Times of Tunbridge Wells 12th October 2022

Derelict for 22 years yet Council is still told to reject cinema site plans

Objections threaten project that promises to end town’s ‘grot spot’

By Richard Williams and Lilly Croucher

THE Planning Committee at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) is to meet next month to decide the fate of the town’s most notorious plot of land.

The former site of the ABC Cinema on Mount Pleasant Road has sat abandoned and derelict in the middle of town for more than 20 years, but a new proposal to turn it into a retirement village is due before Council planners in November.

Graveyard

However, scores of objections to the project have now been lodged with the Council, with voices opposing the development including the Town Forum, the Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society and dozens of town centre residents.

The site, which is above the train line to Tonbridge, has changed hands more than half a dozen times, and despite repeated promises to revitalise the 1.5-acre plot of land by each developer, it has remained empty since the cinema closed in 2000.

The land has even been dubbed a ‘graveyard for developers’ by the Council’s Chief Executive after 22 years of failed projects.

REGENERATION The cinema site plans by RVG and [inset below] how the site has looked for the last two decades

The latest proposal is by Retirement Villages Group (RVG) – part of the same group that runs AXA Health, the town’s largest employer – who have submitted plans for a £72million later-living development.

RVG claims that the project will boost

the local economy of Tunbridge Wells by £1.5million a year and create up to 44 full-time jobs, as well as 187 construction jobs during the development.

They also say the development will create a downsizing option for those over 65 that will release under-occupied and much-needed family homes back on to the market.

Caroline Keiller, Development Manager at RVG, said: “Retirement living schemes like our proposals for Tunbridge Wells provide the solution and enable people over 65 to downsize and remain active members of their community.

“Our experience and research demonstrates that this also benefits the local economy and community – as well as the residents of our schemes.

“They remain close to their network of

family and friends, they make new friends, they get involved in local community activities, spend money in local shops and support local charities,” she explained.

Since the planning application was submitted in August, scores of objections have flooded into the Council, most of which are opposed to the development – despite the abandoned land having been branded an eyesore by residents for the last 22 years.

Full story, page 6

‘Retirement living schemes like our proposals enable people over 65 to downsize and remain active’

Consultation into scrapping annual elections to go ahead

By Lilly Croucher

VOTERS in Tunbridge Wells will be asked whether the Council should scrap its annual elections in favour of a single ballot every four years, after the Town Hall voted to approve a consultation on the plans.

Currently at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, councillors are elected in thirds, with 16 of the Town Hall’s 48 members elected every year for three years.

No elections are held on the fourth year when the Kent County Council and Police and Crime Commissioner elections take place.

But boundary changes and a reduction in councillor numbers are set to be introduced by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE), which will see many wards, especially in rural areas, merged.

Reduced

The LGBCE says as the Council is elected in thirds, there should be three councillors for each ward, and is suggesting the number of wards in Tunbridge Wells be reduced from 20 to 13.

Councillor numbers are also set to be cut from 48 to 39.

As reported in the Times last week, former leader and Conservative Benenden & Cranbrook councillor, Tom Dawlings wants the Council to hold all-out elections every four years.

He has said the changes suggested by the LGBCE could lead to less representation for voters in rural wards.

At an Extraordinary meeting of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council last Wednesday (October 5), Cllr Dawlings brought forward a motion for the Council to approve a consultation into scrapping the current election cycle in favour of a single all-out poll every four years.

He claims the move will prevent the need from the LGBCE from changing the ward boundaries.

“My personal view is that electors benefit from having mostly single – and two-member wards making councillors more representative of their communities and more accountable to their electors,” he told the Town Hall.

“That is something we will be able to ask the Commission to consider [in their ward boundary proposal] but this can only be done when we determine to have all-out elections.”

He added that there were substantial cost savings in holding just one election every four years and not three.

“A real benefit for the council in these inflationary times is the cost of running elections,” he said.

“The elections in May cost the council £130,000. Currently one of the three borough council elections are shared with the Police and Crime Commissioner.

“All-out elections will save around £200,000 over a four-year period. Changing to all-out elections is a way to save costs and protect services.”

Fuller enters no plea on extra sex charges

DOUBLE murderer David Fuller has appeared in court charged with 16 further offences, but did not enter any plea.

Fuller, now 68, beat and strangled to death Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, before sexually assaulting them in two separate attacks in Tunbridge Wells in 1987.

Unsolved

The crimes went unsolved for more than 30 years and were dubbed the ‘bedsit murders’ by the media due to the accommodation in which both girls lived in the town.

Last year Fuller was given a whole-life sentence for the murders and was also charged with sexually abusing dead bodies in at Tunbridge Wells Hospital and its forerunner the Kent and Sussex Hospital.

As reported in last week’s Times, the former electrician has now also been charged with 12 more counts of abuse conducted in hospital mortuaries, and four counts of possession of extreme pornography, after the victims were identified by police.

Fuller appeared at Medway Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (October 6) morning via video link from HMP Frankland to answer the charges.

He was wearing a grey prison-issue jumper and looked down at the table in front of him while the charges were read to him.

He spoke only to confirm his name, date of

However, others warned that even if the Council made the change, there was no guarantee ward boundaries still wouldn’t be changed.

Councillor Nancy Warne (Alliance, Benenden & Cranbrook), said that while she would vote for the proposal, she had reservations.

“I will support this motion but what concerns me, as a result of the Commission, is we repeat this debate from last year about all-out and third [of chamber] elections. There is no guarantee that what the Boundary Commission will come up with will be any less of a mishmash than what is proposed at the moment,” she explained.

The motion was eventually passed 33 votes to 10, meaning a public consultation will now take place later in the year.

If the Council do decide to adjust the election cycle following the consultation, the changes will come into effect in 2024.

See Comment for more on the election changes: page 19

Patient stabs security guard at Tunbridge Wells Hospital

this

birth, current residence, and to enter no plea to all 16 charges.

Fuller was returned to custody at HMP Frankland and is set to appear again at Maidstone Crown Court on November 3.

A SECURITY guard suffered facial injuries after being stabbed at Tunbridge Wells Hospital last week.

The victim was attacked at the Pembury site just after 6:00am on Thursday (October 6).

The male security guard suffered facial injuries ‘consistent with stab wounds’ but was discharged from care.

The attacker, described by Kent Police as a ‘patient’ at the hospital, is understood to have been taken into the care of medical professionals after the alleged assault.

A spokesperson for the force said: “Kent Police were called at 6.03am on Thursday, October 6 to a disturbance at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, where a patient is reported to have assaulted a member of security staff.

“The victim suffered facial injuries consistent with stab wounds and has now been discharged from care.”

A spokesperson for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which runs the hospital said it remained ‘open as usual’ following the incident.

HOSPITAL WORKER ASSAULTED

A TONBRIDGE woman has been fined and sentenced to a nine-month community order after admitting assault and sexual assault on an emergency worker at Tunbridge Wells Hospital last year.

Kelly McNamara, 39, of Gorham Drive had gone to the hospital in June 2021 for a mental health assessment.

When there, she set off fire alarms and punched a clinical support worker on the back before slamming a door on his elbow. She then grabbed another man by the groin and exposed herself.

After admitting assault by beating and sexual assault at an earlier hearing, she has now been given a nine-month community order, which includes 80 hours of unpaid work.

She was also ordered to pay costs of £85 as well as compensation of £100 to the clinical support worker and £200 to the sexual assault victim.

HOMEWORK

BURGLARY

CLLR TOM DAWLINGS

DOUBLE KILLER

David Fuller during his trial last year

By George! Royal town bucks UK trend for new baby names

By Robert Forrester

GEORGE was the most common name given to baby boys by parents in Tunbridge Wells last year, while Olivia was the most popular girls’ name in both the borough and the country.

According to annual figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), of the 611 boys recorded in 2021 as being born in Tunbridge Wells, 17 were called George.

The name has grown in popularity over the last few years after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge named their first child and heir to the throne Prince George.

Theodore, Leo and Henry were the joint-second most popular boys’ names in Tunbridge Wells, with ten baby boys each given the name last year.

But the UK’s most popular boys’ name, according to the ONS, was Noah – although just four boys were given the name in Tunbridge Wells last year.

Oliver has dropped to second place in the UK having been the most popular boys’ name for eight years, while George was only the country’s third-most common name for baby boys.

Olivia not only topped the girls’ list for the sixth year in succession in the UK but remains Tunbridge Wells’ most popular girls’ name, with ten of the 559 girls born in the area given the name in 2021.

Margot, Grace and Evelyn were the secondmost popular names given to girls in Tunbridge Wells with nine baby girls each given the names last year.

Nationally, Isla, Ava and Amelia followed Olivia as the most popular girls’ names.

In Tonbridge & Malling, George also topped the list of the most common name for boys in that borough.

Common

Arthur was the most common name given to boys in Wealden.

And Olivia was the most common name given to girls in both areas last year.

Data from the ONS also shows that Henry replaced Jack in the top ten names for boys in the UK, while Freya, Florence and Willow replaced Isabella, Rosie and Sophia for girls.

Mothers over the age of 35 were more likely to give their babies traditional names such as Thomas, while younger mothers were more likely to use shortened versions, such as Tommy.

Noah was the fourth-most popular boys’ name in 2020 and has risen 15 places since 2011.

In total, 4,525 baby boys were named Noah in 2021 across the UK, and 3,649 girls were named Olivia, up from 3,640 in 2020.

Olivia was the top girls’ name in every English region and Wales, except in the East Midlands,

REGAL

George has risen in popularity since the birth of Prince George

Pharmacy shoplifter arrested in seconds

A THIEF who made off with hundreds of pounds’ worth of perfumes stolen from a store in Calverley Road, was arrested in just seconds thanks to a quick-thinking police officer.

Daniel Findra was detained by the officer after he was seen leaving Boots the Chemist, shortly after 9am on September 29.

Patrols in the town had been on high alert following a string of recent thefts.

Findra, 36, of no fixed address was taken into custody and searches led to the recovery of several bottles and boxes containing fragrances.

He appeared before Medway Magistrates’ Court on September 30 and was ordered to carry out 100 hours of community work and pay £800 compensation.

Week-long bus strikes

where Amelia was the most popular girls’ name.

Muhammad was the most popular boys’ name in four out of nine English regions.

James Tucker of the ONS, said: “Noah has replaced Oliver as the most popular name for boys in 2021, moving Oliver into second place and ending an eight-year reign at the top.

“Olivia remained the most popular girls’ name in 2021, having held the top spot since 2016. Interestingly, Noah was not top in any of the English regions, but has risen up the ranks in most regions since last year to take first place overall.”

MP is back in the chair of Science Committee

By Richard Williams

GREG Clark has returned to the role of the Chairman of the Commons’ Science and Technology Committee – a job he had to leave earlier in the year when he was asked to serve in Boris Johnson’s cabinet.

The Tunbridge Wells MP had chaired the committee since 2020 until he was offered a government role as Levelling Up Secretary following the sacking of Michael Gove in July.

Replacement

After PM Liz Truss took over at Number 10, Mr Clark was replaced by Stephen Clarke in the Cabinet.

As revealed in the Times last month, nominations to elect a replacement for Mr Clark as Chairman of the Science Committee had to be delayed due to The Queen’s death and as

HOT SEAT

Mr Clark is back in his committee role

nominations were still open when the Tunbridge Wells MP left his Cabinet post last month, it allowed him to reapply for his former Committee job.

Last night (Tuesday) as the Times went to press, the Speaker of the House was expected to

confirm that Mr Clark had been selected.

A spokesperson for the Committee told this newspaper earlier that no other parliamentarians had put their name forward by the close of nominations, leaving the job open for Mr Clark.

During his previous tenure as chairman, the Tunbridge Wells MP oversaw the publication of a damning report into the government’s handling of the Covid crisis, which the Science and Technology Committee branded ‘one of UK's worst ever public health failures'.

The role of Chairman will last until the next General Election, thought likely to be in 2024.

Former Conservative Leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith is competing with Alicia Kearns MP for the chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee – a post previously held by Tonbridge MP Tom Tugendhat, who stood down after taking the role of Minister of State for Security in September. The Speaker is expected to announce that post today (Wednesday).

BUS operator Arriva Kent has confirmed 13 additional days of industrial action by the union Unite, continuing into mid-November and including two week-long walk outs.

Unite members, who were on strike on Monday and Tuesday this week at bus depots across Northfleet, Gillingham, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells are to walk out on 13 additional days.

The new dates are Wednesday to Friday next week (October 19-21), Monday-Friday of half term (October 24-28), and also Monday-Friday in the week of November 7-11.

