Wigmore DIY was located on Hoath Lane in Wigmore, Rainham Kent near the junction with Woodside. It was adjacent to Sherlodge Garage, a Shell petrol station and Skoda Dealer that later became Harvest Energy before the site was cleared and developed for housing. The photos of Hoath Lane below were taken in 2003. The price of unleaded petrol in 2003 is shown on the sign as 79.9p per litre. The shop next to Wigmore DIY was Armitage Television.
These photos of Mierscourt Road, Shelden Drive and Cherry Tree Road were taken in 1990/1991 after some repeated flooding issues in this area. The problem was eventually resolved around 1997 with some drainage work that involved storage tanks underneath the play area on Mierscourt Road.
The photos were rescued from a skip along with various other albums of old photos by the Brook Pumping station team
Below: Cherry Tree Road 1991
Below: Mierscourt Road 1991
Below:Shelden Drive 1991
Below: Mierscourt Road 1991
Below: Mierscourt Road 1991
Below: Mierscourt Road 1990
Below: Mierscourt Road 1990
Below: Mierscourt Road 1990
Below: Mierscourt Road/ A2 High Street C&S Cycles Rainham Tandoori 1990
This fascinating photo of Rainham High Street taken in 1963 was kindly provided by Joe Ennis and is one I've not seen before.
There are some notable landmarks visible in the photo. Firstly on the left hand side there is a large house at 69 High Street that was called Coningsby House and a forge that was demolished to make way for Rainham Shopping centre. The shops that are now Nutmegs and Greyfox Estate agents are visible on the left of the picture.
On the right hand side you can see the road sign for Orchard Street showing that the Natwest bank was not built at this time. Next to that is the Royal Cinema known as the Bug Hutch - read more here about the Bug Hutch Rainham - Royal Cinema
There is a lorry with the words Fremlins County Ale on the front passing by the cinema. You can see Estate agents sign in the distance which would be Harris & Bone
A slightly earlier photo of Rainham High Street looking in the opposite direction gives an idea of the area covered by the picture above. The house now demolished is surrounded by trees in front of it towards the top left of the image.
Church House, on the right of this view of Rainham High Street from about one hundred years ago, had been the home of the Dodd family, and later Mr Seymour Wakeley, before it was requisitioned during the Second World War as a club for forces personnel stationed in this area. The house was demolished in the early 1960s and for many years the site was derelict. lt is now occupied by the Healthy Living Centre and all that remains of Church House is the palm tree which grew in the garden. This is one of the pictures in ‘A Third Picture Book of Rainham‘ available from Sunburst Books, 21 Station Road
The winter of 1987 was particularly hard with some very heavy snowfall that cut off parts of Kent for a number of days due to the roads becoming blocked. These photos of Marshall Road Rainham Kent show the height of the snow at the front door as well as the cars and roads buried underneath the volume of snow that fell.