Catch up on the latest episode of Made in Kent with Azaria Gayle.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Made in Kent live on KMTV. I'm Azaria Gale and this week we're
00:26turning back the clock to look at historic businesses here in Kent. We'll be looking
00:31at how they've managed to adapt to changing times as well as how business owners have
00:37been able to transform classic buildings into modern enterprises. First we went to Gillingham
00:42High Street to ask residents what they consider to be a historic business. A historic business
00:50I would think about 100 years old. 100 years you would hope for long standing. Antiques
00:56have got to be 50 years old so it's got to be older than that I suppose. A long standing
01:02business is Medway Furniture Store up in Canterbury Street. That's a long standing business. Been
01:08there for 16, 17 years so that's a long standing business. We've got to have known it for a
01:13while to be classed as long standing. I think long standing business that has been successful
01:20for 100 years sounds like a good idea but then start up businesses you want to give
01:25them a chance because how else does a business become long standing. Better business you
01:31go there it doesn't matter whether it's long business or short business it's all about
01:35saving money. I think in a place like a high street like this you've got to give a chance
01:40to everybody. I'm quite happy to shop anywhere I will wander around until I find what I need
01:46and keep going until I find the best version for the best quality for the best price.
01:53Sorry for those difficulties there but earlier I was joined with Arthur and we had a quick
02:19chat. I'm now joined by Arthur to talk about the rejuvenation of historic businesses as
02:27well as his experience working in the Canterbury Cathedral. So what's it like working in such
02:34a historic location? It's a really wonderful feeling to be honest with you. I usually get
02:39up very early for my shift so I'm walking across Canterbury as the sun rises and when
02:43I'm preparing for a breakfast I actually get to see it rise over the cathedral itself and
02:47that's lovely. It's a very wonderful view and I think I'm quite lucky to get to see that. Not
02:52a lot of places that you'll work at next to such a beautiful building and I do actually get to work
02:59in the cathedral itself sometimes around the grounds. I've seen inside the deanery but I think
03:04my favourite thing I've ever done there is definitely a silent disco. A few silent discos
03:08actually and it was so wonderful to see such a sort of modern idea brought into such a historic
03:13space and it was obviously done very respectfully and the the cathedral itself is such a beautiful
03:19place to do stuff in. I was very proud to get to be part of such a fun event. Great, that sounds
03:25wonderful. So how does the creation of the Lodge Hotel tie into the historical, like the history
03:32behind the cathedral? Thank you for asking. The creation and the building of the Lodge Hotel
03:38itself was actually part of a renovation project to a number of houses that have been built in
03:43the 1960s to replace some residential buildings that have been destroyed during World War Two and
03:49the cathedral wanted a place to accommodate guests to the cathedral and over the years it's been
03:54further developed into a space to hold other events that help fund the cathedral's ongoing
03:59restoration projects. I've worked a few Uni of Kent Sports Society sort of events so that's the kind
04:05of thing that they usually do in the auditorium at the Lodge and the building itself was funded
04:10by the Heritage Lottery Fund in 1997 and construction lasted for a few years until up to 2000 so the Lodge
04:19will be celebrating its Silver Jubilee this year so the construction is a very very important part of the
04:25history of the cathedral and for keeping you know such a historic building open it's very very
04:30helpful for that. Do rejuvenation projects like this help historic businesses? Well that does
04:37very much depend on the business itself. If a business is tied to a building such as the
04:42cathedral then physical rejuvenation projects are always crucial for upkeep but for other
04:47businesses that isn't always the case. The oldest business in England actually is the Royal Mint
04:53which makes all of our coins and I believe our notes and that was founded in 1279 but it's not
04:59actually tied to a single location it's moved several times over its very very long history.
05:05Originally inside of the Tower of London itself and then moved to an area that would later become
05:12known as Royal Mint Court that happened in 1809 and nowadays it's actually in Glamorgan in Wales
05:18it moved there in 1966 so that's an example of a historic business that doesn't necessarily need
05:25these sort of rejuvenation efforts because the business it supplies it's not tied to a single
05:30location but many of our countries and indeed our counties oldest businesses are places like
05:35pubs and hotels that can only operate out of that one building that one historic building which is
05:41the draw so in those cases it would be necessary for money to be spent on repairs as they come up.
