My Secret Dartford

Dartford Beach View from Greenhithe   The Pathway beneath The QE2 The QE2 Bridge is as magnificent as it is imposing on the landscape. To truly see the secrets of the bridge you need to walk underneath it. Everyday this bridge carries vehicles between two counties completing the ring that is he M25 motorway but how many people can say they have seen its underside? You can join a footpath towards the bridge in two main locations. Next to the entrance of Asda in Greenhithe is a footpath which leads along to the Thames. If you follow it under the bridge you can exit at the 125 cycle route which take you onto the Bridge Estate. Running alongside the QE2 are two tunnels beneath the Thames. They were opened in 1963 and 1980. The bridge opened in 1991. It is 137m high and was designed to carry 135,000 vehicles daily. Unfortunately, as anybody who lives in Dartford or Thurrock knows congestion has become progressively worse and there are frequent heavy delays which are the bain of

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries women did not have the right to vote. It was a widely held belief that women should not be allowed. Indeed Queen Victoria called the fight for women’s rights a “mad, wicked folly”. Source: Wikipedia Why then  is it so unknown that a local woman played such an important part in propelling fundamental change to women's rights? Dartford has it's very own suffragette! Her name was Doreen Allen . She was born in 1879 and was a member of member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). One of ten children, she married Meville Hodsoll Allen who worked at the Stock Exchange in London. As happened to the suffragettes, she was force fed during a hunger strike. Doreen was arrested twice for window smashing and spent four months in Holloway Prison for her troubles. Here is an article about a handkerchief she signed while in prison with an an amusing title pun!

They met on platform 2 of Dartford Station.  Keith Richards on his way to Sidcup Arts College and Mick Jagger travelling to London School of Economics.  Later Mick dropped his studies to pursue music and The Rolling Stones followed.  Both went to Wentworth Primary School but lost contact before the chance encounter at the railway station.    Mick had considered becoming a journalist or a  politician.   How different the world of music be if he had!   Dartford Grammar School today proudly carries the legacy of their former pupil as the Mick Jagger Centre opened in March 2020. Apparently Bill Whyman, the former Rolling Stones bassist, was not amused about the plaque at Dartford Station presumably because he didn't feature on it.  Dartford Council did not wish to incur his wrath and vowed to get it changed but it looks like it's still there.  Source: Wikimedia In Dartford Central Park there is a rusty looking homage to Sir Mick lest we forget where he came from.  It is located to

The Dazzle Alphabet Album cover collaboration with Jann Howarth OASIS’ “Champagne Supernova (Lynch Mob Beats Mix) promo, single-sided, 12” single. Cover signed by Peter Blake One of the best known British Pop artists, Peter Blake was born in 1932. Perhaps most well known for designing the album cover of St Pepper's lonely Heart's Club Band for the Beetles, he also created two of The Who's album covers and Stop The Clocks for Oasis. Blake attended Maypole school Bexley and Dartford West Central. He lived in a house on Princes Road and then in 1937 a newly built semidetached house at 9 Marcus Road costing £600 at the time! He remembers the town park and library and recalls his family were involved in the Congregation Church. Blake describes Dartford being 'run by the Co-op' and a 'Co-op town'. At the age of 7 he was evacuated to Essex and later to Worcester. At the age of 14 he got a place at Gravesend Technical College as unlike his siblings he did not pass t

On Christmas Eve in 1801 Richard Trevithick, who is buried in Dartford, made history with the first ever successful journey of a steam locomotive. He named the carriage the 'Puffing Devil' and was able to carry 6 people on a journey steered by his cousin through the streets and up Camborne Hill in Cornwall. Trevithick died of pneumonia at the Bull Hotel on 22nd April 1833. It is sad to say that he was penniless and no relatives or friends were there during his sickness. He is buried at St Edmund's Pleasance and his funeral was paid for by colleagues at Hall's works who gathered a collection. They paid a night watchmen to guard his grave as body snatching was common. Waymark.com Sources: Cornwall Forever! The Puffin' Devil's first journey Wikipedia- Richard Trevithick Engineering Timeline- Grave of Richard Trevithick. Goodreads.com - Richard Revithick

  What does the detail in this coat of arms mean?  The chevron symbolises a bridge at the river Darent.  Within it, the fool's cap is the paper industry from the 16th century and the two red sacks represent the cement industry of Swanscombe.  The three discs are the three former councils and their  shape acknowledge the former pharmaceutical industry   Inside each disc is the symbol of a millrind which were the iron supports used for mill stones grinding wheat or other grains.  The ship represents the Roman history of the area.  Its seven oars are Dartford plus the six parishes of the district.  The lightning across the sail is a reminder of the former power station at Littlebrook. The lion symbolises the Monarchy.  King Henry III's sister was married in the district and Edward III founded the Priory .   (Dartford Priory was a significant nunnery in medieval and Tudor England.)   Also of note, Queen Elizabeth often stayed in the manor at Dartford.  Beneath the lion's foot i