Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a town in the District of Dartford in Kent, England. It lies east of Dartford and north-west of Gravesend, in the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. At the 2001 UK census, the Swanscombe selecting ward had a population of 6,418. Swanscombe was very important in the early history of concrete. The first cement production functions near Swanscombe were opened at Northfleet by James Parker, around 1792, making "Roman cement" from concrete rock brought from the Isle of Sheppey. James Frost opened up a works at Swanscombe in 1825, making use of chalk from Galley Hill, having patented a brand-new cement called British Cement. The Swanscombe plant was subsequently obtained by John Bazley White & Co, which came to be the largest element of Blue Circle Industries when it created in 1900. It ultimately shut down in 1990. In between 1840 and also 1930 it was the largest cement plant in Britain. By 1882 several concrete makers were running throughout the north Kent region, yet the resulting dust pollution drove individuals of Swanscombe to take lawsuit against the local concrete works. Despite different technological developments, the trouble continued into the 1950s, with telegraph lines over an inch thick in white dirt. Modern concrete kilns in Kent making use of smokeshafts 170 m (550 feet) in height are now stated to be the cleanest in the world. However, the adjoining Medway communities are reported to be the most polluted inhabited area in the UK, and the cement industry adds to acid rain in Scandinavia.
