Friends of Eastgate House
  • Home
  • About Eastgate House
    • Gallery
    • Your Memories
    • Restoration Project
  • News
  • Events
  • Join us
    • Membership
  • About Us
    • Costume Project
  • Contact

Sharing your memories of
​Eastgate House

Michael Harris

8/11/2016

1 Comment

 
​My earliest memories of Eastgate House date back to when I was a pupil at The King’s School in Rochester.  One of our teachers took the class to visit it, probably around 1960, as we were reading excerpts from Dickens’ ‘Pickwick Papers’ in our English class. I recall we all became far more attentive when we heard that there were reports that ghosts had been seen (or felt) in the building: a lot more exciting to a 12-year-old than descriptions of Elizabethan architecture.
​​When I left the King’s School, I attended the Medway College of Art, the main building of which was directly across a pathway from Eastgate House in a building now serving as Medway Adult Education Centre.  In fine weather, we would often spend our lunchtimes in the little garden that was tucked in beside Eastgate House. It seemed so peaceful there, even though we were only a few yards from the noise and bustle of Rochester High Street.
 
After leaving college, I lived in Borstal Village and worked in London for a few years but returned to the Medway Towns, taking a job as an artist in the advertising department of the Evening Post, at their office in Chatham High Street near Luton Arches.  Not long after that, I emigrated to the United States, settling initially in the Hudson Valley area of New York.
 
I returned frequently on visits to the Medway Towns, and when I was accompanied by friends from America, I would always take them to Eastgate House after it became the Charles Dickens Centre, because Dickens still fascinates many Americans, particularly due to the many films that have been made from his books. Even if I visited alone, I would always need to stock up on souvenirs from the Dickens Centre to take back to friends in the USA.
 
Later, after the Dickens artifacts moved to the new museum at the Chatham Dockyard, I returned to Rochester to visit Eastgate once or twice when my sister was exhibiting some of her paintings there as part of a painters’ group to which she belonged.
 
I am so pleased to know that the fine old building is undergoing renovation and conservation.  I am nearly 70 years old now, and so many memories revolve around the times I have spent at or around Eastgate House.  I now live in Nashville, Tennessee, and I shall make a trip to Rochester in 2017 to see Eastgate House restored to its former glory.
1 Comment
Wrap Products link
28/5/2023 23:14:43

Apprecciate this blog post

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Tell us about your memories

    We would love to hear your memories of visiting Eastgate House.

    To share your memories write to us using our contact page.

    View by name

    A. Simon
    Amanda Thomas
    Ann Barrett
    Barbara and Eddie Goldsmith
    Bettina Jane
    Dave Jolley
    David Wraight
    ​Dorothy Brown
    Edwin John Elliot
    Eileen Ring
    Elaine Phillips
    Freya Harrison
    ​Jean Cambell
    Jenny Harrison
    Jill Shicluna
    John Knott
    John Winch
    Julie Aspinall
    Kim Slater
    ​Michael Harris
    Mike Sharp ​
    ​
    Paul Elliot
    Robert Norris
    Stephanie Goodrum (nee Cole)
    Stuart Froment 
    Susan Haydock
    Vivienne Parker
    William Rattigan
    ​Mrs Y Atkinson
    ​Mr Wise

    ​
    ​​
    ​
    ​
    ​
    ​

    ​

THE frIENDS OF eASTGATE hOUSE

The Friends of Eastgate House
31 The Esplanade
Rochester
Kent
ME1 1QW
United Kingdom

get involved

​Support us
News
Events
About Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy

KEEP IN TOUCh

© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved. Website design and build by Carole Morgan.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About Eastgate House
    • Gallery
    • Your Memories
    • Restoration Project
  • News
  • Events
  • Join us
    • Membership
  • About Us
    • Costume Project
  • Contact