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Sentinel

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Newington

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March 2022

This magazine is compiled and edited David Cowellplease who is email totally UNSUBSCRIBE responsible for content. If you do not wish to receive thesebynewsletters to him If you do not wish to receive at these magazines please email UNSUBSCRIBE to him at david@thesentinel.org.uk david@thesentinel.org.uk

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

THE SANDGATE SOCIETY ARCHIVE TEAM INVITE YOU TO THE

H. G. Wells Exhibition 2022 The Old Fire Station, Sandgate Opens Saturday 02 April and Sunday 03 April from 1030 to 1600 FREE ENTRANCE Refreshments available in the Reading Room (upstairs)

RECENTLY DISCOVERED CORRESPONDENCE ON DISPLAY FOR THE FIRST TIME RELATING TO SPADE HOUSE. VIEW LETTERS BY H. G. WELLS, ARCHITECT C. F. A. VOYSEY AND FOLKESTONE BUILDER WILLIAM DUNK. SEE ALSO DOCUMENTS FROM THE SANDGATE SOCIETY ARCHIVE FILES. H. G. WELLS COMMEMORATIVE ENVELOPE & STAMP GUIDED WALKS For booking information visit www.sandgatesociety.com THE SANDGATE SOCIETY The Old Fire Station, 51 High Street, Sandgate, Kent, CT20 3AH Email: sandgatesociety@gmail.com Registered Charity No. 280497

3 Coronavirus. Current Government guidelines may apply.

Report from your County Councillor for Newington Your County Council has responded to the invasion of Ukraine by reviewing our suppliers to make sure none of our contracts is indirectly supporting President Putin’s regime. We have removed Gazprom from the suppliers to our energy subsidiary Laser and we are seeking to reduce our Pension Fund investments (0.3% of the total) in Russian assets. We are also preparing for our duties under the Civil Contingencies Act should the situation worsen. In this context it’s been encouraging that over 4,000 households have registered an interest in our Solar Together collective buying scheme for solar panels and battery storage. Solar power provides a distributed source of energy and battery storage further improves this resilience. KCC has also continued its investment in solar panels for its own buildings and we are currently investing in two solar parks which together will reduce our carbon emissions by 34% and our energy costs by over £800,000 each and every year. Our largest energy cost remains our network of over 120,000 streetlights which have all been converted to LED (Light-Emitting Diode). (Switching to LEDs is something which everyone can do to help reduce energy use and save money.) KCC’s next solar projects will be solar parks on three of our closed landfill sites which will be a very good use of these contaminated areas. The chairman of the UK Climate Change Committee, Lord Deben, and his officers visited Kent on 08 March. They had come to learn about KCC’s work with partners but we also learnt from them about best practice elsewhere. Among the many partners we met, it was good to see the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) who do so much excellent work and I’m delighted to report that they have reached the next stage of their bid to win CrossChannel UNESCO Global Geopark status for the Kent Downs AONB with the Parc Naturel Regional des Caps et Marais d’Opale in France. KCC’s transport arrangements for children with Special Educational 4

Needs have had significant problems. Work is under way to put this right and there will be a full investigation. The problem has already been discussed at our KCC Cabinet meeting (03 March), the Scrutiny Meeting (08 March) and Full Council (10 March) and webcasts of these meetings can all be seen on the KCC website www.kent.gov.uk Thank you to everyone who reported fallen trees and blocked drains to KCC following the storms in February. Kent Highways and contractors had several hundred such incidents to deal with. Please use the highways section of www.kent.gov.uk to report problems or phone 03000 41 81 81 in office hours or 03000 41 91 91 for emergencies outside normal hours. (Anything that’s an immediate threat to life should be reported to Kent Police at 999.) Finally I’d like to remind you that KCC’s consultations can be seen on https://letstalk.kent.gov.uk/ and my Plan Tree strategy is open for comment till 02 May. It’s about tree establishment rather than tree planting and if you want to know the difference then do read the consultation. Susan Carey Member for Elham Valley Kent County Council

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

All now available in paperback and on Kindle

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

Newington & District Gardeners Association The 57th Annual General meeting was held in Newington village Hall on 21st February 2022. The Chairman Malcolm Brisley gave the members present an update of the last couple of years. It was with pleasure we had members return having last been seen 2 years ago, things starting to feel normal, all with a reminder that some members were missing due to being at home with the virus. Our Treasurer gave a very clear report of the account activity in 2021 which was followed by the Show Secretary’s report, during this report the winners of the Monthly competition were announced with Jean Brisley winning the ladies trophy and Ray Hill winning the Gentleman’s trophy. The chairman had advised the meeting that he would be stepping down after more than 20 years in the roll. Mr Vic Coleman was nominated to take over the role and accepted the position. Other key positions of Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer remain unchanged. Members were handed the NDGA 2022 Programme and Schedule for the Spring Show, with membership being paid for the year. Tea. Coffee biscuits and natter followed. The March meeting competition on Monday 21st March 2022 will focus on Narcissi and our specker will be Stephen Edney talking to us on growing Dahlias. In April we will hold our first Show of the year on Sunday 3rd April. Make a note in your diaries, you will find Newington Village Hall full of Daffodils and other exhibits. Vic Coleman newingtondga@btinternet.com

