Remembrance Day

A poppy placed alongside a sailor's name... one of the 18500 commemorated on the Royal Navy memorial in Chatham.

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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Viscount Northcliffe (1865 - 1922) - Pioneer Press Baron

During a recent stroll around Gravesend, I came across a memorial tablet dedicated to Viscount Northcliffe at the entrance to a building called the White House.

Not to be confused with it's famous namesake across the pond, this White House formerly served as the offices of the now defunct Imperial Paper Mills (IPM).

In it's heyday the IPM occupied a large swathe of the Thames riverfront at Gravesend and even had it's own internal railway network and wharf for unloading wood pulp.

In the mid 1980's, the mill was demolished and the site is now occupied by an ASDA superstore and retail park. The wharf continued to operate for several years after the closure of the mill but has now been mothballed and it's fate remains uncertain.

Anyway getting back to the story of the Viscount.....

Being curious, as ever, and having not previously heard of him, I decided to see what I could find out.

Viscount Northcliffe was born Alfred Charles William Harmsworth on 15th July 1865 in Chapelizod, Dublin he moved to London at the age of two. The son of an English barrister, he was the eldest of an eventual fourteen children. Alfred's father died at a young age leaving the family in dire financial straights.

In around 1875, Alfred Harmsworth attended the Henley House School in Hampstead which was run by a Mr J V Milne, father of A A Milne (later creator of children's favourites Winnie the Pooh, Tigger & friends).

Another famous contempory of Alfred at the school was H G Wells. In 1934 Wells wrote the following about his fellow pupil....

"He made a very poor impression on his teachers and became one of those.... unsatisfactory, rather heavy, good-tempered boys who in the usual course of things drift ineffectively through school to some second-rate employment. It was Mr Milne's ability that saved him from that. Somewhere about the age of twelve, Master Harmsworth became possessed of a jelly-graph for the reproduction of MS. in violet ink, and with this he set himself to produce a mock newspaper. Mr Milne, with the soundest pedagogic instinct, seized upon the educational possibilities of this display of interest and encouraged young Harmsworth, violet with copying ink and not quite sure whether he had done well or ill, to persist with the Henley House Magazine even at the cost of his school work"

The first edition of the Henley House Magazine was issued in 1878 with contributions from Wells amongst others and in 1881 the first printed version appeared - edited by one Alfred Harmsworth.

The school magazine set Alfred on his career in publishing. After leaving school he worked as a freelance journalist contributing to publications such as the "Illustrated London News" and most signifcantly a weekly called "Tit Bits" which was very popular with the public and had made it's owner very successful.

Alfred carefully studied the layout of "Tit Bits" and resolved to start an
improved publication of his own. He remarked to a friend....

"The Board Schools are turning out hundreds of thousands of boys and girls annually who are anxious to read. They do not care for the ordinary newspaper but will read anything that is simple and is sufficiently interesting."

This was in reference to the Education Act of 1871 which guaranteed a minimum level of edcuation for all children and meant that literacy levels had climbed rapidly.

The only problem was raising the finance to get his venture off the ground.....

Eventually, after several years of failed attempts, through a contact at the Daily Telegraph he was put in touch with an investor which enabled him to launch "Answers to Correspondents" on the 12th June 1888.

Initial sales were disappointing but rather than give it up as a bad job, Alfred completely revamped the publication, shortening the name to "Answers". Gradually sales began to climb and his younger brother Harold (later Viscount Rothermere) joined the business.

Unlike Alfred, Harold had a very keen eye for figures and got the business into a sound financial position.

In October 1889, Alfred had a brainwave that would transform the business into a great success and lay the seeds for the growth of his eventual media empire.... Amalgamated Press.

The bright idea? ......to offer a prize to one lucky reader of a pound a week for life.

It may not sound earth shattering now but at the time it was unheard of. The prize was to go to the reader who made the nearest estimate of the amount of bullion in the Bank of England upon a certain date.

It captured the imagination of the public and people talked about it on the trains and omnibuses, in the pubs and on the streets.

The editors of the traditional papers frowned upon the idea and demanded the intervention of the State. Literally by leaps and bounds the circulation rose and reprints had to be ordered to keep up with demand.

A few months after the first competition was launched, a second prize was announced but this time stopped by the authorities at the eleventh hour. It is estimated that "Answers" was making a profit of nearly thirty thousand pounds a year.

