Gravesend’s Vaisahki 2024 was the usual mix of good humour, great food and riotous colours.

The Sikh community hosts a wonderful celebration on the streets of Gravesend, to which all are welcome, of any faith or none.

I met some lovely people, had a great time and will definitely be back next year.

The Jacob Marley leaves Gravesend for the last time and the sun sets on a ferry service that has carried passengers between Tilbury and Gravesend for over 700 years.

The ferry's cancellation is another symptom of the funding crisis hitting local authorities across the UK.

I’m delighted to announce that the first print edition of The Gravesend Journal is now available.

This first edition tells the story of Tony and Vicki Harris, who founded a community group, The Table, to feed the homeless and those in need.

In 2021, UK consumers drank 2.5 million litres or 10 million bottles of water per day. That’s a lot of plastic. It’s great that you’re all drinking so much water; good hydration is important. But when you buy bottled water, you are driving a chain that’s having a significant impact on our environment.

The theatrical ‘get-in’ is a bit like moving house. You arrive at your new home early in the morning with all your worldly possessions piled in the back of a van.

There’s furniture to be unloaded, lights to be put up, and the sound system to be installed. Inevitably, something doesn’t quite fit and you don’t know where the kettle is.

A bike shop has traded from this site in Windmill Street for some 60 years. However, at the end of November Tri The Bike Shop will put up its shutters for the last time.

I spent the morning with manager Leo Brown (not shown), Stuart Britten and James Medhurst.

Some images from Gravesend’s Vaisakhi celebration. This annual celebration of the spring harvest in Northern India is centred around the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara.

I stumbled on this wonderful installation of images, by the artist EVEWRIGHT, dedicated to people of the Windrush Generation. They are displayed on the windows of the Tilbury Bridge Walkway, just a few metres from the Gravesend-Tilbury ferry.

I was reading about the history of The Waterloo pub when it occurred to me - this being census day - the first record of many pubs is when they show on a census.

Fill in your census if you haven’t already, you’re making history and when pubs reopen, pop to your local and buy a pint, we’ll miss them when they’re gone.

The Darnley Pharmacy now dispenses prescriptions from a window. This saves patients needing to enter the shop, reducing the risk to them and the staff.

Another in my series documenting Gravesend pubs that have recently closed. I’ve generally been trying to photograph the pubs at night, that seems the time when a pub should look most alive, highlighting those that are no longer. But a found myself walking past The Old Sun camera in hand, and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. I might still come back one evening.

The New Inn can be traced back to 1780. The pub with the shops adjoining had previously been the home of the Holker family where, in April 1734, Dr Holker entertained the Prince and Princess of Orange (daughter of George II) after their marriage when they were weather-bound on their return to Holland.

On Thursday last, four well-dressed men arrived at the Globe Tavern, Gravesend, by a London Steam Packet. At their request they were accommodated with a bedroom and a sumptuous dinner, for which they paid and left for London the same afternoon. After they were gone, Mr. Lott, the proprietor, discovered that his bedroom had been broken into, and the bureau plundered of a pocket book containing £160.

The Call Boy was built in 1953, replacing the demolished Assembly Rooms pub that was on this site before it. In 2008 the brewery Shepherd Neame closed The Call Boy along with many other pubs in the area.

There have, at some time, been sixteen pubs in Gravesend with the suffix ‘Shades’ to their name. Manor Shades was the last when it closed on 31st December 2012. There were also ‘Shades’ pubs across south-east London and Kent.

The Railway Tavern opened in 1881 and was tied to the Meux’s Brewery, it still features the original Meux glazed tiles. After 129 years of trading, it closed in 2010 and then reopened in 2011 as D-Ream. D-Ream lasted just over a year, closing in October 2012.

The Terrace Tavern and Hotel was present in records from 1837. It was tied to the Russell’s Brewery of Gravesend and the exterior of the still features the beautiful green tiles advertising Russell’s ‘Shrimp Brand’ beers, dating from around 1913. At one time the pub had its own football team, indoor cricket team, darts and pool teams; a real community hub.

The building that was once the City of London is in a great location high above the river Thames. The original pub was founded here in 1839. Unfortunately, that building was destroyed by fire in 1893. The rebuilt City of London traded until 2002, in 2009 it was converted to a b&b.

In 2012 when The Pilot Tavern closed the Gravesend Messenger reported: Its former landlady Susan Newman remained there and rather than tear it down is now hoping to bring the building, which is in dire need of some repair, back to its former glory.

The Bricklayers Arms opened in 1851 and closed in 1910. It reopened as The Station Hotel in 1914 which closed in 2002. Reopening later as Bar24 and then The Bridge Bar, which finally closed in 2017.