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I know that quite a section of our readership has fond memories of childhood days in South Street - particularly those who inhabited the familiar row of houses known as Brookland Villas!  

In those days, South Street was a misleading name because, in truth, it was neither a 'street', nor an integral part of the town of Whitstable. In fact, it was a hamlet - strung along the country roadway and bestowed with its own unique sense of community. It was served by a couple of general stores and supplemented on its eastern side by a number of unmade tracks that provided access to a smattering of farm cottages. It even had its own level crossing and railway station (South Street Halt) on the old Canterbury-Whitstable railway line. The southern edge of the hamlet was punctuated by Brooklands Farm which gazed over the attractive valley of the Swalecliffe Brook towards Clowes Wood. These were geographical features that provided generations of kids with an opportunity for freedom and fun.

As you can see from the picture below, the area still retains some of its country atmosphere but it is a far more substantial urban district as a result of both residential and commercial development and it is now a lobe attached to the growing town of Whitstable. 

Enlarged extracts show this in more detail....

The short stretch of  Millstrood Road (between the Old Thanet Way and the junction with South Street) has been largely devoted to commercial enterprises. Meanwhile, the rough farm tracks on the western side have become residential areas that have merged with the nearby developments of Clover Rise and the South Tankerton estate.  

However, despite the lateral spread of South Street, Brooklands Farm remains the most southerly residence. Beyond that, the rural scene remains largely intact with the beautiful sweep of valley occupied by Swalecliffe Brook..... 

Once the province of local farm workers and youngsters, this swathe of countryside  is now visited by hoards of riders and pedestrians..... thanks to the construction of a cycle path that links Whitstable with the City of Canterbury.

One of the cycle path's 'claims to fame' is that it retraces the route of the old Canterbury-Whitstable ('Crab and Winkle') Railway Line. In fact, for  much of its route, it shadows rather than recreates the journey. This is demonstrated in the illustration below....

The yellow line shows the original route taken by steam trains. The dotted section of track has disappeared under a business park and fields. It isn't until the incline of Clowes Wood that the railway embankment reappears.

The cycle path utilises an old farm track that leads south from Brooklands farm. Originally, this crossed the Swalecliffe Book via a muddy ford. However, the stream has now been partially re-routed and a substantial bridge carries cyclists over both the water and the New Thanet Way dual carriageway.

It is some distance into Clowes Wood before the two paths merge as shown in the picture below. This is taken looking west towards the village of Blean.

It is here that the cycle path mounts the railway embankment and follows an 'arrow straight' link to the old winding pond. In the early days of the Crab & Winkle Line, the pond supplied water to a static steam engine that hauled carriages up the incline into Clowes Wood.

It is a short lived union between path and track. The old rail line continues for a few yards beyond the pond before disappearing once more under farmland on its  journey to the village of Tyler Hill and the tunnel beneath the University of Kent at St Stephen's Hill. Meanwhile, the cycle path lurches west towards Blean and ploughs its own narrow furrow to another of Canterbury's hills - St Thomas's.