Sentinel
Local Matters
Sandgate
a dce2.0 company
February 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
Sandgate Library: STILL at your service Despite the national lockdown, Sandgate Library continues to offer a limited book “Select and Collect� pick up service. Folkestone, Cheriton & Wood Avenue Libraries are at present all closed but it is possible for library members of any Kent library to make use of the Select and Collect service at Sandgate Library. Sandgate Library is open for a Select and Collect service on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10.00-12.00. Collection by appointment only. Please phone 07552 810271 Monday-Friday 10.00-12.00 (closed Weds) or email sandgate.Library@kent.gov.uk to place Select and Collect orders directly with library staff and to arrange a collection time and date. Bookshelf browsing and use of computers and WiFi are currently unavailable until further notice.
Our thanks to the Sandgate 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. This newsletter is all about saying thank you to the people who are helping us to get things done, there are times when it can seem the task is too great, or will cost too much, but more often than not we manage to find ways to progress. Two things needed sorting out at Enbrook – Our tool box has been broken for some time now, and we have to raise seedlings or keep plants at various houses. Fortunately Councillor Rory Love of Kent County Council has awarded us a grant through the Combined Member Grant Scheme to enable us to replace that tool box and keep seedlings cosy in some cold frames until ready to be planted out. We realise how fortunate we are when such help comes along and it makes a big difference to First load of compost for how we function. Fremantle This week some of us have been concentrating on work at Fremantle Park, Sandgate. The Parish Council are kindly allowing us to take on some growing space there, and we reported last year on three large wooden containers that were set up and planted with vegetables and herbs which have been watered and looked after by locals living nearby. The plan is to turn some of the grass into a growing area for vegetables and fruit, plus some bee attracting flowers. The ‘no dig’ methods we follow meant covering the area in a double layer of cardboard topped with a good thick layer of compost. The card smothers the grass and gradually gets broken down and drawn into the soil, the compost gives the fruit and veg a great start and can be planted into straight away. The only problem is that compost of any type is incredibly expensive, especially in such large quantities; however the horticultural department of the Folkestone 2
and Hythe District Council came to the rescue bringing us two large trailers full of their own compost created in their yard from their work all around the area. Unfortunately the ground within the park has been saturated by all the recent rain making it impossible to tip the compost straight onto the plot so it had to be dumped on the verge and we took turns to work on barrowing the whole lot to where it was required. It will take some days to dry out and to make it workable enough to rake into all the right places, but at least a start has been made and we can begin planting soon. Whilst working there, so many people have walked by, or popped out from their houses to say how great it is to see things going on and how much they appreciate the park in the first place. The space we are working is very visible to many of the residents as houses and flats overlook the entire park, so we hope to be able to make an interesting and colourful display. At Enbrook Park our gardeners took turns to check on the plants and cover some of the brassicas being attacked by pigeons, cut back and tidy plants around the pond and spread more compost on one of the asparagus beds where the roots keep being Fremantle plot with wood exposed, probably by digging squirrels! The chip surround Saturday session was called off as it has continued to rain, however in spite of the wet, Chris, one of our bee keepers noticed her bees have been busy bringing lots of off-white pollen back to the hive which is thought to have come from hazel catkins. Flowers in the midst of winter are proving their worth to the colony. What’s next? • If it is drier, begin to put down more wood chip pathways at Fremantle Park • Do not mention the barrowing of chips and/or compost up to the Enbrook garden! • There are still some seedlings to pot up • Check on pruning required to trees and shrubs. •
Order seeds for small wild flower area. 3
Please support your local Farmers' Markets
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Great gift only ÂŁ11.00 including P&P (UK mainland) www.the-find-online.com 4
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To advertise in all three of The Sentinels with circa 3000 targetted readers and growing please email me: david@thesentinel.org.uk
for a rate card. 5
Contact Leonie: 07840 138308 or leoniewootton2311@gmail.com
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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/
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You can now order on-line at: https://www.usherswholesale.com/box
or by telephone on: 07515 529425
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We deliver to Folkestone, Cheriton, Hawkinge, Capel, Alkham Valley, Saltwood, Sandgate, Seabrook, Hythe
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To advertise in three The Sentinels with circa 2300 targetted readers and growing please email me at:
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 gauranteed.
david@thesentinel.org.uk
for a rate card. Thank you. 11
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. 12
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.
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SANDGATE FARMERS MARKET
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Shop Local. www.sandgatebusiness.org.uk
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. Kindle edition The shouty exclamation! ÂŁ9.99 Hardback The three dots of... ÂŁ12.50 (Not forgetting the brackets) Great gift And even more
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Now order on-line at
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If you would like to submit an article or letter please email it to me. 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