Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a town in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It lies east of Dartford and 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 necessary in the early history of concrete. The first cement manufacturing functions near Swanscombe were opened at Northfleet by James Parker, around 1792, making "Roman cement" from concrete rock brought from the Isle of Sheppey. James Frost opened up a works at Swanscombe in 1825, making use of chalk from Galley Hill, having actually patented a brand-new cement called British Cement. The Swanscombe plant was ultimately acquired by John Bazley White & Co, which came to be the biggest part of Blue Circle Industries when it formed in 1900. It ultimately shut down in 1990. In between 1840 and 1930 it was the largest concrete plant in Britain. By 1882 numerous concrete suppliers were running throughout the north Kent area, but the resulting dust pollution drove the people of Swanscombe to take legal action versus the neighborhood cement works. Regardless of different technological innovations, the issue persisted into the 1950s, with telegraph lines over an inch thick in white dust. Modern concrete kilns in Kent using chimneys 170 m (550 feet) in height are currently stated to be the cleanest worldwide. Nonetheless, the adjoining Medway towns are reported to be the most contaminated lived in area in the UK, and the cement sector adds to acid rain in Scandinavia.
