Nackington

WINCHEAP SCHOOL

I have a photo of the 'top class' sitting in front of what had been the connecting passage from the Head Master's Office(Mr Bradshaw) to another part of the school. It was known as 'the drainpipe' after the school was blitzed, we had our school dinners in there!. I don't know who took the photo but we all had a copy. I was then Doris Bailey.

The Present Day Hospital.

St John's Hospital Gateway 1898
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St John's Hospital is home to 35 elderly people. 24 live in the older part. There are 6 houses each holding 4 flats. House six can be seen in the photo, it stands alongside the hospital chapel. The chapel is used twice a week by the residents. Beyond the chapel and graveyard are two more modern buildings, St John's House is about 40 years old and comprises of 2 flats, one of which is occupied by the chaplain of he hospital. Alongside St John's House is St Elisabeth House. It has 8 flats and is for the more frail of our residents. It was built in 1999 and took the name of St John the Baptist's mother. The room above the Gatehouse is still in use by the Bursar of the hospital.

St Stephen's Church Interior c1888
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There are several dating features on both this print and subsequent ones and inspection of the church today that suggest that the photograph is probably correctly dated at 1888.  The pews shown were installed in that year, replacing an earlier box version.  A memorial tablet on the wall in commemorating the life of a local lady who died in 1888 does not appear although it is present on a photograph of 1902. I would suggest that the photograph was taken in 1888 to show the new pews "in situ."

Marten Rogers

Bishopsbourne School

I loved school. There was one teacher, Miss Castle, she lived with her sister in a house attached to the school. One day Miss Castle gave us all a small Union Jack flag and told us to stand beside the school wall as someone important was coming by and sure enough along came Winston Churchill, we all waved our flags and he gave us the V for victory sign. The purpose of his visit was to inspect a railway gun (The Bosche Buster) which was housed in an old railway tunnel further up the road.

Bekesbourne (St Peter's) Primary School 1950-1955

Does anyone have any old photos of Bekesbourne Primary School, especially between 1950 and 1955? I attended this lovely little Church of England school and would love to learn a bit more re its earlier years and see any photos as mentioned earlier 1950 - 1955. If anyone can let me know how I can find some details I would be most grateful. 01227 769708 pamgraves2010@hotmail.com

The Taylors

My grandfather who I never knew was Albert George Taylor, born in Petham 1886. He was killed in France on Christmas Eve 1914. His father was Frederick and mother Elizabeth Taylor, he had brothers and sisters: Thomas, Frederick, Rosa, Edith.
I currently live in Adelaide, South Australia and would be pleased to hear from anyone who could give me some information as to the history of this family, or any know relatives, unfortunately my mother Ethel Taylor lost contact with the family after his death.

George Allen

The Old Mill

Mill on The River Stour 1903
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The mill bridge shown in the photograph was washed away in a flood in the 1960's. Unfortunately the mill pond was a favourite place for some children to swim in then. We lost one of the children on the hospital estate by drowning there in the pond, whose name was Billy Johnson, whose parents worked as nurses at St Augustine's in 1963. He is buried in Chartham cemetery.