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Like any where else in the country, the face of Kent is changing. Some changes are simple, like houses being built on a spare bit of land. But some are so strange they deserve some attention, here are a few that caught our eye.
Watering holes
There is a growing trend of old toilets being converted into new places to wet your whistle.
Don’t gag just yet, these new venues have all received a warm welcome.
In fact The Cotton Mill in Station Road, Swanley made it into CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide last year.
It’s not just micropubs joining the trend either, one firm in Canterbury has made something upmarket of an underground loo.
Privy is an art-deco cocktail bar inspired by American speakeasies.
Owner Angela Long said: “We have paid attention to detail and are very pleased with the results. We have made use of all the space – absolutely everything.”
Hops and spices
The Oast House in Hollow Lane, Snodland could be converted into a KFC.
Plans to turn an iconic piece of Kent architecture into a Kentucky dining destination have divided local opinion.
Even Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch has voiced her opposition, given the installation of fast food restaurants on the other side of town.
First though, it needs needs approval from Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council.
The council’s Planning Committee was due to make a decision in October, but it was deferred.
No date has been set for a decision.
Delivered unto God
The old Royal Mail Sorting Office in Sandling Road has been eyed up for a lot of things over the years.
It was once going to be a “gateway” to Maidstone, boasting a department store.
For now its purpose rests in the hands of God.
Liberty Church moved in last year and held an official opening in January.
You won’t find any stained glass windows or old wooden pews, but that’s all part of the message of this thoroughly modern church.
It’s not clear how long it will last though, Maidstone Borough Council has plans to turn the office into 400 flats.
Sorting offices aren’t the only Chosen Ones though.
Buckmore Park scout centre, once a thriving sports complex, reopened as the headquarters for a Pentecostal church in 2013.
Kingsway International Christian Centre, also known as Prayer City, is a registered charity that sold its previous home to make way for London’s Olympic Park.
A toast to freedom
Nowadays the good folk of Canterbury serve drinks behind bars rather than hard time.
The Pound at One Pound Lane was originally built as an extension to the City Gaol in 1829, later becoming the city’s police station.
Nearly 200 years later there’s an altogether different feel about the place.
Since 2014 it has been a bar, restaurant and escape room, offering a unique, 21st century glimpse inside a piece of local history.
Rockers, clubbers and accountants
Once a famous haunt for rockers in the 60s and 70s, Kings Lodge in West Kingsdown has seen its fair share of excitement over the years.
As Johnson’s Cafe, Kings Lodge welcomed rockers and bikers ready to ride down the nearby A20 in Farningham, gloomily named ‘death hill’.
By the 1980s it was Oscar’s, then King’s Disco, a nightclub that pulled in visitors from London and Kent.
Now it’s an accountancy firm.
In 1999 A4G LLP set up shop at the abandoned building, keeping reminders of days gone by on the walls of the office.
From pits to parks
Betteshanger Colliery was also the largest mine in Kent and the in the county to close in 1989.
Having opened in the 1920s the site in Deal made its mark on the nation’s history, becoming the only place where miners striked during the Second World War.
The old spoil tip, once a mountain of coal and machinery, chose to rename the 365-acre site as Fowlmead Country Park and Nature Reserve, which was officially opened in 2007.
Fowlmead we rebranded as Betteshanger Country Park in 2015 and is known now as Betteshanger Park.
The days of coal-stained workers and industry are far behind it now. The park hosts the KM’s annual Colour Run and is a hive of sporting activity.
Read more: All the latest news from Kent
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