Recording of the talk on the 14th February now online

 The talk was about the Sevenoaks to Swanley Railway and the Eynsford Viaduct's need for Labourers, their wages, living and working conditions all were mentioned by David Cufley in his talk. It was recorded and has now been put in the Members only area.

The railway brickfield at Eynsford provided bricks for the Viaduct and other structures on the line to Sevenoaks. This meant a lot of labour coming into the area. Huts were erected along the main road to accommodate the navvies and the other railway workers.

Thomas Crampton, the railway contractor who had his men working the viaduct brickfield, became the master brickmaker at the brickfield near the Bat and Ball, Sevenoaks. He was then supplying John Jay's railway contract along with Dunton Green Brickworks for the line down from Hither Green to Sevenoaks then onward through the Sevenoaks Tunnel to Tonbridge.

These brick railway structures changed the rural settings and provided employment for the labouring workers and their families. Temporary Huts and Shants were built for their accommodation during construction.

The landscape was changed by the embankments, tunnels and cuttings needed to form the railway.

After the completion of the railway, where a siding had been constructed for the railway brickfield it created a new manufactory.

The railway provided access to new markets more than the horse and cart of a rural brickfield could reach. Most of the Navvies and Labourers moved on and the temporary housing was removed,

So is this why your ancestors seem to disappear between census?