Out to Luddesdown...

Much as I would like to avoid the subject of the wretched vineyard these days, it occupies such a vast area that it is difficult to skirt around it if you are walking anywhere near Cobham or Luddesdown...

Hatch Hill...

Hatch Hill (above) has been in the clutches of the winery since its inception, and it shows. These days, I'm really past caring whether or not Vineyard Farms build their billionaire's concrete pleasure dome at Upper Bush. I hear they are quietly lobbying councillors once more and will be giving presentations to our elected representatives on their latest and undoubtedly still vainglorious and wholly unnecessary (at least from a community and national perspective) plans. What really gets me down is the weed-strewn neglect of any land that isn't under vines. It seems such a waste. Doubtless they will claim it's all for the benefit of wildlife blah blah and maybe it is, but to me it just seems like they have too much land to manage with not enough staff...

Late autumn view over Luddesdown valley...

View from Wrenches Shaw towards Cobham...

I know late autumn isn't a good look for any agricultural land but vineyards, with their exposed metalwork and miles of wire that make the fields look like war-zones, are especially ugly during autumn, winter and much of spring. They will look like this until May and the return of a welcome covering of leaves for a few short months.

Grapes left to rot on the vines...

As if to emphasise the waste, it seems that much of this year's bumper harvest is being left to rot on the vines. Whether this is down to a lack of labour, a lack of processing capacity or just quality issues, I don't know...

Starlings trying to sleep off their feast..?

...but at least the glut has attracted some wildlife back to the otherwise silent and empty fields. Flocks of starlings have been attracted to the bounty of waste and are gorging themselves insensible on the fermenting fruit. Normally they would be chattering away and squabbling amongst themselves on their perches, but this lot looked too squiffy to do anything much. Stragglers struggled to land first time and some on the ground seemed too woozy to even take off. Sad piles of feathers here and there suggested that perhaps local foxes had been taking advantage of the starling's state of apparent inebriation. I went back the next evening just before sun-set to see if I could catch a murmuration (something I haven't seen for a few years given declining starling numbers) but this lot were still perched quietly on the overhead wires, seemingly too stuffed or hungover to do anything...

Winery plant at Court and Brooker's farm yard...

The amount of kit at Court and Brookers Farm had certainly increased since the last time I bothered to look. The rotary wine presses were new additions and seemed to be quietly whirring away, so obviously something was being processed. I was surprised to see the open nature of the hoppers, but perhaps a bit of starling poo is all part of the unique flavour of the Silverhand brand...

Steel industrial vats for wine manufacture at Court and Brooker's Farm...

All these tanks (41 of them) were put in on the back of a RETROSPECTIVE planning application. This does seem to be the way Vineyard Farms work - act first, then seek permission later.  It's not the first time either. You really wish Gravesham Council's planners would just "grow a pair", refuse it all and insist the tanks were taken down, but I guess VF just have too much financial clout to be denied. Permission has been granted on a temporary basis, with the tanks having to be removed by 22 June 2026. I dare say Gravesham Council will cave in and grant an extension come the time...

As I made my way past the Golden Lion I became aware that the air was filled with a powerful, sweet, sickly aroma. At first I though it was coming from the wine factory behind the pub, but as I walked down the Luddesdown Road towards Cobham it got stronger and stronger....

Compost Corner...

It seems that what I once thought were piles of fly-tipped chalk were now being used to contain the (and perhaps neutralise the acidic) "pomice" (unwanted grape residues from pressing and juice extraction) for composting purposes. The stench was quite overpowering and I hope the wind keeps it away from Luddesdown village (and the Golden Lion) while it all rots down. I thought maybe VF might have given their proposed anaerobic digestion plant idea a whirl, but perhaps that wasn't really anything but a sop for planning purposes after all...

A "fly-tip here" sign...?

Given the amount of fly-tipping that goes on in the vicinity, this sign almost seems like the classic "kick me" joke but Vineyard Farms (always ready to throw money at problems they themselves create) have deployed a battery of security cameras in the area to keep an eye on things.  

