Photo of The Mulberry Tree Inn on Lower Rainham Road taken around 1905. The Mulberry tree beer house opened before 1872 and closed in 1973 as one of the last beer houses in the area which only served ales and no spirits. The concept has been resurrected again in Kent with micropubs being started on a similar idea. It was probably build to serve men building forts in the area. The photo shows the Style and Winch ales sign above the pub. Style & Winch Ltd Brewery & Pubs - Maidstone Fine Ales

Action Forum - January/February 2016

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The building now occupied by the Manor Farm pub & restaurant used to be the Gas showrooms as can be seen from this old photo.

The Manor Farm Pub and Beefeater restaurant in High Street Rainham Kent used to be the Gas Showrooms for the area. The gas showrooms were built around 1928 and converted to Manor Farm Beefeater Pub Restaurant in the 1980s.

The photo below is of Manor Farm Beefeater pub in 2001 before the outside was painted cream colour.

The Premier Inn was added to the site in 2011 covering part of the Manor Farm pub car park.

Manor Farm Beefeater Pub Restaurant High Street Rainham Kent in 2003 prior to construction of Premier Inn hotel in the car park to the right of this picture.

This photo was taken shortly after the Manor farm was repainted with the current yellow over the original lattice brickwork as part of their refurbishment

The photos below are from 2010 during the winter snow

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Photo of The Fredville Oak at Nonington near Dover. Locally known as "Majesty" this ancient tree is possibly 600 years old.

The full article is inside Action Forum - November 2016 Click to view (7Mb file)

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The snow in Medway in 1987 was some of the worst for many years, possibly since the severe winter of 1962/63. Due to the snow areas of the towns were cut off and some supplies needed to be airlifted in as lorries were unable to deliver by road.

Pictures of the Winter 1987/88 Huge Snowfall in Medway & Kent. Below photo of Ford Capri stuck in snow in Chatham

Chatham/Gillingham/Rainham and Kent in general were hit particularly badly by snow in 1987 and for some days were cut off completely. I recall milk being flown in by army helicopter due to roads being impassable and major roads being blocked for many days. As outlined below the weather station recorded 22 INCHES of snow in Jan 1987 in Gillingham (in 2010 the roads were brought to a standstill with less than 20cm!!)

At the time I was working at Rainham Co-op as saturday staff, the shop now occupied by Wilkinsons. As school was closed due to the snow and being one of the staff that could walk to the shop I worked many extra hours during the snow building up my savings! Later on in the year the great Hurricane hit Kent during October 1987 leaving many trees blown down.

A quote from the netweather website below " The cold spell of January 1987 was exceptional and was probably one of the coldest spells since 1740. The intense cold and heavy snowfalls hit the SE the hardest. Transport was gridlocked and the cold even affected Big Ben's chiming hammer. "

In 1987 the sea at Rainham (Motney Hill) even froze showing how cold the weather got. See the photo above of the frozen sea at Motney Hill.

• Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
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• Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
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• Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
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• Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
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• Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers

Photos on this page are clickable to view higher resolution versions. These snow photos were kindly supplied by Steve Murdoch.

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• Snow on Lower Rainham Rd,Kent
  looking to The Angel pub 12-1-1987
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• Rainham Station in Snow 
  Jan 1987

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• Snow in Marshall Road Rainham Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James
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• Snow in Darland Banks Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James
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• Snow in Marshall Road Rainham Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James
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• Snow in Woodside, Wigmore Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James

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The Avenue Nightclub was formerly the Central Hotel and was located on the corner of Featherby Road on the A2 in Gillingham. It became Bar Rio in the 1990s but the nightclub was demolished in the late 1990s/early 2000s and replaced by housing that now occupies the site.

Photo of the Avenue Nightclub in early 1990s (judging from the MG Montego car in the background)

Photo of Central Hotel in Gillingham

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Betabake bakers was located on the A2 High Street in Rainham, the shop next door was International Stores. This photo was taken in the early 1970s and the lower shot was taken in 2014. The building is now an Indian restaurant, originally Raj Rani and now called Tarana.

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It's slightly out of area but when I was walking today I noticed the Little Crown pub in Chatham High Street which had a sign showing 1892. I wonder if it has been covered up previously as I don't recall spotting it before. The pub appears long closed but hopefully the building will be restored. 

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Midland Bank was originally located on the A2 opposite Maidstone Road and next to Hidsons car dealership. This photo was taken in the early 1970s, probably around 1972 based on the cars in the Hidsons showroom that were selling Humber & Hillman cars at the time. 

The Midland Bank site building was demolished in the early 1990s and the Hidsons site extended. Midland Bank then moved to the precinct but that branch was closed in 2013.

This is the same location in 2014

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This photo from early 1970s is of Beveridges the chemist shop on the A2 at the top of Holding St in Rainham. The Electricity shop used to be next door on the corner.

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This aerial photo of Maidstone Road was taken in 2016 showing the view towards Gillingham. Maidstone Road crosses the photo from left to right with Herbert Road in the bottom left corner, Broadview Avenue in bottom right leading towards Nursery Road. In the distance you can see the playing fields of the Howard School and Rainham Girls

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This video was on YouTube showing a steam fair at Great Lines in around 1965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQdEYp7lgHI

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This photo of Liptons Rainham was taken around 1972. This was the site of the old cinema known as the Bug Hutch. Harris and Bone estate agents were next door. Look atthe prices in the shop window, whisky and gin were both £2.55 a bottle!

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