At first glance, the No. 3 Slip Cover at Chatham is a very large wooden shed and Britain has never been short of those, but this one has rather more going on. Built in 1838, it was designed to shelter ships while they were being constructed on the slip beneath, protecting the timber from rain, sun and the general damp enthusiasm of the Medway. When you’re building wooden warships, you don’t really want them getting damp before they’re ready.
The building was designed by Sir Robert Seppings and the curved apse at its landward end was designed to accommodate a ship’s bow. Although buildings of this kind were constructed around the world, there aren’t many surviving and that’s not surprising as they’re not the most subtle arrangement.
There was a lift up here, but as I’m an athlete, I decided to walk up the stairs. I wondered at the time what this floor was doing here in a huge building designed to build ships, but it was added in 1904 to store boats when the whole arrangement became more of a storage shed.
This photo of underneath the mezzanine floor shows the scale of the building. As I had arrived early in the day, there were no other visitors in this area yet, it had a feeling of being a forbidden space with all this junk (or exhibits as the museum might call them) around.
The Chatham Chest didn’t look too exciting to me at first, but it’s what it represents which is perhaps more important. Established in the late sixteenth century, the Chatham Chest was an early naval welfare fund, created to support seamen who had been wounded, disabled or otherwise left unable to work after service at sea. Long before the modern welfare state, pensions bureaucracy and endless forms, this was an attempt to recognise sailors as individuals who needed support after the end of their service.
Sailors contributed a portion of their pay into the fund and money from the chest was then used to provide relief for those who had suffered injury in service. This arrangement is the beginning of institutional responsibility and also there’s a constant that the authorities didn’t really trust those looking after it as it had five different locks to prevent fraud. This tactic didn’t work as money went missing and then King Charles I decided that he would use some to pay off some of his debts. Very handy for the pensioners who were entitled to the money from the chest.
In 1814, after the long pressures of the Napoleonic Wars, the Chatham Chest was amalgamated with Greenwich Hospital, which had become the more formal national institution for supporting naval pensioners. The chest was moved to the National Maritime Museum and, more recently, to Chatham.
I rather like what the museum has done here with its curation of the exhibits as this fund was created by Admiral Sir John Hawkins (1532 – 1595) making him one of the founders of the principle of a welfare state. He has been held in huge regard and in the twentieth century the Royal Navy named a ship after him. Things are more complex and his reputation is being examined as Hawkins was also involved in slavery, but rather than tell visitors what to think, they’ve neatly just told the story from both sides.
St Paul sits in the Lifeboat Museum with a rather battered dignity of something that has done its duty and would now rather like not to be poked by visitors with cameras. Built by the Beeching Brothers of Great Yarmouth in the clinker style associated with Norfolk and Suffolk beach boats, it is described on the panel as the oldest lifeboat in the RNLI Historic Lifeboat Collection.
It served Kessingland from 1897 to 1931, powered by oars and sail, with a crew of sixteen and a shore party needed to haul it down to the water. Places such as Kessingland, Lowestoft, Caister and Gorleston lived with the sea because of their work and the RNLI and local lifeboat stations depended on courage and the willingness of people to turn out at awful hours in awful weather. During her service, the boat was launched 113 times and 22 lives were saved.
The lifeboat served in Kessingland for 34 years before being converted into a private yacht, Stormcock, for which it was used for over forty years. This has made later conservation work more challenging, as they wanted to retain what was original and not restore the more later additions. It has been on display at the museum in Chatham since April 1996 and I rather like its rawness.
Walking to the hotel, I would have never known what happened along this stretch of road without this memorial sign. It was the highest loss of life from any road accident at the time and it’s still one of the worst coach catastrophes. What became known as the Gillingham bus disaster took place on the evening of 4 December 1951, outside Chatham Dockyard in Kent. A group of 52 young Royal Marines Volunteer Cadet Corps members, marching from Melville Barracks to the Royal Naval Barracks to attend a boxing tournament, was struck from behind by a double-decker bus on Dock Road. The cadets were children, mostly aged between nine and thirteen, and 24 were killed, with 18 more injured.
It was a dark winter evening, the street lighting was poor and the boys were marching in dark uniforms along this stretch of road. The bus driver, John Samson, said he had not seen the cadets before the collision. The disaster led to an inquest, a criminal case and searching questions about road safety, visibility and the responsibilities of those in charge of young people moving along public roads after dark. Samson was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £20 and banned from driving for three years, but avoided prison after the court accepted that other factors had played a part. The inquest had returned a verdict of accidental death, but regardless of this, Samson’s life was destroyed by what had happened and he never drove a vehicle again. A military funeral for 20 of the boys was held at Rochester Cathedral on 12 December 1951, with thousands of people standing along the route to Gillingham Cemetery. The Chatham Royal Marine Cadet Unit still holds an annual memorial parade, preserving the memory of the boys whose lives were lost on an ordinary journey that became one of the saddest moments in the area’s modern history.
