A Mystery Solved

Some time ago I wrote a post about a mysterious memorial stone I came across in Cockerhurst Road on the outskirts of Shoreham.

 

On one face it is inscribed with a passage taken from the Bible (Hosea) - "Behold therefore I will allure her and will lead her into the wilderness and there I will speak to her heart"....

 

 

On another face the inscription reads "Pray for the soul of E.J.G.B".....

 

 

and on another "and of A.J.B".

 

Thanks to tip offs received from members of Kent History Forum I have managed to get to find out the origins of the stone.

The stone was erected in 1928 by a Miss Maud Berkeley in memory of her late father, Dr E J G Berkeley. She lived at  Little Timberden in the village and ran a Catholic mission chapel.

As well as the stone and a seat, she also erected a 15' high teak crucifix with a life size statue of Jesus.

The crucifix had a somewhat chequered history.

On the 21st January 1943 it was blown down in a gale and on the 27th October 1960 it suffered an even worse fate.

The crucifix was deliberately sawn down and the statue of Jesus vandalised. It would appear that some residents of Shoreham thought the towering crucifix an eyesore.

The crucifix and statue were removed and put into storage for a number of years. Eventually a Miss Cobbold suggested they be relocated to the Carmelite monastery at Quidenham in Norfolk where they remain to this day.

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Dartford Creek in Old Pictures

This post follows on from my last which covered the final leg of my Darent Valley Walk from Dartford town centre through to the mouth of Dartford Creek.

I came across these old photographs of Dartford Creek which I guess were probably taken in the early 1950's or possibly a bit earlier.

Above is an aerial shot of the Burroughs Wellcome & Co pharmaceutical factory in the foreground and London Paper Mills in the background.

Burroughs Wellcome & Co through various mergers and acquisitions finally evolved into Glaxo Smith Kline and was once one of the biggest (if not the biggest) employers in Dartford.

Burroughs Wellcome & Co was founded in 1880 by two London based American pharmacists, Silas Burroughs and Henry Wellcome. In 1889 they purchased the site of the Phoenix paper mill in Dartford and set up their own factory which went from strength to strength with up to 1300 employed at it's peak.

Raw materials for the factory were transported up the Creek by barge and the company had it's own wharf.

Over the years many important drugs including insulin for the treatment of diabetes, Zovirax for the treatment of herpes and Retrovir used by HIV/AIDS sufferers around the world were developed.

Unfortunately pharmaceutical manufacturing in Dartford ceased a few years ago and the factory site has now been demolished and is awaiting redevelopment.

London Paper Mills operated from Riverside Mill. The company was formed in 1889 and initially produced 250 tons of paper per week. In 1909 the company was taken over by Albert Reed and production increased to 400 tons per week. The company mainly specialised in the manufacture of printing paper. The mill remained open until 1968.

In the picture above barges are seen on the Creek loaded with wood pulp and esparto grass. The esparto grass came from the Mediterranean by ship to the London Docks and was then put into barges and towed up to Dartford Creek.

The esparto grass was then transported by lorry to the Horton Kirby Paper Mills (mentioned in My Darent Valley Walk Part 4). It was used to manufacture fine quality writing paper.

Further down the Creek, the Ettrick Forest Mill was established in 1862. In 1868 this was taken over by the Daily Telegraph and known as Dartford Paper Mills. Newsprint was produced for the Fleet Street presses and in it's heyday 700 staff were employed.

The mill later passed into the ownership of Wiggins Teape and paper production continued on the site until 2009 when it was closed and demolished. The site is currently waiting redevelopment (a familiar theme).

The Greaseproof Paper Mill seen above was established in 1933. At this time greaseproof paper was used extensively to wrap foodstuffs such as cheese or meat which were weighed and sold loose in small local shops.

The mill only had a short life operating until 1957. Demand for greaseproof paper presumably plummeted with the establishment of supermarkets in the 50's and the introduction of packaged foods.

J & E Hall Ltd was another major employer in Dartford. They were involved in engineering but I will write more about them in another future post when time permits.

In the late 1970's ships were broken up in Dartford Creek below the lock. One of these ships was the Royal Navy Type 41 frigate HMS Leopard. She was built in Portsmouth in 1955.

In October 1977 she was sold for scrap. At 100 metres in length she was too long to navigate Dartford Creek. To get around the problem the breakers towed the Leopard from the Naval Dockyard at Chatham to Beckton on the Thames were the stern section was removed.

The remaining forward three quarters of the ship could then be towed down to Dartford Creek for demolition.

The Leopard was the largest ship to be scrapped at Dartford. The breakers mainly disposed of trawlers and Thames barges. The business later transferred from Dartford Creek to Gravesend - probably a good thing for the water in the Creek.

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My Darent Valley Walk Part 6 - The Final Leg

Readers of this blog will know that I have been walking the long distance Darent Valley Park in handy bite sized chunks as and when time permits.

