h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello fellow HooTooers.

I have, in a moment of extreme madness , opted to create the Entry on Kent. It will be my first entry, so I will require a little guidance. I would appreciate any information, history, or anecdotes on the different areas of Kent, particularly the west side (the Kentish Men) which is an area I am not overly familiar, being more of a Man of Kent myself. If you have any info. please it here, and I'll make up the Entry. All HooTooers who assist will get the necessary credits.



Many thanks all.

mazin it's not about east or west being a Man of Kent or Kentish Man it's about which bank of the Medway you were born on. I'll try to find out some definite info about this as it would be a nice concept to hang the entry around!

I don't know Kent but I'm willing to help out if people want me too

Yeah sorry mazin. i see the east /west thing does of corse relate to the Medway

http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/places/features/manofkent_kentishman.shtml


The BBC seems to have a fair amount of stuff on Kent. I think the entry will involve quite a lot of sifting through mounds of information as Kent has been historically such an important county for hundreds even thousands of years, being the gateway to continental Europe. It's one of the original saxon Kingdoms. Dover for example is very important in connection with the arrival of the Romans. The white cliffs of Dover are synonymous with british/Englishness.

Maybe you should have a think about the kind of overall pattern of the entry, and by neccesity be selective. Please feel free to discuss your overall idea of the piece with me at any time. Don't feel too daunted, we'll help you out.

And thanks Opti, I reckon the more people are there to help out mazin the better!

How intriguing, I keep getting the Kentish Man/Maid and Man/Maid of Kent thing the wrong way round. Silly university rugby people with their stupid inaccurate song!

You're not the only one. I live in Peckham, south east London, which I think was originally part of Kent, and we have a pub called the Man of Kent, which should be a Kentish Man.

Hey, was Clark Kent from... nah, forget it!

Thanks everyone for your offers. Yes red, I was thinking of some form of structure, along the lines of:-

a) Location: flanked by Sussex from the west to the north,where it connects with London, the English Channel to the eastand the north sea to the North.

b)Geology: largely composed of Chalk (carboniferous limestone), with small supplies of coal.

c)The Lands of the Man of Kent, including the Isle of Thanet, The Goodwin Sands and the English Channel, Dover, Folkestone, Ashford, Canterbury, Minster Marshes, Romney Marsh, Isle of Sheppey, (Hhhmm, east or west of the Medway?) Whitstable and Herne Bay.

d) The Lands of the Kentish Man. including the Medway Towns of Chatham Gillingham and Rochester, Royal Tonbridge Wells, Dartford, Deptford, Cliffe(sorry, not so good this side of the river)

e) History: Hengist and Horsa, St. Ethelbert and Ethelberga (first Christians to Land at Pegwell bay), Battle of Britain (oops big jump.) Thomas 'a' Beckett, Pilgrims Way etc.

f) Places of Interest: Rochester Castle, Dover Castle, St. George's Church, Ramsgate (Pugin, Architect) Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, etc.

g) Famous people: Sir Edward Heath, former Prime Minister, () Must be others...

Any other suggestions for headers to provide an overview? Any area I've missed out. It could be the biggest entry in the guide at this rate... Maybe do a small overview, followed by sub-entries expanded from there?

Open to suggestion.

I am going to be away for two days, but please keep the ideas coming especially about West Kent, which I only know from Saturday evening gigs in and around Orpington, paddock wood and Pratt's Bottom.

Many thanks once again...

all.

Chuffing Nora I hope there's a few more famous people than Ted Heath associated with Kent!

Off the top of my head Charles Dickens. I believe he lived in Kent for some time. One of his novels is set in Rochester.

Tracey Emin from Margate, and she lived in a beach hut at Whitstable one summer and made it into a work of art.

There's going to be just so much stuff. You'll have to pick out some quirky things to make it different from the bog standard BBC entry on Kent I found. And to make it interesting.

Eg Something like a Tracey Emin snippet would be good.

