Medway, She Wrote

  • Going to the match in a not-so-dirty old town: Salford City v Gillingham

    I found my love by the gasworks croft
    Dreamed a dream by the old canal
    Kissed my girl by the factory wall
    Dirty old town
    Dirty old town

    Lyrics from Dirty Old Town by Ewan MacColl, club anthem of Salford City FC

    Dirty Old Town. Everyone thinks it’s an old Irish folk song because of covers by The Dubliners and The Pogues, but it was actually written by Ewan MacColl about his home town of Salford. MacColl wrote the track in 1949 for his play, Landscape with Chimneys, and Salford’s smoggy, industrial landscape of factories and gasworks inspired the title. Salford isn’t a dirty old town anymore though, and some parts are positively glitzy (hello, MediaCity).

    The Man of Kent, being a true Shouting Man, decided that there could be no better way to celebrate his birthday than watching his beloved football team, Gillingham FC. So off we went to follow the Gills over land (but not sea) to the Peninsula Stadium, home of the Ammies – Salford City FC.

    Today on Medway, She Wrote: Watching the Gills play Salford City, soaking up football art at The Lowry, and a visit to the National Football Museum. Read on to find out which one of us scored top bins at the Museum, and which football legend we spotted in Altrincham’s Market House.

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  • Jezreel’s Tower: Medway’s Missing Landmark

    “It is to be the grandest building in the whole of these parts.”

    James Jershom Jezreel

    Have you ever seen the TV series Grand Designs?

    It’s a show on Channel 4, hosted by Kevin McCloud, about people building homes that are unusual, groundbreaking and often grand in scale. Sometimes the designs are beautiful structures that enhance the landscape around them, blending quietly into their surroundings. Sometimes the buildings are bizarre or just plain ugly, leaving you wondering, ‘What were they thinking?’ But every design is unique, even if not to your particular taste. Having Kevin McCloud describe your design as having ‘integrity’ is the highest possible accolade on the show.

    The show has garnered a few tropes over the years. Vast structures that spiral way beyond budget. Builds that go over deadline by months, if not years. Owners whacking terrifying amounts of money on credit cards to fund the project. Kevin McCloud commenting wryly on the ambitious nature of the design or timetable. I say all of this with affection; it’s a great show.

    There have been several Grand Designs in Kent. The Garden of England has attracted many intrepid self-builders looking for a few spare acres on which to construct their dream house. But once upon a time, long before Channel 4 started documenting such things, Gillingham was home to a very grand design indeed. A structure that was intended to be “the grandest building in the whole of these parts.”

    That building was Jezreel’s Tower. It stood at the top of Chatham Hill, dominating the Medway skyline. Jezreel’s Tower wasn’t just famous locally. It was famous nationally. As well-known and recognisable as the Angel of the North, or Stonehenge, or Blackpool Tower. It was so famous, it was one of the British landmarks used in an advertising campaign for Shell Oil. It featured on postcards, and has been immortalised in song by local bands Tundra and The Khybers.

    In March 1961, 65 years ago, the grandest building in the whole of these parts was torn down. It had put up decades of resistance, mightily withstanding many attempts to have it demolished, but was eventually battered into the ground thanks to an act of colossal municipal short-sightedness.

    Today on Medway, She Wrote: Jezreel’s Tower – Gillingham’s missing landmark; the charismatic religious leader who created this grand design; and how I might never have found out about any of this, were it not for Percie’s postcard.

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  • Mr Kipling’s poem about Medway

    For, now De Ruyter’s topsails
       Off naked Chatham show,
    We dare not meet him with our fleet –
       And this the Dutchmen know!

    Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Dutch in the Medway’

    Happy World Poetry Day! What better time to do a spot of research into poems about Medway? I couldn’t think of any poems about Medway – or Kent for that matter – off the top of my head, but I was pleased to discover that its history has inspired many famous writers! Today, I’ve picked out a poem by Rudyard Kipling. This one sparked my interest because it’s about the Dutch raid on the River Medway in June 1667, which I’ve written about before.

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  • Private Gardiner’s execution on the Great Lines, with revolting details (sorry, Mr Dickens!)

