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Black Tuesday January 18th
1881
Snow started falling during the morning and within a few hours
there were drifts in the roads several feet deep. Workers took
hours to fight their way home. Men were employed from every
calling to cut a passage through. Horses and carts had to be dug
out. Just around the "White Swan" the hedges were very
high and the drift so deep that the road could not be cleared, so
a tunnel was cut through the snow 15 yards long and wide enough
for a horse and cart to pass through. Mr Frank Fletcher, then
about 7 years old, remembers his father putting him into a pony
cart driven by Mr John Featherstone, and they drove through the
tunnel to get him to school at Berrys Maple.
The Drought of 1893
In that year there was no rain from March to September and the
supply of water for the cattle ran out. The ponds dried up and
farmers had to fetch water from as far away as Farningham and
Wrotham. Well water had to be conserved for the population. There
were at that time 5 ponds on "Attwood Place Farm", none
of these exist now. Another report on the drought of 1893 states
that water was so short that at one period it cost £1 1s 0d per
barrel from a supply four miles away. During this particular
period some haystacks caught fire on North Ash Farm and burnt for
six weeks, no water being available to quench the fire as the cost
was prohibitive.
Another Memorable Snowstorm
This started on Boxing Night 1927 and for nearly a fortnight the
Village was cut off. Mr John Rogers tells how he trudged many
miles daily through the snow delivering meat by hand.
The Big "Freeze-up" of 1947
There were heavy falls of snow and the drifts on the roads were
very deep, in places at least 6 ft and it was intensely cold.
Buses that tried to reach "The White Swan" had to be dug
out. When trying to release one bus, a motor bicycle and sidecar
was found behind it completely buried. For some days we were
without public transport. In most of the houses the water pipes
froze and when the thaw came plumbers were working all hours. As
the snow melted the roads were like rivers and miniature
waterfalls were common where houses |
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were built on banks. It was the end of April
before the roads were clear of snow.
Cottage Flooded
Another "weather" story was told by the late Mrs
Packman. This must have happened over 90 years ago. She lived in a
cottage in West Yoke as a child. She related that when she woke up
one morning their cottage was flooded as a result of a cloud
burst. She and her brothers and sisters had to remain in their
bedrooms for a whole week.
Wells
From Mr Frank Fletcher, retired Water Inspector, it is learned
that there are 22 wells in Ash and Ridley. They are all round
about 300 ft or more in depth. The wells in Ash Manor and the Old
Rectory, Ash, are 365 feet deep. The deepest well in the Parish is
at Terrys Lodge and that is over 500 feet deep. N.B. Since the
alteration of boundaries last year Terrys Lodge is now in West
Kingsdown Parish. There is a well in rather a dangerous position
in West Yoke, it is close to the road between Corner Cottages and
the Royal Oak on the right hand side of the road.
Water
In the year 1921 the only pipe leading from the reservoir
contracted an airlock and water for the North Ash dairy herd of
150 cows was brought in, in the empty churns from Abbots’ Dairy,
Gravesend, twice a day. This lasted for over a week.
Telegraph
There was great opposition to the installation of the telegraph
but the first person to read and use it was the leader of the
opposition.
A Balloon Descends on Ash
About 1897 a balloon came down behind North Ash farm-house while a
Sunday school treat was in progress. The navigator, Mr Spencer,
who had flown from the Crystal Palace, took Mr Day, his daughter
and some of the children up as far as the ropes would go, a great
thrill in those days. Later the balloon was packed up and Mr Day
drove Mr Spencer and his balloon to Fawkham Station. |