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Hello there. I'm Peter Back.

The Surrey Hypnotherapy Clinic TM

For professional, caring and confidential help, advice, therapy or treatment for, or about, any of the above issues or topics, or similar, please just contact Peter, preferably by e-mail, to arrange an appointment for your free initial consultation - either in person, or online.

Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west. The county also shares borders with Essex along the estuary of the River Thames (connected by land via High Speed 1 and the Dartford Crossing), and with the French department of Pas-de-Calais through the Channel Tunnel.

Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt and its strong transport connections to the capital and the nearby continent make Kent a high-income county.

France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone and the White Cliffs of Dover. Hills in the form of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge span the length of the county and in the series of valleys in between and to the south are most of the county's 26 castles.

 Between London and the Strait of Dover, which separates it from mainland Europe, Kent has seen both diplomacy and conflict, ranging from the Leeds Castle peace talks of 1978 and 2004 to the Battle of Britain in World War II.

The county town is Maidstone.
 

Kent was among the first British territories conquered and settled by Anglo-Saxons.

Canterbury Cathedral in Kent has been the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England, since the Reformation. Prior to that it was built by Catholics, dating back to the conversion of England to Catholicism by Saint Augustine that began in the 6th century. Before the English Reformation the cathedral was part of a Benedictine monastic community known as Christ Church, Canterbury, as well as being the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury. The last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury was Reginald Pole.

Rochester Cathedral is also in Kent, in Medway. It is the second-oldest cathedral in England, with Canterbury Cathedral being the oldest.
 

Because of its relative abundance of fruit-growing and hop gardens, Kent is known as 'The Garden of England'.
 

Kent's economy is greatly diversified; haulage, logistics, and tourism are major industries. In northwest Kent industries include extraction of aggregate building materials, printing and scientific research.

Coal mining has also played its part in Kent's industrial heritage.

Twenty-eight per cent of the county forms part of two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: the North Downs and The High Weald.

Kent's principal river, the River Medway, rises near East Grinstead in Sussex and flows eastwards to Maidstone. Here it turns north and breaks through the North Downs at Rochester, then joins the estuary of the River Thames near Sheerness. The Medway is some 112 kilometres (70 mi) long. The river is tidal as far as Allington lock, but in earlier times, cargo-carrying vessels reached as far upstream as Tonbridge. The Medway has captured the head waters of other rivers such as the River Darent. Other rivers of Kent include the River Stour in the east.

At the 2001 UK census, employment statistics for the residents in Kent, including Medway, were as follows: 41.1% in full-time employment, 12.4% in part-time employment, 9.1% self-employed, 2.9% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 3.7% students without jobs, 12.3% retired, 7.3% looking after home or family, 4.3% permanently sick or disabled, and 2.7% economically inactive for other reasons.

Of residents aged 16–74, 16% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared to 20% nationwide.
 

The average hours worked per week by residents of Kent were 43.1 for males and 30.9 for females. Their industry of employment was 17.3% retail, 12.4% manufacturing, 11.8% real estate, 10.3% health and social work, 8.9% construction, 8.2% transport and communications, 7.9% education, 6.0% public administration and defence, 5.6% finance, 4.8% other community and personal service activities, 4.1% hotels and restaurants, 1.6% agriculture, 0.8% energy and water supply, 0.2% mining, and 0.1% private households.

This is higher than the whole of England for construction and transport/communications and lower for manufacturing.
 

Kent is sometimes known as the "Garden of England" for its abundance of orchards and hop gardens. Distinctive hop-drying buildings called oasts are common in the countryside, although many have been converted into dwellings. Nearer to London, market gardens also flourish. Kent is the main area for hazelnut production in the UK.
 

However, in recent years, there has been a significant drop in agriculture, and industry and services are increasing their utilisation of the area.

North Kent is heavily industrialised with cement-making at Northfleet and Cuxton, brickmaking at Sittingbourne, shipbuilding on the Medway and Swale, engineering and aircraft design and construction at Rochester, chemicals at Dartford and papermaking at Swanley, and oil refining at Grain.

A steel mini mill in Sheerness and a rolling mill in Queenborough.

There are two nuclear power stations at Dungeness, although the older one, built in 1965, was closed at the end of 2006.
 

Cement-making, papermaking, and coal-mining were important industries in Kent during the 19th and 20th centuries. Cement came to the fore in the 19th century when massive building projects were undertaken. The ready supply of chalk and huge pits between Stone and Gravesend bear testament to that industry. There were also other workings around Burham on the tidal Medway. Chalk, gravel and clay were excavated on Dartford Heath for centuries.
 

