Burham
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Map of Kent
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Burham books (11 available)
Burham memories
Read and share memories of Burham and Kent inspired by Frith photos
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Kent memories
Teacher Mr Charles Dodd
My grandad was a Mr Charles Robert Dodd who taught woodwork up till 1967 at the school from about 1948 till he died in 1967, can anyone remember him?
A memory of Snodland contributed by alexandria wilson
Where I lived in 1960
We moved into the flat above Snodland station on 9th January 1960 (my 8th birthday) and the extreme left upstairs window was the view from our lounge (or, rather - sitting room). I attended Brook Street CoE Primary school from then until 1963, when I moved to the "top school", known then as Snodland County Secondary School. The name change to Holmesdale was fairly soon after that as I recollect.
The lamps on Snodland station in 1960 were gas lit, with a pole to pull down the chain which in turn fired the gas onto the pilot light. Each lamp had to be lit individually - and took a fair time. My father was the Station Master, so I ...read more here
A memory of Snodland contributed by Geoff Whale
The 1940s.
Hi all. My name is John Potter. I have found out the last address of my gran and grandad Hollands,at 78 High St, Halling. I remember going across a bridge past the graves in a wood on the right to the allotments to help my grandfather, I remember the Michells and the policeman's son, we played together. I also remember going down to the air raid shelter at the bottom of the garden at nights, also remember a lot more. If anybody remembers me please get in touch and we can talk.
A memory of Halling contributed by John Potter
1970s Allington
I moved to 71 Hildenborough Crescent, Allington, Maidstone, Kent in 1973 aged 10 years old.
In the nine years I lived there I saw many changes. Parts of Allington were still being built. There were no houses built in between the frontage of the Mid Kent shopping centre ... it was just waste land later to become Foyle Close. There were no houses built lower than than Lullistone Road down Castle Road. The Quarry was there but still easily accessable down the path behind Fordwich Close. I collected many fossils there. Before the Community Centre was built during the 70s it was just an orchard we used to play in. I remember the swimming pool being built at Allington County primary ...read more here
A memory of Allington contributed by andrew parker
Extracts From Burham & Kent books
The impressive facade of the Hotel Metropole, with the Ship Hotel next door, faced the end
of the Jetty to greet the thousands of holidaymakers
who travelled down on the paddle steamers. In the
foreground is a ‘guess your weight’ machine, where
you only paid if the proprietor guessed your weight
correctly. He could do this by cleverly adjusting
the weights to his advantage. Six houses to the left
was the lodging house of Mrs Sophia Booth, where
J M W Turner stayed between 1827 and 1851. From
here he painted watercolours of golden sunsets over the
sea to the west and the misty dawns to the east.
Between 1939 and 1945 the Hotel Metropole and
surrounding properties were demolished as part of
the town’s Fort Road Improvement Scheme. The area
as it was before demolition can be seen in the aerial
photograph on pages 8-9.
Three acres of rundown cafes, souvenir shops and a
wooden arcade were cleared, and a new dual-carriageway
swept down the hill offering a clear panoramic view of the
sands and bay.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".
The list of `Fashionables` taking rooms in the Cliftonville Hotel would be published weekly in the local newspaper, again emphasising the separation of the social classes.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".
Margate received its Charter of Incorporation in 1857.
Communal action and a progressive Town Council
aided development with the building of promenades,
bandstands, concert halls and the provision of a good
water supply and drainage. The resort spread eastwards
into Cliftonville, and later westwards to take over Westgate
and Birchington. The boarding houses of Margate became
the private guest houses and hotels of Cliftonville; dinner
was served in the evening and not midday, and amateur
landladies with old-fashioned rules were replaced by
professionally trained staff.
Frith’s Margate has now almost disappeared.
There has been a partial rejection of the traditional
bucket and spade family fortnight by the sea. With
competition from continental holidays in sunnier
climates and the mobility brought by package tours
and private car ownership, visitors are demanding a
higher standard of amenity and more sophisticated
entertainment. The town’s population is also increasing
with a larger number of permanent residents enjoying
their memories and pensions in their retirement years
by the sea.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".
RECORDS of a harbour in Margate go back to the 14th
century, when it appears to have been a small wooden
structure sheltering the local fishing vessels. Prior to the
building of Jarvis’ wooden jetty in 1824 the stone pier
around the harbour was the main landing point for most
visitors, but only at high water. The building of the 1824
jetty then allowed disembarking at all states of the tide.
Through the centuries Margate Harbour has always
suffered from the destructive forces of the strong northerly
storms. The most disastrous was the winter storm of 1808,
which destroyed most of the stone pier and the neighbouring
sea front. This resulted in the construction of a new stone
pier and wharves built by John Rennie between 1812 and
1815. The lighthouse shown in 54762 was added in 1829.
However, it suffered storm damage and fell into the sea
during the winter storms and floods of 1953. It has now
been replaced by a smaller and simpler structure.
The disadvantage of the stone pier was that vessels had
to anchor offshore at low tide. This was overcome by the
building of an unsatisfactory wooden jetty in 1824, which
in turn was replaced between 1853 and 1857 by Birch’s
iron jetty. The structure jutted 1,240 feet out to sea and a
small rail link brought passengers and their luggage down to
landside porters.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".
At the landside end was
the Camera Obscura. This
had been an attraction in
Margate since 1797 when it
was on the Fort. It consisted
of an ingenious system of
prisms, mirrors and lenses
which projected a panoramic
view of the sea front and
sands on to a circular white
table. A ‘guess your weight’
chair is at the door.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".