Around this time, Alfred and his new wife Mary bought a house called Elmwood near the village of St Peter's on the Isle of Thanet in Kent. Elmwood became the best loved of all his homes. He built a billiard-room, extensive stables, which were subsequently used to house his collection of cars, and a series of outhouses.

The Harmsworth brothers had money to invest and in 1894 they took over the ailing newspaper, the "London Evening News". It was totally revamped with special columns added for female readers who had been neglected by the traditional papers. It's circulation increased rapidly and it was returned to profit.

Two further newspapers were purchased in Glasgow and merged to form the "Glasgow Daily Record".

On 4th May 1896, the first ever edition of the "Daily Mail" was published. It was another overnight success billed as "the penny newspaper for one halfpenny” and “the busy man’s daily journal". It eventually held the world record for the highest newspaper circulation.

The new paper had it's critics. Lord Salisbury sniffily described it as "written by office boys for office boys".

The class system was still very entrenched at this time and many in the establishment looked down on the Harmsworths who they considered to be "new money".

The near bankrupt "Weekly Dispatch" was added to the stable and transformed into the "Sunday Dispatch", the largest selling Sunday paper in the UK at the time.

In 1903 the "Daily Mirror" was launched (initially for female readers) and in 1905 the "Observer" joined the long list of titles. In the same year, Alfred Harmsworth was elevated to the peerage and made Baron Northcliffe of the Isle of Thanet.

1908 marked the pinnacle of Alfred Harmsworth's publishing career when he took control of the "Times" one of the world's most respected newspapers which many overseas States considered to be a quasi official mouthpiece for the British Government.

At this point, it is estimated that the Baron's media empire held up to 40% of the morning, 45% of the evening and 15% of the Sunday total newspaper circulation in the UK. Furthermore, his papers were read by people of all classes - the "Times" and "Observer" for the upper classes, the "Daily Mail" for the middle classes and the "Daily Mirror" for the working classes.

Politicians who had previously shied away from the press began to recognise the influence that the press barons could wield over all sectors of the British electorate.

Northcliffe was always interested in the latest new technologies. He was one of the first car owners in the UK (around 1894) and in 1906 he met the Wright brothers and was immediately taken with the aeroplane.

The "Daily Mail" offered a ten thousand pound prize for the first mechanical flight from London to Manchester in twenty-four with not more than two stops and a further a prize of one thousand pounds for the first flight across the English Channel.

The British Government at that time regarded aviation as a silly fad of the "Daily Mail". One rival London newspaper even offered to pay ten million pounds for a flight of ten miles by mechanical power!

On July 25th, 1909, the Frenchman Louis Bleriot crossed the English Channel in his aeroplane, landed in Dover, Kent and claimed the one thousand pound prize.

On April 28th, 1910, the "impossible" was achieved, and the ten thousand pound prize was won by another Frenchman, Louis Paulhan.

The Amalgamated Press decided to set up their own papermaking operations to ensure their continued supply of newsprint - they were using up to 2000 tonnes per week for their various publications.

They entered into a long term agreement with the Government of Newfoundland to lease an area of 2300 square miles of spruce forest which would be used to make woodpulp.

I found an interesting web site which details some of the operations in Grand Falls, Newfoundland. where the Anglo Newfoundland Development Company, as it was known, set up their pulp mill.

In 1912 the Imperial Paper Mill was founded in Gravesend, Kent and pulp was shipped from Canada to the mill's wharf for manufacture into newsprint. The Amalgamated Press had already set up a printing works a short distance away from the IPM some years previously.

In the years running up to the First World War, Northcliffe had used his newspapers to criticise the British Government's lack of readiness for what he perceived to be the German threat.

His criticism continued after the commencement of hostilities with Germany. He was fiercely opposed to Winston Churchill's plan to capture the Dardanelles from the Turks, which later ended in disaster.

On 21st May 1915, the "Daily Mail" published a leading article entitled -"The tragedy of the shells: Lord Kitchener's grave error" - which lambasted the Secretary of State for War for sending to the front shrapnel shells, useless in trench warfare, instead of the urgently needed high-explosive shells.

Initially the British public were outraged by the article and the Mail's circulation dropped by a million copies. However, Northcliffe was soon vindicated leading to the collapse of the unpopular Liberal Government and the appointment of Lloyd George as munitions minister.

The new British coalition Goverment asked Baron Northcliffe to head up a British War Mission to the United States with the aim of lobbying them to enter the war against Germany.

On 25th February 1917 a German warship shelled Northcliffe's country house Elmwood located near the Kent coast in an attempt to assassinate him.

