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48-567: The Northern Belle was an American transatlantic ship which ran aground near Thanet , England , on 5 January 1857. No lives on her were lost, thanks to heroic rescue efforts, in blizzard conditions. However, another ship sank, en route to the scene, the Margate lugger Victory which was lost along with her crew. The Belle was constructed in 1853, under the ownership of J. P. Whitney and Co. of New Orleans . Her common routes were New Orleans to Liverpool and Le Havre , carrying wheat on

96-529: A Mary Portas retail town. Large investment and building work is taking place in schools across the island. In addition, the District Council has introduced an empty property initiative and has compulsory purchased empty and derelict buildings with the objective of bringing them back into use. The Thanet Offshore Wind Project , near North Foreland, began operating in September 2010. The project

144-415: A quarter meant one-quarter of a fathom. A cable length , based on the length of a ship's cable, has been variously reckoned as equal to 100 or 120 fathoms. Most modern nautical charts indicate depth in metres. However, the U.S. Hydrographic Office uses feet and fathoms. A nautical chart will always explicitly indicate the units of depth used. To measure the depth of shallow waters, boatmen used

192-435: A sounding line containing fathom points, some marked and others in between, called deeps , unmarked but estimated by the user. Water near the coast and not too deep to be fathomed by a hand sounding line was referred to as in soundings or on soundings . The area offshore beyond the 100 fathom line, too deep to be fathomed by a hand sounding line, was referred to as out of soundings or off soundings . A deep-sea lead ,

240-542: A Holiday Inn (hotel), now open. A large retail and residential development on Ramsgate seafront, known as Royal Sands , started construction in 2011 but was quickly halted. A multimillion-pound art gallery The Turner Contemporary (opened by Tracey Emin in April 2011) in Margate and this has created the opening of many new shops in the Margate old town and visitor numbers have far exceeded expectation. Margate has been chosen as

288-399: A mix of local and national retailers complemented by Northdown Road, Cliftonville, Westgate and Birchington-on-Sea. Westwood at the centre of Thanet has seen much major development in recent years with the building of Westwood Cross shopping centre which is the home of national retailers and several restaurant chains including a Travelodge hotel. Associated development has taken place around

336-612: A piece of the wreck taken from the recently raised hull, which was completely riddled with Teredo worm . A Margate beer shop was named the Northern Belle in 1858. The tragedy inspired several literary works including novels and poetry. Charles Mackay published a poem "Northern Belle – a tribute to the brave", in February 1857. Edwin Arnold wrote "The Wreck of the Northern Belle" with the proceeds to go to representatives of

384-497: A similar way. Thanet has a wide variety of local schools including approximately 41 primary schools such as Drapers Mills, Palm Bay, and Upton. Outstanding secondary schools include Dane Court Grammar, and Chatham and Clarendon Grammar. The community learning within the district is varied and wide, including charitable training organisations such as East Kent ITeC Ltd, and organisations such as Margate Adult Education Centre, Thanet Skills Studio and Thanet Stage School. East Kent College

432-569: Is a provider of further education in Thanet and a Training Provider that works with local businesses to raise the level of education across the region. In 2023, Nelson College London overtook the former Canterbury Christ Church University campus in Broadstairs, offering HND courses in Business and Hospitality Management. Thanet enjoys a maritime climate , being surrounded on three sides by

480-713: Is equal to: In the international yard and pound agreement of 1959 the United States , Australia , Canada , New Zealand , South Africa , and the United Kingdom defined the length of the international yard to be exactly 0.9144 metre . In 1959 United States kept the US survey foot as definition for the fathom. In October 2019, the U.S. National Geodetic Survey and the National Institute of Standards and Technology announced their joint intent to retire

528-585: Is expected to have a total capacity of up to 300 MW which, on average, is sufficient to supply approximately 240,000 homes with green energy. The project will thus make a significant contribution to the government's national and regional renewable energy targets. Thanet Earth is the largest greenhouse development in the UK, covering an area of 91 hectares with 7 greenhouses each the size of 10 football pitches producing cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers all year. Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs each have shopping centres with

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576-507: Is occasionally used: 1 ⁄ 1000 nautical mile or 1 ⁄ 100 cable length . A burial at sea (where the body is weighted to force it to the bottom) requires a minimum of six fathoms of water. This is the origin of the phrase " to deep six" as meaning to discard, or dispose of. The phrase is echoed in Shakespeare's The Tempest , where Ariel tells Ferdinand , " Full fathom five thy father lies". Until early in