Reading through the national newspapers at the time, this was a major event in the country. The King sent a message of sympathy and there were reports of the bravery of individual boys, including Alan Brazier who pulled cadets to safety. The Admiralty sent a message saying that he had done well, but it wasn’t enough to justify a special distinction of an honours recommendation. Then, in 1958, Brazier was involved in another act of heroism when he saved a man who was in distress in the water.
The plaque at the site was unveiled by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, on 2 December 2001, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the tragedy.
I had a rail connection at Bromley South railway station today to get to Kent, so I thought that I’d meander over the road to the JD Wetherspoon operated Richmal Crompton which I’ve visited a couple of times before. The sun was shining, the pub had a beer garden and it was just too hot. But, I didn’t complain to myself about the extreme temperatures.
The chain explains the reasoning for the pub name:
“This is named after Richmal Crompton, the author best known for her ‘William’ books. William Brown first appeared in a series of short stories written in Richmal’s spare time, while she was a teacher at Bromley High School for Girls. She lived in Bromley for 26 years, first in Cherry Orchard Road and later in nearby Oakley Road.”
It’s cavernous and not overly interesting as a building. It got busier at lunchtime, but the chain also has a pub just a short walk away, the Greyhound. Incidentally, and I write this without having a view either way, but this is one of those venues where customers queue in a line to order rather than wait along the bar. There’s an area which feels like a dining area off to the left, although the tables were all in long lines and it wasn’t clear whether they were expecting groups of 24 to turn up, or they had just crammed them in there. There were bookshelves to the rear of the pub and I thought that added to the arrangement. It’s all affordable and reliable, spacious and predictable.
My obligatory carpet shot.
In terms of the beer, the prices were moderate as usual and they had a selection of craft cans alongside six real ales, with beers from Thornbridge, Adnams and Theakston.
I decided to get unlimited coffee for £1.85 rather than anything beer related, although they had run out of milk and didn’t bother replacing it for the two hours that I was there. I decided raw coffee would just have to do.
The online reviews are about average for the chain and I couldn’t resist having a little look….
“Came in for a quick bite to eat with my dog who’s sitting outside and I’ve been told by every bar staff in here dogs aren’t even allowed on the premises that means even outside the door , Food is absolutely disgraceful as you can see from the photo, The manager with the wonky eyes said I need to get out as soon as I’ve eaten my food absolute joke stay clear unless you’re on a budget”
I suspect that JD Wetherspoon would be pleased that a customer who insults their staff like that goes elsewhere….
“We reserved an area for our wedding reception, no help in moving tables was offered, on the day there was glass in the reserved area that hadn’t been cleared prior to us arriving. We appreciate we had a large party but we waited ages for our meals, and drinks. Having booked in January for September plenty of notice had been given that we’d require food. They’d ran out of chicken nuggets, and the large mixed grill, and this was only early afternoon. When the steak came up and we asked which was medium rare, the waiter said that they’d all been done to the same (medium) even though we’d asked for different. We had one waiter serving almost 30 of us and it took almost an hour for tables to be cleared of plates. Me and my wife met in this wetherspoons 2 years ago but we will not be returning unfortunately.”
I’m not wholly convinced that JD Wetherspoon pubs are usually well equipped to deal with entire wedding parties….
“On top of that, after we left a pub, I came back to go to the toilet, it was around 23.00. On my way to the toilet i have been stopped by the waiter saying that ‘I’m banned in this pub and I have to leave’ after my statement that I AM PREGNANT AND I NEED TO USE A TOILET he insisted me to leave. How comes pregnant woman cant use a toilet in such a big pub? What policy are you based on? Of course I will proceed with further excalations and highlighting this situation everywhere possible as IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO NOT ALLOW A PREGNANT WOMAN TO USE A TOILET.”
The customer was refused service for allegedly being drunk, they left the venue after an argument and then are furious that the venue wouldn’t let them back in. I like a bit of drama to be fair….
“Being Xmas everyone was having a great time and we were playing a game with an I top, a harmless tabletop game . When we were laughing and jeering eachother on ,the staff came over and told us to keep the noise down. What happened to the good old days when they had juke boxes in pubs and everyone singing along to Xmas songs and having a great time.”
Good, there’s no need for frivolity even at Christmas….
“Bar staff and management told us to leave because we were being to loud and noisy we were having a laugh we weren’t being rude or we were having a laugh. But we had to leave all because we were having a laugh”
Reassuringly peaceful, I like it.
“Not worth posting a review”
I think that’s a review.
Anyway, I digress enough. It seemed like a perfectly serviceable pub, although they rather abandoned the coffee machines, but in fairness I didn’t say anything to let them know. It was all clean, the team members were friendly, it was value for money and it wasn’t too loud. All really rather lovely.
