Guess the Place

[grandarog]

Maidstone area?

[John Walker]

Quick opener- Faversham?

[Beachbum]

Thanks CAT, a tricky one for exact location. Well done MartinR and John Walker.

So next one "200 years?"

[MartinR]

Thanks  for more detail, I was looking at the wrong hill! (Thanks Google ).  Best view is from https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.1938542,1.139879,3a,75y,355.4h,84.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s9lCS4q4PSQOqbnGz3VBj1A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu.  Location information of the bench:

• Nat Grid:                 TR 19443 48642
• Co-ords (WGS84):  51°11'41"N,001°08'22"E or 51.19484,1.13935

[John Walker]

Here's a distant view taken from South Barham Hill.   Aprox  51.193810, 1.138304.  You might need to move left or right a bit to see it on top of the hill.

[CAT]

I quite agree that Beachbum should take the honour with this one. The true origin of the name is lost in the mists of time, or a musty box in an archive store, but its later reuse of 'Jumping Downs' can be traced on the earlier maps of the Ordnance Survey from 1871, as well as the Barham Tithe map of 1842. There is the possibility it may have referred to quarrying of the moderately steep sloping valley sides as a portion of land opposite recorded as 'Part of Stone Quarry Field' and 'Stone Quarry Field'.

The two included images show it in recent years as a nature reserve, whilst the second is the LIDAR image showing the course of the motorcycle track, the lumps and bumps of which are vaguely discernible in the reserve today. For its O.S. location, its at TR19407 48639, or 51°11'41.52"N,001°08'19.83"E in watery terms.

Over to you Beachbum and apologies for the delays.

[MartinR]

The location information for Jumping Downs Nature Reserve found by entering the name into Google Maps is:

• Co-ords from Google maps: 51.19293447583034, 1.1360682545372907
• Nat Grid:                               TR1922248420
• Nearest Post Code:              CT4 6LN
• Co-ords (WGS84):                51°11'35"N,001°08'10"E

Can't see any benches though.  someone else will have to explain where in the reserve the bench is.

[John Walker]

As John Walker says ,Its a Nature Reserve named Jumping Downs .
   Named by Anglo Saxon,s it means Hilly or Humpy Farming Ground   .Probably nowadays people think it to refers Horse Race Steeple Chasing or to the motor Bike,s Jumping the Hillocks when Scrambling.

Beachbum Wins he found the Bench first.

Something else I've leaned from GTP.

[grandarog]

As John Walker says ,Its a Nature Reserve named Jumping Downs .
   Named by Anglo Saxon,s it means Hilly or Humpy Farming Ground   .Probably nowadays people think it to refers Horse Race Steeple Chasing or to the motor Bike,s Jumping the Hillocks when Scrambling.

Beachbum Wins he found the Bench first.

[John Walker]

Well, I know the location and the current name for the area, but I can't find any clue as to the origin of the name.  Unless there's some connection with the racecourse that used to be on the Barham Downs outside Canterbury.

[CAT]

Apologies for the delay, but you are definitely heading the right way Beachbum and are in the right parish of Barham and the bench's dedication. A little more precision on its location, the name of which is a reflection of the lands former use.

[Beachbum]

The Barham Motorcycle Rider is Tom Arter (Arter Bros).

Tom Built many successful TT bikes. Peter Williams was one of his crew, he later became Norton's development engineer.

I brought a Greeves 250 trials bike with silverstone front forks and Sammy Miller exhaust (I was 15)

[Beachbum]

So to move things on, this is Ray Bovis and his dog brodie remembered by the memorial bench at Barham.

[CAT]

Looks like people are getting close, but no takers so far!

The site of this 'monumental carving' overlooks one of East Kent's most scenic valley routes

[Beachbum]

An interesting Memorial indeed.

So I brought my first Motorcycle from the Rider below. One of the original members of the Club running the Races.