Horsted Park Project

Since the closure of the old Mid-Kent College (Horsted) site and it's subsequent purchase by Countryside Properties, I've have recorded the site's gradual transformation into Horsted Park.

I attended the college for both my A Level years and my HND so to see the old place falling into disrepair following it's closure was very difficult. The site brought back many happy memories, in particular me raiding the drinks machine for a hot chocolate (the only decent beverage it served apart from some fizzy orange stuff) whilst waiting for my Mum to collect me on her way home from work. I'd stand outside the main gate huddled round my cup of Hot Choc looking out for her distinctive Vauxhall Viva to come along the road. That and sharing mint sweets with my mate during those tutorial sessions we used to have in the old huts.

The original building plans for the site were for 700+ houses/apartments on the land, the apartments being in the region of seven stories high! Thankfully with much lobbying by local residents and our Councillors, we are now down to just over 330 dwellings and the apartment buildings are considerably shorter at just three stories including roof space.

The site transformation into a new housing estate is now complete, including an over 55's private (?) residential block on what used to be part of the old farm I believe. I can see a few houses from my street and they certainly are more visible than the college site used to be but better than looking out at a derelict collection of college buildings which would have attracted all sorts of undesirables.

For prosperity there's a brief summary of the college history below (from Wikipedia) and then a slideshow of a few photos of the transformation.

History of the College

At one site or another, the college has been delivering vocational education in Medway and Maidstone for nearly 100 years. Its roots lie in the technical institutes established within the Medway towns in the 1890s and Maidstone around 1918.

The college first began delivering courses from the Horsted Centre in Chatham in 1954. The site was opened as Medway College of Technology by the Duke of Edinburgh on 5 April the following year.

Medway College of Technology and Maidstone Technical College amalgamated in 1966 to become Medway and Maidstone College of Technology. The purpose-built City Way site in Rochester was subsequently opened as an additional college site in 1968.

The college changed its name to Mid-Kent College of Higher and Further Education in 1978, before dropping the hyphen and space and the latter part of its title to become MidKent College in October 2008.

Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the college's students were famed for their Rag Day parade. This saw them conducting a carnival procession through the Medway Towns. The parade started at Gillingham train station and ended at the esplanade in Rochester. Each year the students elected their own "Rag Day Queen" to head the procession.

This is just a very small collection of images documenting the demise of the college site and the new build.