I visited Milton Keynes in late 2024 and at the time I was working my way around all of the Brewdog venues in the chain, something which has been much easier more recently as they’ve shut most of them.
I didn’t post about this visit at the time as there’s not much point being negative about pubs and bars given all the challenges that they have in general. It was a highly sub-optimal visit though, I was ignored at the bar and one of the team members was merrily eating pizza and using the same hand to serve customers and handle their glasses. I don’t set my standards that high, but the whole combination of this and the lack of welcome made me feel that I was disturbing a private party, so I quietly walked out and went to another pub. My plan at the time was just to visit at another time, but I’ve now missed that opportunity as it has permanently closed.
It’s an interesting snapshot of time in terms of the pricing though, they’re way above the average for a craft beer bar for those same beers. Although I can’t say I predicted the demise of nearly the entire chain, it was evident that the standards between venues were very different and getting enough customers at those prices was always going to be a challenge.
The venue is currently being advertised for rental, but this is a former JD Wetherspoon outlet known as The Secklow Hundred and it seems that the chain is on the hook now for the lease because Brewdog have gone under. The rental price hasn’t been disclosed, but the annual service charge is £24,000 and the annual business rates are £38,000, so this is not going to be a cheap venue to take over. It does though have a late licence until 03:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, so if they can work out how to get a late night audience out then that might help with the huge costs of operation.
Windsor : King & Castle [I visited this one a very long time ago]
They also used to operate the Baron Cadogan in Caversham, the Diamond Tap in Newbury, the Greyhound in Maidenhead, the Monks Retreat in Reading, Lloyds in Slough, Windlesora in Windsor [I visited this a very long time ago] and the Gig House in Wokingham [I visited this a very long time ago].
I’m not sure how I get from writing about bar billiards to writing about German air raid posters from the First World War, but yet here we are. Back in the medieval period, people had a genuine fear of being attacked where they lived, but war evolved to be much more about front-line conflict. That was until the development of aircraft that had the ability to bypass the troops on the front-line and strike fear into the hearts of everyone.
This poster reads:
“Hostile aircraft can see you here! Vehicles must not stop here.”
A combination of the Government needing to warn people of the new threat, but this must have been terrifying to people living in Germany when they realised that aircraft could attack them in their homes. The number of actual attacks was relatively low and the British never attacked Berlin by air, the first planned raid would have been in November 1918, but the armistice saw the end of that.
I wouldn’t say that I was pre-annoyed when turning up at the Artichoke for our team’s second game, but I was certainly pre-stressed. We were playing the Black Stars and they have their own branded uniform and everything, so they’re evidently a force to be reckoned with and not just a bunch of accidental amateurs. So I thought that I’d calm my nerves with half a cider and an orange juice & lemonade, a drink combination that either suggested moderation or an imminent collapse.
And it was time for the draw and many thanks to Luke for arranging some tags for our team so that I don’t have to tear up little bits of paper. I’m not suggesting the little bits of paper made me look amateurish, but they did perhaps hint at an operation not yet fully entirely touched by modernity. I didn’t mind who I secured in the draw, but I just didn’t want Dave Brewer as he’s in the singles final on Saturday. I’m not saying the other players are inferior to Dave, but he has an aura of invincibility and it would be unlikely that I’d draw him.
And just bloody typical. Dave in the singles and doubles. But, it’s important to remain calm and I just didn’t want a repeat of last week against the Serengeti when three matches went down to the final ball, so I mentioned that we should avoid those situations.
The first game was Andrew against PJ and they ignored my instructions about the final ball, which was disappointing as I had delivered them in the tone of a man who absolutely did not want to be ignored. Andrew went first and he was ahead by 760 to 580 with that final ball left.
Close…. But, as I’ve discovered, being close in this game is often rather sub-optimal.
And PJ was ruthless, he took the opportunity to win the game by just twenty points. I needed a sit down.
The second game and another final shot. Phil knocked the black over and that meant that Vaughan won the game, putting us 2-0 up. But there was an excellent break by Phil of 980 in the match, a very good game. It was then my game against Dave (pictured looking confident on the right) and what could possibly go wrong…. PJ and Vaughan only made their league debuts last week and now they’re looking like established players, it’s a joy to behold and all that.
My only photo of the game and the blurriness was not Dave moving so fast the camera couldn’t catch him, it’s because I was moderately shaking. Anyway, let’s not linger here, Dave pulled 900 ahead and I decided the only tactic was to knock enough 10s and 20s in to catch up slowly but surely without him noticing. The bar dropped and it meant that I would need something of a miracle, but fortunately, the ball went in the 100 and I was able to get the final 200 shot in as well. My strategy for the 200 was not to think about it, but play it quickly, which worked. I hope that I haven’t dented Dave’s confidence for the final of the singles on Saturday.