624-502: Is usually translated as "fathom". By the Byzantine period , this unit came in two forms: a "simple orguia" ( ἁπλὴ ὀργυιά , haplē orguiá ) roughly equivalent to the old Greek fathom (6 Byzantine feet , c.  1.87   m ) and an "imperial" ( βασιλικὴ , basilikē ) or "geometric orguia" ( γεωμετρικὴ ὀργυιά , geōmetrikē orguiá ) that was one-eighth longer (6 feet and a span , c.  2.10   m). One fathom

672-633: The Illustrated Times of London advertised that they would print five engravings of the tragedy and portraits of the crew the following Saturday. It was reported on 22 January, in a letter to the London Evening Standard , that the ship and cargo were still on the reef, in good condition, and were salvageable. News of the disaster was broadcast world-wide, as far as the Sydney Morning Herald who picked up

720-467: The Belle on 21 November 1857 were unsuccessful despite successfully raising the stern out of the water with the help of four pontoons . One of the chains around the hull broke during the process, aborting the attempt. The masts disappeared from view in early December, and a green buoy marked "Wreck" was put in place 10 fathoms eastward from the stern. In June 1858 Canterbury Town Council, put on display

768-501: The Isle of Thanet , a former island which gradually became connected to the mainland between the 12th and 16th centuries. The district lies on the north-eastern tip of Kent, bordering the City of Canterbury to the west and Dover District to the south. It is predominantly coastal, with north, east and southeast-facing coastlines. The Isle of Thanet is the major part of the district. This

816-696: The Old English fæðm , which is cognate with the Danish word favn (via the Vikings) and means "embracing arms" or "pair of outstretched arms". It is maybe also cognate with the Old High German word "fadum", which has the same meaning and also means "yarn (originally stretching between the outstretched fingertips)". The Ancient Greek measure known as the orguia ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : ὀργυιά , orgyiá , lit .   "outstretched")

864-835: The Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital , known as the QEQM. Extension work which started in 2007 has made the QEQM a major hospital site. As of July 2010, overall indicators of health were poor for Thanet: Local newspapers are the Thanet Extra , part of the KM Group ; Isle of Thanet Gazette and Thanet Times (merged with Adscene, October 2009), (the Thanet Times was withdrawn in October 2012) all owned by Northcliffe Media ; and

912-529: The Victory crew. 51°23′40″N 1°25′40″E  /  51.39444°N 1.42778°E  / 51.39444; 1.42778 Thanet District Thanet / ˈ θ æ n ɪ t / is a local government district in Kent , England. The council is based in Margate and the district also contains the towns of Broadstairs , Ramsgate and Westgate-on-Sea , along with several villages. It takes its name from

960-424: The 20th century, it was the unit used to measure the depth of mines (mineral extraction) in the United Kingdom . Miners also use it as a unit of area equal to 6 feet square (3.34 m ) in the plane of a vein. In Britain, it can mean the quantity of wood in a pile of any length measuring 6 feet (1.8 m) square in cross section. In Central Europe , the klafter was the corresponding unit of comparable length, as

1008-649: The English-speaking world but, apart from within the US, charts now use metres. There are two yards (6 feet ) in an imperial fathom. Originally the span of a man's outstretched arms , the size of a fathom has varied slightly depending on whether it was defined as a thousandth of an (Admiralty) nautical mile or as a multiple of the imperial yard . Formerly, the term was used for any of several units of length varying around 5– 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 feet (1.5–1.7 m). The term (pronounced / ˈ f æ ð ə m / ) derives (via Middle English fathme ) from

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1056-650: The South East of England as a whole, and as a result a great deal of planning is being done to encourage more businesses to relocate to the District. The Thanet & East Kent Chamber produces a weekly business digest, the Thanet & East Kent Insider, which reports on economic activity in the private and public sectors. New projects underway include: A new community centre for Broadstairs. Redevelopment and renovations are to be undertaken at Margate's Dreamland (a Heritage Amusement Park); Cliftonville (Lido site); and

1104-487: The U.S. president Franklin Pierce had 21 silver medals struck and issued an award of £270 sterling for sharing amongst the rescuers, £10–£30 per man. The London Morning Chronicle of 9 October 1857 reported that the wreck was to be raised, and that chains had been fitted with a view of floating her with the aid of buoys at the next spring tides . Some Whitstable people had bought the hull for £260. Attempts to raise

