Until the late 1970s/early 1980s there was a household waste landfill site otherwise known as "the tip/dump" just outside Rainham. The site has long gone but the location is still visible when you walk past and from the air.

The site was between Otterham Quay Lane and Seymour Road with the access via Otterham Quay lane and Canterbury Lane. I remember trips there with my dad when we had rubbish to get rid of from the garden clearance and house rebuilding project that he was working on from the mid 1970s.

Unlike current household waste dumps where there are separate bins for different materials and you load the waste into the various skips to be taken away off site at this dump there was a low wall that you reversed up to and then literally just chucked your waste from the back of the car into the tip so it filled up the massive hole in the ground over time.

If you go past the site now it is mainly grass but with ventilation pipes popping out across the site which are for venting out the gases from the decomposition of the waste underneath. Building of new houses is taking place nearby but planning permission has been refused for some due to the proximity of the landfill site to the proposed development.

 

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#1 RE: Rainham Tip/Dump Landfill Household Waste Site 1970s/80sVince Merton 2020-11-24 00:54
We used to play in "the quarry" for many years before it became the tip. It was a magical place for adventures and mischief, with an old railway, deep wells, shallow lakes, cliffs and caves. I spent my childhood down the quarry making rafts and learning to abseil (the hard way) down the cliffs, collecting newts and frogs and all the great stuff kids could do back then.To think it's all buried under garbage is quite distressing as I'd love to walk around the old quarry again and remember such wonderful times.

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