Man dies in street

A MAN was pronounced dead on Monday (October 10) after collapsing in a Tonbridge street. South East Coast Ambulance spokesman said crews were called to Martin Hardie Way at 3.30pm but pronounced the man ‘despite their best efforts and the efforts of all at the scene the man sadly died’.

Police confirmed the death was being treated as a ‘medical incident’.

Chapel vandalised

A CHAPEL in Crowborough has been vandalised, the Town Council has said.

After releasing a video of the mess left by the vandals, Crowborough Town Council said they are appealing for help to find those responsible for the attack on St Thomas’ Chapel at Herne Road Cemetery.

The vandalism occurred between the evening of Friday Saturday 30 and the morning of Saturday October 1.

Anybody with information should email info@ crowboroughtowncouncil.gov.uk

TN Recruits for all your recruitment needs

Despite the turbulence in the UK economy, the recruitment market nationally and locally is continuing to thrive. Whilst the number of job vacancies in June to August 2022 was 1,266,000, a decrease of 34,000 (according to the ONS), this is still considerably more than the circa 800,000 vacancies prior to the pandemic and that was still a very buoyant market.

There are a number of factors affecting the shortage of workers but according to some reports we have lost over 3.5 million workers due to Brexit, early retirees and younger generations staying in education, the latter two facts largely due to the pandemic.

All of the above leads us to a very important time to engage with good, ethical recruitment organisations such as TN Recruits.

From a job seeker’s perspective, we will complete a full

interview to understand your background and career goals, only then can we make an introduction to the most suitable employers locally.

Any employer with vacancies at present will benefit hugely from working with TN Recruits to find suitable applicants. By choosing to do the full recruitment process yourself, it could work but would be very time consuming and your own means will only take the search so far.

At TN Recruits, we start with our own unique database which is predominantly made up of 14,000 candidates based in and around Tunbridge Wells. We then continue to spread the net and make contact with both live and passive job seekers, saving you time in finding the best candidates for your role.

To hear more about how we can help with all your immediate recruitment needs, contact me now in complete confidence 01892 571105 or neil@tnrecruits.com

Nine Day Line Closure

Tunbridge Wells to Hastings

22

Sunday 30 October

For nine days buses will replace trains while we renew the track in Wadhurst tunnel to improve reliability.

Work will also be taking place at other sites along the line to help prevent landslips.

Please check before you travel.

Find out more at: networkrail.co.uk/Wadhurst

After two decades of being abandoned cinema site project faces being blocked

By Lilly Croucher

AFTER its closure in 2000, the site of the ABC Cinema was left dormant for more than 20 years.

Developers have come and gone and done little other than ramp up the cost of the land that was last on the market for £17million.

Responded

After consultation with the local community of Tunbridge Wells earlier this year, Retirement Villages Group (RVG) responded by submitting its formal planning application with design changes that reduced the development’s height, included additional windows and revised the balcony sizes.

‘Serious misgivings’

“The Town Forum objects to this application. In addition, we have serious misgivings about the failure of this proposal to provide significant benefit to the wider community in the town.

“The Royal Tunbridge Wells Town Forum registers an objection to this application and recommends that the Council recognise the grounds for the objection and opt for a rejection.”

Royal Tunbridge Wells Town Forum

‘Monstrous’

“The more I look at the RVG submissions, the less I like what is being proposed.

“Even with reduced height, it is a monstrous development for the centre of town, architecturally oppressive and totally the wrong kind of usage for a key town centre location.”

Dr Michael Holman (Water in the Wells)

‘Building for seniors’

“Tunbridge Wells has recently had a lot of new buildings for seniors. Is there any evidence that there are more seniors who would want to live so close to the town centre?

I believe the Government requirements for the town have already been fulfilled. The local authority claims it would like to enhance the town centre with a lively night-time economy.

Next month, the Planning Committee is set to meet to discuss the plans and Chairman Cllr Trevor Poile (Lib Dem) and the 11 cross-party committee members will decide the fate of RVG’s plans, which has been backed by businesses and some organisations.

But not everybody is happy with the plans and more than 70 objections asking the Council to reject the development have been lodged at the Town Hall.

Many have complained that the project is being aimed at senior citizens, while others have described the plans by RVG as ‘monstrous’ and a ‘carbuncle’.

Here are just some of the objections people have lodged about the development of the cinema site…

“Not only is it unlikely the retired residents would contribute to the night-time economy, it would be more likely that the target group of 80 years plus would find the noise and presence of the night-time revellers disruptive and intimidating.

“We believe maintaining the vibrancy of the town needs more young people. As a town, we seriously lack affordable ‘start-up’ housing and accommodation for working people and young families.

“In addition, more seniors will almost certainly increase the need for medical care. Are there proposals to increase the number of doctors and GP practices and to fund additional health care facilities?”

Inner London Road Residents Association

‘Thin end of the wedge’

“Is a care home in a prime site in the centre of town a sensible development?

“I think not. We already have some of these in or near the town centre.

“If the council allows this to proceed, will it refuse all further applications for care homes within the town centre or will this be the ‘thin end of the wedge’ which enables future care home applicants to say, ‘well, you approved the cinema site so therefore you are duty bound to approve mine aren’t you!’”

Mr Brian Lippard (Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society)

But the development has some supporters

Historic England

‘Big help for business’

“I think that including facilities in it is a great idea as it will help the new residents to become part of the community.”

‘Derelict for far too long’ “This site has been derelict for far too long. Older people are around all day rather than just evenings and weekends and so it will be good for local businesses.”

Mahen Ramphul, Manager at Pleasant Sandwich Bar on Mount Pleasant Road

‘Regeneration of a key site’

“Historic England welcomes in principle, this proposal to redevelop a long vacant site, the ABC Cinema, which lies at an important crossroad in the Royal Tunbridge Wells Conservation Area.

“We also acknowledge the public benefits that could arise from the regeneration of a key town centre site.”

“It will be a big help for the local business community for this site to be brought back in to use.

Ryno Glen, Manager at Audio Visual Consultancy on Mount Pleasant Road

MAKING AN IMPRESSION

Images from RVG showing how the development will look

Police vow to attend more burglaries following Chief Constables’ pledge

EXCLUSIVE By Richard Williams

KENT Police have told the Times they are to review their attendance rate to burglaries as a ‘matter of priority’ – despite the force already having one of the country’s highest attendance rates.

The review follows a pledge by The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) last week (Wednesday October 5) that every home break-in recorded in the UK will now have an officer attend the scene.

The decision followed an announcement last month by the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, that officers in the capital would go to every reported burglary because the crime was ‘too serious an intrusion’ for police not to attend.

Summons

Across the country, whether police attend a burglary had been up to individual forces, with some sending officers only to the homes of victims that are vulnerable or elderly, or if there are evidential lines of inquiry to be followed up.

Fewer than half of the 148,764 residential burglaries recorded by police forces in England and Wales in 2021/22 received a visit from a police officer and just 3.5 per cent (5,236) resulted in a charge or summons.

But in Kent, figures show that police turned up to more than 80 per cent of the 3,598 recorded burglaries in the county – among the highest rates of any force.

Despite this, Assistant Chief Constable Tracey Harman of Kent Police told the Times that the force will still look at ways to improve attendance rates following the Police Chiefs’ pledge.

BACKING Kent PCC Matthew Scott welcomes the Police Chiefs’ pledge

She said: “Following the National Police Chiefs Council statement we are, as a matter of priority, reviewing our attendance rate and exploring ways to improve the service and support victims who suffer a traumatic and invasive experience from this type of crime.

“Our dedicated Chief Constable’s Crime Squad focuses on hardened criminals who regularly commit burglaries and robberies. Since we launched this team in February 2019, they have secured prison sentences totalling 1,578 years and five months.

“These results are a testament to the outstanding expertise of the officers who have undoubtedly made the county safer. We use every power available to target criminals and ensure robust prison sentences are imposed on them.

“There will be no let-up in our efforts. We’re not going away. My message to anyone who commits these types of crimes in Kent is that we are coming for you, we will catch and convict you and you will spend a considerable amount of time in jail.’

Matthew Scott, Kent’s PCC, said he welcomed the decision by the National Police Chiefs last week, and highlighted Kent Police’s ongoing ‘commitment’ to tackle burglary.

He said: “I welcome this morning’s commitment from Chief Constables that police will attend every home burglary.

“Kent has a high attendance rate, with burglary rates down and charges up.

“I hope this commitment will further assure victims that it’s being taken seriously.”

Rise in face-to-face GP appointments

MORE than 60 per cent of GP appointments that took place in Kent and Medway during August were face-to-face – the highest levels since the pandemic.

The NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board, which provides GP services throughout the region at around 189 surgeries, saw 828,677 patients during August, the latest figures show.

Of those appointments, 63 per cent (529,525) were face-to-face, with 34 per cent of all appointments conducted over the phone (282,307) and around 1 per cent (8,073) of patients were seen via home visits.

More than 38,259 people (4.6 per cent) failed to show up to a GP appointment.

Pandemic

The figures show a rise in face-to-face appointments compared to last year, when just 55 per cent of appointments in August 2021 were face-to-face.

The figures, published by NHS England show nationally that GP face-to-face appointments have risen to their highest level since the start of the pandemic.

Around two-thirds of appointments (66.1 per cent) with family doctors in England were done in person in August, according to the latest data from NHS Digital.

This is just below the 66.2 per cent carried out in March 2020, the month the country went into its first lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The proportion of face-to-face appointments has been rising since the start of 2022, up from 60.1 per cent in January, but has still not returned to the pre-pandemic levels of around 80 per cent.

The figures show 17.5 million out of 26.5 million appointments were carried out face-to-face, compared to 7.9 million (30.0 per cent) over the phone.

Aldi still plans a second Tunbridge Wells store after overtaking rivals

recent months.

By Victoria Roberts

ALDI still has eyes on a second store in Tunbridge Wells as it continues its expansion across Kent, the supermarket has said.

The budget retailer, which recently became the fourth-largest supermarket in the UK after leapfrogging Morrisons in mid-September, has begun an expansion drive the summer, to hire 161 new staff across Kent, including Tunbridge Wells.

Demand

It has also boosted salaries and has reiterated its commitment to find a second store in Tunbridge Wells.

Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK, said last week: “Now more than ever we’re seeing heightened demand for our prices.

“However, we know there are still areas that don’t have a store, or that need more to meet the increased customer demand we’ve witnessed in

“Our 2022 expansion plans are helping to achieve that,” Mr Hurley explained.

Aldi opened its first supermarket in Tunbridge Wells at the Great Lodge Retail Park on the North Farm industrial estate in November 2019 and had planned to open a second store in Eridge Road.

However, the supermarket chain was forced to sell the plot in late 2021 when fellow German discounter Lidl opened a shop off Linden Park Road – about 100 yards away.

Following that setback, Aldi said this summer that it would pay a ‘finder’s fee’ to anyone – staff or member of the public – who could find it a location to buy or lease.

Speaking in July, national property director George Brown said Aldi UK was still in the hunt for a new store location in Tunbridge Wells.

“Our finder’s fee is available to anyone who can find Aldi an appropriate site, so we’d encourage people to share any suitable suggestions and get in touch.”

Burger chain opens doors for business

THE first meals were served by burger chain Five Guys yesterday (October 10) as its new restaurant opened for business in Tunbridge Wells for the first time.

Plans

The chain has opened around 100 restaurants across the UK, since its first in Convent Garden in 2013, but has more than 1,500 worldwide.

Plans for the restaurant were first revealed in March when the burger chain applied for planning permission for a new sign after taking over the former Closs & Hamblin shop site on Mount Pleasant Road.

Café wins award from Tripadvisor

A SOUTHBOROUGH café has won the 2022 Tripadvisor ‘Travellers Choice Award’, which entitles it to a sticker on the door and the use of the logo on its website and emails.

The Earl Grey Tea Rooms won the award thanks to positive reviews on the travel and leisure platform over the past 12 months.

Outstanding

Tripadvisor chief commercial officer, Kanika Soni said: “Ranking among the Travellers’ Choice winners is always tough — but never more so than this year as we emerge from the pandemic.

“Whether it’s using new technology, implementing safety measures, or hiring outstanding staff, I’m impressed by the steps you’ve taken to meet travellers’ new demands. You’ve adapted brilliantly in the face of adversity.”

Founder Roz Bambling said: “We got the news

on Monday and the sticker is on order!”

She opened the café in 2017, using vintage china and stocking it with English roses in season.

Her community socializing initiatives include the ‘Chatty Café’ on Monday mornings at 9am-12, and the provision of free water and dog biscuits to well-behaved canine customers.