I am pleased to report that I have finally completed the last section from Dartford Central Park where my last blog post finished off through to the River Thames at the mouth of Dartford Creek.

After passing by the Dartford War Memorial I walked through the centre of Dartford to the church and then along the River Darent once more.

At this point I should warn you that this is definitely not the most scenic part of the Darent Valley.

The path passes by the delightful Wickes D.I.Y superstore and emerges at the demolition site of the former Glaxo Wellcome pharmaceutical factory.

From here I walked along to Lower Hythe Street. This dead end road once contained two pubs - the unusually named Huffler's Arms (more about that later) and the Phoenix.

Now only the Huffler's Arms remains open. The area is currently earmarked for regeneration...

The Phoenix pub was named after the Phoenix Mills which manufactured paper until 1889 on the site later occupied by Glaxo Wellcome.

The pub now appears to be used as a private residence. I took the adjacent path which leads to a footbridge across the Darent. From this point on the Darent is known as Dartford Creek.

The view looking back towards Dartford town centre and the footbridge.

In the 18th century the Creek could be navigated for 3.5 miles by barges of up to 50 tons on Spring tides. At other times cargo had to be transferred to smaller craft of only 10 to 12 tons capacity.

Where there were no tow paths suitable for horses, men known as hufflers were employed to pull the barges along the Creek up to their respective unloading wharves. Very laborious and thirsty work - hence the need for the two pubs!

Due to the increase in river traffic in the 1840's it was decided to canalise the Creek. This enabled navigation for barges of up to 150 tonnes. In 1895 a lock was built to maintain a constant water level at the top end of the Creek making it easier to unload cargo.

Barge traffic peaked in the mid 1930's but the lock is now disused and the Creek is once more tidal. The whole area has an air of dereliction and abandonment. All the riverside industry has disappeared no doubt soon to be replaced by yet more housing.

Cargoes handled on the Creek included esparto grass and wood pulp for the paper mills.

I have some old pictures of the Creek in it's heyday which I will put in a future post.

A little further along the Creek is crossed by a modern road bridge (Bob Dunn Way). Nearby I saw two bright green ring necked parakeets sitting in a tree - not really what I was expecting but they are apparently quite common in Kent nowadays.

Beyond the bridge the Creek meanders it's way slowly through the Dartford Marshes, a desolate flat landscape. Due to it's remote location the Marshes were used for the storage of ammunition during World War II.

A number of the concrete bunkers are still standing. Interestingly they have no roofs presumably to ensure that blast would be directed upwards in the event of an explosion.

A fireworks factory also operated on the Marshes for many years but has now closed.

The River Cray joins the Creek at this point. It was also navigable and barges would transport wheat transshipped from vessels in the London Docks up to the flour mill at Crayford.

Here I saw a heron doing a spot of fishing. An indication that the water must be getting less polluted.

The Marshes (and indeed Dartford itself) are dominated by the 705' chimney of Littlebrook Power Station.

It seems hard to believe now but the damp fields in the foreground were used as an airfield in the early days of aviation and during World War I. The airfield has an interesting history and I will write a separate post about that another day.

The Dartford Creek Barrier was built in 1981 and is a defence against flooding. Two steel gates each weighing over 160 tonnes can be positioned to withstand flood waters up to 6 metres above local ground level.

In 1953 there was terrible flooding along the Thames Estuary including the Dartford Marshes and many people lost their lives. The Barrier marks the official end of the Darent Valley Path.

The Thames looking downriver. Littlebrook Power Station to the right, the QEII bridge in the background and ships at Purfleet (Essex) to the left.

A bit superfluous.... since construction of the barrier effectively put paid to navigation on the Creek!

The Thames looking upriver towards London.

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My Darent Valley Walk Part 5 - Darenth to Dartford Central Park

Regular readers of this blog will know that over the last year or so I have been walking the Darent Valley Path in bite sized chunks.

This post follows on from my last walk which ended near the village church in Darenth. The path passes through meadows closely following the bank of the river itself. The area is dotted with worked out gravel pits which are now used as private fishing lakes.

The path passes under the M25 motorway in the village of Hawley and eventually emerges onto the busy A225 (Dartford to Sevenoaks road).

Thankfully the path only follows the A225 for a short distance before returning to the river bank.

The river at this point flows quite rapidly despite being shallow and weed filled.

The Darent was once renowned for an abundance of trout but years of pollution by the riverside industries and over-extraction by water companies put paid to that. Efforts are now being made to rehabilitate the river but it will take many more years to reverse.

I came across this impromptu rope swing hanging from a tree over the river. It brought back memories of the sort of mischief I used to get up to when I was a kid! I used to spend much of my school Summer holidays mucking about in the river at Horton Kirby, catching tadpoles and getting wet and muddy.

