Acol, Kent

4th Bexleyheath Cub Scouts camp at Birchington

In the 1950s we called ourselves "Wolf Cubs" and I remember being taken in the back of a removal lorry with all our camping gear for a week long camp with the 4th Bexleyheath Cubs at Birchington.

Although it was supposed to be a "camp" in fact we all stayed in a hut but spent most of our time... [more]

Minster

My father, Reginald Miller, took me to Minster where my grandfather and great grandfather came from. I now live in Sydney, Australia but am coming over to England in September 08. Can anyone tell me about the Miller family in Minster? (I believe my father and his brother Bernard were billetted with their grandparents in the First World War).... [more]

The Mud Flood

Date Unconfirmed. After torrential rain, the topsoil off the fields at the top of Prospect Road slid down the hill to Monkton Road. Any houses which were not slightly above road level were flooded. Our house being a good foot above it, remained untouched but our neighbours in the farmhouse Eden Hall had mud under the doors and lost their... [more]

The Youth Club

There was a youth club held in a building across the carpark from Minster Primary School. I think this building was called the Leisure Centre, it also hosted Brownies and Guides. For a few pee we would spend hours playing Adam and the Ants records on a tiny ancient record player and jump around on the torn worn fake leather furniture... [more]

Pav's Tea Gardens, Westgate

Pav's Tea Gardens in St Mildred's Bay was a place where I spent my youth, owned by Herbert Smith the famous film producer, the cafe was full of stills from the films he had worked on, there must have been over three hundred photos covering all the walls. Great music coming from the Rock-ola juke box.

Childhood memories in the 1950s and 1960s

I was born in Dartford and at the age of three I was adopted and brought up in Westgate. I can recall the good old days of the steam trains running through Westgate from London and I can remember running down to the main road running through to Margate by the Walmer Castle pub on a Saturday and Sunday morning around... [more]

Millies

St Mildred's Hotel, commonly known as Millies, was a hive of activity in the 1950s/60s when I was a teenager. Joe used to play there for crowds of dance-mad youngsters, sometimes he used his own material which was a bit saucy.  We would travel over by train on a Saturday and spend all evening there meeting our friends and then go... [more]

Scout Camp

As a member of the 6th Brockley Scout Group, I visited Westgate 3 or 4 times during the early 1950s for the annual 2-week camp in August, our tents being pitched in the grounds of the then Catholic Church on the London Road.
I remember that we loved buying jam-doughnuts from the Devonshire Bakers, often burning our mouths on the hot... [more]