Open day at heritage estate as it presents development plans

By Sarah Carter

INVESTMENT plans for a listed-building renovation at one of Tunbridge Wells’ oldest country estates will be open to the public in a presentation next week.

Under recently submitted plans, Runcie Court, the elaborate late-Victorian stables and coach house at Salomons Estate in Broomhill Road, will be re-purposed from commercial use to accommodation, public meeting spaces and café.

The conversion is designed to improve Runcie Court’s financial sustainability as well as restoring and preserving period features, such as decorative tiles, joinery, and ephemera relating to the stables, which David Lionel Salomon built in 1884.

Sustainability

On October 20, plans will be presented by project architect Gaby Higgs, who specialises in the restoration and conversion of Georgian houses, including sensitive retrofitting for environmental performance and sustainability.

After Ms Higgs’ presentation, she will answer questions regarding the planning application, and then lead a one-hour tour of the building, ending at 7pm.

The Runcie Court proposals are part of the estate’s wider investment programme to conserve its heritage assets, promote local tourism, and generate the funds to restore the main house, which was designed by Decimus Burton.

The plans already have the backing of Historic England, who said in a statement to planners at

RUNCIE COURT

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: “Overall, we appreciate the aims of this project and the work done to date to limit the harm caused. We consider that the overall level of harm to significance to be low and recommend that this harm should be balanced by public benefit, including heritage benefits.”

Salomons Estate, which is owned by the Elite Leisure Collection, which also runs One Media, publisher of the Times, said the open evening was part of its ‘duty to approach the project with

sensitivity’ given the building’s Grade II listing.

The tour also includes most accessible areas, apart from the first and second floors of Runcie Court East Wing, and the clock tower.

Those wishing to attend should meet at the Runcie Court stable courtyard at 5pm.

The presentation and Q&A starts at 5:15pm, with a tour from 6pm to 7pm. Refreshments are provided, and free is parking available.

Contact molly.miller@salomons-estate.com for more details.

Business fund offers zero per cent loans

BUSINESSES are being offered zero per cent loans from a local authority-backed fund to help Kent-based companies.

Speaking at a promotional event last week in Tunbridge Wells, Sue Berdo, the strategic programme manager of business investment at Kent County Council (KCC), said loans of up to £500,000 were available.

The Kent & Medway Business Fund (KMBF) offers zero per cent interest loans of £100,000 to £500,000 to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with under 250 employees.

Small Business Boost (SBB) loans of £26,000£99,000 are also available, with a six-month repayment holiday.

Benefits

Both are repayable over five years, and attract an administration fee of five per cent.

Companies agree to credit checks, document their track record and explain their business plan to repay the loan, as well as showing planned benefits including job creation, contribution to the Kent and Medway economy, and evidence of carbon reduction.

Also crucially, KMBF loans require ‘match funding’, a feature which enables lenders to ensure funding goes to viable companies which have assets or a commitment from another investor.

Over the decade since it was founded, the KMBF has allocated £85million of funding, and currently has £8million available for new applicants, thanks to ‘recycled’ payments from previous borrowers.

Ms Berdo said the KMBF keeps in close contact with borrowers and the fund is committed to help with any repayment difficulties.

For more details about the fund, visit: KMBF.co.uk or KMBF@kent.gov.uk

Opera House to host real ale festival with only British-grown hop varieties

By Victoria Roberts

THE Opera House in Tunbridge Wells is to host a 12-day real-ale festival featuring only Britishgrown hop varieties – with overseas brewers going as far as brewing their beers in England for the event.

Showcase

Opening today (October 12) and lasting until Sunday October 23, the festival at the JD Wetherspoon owned pub will showcase 15 real ales, including three from overseas brewers, who have brewed their beers in England specially.

Pub manager, Ross Markwick, said: “The festival is a great celebration of real ale, all made using only British-grown hop varieties.

“It will allow us to showcase a selection of superb ales over a 12-day period and support the British hop industry too.”

The ales, which include Rebel Flame from Kent-based Shepherd Neame Brewery, will cost £1.99 a pint.

HOP HOUSE

The festival will feature 15 real ales

MICROPUB TO COMPETE IN TOP NATIONAL AWARD

Larkins’ Alehouse has been named Kent Pub of the Year by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), and is now in the running for the national accolade.

The micropub on Cranbrook’s High Street celebrated the regional win just before its fifth birthday last Thursday (October 6), and has been entered for the national CAMRA awards alongside 15 other pubs.

Larkins’ has been Maidstone & Mid Kent

CAMRA’s Pub of the Year for four years in a row since 2019 and has held the branch’s Cider Pub of the Year title for the same period, although the award was not given out in 2021.

At every level, CAMRA pubs are judged on atmosphere, decor, welcome, service, inclusivity, overall impression, and the quality of live beer, real cider and perry.

The national CAMRA Award winners will be announced on November 30.

Free sustainability advice from agency

A DIGITAL marketing agency which has achieved the BCorp certification is offering free tuition to local businesses interested in improving their sustainability.

BCorp businesses operate with a ‘triple bottom line’ of ‘People, Planet, Profit,” according to Tunbridge Wells-based YoYo Design CEO Jenny Kitchen, who will be offering free one-hour drop-in sessions from this month.

Tailored

The sessions at Yoyo HQ in Mount Ephraim will consist of a short presentation from Jen, covering advice from becoming a BCorp to taking greater steps to becoming more sustainable, followed by an audience-led Q&A session.

If any organisation wants to send more than five staff, YoYo can organise a tailored session.

Tickets for the drop-ins are available through Eventbrite, but contact jenny@yoyodesign.com to discuss tailored sessions.

The agency amended its governance on becoming a BCorp to explicitly require it to consider all stakeholders while making decisions regarding its ecological footprint.

Lawyer named Best Business Woman

A LOCAL lawyer and company director has won a Best Business Woman Award in the legal services category.

Specialist employment law solicitor Pam Loch, who founded Tunbridge Wells-based Loch Associates in 2007, was awarded gold.

The Best Business Women Awards were founded in 2015 by entrepreneur Debbie Gilbert, and are considered one of the UK’s most prestigious awards for women in business.

Ms Loch said: “The evening was a fantastic celebration of female leaders in business across

the country, and I’m honoured to have received such an accolade surrounded by so many inspirational and pioneering women.”

In the community, Ms Loch is chair of Royal Tunbridge Wells Together, a Business Improvement District company funded by local businesses since 2019.

She also co-founded the community business platform enTWine in 2020, which has now started to organise in-person events and meetings, having started as a virtual network during the pandemic in 2020.

School launches its new ‘Elite Football Programme’

Weather closes chefs’ challenge

A PAIR of local chefs discovered the conditions can be harsh outside the kitchen when they attempted a sponsored climb in support of mental health in hospitality.

Jonathan Young, head chef at the Nevill Crest & Gun in Eridge and his colleague Mike Hatch planned to climb Mount Snowdon three times in one day. However, when the pair set out last Wednesday, the weather had other ideas.

“We went up the first time at 2am – left the hotel and got to about 900 metres, then the guide said it was too dangerous to stay up. We kept waiting for the weather to break, but it never did,” Jonathan told the Times

Jonathan and Mike exceeded their £1,000 target for the Burnt Chef Project, collecting around £100 at work and over £850 through JustGiving.

The Burnt Chef Project was set up in 2019, to help with mental health stigma in hospitality.

Window cleaner races for charity

A CROWBOROUGH window cleaner entered the running last weekend to raise funds for a charity he works for in three races.

Ricky Johnson took part in the London-South East Spartan Trifecta in Nutley to raise funds for Kent children’s charity Tree of Hope.

By Victoria Roberts

TUNBRIDGE Wells independent school

Beechwood has created a new football progamme that will be available from next September, with scholarships available.

‘Elite Football Programme’ students will start in the next academic year, and the school has recruited Greg Thurstans and Matt Rose, who combine backgrounds in football, coaching and development and education.

Compete

“From next September, boys and girls will have a tailored timetable of football training and academic tuition,” said Greg, who joined Beechwood this September after eight years as director of sport at the Royal Russell School.

“London tends to be the draw for a combined football and education programme, but there’s nothing in this area that can compete,” he said.

“Tunbridge Wells has the right demographics, while Beechwood is an independent co-ed school which goes up to year 13 and has boarding.”

The programme directors have already

identified current pupils for the new programme and the even split of boys and girls at the school would help create a ‘nice core’ for the scheme from September 2023, said Greg.

“We want a boys and a girls programme,”

he said, adding that he expected the girls’ programme to be a particular draw.

“The Lionesses winning the EUROs has given it extra momentum – there’s nothing out there for girls specifically to compete with us,” he added.

The school said the programme will offer places to boys and girls in each academic year, with both day and boarding places available, while scholarships will be offered to selected talented or academically gifted pupils.

Ricky, who runs his own business, Supershine Cleaning, said: “Now I have my own children, Penelope, 6, and Jude, 4, I’ve come to realise that we take a lot of things for granted. For some families, things are a lot more difficult and to me it made sense to raise funds for a children’s charity like Tree of Hope.”

Ricky’s fundraising page is at: justgiving.com/ Ricky-Johnson2

COACHES

Greg Thurstans (right) and Matt Rose and [inset] children at a similar programme

‘From next September, boys and girls will have a tailored timetable of football training and academic tuition’

Bewl Water donates bicycles to schools

SECONDHAND bicycles from Bewl Water have free-wheeled their way over to two schools catering for children with educational difficulties.

A total of 34 bicycles, formerly used as hire cycles at the beauty spot, were donated to Heath Farm School and Medway Green School.

It was part of the fleet renewal programme at Bewl Water, which runs leisure activities, including cycling, at the reservoir.

Donation

Andrew Daniells, Operations Director at Bewl (which is part of the Elite Leisure Collection group that owns One Media, the publisher of the Times) said: “In addition to the recent donation, at the end of the 2021 season cycles were donated to Re-Cycle, a charity that refurbishes cycles and

sends them abroad to developing countries.”

Heath Farm School said: “The kind donation of some of your bikes will create an excellent opportunity for our students. The donated bikes will be used as part of the growing outdoor program, allowing real hands-on experience in bike maintenance.

“For many students, this will allow them greater independence as they progress in life, as well as acquiring skills that can be developed through a project around bike maintenance.

“Using tools is a perfect opportunity to work on fine and gross motor skills in a real hands-on application,” the school explained.

Both schools are part of Acorn Education and Care, a leading provider of specialist education and residential care for children and young people with complex needs.

Drama graduate has filmed collection of TikTok shorts

A TUNBRIDGE Wells performing arts graduate has revamped her TikTok output with a series of film-quality ‘horror shorts’ as she develops her career after her A-Levels.

Although not a newcomer to the short-video platform, 19-year-old Etie Vamplew has changed her TikTok content to a series of short ‘horror’ films which come out every Saturday morning.

Artistic

Writing her own scripts and drawing on skills from within her artistic family – from music to film production – Etie tells stories of a ghostly playmate, warns against mirrors, and lingers by a tree in a conscious echo of the ‘Blair Witch Project’.

“I was scared myself, performing that one!” she said of her candlelit ‘Ritual’ which features creepy teddy bears.

However, Etie explained that she does not use bad language, gore or anything overtly frightening, so the films are suitable even for young teens.

But the shadowy monochrome look and Etie’s

Morris men appeal

THE oldest Morris ‘side’ in Kent, the Hartley Morris Men, has issued a call for new members to try out the experience, in taster evenings throughout October aimed at new starters.

Dancers practice every Thursday evening

Thomas

M ansfield

solemn narration are satisfyingly eerie.

“I wanted to do this without having an age cap,” she said. “It’s nice to have everyone included.”

The timing of the series was dictated by her finishing A-Levels this summer, but it has turned out to be ‘perfect’ material as Halloween approaches.

A graduate of the Pauline Quirke Academy in Tunbridge Wells, Etie said the town had given her an excellent starting point for her career.

“I have been quite lucky to have access to so much culture in town, which has a really strong community in the arts. I have friends who perform at The Forum all the time, and I have performed at the Assembly Hall and at Trinity, even in primary school,” she said.

Etie is working on new content and her next project, following the Halloween horror shorts, is a longer series of stories, each with 10 to 15 short episodes and made with a larger group of collaborators.

“I’m planning to go into TV and am seeing what I can do with limited resources as I take the first steps of my career.”

Etie’s TikTok is: @etie_vamplew

between mid-September and April.

‘Squire’ Andy Blockley said: “We’re the oldest Kent-based Morris side in existence There’s no cost – we provide all the tuition and most of the kit, so why not give it a go.”

