Northfleet memories
Here are memories of Northfleet and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Northfleet or a Northfleet photo.
College Road
Whilst staying with my Grandparants (Weekes) of College Road, I liked to play down the bottom of the road with my friends (I was about 8 years of age at this time) - playing steppy stones in the mud of the river - a very dangerous thing to do as a child.
This particular time I slipped into the mud of course, which was very smelly, filthy & deep, thick with oil from the ships and tug boats (Tilbury Docks being opposite).
All my clothes were completly ruined, lovely white shoes and socks, plus my pretty dress. Everything was black with oil etc and had to be thrown away. I was in terrible trouble and forbidden to go there ever again! But I did of course! I was always fasinated with the area!
My Grandfather worked at The Northfleet Cement Works until his retirement.
The Coop Hall Harmer Street Gravesend
I was a war baby and born in Dartford but moved to Gravesend when I was about 4. Moved to Kingsfarm area when about 7. Sadly my mother died when I was 9 and I was taken in by my great uncle and aunt in Denton. I actually walked out of the Gordon school gates when I was 14 at the Christmas holidays of 1957. I was 15 at the beginning of January 1958 and started work the day after my birthday. I started to go to the Coop Hall in Harmer Street about a year later. The hall was always packed with teenagers with a few older people pretending to be teens. Dancing was every Monday night and it cost one shilling to get in. I thought it was the high light of the week! No alcohol was allowed and they only sold Peardrax and Cidrax. The cost went up to two shillings and sixpence if they had Pop Stars performing. I was lucky enough to see the likes... Read more
The Queens Head
I was born in Springhead Road in 1945, and I went to St Botolphs Primary School from 1950 to 1955. After my Mum, Ethel George, died in 1959 my father, Arthur George, started going to the Queens Head, and in 1962 he married the then landlady, a Wynn O'Leary. We moved into the pub, and I inherited a step brother, John, and a step sister Cherril. I left in 1966 and joined P&O for a few years, but my father stayed on in the pub until about 1976. Wynn had died and he married again before retiring. I now live in Hoo, and it would be great if I could meet up with and talk to anyone about Nothfleet, The Hill, and particularly the Queens Head. I look forward to hearing from you. regards, Ray George.
Working in Pelham Rd South
In 1955 I worked in Brands bakery as a shop assistant. We were allowed to eat any cakes that were damaged. Gee an awful lot got damaged! I then moved along the road to a paper shop/tobacconists for 2/6d more. From there I went to Gravesend to the Rainbow Stores opposite the big Catholic church until 1958.
Miss Daniels was Old Mr Brand's neice and she was in charge of shop staff. It was a family run business and the bread and cakes were to die for!
Still Here in Northfleet
Hi, I was born in Lewisham in 1968 but have always lived in Northfleet with a short spell in Gravesend, I know the areas in all these photos very well and lived in Vale Road until I was 21. I have seen many changes even in my time, and like the chap in the memory above, I went to Dover Road School and then Colyer Road Boys School, now Northfleet Technical College. The bakery in this photo on the right where the Hovis sign is was painted inside from top to bottom by me in 1998. It's a shame that so many of these places have changed so much since I was young.
Perry Street/Pelham Road South
I live in West Sussex [between Brighton and Worthing] now but lived in Northfleet until 1971. Several photos bought back some vivid memories. In 1955 I would have been attending Cecil Road junior school, just off of Perry Street, the little shop just past the cyclist with the white canopy was Deakins fancy goods and I think it contained the post office as well, the cyclist I think I am right in saying is outside of Baldwins, a furniture and toy shop. The toy department had a exciting window display every Christmas! The bus routes I remember were the 495 and 496. At the Pelham Arms was a shop called Caveys, where my sister Rene worked for a while, before going to the Co-op dairy in Churchill Road. The local fish and chip shop was called Ladds [situated by the Gravesend bound bus stop]. I had better stop now, I hope this small history evokes a few memories.
Sincerely, Terry Young [formerly from The Crescent, Northfleet]
Those Were The Days by Kathleen McCarthy
I am sure this is St Botolph's church on The Hill where I used to be in the choir around 1949. The vicar was Rev. Johnson at the time. His wife and family lived in the vicarage a stone's throw away. There were some church cottages by the front church gate where my playmates, Ingram, David and Joy Dines lived with their parents. Over the road lived a couple more, Alan and Angela Dagger. We played Tarzan and Jane, swinging from the trees in the cemetary. We never did damage though!
I did go down memory lane with my cousins from Eastham in 2004, on a visit from Australia where I now live. It was a bit overgrown but nothing much had changed in that area. We used to see it all with a childs eye, so everything was MUCH smaller now we have gotten older.
The Queens Head on The Hill
The 2nd tall building on left is the Queens head and was my home from 1945 - 1951. My name was then Kathleen McCarthy. On the right where Jones Butcher shop is, is where my friend Ann was killed when a coal truck reversed over her and her bike...on my Birthday around 1948.
The first building on left was later turned into a florist shop. The tall steeple is of the catholic church. I went to the St Joseph's catholic school in Springhead Rd. Out of sight on the right was St Botolph's school and church.
