- 18/06/2025
Catch up on all the latest history news from across Kent with Finn Macdiarmid.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Chronicles where we turn back time on all of Kent's history
00:23from the Mesolithic era to the Industrial Revolution and everything in between. I'm
00:28Finn McDermid and join me as we turn back time and discuss all things history. But first
00:33a quick round up of all the history news from around the world. As much history as Kent
00:38does have, there's absolutely no harm in travelling through time elsewhere. On tonight's feature
00:42we'll go back to the 18th of June 1815, 210 years ago to the day when Napoleon suffered
00:48his famous defeat at the hands of the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo. Then
00:53the same day in 1928 marks the anniversary of the largest ship of its kind being ordered
00:58Oceana III, though construction would never be finished. And also in 1928 to the pioneering
01:04flight which saw Amelia Earhart become the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
01:09Hello and welcome to this week's History Roundup. First up, today marks 210 years since the Battle
01:15of Waterloo. In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte suffered defeat at the hands of the Duke of Wellington,
01:21bringing an end to the Napoleonic era of European history. Waterloo Bridge at Betse-Coed was built
01:27by the civil engineer Thomas Telford. It was constructed in the same year as the battle and was only
01:32the seventh such bridge to be built. Next, in 1928, the kill was laid at the Highland and Wolf
01:38Company in Belfast for the biggest ship to date, the 1,000-foot, 60,000-tonne Oceanic III. However,
01:46with the advent of the Great Depression, she was never completed. Her kill was dismantled and the
01:51steel was used in two new smaller ships, Georgic and Britannic. Both of these ships entered service
01:58in 1930 and were the last liners White Star ever built, the famous shipping line behind the Titanic.
02:041928 also saw Amelia Earhart, along with pilot Wilma Stiltz and co-pilot mechanic Louis Gordon,
02:11fly from Newfoundland on the 17th of June to land near Buryport in South Wales on the 18th, thus becoming
02:17the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1932, she became the first woman to fly solo
02:24non-stop across the Atlantic, flying from Newfoundland to Colmore in Northern Ireland.
02:29That's all for this week's History Roundup.
02:33Now, tributes have been pouring in for Kent's most decorated lifeboatman,
02:37who's passed away after 65 years of service.
02:41Tony Hawkins joined the Dover RNLI in 1960, aged only 16,
02:45and during his time with the service he completed nearly 500 call-outs,
02:49earning himself medals and awards for his bravery, including an MBE in the late 90s.
02:53He was coxswain for 23 years and helped save hundreds of lives during dangerous missions,
02:59like aiding a hovercraft after it nearly crashed into the Dover Harbour breakwater in 1985.
03:04His colleagues said they'll remember him as the living embodiment of their motto,
03:07with courage, nothing is impossible.
03:10Former EastEnders star John Altman has auctioned off an exclusive recording
03:13from a 1967 Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd gig.
03:17Altman, best known for playing Nick Cotton, met the legends in Chatham when he was just 15.
03:21He helped carry equipment into the venue and between sets,
03:26pulled out his tape recorder to interview Pink Floyd's Rick Wright and Jimi Hendrix.
03:30He described Hendrix as gentle and cool and called it a day to remember.
03:33The tape sold at auction for more than £3,000.
03:36Four fire engines were called to a nearly 200-year-old pub in Stowe near Dartford after the building caught fire.
03:44Pictures show crews who battled the fire for more than three hours last night,
03:48as the Welsh Tavern sent plumes of smoke into the sky.
03:52The fire was successfully put out by 10.30pm, but the roof suffered significant damage,
03:56and despite the closure of the road, there was still backed up traffic in the Greenhide area after it.
04:02There were also no reported injuries, but the police have launched an investigation into the fire,
04:06treating the cause as suspicious.
04:10Now, it's time to talk about the elephant in the room.
04:12This is Ellie. She's 30 years old, and her adoptive owner from Twiddle wants her back
04:16after Medway Council took her to the tip. Let's see Oli Leda's story on this.
04:20It wasn't your usual garden ornament.
04:24An eight-and-a-half-foot fiberglass elephant taken from a Gillingham driveway by Medway Council.
04:34Ellie had been a fixture of the Strand for 30 years, but when the water slide was found unsafe,
04:44one regular convinced the contractors hauling her away to make his home her stomping ground.
04:52That was going to be the crowning glory. All my little toys, this was going to be the centrepiece.
04:57She was coming here on my lawn, and it was going to be... I was actually going to build a little pond
05:02there, so you could slide down it into the pond.
05:06But after two months and complaints from neighbours, the council seized the slide,
05:13taking Ellie to the Great Elephant Sanctuary in the sky. Or in other words, landfill.
