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The Richborough Disaster
The port of Richborough is currently out of access to the public, however the fishing port bordering Sandwich was once a large part of the local economy.

In 1927, businessman Thomas A Tyndale moved to the fishing port of Richborough, Kent to start a new business; a project worth equivalent to £5million in today’s money. As the founder of the company “Simstell”, Tyndale managed the production of fertilisation fluids and soon became a large part of the industry in this area.

However In 1936 the nearest sanitation office in Thanet, Kent began to receive reports of an unknown illness by which sufferers developed uncontrollable shaking in the bottom half of the body, thus leaving patients unable to walk. This illness has since become known as Blanetta disease.

Since the cause had not yet been discovered; patients were isolated to prevent spread of illness. Blanetta disease is a neurological condition by which the central nervous system is attacked; it damages both the sense of smell and basic motor neuron skills below the waist, in many instances causing paralysis. In 1938, studies from Cambridge University revealed that Blanetta disease was a toxic disorder of the central nervous system and was caused by certain lithium based compounds found in polluted water. The discoveries were made by a series of experiments on rats, and later that year these same molecular compounds were found within the human patients.

The reports admitted to the ministry of health and welfare stated that the underlying cause was due to the high levels of the lithium compounds found in local water springs, many of which the public had used for years.

The wastewater being discharged into the local river by Tyndale’s factory was suspected of causing this; however despite a public outcry and several court trials, no form of justice was ever served.

These photographs show how the port of Richborough looks today. Many of the fishermen who once worked the docks were forced out because it was no longer safe to fish there.