Geograph - photograph every grid square

This was one of the first out-of-town shopping centres in Kent in 1974. The centre includes the county's largest branch of Sainsbury's (formerly a Savacentre) and Medway's largest Marks & Spencer. The centre also once housed the world's largest branch of NSS. This newsagents later became a 'Forbuoys' (now part of the RS McColl group).
In the early 1990s an extension was built which is now home to M&S. The original Picnic Parlour at Hempstead Valley was the UK's first food court and the centre was modelled on successful complexes in North America.It was originally planned to be an open-air shopping centre but the concept was changed to a covered shopping complex. The centre opened on 17 October 1978.[1]