Chatham is a town located on the River Medway in North Kent, in South East England. It forms a large urban area known as the Medway Towns along with its neighbouring towns of Rochester and Gillingham. According to 2011 census, Chatham total population is about 76,792.. Chatham Dockyard, which was the birthplace of many famous ships including Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory, was a Royal Navy Dockyard situated on the River Medway in Kent and was established in the mid-16th century. Chatham Dockyard was closed in 1984, and following a closure, one part of the site developed as a commercial port and other parts were redeveloped for residential, and business purpose and some on some part Chatham Historic Dockyard museum was established. The main reason of reduction in importance of Chatham Dockyard was a reduction in Britain’s naval resources, and they moved to other locations. The town has road links, and the main interchanges for the area are railway and bus stations. Chatham has full pedestrianised high streets and the Pentagon shopping centre where many leading brands are available and is considered as the largest town centre for shopping. Chatham is also famous for Holcombe, which is the biggest hockey club in the country.
Government
As the Local government Act, 1972 implemented in the city, the borough status of the city got vanished. Since then it became the part of the Medway borough. Medway borough is a non-metropolitan district of Kent county. The name of Borough changes several time. Ultimately, the borough of Medway became unitary authority area, its administration got separated from Kent County. But for ceremonial purposes, they were recognized as a single entity. It comes under the jurisdiction of parliamentary constituency of Chatham and Aylesford.
Geography
Chatham is located near the junction point of North downs Slope meets with Medway River. Beyond the dockyard was marshy land which is now recognised as St Mary’s Island with several new improvements of housing estates. Till 20th century the south part of the borough was entirely rural having a large number of farms and tracts of woodland.
Landmarks
The Brook Theatre is a prosperous arts centre offering professional theatre, community productions and performances. There is one Nucleus Arts Centre located on the high streets where local artists develop and display their talents. Most of the Medway’s bus routes pass through Chatham Waterfront bus station, and the railway station is also within walking distance from the High Street.
Popular Culture
On a cultural level, Chatham is the main centre of numerous movements in art, literature and music. Medway Delta Sound emerged from 1977 until 1982, The Milkshakes, The Prisoners, The Dentists, The Singing Lions are some of the Medway Delta bands who gained international recognition. The Medway Poets were established in 1977; they performed on TV and Radio and at major literary festivals as well. They became a significant influence on writers in the Medway Towns, but they disbanded in 1982
Transport
The Chatham Dockyard plus Medway had always played significant role in communication. In past times, all the goods were transported to and from the area of Kent. These items include iron, timber, and stone on large scale from one point to another of city as well as outside it. Today, the barges is used only for holding tourist traffic. Now a days, one can easily access the yachts in the river .The constructions of the roads started in the romans era only. The city is recognized as Hub of Medway towns. This the main reason of the high traffic in the area. It is well known fact that traffic is a problem for many years. The roads of the city are sufficient to hold this much traffic. So, governments have started many schemes in tha past to solve this problem.
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