90 High Street

The Annexe

There are 2 immediate questions that spring to mind when you pause to look at number 90 – firstly, was this single story annexe built at the same time as Arundel House or added at a later date and secondly, was it intended to form part of the main house next door or built as a separate property?

If you compare the brickwork at the front of the buildings, the join of the two properties is misaligned, indicating that no.90 was added sometime after Arundel House was built. It is difficult to imagine a property such as Arundel House being commissioned without access to the rear garden from either the front or the back of the building, as is the case now, so it is not hard to imagine that the area now occupied by the annexe would have provided that access before it was seemingly sacrificed in favour of the additional residential space that the extension would provide.

The ground floor room in Arundel House, adjacent to the annexe, still features the frame of a filled in doorway which would have led through to number 90, confirming that it was intentionally built to form an annexe to the main property next door. As we know, Arundel House was used for many years as a private school, so it may well be the case that the annexe was built to provide accommodation for the school mistress/master so they were slightly separated from the rest of the building.

If we assume that the following newspaper advert was describing the annexe room, then it would appear that the additional space that it provided was no longer required at this time and perhaps the extra rental income that it could generate was considered more valuable.

To be Let.
WEST MALLING – BEDROOM and SITTING ROOM TO LET: would suit elderly lady or gentleman, moderate terms. Arundel House
Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser – February 1893
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From the photo below, taken at the beginning of the C20, we can see that the entrance to the annexe appears to have been bricked up. It seems odd to think that it was originally constructed in this way but at this time Arundel House was once more a private residence, so perhaps this was altered in order to give the feeling of a single property.

‘Shh! It’s a secret’

That was the headline from the Kent Messenger on Friday 22 September, 1967(1) – the day Ringo Star could be seen entering Town Newsagency in order to buy his ticket for the Beatles’, now infamous, Magical Mystery Tour.

Having been unable to find any suitable film studios in London, the Fab Four spent nearly a week based at the then de-commissioned West Malling Airfield, now Kings Hill, using the location as a backdrop for the filming of the Magical Mystery Tour ‘film spectacular’, which would accompany the release of the E.P.

Scenes for tracks including Your Mother Should Know and I Am The Walrus were filmed directly on the airfield but others were filmed in West Malling town centre itself, in what must have been an exciting, if not a little bizarre few days, for the residents. Many shopkeepers have laid claim to serving different members of the band during that week but two stories stand out from the rest. The late Tim Baldock, whose extended family owned many shops in West Malling High Street since the mid C19, not only sold Ringo Starr a pair of wide-leg trousers and a round-collared shirt from his clothes shop in Swan Street, but also went on to actually feature in the film as an extra. However, the award for the most significant brush with the pop legends, must really go to the humble single story building itself, as it became the central location for one of the film’s key scenes – when John Lennon (playing the role of the newsagent) sells Ringo Starr his tour tickets at the beginning of the Magical Mystery Tour.

John can be heard saying on the film, ‘We guarantee him a trip a lifetime and that’s just what he gets…’ when he hands over Ringo’s tickets.

The building now features a blue plaque to commemorate its brush with the music legends.

This wasn’t the first time the Beatles had ventured to Kent for filming though, with Knole Park in Sevenoaks also featuring in the Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane films(2). I’m not sure if the area made that much of an impression though, as when asked what he thought of Kent, George Harrison commented, ‘…don’t ask me what I think about it. All of the counties are very much the same.’

Click here to watch a video by Beatles enthusiast Tudor Smith, which provides further details about these Beatles videos (and, as a side note, you may also spot a brief glimpse of yours truly desperately trying to avoid the camera!).