Kent's original paper mills stood on streams like the River Darent, tributaries of the River Medway, and on the River Stour. Two 18th century mills were on the River Len and at Tovil on the River Loose. In the late 19th century huge modern mills were built at Dartford and Northfleet on the River Thames and at Kemsley on The Swale.

In pre-industrial times, almost every village and town had its own windmill or watermill, with over 400 windmills known to have stood at some time. Twenty-eight survive within the county today, plus two replica mills and a further two in that part of Kent now absorbed into London. All the major rivers in the county were used to power watermills.
 

From about 1900, several coal pits operated in East Kent. The Kent Coalfield was mined during the 20th century at several collieries, including Chislet, Tilmanstone, Betteshanger, and the Snowdown Colliery, which ran from 1908 to 1986.
 

The west of the county (including Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, and Sevenoaks) has less than 50% of the average claimant count for low incomes or worklessness as the coastal districts of Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, and Thanet (chiefly three resorts: Ramsgate, Broadstairs, and Margate). West and Central Kent have long had many City of London commuters.

A 2014 study found that Kent shares significant reserves of shale oil with other neighbouring counties, totalling 4.4 billion barrels of oil, which then Business and Energy Minister Michael Fallon said "will bring jobs and business opportunities" and significantly help with UK energy self-sufficiency. Fracking in the area is required to achieve these objectives; it has been opposed by environmental groups.

Roads
 

With the Roman invasion, a road network was constructed to connect London to the Channel ports of Dover, Lympne and Richborough. The London–Dover road was Watling Street. These roads are now approximately the A2, B2068, A257, and the A28.

The A2 runs through Dartford (A207), Gravesend, Rochester, Canterbury, and Dover; the A20 through Eltham, Wrotham, Maidstone, Charing, Ashford. Hythe, Folkestone and Dover; the A21 around Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and on to Hastings in East Sussex.

n the 1960s, two motorways were built; the M2 from Medway to Faversham, and the M20 from Swanley to Folkestone. Part of the M25 runs through Kent, from Westerham to the Dartford Crossing.

The M26 motorway, built-in 1980, provides a short link between the M25 at Sevenoaks and the M20 near Wrotham.

Kent currently has more motorways by distance than any other county in the UK, with sections of the M2, M20, M25 and M26 totalling 173 km (107 mi) within the extents of the ceremonial county.
 

Water

The medieval Cinque Ports, except for the Port of Dover, have all now silted up.

The Medway Estuary has been an important port and naval base for 500 years. The River Medway is tidal up to Allington and navigable up to Tonbridge.

Kent's two canals are the Royal Military Canal between Hythe and Rye, which still exists, and the Thames and Medway Canal between Strood and Gravesend. Built-in 1824, it was purchased in 1846 by the railways, which partially backfilled it.

Container ports are at Ramsgate and Thamesport. Following the closures across the lower Medway, and the Swale to the Isle of Sheppey, during the 20th century, the Woolwich Ferry is the only domestic ferry that runs in the broadest definition of the county.

Railways
 

The earliest locomotive-driven passenger-carrying railway in Britain was the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway which opened in 1830. This and the London and Greenwich Railway later merged into South Eastern Railway (SER). By the 1850s, SER's networks had expanded to Ashford, Ramsgate, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, and the Medway towns. SER's major London termini were London Bridge, Charing Cross, and Cannon Street. Kent also had a second major railway, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). Originally the East Kent Railway in 1858, it linked the northeast Kent coast with London terminals at Victoria and Blackfriars.
 

The two companies merged in 1899, forming the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR), further amalgamated with other railways by the Railways Act 1921 to form the Southern Railway. Britain's railways were nationalised in 1948, forming British Railways (shortened to British Rail in the mid-1960s).

The railways were privatised in 1996 and most Kent passenger services were franchised to Connex South Eastern. Following financial difficulties, Connex lost the franchise and was replaced by South Eastern Trains and after Southeastern.
 

The Channel Tunnel was completed in 1994 and High Speed 1 in November 2007 with a London terminus at St Pancras. A new station, Ebbsfleet International, opened between Dartford and Gravesend, serving northern Kent. The high speed lines will be utilised to provide a faster train service to coastal towns like Ramsgate and Folkestone. This station is in addition to the existing station at Ashford International, which has suffered a massive cut in service as a result.

In addition to the "main line" railways, there are several light, heritage, and industrial railways in Kent. There are three heritage, standard gauge railways; Spa Valley Railway near Tunbridge Wells on the old Tunbridge Wells West branch, East Kent Railway on the old East Kent coalfield area and the Kent and East Sussex Railway on the Weald around Tenterden. In addition, there is the 15-inch (380 mm) gauge, Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway on the southeast Kent coast along the Dungeness peninsula. Finally, there is the 2 ft 6 in (0.76 m), industrial Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway, previously the Bowaters Paper Railway.
 

