A large place - Hard to find your way around if you are not use to it .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
The Facts ----------------------------------------
Maidstone, the County Town of Kent, is a large place, the size of a small city. Many shoppers visit the town centre each week, coming from the many Villages surrounding Maidstone. These include Bearsted, Hollingbourne, Harrietsham, Lenham, Grove Green, and many others. There are probably 350 shops in Maidstone if not more. The Chequers Centre itself, (The huge shopping centre in the middle of Maidstone) more than likely holds more than half of that total.
What do I mean by shopping roads? Well, in Maidstone, a lot of shops are all packed together in a street, i.e. Week Street, which is a non-traffic road (except for goods delivery), for pedestrians only, because it is such a busy street. It has at least 50 shops in Week Street up both sides. I will now name some of those roads that I have just explained;
Week Street. Earl Street. Union Street. King Street. Pudding Lane. High Street. Gabriels Hill.
Week Street. **********
Week Street is one of the roads in Maidstone, which is used every single day, by hundreds of people. Some of the shops up Week Street are the kind of shops that have huge branches all around the world. Here are just a few of them;
MACDONALD'S - Food shop W.H.SMITH - Bookshop etc. WOOLWORTH - Mixed goods MARKS AND SPENCERS - Clothes BURGER KING - Food
Also, some smaller shops that also have branches around the U.K and Southern England. Here are some of them up Week Street;
So, they are the main shops up Week Street, but there would be something else that you might want to know. The roads leading off from Week Street. There are quite a few roads leading off, including Union Street and Earl Street. Also, if you follow the road round, it will lead to a station. (More about that later.)
Earl street. ********
Earl Street holds some interesting and useful shops, like Earl Street Pet Shop (Food for pets), Waterstones (Bookshop) and some other shops. Believe it or not, it also has a ‘mini-market’ that goes on every day of the week. It sells fruit and veg, food essentials and other stuff that has nothing to do with a market at all. (E.g. streamers for parties etc.)
Union Street. **********
This road holds 2 churches: a Methodist church, and the Salvation Army, which I used to belong to. The ‘army’ as people call it, has moved once from half way down the street, to a larger space with an area at the top of Union Street. This street also has quite a few shops with a range of goods. This includes the Salvation Army Charity shop, and the Chippy.
High Street. *********
This street is one of the busiest in Maidstone town centre. It has a large range of different shops that could help you with everyday items like Cameras, (if you are into that sort of stuff!). Yes, there is Jessops - Camera shop, Argos - Miscellaneous and many other shops.
The Bank. Many people argue about whether the Natwest bank is in King Street, or High Street. Those two streets are joined on to each other and if you didn’t know already, you wouldn’t know they were 2 separate streets. They split at a set of traffic lights (people think) but nobody knows the actual truth, (Well, some must, but hardly anyone of the public). I will leave it to you to debate as we move on to the one and only...
King street. *********
King Street. Not full up with shops, I must say, but it is important. It holds one of the only post offices in Maidstone. Also, holds the entrance to a HUGE car park, and one of the entrances to the Chequers Centre. Not much more to say about this road, so on to the next.
Pudding Lane. ***********
Pudding lane isn’t what I’d call a shopping street. It has a few shops like a Warhammer shop and a couple of others. Anyway, it pays to mention, doesn’t it?
Gabriels Hill. **********
Gabriels Hill is also a traffic free zone. (Well usually anyway!) Another food shop... Wimpy, A shoe shop... The Golden Boot, A children's shop... ELC (Early Learning Centre) and lots more. Also, another entrance to the Chequers centre.
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So, that concludes the section on shops. What’s the next category?
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Transport. --------------------------------
Buses. ******
There are tonnes of bus services in and around Maidstone. The company was run by Maidstone And District, but currently by Arriva. They run to all sorts of places like Chatham, and Gillingham etc. The fares are reasonable, although I have noticed a slight increase in fares now and again. The depot is in Armstrong Road in Maidstone, and the travel shop is in the Chequers centre, Maidstone. There are several major stops in the town, and here are the main ones; BUS STATION, MAIDSTONE ~ About 6 stops on each side making a total of about 12. ‘QUEEN’S MONUMENT’, KING STREET ~ About 3 or 4 stops on each side. Has a total of about 7. ‘THE CANNON’, KING STREET ~ About 5 stops in total. So, there they are. If you want any more information on the bus service, please contact me and I will contact you back.
