Kemp Brothers (Kemp Bros Rainham Kent Ltd) was a local building firm in Rainham that operated before the Second World War. Our house was built in 1935 and I spotted this manhole cover in our path. The signs of local history are all around us! Obviously Kemp Brothers were large enough to be able to commission their own cast iron drain covers.

 

 

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It's puzzled me when travelling around the area to see where Rainham ends and where Upchurch begins. It appears that the boundary has been rather fluid and may have extended to increase the desirability of new housing built off Otterham Quay Lane.

After crossing the railway line, about halfway down Otterham Quay Lane you see a sign that you're now in Upchurch.Upchurch or Rainham boundary

And to emphasise this on the opposite side of the road another sign welcomes you back to Medway and Rainham.

Even the new housing estate just past the sign shows it is part of the Borough of Swale - I bet they wished they were part of Rainham with the lower council tax!

 

Yet further down the road - well past the sign that has already announced that you are in Upchurch, the sign by the Three Sisters pub shows that Upchurch is still further on.

So where does Rainham end and Upchurch start? Has it changed recently with the development of new estates? Was the Three Sisters pub always in Upchurch or was it originally considered to be part of Rainham?

 

 

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Photo of Church School at top of Station Road Rainham Kent around 1900 with Ye Old White Horse pub on right hand side of photo. The Church school was demolished and the site is now occupied by Barclays Bank and Rainham Shopping centre (Wilkinsons)

Church School Station Road Rainham Kent 1900

 

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