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.

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. "

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

Snow in Kent-Photos

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

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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
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• Snow in Chatham Kent 1987:Photos by Alun Rodgers

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A little while ago there were a few questions about a palm tree in the centre of Rainham behind the White Horse pub on Rainham High Street and next to the location of the former Co-op department store where the new NHS Health Centre is now located. This palm tree used to be located in the garden of the former Church House opposite Rainham Church that was demolished in the 1960s. 

You can see the site of Church House opposite St Margarets in this aerial photo from 1968 and just make out the palm tree to the right of the garage in White Horse car park

In 2003 the tree was still standing despite 40 years without maintenance!

The site of both the Co-op department store and Church House has been redeveloped as the NHS Healthy Living Centre but the tree remains!

At the weekend when I was in town I thought I'd have a look and see if the palm tree was still in place. Remarkably despite all the development there is still a palm tree to the side of the White Horse pub and adjacent to the NHS centre in the middle of the footpath leading from Station Road to High Street. You can see Rainham church in the background with the NHS centre to the left and White Horse on right of the picture of the palm tree. 

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• rainham high street
• church house
• white horse pub

This photo is of the Rainham Rangerettes performing at Gillingham Carnival in the 1970s. Do you recognise anyone or know the date it was taken?

The car being driven with the music system on seems to be an Austin Maxi registration AKE934K

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Until the early 2000s the Royal Mail sorting office was in the centre of Rainham opposite the Green Lion pub. The site was redeveloped and the buildings demolished to build the retirement flats that are currently there. 

These photos were taken in 2001 when the building had already closed and the land was up for sale. Reynolds Health & Fitness is the building behind the trees.

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Category: Photos