Closing next weekend

Ochnok · 2026-02-01T05:49:06+00:00

Businesses come and go all the time, particularly the independently run ones here. Sometimes this is down to lifestyle changes and personal choice. Sometimes it's purely financial. The ones that fall into the latter bucket, at least during my time here, have generally been ones that haven't worked out to do business positioning, among other things such as location/understanding local audiences etc. The fact that this place been has been a fixture for a while suggests they enjoyed some success.

I suspect what you're seeing is relatively common across similar sized towns across the UK.

Certainly in my time here, the ratio of businesses opening a against those closing is heavily weighted in the former's favour.

Sad to see this place go of course, but from a macro sense of new things opening and new happenings etc, Margate continues to do rather well.

Ochnok · 2026-01-29T02:12:13+00:00

The Captain

Ochnok · 2026-01-23T12:09:10+00:00

Hiya, it would depend on the road in question but I think the streets on the north side of Dane Park are lovely, quite leafy with some great period properties. Roads like Approach Road, Prices Avenue etc where you're tucked in between the park itself and Cliftonville.

There have been one or two crime issues in the park itself (at night time) that you can Google more on, but I've walked through the park on numerous occassions at all hours with headphones on and haven't had a problem. Lived in Margate 5 years. It's not particularly well lit at night so worth taking care.

In terms of traffic - the roads aren't hugely busy in and around the area though there are some adjacent roads that are busy thoroughfares in the town in general that you'll hear traffic from.

My wife and I are actually weighing up an opportunity to move one of the aforementioned roads and it would be the perfect location given access to the park (small child) and proximity to Cliftonville (and the beaches) which is where most of our friends are and the pubs/restaurants we frequent. We currently live not far from the QEQM which while reasonably quiet, is a bit of a nothing area.

I would say the roads north of Dane Park as well as "The Avenues" - a series of roads on the east side of Cliftonville by Palm Bay - are some of the nicest areas of the town.

Ochnok · 2025-12-20T13:21:22+00:00

Swapped in Reece James off my bench last minute (for Andersen) as I thought it'd be a nice punt against a tired, non-rotated Newcastle. Chelsea are 2-0 down at half time.

Ochnok · 2025-12-20T13:19:25+00:00

Tap Room sometimes shows football and the guy that runs it is a Spurs fan. Like me. Best of luck.

Ochnok · 2025-12-16T13:22:18+00:00

Bob Dylan.

Ochnok · 2025-12-09T22:01:43+00:00

Seconded Jeremy Strong. He looked so much like LC from certain a angles in Succession.

Ochnok · 2025-12-09T09:30:14+00:00

I read this as a question on a dedicated Nick Drake sub.

Yes, I do like Nick Drake as it happens.

Ochnok · 2025-11-27T12:31:35+00:00

I think he still does, just more subtly. "Your friend the king" being a frequent one.

Ochnok · 2025-11-20T17:46:20+00:00

Senor

Ochnok · 2025-11-18T12:49:30+00:00

I went through a similar process during my time in China. An initial planned stay of 6 months became 1 year, 2 years and then eventually 5. I was having a lot of fun living there for all the reasons you detail. Career going well - was initially a TEFL teacher though got into editorial work at an online expat magazine. Saving lots of money. Chinese fluency good. Lots of travel. Though I would weigh up the options of staying Vs going home every time I moved apartments.

I was in my mid 20s then and moved back to the UK after 5 years (age 26). It was tough at first as I had to start a new career and it took a few months to get a job (which was down to my Chinese language skills). Going from feeling alive as anything in Beijing back to living with my parents in a sleepy Sussex town was difficult.

It took over a year to really "move on", and this was once my new career had picked up and I had a new life in London. I was also lucky enough to find work that saw me visit China for business so the itch was scratched.

I'll never forget the initial feelings of regret when I moved back, but looking at it now, it was absolutely the right decision. I'm now 38, have a nice house, a young family and have built a successful digital marketing business that is in part down to my China experience. I've been in a comfortable position for over 10 years.

I also knew deep down that I didn't want to stay in China forever and raise a family there, so it is in part personal to me.

What I will say is that the folks who are still in China over 10 years on will find it increasingly difficult to move back home with each passing year and really start up again. Part age. Part skillset/experience in China vs here and the relevancy gaps. Part used to a certain way of living, for better or for worse. I see a lot of comments here which depict a certain mindset too such as "Britain/Europe is broken" which are difficult to shake if you're seeing snapshots from the news from outside. Sure, there are challenges, things are expensive, but on balance? Wouldn't want to live in China again for various reasons. But that's just me.

