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BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE PARISH & ITS FACILITIES
Ditton is a long narrow Parish which straddles the A20 (the old Dover
to London Road) in Kent. Its main residential area has been steadily developed
since 1922, when Aylesford Paper Mill was established on the banks of
the Medway, and is situated on either side of the main road. The Parish
has farmland to the South and Industry to the North.
Aerial
view of Ditton parish. Image produced from the www.old-maps.co.uk service
with permission of Landmark Information Group Ltd. and Ordnance Survey.
It is unique in that it boasts the only ford in the Tonbridge & Malling
Borough which, along with the 15th Century Church, is situated in a Conservation
area.
Since it was mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, the population
of Ditton has risen to approximately 6000 (including children) and the
facilities which have been provided for these people during recent years
have been comparable to those of much larger Parishes. For more
information, read Ditton's entry in "The
History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent" Volume 4
(1798), pp. 455-63, by Hasted.
A Junior School was built in 1853 (when the population was 200) with a
separate Infant School being opened in 1967.
The vision of the Parish Council in building a substantial Community Centre
on land given to the Parish for social and recreational purposes has proved
well-justified: it is extremely well-used for a wide variety of sporting
and recreational purposes and, since it was opened in 1974, has twice
been extended to provide additional facilities. The most recent of these
being the addition of a Residents' Club (opened in 1986) which is extremely
well used.
The
Kilnbarn Club
The building of the original Centre was financed by means of a loan from
the Public Works Loan Board and further extensions by means of interest-free
Brewery loans.
Ditton is lucky enough to possess above-average Open Space: A 4 acre Recreation
Ground acquired in 1954 and a second one measuring 11 acres which was
provided in the early 1970's, just prior to the building of the Community
Centre. These grounds provide facilities for four Senior football teams
and two Junior football clubs plus a cricket team. Two tennis courts were
constructed here in 1974. During 1999 the Council was successful
in obtaining a Sports Council Lottery Grant of £38,946 and grants
from Aylesford Newsprint and Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council to
upgrade the Tennis Courts to a multi-sport pitch to accommodate tennis,
five-side football, netball and basket ball and also build a petanque
piste.
A further 18 acres of recreational land was handed to the Parish in 1991
following the cessation of quarrying at Ditton Court Quarry. Most of this
land has been partially landscaped and sown with wild flowers and is to
be retained as a rural area for use by local residents; this has been
granted SNCI status, due to the wide variety of plants and butterflies
(some quite rare) which are to be found there. The Parish Council
and volunteers have worked hard during 2008 and 2009 to have the area designated a Local
Nature Reserve, protecting it from any development in the future.
A small section of the land has been leased to Ditton Bowls Club who,
with Sports Council grants and loans from the Parish Council, have provided
a thriving Bowls Club which boasts one of the best kept greens in the
area. The Club has its own pavilion for use by its members.
The Parish Council has also taken the opportunity to move its Allotment
gardens away from their original location alongside the M20 Motorway to
a new site on the edge of the Quarry recreational land; this move was
welcomed by existing Allotment holders and meant that those on the waiting
list at that time could be accommodated.
During the last 25 years Parish Council staffing levels have increased
from a part-time Clerk working from home and an elderly Village Caretaker
to a full-time Clerk, plus one full time and three part-time Administrative
assistants, all working in properly equipped offices at the rear of the
Community Centre, together with three full-time Grounds staff and three
permanent Bar staff: additional bar staff are employed on a casual basis
as and when required.
The cleaning and caretaking of the Community Centre is also managed in-house
and there are currently five caretakers/cleaners working on a shift basis.
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The
Parish seal (pictured at the top of the page) is a design that was the outcome of a competition at Ditton
Junior School in 1979.
The seal shows the stream, the conservation area, ducks from the stream
and hands of friendship.
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The
Ditton War Memorial, which was designed by Mr. Gilbert Scott, was unveiled
on 26th September 1920.
There is a tablet on the front of the memorial that records the names
and ranks of service people from Ditton who died in both World Wars.
On Remembrance Day each year a parade leading to the Memorial takes place
and is held at 11 o'clock. At the Memorial local Guides, Brownies, Clubs
and Rangers, Army and Air Force cadets join the Parish Council in a wreath-laying
ceremony. |
