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Ifield
Ifield maps
Historic maps of Ifield and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Ifield maps
Ifield photos
We have no photos of Ifield, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Gravesend| Northfleet| Cobham| Shorne| Southfleet| Longfield Hill| Tilbury| Gads Hill| Higham| Hartley| Meopham| Chadwell St Mary| Cuxton| Greenhithe| Grays| Socketts Heath| Strood| Fawkham| Halling| Rochester| Frindsbury| Cliffe| West Thurrock| Sutton At Hone| Orsett| North Stifford| Mucking| Brands Hatch| West Kingsdown| Purfleet
Ifield area books
Displaying 1 of 24 books about Ifield and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Ifield
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Kent memories
National Sea Training College at Gravesend
I spent the academic year 1987/88 in Kent training to become a Careers Adviser on a post-graduate course run by Kent College for the Careers Service.
During my course I had to visit businesses, universities, schools and colleges all around the county (and beyond) but the visit that sticks in my memory more than any other is the day I visited the National Sea Training College at Gravesend.
Along with a handful of other students I spent a well organised day in Gravesend carefully taking notes from the instructors in Seamanship, Engineering and Catering. We watched Physical Education drills and inspected the premises and interviewed some of the college's young students. However, what we were really looking forward to was the final activity offered on our one day inspection - this was to be a practical experience of going out on the water in one of the college boats.
However, it was late afternoon and we were mystified to be told by the Seamanship... Read more
The Tilbury Ferry
As the daughter of a Tilbury docker who married a girl from Gravesend, the ferry between Tilbury and Gravesend forms one of my earliest and strongest childhood memories. Every Saturday my sister and I would make the journey with my mum across the Thames to visit her mother (my Nanna Smith). I can still recall the pontoon, how the level changed with the tide and my fear of the murky water that lurked below. Those little ferries called Edith, Elizabeth and Mary that bobbed between Tilbury and Gravesend formed part of my psyche and I have fallen overboard hundreds and hundreds of times in my dreams. My mum's explanation that the varnished wooden slatted seats that we sat on were actually life rafts, didn't give me comfort. Mostly we travelled on the upper deck but if it was raining we would go downstairs and look our of the misty portholes and the 'humm' of the engines would make me nauseous. ... Read more
My First Glimpse of Gravesend.
I arrived in Gravesend in 1958 on the back of my boyfriend's motorbike, we had travelled from Colchester in Essex. My father, who was in the army, had been posted to Gravesend so we all had to move. We crossed the river Thames on the Tilbury to Gravesend Ferry and so landed and rode off the ferry and up the High Street to find the house where my parents had moved into.
The Royal Daffodil
I can still remember waiting on this pier for the 'Royal Daffodil' or the 'Royal Sovereign' during the my childhood, for our day trip up the river. We would do this trip regularly whilst on holiday with my Grandparents in Northfleet. It was one of my favourite days out. Julia (Weekes)
Happy Summers
I was born and bred in Gravesend. This photo brings back many memories of summer days down the prom! We always came here with my mum. She used to leave us and our cousins in the park behind the cafe whilst they went shopping in town. We used to have a lovely time. As I got older I used to know Fort Gardens like the back of my hand and especially the concrete steps that led up to the lookout that was probably the highest point along the promenade. It was always a safe place to be and it was always warm and sunny. There were always lots of families sitting on the grass having picnics and boats going by. Also, not far away behind the cafe was the swimming pool where we always spent our summer holidays. The gardens were always kept lovely and was very peaceful. There used to be a funfair on the land between the pool and the cafe even though I wasn't allowed to go... Read more
Milton Barracks
I arrived in Gravesend in mid 1947 as advance party to re-open "Milton Barracks".
Our first night out was a walk around King St to see what we could find.
It didn't take us long to find the pubs in Gravesend or to find the Prom. We spent a lot of time on the Prom watching the boats and the birds.
That's how I met a girl called Eileen Mockett. We were married in Milton Church on the 21 August 1948. I stayed in the town for 25 years before returning to Doncaster in Yorkshire. We still visit Gravesend but how it's changed. I'm not sure I like it now.. No Prom (as it used to be), No Ships? No cocker doddle doo on New Years Eve from the river. Sadly the Gravesend I remembered and loved is no more.
Vic Lowe EX Royal Artillery, Milton Barracks...
St Mary's School
It is believed that this was a training college for Church of England vicars and then it was subsequently used as an orphanage run by the Catholic Rescue Society and staffed by the Sisters of Chariry, a French order of nuns. During the years of the Second World War the whole school was evacuated down to Devon and the building was left unoccupied. After the was the school returned and it was known as St Mary's School. In about 1953 the orphans were rehoused with foster parents in private homes and the building was demolished. The area is now a housing estate.