Those interested should email: hartleymorrismen@gmail.com

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BACK IN THE SADDLE Activities Manager Lani Fogarty (left) and the bikes on their way to their new owners

Bank of England continues bond buying to stave off gilt ‘fire sale’

THE central bank is continuing to warn that the sell-off in the UK government bond market poses a ‘material risk to UK financial stability’ after yields on long-dated gilts soared once more on Monday, despite action by the Bank and Government to try to allay investor concerns.

Threadneedle Street said it will now widen the scope of its bond-buying programme to include purchases of index-linked gilts – a type of UK government bond that tracks inflation.

On Monday, it doubled its daily bond-buying limit to £10 billion, while Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng brought forward his new fiscal plan and independent economic forecasts to October 31 in an attempt to calm turbulent markets.

Crisis

The Bank’s latest action helped sharply lower yields on long-dated gilts on Tuesday morning in welcome relief after 30-year government bonds yields hit 4.7% on Monday – the highest level since the Bank was forced to step in last month to avoid a mini financial market crisis.

But the pound remained under pressure, standing at 1.10 US dollars, despite the Bank’s extra measures.

The Bank said: “The beginning of this week has seen a further significant repricing of UK government debt, particularly index-linked gilts.

“Dysfunction in this market, and the prospect of self-reinforcing ‘fire sale’ dynamics pose a material risk to UK financial stability.”

It added that its latest efforts will “act as a further backstop to restore orderly market conditions”.

The move came as the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank warned that the Chancellor will have to find spending cuts of more than £60 billion if he is to meet his target to get the public finances back under control.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets. com, said the Bank’s third tranche of bondbuying action “seems rather messy and panicky”.

He said: “As expected the market was always

going to retest the Bank’s resolve and put the Budget to the sword.

“To expand your emergency intervention in the market once is unfortunate, to do so twice looks like carelessness.”

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden said: “That the Bank of England has been forced to step in for a second day running to reassure markets shows the Government’s approach is not working, and creates renewed pressure for the Chancellor to reverse his Budget.”

Pension funds

Threadneedle Street intervened with emergency action on September 28 when the mini-budget market chaos caused the pound to tumble and yields on gilts to soar, which left some pension funds across the industry close to collapse.

The market turmoil had forced pension funds to sell gilts to head off worries over their solvency.

Investment banks made calls on so-called liability driven investment (LDI) funds, which in turn called on pension funds, forcing them into a fire sale of gilts, driving prices still lower and yields higher and creating a downward spiral.

The Bank laid bare the scale of the woes last week when it said its emergency scheme helped the UK narrowly avoid a market meltdown caused by concerns over the Chancellor’s tax cut plans.

But gilt yields started to surge once more due to ongoing fears over the Government’s economic policies and worries that the October 14 deadline set by the Bank for its bond-buying scheme could see a return to pension fund woes.

In particular, index-linked gilts have picked up sharply, sparking the latest action to stabilise the market, while the Bank also signalled other bonds have come under pressure, announcing it would pause its corporate bond sales this week.

“The Bank continues to monitor developments in financial markets very closely in light of the significant asset repricing of recent weeks,” the Bank said.

UK won’t quit its stop smoking plan says Department of Health

THE Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has insisted the target to make the UK smoke-free by 2030 was not being scrapped and ministers remained ‘committed’ to the target.

The announcement came as Labour accused Health Secretary Therese Coffey of being ‘clueless’ yesterday (Tuesday) after she was unable to rule out the plan to get England smoke free by 2030 being scrapped or delayed.

Ms Coffey, the Deputy Prime Minister who is partial to a cigar, said on Tuesday she is ‘not aware’ whether the target to get the adult smoking rate down to 5 per cent or under has been axed.

Commitment

The Government promised to publish a tobacco control plan ‘later this year’ but the Guardian said ministers are expected to break that commitment.

Ms Coffey was unable to say whether this is the case or not, instead saying her priority was on her ambitions for ‘ABCD’ – ambulances, backlog, care, doctors and dentists.

“I’m not aware any target has been scrapped. My focus right now is the ABCD,” she told Sky News.

Her Labour shadow Wes Streeting said: “The Health Secretary is ‘unaware’ of a major plank of

her own Government’s health policy because she spends little time in her own department and most of her time firefighting in Number 10.

“Clueless and hopeless.”

A DHSC spokesman said the position on publishing the tobacco plan this year had not changed, but could not say whether it would be published in the coming months.

“It is inaccurate to suggest that the tobacco control plan has been scrapped and the Government remains committed to its smoke-free ambition by 2030,” he added.

“We will set out our next steps for the plan in due course.”

HEALTH SECRETARY

Therese Coffey

Hospital nurse ‘murdered newborn six days after killing another baby on ward’

feasible mechanism’ for the air in his body, which caused his collapse, was someone deliberately injecting it through his nose tube.

Mr Johnson said an independent pathologist who reviewed the case concluded Child C died because his breathing became compromised and he suffered a cardiac arrest.

Trace

The prosecutor told jurors: “If you are trying to murder a child in a neonatal unit, it is a fairly effective way of doing it. It doesn’t really leave much trace.”

A HOSPITAL nurse murdered a five-day-old boy just days after killing another baby on a neonatal unit, a court has been told.

Lucy Letby, 32, allegedly injected air into the stomach of the tiny, premature child through a nose tube, causing his breathing and heart to stop, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The 32-year-old is accused of murdering the boy, identified as Child C, six days after attacking children in her care on the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital for the first time.

Prosecution

She was also at the bedside of another baby who suddenly collapsed, Nick Johnson KC told jurors as he opened the prosecution case on day two of Letby’s six-month trial.

Letby’s first alleged murder, of Child A, is said to have happened on June 8 2015. She is accused of injecting air into the boy’s bloodstream and similarly attacking his twin sister, Child B, causing her to collapse.

Child C was born prematurely at 30 weeks on June 10 2015, weighing 800g. Despite going into

intensive care, he was in a good condition.

Letby was working the nightshift on June 13 and into the next day, looking after a baby, with Child C in the care of another nurse.

Child C’s nurse was at a nursing station when the baby’s monitor sounded an alarm at about 11.15pm.

When she got to his room, Letby was stood by his incubator – the third time in the space of a week after a baby had collapsed, showing the defendant’s alleged ‘constant malevolent presence’, jurors heard.

Letby is said to have told the other nurse: “He’s going. He’s going.”

Mr Johnson said Letby sent a text message to an off-duty colleague, saying she wanted to be in Child C’s room as it would be “cathartic – in other words, would help her wellbeing – to see a living baby in the space previously occupied by a dead baby – Child A – but she had been put in another room.”

Despite several hours of resuscitation attempts, Child C was pronounced dead at 5.58am on June 14.

A review by a medical expert said ‘the only

‘Unacceptable’ Just Stop Oil protestors block in fire engine

Hours after Child C died, Letby searched Facebook for the youngster’s parents, Mr Johnson said.

He suggested that, from the timings, it was “one of the first things she did when waking up” after finishing her shift at about 8am.

“Lucy Letby was the only person working on the night shift when Child C died who had also been working on either of the shifts when Child A died and his twin sister Child B collapsed,” he added.

Letby, from Hereford, denies murdering five boys and two girls and trying to murder another five boys and five girls.

Earlier, jurors were told she allegedly deployed various means to attack the youngsters, including insulin poisoning and injecting air into the bloodstream.

The defendant allegedly tried to kill some of the babies more than once before succeeding, the jury also heard.

A probe was launched and unable to find a cause for the “significant rise” in the number of baby collapses but did notice one common denominator in all the cases – the presence on duty of Letby, it is alleged. The trial continues.

Unemployment falls to lowest since 1974 amid rise in sickness

THE UK’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest for almost half a decade as more Britons left the labour market completely, many to go off sick, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% over the three months to August – the lowest since 1974.

Economists had predicted that the unemployment rate would stay steady at 3.6%, the rate it hit during the previous quarter.

It came after a joint-record rise in the number of people considered ‘economically inactive’ – not in work or searching for work – due to long-term sickness.

A JUST Stop Oil protest in London has been branded as ‘unacceptable’ by the Government after a fire engine and an ambulance were apparently obstructed.

Separate videos shared online on Tuesday show a fire engine and an ambulance on blue lights unable to get through traffic after 32 protesters blocked three roads in Knightsbridge and Brompton Road, stopping vehicles in each direction, some gluing themselves to the road.

Disrupt

One video showed a stationary fire engine in the middle of a junction near Knightsbridge Underground Station, with protesters blocking the road both behind and in front of the fire engine.

Just Stop Oil later tweeted a video showing protesters moving out of the way of the fire engine with the caption: “Just Stop Oil supporters pause roadblock to let fire engine

through.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:

“These sorts of protests which disrupt people’s daily lives or indeed can stop our emergency services from potentially saving lives are unacceptable.

“That’s why we’ve already toughened powers for the police, we’ve given them new powers to act and we are also taking further powers through the House at the moment to ensure they can go even further in preventing these individuals from disrupting people’s lives.”

When asked whether members of the public should intervene to remove protesters, the spokesman said that while the Government “can understand the public’s frustrations with their lives being disrupted in this way” it is “for the police to respond in the first instance to these sorts of protests”.

This is the group’s 11th consecutive day of disruption in London with protesters demanding the Government halt all new oil and gas licences and consents.

Declined

Economic activity increased by 0.6 percentage points to 21.7%, driven by people aged between 50 and 64.

This meant that both the rate of unemployment and employment declined over the period.

The employment rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 75.5% for the quarter.

Meanwhile, the number of UK workers on payrolls rose by 69,000 between August and September to 29.7 million, the ONS said.

ONS head of labour market and household statistics David Freeman said: “The unemployment rate continues to fall and is now at its lowest for almost 50 years.

“However, the number of people neither working nor looking for work continues to rise, with those who say this is because they’re long-term sick reaching a record level.

“However, because unemployment is also down, there continues to be more vacancies than unemployed people.”

ACCUSED A court sketch of Lucy Letby accused of killing babies at the Countess of Chester Hopistal

TION Times

EDUCA

How to take the hell out of homework

From standing desks to visual reminders, Tunbridge Wells parent and neurodiversity coach, Liz Hawker , suggests some strategies that can help parents of all children make homework time easier…

Nothing beats autumn for bitter-sweet. As we shiver into the month of October, parents find that the warm back-toschool glow has faded as the clutches of homework take hold. We’ve got our homes back, only to find them turn into an evening warzone.

“At the end of a long working day it can quickly turn into a battle,” admits parent of three, Julie McPherson. “On the one hand, you want your child to be independent, but on the other, you want to ensure they do it well, so you end up getting embroiled.”

And these skills vary enormously between children of different ages, whether they are neurotypical or have additional needs.

So, what can you do to make homework go more smoothly?

GIVE CHOICES

Often the battle isn’t the homework itself, but the conditions we set in a bid to get homework done. For some children, the demand of being told to work at a specific time triggers overload and conflict.

The problem? Children are set homework before their organisational abilities have developed. So, it doesn’t just require literacy and numeracy skills – managing that homework schedule demands a full range of mental skills that are still evolving in children. Skills such as attention, working memory, prioritisation, task initiation and inhibition.

Give your child a break and a clear choice for when they start – in twenty minutes with a snack or right after dinner? This creates a sense of control and bypasses the tension of not knowing if or when the homework is going to happen. If they are better in the morning, try then. If this fails, let them choose when they will do it with a time cut-off and consequence – if it’s not done, they lose the right to choose. If it works, reward their follow-through to show you value their commitment.

DECLUTTER

Agree a homework zone away from family traffic and noise (but close enough for light-touch monitoring). Use a desk or table,

CULTURE Justfor laughs

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BUSINESS Say yes to the dress

CULTURE Just for laughs

Say yes to the dress

What’s on the menu

‘Children are set homework before their organisational abilities have developed’

Picture: Shutterstock

BUSINESS Sayyesto thedress Bridalboutique Isabella Grace celebrates

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some of the UK’s top comedians love coming to Tunbridge Wells

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Tonbridge conference aimed to help women in justice system

ideally against a blank wall (and away from windows). Banish pencil cases to reduce distraction and fill a pot with one pencil, pen, ruler, eraser and maths equipment. Put just what they need that night in an upright magazine file, alongside a dictionary, thesaurus and post-it notes.

A CHARITY dedicated to women prisoners which recently opened a shop in Tunbridge Wells is now inviting potential employers and mentors to a conference in Tonbridge.

Direction

If your child struggles to focus when sitting, clear part of a taller structure, like a sideboard or counter, or remove a shelf from a bookcase to create a standing desk. And if your child uses a laptop, always keep a spare charger there.