The road, as usual, is also the subject of a retrospective planning application.  But hey, Vineyard Farms are very big and very rich, right? Why should planning laws apply to them? I see they've had their plans for a 40 space car park just up the road from the pub turned down, however.  They are also thinking about building a barn extension at the wine factory to act as an off-licence. There's already been a few accidents up the narrow lane due to winery traffic (roads signs knocked down, an HGV hitting a house, a mini-digger crashing while being towed - and these are only the ones that have made into the VF accident book, by all accounts...). I can't see these developments improving matters, but I have no doubt the Gravesham Council's planners will eventually roll over and let VF do just what they want. 

Apparently (according to VF's tardy tank application documentation), all of this development is part of a "Brexit Good News Story". Tells you all you need to know, really...

Warren Hill, looking west across Winterham Hill towards Cobhambury Road...

I had originally planned to walk up into Cobham but the cloying stench of VF's compost heap had clung to my clothing and left me feeling rather nauseous, it being one of those stinks that insists on following you everywhere. I therefore decided to head for home and walk back towards Cuxton along Warren Road. The land to the north of the road has been part of VF's empire for about three years now. It was planted out with rapeseed a while back, which was then just left, seemingly forgotten. It has finally been cut back and things look a bit tidier, if still a bit bleak and depressing...

The Warren, looking east...

I was cheered up to find out that Vineyard Farms/Silverhand Estate had finally attempted a bit of local outreach, with the "What's On" bit of their web-site (a thing of beauty, if not information) advertising a (free!) "community harvest day". More places were made available to accommodate a sudden interest from numerous Cuxton residents. This can only be a good thing (though I would be surprised if such things became a frequent and regular occurrence. We really aren't "their sort" after all...).

After having a play at picking a few grapes, the punters went back to the Golden Lion and a good time was had by all, so I hear.

The pub has long been known as "The Vineyard Farms' Social Club", by all accounts being oft-frequented by estate workers and patronised by VF's management alike. They have now cemented that close relationship by buying the lease of the pub, so I understand. Quite how long the Golden Lion will continue as a "local's pub" now is anyone's guess. Perhaps its long-term fate will to become rather like Chapel Down's The Swan at Tenterden, given the "high-end" aspirations of the new leaseholders.

(And that would be a pity because it is already the perfect pub. Go to their "TripAdvisor" page and you will see that anyone who leaves anything less than a four-star review must simply be a liar, an idiot or a chancer. And you can't argue with evidence like that...)

And all of this is why I dislike the vineyard so much. They just do what they want and even local councils run scared of them. 

I know it's "their" land but in effect, they have stolen the bluebells, the orchids and the butterflies from us and reserving them for paying tourists at a price. We can't even stand and admire the view across Bush Valley without "trespassing". They have turned huge swathes of once beautiful, varied and productive ancient farmland into a bedraggled-looking, semi-industrial, sterile monoculture of grape production. They are still buying up or leasing property all around us. Luddesdown Court, the oldest house in the country, has been bought up by them and is now an AirBnB. (It would cost a family of four ELEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS to rent for just one week in summer, which shows you who the vineyard is really for - and it ain't us!). They've got all of this history in their possession and yet they feel they need to even hijack that, monetise it and churn out made-up bollocks for marketing purposes instead. 

Now you have pay for "vineyard tours" of  bluebells, orchids, wildflowers etc. But (as the innocent, early posts of this blog show) these were all things I used to enjoy at my own pace, on my own and for nothing until Vineyard bloody Farms came along. Now they've curtailed free access to "their" property, employed surly, swaggering "rangers" to tell us to "get orf our larnd" and are keeping it solely for the benefit of their wealthy paying customers.

As Joni Mitchell once sang:

"They took all the trees/Put 'em in a tree museum

And they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em

Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone

They paved Paradise/Put Up a Parking Lot..."

Wealdway to Cobham...

Today I followed the North Downs Way to the ridge above Buckland Farm, and then walked down the hill to pick up the Wealdway through Luddesdown and into Cobham...

Stonyfield...

Much of the farmland owned by our feudal overlords at the "Silverhand Estate" winery has been left to revert to wilderness. It was therefore good to see that the weeds at Stonyfield were being hacked back... 

View towards Buckland Farm from the Weadlway...

View north towards Cobham in the distance from the Wealdway...

Vines from the Wealdway...

Grapes awaiting harvesting...

The vines in this area appear to have delivered a bumper crop of grapes. Vineyard Farms are going to have to put some hard work in to harvest them all...  

View north through the vineyard from the Wealdway...

View east across the vineyard from the Wealdway...

More grapes for the harvest...

