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Sheerness
Sheerness maps
Historic maps of Sheerness and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Sheerness maps
Sheerness area books
Displaying 1 of 24 books about Sheerness and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Sheerness
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Sheerness.
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I Was There!
I was/am the lad on the right! I discovered this picture a few years back in a superb Frith's book on Kent. Alongside me is my mate Ray. I think the year is more like 1957 or it could the summer of 1956. It was during those lovely days when kids spent whole days out of the house and generally unsupervised. Ray and I and other gang members spent loads of time up on the seafront and beach at a time when Sheerness was a most popular seaside location - especially for Londoners. When not on the beach you could find us in the fair - our mini Alton Towers! It seemed that the seafront was only half the height it is today, serious floods in the 1950s and again in the 1970s caused the seafront to be built up as a massive flood defence.
We also played forever on the canal bank (nearer to our homes) and honed our football skills. In those days summers were always... Read more
Kiddies' Store
In 1953, I moved here at the age of 2 with my parents from London's Old Kent Road. We rented the large flat directly above Kiddie's Store (seen on the left of this picture of the High Street). My father worked at a local bakery. I remember the police coming one day after there'd been a big burglary into Kiddie's Store, the thieves having got through from the skylight at the back of our flat. Another day I remember the Catholic priest coming to call on my mother to see why we hadn't been to mass for a few weeks. We hid behind the door and pretended we weren't at home but he'd seen us at the window from the street. We were all there the following Sunday. Early in 1955 we moved to Egerton.
Kent memories
RUSHENDON
I lived in Swale Avenue, Rushendon as a young lad. I was cared for by Mr and Mrs West. Mr West worked in the local pottery works. I can remember there used to be a huge glass works, a stone's throw from Manor Road. As children we would disappear all day on the marshes with our bottles of sherbert water and jam sandwiches. I remember going to school in Queensbourgh, which was just by the railway station. More memories to follow.
Grain Fort
After the war in 1946 my father, a sergeant in the MPSC, was transfered to Darland camp in Gillingham but as there were no married quarters available there we, as a family, were billeted in the Coastguards quarters on the Isle of Grain.
These were a row of houses with a bedroom in the attic from which we could see across the Medway to the Isle of Sheppy.
I went to the village school briefly for a year, and was also in the church choir but the best fun we had as children was playing in the deserted fort and wading out to the Tower when the tide was out, our parents would have died if they knew what we got up to!
One of the great pleasures for me was watching the Thames barges sailing up the Medway - those barges have always held a fascination for me ever since.
Another memory of Grain for me was crossing over to Sheerness by Navy launch from Port Victoria, then a... Read more
Childhood at Grain
After WW2 my father was posted to the firing range at Yantlet , Grain. When he left the army he was a caretaker at Grain Fort before working at the new oil refinery. My brother and I spent our pre teen years at Grain. It was a wonderful place for kids - forts, watch towers, the beach, ships on the Thames and Medway, the window shattering boom of the big guns firing at Yantlet, the marshes, strawberry picking. In 1956 we migrated to Australia.
It is sad to see so little of Grain's history preserved. The large WW1 naval air station has disappeared without a trace and no recorded history. The historic fort has been demolished and covered, lost for future generations.
Does anyone have photos of these significant military establishments? A museum of the air station, forts, firing range and oil refinery would be a worthy addition to the village.
St. James Road, Isle of Grain
I used to live in 33 St James road as a child and was looking for friends from my old school, St. James Primary, when I stumbled across this site. I have fond memories of Grain, the Cat and Cracker and also the Hogarth Inn. It used to have a walnut tree in the grounds. I remember sledging down the fort in the snow and swimming in swannie lake during the summer. My dad worked at Thamesport and my mum was a strawberry picker. Good times.
Death of Bargee at Kings Ferry Bridge
My grandfather James Britton was a sailing barge skipper. On the 18th or 19th of April 1906 he was negotiating passing under Kings Ferry bridge, linking the mainland to the Isle of Sheppey, this involved lowering the mast. While thus engaged he complained of feeling unwell. He was taken to the nearby Lord Nelson public house where he subsequently died of a heart attack. The incident was reported in an obituary in the East Kent Gazette. If you have further information or wish to discuss the barge families of the Milton Creek and Conyer area I would like to hear from you. email: britpacific@gmail.com
Jim Britton, Umpqua, Oregon.
