Isle Of Grain, The Cat And Cracker Hotel c.1955

Photo ref: I52001

I grew up in 26 Grayne Avenue, Isle of Grain. was there from 1972 to 1990. My family and I then moved to Australia. I found this site when looking up to see what my old house looks like now as its being sold. I was very disappointed to see the front garden was now all paved, the back garden looks like an over grown disgrace. My grand-parents took such pride in their garden and kept it so nice. I loved ...see more

I lived at number 14 from 1952 until about 1961. I used to walk to the post office, run by a Mr Green, to get my Mum's cigarettes and sometimes in the summer an homemade ice lolly, a square of lemon ice on a stick. As a brownie we visited the local farm and picked cherries. My parents were founder members of the Amateur Dramatics, plays were staged in the village hall. I went to the village school and I had my ...see more

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.

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. ...see more