It's Snow Wonder!

Freak blizzards sweep through Medway in June 1989. This front page of Medway News shows cars in Lordswood driving through the snow but.

However, despite appearances of snow in the UK in June the weathermen insisted that it was all due to an intense hour long hailstorm but in some areas the paper claimed 9 inches of snow/hail had fallen.

In the previous week Medway had been basking in temperatures in the 80s.

Snow June1989

1987 Hurricane/Great Storm in Rainham Kent

Along with much of the rest of the South East of England, Kent was affected by the severe winds from the Great Storm on the evening of 15/16 October 1987 resulting in hurricane force winds that destroyed many trees and damaged lots of buildings in the area. The event was made more famous by Michael Fish's comments on TV weather forecast that no hurricane was on its way a few hours before it struck.

This newspaper graphic shows how the storm progressed across the country in Oct 1987. Five people were killed across Kent by the winds and the damage they caused. A video of the news the day afterwards is here

 

I remember walking to school through all the debris - never managed to miss a day through the weather back then! - and finding the school closed with trees downed in the field.

We had lost electricity overnight but that came back during the day for us but many others were without power for several days where such damage had been made to the power lines from fallen trees.

 

Great storm tree blown over in Rainham Kent

This gallery shows a selection of images of the immediate aftermath and of trees uprooted taken some weeks later near Bredhurst and Queendown Warren. You can see the scale of the tree roots that have been ripped out of the ground compared to the person standing next to them which gives an idea of the ferocity of the hurricane force winds that hit Kent on 15/16 October 1987

This is a photo of tree downed in Marshall Road Rainham during the Great Storm of October 1987.

These are a few photos taken on the following day and the weeks afterwards showing some of the damage caused by the high winds.

Flag pole & washing line blown down by the winds in October 1987

 

 

Branch of cherry tree blown off by the hurricane force winds in 1987

 

The Queens Head pub has been in Wigmore since at least the 1930s. This is a photo of it from approx 1930 when it looks fairly recently built. The Queens Head also became a Harvester Restaurant in the late 1970s.

Queens Head pub wigmore

The Queens Head is on the corner of Woodside and Maidstone Road in Rainham, Gillingham Kent. There is also a cash machine near the Queens Head located at the Total Garage on Maidstone Road approx 50 yards from the pub.

This is a list of shops in Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre as of early 2011. Some have now changed hands such as Morellis now being a Costa Coffee.

Shops in Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre

Medway News, 24/9/2009

A FRAGMENT of medieval  glass is among artefacts uncovered during the restoration of St Margaret's Church in Rainham.

The piece, which will be put on display once the work is completed, was found as specialist workers began the enormous task of stripping the church of its worn out beams and decaying goat-hair plaster to replace the roof and preserve the Grade 1 listed building for future generations. The work Is needed to update some repairs carried out in the 1860s when most of the stonework and windows were replaced. But the roof timbers are the main concern, with many of the originals having rotted to almost nothing. In a later stage the 100ft tower will also undergo restoration and the brickwork reflinted. 
 
The £500,000 project, which is expected to last into the spring, has been funded by heritage grants and a massive fundral raising effort by supporters, which has so far topped £360000. A final push for the remainder of the cash is underway with vicar Canon Alan Vousden confident the money will be in place to ensure its completion. Mr Vousden said: "We are at a very exciting {KIint in the process, which started in 2005.  "We have been very pleased, but not surprised with the support we have had. "The church is cherished by the people of Rainham and rightly seen as a landmark as well as a spiritual place. "Not all the donations have come from people who regularly come to church, but from parishioners who recognise its Significance and want to see it properly preserved. "It has captured the imagination of the people of Rainham and they have been very enthusiastic to see it succeed.
"We are delighted the scaffolding has gone up so people can actually see we are committed to making this happen and that their hard work is bearing fruit." 
 
The work is currently taking place in the main nave and above the office and the organ has been dismantled and put into storage while the mural will be renovated in-situ. Services are currently being held in the Millennium Centre until the church, which dates in parts to t IOOAD, is safe
enough for congregations again.

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Action Forum is a free monthly magazine that is distributed to the Rainham area covering Wigmore, Parkwood and Hempstead as well. This archive covers old copies of the magazine dating back to its initial publication in 1969 and give a fascinating glimpse into life in Rainham over the last 50 years.

Link to Article Index - Action Forum Index - Photos and Articles from 1969 onwards