Alma, Swanscombe

The Alma first opened its doors to the public in 1860 and served the people of Swanscombe for 158 years. Latterly it had struggled to attract trade in sufficient numbers, and in an attempt to revive its fortunes, it was renamed JJ's from 2011 to 2013. For some reason this did not do the trick. The Alma struggled on but the towels went up for the last time in April 2018.

As the older of the photos suggests, The Alma had been part of the tied estate of Dartford-based brewers Kidd's in the early 20th century, passing to giant combine Courage on takeover in 1937.

The Alma was demolished shortly after closure. To no-one's surprise, planning permission was granted to redevelop the site for residential accommodation, of which there is evidently an acute shortage in Swanscombe.

Thanks to dover-kent.com for sharing the archive images.