At the dawn of the 20th Century the hand-written letter was King! The first commercially available typewriters were produced by Remington in the 1870s but were prohibitively expensive so were only found in large businesses. It is widely considered that the introduction of the typewriter opened-up the working world to women. Typing classes became popular in ...
Reference: WH0974
After a very long stint as the ‘brewery tap’ and then a small ‘tied-house’ the General Wolfe pub sadly closed in 2017. As the Royal British Legion clubhouse in Mill Lane has also closed and the ‘Warde Arms’ in the High Street closed as a pub in the 1970s, it is a long walk to ...
Reference: 0025
Black Eagle Brewery Tap publican John Francis and friends outside The General Wolfe Inn 1898, on their way to the races on Derby day. Note the company trading title above the window as Ben Bushell had yet to clinch the deal of takeover of Smiths brewery at Blighs in Sevenoaks. In 1904 the Company would ...
Reference: WH0064
The flags are very likely to celebrate the coronation of Edward VII in August 1902
Reference: 0013
During the early 1960s there was an attempt to reopen the line by a body who formed themselves as the Westerham Valley Railway Association. Here we see two members of the ‘ganging team’ working on a plate-layer’s trolly in 1962.
Reference: WH0180
This advert from the Westerham Herald of 1926 dates from almost the last days of the Gospel Chapel beside the laundry in the High Street, which first opened its doors around 1880. Non-conformist religion was an accepted form of worship at that time, usually adopted by ‘The Brethren’. Note the use of the letters ‘D.V.’ ...
Reference: WH0624
The Gospel Hall was the pitch-roofed building next to the lamp post on the left of the High Street, beyond the horse and cart. It is not known why it ceased to be used as a place of non-conformist worship, but by about 1928 it was gone. This may have coincided with an expansion of ...
Reference: WH0639
‘The Grange’ was a large estate which included The Paddock and all the land Churchill School now stands on, Fir Cottage at the bottom of the School drive, ‘Knipes Cottages’ next to today’s Castle Antiques, and the little row of cottages leading from them down London Road towards today’s Touchline Physiotherapy business. These were ‘Grange ...
Reference: WH0978
It is interesting to note that the Domestic Offices and Outbuildings had electric lighting installed. Common with many of the big Estate Houses The Grange had its own electricity generating plant some eight to ten years before the town gained access to electric lighting. The schedule identifies that the Grange house and gardens was let ...
Reference: WH0979
Like its neighbour the George & Dragon in Market Square, the Grasshopper on the Green was a tied house owned by the Croydon brewery Nalder & Collyer. As the advertising board on the pub roof displays, the brewers would often promote themselves through ‘Nalder & Collyer Entire’ where ‘Entire’ was a strong dark triple-blended beer ...
Reference: 0058