​IN BITTER temperatures and biting winds a collection of Sea Scouts and Ramsgate residents banded together with  deputy mayor Ralph Hoult last Friday  to mark an important 175th anniversary.

In 1821 Ramsgate’s port became England’s only royal harbour after being granted the title by King George IV.

At the commemorative service the Royal Standard was raised at the port to remember the honour bestowed by the king.

Royal status was conferred following the king’s visits the previous September on his way to Hanover, and again on his way home in November.

A granite obelisk was erected in Pier Yard to commemorate his transit through the town.

The building of the harbour, to provide a safe haven for vessels, started in 1749, prompted by a huge storm  46 years earlier which saw the loss of much shipping and became the worst peacetime naval disaster of the time.

The harbour became instrumental in Ramsgate’s growth as a busy garrison town, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars when tens of thousands of troops would embark   there.