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Old map of Tenterden

Tenterden books (11 available)

Tenterden memories

Clare House

Tenterden, Clare House 2004

Does anyone know where the name Clare House came from? Is this property in the High Street, north side? I had relations surnamed 'Clare' who lived in a very similar property in the 1930/40s. The front door is different now, and steps went up to it.  Any information please?
Contributed by Jill Howell

Kent memories

Clare House

Tenterden, Clare House 2004

Does anyone know where the name Clare House came from? Is this property in the High Street, north side? I had relations surnamed 'Clare' who lived in a very similar property in the 1930/40s. The front door is different now, and steps went up to it.  Any information please?
A memory of Tenterden contributed by Jill Howell

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

MY BEAUTIFUL KENTISH BIRTHPLACE

I was born in East House, Tenterden Road, Rolvenden on 2nd November 1938.  My dad was about to join the RAF and I was born in my grandparents' home. There were large cellars below the house - very scarey.  East House and West House are joined in the centre by a 'shop' which was the Post Office and telephone exchange in the 1920/30s.  My mother, Molly Allsop, was one of the operators of the switchboard in the switch room.  Few people had telephones.   My grandfather, Joe Allsop JP, was the village postmaster and the mail, telegrams and telephones were all run from that property.  In the 1930s the Post Office was moved over the road to a small old double fronted ...read more here
A memory of Rolvenden contributed by Jill Howell

Extracts From Tenterden & Kent books

Tenterden, High Street 1900

This was the year that Coca Cola arrived in Kent and an outbreak of typhoid fever terrified local families. At this time the Headcorn to Tenterden railway line was opened. The nearby village of Smallhythe was home to the great Victorian actress, Dame Ellen Terry. A small canal runs through the back of the town on its way to the River Stour. Little in this picture has changed today.
An extract from from"Kent Revisited Photographic Memories".

Pegwell, High Street 1907

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".

Ramsgate, Spencer Square 1890

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".