Times of Tonbridge 7th September 2016

All the news that matters

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Local, National and International

TONBRIDGE

2 ■ LOCAL NEWS

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nce, again on the allowa ions. tax paid unds the police regulat £37,175 y. ance with ution of to 22 days holida ed in accord n contrib earnings entitled to ey was promot A pensio Constable’s s.

Mr Pughsl of Deputy Chief brought the Chief a million pound of role a total a quarter from the y 2014. His receives in Januar d a hous- almost Prime Minister Constable 62.

The include of the of £143,4 £198,723 for his Executive salary of annual salary nce of £6,801 “Housing Isaby, Chief £1million ing allowa Jonathan Alliance, said: t to be a s are a scaners’ home, thoughChislehurst. Under salarie TaxPay and huge ers’ money house in regulations, officers allowances to spend taxpay front-line police way and to a housare entitled nce or dalousbudgets are so tight when ing allowa nce. cut. are being rent allowa also staff His salary coma 3 on page included grant of Continued pensatory refey £4,508, which Alan Pughsl

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and we the family ing for all event. is someth days. There part of such a greatsations, including a group said: love being with several organi m, English from the e and Museu “We work Jules Rogers to entertain, educatc and we have and Downl is The Weald the National Trust dge Castle, “Our aim e visitors at histori and al Heritage and enthusevents across south s sight at Tonbri first medievpassed familiar the very sites and become a d. Our display of ed since de France east Englanindividual areas having attend when the Tour place in the reflect our event took town in 2007.” even Dr Poo – t the toilet)! interes through medieval mme Turdis (the provides a and a progra informationnext page “Tonbridge show, For more exciting turn to the vibrant and s and activities of events, with display throughout both place taking

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Local, National and International Tonbridge Castle

OF TONBRIDGE

Dragon breathes fire into town…

CROWDS of several thousand are expected to line the River Medway for the Tonbridge Dragon Boat Race on Sunday.

Final preparations for the hotly contested charity event have been finalised and 22 teams have signed up already.

Bob Taylor, of Tonbridge Town Team, which is behind the colourful extravaganza, believes it is shaping up to be one of the year’s highlights, especially as it is taking place alongside a two-day Medieval Fayre at the castle

INSIDE MEDIEVAL FAYRE

Special four-page pullout programme inside

(see our special four-page pullout on the Fayre inside).

He said: “The town’s Dragon Boat Race is now in its fourth year and the whole idea is to attract people into Tonbridge. It is part of the Town Team’s plan to have a major attraction in the area every quarter.

“It also gives people the chance to earn money for charity.”

The event takes place between 10am and 4pm and the first race will get underway around 10.30am.

The finishing line is the Big Bridge.

ON THE WAY UP

Record-breaker Tom aims for greater success Page 2

DRAGON CREW The paddlers from The Bridge Trust charity

Chief Constable criticised for taking almost three months’ holiday as he axed police jobs Stephen Eighteen

newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk DURING his first full year in charge of the county’s police force the Chief Constable of Kent, Alan Pughsley, took almost three months’ paid leave. He was also entitled to an extra eight days off for bank holidays.

The figure relates to 2014-2015 and was among data released to a national newspaper under a Freedom of Information request, and confirmed to this newspaper by Kent Police.

In the same year that he took 56 days off, the county’s top officer cost tax-

payers £235,898, making him one of the highest paid policemen in the UK. At the time he was shedding police jobs, citing a budget shortfall.

‘Everything is in line with national guidance and independently set’ The time off has been described by the TaxPayers’ Alliance as ‘indefensible’. New police recruits receive £23,000 a year and are

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Wednesday, September 7, 2016

entitled to 22 days holiday.

Mr Pughsley was promoted from the role of Deputy Chief Constable in January 2014. His salary of £198,723 included a housing allowance of £6,801 for his home, thought to be a £1million house in Chislehurst. Under police regulations, officers are entitled to a housing allowance or rent allowance.

