My Get Pushed challenge this week came from Vera who challenged me to take a photograph looking inside or peeking into a restaurant, café, bar or pub.
This was hard for me as I am not at all comfortable with taking pictures of people I don't know. But today a friend and I visited The Grand Hotel in Folkestone and I took some photographs of the interior of the restaurant. We didn't have a table, we didn't even stop to eat. We just wandered in off the street and asked if they would mind my taking some pictures. As we'd been on a dog walk and one of my dogs was with us, and my jeans were covered in pawprints, I expected them to show us the door. To my surprise, the staff could not have been more charming. The piano player in the corner beamed at us, and the waitress smiled too. We will go back there without dog or camera!
A little history:
The Grand is a little over 100 years old and was originally constructed as gentlemen's residential chambers. King Edward VII visited regularly and as so many locals visited The Leas and peered through the windows trying to spot the King, because he and his friends were heavily bearded the glasshouse became known as the Monkey House.
The King stayed at The Grand not only with the Queen but also his mistress Alice Keppel, giving rise to the expression 'monkey business'. His favoured three piece suits are still known as monkey suits in America.
After providing refuge to the Belgian royal family during the great war, and being used as a military hospital, Edward VIII assisted in its resurgence. Robert Morley and Michael Caine made their stage debuts here, and Albert Sandler started the Palm Court Orchestra in the Monkey House. When France fell the building was badly damaged by shelling from the French coast.
In the 1950s both Princess Margaret and Agatha Christie stayed here regularly. In the 1960s the rise in air travel and rent controls combined to make the sale of leases of the apartments the way forward.
With the ending of rent controls and the opening of the Channel Tunnel, the apartments are again being let.
@vera365 Hi Vera, I hope the above is acceptable to you. Having conquered my nerves once in the building, it really was beautiful and no-one seemed to mind us (plus small dog) having a look around. So thanks to you, I had a very interesting morning and met some charming people! Felicity
How brave, that would fill me with dread to walk in there, so pleased you had a warm welcome which is evident in the beaming smile of the waitress. Love the information Felicity, here you always learn something new :)
I feel your discomfort, but you have produced interesting photos, made more so by the history included. I like the way the lighting is well balanced, showing off the interior and giving us a glimpse of outside.
This works so well in combination, and I did like the narrative you wrote with all the background of the hotel and your own experience getting the photos.
What lovely photos and such lovely people. So refreshing to find such a welcome. I'm not brave either but yours definitely paid off and no doubt got them a booking for the future too. A winner all around.
January 22nd, 2018
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