This 1917 advertisement not only has Hubble selling bicycles and spares, but also dealing in builders materials as well. Having sold his Westerham garage interests to Edward Newall, it would appear he has consolidated what remained at his old stomping ground in Brasted.
Reference: WH0016
By 1919 Edward Newall had joined the Employers and Employees Discharged Soldiers scheme in which he would have received government subsidies in return for employing returning soldiers. What was Market Square has become The Green, and Newall not only has his business where Hubble was, but has a second business premises in Stratton Yard.
Reference: WH0017
Always ready to adapt to new technology. Where else in Westerham would you be able to buy a wireless? The BBC only started broacasting in1922.
Reference: WH0019
Note the ‘Hotel Department’, alongside accommodation, were offering well appointed Coffee, Billiard and Smoking Rooms, while the ‘Commercial Department’ advertised Hot & Cold Water Baths – quite a novelty for the day! At that time, the Hotel had its own coachhouses and stabling in the rear yard.
Reference: WH0104
This ‘Carte de Visite’ would have been handed out to visitors of Barclay and Perkins’ Kings Arms to advertise the establishment in the days before the arrival of the Westerham Herald. The front of the ‘Carte’ proudly states ‘Omnibuses daily to Caterham’ while on the back (next photograph) are details of all services provided by ...
Reference: WH0105
Interesting to note that alongside being the contractor for the Sewers in 1879, John Bingham was also contractor for the town’s Water Well in 1880 and for the expansion and rebuilding of the Gas Works in 1882. The Herald from June 3rd 1882: The Gas Company are making some extensive alterations to their works, to enable ...
Reference: WH0933
Four generations of chimney sweeps worked out of the same house in Post Office yard – all of them called John! Geoff Hoath “…I remember the sweep was Mr Newman. He‘d do it all by hand, always in the morning, but you could set your clock by him. If he said he would be there at ...
Reference: WH0950
For many years a tenant farmer on Squerryes land, Jack Steven ran the largest dairy farm in the district. Curiously, the Steven men and the Greenlees, both longstanding farming families in the area were related and both had their roots on Scottish soil. In 1951 Force Green Farm was the province of Jack Steven, Squerryes Home ...
Reference: WH0953
A man of many talents as a farmer, carting proprietor and publican at the Warde Arms, Townsend kept his horses, carts and carriages in ‘Commodious Stables and Coach-Houses adjoining the railway station’. It was a business that saw him through to his end which was a timely demise, as the motor car was beginning to ...
Reference: WH0962
In the early 1900s Frederick John Meadows was the publican at the George & Dragon. Unmarried, he ran the hotel with his mother, his sister, three servants and Florence Lockwood, his hotel manageress. By the early 1920s Meadows had started a business as Jobmaster and Carman, employing returning men from the Royal Army Service Corps Mechanical ...
Reference: WH0964
1923 was the first year Timothy Osbourne Weller had advertised electric light installations which was a bit late, but there might have been sound thinking there as this was the year that the voltage was changed from 115 volts to 220 volts resulting in lighter gauges of cable being required. It is interesting that the first ...
Reference: WH0971
June Ingram reflected on her families involvement with the Gasworks “…around 1950 when I was about six, my parents moved from Granville Road into the Gasworks Cottage. Mr and Mrs Herbert had been there for some years as he was manager of the works. Westerham was by then on a piped supply of town-gas from ...
Reference: WH0972
The International Stores was a popular grocery shop in Westerham between the Wars and beyond into the early 1970s when the group was absorbed by British American Tobacco and many outlets closed. It was sited in the left-hand side of what is currently ‘Ruach Kitchens’ in Market Square. June Heath remembers local shopping “…apart from Woods ...
Reference: WH0981
This advert speaks for itself and appeared in the Westerham Herald all through 1917… Before the need to supplement the world of work in all disciplines, the few women who had worked within retail, had been confined to millinery and haberdashery – even drapery and hairdressing had been part of the man’s working world. Certainly ...
Reference: WH0982
Bright Gospel Services are (D.V.) held… In Brethren parlance D.V. stands for ‘Deo Volente’ meaning ‘God Willing’
Reference: WH1074
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
A painting dated 1920 from local artist and photographer Frederick Benson exists and is captioned ‘The first brewery built in Westerham 1730’. Acceptance of this date seems to have been based on the fact that it was carved into a keystone forming part of a building which was then in use as a boilerhouse. Bottle labels ...
Reference: WH0210
Note that a Pony and Trap was available for hire, but there was no overnight accommodation in this tiny pub, the only ‘full-license’ drinking establishment in town lacking this facility.
Reference: WH0063