One of the industries that used to operate on this stretch of the Darent was the manufacture of gunpowder. The water from the river was channelled through sluices to provide power for the powder mill machinery.

The first powder mill was established in 1732 and by 1810 Dartford had become the largest centre of production in the UK. Dartford powder was known for it's high quality. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the safety standards at the mill. There were frequent explosions and many fatalities.

A news report from November 1790....

" The 12th, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the inhabitants of Dartford and of the country for several miles around were alarmed by a dreadful concussion occasioned by the explosion of seventy barrels of gunpowder at the works of Messrs. Pigou and Andrews. Six men were destroyed in the dreadful havoc, most of whom have left wives and families behind them. The foreman of the works has left a wife and seven children."

The path continues on passing through Brooklands Lakes, another former gravel pit, used as a fishing lake since the 1930's. It was originally known as Ellingham's Ponds. During the Second World War it was camouflaged to prevent German bombers from locating a nearby Vickers armaments factory.

The path and river pass through the Princes Tunnel into Dartford Central Park. The tunnel was built in 1923 and passes under the Dartford by-pass. The road was officially opened on 19th November 1924 by the Prince of Wales (later to become Edward VIII).

Dartford Central Park which dates back to 1905 is well worth a visit. The ornamental flower beds are maintained to a very high standard and provide a sea of colour during the Summer months.

A replica Edwardian bandstand and cafe have recently been opened and there is an excellent children's play area.

At the other end of the park (and the end of this particular walk) are Dartford Central Library and the war memorial.

My fellow blogger Emm (a South African ex pat living in the UK for the last few years) wrote a post on her blog about the park and library.

The war memorial designed by Arthur Walker was unveiled on 7th May 1922 and originally contained the names of 345 local men who perished in the Great War. Additional names were added after World War II and subsequent conflicts.

Strangely one of the men listed on the memorial has exactly the same initial and surname as me but is not a relation....

On a lighter note, when I was very young I used to think the statue was a postman carrying a bag of letters on his back. The innocence of youth.

I will shortly be writing up the last leg of my Darent Valley Walk which covers the section from Dartford Central park to the Thames.

UPDATE - for the final leg of My Darent Valley Walk please see here

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My North Downs Challenge

A few months ago I signed up to take part in a charity 20 mile North Downs Challenge on behalf of St Mary's church in Kemsing. Some parts of the church date back to the 11th century so are understandably in need of some attention.

Earlier this month I duly reported in at the church hall along with many others who had taken on the challenge, and was given a very detailed set of instructions to follow, so detailed and clear in fact I never had to look at my map all day.

The very first part of the walk involved a steep climb out of Kemsing to join the North Downs Way. This certainly got the heart pumping!

On the ascent I passed close by Otford Manor, an impressive arts and crafts style house which is now used as a Christian retreat. The Manor is built on top of one of the highest points in Kent and has excellent views across the North Downs.

After climbing all the way to the top of the hill and following the North Downs Way for about an hour, the route dropped back downhill into the village of Otford which I have mentioned before in My Darent Valley Walk Part 2.

The route passed close by the remains of Otford Palace originally built for the Archbishops of Canterbury but later seized by King Henry VIII.

I continued through the churchyard along the Pilgrims Way through the village for a short distance before heading across the fields towards Twitton. This is one of my favourite parts of the Darent Valley as you actually find yourself away from the noise of traffic and for a change all you can hear is birdsong.


Twitton can't even be classed as a village as it consists of only a handful of ancient farms including Filston which served as check point 1. Distance covered 4.7 miles (7.62 km).

At each check point the organisers had laid on complimentary refreshments which were very welcome as it was a hot day. After leaving Filston Farm there was another steep climb to the top of the valley.

The route then followed the length of the valley for some distance passing by the village of Shoreham and eventually descending through fields full of wild flowers such as daisies and poppies before passing through Lullingstone golf course.

A field full of daisies. As I crossed a stile at this point I spotted a lizard but unfortunately he shot off like a rocket before I could get a picture. Somehow I don't think I'll end up being a wildlife photographer....

The poppies are amazing this year and can be seen for miles. Shortly after passing the field full of poppies, Lullingstone Castle came into view.

I dropped down to the foot of the hill and followed my old friend the Darent Valley Path to check point two at the Lullingstone Visitor Centre.

Shortly before reaching the check point I was pleasantly surprised to bump into one of my old scout leaders who I hadn't seen for about thirty years, heading in the other direction with a party of kids on a point to point exercise along the Darent Valley.

Check point two - distance covered 9.8 miles (15.2 km). A quick sandwich and a drink before pressing on along the Darent Valley Path through Shoreham village then back up the other side of the valley to the little hamlet of Romney Street.

Romney Street consists of a handful of houses and The Fox and Hounds pub which also doubled up as Check Point three. The pub features in many books about walking in Kent and was a welcome oasis after a long uphill slog.

