Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a town in the District of Dartford in Kent, England. It lies east of Dartford and also north-west of Gravesend, in the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. At the 2001 UK census, the Swanscombe electoral ward had a population of 6,418. Swanscombe was necessary in the early history of concrete. The first cement production 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, utilizing chalk from Galley Hill, having actually patented a new cement called British Cement. The Swanscombe plant was ultimately obtained by John Bazley White & Co, which came to be the biggest part of Blue Circle Industries when it created in 1900. It ultimately closed down in 1990. In between 1840 as well as 1930 it was the biggest cement plant in Britain. By 1882 several cement makers were running across the north Kent region, but the resulting dirt air pollution drove individuals of Swanscombe to take legal action against the neighborhood concrete jobs. In spite of different technical innovations, the problem continued right into the 1950s, with telegraph lines over an inch thick in white dirt. Modern concrete kilns in Kent utilizing chimneys 170 m (550 feet) in elevation are now stated to be the cleanest worldwide. However, the adjoining Medway communities are reported to be one of the most contaminated populated location in the UK, and the concrete market adds to acid rain in Scandinavia.
