Actually, the images I have recently received permission to use from the collection of Rex Cadman, also feature in the Kent Photo Archive and I am grateful to Roy Moore for putting me in contact with him via his colleague Roger Smoothy. The War & Peace Collection contains a number of relevant images of our route in Chatham.

I love this image of Railway Street, with its celebratory flags, bunting and street decorations. I have no idea what the celebration is – but clearly a big event in the calendar for the town. Notice the fairground at the bottom of Military Street on The Paddock site. On the left can be seen the Invicta Furniture Depository and below it the clock and striped awning of the Opticians – I can make out the name Clements – will check this out via Kelly’s Street Directory.

All of the properties in the image above were demolished to build the Pentagon Shopping Centre and Mountbatten House.

The underlying symmetry, formation, visual contrast and rhythm in this image has been an important influencing factor in the development of the ‘Chatham Patterns’ concept. Similar events and parades must have played out within the streets and public spaces of Chatham so many times, that the evidence is within the very fabric of place.