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Dartford District

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    • Traveler2600 km mit dem Tesla durch EU
      Day 12

      last stop in GB: Ashford

      August 17, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Hm, Ashford ist nicht besonders interessant oder schön, aber… es gibt ein großes Fashion-Outlet, wo mich Heiner heute zum Bummeln abgesetzt hat. Ich hab so viel deutsch gehört, scheint vor allen eine Touristenattraktion zu sein 🤔 Außerdem nehmen wir morgen sehr früh die Fähre nach Dünkirchen und Ashford ist nur ein paar Meilen von Dover entfernt, very convenient also. Unser Zimmer im B&B, wo wir heute übernachten werden (The Cunningbrook Hotel) ist übrigens sehr schön mit Blick auf den hauseigenen Biergarten, wo ich gleich eine Buddha-Bowl bestelle 🤤🥣😋
      PS: man muss wirklich aufmerksam sein beim Fahren, im Prinzip zufällig habe ich das eine Schild auf der Autobahn gesehen, dass wir die 4 Pfund Gebühr für das Passieren der Queen Elizabeth II Bridge online überweisen müssen. Andernfalls droht eine (bestimmt übertriebene) fee 💳💷⚠️      Read more

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    • TravelerRoots - where I grew up
      Day 1

      Erith 2 - Riverside

      August 24, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      We start at Riverside and Erith Pier; many years ago, there were plans to make Erith a resort because of its location - these did not work out, although it still has the longest pier in London as a result of this and it is popular with anglers. There is talk of a proposed ferry connection between Erith and Rainham in order to close the missing link of the London Loop, but what goes round comes round - there was once a ferry to Erith from the other side of the Thames which was mainly used by pilgrims on their way to Canterbury! Close to this plaque is an interesting sign showing that Robinson Crusoe stopped at Erith on his way home…

      Further along and through the Erith Riverside Gardens , we reach the place where the Swimming Pool used to be (I learnt to swim here - it was demolished in 2010 and replaced by flats) before reaching the older part of Riverside.      Read more

    • TravelerRoots - where I grew up
      Day 71

      Dartford, part 1; school and other

      November 2, 2020 in England ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

      Born in Erith and raised in Slade Green, but Dartford is where I spent my formative years as this where I went to secondary school; I passed the 11+ exam and went to Dartford Grammar School, DGS (my mum went to DGS for Girls round the corner) - famous alumni from DGS include Mick Jagger (see subsequent post). Although the school was founded in 1576,, the school house dates from 1864; this is where the sixth formers used to hang out at breaks etc and play the music of the day (prog rock and rock in our case). The school motto "ora et labora" means "pray and work" which I have only just found out from Google; I honestly thought it meant "play and work" - a maxim I have adhered to during my life, although not as a result of it being the school motto (which I thought it was!)

      My grandad lived with us in Slade Green for several years in the late 1960s and used to come to Dartford to go to The Malt Shovel pub to read his paper and drink real ale in the wood panelled tap bar there; unfortunately, the pub was closed when I visited on a Monday, but I have been there many times previously. It was, and still is, a Youngs pub and grandad and my uncle (his son, mum's brother) got me into real ale and I have been drinking it all my life.

      Some parts of Dartford have been modernised beyond recognition but other parts are still as they were; not far from the railway station, the Orchard Theatre has a modern clock tower by it and on the other side of town - passing through the historic centre (see next post) - we have the 1916 Dartford Central Library and Museum on the edge of Central Park.      Read more

    • TravelerRoots - where I grew up
      Day 36

      Crayford

      September 28, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      My father was born and raised in Crayford and my grandparents continued to live there until they passed on in the late 1960s.  I used to go to Crayford a lot as a child.
       
      Crayford Social Club is a working man's club close to the Waterside and was built in 1925; my parents used to take the family there on Saturday evenings. Nearby, the Crayford and Bexleyheath Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium; we knew it as Crayford Dogs and, as children, went there on several occasions.  In 1985 it was rebuilt as part of a development project by Ladbrokes into a new greyhound track and sports stadium and renamed Crayford Stadium.  I took my father there in 2016 as a treat and the picture shows greyhounds being paraded before a race (I didn't back the winner!)

      The Penny Farthing micopub opened in 2014 in what was originally an old bicylce shop on the Waterside; it is a superb place. There is no music, mobiles are not to be used for talking and beer is served from the wood - the picture shows me and dad enjoying a pint after the greyhound racing.

      Crayford Clock Tower, a commemoration of the coronation of Edward VII, was constructed in 1902. It has a secondary purpose; it is also a sewage lift station - there are vents at the top of the tower. 
       
      Looking up the High Street, we see the Dukes Head pub on the left and the green top of the Masjid Abu Makar (the Methodist Church was converted to a mosque in 2007); at the top of the hill is the tower of St Paulinus Church.  This church is of great relevance to the family as my parents were married there and now buried there too; my father was christened there, as was I.      Read more

    • TraveltrabiMit dem Trabi durch Europa
      Day 96

      Byebye Southeast England!

      August 2, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      Es fällt mir leicht, Südostengland hinter mir zu lassen. Hier gibt’s nicht viel zu sehen, bis auf ein paar wenige ganz hübsche Orte. Ansonsten ist hier der Hund begraben.