His salary also included a compensatory grant of Alan Pughsley £4,508, which ref-

unds the tax paid on the allowance, again in accordance with police regulations.

A pension contribution of £37,175 brought the Chief Constable’s earnings to almost a quarter of a million pounds.

The Prime Minister receives a total annual salary of £143,462.

Jonathan Isaby, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Housing allowances and huge salaries are a scandalous way to spend taxpayers’ money when budgets are so tight and front-line staff are being cut.

Continued on page 3

LABOUR SUPPORT

Tonbridge backs Corbyn in leadership battle Page 2

DAYS GONE BY

Historic town sites under threat from buldozers Page 3

2 ■ LOCAL NEWS

Weather Wednesday A dull start gradually breaking, some warm sunny spells will develop.

September 7, 2016

Record-breaking Tom sets his sights on World Championship

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PROPOSAL Tom and Harry on Copacabana beach

Visibility: Excellent

Pollution: Moderate

Humidity: 95%

Sunrise: 06.22am

Sunset: 19.30pm

Wind: 7mph

Thursday

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More like these are on the way this week

Send your weather pictures into... newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk

CONTACTS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR RICHARD MOORE richard@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk | 01892 779615 EDITOR AT LARGE FRANK BALDWIN fbaldwin@markerstudy.com DESIGN/PRODUCTION LEE SMITH lsmith8@markerstudy.com SALES GEMMA HAK ghak@markerstudy.com | 01892 779580 GENERAL INQUIRIES newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk FIND US ONLINE facebook.com/timeslocalnews timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk twitter.com/timeslocalnews IF YOU HAVE A STORY WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU Contact details above

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CLARIFICATIONS AND CORRECTIONS HERE at the Times of Tonbridge we strive to deliver fair, accurate and balanced reports. When we don’t meet our own high standards we will accept the responsibility and publish clarifications and corrections.

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QUOTE UNQUOTE

‘It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?’

Ronald Reagan

Wednesday 7th September 2016

By Neill Barston newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk TEAM GB race walker Tom Bosworth is confident he can use the experience he gained from competing at the Olympics as a stepping stone to even greater achievements.

The 26 year-old member of Tonbridge Athletic Club broke his own British record on his way to finishing sixth in his 20km race in Rio, and described the Olympics as an unforgettable experience.

It was made even more memorable after the race when his partner Harry Dineley accepted his marriage proposal, which was made on

the famous Copacabana beach in Brazil. for his bold Copacabana beach proposal.

Tom believes his achievement last month “Proposing was something that I’d wanted to will provide a valuable launch pad for the do for a long time, but I thought I’d wait until Tokyo Games in 2020. after the race, which left us with happy memHe said: “It was great to have all the support ories of the Games. of family, friends and my now fiancé out “Those were probably the craziest three days there in Rio. of my life,” recalled Tom, who felt his decision “I knew how well the training in the month to come out as gay has enabled him to be more leading up to the event had gone, so I was in relaxed and focused, with his results over the great shape, which helped me beat my past year reaching new levels. A wedding personal best by 30 seconds for the date has yet to be finalised, but plans are national record. on the horizon.

“I hadn’t set out to lead the While much of Tom’s training is in race from the front, but just Leeds, he will be returning to stuck to my plan at the pace I Tonbridge Athletic Club shortly to was comfortable with. In the thank his friends and trainers for end, I don’t think I could have their support. done any better than I did.”

He added: “The season is pretty One of his main aims was to much finished now, but I will be help raise the profile of UK race focusing on securing funding for 2017. walking, which he hopes has I think I can now class myself in this been achieved through his bracket, as being among the best Olympic appearance. in the world, and look to win One of his only a medal at the next disappointments World Championships was that he ahead of the Tokyo didn’t have as Olympics in 2020.” much chance to explore Rio ‘Those were as he would probably the have liked, but craziest three it did prove AIMING HIGHER Tom Bosworth a fitting days of my life’ location

Tonbridge backs Corbyn in his leadership battle THE Chairman of Tonbridge & Malling Labour Party has claimed Jeremy Corbyn’s prospects of surviving the challenge to his position as leader this month remain strong.

