The earliest footpaths and roads in Kent ran in a north-east/south-west direction. They followed the natural contours of the land and took advantage of the gaps in the Downs and Weald created by streams and rivers. Some of these paths and tracks have over time have been widened and metalled but rarely straightened. With the Roman invasion a road network was constructed to contact London to the Channel Ports of Dover, Lympne and Richborough. The London-Dover road was part of Watling Street. These routes are now approximately followed by the A2, B2068, A257, and the A28. When the roads were turnpiked in the 18th century, they were used to carry foodstuffs from Kent to London, and the roads radiated from there. The A2 ran from London to Dartford (A207), Gravesend, Rochester, Canterbury and Dover. The A20 ran to Eltham, Wrotham, Maidstone, Charing, Ashford, Hythe, Folkestone and Dover. The A21 ran to Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, and Tunbridge Wells.[1] With the increased traffic on these roads, the main towns were bypassed; and then in the 1960s two motorways were built: the M2 from Medway to Faversham, and the M20 from Swanley to Folkestone. Part of the M25 runs through Kent, from Westerham to the Kent and Essex tunnel at Dartford. Even these roads have failed to provide adequate capacity, and are upgraded and widened from time to time. The Dartford Tunnel was supplemented by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, allowing four lanes in each direction. This is a toll crossing.
Water
The rivers, canals, and ports of Kent
The Cinque Ports were important mediaeval ports. They were Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, Romney and Hastings, and later Rye and Winchelsea. All of these have silted up, with the exception of Dover which is a busy RORO ferry port. Ramsgate is a container port. The Medway Estuary has been an important port and naval base for 500 years. The River Medway is tidal up to Allington and navigable up to Tonbridge. There are two canals in Kent, the Royal Military Canal between Hythe and Rye, which is still extant, and the Thames and Medway Canal between Strood and Gravesend. Built in 1824, it was bought up by the railways in 1846 and backfilled.[1]
Kent also had a second major railway, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) which competed extensively with the SER, leading to many Kentish towns and cities having two railway stations and several otherwise uneconomic lines being built. LCDR started out as the East Kent Railway in 1858, with the aim of linking the North East Kent coast with the SER's North Kent Line. The LCDR's main line started from the Medway Towns and progressed eastwards via Sittingbourne and Faversham, before dividing to Dover via Canterbury and Thanet via Whitstable and Herne Bay. The SER successfully prevented the LCDR from gaining a connection to its line in Strood, so the LCDR was forced to build its own line to London, opening in 1861. The LCDR achieved this by connecting to the Mid-Kent Railway near Bromley, which connected to the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway which gave it access to the Victoria Station & Pimlico Railway Company and its Victoria Station. It soon built extensions to Sevenoaks (Bat & Ball) (1862), Ashford via Maidstone (1862), and a second London terminus (Blackfriars leading on to Holborn Viaduct - 1864–65).
1933 poster for the Southern Railway's newly electrified suburban services
The extensive competition saw the SER build a very expensive deviation via Orpington and Sevenoaks to avoid the lengthy and circuitous route via Redhill, opening in 1868. Thus towns such as Bromley, Gravesend, Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Canterbury, Whitstable, Ramsgate, Margate, Dover and Ashford 'enjoyed' having two stations.
The competition severely strained the resources of both companies, the LCDR given its later start, and the SER with neighbouring LBSCR to the west in Sussex and Surrey. Co-operation broke out with a joint line between Dover and Deal, but despite a carve up agreement of coastal traffic, competition still persisted leading to Thames terminals being constructed in the middle of the North Kent marshes by both companies (the Hundred of Hoo Railway and the Port Victoria branch). Eventually a "merger" by form of a "managing committee" (to avoid capital gains tax) was agreed and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) was formed in 1899. Only some minor rationalisation was able to occur prior to World War I (the SER's Chatham branch closed, various connecting chords were constructed, etc.).
In the aftermath of World War I, with the SECR having borne extensive amounts of war traffic, the government "grouped" all the railway companies together, with the SECR joining neighbouring LBSCR and LSWR in the Southern Railway in 1921.
