Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a 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 important in the early history of concrete. The first cement production works near Swanscombe were opened at Northfleet by James Parker, around 1792, making "Roman concrete" from concrete stone brought from the Isle of Sheppey. James Frost opened up a works at Swanscombe in 1825, using chalk from Galley Hill, having actually patented a brand-new concrete called British Cement. The Swanscombe plant was consequently obtained by John Bazley White & Co, which became the largest element of Blue Circle Industries when it formed in 1900. It ultimately shut down in 1990. Between 1840 as well as 1930 it was the largest concrete plant in Britain. By 1882 a number of concrete suppliers were operating throughout the north Kent area, however the resulting dirt air pollution drove individuals of Swanscombe to take legal action versus the neighborhood concrete jobs. In spite of different technological technologies, the problem lingered into the 1950s, with telegraph lines over an inch thick in white dirt. Modern concrete kilns in Kent making use of smokeshafts 170 m (550 feet) in height are now stated to be the cleanest worldwide. Nevertheless, the adjoining Medway communities are reported to be the most contaminated lived in area in the UK, and the concrete market adds to acid rain in Scandinavia.
