Sevenoaks Branch Talk: Ed Thompson: Shops of Otford 1960-2000

The talk looks at the buildings and scenes of Sevenoaks that are lost to time but were captured in over 80 evocative photographs.

Edwin was brought up in Otford and from an early age developed an interest in railways, spending much time watching steam trains at the local station.

He began to collect railway memorabilia as much of the railway was being modernised in the 1960s but it wasn’t until 1980s when the canopy at Otford Station was being taken down that he felt the need to preserve the memory of the old station for future generations. At that time he only possessed one old photograph of the building, but over time his collection grew to over 200 pictures. Next he started amassing pictures of Otford Village and then of Sevenoaks and the surrounding villages, eventually widening out to cover West Kent and East Sussex.

His collection continues to grow and many of his photographs have been used in local history books.

Doors open 10.45am, meeting starts 11am. 

There is a large public car park (payment required, 50p for 2 hours, £1 for 3 hours) adjacent to the hall but it can be busy.

No booking, just turn up.

The Society is a registered charity and membership fees and donations are an important part of our income. The Talk is free to members but guests and visitors are asked to make a donation towards hall hire and speaker's fee. There will be a donations box at the venue.

But Society membership only costs £10 a year (£12 joint members) https://www.nwkfhs.org.uk/about/membership/our-membership