Dockyard - Great Pics and stats in today`s KentOnline | Vital Football

Dockyard - Great Pics and stats in today`s KentOnline

My maternal grandfather was a shipwright at Chatham and my uncle, his son, worked on submarine development and refits.

I used to love the Navy Days. If you haven't been the dockyard heritage site is well worth a visit. Last time I went I bought a length of rope from the ropery for use if we lose at home to Swindon.
 
Loved the dockyard/ Pembroke when dad was based there! My dad was on the minerva (F45) the same time as Prince Charles! We used to get the day off school when the ship was coming back from the West Indies! We got the train from Gillingham down to Portsmouth, go out on a tug and join the ship in the solent then do the rest of the journey up to Chatham! Navy Days was something special! My dad was on the eskimo for a while (F119) His last ship was the endurance 18 months before the falklands war!
 
Great photos.


I hate going there.

Nearly all of my ancestors have some history with the dockyard or pembroke barracks. I was a marine cadet there and spent a lot of time every week and was always in the field gun race against the sea cadets on navy days. Around 13000 people i believe owed their jobs to the yard and up to 5000 naval personnel.

It is now a ghost town to me in comparison to when it was the heart of the towns, the home of the navy and the source of so much history. It brings me the same sadness as in the past going past the remains of the Glasgow and Sunderland shipyards and also the Liverpool derelict factories at Speke. Walking past the 40 odd factories in medway that were closed at the same time.

And people wonder why some people despise and hate the treacherous Thatcherite tories and the following governments dismantling our manufacturing base.
 
I hate going there.

Nearly all of my ancestors have some history with the dockyard or pembroke barracks. I was a marine cadet there and spent a lot of time every week and was always in the field gun race against the sea cadets on navy days. Around 13000 people i believe owed their jobs to the yard and up to 5000 naval personnel.

It is now a ghost town to me in comparison to when it was the heart of the towns, the home of the navy and the source of so much history. It brings me the same sadness as in the past going past the remains of the Glasgow and Sunderland shipyards and also the Liverpool derelict factories at Speke. Walking past the 40 odd factories in medway that were closed at the same time.

And people wonder why some people despise and hate the treacherous Thatcherite tories and the following governments dismantling our manufacturing base.

My family and I have held annual passes for the Dockyard for the last couple of years. I completely understand your stance mate, losing such a major employer has had a massive effect on the towns. Having said that I think those in charge of the trust now have done a brilliant job with it, it's a great day out and they don't shy away from telling the feelings of the Dockyard closure. One feature in a certain gallery I find quite moving. I'd urge anyone to visit once this shit is over.
 
My family and I have held annual passes for the Dockyard for the last couple of years. I completely understand your stance mate, losing such a major employer has had a massive effect on the towns. Having said that I think those in charge of the trust now have done a brilliant job with it, it's a great day out and they don't shy away from telling the feelings of the Dockyard closure. One feature in a certain gallery I find quite moving. I'd urge anyone to visit once this shit is over.

totally agree. Great that the trust have made such a success of it as you say and think anyone who visits will have a great experience.
Still think we should go to Portsmouth and bring our ship Victory back to the yard.
 
totally agree. Great that the trust have made such a success of it as you say and think anyone who visits will have a great experience.
Still think we should go to Portsmouth and bring our ship Victory back to the yard.

Yes she should be back home in Chatham, that would be fantastic to see.
 
I hate going there.

Nearly all of my ancestors have some history with the dockyard or pembroke barracks. I was a marine cadet there and spent a lot of time every week and was always in the field gun race against the sea cadets on navy days. Around 13000 people i believe owed their jobs to the yard and up to 5000 naval personnel.

It is now a ghost town to me in comparison to when it was the heart of the towns, the home of the navy and the source of so much history. It brings me the same sadness as in the past going past the remains of the Glasgow and Sunderland shipyards and also the Liverpool derelict factories at Speke. Walking past the 40 odd factories in medway that were closed at the same time.

And people wonder why some people despise and hate the treacherous Thatcherite tories and the following governments dismantling our manufacturing base.

It was an easy decision to make with a reduction of the Navy itself. Geology plays a big part , the South East is gradually sinking , while the North West is rising. (Ongoing repercutions of the last Ice Age)

The Thames and Medway face constant dredging , with the Medway unable to receive larger ships.
 
It was an easy decision to make with a reduction of the Navy itself. Geology plays a big part , the South East is gradually sinking , while the North West is rising. (Ongoing repercutions of the last Ice Age)

The Thames and Medway face constant dredging , with the Medway unable to receive larger ships.

You obviously do not know how and why the decision was made lol. The minister did not even bother to visit the yard until the actual closure and was shocked at the size, content and abilities there. This was done on an absolute minimum of investigation.

The medway has been dredged for dockyard access ever since the sixteenth century so nothing new and true had never had an actual modern battleship or large aircraft carrier in dock. The fact was that it could do everything else at scale including the nuclear subs along with Medway being the naval and military base and garrisons for the protection of London. Lazy incompetent indoctrinated government. Same as for the Westland helicopter scandal.
 
Can anyone tell me if I'm doing something wrong. I have opened the link several times but have never managed to get past the opening page with the large insert of the Commissioners House blocking the view. Scrolling down I can see a top view of part of the Old Boat House and then a view of an historic three master.

HELLLLLLUP please!
 
More importantly the closure of the yard and other industries cost Gills thousands of supporters (not all regulars obviously).

Would we have made it to the championship level earlier if we had not lost all of those jobs in the area?
 
More importantly the closure of the yard and other industries cost Gills thousands of supporters (not all regulars obviously).

Would we have made it to the championship level earlier if we had not lost all of those jobs in the area?


That's an interesting thought. It closed when I just started going to Gills so couldn't compare to the years before. Did we get bigger crowds in the years before closure.

I always thought that more football on the TV really did for crowds at live games but the local economy must have had an impact on what money people had to spend on leisure.

I thought Chatham closed as the Navy was reducing the size of its surface ships to concentrate on boats (subs) and they were mainly serviced at Devonport. Might be wrong though.

Had a run through the universities the other week and its nice that those buildings have been brought back to life and not just knocked down for housing.
 
More importantly the closure of the yard and other industries cost Gills thousands of supporters (not all regulars obviously).

Would we have made it to the championship level earlier if we had not lost all of those jobs in the area?

Perhaps, but I think the wider area of Medway is still scarred to this day by the Dockyard closure, with relatively high unemployment and attendant social problems still lingering even through to today.
 
That's an interesting thought. It closed when I just started going to Gills so couldn't compare to the years before. Did we get bigger crowds in the years before closure.

I always thought that more football on the TV really did for crowds at live games but the local economy must have had an impact on what money people had to spend on leisure.

I thought Chatham closed as the Navy was reducing the size of its surface ships to concentrate on boats (subs) and they were mainly serviced at Devonport. Might be wrong though.

Had a run through the universities the other week and its nice that those buildings have been brought back to life and not just knocked down for housing.

Speaking to the BBC this month, Sir John Nott - who was knighted in 1983 - said announcing the closure had been a very hard decision.
"Chatham Dockyard was very vulnerable in military terms to an air strike, to the mining of the access to the dockyard, the tides and a threat from submarine presence in the North Sea.
"In fact the dockyard was never positioned right for modern warfare," he said.
Sir John added: "We were also building hugely expensive facilities on the Clyde for Trident... and we had to look where we were going to save."