Often we are looking at elements of history all around us but not the one place we walk all the time - beneath our feet! There are many examples showing the history of the local area and how it has developed and changed over the years. Some of the manhole and utility covers show the names and dates of long gone companies but do reflect the changes over the years. Next time you are out have a look beneath your feet and see what you can spot!

The cover below shows CDWW, 1948. I believe this is Chatham and District Water Works and would be one of the older water mains in the area when some of the new estates were being built along Maidstone Road.

The cover below shows CDWW, 1955, again showing the likely ages of the roads that were built after the Second World War.

A later one then follows with RWC - presumably Rainham Water Company

Finally a reminder of the old Borough of Gillingham, now consumed into Medway Council unitary authority.

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Manor Farm has photos of wrong Rainham!

I was in the Manor Farm pub recently and on their walls are old photos of Rainham. It is a nice touch to see pictures of how the area used to be so when we spotted one photo we were trying to work out where it was taken.

The name wasn't familiar, Bridge Road nor the scene of flooding with a church in the background. A quick search of the web showed that it was actually not a local scene and was actually taken in Rainham, Essex!

You can see more photos of Rainham Essex here

http://www.rainhamweb.co.uk/history/past2.html

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A photo of Rainham looking towards the Isle of Grain, taken by Sid Gilbert.

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Rainham Police station was closed in 2007 along with the Police Stations in Gillingham, Rochester and Chatham when the new Medway police station opened on Pier Road in Gillingham.

The building is now empty and has been sold for development but unlike Rochester police station which has been demolished and work begun on rebuilding no sign of any progress has been seen.

Latest photos of the old Rainham Police station are now loaded and the site has been cleared for new building work to begin

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This is a video drive through Rainham Kent that may be of interest to former residents of Rainham to see how the town has changed and how it looks as of May 2011. This video shows an evening drive through Rainham in May 2011 showing the centre of the town including Rainham Church, Manor Farm, Cricketers and White Horse pubs. Click on the video to view the full video on YouTube.

This is a video of driving near Tescos/Bowaters roundabout. It is instructional for driving lessons but also shows the appearance of the area in 2010. The road layout on the Tescos roundabout is very confusing for drivers not used to the area. The map below shows how it should be used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXiYOpzD4JI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X95lW1cOCCU&feature=relmfu

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Its 6 AM. and time to take my dogs for a walk. I open my front door and immediately smell the beautiful red and pink roses growing in my front gsrden. They are in full bloom together the giant orange poppies that have been in the gsrden ever since I moved in and long before.

I turn on to the main road Hempstead Valley Drive and walk the short walk to Hempstead Road passing the freshly cut grass along the side of the road and down the bank. Turning right into Hempstead Road towards Rainham, I walk past the many houses and bungalows with their manicured lawns and floral gardens. Most of the residents are still in bed but the odd car is beginning to pass me with the drivers on their way to work.
 The dogs are getting excited here because this is where I cross over Star Lane, opposite the entrance to Spekes Raod and turn left into the woods at the bottom of The Darland Banks I can let them off their leads here. Following the path through the woods I can smell the scent of nettles and other woodland plants I gradually climb to the top of the banks.

I am now at the top of the banks walking West towards Chatham. I have the top woods to my right and, on my left, the steep banks where as a kid I used to either roll down or slide down to Star Lane running along the bottom.

 Carrying along the path, I come to a clearing with a seat where I can sit and take in the view. To the West I can see Chatham and beyond, to the South I can see Bluebell hill and looking back I can see Hempstead. I can see yellow Rape fields and green Wheat fields and trees for miles and miles. I can hear all kinds of woodland birds, Jays and Magpies with their strange cackling sound, I can hear the drum of a Green Woodpecker and then suddenly its wierd screech, I think Kentish People call these Yaffle birds because of the sound that they make. I hear the flutter of Wood pigeons scuffling in the trees, Oak, Elm, Sycamore and several more. I see Crows doing their aerobatics and diving into the grassy banks. Suddenly a Fox breaks cover and runs down the banks and disappears into the Bean field at the bottom. Rabbits scurry to their burrows. There are hundreds of rabbits here as it is a nature reserve now and they are protected but years ago I used to come here with a friend who had Ferrets and we used to go home with loads of Rabbits .

It occurs to me that people such as Normans, Saxons, Romans Etc must have taken this same route to Rochester and London and looked across the same hills. Maybe more forest then but basically the same.

