I listened with disappointment to the BBC programme about Rainham‘s Century Road. lt could have been anywhere within reach of Chatham Dockyard. and when one resident described Rainham as a Nothing Place —well as my Great Aunt Julia would have said ‘lt made my blood boil’. Rainham, the place where l was born, a nothing place! What blasphemy! Gradually, as my blood cooled down to a gentle simmer, l began to see what he meant. You have only to look any month in Action Forum to see that there is plenty to do - clubs and societies for everybody and I expect most of us support at least one of them, but do they add up to a conununity? They did once. Before we became a suburb of Gillingham we were a proud place of about 5.000 inhabitants. We were proud of being the largest village in Kent —proud ofour Parish Councillors who are now so many street names but who worked hard among us and eamed for us the reputation that whatever Rainham did was done well.
We were proud of our football and cricket clubs. our British Legion, our Toc H, our two schools, our Scouts and Guides. they all excelled in their own spheres and we supported them. We were loyal to the Co-op, not only for the Divi but because it was run by Rainham folk and offered an introduction to the world of work to many of our school leavers. We attended dances and other social events in the Co-op Hall and enjoyed the annual treat on the Recreation Ground. Oh yes we were proud of our Rec then with its trees and flower borders where we flocked to the annual flower show and various sports days and treats. We knew our Salvation Army band and dropped our pennies in the hat as we passed by on Saturday evening. We all met together for National and Royal celebrations and decorated our houses and shops for them. Our church bells were audible above the noise of traffic in those days although before they made the M2 there was plenty of that.
For the Armistice Day Services traffic had to be diverted between lvy Street and the Station Road so great was the crowd of us blocking the High Street. Then in 1932 Gillingham won a long battle to incorporate us into the Borough. They needed room to expand, and expand they did, so quickly that there was no time to assimilate such numbers of newcomers and what could we offer them? We had lost our affiliation to the East — Sittingbourne Faversham and even our beloved membership of the Canterbury Diocese. We were on the fringe ofa new life ourselves. True we gained our main drainage, our improved footpaths and our Council Houses but they didn’t really compensate for the loss of our own Parish Council. A spark of our village pride was flamed to life when we refused to allow our station to become Gillingham East even though that meant we were denied the privilege of cheap workman’s fares.
We became what Mr Century Road calls a nothing place. What can we do about it‘? Were you interested in the account of the ceilure or ciel over the nave of our church? lf so have you been in to have a look at it and to see what else is there‘? The publishers of Action Forum do try to bind us together and l was pleased to see that they consider the Parish Church to be of interest to us all. Of course it is! It is a large part of our heritage. True it is preserved and maintained by a very few of us, and very grateful we should all be to them for the care they take of the building and its surrounding grave yard. They willingly accept the burden and responsibility; though they know they are custodians and not owners of the Church. It belongs to us all. lt has survived when so many of our old houses have been destroyed.
With its grand tower and chestnut trees it makes our only scenic claim. lf you enjoy that view why not take a look inside. There is an opportunity to do that every Thursday morning between 10 and 12 when tea and coffee are available to all who come. You may be a newcomer to Rainham looking for a way into the community or you may have lived here always but never been inside the church. Do look in one Thursday moming, I know you will be welcome and may be shown around — you will not be pressured to join anything.
Give it a try — you may find you enjoy the visit and maybe add another interest to your life. Perhaps if enough of us take an interest in our heritage we might restore some of Rainham's pride and we might then enjoy living in ‘A Something Place’ again.
H.M.T.