1152-575: The U.S. survey foot, with effect from the end of 2022. The fathom in U.S. Customary units is thereafter defined based on the International 1959 foot, giving the length of the fathom as exactly 1.8288 metres in the United States as well. The British Admiralty defined a fathom to be a thousandth of an imperial nautical mile (which was 6080 ft) or 6.08 feet (1.85 m). In practice the "warship fathom" of exactly 6 feet (1.8 m)

1200-670: The UK's first true high-speed commuter service, according to the South Eastern Railway Company. Main road links are the A28 which brings traffic from Canterbury and Ashford; and the A299 , north coast route. The Saxon Shore Way Long distance footpath skirts the coast. There is an airport, now closed, at Manston , formerly RAF Manston , but later renamed by its commercial operators as Kent International Airport . The airport closed permanently on 15 May 2014. Because it

1248-445: The coffee house. The Times reported on 5 March that the vessel was a shipping hazard and all her cargo had been salvaged except forty to fifty logs of mahogany . It was thought that only two barrels of dynamite would be required to destroy the wreck. The Liverpool Echo pointed out on 9 March 1857 that the wreck in foggy weather was an obstacle to navigation, "A few days ago a ship had a narrow escape by striking it." In April 1857,

1296-496: The council since 1974 has been as follows: The leaders of the council since 1999 have been: The current composition of Thanet District Council's Cabinet is as follows: Following the 2023 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in February 2024, the composition of the council was: The independent councillor and the Greens sit together as the "Green and Independent Group". The next elections are due in 2027. Since

1344-403: The district is also covered by civil parishes , which form a third tier of local government. The council has been under Labour majority control since the 2023 Thanet District Council election . The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of

1392-474: The heaviest of sounding leads, was used in water exceeding 100 fathoms in depth. This technique has been superseded by sonic depth finders for measuring mechanically the depth of water beneath a ship, one version of which is the Fathometer (trademark). The record made by such a device is a fathogram . A fathom line or fathom curve , a usually sinuous line on a nautical chart, joins all points having

1440-499: The last boundary changes in 2003 the council has comprised 56 councillors representing 23 wards , with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The district straddles two constituencies, one of which extends beyond the district boundary to include parts of neighbouring districts: The council is based at the Council Offices on Cecil Street in the centre of Margate. The building

1488-562: The main and mizzen masts were cut away by the crew at 6.30am. The Margate lugger Victory , along with the Ocean , and the Eclipse attempted a rescue and possible salvage. The Victory was lost along with her crew at 11.30 am. The storm raged all day and local lifeboats were not able to launch. The Belle parted from her anchors at midnight, and was driven onto the rocks beneath nearby cliffs, at Foreness Point . The crew lashed themselves to

Northern Belle - Misplaced Pages Continue

1536-409: The middle, was used to take fish from a larger seine . A line attached to a whaling harpoon was about 150 fathoms (900 ft; 270 m). A forerunner — a piece of cloth tied on a ship's log line some fathoms from the outboard end — marked the limit of drift line. A kite was a drag, towed under water at any depth up to about 40 fathoms (240 ft; 73 m), which upon striking bottom,

1584-602: The midweek Your Thanet published online by KOS Media . The county-wide newspaper Kent on Saturday also serves the district. Local radio stations are; National TV stations carry regional news: The ITV1 service is provided currently by Meridian Broadcasting ; and the BBC South East Today . Thanet also has a local online radio and podcasting service currently operating online only known as 'Thanet Community Radio' (TCR). The station works closely with Dover -based 'Dover Community Radio' (DCR) which operates in

1632-677: The one remaining mast and were spotted from the beach at dawn. Two lifeboats, the Mary White and the Culmer White , made three trips to rescue them. The lifeboats and crew were from Broadstairs and Margate. The Mary White had to be hauled and dragged two miles over fields of snow to bring it to a place from which it could be launched. Captain Tate and his crew from the Northern Belle were all saved. On 15 January 1857 (Thursday)

1680-410: The outbound run. A barque of 1,150 tons burden with a crew of 23, she was on a voyage from New York to London, with a cargo of wheat, flour, and linseed cake , when as a result of an unusually heavy gale had to put into Kingsgate, Kent . She anchored 3/4 of a mile from the shore, however by 6 am she was riding heavily, the sea occasionally breaking completely over her. The storm was so ferocious that

