The Windmill on Windmill Hill

These days Windmill Hill is just a name without significance for many people, other than having a dangerous bend in the road, but from the early nineteenth century a towering windmill stood there as a familiar building and landmark. It could be seen for miles around due to its high location and like Upchurch church it was used a navigation point for boats sailing along the River Medway. During the second half of the nineteenth century the building became the property of farmers ‘Wakeley Brothers’ but by the beginning of the twentieth century it was no longer in use. However, the owners allowed it to continue standing as a familiar landmark that had existed for about 100 years.

Wakeley's Mill 1903

Timber built with a brick base, old and well tarred wood, the windmill was highly inflammable and this eventually proved to be costly because on Thursday September 8th, 1910 it caught fire. A farm worker noticed a narrow plume of smoke coming from it after he had returned from lunch. Due to the inflammability of the building the fire took hold quickly and the high leaping flames and black smoke could be viewed for miles around. This caused crowds of people to converge on the scene to view the spectacle. Eventually, after a long delay, the Rainham Fire Brigade engine arrived but there was little that could be done to save the windmill. Nobody could get anywhere near the fire because it was so hot and intense. The situation worsened when the burning sails from the windmill broke off and fell into a nearby orchard causing considerable damage to young fruit trees that had just come into bearing. Many of these were badly burnt or scorched.

Police constable Jenner and Sergeant Ashton from Rainham assisted by several passers by were able to rescue some pigs in a sty close to the blazing windmill otherwise the animals would have been burnt alive. A timber built store owned by Mrs. Stokes, wife of late farmer Sam Stokes, also caught fire but the fire brigade were able to extinguish the blaze. Water was obtained from a standpipe at the top of Windmill Hill but the pressure remained low due to the high location and this slowed down the firemen who fought the fire for about three hours.

Eventually the fire subsided but the windmill was completely destroyed and the nearby fruit orchard badly burnt. Although Mrs Stokes store survived it was badly damaged. Several carts, a collection of fruit baskets, wheat and grain inside the store were destroyed or damaged. The cost to Wakeley Brothers was about £250 and Mrs. Stokes lost about £100. Both parties were later able to claim insurance but the windmill, such a significant landmark on the landscape, disappeared for ever and only the name and a few photos survive.


David Wood, who was born and raised in Upchurch, is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village.


David Wood's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David on:  david3702001@yahoo.co.uk  price £12 + p+p £2.

David Wood

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Fishy Friday today at The Brown Jug

It's Fishy Friday at The Brown Jug this Friday, December the 23rd. 6:30pm – 10:00pm.

Freshly cooked cod, chips, choice of peas or mushy peas at only £6.50 each. For further details or to book, Please call: 01634 366543.

Upchurch Matters

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Christmas at The Three Sisters

Lots of things happening this Christmas at The Three Sisters.

Celebrate Christmas this year at the Three Sisters. On Christmas Eve there is a live singer and on Christmas Day the pub is open from 11:00am - 2:00pm.

Boxing Day there is Karaoke from 8:00pm until late and New Year's Eve a Disco and Karaoke (ticket only) at £5.00 which includes a free drink and buffet.

For enquires please phone: 01634 231991

Nicola Mccloud

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The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee - 2012

The Queen celebrates 60 years on the throne next year.

To mark 60 years of the Queen’s reign the Diamond Jubilee will take place in 2012. The celebrations will centre around an extended weekend in 2012 on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th of June.

Upchurch Parish Council are forming a working party to collect ideas and make arrangements for village celebrations for the Queen's Jubliee in 2012. Current proposals include a 'Party in the Paddock' where individual streets can have their own areas for celebrations with space for the younger generation to have various arranged activities once the tables are cleared.

BUT...... We' need some help ! If there are any residents that would like to join this working party and contribute ideas and effort in taking them forward then please contact Claire the parish clerk at: clerk@upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk  

Sara Tucker
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Upchurch Parish Council Report - January 2012

The Parish Council met on Thursday 1^st December in the hall of Holywell Primary School where 7 Councillors were present and 3 members of the public.

Planning - The following applications were considered:

 SW/11/1150 6 Wallbridge Lane – Change of use to a residential unit caring for young mothers- babies. A further response will be submitted to Swale BC. Concern was expressed that some information was still not known, for example, who is behind this planning application, who is going to run the unit? It was noted that the service users would be voluntarily accommodated under S20 of the Children Act 1989 which stated that “Every local authority shall provide accommodation for any child in need within their area...” However, it was commented that they were not aware of any need being identified, therefore it was requested that this evidence of “need” be reported.

SW/11/1369 8 Drakes Close – To convert an integral garage into a habitable room and alteration to front elevation to remove garage door and replace with brick and window. – There were no objections provided neighbours views were taken into consideration.

SW/11/1394 1 Macklands Cottages, Otterham Quay Lane – Erection of single storey conservatory to rear – There were no objections provided neighbours views were taken into consideration.

