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Chilham railway stationChilham railway station serves the area around the village of Chilham in Kent, including Chilham itself, Shottenden, Old Wives Lees and Bagham. The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by South Eastern.
The station was opened by the South Eastern Railway (SER) on 1 December 1846, and is on the SER Ashford to Margate line. The wooden platforms are connected by a concrete overbridge, and there are level crossings near both ends of the station.
The typical off-peak service from the station is one train per hour to Canterbury West and one train per hour to London Victoria via Ashford International and Maidstone East.
External links
Category:Transport in Kent
ChilhamChilham is a parish in the English county of Kent.
Sitting in the valley of the River Stour there are three settlements in the parish, Chilham, Shottenden and Old Wives Lees. The Neolithic longbarrow of Julliberrie's Grave is in the parish.
This is one of the few places with a road named "The Street" (probably). It is world famous and both ends tie in a knot making it the only knot chilham road, as is known by locals.
Three are two pubs, The Pollock and The White Wings. The White Wings has recently changed its name. There is also a privatly owned coffee shop, church and gift store. The gift shop sells lots of fun things including engraved pet animals on sticks.
External link
[http://www.chilham-parish.org.uk/ Chilham parish]
Category:Villages in Kent
Kent:This article is about the English county of Kent. See also Kent (disambiguation).
Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. The county town is Maidstone. Kent has land borders with East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London, and a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames estuary. Kent also has a nominal border with France halfway along the Channel Tunnel.
The two cities in Kent are Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Rochester, the seat of the Bishop of Rochester. However, since 1998 when local government was reorganised, Rochester lost its official city status through an administrative oversight; attempts are now being made to regain it. For other towns, see the list below.
Kent, because of its soubriquet "the Garden of England", might be regarded as a picturesque rural county, but farming is still an industry. Over the centuries many other industries have been of importance; some still are. Woollen cloth-making, iron-making; paper; cement; engineering: all have been part of the industrial scene. Fishing and tourism occupy many people, especially the coastal resorts. The East Kent coalfield was mined in the 20th century: and there is a nuclear power station located at Dungeness. Nevertheless, the district of Thanet has been regarded as one of the most disadvantaged areas in the south-east of England.
Ferry ports, the Channel Tunnel and two motorways provide links with the European continent. There are airports at Manston and Rochester and smaller airfields at Headcorn and Lydd.
Famous residents of Kent have included Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin. Sir Winston Churchill's home Chartwell is also in Kent.
Although the Victoria County History for Kent is limited, an extensive survey of the county was undertaken over a 50-year period by Edward Hasted between 1755-1805. William Lambarde was an even earlier writer, in the 16th century.
History
:Main article: History of Kent
The area has been occupied since the Lower Palaeolithic as finds from the quarries at Swanscombe attest. During the Neolithic the Medway megaliths were built and there is a rich sequence of Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman occupation indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley.
The modern name Kent is derived from the Brythonic word Cantus meaning a rim or border, being applied as a name to the eastern part of the modern county, and meaning border land or coastal district. Julius Caesar described it as Cantium, home of the Cantiaci in 51BC.
The extreme west of the modern county was occupied by other Iron Age tribes; the Regnenses and possibly another ethnic group occupying The Weald. East Kent became one of the kingdoms of the Jutes during the fifth century AD (see Kingdom of Kent) and the area was later known as Cantia in about AD730 and Cent in AD835. The early Mediaeval inhabitants of the county were known as the Cantwara or Kent people, whose capital was Canterbury.
Canterbury is the religious centre of the Anglican faith, and see of St Augustine of Canterbury. Augustine is traditionally credited with bring Christianity to the county and thus to England in 597.
Following the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy the people of Kent adopted the motto Invicta meaning undefeated and claiming (quite wrongly) that they had frightened the Normans away, presumably in an attempt to defame the people of Hastings in neighbouring Sussex.
During the medieval period, Kent produced several rebellions including the Peasants' Revolt led by Wat Tyler and later, Jack Cade's rebellion of 1450. Thomas Wyatt led an army into London from Kent in 1553, against Mary I. Canterbury became a great pilgrimage site following the martyrdom of Thomas Becket. Canterbury's religious role also gave rise to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, a key development in the rise of the written English language and ostensibly set in the countryside of Kent.
By the 17th century, tensions between Britain and the continental powers of the Netherlands and France led to increasing military build-up in the county. Forts were built all along the coast following a daring raid by the Dutch navy on the shipyards of the Medway towns in 1667.
During the Second World War, airfields in Kent became played a vital part in the Battle of Britain while civilian settlements were often bombed.
Geography
Physical geography
Kent is the southeasternmost county in England. It is bounded on the north by the River Thames and the North Sea, and on the south by the Straits of Dover and the English Channel. The continent of Europe is a mere 21 miles across the Strait. The major geographical features of the county are determined by a series of ridges running from west to east across the county. These ridges are the remains of the Wealden dome, which was the result of uplifting caused by the Alpine movements between 10-20 million years ago.
