Catch up on all the latest history news from across Kent with Finn Macdiarmid.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Hello, and welcome to Kent Chronicles, where we turn back time on all of Kent's history,
00:28from the Mesolithic era to the Industrial Revolution and everything in between. I'm
00:32Finn McDermott, and join me as we turn back time and discuss all things history in Kent.
00:38But first, we've got as much history as Kent does have. I thought it would be interesting
00:43to take a look at what's making the headlines around the country. So here's another instalment
00:48of the History Roundup. On today's Roundup, we celebrate the anniversary of International
00:53Women's Day. We also take a look at the women of the Second World War. And finally, who
00:57took home awards at the 25th Oscars. First up on today's History Roundup. Today
01:05marks 113 years since the first International Women's Day was celebrated. Although the
01:12first national Women's Day was held in the US in 1909, it wasn't until the International
01:20Socialist Congress made an international version of the holiday. This was following encouragement
01:27from German activist Clara Zetkin. Next, the International Bomber Command Centre unveiled
01:35a new exhibition over the weekend. Nine still silhouettes commemorate the many contributions
01:42women made to the war effort. In 1943, 90% of single women and 80% of married women worked
01:51in a variety of wartime organisations. And many of these women worked for armed forces.
01:59Individuals such as Muriel Blake and Renee Woods have been honoured as statues. And finally,
02:06on the 19th of March 1953, the 25th Oscars was the first ever televised Oscars. The event
02:15was broadcasted by NBC TV. The Greatest Show on Earth took home the award for Best Picture
02:23and Gary Cooper won Best Actor for High Noon. Before then, people had to wait until 11pm
02:30on the night of the event for newspapers to publish the results. That's everything on
02:35this week's History Roundup. Now after suddenly shutting in February, Kent's oldest pub,
02:42the Abbott's Fireside in Ellum, has gone up for sale. Now being so old, it's no surprise
02:47that the pub has a rich history. It was originally an inn back in the 15th century under the
02:53name The Smithy's Arms and it still even features a medieval fireplace. Additionally, it's believed
02:59King Charles II hid from the roundheads in a priest hole within the main fireplace. Now
03:04the landlords have thanked everyone who supported the Abbott's and say the decision was made
03:09with heavy hearts. Now once a town's history goes, you can't get it back. Those are the
03:15words of Debbie Holmes, who went to close her 1940s living museum because of rising
03:19rent and the numbers show she might not be the only one. Sittingbourne's old forge wartime
03:25house showed what it was like to live in the home front during the Second World War. But
03:29with the team struggling to cover the bills after the pandemic, she was forced to close
03:33in April of last year. Debbie's story is unfortunately not a rare one. New statistics show that three
03:39in five small local museums could face closure this year because of a combination of rising
03:44costs and falling visitor numbers. Now crews extinguished a fire at a grade two listed
03:51former club in Northfleet that was built back in 1878. The Portland's Factory Club building
03:58has been hit with fires multiple times. First in December 2022, July 2023 and lastly in
04:06September. Now in 2022, the fire caused outcry from local historians who described it as
04:12a disaster. Now, despite being empty for more than 30 years, it once had its own outdoor
04:18pool and stage. The building was once a hub for political meetings and theatrical performances.
