By Hayley Robinson

They say curiosity killed the cat but in this instance it led to a piece of Sittingbourne history being saved.

Peter Morgan, chairman of the Sittingbourne Heritage Museum, was contacted by a fellow member after he peered through the window of a High Street shop which was being renovated and spotted decorative tiles believed to be 100 years old on the walls.

Worried they would be removed or damaged Mr Morgan visited the shop and spoke to Hassan Turkak (pictured) who was preparing the former YMCA charity shop ready for the opening of his new business Swell Cafe.

Mr Morgan said: "I explained who I was and about the group and Mr Turkak became interested.

"I then explained the importance of the tiles and that they had probably been there since about 1910 when The London Meat Company were the first tenants of the shop, and that they were art deco and worth preserving.

"When I asked him what he was going to do with them Mr Turkak said he was going to remove them. I asked him if I could have them so they could be displayed in the museum which he agreed to but when they tried to remove them they found they were fixed to the wall with concrete so it couldn’t be done.

"It was then that I suggested he left them on the wall as an English scene for his English customers which he agreed to do."

The two-metre long tile scene which depicts cows grazing by a river, had been covered over and slightly damaged after shelves were screwed into them by the former tenants, so local artist Eric Goldsmith (pictured) was drafted in to restore them.

Mr Morgan said: "The cracks were carefully filled then Eric kindly brought in his paints which he matched to the colours on the tiles and carried out the repairs. They now look as good as new.

"Not only did Mr Turkak help preserve the tiles for all to see but he has even put a wooden frame around them - and all of this work was completed within a fortnight of me knocking on the door."