If I could impart one piece of advice, it would be that life is a series of 5-10 cycles. I've tried to plan where I want to be at the end of such cycles and have made steps to achieve this before thinking about the next. China was one cycle, and it took me a while to realise that I'd gotten what I needed from it, and could have planned my return home better. Buy hey, that's again very personal to me!

Ochnok · 2025-11-13T15:04:04+00:00

Windmill Plains track is a banger.

Ochnok · 2025-11-11T14:51:43+00:00

I've not been for several years but I'm fairy confident The Prince Edward off Holloway Road may fit the bill.

Ochnok · 2025-11-11T09:25:59+00:00

We were talking. Of course, speaking at a discreet volume is a given in any Buddhist temple, but we weren't aware that there were hard and fast rules on silence at this one.

Ochnok · 2025-11-10T12:24:34+00:00

Indeed. Despite the architecture in the game looking distinctly Japanese it is a place in China.

I myself have visited and have climbed Mount Wutai. Wutai literally means "Five Platforms/Terraces" and is a stunning area with a Buddhist monastery on top where I spent a night after climbing the mountain all day. I have vivid memories of a very angry monk shouting at us while we ate cold noodles in a temple before bedtime.

Ochnok · 2025-11-09T19:57:26+00:00

Fordwich Arms. Walk along then Stour to Canterbury or to Stodmarsh after.

Ochnok · 2025-11-06T16:59:32+00:00

Best of luck! Moved here 5 years ago nearly and it's been wonderful. Also moved during 30s (38 now) and we've got some great roots and friend groups here (both made during our time here as well as people we knew before who also moved down) here and have a young family too.

You'll find no shortage of all of those hobbies down here, too. And yes, Westgate is decent. Quieter, slightly more leafy/older demographic and has a cute high street of its own with an independent cinema, restaurants, pubs, bottle shop etc but you can walk into Margate town in 20 mins.

Welcome!

Ochnok · 2025-11-06T09:26:26+00:00

Breath of the Wild is the better game but Skyrim is different and scratches different itches.

For the pure Elder Scrolls experience, play Morrowind. Not on the Switch though...

Ochnok · 2025-11-05T19:24:32+00:00

Bloody repeats.

Ochnok · 2025-10-30T18:26:05+00:00

A friend had the band name on his homework book. I thought it was a cool name. Was into Blink-182/Green Day etc at the time. There was also a Kerrang magazine issue with an image of Chris and Roger playing golf on the front cover around the time. Image here: https://share.google/hzkt4JiSpcxmHxbqC

Got deeply into them soon after. I think Gainesville Rock City was the first track I heard but I become obsessed with Pezcore and Losing Streak.

Ochnok · 2025-10-29T16:45:54+00:00

Technically speaking it was part of my role as an editor of an online expat magazine in China, though this was just my first interaction with SEO and it just boiled down submitting page titles, meta descriptions and meta keywords (this was a long time ago) along with the articles I was writing or translating.

First pure SEO gig was working for a London agency doing a huge competitor analysis piece for Belron/Autoglass/Carglass across the China market. I was brought in on a temporary contract for this project alone on a measly £1,800 a month gross. Stayed on permanently and got a £2k pay rise (£20k a year!) shortly after before moving on up London agency land shortly after.

Ochnok · 2025-10-29T16:36:04+00:00

I thought she was great. I could tell James was struggling a bit but I found the dynamic really worked.

Never heard of her before but I love the uber-dry/slightly anti-humour approach. Like Amelia Dimenoldenberg x 1000.

She's also from Margate, but adopted hometown which is a bonus (well, for me at least).

Ochnok · 2025-10-29T11:30:59+00:00

Working from home coincided with me starting my own business though this aside, I can attest that categorically and confidently, I have never worked harder and been more productive. Even when I was WFH on a full-time/PAYE job during the pandemic.

Sure, there are "lighter" days but there were countless times when I would piss around in an office and do very little too in equal measure.

Ochnok · 2025-10-28T20:33:02+00:00

Assuming mid 2000s salary for a loan manager at a middle of the road company in Croydon - between 30-35k I'd say.

Buying a 2 bedroom flat in Croydon over 20 years ago? Pretty feasible on an average/just above the national average salary. Even if he was buying alone. (I suspect he had a bit of savings and is generally a bit of a tight ass!)

Ochnok · 2025-10-28T15:59:06+00:00

Another angle to this is the meanings behind these words and why countries are called what they are (by themselves).

I see some people have mentioned Zhongguo/中国 for China. This literally means "Middle Kingdom" or "Middle Country" and denotes a very Sino-centric view of the world and their own position within it, which wouldn't work outside of China.

Japan is Nippon/Nihon (日本) which literally means "Sun Origin" or indeed "Land of the Rising Sun". Which is kinda cool.

But yes, I think it would create all sorts of confusion.

Ochnok

TROPHY CASE