The sea defence diaries 09/03/12 and the carbon footprint

In recent weeks the area outside the square head had undergone extensive excavation unseen since the repair work in the aftermath of the 1953 storm. The older foundations and underpinning have been dug out and replaced with stronger underpinning that has been piled deeper and capped with concrete. Most of the spoil from the digging around the square head has been washed through this week leaving mostly metal and much of the original stone work from the 1953 storm mixed in with the shingle.

It did not take long to fill a bucket with lead, brass, stainless steel and copper. Unfortunately there were very few items or interest, in fact I had collected a pile of scrap. Something that did not bother me because alongside collecting historical items I have also been picking up anything that could be recycled these past few months. Plus I wanted to build up my collection of items ensuring that the efforts to build this collection is leaving a low carbon foot print. This meant using the train as much as possible from Ramsgate to Margate, using recycled containers, using improvised tools and recycling as much as possible.

To date I have recycled 2 large buckets of glass, 1 large bucket of shards for hardcore, 2 large buckets of iron and steel, 1 kilo of stainless steel, 1 kilo of copper, 5 kilo of brass, 8 kilo of lead and something in the region of 20 kilo of coal. I have also disposed of disposable batteries I have found and I have removed hazards to sea birds and other marine life.

Inside the harbour some of the freshly dug deposits of mud and clay are now starting to move in the tide . Today I found a milk bottle that was embossed Felixstow

Diaries Telephone 192 obviously a reminder of the pre war coastal trade that passed through Margate Harbour. Elsewhere in the Harbour there was very little to be found which is now starting to be the trend as the sea defence works are now being concentrated between the Kings Steps and the Clocktower.

Some of today's other finds.

This piece of a Keel appeared off the main sands after a few days of unsettled weather.

A block of stone from the original square head lost as a result of the 1953 and bearing evidence that mortise and tennon joints were used in the construction of the stone pier.

A piece of Terracotta from the demolition of the Hotel Metropole in 1938 with some visible numbers and symbols.