Discussion
ive lived in Lordswood/Walderslade woods now for 7 years, prior to that i lived in croydon so you could say i traded one hell hole for another....but i genuinely like the area. Most of the people are old school with old school values. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times ive seen a police car responding to a call in all the years ive been here. yes, some places are definitely there to be avoided but thats the same anywhere.
Gixer said:
I've lived arround the Medway towns all my life. Cliff, Hoo, Cooling and now Lordswood and while I'm first to call Chatham a dump, there are some nice bits as well. I'm first to agree with the comments ref Chatham town centre. The only time I ever go there is if I need to collect a parcel from Best St sorting office. God only knows why they knocked down a perfectly good flyover and even more of a mystery, why they moved an indoor bus station right next to the shops to an outdoor one in the middle of what was a road so that shoppers have to cart their shopping further and get wet if its raining and car drivers have to drive to Luton arches and back to get to the Medway tunnel.
However today I got in early so thought I'd jump on the MB. A couple of miles and I'm riding along the North Kent Downs enjoying fantastic views. A few more miles and I'm riding beside the Medway enjoying the views of the river, the castle etc. see its not all bad. It's great for my job as it close to both the M2, M20 and M25 and its good for road trips into Europe with the Chunnel not that far away. Near enough to London for my wife to commute too.
I travel a fair bit and most town centres are run down and not particularly nice places. In fact the only ones I can think of that are quite nice and doing well are ones where councils have embraced the car rather than making it awkward for them. There's a small town in Essex I sometimes work at and there, there is diagonal parking bays along both sides of the road with 1 hour free parking and the shops there are always busy and appear to be doing well. To coin the phrase 'the grass is always greener....' I've worked in quite a few places around the UK that are far far worse
apparently the Pentagon building has some serious structural issues caused by the weight+vibration of the buses driving through, and the air quality inside the building was shocking due to buses sat idling all day.However today I got in early so thought I'd jump on the MB. A couple of miles and I'm riding along the North Kent Downs enjoying fantastic views. A few more miles and I'm riding beside the Medway enjoying the views of the river, the castle etc. see its not all bad. It's great for my job as it close to both the M2, M20 and M25 and its good for road trips into Europe with the Chunnel not that far away. Near enough to London for my wife to commute too.
I travel a fair bit and most town centres are run down and not particularly nice places. In fact the only ones I can think of that are quite nice and doing well are ones where councils have embraced the car rather than making it awkward for them. There's a small town in Essex I sometimes work at and there, there is diagonal parking bays along both sides of the road with 1 hour free parking and the shops there are always busy and appear to be doing well. To coin the phrase 'the grass is always greener....' I've worked in quite a few places around the UK that are far far worse
lufbramatt said:
apparently the Pentagon building has some serious structural issues caused by the weight+vibration of the buses driving through, and the air quality inside the building was shocking due to buses sat idling all day.
I heared a different story to that.The bus company, the council and the Pentagon's landlords had a falling out over the cost of redeveloping the old bus stop area.
Yours does sound plausible though.
Deano_BMW said:
ive lived in Lordswood/Walderslade woods now for 7 years, prior to that i lived in croydon so you could say i traded one hell hole for another....but i genuinely like the area. Most of the people are old school with old school values. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times ive seen a police car responding to a call in all the years ive been here. yes, some places are definitely there to be avoided but thats the same anywhere.
Walderslade is actually probably the best of the bunch, if I am being honest.I can still remember it when Walderslade woods, was just that - woods. Then the developers came.
Hol said:
lufbramatt said:
apparently the Pentagon building has some serious structural issues caused by the weight+vibration of the buses driving through, and the air quality inside the building was shocking due to buses sat idling all day.
I heared a different story to that.The bus company, the council and the Pentagon's landlords had a falling out over the cost of redeveloping the old bus stop area.
Yours does sound plausible though.
What is up with the designers in Chatham?
The pentagon is a eyesore that needs nuking and starting again. The bus company moving where they did was bonkers and changing the road system to what it is now is just plain madness.
I spend more time in Bluewater than Chatham town centre, in fact I would rather trip into maidstone than spend much time in Chatham!
Oh and to the comment about food? Agreed with the Nandos comment
Last half decent place I went to was the Green Man in Longfield, in Medway I never have the time to eat posh, so its Hungry Horse and a pint!
The pentagon is a eyesore that needs nuking and starting again. The bus company moving where they did was bonkers and changing the road system to what it is now is just plain madness.
I spend more time in Bluewater than Chatham town centre, in fact I would rather trip into maidstone than spend much time in Chatham!
Oh and to the comment about food? Agreed with the Nandos comment
Last half decent place I went to was the Green Man in Longfield, in Medway I never have the time to eat posh, so its Hungry Horse and a pint!
Blimey, is the green man still there. Not been there for years. You're right, I either goto Maidstone or blue water/lakeside. I can even get to Maidstone Halfords easier than the Chatham one.
