Rainham Train Station Bomb Scare

Rainham train station was closed on 21 April 2011 due to suspect package being found on the platform at 6am. Trains from the coastal towns like Dover and Margate were unable to use the main line to London as a result of the station being closed. Buses replaced trains between Faversham and Gillingham during the incident which affected both the standard and high speed trains to London delaying many commuters during the morning rush hour.

http://www.rainham-history.co.uk/news/68-rainham-train-station-bomb-scare

The bomb squad were called to Rainham railway station during the morning rush hour when a suspicious package was found. A bomb warning was issued and Rainham station was evacuated. A controlled explosion took place and the police reported that it was  "not an explosive device"

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/2011-1/april/21/suspect_package_causes_rush_ho.aspx

Three Sisters public house in Otterham Quay Lane, Rainham

This request for help has been received, if you have any information please let Roger know. If you can also post here too it may be useful to add to the site.

I am seeking a bit of help to see if anybody knows the origin of the name for the Three sisters public house in Otterham Quay Lane, Rainham, maybe who the Three sisters are that it refers too. If not could you point me in the right direction of somebody who may know.
I appreciate any help that you may be able to give.

Roger Pester
Inn Sign Society
rogerpester45@talktalk.net

New Rainham History site coming soon

Sneak preview of the new Rainham History site. Moving to a brand new platform that will make maintenance and updates much easier and faster.

http://www.rainham-kent.co.uk

Manor Farm has photos of wrong Rainham!

I was in the Manor Farm pub recently and on their walls are old photos of Rainham. It is a nice touch to see pictures of how the area used to be so when we spotted one photo we were trying to work out where it was taken.

The name wasn't familiar, Bridge Road nor the scene of flooding with a church in the background. A quick search of the web showed that it was actually not a local scene and was actually taken in Rainham, Essex!

You can see more photos of Rainham Essex here

http://www.rainhamweb.co.uk/history/past2.html

Or for old photos of Rainham Kent click here

Quotes on the Kent Reliance Deal With JC Flowers

If 25% of KRBS members vote NO then the deal will be blocked so please use your vote.

"the biggest winner by far in this deal is JC Flowers .... members’ welfare would be very much a secondary concern"

A few quotes from different websites about the deal by JC Flowers to takeover Kent Reliance Building Society. These are not my quotes but are collected from various websites and are primarily from respected commentators.

Norwich & Peterborough Building Society has denied claims that it will be joining JC Flowers as part of its plans to create a ‘supermutual'. “Unlike Kent Reliance, we are well capitalized and a financially strong business, therefore we have no reason to join JC Flowers as part of a supermutual.”

You can't accuse Kent Reliance Building Society's directors of not being prepared to think outside the box. An aggressive growth strategy under Lazenby has come back to haunt it in the past couple of years, leaving the mutual with a loss-making mortgage book and a commercial property loan portfolio of dubious quality.

the board fully accepted that there is the potential for losing independence by accepting the equity investment, losing control of the bank and of the industrial and provident society's percentage shareholding being reduced to a level that the ethos of mutuality is no longer sustainable.


“My initial reaction is one of caution. Venture capitalists are usually a pretty mercenary bunch who focus primarily on how much money they can make...So make no bones about it, JC Flowers would be entering into any deal primarily to make money for itself. I believe members’ welfare would be very much a secondary concern.”

But the biggest winner by far in this deal is JC Flowers. It has effectively paid £50 million for 40 per cent of Kent and it could see its stake increase further if Kent's £130 million commercial property loan book makes further losses. US private equity firm JC Flowers is lining up bids for at least four building societies to create a “supermutual” which would be partially floated in five years

Support Growing to Reject JC Flowers Offer for Kent Reliance Building Society

Support is growing for the campaign to reject the deal proposed by JC Flowers to take over the Kent Reliance Building Society (KRBS). Members of KRBS are unhappy that the terms of the deal will give control of the Kent Reliance to the private equity company along with an excellent return on their investment while members get no benefit from the deal.


The members of KRBS need to get at least 25% of the votes cast in order to block the deal which is looking possible from the number of contacts received since the ballot papers were posted at the weekend. Members have until 19th November to decide how to cast their votes despite the board considering the proposals for over 6 months.


The proposal would give a new society Kent Reliance Provident Society (KRPS) 60% of the new bank with 40% given to private equity firm JC Flowers in return for £50 million of new capital. However details hidden in the voting pack documents show that this new bank is likely to be 75% owned by JC Flowers with only 25% for members of Kent Reliance as the board of KRBS predict that they will immediately need further additional funds to offset losses in their commercial loans book.


The proposed deal gives JC Flowers a return of up to 8% dividend per year on their shares in the new bank along with a 20% return on their money if they decide to sell in future.


Members of the KRBS are getting "up to 0.1%" on their easy access savings accounts or 1.02% on their ISA savings so this deal offers nothing to them especially compared to the returns that the JC Flowers private equity fund is making on their investment.


Note for Editors:


Kent Reliance is the only building society based in Kent which includes the Chatham Reliance (established 1898), Dover District (established 1861) Herne Bay (established 1888) and Kent and Canterbury (established 1847). Kent Reliance Building Society has been a long standing mutual society serving mainly Kent through its network of branches. In recent years the local branch network has been closed as the business has concentrated on postal accounts, many of the back office duties have also transferred from Chatham to India. 

Kent Reliance Takeover (Kent Reliance Building Society) On BBC News

BBC South East Today ran a story on the Kent Reliance takeover by JC Flowers today and did a short interview with me. Unfortunately they didn't use much of the material we recorded but hopefully the piece they showed will keep the issue in the media.

There is a press conference by KRBS tomorrow (Tuesday) in Rochester so more news may be forthcoming about the details in the Transfer document and why they have not given out the full facts in the summary of the proposals.