Railway Street, Chatham has been home to some longstanding businesses. One of them was Scott’s Timber Yard, established in 1864 and owned by Roy and Keith Scott.
The business had been bought out from the brothers on retirement by Sandell, Smythe and Drayson of Maidstone (Travis Perkins). The buildings on Railway Street burned down in the early 1980’s I understand. The Sir John Hawkins Flyover made use of the site. Railway Street was cleaved in two. More details about the business and a lovely image of the Railway Street facade can be seen on the Kent History Forum site (click this link). Scott’s also had an entrance on the High Street. Local maps show the enormous footprint of the business behind the facades. Many local people I have talked to remember the business. It would be brilliant to hear more stories about it.
Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre have a wonderful series of GOAD maps, which contain the most detailed plans and annotations of building along Railway Street and Military Road. Each building is described via a detailed key reference. Scott’s Timber Yard is drawn is great detail and the scale of it’s site becomes very clear. The maps were produced originally for fire insurance purposes – hence the level of detail.