View looking south from the Wealdway back towards Buckland Farm...

Not sure whether this is to deter livestock or unwanted ramblers...

View towards Cobham...

Luddesdown Church...

Court Lodge Farm through the vines...

Hawthorn berries have also benefitted from the favourable conditions...

View across Luddesdown cricket ground from Henley Down...

Panorama looking south from Henley Down...

More farmland reverting to wilderness under vineyard "management"...

I hadn't walked from Luddesdown to Cobham this way since last year. I was saddened to see that Vineyard Farms appear to have extended their tentacles to encompass Cobhambury Farm. The cereal crops that were once grown here were a welcome change from rows upon rows of dreary, weed-infested vines. Alas, all that seems to be growing now are weeds, a sight common across much of the "Silverhand Estate" that is not under vines. 

It seems incredible that in these globally uncertain times in terms of food supply, we can allow a company owned by a billionaire tax-exile to sequester vast areas of productive arable farmland that is then allowed to revert to wilderness...

The remains of another Cobham windmill? Lord Darnley's one was in the village and is now a private house...

Vineyard Farms checking out their new barbed wire fence along Lodge Lane in Cobham...

New barbed wire fencing seems to be springing up around much of the land that is constantly being added to Vineyard Farms' estate. These fences seem to be doing far better than the "hedgerows" that the vineyard boasted about planting a year or so back. The tiny hedging twigs (bought with public-funded grant money - times are tough for billionaire tax-exiles after all...) were shoved in the ground at the start of last year's drought and unsurprisingly, most of them seem to have died...  

View across the valley from the Darnley trail...

View south from the hill above Warren Road...

Warren Hill wilderness...

The farmland to the north of Warren Road came under the tender care of the vineyard a couple of years ago. It was deep-ploughed, dragging up the unsightly chalk substrate, and has since been left to the weeds. Once again, productive farmland seems to be neglected and is reverting to wilderness...

View towards Cuxton across Forge Field...

A small oasis of managed land still exists above Forge Cottage....

Barrow Hill, view across Bush Valley...

...and still Barrow Hill remains weed-strewn. This, of course, was intended to be the site of Vineyard Farms' vainglorious winery, plans for which were finally rejected by the Planning Inspectorate a few months back. The time window to appeal to the High Court against that decision has long since elapsed. Both the Medway Council and the Planning Inspectorate websites give no indication that Vineyard Farms/MDCV UK Ltd have lodged an appeal, nor can I find any evidence of one on the High Court schedules to date.

Whisper it quietly, but I think VF may have finally abandoned their grandiose scheme, at least in its original design. 

We await their next throw of the dice...

Cuxton School...

Cuxton School, 2021...

Quite when the first local schools in Cuxton started up is unclear, but they were almost certainly in the form of “Dame’s Schools”. These schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman who would educate children for a small fee. At Dame’s schools, children were taught the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. Girls were often instructed in crafts such as knitting and sewing.

"The Dame School", by F.C. Cotman (1850-1920)...

From a drawing held at the Rochester Guildhall Museum, it appears that one such school was located at the Old Post Office Row, which used to be sited opposite the Parsonage. The drawing, (showing the Old Post Office Row to a remarkably -perhaps suspiciously- faithful degree) was possibly made by one of the school’s pupils...

Drawing of a "Dames School, Cuxton, Kent", date unknown (from Rochester Guildhall collection)...

Photograph of the Old Post Office Row, c.1900...

Another Dame’s School may have been at White Hart Farm: Medway Archives have an old daguerreotype-style photographic print of the building which bears the annotation “Dame’s School”.

In 1803, the Rector of Cuxton Church, Reverend Charles Moore, is recorded as having set up: 

“… a little school in the parish (where there was none before) and paying myself for the constant weekly schooling of eight or more poor children, giving them shoes and stockings in the winter to encourage them to be regular…”

The Church accounts at the time record a sum expended: “paid to Featherstones of Rochester for schooling – worsted and shoes - £7-12-6d.”

In 1826, William Hollingdale was recorded as being Cuxton’s parish Clerk and schoolmaster, suggesting that a school was by then in operation. This may have been sited at the parsonage (a location today occupied by Cuxton’s scout hall) which was at the time otherwise shunned by Cuxton’s rectors as too much of a damp and unpleasant place to permanently live.

