Memories of Isle Of Grain
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Shared Memories of Isle Of Grain
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Year: 1950
Childhood At Grain
After WW2 my father was posted to the firing range at Yantlet , Grain. When he left the army he was a caretaker at Grain Fort before working at the new oil refinery. My brother and I spent our pre teen years at Grain. It was a wonderful place for kids - forts, watch towers, the beach, ships on the Thames and Medway, the window shattering boom of the big guns firing at Yantlet, the marshes, strawberry picking. In 1956 we migrated to Australia. It is sad to see so little of Grain's history preserved. The large WW1 naval air station has disappeared without a trace and no recorded history. The historic fort has been demolished and covered, lost for future generations. Does anyone have photos of these significant military establishments? A museum of the air station, forts, firing range and oil refinery would be a worthy addition to the village. Posted: 09/04/2007 13:45 by Peter Peploe |
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Year: 1946
Grain Fort
After the war in 1946 my father, a sergeant in the MPSC, was transfered to Darland camp in Gillingham but as there were no married quarters available there we, as a family, were billeted in the Coastguards quarters on the Isle of Grain. These were a row of houses with a bedroom in the attic from which we could see across the Medway to the Isle of Sheppy. I went to the village school briefly for a year, and was also in the church choir but the best fun we had as children was playing in the deserted fort and wading out to the Tower when the tide was out, our parents would have died if they knew what we got up to! One of the great pleasures for me was watching the Thames barges sailing up the Medway - those barges have always held a fascination for me ever since. Another memory of Grain for me was crossing over to Sheerness by Navy launch from Port Victoria, then a small oil refinery. I have been back to Grain in recent years and was sadly dissapointed to see it had become a huge industrial estate so I will cling to my memories of a very brief but very happy time on the Isle of Grain. Last edited: 20/03/2007 22:01 by John Gregory |
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