Trains. *****
There are 3 train stations in Maidstone. They are: MAIDSTONE EAST. (Quite Large-3 stations.) MAIDSTONE WEST. (Quite small and quiet.) MAIDSTONE BARRACKS. (Same as above.) But, there are only 2 lines. Maidstone East on 1, the other two, on another. The Maidstone East line, goes to London via Bromley South / Canterbury via Ashford. The Maidstone West/Barracks Line, goes to Gatwick.
Taxis. *****
It is easy to get a taxi to/from Maidstone, because there are loads of them. By the Queens Monument (mentioned earlier) there is a huge taxi rank, and by Maidstone East station, there are also quite a few taxis. I’m sure there are others round somewhere as well, but they are the main ones.
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So that concludes the transport section. Now for the last...
The Chequers centre is huge. It has loads of shops, 3 shopping levels, and lots of different selections of shops to choose from. The centre has it’s own HUGE car park, and rooftop car park too.
Sainsbury’s ********** Sainsbury’s is a large supermarket selling things like food, drink, and newspapers. It used to be in the Chequers Centre, but moved to a newly built much larger shop just outside of the shopping centre. It moved so it could have it’s own opening times rather than those of the shopping centre, and also so it could have it’s very own car park for the customers. It is the main supermarket in Maidstone.
The Rivers. *********
There are 2 rivers in Maidstone, the Medway, and the Len. The Medway being the biggest, Maidstone is a ‘Medway Town’ as they call it. The River Len joins the Medway in Maidstone, and the Medway, eventually into the Thames, and the Thames, into the Sea. The Len passes by, the Archbishops Palace. (You will see that in our next sub-category). You can walk along the river and it ends up in Allington.
Buildings. ********
Maidstone is one of the oldest towns in Kent, and the most historical. Here are some old buildings worth knowing about; ARCHBISHOPS PALACE - No, it is no palace whatsoever. Although, it is a nice place, but it’s standards don’t reach up to the ‘Just like a palace’ expectations! People can get married there and the gardens are very pretty. (Mum got married there!). ALL SAINTS - A church right next to the Archbishops Palace. Very popular. MAIDSTONE GRAMMAR SCHOOL (Boys) - Short: M.G.S. My school. It has been around 450 years now, and it’s still holding. There are a lot more and I could go on forever if you want. Although I bet that you don’t want me to, so I won’t.
Places of Interest. **************
* MUSEUMS are always excellent places of interest. In Maidstone, there are a couple of them: THE MAIDSTONE MUSEUM & ART GALLERY, and the CARRIAGE MUSEUM.
There is BRENCHLEY GARDENS, and various other parks throughout Maidstone where you can sit in the fresh air and enjoy the view. There is a bandstand in Brenchley Gardens, and all year there are mini concerts.
The HAZLETT THEATRE. Guess what? Yes, you’re right, it’s a theatre! At Christmas there are nativity plays and pantomimes, and through the year there are all sorts of different shows.
THE ROYAL STAR ARCADE is a small version of the Chequers with some shops, stalls and a large food shop for all you hungry ones out there.
Things to do **********
- ABACUS is a play area for young children, in the Chequers Centre. It costs a couple of pounds and you can leave children there to play while you shop. - MOTE PARK is a big park just outside of the town centre and it has a big lake, a miniature railway, and a playground. There is also a leisure centre, including a swimming pool, if you like sport. - There is a lot of pubs and clubs too, but I’m not old enough to go in them, so I can’t tell you much about them, but people come from all the local villages to use them. - By the river is the LOCK MEADOW COMPLEX. It's quite new, and it has a really big cinema and some shops, and restaurants. - Close to Maidstone is LEEDS CASTLE. It’s very old and historic, and has loads of ground and a moat. There are fireworks displays, concerts, and hot air balloon shows through the year. They also have special events such as Easter egg hunts, and activity days for children.
Maidstone: Summed up.
Maidstone, the County Town of Kent, is situated right in the middle of the county. Maidstone is reasonably big for a town, and has lots of things to see and do. The transport is good, usually on time, (although not always) and there is a nice selection of places to eat and things to eat. The town is a very good place to visit.
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!! +++++++++++++
Thank you very much for reading this review, which sums up all about Maidstone. Before you go, I have 2 final messages. 1) If you ever visit Maidstone, have fun! 2) Any more questions that you want to ask, just leave a comment and I will get back to you.
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