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Isle Of Grain
Isle Of Grain photos
Displaying the first of 8 old photos of Isle Of Grain. View all Isle Of Grain photos
Isle Of Grain maps
Historic maps of Isle Of Grain and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Isle Of Grain maps
Isle Of Grain area books
Displaying 1 of 23 books about Isle Of Grain and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Isle Of Grain
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Isle Of Grain.
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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... Read more
St. James Road, Isle of Grain
I used to live in 33 St James road as a child and was looking for friends from my old school, St. James Primary, when I stumbled across this site. I have fond memories of Grain, the Cat and Cracker and also the Hogarth Inn. It used to have a walnut tree in the grounds. I remember sledging down the fort in the snow and swimming in swannie lake during the summer. My dad worked at Thamesport and my mum was a strawberry picker. Good times.
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.
Kent memories
Kiddies' Store
In 1953, I moved here at the age of 2 with my parents from London's Old Kent Road. We rented the large flat directly above Kiddie's Store (seen on the left of this picture of the High Street). My father worked at a local bakery. I remember the police coming one day after there'd been a big burglary into Kiddie's Store, the thieves having got through from the skylight at the back of our flat. Another day I remember the Catholic priest coming to call on my mother to see why we hadn't been to mass for a few weeks. We hid behind the door and pretended we weren't at home but he'd seen us at the window from the street. We were all there the following Sunday. Early in 1955 we moved to Egerton.
I Was There!
I was/am the lad on the right! I discovered this picture a few years back in a superb Frith's book on Kent. Alongside me is my mate Ray. I think the year is more like 1957 or it could the summer of 1956. It was during those lovely days when kids spent whole days out of the house and generally unsupervised. Ray and I and other gang members spent loads of time up on the seafront and beach at a time when Sheerness was a most popular seaside location - especially for Londoners. When not on the beach you could find us in the fair - our mini Alton Towers! It seemed that the seafront was only half the height it is today, serious floods in the 1950s and again in the 1970s caused the seafront to be built up as a massive flood defence.
We also played forever on the canal bank (nearer to our homes) and honed our football skills. In those days summers were always... Read more
A Seaside Holiday at Allhallows
My earliest memories of the seaside are from the 1950's. We lived in Bexleyheath and - like most people - did not own a car in those far off austerity years after the war. For this reason our summer holidays were always on the nearby north Kent coast and we would travel by train!
Our trip to Allhallows was eagerly awaited - we packed our cases and sent them on ahead. As the big day arrived we took the train from Bexleyheath, changed trains at Chatham and then arrived at Allhallows where an old fashioned taxi took us to our rented bungalow near the seafront. I remember bathing huts, a shingly beach and fine weather for two weeks - a paradise for an eight-year old ! I have a collection of black and white snaps taken on this holiday to jog my happy memory!
Lazy Days at Allhallows
I have pics of me and my family camping in a bell tent at Allhallows. We then bought a caravan which I thought was fabulous, there wa my mum and dad, us kids, Dot, Carol, Charlie and me, Jenny, and a baby sister cam along in 1961. Our surname was Fox.
We all used to go out in the mud and there was a big white thing like a horse's water trough to wash our feet in. We would always go down the arcade and into the cafe that was attached. I had a job clearing the tables in that cafe, which had a juke box playing 'Let's Twist Again'. We used to spend all the holidays down there. We all used to go up to the fort which was brilliant.
We also used to go over the club house wich had a group. I can also remember that outside the clubhouse they did build a swimming pool but it was ice cold and only lasted a short while.
