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MEMORIES OF DONALD J. WILLIAMS I was born in 1921 in the small village of West Minster on the Isle of Sheppey. At that time it consisted of two main roads, and had two public houses, one general shop and post office, plus a small chapel, a Gas Works and Two Gas Containers. Cromwell Road, faced the main line steam railway, which ran from the town of Sheerness, through the village, on to Queenborough, over the Kingsferry Bridge, and terminated at Sittingbourne on the mainland, where further connections could be made to London or the Kent coast. It would have been great if West Minster could have had a connection, but although it had been planned, it never materialised. On the other side of the railway lines, there were open fields with sheep, pigs and cows grazing. When I was born, my mother was living in Montague Road, which was at the back of Cromwell Rd, and was the main road through the village. My father who had fought in the 1914-18 War, in the East Lancashire Regiment, and an Old Contemptible, had been called on Strike Duty in the north of England, and the Army wouldn't release him from duty to be home at time of my birth. Eventually, we moved to Cromwell Road. The Gas Works, which led off Montague Road ran down to the sea wall. Only one barge at a time was allowed to tie up at the jetty to have its coal discharged for making gas. Sometimes there was an 18ft high tide, and the seawater barges used to anchor along the West Minster side when there was an easterly gale blowing. When the wind wasn't blowing from the east, we could hear the barges pulling up anchors, and moving away to various parts of the east coast. Sometimes, leaving two barges waiting to discharge their load of coal. During this time, people came from surrounding areas with prams and barrows to collect coke. I remember one man, called Swann, (we called him Swanny) and when he weighed the coke, the scales went down with a bang as he had given extra weight. We had to show him a ticket to prove that we had paid for the coke. It was difficult for the women on a Monday washing day, especially if there was a north west wind blowing, as all of the washing on the lines was covered in black sooty marks, and a fine dusty grit also used to enter the houses as well. A few men had their own boats for collecting wood and to go fishing and these were kept along the sea wall, where there was also a small stony beach. Near to where the boats were stored, there was an old shelter with seats, where the local gentlemen used to gather for a chat about old times whilst smoking their pipes. The children used to love to gather around to listen to their stories. When my Grandfather came on a visit, he used to enjoy talking to Mr Tilley, Mr Page, Mr Nicholls and Mr Miles who moved to Sheerness. There was also Mr Brickenden, Mr Wood (we called him Nelson as he always had his arm in a sling), also Eddy and Charlie Arnold and Benny Page and Mr Weaver. There was an older lad who we called Curly Cox (not sure why) and he liked to hang around with the boys and girls during the school holidays. He made large kites from brown paper for us to fly when we had a good wind. One was 4ft high, but he managed it. He also once made small fires near to where the boats were stored in winter, and the fire brigade were called out as the area was not safe with all of the coke dust around from the Gas Works. The police then started to make enquiries. These are some of my memories from around 1929 when I was a child. Below I am listing names of people that I can remember and their addresses, in case it may help people in their research. Newland Road: Cromwell Road: Next to this was
Cromwell Cottages which was once used as an Isolation Hospital Cromwell Road: The road through to Montague Road before continuing. No: 84 Mr & Mrs
Greenstreet, son and daughter This was the end of Cromwell Road, overlooking the railway lines. York Terrace Montague Road Utility Road - no houses Montague House - Mr
7 Mrs Carpenter - Manager of Gas Works 2 Edith Villas Chapel. Sunday
School, and evening services plus Mothers Union and games occasionally. That concludes the village as I remember it. |