Sentinel
Local Matters
Newington
a dce2.0 company
November 2021
This magazine is compiled and edited by David Cowell who is totally responsible for content. If you do not wish to receive these magazines please email UNSUBSCRIBE to him at david@thesentinel.org.uk
Wishing you all a great festive holiday and may 2022 bring you everything you wish...and more!
WOW Design-led gifts and interiors 76 High Street Hythe Kent CT21 5AL 01303 265340 www.facebook.com/wowhythe
Folkestone and Hythe Cats Protection shop in Hythe is now open: Monday to Saturday 9am - 5pm. New measures in place to protect customers and volunteers. Stringent cleaning regime and quarantining system to further protect customers and volunteers and only 2 customers in the shop at any one time. Many bargains from £1. Contact shop on 01303 264285 and general enquiries on 0345 260 1253 2
F O L C A Folca is the old name for Folkestone We celebrate all activities in the Folkestone and Hythe district also known as Shepway See our comprehensive Directory and Blog pages
folca.co.uk 3
Report from your County Councillor for Newington Thank you to those of you who responded to our consultations on the budget and the Household Waste Recycling Centre booking system – we had over 2,000 responses to the first and over 10,000 to the second and the responses will help shape policy. You’ll find current KCC consultations on https://letstalk.kent.gov.uk/ including one on the library service and another on the Kent Waste and Minerals Local Plan which sets out where building materials such as sand and ragstone can be extracted. I often report to you about financial challenges and this year is different only so far as we have very little room for manoeuvre as the numbers of people eligible for care from KCC continues to rise. This includes care of the elderly, child protection and both the schooling and transport to specialist provision of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN). As an example, the number of children needing transport to an SEN school has risen by 13% since September. Our budget for 2022/23 will be debated and set in February. On a more positive note we continue to be successful in winning one-off Government grants and we are through to the final round for a project that would bring significant funding to support tree establishment across Kent. We have also been shortlisted for several awards and have recently won the ‘people’s vote’ award at the European Regiostars Awards for one of our drainage projects (a new park created in Margate that can store water to reduce flooding). Our mobile library fleet (fleet makes it sound vast but it’s just five vehicles) won a national award. Finally, KCC is working with the Kent Resilience Forum in readiness for any disruption at our borders in the year ahead. We are lobbying the Government for additional freight holding facilities outside Kent, streamlined (ideally digitalised) systems for border checks, funding for the safety checks Kent Trading Standards need to make on imported consumer goods and major road improvements to deal with pinch points on the key arterial routes to Dover port. Some of you may remember Nicola Baker who used to work for the District Council and who died at a tragically early age in 2018. Nicola was involved in the council’s support for Troubled Families and started Wish Upon A Star 4
to give anonymous presents to children from poorer households in our district. We each choose a child knowing only the name, age and sometimes a few words about what they like. In pre-Covid days the children’s details were written on paper stars on the Christmas tree. Nowadays it’s all done on-line but as ever we remember Nicola as we take part. I have a happy memory of Nicola joining us on a litterpick in Newington and maybe you do as well. What a lovely person she was. I hope you all were able to celebrate Christmas as you wished and wish you all the best for the year ahead. Susan Carey Member for Elham Valley Kent County Council
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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. 6
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.
A Loose Cannon tales of a lapsed activist
Ted Parker
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 13. 7
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To advertise in all three of The Sentinels with circa 3000 targetted readers and growing please email me at: david@thesentinel.org.uk for a rate card. Thank you. 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/ 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 dash So-called "quotation marks" The colon: and on and on. The shouty exclamation! Kindle edition The three dots of... £9.99 (Not forgetting the brackets) Hardback And even more 9
£14.99 Great gift
Friends of St Nicholas Church Newington Restoring and maintaining this historic building and its grounds
Charity number: 1122652
N E P S U S
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The editor of The Sentinel is also responsible for sending Hythe, Newington and Sandgate related event information to the Folkestone Herald. If you have an event you wish to publicise it is needed by Tuesday at 17:00. The information should appear in the edition two weeks later although it is not guaranteed. 10
Support your local Farmers' Markets in 2021/22
ill as w t g ke n t ar s lo an w M e for a ho h t at ide rs w e. h d t s e d out rad l tra e op ing ith t stil h n w n is It run le, d ca ep sib an ke pos
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Support
Light lunches available local in church after lunchtime concerts
Great gift only £15.00 including P&P (UK mainland) https://thesentinel.blog/find/ 12
If you have any photographs of the area either current or past do send them to me by email and I will feature them in future editions. If you just have prints do drop them into Clyme House and I will scan.
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Report from your District Councillor for Newington As its Christmas I won’t bore you with too much Council business, but I do want to share a couple of good news items.
Supporting the homeless Three flats have been purchased by Folkestone & Hythe District Council to provide homes for four people with a long-term history of rough sleeping as part of the government's Rough Sleeping Initiative and the council's Homeless Prevention Strategy. The first occupants have already moved in and are receiving intensive support from a dedicated team at Porchlight who are working to ensure that the new tenants are able to retain their accommodation. To support those rough sleeping in the district this winter there are again emergency arrangements in place when the temperature is predicted to be zero degrees celsius or below, or when other extreme weather conditions are predicted throughout any one night time period. The outreach service that operates in the district throughout the year will also continue. Delivered by Serveco and Porchlight the service identifies people who are rough sleeping in the district or at risk of rough sleeping and works with them to help them access the accommodation and support services that they require. Over the coming winter period the council will be also be working closely with the Rainbow Centre and local churches as they provide the annual winter shelter. Part of this work will be assisting those who are helped by the shelter to find suitable long-term homes and support services where necessary.
Record number of Green Flags for our parks Kingsnorth Gardens is the latest park in the district to proudly fly the Green Flag after being awarded the prestigious international accolade for the first time. The popular haven in Folkestone joins the Royal Military Canal, Lower 14
Leas Coastal Park and Radnor Park - all of which are managed by Folkestone & Hythe District Council - in holding the status for 2021/22. The award is given to green spaces which boast the highest possible environmental standards, are beautifully maintained and have excellent visitor facilities.
Providing affordable homes which aim to be zero carbon in use. A pioneering new development in Folkestone is setting the standard for future building in the district. The 30 homes, which will be built on the former Highview school site in Moat Farm Road, have been designed by our in-house team, and are all for affordable rent. When complete, they aim to be zero carbon in use. The team has, for the first time, been joined by three tenants who are assisting in looking at different ways of ensuring the homes substantially reduce carbon emissions, as well as accessibility and placemaking. The zero-carbon-in-use initiatives include: mechanical ventilation with heat recovery systems (MVHR), photovoltaics (solar panels), battery power storage (which links with the panels), and air source heat pumps (ASHP). Work is expected to start on Highview's 24 houses and six flats (which include wheelchair-compliant units) early in 2022. The fully-accessible small neighbourhood will have open spaces with child-friendly landscaping, forming a sense of place. It will be connected to surrounding streets, with an emphasis on the movement of pedestrians, rather than vehicles. 15
Seasons greetings Despite the uncertainties of Omicron my wife and I (both fully jabbed) are looking forward to hosting some of our family for a traditional Christmas and will of allow the doom sayers to spoil our enjoyment. No matter how you have chosen to spend Christmas we wish you a safe and peaceful time over the festive period. Cllr David Godfrey Cabinet Member for Housing and Special Projects
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In the Church this January 2022 January 2nd
Benefice service 10.00 am
January 9th
Eucharist
9.30 am
January 23rd
Eucharist
9.30 am
Do look at the church notice board for further announcements. For any further Church information please call 01303 270604
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If you would like to submit an article or letter please ensure it is emailed to me by the 20th of each month. I will print almost anything as long as it’s not libellous, racist or unkind. Name must be supplied but can be withheld if requested. Please put your articles etc in plain text or Word and images should be in .jpg, .tiff or .png. My contact details are: Address: Clyme House, Hillside Street, Hythe, Kent CT21 5DJ Mobile: 07771 796 446 email: david@thesentinel.org.uk