A School set in the heart of Medway
Medway School of Pharmacy sits in the heart of the new multiversity development at Chatham Maritime. The development is in partnership with shared facilities between the Universities of Kent and Greenwich, Mid Kent College, Christ Church University College and the Kent Institute of Art and Design.
The Medway area comprises four Towns Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham and Strood and takes its name from the strategically placed river that rises near Tonbridge and flows through Central Kent and emerges at Sheerness.
In the early days the River Medway and its banks saw Roman Legions and 8th Century visits from the Danes. The Normans then fortified Rochester giving them control of the river. The area then became a major ship building port and Chatham Dockyard was formed in 1547. Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey was also developed to complement the Medway naval activities. It had a deep port and was a good vantage point for setting defence guns.
Many famous ships were built in Chatham and of note is the `Pilgrim Fathers' Mayflower, which was launched at Strood.
The 19th Century saw a £3 million development trebling the size of the dockyard. However in the 1980s manufacturing industries nationally were hit by a recession and Medway,
having a high concentration of such firms, began to feel the pinch. Everything came to a head in 1984 when the dockyard was forced to close leading to a recession in the area. As a result Medway Council, development agencies and individual efforts swung into action to help the redundant workforce which has continued to this day.
Medway has completely changed and with 7000 small to medium companies is now the largest development area in the South East. A new city centre, approximately 11 kilometre long is about to be built creating 8,500 jobs. Nearly 8000 new homes will be built, many for key workers. The new Universities at Medway project based at Chatham Maritime will create an enormous spin off locally, with a 25 per cent increase in local wealth. Links with Europe are actively working and overseas business visitors are taking note of the future plans both here and in the new town being developed 20 kilometres away at Dartford.
It is envisaged the plans will take 20 years to be fully implemented, but the next 10 years will see a radical shake up with a new prosperity. The population is about to increase to a level never seen before and with it will come the need for improved services. As part of the overall Thames Gateway development, Brownfield sites will be used to create 10 million sq ft of offices and commercial buildings and the new Channel Tunnel will link directly from Paris, Brussels and Lille via Ebbsfleet to St Pancreas and further up country. It is an exciting time to live and work in Medway and local people are now looking forward to a very buoyant future.
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