    Me: “Do you think there were food stalls selling burgers and hotdogs, like on Bonfire Night?”

    The Man of Kent: “More like peanuts and pies, beer and gin. Can’t imagine people were watching the execution sober.”

    New Year’s Day 2026. The Man of Kent and I were walking on the Great Lines, and I was telling him the story of how Benjamin Gardiner had been executed here for murdering Sergeant Patrick Feeney, in 1834.

    I was pondering what the scene must have looked like, almost two hundred years ago, when around 14,000 people packed onto the Lines to see one man put to death. I started thinking about the annual fireworks display that, until recently, happened most years on the Great Lines. As anyone who has attended that display knows, you can cram hordes of people onto those hills and fields. On Bonfire Night, there would also be food trucks catering to the spectators.

    That’s when it occurred to me. With so people around to watch the execution, there were bound to be vendors who wouldn’t miss the opportunity to turn a handsome profit. Hence my question to The Man of Kent. I wasn’t being flippant; just voicing a morbid thought.

    As it turns out, The Man of Kent wasn’t far off. Executions had entertainment value in those days, and local food and drink sellers would indeed ply their wares to the crowds. In fact, one former pie seller would play a prominent and sinister role in this particular affair.

    Today on Medway, She Wrote: the murder of Sergeant Patrick Feeney at Chatham Barracks, the execution of Private Benjamin Gardiner on the Great Lines, and the portfolio career of Britain’s busiest hangman, William Calcraft.

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  • Cat Fight, Coopers Chase, Cockie and more: a year of reading in Kent

    A old, Penguin paperback copy of 'Heads You Lose' by Christianna Brand on a coffee table. The bottom of a mug with a pattern of black hearts on a white background is visible in the background.

    “Book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those who do it must do it.”

    Jeanette Winterson

    Book collecting is “a fate.”

    Collecting books is much easier to justify when you put it like that, isn’t it? I couldn’t help it; I was fated to buy that new book, even though I have a to-be-read pile the size of the Pentagon Centre.  

    Collecting books is my obsession, disease, addiction and fascination, as well as my fate. I wish I could make it my occupation, but I haven’t managed that yet. Regular readers will know I have next to no willpower when it comes to reading material, and I hoard books like Smaug from The Hobbit hoards treasure. That’s why I can’t move in the spare room of my house. Truth be told, since I wrote that post, the landing cupboard is now a casualty. But hey, that’s fate for you.

    Last year, I resolved to read more books. Well, I read 17 books; ten more than I did in 2024.

    Now 17 may not sound like a lot. I know people who read over 50 books last year, others who read 100. 100! That’s Olympian levels of reading as far as I’m concerned. Seventeen isn’t a personal best for me, but I read as many books as I could in the time available, and most importantly, I thoroughly enjoyed them.

    Today on Medway, She Wrote – a round-up of what I read in 2025, including five books set in Kent!

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  • An Autumn weekend in Antwerp

    The ornate baroque clock at Antwerp Central station.

    First impressions count, as the saying goes.

    Antwerp is a city that makes a remarkable first impression if you travel there by train.

    “Wow!” I gasped, like the gawking tourist that I am, as I emerged from the train and up the escalators into the main hall of Antwerp Central. More of a palace than a station, it’s understandably regarded as one of Europe’s most beautiful rail terminals. This immediate bout of sightseeing was the start of two lovely days in Belgium’s second city.

    I’ve heard Antwerp described as ‘the Manchester of Belgium’, so naturally I was expecting to find rich history, vibrant culture, buzzing nightlife, and a top-flight football team.

    Antwerp has all of those things.

    It also had something else in common with Manchester.

    Rain. And plenty of it.

    Regular readers will be relieved to know that The Man of Kent had brought his trusty pack-a-mac, so the weather conditions were not a problem.

    Today on Medway, She Wrote: what we did on an Autumn weekend in Antwerp, why Saturday night in the Grote Markt felt like a home-from-home, hunting for cocktails in dark courtyards, and one very narrow door.