Erosion has resulted in these ridges and the valleys between. From the north they are: the marshlands along the Thames/Medway estuaries and along the North Kent coast; the chalk North Downs reaching heights of around 600ft; the sandstone and clay valley containing the River Medway and its tributaries; the Greensand ridge; the Wealden clay valley and finally the sandstone High Weald.
The highest point of the county is Betsom's Hill, GR TQ435563, at 251m/823ft.
Probably the most significant geographical feature of Kent is the White Cliffs. It is here that the North Downs reaches the sea. From there to Westerham is now the Kent Downs Area of Oustanding Natural Beauty AONB.
The Weald derives its ancient name from the Germanic word wald meaning simply woodland. Much of the area remains today densely wooded; where there are also heavy clays the tracks through are nearly impassable for much of the year.
Kent's principal river, the River Medway, rises near Edenbridge and flows some 25 miles (40km) eastwards to a point near Maidstone when it turns north. Here it breaks through the North Downs at Rochester before joining the River Thames as its final tributary near Sheerness. The river is tidal as far as Allington lock, but in earlier times cargo-carrying vessels reached as far upstream as Tonbridge. There are other rivers in Kent.
Industries
In medieval times the Weald was of national importance for two industries: the iron industry and cloth-making.
Kent is sometimes known as the Garden of England because of its agricultural influence, extensive orchards and hop-gardens. Distinctive hop-drying buildings called oast houses are common in the countryside, although many have been converted into dwellings. Nearer London, market gardens also flourish.
In more recent times, three industries have been of some importance: paper-making, cement-making and coal-mining:
- Paper needs a supply of the right kind of water: in Kent the original mills stood on streams like the River Darent, tributaries of the River Medway, and on the Great Stour. Two 18th century mills were on the River Len and at Tovil on the River Loose. In the late 19th century huge modern mills were built at Dartford and Northfleet on the River Thames; and at Kemsley on The Swale.
- Cement came to the fore in the 19th century when massive building projects were being undertaken. The ready supply of chalk available, and huge pits between Stone and Gravesend bear testament to that industry. There were also other workings around Burham on the tidal Medway.
- Coal was mined in East Kent: from about 1900 several pits were operating, and Snowdown Colliery was opened in 1908. The coalfield is now closed.
Political divisions
Man of Kent or Kentish Man?
Kent is traditionally divided into West Kent and East Kent by the River Medway. This division into east and west is also reflected in the term Men of Kent for residents east of the Medway; those from west are known as Kentish Men.
However, further investigation shows that the division is not the Medway, but further east in Gillingham. Edward Hasted, in his 1798 description of Rainham, writes: "The whole of this parish is in the division of East Kent which begins here, the adjoining parish of Gillingham, westward, being wholly in that of West Kent."
The division, according to one historian, Freddie Cooper, a former Mayor of Gillingham, remained until April 1, 1929 when Rainham was transferred, despite protest, from the administration of Milton Rural District Council to that of Gillingham.
In religious matters, Kent was divided between the two episcopal areas of Canterbury and Rochester.
A lathe was an ancient administration division of Kent, and may well have originated during a Jutish colonisation of the county. These ancient divisions still exist, but have no administrative significance. There are seven Lathes in Kent; Aylesford, Milton, Sutton, Borough, Eastry, Lympne and Wye. these units are recorded as intermediate between the county and hundred. The Domesday Book reveals that in 1086 Kent was divided into the seven lathes or "lest(um)" for administrative, judicial and taxation purposes and these units remained important for another 600 years. Each of the seven lathes were divided into smaller areas called hundreds, although the difference between the functions of lathes and hundreds remains unclear.
- Taken from Frank W Jessup's History of Kent 1958
A Manorial court was an early form of dispensing justice which came into being after the Domesday Book. Among other things it dealt with land tenure. After the 17th century most of the court's functions were taken over by a Justice of the Peace, who had first been appointed from the 14th century. From 1361 until 1971 the justices met four times a year in Quarter Sessions. In Kent there were separate courts of Quarter Sessions (at Maidstone and Canterbury) until 1814.
Under the Poor Law every parish had had the responsibility of looking after its own poor, and seeing that they had the bare minimum of shelter, food, clothing and medical attention. In most parishes the burden of poor relief mounted rapidly in the early part of the 19th century. Huge population increase, and the lack of work on the land, made it imperative that the Poor Law was amended. It was, in 1834, when the institutions known as workhouses came into being. These were often run by a group of parishes — hence the title Union Workhouse. Boards of Guardians were set up to oversee them.
Boards of Health
Boards of Health, in much the same way as the Boards of Guardians for the poor, were set up in 1875, because of the huge rise in epidemics, notably of cholera. The area of the sanitary districts, as they were known, coincided with the union boundaries. Larger parishes (<5000 people) became urban sanitary districts — or, as they became known, urban districts — while the smaller ones evolved into rural districts.