1728-587: The same depth of water, thereby indicating the contour of the ocean floor. Some extensive flat areas of the sea bottom with constant depth are known by their fathom number, like the Broad Fourteens or the Long Forties , both in the North Sea . The components of a commercial fisherman's setline were measured in fathoms. The rope called a groundline , used to form the main line of a setline,

1776-419: The sea. This generally results in mild winters and warm, dry summers. Fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to 6 feet (1.8288 m), used especially for measuring the depth of water . The fathom is neither an international standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally accepted non-SI unit. Historically it was the maritime measure of depth in

1824-802: The shopping centre spawning other retail parks. National retailer Primark opened a new superstore in October 2012, the largest Primark store in Kent. The rail connections are via the Chatham Main Line through Margate to Ramsgate, and the Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line . New high-speed rail links from London to Thanet began in December 2009, and it is now possible to travel from Margate to St Pancras railway station at an average speed of 96 kmh (around 60 mph); maximum speed of 225 km/h (around 140 mph). This will form part of

1872-665: The story from the New York Times . A benefit by "gentlemen amateurs" was held at the St James's Theatre , in London, on 7 February. On 23 February 1857 3,340 barrels of damaged American flour, part of the cargo, was auctioned off at the New Corn Exchange Coffee House, Mark Lane, London . On 2 March, another 450 barrels of damaged American flour and 20 barrels of damaged linseed cake was auctioned at

1920-460: The ten years since the previous census. The whole district suffers from seasonal unemployment, in spite of its proximity to London, because of various factors, among them being inward migration, high numbers of old people, and low numbers of affluent people. It is not helped by poor overall indicators for health. In a study of resilience to economic downturns, Thanet was poorly rated at 295th out of 324 districts. Unemployment levels are nearly twice

1968-421: The title "town council". The two parishes of Sarre and St Nicholas-at-Wade share a grouped parish council. The town of Margate comprises an unparished area . The Thanet councillors representing the wards covering Margate act as charter trustees , choosing one of their number to be the mayor of Margate each year. According to the 2011 census, the population of Thanet was 134,186, an increase of about 6000 in

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2016-481: Was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 covering the whole area of three former districts and part of a fourth, which were all abolished at the same time: The new district was named Thanet, after the isle which covered approximately the same area. Thanet District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Kent County Council . Much of

2064-472: Was formerly an island separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel . The channel gradually closed between the 12th and 16th centuries through a combination of natural silting and artificial land reclamation . An Isle of Thanet Rural District covering the rural parts of the isle had existed from 1894 until it was abolished in 1935 to form part of Eastry Rural District . The modern district

2112-502: Was originally designed in the early 1970s to be a new headquarters for Margate Borough Council, but by the time the building was finished in 1974 that council had been abolished and absorbed into the larger Thanet District Council. The building was formally opened on 9 April 1975. The district contains 11 civil parishes , covering most of the area. The parish councils for Broadstairs and St Peter's, Ramsgate, and Westgate-on-Sea have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take

2160-462: Was upset and rose to the surface. A shot , one of the forged lengths of chain joined by shackles to form an anchor cable, was usually 15 fathoms (90 ft; 27 m). A shackle , a length of cable or chain equal to 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 fathoms (75 ft; 22.9 m). In 1949, the British navy redefined the shackle to be 15 fathoms (90 ft; 27 m). The Finnish fathom ( syli )

2208-594: Was used as a U.S. airbase during the Second World War it has one of the longest runways in the UK, and while open it was designated by the United Nations as an emergency landing site for aircraft in trouble. Ferry services are no longer running from the Port of Ramsgate, and the council is currently in dispute with the former operators over the payment of £3.3 million Thanet has a large hospital:

2256-603: Was used in Britain and the United States. No conflict between the definitions existed in practice, since depths on imperial nautical charts were indicated in feet if less than 30 feet (9.1 m) and in fathoms for depths greater than that. Until the 19th century in England, the length of the fathom was more variable: from 5 + 1 ⁄ 2  feet on merchant vessels to either 5 or 7 feet (1.5 or 2.1 m) on fishing vessels (from 1.7 to 1.5 or 2.1 m). At one time,

2304-474: Was usually provided in bundles of 300 fathoms. A single 50-fathom (300 ft; 91 m) skein of this rope was referred to as a line . Especially in Pacific coast fisheries the setline was composed of units called skates , each consisting of several hundred fathoms of groundline, with gangions and hooks attached. A tuck seine or tuck net about 70 fathoms (420 ft; 130 m) long, and very deep in

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