I carry on walking passing some fellow early morning dog walkers and come to the a break in the banks where Star Lane cuts through. If I crossed Star Lane I can enter into the second part of the Darlands leading me to Ash Tree Lane. However, I turn left into Star Lane. There are no vehicles allowed in this part, just the odd bicycle.( When I was young the Star Lane was open to cars all the way from Hempstead Road to where it reaches the A2 at Gillingham)

Walking down Star Lane towards Hempstead I pass through a tunnels of trees and chalky banks . I reach the beautiful old Oast House on my left, what tales this place could tell you. I have known it have several owners and indeed a few years ago it was a restaurant where I would often go to eat. It is now a private residence though and the owner recently had it refurbished.

I carry on past the two white cottages on my right. These cottages belong to the surrounding farm. The farm used to be owned by Mrs Bachelor who died a couple of years ago. A friend of mine who lived in one of these cottages told me that it was the lowest point of Hempstead. The traffic is allowed from Hempstead to this point so the dogs are put back on their leads.

 I carry on along the road passing open fields at the bottom of the the Darlands the farmer has planted beans this year but he rotates his crop yearly sometimes Wheat saometimes Rape. If I look to my left, I can see the banks stretching all the way from Hempstead to Chatham.

Finally I come to the end of Star Lane where it reaches Hempstead Road. I turn right here and re trace my steps back to my house in Hickory Dell.

The journey has taken me about an hour and I suppose I have walked three miles or so.

Many people ask me why I came back to England from Australia, perhaps here lies the answer

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I used my bus pass again yesterday and I took the bus from Hempstead valley Shopping Centre to Medway Hospital in Gillingham. I noticed two things whilst on the bus. The first thing is, there is still a small patch of woodland on the Park Wood Estate off Deanwood Drive across to Mierscourt Road called Foxborough Woods, It It seems to me that this is the only remaining patch of what we used to just call The Woods. It makes you realise just how big " The Woods" were before Parkwood and other areas were built. The Maidstone Road entrance was a track opposite The Queens head pub which is now where Deanwood Drive starts. The woods stretched all the way to the top of Maidstone Road behind all the houses on the left going towards Bredhurst right to where the M2 Motorway cuts through. They then stretched right across the valley to Mierscourt Road at Farthing Corner (The Motorway Cafe), down nearly as far as Arthur Road. Our bottom entrance was up the Church Path in Rainham past the end of Tudor Grove, Broadview Avenue, Herbert Road and Arthur Road. All these roads had dead ends at where Lonsdale Drive is today, and all that is left is this little patch called Foxborough Woods. How many woodland animals and birds must have been driven out to make way for houses?

The second thing I noticed from the bus, is that they are now building houses on the area of land where Orchard Street school canteen buildings used to be, across the athletics and football field at the Maidstone Road entrance. A lot of the kids hated school dinners but I loved them and it was probably the only good meal I got in the week.

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Driving through Rainham on my way back from Sittingbourne today, I noted the following restaurants. The Man of Kent Pub is now Darjeeling Heights (Indian) then, just past the Chocolate Box sweet shop there is another indian called Tandoori Parlour. Next on the corner of Pudding Road there is Hons (Chinese) moving East to where Bardens the Greengrocers used is The Olive Tree (supposed to be Italian), then, further along the High St we come to The Raj Rani (Indian) this is where the old bakers shop that I knew as Cremers was just past Station Road. Opposite this where Pullens the corn merchants used to be (next to the Bug Hutch) is another indian called Meridian Spice. There is also a Thai restaurant in The Green Lion Pub. As well as these eating houses, we have The Rose Pub, The Cricketers, and The Manor Farm (the old gas show rooms at the bottom of Maidstone Road), all these places serving meals. There are also two cafes in the Rainham Precinct and another one further along the High St opposite Orchard St. Also several take aways and two fish and chip shops.

There are many more eating places in the area and I might have missed some but the ones I mention are just on The A2 between Otterham Quay Lane and Maidstone Road.

When I was a teenager, I knew of two cafes in Rainham ( Freds and and The Orion) and two fish and chip shops. None of the pubs sold food apart from crisps and peanuts. Jeez me gran will be turning in her grave, no wonder we are getting fat!

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Roger Green was incredibly accurate with his memories. Assuming my copying and pasting works, here is his list updated by reference to my 1951 Kellys:

Starting at Orchard Street there was:

70 John Woolley
72 Ernest Wellard
74 Mrs Atkins
76 "Parker's" Sweet shop and Tobacconist

78 & 80 Pullen's seed shop
82 the "Bug Hutch" That we all have so many fond memories of !! :) Bug Hutch Rainham - Royal Cinema
Does anyone remember the lady that worked there in the kiosk where you paid, I think her name was Joyce ? Real dark hair and always very heavily made up.

