Bill Curtis: “…I travelled with my father on the Westerham branch in the summer of 1959 and as we were the only passengers boarding the empty train at Dunton Green, we were invited by the driver to accompany him and his fireman in the cab for the journey – what a treat! Suffice it to ...
Reference: WH0113
Brasted station master Mr. E.W. Howard poses with two of his staff around 1912. By 1924 Brasted and Westerham had lost their station masters and the whole branch was now managed by the Dunton Green station master Frederick William Brockman.
Reference: WH0114
Having taken over and closed Watkins’ Swan Brewery in Westerham, Ben Bushell had further ambitions seeing competition still present from the largest brewery based in Sevenoaks, Alfred Smith and Company. The first approach in 1898 was rejected by the then ageing Alfred Smith, but he was persuaded to sell by his son Percy, who no ...
Reference: WH0130
Another “Jolly Boys” outing waits outside Hookers ‘Herald Steam Printing Works’ in a charabanc packed to the gunwales. The term “Jolly Boys” comes from the description given to a series of drinking vessels grouped together and joined by tubes. With a couple of barrels of ‘bright beer’ tucked away in the back, ’nuff said…
Reference: WH0155
The same location, probably the same time, but different charabanc and different guys. At a guess, this might have been a conglomeration of working men from the Brewery, the Men’s Club and the Printing Works…
Reference: WH0156
The 1920s were relatively hard times due to national recovery being slow after the First World War and annual holidays had not really become established for poorer workers, so a day’s outing to the seaside was a rare treat and all that some workers with large families could afford. “Jolly Boys” charabanc trips were usually ...
Reference: WH0157
