Nostalgic memories of Swalecliffe's local history
Share your own memories of Swalecliffe and read what others have said
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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Displaying all 8 Memories
Have many memories, some happy, some sad, culminating in the death of my mother, Ivy Maud Smith on the 16th August 1944 when a V1 destroyed a railway bridge causing the train she was on to crash.
Had two aunts, one lived in a house, Stafford Cottage, Chestfield, on the road leading to the railway bridge, the other in a bungalow at 27 Dovedale Road Swalecllffe. Remember the triangular, ...see more
I was stunned to see this photograph of my dad and me taken at Swalecliffe. We started to go to Seaview Camp in 1949 and in 1950 dad, who was a carpenter and joiner by trade, built us a chalet in our back garden and transported it in pieces to Swalecliffe and erected it on site. We were now the proud owners of one of only two chalets on the site which had an upstairs. Our chalet number was ...see more
You'll all go "Oh yes", when I jog your memory that Seaview was formerly named 'Kite Farm Camp'. It changed its name to Seaview around '61/62 when Arthur Fitt the garage owner on the other side of the station bought it from Old Mr Prout. I was born in 1955 and my mum and her step father (Oscar French from Chatham) had a caravan each. They were both of treated hardboard and were wonderful to us kids (the ...see more
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. ...see more
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 ...see more
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 ...see more
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 ...see more
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.
