Small discovery - big satisfaction!

Those who research their family history will understand the satisfaction given by the smallest discovery. 

I recently found the below photo in my collection (it was actually sent to me back in 2013). It is part of a much larger photo (a wedding photo) but my interest is what is shown in the background.

The image shows a small dwelling once occupied by my two-times great grandmother Susannah Watson. I believe she died there in 1925. 

The cottage was demolished (or fell down) many years ago - today it is a yard and garage next to Stoke Garage in Lower Stoke. I’ve always wondered what this house looked like, and now I know.

  

WW1: Remembering each and every one

I’ve written before about my local ancestors William Watson (from Stoke) and Harry Stratford (from St. Mary Hoo), who were killed during the First World War.

Next month will be the centenary of the end of the First World War (Armistice). You’ve probably already heard about many activities, events and commemorations taking place across the country.

The Royal British Legion, in partnership with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, has developed something called Every One Remembered, a project to individually commemorate over one million Commonwealth service men and women who were killed during the First World War. The losses were felt in almost every town and village in the UK and throughout what was then the British Empire.

Every One Remembered is an opportunity for you to be part of a great collective act of Remembrance.

I believe the project is only accessible online, so if you’re not online you’ll need to enlist the help of a friend or family member. Then visit the dedicated website where you can choose to commemorate someone you know - a relative or person on your local war memorial - or commemorate someone randomly selected for you. There is also an optional opportunity for you to make a donation to support the Royal British Legion’s work with the Armed Forces community.

I’ve added an entry for my ancestor William Stephen Watson. He lived in Lower Stoke on the Hoo Peninsula. It only took a few minutes to complete the entry. I couldn’t add a photo of William as I don’t have one. I only have a brief description of him on his military record - I sadly don’t know what he looked like.

If you’d like to share photos and stories about any local ancestors who fought in the First World War please get in touch using the contact panel on the right.
 

Village Voices for the parishes of Stoke and St. Mary Hoo (Edition 2)

The latest Village Voices, for the parishes of Stoke and St. Mary Hoo, is now available to read online.  Click the image below to see the full copy (this directs you to the Village Voices website).

This edition includes reports and updates from Stoke Parish Council and St. Mary Hoo Parish Council. There's also information about a Summer Fete being held at Stoke Community School on Saturday 6 July, details of the Anim-Mates (local animal rescue sanctuary) Summer Fete taking place at The Fenn Bell pub on Saturday 21 July and lots more!

Take a look at the Village Voices website by clicking here.

Visit the website for Stoke Parish Council here, and visit the website for St. Mary Hoo Parish Council here.
  

Summer Fete at the Nags Head pub

Take note of this exciting event in Lower Stoke, as there will be plenty of fun things to do at the Nags Head pub Summer Fete on Saturday 25 May.

Click the image below to find out more.

With plenty of stalls to keep everyone occupied, live entertainment will also be provided in the form of The Newz - a popular a rock 'n' roll band.

The Nags Head recently underwent a refurbishment, so please try and pop along with your family to show support for this community pub, and to enjoy a great day out.
 

Village Voices (parishes of Stoke and St. Mary Hoo), May 2013 Edition

Here's the first edition of Village Voices, especially for the parishes of Stoke and St. Mary Hoo. Click the image below to see the full copy (this directs you to the Village Voices website).

This edition includes reports and updates from Stoke Parish Council and St. Mary Hoo Parish Council.  There's also information about the Nags Head Pub Summer Fete, to be held in the village on Saturday 25 May.

Take a look at the Village Voices website by clicking here.

  

The Ship no more!

I’ve mentioned my family connections to the old Ship pub in Lower Stoke a number of times before. Click here and here to take a look at those items.

Although the pub has long been demolished, it’s nice to see that the new housing development has some resemblance to the old pub that was previously on this site.
  

Muddies get national exposure

Since starting this website a couple of years ago, I’ve learnt lots about the Hoo Peninsula from the growing number of people who get in touch to share their stories and old photos.

I’ve even discovered quite a few ‘new’ distant cousins. Always nice!

Early last year I was contacted by Jill Warby (nee Mortley). Jill was born in Upper Stoke and her family are well known in many local villages, but especially Stoke and Allhallows. But it was only last week that I worked out Jill and I are third cousins, through her mother’s side of the family. We share the same great-great-grandfather, John Watson, who was born in Allhallows in 1833.

As I mentioned the other day, Jill has written a wonderful article about her ‘muddie’ grandfather, Sidney George Mortley. The article has been published in the March edition of The Countryman magazine.