Southern kept closed some inner London routes closed under wartime austerity measures, but embarked upon continuing SECR's rationalisation and a roll out of 660 V DC third railelectrification that had been successfully initiated by LSWR pre war. During the 1920s the inner suburban lines were electrified out to Dartford, Bromley and Orpington (1924–26). The 1930s saw the outer suburban services electrified; Sevenoaks (1935) and Gillingham (1939) and Maidstone West (1939). Electric traction thus epitomised the growth of commuting and the spread of the London commuter belt. The major item of rationalisation was the extensive work on Thanet, which saw the duplication removed.
World War II further devastated the railways, and post war the government nationalised the railways, forming British Railways in 1948, with Southern being placed in the Southern Region. The 1955 British Transport Commissioners report planned out a major investment programme in the railways and Kent Coast Electrification was one of the 5 key projects. This saw the main lines to the ports electrified in two stages between 1959 and 1961. The signally was upgraded, new rolling stock purchased, platforms significantly lengthen and the track was widened between Bickley Junction and Swanley. However, despite this massive investment, several remote lines were closed due to declining traffic and the infamous Beeching report. From the 1950s through to the 1980s branches closed including: Hawkhurst, Elham Valley, Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, Hythe, Sheppey Light Railway, Westerham, Hundred of Hoo (passengers only), and Gravesend West.
The late 1980s saw the organization of the railways change again, first with the "sectorisation" of British Rail with the abolition of the "Southern Region" and introduction of Network SouthEast for passenger services. The railways were privatised in 1996, with most Kent passenger services being run by Connex South Eastern (14 October 1996 to 9 November 2003). Connex encountered financial difficulties but embarked upon the mass replacement of the large obsolete rolling stock fleet. A temporary government owned Train operating company, South Eastern Trains ran from November 2003 to March 2006 to be replaced by the current incumbent Southeastern. Southern also run some services to Tonbridge and Ashford International.
In addition to the "mainline" railways there are several light, heritage and industrial railways in Kent. There are three heritage, standard gauge railways; Spa Valley Railway near Tunbridge Wells on the old Tunbridge Wells West branch, East Kent Railway on the old East Kent coalfield area and the Kent and East Sussex Railway on the Weald around Tenterden. In addition there is the 15 inch gauge, tourist oriented Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway on the south east Kent coast along the Dungeness peninsular and the 2ft 6in, ex industrial Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway.
Air
Muswell Manor, Isle of Sheppey - the birthplace and cradle of British aviation
Kent was the forefront of the development of aviation in the UK with the Royal Aero Club in 1901 at Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey for balloon flying. This soon explained with the Short Brothers starting to base Wright flyer from Shellbeach in July 1909. This soon moved to nearby Eastchurch. Shorts moved production to Rochester in 1913, where they constructed seaplanes along the banks of the River Medway and aeroplanes from the nearby Rochester Airport.
Military Aviation was widespread throughout the county, with the embryonic Royal Air Force at Biggin Hill and the Navy at Manston, near Ramsgate. Many other air stations sprung up across the county due to its strategic position aside the channel and in the most direct flight path of enemy bombers heading for the capital and other targets (e.g. Chatham Dockyard was bombed in World War I).
With the approach of World War II, Shorts opened a second factory in Belfast as their Kent base was vulnerable to aerial bombardment. During World War II aircraft manufacturing continued at both sites while also sustaining continual bombardment form the Axis air forces. The RAF fought the Battle of Britain over the skies of Kent and numerous fighter stations were created to base fighters; Biggin Hill, Gravesend, West Malling, Hawkinge and Lympne, while Eastchurch, Manston and Detling were under Coastal Command.[2] Post-war Biggin Hill and West Malling continued as fighter bases while Manston was by the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command and later United States Air Forces in Europe. Due to its length, it was a V-bomber dispersal base. Due to their short runways (Biggin Hill and West Malling), but more generally Post Cold war defence cuts and the populated nature of Kent, the RAF bases were closed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The other World War II airfields have largely been developed over the years (as has West Malling). Shorts seaplane business closed after the Second World War with the demise the Flying Boat business, while the works at Rochester airport continue to make military aviation equipment, currently owned by BAE Systems.
RAF fighters, most notably the Spitfire (pictured) and Hurricane fought the Battle of Britain across the skies of Kent
Manston Airport was used as a commercial airport from 1989 until its closure in 2014. It is set to reopen in 2025 or 2026, with cargo and short haul flights taking off from it by 2028 or 2029.
