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General Discussion / Re: Guess the Place
« Last post by John Walker on Today at 12:00:32 AM »A20?
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General Discussion / Re: Guess the Place
« Last post by johnfilmer on May 06, 2024, 05:58:22 PM »That was hard work to finally find that it was a building within a few hundred yards of our old business premises...
Both my sons were born there, we had the 3am dash for the first. My wife got some strange looks when she was asked about how often the contractions had been, and she said that she had to stop timing them that evening while she mucked out the stables. Luckily I'm allergic to horses
Meanwhile, back on topic, where is this pillbox? The road is a busy A road that I suspect many of us (certainly me) have used many times.
Mid Kent
Both my sons were born there, we had the 3am dash for the first. My wife got some strange looks when she was asked about how often the contractions had been, and she said that she had to stop timing them that evening while she mucked out the stables. Luckily I'm allergic to horses
Meanwhile, back on topic, where is this pillbox? The road is a busy A road that I suspect many of us (certainly me) have used many times.
Mid Kent
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General Discussion / Re: Guess the Place
« Last post by John Walker on May 06, 2024, 05:26:54 PM »Well done JohnFilmer. West Kent Hospital, Maidstone. My maternal great grandfather, George Impett, was employed as head gardener at Roydon Hall in 1906. The family lived in a tied-cottage near Wateringbury. In 1907, my great-grandfather suddenly became ill and was taken to the West Kent Hospital, where he died. (The family story is that he was kicked in the head by a horse)
My Great Grandmother and five children were then forced to leave the tied-cottage and moved to Canterbury, where they lived in a slum for many years.
My Great Grandmother and five children were then forced to leave the tied-cottage and moved to Canterbury, where they lived in a slum for many years.
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General Discussion / Re: Guess the Place
« Last post by johnfilmer on May 06, 2024, 10:35:33 AM »It’s the old Maidstone Hospital in Marsham Street, where now stands Hengist Court.
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Aviation disasters / List of Plane Crashes - Pre WW1
« Last post by stuartwaters on May 06, 2024, 08:12:59 AM »This is a list of plane crashes which occurred in or off the shores of Kent in the period before the First World War started.
The list details the date, the registration (if known or registered) and type of aircraft, where the accident occurred, a brief description of the accident and the number of fatalities (if any). It's taken from 'Plane Crashes in the South-East', a document linked to on Planebritain.com.
1913
January
13th Vickers Tractor Biplane. Crashed in the River Thames after takeoff from Joyce Green. 2 killed
22nd. 4. Short Triple Tractor. Damaged beyond repair at base RNAS Eastchurch.
March
18th. 37. Borel Monoplane Seaplane from RNAS Grain. Crashed on landing in the Swale off Harty Ferry.
October
15th. 55. Caudron Seaplane of RNAS Grain. Sideslipped on takeoff in the River Medway
57. Caudron Seaplane of RNAS Grain. Hit buoy in the River Medway and overturned.
December
2nd. 23. Longhorn of the Naval Flight School at Eastchurch. Sideslipped in at base. 2 killed.
1914
May
23rd. 140. Farman HF22H from RNAS Grain. Engine failure, Forced Landing and lost floats off Dover.
The list details the date, the registration (if known or registered) and type of aircraft, where the accident occurred, a brief description of the accident and the number of fatalities (if any). It's taken from 'Plane Crashes in the South-East', a document linked to on Planebritain.com.
1913
January
13th Vickers Tractor Biplane. Crashed in the River Thames after takeoff from Joyce Green. 2 killed
22nd. 4. Short Triple Tractor. Damaged beyond repair at base RNAS Eastchurch.
March
18th. 37. Borel Monoplane Seaplane from RNAS Grain. Crashed on landing in the Swale off Harty Ferry.
October
15th. 55. Caudron Seaplane of RNAS Grain. Sideslipped on takeoff in the River Medway
57. Caudron Seaplane of RNAS Grain. Hit buoy in the River Medway and overturned.
December
2nd. 23. Longhorn of the Naval Flight School at Eastchurch. Sideslipped in at base. 2 killed.
1914
May
23rd. 140. Farman HF22H from RNAS Grain. Engine failure, Forced Landing and lost floats off Dover.
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General Discussion / Re: Guess the Place
« Last post by Beachbum on May 06, 2024, 12:02:54 AM »Thomas Place, Maidstone?
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General Discussion / Re: Guess the Place
« Last post by John Walker on May 05, 2024, 05:55:47 PM »Beachbum is closest with King's Lodge, Maidstone. Don't forget, this building was demolished in the 80s/90s.
Replaced by a large sheltered housing complex which is named after an ancient king.
Replaced by a large sheltered housing complex which is named after an ancient king.
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General Discussion / Re: Walderslade WWII POW Camp
« Last post by stuartwaters on May 05, 2024, 10:33:23 AM »My Wife and I nearly bought that house in the early 2000's.
I'm pretty sure that a number of the POWs housed in the camp settled here after the war. I remember a conversation with the old boy who used to have the barbers shop on Gillingham Road opposite the post office there when he told me that he first came to this country as a POW and stayed after the war.
I'm pretty sure that a number of the POWs housed in the camp settled here after the war. I remember a conversation with the old boy who used to have the barbers shop on Gillingham Road opposite the post office there when he told me that he first came to this country as a POW and stayed after the war.
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Engineering Works and Factories / Re: Car makers in Kent
« Last post by stuartwaters on May 05, 2024, 10:31:20 AM »I'm sure that many years ago, a Company (may have been Tylers) had a display of AC Cobra replicas in the Pentagon Centre in Chatham. From memory, the most expensive model was powered by a Jaguar 5.3 litre V12. It was a beautiful car and I decided I wanted one. Until I saw the price.
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Aviation disasters / Lists of Kent Plane crashes
« Last post by stuartwaters on May 05, 2024, 10:25:14 AM »I am compiling a (very long!) list of all the plane crashes in Kent. It'll take some time and I'll split it up into periods (Pre WW1, Inter War Years, WW2 and Post WW2). I'm hoping that it'll be used as an index and form the basis of further research, along the lines of the lists I posted about Kent-built warships. The intention is to make these items stickies and put in hyperlinks to future items members may post about individual plane crashes.
The shortest list will be the pre-WW1 list. From memory, the first plane crash in our county occurred in 1913 or thereabouts. The longest will be the WW2 list, because that will list all those British and German planes lost in the Battle of Britain as well as bombers which didn't quite make it back to their home bases after being damaged in action over Europe later in the war.
The shortest list will be the pre-WW1 list. From memory, the first plane crash in our county occurred in 1913 or thereabouts. The longest will be the WW2 list, because that will list all those British and German planes lost in the Battle of Britain as well as bombers which didn't quite make it back to their home bases after being damaged in action over Europe later in the war.