Here’s a photo of Jill with her copy of the magazine. She is pictured with a photo of her late father Ronald Sidney Mortley on the wall behind her.

Well done Jill - it’s really good to see the ‘muddies’ getting some national exposure. They form a fascinating part of our local history. 

If you missed the article I wrote about muddies last week, just click here to take a look.
 

Think you’re tough?

The 'muddies' certainly were - they had to be!

Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, gangs of men from local villages competed for the much sought after, though incredibly exhausting, job of digging clay or ‘mud’ from the marshes and saltings of the River Medway. The men were known as the 'muddies'.

The muddies had to load up to one hundred tonnes of clay, from sites including Hoo Flats and Stoke Saltings, onto barges for transportation up the river to one of the many cement works.

It was clearly a very tough job, and many of those men suffered unimaginable health problems as a result. Reports describe men suffering from chronic rheumatism, arthritis, sprained wrists and strained backs. Many also suffered from ’scaffleman’ - torn skin on parts of the back, as a result of continual lifting, turning and throwing. Calluses on hands, sometimes causing fingers to join together, were a common result of the constant use, and rubbing, of a spade.

Despite this, the men would only ever take a few days off work to repair serious damage to their bodies - no health and safety or 48 hour working week regulations around then!

The only consolation was that it was one of the best paid jobs around, paying much more than farm labourers earned. Muddies kept the work within a tight knit circle - with the work normally becoming a father and son tradition in many families.

At the height of this local industry, in the early 1900s, a barge load (100 tonnes) of clay would earn the men 35 shillings - shared out amongst a gang of about 10 muddies. They could often load two barges every low tide and, it is said, there would always be about 50 barges waiting to be loaded on the Stoke Marshes at any one time.

The income they earned was sufficient for many of the muddies to buy pubs once they had finally laid down their shovels. This is quite possibly the case with my great great grandfather, Henry Spencer. Described as a ‘Cement Labourer’ in several census documents, I can’t imagine how else he managed to land so firmly on his feet!

I have mentioned the muddies a couple of times before. Back in May 2010 Peter Cook from the Medway Messenger ran a special feature in the local paper - click here to take a look. And in August 2010, I mentioned a book by F. G. Willmott called ’Cement, Mud and Muddies’. Most of what I know about the 'muddie tradition’ comes from this excellent book, apart from the many chats I’ve had with ‘village elders‘ in Stoke and those from much further afield. Their tales certainly bring home to you what a tough existence it was - but one that came with much camaraderie and life long friendships. Click here to visit that item.

Stoke Saltings in more recent times.

The photos of the muddies appear courtesy of Dr. MacDonald of Stoke, whose long association with the Stoke Saltings is well known to many.

I will be mentioning the muddies again later this week, as former local resident Jill Warby (nee Mortley) has written a wonderful article about her great grandfather Sidney George Mortley, a well known local muddie, for the March edition of The Countryman magazine - available in all good newsagents!!!
 

The new Vicar of Grain and Stoke

I was invited to attend St. James’ Church on the Isle of Grain on Thursday evening, to observe the Licensing and Installation service for the new Parish Priest for Grain and Stoke - the Reverend Glenn Ellsworth McWatt.

The Licensing was conducted by the Bishop of Tonbridge (The Rt. Rev. Dr. David Castle) and the Installation by the Archdeacon of Rochester (The Venerable Simon Burton-Jones).


The Bishop of Tonbridge with the Mayor and Mayoress of Medway and the Rev. Glenn Ellsworth McWatt.

Parishioners from Grain and Stoke gave Glenn, and his wife Irene, a warm welcome. Parish Council representatives and the Mayor and Mayoress of Medway (Ted and Sylvia Baker) were also present to welcome Glenn on behalf of the civic community.


Inside St. James' Church before the service.

 

Inside St. James' Church before the service.

After the Church service there was a good opportunity to catch up with many familiar faces from around the villages, and to enjoy the generous hospitality laid on by the Parish. They did a wonderful job and had clearly worked hard on all the preparations - greatly appreciated by all. Given the temperature outside (and inside the Church!) the nice hot tea and coffee was especially welcome!

Best wishes, and welcome, to Glenn and Irene.
 

Who do you think you are?

My father came to stay for several days over the Christmas holiday and he was keen to take another look round the peninsula and the places where our ancestors lived and worked. And maybe do a little research too.

