Our visit to the pretty town of West Malling, Kent
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- Опубліковано 23 лип 2024
- Our video of a delightful visit to West Malling in Kent, this joins our family of videos from the 'Country of Kent' playlist - • The County of Kent
West Malling is just over 30 miles from the centre of London and is served by a mainline railway station, and is just a few minutes from Junction 4 of the M20.
Our journey starts from West Malling station, and walking up the historic Swann street to The Cascades, a little gander down Frog Lane & Police Station road as well as checking out the Georgian architecture of the street. We stake a quick look at the outside of St MAry's Abbey, (it's not open to the public), before heading up to West Malling's High Street.
Detail of the Blue Plaque trail can be found here;
🔗 www.visitkent.co.uk/media/641...
With a list of notable 18 residents here;
🔗 www.visitkent.co.uk/malling-b...
Exploring the northern end of West Malling's High Steet, we take a look at the sculpture of 'Hope' by Sarah Cunnington before discovering the quaint King Street & West Street. We head up to the 'Old County Ground', where the first recorded game of cricket was played in Kent.
A return to West Malling's High Street and head south to the Church of St Mary the Virgin, taking in the many reasons you'd want to visit West Malling along the way.
Now a jump into the car to head slightly out of town to take in the view of Douce's Manor, the Manor Park Country Park & St Leonard's Ower (As promised, the English Heritage link (www.english-heritage.org.uk/v...)
Our final destination is Kings Hill, a 'new town' built on The Battle of Britain airbase - RAF West Malling. A few reminders of its historic past remain, including the 'running Airman' war memorial and the art Deco Control Tower with the WWII Royel Ensign tribute outside.
Thanks so much for watching, and we'd love to hear from you so please leave a comment and don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any of our travels: 🟢-
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⏱️Timestamps⏱️
00:00 - The Intro to West Malling
00:15 - Where is West Malling?
00:44 - Let's Explore West Malling - Starting with Swan Street
01:08 - The West Malling Cascades
02:12 - The Entrance to St Mary's Abbey
03:44 - West Malling High Street - heading north
04:16 - The statue of 'Hope' in West Malling
05:06 - Discovering King Steet, West Malling and beyond
06:00 - The West Malling Cricket Ground - The Old Country Ground
07:02 - The Church of St Mary the Virgin
07:36 - Leaving West Malling
07:48 - Douce's Manor, outside West Malling
07:58 - St Leonard's Tower, West Malling
08:22 - A quick glimpse of Manor Park Country Park
08:48 - Let's discover Kings Hill, formerly RAF West Malling
08:56 - The 'running Airman' Memorial at King's Hill
09:08 - The Art Deco Control tower of RAF West Malling
📝 For more information check out our post 'A delightful visit to West Malling in Kent' 📝
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Our Medway Valley Road Trip through the Kent countryside & beyond - (1/2) - • Our Medway Valley Road...
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Excellent little video.My Mother was brought up in Ryarsh Lane.There were approximately 11 people from the Spain Family living in the 2 bedroomed cottage,(originally 12 Ryarsh Terrace,now 23, from the late 19th Century to the last occupant who left in the early 2000s(My Great Aunt Gladys Spain)
Added to this My Great Great Grandfather James Buggs used to run the Cricketers Arms pub further down the lane,taking over from Fuller Pilch,a famous cricketer honoured by a Blue Plaque on the last house on the left as you go down the lane.
Hi Mark,
Glad you liked it; so much history packed into one quaint, hidden little town.
Thanks for stopping by to leave us a comment
All the best,
Gary & Janis
evoked happy memories of my childhood ,my mums family lived in Ryarsh lane.The town show was something to remember back in the day
James, I'm so glad you found our little video, and that it brought back such fond memories.
I just had to have a little look. What a quiet little place with the allotments at the end of the lane, it must have been wonderful.
Thanks for taking the time to comment;
Here's wishing you a very Merry Christmas 🎄🎅 and let's hope 2023 is a bright brighter for us all.
Gary & Janis
Thank you Gary & Janis for your reply. The allotments fed many a family during the war.
My mum told tales of sitting on the little wall outside the row of cottages and watching dogfights in the sky. Eating jam sandwiches .
Hard to imagine in a peaceful place. My memories were of hot summers and walks down the little lane and the crossing at the bottom over the Lines which led to Ryarsh...Once again thank you. Shame some one allowed Tesco to build a monstrosity.
James Owen
James, agree about Tesco, it seems so out of place, and it must have impacted local businesses. West Malling still has a lot of its charm. I bet the skies over the town were amazing, plus I guess a lot of the local pubs may have been frequented by the pilots from RAF West Malling. It would have also made it frightening, the airbase would have been a target, and bombing wasn't an exact science.
