New nostalgia book focuses on how we used to make a living in Thanet

September 10, 2025 Kathy Bailes News 9

Machinists at work at Westgate based John Fairdale Ltd c1964. Photo – © Thanet District Council SEAS Heritage Collection.

A new nostalgia book looking at the working lives of Thanet people in years past will be unveiled at the East Kent Ploughing Match on Wednesday 24 September.

All In A Day’s Work – How Thanet Made A Living is the latest in the series of nostalgia books to be written by Nick Evans – his 12th volume in the past five years. Copies will go on sale for the first time at the event which is being held at Quex Park, Birchington, before appearing in local shops a few days later.  Nick’s stand will be close to the main craft tent.

– Testing newly made model railway engines at Hornby’s Westwood factory in 1977. Photo – Hornby Hobbies

The 112 page book is packed with stories and photos of businesses long gone and the jobs that people carried out in the days before computers, mobiles, internet and AI.   The book contains nearly 150 photos and features of working lives at Volkswagen, Rediffusion, Klingers, Nelbarden, Invicta Airways/Air Ferry, Vye’s grocers and Westons’ Dairies, among several others. The book is priced at £13.50.

Making humbugs at Rowlands’ Harbour Street shop in Ramsgate in 1961. Customers could watch the confections being pulled, twisted and cut to size.

In common with other books in the series, Nick’s latest title includes many photographs which have been lost to the public view for more than 50 years.  Along with photos from his family’s collection, Nick has sourced images from Thanet District Council’s SEAS Heritage collection, originally taken by Cliftonville based Sunbeam Photography.

Rediffusion Relay – Relay House, set on the junction of Westwood, Broadstairs, was the headquarters of Rediffusion from 1934 until demolition in 1992. The building is seen here in the mid 1950s.

Nick said: “In the years following the Second World War the government determined that Thanet should become a development area to attract new businesses and create jobs.  This saw companies move to Thanet to build factories and also encouraged existing enterprises to expand.  These steady jobs brought a year round alternative to seasonal roles reliant on the summer holiday trade.

Complete Beetle bodyshells in Volkswagen’s warehouse at Manston Road, Ramsgate in 1964. Photo – © Thanet District Council SEAS Heritage Collection

“The work scene has changed enormously during the past 40 years of course and a lot of Britain’s – and Thanet’s – manufacturing has either moved overseas or vanished altogether thanks to technology and lower labour costs.

Milkmen from Westons’ Dairy form a flotilla of barrows and floats for a photo during the 1930s in the back yard of the company’s premises in Addington Street, Margate. Photo – Richard Terry.

“My book includes the stories of some pioneering operations – Rediffusion invented cable radio and, later, TV while Vye’s was among the first grocers to introduce self-service and free home delivery during the 1950s and early 1960s.

“I hope people will really enjoy reading this nostalgic look back at how we used to work.”

All In A Day’s Work – How Thanet Made A Living will soon be on sale at Westgate Galleria in Westgate, No3 Cards & Gifts, Broadstairs, Ramsgate Tunnels gift shop, Ramsgate, and Festival Framing, Minnis Bay.  Produced by Bygone Publishing, the price of a copy is £13.50.

9 Comments

  1. Really interesting. Compare this to present day where over 40% of working age Thanet residents are on benefits. The days of widespread employment are well and truly over.

    • That’s a sweeping statement saying that 40% of working age people in Thanet are on benefits .
      Absolute rubbish ! I’d like to know where you got those figures as they said made up by you ?

        • I am afraid your claims are not proved by the evidence you have given.
          Like fishermen hoping for the herring or cod to return you set your faces against change.
          Take Hornby,the product they produced in the 1960’s, is far below the standard of even the basic play trainsets produced in China,the highest spec models include sound,smoke etc,and made to almost museum specifications.Even if Hornby returned production to the UK, it would take, time and a lot of money.Money that Hornby doesn’t have.
          The generations coming behind the boomers do not value things, they value the online world and experiences.
          Yes, we can return some production to the UK and we have the possibility of increasing manufacturing for the renewables sector, and for devices that reduce climate change, but as so many of you regard that as a hoax, that possibility is reducing.
          It sometimes nice reminisce but we need to move on invest in the future not the past.

        • You do realise that due to companies paying so poorly many people in full time and part time work claim benefits to enable them to live? Just think how much could be saved by taxpayers if companies actually decent wages, rather than expecting to be subsidised by them.

  2. Looking forward to it’s publication. Thanet council should be encouraging new and existing businesses to relocate to the district. I mean “real” businesses that produce things people use. Development zones with reduced or no business rates for a number of years. Relaxed planning rules to encourage construction of large factories. Just a thought.

  3. In Thanet, 5.6% of people aged 16-64 claimed unemployment-related benefits in March 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Data from December 2024 indicates that 36.7% of Universal Credit claimants in Kent (which includes Thanet)

  4. Looking forward to this. The former Westgate clothes factory incidentally, later made furniture, but was demolished within the last couple of years. It was replaced by housing (what else in Thanet?!).

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