Wednesday 19th August in Hythe.
This biennial event takes place along the Royal Military Canal. It opens at 4pm, the programme starts at 5pm with floating tableaux at 7pm and fireworks at dusk.
Tickets from the Advanced Booking Office, Hythe Venetian Fete, Blue Shield House, Prospect Road, Hyhte, Kent, CT21 5NS from £5 for children and £9 for adults.
The Right Worshipful Mayor of New Romney, Alan Snoad and Chairman of Shepway District Councillor, Susan Carey
The last Saturday of July is always the New Romney Country Fayre. I am the guest of the Right Worshipful Mayor of New Romney, Councillor Alan Snoad as are many other town mayors from across Kent.
The Mayor of Lydd, David Kersey with the Mayor and Mayoress of Ramsgate David and Liz Green
The day starts with a parade along the High Street and the visiting dignitaries make a fine addition to the pageant as we stand in front of the town hall resplendent in our chains. As well as applauding the floats and the fancy dress our role is to put money into the buckets that each group brings with them to raise funds for their activities or charity. I spot, Hawkinge Harry. How could I fail to spot him when he towers over the parade led by District Councillor David Godfrey.
David Godfrey, Hawkinge Harry and friends
The parade also includes the visiting town band from Ardres, Morris dancers, motorbikes and a fire engine. An ecletic mix.
District Councillors Carole Waters, Willie Richardson and Russell Tillson are on hand to support the event as well as hundreds of local people and visitors. The Fayre spreads over two fields and among the stands selling wares is the Shepway Community Safety team promoting events for young people and dispensing advice on safety.
Shepway Community Safety Unit
Pigs streaking along
My favourite event is the pig racing where all the pigs are named after MPs such as Douglas Hogg and Alistair Crackling.
The Ardres Band
This was a wonderful fun event and I recommend that you put the New Romney Country Fayre on Saturday 31 July in your diary for 2010.
Morris Dancing in the High Street
Cakemaker Helen, artist Charles Newington and Shepway District Council chairman Susan Carey
On Friday 24 July I opened the exhibition marking the sixth birthday of The White Horse.
The White Horse is a giant hill figure on Cheriton Hill overlooking the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone and is the work of artist Charles Newington and Richard Beaugie, a local farmer.
I had a small role in helping the White Horse get through the planning process so I was more than happy to open the exhibition by cutting a cake with the image of the horse.
The birthday cake
Guests included many other who had helped make the White Horse a reality including fellow District Councillors Rory Love and Shirley Newlands. Shepway District Council adopted the horse as our corporate logo; our version is purple rather than white.
The exhibition is at Georges House Gallery, 8 The Old High Street, Folkestone and runs until Wednesday 5th August. As well as the history of the White Horse it other features paintings of horses by Charles Newington. Don’t miss the one on the ceiling!
An extra treat at this event was the wine which came from Terlingham vineyard which is right behind the site of the White Horse in Hawkinge. It features a picture of the White Horse and is a white wine with a bouquet reminiscent of a summer meadow. Delicious.
It is Thursday 23 July and I am at Shorncliffe in Folkestone for a cocktail party and Beating of Retreat at the invitation of Brigadier James.
The guests include people from the emergency response services such as Derek Smith of the Coastguard (who also does good work as a Lyminge Parish Councillor) as well as farming tenants of MOD land such as Helen and Rod Vincent (Helen is also a hard working parish councillor and chairman of Newington Parish Council.)
There are stands with information on the cadets, the Army Benevolent Fund, the Territorial Army and the Princess of Wales’s regiment which is Kent’s special regiment.
Peter Sellars and Cllr Susan Carey with a soldier from the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
I am with my friend Peter Sellars from Hawkinge who is a veteran of Dunkirk and who shows a particular interest in the army vehicles as he was involved in the production of army trucks in the 1930s. Peter and I were given a demonstration of the type of attack faced by our forces in Afghanistan by a young soldier who used weapons captured from the enemy (all made safe of course).
Brigadier James gave a speech about the work of the British Armyand its current role on active service. He told us, ‘You can be proud of your army.’ He’s right and I am.
The evening ends with a rousing display of marching and music by the Kohima Band of the 3rd Battalion of the Princess of Wales’s Roral Regiment. I particularly enjoyed the Post Horn Gallop and admire the way a tune can be extracted from a horn with no stops.
The Post Horn Gallop
Beating Retreat is a routine part of barrack life denoting the end of the working day and the start of Guard Mounting. It’s origins are from the field of battle where a drummer would stand close to his commander and convey orders such as ‘Advance’, Assembly’ or ‘Stand-to’. The bugle has long since replaced the drum and the bagpipe is also now part of Beating the Retreat. It is a simple and moving way to end the day.
The Kohima Band
Last month (June), Shepway took part in raising a flag to show our appreciation of our armed forces, veterans and cadets. This was a new ceremony and Vice Admiral P J Wilkinson, the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff has written to say that virtually every local authority in the United Kingdom took part.
