I had my first sip of beer in The Old House at Home when aged about 3. (1945) Bill and Dorothy Ruthven kept the pub and were like an aunty and uncle to me. The view from the pub was lovely until the flood defences were built, after the 1952 floods. Are there any Ketleys left in Queenborough ? Does anyone remember fisherman 'Buff' Ketley who sold shrimps and fish from his house near the pub ? And who remembers the 'Chemos' ? (The chemical works). Most people heated the smell it produced, but I liked it; it was a Queenborough trademark. We used to sing 'Oh the glue works, in Queenborough, make people faint in Chatham Dockyard.' I can't remember the rest of the song. Other memories are the huge boulders of green glass on Rushenden beach, presumably scrap from the glass works, the minesweepers moored all along the harbour, the old Flushing Pier, and the wonderfully glutinous mud in the Creek. I loved it all and hated being torn away from it to live in Cambridge in 1947. We went back 'home' to my Grandparents at 3 Mill Cottages, North Road, every school holiday till I was about 16, and I still visit occasionally.
Sharon ( Smith ) Afrifa
25-Feb-2013 20:19
We used to live next door to this public house. We lived in the bungalow on the sea front to the left of the pub.I was born in 1971, i can ask my parents if they have any old pictures of us as children as we used to go crabing/swimming of the pier.We also should have some old pictures of the schools in Queenbourough . My Father should have old pictures of the old glue factory in Rushenden / Queenborough as he worked there for many years .When i was a child i used to look on the sea front and always used to find old clay pipes and old bottles.
Peter Cole
10-Jan-2011 22:57
I have just found this image of the public house which my Great Great Grandfather was landlord of in 1851. The Public house still exists but the current landlady does not have any old images of the property. Would it be possible to obtain two copies, one for my records and one for the landlady? Regards Pete
