Then & Now - Old Forge House, Lower Stoke

Further to the post I made yesterday, this old postcard shows Old Forge House in Lower Stoke, opposite the Nags Head pub. The exact location is where Cuckolds Green Road, Grain Road and Chapel Road meet.

The prominent wooden structure, to the left of the house, is the forge. The Ship Inn, which was sadly demolished in the 1950s, is partially visible next to the forge. Look closely and you can see a windmill in the background.

Compare the old postcard to the photograph I took recently of the same location.

More tomorrow!

Then & Now - Station Road, Middle Stoke

I recently bought some old postcards of the area and I will be sharing these on this website in coming days. To help compare how things have changed, I will also include recent photographs of the same locations.

Today, the postcard is of Station Road in Middle Stoke - now known as Grain Road. These photographs point towards Burrows Lane. Like many places on the Hoo Peninsula, Middle Stoke once had its own railway station, called Middle Stoke Halt. It opened in July 1906 and closed in December 1961.

More tomorrow!

Grain Beach, Isle of Grain

Grain Beach is located along the B2001 (Grain Road), at the far end of the High Street. At this point, there is a car park only yards from a path that leads down to the beach or, if feeling more adventurous, around the site of the old Grain Fort. Beyond that, there are long walks along sea walls, with views to Sheerness and, in the middle of River Medway, the Grain Tower Battery. Back on the beach, and depending on what the weather is like, there are some good views of Shoeburyness and Southend-on-Sea across the mouth of the Thames! The photographs below were taken on Sunday morning, when there were only a few people enjoying the mud flats (photographed below), making for a very peaceful and relaxing morning.