But Jim Parish did admit that while the party’s national leader retained grassroots support, the question over whether the 67-year-old MP for Islington North is the right person to lead them into the next General Election ‘remained open’.

Mr Corbyn is facing a challenge from former Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Owen Smith, who has hit out at what he described as his party leader’s ‘featherweight challenge’ to Conservative dominance in Westminster.

However, despite an unprecedented situation of more than two thirds of Labour MPs placing a vote of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn, he refused to resign.

The scenario has left many fearing a permanent split within the party, amid dozens of resignations from its senior positions over the past few months.

In Tonbridge, the area’s party leader chaired a meeting last month at the Angel Centre, which voted 23-7 in favour of retaining Jeremy Corbyn as leader in an informal expression of support.

Mr Parish said: “Jeremy Corbyn has been leader for nine months now and a lot of members felt this was not the right time to have an election contest.

“When he became leader he expressed views that were held by party members that hadn’t been heard for a long time. He had voted against the war in Iraq, and had switched the

GRASSROOTS SUPPORT Jeremy Corbyn

party’s focus to overtly speaking against the Government’s austerity programme, as well as challenging levels of Government borrowing that reached record levels.

“Whether he would make a good Prime Minister remains to be seen, but by the autumn we will be able to focus, once this election that has caused divisions has been decided.”

Party members received ballot papers last week, with the results of the election to be declared at the Labour Party Conference on September 24.

Lotto to raise thousands for local charities COMMUNITY groups and charities have welcomed Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council’s new online lottery, which is the first of its kind within Kent.

The Hive Lotto launched on Friday, with a weekly draw including a possible top prize of £25,000.

Anyone claiming all six numbers will see a further £25,000 donated to their chosen worthy cause.

More than 20 organisations gathered at Tonbridge Castle to hear how hundreds of thousands of pounds a year could go to charities across the area.

Speaking at the launch event, Adrian Stanfield said the lottery’s creation was ‘the start of an exciting journey’ that would greatly benefit the community.

He believed the council was only the second local authority in the country to operate an onlinebased lottery which will see 50p for every £1 lottery ticket sold going directly to lottery players’ nominated causes.

Nicolas Heslop, leader of Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council, said: “We want this to become a community project that people feel they have ownership of, as we know that groups have found it difficult to fundraise these days.

“We are very glad to provide charities with the platform to raise money, so I believe this is a really good opportunity for community groups.

“The litmus test for this working has been shown by the charities that have already come forward to be part of it.”

The Hive Lotto draw will take place every Saturday, with the first draw on Saturday September 10. Anyone aged 16 or over can take part by registering online at: www.hivelotto.co.uk

LOCAL NEWS �

NEWS IN BRIEF

Dame Tanni presents school with top award FORMER Paralympic star Dame Tanni GreyThompson presented staff at Tonbridge School with an award for best health club of the year at a recent ceremony.

Its sports centre won the title as part of the UK Active Flame Awards, which saw more than 850 industry representatives in attendance at the Telford International Centre.

Matt Parker, Tonbridge School’s Commercial & Operations Director, said: “This achievement within the Health Club of the Year category is testament to the hard work that the Tonbridge School Centre team has shown over the past eight years, since opening in April 2008.”

Hidden gems uncovered RESIDENTS have the chance visit a range of hidden treasures for free this weekend as part of the 2016 Heritage Open Days.

This year there are 23 properties across the area and four events as part of the English Heritage initiative, including a guided tour of Haysden Country Park and Mountains Country House in Hildenborough.

Other historic buildings opening in Tonbridge include the Grade I Listed Schools at Somerhill; the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul; St Saviour’s Church; and the Oast Theatre, which will be offering a behind-thescenes tour and art exhibition. For more information see our feature on pages 96-97 and visit: www.tmbc.gov.uk/events

Mooring charge concern A FORMER riverboat owner has raised concerns that charging mooring fees at Tonbridge could deter boat owners from visiting the area.

