Many parts of Britain are renowned for the 'chocolate box' quality of their pretty villages, but rarely do people include Swale in North Kent, a delightful rural area known as the "Garden of England". Swale extends from Rainham in the west to Faversham in the east, Maidstone in the south to the Isle of Sheppey in the north, covering an area of some 280 square miles. It takes its name from the waterway that separates the Isle of Sheppey from mainland Kent. The village where I was born, Teynham, is featured in this delightful book.
The fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Swale's villages have changed and developed over the last century. A taste of how country life used to be is captured in old postcards and pictures and provides me with a journey of pure nostalgia. It reminds me of carefree summer days when I worked on my uncle's farm during the school holidays in the 50s, picking apples, plums and cherries from trees that could reach 40 or 50 feet in those days, unlike the dwarf trees seen today. I remember my uncle effortlessly carrying and positioning 60 rung ladders up these trees, that we would climb up carrying baskets to place the harvested fruit in. We had not heard of Health and Safety in those days!
It was a simple life and very rewarding. To sit beneath a tree and open a flask of tea, unwrap some 'doorstop' sandwiches, enjoy lunch followed by a 'roll-up' cigarette was untold enjoyment. It was hard work for poor pecuniary reward but satisfying none-the-less.
This book about the Swale area of Kent provides me with a journey back in time when I was young, naive and above all content with my life. My youth is a distant memory but I am still content.....
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