BBC Radio Kent airport debate arrives on the Hoo Peninsula!

On Tuesday 30 October BBC Radio Kent will host a community debate to give local people a chance of having their say about the future of aviation in the south east.

A panel of experts will come together at the Cliffe Memorial Hall, near Rochester, for the debate. Doors open at 6pm. If you’d like to be in the audience, you can request tickets by emailing Radio Kent here, or by writing to BBC Radio Kent, The Great Hall, Mount Pleasant Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1QQ. Admission is strictly by ticket only. 

Tickets are FREE, but are limited to a maximum of two per person and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Cliffe and Cliffe Woods - Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

Cliffe and Cliffe Woods will celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with two days of family fun activities and entertainments.

Organised jointly by Cliffe and Cliffe Woods Parish Council and St. Helen's Church, the first event will be on Sunday 3 June and will take place on the Buttway and at St. Helen's Church in Cliffe.

Click the event posters below to find out more!

The second event will be on Monday 4 June at the Cliffe Woods Community Centre and Parkside Car Park (Cliffe Woods), from 11am until 3pm.

Organised by the Cliffe Woods Community Association, there'll be a BBQ and plenty of other entertainment, including side shows and a bouncy castle.

For more information about events in Cliffe and Cliffe Woods, check out the Parish Council website by clicking here.

Have lots of fun!

  

Cliffe History Project launch new website

A group of local residents from Cliffe have begun a project to record the social history of the village. Their project takes in the impact the Saxons and Romans had on the area and continues through the changes which have taken place since the beginning of the area’s industrialisation in the 1800s.

Much has already been written about the area’s history and military connections, but this new project is different as it will also focus on how war affected daily life.

Janet Keates, who is involved in the project, told me that the group would like to hear from anyone on the Hoo Peninsula who is interested in local history or who has knowledge they’d like to share, especially concerning our local military heritage.

The above photo is of a largely forgotten pillbox from the GHQ line that was constructed across the Hoo Peninsula. The Cliffe History Project hopes to spend time looking at their importance and remembering those who were responsible for defending the coastline of North Kent.

If you want to find out more about this project, take a look at this interesting new website by clicking here. This website is partially under construction and more will be added, but if you want to get involved there’s a contact button in place.

Thanks Janet for getting in touch.

  

Cliffe Marshes Walk

Walking through the night for the Relay for Life, made me think that I ought to get back to exploring the many countryside walks around the Hoo Peninsula.

So on Sunday I headed for Cliffe, where there is no shortage of interesting walks. In fact, the newsagent/post office on Church Street (near the Six Bells pub) has a good stock of leaflets about local walks, produced by the Friends of North Kent Marshes.

Setting out from Pond Hill in Cliffe, I followed the Thames and Boundary trails (both sharing walking route RS82), which are part of the RSPB Cliffe Pools Nature Reserve. These trails lead past the pools and then on towards the sea wall - along what seems at times like a never ending gravel track.

When arriving at the sea wall, I turned right to walk north east, passing Lower Hope Point and Redham Mead, before stopping for a tea break at a point overlooking the site of the old Curtis & Harvey Explosives works.

This closed in the 1920s, but even now with relatively few of the hundreds of buildings still easily visible from a distance, it is clear this was once a very important part of our local military heritage. Although few would have known it was there at the time, given its ‘top secret’ nature.

The inward view of Cliffe Marshes is really impressive, even though the landscape seemed endless with the tea having run out and the long walk back to Cliffe still to go!

The other side of the sea wall is a little less than idyllic. Unless you have a thing for oil refineries of course. The River Thames generates lots of rubbish. I lost count of the number of Port of London safety helmets washed-up on the shore - it must cost someone (probably us!) a lot of money to keep buying replacements.

Whilst walking along the sea wall, I was stopped by a couple who were out exploring the area because of its connection with Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 Vietnam war film ‘Full Metal Jacket’ (pictured below). Apparently Cliffe Marshes doubled up as Vietnamese paddy fields! I didn’t know anything about this, but I checked the internet when I got home and it’s all true - you learn something new every day.

Just before reaching Egypt Bay, I turned onto a track and followed the signs pointing south westerly to Cliffe. There’s quite a few ditches to cross on the return journey and, at one point, I had to ‘walk the plank’ in order to rectify a mistake caused by my less than perfect map reading abilities.

After 3 ½ hours walking, and having covered a distance of about 8 miles, I eventually arrived back in Cliffe via Wharf Lane.

A really enjoyable walk on a nice summer’s day.

Book Research

I’ve been contacted this week by a lady living in Australia, called Margaret Somers. Margaret, who lives near Brisbane, is researching her Hoo Peninsula family history - for a new book that she is hoping to publish.

Margaret’s keen to hear from anyone with connections to the following family names in Cliffe: Smith, Spencer, Goodyer, Harrington, Mills, Parvin and Richards. Her Smith family ancestors settled in Cliffe before 1842.

Margaret is also researching family links in south London, particularly Greenwich and Deptford, where she has a connection to people with the following family names: Allen, Eadle, Gould, Rowe and Warner.

I’m distantly linked to Margaret, through my Great-Great-Grandmother Emma Spencer (nee Smith), who was born in Cliffe, but lived most of her life in Upper Stoke. Margaret is connected to Emma through her father John. The photograph below is thought to be of Emma.

Contact Margaret Somers by clicking here.
  

New Year’s Day Walk - Cliffe

On New Year’s Day, I headed for another RSPB Nature Reserve, this time at Cliffe Pools. I started out from Cliffe village on Pond Hill and then onto Pickles Way. Unsurprisingly, there were lots of people enjoying the fresh air and taking the opportunity for some exercise.

Although there are many trails to choose from, I opted for the Saxon Shore Way – heading through pools and lagoons towards Cliffe Creek.

When I arrived at Cliffe Creek, I had a look for Cliffe Fort, which was built in the mid-nineteenth century. Although derelict and closed to the public, it is still possible to view some of its exterior walls from the footpath. There are also the 100-year old remains of the Brennan Torpedo installation (on the shore side). Such a shame that these once important naval defences are now largely forgotten.

Within a couple of hundred yards of the fort rests the wreck of a Danish schooner, the ‘Hans Egede’. Although damaged by fire in 1955, she was used for many years as a coal and grain hulk on the Medway.

Heading back to Cliffe village, I took the less scenic, but more direct, route along Salt Lane, West Street, Higham Road and Church Street.

An excellent few hours spent exploring a small part of RSPB Cliffe Pools Nature Reserve, with some interesting local history along the way. I’ll certainly be back soon, as there are plenty more routes left to explore!

More information about RSPB Cliffe Pools Nature Reserve can be found by clicking here.

 

High Halstow Hikers (November Walk), Sunday 7 November 2010

I joined the High Halstow Hikers this morning for a nine mile trek along country lanes and farm tracks between High Halstow and Cliffe - with the farmers’ permission where there were no public footpaths. The weather was crisp and sunny and almost 20 people turned-up. We set-off from High Halstow Village Hall at just after 9.30am and headed down Cooling Road, turning into Wybournes Farm and then towards Cooling. After stopping for a quick look at St. James’ Church in Cooling, we headed for Cliffe, passing through Rye Street. The return journey to High Halstow took us through Morning Cross, Cooling Street, Spendiff and Cooling Court, before a pit-stop at The Horseshoe and Castle, in Cooling. We arrived back at High Halstow at just after 1pm.

It was nice to meet so many people enjoying a really well organised walk. High Halstow Hikers’ next event will be held in early December and posters will be displayed around High Halstow village.