84 Gray's cycle shop
86 Dennis's Off License
88 The Cricketers Pub
St Margarets Church - At the Church path I seem to remember there being a big old house with lots of broken windows.
From there on with numbers where known....
90 Mrs Evans
90 Raymond Wall Chiropodist
90 Winch, Greensted & Winch
92 Langton & Young
96 Moseley's Bakery, Later Walklyn's Bakery
98 Albert Simmonds
98a Edward Russell
100 Ronald Tapsell
102 Alfred Nobbs
104 Green Lion Pub
106 & 108 Vyes Grocers (Now Hidsons)
112 Rainham Pet Shop (Now Hidsons)
114 Stan's Cafe Later the Orion Cafe (Now Hidsons)
116 Ron Smiths Barbers (Now Hidsons)
118 Watt's residence (Still there)
120 Watt's Chemist shop (WATTS THE CHEMIST )
122 "Halrose" Hodson's tobacconist
124 The Wool shop
126 Fred's cafe
128 Pilcher's Greengrocers
130 Filmer's Builders merchants
132 Mrs Ada Swindell General stores
134 Abbott's Shoe repair
136 R McKerns Upholsterer
138 Mary Watts Outfitter
140 Rodwells Bicycle shop
142 Albert Connelly The Sweet shop
144 Strevens Wallpaper shop
146 The Fish & Chip shop owned by the Cracknell's & the Ropers
148
150 Private house. Dave Ward lived here for anyone that remembers him.
152 Albert Barden
154 John Evans
156 Longley Nurseries
158
160 Large house with pond behind Henry Bell
162 Durells Repairs (Garage)
164 Walklyn Ltd Bakers
166 Kemsley's Butcher"s
168 Joseph Holloway
170 Leonard Deed
172 Cecil Adams
174 Dr Longford's Building
184 George Naylor
186 Granville Henthorne
188 Bertie Strevens
190 William Fraser
then Miers Court Lane as it was then known.

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I have posted these articles from Colin MacGregor taken from the Action Forum of December 1996 and January 1997. Hope they bring back many fond memories for readers of this site.

This article is taken from the Action Forum December 1996 Number 307. Part 2 is available here

Memories of Rainham

Reading the letters and articles on bygone Rainham caused me to reflect on my own childhood in the fifties. Although I am talking only 35-40 years ago it was indeed a very different Rainham. I was brought up in Quinnell Street and most of my friends were children from that area together with Brown and Holding Street. Many of these friends still live in the Rainham or surrounding areas now with families of their own. Most will recall the long hot summer holidays (they always seemed that way) spent playing at the Chalk Pit in Berengrave Lane (now the Nature Reserve) or by the river at Motney Hill where most of us learnt to swim ( holiday by the sea or even a day trip to Margate was a rare occurrence for most of us).

We will all remember such as ‘The House of Many Windows’ (a tall structure in the old Cement Works at Motney by the silos), ‘Gunpowder Island’ (in the Chalk Pit) and many more. These nicknames passed on through generations of children. We used to catch newts and tadpoles every year in the ‘Boola’ (the water in the Chalk Pit). We would walk to these places passing old Nellie Hunter’s little shop in Berengrave Lane. She would have rows of jars full of sweets such as Humbugs, Cough Candy, Pear Drops, etc. You could buy them by the ounce and she would weigh them on her brass scales. I won’t mention the childhood pranks that we would play on dear Nellie, but those who participated will well remember. We would go scrumping in the surrounding orchards for apples, pears, cherries, plums, etc. sadly many of the orchards no longer exist. Other favourite play areas were ‘The Den & Woods’ (now Parkwood Housing Estate), ‘The Darland Banks’ (which thankfully still exist), the banks at the top of Berengrave Lane and Rainham Cricket Field. Games such as Rounders, Hop Scotch, Chase Around the Houses. And then of course were our ‘Seasons’ – not the Spring and summer type – but things like the Barrow Season when tens of soap boxes would be seen trundling up and down our road. (Indeed a pair of pram or pushchair wheels on an axle were a valuable commodity in those days).