The #SheMatters Criminal Justice Conference has been in the planning since lockdown, but is finally set to take place at the River Centre in Tonbridge on October 21.

SET THE SAT NAV

Without a clear direction of travel, unstructured homework tasks for English or History cause the greatest battles, particularly for a dyslexic or inattentive child.

With sessions about young adults, families and accommodation, the conference is aimed ‘joining up’ all the issues affecting women in the criminal justice system, a spokeswoman for organisers Imago Dei Prison Ministries told the Times.

Women make up only 4 per cent of the prison population, but in 2020, 58 per cent of their sentences were for less than six months.

Yet even short sentences matter, with as many as 73 per cent of women reconvicted within a year of leaving prison following a sentence of less than 12 months.

Take five minutes to discuss the homework ‘route’ before starting. Read instructions out loud and take turns to write on a separate post-it each thing they need to remember. If it’s vocabulary, agree five target words to use – if it’s opinions, write three different phrases and stick these to the wall. When they’ve included each one in their text, your child gets the satisfaction of removing the post-it and seeing their task load reduce.

Struggle

Employment is one of the missing links reconnecting women to life after a conviction, one of the factors prompting Imago Dei to set up the #SheMatters shop in Tunbridge Wells.

RESTRICT TIME

With screentime on the rise, children’s attention spans are getting ever shorter. Many children with ADHD and autism are also ‘time blind’ and need to develop a sense of duration so they can manage pace in future exams.

“We support women not only in prison but also on leaving prison and in the community,” said the spokeswoman.

prison managing chaplain, senior probation officer and various charitable organisations.

“Women in particular really struggle to get into employment after gaining a criminal record. There is a stigma. Part of the job of the shop is to help provide women with opportunities to develop their skills.

The answer is a tool that helps your child visualise time spans – the ‘Time Timer Twist’. This silent countdown tool mirrors a clockface and shows time elapsing without distracting or panicking the child, only bleeping at the end if they want it to.

challenge). With the Educational Endowment Foundation’s finding that the impact of homework diminishes the more time pupils spend on it, this approach is a win-win to reduce conflict.

“The location in Tonbridge will allow prison and probation officials, charities and welfare organisations from Kent, Surrey, Sussex and London to meet in the middle,” added the spokeswoman.

BUILD IN BREAKS

“#SheMatters has grown to become our key project that offers the local community a variety of ways to support women in the criminal justice system.

Check how long the school says pupils should spend on homework and set it to the minute – this reduces overload and means your child’s teacher knows where they need support (or greater

The #SheMatters Criminal Justice Conference will be held at the River Centre, Tonbridge, on October 21, 9am-5pm. Tickets from Eventbrite.

Companies can join the employers’ network at shematters.uk/employmentnetwork

Short learning breaks turn on the ignition for cognition – without them, our brains are more sluggish and less effective. Let your child choose a fun activity between each task or chunks of a bigger task – a game of musical statues, collecting pebbles

All aboard the award-winning bus

GET TECH TO HELP

If your child types, everyday technology now enables them to listen back to their work and hear missed punctuation, omitted words or sudden lapses in register. Microsoft’s Immersive Reader is a free feature built into Windows 10 that makes proof-reading easy, particularly helping users with dyslexia, dyspraxia, visual stress and attention difficulties. Your child can even change settings for background colour, font size and line spacing, and colour code adjectives and adverbs to uplevel their descriptive language.

Physicist to head British Institute of Radiology

TUNBRIDGE Wells-based medical physicist

Professor Stephen Keevil has been named head of the British Institute of Radiology (BIR).

Professor Keevil’s two-year term started last week (October 1), and he will be inaugurated in his new role on November 8.

outside until your phone alarm rings or doing arm push-ups against a wall until a song ends. Other brain breaks promote regulation – if your child feels overloaded, encourage them to roll up tight in a blanket, press their palms together with calming music or give themselves full-body bear hugs.

He is head of medical physics at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, and also professor of medical physics at King’s College London.

Professor Keevil said: “I am thrilled and

The previous BIR president, Dr Sri Redla, said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my term of office and am immensely proud of the BIR and of what it has achieved in the last two years. I look forward to continue working with the BIR in my role as Past President.”

Liz Hawker is the founder of One in Five, which helps parents and children navigate neurodiversity through coaching and learning strategies. Visit www.oneinfive.org.uk or email contact@oneinfive.org.uk for more information.

Daniel Hardcastle, a member of the engineering

There have been some fantastic accomplishments

‘Agree a homework zone away from family traffic and noise’

Picture: Shutterstock

Victoria White

Tunbridge Wells Conservatives

We must end annual elections to protect our communities’ identities

CONSERVATIVES have taken the lead in the fight to stop a wholesale rearrangement of local electoral boundaries that will split some local communities, push together some which have never been connected and submerge the identities of others in large, geographically meaningless areas, each represented by three councillors.

The Tory idea would also bring a saving of £200,000 over four years for taxpayers. Residents would welcome that because every consultation about finances indicates they want the council to save costs without reducing services.

Arrangements

At a special council meeting, called by Conservatives, a Conservative motion was passed which gives us our only chance of stopping these new arrangements, which have been proposed after a Boundary Commission review.

The Commission has chosen to chop up the map of our local council, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, to put equal numbers of voters into bureaucratically convenient wards, each of which would have three councillors, regardless of the shape of communities or the feelings of people or geographical logic.

Many parishes will be bundled together,

creating huge ward areas - Capel will be merged into Paddock Wood and Frittenden and Sissinghurst into Cranbrook. Other areas will be divided without recognising the boundaries of proud local communities and towns like High Brooms, Southborough and Paddock Wood. Kilndown will become the geographically separate ‘South Goudhurst’.

Conservatives, as community driven local politicians, say that this is not right for our people and have acted to try to change it.

We were glad to have the support of a good many Liberal Democrats and other councillors

for our proposals.

The reason for the ruling that there must only be three member wards is because the council continues to have annual elections for a third of the councillors in three out of every four years, the only council in Kent to keep doing this.

This is not an approach supported by the Conservatives and we don’t believe it is supported by residents, who often complain that there is always an election taking place.

The only way we can stop this, and we must be honest there’s no guarantee, is if we move to holding all-out elections once every four years.

That’s what we want to ask the people and the council has now agreed our motion to a formal consultation.

If people agree to have elections once every four years, saving £200,000 over four years, the Boundary Commission may - we can only say may – review its drawings.

Residents

It could allow more one member and two member wards, respecting the feelings and identities of the varied communities that make up the borough.

Councillors would be more representative of their communities and more accountable to their electors. And the council wouldn’t have the annual six week interruption in the business of serving residents because they have to prepare for, and run, elections.

As Conservatives we feel the argument to move to all-out elections is indisputable and we will be supporting this proposal as we move into consultation with our residents.

We only ask that you all take time to consider this opportunity and to let us, as your council, know what you think. Only then can we move to take the action needed to protect our local communities, make councillors more representative and stop the unnecessary yearly round of elections.

FABULOUS FESTIVE FEASTS

‘FESTIVI’TEAS’

THE MAIN

CHRISTMAS

Victoria White has represented Park ward at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council since May 2021 where she also sits on the Communities and Economic Development Cabinet Advisory Board as well as the Licensing Committee.

And another thing…

Do you recognise this building?

ward areas which cross multiple parish boundaries, these being necessary to accommodate three councillors per circa 7,000 voters.

Elected councillors have a duty to support all voters in their ward. A local agreement may be reached, if all elected councillors are from the same party, in which case the ward could be divided by three and a local agreement made on locations and areas of responsibility, though this may not be practicable for a number of reasons. For example, difficulty in travel perhaps through not owning suitable means or because of mobility constraints. Councillors standing for local issues, which may be at parish level and all-consuming which may be to the detriment to the rest of the ward.

Calverley

Observations on life and more important things

LAUGHING FIT. You could not make this up. The Government’s new cold weather plan gives advice on how to stay healthy this winter through exercise. Sounds good but then it adds … ‘speak to your GP before starting any exercise’. Talk about civil servants being out of touch with reality. You can’t reach a GP if you’re sick let alone when looking for advice on taking a brisk walk round the block. Calverley is still recovering from banging his head against a brick wall in disbelief. And no, he didn’t go to A&E.

Shown above is a photo which was sent to our school by a member of the public who assumed, as it had the name Skinner on it, was connected with our school.

Unfortunately, it is not, but we think that the photographer was a local man, who went around taking photos such as this, called Skinner.

We did send the picture to the Library in Tunbridge Wells who didn’t want it, and sent it

Town does need its own Council

I agree with Alliance group leader David Hayward that an ejected Town Council for Tunbridge Wells is long overdue (Times, October 5).

Although there is a useful Town Forum as a counterbalance, essentially it lacks teeth.

We have shown in Southborough and Paddock Wood for example, how town and parish councillors can punch well above their weight against the borough and county councils on a wide range of important issues such as parking charges, local democracy and the lack of consultation, ward boundaries, and poor public transport provision.

Whilst I fully concur with the decision to refer the local electoral strategy back to the Boundary Commission for future contests and streamline them to every four years to save money, as elsewhere in Kent, this process will likely lead to larger wards and fewer borough councillors.

So, to ensure that all local communities are fully represented on key issues that directly affect them, a town council for Tunbridge Wells would be the ideal solution.

Cllr Dr Alan Bullion

Southborough Town Council (Lab)

Symphony of success

What a wonderful advertisement about the symphony orchestra and their new season (Times, September 28).

The concert was magnificent. What a wealth of

back to us.

But we’re loathed to throw it away and wondered if anybody recognised anything about it.

The building looks like perhaps a village hall, many of which still haven’t changed over the years (like a lot of our old school buildings dating back to 1887).

Teresa Luckhurst School Secretary, The Skinners School

talent here in this town.

Does the town know about it, does the town appreciate it? Are the concerts when they take place described and commented upon by journalists?

Do younger people listen to classical music? Surely they must as most of the players in the orchestra live in the area.

Or are they all grey heads in the orchestra as in the audience?

Please don’t say culture is dead Anthea Hall Tunbridge Wells

Are all-out elections only way?

The proposed Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) boundary commission review now results in rural councillors having to represent much larger wards. Each ward is required to cast their ballot three times every four years, which necessitates three councillors in every wards.

Under the new proposals where currently there are three councillors who represent a smaller ward, these will be expanded. Due to the population distribution in rural Tunbridge Wells, this has resulted in huge

Where a ward is made up of councillors from different parties, then co-operation on this basis is unlikely to happen since each councillor will be reluctant to relinquish parts of their mandate to someone of a different political persuasion. Effectively, each councillor will have to represent 7000 voters in order to deliver the support they have been elected to provide. This is impractical and will lead to a diminution of support available to voters.

An alternative strategy, which TWBC has agreed to consult on, is to change the current election by thirds to all out elections. This would, possibly, allow the boundary commission to rethink the ward sizes and allow for single member wards to be created in smaller rural community areas. This would support residents much more effectively. It would also have the added benefit of introducing significant cost savings at a time of current critical economic constraints.

Cllr Paul Roberts Pembury

NAMESAKE. Strolling down Calverley Road (after which Calverley is named) the new health supplement shop Holland&Barrett caught the eye. Or rather the sign announcing its opening: ‘Well, hello Tunbridge’. Maybe they got confused with Tonbridge. Maybe missing out the word ‘Wells’ involved a play on words. Either way it upset locals who take pride living in the town… Royal Tunbridge Wells! Tinker at your peril.

BECKHAM IN LINE FOR RED CARD. Soccer legend David Beckham won much goodwill after refusing to jump the queue at the Queen’s lying in state. All is about to be undone. When the World Cup kicks off in Qatar next month the former Man United man will be promoting the event big time. The gay icon is being handed £150million over the next few years by Qatar to talk-up the country where homosexuality is illegal, women’s rights are restricted and migrant workers who built the sports stadiums have been ’mistreated’. Many have died. It has to be one of the most blatant cases of sportswashing; where money is used to improve tarnished reputations. The backlash against Beckham will be considerable. Calverley hoped there were some things money couldn’t buy. Apparently not. Beckham (47) is already worth more than £400million so hardly needs the cash.

FINAL THOUGHT. Why has dress down day at the BBC been extended to cover the whole week? From scruffy old jeans, to crumpled unbuttoned shirts exposing hairy chests, to old boots and trainers. All this just in the UK. Not Ukraine. Perhaps staff don’t get paid enough. Yeah, right.

Chin, chin dear reader!