Highway boards
Highway boards also came into being, and the old turnpike trusts gradually expired.
Municipal boroughs
The final sub-division of Kent was into towns which had been granted a charter by the Crown giving them special privileges, including that of having a mayor. The boroughs at the beginning of the 19th century are those marked (MB) on the list of Cities & Towns below. In addition the village of Fordwich also counted as a borough: it was deprived of that status in 1882.
Kent County Council
In 1888 an Act of Parliament set up, inter alia, Kent County Council which, with its members coming from all parts of the county (except Canterbury, which became a County Borough with similar powers), first met in 1889. Its duties at first were few, but gradually it absorbed School Boards, the rural Highway Boards and the Boards of Guardians.
Parish councils
In 1894, parish councils were set up. These were civil parishes, and unconnected with an ecclesiastical parish. Although since 1979 there have been many changes in local government, parish councils now are in a strong position, particularly in unitary authorities, where they act as a second tier. In other districts, some functions are held by the county council, relegating parish councils to a less influential third-tier status. Parish rates are today collected by the district or unitary tier and then disbursed to parish clerks. Those parish councils serving areas of denser settlement are normally known as town councils although their rank and influence is much the same. These traditionally elect a mayor from the town councillors with the greatest experience.
- All the preceding notes in this section taken from Kent History Illustrated Frank W Jessup (Kent County Council 1966)
In 1974 the old division between county and borough came to an end, with England being divided below county level into districts. Canterbury, hitherto separately administered as a county borough, became one of the boroughs into which Kent was divided.
Medway unitary authority
In 1998 the districts of Gillingham and Rochester were removed from county council government to become the unitary authority entitled the Borough of Medway.
Kent and London
When the County of London and London County Council were created in 1888, the new county incorporated a considerable part of north west Kent including Deptford, Greenwich, Woolwich and Lewisham.
Further change came in 1965, when the London County Council was abolished and the Greater London Council took its place. The places that had been removed in 1888 were amalgamated to form the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Greenwich and two further boroughs were created. These were the London Borough of Bromley — an amalgamation of Bromley, Beckenham, Chislehurst, Orpington and Penge and the London Borough of Bexley comprising Bexley, Sidcup, Erith and Crayford.
Much of the north-west of the county is part of the London commuter belt. The Thames Gateway regeneration area includes riverside areas of north Kent as far east as Sittingbourne and largely to the north of the A2 road.
Ceremonial county
The ceremonial county of Kent corresponds to the administrative county plus the district of Medway (or Medway Towns).
Cities, towns and villages
See the list of places in Kent, list of civil parishes in Kent
Places of interest
- Bayham Abbey Lamberhurst [2]
- Bedgebury Pinetum
- Bewl Water
- Bough Beech Reservoir, Ide Hill
- Bluewater Shopping Centre
- Canterbury Cathedral
- Chartwell, Winston Churchill's home [1]
- Chatham_Dockyard It has been suggested Chatham originated the word chav.
- Chiddingstone Castle
- Cinque Ports
- Deal Castle [2]
- Dolphin Yard Sailing Barge Museum, Sittingbourne
- Dover Castle [2]
- Dungeness Power Station
- East Kent Railway, a heritage railway
- Emmett's Garden, Ide Hill [1]
- Faversham
- Hever Castle
- Hoo Peninsula
- Ightham Mote 14th century house [1]
- Isle of Grain
- Isle of Sheppey
- Isle of Thanet
- Kent & East Sussex Railway, a heritage railway
- Kent Battle of Britain Museum
- Kent International Airport (formerly known as London Manston Airport) with two aviation museums
- Knole, Sevenoaks [1]
- Leeds Castle
- North Downs Way, a long distance footpath
- Penshurst Place
- Reculver Roman Fort & Reculver Tower
- Richborough Castle & Roman Fort, near Sandwich [2]
- Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, a heritage railway
- Romney Marsh
- Royal Engineers Museum of Military Engineering, Gillingham
- St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury [2]
- Scotney Castle [1]
- Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Sissinghurst [1]
- Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway, a heritage railway
- Smallhythe Place, Tenterden [1]
- Squerryes Court & Garden, Westerham
- Turner Gallery to open in Margate
- Upnor Castle [2]
- Walmer Castle & Gardens [2]
- The Wantsum Channel
- [1] Properties under the care of the National Trust
- [2] Properties under the care of English Heritage
External links
- [http://www.kent.gov.uk/ Kent County Council] - Local Government website
- [http://www.kentonline.co.uk/ Kent Online] - A Kent Messenger Group website
- [http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/counties/england/kent.html Kent heritage]
- [http://www.digiserve.com/peter/village.htm Kent resources website]
- [http://www.kentdowns.org.uk Kent Downs AONB website]
- [http://www.villagenet.co.uk/ Village Net web site has photographs and historic details of over 240 Villages in Kent and East Sussex]
- [http://www.historic-kent.co.uk/ provides further information on villages throughout Kent. It makes the point that there thought to be over 300, although the term 'village' covers settlements of a great variation in size. There is a 'Select a destination' box for the alphabetical list]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/places/names/index.shtml#a Spelling of placenames in the county from BBC website]
References
- Glover, J., Place names of Kent.
