From the South Eastern Gazette, Monday July 11 1881: OPENING OF THE WESTERHAM VALLEY RAILWAY. “…This new line of railway which connects the small market town of Westerham with the South Eastern system, was formally opened on Wednesday afternoon amidst demonstrations of great rejoicing. For upwards of 30 years a rail communication with London has been ...
Reference: WH1078
The Architect’s impression by Habershon & Pite of Queensbury Square, London is true and faithful in the original design, but a tad fanciful and romantic about the setting…
Reference: WH1076
Such was the excitement that work on the proposed Westerham Valley Railway would begin at last, that Col. Warde ordered a banquet be held in the Public Hall to celebrate the momentous occasion for which they had waited so long. The date was set for Wednesday October 1st 1879, with work on the railway ...
Reference: WH0704
This was the occasion of the Wedding of Lt.-Col Charles Arthur Madan Warde, son of Vice-Admiral Charles Warde and the Hon. Anastasia Kathleen Lucia O’Brien daughter of Lucius O’Brien, 13th Baron of Inchiquin and Louisa Finucane which took place in Westerham on 23 October 1879.
Reference: WH0672
Upon retirement as Director of the Watney Brewery Company, Norman Watney became a J.P. on the Sevenoaks bench and Deputy Lieutenant for Kent, positions he held until his death in the autumn of 1911.
Reference: WH1011
These mantles would have been an off-the-shelf item at Evenden’s ironmongery beside the King’s Arms in the early 1900s. Formed on a ceramic base, what became the mantle was a fine fabric bag, made from rayon or silk. The fibre was impregnated with metallic salts and when the mantle is heated in a flame, the fibre burns ...
Reference: WH0970
Like Edwin Hollingworth, Charles Aubrey Botley had his own nursery to supply his greengrocer’s business at the bottom of Vicarage Hill, in the quirky lattice-fronted building which is today called simply ‘Darenth’ after Botley’s Darenth Nurseries shown here.
Reference: 0053