Priestfield Road

A Memory of Gillingham.

I was born in Priestfield Road and lived there until my family moved across the river to to Hoo when I was 14 years-old. I have fond memories of peers with whom I would play either in the road or we'd go to The Rookery, Strand or Darland Banks. I attended Barnsole Road Infant and Junior schools before going to Gillingham Technical High School as it was called then. I recall that a Mrs Roberts ran a shop at the top end of our road where we'd rush to buy sweets with our pocket money on Saturday mornings; a Mrs Batchelor ran a small grocery store at the bottom.

Whenever there were matches played at the Priestfield Road Football Stadium, home to Gillingham F C, some of us would sneak in at half-time, not to watch a match but offer to return teacups and invariably be told to keep the few pence deposit paid on them, thus supplementing our pocket money. Sadly, I lost touch with most of my childhood friends once my family moved to Hoo and spent much of my youth on a number 19 bus, frequently stuck in horrendous traffic jams as it crawled through Chatham, Rochester and Strood before finally having a clear run through Wainscott and Chattenden en route to Hoo.

I was an avid reader from the time I learned to read and the public library at the far end of Gillingham High Street was a favourite haunt, nurturing a love of books and reading that would stay with me all my adult life.