CARTOON BY PEPPY: (Follow her on Twitter @Peppyscott)

STARTERS

Peter Marley’s Warren venison sausages, Madeira sauce, sourdough bread

Sussex beef carpaccio, parmesan shavings & balsamic reduction

Baked Dorset snails, homemade garlic; chilli, coriander, ginger lemon, butter or cream of blue cheese, toasted sourdough

Jerusalem artichoke soup, croutons & oak smoked cheddar (Vegetarian)

Plant based feta salad, red cabbage, hazelnuts & dried fruit (Vegan)

MAINS

Sautéed lamb cutlets, new potatoes, heritage tomato salad, Moroccan spices & black olives

Roast Norfolk Bronze turkey or loin of Sussex pork, all traditional Christmas trimmings

Pan seared Bream, spinach purée, spicy garbanzo, shrimp & caper beurre noisette

Spicy seitan, heritage tomato salad, coriander & pickled shallots (Vegan)

DESSERTS

Half dozen egg box of homemade Warren macarons

Chestnut cream, Kraken spiced rum

Affogato, Frangelico, vanilla ice cream, almond amaretti & double espresso (Vegan)

Warren Christmas pudding crumble, custard

Flourless French molten chocolate cake, meringue & rhubarb sorbet

Three notable English cheeses, crackers, Warren preserves, fruit, pickled celery

Warren festive petit fours

CHRISTMAS

Bread & butter Glass of English sparkling wine Amuse bouche

STARTERS

Pig cheeks, pumpkin cream, crispy onions & Port jus

Warren pheasant, buttermilk, winter slaw & sautéed potatoes

Pan seared foie gras, Ashdown Forest apple sauce & toasted brioche

Sussex beef carpaccio, parmesan shaving & balsamic reduction

Half dozen Colchester Oysters, vinaigrette, lemon, variety of Tabasco sauces

Plant based feta salad, red cabbage, hazelnuts & dried fruit (Vegan)

MAINS

Loin of Warren venison, Duchess potatoes, Brussel sprouts, beetroot & Madeira jus

Roast Norfolk Bronze turkey or loin of Sussex pork, all traditional Christmas trimmings

Baked lobster tail & monkfish, Thai-style salad

Warren Beetroot Wellington, mushroom duxelles, seasonal vegetables, red wine sauce (Vegan)

DESSERTS

Apple tart tatin, berry compote & vanilla ice cream

Chestnut cream, Kraken spiced rum

Warren Christmas pudding crumble, custard

Affogato, Frangelico, vanilla ice cream, almond amaretti & double espresso (Vegan)

Flourless French molten chocolate cake, meringue & rhubarb sorbet

Three notable English cheeses, crackers, Warren preserves, fruit, pickled celery

Warren festive petit fours & Christmas Crackers

per person

Bread & butter Christmas cracker Amuse bouche

arts

Enjoy a special weekend of artistic endeavours down on The Pantiles

Brushes and Biscuits is an artistic collective, most of whose members are part of the Royal Tunbridge Wells Art Society. This coming weekend the group hosts its first pop-up exhibition at 61 The Pantiles. Eileen Leahy caught up with Lesley Stevens from the society ahead of the show which takes place on October 15 and 16…

The Royal Tunbridge Wells Arts Society (RTWAS) has been going since 1934 and is the town’s longest established artistic movement.

Recently though it has spawned an additional sub-group – which boasts the charming moniker of Brushes and Biscuits. They have been meeting since September 2021 on a fortnightly basis and are now ready to put on their first official exhibition which takes place this coming weekend, October 15 and 16, at the RTWAS HQ at 61 The Pantiles.

“Some of the group are reasonably long-standing Art Society members, but the

‘Brushes and Biscuits members’ work includes everything from black and white portraits, to wildlife watercolours and abstract acrylics’

majority of the regulars are new members. People who are perhaps just starting, or maybe coming back to art after a long break,” explains Brushes and Biscuits spokesperson Lesley Stevens.

“The group is one of relaxed informality,

Artwork by Graham Cope

where artists at any level can come along and undertake work of their choosing in the company of similarly minded people who enjoy creating and talking about art,” she continues.

Lesley goes on to say the type of work the group produces varies considerably. As well as landscapes and portraits, there are contemporary pieces too – all of which are executed in everything from pencil, watercolours and acrylics to oils and textile pictures.

Original

“Brushes and Biscuits members’ work can include everything from black and white portraits using pencil and charcoal, to wildlife watercolours, abstract acrylics, classic oil portraits and seascapes. But equally important is the enthusiasm shown by members to take an interest in each other’s work, to learn from each

to RTWAS members – and non-members – and there would be no expectation of levels of skill or particular aptitude, just the opportunity for development as experimentation and some friendly input.”

Lesley says that a few people have ‘come and gone’ but the group is slowly growing in numbers. And that’s one of the reasons they decided to put on an exhibition.

“To hold a pop-up show adds another dimension to our individual work and the group’s dynamics. I don’t think any of the group have had much, if any, formal art training but are still producing an exhibition that could be described as wonderfully eclectic. Two of us will be in the gallery all weekend to talk to anybody who might be interested in joining us.”

To find out more about the exhibition and the RTWAS visit: rtwas.org

other, to share ideas and to be encouraging,” adds Lesley.

Taking place this coming weekend, Lesley says that everyone is welcome to drop in to the exhibition. “We want people to feel they can come in, take a look, perhaps to buy a piece of work, or maybe to consider joining the group.

A group member will be there to answer any questions and so new joiners are very welcome.”

RTWAS gained a number of new members during the various Covid lockdowns and this, Lesley says, was due to the society’s efforts on Instagram and Facebook in conjunction with Zoom projects.

Eclectic

“During this time we discovered people were picking up on a latent interest in art while working from home. As a result of a postlockdown survey of members, the idea for an informal session on Monday afternoons was put forward. The name ‘Brushes and Biscuits’ was suggested by the two members who had the original idea.

“The newly established group would be open

LAMPS are all set to light up the library for music fans...

From October 19 -22 LAMPS are putting on their new show Musicality Rocks The Library at the EM Forster theatre in the grounds of Tonbridge School. Eileen Leahy caught up with the theatrical troupe’s Chairman Liam Clarke to find out more about this exciting new show….

LOCAL Amateur Musical Players (LAMPS) started in 1928 as a fundraising initiative for Tonbridge Juddians Ruby Club but it wasn’t until 1949 that the theatrical troupe put on their very first show.

Since then they have grown in numbers and over the years have put on a wealth of traditional musicals including Half a Sixpence, Fiddler on the Roof and Oklahoma. They also have a strong back catalogue of modern day pieces too including Sensational Sondheim, Bugsy Malone and Return

to the Foribdden planet.

For decades the group performed at the old Royal Victoria Hall in Southborough until it was demolished in 2014.

Success

Since 2017 their new home has been the EM Forster Theatre at Tonbridge School where they have performed shows including Singin’ in the Rain and The Mikado.

Earlier this year LAMPS performed the musical Tommy to rave reviews and now they’re tuning up once again to present another sonic offering: Musicality Rocks

The Library.

“From the same team that brought you Musicality and the award-winning Musicality Take 2, this new show will be a must see,” reveals LAMPS’ Chair Liam Clarke.

performing lots of hit songs from the likes of Queen, Alanis Morissette, Tina Turner, Elton John, Sam Cooke, The Beatles, Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and ABBA.” Liam adds that there will also be tunes from some of the West End’s biggest musicals including Back to the Future, Rock of Ages, We Will Rock You, Bat Out of Hell and many more during the performances which run from October 19 to 22.

“There really is something for everyone with this new show - and there is no doubt that ‘We Will Rock You’! Our talented cast and live band will be showcasing some of the greatest tunes by some of the world’s greatest artists. I guarantee we will get you all on your feet singing “I’m still Standing” by the end of the show.

“So, what are you waiting for? Book yourself some tickets and we shall see you there!”

THE HISTORY OF LAMPS

LAMPS was started in 1928 as a fundraising initiative for Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Club, but the group didn’t put on an official show until 1949. Originally LAMPS only put one show on a year, but decided in the late 1980s to increase that to two. For decades their official home was the Royal Victoria Hall in Southborough but after that was demolished they took up residence at the EM Forster Theatre in 2017. They have now performed over 100 snows in their 90-plus year history.

“For those of you who saw our recent production of Tommy, guess what? The band is back for Musicality Rocks The Library! They will be

To book tickets, which cost £20 (£17 concessions) visit www.emftheatre.com and for more info on LAMPS see www.lamps.org.uk

‘To hold a pop-up show adds another dimension to our individual work and the group’s dynamics’

Artwork by Lesley Stevens

Artwork by D Ford

Artwork by Jeff Thompson

‘With Musicality Rocks The Library there really is something for everyone’

Waving goodbye to pandemic unhappiness with dance

Michelle Clark, founder of the company Happy Me Dance in Tunbridge Wells, talks to the Times about Project Wave, which is aimed at getting people back to normal after the pandemic…

OUR HAPPY Me Dance programmes have given us insight first-hand into life pre- and post-pandemic and how it has impacted both families and communities.

Sean

of chaos already

The joy of being an educator is that you spend time with young and older people in a variety of settings. You understand how they tick and how to join the dots.

‘THINGS fall apart; the centre cannot hold’. The great Irish poet, W B Yeats’ premonition of disintegration had grander themes than the puny ‘coalition of chaos’ trying to run Tunbridge Wells’ council, but the words fit.

What they like, their interests, their skills, their hobbies but more importantly how they like to learn and when they are having a wobble. It’s important to have open conversations about emotions. The brain is a precious commodity. We need to protect it.

Bits started falling off the coalition jalopy when it chugged into its first major policy disaster – the unconsulted plan to raise car park charges by 25-75 per cent. A hasty, retrospective consultation ended on September 5 and is being assessed.

made themselves from budget documents they probably didn’t well understand. Parking increases which will sting us all in this cost-ofliving crisis, are supposed to help to fill a supposed budget black hole they supposedly inherited from Conservatives.

Shortfall

Mapped

But already, the coalition’s centre is not holding as the Liberal Democrat Leader Ben Chapelard grapples with the hotchpotch of his own party, Labour, a smattering of independents and the Tunbridge Wells Alliance (TWA). It took power only in May, though it seems like years ago.

Project Wave was inspired by artwork, The Great Wave’ by Hokusai Katsushika (a wave about to strike the boats as if it were an enormous monster) and was conceived as a response to the pandemic and the evident need for groups of varying ages ‘to be woken’.

Hotchpotch

Three lockdowns and one year later, many have struggled with the body mapped history of this feeling of captivity and the feeling of literally being trapped in their homes.

Many of us saw our daily steps count reduce from a healthy ten thousand steps to five hundred or so, and for those bed bound/ physically restricted, even drastically less.

This lack of movement, lack of release of our healthy hormones of dopamine and serotonin has put people on pause.

The TWA is a hotchpotch in its own right. Its activists, of various political hues, have the improbable air of doing this council thing for a bet. Its leader David Hayward, a cabinet member, made it clear to Cllr Chapelard, writing in The Times of Tunbridge Wells that he is a ‘titular leader’– a leader in name only, who ‘definitely has no say or control over anything to do with the Alliance’. Nonetheless, Cllr Hayward lined up behind the Lib Dems, voting for parking increases.

The coalition’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Andrew Hickey, ducked out early – leaving the Lib Dems and going independent over parking charges. Three elected Lib Dem councillors now sit outside the party. Labour’s rank and file are turning against leadership decisions, especially that to end free parking in Labour-held Southborough.

‘Project Wave was inspired by artwork, The Great Wave’ [above] by Hokusai Katsushika and was conceived as a response to the pandemic’

A predictable u-turn and a belated, cobbled together consultation has followed the huge public outcry from residents, businesses and town councils like Paddock Wood and Southborough about their views being completely ignored. Five petitions emerged with thousands of signatures. Rumblings grew within the coalition. The Alliance suddenly remembered its election promise to keep free

And in a metaphorical way in some way also

frozen by time.

parking. The Lib Dems suddenly remembered their PR stunt of staging cabinet meetings across the borough was meant – said Cllr Chapelard – to ‘show our face and that we are listening to all parts of the Borough’. Cabinet Member Justine Rutland admitted to the council’s scrutiny committee that not listening to any residents was a ‘terrible and regrettable oversight’ though apparently not regrettable enough for any formal apology.

Project Wave seeks to work with members of our community to re-tame this emotional wave, put rest to any social anxiety and steady communities from the storm to help people to self-regulate, refire the cylinder as such and put us back to a healthy and more steady rhythm of life.

