Smarden
Smarden maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Smarden books (11 available)
- 1 photos on Smarden appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Smarden
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Smarden and Kent
Smarden memories
Read and share memories of Smarden and Kent inspired by Frith photos
Flying Horse
My parents Bryan and Margaret Hills-Johnes had the Flying Horse pub for a couple of years after he left the Navy 1958-60, I was around 6 yrs at the time and used to play with the Tilleys and Blacks. The car park across the road was a vegi garden where fresh produce was included in Mum's food. Eating lunch at the pub was a novelty because of the stigma about the 'wife's' cooking! but it was soon very busy. I learnt to write and spell on the dart board's blackboard, I went to the kindy at Headcorn by local M&D bus every day on my own, the school was behind what is now the Post Office /store and I still have ...read more here
Contributed by Rod Hills Johnes
Happy days in Smarden
I spent three years living in and around Smarden, at the Chequers, The Bell and often visited The Flying Horse on my days off!
Fond memories of Frank and Jenny Stevens at The Chequers, and Laurie at The Bell.
Afternoons spent at the cricket ground, was it called the minnis or something similar?
I also worked at the peanut factory on the Headcorn road, this was my introduction to working life!
Contributed by Penny Airlie
Kent memories
Flying Horse
My parents Bryan and Margaret Hills-Johnes had the Flying Horse pub for a couple of years after he left the Navy 1958-60, I was around 6 yrs at the time and used to play with the Tilleys and Blacks. The car park across the road was a vegi garden where fresh produce was included in Mum's food. Eating lunch at the pub was a novelty because of the stigma about the 'wife's' cooking! but it was soon very busy. I learnt to write and spell on the dart board's blackboard, I went to the kindy at Headcorn by local M&D bus every day on my own, the school was behind what is now the Post Office /store and I still have ...read more here
A memory of Smarden contributed by Rod Hills Johnes
Happy days in Smarden
I spent three years living in and around Smarden, at the Chequers, The Bell and often visited The Flying Horse on my days off!
Fond memories of Frank and Jenny Stevens at The Chequers, and Laurie at The Bell.
Afternoons spent at the cricket ground, was it called the minnis or something similar?
I also worked at the peanut factory on the Headcorn road, this was my introduction to working life!
A memory of Smarden contributed by Penny Airlie
Extracts From Smarden & 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".