05:20I mean, the landfill was bad enough, so why put a big lump of fiberglass when it could have stayed
05:25here with me? Wasn't a lot to feed it either.
05:30But with children flocking to see the Jubilee-themed oddity, for the neighbours next door, Ellie becoming
05:38a dangerous eyesore was the elephant in the room, or rather, on the road.
05:45We saw the bits of string tied to bits of old wood, the fact that it was unsafe,
05:51the fact it could have fallen at any time, the fact it was dangerous. I can't believe for a moment
05:56that he actually thought that he could leave it there. I mean, planning, I mean, you have to have
06:02planning permission. We couldn't put a shed up in our front garden, so a six-foot shed, so how would he be
06:08able to put a ten-foot elephant up? Medway Council says it's unsure of how the slide ended up on Romani
06:17Road. But while an elephant may never forget, the council and some of the residents probably wish
06:25they could. Ollie Leader in Gillingham.
06:31Now, Peter Cushing was born in May 1913 in Surrey, but he spent many years living in Whitstable,
06:36so for their 128th traditional carnival, they're actually going to be honouring him by theming the
06:44entire event around him, featuring an exhibition. To tell us more about this,
06:48Tim, our local reporter and also a film expert, I'd say, is joining us on the sofa. So, Tim,
06:57what more can you tell us about Peter Cushing? Well, he was born in Surrey in 1913. I believe
07:02you hail from there. Same as me, if you couldn't tell by my voice. He was actually, he was born
07:07just before the start of the First World War. It shows how long he's been working. And it was actually,
07:13it was, despite his family's kind of objections, he pursued this acting career out of
07:18school. Beginning with theatre, later moving into film work, he moved to America itself to start
07:24this, before coming back to England. And it started out quite difficult during the war. This later
07:31turned into more success as he found television, coming in in the 1950s, appearing in, there's an
07:36adaptation by the BBC of 1984. And this then led to a lot of film work, appearing in Hamlet, appearing in
07:43lots of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, and then famously the Hammer films, you know, Dracula,
07:49Frankenstein, and films like this. Amazing. And he was, am I right in saying he was actually the
07:56Doctor for two films of the Doctor Who franchise? Yes, there were two films which were kind of,
07:59they stood apart from the TV show that came out. They were feature-length films, focusing on, I believe,
08:05the Daleks. You can tell my amazing knowledge of Doctor Who. And he simply plays one iteration of
08:11the character there. I see, I see, very interesting. I'm not a Doctor Who fan myself, but plenty of
08:17people in the newsroom are. What can you tell us about Whitstable's traditional carnival, 128 years?
08:23Yes, it's been running a great deal of time. Last year you can see photos of the kind of the celebration
08:30that they had there. Their theme, I believe, was Fiesta by the Sea. This year they're focusing
08:34around Peter Cushing's life. He passed away 30 years ago, having lived in Whitstable for 35 years.
08:42Originally he bought a house there in 1940s, sorry, the 1950s for weekends, and then it became a permanent
08:48residence in his retirement. But the festival itself, they kind of, they have all sorts going on,
08:53from kind of banners and celebrations and floats that go down. They're getting schools to join in,
08:59designing posters, designing banners with kind of caricatures of the actor's face on it. And as if
09:05that's not high praise enough, they've even named their local Wetherspoons, The Peter Cushing, which
09:09I think you can't ask for more high praise than that. No, absolutely. And I called you a film expert.
09:15If you had to talk about the films he's been in, you know, Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Dracula, is that
09:22right? Yes. Yes, Dracula. How much of a big impact obviously have these films had? And just to show
09:27really how well known Peter Cushing was for his work. I think most modern audiences would know him
09:32as the guy from Star Wars, kind of the baddie. But it was, it was in the 50s, as I say, in Dracula
09:38and Frankenstein, where he actually, he started a lot with a close personal friend of his, Christopher Lee,
09:43who would then go on to star in Star Wars himself in separate films. But that close working relationship,
09:50playing sort of, on the one end he had Dracula and Van Helsing, the other end he had Frankenstein,
09:53and the Frankenstein's monster. So it's kind of a good working duo. And it's really, it's,
09:58those Hammer productions have gone on to influence so much of modern day horror films that have come
10:03out. Absolutely. And just very quickly before we go, when is the festival exactly? This festival,
10:09I believe, will be held this weekend. I may have got that wrong, it might be next weekend,
10:12I do apologise beforehand if I haven't got the date right. But they are looking for more volunteers to
10:17try and get, to try and get, to try and help. Amazing. Okay. Well, thank you so much, Tim.
10:22This weekend or next weekend, you heard it here first. Now, just before we go,
10:28it's time for a history question to test your knowledge that I like to call trivia through time.
