Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a small town in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located east of Dartford and also north-west of Gravesend, in the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. At the 2001 UK census, the Swanscombe selecting ward had a population of 6,418. Swanscombe was very important in the early history of cement. The very first concrete manufacturing works near Swanscombe were opened at Northfleet by James Parker, around 1792, making "Roman concrete" from cement stone brought from the Isle of Sheppey. James Frost opened up a works at Swanscombe in 1825, making use of chalk from Galley Hill, having patented a brand-new cement called British Cement. The Swanscombe plant was subsequently obtained by John Bazley White & Co, which became the largest part of Blue Circle Industries when it developed in 1900. It lastly closed down in 1990. Between 1840 and also 1930 it was the biggest cement plant in Britain. By 1882 a number of cement suppliers were running throughout the north Kent region, however the resulting dirt pollution drove individuals of Swanscombe to take legal action against the regional cement works. Regardless of various technical technologies, the trouble persisted into the 1950s, with telegraph lines over an inch thick in white dust. Modern cement kilns in Kent using chimneys 170 m (550 feet) in height are now said to be the cleanest on the planet. Nevertheless, the neighbouring Medway communities are reported to be one of the most contaminated inhabited area in the UK, and the cement market contributes to acid rain in Scandinavia.