Friends of St Nicholas Church Newington Restoring and maintaining this historic building and its grounds

Charity number: 1122652

N E P S U S

D E D

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. 9

Friends of St Nicholas Church AGM at 7pm on Friday 22nd April followed at 7.30 by a talk by Melanie Wrigley on her recent visit to Iceland. There will be no charge but donations appreciated 11

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 13

£14.99 Great gift

Support your local Farmers' Markets in 2022

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

Support

Light lunches available local in church after lunchtime concerts

Great gift only £15.00 including P&P (UK mainland) https://thesentinel.blog/find/ 16

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.

In the Church this April 2022 April 10 Eucharist 9.30 a.m followed by the APCM April 17 Easter Day Eucharist 9.30 am April 24 No service Do look at the church notice board for further announcements. Support local

Report from your District Councillor for Newington

Ukraine A month ago, I was looking forward to easing of Covid restrictions and enjoying the early signs of Spring but all of my thoughts were shattered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the awful Humanitarian Crises emerging there. The rising energy costs and other inflationary issues will impact on us all, I can only take hope from the resilience of the brave Ukrainian people and in the fantastic response in our District to provide Aid. Details on how you can get involved can be found here Channelling district's help for Ukraine - Folkestone & Hythe District Council (folkestone-hythe.gov.uk) Other news from FHDC

New lease of life for empty properties More than 800 long term empty properties have been brought back into use in the Folkestone and Hythe district thanks to Kent's No Use Empty (NUE) run by Kent County Council with Folkestone & Hythe District Council. New lease of life for empty properties - Folkestone & Hythe District Council (folkestone-hythe.gov.uk) The first of the district's new 94 charging points for electric vehicles (EV) are now up and running. These are in car parks at Church Road, New Romney, High Knocke, Dymchurch, and The Paddocks, Hythe. From Friday 22

11 March, those at Tram Road, Folkestone, and Wilberforce Road, Sandgate, will be working, making a total of 20 points across the five car parks. Work is underway at 23 more sites and it is expected all will be operational by the end of April 2022. It's full charge ahead for our car parks - Folkestone & Hythe District Council (folkestone-hythe.gov.uk)

£2m award for social housing decarbonisation I am particularly pleased with this news which falls within my Cabinet Portfolio More than 100 council managed homes in the Folkestone and Hythe district will benefit from increased energy efficiency, thanks to a £2 million government grant. The successful award is the result of a bid made by Folkestone and Hythe District Council under Wave 1 of The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). Tenants will be individually contacted and a time arranged for the work to be carried out over the next 12 months, with the funding being used for homes with the most urgent need. £2m award for social housing decarbonisation - Folkestone & Hythe District Council (folkestone-hythe.gov.uk)

Help for more businesses hit by pandemic More businesses in the Folkestone and Hythe district affected by the growth in the Omicron variant of COVID-19 at the end of last year can now apply for funding support. Eligibility for the Additional Restrictions Grant has been extended to assist more business sectors and businesses also now have another three weeks to send in their applications as the deadline has

been extended to Friday 4 March 2022. Help for more businesses hit by pandemic - Folkestone & Hythe District Council (folkestone-hythe.gov.uk)

A balanced budget for Folkestone & Hythe An exciting programme of investment into the district has been agreed by councillors. The 2022/23 budget approved last night (23 February) will see £18m spent on core council services and projects that will continue the revitalisation of Folkestone & Hythe following the COVID-19 pandemic. Folkestone & Hythe District Council's portion of council tax equates to about 13% of the total bill. An increase of 1.96% (equivalent to less than 15p a day for an average Band D property) was agreed for 2022/2 Cllr David Godfrey Cabinet Member for Housing and Special Projects

All meetings unless otherwise staed

3rd April

Newington & District Gardeners Association

In April we will hold our first show of the year on Sunday 3rd April. Make a note in your diaries, you will find Newington Village Hall full of Daffodils and other exhibits. Venue: Newington Village Hall, Newington Road, Newington, Kent, CT18 8AU Day(s): Third Monday of month, nine meetings per year. Dates: February, March, April, May, July, August, September, October & November. Time: 19:30

We look forward to seeing all members and invite any new members to come and find us. newingtondga@btinternet.com Vic Coleman

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 27