In 1918 Northcliffe became the British government’s director of propaganda and was elevated to 1st Viscount Northcliffe of St Peters in the County of Kent in recognition of his service to the war effort.

Following the war, Northcliffe took up the promotion of several new causes which he favoured including Irish independence and the Group Settlement Scheme in Western Australia.

This scheme involved the assisted emigration of British citizens to develop remote regions of Australia. Northcliffe was fearful that Australia would be colonised by Japan unless radical action was taken.

Here is an extract from a controversial speech he made during a visit to Australia in 1921...

" I leave lovely Australia, haunted and saddened by thoughts of your weakness. ... I am amazed at your indifference to the events in the outside world and especially in Asia. One can almost smell the East in your northern winds and yet I have met scarcely a score of men and women in Australia with any sense of the imminent danger in which the country stands. . . . The world will not tolerate an empty and idle Australia , . . Tens of millions will come to you whether you wish it or not.... I am staggered by the indifference of the Australian people to the vital question of immigration. . . . Why not a bold, constructive immigration policy ? Where is the obstacle ? Why not at once take steps to establish within two or three years a flow of at least 100,000 people a year to the Common wealth with a rapid increase to 250,000 ? The outstanding fact is that Australia must have people."

Viscount Northcliffe became the victim of a megalomania that led to a nervous breakdown shortly before his death on 14th August 1922. The cause of death was attributed to a longstanding heart condition. His funeral was held at Westminster Abbey and he is buried in Hampstead, London.

If you have enjoyed reading this post, please feel free to leave a comment. They are always appreciated!

Further reading....

Interesting Kent Personalities

The story of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell

More posts about the Gravesend area of Kent

W T Henleys / AEI Cable Works Northfleet

Milton Church Gravesend - Porcupines and Masons!

The White Cross of Shoreham, Kent

This Sunday past we found ourselves in the unusual position of being without junior in tow for the whole day (his great aunt had invited for a trip to the zoo!).

Being too good an opportunity to miss, and as it was such a nice day, we decided to take a drive out into the countryside along the Darent Valley in North Kent.

The River Darent flows for 21 miles from Westerham to Dartford where it joins the River Thames.

I have been researching my family history for the last couple of years and traced the earliest ancestors back to the late 1770's living and working on the farms in Shoreham, one of the picturesque villages through which the Darent passes.

As you travel along the A225 between Eynsford and Otford, if you look across to your right just before the turn off for Shoreham village you can't fail to notice the large white cross marked on the hillside.

As a small boy I had seen it many times before and always thought that it marked the spot where a bomber had crashed during World War Two (more about that later in this post...)

It was in fact cut into the chalky hillside by the villagers as a mark of respect and remembrance for the fallen of the First World War. Work on the cross started in 1920 and it was officially completed on Empire Day in 1921.



In the centre of the village by a bridge crossing the River Darent is a war memorial listing the names of the fallen from both World Wars and inscribed:-

"Remember as you look at the cross on the hill those who gave their lives for their country 1914 - 1919"

A stone's throw from the war memorial there is an excellent museum - the Shoreham Aircraft Museum. Run by enthusiasts, it contains a large collection of artefacts and memorabilia from the Battle of Britain period including parts excavated from both RAF and Luftwaffe aircraft crash sites in the local area.

One of these aircraft was a Dornier Do 17 bomber which was shot down by two Spitfires of 609 squadron and crash landed at Castle Farm, Shoreham on the 15th September 1940 (this probably explains where I got the idea about the cross when I was younger).

One of the uninjured German crew members was picked up by a local Home Guard unit who, seeing how shakenand pale he looked, took pity on him and treated him to a drink at the pub before handing him over to the authorities.



The entrance fee is a very reasonable £ 3 per adult and there is an authentic 1940's style tea rooms set in a sunny courtyard. Very nice cakes and big mugs of tea. Even the lady behind the counter was wearing period clothing - a nice touch.

The museum has set up a Battle of Britain local RAF memorials project and the intention is to erect memorial stones to each of the airmen who fell within a ten mile radius of Shoreham. Several have already been dedicated. A very worthy cause.

After spending some time looking around the museum we had a leisurely stroll through the village past a number of inviting hostelries including the Olde George Inn and down to St Peter & St Paul church where many of my long lost ancestors would no doubt have been dunked, hitched and despatched!



Later in the afternoon we moved on to another local village, Chelsfield where my ancestors moved in the early 1800's but more about that in my next post......