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 electoral ward had a population of 6,418. Swanscombe was essential in the early history of concrete. The initial cement manufacturing functions 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, using chalk from Galley Hill, having actually patented a new cement called British Cement. The Swanscombe plant was ultimately acquired by John Bazley White & Co, which ended up being the largest component of Blue Circle Industries when it created in 1900. It finally shut down in 1990. Between 1840 and also 1930 it was the largest concrete plant in Britain. By 1882 numerous cement producers were running across the north Kent region, however the resulting dirt contamination drove the people of Swanscombe to take lawsuit versus the neighborhood concrete jobs. Despite numerous technical technologies, the trouble persisted into the 1950s, with telegraph lines over an inch thick in white dirt. Modern cement kilns in Kent using chimneys 170 m (550 feet) in height are now claimed to be the cleanest worldwide. However, the adjoining Medway communities are reported to be the most contaminated populated area in the UK, and the concrete sector adds to acid rain in Scandinavia.