Rainham Cement Works

This message was received from Eddy Newport regarding the cement works at Berengrave Lane.

Dear sir
I like to draw your attention to the following web site

http://www.friendsofberengrave.btik.com/p_Home.ikml

This site has been put together by Brian Baker chairman of Friends of Berengrave Local Nature Reserve. The web site will explain everything we stand for and trying to achieve regarding the reserve site.

At the moment we are undertaking a archaeological investigation in the area adjacent to the two derelict wash mill in the nature reserve. The object is to find out how the actual site worked when it was running in its heyday. On an old OS map we noticed that a building was marked opposite the WMs and two members of FoB have been working on the site removing detritus and discovering many interesting features.

In doing this work we are finding more questions than answers about how it worked. We have found many support structures but we are confused as to what they did. To cut a long story short, I was wondering if it possible that any of your members may have some information or old photos showing anything about the cement and chalk workings that and can give us a clue as to how it worked.
The site has moved on since the web site was updated and a lot more has been excavated.

Feel free to come down and see what we are doing there.ED

Tip. go into the web site click in artefacts and follow the link to the archaeological investigation and see what we are doing.

Greens of Rainham Vauxhall Car Dealership Closes

It has been announced that Greens of Rainham, the Vauxhall car dealer has been placed in administration. The Greens showrooms in Rainham and Snodland have been empty for several months so the confirmation was no great surprise locally. Sadly some 70 Greens of Rainham employees lost their jobs having been left in limbo since December when they were last paid but without being given any information until now about the fate of the company.

This news would appear to confirm the depth and severity of the current recession by claiming a dealership that has successfully survived many previous recessions and downturns.

[information from Medway Messenger]

Freddie Cooper

I have recently heard that Freddie Cooper sadly passed away on 6th January 2009.

Freddie was a former Mayor and a huge source of information on the history of Rainham providing many articles for this site via Action Forum.

You can see an interview with Freddie Cooper on YouTube where he talks about Rainham and how life was in the last century.

Kent

A tribute to Ron & Milly Hoad,

How beautiful the Kentish air,
With pleasant sound of bird so rare,
The lark, the nightingale, the thrush,
At dawn and in the twilight hush,
I count myself, as so much blessed,
That all these gifts I have possessed,
And praise to God, that I have spent,
So much of life, in glorious Kent.


written by R K Hoad

Major Site Updates

The site has undergone a major update today to freshen the look and fix some navigation issues. There are also a number of new articles and photos that have been added.

It has been tested in Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 but if any errors are spotted please get in touch as not all pages may have been checked.

If you have any comments about the site please let me know.

Mystery Photographs - Berengrave Lane Rainham 1900s

I was contacted recently by someone selling a postcard of Berengrave Lane Rainham on Ebay that was virtually identical to one that is on the Rainham History site. Nothing strange there you might think - except on closer inspection the majority of photo is completely identical - all the people are in the same poses and same positions but with the addition of 2 young lads in the foreground.

There are a couple of possibilities. Firstly that 2 shots were taken and the lads wandered into one shot. The other that the lads were added or removed in the darkroom at a later date which looks to be the more likely possibility.

Have a look and see what you think!

Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre 30th Birthday

Hempstead Valley shopping centre, known locally as Savacentre or Sava is celebrating its 30^th birthday this month. What may seem commonplace now was groundbreaking in 1978 as there were very few other out of town shopping centres of this size at the time.

When originally opened the main shop was Sainsburys Savacentre, the brand they originally created for their large hypermarkets. At the time Sainsburys was by far the largest supermarket in the UK with Tesco trailing far behind – a far cry from the current situation with Tesco leading the field. The centre was redeveloped in the early 1990s with an extension and new shops like M&S being added.

The challenge is to remember all the original shops that were there when the centre opens….Sainsburys, Presto (then became Safeway) - but which others?

Photos of the construction of the centre from 1977/1978 have just been loaded to the Rainham History site http://www.rainham-history.co.uk/html/hempstead_valley_savacentre.htm