SW/11/1296 Frogs Farm, Susans Lane – Retrospective application for the building of an agricultural barn. The Planning Review Team will review this proposal.                       

v) Permissions and refusals

Permission granted:

SW/11/1161 Redbrick Cottage, Poot Lane – Rear extension. To be used as a plant room (To house oil storage & boiler)

vi) Proposal to hold a private party for Scout Leaders, Committee Members and Supporters of the Scout Group on 31 December 2011 at Upchurch Scout Group Headquarters, Drake Lodge Recreation Ground, Oak Lane – There were no objections.                                                

Rural Needs Housing – Members discussed a request from a resident asking that a full declaration of interest be made by each councillor on the working party. It was agreed that sufficient checks were in place to ensure that they all behaved properly in relation to this proposal. It was commented that a register of members interests is maintained, and that at each Parish Council meeting, Councillors were required to sign that they either had no material interest on any item on the agenda or indicate items which they did have an interest. Members noted a suggestion forwarded by Tessa O’Sullivan (ACRK) that it may be viable to build 8 to 10 units. Alison Thompson (ERHA) had also agreed that this might be possible and that the site next to Holywell Primary School could be considered. However, the Planning Officer at Swale BC had commented that it would need to be demonstrated that the other, more preferable sites originally identified, were not able to come forward, and also state the reason. Support for this site would also be subject to the design, bulk and scale of the proposed houses and how they relate to their surroundings. It was decided that the working group would meet to discuss this and report back at the next Parish Council meeting.

Administration – Annual Parish Meeting – This has been arranged for Thursday 26^th April 2012 at 7.30pm in the main hall of Upchurch Village Hall. Everyone is welcome and wine and nibbles will be available after the meeting.

Finance – Village Hall Asbestos Problem – A grant application form had been received from the Management Committee and a decision will be made at the meeting in January 2012.

Allotments and Recreation Ground – Bonfire at Allotments – Members considered a request by a resident to stipulate times of the day when bonfires were allowed at the Allotments. It was suggested that allotment holders were reminded to show consideration to the neighbours and ensure that bonfires were not left unattended.

Paddock – Installing a barrier at the entrance by 22 Chaffes Lane – An estimate from M Belsom to the sum of £215 + VAT for installing a Kee Clamp Barrier at this entrance was accepted. It is hoped to arrange this installation as soon as possible. Dumping of garden waste – The Council would like to remind everyone that garden waste must not be disposed of in the Paddock and that it is considered as fly tipping.

Burial Ground and Churchyard – St Marys Churchyard – footpath to Burial Ground- Members were informed that a quote had been received from First Highways Ltd. They requested that the Clerk contact the PCC to see if they would be able to contribute towards this cost.

Environment – Queens Diamond Jubilee – Members are still considering many different ideas on how to celebrate this occasion. Please do consider joining the committee. They hope to plan an event which would be suitable for all ages. If you are interested in being part of this committee, please contact the Clerk who will forward your details to a committee member.

Next meetings – 5^th January 2012, 2^nd February 2012. Please note that the meetings are held in the hall of Holywell School and start at 7.30pm.

Claire Attaway, Parish Clerk, 33 Church Farm Road, Upchurch. Tel: 01634 363906.

Email:  clerk@upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

Website:  www.upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

Upchurch Parish Council

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Fishy Friday at The Brown Jug

It's Fishy Friday at The Brown Jug this Friday, December the 9th. 6:30pm – 10:00pm.

Freshly cooked fish, chips and peas available at only £6.50 each. For further details or to book, Please call: 01634 366543.

Upchurch Matters
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Thank you from the PFHS

Thank you very much to all the businesses that donated to the school christmas fayre last Friday.

Julie Pike
Chairperson of the PFHS
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An Englishman in Colombia

David Wood.

Upchurch resident  David Wood has recently had an online version of his book 'An Englishman in Colombia' published on the internet which can be accessed at:  colqat.weebly.com

It's about his experiences in that country over a ten year period from the late 1980s to the late 1990s and a description of the problems there between the drug cartels and the government and the everyday problems experienced. The book begins with David and another Upchurch resident Nigel Barling from Poot Lane going to Colombia for an adventure on the Caribbean and in the Amazon and then about David's experiences while working in Bogota and travelling around the country which includes six muggings, the murder of his business partner, an earthquake and a bomb explosion.

It was an action packed experience in one of the most violent and uncertain periods in Colombian history.


Upchurch Matters
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Memories of Working in the Brickfields

From the mid nineteenth century for about 100 years many local men were employed in the Otterham or Lower Halstow brickfields including the late Cliff Wanstall before he became a well known and long serving Upchurch village postmaster during the early 1950s.

“I worked in the Lower Halstow brickfields for about five years during the 1930s. My father had worked there as a moulder and setter and I used to travel to London in one of the brickfield trucks and helped the driver unload. I also ran errands in the brickfield during the school holidays. My first full time job as a ‘crowder’ was physically hard. I had to push a barrow full of bricks along a rail then load the contents on to a lorry. I also worked as a ‘flatty’ making bricks by hand in the brick shed.