- Freddie Cooper, personal research
- Men of Kent: Sorry ... but we’re joining a new tribe, by Stephen Rayner, Memories page, Medway News, October 2004
ko:켄트 주
simple:Kent
South Eastern Trains
South Eastern Trains (SET) is a British train operating company set up to provide train services in the south-east of England including Kent, parts of East Sussex, and the South-East London commuter routes. The London termini of the services are Charing Cross, Blackfriars, Cannon Street, and Victoria. SET operate on 773 miles (1237 km) of tracks, with 178 stations. 82% of their train services go into London.
History
SET is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). It assumed the services following the withdrawal of Connex South Eastern's franchise on 9 November 2003. Part of the company's public information leaflet at the time stated that SET 'will operate the franchise until a private company is appointed to manage the new Integrated Kent Franchise (IKF)'. Some trade unions, such as [http://www.rmt.org.uk/C2B/document_tree/ViewADocument.asp?ID=190&CatID=45 the RMT], opposed the plans to re-privatise (April 2004), and campaigned for SET to continue under public ownership.
Train fares, staff and schedules remained the same. In the ensuing 18 months the company has announced staffing changes involving station staffs, but point out that 400 more staff are now employed: 90 new jobs are involved in station security and 'revenue protection'. Press articles claimed that large-scale cuts in services would be undertaken; in response to strenuous opposition by local councils these have to some extent been modified, although there are some fears about the services in the Thames Gateway area. Two stations are to close, although services on the branch line from the Isle of Sheppey, which currently terminate at Sittingbourne, are to be extended to Dover.
Train routes
Main lines
South Eastern Trains run four main lines, two to the Kent coast:
- through Ashford - the London - Ashford- Dover Line
- through Chatham and the north Kent coast
- through Maidstone to Ashford and Canterbury
- the Hastings Line (London to Hastings via Tunbridge Wells)
There is also the Medway Valley Line, linking with the North Downs Line to Reading.
Suburban services
The suburban services (called 'Metro’ in the SET timetables) run to:
- Sevenoaks: two services - one via Grove Park, and one via Bromley South
- Hayes line
- Orpington via Lewisham and via Bromley South
- Swanley
- Dartford via: North Kent Line (from which certain trains run to Gillingham); the Bexleyheath Line and the Dartford Loop Line.
Rolling stock
SET uses a fleet composed exclusively of electrical multiple units.
- Class 365 Networker Express - transferred to WAGN in 2004
- Class 375 Electrostar
- Class 376 Suburban Electrostar
- Class 411 4Cep - withdrawn by mid-2005
- Class 421 4Cig - withdrawn by late-2004
- Class 423 4Vep - withdrawn by late-2005
- Class 465 Networker
- Class 466 Networker
- Class 508
Integrated Kent Franchise
The intention is that the Integrated Kent Franchise will encompass the current region of SET and add domestic high-speed trains running between Kent and London on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The franchise was put out to tender to four pre-qualified candidates on 18 January 2005. The invited parties were:
- South Eastern Railways Ltd (a consortium of DSB and Stagecoach Group);
- Great South Eastern Railway Limited (Sea Containers, the owners of GNER, and MTR Corporation);
- London & South Eastern Railway Ltd (Go-Ahead Group and Keolis);
- First Group's First Kent Integrated Railways Ltd.
Bids were submitted by April 2005, and evaluated by the SRA, which intends to announce the winner on 21 December 2005. The winner will not start operating the franchise until 1 April 2006. The franchise will be for six years, and includes an automatic extension of another two years if the operators meet their performance commitments. This means that the franchise is likely to run until 31 March 2014.
On 30 November 2005 it was announced that the franchise had been awarded to Govia [http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_610602.hcsp].
It is expected that the operator of the Integrated Kent Franchise will also operate the Olympic Javelin, a high-speed link between St Pancras station and Ebbsfleet International station, via Stratford International station, which will be situated close to the main venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
See also
- List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom
- Connex
External links
- [http://www.setrains.co.uk/ Official South Eastern Trains site]
- [http://www.setrains.co.uk/stations/index.php Station information from South East trains]
- [http://www.kent.gov.uk/your-council/committee-papers/highways-advisory-board/march-05/item-3-int-kent-franchise.html Kent County Council summary of IKF proposals March 2005]
- [http://www.kent.gov.uk/your-council/committee-papers/highways-advisory-board/july-05/item3-ikfranchise.html Kent County Council IKF update July 2005]
Category:Transport in Kent
South Eastern Railway:For the railway in India, see South Eastern Railway (India)
The London and Greenwich Railway (LGR) and the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (CWR) in East Kent were the earliest railways to serve the then county of Kent: eventually both became parts of the South Eastern Railway (SER). At Bermondsey there was a junction for the London & Croydon Railway opened in 1839.
