Aylesham
Aylesham is situated in the stunning landscape between the city of Canterbury and the port of Dover. Entirely self contained it exists because of the discovery of coal. We tend to think of coal mining as something that is done in the North of England but towards the end of the 19th century coal was discovered and this led to the opening of two coalmines one at Tilmanstone and the other was Snowdown. The first coal to be brought to the surface was in 1912 at Snowdown.
It was soon realised that the mines needed a large workforce so in an effort not to ruin the character of the surrounding villages it was decided to build a new “town” to house them. What we see today is the creation of Sir Patrick Abercrombie. It was originally expected to become a small town for around 15,000 residents providing everything that the community would require. Unfortunately the recession of the 1930’s meant that Abercrombie’s original vision didn’t materialise as it was scaled back because of financial restraints.
The recession also affected miners in the north who held a general strike to try and save their jobs, this was unsuccessful and the miners marched south to find jobs in the new coalfields. The mix of different dialects and traditions evolved to form a common bond and a distinctive accent amongst the different communities that is unique to Aylesham.
Aylesham, despite the closure of the mines is still inhabited by members of the original families who settled in the area who are unwilling to forgo the close bonds forged over time.
copyright© Wendy Stevenson 2011
Can you help? Contact us if you know the history of a town or village in Kent near you. We're also looking for Photographs of Kent, submit online
Comment about this article: editorial@wikikent.co.uk
|
