Writers put forward UK towns as candidates for town-of-culture honours

The Guardian published a round-up of nominations for a UK town-of-culture title, with writers putting forward towns and villages from Ramsgate and Folkestone to Portobello, Falmouth, Abergavenny, Letchmore Heath and Halifax. Ramsgate is praised for a long artistic pedigree, from Van Gogh, Turner and Pugin to local museums, a new music venue and a boost after a 2008 high-speed rail link; the piece notes local Georgian Jewish architecture and the harbourside Home for Smack Boys.

Letchmore Heath is recalled as the filming location for the 1960 film Village of the Damned and for George Harrison’s later purchase and donation of Piggott’s Manor, renamed Bhaktivedanta Manor, which now includes a George Harrison Garden. Falmouth is suggested as an alternative Cornish cultural hub to St Ives, with links to painter Henry Scott Tuke, the long-running polytechnic society, festivals for sea shanties and indie music and the Cornish Bank venue that opened in 2020.

Abergavenny’s nomination highlights a 15th-century wooden Jesse, a secret 17th-century Catholic chapel, local festivals and organisations such as Peak Cymru, Book-ish and the Abergavenny writing and arts festivals. Folkestone is described as the country’s largest open-air art gallery, with 91 artworks and commissions including works by Yoko Ono and Christian Boltanski, plus Creative Folkestone’s purchase of many town-centre buildings to provide creative spaces and a busy programme of festivals and grassroots music nights.

Key Topics

Culture, Ramsgate, Falmouth, Folkestone, Portobello, Abergavenny