Spider Coles felt the town’s economy could be losing out, especially as a number of alternative locations on the River Medway have opted not to charge boats for short-term stays.

In Tonbridge, barges and other boats face paying either £5 a day or £30 per week (maximum stay), with new signage being placed last month at Medway Wharf Road advising of the present fees.

Mr Coles, who is now based in Tonbridge after spending many years living in a boat on the River Medway, said: “Tonbridge is one of the main points of navigation for the Medway, but if people have already paid out a lot of money with costs on their journey before they get to the town, they might not want to pay to stop here.

“Until about four or five years ago, you used to be able to stay in a boat at Tonbridge for three nights without there being mooring fees, but were not allowed to return within a period of one week.” Mr Coles believes this system had previously worked well.

High Street contest TONBRIDGE has been entered in the national Great British High Street Competition.

For more information on nominating, visit: www.thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk

3

History of town under threat as bulldozers get ready to move in HISTORIC SITE 180 High Street

By Neill Barston newsdesk@timesoft0nbridge.co.uk CONCERNS that parts of historic Tonbridge could be lost forever have been raised again following plans to demolish a property linked to author Jane Austen’s family.

Residents have vented their frustration on social media over the case of 180 High Street.

Warners solicitors’ practice was formerly based at the now derelict Georgian property, which is more than 200 years old.

Despite a campaign to save the building, believed to have been home to Henry Austen, a cousin of Jane Austen’s father, George, who also lived nearby, Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council finally approved its demolition last summer after a planning saga lasting years.

The fact the property was not listed was flaggedup by inspectors as one of the main reasons there were no grounds for it to be preserved.

Redevelopment plans from the site’s owners, Deacon Properties, were initially rejected on the basis its proposals were ‘too contemporary’, in style. But a revised application promised a more acceptable Georgian-inspired building.

Consent was finally given to redevelop the site in 2012 – but it was later reported that developers were not in a position to deliver the proposed 12flat scheme, and sought a three-year extension.

However, more than a year after the company’s

request was granted, the property, which appears in an official Kent County Council guide to Tonbridge’s historic connections to Jane Austen, still stands on the site in a neglected state, covered in graffiti-and with many windows smashed.

The front garden, which features a distinctive Magnolia tree and sits within a Conservation area, is also lying overgrown.

Resident Patricia Robynns, who runs the Tonbridge People Town and Ancestry history blog, felt the decision to bulldoze the historic property should be re-examined.

She said: “I am appalled that the demolition of this building has been approved.

“The façade may have been changed to a different style, but the inside is a Georgian property. It is a part of the old town of

Tonbridge that will be lost.

“It also has a personal connection, with my father and his family being lodgers there in the 1920s, and there was a massive reaction from people here when this was approved by the council’s planning committee.”

Suzannah Niklas, who started a petition to preserve 180 High Street, said it was a ‘shameful’ issue that the historic property had been allowed to rot rather than be preserved as a tourism asset.

Nick Hales, Director of Deacon Properties, explained the firm intended to go ahead with its approved redevelopment, as the existing property was considered not worthy of retaining by borough planners.

He said: “We are in discussion with the neighbouring property, which has now gained planning permission for a new access road at the rear of the property.

“This was of particular concern to the Slade Area Residents Association as it would not be possible to close the High Street during our own construction work.

“So we have tried to be ‘the good guys’ over this, and are waiting for the new road to be completed before we start,” added the developer, who confirmed the new development would have a Georgian-influenced design.

‘This sort of largesse isn’t found in the private sector’ Continued from page 1 “Of course, bosses are entitled to annual leave, but receiving over 50 days’ holiday in one year is surely indefensible.

“This sort of largesse isn’t found in the private sector and so there seems little justification for these additional perks at the taxpayers’ expense. They should be cut back to reflect the current need to make urgent savings.”

Mr Pughsley arrived at a time when the force had trimmed £53million from its budget and cut 1,200 jobs, including 500 front-line officers.

Just days after taking over, he declared that another £20million had to be cut for 2015-16, including the loss of up to 100 officers.