It’s fake news. Conservatives presented a budget shortfall in February because income levels were still below normal after the pandemic. But they were clearly recovering so it was necessary to see where they would go before deciding on further action. In Tunbridge Wells, vacant shops were being filled, benefiting from the Amelia Scott’s 100,000 visitors since it opened in April. There is growing income from business rates and the Conservative scheme to rent spare Town Hall space to businesses. Coalition claims that Conservatives reinforced the budget from the council’s healthy £32 million savings during the pandemic are not true. Council borrowing was nil.

The hastily concocted, biased consultation finished this week, but still there’s no assurance the coalition will listen to the thousands of voices already raised, or even to the (probably far fewer) raised in the consultation should they also reject price rises.

Project Wave is a partnership with local and

In truth, the coalition fears a paper tiger they

The coalition’s planned parking fees rise potentially harms recovery, jobs and businesses who say they’ll lose footfall.

regional support services bringing purpose and fun through dance.

To find out more information about Project Wave for seniors in care and social support or community settings or for children in Wellness and School based settings email michelle@ happymedance.com

Of course, now Putin’s war and the related inflation have upended things. Maybe they’d like to, but the coalition can’t blame Conservatives for that. Go Ukraine!

MICHELLE

Times books editor Victoria Roberts picks three new books for the week

This week’s bookshelf features a local society’s history of Pembury, a thrillingly atmospheric, Agatha Christie-style locked-room mystery set in post-war Japan and a dark, dystopian family drama from Celeste Ng, author of the bestselling ‘Little Fires Everywhere’...

Society publishes a history of Pembury in days gone by

The Tattoo Murder by Akimitsu Takagi, translated by Deborah Boehm

Published in paperback by Pushkin Vertigo, priced £8.99

Agatha Christie was the queen of the locked room mystery – but now we have the opportunity to enjoy ‘The Tattoo Murder’. The novel is set after the Second World War, as Japan is starting to pick up the pieces of life after the bombs fell.

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Published in hardback by Abacus, priced £20 (ebook £10.99)

The Pembury Society has published a 316-page book featuring a history of the village through the ages.

Full of articles, postcards, photographs, maps, cuttings, advertisements and ephemera of Pembury through the ages, ‘Bygone Pembury’ was written, compiled and edited by members of the Society.

The book is now for sale to non-members and can be purchased at the Black Horse Pub and Barnes Kingsnorth Estate agents in the village.

Bygone Pembury is priced at £18.

Contact: info@pemburysociety.org for more information

Kinue Nomura managed to survive the war, but she doesn’t live for long after she displays her full back tattoo at a meeting of the Edo Tattoo Society. When a dismembered body is discovered in a bathroom, locked from the inside, her lover teams up with a young detective and delves into Tokyo’s seedy underbelly of yakuza gangsters, illegal tattoos and obsessions.

A financial crisis, racial tensions, violent protests – not the subject of a news bulletin, but the basis for ‘Our Missing Hearts’, the latest novel from Celeste Ng. The author of ‘Little Fires Everywhere’ tells of an America where laws to preserve the national culture can come at the cost of family life. The book, reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, follows 12-year-old Bird Gardner as he attempts to find his poet mother, who went missing when he was nine.

9/10

Originally published in 1948, Takagi’s highly descriptive mystery, translated by Deborah Boehm, transcends time. There is no technology or gadgets, but it feels modern in the way the case is laid out within the story. As the evenings draw in, this mystery will keep the cold at bay.

9/10

Review by Rachel Howdle

Ng’s compelling writing paints a picture of a world so real you can almost touch it. Despite the darkness of the story, the love of a family stands out. What is perhaps the most chilling aspect of the dystopian society Ng creates, is how much it reflects the world we live in now.

Review by Eleanor Barlow

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA

DINE

SANTA’S GROTTO

DAY

A season for the senses

By Victoria Roberts

LIGHT, darkness and music will mark the start of the Tonbridge Music Club’s (TMC) 60th anniversary year, with an unusual concert programme designed for the space, the season and the artists.

The collaboration between trumpeter Alison Balsom and organist Anna Lapwood is not itself an unusual starting point for a concert, but over two years of planning it has evolved into something unique.

Making full use of the acoustics of the Chapel of St Augustine at Tonbridge School, ‘Images’ weaves the performance around and through an audience which has become unused to being in the presence of live music.

“We had been waiting for the right opportunity for a really amazing space,” said Alison, who knew the chapel from recording an album here.

“It grew from a recital into something very much more.”

With the concert starting over an hour after sunset, the programme uses spotlights – and even Alison herself – in different places,

varying the acoustic angles.

“For the first piece, I will be walking the length of the nave, playing, with the lights on me all the time,” she said.

“There will be three different trumpets dotted around the chapel so I can pick them up and play.”

Yet the immersive lighting has a further benefit, that of performing TMC’s ethos of inclusion. With the music in the spotlight, rather than the audience, concertgoers will not feel they are on show.

“This is not like a normal recital, when you play a piece and everyone claps. With this, one piece will flow into the next.

“Anna and I will speak at the beginning and tell them when to clap. It will be very easy for the audience to sit in the darkness, or the light, and just listen,” Alison promised.

This is the opening concert of TMC’s 2022/23 season, where Alison Balsom and Anna Lapwood will play Bach, Debussy, Alain and other works, including the world première of ‘Modal Reeds’ by Kristina Arakelyan. It starts at 7:30pm on Saturday October 15 at the Chapel of St Augustine, Tonbridge School.

SPOTLIGHT Trumpeter Alison Balsom is performing ‘Images’ to open Tonbridge Music Club’s 60th season

guidegig

TRINITY THEATRE, CHURCH ROAD

All event

THURSDAY 13/10

This week Times music columnist Paul Dunton shares his must-see gigs for the next fortnight. They include seeing the brilliant Lonelady at The Forum, a Nick Drake tribute act at Trinity and Chesney Hawkes at The Assembly Hall…

THE GREY LADY MUSIC LOUNGE, THE PANTILES

Doors 7.15pm, all event information and ticket entry available from thegreylady.co.uk

FRIDAY 14/10 The Grey Lady Sessions: Essie West + Cally Collective

SUNDAY 16/10 The Grey Lady Sessions: Cyrano + Steffan James

THE TUNBRIDGE WELLS FORUM

Event information and tickets at twforum.co.uk

WEDNESDAY 12/10 Lottery Winners + Little Quirks + Wild Horse

THURSDAY 13/10 William the Conqueror + Later Youth

SATURDAY 15/10 Back to the 80’s

MONDAY 17/10 Courting + Ugly TUESDAY 18/10 U18 Open Mic

FRIDAY 21/10 James Wood EP Release Show

SATURDAY 22/10 Lonelady + Kay Hazel MONDAY 24/10 Joe & The S***tboys + Animal S***house + Bruise + Zap Euphoria

WEDNESDAY 26/10 Another Day + Landfill + The Polygons

THE ASSEMBLY HALL THEATRE, CRESCENT ROAD

All event information and tickets available from assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk

THURSDAY 13/10 Fastlove (George

Michael tribute)

SUNDAY 16/10 The Cavern Beatles

TUESDAY 18/10 Sixties Gold featuring The Tremeloes with Chesney Hawkes + Herman’s Hermits + Marmalade + Gerry’s Pacemakers + Gary Pluckett + Spencer James of The Searchers

WEDNESDAY 26/10 Michael starring Ben (Michael Jackson tribute)

THE FORUM BASEMENT AT THE SUSSEX ARMS

All

SATURDAY 15/10

THE GREEN DUCK EMPORIUM,

GROSVENOR ROAD

event

SATURDAY

FRANT CHURCH, FRANT

THE

EVEN FLOW CAFÉ,

SAINT JOHN’S YARD, (ST JOHN’S ROAD)

MONDAY

GEOGRAPHY WINEBAR,

you are a local to Tunbridge Wells venue that hosts regular live music or even if it’s a one-off event, concert or festival, contact Paul at least six weeks in advance of your event date with the following details:

and address of Venue

time

THURSDAY

THE RED LION PUB, RUSTHALL

all day free entry music from 8.30pm

SATURDAY 22/10 The Hearthside Sessions: Steffan James

THE GUN & SPITROAST INN, HORSMONDEN

all day, free entry, music from 8pm

WEDNESDAY 12/10 Jam Session all welcome

event

19/10 Jam

all welcome

of event and name of act(s) Ticket link and/or website (please state if free entry)

x high resolution (300 dpi) landscape jpeg (performer only, no posters)

state photo credit

KING

MARTYR

STEFFAN JAMES

WILD HORSE

The Pantiles’ Harvest Festival to return a little later than planned

By Richard Williams

THE annual Harvest Festival on The Pantiles returns this weekend (October 15-16), after its usual slot was cancelled last month due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The festival, which is a celebration of local produce grown throughout the summer season, is set to return on Saturday and Sunday between 10am and 4pm.

The festival will have all the ‘usual excellent local ingredients’, said Julian Leefe-Griffiths, event organiser from the Tunbridge Wells Hotel.

“There will be tasty food stalls and great drinks offers, as well as your favourite well-known local chefs cooking up some delightful autumn treats from the bandstand,” he explained.

Exciting

“This season we’re really pleased to welcome back local superstar Will Devlin from The Small Holding Restaurant in Kiltdown, Scott Goss from The Beacon and Alex from new start-up in The Pantiles, Kumquat.

“Dan Hatton is also back again, as well as our great regular favourite Matthew Sankey from his eponymous fish restaurant.

“Autumn is a special time of the year and although it means it’s the end of summer, it is also the start of one of the most exciting food seasons in the calendar,” said Mr Leefe-Griffiths.

“Pheasant, partridge and wild mushrooms are all at their best, and we welcome the arrival of the new winter root vegetables crops. It’s an exciting time for any cook or food lover.

“As well as all the exciting stalls, The Pantiles of course offers many great restaurants and cafés to enjoy the show, and the Tunbridge Wells Hotel terrace probably gets the best view to sit and watch all the chefs in action on the bandstand,” Mr Leefe-Griffiths continued.

“So whether you’re after some great produce to take home, delicious local drinks or just a great lunch on The Pantiles, please come down and support Tunbridge Wells’ Pantiles Harvest Food Festival.”

Some of London’s finest craft beer brewers available to discover right on your doorstep

FOUNDED nine years ago in a Hackney garden shed, Pressure Drop have firmly established themselves as one of London’s finest craft breweries. Over the years we’ve journeyed with them as they expanded to railway arches and on to their current home in Tottenham.

Known for producing some of the best juicy, hazy pales, fruited sours and big, delicious stouts, they are a regular feature in our fridges here at Fuggles. We have something for all tastes in the fridges right now and here are some of my current favourites:

TWO WEEKS IN FLORIDA – Another collaboration brew here, this time with Cheltenham-based DEYA. And when you put two breweries together who have a massive love for hop-forward beers you get something pretty delicious – and big in terms of flavour and abv. At 8.5% this Double IPA isn’t a session beer but it also doesn’t drink its strength. Brewed again with those magical Cryo hops and also featuring Simcoe, Mosaic and Citra, this packs loads of upfront citrus and juicy tropical fruits.

DO IT FOR HER – This is a ‘table beer’ – or low abv pale. Coming in at 3.2%, it’s brewed with Cryo hops (essentially supercharged hops where the lupulin oils from the hops are extracted and pelletised, really ramping up the juicy, fruity character of the hops). This means this beer, while light in abv is still full of flavour. Galaxy,

Eclipse and Mosaic hops add lovely tropical and stone fruit notes to the beer.

FØDJ – One of their latest releases, Fødj is a collaboration brew with Norwegian brewers Amundsen, a brewery well known for their big, dessert-inspired stouts. This is also Pressure Drop’s biggest stout to date (it’s 10%!) and is brewed with cacao nibs, chocolate fudge and toffee. It’s rich and decadent and utterly moreish.

PALE FIRE – This was the first beer the team produced and perfected all those years ago in their shed in Hackney. It’s a classic American pale ale, hopped with Mosaic and Amarillo hops, giving it a lovely dose of tropical fruit, while retaining a balanced bitterness on the finish and at 4.8% you can happily have a couple!

CATAMARAN – A 5.5% New England pale (this style focuses on a lower level of bitterness and has loads of fruity, juicy notes with a soft and smooth body). Hopped with El Dorado hops, this beer shows off loads of juicy pineapple notes, some melon and tropical stone fruits.

INTERNET FRIENDS – Finally, a bit of fun in the form of their latest fruited sour. This style of beer really flies out here at Fuggles – think of it as a fruit smoothie beer! This 5.5% beer is based on a Pina Colada, brewed with the addition of pineapple, coconut and vanilla.