The Vice Admiral writes, ‘It is immensely gratifying for our Armed Forces and veterans to know they enjoy the respect and appreciation of the people of this country, though such sentiments are difficult to demonstrate in an appropriate, public and widespread way: that is why your support for this flag flying event was so important.’
Planning for next year’s Armed Forces Day is already underway and if you have any ideas for next year’s event, do please contact me.
Girlguiding is 100 years old this year and the Folkestone Centenary Launch Party is being held on Friday 4th September at the Leas Cliff Hll, Folkestone from 6pm – 9.30pm. Tickets £1.
John Hall and Susan Carey
Friday 10 July is the Annual Civic Dinner of the Chairman of Seveoaks District Council at Penshurst Place in aid of charity.
The evening starts with drinks in the gardens and there are some familiar faces such as Jane Rogers the High Sherrif and John Davies the chairman of Kent County Council but many new people as well. My husband John and I enjoy meeting people especially those involved with charities or community groups. I am very interested to hear about the Stag Communities Arts in Sevenoaks which has both a cinema and a theatre and is run mostly by volunteers.
The dinner is held in the Baron’s Hall which we have been warned is cool on even the warmest day. It is 60 foot high and was built in 1341; it is considered to be the best-preserved example of its kind. Even the massive trestle tables on either side of the hall date from the fourteenth century and there is still an octagonal hearth in the centre of the hall which is still occasionally lit. The roof is of chestnut supported by carved figures and the walls are decorated with tapestries and antlers. It’s all very imposing.
Among the guests is is the Viscount De L’Isle, who is the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Kent (see my post in May about the Lord Lieutenancy) and whose family have owned Penshurst Place since the sixteenth century.
17th Century Suit of Armour in the Baron's Hall, Penshurst Place
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Kent Community Recycling Centre
Friday 10 July and I’m in Hawkinge to join the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the Kent Community Recycling Centre. This Community Interest Company was set up in 1989 to reclaim useful material from waste.
The Centre was recycling tins, glass,clothing, paper and plastic long before it was fashionable and still does today. Now that Shepway has a weekly kerbside collection of recyclables and Kent County Council runs a nearby waste disposal site you might think that there was no longer a role for Kent Community Recycling. But there is because Kent Community Recycling offers payment for the waste it receives as well as raising funds itself to support charity. So the Centre thrives with organisations and individuals bringing in their waste and buying the by products such as decorative glass chippings to use in the garden.
Today there are balloons, a band and a hog roast all and a general invitation to the community to join in the celebration of 20 years of saving the planet. It’s an event I’m very happy to join in to represent Shepway and show our support for the work of Mark Wyatt and his team. Here’s to the next 20 years.
Sheila with Councillor Susan Carey, Chairman of Shepway District Council
Kent Community Recycling has a website with information about what it recycles, its opening hours, its business waste recycling service and how its credit scheme works. kentcommunityrecycling.org.uk
Susan Carey, Brian Cope (Chairman of Kent & Medway Fire & Rescue Authority) & Rodica Wheeler
It’s Wednesday 08 July and tonight’s event is the Kent & Medway Fire & Rescue Authority Garden Party at their Headquarters in Maidstone. My companion is Folkestone Town Councillor and Deputy Mayor, Rodica Wheeler.
We talk to the firefighters about their work. They are mustard keen on prevention and want sprinkler systems in all buildings that house vulnerable people. In fact, they’d like to do themselves out of the job of firefighting. Of course they would still have plenty to do with Road Traffic Accidents.
I am delighted to see two members of staff from the Shepway Community Safety Unit and later come across two more Shepway residents. We all circulate around the very beautiful garden to the accompaniment of a string quartet and I meet many of the people who represent different parts of Kent. The end of the evening is signalled by the playing of the National Anthem.
Kent Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Tovil, Maidstone
In the absence of the Chairman, I was most pleased to attend the opening on 8th July of the Walter Tull Exhibition now exhibiting at the Grand Hotel in Folkestone. This exhibition entitled “Crossing the White Line” tells the story of this most remarkable man who was born in Folkestone and attended what is now known as Mundella Primary School before becoming a professional footballer with Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town. He joined the the Army at the start of World War 1 and nearly survived throughout before being eventually killed in action in 1918. His body was never recovered.
Walter Tull
While many may consider this an unsurprising story, I was particularly fascinated to find that Walter rose through the ranks until he became the first black/mixed race officer in the British Army. While today we may not find this surprising, the fact that it happened nearly 100 years ago is, to me , remarkable.
This Exhibition, designed by the City of Westminster Archives has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and The Professional Footballers Association and has been on a nationwide tour since September 2008 visiting the National Army Museum, Methodist Central Hall London and ending here in Folkestone where you will be able to see it until the end of July.
The Opening Ceremony was led by The Mayor of Folkestone, Cllr. Mrs Janet Andrews and included a delightful song by the Mundella Pupils. A Highlight of the Exhibition was a video about Walter Tull made by the pupils and they are to be congratulated on their wonderful contribution.
So, when you have some spare time- perhaps when the weather is not good- why not take yourself and the family to view the exhibition. Like me, you will not be disappointed!!
David Owen