Heatherwood Hospital, in Ascot, has been in use for over a century. Construction started in early 1920’s for a hospital to care for the children of servicemen from the First World War. The first patients were admitted in May 1922 and the hospital was officially opened by the Duke of Connaught in the following year….
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Today, the site of Runwell Hospital is nothing more than rubble, with over 500 homes now on the site, although turn back the clock a few years and it was a fully fledged hospital. Tucked away in the Essex countryside, not far from Chelmsford, Runwell opened in July 1937 as one of the last built…
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The plotlands was an area of natural land available for rent/purchase as holiday spots, popular with Londoners who wanted to escape to the countryside. No proper development was really carried out and the residences, pathways, and streets, were the handywork of those visiting Dunton for leisure. It was used as a plotlands site until 1980…
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The Corringham Light Railway was a line built in 1899, opened in 1901, as part of access to the Kynochs munitions factory on the site of what is now Coryton. It went from the London Fenchurch/Tilbury/Southend line at Thames Haven down to Corringham and Kynochtown to allow for transport to and from the munitions site…
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Pegwell Bay dates back to as far as Roman times and is thought to be the site of where Julius Caesar invaded Britain. In 2017 a fort dating back to 54BC was discovered, confirming this fact. Fast forward the centuries and in 1969 ‘Ramsgate International Hoverport’ was open for business, officially opened by the Duke…
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Taken in 2017, we captured the start of demolition of dozens of houses as part of a multi-billion pound regeneration scheme of Canning Town and Custom House, with 10,000 homes set to be built on the site of these now demolished homes. The single storey buildings on Wouldham Road, Chedworth Close, Rathbone Street and Clarkson…
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‘The Essex & Colchester Hospital’ was opened in 1820, following a plan by the Colchester Archdeacon to open a hospital for the poor. Along with seven other men, a plot of land was purchased and one of the country’s first hospitals for the poor was opened. It was funded by subscriptions and gifts from wealthy…
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The refinery c.2014 (BTP) and 2016 (Slayaaaa) prior to the demolition of its many towers The refinery was built over Coryton village (Kynochtown) and Kynoch’s munitions factory (the site of which still remains just north of the refinery – see here). The explosives factory operated from the late 1890s up until 1919 serving through the…
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H.M.P. Bullwood Hall was a former women’s prison in Hockley, built in the 1960’s initially as a women’s borstal. The site was opened to house minors, although went on to hold female prisoners of any age. In 2002, six-part series ‘The Real Bad Girls’ aired on ITV. The series was filmed at Bullwood Hall and…
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Canvey Island was a fairly quiet area in the 1930s, so when it became heavily militarised to defend against air, land, and sea on the approach to World War Two, it must have come as quite a shock. Arguably, this was one of the changes the island saw which transformed it into the town it…
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