Chatham is an ever-evolving part of the Medway conurbation in South-East England. Best known for its Royal Naval Dockyard, the history of which began in the sixteenth century, the town grew as the yard expanded. Chatham survived the closure of the dockyard in 1984 and has been reborn as the central hub of the Medway Towns, with its dockyard now a major tourist attraction.

Using a unique collection of photographs, prints and postcards, Brian Joyce and Sophie Miller explore old Chatham from the boundaries with its neighbours to the High Street shops and the town's suburbs. They take the reader on a journey of discovery through scenes and landscapes, both familiar and forgotten.

Well-researched and informative, Chatham From Old Photographs reveals the area's dramatic changes over the past two centuries as well as providing a fascinating insight into the town's history.

Rochester, Strood & the Hoo Peninsula From Old Photographs examines a diverse and fascinating area. Rochester, with its medieval castle and cathedral, Tudor buildings and Dickensian associations is a busy and vibrant tourist destination. Across the bridge from the ancient city, but far less well known is the town of Strood. Originally a medieval fishing village, which played host to Knights Templar travelling to the Crusades, it evolved over the centuries into a Victorian industrial and commercial hub. To the north of Strood, extending eastwards to the Thames Estuary is the Hoo Peninsula. Its marshes and isolated villages led the area to be denigrated by travellers who stumbled across it.

Brian Joyce and Sophie Miller explore the entire area from Rochester to the Isle of Grain, using a unique collection of photographs, prints and postcards. In doing so, they have at last done justice to parts of Kent that have been neglected by historians for so long.

Gillingham began its life as an agricultural and fishing parish on the banks of the River Medway in Kent. From the late seventeenth century, the township of Brompton grew due to the expansion of the nearby Chatham Dockyard. Further development of the yard in the nineteenth century led to the creation of New Brompton. This was one of the fastest growing communities of the Victorian period. When it became incorporated in 1903, the township took the name of Gillingham. In the twentieth century, Gillingham expanded to include the village of Rainham and developed suburbs such as Wigmore and Twydall.

Using a unique collection of photographs, prints and postcards, Brian Joyce and Sophie Miller explore the evolution of the parish of Gillingham from rural backwater to thriving industrial town. Well-researched and informative, Gillingham & Around From Old Photographs reveals the area’s dramatic changes over the centuries as well as providing a fascinating insight into the town’s history.