Over the summer months, you still get Spitfires in the skies, running tourist flights over the former RAF bases. We see them as we are 4.5 miles to the north east, and between there and what would have been RAF Detling.
If you want a touch more nostalgia, there's a couple of little road trips you might like - A Kentish circular road trip from Wrotham (Part 2 of 2) ua-cam.com/video/dtZudHapIYc/v-deo.html - which picks up West Malling from the south, and our Our Medway Valley Road Trip through the Kent countryside & beyond - (1/2) ua-cam.com/video/cHWe5SrQpXk/v-deo.html - which heads north via Ryarsh & Birling.
Best wishes & Seasons greetings from us, we hop it is a good one.
Gary & Janis
@@OurWorldForYou I look forward to looking at your other posts. Very sadly one of the German planes flew down the high street and bombed a house killing a family 1 of the children was a school friend of my mums 😢 💔
We wish you both a happy and peaceful Christmas and New year.
James Owen
Hi James,
Wars are so indiscriminate; how many lives of the innocent are wiped out because of the ideology of a few?
I have been researching the family tree, speaking to family members now in their golden years (I'm 55, so I think I'm still in my silver!). Discovered that my family were bombed out of their comes in Plumstead, London in 1940/41. We also have a death of a family member at the same time, I just need to investigate the cause of death.
On the flip side; we have visited cities like Hamburg and Cologne and witnessed the destruction in the effort against the Nazis. The simple answer is nobody wins in war.
However, back to the here an now. Thanks so much for the support; hopefully, the videos we create in 2023 will keep you entertained.
Wishing you and your family a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2023.
Gary & Janis
I've been staying at st Mary's abbey for years.😊.
Tracey,
How fascinating, as a guest, an alongside, or a Nun?
Either way, you share a centuries-old practice, in a charming part of the world.
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and comment.
Al the very best for 2024 and beyond,
Gary & Janis
@@OurWorldForYou as a guest.lve been staying for the last 39 yrs off and on.😊
Thankyou so much, my NaN lived on frog lane and Ryarsh lane.
🙏 Thanks so much - glad you liked it 😍
My Great aunt lived in Ryarsh lane Her family name was Spain Her family lived there for many generations .There was a pub called the Cricketers in the late 1800s one of the family run the pub.
Thank you so much. As I am researching my family tree I have discovered many family connections from the 17, 18 and 19 century. It was great to see and imagine lives lived there in past.
Glenda, that's fabulous. You can certainly see the historical fabric of West Malling in the streets today, and it doesn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to take your mind back 200-300 years. There's some interesting stories in the family tree 😀 If you don't mind me asking, where are you now?
Saw my mums house. Your video made me appreciate WM as I saw it through different eyes, I’ve taken WM for granted.
Yvonne,
How fabulous, I'm glad you enjoyed our video. We learnt a little secret not too long ago to treat where you know as a tourist. Okay, you know everything's not perfect, but that okay; where is? There are lots of places to discover, lots of stories to uncover and lots to admire. So get exploring?
Stay safe, stay well & happy travels.
Gary & Janis
Was nice to watch this video. In WW2 my uncle flew from West Malling with the 322 (Dutch) Squadron to intercept the V1 flying bombs. They flew with the fast Spitfire mkXIV
Ben,
That's wonderful to hear, do you know if your uncle returned to the UK after the war to visit the old haunts?
I noticed that 322 Squadron got around, being stationed at many bases in the UK. Some are still airports.
We have the pleasure of seeing and hearing the Spitfires during the summer months as there are memorial flights from Biggin Hill over to what used to be RAF Wes Malling, before heading down to the White Cliffs of Dover.
Finally, if you ever make it over to the south-east of the UK there's a wonderful memorial at Capel-Le-Ferne (www.battleofbritainmemorial.org/), justa short hop from Folkestone and Dover, and close to Hawkinge, another location for 322 Squadron, where you will find Kent Battle of Britain Museum (www.kbobm.org/)
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, and sharing your fantastic family connection with the UK.
All the best,
Gary & Janis
Just drove down here from Bromley to look at some houses as really considering moving our young family to W Malling. Your video has just confirmed we really should. Seems a beautiful place 👌🏻
How cool, it’s a nice place, even better on a sunny evening in the summer. If you want to discover a little further afield our Wrotham road trip goes through West Malling.
A Kentish circular road trip from Wrotham (Part 2 of 2)
ua-cam.com/video/dtZudHapIYc/v-deo.html
Anyway enjoy your evening.