10:38And your question, why are Tunbridge's Wells collanded streets known as the Pantiles,
10:44well, the clock has hit its halfway mark. But of course, as always, there is still more history to
11:06be uncovered. You can join us after this very short break, where we'll speak to our reporter,
11:11Italy Reynolds, all about the Magna Carta and its impact right here in the county. And immediately
11:18after the break, sorry, you can catch the answer to that trivia question. As always,
11:23with the trivia questions, don't know if you avid Kent Chronicles fans have picked this up yet,
11:27but there's always a clue in the song. And that song was the barred core version of Walk Like an
11:33Egyptian. So in the three minutes, I'm testing you out there. If you're sitting with your family,
11:37see if you can work out just why Tunbridge Wells' little streets and alleyways with those collanded
11:45streets are named the Pantiles. We'll have that answer and more just after this very short break. See you soon.
16:58I know they've got a lot to care about but, you know, turning a blind eye to this kind of thing is unacceptable.
17:05But behind these delivering a petition to Ashford Borough Council,
17:09it's businesses here who are most to be affected by the authorities' plans to pull down the centre.
17:14They have until January to leave their units.
17:16I employ four staff full-time.
17:20You know, we pay our taxes, VAT, and they're all very concerned, as I might.
17:25You know, my staff are one month's paycheck away from being evicted from their homes.
17:29They don't have any money put away. No one does.
17:32To move, we're looking in excess of £100,000 just to cut everything out and to find a store.
17:37I've been here nearly 10 years.
17:40Would have made my 10th anniversary in September of this year.
17:45Being forced out of an almost subsidised site so that they can lock up some flats is a bit painful.
17:54It comes after the council decided to close and knock down the Park Mall shopping centre
17:58after Ashford Borough said it had been running the site at an unsustainable loss.
18:03The plan is to replace the centre with an interim multi-storey car park,
18:06while plans to build flats on the land remain in the pipeline.
18:09With the council standing firm on its decision to demolish Park Mall,
18:13those in favour of this petition are now calling for an amendment
18:16which would see parts of the shopping centre in best condition saved from facing the bulldozer.
18:21I don't personally believe that we should demolish the entirety of this shopping centre.
18:25There's an awful lot of traders that are going to lose their livelihoods, their investments
18:28and there's an awful lot of people that are going to lose their jobs
18:31and I just don't agree with that at all.
18:33This is people's jobs, this is people's livelihoods that are going to go, right?
18:37That is going to go. It won't exist.
18:39It's like that. Game over.
18:41And that's not good enough for me because in my heart I'm passionate about this town centre.
18:44In a statement, Ashford Borough Council told us the asset cannot support a continued managed decline anymore.
18:51The proposed residential-led mixed-use development will serve as a catalyst
18:55for the regeneration of the town centre, bringing new energy and investment to the area.
19:01Almost 1,200 people have called for the council to U-turn on its proposals,
19:05so with deliberations to continue at the Civic Centre,
19:08many of those will be keeping their fingers crossed that the bulldozers can stay parked for now.
19:13But I'll follow me all for KMTV in Ashford.
19:20This is an iconic bird of Kent.
19:23It appears on Canterbury's coat of arms,
19:25but they were once extinct here in the county for more than 100 years.
19:29Now, since then, a reintroduction project has begun
19:32and been quite successful in increasing the numbers of the bird.
19:35We spoke to Suzanne Kyniston from the Wildwood Trust all about that project.
19:41We knew they'd been reintroduced to Jersey, and that had been a successful model.
19:47They started the releases in Jersey in 2013, and we thought we should restore them to Kent,
19:53essentially because they do have a cultural importance here.
19:59They actually appear on the Canterbury coat of arms due to the link with Thomas Beckett,
20:03and they also appear in King Lear, which was based on the White Cliffs at Dover,
20:10and we thought it was important to have the chub back in its rightful place in Kent,
20:16because it's been missing here for 200 years.
20:20Now, this year marks 810 years since the Magna Carta was created.
20:27It was sealed by King John on the 15th of June, 1215,
20:31and changed the way that kings could use their power and place limits on royal authority.
20:36Some say the Magna Carta was a catalyst for events like the English Civil War.
20:41Well, to chat more about this, Etterly Reynolds joins me in the studio now.
20:45So, Etterly, the Magna Carta, I think everyone's heard it in their history classes.
20:49Can you go a little bit more into the detail of what exactly this very interesting historic legal document did?
20:56Yeah, so as you mentioned before, it was sealed on the 15th of June, 1215, by King John,
21:00and the Magna Carta confirmed that the king and his government were not above the law.
21:06So, this outline meant that if the king or his government committed a crime, they were not excused.
