Cowden
Cowden maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Cowden books (16 available)
Cowden memories
Read and share memories of Cowden and Kent inspired by Frith photos
Cowden stores
My grandparents lived and worked in Cowden. I spent all of my holidays with them from an early age from about 1965 to the late 1970s. My granddad worked on the railways and then with Leighs builders (Edenbridge) and after he retired he was the gardener at Chantrills. My grandmother (Mrs Pocock) worked at the Cowden stores and I spent my days with her there - helping to make up the orders that were delivered by Mr Weightman in his van to customers for quite a few miles around. I used to cut the leaves off the cauliflowers in the vegetable store at the back of the shop and weigh out the potatoes. Right at the back of the shop in ...read more here
Contributed by michele turrell
Kent memories
Cowden stores
My grandparents lived and worked in Cowden. I spent all of my holidays with them from an early age from about 1965 to the late 1970s. My granddad worked on the railways and then with Leighs builders (Edenbridge) and after he retired he was the gardener at Chantrills. My grandmother (Mrs Pocock) worked at the Cowden stores and I spent my days with her there - helping to make up the orders that were delivered by Mr Weightman in his van to customers for quite a few miles around. I used to cut the leaves off the cauliflowers in the vegetable store at the back of the shop and weigh out the potatoes. Right at the back of the shop in ...read more here
A memory of Cowden contributed by michele turrell
The Bower
I moved to the Bower in 1945 with my parents and two brothers. We lived there until 1952 when we imigrated to Canada. The road takes a fairly sharp turn to the right just in front of the house and on Guy Fox night we used to turn off all the lights and open the gate to the field. I remember watching the cars miss the turn and landing up in the field. We also had a pond directly across the road from the house and quiet regularly the traffic would have to stop to let the ducks cross the road. I really miss Hever, someday I would like to return.
A memory of Hever contributed by Ian Balding
Memories of the forgotten school
Around 1950 there was a boarding school established in the castle. A great feature for me were the routine supervised strolls around the local countryside including trips to the sugar white sandstone quarry, the subterranean hideaway of Dick Turpin and his horse, hidden in a copse located in a nearby meadow, the chiddingstone itself with metal handcuffs where wayward wives would be left outside for several days to suffer indignities, some apparently even left to die. Also the pheasants and other wildlife and the frequent plainclothed, horseback hunting parties from a nearby US base that charged through the grounds blowing their hunting horns. These are just memories now, except for this they are gone.
A memory of Chiddingstone contributed by Ed Okydoky
Extracts From Cowden & Kent books
Almost fifty years after this tranquil scene was captured by our photographer, this village near Edenbridge would become known as the place of a dreadful train crash which killed five and injured 11 in 1994. It happened in a thick autumn mist when two trains collided on the single line running through the village station.
An extract from from"Kent Revisited Photographic Memories".
The impressive facade of the Hotel Metropole, with the Ship Hotel next door, faced the end
of the Jetty to greet the thousands of holidaymakers
who travelled down on the paddle steamers. In the
foreground is a ‘guess your weight’ machine, where
you only paid if the proprietor guessed your weight
correctly. He could do this by cleverly adjusting
the weights to his advantage. Six houses to the left
was the lodging house of Mrs Sophia Booth, where
J M W Turner stayed between 1827 and 1851. From
here he painted watercolours of golden sunsets over the
sea to the west and the misty dawns to the east.
Between 1939 and 1945 the Hotel Metropole and
surrounding properties were demolished as part of
the town’s Fort Road Improvement Scheme. The area
as it was before demolition can be seen in the aerial
photograph on pages 8-9.
Three acres of rundown cafes, souvenir shops and a
wooden arcade were cleared, and a new dual-carriageway
swept down the hill offering a clear panoramic view of the
sands and bay.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".
The list of `Fashionables` taking rooms in the Cliftonville Hotel would be published weekly in the local newspaper, again emphasising the separation of the social classes.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".
Margate received its Charter of Incorporation in 1857.
Communal action and a progressive Town Council
aided development with the building of promenades,
bandstands, concert halls and the provision of a good
water supply and drainage. The resort spread eastwards
into Cliftonville, and later westwards to take over Westgate
and Birchington. The boarding houses of Margate became
the private guest houses and hotels of Cliftonville; dinner
was served in the evening and not midday, and amateur
landladies with old-fashioned rules were replaced by
professionally trained staff.
Frith’s Margate has now almost disappeared.
There has been a partial rejection of the traditional
bucket and spade family fortnight by the sea. With
competition from continental holidays in sunnier
climates and the mobility brought by package tours
and private car ownership, visitors are demanding a
higher standard of amenity and more sophisticated
entertainment. The town’s population is also increasing
with a larger number of permanent residents enjoying
their memories and pensions in their retirement years
by the sea.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".
RECORDS of a harbour in Margate go back to the 14th
century, when it appears to have been a small wooden
structure sheltering the local fishing vessels. Prior to the
building of Jarvis’ wooden jetty in 1824 the stone pier
around the harbour was the main landing point for most
visitors, but only at high water. The building of the 1824
jetty then allowed disembarking at all states of the tide.
Through the centuries Margate Harbour has always
suffered from the destructive forces of the strong northerly
storms. The most disastrous was the winter storm of 1808,
which destroyed most of the stone pier and the neighbouring
sea front. This resulted in the construction of a new stone
pier and wharves built by John Rennie between 1812 and
1815. The lighthouse shown in 54762 was added in 1829.
However, it suffered storm damage and fell into the sea
during the winter storms and floods of 1953. It has now
been replaced by a smaller and simpler structure.
The disadvantage of the stone pier was that vessels had
to anchor offshore at low tide. This was overcome by the
building of an unsatisfactory wooden jetty in 1824, which
in turn was replaced between 1853 and 1857 by Birch’s
iron jetty. The structure jutted 1,240 feet out to sea and a
small rail link brought passengers and their luggage down to
landside porters.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".