Maidstone, the County Town of Kent is unfortunately not what you would imagine a county town to be. The potential for so much more is there, but it seems the motivation, interest and hard cash funding is not! Situated approximately 40 miles from London and about 30 miles from the Kent coast the location is ideal for a thriving County Town.
Shopping in Maidstone is fine as long as you are happy to browse the run of the mill shops found in most town centres. The main shopping street is a pedestrianised area in which you will find Littlewoods, M & S, and Maidstones only Department Store, Army and Navy, amongst other shops. The High Street has Argos and Jessops and the added 'feature' of nearly getting run over by lunatic cabbies and bus drivers as you cross the road.
The main shopping
centre, The Chequers, has a reasonable selection of shops including BHS and Boots, both of which have large 2 level stores, but if you are looking for designer labels and exclusive boutiques then forget it. The shopping centre itself lacks design and finesse. Concrete stairwells and dirty lifts let it down.
If you are hungry that's fine, as long as you are prepared to eat burgers and queue for an eternity to get them. With the choice of two Mac D's, Wimpy and Burger King what more could you ask for? You don't like burgers, well there is Pizza Hut, Pizza Express, Domino Pizza and 3 or 4 Kebab shops too!
If you fancy a stroll in the fresh air you could head to Brenchley Gardens. A nice little park with well kept flowerbeds, where you will most likely encounter Maidstone's drunks and homeless who frequent the benches and the public toilets. Or you could take a walk along the banks of the River Medway but the scenery is very limited to trees, bushes and factory buildings and more often than not the footpaths are impassable due to the muddy residue left when the river floods.
I have perhaps been a little unfair in my description of Maidstone so far. It does have some good features such as the newly built Lockmeadow Complex which houses a cinema, nightclubs and a couple of restaurants. There is also a bowling centre and two Museums which do have some very interesting exhibitions and artifacts to view.
Public transport is frequent during the day with trains running from the towns 3 stations, and there are plenty of buses. But these service becomes less frequent in early evening and most stop all together well before midnight. That is maybe not too much of a problem as Maidstone at night becomes a playground of drunk teens, aggressive adults and boy racers so you wouldn't particularly want to be there then anyway.
Maybe the saving grace of Maidstone is the close proximity of the many picturesque villages it lays among. If you are looking for quiet country walks and pleasant scenery you will find this just a few miles outside of the Town Centre.
Bearsted, 3 miles from the town, has the traditional village green on which cricket is played on a sunday. There is a nouveau cuisine restaurant 'Soufflé' overlooking the green if you want meals of superb quality, but expect to pay high prices for the experience. If you want traditional pub grub you have several choices such as The Royal Oak, The Bell or The White Horse (Beefeater) and they offer enjoyable food at more acceptable prices.
The village of Leeds, a mile or so from Bearsted, has a very popular tourist attractionLeeds Castle, a stately home in landscaped gardens. The grounds play host to an annual firework display in November, and throughout the year to open air concerts (Elton John and Pavarotti have performed there), and events such as hot air balloon festivals.
Hollingbourne and Harrietsham are near by and have many quaint pubs for a quiet drink in the countryside, but the high speed rail link passes close to them and many of the scenic views have been lost forever.
Despite the many downfalls of Kent's County Town, Maidstone is worth a visit. As long as you do not expect too much you should enjoy yourself. Perhaps as a long term resident of the area I am over critical of the bad points and under appreciative of the good. It is just very frustrating to see so much potential wasted.
Yes, it is hard to say anything very exciting about it, isn't it? Duncan x
Barrysruk 28.09.2001 20:32
Ermmm...I may be in the minority here, but I like Maidstone. Maybe that is bias from a lifelong resident, but I have been to far worse places, and while it may not have all the shops needed, it is close enough to Bluewater, Bromley South and even France to allow the residents easy access to whatever they want, without turning the town into a commercial district. Mind you, as a driver, something really does annoy me, the Broadway one way system. Come on... who designed that?! Barrysruk
timmyotoole 04.08.2001 12:07
A superbly written opinion, and I could not agree more. Wherre exactly do you live? Timmy, who lives in Bearsted.
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Advantages: Good selection of shops and food outlets, nice houses, friendly people. Disadvantages: Grammar schools, snobs and chavs. Not great for tourists, except Leeds Castle.
timmyotoole 05.08.2001 (13.08.2001)
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Review of Maidstone in General
Dec 12th, 2000
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