Otford
Otford maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Otford books (30 available)
- 4 photos on Otford appear in 3 Frith books - View photos of Otford
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Otford and Kent
Otford memories
Read and share memories of Otford and Kent inspired by Frith photos
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Kent memories
Our first home was in Robyns Way, Riverhead
Elizabeth and I married in 1971 and moved into our first home which we bought together at 21 Robyns Way. From our house we could walk round Pontoise Close and along a path at the edge of a sandpit, past a ramshackle village hall and into this church which we attended frequently. We lived in Riverhead for more than four years and loved the town of Sevenoaks, the local Scout Troop and Cub Pack where we were both leaders, and the Bradbourne Lakes at the end of our back garden. Evntually business took us away from this lovely place and we went to live and work near Glasgow in 1975.
A memory of Riverhead contributed by John Howard Norfolk
Re Meddicks in Knatts Valley
My parents bought land and built a house in Knatts Valley named Holmwood in 1926. My mother was the first postmistress in the valley. My brother and I both attended Kingsdown Primary School from 1932-42. We grew up knowing the valley like the back of our hand. We left the valley in 1942 and have lived in Australia for the last 58 yrs My grandparents are buried in Woodlands Cemetery. My grandfather Meddick was the chief air raid warden in the first part of the war and died in 1942.
A memory of Knatts Valley contributed by ronald meddick
Family connections.
One of my brothers worked at the fish shop 'Packman's' next to the greengrocers and the lady with the pushchair and small child is my sister-in-law and her children.
A memory of Sevenoaks contributed by Mr AR Norman
During WWII
I lived on Seal High Street (pretty well opposite the half timbered building & the horse trough in the photograph) from 1939 to 1951. My father was in the fire brigade. In those days you auditioned to become a choirboy. The Church music was very elaborate & mostly we enjoyed it - although we were discreetly naughty, especially during the vicar's deadly boring sermons. Wide knicker elastic & tiny black throat sweets provided excellent catapault material. We got paid - about 3/6 (17p) I week I think although most of got lost in 'fines'. Society weddings were very lucrative. Seal was a feudal kind of place with very wealthy people in big houses served by the 'village'.
Although the ...read more here
A memory of Seal contributed by Mike Turner
Extracts From Otford & Kent books
Otford is on the main Sevenoaks to Dartford road, alongside the River?Darent; it has become something of a commuter village today. New road developments have done away with the village green, but were obliged to skirt the village pond - it now sits in the middle of a roundabout. It is said to be the only pond designated as a listed building! This wonderfully nostalgic scene reminds us of quieter days.
An extract from from"Villages of Kent Photographic Memories".
Led by the fiddle-player on the right, and probably lubricated by the pub behind him, Morris dancers perform on the village green in the year that ended post-war rationing. Brandishing their handkerchiefs, these dancers are celebrating an ancient custom still alive (and kicking) today. Morris dancers are recorded as greeting Charles II in Kent on his return from exile.
An extract from from"Kent Revisited Photographic Memories".
Weeping willows overhang the village pond and its coop for the ornamental waterfowl; they lie at the heart of a village whose history stretches back to Roman times. Across the narrow street, the whitewashed Crown Inn and the adjoining old cottages complete the picturesque scene.
An extract from from"Kent Living Memories".
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".