The Rainham Coop Store stood opposite St Margaret's Church next to the White Horse pub and sold items such as clothing, shoes and homeware. It was demolished in 1997 and the site left vacant for some time before the NHS Rainham Healthy Living Centre was built. The store had an upstairs/upper floor called Rainham Co-operative Hall that was used by various groups for meetings and social events like dances.
Sandra Perkins has been in touch and said "My Mothers parents and my Grandparents, Royston & Ethel Black were Old Time Dance teachers at the Co-op. Upstairs in the hall was one of many places they taught, they lived in Rainham most of their married lives until their deaths"
These photos of the demolition in November 1997 were kindly provided by Peter Manning
The scene in 2001 following the demolition looking towards the church & White Horse pub.
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Rainham Kent Photos & Information
The following details were received from Peter Hales. We are very grateful for support like this which helps us to maintain and enhance the details on the site. If you have any similar pictures or information then we would love to hear from you. Please contact us by email or phone here.
I attach a couple of JPEG files scanned from original postcards of Rainham, provided by my Godfather, Geoff Gilbert.
The first is a picture of the upper end of Ivy Street and is taken from a postcard dated 1913, which ties up with the 1912 date on the front of the card, and shows the shop owned by W. E. Jones, who was Geoff’s grandfather on his mothers side of the family. The shop was divided into two, with an Off Licence to the right and a Grocery to the left.
Geoff was born upstairs in this house in the room behind the Colman’s Starch advert, although not until the mid 1920’s. His mother lived for many years in No1 Ivy Street, and I can remember visiting her in the house as a small child in the mid 1950’s. Geoff now lives in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The second is a picture of St Margarets Church and Lockup (which is presumably the wooden structure adjacent to the Church gate!) and is dated 1834, although the picture postcard it was taken from is dated 1914 And me? – well I was born in my grandmother’s (May Boakes) council house at 19 Holding Street in 1951. We lived for many years at 79 Station Road on the corner of Webster Road, and I attended both Soloman Road infants School and (the then new) Wakeley Road Junior, before passing the 11+ and going on to Gillingham Grammar, by which time we had moved to 25 Thames Avenue. We moved away from Rainham in 1964.
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Rainham Kent Snow Photos from 1987: Pictures of the Winter 1987/88 Huge Snowfall in Kent
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.
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.
Severe snow also hit the South East and Kent in 1991. This article from The Telegraph explains some of the recent snow events including the infamous wrong kind of snow quote from British Rail. The article says "During the 1991 event level snow lay 12 inches deep in central London, and on January 12-13, 1987, the deepest snow was in south Essex, Kent, Surrey and south London with 22 inches reported in the Maidstone and Gillingham areas. "
Video of the snow from Thames News 1987 BBC News Great Storm Oct 1987
More photos of the 1987 severe snow that affected Kent and South East England
Train stuck in snowdrift Kent 1987
Photos of 1987 snowdrifts in Kent
Snow in Kent-Photos
Kent snow photos from 1987
Medway snow photos January 1987
Further pictures of the 1987 snow in the South East
Photos on this page are clickable to view higher resolution versions. These snow photos were kindly supplied by Steve Murdoch.
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Rainham Kent Snow Photos from 1987:Winter 1987/88 Snow in Kent
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. 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.
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.
Severe snow also hit the South East and Kent in 1991. This article from The Telegraph explains some of the recent snow events including the infamous wrong kind of snow quote from British Rail. The article says "During the 1991 event level snow lay 12 inches deep in central London, and on January 12-13, 1987, the deepest snow was in south Essex, Kent, Surrey and south London with 22 inches reported in the Maidstone and Gillingham areas. "
Video of the snow from Thames News 1987 BBC News Great Storm Oct 1987
More photos of the 1987 severe snow that affected Kent and South East England
Train stuck in snowdrift Kent 1987
Photos of 1987 snowdrifts in Kent
Snow in Kent-Photos
Kent snow photos from 1987
Medway snow photos January 1987
Further pictures of the 1987 snow in the South East
Photos on this page are clickable to view higher resolution versions. These snow photos were kindly supplied by Steve Murdoch.
- Snow on Lower Rainham Rd,Kent
looking to The Angel pub 12-1-87 
M.V.Resilience at Otterham
Quay Docks April 1982- Frozen Sea
1987 
Otterham Quay Docks
April 1982
The scrap metal yard at
Bloors Wharf July 1983- Rainham Station in Snow
Jan 1987 
Rainham Station Footbridge
1988
Angel Pub Rainham
1991
Otterham Quay Docks
from the sea-wall
Lower Rainham Road
Army & Navy Pub Snow
Jan 1979
Motney Hill Road Dock
1988
Snow in Rainham Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James
Snow in Rainham Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James- Snow in Rainham Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James
- Snow in Rainham Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James
Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
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- Category: Photos
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. 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.
Snow on Lower Rainham Rd,Kent looking to The Angel pub 12-1-87
Snow at Rainham Station
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.
Severe snow also hit the South East and Kent in 1991. This article from The Telegraph explains some of the recent snow events including the infamous wrong kind of snow quote from British Rail. The article says "During the 1991 event level snow lay 12 inches deep in central London, and on January 12-13, 1987, the deepest snow was in south Essex, Kent, Surrey and south London with 22 inches reported in the Maidstone and Gillingham areas. "
Video of the snow from Thames News 1987 BBC News Great Storm Oct 1987
More photos of the 1987 severe snow that affected Kent and South East England
Photos on this page are clickable to view higher resolution versions. These snow photos were kindly supplied by Steve Murdoch.
Frozen Sea at Rainham Motney Hill 1987
Rainham Station in Snow Jan 1987
Lower Rainham Road Army & Navy Pub Snow Jan 1979
Snow in Rainham Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James
Snow in Darland Banks Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James
Snow in Marshall Road Rainham Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James
Snow in Woodside Wigmore Kent 1987:Photos by Andy James
- Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
- Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
- Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
- Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
- Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers
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- Category: Photos
Subcategories
Rainham Roads Article Count: 27
Roads around the Rainham - old photos of how roads used to look in days gone by
Rainham People Article Count: 34
Decades - Old Photos Article Count: 9
Old photos by decade