05:46Thank you so much for joining me and now we take a look at a business owner who has chosen to
05:55renovate an 18th century factory into a modern-day brewery. I went into the foundry in Canterbury to
06:03find out how they've been able to adapt a historic building into a modern-day business. We went to
06:10speak with the owner of the foundry who works out of an 18th century Victorian building. Inspired by
06:16the rich industrial history John Mills incorporates us in his distillery process as well as hosting
06:22historical tours. I started in 1835 with the Bickleston's family who continued it as a foundry
06:29well into the 60s so it was a major part of Canterbury's industrial heritage so they made
06:34the first ever electric streetlights ever made in the world. They also made the water towers that fed
06:39the steam engines for the first railway line between London and Dover. They made the gear
06:45wheel which pulled the first ever passenger line from Whitstable so the Crab and Winkle line from
06:51Whitstable to Canterbury. The clock face in Canterbury was made here. The first ever torpedo
06:56was made here. It was like a square box vessel that was towed behind a sailing ship. An incredible
07:02kind of like forgotten history of Canterbury. John let us go behind the scenes to find out
07:06the process of how he makes his beer. Right so in this space we're making 16 beers and ciders and
07:12way over 20 spirits. We have a hot water tank, we have a mash tun and we have a copper or a kettle.
07:17So we mix the hot water with our English barley, we extract all of the wonderful flavours,
07:23textures, colour and aroma from the barley and we extract all of that sugar water into here. So we
07:31already have a wonderful colour, the base structure of the beer if you like. This is like a giant
07:36kettle so we boil that sugar water, we add hops and we got hops from local fields hanging from
07:43the restaurant ceiling. We add the hops which adds even more flavour and aroma. We now transfer
07:49this liquid into the fermentation vessels where we add brewer's yeast. The brewer's yeast eats
07:55all of the sugar that we created here, gives us more flavour and aroma and we end up after
08:0110 days with a great big tank full of beer. Azaria Gale for KMTV. Canterbury has a rich
08:15history of trades and businesses, some of which are centuries old. I'm joined by Tim to take us
08:22on a historic tour of some of the city's oldest businesses. Yes so... So when is our first stop
08:29on the historical tour? When we first enter the city, actually before we actually pass through
08:35the city gates, you find an iconic inn located just outside Westgate Towers. Now the Falstaff
08:40Inn actually first appeared in the city registry in the 16th century, then named the White Hart,
08:45though the original building dates back to 1403. The inn has been heavily restored over the
08:51centuries and actually in 1783 it was renamed to the Falstaff after the popular Shakespearean
08:57knight who appeared in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He was very popular at the time so they wanted to
09:02capitalise on the name and the popularity around him. Again as I say, next to Westgate Towers,
09:07practically right on the spot where William the Conqueror stopped on his way from London to
09:13Normandy in 1067. Its position just outside the city gate means it was most likely used by pilgrims
09:20travelling to the Canterbury Cathedral on that famous voyage, who arrived after nightfall and
09:26thus passed the curfew, they can't enter the city, they need somewhere to stay. The inn offers the
09:30perfect location for that and to this day it continues to house travellers to the city,
09:34carrying on that tradition of hospitality that's been going for almost 600 years.
09:38Well that's very interesting, so what's the next step on our tour?
09:42Well a little further on, through the Westgate Towers, you find King's Bridge and next to that
09:47you find the Old Weaver's House. Now this building again, while it officially dates back to the 1500s,
09:53the foundations were actually built as far back as the 12th century and when Huguenot refugees,
09:58Protestants fleeing persecution in France, settled in Canterbury, they brought with them their weaving
10:04talents and used that city as a base of operations. The building first began operating as a weaver's
10:11in the 16th century and actually became a school teaching the trade in 1899. Now following the
10:18closure of the school in 1914, the house became the site for various retailers and it currently
10:23operates as a restaurant, serving customers from its location alongside the River Stour.
10:27The building was listed as a grade 2 for historical and cultural significance in December 1949
10:33and though it has been remodelled, its appearance largely remains unchanged from that Tudor era.
10:38So we've got enough time for one more stop on our journey, where do we finish our journey?
10:44Well this one is really quite famous, built in 1617, the Cricket House is believed to have been
10:49built by Oldman Sabine, one of those Huguenot refugees who fled France. The house actually only
10:55became crooked after a poorly fitted chimney was removed, leading it to its characteristic lean
11:01that you can see in the photographs on screen.
11:02Wow that's really interesting, thank you so much for joining me.
11:06Thank you very much.
11:08Well you've been watching Made in Kent live on KMTV, there's some news made just throughout Kent
11:15this evening. Don't forget to keep up to date with the latest news across your county by logging
11:21into kmtv.co.uk. You can keep up with us on our social timelines by liking us on Facebook and
11:29following us on Instagram. We also have a range of special programmes in Victors 4, Kent Student
11:35101, Kent on Climate and the rest of our shows are on our website. Thank you so much for joining me,
11:42have a great evening, goodbye.