      Auf der Autobahn nach London, natürlich im Stau, steht dann plötzlich so ein heißes Gerät vor mir.
      Ich hab keine Ahnung, was das für ein Auto ist, aber es ist toll!      Read more

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    • TravelerThe Thames Path Extension

      Erith Pier to Belvedere Incinerator

      February 7, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

      From Crayford Ness the route leaves the river and goes along Manor Road, from Slade Green to Erith, and turns into Appold Street before reaching the Victorian Erith Pier and Pleasure Gardens; the proposed resort was shortly lived, however, due to the opening of the Southern Offall Works at Crossness in 1865 (see next post).  The pier continued as an industrial ships deep water wharf until the 1950s when the modern, concrete, boomerang shaped pier was built (the longest in London).

      We see the old Erith Causeway, 170m long and of historic interest (but due to be replaced soon because of its state of decay) and can look out across the Thames to Coldwater Point Lighthouse, on the side, marking the tip of Rainham Marshes in Essex, now a RSPB reserve.  We walk along the path past old wharves and new wharves, with chutes and cranes for loading the ships that stop close to the several large industrial estates on our left; this is all a lot more interesting to see than it might seem!  There are also many industrial sites on the other side of the Thames here.

      We round a large bend in the river and pass the large modern quay where waste is collected from ships and barges for the futuristic looking Cory Riverside Resource Recovery facility (RRR), aka Belvedere Incinerator; this UK waste-to-energy incinerator site was opened in 2012 on the outskirts of Belvedere, the next town on after Erith.      Read more

    • TravelerRoots - where I grew up
      Day 1

      Erith 1 - Town

      August 24, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      I was born in Erith; it was then within the historic county of Kent, but has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley in South East London since 1965.
       
      In Victorian times, Erith enjoyed a brief spell as a riverside resort due its pier and the day-trippers arriving on Thames pleasure boats.  The town suffered heavy bomb damage in the Second World War, mainly due its position on the riverside near the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. This bomb damage and a gradual decline in local trade prompted major redevelopment in the 1960s; in 1961, plans were put forward to redevelop Erith into a modern, sleek shopping and working environment.....
       
      One of the first films I saw with my mother was the 1963 version of "Jason and the Argonauts" - with its amazing dynamation sequences by Ray Harryhausen - at the Erith Odeon cinema (it is still one of my favourite films ). I used to go there and see A and B films for sixpence (6d) and did not appreciate at the time that the building was in the Art Deco style.  The Odeon became a large Bingo Hall before being demolished and rebuilt as flats and office units; the picture shows things as they are now on the same site.
       
      The old Erith High Street and its side streets are long gone and this area has been replaced by the Riverside Shopping Centre.  Walking towards the river, we reach the end of what was the High Street; the White Hart pub is still there (albeit a restaurant now with a Thames Barge mural on one side), as is the Erith Playhouse and the Cross Keys pub (also a restaurant now).  At the river, we see Erith Pier (more correctly Erith Deep Water Wharf) - the longest pier in London (see Erith 2 - Riverside); from here, it is a short walk up West Street to see the Church of Saint John the Baptist. Doubling back and proceeding up Walnut Tree Road we reach the old library - Grade II listed and in a state of disrepair - before reaching the main roundabout, which has a De Luci fish mosaic sculpture at its centre; behind it we see the tall spire of Christ Church.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Thames Path Extension

      Crayford Ness to Erith

      January 4, 2022 in England ⋅ 🌧 4 °C

      The Thames Path follows the River Thames from its source near Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Thames Barrier at Charlton, South East London and is about 184 miles long; from here to Crayford Ness, 10 miles further and just beyond Erith, is considered an extension of the Thames Path - this trip is in reverse, from Crayford Ness to the Thames Barrier.

      Crayford Ness is a marshland area close to where the River Darent joins the Thames; the Dartford Creek Tidal Flood Barrier here prevents high rising tides and flooding of the local area. Just beyond this confluence is the Queen II Bridge over the Thames, the Dartford Crossing. As we walk along the footpath on the flood embankment, there is saltmarsh on the river side and the marshes on the other, with views of a wind turbine and the Erith Yacht Club ahead.

      We reach a small industrial estate where the Thames Path diverts from the river and along Manor Road for a mile or so to Erith.      Read more

    • TravelerRoots - where I grew up
      Day 8

      Walk 1 - Erith to Slade Green

      August 31, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      The walk from Erith to Slade Green is interesting and forms part of the London Outer Orbital Path, more usually known as the "London LOOP", a 150-mile (242 km) signed walk along public footpaths and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London.

      We start at Riverside and then it is a long slog via Manor Road; there is a lot of industry here and it is not possible to walk by the river. We double back to the river at a small industrial estate housing the Bexley Brewery (excellent beer). This is overshadowed by a 285-foot, 500 kW wind turbine and there is a good view of the turbine and the Erith Yacht Club from the Erith Saltings sign on the footpath along the flood embankment; next to the footpath is saltmarsh, campshedding (wooden piles) on the mudflat, remnants of fossilised forest and, finally, the river itself. On our other side we have Crayford Marshes.

      Proceeding east, there is a view of the marshes with the QE2 bridge linking the M25 clearly visibly beyond; in the foreground is the confluence of the Thames with the River Darent. As we walk from this confluence we reach the Dartford Creek Tidal Flood Barrier; on our right is a brownfield site with lots of scrap yards, recycling plants and light industry. We proceed further along the River Darent from the Flood Barrier and turn down track the which leads to Moat Lane and on to Slade Green.      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Dartford District

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