Northwood Road & Swalecliffe

A Memory of Whitstable.

My mother was 19 when I was born. We were living above The Wool Shop in Swalecliffe, on the corner, opposite the railway bridge I actually have an uncanny memory of that time. I must have been under 2 years old, as we moved to London then. Apparently, I was an 'escaper'. I had climbed out of my pram and crawled (or toddled) out of our garden, and crossed the busy main road (on quite a sharp corner), and climbed up the embankment on to the main Kent to London railway line. I still have the picture in my head, of looking from the rails down the long tree-lined embankments in the London direction, the railway line slowly disappearing as it shrunk into the distance. I suppose I was incredibly lucky that no trains came along during that short period before my mother discovered that I had escaped and rushed to my rescue! So I was saved!
We moved to Chelsea, In London shortly after that, but continued to visit my Grandmother in Northwood Road, Whitstable for many, many years, until she died. My cousin still lives in Herne Bay, so we do go down to visit her occasionally, and I often make a point of driving that way - as it is much nicer than the current motorway which has now by-passed Swalecliffe. The Castle Grounds at the bottom of Northwood Road were wild in those days and a wonderful place to run around through the woods. Now it has been 'sanitised' - but there is a nice little cafe which we have to visit!
Dave Skye