Brook
Brook maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Brook books (11 available)
Brook memories
Read and share memories of Brook and Kent inspired by Frith photos
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You can also read memories of nearby places in Kent below.
Kent memories
105 The Street
I have no memories of Willesborough as I visited it for the first time on 26.8.08. My reason for visiting was that I was trying to find where my grandparents once lived, and surprise surprise it's still there, 105 The Street. Their names were Thomas Alfred Barton and his second wife Flossie May Foster. This was Thomas's second wife, his first wife Kate Elizabeth Butcher was my mother's mother, her name was Daisy Barton, she had a sister Carrie Ann Barton but she died with her mother of influenza in 1915, they are buried together in Willesborough cemetary. I had lunch in the Warren Cottage Hotel, a 300 year old building nearly opposite where my granddad and mother lived. The landlady ...read more here
A memory of Willesborough contributed by maureen weall
Patient at Grosvenor Sanatorium
I was a patient at Grosvenor Sanatorium from 1941 - 1943. I was 19 and recovering from TB with many other patients. Despite our illness they were happy times. We produced and starred in our own concerts. We had our own radio station operated by us and we took requests for songs. I am 80 years old now and living in Australia. I have just been looking at some photos taken from this time that I have. We used to go for walks around the grounds as we were getting better. We were also given a little red book when we left, signed by all the staff and patients. Some names that are in it include, Joan, Rusty, Irene, Betty, Joyce, ...read more here
A memory of Kennington contributed by chris northcott
Just a Young Girl
We used to live in Hempstead Street. My granfather was the local milkman. I often rode on the back of his horse and cart, does anybody remember this, or have photos of 20 or 22 Hempstead Street? I would love to have just one.
A memory of Ashford contributed by marion foster neerowsell
The Old Fogge Family Residence in 1454
This is the old family house of Sir John Fogge, much of it has been rebuilt over the years and it is now in the hands of developers so we will watch to see it being restored and given a useful purpose in the community.
We are descended from this family, my mother was a Fogg. We are now in the process of reseaching the lives listed in the old 'Pedigree of the Fogge'
A memory of Ashford contributed by Joy Cousins
Extracts From Brook & Kent books
On the right is the old Belle Vue Tavern
dating back to the 1760s, which was an
earlier haunt for smugglers. In 1831,
the landlord Mr John Cramp received
a visit from the Duchess of Kent and
her daughter Princess Victoria; they
dined on potted shrimp paste. Later,
Mr Cramp received the Royal
Appointment of Purveyor of Essence
of Shrimps in Ordinary to Her Majesty
the Queen. On the left are the Floral
Tea Gardens followed by the Pear Tree
Inn, later Samuel Banger’s potted
shrimp paste factory. His small paste
pots had highly decorated lids
depicting scenes of Pegwell; today
they are valuable antiques.
An extract from from"Ramsgate Old and New Photographic Memories".
Work on building this
elegant square started in
1802 after James Townley
bought the ground. The
buildings on the left were
officers’ quarters during the
Napoleonic Wars. The
square was a large parade
ground, and nearby
Addington Street was a
military camp. Frith’s
photographer was standing
outside No 6 Royal Road,
where Vincent Van Gogh
had stayed.
An extract from from"Ramsgate Old and New Photographic Memories".
Here we see three of eight classical-style statues holding lanterns which stood at the
junction of the High Street and George Street outside Sangers Amphitheatre and
Hotel between 1911 and 1913. Six statues were removed and erected outside the
Hall by the sea in Margate; the other two remained until 1939. There was
controversy surrounding these figures: in 1908, Alderman Gwyn called them ‘an
eyesore and a disfigurement’. Lord George Sanger had seen the originals of the
statues in Paris outside the Grand Opera House in 1883, and had eight replicas cast,
paying £50 per figure for the transport and erection of these statues. Opposite is
Lloyds Bank, which moved to new premises in 1928, renting the building to the
NatWest Bank. The piano sign next door denotes Golden & Wind’s premises.
An extract from from"Ramsgate Old and New Photographic Memories".
Here we have a tranquil view at low water of the inner basin. On the extreme right is the Clock House. To its left in
Smeaton’s dry dock is a sailing vessel being repaired. The fishing smacks in the foreground have RE numbers, denoting that
they are registered in Ramsgate; later the E was dropped and only the letter R used.
An extract from from"Ramsgate Old and New Photographic Memories".
The abbey stands on the site of a Saxon nunnery set up by Domneva, and run by St Augustine’s
monks from Canterbury; it was destroyed in the ninth century by the invading Danes. Rebuilding
started in the 11th century. The year 1538 saw the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry
VIII, and the land reverted to the Crown. Later, ownership of the grounds went to the Conyngham
family and various tenant farmers until 1937, when a community of German Benedictine nuns
bought the monastery and 10 acres of land.
An extract from from"Ramsgate Old and New Photographic Memories".