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Is the Rough Guide fair to label Chatham 'grim'?

An aerial view of Chatham

Chatham has been derided for the second time in a week, with a respected visitor’s guide dubbing the town as “rather a grim place”.

The scathing criticism was made in the latest Rough Guide to England book, which offers a small description of towns and cities across the country.

The former Naval stronghold features immediately after Rochester, which was lauded as “the most pleasant of the Medway towns”.

Chatham fared slightly worse in the guide, with the authors introducing the town with “Chatham, less than two miles east of Rochester, has none of the charms of its neighbour and is, in truth, rather a grim place.”

The bleak summary comes just days after a national newspaper condemned the town.

The Let’s Move To... section in The Guardian’s Weekend magazine described Chatham as suffering from “gloominess, misery and greyness”.

The piece starts with: “Downtown Chatham on a wet Wednesday – or, indeed, a sunny Wednesday – is not the cheeriest of prospects.

“It suffers from terminal ‘northkentitis’, the general disposition towards gloominess, misery and greyness.

“The town, no denying it, reflects some chronic economic problems, and, like many sport round here, a lack of direction.”

The Historic Dockyard was also derided with a backhanded compliment.

Reporter Tom Dyckhoff wrote: “Chatham does have its moments. Those chunks – that instantly transport you to an age before Lidl, and might (with a squint and a fair wind) be Greenwich or Chelsea fallen on hard times.”

*What do you think of the Rough Guide and Guardian descriptions of Chatham? Post your comments below this story or email www.yourmedway@kosmedia.co.uk