Check point three. Distance covered 15 miles (24.19 km). My knees beginning to ache a bit at this point but I couldn't give up.

For most of the walk I had been accompanied on and off by a nice lady about twenty years older than me so if she could manage it so must I.

Just after leaving the pub we had another unexpected surprise....

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster flew over low and slow heading towards London.

The route continued on through Knatts Valley and (yet) another golf course to the little village of Woodlands. Although the village only consists of a handful of houses, the golf clubhouse and a manor house it has it's own church.

The church is located in the amusingly named Tinker Pot Lane. Next door to the church is a hall which was the location for the final Check Point.

Check Point four. Distance covered 17.71 miles (28.5 km).

For the return leg to Kemsing the route took us back onto the North Downs Way.

A welcome sight as by now my knees were very sore!

The weather stayed kind and the views from the top of the Downs were stunning.

I came across this friendly cow munching on the grass minding her own business. One of her bovine friends on the other hand decided to go on a mini adventure....

Somehow she managed to find a gap in the fence and wandered off deep into the woods.

A little further on I could hear her owners trying to chase her out of the woods and back into the field. The language was quite ripe!

I got back to the church at Kemsing where sandwiches had been laid on. Total distance covered 20.3 miles (32.73 km). Total time taken including breaks for refreshments - 8 hours 27 minutes.

An enjoyable day despite the sore knees. Maybe I'll do it all again next year.

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My Darent Valley Walk Part 4 - Farningham to Darenth

Regular readers of this blog will know that over the last few months I have been walking the Darent Valley Path in stages.

The Darent Valley Path runs from the Thames at Dartford to Riverhead and Chipstead (nr Sevenoaks).

For reasons unknown, I actually started my first part of the walk from Farningham which is about half way along! (see my Darent Valley Walk Part 1). This post will cover the walk I did from Farningham via Horton Kirby to Darenth (in the direction of Dartford).

My walk started from the Lion Hotel at Farningham. It was originally built in the 16th century but much modified in the early 1800's. The River Darent flows through the hotel grounds.

Straddling the river opposite the hotel is an ornamental screen which dates to the 1700's. It is thought that this screen may have been used as some kind of cattle trap.


The path closely follows the river under the busy A20 and M20 main trunk roads which transverse the valley and on, into thankfully more peaceful, open fields.

On the outskirts of the next village Horton Kirby, partly obscured by trees, is Franks Hall, a grade 1 listed building.

The Hall was built in 1591 by Lancelot Bathurst and replaced an earlier building erected in 1220 on the other bank of the river. The Hall is now used as offices by a publishing company and as a wedding venue.
A short distance from Franks Hall the path crosses the bridge at Franks Lane. The bridge was built in 1794. At this point the river starts to get wider and considerably faster flowing. The path veers slightly away from the river across open meadows eventually coming to a weir adjacent to the former Westminster Mill which has now been demolished and replaced with riverside apartments.
The first mill on the site constructed in the 18th century used a water wheel to grind corn. The mill remained operational until 1908 when it was hit by lightning and burnt down.
A replacement building on the site was used as a shoe lace factory. This closed down in 1991 and the site was derelict for many years.

The village sign depicting...
At the bottom - the River Darent (once renowned for it's abundance of trout) and reels of paper once manufactured at the Horton Kirby Paper Mills.
In the centre - the village church flanked by hops which are still grown in the village to this day.
At the top - the railway viaduct built in the 1860's and still in daily service and the imposing paper mill chimney that dominates the village skyline.

Instead of following the Darent Valley Path along the river to the railway viaduct mentioned above, I decided to follow Horton road to the village church, St Mary the Virgin, where another public footpath skirts the edge of the hop fields, crossing through farmland until it transects the London to Dover railway line.

The line runs through a very deep cutting. Amazing to think this was constructed by an army of Irish navvies in the late 1850's mainly by hand.

The footpath crosses some fine countryside and orchards before emerging on Darenth Hill at Court Lodge Farm close to the ancient St Margarets Church (of which I will write more in a future post).

Alongside the road is another fine memorial erected by the Shoreham Aircraft Museum as part of their ongoing work to honour all the Battle of Britain pilots who made the ultimate sacrifice in this part of Kent.

This one is dedicated to volunteer South African Hurricane pilot Nathaniel John Merriman Barry of RAF 501 Squadron who died on 7th October 1940 after a dog fight with German Me 109's.

The aircraft museum is well worth a visit but remember to check their web site for opening times.

Well all that remains now is to cover the last sector of the Darent Valley Path from Darenth through to the Thames at Dartford. Will have to see when I can fit that one in.

UPDATE - for Part 5 of My Darent Valley Walk please see here

In the meantime, if you have any comments, they are always very welcome.

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