I'll have a think

Thanks red. Just that I finish w*rk at 19:00 so was hurrying, and still here Hhhmm, Emin... as a Ramsgate lad, probably bumped into her, being the same age etc, and I used to go to Margate occassionally. And how could I miss Dickens, Broadstairs Dickens' Festival often fought over by Tochester's Dickens Festivals.

h) Famous events: Rochester Sweeps, Dickens' Festival (Broadstairs and Rochester) Broadstairs Folk Week, Faversham Festival, Biggin Hill Air Show, etc.

Port Lympne and Howletts should get a mention, which means Aspinall comes under famous people, oh, and Jonathan Aitken, my old MP for Thanet South... Well, he had to be someone's.

"a) Location: flanked by Sussex from the west to the north,where it connects with London, the English Channel to the eastand the north sea to the North."

It's flanked by Essex to the North - the other side of the river Thames. Barefaced plug here - A667839

No mention of the Channel Tunnel yet? A134740

Also those wonderful chalk cliffs at Dover.

Not sure on these but Guy Fawkes, John Fuller, Sir Edward Gage, Sir John Gage, Sir John Pelham and James Pettit.

http://www.localhistories.org/

That's jogged my memory.

Wat Tyler, who led the Peasant's Revolt. They came close to overthrowing the monarchy!

There is also the Anglo-Saxon link. Richborough Castle, outside Sandwich, which may have been the first non-wood castle built in Britain by the Romans in AD43.
Also Kent could be the Castle County with Deal and Walmer (and the missing Sandgate) Castles built for defence against a possible French Attack in the C15. There is Dover Castle with its Famous Roman Pharos (lighthouse), Hever, Leeds and Allington Castle (now a Religious retreat)
Famous People: Mary Tourtell of Canterbury. Famous creator of Rupert the Bear.
The Infamous Hawkhurst Gang, who were a notorious gang of Smugglers who ranged throughout the whole of Kent around 1735 and eventually bought to a halt by 1749.

I know that Vincent Van Gogh stayed in a house on Royal Road in Ramsgate (there's a blue plaque on the building). Thanet has had quite a few visitors over the years, including Queen Victoria, Jane Austen and Elizabeth Fry. Most important of all, though, is the fact that Melanie and Martina (the cheerleaders from 'Fun House') were from Margate!

I'm delighted to announce that we already have two County entries in Peer Review, waiting to receive any bouquets or brickbats that people might lob in their general direction! If you're currently either working on or contributing to a County entry of your own right now, you might like to have a quick look to see how some other researchers have tackled this challenge. They are: County Fermanagh (A6092606) and Norfolk (A6108473).

Hope you enjoy reading them!

Paully

As half of my family originate from Kent I spent a lot of time there as a young lad. I loved the place. Many happy memories.

Ramsgate used to have hovercraft there when I went there as a lad in the 1970s. That's all gone now. I only vaguely remember the hovercraft. Don't forget the viking ship there too! It seemed HUUUUUGE when I saw it as a young boy but seemed tiny when I saw it last.

The air museum at Manston. A fine museum there well worthy of a visit. In the 1970s they had a kind of 'aeroplane junkyard' where they had various aircraft and aircraft parts. That was closed to the public. The 'graveyard' is now gone but the last time I was there the museum was going strong and they had a couple of aircraft exhibits outside. My grandad used to take me there all the time. He would stop the car and tell me "You're now sitting on what was a runway in the war". The Battle of Britain must get a mention or two surely?

Moat park and the miniature railway that the public could ride as passengers. That's a distant memory for me now occasionaly reinforced by a quick peruse of the family photo album!

The pubs. The Thomas Wyatt at Maidstone, with a creepy old windmill a couple of fields away. The Malta, also Maidstone. Next to the Medway down by the weirdest looking structure which was next to the locks.

Dreamland at Margate that later became an American-style theme park with 'Looping Star' rollercoaster.

Aylesford bridge where they filmed 'Half a sixpence'. My mum was born there.

I was under the impression that Edward Heath lived in the same house as Charles Dickens. The house is at Broadstairs

...not at the same time, though.

I was under the impression that Edward Heath lived in the house occupied at an earlier date by Charles Dickens. The house is at Broadstairs.

http://www.westviewhouse.com/images/viking%20bleak%20house.jpg