Charing & District Local History Society
The information page about the Archbishops Palace has been updated (April 2024) to reflect recent developments following it’s purchase by the Spitafields Historic Buildings Trust.
A new CDLHS publication
140 Years of the Maidstone to Ashford Railway
– The Charing Connection
This book, written by committee member, Steve Beck, in conjunction with Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre, is the story of the origins and construction of the railway from Maidstone to Ashford that runs through Charing. It explores the improvements made over the years, its use during both World Wars, the freight traffic over the route, the electrification in the 1960s and much more. It contains some very rare photographs, mainly from the Society’s collection and many from the celebrated railway photographer, Brian Stephenson who very kindly made his collection available.
It is A4 sized, fully illustrated in colour and consists of 38 pages.
ISBN No 978-0-9570299-3-4, Price £7.50 + £3.50 p&p.
Harold Trill 1930 - 2024
It is with great sadness that we report the death of Harold Trill
Harold was a long time member of the History Society and one of our Vice Presidents.
Many of us have fond memories of Harold from his chats when you met him in the village, using his camera to record* local events and his film shows.
Harold was a true gentleman and an ambassador for Charing.
A video, featuring Harold, made by his son, Andy, in 2018, can be viewed at this link: Harold's Last History Tour
*Several more of Harold’s videos can be seen on YouTube (click here to view them)
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About Charing
About the Society
Publications
Useful Links
Historical Allsorts
… and here is a little bit about us
Charing & District Local History Society,
also known as CDLHS for short,
is a group of around 100 members,
who take an interest in local history.
Headed up by a committee of elected members,
we run a regular programme of lectures and outings.
We also provide village tours and hold the occasional exhibition.
Newsletters are produced regularly
and there are usually a few projects on the go,
such as the recording of oral histories
and the digitisation of historic photographs.
The Society has also published
a number of books on Charing history
and we also try to answer enquiries where possible.
You can also follow us on Facebook