Memories of Upchurch.

Men usually worked  full time in the brickfield and women worked there as barrow loaders during the summer months but sometimes workers were laid off during winter because of wet weather which made brick making difficult. Work usually began at 6 a.m. and finished at 5 p.m. with a one hour lunch break. Workers were paid on a peace work basis per thousand bricks. Unfortunately, if rain came after working hours a whistle sounded and workers had to return to the field to cover the bricks, even late at night. Work was physically hard but relations between workers were good.

Local Upchurch men I remember working in the Lower Halstow brickfield included Bert Smitherman and Wally Edmonds from The Street and Bert and Ashley Edmonds from Twinney but there were others.

Safety precautions were quite good but several times I remember watching an inexperienced worker running downhill with his wheelbarrow too quickly only to let go when losing control causing the barrow and its contents to tip over on the ground. However, the older workers looked after the younger ones and advised them. Work was difficult to obtain during the 1930s depression so the brickfields allowed a regular income and many men worked there for the whole of their working lives.

After the war I worked at the Otterham Brickfield for two years and my first job was in the chalk pit just off Canterbury Lane. Work in the main brickfield area was easier than at Lower Halstow because you didn’t have to run so far with the bricks. We also had to provide our own transport and many of the workers cycled to work and some took a bottle of cold tea to drink. I got laid off for a month after I crashed my bike into the back of a lorry at the bottom of Windmill Hill on my way to work and got injured but I soon recovered and returned to my job.

The greatest benefit of working for ‘Eastwoods’ at the Otterham brickfield was that if you were a member of a gang that produced one million bricks the company would provide each man with a new pair of boots. The work was very hard but I enjoyed it and worked there until the late 1940s.”

David Wood, who was born and raised in Upchurch, is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village.

David Wood's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David on:  david3702001@yahoo.co.uk  price £12 + p+p £2.

David Wood

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Upchurch Fifty Years Ago in December 1961

Memories of Upchurch.

The East Kent Gazette reported Christmas 1961 as the coldest for seventeen years with bitterly cold winds, frost and burst water pipes. To make matters worse tragedy struck on Funton Marshes when a group of Upchurch and Halstow boys went duck shooting. Using rubber dinghies they split into two pairs but after 90 minutes the second pair consisting of Graham Daniel from Oak Lane Upchurch and Peter McKenzie from Lower Halstow watched a hat float past and an upturned dingy floating on the water. After searching for their friends they called for help and the drowned bodies of Peter Shrub and John Gooding were recovered from the river. Because of their waders, heavy clothing and cartridge belts the boys had been pulled under the water after their dingy had capsized. The tragedy caused great sadness for local people.

With a surge in building there were many requests to Swale Rural Council and Kent County Council for planning permission in Upchurch. An attempt to have a site for 100 caravans constructed on a 5½ acre field next to the brickfield in Otterham Quay and another in Poot Lane were both rejected. There was also an application to put the defunct slaughterhouse in W. H. Hales butchers yard in Forge Lane back into use. Swale Rural Council refused fearing that residents would complain and that the building was not in good repair.

In social affairs the Darby and Joan Club held a Christmas party in the village hall where members were presented with gifts of biscuits and small parcels of groceries. The horticultural society held its annual dance in the village hall and raised £12 for a local charity, while Mr and Mrs Stevens from Holywell Farm presented the church with a Christmas tree. Rich Boakes of Chaffes Lane continued organising the weekly village youth club. Acting as doorman and DJ he spent much of his time playing loud musical hits. He even organised a football match between the youth club boys and girls on the recreation ground which the boys just won 3-2. Meanwhile, the village football team was performing very well and scored their 50th goal of the season when they defeated East End 6-1. Les Woolley scored four goals. Two weeks earlier he had scored four in an exciting 5-4 victory over Medway United.

While the village footballers were banging in the goals members of the Women’s Institute spent their December meeting listening to Mr Cooper talking about wine then after some sherry tasting elected their new officers for the year. Mrs Smith was elected president, Mrs Watson secretary, Mrs Gore treasurer and Mrs Tress auditor. A competition for the most articles in a jar was won by Mrs Tress.

Finally, only one funeral took place when Florence Robinson aged 75 of The Street was buried in the churchyard while birthdays were celebrated by Leonard Sketchley aged 13 from Chaffes Lane, Elaine Stokes aged 10 from Holywell Farm Cottages, Cristine Cripps aged 13 from Twinney Cottages, and Anne Clemons aged 11 from Gore Bank.

David Wood, who was born and raised in Upchurch, is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village.

David Wood's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David on:  david3702001@yahoo.co.uk  price £12 + p+p £2.

David Wood
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Stay Vigilant

Upchurch residents are reminded to stay extra vigilant over the Christmas period after a car was broken into in Woodruff Close at the weekend whilst parked on the owners drive. A Sat Nav along with some loose change were taken in the theft.


Sally Cushing
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