London & Greenwich Railway
The LGR opened its first section between Spa Road (Bermondsey) and Deptford on February 8 1836, the line being extended westwards to London Bridge from December 14 1836; and to a temporary station at Greenwich on December 14 1838. The present station was opened two years later in 1840, and until the line through Maze Hill to a junction with the North Kent Line just west of Charlton was opened in 1878, Greenwich was the terminus.
The layout of the station still partly betrays that fact. The line from London, built on a continuous viaduct, is perfectly straight, but after Greenwich it makes a sharp turn and dips into a tunnel. There also used to be a space between the two tracks for the locomotive 'escape route' to reverse the trains, but this disappeared when the station was reorganised to accommodate the Docklands Light Railway.
Canterbury & Whitstable Railway
The CWR (known locally as the Crab and Winkle Line) opened on May 3 1830 between Canterbury and Whitstable Harbour. It was the first regular passenger steam railway in the world. In its early days it employed a variety of means of traction: on the inclines at Tyler Hill and Clowes Wood winding engines were used, with horses in the section between; and the locomotive Invicta - built by Robert Stephenson, unsuccesful and becoming disused by 1839 - being employed at the Whitstable end. Invicta, in spite of its short life, has been preserved.
The line also contained the world's first passenger train tunnel, the 800 yard Tyler Hill Tunnel, and its entrance is still visible today at both ends. One entrance is behind the University of Kent, the other comes out in the grounds of the Archbishop's School.
The line closed for passenger traffic on January 1 1931, and entirely in 1953.
The Main Line
The original main line was given sanction by Act of Parliament in 1836, running from London Bridge via Redhill, Tonbridge, Maidstone and Ashford to Folkestone and Dover. This circuitous route was the result of insistence on the part of Parliament that only one southerly route out of the capital was necessary; since the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway had already built the line through Redhill, the SER perforce had to follow it. This completely ignored the fact that the main London - Dover road had, since ancient times, followed a much more direct route; and it ignored the fact that the other great railway building projects did take direct routes whenever feasible. A passenger to Dover had a 20-mile longer journey than by the coaching route!
The main line reached Ashford on December 1 1842; the outskirts of Folkestone by June 28 1843; and Dover by February 7 1844. Their locomotive works was built in 1845 moving from New Cross in London.
Branch lines
The SER system spread out opening branch lines to connect with major towns along its route.
Dates of opening
- September 25 1844 Paddock Wood - Maidstone
- September 20 1845 Tunbridge (as it then was) - outskirts of Tunbridge Wells
- November 25 1846 extended to Tunbridge Wells
- December 1 1846 Ashford - Margate
- July 7 1847 Minster - Deal
- September 1 1851 Tunbridge Wells - Robertsbridge
- January 1 1852 Robertsbridge - Battle
- February 1 1852 Battle to Bopeep Junction, St Leonards This marked the completion of the branch to Hastings
- February 13 1852 Ashford - Hastings
- June 18 1856 Strood - Maidstone
- September 1 1866 the "Dartford Loop" line from Hither Green via Sidcup
- October 9 1874 the Sandling branch (closed 1951)
- March 1882 The Hundred of Hoo Railway
- September 4 1893 the Hawkhurst branch (closed 1961)
- May 1 1895 Blackheath - Dartford via Bexleyheath
The SER and other railways
The SER and the LCDR
By 1853 the SER had almost completed a network of lines encompassing mid-Kent. There was still the North Kent coast not served by rail, and in 1853 a company named the East Kent Railway was incorporated. By various amalgamations and using "running powers" the new railway was to gain access to the new Victoria station; other extensions brought the railway to Dover and Ramsgate. The London, Chatham and Dover Railway was granted its title in 1859.
This new railway company had a much more direct access to London than the SER; and it was imperative that this situation was improved. The direct line via Sevenoaks to Tonbridge was therefore constructed by the SER and was built. It involved huge earthworks: crossing the North Downs by means of summits and then long tunnels at both Knockholt and Sevenoaks. the latter was the longest in southern England at one mile, 1691 yards in length. This "cut-off" line, 24 miles in length, reached Chislehurst on July 1 1865, but took three more years to reach Orpington and Sevenoaks (opening date March 2 1868) and Tonbridge (May 1 1868).
Many of the LCDR's lines served towns already possessing a station built by the SER. Rochester and Chatham; Maidstone; Canterbury; and Dover were all in this position.The first two have now lost their second station, as has Dover. The LCDR was always in financial difficulties, and for years the amalgamation of the two Kent routes was mooted. On January 1 1899 this was put to rest when the two companies joined for working under a Management Committee. On August 5 1899 an Act of Parliament was passed entitled "South Eastern and London, Chatham and Dover Railway Companies Act" which resulted in the formation of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway.