It was the enterprise of another Cuxton rector, Canon Robert William Shaw, which led to the building of Cuxton’s first dedicated school. When Robert Shaw first came to Cuxton, the population of the village was around 370, but it was clear that local industries, particularly the cement industry, were poised to expand.

The original Cuxton school, 1919...

Foreseeing a need for permanent schooling to serve a growing number of children, Canon Shaw’s school was built on land just to the south-east of the church, close to the main road, and included accommodation for a schoolmistress. On its opening in 1849, the school could accommodate up to 70 pupils, who then came from both Cuxton and nearby Halling.

Cuxton's old school, with the nearby church in the background, c. 1920...

The Education Act of 1870 saw the building of additional capacity for infants in 1876 at a cost of £185, which was met by Lord Darnley, Canon Shaw and his friends and also some of the local yeoman (Messrs Wood, Pye and Weekes).

Cuxton School, c. 1930

The Act established a system of 'school boards' to build and manage schools in areas where they were needed. The boards were locally elected bodies which drew their funding from the local rates. Unlike “voluntary schools”, religious teaching in the board schools was to be 'non-denominational'.

In 1880 a further Education Act finally made school attendance compulsory between the ages of five and ten in order to try and stop child labour, though by the early 1890s attendance within this age group nationally was still only around 82 per cent.

Many children worked outside school hours - in 1901 the figure was put nationally at 300,000 - and truancy was a problem as many parents could not afford to give up income earned by their children, particularly at Cuxton when hop-picking and harvesting seasons came round. Some also simply could not afford to send their children to school as school fees were payable until a change in the law in 1891, although the church involvement at Cuxton made education available to many who could not otherwise have afforded it.

Further legislation in 1893 extended the age of compulsory attendance to 11, and in 1899 to 12.

Up to the death of Canon Robert Shaw in 1873, the school had been in the care of an uncertificated master. His successors, Canon Charles Colson and John Toone, subsequently oversaw the appointment of a series of qualified teaching professionals, including Mr. Thomas Strickson, who was headmaster of Cuxton School from 1900 until 1930.

Pupils of Cuxton School, 1877, with the Headmistress, Miss Elizabeth Percival and assistant Alice Percival..

By 1902 the population of Cuxton had also nearly doubled and the national Board of Education gave notice that a larger school would be required. 

The old Cuxton Chapel, c.2000 (prior to its relocation to the Museum of Kent Life at Sandling). It was used as a "overflow" school
building in 1903 until the completion of the "new" village school in 1905...
(source : Cuxton History fb page)

There was no room for further expansion at Canon Shaw’s school, and indeed, the children had been compelled to use the little green above the western side of the graveyard (now overgrown) as the play area.

Pupils of Cuxton school, c. 1900, with teacher Emma Osbourne...

A new National School was therefore built down in the village. The new school officially opened on Friday 6th. March 1906 and is still in use today (no cheap and nasty “aerated” concrete in that building!).

Pupils of Cuxton School, c. 1905, outside the old school with Headmaster Thomas Strickson...

The new national School under Headmaster Strickson appeared to have been run to very Victorian standards of discipline. Use of the cane was a common punishment and the curriculum was very much based on the “Three Rs”. 

A view of Bush Road from Six Acres, c. 1910, with the new school at centre.

Cuxton's new "National School", c.1907...

Things began to change upon his retirement in 1930, with his successor, Mr. R.H, White, being of a more liberal disposition despite his ex-Army background. 

Cuxton juniors, school photo, 1938...

Use of the cane as punishment became far less frequent and the curriculum changed to include more modern subjects (such as algebra) and to encourage organised sports and even gardening...

Cuxton School gardening class, 1931...(source : Cuxton History fb page)

The old school remained in use for a while as a Sunday school and church rooms, and the ground floor living accommodation was used by the school caretakers. Like many other of Cuxton’s old buildings, however, Canon Shaw’s school was finally demolished in 1964.

Demolition of the old Cuxton school, 1964...

These days, the much-extended Cuxton infants and primary school caters for nearly 400 pupils, many from outside of Cuxton itself.

Cuxton School, 1972...

References:

1) Cuxton - a Kentish Village by Derek Church, 1976 (ISBN 0 903253 12 7, published by Arthur J Cassell)

2) Cuxton - Its Past and People (written and published by Colin S Martin, 2005).