St Marys Platt
St Marys Platt maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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St Marys Platt books (30 available)
St Marys Platt memories
Read and share memories of St Marys Platt and Kent inspired by Frith photos
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Kent memories
The Coronation
In 1953 very few households had television. I remember going along to the Fourways cafe on Coronation Day with my parents so that we could watch the Coronation on the television. My sister was only 3 and I was 5. The cafe was run by Mr and Mrs King. My now step mother worked there as a cook. Years later the cafe became the Fourways Furnishings, though I forget the exact name. That was run by Cyril & Hazel Knight.
The fish & chip shop on the corner, run by the Swinburnes, sold the most delicious ice lollies with real ice cream inside which we would buy on our way to Brownies which was held at the Church Hall on ...read more here
A memory of Borough Green contributed by MARIAN Smith
Ightham 1960s
Interesting to see this picture though I don't think that by the 1960s Ightham was ever this free of traffic except early in the morning.
The building in the centre of the picture was a petrol station and provider of all sorts of bits and pieces. Was it run by Mr Arthur? My father would drive down there (with me in tow) to find whatever he needed to keep the lawnmower and other garden equipment going as well as getting a can of two stroke fuel. Possibly our mini is in the picture (but not if this was taken early in the morning).
Mrs Cox ran the newsagents, just out of picture to the left and ...read more here
A memory of Ightham contributed by Jonathan Green
Housemaid at Ightham Mote
This memory is not mine, but that of my mother in law, Beatrice, nee Head. She grew up in the Girls Training Home in Boxley Road Maidstone until she was 14 when she had to go 'into service'. One of her first jobs was as a housemaid at Ightham Mote where she also looked after the two little boys belonging to the family. Unfortunately she no longer remembers the family name but says they were very kind. She remembers that the house was 'very big' and that she had to cross a wooden bridge to get to the house. I wonder if anyone else remembers working there in the early 1930s, or if anyone can remember ...read more here
A memory of Ightham contributed by Josie Gurnsey
The Village Square
This view was seen by me every day that I went to school at Judd School in Tonbridge. I caught the bus here. There were two bus routes through the village - Number 9 which ran from Maidstone to Sevenoaks and operated by Maidstone & District - and the number 122 which was operated by Southdown and ran from Gravesend to Brighton. Both buses arrived in the village on the hour. I lived at Cobtree Cottage at the top of the village next to the Village Hall and the builders yard of F & G King who were related to me. I was in the church choir for many years and joined the RAF in 1951 following in the footsteps of ...read more here
A memory of Ightham contributed by George Morley
Extracts From St Marys Platt & 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".