Cheers 🍻
Gary & Janis
We enjoyed a trip down memory lane.
Thanks Chris, but when from? Did you once live in West Malling? or nearby? We'd love to know.
Anyway, thanks for the comment - Take care Janis & Gary
Thanks for visiting
Our pleasure
Really neat to see. I lived here as an au pair for a while. My first time out of home and oversees. Caused quite some homesickness back than. Lovely to see. The park and the meadow were my favorite places.
Hi Marjolein,
Glad to hear it evoked some fond memories. Where, may I ask, are you from? I think the longest we haveworked away from home was a month, which was just about enough.
Thanks for the comment,
Take care,
Gary & Janis
@@OurWorldForYou Hello, I'm from the Netherlands. Born and raised in the provence of Zeeland. Right after my studies I went over to West Malling. Very fond memories indeed. I went to West Malling Baptist Curch and was very warm welcomed, that eased my homesickness brilliantly.
You made a beautiful composition, thank you!
Hi Marjolein,
Wow, actually quite close to home, but culturally a bit of a distance. I don't think we have ever been to the Zeeland region; we must have passed it because we drove to Rotterdam, scooting past Antwerp.
This time of year I think of the beautiful Keukenhof gardens, we had a wonderful visit in 2017, but we also headed a little further north as we explored.
Glad to hear you were warmly welcomed in West Malling, hopefully, one day, you can pop back
Thanks again,
Gary & Janis
You’ve just inspired me to do a visit next weekend.
Fabulous, let us know what you think - have a great time 👍
West malling is lovely .I work as a security officer contracted at Tesco stores and when
My security company had the security contract at west malling Tesco I worked for a year back in 2016,/17.used to love seeing the fountain as I Walked from train station to Tesco store.west malling cricket ground is wonderful. And a great high street with the farmers market every first Sunday of each month.now it is my daughter's summer holiday so next week will be hoping to go
To manor country park for picnick.
From Simon Tandy of maidstone kent
Hi Simon,
That country park is lovely, would be a great day out, especially if the weather is as good as it's planned to be. Opposite the park is Douces Manor and the headquarters and mess for the officers at RAF West Malling were based here during WWII, part of the Battle of Britain defences.
West Malling as a town is lovely, loads of history, and a great place for a day out.
Thanks so much for the comment, take care.
Gary & Janis
Very nice sir. Thanks
🙏 Thank you David, very kind - I'm glad you enjoyed it.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PUB ..'THE STARTLED SAINT "
Hi John,
It closed in 1992 and was pulled down in 2019 to make way for homes.
Shame such a historic pub was lost, but I guess being a bit remote, and with more people becoming conscious of the repercussions of drink-driving, it's fate was sealed many years back.
Thanks for stopping by to comment,
All the best,
Gary & Janis
Spent many hours in the Five pointed star and other pubs up the High St and Swan St, over the years. The High has many traditional buildings. Shame about Tesco's
Hi Conrad, a man after my own heart 🍻, and I totally agree about the Tesco's store. It would be so much better if these brands had a more adaptable approach to their corporate logo, and perhaps had a range where the font and colours were more muted, and reflected the historic nature of the locations they inhabit. The Coral bookmakers next door, is also an eyesore.
Still, a lovely town to visit.
Thanks very much for the comment
Here's to a better 2023,
Gary & Janis
i saw my house lol
🙏 Fabulous, I won't be so rude as to ask where, but I'd love to know 😍 - Hope you're keeping cool in West Malling and didn't have too many issues with the rain on Tuesday; it was quite epic.
@@OurWorldForYou yes my house was struck by lightning!
😮 Hope everyone is safe & well, and any damage is light. Take care & stay safe
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Hi Pauline,
You've beaten me, it makes no sense - but many things in life are like that.
All the best,
Gary & Janis
Malling house was an uncaring boarding school/dumping ground for girls who did not fit into the school system at that time. It was equipped with a library with a fish tank with no fish. a tennis court and splash pool. but don't be fooled. no one to teach it meant nobody could use it. So it was all for show, a con. That village is possibly as nasty now as it was then. a gloss of paint and window boxes does not a village make. trust me, I know.
Thanks for that info, sounds like a horrible place, but I guess it wasn't built for that, just another, very sad, life it has led. I understand the comments about the veneer of respectability that exists, and some people have a dark soul - I just hope for a little karma. Anyway take care, stay safe & well, be yourself and enjoy the sun. 🌞
@@OurWorldForYou Before it was a girl's school it was a military hospital.