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  • A tour of Whitstable’s wonderful, whimsical street art

    Ask people in Kent to name some things they associate with Whitstable, and they’ll probably say, seaside, oysters and Peter Cushing (he used to live there).

    They might also say Whitstable Bay beers, and the Maunsell forts.

    Ask me, and I would say all of those things. I’d also say, street art.

    Whitstable’s coast has inspired hundreds of artists throughout history, notably JMW Turner. His famous watercolour, ‘Oyster Beds at Whitstable’ was one of several that he painted for a book, Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England, by W.B. Cooke. Turner was a frequent visitor to nearby Margate, and the Kent seaside was the subject of many of his paintings and sketches.

    More recently, art in Whitstable has moved off canvas and onto buildings, as the town’s colourful streets have acquired a new collection of residents; murals all over the town that commemorate town folk, provide witty social commentary, and are eye-catching in the best way. Wandering around Whitstable is like being in an open air gallery, from the rainbow of shopfronts and pubs, to the street paintings and houses. Not to mention the glorious sea views.

    I could blog for days about all the reasons I love Whitstable. Today’s post, however, is simply about the whimsical, wonderful street art that abounds in this quirky seaside town.

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  • All aboard for the Maunsell Forts! A spectacular sailing trip on the X-Pilot

    The Maunsell Forts lie about 14 miles off the Kent coast, their spectral forms appearing to float on the waves. Once a chain of vital anti-aircraft defences and intended to be temporary, they have remained standing for over 80 years. Their derelict shells are an eerie reminder of wartime, and inspiration for filmmakers, musicians, writers and sportspeople alike.

    Today on Medway, She Wrote: A captivating trip to the Maunsell Forts aboard the X-Pilot, the Maunsell Forts’ connections to pirate radio and Doctor Who, and another encounter with our old nemesis, Admiral Michiel de Ruyter.

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  • J.B. Fletcher comes to Medway! A review of the cult smash hit, Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote

    “There are three things you can never get enough of in life, Lieutenant. Chocolate, friends and the theatre.”

    Jessica Fletcher, Danse Diabolique

    When I grow up, I want to be a combination of Jessica Fletcher and Mary Berry.

    You may have seen the TV show, Murder, She Wrote, in which case, Jessica Fletcher needs no introduction.

    If you haven’t, let me explain. Murder, She Wrote is a detective series starring Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, a retired teacher and author who writes mystery novels under the pen name, J.B. Fletcher. She lives in Cabot Cove, a small town in Maine with a murder rate to rival Midsomer. As well as being a bestselling writer, Jessica has a talent for solving crime. Wherever J.B. Fletcher goes, murder is never far away, and she cracks the case every time.

    Jessica Fletcher is a queen of amateur sleuthing. Mary Berry is queen of cakes. They are both consummate professionals at the top of their respective fields, brilliant women with an abundance of talent, class and style. I rather like the idea of living in a lovely house on the coast, writing books and travelling all the over the world like Jessica, occasionally stopping to bake a scrumptious, perfectly executed cake just like Mary Berry.

    But more on why I enjoy baking another time.

    Today on Medway, She Wrote: How I came to love Jessica Fletcher, why Beauty and the Beast has more than one connection to Cabot Cove, and my review of Tim Benzie’s smash-hit show, Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote.

    (And if you’ve seen Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote, you’ll know that last paragraph is what’s known as a pre-cap!)

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  • Strictly Sicily: Dancing our way from Medway to beautiful Italy

    Ballroom dancing made a man of me,
    One, two, three, four,
    I just plain adore your
    Ballroom dancing, I’ve seen it on TV,
    I got what I got from ballroom dancing.

    Lyrics from ‘Ballroom Dancing’ by Paul McCartney

    In April, The Man of Kent and I went to Sicily.

    We didn’t go to Mount Etna, or see the Valley of the Temples, or hit the beach. Instead, we explored an abandoned city, embraced driving the Sicilian way, and danced ’til after midnight at the local social club. This was not a tourist-trap trip; it was a taste of real Sicilian life.

    This is the story of that visit, and why Sicily and dancing will always go together in my heart.

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