Having a quick look around Upnor High Street

With the BBC’s recent adaptation of Great Expectations, and its desolate scenes of the marshes, spurring our imaginations about how our ancestors might have lived, St. James’ Church in Cooling was the obvious place to start the tour. It’s always good to take in the views from the Church and imagine how different things would have looked in Dickens’ time, before the sea defences changed the landscape so much.

In Lower Stoke we took time to look at the building site that was, until a few years ago, the location of The Ship pub. The pub was run, from 1889 to 1901, by my great great grandfather Henry Spencer - one of my father’s favourite ancestors. I think it might have something to do with their shared experience in the victualling trade.

All the talk and memories of running pubs made my father keen to have his photo taken in front of one - so we opted for The Nags Head (opposite where The Ship once stood). The Nags Head is known for having played host to the famous painter and satirist William Hogarth, back in 1732. Hogarth stayed here, as part of a 5-day tour of Kent with four friends, before reaching the Isle of Grain (where he stayed another night) and then headed on to the Isle of Sheppey.

We then went up the road to Upper Stoke, to pay our respects at the grave of Henry Spencer (he of The Ship), which is in the graveyard of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. We also took a look at a gravestone which evokes thoughts about a time of great tragedy in our family’s history.

The ‘Watson children’ gravestone, nestled beneath the tree my father is pictured standing by, soberly lists the names of six children (all of whom would have been my father’s great uncles and aunts had they lived), who died in the space of a few short years between 1871 and 1882. The children were aged between 1 and 19, and there was also a baby just a few weeks old.

We then had a look inside the Church itself, where my father chatted to one of the church volunteers, who asked him his family name. Without prompting, he asked if we were related to an ‘old boy of Stoke’, who went by the nickname of ‘Stumpy’ Watson. My father almost passed out at the mention of ‘Stumpy’, as we have been researching him for a while with little success. We don’t know whether we are definitely connected, but have been trying to find out more about him. He was clearly a well known chap.

I then took a quick photo of my father outside The White Horse pub, also in Upper Stoke. His grandfather ran this pub very briefly from November 1904 to January 1907. The tale behind such a short tenure will have to keep for another time!

The last stop of the day, before heading back home for a cuppa in Hoo, was the Isle of Grain and the Coastal Park. I showed him some of the things improved by the work of volunteers over the past year or so.

Another really useful day out on the peninsula!
 

Stoke Village WI is launched!

Following last month's successful formation of Stoke Village Women's Institute, I’m really pleased to be able to mention their next event - a special social evening to welcome new members on Wednesday 11 January.

It is taking place at Stoke Village Hall (Mallard Way, Lower Stoke, ME3 9ST) at 7.30pm. So pop along and meet the new committee and exchange ideas about future events and meetings. There will also be a fun quiz to keep everyone occupied!

For more information, contact Maggie Vidgen on 01634 842026.
 

Support Stoke Community School’s Christmas Fair!

Stoke Community School (Allhallows Road) will be holding their Christmas Fair on Friday 9 December, from 2.30pm.

Help the school raise much needed extra cash and support all the local children (from Year’s 5 and 6), who have worked so hard to make the event a great success! There’s a rumour that Santa might even be popping along!

There’ll be lots going on, including a raffle and a tombola. And there’s a promise of some tasty homemade cakes and plenty of other festive stalls as well.

If you’d like to donate a raffle prize - contact the school by phoning 01634 270268.
 

A new WI for Stoke this Christmas!

Stoke Village Hall will host the formation meeting of a brand new branch of the Women’s Institute. The meeting will take place on Wednesday 14 December. Click the image below to find out more details.

If you’d like to get involved in the new WI group, contact Maggie Vidgen on 01634 842026.

If you do manage to get along - have a great time!
 

Remembrance, 11-11-11

I’ve mentioned my family history research a few times on this site, and this time last year I wrote about two recently identified relatives who both lived on the Hoo Peninsula and died in the Great War.

Over the last year I’ve been researching their lives and thinking about the sacrifice they made on behalf of their country, and how interesting it would be to visit their final resting places in France. So, earlier this week, I went off to Arras in northern France for a couple of days.

I headed for Queen’s Cemetery, just outside the small village of Bucquoy, south west of Arras. This is where William Watson, who was my great grandfather’s nephew, is buried. William was born in Lower Stoke and was just 21 when he was killed on 17 February 1917, serving with the Royal Marine Light Infantry. This was during the ‘Battle of Miraumont’, one of the many long forgotten battles fought over a few hundred yards of muddy farmland, in a war which led to the deaths of such unimaginable numbers of young men.



