Otford
Otford maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Otford books (9 available)
- 2 photos on Otford appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Otford
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Otford and Kent
Otford memories
Read and share memories of Otford and Kent inspired by Frith photos
Eagleton Family living in Otford
My Grandparents, Thomas & Marie Eagleton lived at The Charne in Otford. As a child I would always play amongst the weeping willows that grew by their house. My grandad would take me for long walks across the fields where we would occasionally pick corn on the cob and even some hops. We would search for owl pellets to retrieve the tiny skeletons of small vermin and birds. We never did make it up to the chalk cross on the hill. My Nan worked in Mrs Mac's Tea room on the round-a-bout by the pond. My father, David Eagleton attended Otford Primary school. I'm told that an Eagleton also lived in the bungalow next to ...read more here
Contributed by Faith Nicholson-Eagleton
Kent memories
Eagleton Family living in Otford
My Grandparents, Thomas & Marie Eagleton lived at The Charne in Otford. As a child I would always play amongst the weeping willows that grew by their house. My grandad would take me for long walks across the fields where we would occasionally pick corn on the cob and even some hops. We would search for owl pellets to retrieve the tiny skeletons of small vermin and birds. We never did make it up to the chalk cross on the hill. My Nan worked in Mrs Mac's Tea room on the round-a-bout by the pond. My father, David Eagleton attended Otford Primary school. I'm told that an Eagleton also lived in the bungalow next to ...read more here
A memory of Otford contributed by Faith Nicholson-Eagleton
My Best Years
I was born in Tunbridge Wells, but my parents had a flat in Riverhead and we moved to London Road, Riverhead when I was a baby. My grandparents lived at the Heights, next to the church. I remember the steps the way they are in the photograph, but also I remember when there was only the one road through Riverhead and there was a row of houses opposite us which were all pulled down when I was very young and the new through road was built. I went to Amhurst School as did my dad and aunties and my grandfather was a caretaker at the school but sadly he died in 1968. I'm now 53 but love going through Riverhead and ...read more here
A memory of Riverhead contributed by angela smith
Our first home was in Robyns Way, Riverhead
Elizabeth and I married in 1971 and moved into our first home which we bought together at 21 Robyns Way. From our house we could walk round Pontoise Close and along a path at the edge of a sandpit, past a ramshackle village hall and into this church which we attended frequently. We lived in Riverhead for more than four years and loved the town of Sevenoaks, the local Scout Troop and Cub Pack where we were both leaders, and the Bradbourne Lakes at the end of our back garden. Evntually business took us away from this lovely place and we went to live and work near Glasgow in 1975.
A memory of Riverhead contributed by John Howard Norfolk
Extracts From Otford & Kent books
Led by the fiddle-player on the right, and probably lubricated by the pub behind him, Morris dancers perform on the village green in the year that ended post-war rationing. Brandishing their handkerchiefs, these dancers are celebrating an ancient custom still alive (and kicking) today. Morris dancers are recorded as greeting Charles II in Kent on his return from exile.
An extract from from"Kent Revisited Photographic Memories".
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".