This building stands close to the churchyard in the Kentish Weald village that was once a centre for hop cultivation. Goudhurst abounds in historic buildings, but this one with its wall motifs has remained a mystery.
May 2004
Rollei 35 camera
Fujichrome 100 film.
Tags: kent goudhurst
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The Grade 1-listed parish church occupies a commanding site in the Kentish Wealden village. The present tower dates from the 17th century, replacing the medieval one that was destroyed by lightning in 1637. The clock face is early 20th-century.
May 2004
Rollei 35 camera
Fujichrome 100 film.
Tags: grade 1 listed Kentish weald st Mary English parish church kent goudhurst
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A small fête was taking place when I visited the Kentish Wealden village of Goudhurst, and I was surprised and delighted to encounter this vintage Tilling-Stevens bus of 1930 (JG660) in the dignified livery of East Kent Road Car Co. I had never seen the bus before (or since), and I believe that it is the oldest surviving East Kent bus. The owner, seeing my keen interest, kindly invited me aboard and told me the story of the vehicle’s rescue for posterity.
Tilling-Stevens enjoyed buoyant sales during the 1920s, but by 1930, Leyland Motors and AEC had forged ahead, offering more modern designs. Tilling-Stevens was based in Maidstone, so Canterbury-based East Kent perhaps sought to stay loyal to a local manufacturer for a while longer. Later orders were for Leyland vehicles, and Tilling-Stevens duly faded from the PSV scene, apart from a brief attempt to revive the make just after World War II.
The company became part of the Rootes Group during the 1930s, and the Maidstone factory was later kept busy manufacturing diesel engines for the Group’s Commer lorries and coaches. The TS3 engine was a 2-stroke, which emitted a very throaty roar - plus a smoky exhaust when climbing hills. I believe the old factory is still extant in other uses on the bank of the River Medway.
May 2004
Rollei 35 camera
Fujichrome 100 film.
Tags: goudhurst east Kent road car tilling-stevens jg669
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No visit to the Kentish Weald would be complete without snatching a photograph or two of a surviving or converted oast house. The so-called Garden of England was once famed for its hop fields, a crop cultivated to help slake the thirst of Londoners who lived just 40-60 miles away. The majority of oast houses (where the hops were dried) were round-based, but square-based examples provided added variety.
The farm’s name is a reminder of other previous economic activity in the area. More than half-a-century ago, I studied for a BSC (Econ) degree, which included a module on Economic History. We learnt that an earlier Industrial Revolution preceded the one that made Great Britain a world economic power in the 19th century. With a ready availability of timber to provide charcoal fuel, iron making became a significant activity in South East England during Tudor times. Although little more than a cottage industry, it generated a higher measure of prosperity. The depletion of local woodlands meant that this early industry went into terminal decline, but reminders remain in the form of old hammer ponds (notably in parts of Sussex) and the names of farms such as this one.
May 2004
Rollei 35 camera
Fujichrome 100 film.
Tags: iron making forge farm oasthouse Kentish weald kent goudhurst
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Oasthouses and the parish church of St. Margaret, Horsmonden.
May 2004
Rollei 35 camera
Fujichrome 100 film.
Tags: st Margaret Horsmonden horsmonden oasthouses kent
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