The SER and the LBSCR
With the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway relationships were often bitter - almost an all-out war. The main sites of that war were in London, Redhill and Hastings: three locations where the two railway companies came closest together.
In London, at both London Bridge and Victoria the rivalry between the two companies came to such a head that both stations, even today, show the existence of two separate areas at each site, with a wall between them. At Redhill the two companies' stations were placed at an inconvenient distance for passenger exchange; and when a new station was built, the SER gave preference to its own trains through the station. This led the LBSCR to build what is known as the "Quarry Line" so as to avoid Redhill altogether. At Hastings, where they came together for the final section through St Leonards, the troubles were even more direct. In their desire to secure the business, the SER were determined to keep the LBSCR out. The latter had opened their line from Brighton on February 13 1851, connecting with the SER at Bo-peep Junction. After preventing some Brighton trains from passing the junction, the SER blocked in at Hastings those that had; removed track at the junction; and even put barriers up to stop the LBSCR coach link from operating. An LBSCR injunction eventually put matters to rights, but until the 1923 amalgamations relations were still to be bitter.
References
Publications
- The South Eastern and Chatham Railway (O.S. Nock, Ian Allen Ltd 1961)
- The Railway Year Book for 1912 (The Railway Publishing Company Ltd, 1912)
- Railways of the Southern Region (Geoffrey Body, Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1984)
- The Rural Landscape of Kent (S.G.McRae & C.P. Burnham, et al, Wye College, 1973)
- See also Rail transport in Great Britain
External links
- [http://www.trackbed.com/companies/s/company_ser.htm One history of the SER]
- [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RAcroydon.htm The London & Croydon Railway]
- [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RAgreenwich.htm The London & Greenwich Railway]
Category:Pre-grouping British railway companies
Category:History of Kent
Category:Transport in Kent
Margate
Margate is a town on the Isle of Thanet in Kent, England (Population about 57,000). It was known as Meregate (in 1254), later becoming Margate (from about 1293), and its name's meaning may be translated as "a pool gate or gap in a cliff where pools of water are found". The cliffs of the Isle of Thanet are composed of London Clay, a fossil-bearing rock.
History
Cinque Ports
Margate was a "limb" of Dover in the ancient confederation of the Cinque ports. It was added to the ports in the 15th century.
Margate and the Sea
Between 1890-1939 about 30 pleasure boats operated from Margate beach. The main builder of Thanet wherries was Brockman of Margate, who turned them out in large numbers before the Great War. They developed two distinct types of these Thanet beach boats, the wherry, with its high sides, and the wherry punt, with low sides. The hulls were traditionally varnished, a practice employed by boatmen from Thanet to Devon. Some boatmen would construct a wider beam into the design to assist fishing.
Although employing a clinker-built hull, the shape was similar to the Deal galley and the Thames waterman's skiff. The last wherry in service at Margate was operated by a Dusty Miller of Westgate, and built by an apprentice of Brockman's of Margate in 1939. "She was only about 12 ft long and being small was sometimes called a skiff."
The town's history is tied closely to the sea and it has a proud maritime tradition. The record of the vessel, Friend to all Nations, and the Margate Surfboat disaster of 1897 are noteworthy events in Margate's past.
Margate as a Seaside Resort
Steamboats
It is now a seaside resort which, like its neighbour Ramsgate, has been a traditional holiday destination for Londoners drawn to its sandy beaches.
Edward Hasted, writing in the 18th century, had once described Margate as a "poor fishing town", but in 1810, when describing the shore, said:
- ... [it] was so well adapted adapted to bathing, being an entire level and covered with the finest sand, which extends for several miles on either side of the harbour... [near which] there are several commodious bathing rooms, out of which the bathers are driven in the machines, any depth along the sands into the sea; at the back of the machine is a door, through which the bathers descend a few steps into the water, and an umbrella of canvas dropping over conceals them from the public view. Upwards of 40 of these machines are frequently employed...
About 1816 The Times reported that the introduction of steamboats had given the whole coast of Kent (and) the Isle of Thanet in particular, "a prodigious lift". Sir Rowland Hill (founder of the 1840 Penny Post), while in Thanet during 1815 however, remarked: "It is surprising to see how most people are prejudiced against this packet." So popular were the steam boat excursions that in 1841 there were six different companies competing for the Margate passenger traffic. It remains a remarkable tribute to the popularity of this pioneering service that even with the advent of the railway in 1846 the steamboats continued in service until their final demise in 1967.
In 1820 it was said that "the inhabitants of Margate ought to eulogise the name of Watt, as the founder of their good fortune; and steam vessels as the harbingers of their prosperity". It is curious, however, to find that a popular reluctance was to be found apparent in passengers in travelling beyond Margate, for fear of coming to grief upon the dangerous North Foreland shoreline.