04:24A spokesperson for Kent Fire and Rescue said the cause of the fire is unknown and there
04:28have been no reported injuries. Now a statue of a seagod that dates back to the Roman times
04:34and was found several years ago in Tenham near Sittingbourne has become the subject
04:39of a historical study. The Cambridge University have said the decapitated statue of Triton
04:43is without a doubt one of the most significant discoveries to have emerged from Roman Britain
04:47in recent times. I went down to the site where the statue along with the remains of a Roman
04:52mausoleum were found. Back in 2023, during an evaluation dig for a housing development
04:58by London Road in Tenham, the Canterbury Archaeology Trust discovered Roman artefacts in a buried
05:03mausoleum including a statue of the seagod Triton. The nature of the statue was particularly
05:09unusual because of how detailed and in good condition it was, aside from a missing hand
05:14and head, the latter of which they later recovered. This led to a study by the Cambridge University
05:19Press into the origins of the statue and the mausoleum itself. Now they say all roads lead
05:24to Rome and that's especially true for London Road. Even though it now leads to Faversham,
05:28it was once a Roman road and that's why some archaeologists have theorised the placement
05:34of this mausoleum containing the statue of the seagod Triton could be here at the Frognall
05:38Lane development, simply because of how close it is to that Roman road. I spoke to Dr Steve
05:44Willis with the University of Kent, who's also appeared on shows like Digging for Britain
05:47and Time Team, and advised the Archaeology Trust on the dig. It's very well preserved,
05:53there's fantastic sculptural detail there. It's more or less intact with a few parts
06:00missing, but the main essence of it is there for all to see. And a sculptural stone from
06:07the province of Roman Britain is fairly scarce. I mean, we think of the Romans as having lovely
06:13marble statues and part of the cultural life of the elite in particular. But in Britain,
06:20we don't see a lot of that. And where we do find it tends to be in those areas where
06:26the Roman military are for a long time, and also those areas which have good stone that
06:32can be carved in that sort of way. In the study, they say they believe the Triton statue
06:36was ritually killed before being buried, with the decapitation being on purpose, alongside
06:41a water tank that it might have been submerged in, and the finding of a burnt deposit, suggesting
06:46the statue was also burned. Well, they asked me about Tritons actually. And so we don't
06:53see a lot of Tritons actually in sculptural stone or in wall paintings from the Roman
06:59world. We do see them from time to time depicted on pottery forms. So I knew a little bit about
07:06those. They're kind of like merpeople, mermen, as you can see from this particular carving.
07:14So they tend to be fairly formulaic. There's a bit of variation to them
07:19as well. So I kind of gave them my views on the find.
07:25They mentioned this could have come from a shift to Christian idols, but couldn't confirm
07:29anything specifically. They end the study by saying the Tenum Triton is without a doubt
07:33one of the most significant and exciting discoveries to have emerged from Roman Britain
07:38in recent times. The Frognall Lane development, set to be built by Moat Homes and Chartway
07:42Partnerships Group, was impacted by the find, and they said this study marks another important
07:47and exciting chapter in the history of the Triton, its journey and discovery at our housing
07:51site in Tenum. We are committed to ensuring the unearthed artefacts are preserved and protected,
07:56recognising their significant archaeological importance. What will happen to the statue
08:00hasn't yet been determined, but it marks an interesting and unique step forward in
08:04the understanding of Romans in Kent and the entire country. Finn McDermid for KMTV in Tenum.
08:11Now, don't forget, you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by
08:16logging on to our website, kmtv.co.uk. But for those who don't like the latest stories,
08:22I like to take a look back at the archives to visit some history stories that we've done
08:26around this time, but maybe a few years ago, like this one. It's all about the Chatham
08:30Historic Dockyard's 400-year-old rope yard, as you can see behind me, the last of its
08:34kind in the country to still be operating. Abbey Hook reported this on the 28th of March, 2022.
08:44A new rope gallery is opening in Chatham's historic dockyard. Rope has been made here
08:48for over 400 years, and now it is the last Royal Navy rope yard to still be operating.
08:55The new exhibition will house one of the best collections of rope in the world.
08:59Des Pawson is showcasing his collection of rope-making and rope-related objects
09:03from his Knotts and Sailors museum. This particular case really is about the tools
09:09needed to work the rope, because once it's made here, it doesn't just finish. It has to go off
09:15and be used after that. So these very big spikes down here, they're called fids,
09:21and they are for splicing rope, which is making a permanent join in.
09:26Fred Cordier started working in the ropery age 15 as a yard boy,
09:30eventually becoming the last official master rope maker, earning his MBE for 50 years of service.
09:37The work was very hard, and a lot of the young boys, they wasn't used to working like that.
09:44I still come over here every now and again, sneak in, ask if there's any problems,
09:49and if I can solve it, I'll solve it.
09:52Tying a firm knot in both his career and relationship, Fred met his wife Jan right
09:57here at the ropery. With a total of 90 years between them working at the dockyard,
10:02they will be the ones to open the gallery.
10:05Because it's history. It really is history, isn't it? 400 years of rope-making in this dockyard.