William’s grave is marked by one of the tens of thousands of smart headstones caringly maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. His cousin Harry Stratford’s name doesn’t appear on its own headstone anywhere. He was 24 when he was killed, and his name is listed on the Arras Memorial, together with those of 35,941 other servicemen of the British Empire who have no known grave. The names are listed by regiment, in Harry’s case the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), rather than rank. In the sacrifice of death, all ranks are equal.

A plaque outside the Arras Memorial informs visitors rather coldly about 159,000 commonwealth soldiers dying there in just 39 days during the spring of 1917. But when seeing so many names, carved neatly in stone, it really makes you appreciate the huge loss of life that took place during the 1914-18 war. As do the 54,896 names listed on the Menin Gate in Ypres and the 73,367 listed on the huge memorial at Thiepval, a few miles south of Bucquoy.

Menin Gate Memorial

 Menin Gate Memorial

Thiepval Memorial

These memorials, and the hundreds of lovingly maintained graveyards dotted around northern France and Flanders, mean that the sacrifice of so many will never be forgotten.

 

Summer Fete (Lower Stoke), Saturday 9 July 2011

Stoke Community School's Summer Fete is taking place this Saturday, from 11am till 4.30pm.

The Mayor of Medway will open the fete, at Allhallows Road in Lower Stoke. There will be displays given by the Police (Police dog team) and the Fire Brigade. The fun will also include dancing, fancy dress, face painting, mini floats, a coconut shy, tombola, bouncy castle and lots of different stalls. And for those with more culinary desires, there will be a barbecue and bar!
 

Farmers’ Market (Lower Stoke), Saturday 9 April 2011

The next Lower Stoke Farmers’ Market is tomorrow (Saturday), from 10am to 1pm, at Stoke Village Hall (Mallard Way, Lower Stoke, Rochester, Kent, ME3 9ST). Pop along for fresh meat, fruit, vegetables, honey, sweets, handmade cards, jewellery, handbags and many other goods and produce.

To book a stall, contact 01634 270360.
 

Farmers’ Market (Lower Stoke), Saturday 12 February 2011

There will be a Farmers' Market at Stoke Village Hall (Mallard Way, Lower Stoke, Rochester, Kent, ME3 9ST) on Saturday 12 February, from 10am until 2pm. Pop along for local produce and much much more!
 

E.ON Public Exhibitions

I went to Lower Stoke last week to take at look at the E.ON public exhibition about their pipeline proposals on the Hoo Peninsula. This exhibition, along with one held in Hoo the day before, was part of E.ON’s consultation into proposals for a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) pipeline. The pipeline could run from Kingsnorth to St. Mary’s Marshes and out into the North Sea, if a new cleaner-coal power station were built after the existing Kingsnorth Power Station closes in 2015.

As well as talking through issues and concerns regarding the impact on the landscape and disruption to residents, I was particularly interested to hear about the work to survey the seabed from St. Mary’s Marshes, out into the North Sea and up towards the North Norfolk coast. I knew there must be quite a few shipwrecks in that area, but didn’t expect such a huge number dotted around the maps on display.

If anyone would like more information about the recent exhibitions, contact E.ON on 0800 019 8315 or by email here.

To find out more about Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) click here and here.
 

Then & Now – Methodist Chapel, Lower Stoke

I sometimes manage to find old postcards and photographs of the area. This one shows the United Methodist Church at Lower Stoke and was published by ‘I. J. Maylam'. Unfortunately, there isn’t a date anywhere on the item. If you know when it might have been taken, please get in touch.

Built in 1889, at a cost of £614, the building is today known as the Methodist Chapel and operates as part of the Medway Methodist Circuit.

On the outside of the building are ‘foundation stones’ that list the names of people who contributed to the cost of its construction. These local family names include Ayers, Plewis, Mugeridge, Coopper and Smith. As previously mentioned on this site, I have a connection to the Ayers family.

Out and about in Allhallows

I went along to Allhallows Primary School this week to join their special Remembrance Assembly. It was really nice to see the children taking time to think about the sacrifices made on our behalf by previous generations.

Afterwards I walked around Allhallows, from the border with Lower Stoke to the Leisure Park. The weather was terrible, but knowing I was heading for lunch at The British Pilot made the soaking bearable!

The British Pilot (above) is open from 12 noon every day, serving food from 12 noon to 2.30pm, and then from 7pm to 9pm (Monday to Saturday). On a Sunday, food is served from 12 noon to 6pm (for Sunday Roast). The British Pilot is on Avery Way, Allhallows-On-Sea, Rochester, Kent, ME3 9QW. Telephone: 01634 272198.