Swanley History Group – September 2015 meeting SELECTION OF PHOTOS ARE IN GALLERY FIVE
Dartford was the place to go for local shopping, employment and entertainment for many people living in the Swanley area, before car ownership was the norm and when Bluewater was a chalk quarry. The excellent collection of photographs and posters presented by Keith Whitmore at the September meeting of Swanley History Group reflected a thriving busy town – in earlier times too. Photographs showed shops and commercial enterprises housed in medieval buildings – most long demolished. The tram lines in the streets and trolley bus wires told their own story of long vanished modes of transport in the Town.
Industry flourished as shown in photographs and drawings of mills including the Baltic Saw Mills, Victoria Mills and Phoenix Mills. Other industries represented on film included Bentley’s Laundry, Dartford Electric Power Station in Burnham Road, Dartford Brewery in Spital Street, J & E Hall, manufacturers of lifts and refrigeration for ships including the Titanic, as well as Vickers in Crayford which employed 14,000 at one time. Vehicle manufacture, sales and repair businesses were plentiful too, as shown in photographs of Bates Bicycle shop on West Hill and Beadles Motors in Spital Street – who advertised Morris and Austin cars and who built a limousine for Lloyd George.
There were enterprising smaller traders too. You could have your feathers curled by Mrs Mitchell or buy a Practical Manual on Taxidermy from J. W. Davis if you wanted a physical reminder of your sadly departed pet. They later supplied art and craft materials. Prominent shops, in various eras, included International General Stores, Jewellers Pyefinch and James Walker; Nelson’s who sold perambulators, The Dartford Battery Service, Atlas Furnishers in the High Street, Phillips Toyshop, and optician Linklater’s. You could buy a piano from Stevens, hats and caps and service livery from Arthur Bond, mens’ suits from Barry Compton, records from Challenger & Hicks, electric corsets and ‘frock fashions’ from Gergels and school uniform and haberdashery from Kerr’s. Three departmental stores existed – W F Potts where Argos is now, Heddle’s in Lowfield Street and of course the ART-Deco style Co-operative Store which opened in 1935 and sadly closed in 2007.
Various ways to enjoy leisure time were available. A photograph from 1911 shows a roller skating rink in Spital Street. For plays, old time variety performance and later dancing and bingo there was The Scala. To see a film there was a former music hall called The Gem; The Rialto, later called The Century, in Lowfield Street and
The Granada, previously called The State, in Spital Street where live acts such as Billy Fury, John Leyton and Marti Wilde performed.
In 1840 seventy two horse drawn coaches a day ferried people to and from inns and hotels such as The Bull Inn; The One Bell; The Temperance Hotel; The Bull and George and The Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel – what was the significance of ‘The famous Red Room’?
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser
Dartford was the place to go for local shopping, employment and entertainment for many people living in the Swanley area, before car ownership was the norm and when Bluewater was a chalk quarry. The excellent collection of photographs and posters presented by Keith Whitmore at the September meeting of Swanley History Group reflected a thriving busy town – in earlier times too. Photographs showed shops and commercial enterprises housed in medieval buildings – most long demolished. The tram lines in the streets and trolley bus wires told their own story of long vanished modes of transport in the Town.
Industry flourished as shown in photographs and drawings of mills including the Baltic Saw Mills, Victoria Mills and Phoenix Mills. Other industries represented on film included Bentley’s Laundry, Dartford Electric Power Station in Burnham Road, Dartford Brewery in Spital Street, J & E Hall, manufacturers of lifts and refrigeration for ships including the Titanic, as well as Vickers in Crayford which employed 14,000 at one time. Vehicle manufacture, sales and repair businesses were plentiful too, as shown in photographs of Bates Bicycle shop on West Hill and Beadles Motors in Spital Street – who advertised Morris and Austin cars and who built a limousine for Lloyd George.
There were enterprising smaller traders too. You could have your feathers curled by Mrs Mitchell or buy a Practical Manual on Taxidermy from J. W. Davis if you wanted a physical reminder of your sadly departed pet. They later supplied art and craft materials. Prominent shops, in various eras, included International General Stores, Jewellers Pyefinch and James Walker; Nelson’s who sold perambulators, The Dartford Battery Service, Atlas Furnishers in the High Street, Phillips Toyshop, and optician Linklater’s. You could buy a piano from Stevens, hats and caps and service livery from Arthur Bond, mens’ suits from Barry Compton, records from Challenger & Hicks, electric corsets and ‘frock fashions’ from Gergels and school uniform and haberdashery from Kerr’s. Three departmental stores existed – W F Potts where Argos is now, Heddle’s in Lowfield Street and of course the ART-Deco style Co-operative Store which opened in 1935 and sadly closed in 2007.
Various ways to enjoy leisure time were available. A photograph from 1911 shows a roller skating rink in Spital Street. For plays, old time variety performance and later dancing and bingo there was The Scala. To see a film there was a former music hall called The Gem; The Rialto, later called The Century, in Lowfield Street and
The Granada, previously called The State, in Spital Street where live acts such as Billy Fury, John Leyton and Marti Wilde performed.
In 1840 seventy two horse drawn coaches a day ferried people to and from inns and hotels such as The Bull Inn; The One Bell; The Temperance Hotel; The Bull and George and The Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel – what was the significance of ‘The famous Red Room’?
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser