The Sentinel magazine

Folkestone

and district and beyond

To commission a painting by talented Sandgate residing artist Malcolm Ritchie costs less than you think and provides a valued, timeless and unique gift Malcolm has been painting and drawing for most of his life and works in all mediums and subjects. My subjects, he says, inspire me. You're just a click away from looking at some more of his work and arranging an informa nd

From the cutting-edge London design agency Here Design - writer and poet Philip Cowell, and award-winning designer Caz Hildebrand, author of The Herbarium, this playful, original, beautifully designed book brings to life the punctuation marks we use every day, including: The dashing dashSo-called "quotation marks" The colon: and on and on The shouty exclamation! The three dots of (Not forgetting the brackets) And even more

Hythe

LOCAL ARTIST ADDS FINISHING TOUCH

This year, Jim Martin, Right Worshipful Mayor of Hythe, has enjoyed the honour of being Speaker of the Cinque Ports as the Confederation of Cinque Ports comes to Hythe. The honour lasts for one year, rotating between the head ports and ancient towns.

To prepare the Town Hall, High Street, Hythe for the occasion, the Mayor proposed using his Mayoral Fund to cover the cost of materials to repaint the scruffy bollards fronting the Town Hall. He asked Hythe Civic Society to provide volunteers to do the work and they agreed.

However, having painted the nine bollards outside the Town Hall, the volunteers - including the Mayor - continued working, now planning to repaint all the street furniture in the High Street. As part of this endeavour, the Hythe Heritage Trail information panel in the undercroft at the Town Hall also received a new coat of paint but the rather intricate Town Crest remained untouched

Local artist, Rod Major, next to the Hythe Crest on the Heritage Trail panel in the undercroft at the Town Hall

Answering the cri de coeur from Hythe Civic Society for an artist to carry out the job, Rod Major, local 'plein air' artist stepped forward. He has stripped off all the old paint and brought the crest back to life with fresh, vibrant colours. The whole panel has undergone refurbishment and, with the crest now looking colourful again, it looks wonderful

Rod Major said: ‘I don't normally do this kind of work, as I concentrate on landscapes and streetscapes, but it was a pleasure to do something worthwhile for the town. The crest is a most attractive feature of the Heritage Trail panel and it deserved the attention it has received’

For more information on Rod's work visit rodmajorart.co.uk

I have just been made aware of this very talented singer/ songwriter and you can hear him on the Sentinel Radio.

As poet John Rice said: (Jack Pound is) a highly skilled guitarist and songwriter, his bluesy, often quirky style is particularly appreciated by discerning literary audiences…whilst the rest of us just enjoy the music.

You can buy this album on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes and All Download Sites

We are a small family run business, trading for over 30 years in the heart of Hythe High Street at number 51 (CT21 5AD) and we pride ourselves on customer service and of a range of products with high quality produce We cater for all needs, whether it's a small treat for your pet, tapioca to make your favourite nostalgic pudding, or some of our delicious, local, free range eggs, perfect for cooking, baking and breakfasting!

At U-Weigh we have more than 400 items in store, ranging from cupboard essentials to sweet treats and snacks We have a large selection of herbs, spices and seasonings to take your meal plans to every corner of the world, and to cater for the home bakers and amateur chefs, some cupboard staples; flours, sugars, cake mixes, pastas and rices. As dried food specialists, we all have a wide knowledge and will not hesitate to help with any queries or questions you may have. Take a look at our many products, write your list and pop into the shop We're also doing our bit for the planet by introducing paper bags, and don't forget, if you are trying to be more green, you can bring your own tubs, jars and containers to fill up www.u-weigh.co.uk

www.facebook.com/uweigh/

Folkestone and Hythe Cats

Newington

Report from your County Councillor for Newington

There was considerable coverage of the joint letter sent by KCC and Hampshire County Council to the Government about our financial situation. Both councils said they could not have a balanced budget in future years with present levels of finance. Since the letter was sent the Government’s budget has raised the limit that councils with responsibility for Social Services are allowed to raise council tax by 5% (around half the level of inflation we have had in the last year). Our financial situation remains grave but, together with a whole series of savings in our discretionary services, we should now be able to set a balanced budget for 2023/24. The demand for social care (and the increasing complexity of cases) is always an issue but it has been inflation that is causing the most pressure.

Despite our own financial challenges KCC still has a number of initiatives funded via Government grant to help individuals and families with the Cost of Living including access to cheaper broadband and computers to help in the school holidays for those entitled to Free School Meals. Search for ‘Kent Together’ online or ring 03000 41 92 92 for those who need help.

Kent Highways will also be delivering the usual winter services such as emergency response when trees block a road and of course gritting to help prevent the formation of ice. The gritting trucks have all be given names suggested by schoolchildren including #TruGrit, #IceIceBaby, #Margrit and #SaltyMcGritFace. The names mean that people notice the vehicles and comment on social media which helps demonstrate that the vehicles have indeed been out (as they are mostly out at night this service is not always noticed). There are 65 vehicles gritting 58 primary routes (a total of up to 1,300 miles of road) once the road surface temperature is predicted to go below 0°C.

I have been advised by Kent Highways that more extensive patching of the road between Newington and Peene is programmed for 2023/24 but please keep reporting problems on this stretch along with any other problems you see as they may need temporary repairs till the main work can be done. The best way to make a report is on the interactive map which you’ll find on the Kent Highways section of the website www.kent.gov.uk under Report a Problem. You can also ring 03000 41 81 81 in normal office hours or, in an emergency outside normal office hours, 03000 41 91 91. You should be given a reference number and it’s useful to keep a note of this in case a problem needs follow up.

I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Susan Carey Member for Elham Valley Kent County Council

Report from your District Councillor for Newington

Freezing Weather

I hope everyone managed to stay warm during the recent cold snap despite soaring energy costs caused by the on going war in Ukraine. The Ukranian people are suffering conditions we can hardly imagine caused by relentless missile attacks.

For the less fortunate in our District our Severe Weather Emergency Protocol is available.

Anyone sleeping rough who wishes to be considered for shelter under SWEP should contact the Civic Centre before 4pm on 01303 853000. After 4pm, if a person is seeking shelter for that same night, then the council's out of hours team can be contacted on 01303 221888 until 10pm.

Holiday Refuse Collections

Waste crews will not be working on Boxing Day - meaning collections will take place 24 hours later than usual for a week.

Collections return to normal on Monday 2 January 2023. Residents are encouraged to recycle as much as they possibly can

Illegal Trading

Shanga Shop in Sandgate Road, Folkestone, and Star Shop, in Cheriton High Street, were investigated in a joint operation between Folkestone & Hythe District Council (F&HDC), Kent Police and Kent County Council's Trading Standards team and have been ordered to close for three months by magistrates for selling illegal Alcohol and Tobacco.

Good news for Folkestone Sports Centre

Cabinet members meeting on 14 December 2022 acknowledged the impact on the Radnor Park Avenue leisure centre of the pandemic and backed a three-year package providing the trust with an annual grant of £150,000.

The funding largely supports the continued provision of the publicly accessible swimming pool in the town and ensures that young people have a local facility where they can learn to swim.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Peaceful New Year

Cllr David Godfrey Cabinet Member for

Housing and Special Projects

Sandgate

All now available in paperback and on Kindle

Set in Folkestone in the heady days of the late 60s. They say if you can remember it, you weren't there!

Two plays One an imaginary meeting between Dylan Thomas and Brendan Behan in a Fitzrovia pub The other is Caitlin Thomas reminiscing after the untimely death of her husband.

This is the tale of Hana, a young girl who moves from where she was born in London, to the Kent coast. They discover a wonderful area called Prince's Parade which is full of amazing animals, has a beautiful canal and is right next to the sea too! By buying this book you will be helping to protect it. All profits from it will be donated to the Save Prince's Parade campaign which aims to halt plans to develop the area into a housing estate.

Very funny, and surreal story about a man and a woman on their first date: Bolton Brady and Veda, set in London, November 2001. Bolton is forty, not into assets, has never lived with a woman and looked into the future and seen loneliness. So he decides to do something about it. He advertises in a lonely-hearts column, and receives six replies, but after experiencing one disaster after another only Veda remains between him and his sanity As the day unfolds the line between reality and fantasy becomes blurred, building to a surreal, yet poignant, conclusion.

A Loose Cannon

This walk through the history of Sandgate to the present day was first performed at the Chichester Hall a decade ago on Wednesday, 9th June. It is now available on Kindle or in paperback

Now available on Amazon. Great evocative yarns of worldly travels.

The title of the book hints at how, as a ‘loose cannon’, Folkestone born Ted’s risk-taking got him into trouble on a number of occasions whilst being a considerable advantage in his working life.

As a young journalist, Reg Turnill met most of the prewar political personalities and later became the BBC's space correspondent being the only one in the press room when the historic Houston we have a problem message came from Apollo 11.

Ted Parker

ta es o a lapsed activist

Janet Holben Paperback Folkestone Cemetery has around 15,000 graves (27,000 people) there are stories of skulduggery and innocence, murder and bravery, grandeur and squalor – but mostly there are stories of everyday people living their lives This account brings some of those stories back to life and will perhaps bring an understanding of how Folkestone was shaped by terrible wars, widespread disease, the unforgiving sea, the new railway and fashionable society – but mostly, by the people who lived, loved, made their livelihood and finally died here

Our thanks to the

Parish Council and the Community Gardeners for allowing us to reproduce this diary page. We hope to make this a monthly feature in the magazine but you can read all the diary entries by clicking on this box.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us all at the Sandgate Community Gardens.

Most of the week the theme has been freezing cold frost and ice, and on Saturday the thaw began, and we will be back to warmer, wetter and windier weather. It certainly does not look like it will be a white Christmas in Sandgate, more like a soggy dull one. It seemed like a good idea to keep warm at the garden, and so we tackled the very full and ready to be used compost in bin number three which had been topped way back in the summer with a generous amount of cow manure collected from a local farm By now the manure was looking good enough to eat and very reminiscent of the Christmas cake mix or even the mince pie filling. It was only the worms in there bringing us back to reality as we barrowed it to the rhubarb patch and the hops by the wall.

The timing for the thaw was perfect, as the aim for our meeting on Saturday morning was to consume mince pies and swig mulled wine, all in the company of our lovely gardeners and catch up with who is doing what and where over the festive period. We have been saving the pulling of the leeks and parsnips up to this point as it seems to have turned into a tradition in our short time of being a community group, to save some for the Christmas dinner. We knew the leeks were not much more than spring onion sized, as it could be easily seen; however the parsnips were going to be a surprise as of course, the bit we are interested in is out of sight. We are assuming the lack of growth has been due to the dry summer and plot, mainly because the very same batch of leek seedlings were planted in two other local areas, and they are MUCH larger.

It has to be said, we are looking at quality and certainly not quantity.

Sandgate

A

The roots of the parsnips tapered deep down into the soil, presumably looking for that illusive water. As they emerged you could see the lighter brown of the deeper soil at the end of the root and the black compost at the top. We were pleased to see so many worms too, as was the garden robin patiently waiting and quietly singing to itself in the hedge until we moved away and it could find those worms too.

It is always a milestone (when you spend time working outdoors), to get to the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, coming up this week. After that it lifts the heart to know that the days are getting longer again and the cycle towards the first seed sowing of the New Year will soon be upon us. One of the photos below shows the very first sighting this week of the spring bulbs pushing their way up through the wood chips at the edge of the path – a tiny hint of the busy spring season to come, so in the meantime we shall enjoy the break over this festive period, and be back in the garden on Wednesday 4th January. Although the suspicion is that the garden will probably see a few of us taking a break from the feasting madness to find some peace and work to combat the Christmas belly fatigue.

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us all at the Sandgate Community Gardens.

What’s next?

• Believe it or not there are still leaves falling from the trees to be picked up

• Continue to empty compost bin three

• Clear most of the long bed near the hedge

• Keep a close eye on bird damage to the brassicas and net situation

Sessions at

Sessions at

If

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Thank you.

Visit our web site by clicking on our logo on the left Our family includes over 1,600 important historic houses, many with open doors, waiting to be explored Typically, Historic Houses properties remain lived-in homes, and all of them have fascinating and distinctive stories to tell

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