Anyone for cocktails?
Plus: Acorn Wharf redevelopment, a review of Café Nucleus, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more
Medway Cocktail Week started as a small-scale project to give local venues a boost post-lockdown. It’s now become a staple of the Medway hospitality scene, and with the 2024 event starting this week, we’ve been finding out more. Further down, we have news of the potential redevelopment of the Acorn Shipyard in Rochester, a review of Café Nucleus in Rainham, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more. Let’s get to it.
Anyone for cocktails?
This week marks the launch of Medway Cocktail Week, an event that began in 2020 as a covid recovery scheme and has blossomed into one of the biggest events of the year for the Medway hospitality scene.
The concept is simple. You buy a wristband for £10, and with it, you get exclusive cocktails at over 40 venues across Medway for £5 each. Given that Medway Cocktail ‘Week’ now runs across two weekends, there are plenty of opportunities to get good value for money. It’s perhaps the only time people won’t complain about the concept of an 11-day week.
The scheme is the brainchild of Alex Watson. You might not know his name, but if you spend time on Instagram, there’s a good chance you’ve seen his content. Watson is the person behind the brilliantly effective New Openings Rochester and New Openings Medway accounts. Combining high-quality photography with news of what’s going on within local hospitality, the accounts have accumulated over 14,000 followers between them.
The inaugural event saw a handful of Rochester venues participate in an effort to bring footfall back to the High Street following a lockdown that had devastated local businesses. It was an instant success, with over 1,500 people taking part. “I wanted to give people a reason to come to Rochester and spend their money in the small and independent hospitality businesses in and around Rochester,” says Watson.
Since then, Rochester Cocktail Week has been joined by similar events in Maidstone and Canterbury, as well as this week’s Medway event, arguably the most significant of them.
This year, over 40 venues are taking part. While Rochester remains the core of the event, with over half of the venues being located in the town, it’s impressive just how widely the event has managed to spread. On the list, you’ll find the Princes Park Pub, the Dew Drop in Twydall, The Deep End student bar on the Universities at Medway campus, and even Rochester’s Holiday Inn. With the exception of the peninsula, there’s a good chance you’re near at least one participating venue, wherever you are in our towns.
As for the cocktails themselves, there’s a huge list to choose from. While some venues only have one on offer, others have created multiple concoctions, nearly all of which are unique. The Pumproom at the Copper Rivet Distillery has, of course, cocktails made using their own gin and vodka. Elsewhere, Pier Five has created a Dockyard Spritz, while Playopolis have the delightful-sounding Star Hill Sunset. The usual cocktails staples are featured too, but it’s a testament to the variety of venues across Medway that such a diverse mix can be found.
All of this is very nice, but is there a chance we’re just talking about an excuse to go out and get drunk at a discount?
Watson is more spirited, if you’ll excuse the pun, about the project. He sees it as a lifeline for venues that have stumbled from covid to a cost-of-living crisis with little relief: “The event has proven an invaluable additional revenue stream for the pubs, bars and restaurants. For example, last year, Medway Cocktail Week accounted for more than half of some venues ’s total drinks sales for that period.” He highlights that the event is free for venues as it is self-funded from the wristband sales, and they keep 100% of all cocktail sales.
“But more than the monetary side of things, the event is great at marketing the venues and encouraging people to get out, try new venues and support local businesses in the process.” Given the four Kent Cocktail Week events in 2023 saw over 15,000 visitors, with more projected for 2024, it’s a premise that’s difficult to argue with.
Medway Cocktail Week started yesterday (Thu 1 Aug) and runs until Sun 11 Aug. You can find more details and purchase a wristband on the Medway Cocktail Week website.
In brief
⚓ KMTV visited the Nao Victoria, a replica of a 15th-century ship that was the first to sail around the world. It’ll be at Chatham Dockside until Sunday (4 Aug).
🍣 A new sushi, noodles, and bubble tea takeaway is set to open on Rochester High Street. Boba Tigers is set to open at the end of the month and is part of a small chain that recently opened in Cliftonville.