Then we had the Marble Season, the Bow and Arrow Season, the Conker Season. I remember a certain tree opposite Nellie Hunter’s shop being stripped of conkers every September. The conkers would be soaked in vinegar or baked in the oven – anything to try to harden them. Some of them would go on to become forty-niners or even higher! Sometime in October we would make ‘Guys’ to be burnt on the bonfire on November the 5th. Rainham High Street would be full of children (myself included) ‘Penny for the Guying’. I can remember building massive bonfires on the land behind Brown Street which is now Northumberland Avenue. (Sometimes these would be mysteriously lit well before bonfire night). Many of the families in the area would have their own bonfires and fireworks. Penny Bangers, Jumping Jacks, Roman Candles, Rockets and many more. Guy Fawkes Night was a night we truly looked forward to. Most weekends there would be a football or cricket match on the Playing Field behind Quinnell Street. Some of these games would be up to twenty a side. I’ll always remember the tireless Mr Veral who would come out and referee the games and teach us the rules. Sadly the Playing Field now is only half of what it was, as to what I consider to be the ugliest building in Rainham (the Telephone Exchange) has been built on our beloved football pitch. I often wonder if Planning Permission would have been granted had this not been a Council Estate (as it was in those days).

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This article was taken from the Action Forum January/February 1997 Number 308


Memories of Rainham by Colin MacGregor

Most of the families in that area were large by today’s standard. Indeed I am one of eleven children although there weren’t too many families that big. We didn’t have a lot of material things. Not many Dads had cars, and if I recall there was only one private telephone at Mr Eccles’ house to be used only for emergencies, otherwise it would be up to the main road to use the public box, pressing buttons ‘A and ‘B’. In those days the telephone box was rarely vandalised. In the Summer, lines of red London buses would be seen slowly making their way to the Coast through Rainham (there was no M2 Motorway). They would stop for halfway refreshments at places like the Men of Kent public house. I can remember several skirmishes between the local children and the Londoners. Most of the children from our area attended the Church of England Primary School that was at the top of Station Road.

Sadly this school is no more. I’ll always remember the big tree in the playground which some of the bravest boys would climb. We were taught our lessons by teachers such as Miss List, Mr Turner (Headmaster), Miss King, Miss Evans (Fanny) Miss Thomas, Mr Turtain and some whose names I’ve long forgotten. Then there was Mr Pollock (the School Caretaker) who would don his special constables uniform to stop the traffic at the zebra crossing (as it was then) by the school. Nor many of the children from our area went on to university or even grammar school – but many have aspired to greater things and very few went bad. I often walk around Quinnell, Brown and Holding Street and it is nice to see that many of the houses have been refurbished with pretty porches and modern double glazing and have not suffered the same fate as Sunderland Square whose own children would have their own memories of Rainham to recall.

I could go on for hours about people and places in old Rainham – i.e. Saturday morning pictures at the Royal Cinema (or the Bug Hutch as we used to call it). Standing on the railway bridge watching the steam trains puff through. Old shops long gone, Barbara Kitchingham little shop on the corner of Holding Street, Miss Nicholson’s little sweet shop by what is now Lloyds Bank, Smiths sweet shop in Station Road where we could buy penny lollies.

I can even remember when the Library and Police Station were in the High Street. Also running errands to the Co-op in Station Road (not the new one) where we would have to remember Mum’s dividend number (probably most of us still do). The money would be put into a metal pot, a lever was pulled and the pot would shoot along wires to the cashier’s desk who put back your change and sent the pot back along the wire. And who will forget the dreaded buzzer while waiting to see the dentist in the clinic in Holding Street. Since my childhood I have travelled around this world and have many memories of places far afield – but none fonder than my memories of growing up in old Rainham. I wouldn’t change them for the world.


Yours faithfully,

Colin MacGregor

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The Keg Boys
In Memory Of Stan The Man

This memoir of another life has been prompted by the death of my friend Stanley Peace in November 2010. I suppose it all started in 1963 when I left school, Colin Macgregor, Roger Brooker, Stan and myself Richard Matthew all lived and grew up near one another in Quinnell Street Rainham.

We had all attended Orchard Street Secondary school now a junior school and were taught by teachers long gone now, Mr Carden (Jumbo) Mr Patterson (Banjo) Mr McGee (Fibber) Mr Sneath (Creeping Jesus) Mr Springate (Alfie) Mr Rotherham (Titch) Mr Newell (Bert) Mr Hoar (Hitler) Mr Thomas ( Rot Gut or Sospan) Mr Powel (Bucket) and many more whose names I have forgotten. Our headmaster was Mr Bacon (Rasher) most of suffered the indignity of going to his office for six of the best from his trusty cane.