Air

Charter flights are provided by Lydd Airport at Lydd.
 

In 2002, it was revealed that the government was considering building a new four-runway airport on the marshland near the village of Cliffe on Hoo Peninsula. This plan was dropped in 2003 following protests by cultural and environmental groups.

However further plans for a Thames Estuary Airport on the Kent coast have subsequently emerged, including the Thames Hub Airport, again sited on the Isle of Grain and designed by Lord Foster, and the London Britannia Airport plan, colloquially known as "Boris Island" due to its being championed by the former Mayor of London Boris Johnson, which would see a six runway airport built on an artificial island to be towards the Shivering Sands area, north-east of Whitstable.

Both of these options were dropped in 2014 in favour of expansion at either Gatwick or Heathrow Airport, the latter finally being the chosen option following Theresa May's installation as Prime Minister in summer 2016. There is still considerable doubt as to whether the preferred expansion of Heathrow will go ahead beacuse of increasing environmental concerns.

Kent has four universities: Canterbury Christ Church University with campuses throughout East Kent; University of Kent, with campuses in Canterbury and Medway; University of Greenwich (a London University), with sites at Woolwich, Eltham, London and Medway; the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) also has three of its five campuses in the county.
 

Although much of Britain adopted a comprehensive education system in the 1970s, Kent County Council (KCC) and Medway Unitary Authority are among around fifteen local authorities still providing wholly selective education through the eleven-plus examination with students allocated a place at a secondary modern school or at a grammar school.
 

Together, the two Kent authorities have 38 of the 164 grammar schools remaining in Britain.
 

Kent County Council has the largest education department of any local council in Britain, providing school places for over 289,000 pupils.
 

In 2005–06, Kent County Council and Medway introduced a standardised school year, based on six terms, as recommended by the Local Government Association in its 2000 report, "The Rhythms of Schooling".
 

Kent County Council Local Education Authority maintains 96 secondary schools, of which 33 are selective schools and 63 are secondary modern schools.

For Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy, Counselling and Psychotherapy help, the Surrey Hypnotherapy Clinic is a 65 minute drive (off peak) from Kent and offers a unique and specialist hypnosis therapy, and help for:

Addictions, Alcohol Abuse, Anger Management, Anorexia, Anxiety Disorders, Binge Drinking, Binge Eating, Bulimia, Blushing, Bruxism, Childbirth, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Compulsions, Compulsive Behaviour, Depression, Drug Abuse, Eating Disorders, Emetophobia (fear of being sick), Emotional Problems (e.g. Anger, Rage, Sadness, Jealousy, Suspicion, Paranoia, Grief, Guilt, Shame, Trauma), Exam Stress, Fear of Flying, Food Addiction, Gambling Addiction, Gastric Band Hypnotherapy, Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Habits, Insomnia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Low Self Confidence, Low Self Esteem, Obsessions, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), Pain Management, Panic Disorder (Anxiety Attacks or Panic Attacks), Phobic Disorder (Phobias), PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Public Speaking, Smoking or Vaping, Relationship Issues, Relaxation, Sadness, Sex Addiction, Sexual Issues, Sleep Disorders, Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia), Sports Performance, Stress, Stuttering, Tinnitus, Weight Loss - or see Treatments for more general information.

For professional, caring and confidential help, advice, therapy or treatment for, or about, any of the issues or topics addressed on this website, or similar, please just contact Peter, preferably by e-mail, to arrange an appointment for your free initial consultation - either in person, or online.

Acknowledgements

About Kent History of Kent About Kent List of places in Kent History of Hypnosis About Hypnotherapy

Some other areas also benefitting from Online Hypnotherapy:

Birmingham Hypnotherapy; Bournemouth Hypnotherapy; Brighton Hypnotherapy; Bristol Hypnotherapy; Bucks Hypnotherapy; Cornwall Hypnotherapy; Devon Hypnotherapy; Dorset Hypnotherapy; 

Essex Hypnotherapy; Georgia Hypnotherapy; Hampshire Hypnotherapy; Kent Hypnotherapy; London Hypnotherapy; Midlands Hypnotherapy; Norfolk Hypnotherapy; Pennsylvania Hypnotherapy; Philadelphia Hypnotherapy; Poole Hypnotherapy; Portsmouth Hypnotherapy; Somerset Hypnotherapy; Southampton Hypnotherapy; Sussex Hypnotherapy; Wales Hypnotherapy; Yorkshire Hypnotherapy; Online Hypnotherapy