Behind the buildings on the left was a chalk pit with a long tunnel which was used as shelter during the air-raids. The foreshore and River Thames was the other side of the pit with many Orient Line ships etc tied up alongside the wharf at Tilbury. In those days the shipping was vast, plying their trade as far as St Catherines dock, London. Most ships would empty their bilges into the... Read more
Library Books And Ballet Dancing
A 1d bus ride brought me to Northfleet library just off this picture. Also off to the left I attended ballet and tap classes during my Primary school years.
All Saints Church, Perry Street
So many memories of attending church here throughout my childhood, of shopping in all the little shops and of cycling to and from school in my Secondary years. Youth Clubs. Meeting old friends and making new ones. For a while it was the centre of my world!
Waiting For The 149
On the right was the Baker's shop. On the left the bus took you into Gravesend town. At the top of the hill was the crossroads known as Pelham Arm's where I once fell off my new bike on the way home from school!
Shops
Penny son amd parker, coop butchers and grocery, barbers, horlocks funeral, Wardona picture house, news agents, st botolphs school, and church. Springhead Road where my mother worked for Mrs Keen who had a drapers shop in Northfleet.The pit behind the house where we used to pit blackberries for her. York Road, Hincklys shop and Simmsess on the opposite sides of the road. and of course the leather bottle public house still there.
St. Botolph's C. of E. Primary School 1947-51
Before the 1944 Education Act most children attended schools up to the age of 14 years then they left to seek employment unless they had been fortunate to secure a free place at a Grammar or Technical School where they would continue their education until 16 years of age.
St Botolph's, like many schools had been founded by the local church community as had the local Catholic School while the third place of general education was a Council establishment known locally as The Board School.
By 1947 St. Botolph's had become a Primary School for children aged between 5 and 11 years with very strong ties with The Church. Its management had The Vicar as chairman with other church members making up the numbers. Mr. Tilley, Headmaster of many years, had just retired and a Mr. B.W.D.Cooke, ex-RAF, had been appointed. There were two Infant and four Junior Classes with staff of Miss Honor, Miss Biggs, Mrs. Allen, Mr. Clark and Mr. Lockyer, the latter retiring later in 1948 after... Read more
St Botolph's School
I went to St. Botolph's School on The Hill from 1945 to 1950 with my friend Molly Freeman who lived a few doors away from me in York Road. Molly was in the year ahead of me but her brother Georgie was in my class. Recently Molly rediscovered Mr. Clark who is now 90 and lives in Nottingham and we have both been in email communication with him. He remembers a number of the children he taught, particularly the boys who were in his football team. Mr. Cook was the headmaster and he was a tyrant who bullied not only the children but the staff also. He taught us maths and I now blame my lack of aptitude for the subject on him!
When I first started at the school I was in Miss Honour's class and sat next to Georgie Freeman. Then I went into Mrs. Johnson's class where I once elected to sing `Bless This... Read more
Dover Road, Northfleet
My grandmother and her sister owned a sweet shop in Dover Road, Northfleet and although we lived in Watford we visited every year. It was like magic for my sister and I and I can still feel that magic whenever I return. Also we loved the ferry from Gravesend pier to Tilbury and back, without getting off, walks along the promenade and many other happy memories. I have searched high and low for a photo of the shop at 11 Dover road but none exists unless anyone out there has one.
The Hill Northfleet/Ebbsfleet International
From 1947 to 1950 my father, V. U. Hinds, was the Station Master at Northfleet Railway Station. We lived in Berwick House, a Victorian "pile" next to the station which had two large mulberry trees in the garden. I attended St Botolph's School next to the church. Each day I walked along the High Street from the Rly. Stn. to school, including going home for lunch. Children had lots of exercise then! Mr Clark was my teacher, an ex fighter pilot who had been shot down during the war and became a PoW. Mr Cook was the Headmaster. Being just post-war, jam doughnuts from the bakers next to the school gate were a special treat. I now collect enamel signs, this hobby may have been sparked by the one that was on the cement works wall that stated "Spitting Spreads Consumption". As I small boy this intrigued me. A few days ago, in weather like the winter of 1947, I travelled home from Ebbsfleet International to The Welsh Marches. This massive development is... Read more
Searching For Day Family
Does anyone know of any folks with the surname of Day living in Northfleet? Day was my mom's maiden name, her first name was Thora. She lived next door to Arthur Greenslade, pianist, on Stonebridge Hill. I live in Mission City, BC, Canada. I hope to hear from someone who might be connected. Yours, Clive Jeffrey
A Lifehood of Memories During The 1950s
orn in 1942 at 23 Park Avenue, Northfleet, I went to Dover Road School then Colyer Road Secondary School. Churchill's dairy used to be opposite Colyer Road School and allotments where we had a plot. The girls' school was next to boys' school at that time. Coming into Perry Street there used to be a men's hairdresser called Wandings, then further along was a ladies' hairdresser and Peckhams, a hardware shop. Then there was a Co-op greengrocers just past All Saints Road, followed by Deacons fancy goods, Baldwins outfitters and Lads the fish n chip shop.
I can remember Mum used to be a waitress at The Woodlands Hotel in Gravesend and Dad worked at Johnsons clay pit at Bean. Dad was also an air raid warden during the war in Northfleet and I can remember being under the stairs in Park Avenue when there was an air raid on. I was told by my brother who is 9 years older than me that I picked up shrapnel... Read more
Memories of Kent
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
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