You are here:
Whitstable
Whitstable maps
Historic maps of Whitstable and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Whitstable maps
Whitstable area books
Displaying 1 of 24 books about Whitstable and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Whitstable
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Whitstable.
Add your memory of Whitstable
or of a photo of Whitstable.
Childhood Beach Hut
This scene of the old fishermen's beach huts shows my family's beach hut on the left. The lady just about to enter the beach hut was my grandmother, I am playing on the beach and my sister is in the pushchair next to the lady. Families had all the necessary facilities in the beach huts and almost every day of the summer holidays was spent down there. My grandfather belonged to the Angling Society and there were frequent fishing competitions between the Society, the Ambulance Brigade, the Fire Brigade and the Police. As a child, I was given the job of polishing the silver cups presented to the winners.
This scene has changed vastly since the 1950s. A sea wall was built after the 1953 flood which restricted our view of the sea from the beach hut, and the huts, after being left to become derelict and listing at frightening angles during the 1980s, have now been rebuilt and refurbished as holiday chalets. Originally, there was a six foot... Read more
Kent memories
Tankerton Slopes
I was 8 in 1964 & used to Cycle down from Castle Road for a swim.
I remember Tankerton for the fun of the slopes & the amazing water for swimming.
I visit about twice a year.
I reccommend a stay in the Marine Hotel on the road by Slopes
Memories of Good Times
Coming across this picture sparked memories of such happy times I had as as a child spending my summer holidays in a chalet at Seaview. It was not unusual to stay for four or more weeks in one of the chalets and spend practically every waking hour being on the beach or walking into either Whitstable or Herne Bay. I remember rummaging along the beach finding bits of pottery from the houses that fell into the sea where the cliffs had been eroded towards Herne Bay, and the time British Rail sent our luggage to Chesterfield in Derbyshire only to be located some fortnight later. Even the mud at low tide had its attraction and the huge shallow pools left behind were a delight for sailing model boats in. I can remember my sister one day coming back to the chalet with a bowl of jelly she had found. It would seem that a lady had made this as a treat for her family, and had placed it under their... Read more
My First Job
This shop was the first job I had, it lasted all of one week! Iwas all of 12.
We moved to Swalecliffe from Gillingham Kent when I was 8 or 9. I lived there untill I started My Nurse Training in 1973.
My parents were very active in the Free church their. My sisters and I had many a happy time on the beach swimming for hours and hours.
Seaview, Swalecliffe
My nan and grandad Ott had a caravan here at Seaview, they bought it the year I was born, 1964... I can see it as if it was yesterday, if I remember right, it was number G8...It was opposite the toilet blocks, no hot water in the early days, but I remember the camping site having a new block built, with hot showers, I think the laundry block had showers. I can even remember the old gas lamps ...then the caravan got electric... The last time I went to Seaview I took my twin daughters, about 23 years ago...
Happy Days
My memories of the caravan site go back to the 1940s when my parents had a caravan there. It was situated at the edge of the site where there is an open field and a footpath. I went back last July for the first time in about 60 years and the memories came flooding back. The caravans used to be very well spaced out with plenty of room to fly kites between the rows. We spent most weekends there in the summer and had many very happy holidays. We were very friendly with the people who had the next caravan. I believe the site was owned then by a Mr Pout. On my visit last year I met a very nice gentleman who told me Mr Pout was a farmer but does anyone know if he originally owned the site? In the evenings we would go for walks through an area that had railways carriages converted into homes, some were rendered and some were placed one behind the other to make larger accommodation.These were surrounded... Read more
Seaview Caravan Park Swalecliffe.
My mum still has a caravan on this site and must be the longest tenant/owner as I am now 60 and she first bought a van on that site 50+ years ago. I remember the gas lights, walking the overnight pee bucket to the toilets, filling up the water bottle under the van. Her name is Eilleen Hayward and our departed dad Jeff, caravan N6. I have not been back to that site in 22 years as I live in Oz. I remember the juke box up at the arcade, listening to Roy Orbison and meeting all the friends I made on the site in the early sixties - 1960 onwards. Great place and great memories and my mum still loves it and my brother reckons he will retire and go and stay there for all the time its open. Anyone out there who remembers the 1960's onwards at this site?? Martin.