Railways
The railway came to Margate via two separate railway companies. The South Eastern Railway (SER) were first to reach the town, when its branch line from the main line at Ashford, having opened to Ramsgate on April 13 1846, was continued to a station called Margate Sands on 1 December of the same year. It was not direct however: trains had to reverse from the terminus at Ramsgate to reach Margate. In spite of that, crowds of people added to the already high numbers coming by sea. The SER had the rail monopoly for 17 years.
That was to end when, on October 5 1863 the London, Chatham and Dover Railway completed its North Kent coast line and built a station at Margate West. Once the Southern Railway had been formed, there was a major rationalisation of the Isle of Thanet railways: the old route from Ramsgate was closed completely, and a new railway connection, looping round the Isle of Thanet, meant that trains could pass through the town from either direction. Margate West (renamed simply Margate) station became the only railway station in the town.
Tourism
In recent times it has had higher unemployment rates than much of south-east England, as tourists travel further afield. Like Brighton it was infamous for gang violence between mods and rockers in the 1960s.
Margate faces major structural redevelopments. Its Dreamland Amusement Park (featured in the Only Fools and Horses television series) is threatened with imminent closure, and in 2003 saw a huge fire destroy much of its seafront frontage. This blaze occurred during plans to close the park, owned by the same company that has similar redevelopment plans for the Folkestone Rotunda Amusement Park. In 2004 it was announced that Dreamland (although somewhat reduced in its amusements) would re-open for three months of the summer; a pressure group has been formed to keep it in being.
The group is anxious that the UK's oldest wooden roller coaster, The Scenic Railway, a Grade II Listed structure is retained. Dreamland has some need for protection, its big wheel, once a landmark visible for miles around, having been sold to a park in Mexico. Other attractions that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s such as the River Caves ride and the Miniature railway, closed in the 1980s and 1990s.
A controversial Turner gallery has been proposed, as an alternative to Margate's traditional tourist trade, and if built would form part of the harbour itself. Some critics, however, questioned the prudence of placing part of Britain's national art treasure in a spot that is exposed to the full fury of the North Sea. Nevertheless, the scheme is to go ahead and the planned opening is for 2007.
Margate during the Second World War
It was on September 3, 1940, that pilot officer Richard Hillary was shot down during combat against three Messerschmitts into the sea near the North Foreland, but had the good fortune to be rescued by Margate lifeboat. His Spitfire had burst into flames and he was badly burnt, but later wrote the book The Last Enemy. Hillary, the grandson of the founder of the lifeboat service (Sir William Hillary, d. 1852), recovered from his ordeal, but was killed in a training flight accident in 1943, aged 24.
Howard Primrose Knight, coxwain of the Ramsgate lifeboat Prudential, and Edward Drake Parker, coxwain of the Margate lifeboat Lord Southborough were both awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in recognition of their gallantry and determination when ferrying troops from the beaches of Dunkirk during the evacuation of 1940.
The lifeboats had assisted in retrieving at least 2,800 men, by towing eight wherries, during a continuous service lasting 40 hours. Following this achievement the Margate boat returned to Dunkirk to rescue 500-600 French soldiers from the beach.
In a letter to the RNLI, the Commander of HMS Icarus stated: "The manner in which the Margate lifeboat crew brought off load after load of soldiers under continuous shelling, bombing and aerial machinegun fire, will be an inspiration to us all as long as we live."
External links
- [http://www.ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/80/Margate_Dir/Margate_Page1.htm The Turner project]
- [http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1994-21.html Margate man wins Darwin Award]
Category:English seaside resorts
Category:Towns in Kent
Victoria station (London)Image:Victoria_logo.gif Victoria station in London is a London Underground and National Rail station in the City of Westminster. It is in Travelcard Zone 1.
National Rail
The eastern side, comprising platforms 1 - 8 is the terminus for services to Kent, and the western side comprising platforms 9 - 19 is the terminus for lines running from Surrey and Sussex, including Gatwick Airport and Brighton. Although this split is still generally held to, there are various crossovers allowing trains to access any platform. As the western "Brighton" side is the busier of the two, slight disruption on that line sometimes results in some of its suburban services using the eastern "Chatham" station.
History
Early history
Victoria station is a main line terminal station in the West End of London. Its origins lie with the Great Exhibition of 1851, when a railway called the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway came into existence, serving the site of the exhibition halls which had been transferred to Sydenham from Hyde Park. The terminus of that railway was at Stewarts Lane in Battersea on the south side of the river. In 1858 a joint enterprise was set up to take trains over the river: it was entitled the Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway; and was 1.25 mile (2km) in length. The railway was owned by four railway companies: the Great Western (GWR); London & North Western (LNWR); the London, Brighton and South Coast (LBSCR); and the London Chatham and Dover Railways (LCDR). It was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1858.
