Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a town in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located east of Dartford as well as 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 concrete. The first cement production works near Swanscombe were opened at Northfleet by James Parker, around 1792, making "Roman concrete" from cement rock brought from the Isle of Sheppey. James Frost opened up a works at Swanscombe in 1825, using chalk from Galley Hill, having patented a new cement called British Cement. The Swanscombe plant was consequently acquired by John Bazley White & Co, which became the largest element of Blue Circle Industries when it developed in 1900. It ultimately closed down in 1990. Between 1840 as well as 1930 it was the biggest cement plant in Britain. By 1882 a number of concrete makers were operating throughout the north Kent area, however the resulting dust contamination drove the people of Swanscombe to take lawsuit versus the regional cement jobs. In spite of various technological technologies, the problem lingered right 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 claimed to be the cleanest worldwide. Nonetheless, the adjoining Medway communities are reported to be the most polluted occupied area in the UK, and also the cement industry adds to acid rain in Scandinavia.