FOOD THEATRE Matthew Sankey (left) and Julian Leefe-Griffiths

LOCAL HERO Will Devlin (centre) of the The Small Holding

FESTIVE BUFFET BANQUET

Minimum of 20 people-up to 35 people

Available between 21st of November to 27 of December (Excluding Sundays and Christmas Day) £27.50 Per Person

Pigs in Blankets

Smoked Salmon Blinis

Chickpea & Coriander Cakes, Coconut Dipping Sauce (ve)

Quinoa & Orange Salad with Cranberries & Walnuts (ve, gf,n) Stilton & Celery Quiche (v)

Roasted New Potatoes with Garlic & Rosemary (ve, gf) Honey Roast Gammon (gf)

A Whole Dressed Salmon (gf)

Tomato & Chili Spiced Chicken (gf) Chocolate Brownie (ve,gf,n) Mince Pies

CHRISTMAS SET MENU 2022

Glass of Prosecco & Christmas Cracker included 2 Courses £27.95/ 3 Courses £34.95

Available between 21st of November to 27 of December (Excluding Sundays and Christmas Day)

STARTERS

Spiced Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Soup, Rustic Breads (ve)

Chickpea & Coriander Cakes, Spinach & Capers Salad, Coconut Dipping Sauce (ve) Salmon Gravadlax, Cucumber Relish, Dill Cream Cheese, Blinis Chicken Liver Pate, Edgcumbe Chutney, Mini Bread Rolls Ham Hock & Pea Salad, Edamame Beans, Watercress, Pumpkin Seeds, Cranberry Dressing (gf)

MAINS

Roast Turkey

Roast Potatoes, Roasted Vegetables, Red Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Stuffing, Pigs in Blankets, Gravy

Roast Gammon

Pineapple, Roast Potatoes, Roasted Vegetables, Red Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Stuffing, Pigs in Blankets, Gravy

Nut Roast (ve,n)

Roast Potatoes, Roasted Vegetables, Red Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Vegan Sausage & Stuffing, Gravy

Edgcumbe Fish Pie, Broccoli (gf)

Vegan Beetroot Bourguignon, Rustic Breads (ve) (gf with gf bread)

PUDDING

Christmas Pudding, Brandy Custard (n)

Sticky Toffee Pudding, Vanilla Custard (gf,n)

Vegan Brownie, Coconut Ice Cream (ve,gf,n) Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

Festive Ice Creams (v) OR Fruity Sorbets (ve)

Selection of Local Cheeses (£3 supplement) With Crackers, Homemade Chutney, Grapes & Celery Only available to tables of 6+

THE average five-year fixed-rate mortgage on the market has breached 6% for the first time in 12 years.

Across all deposit sizes, two-year and five-year fixed rates now both stand at more than 6% on average, according to Moneyfacts.

The typical five-year fixed-rate mortgage last Thursday (October 6) was 6.02%, Moneyfacts said, having crept up from 5.97% on Wednesday.

The last time average five-year fixed-rate mortgages were at 6% was back in February 2010.

Average

The average two-year fixed-rate mortgage stands at 6.11%, having breached the 6% mark on Wednesday for the first time since November 2008.

Moneyfacts calculated the potential impact that rising rates could have for someone with a £200,000 mortgage, paying it back over 25 years.

Back in December 2021, the average two-year fixed mortgage on the market had a rate of 2.34%.

Someone with a £200,000 mortgage taking out a two-year deal at that time could have had monthly repayments of £881.20.

But on current average rates, their monthly mortgage repayments could be £1,302.08 – a difference of around £420 per month, or more than

£5,000 per year.

Looking at someone in the same circumstances taking out a five-year fixed-rate mortgage, the average rate back in December 2021 was 2.64%.

This could have meant monthly payments of £911.40 for someone with a £200,000 mortgage taking out a deal at that time.

But now, someone could typically expect to be paying £1,291.05 per month if they took out a five-year deal – a jump of just under £380 per month, or more than £4,500 per year.

A string of rises in the Bank of England base rate in recent months have pushed up borrowing costs generally, while volatile market conditions

following the mini-budget prompted lenders to pull mortgage deals from sale and increase their rates. Swap rates, which lenders use to price their mortgages, have been increasing recently.

Having shrunk severely last week, the choice of mortgage products has been gradually increasing as lenders introduce new deals, according to Moneyfacts’ figures.

Some 2,430 mortgage deals were available on Thursday, which is up from 2,258 at the start of the week.

However, mortgage choice is still well down compared with the 3,961 products available on the day of the mini-budget.

Modular housing could create thousands of jobs says report

Make UK also pressed ministers to offer fast-track planning, prioritising modular and green homes in land allocation.

Steve Cole, Director of Make UK Modular, the trade body for modular housing, said: “There is a housing success story in this country, and it is modular.

“This report shows definitively that modular is now a significant player in the UK housing market. Government must capitalise on this as opportunities to transform our broken housing market into the most sophisticated in the world do not come around every day.

Sustainability

WILL THE RECENT STAMP DUTY

THOUSANDS of jobs could be created with more government support for ‘modular’ housing, according to a new report.

Modular houses are built in factories and shipped on lorries where they are assembled on site. The whole process is much quicker than regular construction.

A home in Matfield, Tunbridge Wells recently appeared on Channel 4’s Grand Designs – and was the quickest build to ever appear on the show.

Make UK said manufacturers have built more than 40 factories to produce

modular houses, creating some 3,000 jobs and delivering £700million of investment to low growth, low employment areas.

Affordable

The manufacturing group said the figures could easily double with some ‘simple’ government support, such as dedicating 20% of its programme of affordable housing provision to modular housing, which has already shown it can deliver new homes fast.

“Government must accelerate modular delivery, building on the investment made and the jobs created, by removing the remaining barriers holding the industry back,” Mr Cole explained.

The report said that factory engineering means modular homes can be built to consistently high sustainability standards, delivering savings of 55% on energy consumption compared with the average UK home and cost 32% less to heat than a traditional new-build.

This translates to savings of up to £800 a year for a three-bedroom family home, and energy reduction rises to 60% for single or two-person households living in smaller properties, it said.

The recent stamp duty cut Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced last month has led to a mixed response in the property market. Whilst some welcomed the incentive this would give to anyone moving house, the resulting turmoil of central bank interest rates has caused great uncertainty. James Richards, Partner at awardwinning Tunbridge Wells Sales and Lettings agent, Maddisons Residential, comments on the situation.

By way of background, a recent Nationwide House Price Index reported that average house prices had increased 144 times in the last 70 years, demonstrating the benefit of property’s medium to long-term investment return. Such demonstrable growth has fuelled the buy-tolet market, as has more recently historically low interest rates and greater availability of specialist mortgages.

However, a growing population and lack of housing stock has created a looming housing issue, especially within the private rental market. People are keen to get a foot on the housing ladder but a lack of stock has driven up both property prices and rents. Several factors have led to the current economic uncertainty of increasing inflation and mortgage interest rates.

Seeking to stave this off, the government delivered its ‘mini-budget’, which included a stamp duty cut by raising tax thresholds from £125,000 to £250,000 for all house buyers, with first-time buyers now only paying stamp duty on properties over £425,000. We feel a better incentive to encourage transactions would have been wider assistance to help the broader market, especially ‘last time movers’ and property investors.

As we have seen, the reaction from both home and abroad was dramatic, resulting in a U-turn by the Chancellor on certain measures. Within the mortgage sector, lenders withdrew 40% of their products in a matter of days, causing turmoil and uncertainty for many.

Undoubtedly, it’s an uncertain time for the property market, but mortgage rates could never have remained at the incredible low rates for ever – we were always going to head for a more normal interest rate environment. The evidence of the Nationwide House Price Index is that those who play the long game – especially those who have an appetite for a tough market – will prove to be winners over time.

Meet the expert: James Richards is a Partner at Maddisons Residential – a leading, award-winning independent Sales and Lettings estate agent based in Tunbridge Wells, offering expert advice and exceptional customer service.

MATFIELD MARVEL A modular home in Tunbridge Wells as featured on TV show Grand Designs

Picture: Shutterstock

Wet your beak with these pieces

This week Alexander Pushkin tells the Times about some unusual drinkware on sale at Pushkin Antiques in Tunbridge Wells High Street...

antiques

ALEXANDER PUSHKIN

Dear avid antique collectors and enthusiasts,

might have noticed I took a long summer break, but undeterred I have found my way back to you and the familiar sound of a clacking keyboard.

week, I would like to talk about my personal favourite additions to our shop on the High Street, particularly some zoomorphic (animal-shaped) claret jugs, wine coolers and decanters we currently have for sale.

Fashion

The fashion for zoomorphic drinkware dates back to the 16th century. However, it was towards the end of the 19th century that silversmiths reached the pinnacle of creativity in the vast production and variety of animal formed claret jugs and drink-related tableware.

TV’s Clive Attrell

An early 20th-century English silver and cut glass-mounted novelty wine jug, in the form of a standing cockatoo, is a perfect example.

The head plumage acts as a thumb-piece and the head is set with coloured glass eyes, with a translucent glass body imitating textured plumage and all mounted with realistically modelled feet. It is made by undoubtably one of the greatest British retailers and silversmiths of the early 20th century, Asprey & Co.

The other example is this novelty late 20th-century solid silver and glass wine decanter. The blown glass body and silver head beautifully imitates a walrus, while the head is made in two sections, with a hinged lid and mounted with tusks. Made in Italy by the greatest Italian retailer, Buccellati – synonymous with luxury and exceptional quality.

Novelty

Another piece is a superb 20th-century Italian silver plated duck-shaped wine cooler. Of large size and realistically modelled with a hinged head, set with glass eyes and the inside fitted with a removable liner, it is a true conversation piece that will add novelty and fun to any bar.

It was made in Florence and signed ‘Franco Lapini’ – a highly desirable designer who frequently achieves way above estimate results at auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

To view these items, please visit pushkinantiques.com or simply pop into our High Street gallery for a closer look.

Your Local Funeral

COCKATOO Claret jug

WALRUS AND DUCK Decanter and cooler

Plans for Christmas?

Celebrate in style at the Bottle House Inn in Penshurst where head chef Gary Jarvis has prepared this cracker of a menu. Backed up by a wonderful wine list, great ales, log fires, a private room and stylish restaurant oozing Christmas charm, there’s no better place to be jolly this season.

Try rekindling your love for music

AS A YOUNG girl I went to a music school up to the age of 11. Here, I learned to play the piano and the guitar. I wasn’t a child prodigy or anything like that! I was always told that I would never be a great pianist, but I enjoyed playing.

For 28 years I never touched an instrument or played any music.

When Covid started, like many people, I felt more stressed and anxious.

I started to think about playing the piano again, but I needed to buy a piano and I was busy at work, so I just left it.

Spurred

Then last November I went through a challenging time in my personal life. I started listening to more piano playing on Instagram. I clicked on one story then my feed filled up with piano playing. This spurred me on to start playing again.

I had lots of questions! I couldn’t work out if I was a beginner or an intermediate, I didn’t know what sort of piano or keyboard to buy, that sort of thing. I decided I needed to get some advice.

At Brittens Music I was able to try lots of different types of pianos and find the one that suited me and fitted into my home.

The staff were really friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. I bought a digital piano, which was delivered by Nick, a lovely member of staff of in the shop.

Now, I play at home during the week and at the weekend I play in Brittens Music shop.

They are really happy for me to come in and practice on a ‘real’ piano. Sometimes people stop outside the shop and listen to my playing.

One week, a little girl walked into the shop and said to her mother ‘I want to do that’ – I am not an amazing player at all, but it’s nice to think that your music is affecting people. And even inspiring the next generation of players.

Playing helps me to relax and unwind. It ‘soothes’ me when I’ve had a stressful day. It’s a form of meditation for me.

Since I started playing again, I’ve also noticed an improvement in my memory. I play a piece a few times and then I remember it by heart. I

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also feel like my memory has improved at work; it feels much ‘sharper’.

I think playing music exercises different parts of your brain. Playing with your left and your right hand activated different parts of your nervous system, which stimulates the brain in

different ways.

If someone was thinking of playing an instrument I would say do it, now! You’re never too old to learn.

If you need advice on taking up ap musical instrument, drop into Brittens Music on Grove Hill Road for more information – you might even hear Anastasiya playing.

Alternatively visit the website at brittensmusic.co.uk

Pianist Anastasiya Day, a customer at Tunbridge

music shop,

talks to the Times about how she rekindled her love of playing the piano

how she also found

through music during a difficult time...

ANASTASIYA