as the up-market alternative to bustling Margate, and had many small private hotels and guest houses with outstanding Victorian architecture which catered for the many visitors to what was in the first half of the 20th. century a thriving holiday resort.

Many of the large hotels have been converted into one bed flats; this has brought about positive action from Thanet District Council which introduced selective licensing, ensuring that quality home improvements are maintained by landlords (2006) and restricting planning permission for one bedroom flats (2007).

Cliftonville now has many of its streets protected by conservation area orders. The seafront area once included many large hotels, including at one time a large Butlins complex. Some fantastic hotels remain, e.g. Smiths Court Hotel overlooking the sea, and The Walpole Bay Hotel.

Tourism and visitor numbers have increased in Cliftonville (2018) with the addition of newly opened bed and breakfasts changing the Cliftonville landscape. Northdown Road and Cliff Terrace have also had a resurgence, with many trendy and hip businesses opening up.

The Oval Bandstand and lawns run by community group GRASS Cliftonville bring an opportunity to bring community engagement to Cliftonville, and they host a monthly award-winning farmers' market on the last Sunday of every month.

During the summer there are a number of activities and events, including musical shows. The Tom Thumb Theatre brings a host of music events and theatre to Cliftonville.

Writing and Poetry

During the first half of the 20th. century, Cliftonville was considered the fashionable hotel quarter of Margate. It was during the autumn of 1921 that T. S. Eliot spent a period of convalescence at the Albermarle Hotel. His widow has confirmed that he found inspiration for, and wrote significant sections of 'The Waste Land' in the Grade II listed Nayland Rock promenade shelter.

The spirit of early 20th. century Cliftonville was caught by John Betjeman in his poem "Margate Pier".

Cliftonville Lido

The cream coloured Art Deco complex with its porthole windows, bright red roof tiles and four-sided ‘Lido’ beacon has been closed for over 30 years. The swimming pool is now filled with sand.

The lido was built by John Henry Iles, the creator of Dreamland - Margate’s celebrated pleasure park - and was a vibrant part of the town right up until the 1970's, when it was last used as a disco. The swimming pool (where artist Tracey Emin learnt to swim) was finally shut in the 1980's.

The Clifton Baths were listed in 2008 due to their importance in British seaside history - they were one of the earliest surviving sea bathing establishments in the country.

Trevor Howard

Trevor Howard was born in Cliftonville on the 29th. September 1913.

More on Trevor below.

A Riot in Newfoundland

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

Well, on the 5th. April 1932, in St. John's, Newfoundland, a parade of demonstrators calling on the Legislature to investigate certain charges against the Richard Squires government turned into a violent riot.

All the windows of the Colonial Building were smashed, and Squires had to leave the building under protection.

Nazi Plans

Also on that day, documents seized by German police in the previous month's raids on Nazi headquarters were presented to the government.

According to the authorities, they showed Nazi plans to start a civil war in which a secret army would seize arms and ammunition, and cut off water supplies to city centers.

Hindenburg or Hitler

Also on the 5th. April 1932, Chancellor Heinrich Brüning told an audience in Stuttgart that the re-election of Hindenburg would pave the way for a settlement of the reparations problem.

He contrasted this by stating that the election of Adolf Hitler would cause the German mark to drop with a crash "in no time."