I’ve been living in Margate for just under six months now. After living in Brighton for nine years I didn’t think that it would be easy to live anywhere else. It was difficult leaving a city where I could walk into a pub knowing that I would find a familiar face and moving to a place where I knew absolutely nobody but I’ve loved the transition – and as for living on my own in a two bedroom flat? Bloody amazing!
Margate does a lovely sunset too. It’s got the best beach, and in the winter when I moved here there were loads of lovely little waders & sea birds – I’ve seen Knots, Dunlins, Redshank, Cormorants and even a stray Guillemot knocking about here. The surrounding nature reserves (particularly Stodmarsh and Sandwich Bay) are amazing too – there’s a real wealth of wildlife in the surrounding areas.
Being here has allowed me to spend time on my work and to really get used to being in my own company for long periods of time. It’s been really productive and having a work room overlooking the sea is really quite something. I’ve created a lot of new work for Rattycatcat and have started a secondary design company Little Plover which incorporates two of my favourite things, design and wildlife. I’ve got my cards in the Turner Gallery now, which I’m really quite proud of.
The first time I visited Margate I went to the Turner to the Wasteland exhibition. I saw a Paula Rego triptych in the flesh which was really exciting as I’ve loved her since I was twelve. There was also work by Paul Nash, Peter Blake and Turner himself. That was the day I put down the deposit on my flat because I knew that Margate was a place worth exploring. It had a strange edge which I was really drawn to, and as I’ve spent more and more time here the edge has sometimes gotten a bit much, but it’s always been something that I’ve been drawn back to.
Margate is an unusual place. There’s a lot of movement here at the moment – lots of people coming in from London and buying it up. It makes for a strange mix of people. I have to say I’ve warmed to the people who’ve been here forever and not so much to the Londoners who don’t seem to have the same amount of soul as the former. I’m living in Cliftonville in a third storey flat and I know all of my neighbours. It’s nice because I never knew any of my neighbours in Brighton, as we just didn’t have the time for one another. Now I can go outside for a cigarette on the steps of my building and still be there over an hour later, talking to whoever is around. It’s a lovely community and they’ve all got an excellent sense of humour. There’s nothing better than having a cackle with the women who live on my road about ‘bloody men’ or having a pretend row with one of the guys that lives next door to me. It’s like the land that time forgot – there are no real rules and everybody just seems pretty happy doing whatever they want, which is nice.
The reason for writing this is that I’m moving to Suffolk next week – I’ll be living on a farm in the countryside, as far removed as I can be from Margate. I’m moving to Suffolk for work, and whilst it’s really exciting, I feel like I’m leaving my story in Margate unfinished. Poetic I know, especially since I’m sitting in a flat in Cliftonville with the police outside arresting a man for being drunk and disorderly. This place is brilliant.
Little Mo does Margate I've been living in Margate for just under six months now. After living in Brighton for nine years I didn't think that it would be easy to live anywhere else.