21:15Everybody is subject to law.
21:17And it also outlined many basic rights, just like the right to a fair trial.
21:24However, it didn't for women, unfortunately.
21:27Although there were some things in there which kind of gave some rights to property marriage
21:32and to widows and heiresses, there were other things which it didn't quite do well for women.
21:40There's one charter in the Magna Carta that said,
21:43no one shall be arrested or imprisoned on the appeal of a woman for the death of any other person except her husband.
21:50Essentially meaning that they weren't really going to believe the word of women.
21:54But it's quite interesting we talk about laws and rights
21:58because Kent might actually have a very special connection to the laws we see written today.
22:05Essentially, in the 7th century, King Ethelbert of Kent created the laws of Ethelbert.
22:13Now, these laws are particularly special as many believe and consider
22:17that these are the earliest written laws in English history.
22:22They let us see the social, economic and political makeup of early England.
22:27And it's the first time we see law and consequence.
22:31So whereas before it was like, you know, don't do that.
22:33This actually stated, if you do this, this is what will happen.
22:37For example, if the king is feasting at anyone's house
22:40and any sort of offence is committed, their twofold compensation shall be paid.
22:45Essentially meaning if you offended the king or then he was at your house for like a dinner party,
22:51you would have to pay some kind of compensation.
22:53You would be fined.
22:55And I want to focus on the social differences.
23:00It laid out what was the difference between, you know, slaves and foreigners.
23:06And we also see this control of marriage and inheritance.
23:10So what I mean by this is it also set out things to do with, you know, marriage
23:15and who got certain inheritance when people died.
23:18All of these things are very interesting because although these happened in the 7th century,
23:23a lot of them still impact laws today.
23:27But one of the most interesting things we see is the influence of the church on Anglo-Saxon England.
23:33So I believe it was Pope, I can't remember, Pope sent St. Augustine to spread the word of Christianity across the world.
23:44So there were some Christian missionaries which came over to England.
23:49And they, Aethelbert, King Aethelbert of Kent, was actually very suspicious of these people at first.
23:55He was quite suspicious of any outsiders coming into England.
23:58And he didn't really know what to think of them.
24:01So what he did is he gave them a plot of land in Canterbury.
24:05And this, some people may have already recognized St. Augustine.
24:09St. Augustine Church in Canterbury was a direct thing of King Aethelbert of Kent converting to Christianity
24:17and allowed them to build that church.
24:20And it keeps going because St. Augustine is actually the person who started to lay the foundation
24:26and build the Canterbury Cathedral.
24:29And that's one of the main reasons that Canterbury Cathedral resides here in Kent and not more in London.
24:34It's because of this kind of suspiciousness towards them that King Aethelbert decided it should be in Kent, not in London.
24:42And, you know, all of these things combined is what brings us modern Christianity.
24:49So you could argue that not only were the first ever Germanic laws written here in Kent,
24:54it was sort of the foundation of where Christianity was introduced in England.
24:59Fascinating.
24:59So it wasn't just in, we're not just the Garden of England,
25:02we're almost this shield from the prying eyes of the London government.
25:05What more can you tell us?
25:07And are there any other Kent links to the Magna Carta?
25:09To the Magna Carta, there's actually, Fathersham actually have an original piece of the sealed Magna Carta.
25:16They actually held a festival this weekend, kind of celebrating their 810 years.
25:22There was a speaker, I believe somebody from Horrible Histories also gave a little chat.
25:27So although the Magna Carta may have not been sealed and signed over in Kent,
25:32there's still many places like Fathersham which hold these original records.
25:37And it's really fascinating to kind of see.
25:40I mean, we've got a picture of it here.
25:42You can't really make it out.
25:43It's very much in old English.
25:45But it's just fascinating to see that such an old piece of history is still kind of impacting today.
25:53Brilliant.
25:54Well, it's very interesting to hear about.
25:56And thank you so much for your time, Etterly.
25:57I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this iconic document that's defined Kent's history
26:02and the history of lawmaking in this country more on another episode.
26:06Thank you again for your time.
26:08Well, that looks like it was one for the history books.
26:11You've been watching Kent Chronicles live here on KMTV.
26:16Don't forget, there's always history happening around us.
26:19And if you have a story that you think we should be covering,
26:21then please don't hesitate to get in touch.
26:24And for some reason, if you're more interested in the present than the past,
26:28we have our other special programmes.
26:30Invictus Sport, Made in Kent, Kent on Climate, Kent Film Club and The Kent Politics Show.
26:35You can watch all of those throughout the week or catch up with them on our website.
26:39But from me, for now, have a very good evening and I'll see you soon.
26:43Bye-bye.
26:54Bye-bye.
27:09Bye-bye.
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