Gas town, terraces and semis
Only about one home in a hundred in Queenborough is off the gas grid, the lowest share anywhere on Sheppey. The town itself is mostly terraces and semis. That makes it combi country: one bathroom, a boiler in the kitchen or a bedroom cupboard, and a flue out of the back wall.
When an old combi in a terrace gives up, the new one can usually go in the same spot on the same day. We flush the system first, because sludge from an old boiler is the quickest way to shorten the life of a new one.
New homes at Rushenden
Rushenden has been changing for years. Swale's masterplan for Queenborough and Rushenden, revised in 2015, planned for around 1,180 new homes. New-build boilers come with long manufacturer warranties, but most of them only hold if the boiler is serviced every year by a registered engineer. If you've moved into a newer home and the builder's warranty is running out, book the service and keep the paperwork.
Hard water
Queenborough is on the same Southern Water supply as the rest of the island, about 303 mg/l of calcium carbonate. That is very hard water. It shows up as scale in combi heat exchangers as well as kettles, so a new combi should have a scale reducer, and we look for scale at services.
The castle that gave the town its name
Edward III built Queenborough Castle between 1361 and 1369 and named it after his queen, Philippa. Historic England calls it the earliest concentric circular castle in the country. It was pulled down after 1650, and only the mound and moat are left. The old town around it is a conservation area, so a boiler flue facing the street needs planning permission. We route flues to the back where we can.