How to Move to Margate

Everything you need to know from us two who did it…. 

And worked it out as we went along and there will be things I miss so expect a part two…

The Harbour at Sunset

So, you came down for the bank holiday weekend and you loved in the sunsets. You tripped off the Javelin train and rushed to the T.S. Eliot toilets in the station. You successfully had small talk with someone in an independent shop. You weren’t scared of ruining your shoes by going on the beach. 

You’re ready…ish (?) 

Here are some things I wish I’d known to expect when moving here 

Be realistic about how much of a change this is going to be 

Moving anyway is always a change. We moved about 500 metres down the road once and it was like being in another world. No matter how long you’ve been where you are now, there’s lots of things you naturally take for granted, like where your local shops are, how long it takes to get to work, what day you need to take the bins out, even moving within London those things are going to change, so leaving London and coming down here it’s totally different. And maybe that’s what you want, you want a big change and that’s brilliant but be kind to yourself around the change, don’t expect yourself to be sorted and accliminatised as soon as you’re unpacked it will take time to get used to it. 

I still remind myself with a mix of wonder and shock that we did it, we moved down here. It’s been eight months now and we feel pretty settled but still getting used to a lot. It takes time!

Our Tony

Shed your Londoner attitude 

I have literally hundreds of examples of this, but I’ll try to keep it short. People are different out here. People will say hello to you on the street if they recognise you, they will ask how you are and they will expect you to ask back. People who serve you in shops will be chatty. If you prefer to live your life as a grumpy miserable stress-addled Londoner who doesn’t want to open up and would rather walk around looking miserable all the time in pristine designer clothes and shoes without a grain of sand on them, maybe Margate’s not for you, Hun. As relatively newly made locals we can tell Londoners from a mile off and cringe with embarrassment worrying about whether we acted the same.

A few pointers: 

There’s plenty of space on the beach, or on the pavement or wherever you are, you don’t need to shove past anyone, you don’t need to get up in anyone’s face, or get right up behind people because they’re “walking too slow”. You’re walking too fast. If you need to get past someone a polite “excuse me” is just very basic manners.

If you want a take out coffee, the café will not be able to make your beverage at the same speed as a busy Central London Starbucks. The barista might chat, might have other customers to serve, might be nursing a hangover. Be patient, chat with them if they’re chatty, chill out and don’t stress, what are you in such a rush for anyway?

Just a note to add to that: oat milk has very much made it out here to the ends of the earth, so don’t worry about being able to get it in yer flat white. We’ve got oat milk, don’t make it a thing. 

Rental properties won’t come with fridges or washing machines 

Simple and quick one, every listing we looked at had two very large spaces in the kitchen for tenants to bring their own fridges and washing machines. We did not own those things having rented in London for over a decade, so we had to buy them pretty quickly after moving in.

Use a Thanet based moving company instead of a London based one. 

It will work out cheaper to have a company local to Margate to drive down and bring the stuff back than the other way around. You’ll probably get a better standard of service as well as businesses outside of London tend to have more time to dedicate to each customer, they’re more often independent or family business as well, which I always prefer to support. We used Heads Removals and they were brilliant. 

Layers and puffa jackets will become your best friends in the Winter months.

Become an expert in layering, insulated raincoats, and strong umbrellas 

Another way we can spot Londoners from a mile off: someone a small jacket with no insulation and no scarf or hat on a windy day in March… you need layers as the weather changes all day long. You need a raincoat with a hood as well. Sometimes when it’s raining the wind is too strong it will destroy your umbrella, so just know that you’ll have to protect yourself from rain and wind at the same time. I got all my gear from Regatta and it’s served me very well so far. As the Germans say, there is no bad weather only bad clothing.  

If you have time, come for a working trip to try out ‘normal life’  

A working trip was a plan I had had, which we ended up not having the time to do, as our move was hurried along quite significantly by our Landlord selling our flat. The idea is to get an Airbnb for a week, but work for part of that (if you work from home, naturally) you’ll then be able to spend the time getting used to day to day life here after work, instead of just coming here on holiday where everything’s a bit more rose tinted from being off work and (usually) the sun shining. You could even practise the commute into London for a day if that’s what you’ll be doing regularly, it’s a good idea to get a sense of what that’s like first hand. I do it once a week and for me that’s more than enough. It’s a long day and doing it more than once would absolutely exhaust me. I am a sensitive soul who is pushing 40 though, you might be younger and more up for it.  

Seriously committed folks could do this in the middle of Winter to see what the reality of living here in Winter is really like. It’s very dramatic, windy and also blissfully quiet. We got through it okay this year as our first one, but I could see that it might not be for everyone.

You’ll need to come down for day trips to do property viewings anyway, so use these days as opportunities to get to know the town, try different cafes, walk around new areas and see how you feel.

Tracey Emin’s artwork will wave you off from St Pancras on your way to her homeland

Talking of trains! Look into trains and get well acquainted with the timetables 

Make sure you get to know your St Pancras trains from your Victoria ones, your High Speed Javelin trains from your stopping services. Because of where we sit on the train network, there are a few routes into London. The two I know are on the High Speed Javelin trains: one going down and around to Canterbury and then picking up the High Speed 1 line around Ashford to St Pancras, the other goes in the other direction across to Whitstable, Rochester and Gravesend before joining the same stretch under the Thames at Dartford to come into St Pancras. These trains are expensive, but they are relatively reliable and quicker than the longer trains that will get you into Victoria.

Getting the train in the morning is pretty easy as it will usually start at Margate, getting it on the way back from St Pancras means having to turn up at least 15 mins before the train leaves to get a good seat. During peak commuter times it can get a bit huffy. The line from St Pancras to Ashford and Canterbury is very popular with commuters but generally after Canterbury it’s a pretty quiet train.  

The Weather

I’m sure you know that the weather in London is changeable at best. Rains can come along one day, the next day sun. Often I see people dressing for the weather we had yesterday assuming consistency when in fact they’ve ended up coming out in shorts and t-shirt into a rainstorm or with a heavy raincoat into glorious summery sun. Weather in Margate is an advanced level of weather compared to London. If London Weather is GCSE, Margate weather is A Level, if not first year of the undergraduate degree.

You can never be sure what weather will blast through on any given day and it changes through out the day to wild extremes. We have weather fronts that come across the country from the Atlantic in the west, coming over London and then fizzling out over us, we also have storms from the North Sea making landfall here as we’re the first knuckle of land sticking out at the top of Kent. The wind will blast in from the sea and make incredibly spectacular waves, it will also make rain run horizontally directly at you, and exfoliate your face with salt water and sand like you’ve been to a fancy spa. 

As mentioned already, layering, rainproof coats, thick insulated puffa coats that are more akin to sleeping bags, all of these will help. I wrote a whole article about my love for my puffa coat here. 

To quote Scar, the true hero of The Lion King, BE PREPARED 

Very happy to be here!

In Conclusion

The move down here is a big one. It’s a huge change to your day to day life with knock on effects on so many aspects of your life. Don’t take it on lightly. We were pushed to do the move earlier than we had planned and we knew right away it was the right choice. Yes, it has taken a long time to get used to things, we’re still settling, but it has worked for us because we knew Margate well before moving. We knew we’d fit in here.

You can plan and plan as much as you like, but like everything in life, the unexpected will knock at your door and bring you the gift of chaos, with a side order of unexpected joy.

So trust yer gut, if you’ve been here enough to know the town and you feel you’ll be happy here and you want a big change and a bit adventure, just go for it!

At the brilliant Bus Café for brunch

Get in touch and let me know if you’re moving down! I would love to hear from you: hello@edgarveylong.com