MEDWAY'S PAST IS BOTH FASCINATING AND CRUCIAL to the life of Great Britain. Some historians say the towns' expectations have risen and fallen with the fortunes of the empire.

Medway's past should be cherished in the hope that history can teach us to learn from our mistakes.

I have followed this principle over the past five years while writing the Memories page in the Medway News. In autumn 2006 Trinity Mirror, the huge publishing concern that owned the News, dropped contributing Memories editors, denying loyal readers the chance to read my honeyed words every Friday. The News and its sister papers have now been sold to Northcliffe Media, part of the Daily Mail group, who appear to be loving and cherishing them in a way that most recent owners have not.

This website includes a selection based on the features I have written for the Medway News Memories page. All the  material has been extensively revised with extra information and more images. Many of the features are new and exclusive to this site.

I shall add new pages as often as possible, so log on and enjoy ... and please write in by clicking here.

Stephen Rayner

This site is not affiliated to the Medway News, but we're still good friends.

Click here for an index to the Chatham News 1895-1965