Search results for ""Author Martin Easdown""

Country houses were the showpieces of the nation’s elite and Kent can still boast some of the finest examples, with Leeds Castle, Chevening, Cobham Hall, Knole, Penshurst Place, Mereworth and Broome Park to name but a few. Sadly, the county has also witnessed the demolition of several of its grander houses due to changes in social habits and the decline and amalgamation of great estates, not to mention fire, dry rot and death duties. Estates of modern houses now cover the site of the many lost houses, while the remains of foundations, surviving entrance lodges and other outbuildings, and a few garden features can be found if looked for. It is evocative to think that what was once such an imposing building, the centre and social hub of the area, is now just a few scanty remains in a field. This is the first book to feature the lost country houses of the ‘Garden of England’ and Martin Easdown provides us with 120 examples of the grandest mansions that have disappeared, listed in gazetteer form with illustrations. He also provides us with a few examples, such as Oxney Court, where the house has come back to life after years of dereliction.

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One of the most evocative reminders of Victorian ingenuity at the British seaside is the much-loved cliff lift. This simple method of transporting people up and down the cliff side has been a feature of our coast, and a few inland towns, for over 150 years and has recently undergone a renaissance at places as varied as the National Coal Mining Museum, Legoland and the Centre for Alternative Technology. The cliff lift, otherwise termed the cliff railway or tramway, is also known as a funicular railway. The word ‘funicular’ is defined as ‘of rope or tension’, in other words a cable-hauled railway or tramway. The lifts were directly descended from cable-hauled railways, prevalent in mines and quarries, but also early passenger lines, where an engine or winding gear hauled loads up steep slopes. The term ‘cliff lift’ also generally encompasses the elevator-type lifts that were erected at some resorts. This book illustrates, mainly in colour, all the principal cliff lifts and railways that have been built in the British Isles, along with associated cable tramways, since their inception in the Victorian age. In addition to featuring all the surviving lifts, this book includes others which are long gone, and serves as a fine record of these charming and unique structures.

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Sussex has a good claim to be the birthplace of the seaside pleasure pier, for although Ryde Pier on the Isle of Wight has the earliest origins as a pier, the famous Chain Pier at Brighton was the first to be used as a fashionable promenade. There followed a rich succession of piers, as from the 1860s until around 1910 as they were constructed in Brighton West, Worthing, Bognor, Hastings and Eastbourne. In their heyday they were the place to be seen. Brighton even boasted a 'moving pier', the extraordinary Electric Railway, affectionately known as the 'Daddy-long-legs'. One of the country's finest piers, Brighton Pier suffered a decline in popularity in the 1950s and '60s, enduring a high-profile demise after dereliction from fire and storm damage. Nonetheless there is hope for it yet and the county of Sussex should be proud to have retained six of its piers including three of Britain's finest.

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As Sir John Betjeman famously put it, 'The Pier is Southend, Southend is the Pier'. Southend-on-Sea's famous landmark is the longest seaside pleasure pier in the world and has given its town sterling service in times of war and peace. Loved by millions of visitors, Southend pier is truly one of the icons of the British seasise. Southend without its pier would seem unthinkable, yet not so long ago there was talk to demolishing it following the disastrous fire of 1976 and the closing of the pier railway two years later. Fourtunately, following the support and lobbying of local people and pier lovers, the Grade II listed pier was saved, and although seemingly suffering a disaster every ten years or so, it's future seems happily assured under the care of Southend Council. This book is an extensive pictorial survey of the pier from its inception in 1830 up to 2007, celebrating 'the heart of Southend' and its everlasting appeal to both the town's residents and visitors alike.

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Hythe is the favourite Kent town for many people. An historic Cinque Port and seaside resort, great defensive interest and unusual charm add to its appeal as a quintessential small English town. Its Golden Age was from the 11th to the 14th centuries, when, along with the other Cinque Ports, it was responsible for the defence of this most vulnerable corner of England. The gradual silting of its harbour, coupled with a serious fire and a bad bout of the Plague, led to its decline in status. But far from becoming a 'Port of Stranded Pride', Hythe was re-invented as a military town during the Napoleonic threat.The School of Musketry was established there, the famous Royal Military Canal was dug, and Martello Towers were erected as defensive bastions. Still features of the local landscape, the canal, in particular, remains a wonderful asset that runs right through the heart of the town. Hythe grew into a middle ranking seaside watering place, with indoor baths based on the grand spa buildings of Bath and Cheltenham, and a quaint horse tram that ran for four miles along the sea to Sandgate.In recent years the world-famous Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway has attracted thousands of visitors, as has the traffic-free High Street, with its fascinating mix of building periods and styles, now a shopper's delight! From the High Street ancient narrow alleys climb the hillside to the majestic parish church of St Leonard. This is the first book to combine an authoritative, readable history of the town with an extensive collection of interesting old photographs, drawn not only from the authors' own archives but also those of other respected local historians, most of which have never previously been published.In particular, Hythe's eastern suburb of Seabrook, which has been totally overlooked in previous histories of the town, is included for the first time, and in detail.

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The unique, but sadly short-lived, Brighton & Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway must have presented quite an amazing spectacle, even during those late Victorian days of engineering excellence. Affectionately known as the ‘Daddy-Long-Legs’, ‘spider car’ or ‘sea car’, the railway resembled a piece of seaside pier that had broken away and was moving by itself through the sea. Although closed over a hundred years ago, interest in the Daddy-Long-Legs Railway remains strong and it has become a Brighton icon. The book details the history of the Daddy-Long-Legs and features the best collection of photographs of it so far assembled, along with plans, timetables and posters and associated features such as Volk’s Electric Railway and the piers assembled as a landing stage for the Daddy-Long-Legs. This will be the first book to concentrate solely on this unique and fascinating piece of British seaside history.

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Martin Easdown's compelling account of the German air raid on Folkestone in 1917 and its appalling aftermath is the first comprehensive history of an episode to be published. He gives a dramatic description of the event, relying heavily on the eyewitness testimony from the townspeople who were there on that fateful day. He records the experiences of the German airmen who carried out the raid and pioneered a new and terrifying method of warfare. In addition, he recounts in graphic detail similar attacks by bombers, seaplanes and Zepplins on other Kentish towns, including Dover, Ramsgate, Margate and Sheerness.

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