Vintage Gravesend | Kent | A Town Called...| 1975 

I was born in Gravesend in 1968 and left when I was 21. It was a fab place to grow up, in the 70's and 80's, no where better I felt. I loved the river and the prom and all the pubs with their live music when I was a teenager. Close enough to London to visit often and close enough to the Kent coast to get away easily for a seaside break. Surrounded by bueatiful kent countryside and small villages, best of everything. It has my heart.

The town I grew up in and remember when I lived at the Tollgate 1951 - 1978. I went back in the Millennium with a friend and so much had changed, some call it progress, but for me and my friend we really could not agree!

everything seemed so much more alive back in the 1970's....

Lot more pubs there then than there is now . RIP Battle of Britain

I was at the sea school back in September 75 for 10 weeks Gravesend seemed a nice place back then

Wonderful film clip of old Gravesend.

I was 1 in 1975 and lived in nearby Istead Rise. This brings back good memories of visiting Gravesend in the late 70s/early 80s.

Beautiful lovely place Gravesend was at the sea training college Gravesend in 1984 end September till December trained as a deckhand then came back to train as a steward loved every moment Gravesend is a Beautiful Beautiful place & will always have a place in my heart 😊❤🙏👍

Yer Gravesend was cool in the 70s dangerous at night now I remember the Circus marching through town and the May Day Parade and the out door swimming pool all but distant memories now so sad how the town has changed

Very good and a big thank you, it brought back a lot of memories.

I remember for some reason we went to gravesend on a school trip in the early 70's.

A lot of privately owned family businesses, that was very common in towns then. Nowadays it is mostly chain shops.

great bit of social history. thank you for up loading.

Thanks, really enjoyed watching this. I was 14 at the time, and Gravesend was the premier town in the area, a step up from Gravesend or any of the Medway towns (excepting perhaps Rochester). It's really sad to have watched the town die over the last 50 years. It's a complete cr*p hole now; I wish I could leave.

Wow the year of my birth. And yes I can still remember some of these growing up

I live in gravesend, born in 1991 seeing this is wow not much changed when I grew up well apart from the shops

This was filmed before the battle of the chavs Before the dark times

I was 15 years old in 1975 and it is now 'Vintage'.

Born there in 67. Stayed until I was 21 then left to join RAF. Both brothers are still there. Lots of memories in this video.

what an amazing video. Gravesend actually looked good back then in the 70s. It definitely needs some money injected in to it as it has nothing going for it and is quite droll and dirty. Overpopulated and all the buildings filthy like they need knocking down which is ashame given the history

Just how I remember it.x

It even has delboys van in it

I remember it as a kid, the indoor market was my favourite part and the chippy restaurant by the market was always where we’d go on a Saturday, if my dad was flush. I’ve not been back to Gravesend in 20 years.

One of the Tilbury - Gravesend ferries, the MV Rose I think, was sold to the Caledonian Steam Packet Co, to become the MV Keppel. There were 3 or 4. One other was called the Edith I think. The Keppel replaced the DEPV ( Deisel Electric Paddle Vessel ) Talisman on the Largs - Millport Town ( Isle of Cumbrae ) foot passenger only run from about 1968 till the service ceased in the 1980's or even 90's. There was a car ferry to the island at Cumbrae slip anyway and this was continued. As the Keppel, she was only good for 8 knots and was not much use for anything else but she did short distance cruises too. The Talisman, of 1935, was unique because she had an electric motor with a paddle wheel at each end. There was no gear box and the clearance between the massive windings and stator was tiny- only about 1/8" or so. The torque was phenomenal as the motor got up from rest to over 40 rpm driving her at over 16 knots. She could stop within two ship lengths too. A vessel before her time.

Went down there on a Saturday adventure from Bexleyheath about this time, I was 12.. me and my mate found a place with pinball machines in it along that thin road / hill facing the river.. Interesting place, lot of history... then later in life visited the Red Lion Pub which was music venue tucked well out of the way on an industrial road close to the river..

2:10 Back then you could ask some passing stranger to stand guard over your baby while you went into the shop.

This is the same time and same era when the song Dancing Queen was released and was played on the radio and was in the charts

.. . The traffic running through what is the high street... Looks almost surreal lol

I was born there in 1977 and only live a few miles away from it now. I was involved in the demolition of the Cinema 18 years ago following a fire.

Lived there in the 70 my local pumas the chase pub all irish

It's interesting to see the shut down Tattoo parlour; I bet there's a few popped up in recent times! Also it was the time of transition from the traditional traffic lights with the striped pole to the Mellor type with the white border, both types being on display in this film.

Actually, Gravesend is a superb town. The town centre is ok, even today. We have a great promenade, the Thames, great schools, wonderful parks, countryside and marshlands, cyclopark, diversity and cultural harmony, sports centres and transport links, plus brilliant placement for access to the continent and the rest of the UK. You could argue that Gravesend is actually one of the best places to live in the UK.

Omg that’s my best mates Nan and grandads Indian sweet shop woah

I was born in 1947 on gravesend and left in 1969 so glad I made the move.

Poor Gravesend now needs a big lift 😔

Reminds me of heart of darkness.

Not a single mother in sight pushing 3 Chavy kids down to the job centre.

no sound

0:29 Think somebody needs to check on that person bottom left! Too much sherry in the 3 Daws?!

I had a tattoo done in that semi derelict shop in 1962.

Now known locally as Gravesindia 🤔

not so great now but theres a lovely little italian in the high street!

Couldn't find enough of interest in Gravesend so they had to include a clip from Northfleet

A different England.....

Sanchez de tovar sends hi to all gravesend!

Remember the football team managed by Tony Sitford who enjoyed a good time before relegation.

Sally?

Allow traffic to pass through Gravesend town again, with limited drop off and pick up plus strictly controlled speed limits, then you'll see this town come back to life.

This was before cultural enrichment so I see, good times.

OMG, I remember all this, and Shears Green school in Northfleet, this was when all the Pak----s started to infest the place, they placed Stickers on bus stops saying, 'We Want Your Jobs We Want Your Homes We Want Your Country'

Aw it looked so beautiful back then. Now its downtrodden, filthy, no decent shops and suffers from a sheer lack of community spirit.

Oh, what times they were when you were able to take your dead wife for a day at the park 0:26

Omg

Gravesend today is a total toilet and that's being kind. Looked not bad back then though.

So even in 1975 alot of Pakistanis what was the attraction to gravesend?

Oh to be like this again our england .. be full of dinghy passengers now..

No walking black bags

Please don’t blame poverty, social deprivation and crime on immigration. Blame it on governmental neglect, personal greed and the corruption which keeps ordinary poor in this country. The people who have immigrated into Britain are just like you or me….all they want is a better life for themselves and their families. They didn’t come here to add to urban decay, crime and poverty. Don’t blame those who can’t make a difference; blames those who could and should be making a difference. Blame the corrupt government who keeps the majority of the people of this country in little better than modern day serfdom. By believing in their racist and xenophobic lies that immigrants are the cause of this country’s woes you fall exactly into the trap they want you to. For, whilst you are busy ‘watching and blaming the immigrants’ , you aren’t ‘watching or blaming them’.

When Britain was our own country 😒😒😒 ( Only stating a true fact )

I've had the misfortune to visit this place once, and it's not called Gravesend for nothing

oh no,.another multi-racial town,..but we did not vote for it, did we,..shocker..

Theyre all white

Load a shit now

Gravesend used to be an awesome place, but it's a terrible place now. Most of the south east is a toilet now.

Sort out the bloody sound!!

Never met anyone nice from there