The Francis Frith Collection.
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Woodside Green

Woodside Green photos (2 available)

Old photo of Woodside Green

Woodside Green maps (2 available)

Old map of Woodside Green

Woodside Green books (30 available)

Woodside Green memories

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You can also read memories of nearby places in Kent below.

Kent memories

My ancestral home

I'm American and live in Northern California. This is my first trip to England and I'm hoping to visit Bicknor. My great-great-grandfather was the Vicar of Bicknor. His last name was Seager; I never knew his first name. I have a watercolor of the vicarage where he and his family lived. The Vicar and his wife had 4 sons - Robert, Charles, Edward and Edmund Seager. All were graduates of Oxford University. The two youngest were twins and emigrated to Ontario, Canada. One of Edward's children was Mary Seager, my great-grandmother. I have about 30 letters, dated in the 1870's, written by Edward to his daughter after she was married. She married Charles Muldoon and emigrated to Buffalo, New York, where ...read more here
A memory of Bicknor contributed by Sarah Kauffman

Hop Picking

I used to go to Little Chart Farm, Pluckley as a child, being born in the East End in 1946.  My memories are of freedom and adventure, long, happy carefree days spent in the beautiful Kent countryside, for a few weeks each summer. My aunt and uncle Ivy and Tom Smart had a wooden hut on the farm and my parents and I used to join them for a holiday.  The picking of hops was a hard, thirsty and dirty job, their hands were stained green and smelt strongly of  the hops.  We kids used to explore, the surrounding area, scrumping apples from the orchards, and being chased by then farmer, visiting the spooky ruined church, of which there was supposed ...read more here
A memory of Pluckley contributed by alexandra mustin

Notes from the Frith files.

Ospringe, Water Lane c1955

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 All buildings on the left hand side have now been replaced by housing except for the building with the advertising hoardings.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

The Bearsted boys

I have put 1947 but infact it is from earlier than that to 1954.

I think this was a great place for us as kids as we had freedom and not much parental control, I think mainly due to our parents who had just survived the war years, and thinking how lucky we were all to be alive and not under Hitler.

One of my memories was being lifted from the tin bath to watch Spitfires chase 'doodle-bugs' over the village.

I remember sleeping under the table made from steel with mesh around so if we got bombed we may survive. I also remember a shell or bomb going off very close to our house and we ...read more here
A memory of Bearsted contributed by ian Simmons

Extracts From Woodside Green & Kent books

Gillingham, Darland Banks c1960

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".

Rochester, the Red Lion, Star Hill Corner c1955

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".

Chatham, Town Hall and Military Road c1955

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".

Chatham, High Street c1955

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".

Chatham, Town Hall c1960

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".