April 13, 2018 by blackfenpastandpresent

Bankruptcy in 1819

On 16 March 1819 the London Gazette announced the bankruptcy of Richard and Robert Day. Their father, Richard Day, had purchased Blackfen Farm in the 1790s and rented it to the farmer, John Solomon, for £200 per year. But in 1819 the brothers, who were also co-partners in a seed-crusher and oil-broker business, got into financial trouble and the farm was put up for auction. The four-bedroom farmhouse was in 134 acres of land which was ‘abundant with game’. The farm was located to the west of Days Lane. However, ‘Dayes Lane’ is referred to in the records as early as 1681, long before the Day family’s association with Blackfen.

Days Lane c1900, looking towards Blackfen

Days Lane 1930

Days Lane 1933

August 10, 2014 by blackfenpastandpresent

Where The Shuttle Flows

Blackfen’s roads were notoriously muddy (it wasn’t called a ‘fen’ for nothing!) and when the district was transformed in the 1930s from woodland and fields to housing and shops there were problems with flooding.

In the Kentish Times 14 January 1938 a columnist wrote, in a rather eccentric fashion, an account of a less than enjoyable night walk in the Blackfen area: Where the Shuttle Flows.