Whoever was responsible for f
king up Chatham really didn't have a clue. I mean for as long as I can remember, the Luton arches end was the bottle neck so why the fk would the knock down a flyover, close the rd by the library and send everyone to Luton arches, madness
Whoever was responsible for f
king up Chatham really didn't have a clue. I mean for as long as I can remember, the Luton arches end was the bottle neck so why the fk would the knock down a flyover, close the rd by the library and send everyone to Luton arches, madnessspats said:
What is up with the designers in Chatham?
The pentagon is a eyesore that needs nuking and starting again. The bus company moving where they did was bonkers and changing the road system to what it is now is just plain madness.
I spend more time in Bluewater than Chatham town centre, in fact I would rather trip into maidstone than spend much time in Chatham!
Oh and to the comment about food? Agreed with the Nandos comment
Last half decent place I went to was the Green Man in Longfield, in Medway I never have the time to eat posh, so its Hungry Horse and a pint!
Pentagon IS Chatham unfortunately. Built when concrete was chic.The pentagon is a eyesore that needs nuking and starting again. The bus company moving where they did was bonkers and changing the road system to what it is now is just plain madness.
I spend more time in Bluewater than Chatham town centre, in fact I would rather trip into maidstone than spend much time in Chatham!
Oh and to the comment about food? Agreed with the Nandos comment
Last half decent place I went to was the Green Man in Longfield, in Medway I never have the time to eat posh, so its Hungry Horse and a pint!
The landlord of the Sherwood is a Pistonheader.
When I was growing up, the Poachers (hungry Horse) was the only pub around that never bared anyone.
Even the Woodsman in Weedswood would bar the odd person.
Deano_BMW said:
ive lived in Lordswood/Walderslade woods now for 7 years, prior to that i lived in croydon so you could say i traded one hell hole for another....but i genuinely like the area. Most of the people are old school with old school values. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times ive seen a police car responding to a call in all the years ive been here. yes, some places are definitely there to be avoided but thats the same anywhere.
Pretty much the same as this really, I live in Lordswood and it's not too bad, although Chatham high street is a total dive as others have said.Maybe we should have a Lordswood meet as I am yet to see a car in the area with a PH sticker on!
Well it the dockside meet tonight. Plenty of nice motors will be down there. There are quite a few PHers in Lordswood/Walderslade
Now do you drive through lovely Chatham to get there or do what I normally do and go via the M2 and back through the Medway tunnel just to avoid it lol.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Medway-Cruise/15891...
Now do you drive through lovely Chatham to get there or do what I normally do and go via the M2 and back through the Medway tunnel just to avoid it lol.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Medway-Cruise/15891...
Edited by Gixer on Thursday 3rd July 09:19
The yellow Mustang is from Dargets Rd if its the V6 one.
You couldn't exactly have missed my ZR1 with 2x 2 foot smileys on it and the fact it's ridiculously loud!! Although I took everything off a few months ago so its plain red and boring at the moment. For now anyway. The black ones not so obvious, just a small 2" smiley on the back. Ill be in that one tonight. There's often a black Shelby 500 kicking around here too, its a mate of mine from Buckhurst Hill, he's on PH as Malc350. That'll will be there tonight.
You couldn't exactly have missed my ZR1 with 2x 2 foot smileys on it and the fact it's ridiculously loud!! Although I took everything off a few months ago so its plain red and boring at the moment. For now anyway. The black ones not so obvious, just a small 2" smiley on the back. Ill be in that one tonight. There's often a black Shelby 500 kicking around here too, its a mate of mine from Buckhurst Hill, he's on PH as Malc350. That'll will be there tonight.
Edited by Gixer on Thursday 3rd July 13:58
Hol said:
Actually Roo,
It's origins is gypsy slang for Child, or kid.
We had a few real Chavs at my School in Maidstone. It was a common term used to describe members of their family.
Worth noting that Kent has the highest ethnic Gypsy population of any county in the country.It's origins is gypsy slang for Child, or kid.
We had a few real Chavs at my School in Maidstone. It was a common term used to describe members of their family.
Edited by Hol on Saturday 10th May 19:24
My wife is from Gillingham and an alumni of Chatham Girls' Grammar, aka 'the slags on the hill'.
I wouldn't describe Kent as the garden of England, more the 'Window-box of London'.
We still go back a few times per year to visit the Mother in Law and can never get out of the place fast enough!
Wrt to the post about Myrthr Tydfil; it's where the SAS go to do their covert ops training! The theory being that if you can get by un-noticed in Merthyr, you get by in West Belfast, Basra or Baghdad!
Found it interesting reading these fairly old comments.
Thought I'd pay a visit to Chatham Sat. 30/9/17....first time back in 49 years since Naval part 2 training in Oct. '68.
Walked from the rail station down Dock Rd to HMS PEMBROKE, now the University of Greenwich.
Took about 20 mins of video which I've still got to upload to Youtube.
Will post the link if anyone's interested....
Cheers, Mike
Thought I'd pay a visit to Chatham Sat. 30/9/17....first time back in 49 years since Naval part 2 training in Oct. '68.
Walked from the rail station down Dock Rd to HMS PEMBROKE, now the University of Greenwich.
Took about 20 mins of video which I've still got to upload to Youtube.
Will post the link if anyone's interested....
Cheers, Mike
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