10:12Behind me here is the forming machine. Yarns are spun through the bobbins,
10:15and they're pulled into the machine here, where they're twisted to make the rope,
10:19and it comes out the other side. Now I'm getting myself roped in to have a go.
10:23Ready? Off you go.
10:30Hatcheling, spinning and turning rope are all unique techniques
10:33still in practice today in the UK's only working ropery.
10:39As I found out, rope makers have a labour-intensive job,
10:43turning the machines and twisting the rope. But has the industry changed that much?
10:49Power used to be by hand, like people just turning capstans. Then it went to steam,
10:52now it's a nice, easy electric motor.
10:54With the gallery just days from opening,
10:56the staff urge people to visit the yard and learn the ropes.
11:00People don't know anything about it. It's such a rare trade. Everyone knows a brickie,
11:03everyone knows a plasterer, you know, builders. You see them every day driving around the estates
11:07and stuff. You don't see a rope-maker, and that's why you need to come here.
11:10It's the only place you can come and see it done.
11:14Abbey Hook for KMTV in Chatham.
11:17Now very quickly, it's time for a history question to test your
11:19knowledge that I like to call trivia through time.
11:22MUSIC
11:27Now, what did John Samuel Manley Sawbridge of Wye Valley,
11:30also known as the Mad Major, rehearse before his death?
11:33MUSIC
11:36What did John Samuel Manley Sawbridge of Wye Valley,
11:38also known as the Mad Major, rehearse before his death?
11:41MUSIC
11:43Well, the clock has hit its halfway mark, but join us after the break for more history news.
14:52MUSIC
14:54Hello and welcome back to Kent Chronicles live on KMTV.
15:23I'm Finn McDermid.
15:25Now let's revisit, if you missed it, your trivia question.
15:28Let's have a look at our trivia.
15:35Now your question was, what animal was said to have helped Sir John Samuel Manley's
15:41salvage of Wye Valley?
15:42What did he rehearse before his own death?
15:45The answer, he would use a dummy during rehearsals at his own funeral, throwing his fake body
15:50into a nearby hedge.
15:57Now a historic railway are planning to play against their strengths to attract a younger
16:01demographic aboard by fitting a carriage with games, consoles and simulators.
16:06The Kent and Sussex Railway will turn one of the carriages into a gaming arcade for
16:10May half term, in a bid to get more people, especially young train enthusiasts, interested
16:15in historical trains.
16:16It's called Gaming on the Move, and will run from their Tentaden to Bodium line in
16:21East Sussex, but only for one direction, as Derek Billsby says, so that gamers can experience
16:27the sights with other passengers on the return journey.
16:36Now a third of us consider ourselves antique collectors, with rare coins being the most
16:40commonly kept item.
16:42But now experts are saying it could be more than just a passion project, as we could be
16:46making a bit of cash from our precious and rare collections.
16:49In fact, the average collection of antiques is estimated to be worth more than £2,400
16:53today, and experts believe that value will triple over the next 25 years.
16:58Well, Isabel and Cameron were joined on the Kent Morning Show earlier by antiques expert
17:04Izzy Barmer.
17:05My background is in auctioneering, so I would always say go to an auctioneer, they've got
17:10experts there who will identify what is and isn't valuable, and because they take a commission
17:15from the client, it is in their interest for it to sell for as much as possible.
17:19That being said, there are certain items that simply won't sell at auction houses, and you
17:23are then going on online marketplaces to sell those products.
17:29I would seek the advice of experts, ask antiques dealers, ask auctioneers, get the best advice
17:35you can, in the same way that you would do your research for anything.
17:42And I know obviously we've mentioned that online platforms are so much popular, so you'd
17:46think that maybe antiques would be kind of receding in popularity, but actually it's
17:49just growing and there are so many different places that you can go to to find antiques
17:53and find that special thing to put in your home, right?
17:57Yes, absolutely.
17:58You've got antique shops, you've got fairs, you've got car boots, you've got auctions.
18:03There is just a huge array of places exactly like that.
18:07You can sit at home and be online and find lots of beautiful items and have them all
18:11posted to you, or you can enjoy the thrill of going out and hunting for them.