The station was built in two parts: those on the western side, opened in 1862, with six platforms, ten tracks and an hotel (the 300-bedroom Grosvenor) were occupied by the Brighton company; whilst adjacent, and in the same year, the Chatham company were to occupy a less imposing wooden-fronted building. The latter's station had nine tracks and was shared by broad-gauge trains of the GWR, whose trains arrived from Southall via the West London Extension Joint Railway through Chelsea. The GWR remained part owner of the station until 1932, although its trains had long since ceased to use it. Each side of the station had its own entrance and a separate station master; a wall between the two sections effectively emphasised that fact.
Chelsea
Rebuilding
At the start of the twentieth century both parts of the station were rebuilt. It now had a decent frontage and forecourt, but not as yet a unified existence. Work on the Brighton side was completed in 1908 and was carried out in red brick; the Grosvenor Hotel was rebuilt at the same time. The Chatham side, in a Edwardian style with baroque elements, designed by Alfred Bloomfield, was completed a year later. The two sections were eventually connected in 1924 by removing part of a screen wall, when the platforms were renumbered as an entity. The station was redeveloped internally in the 1980s, with the addition of shops within the concourse, and above the western platforms.
The station was now serving boat trains, and during WWI it became the hub of trains carrying soldiers to and from France, many of them wounded. After the war the Continental steamer traffic became concentrated there, including the most famous of those trains, the Golden Arrow. The area around the station also became a site for other other forms of transport: a bus station in the forecourt; a coach terminal to the south; and it is now the terminal for trains serving Gatwick Airport.
London Underground
The London Underground station lies to the north of the mainline station concourse. There are two ticket halls. The hall closer to the mainline station serves the Victoria Line. The other, further north along a tunnel, serves the District and Circle Lines.
History
The sub-surface Circle and District Lines opened on December 24, 1868; and the Victoria Line line came to Victoria Station with the third phase of construction of the line - the station's platforms were opened on March 7, 1969, six months after the Victoria line had started running in north London.
Coach station
Victoria Coach Station is half a mile south-west of the railway stations. It is the main London coach terminal and serves all parts of the UK, as well as mainland Europe.
External links
- [http://www.christopherlong.co.uk/pri.victoria.html Further historical details]
- [http://www.networkrail.co.uk/Stations/stations/Victoria/Default.aspx Station information] on Victoria Station from Network Rail
Category:London railway stations
Category:Westminster
Ashford International railway stationAshford International railway station serves Ashford in Kent. Services are provided by South Eastern Trains, Southern and Eurostar.
The typical domestic off-peak service from the station is:
- 6tph (trains per hour) to London Charing Cross, of which five run via Tonbridge and one via Maidstone East
- 1tph to London Cannon Street via Maidstone East
- 1tph to London Victoria via Maidstone East
- 2tph to Dover Priory of which one continues to Margate
- 3tph to Canterbury West, of which two continue to Margate and one of those continues to Ramsgate
- 1tph to Hastings via the Marshlink Line
As well as these domestic services, 12 Eurostar trains serve the station heading towards Paris (7 trains) or Brussels (5), and 18 trains serve the station heading towards London (9 from Paris and 9 from Brussels).
See also
- Ashford (Middlesex) railway station
- List of UK railway stations
External links
Category:Railway stations in Kent
Category:Transport in KentCategory:Kent
Kent FingonIn the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Fingon, "the Valiant" was a High King of the Ñoldor in Beleriand during the First Age. He was the eldest son of Fingolfin, older brother of Turgon, Aredhel, and Argon.
His name was a Sindarin form of his Quenya name Findekáno, which probably means something like "skilled hero".
Fingon went with his father and people from Aman to Middle-earth at the beginning of the First Age. He achieved renown soon after for his daring rescue of Maedhros from Thangorodrim. Fingolfin gave Fingon a domain in Dor-lómin, in the west of Hithlum, where he did good service during the Siege of Angband; defeating Orcs that attempted to go around to the north and attack Hithlum from the west, and then later the first to fight against the dragon Glaurung when he first came forth from Angband.
Fingon became High King when Fingolfin died fighting Morgoth after the Dagor Bragollach. Seven years later, Morgoth's forces invaded Hithlum, and Fingon was hard-pressed and outnumbered, but rescued by Círdan and his people of the Falas, who came up the Firth of Drengist in their ships.
In the Battle of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Fingon was nearly victorious; but at the end he was killed by Gothmog Lord of Balrogs.
Turgon became by right the High King of the Ñoldor, although after the battle he returned to the secrecy of Gondolin.
Earlier versions of the legendarium
In the published Silmarillion Fingon was the father of Gil-galad, but this was an editorial mistake by Christopher Tolkien, and is said "to have no wife or children". Argon does not appear in the published Silmarillion at all.
#Source: http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/f/fingon.html
Category:High Elves
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