Currently Biggin Hill and Lydd serve as "outer" airport for London (general passenger aviation across the south east uses Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports). A limited number of charter flights and private jets use Lydd ("London Ashford") and Biggin Hill ("London Biggin Hill"). The remoteness of Lydd hinders further development.
Light aviation continues in Kent at the grass airfields of Rochester and Headcorn and at the two tarmaced airfields. The continued urbanisation of Kent and planning constraints have in recent times threatened Rochester airport with development, while continued aviation activities still encounter opposition on the grounds of noise pollution.
Kent is a county in the South East England region, the closest county to continental Europe. It borders Essex across the entire estuary of the River Thames to the north; the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover to the south-east; East Sussex to the south-west; Surrey to the west and Greater London to the north-west. The county town is Maidstone.
Medway is a unitary authority and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to form Medway Towns. It is a unitary authority area run by Medway Council, independent of Kent County Council but remains part of the ceremonial county of Kent.
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and northern and eastern Kent to form a significant part of the Greater London commuter network. The company existed until 31 December 1922 when its assets were merged with those of other companies to form the Southern Railway as a result of the grouping determined by the Railways Act 1921. The railway was always in a difficult financial situation and went bankrupt in 1867, but was able to continue to operate. Many of the difficulties were caused by the severe competition and duplication of services with the South Eastern Railway (SER). However, in 1898 the LCDR agreed with the SER to share the operation of the two railways, work them as a single system and pool receipts: but it was not a full amalgamation. The SER and LCDR remained separate companies with separate shareholders until both becoming constituents of the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923.
The South Eastern Railway (SER) was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent. The SER absorbed or leased other railways, some older than itself, including the London and Greenwich Railway and the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. Most of the company's routes were in Kent, eastern Sussex and the London suburbs, with a long cross-country route from Redhill in Surrey to Reading, Berkshire.
The North Kent Line is a railway line which branches off the South East Main Line at St Johns junction west of Lewisham station in Greater London and runs to Rochester Bridge Junction near Strood, Medway where it links to the Chatham Main Line.
The Medway Valley line is the name given to the railway line linking Strood in the Medway Towns via Maidstone West to Tonbridge. High Speed services also link between Maidstone West, Snodland, Strood and London St Pancras International. The section from Maidstone West to Paddock Wood passes through some of Kent's most picturesque countryside along the narrower sections of the River Medway.
Gravesend railway station serves the town of Gravesend in north Kent, England. It is 23 miles 75 chains (38.5 km) down the line from London Charing Cross.
Strood railway station serves the town of Strood in Medway, England. It is on the North Kent Line and is also a terminus of the Medway Valley Line. It is 31 miles 11 chains (50.1 km) down the line from London Charing Cross.
The Chatham Main Line is a railway line in England that links London Victoria and Dover Priory / Ramsgate, travelling via Medway.
The South Eastern Main Line is a major long-distance railway route in South East England, UK, one of the three main routes crossing the county of Kent, going via Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ashford and Folkestone to Dover. The other routes are the Chatham Main Line which runs along the north Kent coast to Ramsgate or Dover via Chatham and High Speed 1 which runs through the centre of Kent to the coast at Folkestone where it joins the Channel Tunnel.
The county of Kent is divided into 13 districts. The districts of Kent are Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Gravesham, Maidstone, Medway, Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Shepway, Swale and Thanet.
The Kent County Council election, 2009 was an election to all 84 seats on Kent County Council held on 2 May as part of the 2009 United Kingdom local elections. 84 councillors were elected from 72 electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions were the same as those used at the previous election in 2005. No elections were held in Medway, which is a unitary authority outside the area covered by the County Council.
KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations, TV and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquired KM Media Group in April 2017.
The county of Kent is divided into 13 districts. The districts of Kent are Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, Gravesham, Maidstone, Medway, Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Swale and Thanet.
The Kent League was a football league which existed from 1894 until 1959, based in the English county of Kent. Another, unrelated, Kent League was formed in 1966, and is now known as the Southern Counties East Football League.
References
1 2 Jessup, Frank W. (1966). Kent History Illustrated. Kent County Council.
↑ Keegan, John (1989). Times Atlas of the Second World War.
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