Oare
Oare maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Oare books (30 available)
Oare memories
Read and share memories of Oare and Kent inspired by Frith photos
Be the first to add a memory of Oare.
You can also read memories of nearby places in Kent below.
Kent memories
Notes from the Frith files.
The trade bicycle centre right of the photo belongs to Friars Bakery. The bakery is set back out of view where the bicycle is parked. It is now converted to a bungalow. The single storey building mid-left, was the Rifle Range. All buildings on the left hand side have now been replaced by housing except for the building with the advertising hoardings.
A memory of Ospringe contributed by The Frith Memory Archivist
Bliss!
My Aunt Maggie lived at 1 Easton Road (Halfway down the High Street towards the beach, turn left at the newsagent into Easton Road). Sadly, it appears the road is no longer there according to maps. Surely the road featured in the photograph is called The Promenade?
I was born there in 1945, and mum and I spent our summer holidays at Aunt Maggie's bungalow. I have so many fond memories of Leysdown before it became commercialised. My last visit there was in 1959, and I haven't been back. The photo is just as I remember, especially the motorbike and sidecar.
A memory of Leysdown-On-Sea contributed by Roy Preston
living with nanny
I remember well living with my nanny in Neames Forstell, she was Rose Beake, a formidable lady, but oh how I loved her. I remember going to Selling school, and if it rained or snowed being brought home in the police car by Sargeant Onions. I remember going to play "up round the ring", going to find uncle Harold and aunty Edie, oh so many memories. I was happiest staying with nanny, going to play in the garden of the Sondes Arms, feeding the chickens, except when the cockerel bit me, well I did poke my finger through the wire. I never wanted to go home, I loved it at nanny's, even when aunty Dot tried to make me try coffee, ...read more here
A memory of Selling contributed by pam tinsley
Picking fruit!
It was the summer of 2006 and it was the greatest summer for me, my life is not the same boring life. I want only one thing .... I want to return in England, one of the greatest countries in the world.
A memory of Selling contributed by Bozhana Spasova
Extracts From Oare & Kent books
In 1933, 70 acres of chalk
downland were acquired by
Chatham and Gillingham
councils to create this
beautiful open countryside
nature reserve between the
two towns. The local wildlife
includes several species of
orchids and butterflies. At
the centre of this picture,
we can see the horses of
travellers whose mobile
homes are among the trees.
An extract from from"Chatham and the Medway Towns Photographic Memories".
The bus advertises Fremlins’
ales outside the Red Lion,
a Style & Winch house of
flamboyant grandeur, but
now no more, sad to say.
There are now traffic lights
and a great deal more
traffic where this policeman
stands on point duty at the
junction of High Street with
Corporation Street (left) and
Star Hill (right).
An extract from from"Chatham and the Medway Towns Photographic Memories".
The virtual absence of
motor traffic suggests that
this photograph may have
been taken in 1956, during
the Suez Crisis petrol
rationing, which did not
end until the following year.
The restrained architecture
of The Eagle Tavern
contrasts with that of both
the Town Hall and the
Chatham Constitution Club
on the right of this picture.
An extract from from"Chatham and the Medway Towns Photographic Memories".
This part of the High Street is very different today, with The Sun Hotel gone from its Medway
Street corner site. The dome further down the street was on the old Empire Theatre, which
could seat 2,500 people. It specialised in music hall-style entertainment before it closed
during the 1960s.
An extract from from"Chatham and the Medway Towns Photographic Memories".
The town’s naval links
are illustrated by the
Unifit outfitters, which
advertises naval and
civilian tailoring.
The adjoining shop,
displaying the Spratts
Scottie dog, was that
of Charles Carvell,
bird dealer.
An extract from from"Chatham and the Medway Towns Photographic Memories".