"Many people consider it to be spoiled by an overlay of industrialism, but I think they are blind who cannot see a slightly exotic, southern quality in the steep streets running up from the water front. Two hundred river pilots live in Gravesend, and their personality, which is that of a vocation, permeates the town. Though it stands on the closing shores of the Thames, which at this point is only a mile wide at high tide, Gravesend is a maritime, one might even say a saline place. There is a certain robust, hornpipe character about its people. One expects to see a parrot in every front room, and a tattooist's shop round every corner. If one lands there from the Tilbury Ferry the aspect of the old High Street, with its many shop signs hanging out like those in a Chinese city, gives an impression of entering a foreign country. It is a great place for eating houses, but rather of the forecastle than the quaterdeck kind. If you want simplicity and quality in a meal, go to Gravesend.”
(p.236).
The tattooists, shop signs and good cheap eats are still in evidence on Gravesend's High Street. Still looking for the parrots though! I wonder what other changes have happened in the last 60 years?
Lucy
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