I love Margate

I love Margate. I love the quirkiness of its Old Town. I love the beach. I love the bars. I love the restaurants. I love the Turner Contemporary. I love gigs at Dreamland. I love the place so much that around 14 years ago I – very briefly – considered moving there to make it easier for me to attend one of the best bookclubs in the world. Back then, the town didn't have an independent bookshop.

Instead, I got a job in a town on the other side of the county, a town that also didn't have an independent bookshop, and moved there anywhere. Crucially, nowadays both Margate and Tunbridge Wells are covered. I have a nice place to live and go bookshopping, and I still love the seaside town as a place and to visit and go bookshopping. That geographical move is the reason I met The Boy, who also loves trips to Margate. So it was a win all round.

Having opened its doors in 2019, The Margate Bookshop is a few years older than my local and I remember eagerly watching the social media updates as it was lovingly created. This blog mostly focuses on my memory of finally visiting it for the first time, but as you would expect with a town I'm so fond of, I have returned many times since and can confirm the bookshop continues to live up to that first visit.

Located in a pedestrianised square in the Old Town, there's a welcoming buzz from nearby cafes and bars that naturally draws people to the area, and once there the cheery bookshop front cannot be missed.

Immediately in front of the door you come to a short wall of books, and so you turn right into the bookshop, which is best described as bright and snug. Bright because it felt spacious and light, snug because – despite the implications of one of my photos – there really isn't a massive amount of space to walk around in.

 

Those two photos show a significant part of the bookshop, but at no point does it feel too small. Even when we are swapping places with other browsers, the space simply works. This is probably helped by the fact it's got an excellent range of books. I love the nature section, which feels particularly large for a small indie, but it's usually fiction that wins my purchase. Despite its size, this bookshop always offers something completely unexpected that I can't leave without.

For our first visit, I realised I'd read a significant amount of Chrysalis by Anna Metcalfe, so thought I'd better take it home with me (fascinating, readable, disturbing, thought-provoking), while The Boy is a fan of photography so he chose Forever by Saul Leiter (I forgot to ask him for a review before I started writing).

There's been a lot of love thrown around this week but it can't be helped when describing one of my favourite places in Margate. It's been around two months since my last visit. I'm not sure when we'll be returning, but one thing is certain about that next visit: it will include the bookshop, and once again I'll be feeling all the love for this Kent seaside town.

The Margate Bookshop
2 Market Place, Margate, Kent, CT9 1ER