We left school at fifteen, there was very little careers advice offered to us council house boys in those days so it was off to the youth employment bureau on the New Road in Chatham where we would be given a brown card and sent for an interview to a potential employer. Generally we would walk from Rainham to Chatham/Rochester as nine times out of ten we couldn’t afford the bus fare. Work was plentiful in those days but wages were low so we very often hopped from job to job for an extra penny or so an hour.

These were the days of Mods and Rockers and we were Rockers and I clearly remember our trips on our motorbikes to Margate with sleepless nights under the pier and being outnumbered by the Mods. It was then back to one of the three cafes in Rainham the Orion (known as the Onion cafe) Fred’s Cafe and Stan’s Cafe all near to each other on the Banks. Sometimes on a Friday evening we would go to the youth club in the cellar of the Macklands, Mr McKay’s big house at the lower end of Station Road. Now I can confess at most of the time we climbed through the window to avoid the entrance fee! On one occasion Mr McKay was a bit upset as one or two of bottles his wine collection went missing. The finger was indeed pointed at us but I’m saying nothing!
Much of the time was whiled away trying to look hard hanging around our gang seat in front of the War Memorial by St Margarets church wearing our velvet collared bum freezer jackets. We were later joined by many other likely lads that drifted by, these included Rob Kitney (also known as Scooter) and his lieutenant Stevie Barrett, Terry Dann and Neville Huggins all them to later become part of the Keg Boys . Of course there were several girls involved in those days but rather than tarnish their reputations I will leave them out .

Although this time period only lasted 6 years before we all went on to other lives, it will stick in my mind forever. Other lads that came and went were Richard Pocock, Roger Reader, Basher Bates, Tex Norman, Dave and Joe Keller, Dick Hales. Bouncer Bounds, Charley (Eugine) Brown, Steve (Gonzo) Pearson. Colin Chapman and many more old Rainham boys.

There was also a Lower Rainham Gang consisting of Ginger Chapman, Michael Holderman, Fat Nigel, Nicky & Stewart Hart and Dudley Murr but they rarely came up past the level crossings. Lower Rainham seemed a distance away in those days.

Most of the nights were spent in the cafes mainly the Onion, this was a Rockers Cafe and most nights the El Cabana cafe boys led by Bob Jackson (our Hero) and his mate Horse would come down from Gillingham on their bikes and we’d all sit around and drink tea and laugh at Bobs Jokes (even when they weren’t funny which was most of the time) or if it was Friday (pay day) it would be frothy coffee and egg and chips. A cup of tea was only threepence and egg and chips was about two bob, pre decimal of course.

In time the cafe’s turned into Pubs, our favourites being the White Horse, The Cricketers (Wally & Madge) and The Railway (Bob & Doris) the latter being where the Keg Boys was founded because thats what we all drank “Courage Tavern Keg.” We drank in most of the pubs in Rainham in those days including The Man of Kent, The Three Sisters, The Rose, The Angel, The Macklands. Most of these pubs bursting at the seams at the weekends . From Friday night to Sunday night we’d be in the Railway where a pint of Keg was 2’6d so for £1 you really could have a good night out.
Sunday lunch time was quite a challenge because we all had to get a round in, and 8 pints took some doing in 2 hours, as the opening hours in those days were from 12 noon til 2 pm. Then, it was all into Rob’s Mini Van or my Zodiac and down to the coast to ‘pick up some birds’ never had much luck though probably due to the fact there was no more room in the motor. By this time the Motorway Cafe at Farthing Corner on the M2 had been built so we very often went there after the pubs had chucked out as there was nowhere else to go late at night.

We always worked in those days and had a wage to spend although by the time you paid your mum put petrol in the car and paid the HP on it there wasn’t much left, so you always had a ‘sub’ by Wednesday. My first car was a Ford Consul Mk1, I had to part exchange my BSA C15 motorbike and the rest (about £30) on hire purchase!

Well, those days are long gone and we are all in our sixties but mostly still working, married or widowed, and now and Rainham is a far different place with many restaurants and most of the pubs that we knew either eating places or closed. We have all gone our different ways some moved away like Terry Dann to Australia, Steve Barrett to Hythe. I even emigrated to Newington!

Sadly it took Stan’s death to reunite The Keg Boys . He was the quiet one of the gang but his sense of humour was very dry. He worked hard and most of the Rainham drinkers would have seen him in the various pubs and would often hear him say “Its good ‘ere aint it” and hopefully it won’t have to be another funeral to make a reunion happen again.

As Brian Ferry once sung “other guys try to imitate us but the originals are still the greatest”

Richard J Matthew
(One of the Originals)

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