A short holiday in Margate

Travelling by train is energy efficient. 

My beloved and I recently came back from a few days holiday in Margate. I was yearning for a few days by the sea – this is a good way to have a reasonably sustainable holiday without air travel. On this occasion we travelled by train. It is easy for us: Cambridge to Kings Cross then St. Pancras to Margate. We carry our minimal luggage in back-packs. 

We stayed at the Premier Inn which is just next door to the railway station so easily walkable even with luggage. I cannot find anything on the Premier Inn website about sustainability other than pledging to reduce water consumption by 20% per guest by 2030. Reducing water use is good, and often saves water heating energy too, though the flow restrictors on taps can be annoying – it took rather longer to fill the kettle than at home. The same applied to the bath which turned out to be a very good thing as I had trouble with the plumbing and had to ring for help to get the bath taps to turn off! If not for the low flow taps we might have had a flood. The shower was fine. I don’t need a monsoon to get washed properly. A/C can be a major energy hog too but in this place there was none. The weather was not very warm anyway. 

Low flow taps rarely save water. 

The annoying thing about the low flow taps solution for water saving is that quite a lot of time it makes no difference to the amount of water you use, only the time it takes to get it out of the tap. Filling the bath takes an amount of water depending on the shape and size of the bath and how deep you want it. A bigger bath or low flow taps means it takes longer to fill. The amount of water you need to put in the kettle depends on the number of cups of tea/coffee you are making. Again, low flow taps means you take longer to get the required amount of water.

In many hotels the kitchens are a major hot-spot for GHG emissions. I have no idea about this particular hotel but I do know from other research I have done that boiling water can be a major hot spot for energy use. For example, steaming eggs is usually more energy efficient than boiling because you only need to heat a small amount of water – enough to generate steam for the required amount of cooking time. (This reminds me I now have an egg steamer at home and I should measure how much energy it uses.) Also, I gather many hotels and restaurants keep a pot of water boiling all the time for things like coddled eggs. This saves time for the staff and customers because you don’t have to heat the water from ambient temperature for each order but it wastes energy because you lose steam constantly. 

The beaches were remarkably clean.

There was very little litter on the beach, possibly because the weather did not encourage al fresco eating but maybe not. There were plenty of tidying opportunities by putting recyclable things into bins and there was plenty of messaging advising us to do so. Sometimes the messaging looked like graffiti. I liked this busy bee, set into a cliff face (presumably blocking up the entrance to a cave or tunnel.)

 

This thing that looks like a bathing machine is actually a sauna, possibly recycled from a horse box. Out of picture on the right there is a sign that says ‘Welcome to your community sauna. Volunteer powered, Wood Fuelled and Free to Use.’ Next time we go there I think I will take my swimming costume – whatever the weather. 

Bathing machine = sauna.

There was also a tidal pool nearby which you could use for cooling off. There were several of these along the coast. We even saw people swimming in them although the air temperature was only 11-15°C. I dread to think what the sea temperature was like.

One more energy-related thing – wherever we walked on the coast path we could see wind turbines on the horizon. My pictures were not good enough to show you but the turbines were definitely there and turning.. Turbines are easy to see on the coast because there are no buildings floating in the water cutting off the view. (Next time I buy binoculars I will see if I can find an adapter for taking a photo. Or possibly a tripod so I can hold the binoculars steady and take the photo by hand. The turbine blades were always turning. The North Sea is a very good source of clean power. Thank goodness the current government is including them in their growth plans. 

Finally, I was very taken with this hat (or whatever it is). This was exhibited in the Turner Contemporary museum and I think it was part of a competition for young people, possibly making use of found objects. There is a sign that suggests the age category was 11-15 years. Perhaps a budding fashion designer?

If ever you are in the area I also recommend a visit to the Shell Grotto and to the Margate Caves. 

Shell grotto

Margate Caves.