I was very pleased to be able to purchase this card on eBay recently as it depicts the weir in the village where I spent my teenage years and where my mother still lives.
It was posted in in the early 20th century, 1907 I think although I can't quite read the date on the post mark, and is addressed from Manor Court Farm, Ashurst.
It is from the H & K Series, #1054
The gates were the work of Weeks of Maidstone, 1861.
The weir was installed to raise the water for a mill stream which flowed under the railway to a mill adjacent to the road on the other side of the embankment. Sadly today the weir is dilapidated with no gates and the mill stream this side of the road is dry. After powering the mill, the stream flowed through some fields and rejoined the river further downstream. It still passes through my mothers garden, but these days is rather stagnant and only flows properly after rain.
Behind the weir is the railway embankment, with the railway station and signal visible above the trees. This station was disgracefully demolished in the late 1970s. Here is an enlargement of the section containing the station.
There is a picture of the railway line further downstream where it crosses the river in my photograph album.
There are pictures of St Martin of Tours Church, Ashurst, in my Church Album.
Scanned antique postcard
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