18:16Is there anything you found in your attic that you were surprised by and managed to
18:20make a nice little fortune off of?
18:23Do you know what?
18:25I wish I could say yes, but no.
18:28My family items are all really quite valueless, unfortunately.
18:36Sentimentally priceless?
18:38Yes.
18:39Hey, do you know what?
18:40My granny passed away a few years ago and she really didn't have very much valuable
18:43jewelry, but she had a gold Victorian wedding band, which, I mean, if I'm really honest,
18:48the best thing to do with that is to scrap it, and at the moment the price of gold has
18:52reached an all-time high.
18:54However, the antiques nerd in me just cannot bring myself to scrap a Victorian wedding
19:00band.
19:01I was like, it's 130 years old and someone has worn that on their finger for their life.
19:06So, yes, I didn't think I was a sentimental person, but perhaps I am.
19:10Yeah, I guess these items being, it's amazing what can be meaningful to people, whether
19:16its value is high or not.
19:20But what would you say, Cam, you said that your...
19:24Yeah, we were talking about this, Izzy was saying just before we came on air that her
19:30partner's got, it was like a converted ring.
19:32He's had a six-pen that's been converted into a ring, but your one's mine.
19:35And then my granddad's got the tale of a Nazi bomb that landed in his garden during
19:42World War II, and that obviously has got, it's got the sentimental value in that it's
19:48part of his family history, but it's also got that amazing historical value as well.
19:55So I guess, you know, we come back to that point about collecting and hoarding and stuff,
19:58but if there's moments that have happened to you in your life and there's real pieces
20:02of history, it's definitely worth keeping those, isn't it?
20:06Yes, definitely.
20:07I think it comes down to two things, whether you're, are you keeping it for the sentimental
20:12value, for the historical value, for the story that's there, and, you know, is it an item
20:18that you enjoy looking at, or are you keeping it because you're hoping it's going to go
20:22up in value, and that's where your head and your heart, you know, if you're hoping it's
20:28going up in value, you need to be ruled by your head rather than by your heart, and you
20:33do want to seek the help of experts.
20:35And if it is something where you're doing this to make money, there are a lot of mistakes
20:41you can make, and you do have to be very careful, and it might just be more sensible to open
20:45up a savings account, pop your money in the account, and you can see every year that it's
20:49going up by X amount, and that's guaranteed.
20:51Our antiques, unfortunately, simply aren't guaranteed in that way.
20:56Well, from a camera from the 1950s to a set of Welsh gold earrings and even my own collection
21:02of vintage books, some of which are over 100 years old, we've been all set here at KMTV
21:07to have our own appraisal of our personal antiques.
21:10Now, do bear in mind this is only our own research we've done on the internet.
21:14There are some gaps in our knowledge when it comes to knowing how much an item could
21:18be worth, and we're far from professional appraisers, but after that chat on the morning
21:22show, I thought we'd have a go.
21:23Anyways, Ettelie Reynolds and Tim Forster joined me earlier.
21:27Well, thank you both so much for joining me, Ettelie and Tim.
21:31We've all brought some items of ours.
21:32I do have to say, off the bat, I don't know about you guys, I don't have any plans to
21:36sell mine at the minute.
21:38We all have lots of sentimental value attached to these, but I thought it'd be fun to compare
21:42and see what kind of prices we might get for them if we were to sell these antiques after
21:46that discussion.
21:47So yeah, Ettelie, I think it's over to you first.
21:50Tell us what you've brought, and a little bit about where it came from and some of the
21:53research behind it.
21:54Yeah, so I've brought in my, it's a little family heirloom, a pair of Welsh gold earrings.
21:58So they were passed down from my nan, so I think she passed late last year, and they
22:02came into my possession, but it prompted me to do a little bit of research about Welsh
22:06gold, why is it so rare and everything, and it actually, the mining of Welsh gold dates
22:12back to the Bronze Age, and they were mining it as well when the Romans came to the UK,
22:18and advanced techniques such as hydraulic mining and aqueducts were seen, and it was
22:23the first time these sort of new advanced techniques had been seen in mining, and for
22:27a while it quieted down with the kind of Welsh gold, but there was actually a Victorian revival,
22:33so when that kind of time rolled around, there wasn't much gold in the UK, and Queen Victoria,
22:40she kind of just was like, well, there's some gold in Wales, we'll go mine that Welsh gold,
22:45and it's kind of, some historians refer to it as a British or Welsh gold rush, because
22:50just so much of it was mined again, but it is nowadays still quite rare, purely because
22:55people aren't mining it again, so the scarcity of it is very, yeah, there's not a lot of
23:00it around.