⛲ Medway Council has granted permission for the Driver Fountain to be relocated to a prominent location on New Road in Chatham. The fountain was erected in Luton in 1899 as a monument to a deceased councillor but moved to Chatham Cemetary in 1961. The plans will see it moved closer to its historic home.
Acorn Wharf is next big Rochester redevelopment
Plans have been submitted to Medway Council to completely redevelop the remaining unused site within Rochester Riverside: The former Acorn Shipyard on the west side of the development.
Acorn Shipyard closed in 2017, with its buildings destroyed in a series of fires, leaving the site a barren wasteland today.
The owners of the site are proposing to build three residential blocks consisting of 132 flats, a cafe, and a commercial/community building, as well as a new pier.
The final item in the plan is the most curious, as it offers a permanent pier mere weeks after Medway Council proposed building a temporary one for Rochester in a nearby location. The proposals even cite the new pier as a potential permanent mooring point for the Medway Queen, currently docked at Gillingham Pier. However, it is unclear whether they have consulted anyone involved with that vessel about a move.
Most of the plans are fairly perfunctory. The flats themselves are unremarkable, and the nine-storey height of the main block is likely to raise some eyebrows given its height compared to surrounding developments and waterfront location.
The cafe space within the plans is to be welcomed. The intent is to relocate the recognisable yellow crane, one of the few surviving parts of Acorn Shipyard, to the centre of the development, providing a dramatic backdrop. Not including a social space in the development's layout felt like a missed opportunity, given the extensive river walk.
The plans include 128 parking spaces underneath the development. The developer claims building affordable properties wouldn’t be viable. They cite primarily the £2.2m cost of building a sea wall for flood defence around the site, and there is no way any development on the site can proceed without that.
As such, it is unlikely that Medway Council will reject these plans, as any future developer will face the same challenges, and building anything on the site is preferable to leaving it empty.
Medway Council's planning portal allows you to view the development plans in full and comment on the proposals.
Out to Lunch: Café Nucleus
In which Steven Keevil assesses the lunch options available in our towns. This week, he’s been down to Café Nucleus in Rainham…
The newest addition to the award-winning Café Nucleus can be found on Rainham High Street, offering fine dining in the centre of town. It offers the full café menu that you would find in Rochester or at its original Chatham site. The new venue is smart and welcoming if a little tightly packed and darker than you might expect.
I ordered the full Canadian: Two rashers of smoked bacon, two Kentish sausages, scrambled Kentish eggs, two buttermilk pancakes, Canadian single-origin maple syrup, and a choice of toast.
If you have never eaten at a Café Nucleus, then you are in for a delightful surprise. The Rainham offering matches the high standards you would expect, and the only downside was the average toast. The bacon and eggs were delicious, and the pancakes, sausage and syrup were a delightful combination. Café Nucleus is on the pricier end of the food offering, but it does include a cover charge, which is a donation to assist the Halpern charitable works, which is ultimately a very good thing indeed.
When in Rainham, eat well and support a great charity. You deserve it.
Events this week
🎛️ Medway electronic musicians Brutalist Architecture in the Sun play at Poco Loco in Chatham tonight (Fri 2 Aug). Free.
🎸 Promoters Kicking Against Nothing have a garage punk night at the Nag’s Head in Rochester tonight (Fri 2 Aug). On the bill are The Sleepers, Cream Soda, and Cassius West Free.
🎨 Nucleus Arts’ Summer Exhibition begins today (Fri 2 Aug) and runs until 2 Sep. Features work from a huge array of artists across their Chatham and Rochester galleries. Free.
🎞️ Odeon in Chatham has another Screen Unseen on Tuesday (6 Aug). It’s a mystery film, usually a notable upcoming release. They aren’t always good, but they are usually interesting. Tickets £7.
Footnotes
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Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: Love Keeps Kicking by Martha, Naturaliste by The Lucksmiths, and Up by R.E.M.