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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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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Kent was hit very badly by snow in Jan 1979. I remember waking to massive snowdrifts and cars buried in snow as a result.
Snow looking towards former Army & Navy pub, Rainham Kent 1979
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Kent was hit very badly by snow in Jan 1983. I remember walking to school for several weeks with snow still covering roads and paths as a result.
Snow looking towards former Army & Navy pub, Rainham Kent 1979
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Rainham Roads Article Count: 28
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