The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 8 letter word BATHING MACHINES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
B
A
T
H
I
N
G
M
A
C
H
I
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E
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "They're obscuring changes in habit around front in Margate?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case they're obscuring changes in habit around front in margate? = bathing machines.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.