23:01Right, and how does that reflect on the price, have you been looking at other Welsh gold
23:05earrings?
23:06Yeah, so anything, Welsh gold can go from anything from about £250 to I think the most
23:10expensive pair of Welsh gold earrings I found were about £950, so we'll see if I ever do
23:17go to sell them, but I think I'm going to keep passing them down the family and just
23:21keep that heirloom going.
23:22Fair enough, brilliant, well thank you so much for that, and then Tim, tell us a bit
23:26about what you've brought.
23:27Yes, I've brought my 16mm Bolex camera, it's a 1953 model, you can check kind of the serial
23:34numbers on it, it's quite nice, you can then get a range of when it was made, but the company
23:39itself Bolex, they began in 1925 I think they were founded, looking at kind of, it
23:46started with 35mm film equipment, then into 16 and then into 8mm by the end of it, and
23:52this one really came about in a period when it was one of the most popular sort of budget
23:57filmmaking piece of equipment really in the world, I mean you had famous directors like
24:02Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, I mean actors like James Dean had them as well, which is
24:06actually how I got into them, because I was quite a fan of his when I was a kid, and I
24:11thought it would be quite nice to find one of my own.
24:14Brilliant, and talk to me a little bit about the price, I did forget to mention, so when
24:19they're considering antiques and how everything plays into the price, I've got here they consider
24:24the condition of the item, the edition, the rarity, the market demand and the provenance,
24:29and they usually compare them to similar listings online, so when you looked online what did
24:34you sort of find out?
24:35When I bought this, I think it cost me £270, and it was one that I had to save up quite
24:41a while for, I mean it's quite a lot of money, but I mean looking now it's in almost mint
24:46condition, it came with the lenses, with all of the kit involved in the case, the booklets,
24:52and that comes to anywhere really between £900 and £1,500 really.
24:57Wow, amazing, and you've both put me to shame, so I've got here some of my books from my
25:02great-grandfather Hugh O'Neill, and there's a few here, one of them is I believe it's
25:07called Parliament Past and Present from 1902, it's full title, Parliament Past and Present,
25:12a popular and picturesque account of a thousand years in the Palace of Westminster, the home
25:16of the Mother of Parliaments.
25:17I saw a listing online for about €125 or about £105 sterling, a few of the others
25:23were a bit harder to trace, for instance I have a study atlas here, I knew it was originally
25:29purchased for 20p, thanks to some writing in pencil on the blurb, unfortunately that
25:34may drag the price down, like I mentioned, it's not in its best condition.
25:38It's 10th edition, I couldn't find a correct exact price on that, but the 14th edition
25:44I saw would go for around £80, so I think you've both definitely put me to shame.
25:49It's also worth mentioning we have a ring here from one of our colleagues Ronnie, it
25:53was owned by her grandmother Mildred Pearl Jampel, and it was her high school class ring
26:00I believe from 1944, and when I asked Ronnie how much do you think this would go for, she
26:04said it is priceless and would never sell it.
26:08So thank you so much for joining me both of you, it's been a great little episode of Kent
26:13Chronicles and I think we've all learnt a bit about history and a bit about what these
26:17items that we all hold very near and dear to our hearts, so thank you both for joining
26:20me.
26:21Thank you very much.
26:23Well I hope you all enjoyed KMTV's own antique show there, and it looks like that was one
26:27for the history books.
26:28You've been watching Kent Chronicles live here on KMTV.
26:32Don't forget though, there's always history happening all around us, and if you think
26:36you have a story that you think we should be covering, then please don't hesitate to
26:39get in touch.
26:40If you're more interested in the present and the past, you can watch our other programmes
26:44as well.
26:45Thank you for watching and I'll see you soon.