Bethersden
Bethersden maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Bethersden books (11 available)
Bethersden memories
Read and share memories of Bethersden and Kent inspired by Frith photos
Lovelace family
I am searching for any references or memories relating to the LOVELACE family
I am told there was a Lovelace Place and a Lovelace Chapel in the Roman Catholic church. If any person has any such knowledge, please contact me via this site.
Contributed by Joyce Wightman
Kent memories
Lovelace family
I am searching for any references or memories relating to the LOVELACE family
I am told there was a Lovelace Place and a Lovelace Chapel in the Roman Catholic church. If any person has any such knowledge, please contact me via this site.
A memory of Bethersden contributed by Joyce Wightman
The Christmas Party at Harbourne Hall
My name is Linda Bannister and I was born at Lodge Farm, High Halden. Does anyone remember Harbourne Hall before it was demolished? My fond memory is of a Christmas Party at the Hall when I was five years old. My memory is as follows:-
The milk churn stand stood on the side of the lane by the big old oak tree and as you rounded the corner our house stood on the left. It was once the lodge to the big hall, otherwise known as Harbourne Hall, which was approached by a long roughly made up road which in spring was adorned with masses of daffodils. The Hall was built of bright red bricks with a flat roof. At ...read more here
A memory of High Halden contributed by Linda Bannister
Hop Picking
I used to go to Little Chart Farm, Pluckley as a child, being born in the East End in 1946. My memories are of freedom and adventure, long, happy carefree days spent in the beautiful Kent countryside, for a few weeks each summer. My aunt and uncle Ivy and Tom Smart had a wooden hut on the farm and my parents and I used to join them for a holiday. The picking of hops was a hard, thirsty and dirty job, their hands were stained green and smelt strongly of the hops. We kids used to explore, the surrounding area, scrumping apples from the orchards, and being chased by then farmer, visiting the spooky ruined church, of which there was supposed ...read more here
A memory of Pluckley contributed by alexandra mustin
Extracts From Bethersden & 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".