“You’ll like Gillingham. It’s a lot like Gateshead.”
The year was 2005-ish. I had just finished university, where I met my now-husband. I’d left my hometown of Gateshead to move in with him, and we were discussing where we were going to live.
My husband is a man of Kent. Specifically, a man born and raised in the Medway towns. I knew very little about Medway before I met him. In fact, it’s fair to say that I didn’t know much about the South East past London before then. I knew Kent was known as ‘the garden of England’, home of Canterbury, Thomas Beckett and green fields dotted with oasthouses. But Medway? I’d never heard of it.
He was trying to sell me Gillingham as being like a home from home, I think possibly on the basis that Gillingham and Gateshead both have lots of Victorian terraced houses. I wasn’t fooled though; I knew the real reason he wanted to move to Gillingham was to be within walking distance of a certain Priestfield Stadium, home of his beloved football team. But, for solid pragmatic reasons (we both had jobs in London that we needed to commute to by train) and more importantly because I love him, I agreed to move down South. It was a leap of faith, and a geographic leap of about 303 miles from postcode NE10 to ME7.
So we moved in together in the mid-noughties, a young (then) lass from Gateshead and a man of Kent. We lived then, and continue to live now, in a tiny, ramshackle house in Gillingham.
It’s now 18 years since I first arrived, and what I’ve realised, living here, is that Medway’s a hidden gem. It’s underappreciated, undervalued, perhaps in some people’s minds only synonymous with the word ‘chav’, unfortunately. But Medway is also the home of Charles Dickens and Kent’s only league football team – the mighty Gillingham FC. It’s steeped in maritime history and is a lynchpin of the UK ropemaking industry. Fascinating people abound in its past – Will Adams, Verena Holmes, and William and Chatham Cuffay to name just a few. It’s got cracking pubs, restaurants and shops, and loads of places to visit for days out too. Yeah alright, it’s got its flaws and some parts could use some TLC, but show me somewhere that isn’t like that in one way or another. And the flaws don’t take away from the place – they are part of the history, the character, and the story.
The thing about hidden gems is just that – they are hidden. That’s why I’ve started this blog. I want others to know and enjoy the places, history, and people of Medway that I didn’t find out about until I got here, because they deserve to be better known and get a bit more attention.
‘Who the heck is this interloper to be writing this blog?’ you might ask. ‘She isn’t even from round here!’ Well, I’ve lived in Medway for nearly half my life now. I’m not an expert, but I’ve learned a lot about the place so far, and I keep finding out more about it all the time. It’s where I live, where I work, where I’ve built memories and where I’ve put down important roots. I’ll always be a proud woman of the North East, but Medway is my adopted home.
Speaking of the North East, my husband wasn’t wrong when he said that Gillingham is like Gateshead. The North East and Medway have a lot in common, not least a rich manufacturing history, impressive cultural heritage, and a distinct local pride. Both places have suffered from the closure of local industries, and been changed by regeneration too. But Medway has a character all of its own.
So here I am, a Geordie in Gillingham, writing a blog to share what I know and continue to learn about this corner of southeast England. I’ll be writing mostly about Medway – places, people, history, everyday life, things to do and see, and anything else I find interesting – a Medway miscellany, if you like. I’ll also write about Kent more widely, and occasionally other topics. If you’re reading this, first of all, hello, welcome and thank you! I hope you’ll find something a little bit interesting or entertaining here, or something about Medway that you didn’t know before! I also love a recommendation, so get in touch if you think there’s something Medway-related I should do, read, or see.