Wednesday, October 25, 2006

The remains of Chatham Library after it's closure due to fire.
It has been transferred to a building about a hundred yards away on the site of the Gun Wharf, formerly part of the Dockyard.


Holy Trinity Church, Twydall, Gillingham, Kent
...
In 1948 most of the Twydall area was orchards and farmland. Now it is a large housing estate stretching from (as far as I'm concerned) Featherby Road to Pump Lane. From there it becomes known as Rainham ... but these are 'moveable feasts' .
This church was the subject of a lot of discussion and seems to have been designed to echo the shape of an oast house. Oast houses were used for drying hops for the brewing industry. The phrase 'Thirst after righteousness' springs to mind!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006



This is an example of what I call 'architectural graffiti'.

This particular piece can be found within the Chatham Historic Dockyard and was probably executed during the latter half of the nineteenth century. John Shirley was taking a bit of a risk by 'defacing a building in one of Her Majesty's Dockyards' .

You may see this one on the wall of the ropery. Warning, the ropery is a quarter of a mile long ... happy hunting!


Art Deco elephant heads on the Halifax Bank in Chatham. The building was originally Burton's tailoring which had a snooker hall over top (as most of them did). It was also the venue for National Service medicals ... " bend over, cough" ...
Ask local people where they can see elephants in Chatham and most of them don't know. If only they would look upwards! There is a nice deco frieze up there as well.
A section of the frieze which adorns the two sides of the building. Simple in design but very effective.

How to turn a design through ninety degees and still retain its integrity!
"The elephants went in two-by-two".
What a wonderful piece of masonry high above Military Road in Chatham.