I don’t drink gin and tonic, but I needed one, along with a Flump, to steady my nerves. It was, in its way, a balanced response to events really and having access to an extensive array of bar snacks is quite important to me.
Thanks to Julian (sr) for supplying these for the teams. And thanks also to manager Cal for offering me therapy as the close games piled up one after another. Incidentally, he’s one of the best people to work with behind a bar and I am unanimous in that. He’s on the team and is practising regularly for when his time comes. I’m sure I’ve mentioned, but Tayto’s have become one of my favourite crisp options.
Julian (sr) arrived to look at the results so far. Although by this stage someone, who shall remain nameless, had already shared the result of the Brewer-White match with numerous other league players and about half the Lionhearts so news was leaking out to the local bar billiards world meaning discretion had not especially survived the evening.
However, the Black Stars were just too formidable for us to hold back, and Mark, Neil and then Russell won their games before they also won all three doubles games which I thought was a bit greedy but I didn’t say anything. Which isn’t to say that we didn’t come very close, with Terri and Luke scoring over 1,000 in their game. Terri has definitely mastered the 20s shot and Luke manages to knock some huge scores out, he obtained a break of 870 in his singles match.
And special mention to Gabriel on the right here who was playing in his first league match and secured a break of 660 in his first game. That’s more than I think most people get in their first competitive game and he’s going to be our secret weapon, I just know it.
As some background, the Black Stars only lost two matches last year, with one of them being against the Artichoke team. So Dave admitted that when they were three-nil down, there was some déjà vu coming back in. But we’re not unhappy with losing 6-3, it’s a long season and, as I am obliged to say, it is not all about winning. It is about having a fun night out in a pub. Unless we win, in which case it is at least partly about that. I also didn’t go to the King’s Head after as I’m reserving that only for when we win, but I did sit for a while to calm down.
We’re at home to the Coach and Horses next week and I’m very much looking forward to it. It might be just a little unnerving at times, but it’s a lot of fun and thanks again to the Black Stars for a really rather lovely evening.
I’ve been planning to come here for a long time and fortunately James was not difficult to persuade to come with me, perhaps because he correctly sensed that I was not going to stop mentioning it. James and I last visited this place when it was Orford Plaice, when he compared it to a Wimpy. Anyway, it’s been here for over a year now and it’s always looked busy when I’ve meandered by.
And there’s the tagline, it’s Korean chicken which is nice with or without the rice. I like direct taglines, there’s no need for a manifesto when they have chicken.
There’s the menu board and the prices were a little towards the higher end, but that’s not unreasonable as it’s all on-trend, they have exposed brick, confidence and a modern font on the screens.
Customers order using tablets on the counter and I’m very happy with that whole process. It lets me spend a little longer seeing what I want to order, it lets me look at the options and it’s also handy for those who don’t speak the local language to be able to get a better understanding of the whole arrangement.
James ordered chicken with a load of vegetables. I think he’s approached middle age with a concern about his health and an acceptance of adulthood. As for me, I’m sure that I’ll be equally concerned about similar things when I approach middle age in a few years. Despite having ordering second, James’s food arrived first, which I outwardly accepted with a moderate amount of grace and inwardly treated as a small personal injustice. On the positive side, the team member soon called my name and handed me my food and he was friendly and jovial.
As I evidently have more basic tastes, I went for a chicken box and a side of spring rolls. I didn’t expect this mound of chicken if I’m being honest, the portion size was way more than I was anticipating. It’s fortunate that I’m quite greedy and I am not easily intimidated by excessive quantities of fried food. There was plenty of sauce on the chicken pieces, which were mainly thigh meat, but they were tender and had a depth of taste and flavour. The sauce is a sticky red Yang-Yum sauce and after fifteen minutes of eating all this chicken, my hands were certainly sticky. The spring rolls were fine, crispy on the exterior and they had a pleasant taste, although I would note that they weren’t really any better than most frozen spring rolls and I didn’t get the impression that there was a grandmother in the kitchen who had devoted a lifetime of work to developing them.
It was busy during our visit, but by the time I had finished, everyone had left or perhaps that was because I was so covered in sauce other customers were just put off their food. Carefully ensuring I didn’t end up with sauce on the camera lens, I took this photo on the way out of the seating area.
The whole atmosphere here is laid-back, informal and it does feel on-trend and interesting. The food quality is high, the portion size was generous and because of that, I felt that there was value for money. They have a loyalty scheme but it requires twenty purchases to get a free chicken box and that’s too many required visits to entice me back for the moment. But, I’m sure that I’ll return here at some point and I left feeling that I had eaten enough decent quality food, so I’ll take that as a win.
On a side issue, James and I will have to come up with a plan for a mini food series before Norwich Market 2027 begins in a few months. The anticipation….
