Eighty-five years ago, in July 1940, the skies above the parish were alive with tiny aircraft, spiralling around each other, creating white ribbons against the azure, some occasionally plunging to a grizzly fate into the summer landscape.

The Battle of Britain was in full swing. Airmen fell into Platt Woods, some dangling from the branches, injured, but alive; others were less fortunate. The tinkle of brass bullet casings could be heard bouncing off rooftops and roads, and the news of a rogue parachute blowing across country lanes and local streets caused great excitement among local children and housewives alike.

The first bomb to land on Platt occurred in mid-August 1940, shattering the rooftop and sides of Wingate House on Windmill Hill, and by September, high explosives jettisoned by returning aircraft from raids on London regularly fell around the parish.

This year, symbolically almost 85 years after it was bombed, the Royal Oak pub in Wrotham Heath closed its doors for the last time on 16th July. Built in the 1930s to replace a much older establishment, the Oak has played a prominent role in local life for the previous nine decades. Even after a direct hit killed several people and injured many others in October 1940, it reopened the next morning for trade. Now it is silent and being unceremoniously gutted in preparation for its new role as a Turkish restaurant.

Wonderfully still, warm evenings, Roe Deer hiding in the cool of the undergrowth, early harvesting and inspiring sunsets.

This is Platt at the end of June and the beginning of July 2025.