Gravesend in particular was and is a riverside town - sitting on an outcrop of rock which juts out to the river's edge, rather than having a vast area of marshland in between the town and the river (as is the case in varying degrees with Gravesham's other riverside places of Northfleet, Denton, Chalk, Shorne and Higham.)

The decline in importance of the river is still something in the living memory for anyone over 50. The liners using Tilbury Docks, across the river in Essex, declined rapidly from the 1960s, aided by a mixture of militant workers and new technology with containers, which slashed the numbers of dockers and associated trades. The ability of Third World countries to take on local ports and with greater drives for profits, the winds of a changing riverside blew across Gravesham.

The riverside also saw the loss of fishing with shrimps declining and the riverside businesses which depended on the river trade declined and became derelict in the 1970s.

The Promenade in Gravesend was improved from the late 19th century with leisure in mind and with the civic pride shown by the councillors on the old Gravesend Corporation. Areas each side of this were of course increasingly industrialised. The canal basin at Gravesend allowed the import of coal to be used in the electricity and gas works, both situated near the riverside for this purpose. In Northfleet, the riverside was left to absolute exploitation by whatever industry wanted to use it, be it for docks, factories, power stations or wharves and jetties.

Beyond Gravesend in Chalk, Shorne and Higham the river side is flat green and brown marshes with increasing isolation and larks song, chrissed crossed with ditches in a way known and described by Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870).

The Thames give Gravesham its northern border, defines its shape and character and continues to play its role as the stage for local, national and international history.

Click on a story to watch, listen or read. For help with viewing or listening to the stories, click here.