Sad story of a spinster’s bungalow

In late 1974, 70-year-old Vera Matthews reluctantly left her bungalow, Brambles Farm. This had been her home for very nearly 50 years, but the then imminent arrival of a new reservoir for east Kent meant that she had to go. Brambles was on the northern edge of the Broad Oak Valley so it was not directly affected by the reservoir, but access to the bungalow and small farm certainly was.

Vera’s father, George Matthews, originally farmed at Vale Farm – the farmhouse is still standing in the valley today – but in the early 1920s, he decided to scale back. And so he built a bungalow on the remotest 120 acres of his farmland and sold the rest by auction. Brambles was ready for occupation in November 1925. Vera never married and dedicated her life to the care of her parents and the wildlife in her part of the valley, especially the birds. She was an accomplished singer and joined Canterbury Operatic Society before the Second World War.

When war came, she joined the WAAF, achieving the rank of flight officer by 1946. Her WAAF career came to sudden halt by the deterioration in the health of both her parents. In 1949, George Matthews died at Brambles Farm at the age of 87. His wife, Mary Jane, followed him in 1955, at the age of 89, also at home.

Vera soldiered on at Brambles, despite there being no mains water or electricity. And then, in October 1967, she received a letter that would change her life, but not for the better. It was from the Canterbury and District Water Company. She finally agreed to sell up in June 1974 and moved to a bungalow at Pean Hill.

Vera Matthews died in August 1996, at Whitstable and Tankerton Hospital, aged 92. Her beloved Brambles stood empty, gradually being encroached by its garden and vandalised. It was finally demolished a few weeks ago.

The reservoir has not yet been built, but the water company still owns all the land involved.

Brambles Farm in 2001 - it stood empty for 43 years

Vera Matthews in her garden at Brambles in 1974