He also announced that iPads and telephones would be used to respond to minor incidents to reduce the outlay on call-outs.

Steve White, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents front-line officers,

said: “In a current policing structure that doesn’t allow for a reduction in the number of forces in England and Wales, it’s easy to see why eyebrows are raised at the cost of keeping 43 chief officers in post and whether this is really the best use of public money.”

A spokesman for Kent Police said that Mr Pughsley’s standard holiday entitlement is 48 days, with the additional eight days taken in 2014-15 a result of carrying over annual leave from the previous year.

He added: “When senior officers apply for annual leave, it is done in consultation with other members of the chief officer team and this ensures the force is left with cover at the highest level at all times.

“Mr Pughsley provides his own car for 24/7 policing duties, whereas previous chief constables were provided with a car.

“Chief Constable Pughsley’s salary, allowances and annual leave entitlement are in line with national guidance and independently set.

“The terms and conditions of his

salary are in line with pay scales set out under the Police Regulations 2003, which are set by the Home Office following independent consideration by the Senior Salaries Review Body.”

Kent Police & Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott made saving money an election pledge, but has backed the package given to Chief

Constable Alan Pughsley.

“The terms of employment for the Chief Constable – including his salary and annual leave entitlement – are set by the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner, and I am satisfied that they are in line with the Home Office’s national guidelines set out in the Police Regulations 2003,” he said.

CHIEF CONSTABLE’S BACKGROUND… Alan Pughsley previously worked at the Metropolitan Police Service, beginning in 1984.

He was in specialist units in London and the south east, including those dealing with kidnaps and contract killings, before heading up the joint Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, one of the largest in the country.

He also served as Borough Commander in Lewisham, south-east London, and worked

at Surrey Police as a Detective Superintendent.

He joined Kent Police in 2009 and was appointed Deputy Chief Constable for Kent in March 2011, where he was responsible for quality performance and the efficient delivery of services, before becoming Chief Constable in January 2014.

He was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished service in July 2015.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

4  LOCAL NEWS

Two months of disruption at new Fiveways as remedial work starts

By Andrew Tong newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

THE Fiveways pedestrian precinct in Tunbridge Wells is set to be disrupted for eight weeks as the renovation which was only completed last year is altered once more.

The original £750,000 project was designed to produce an ‘attractive piazza’ to ‘improve the look and feel of this part of town’.

But Tunbridge Wells Borough Council objected to the quality of some of the work carried out by the contractor, Amey, and has finally reached an agreement to have the repairs done.

The latest upheaval, which will begin on Monday (September 12), will see all northbound buses being diverted from the pedestrian area.

The road behind the Millennium Clock will be closed, with Lime Hill Road and Mount Ephraim Road being temporarily turned into two-way roads.

The disruption will coincide with at least ten weeks of major roadworks around the central crossroads at Crescent Road and Mount Pleasant Road by the gas company SGN, which commence on the same day.

Along Grosvenor Road and Mount Pleasant

Road there will be no access for northbound traffic between the junctions with Newton Road and Goods Station Road for 11 weeks – also starting on the same day.

Among the issues around Fiveways that have been raised by residents is faulty alignment of some of the new paving stones, as well as cracks in the new pavements.

The council withheld part of the payment to Amey – the retention sum – until it was ‘satisfied with the work’.

Gary Stevenson, the council’s Head of Environment and Street Scene, now says: “Remedial and improvement work is due to start at Fiveways next week on 12 September.

“Inevitably there will be some disruption and noise and we are extremely sorry about this.

“We will make every effort to ensure contractors keep this to a minimum and move forUPHEAVAL ward with the work as quickly Eight weeks of as possible.” remedial work He added: “When the project

was completed we advised the contractor that we were not satisfied with some aspects of the job and we have been negotiating since then to have this redone.”

But he insisted that the council was generally satisfied with the development.

“Although we need to resolve these issues, the new layout and new vehicle restrictions have resulted in increased pedestrian space and made a positive change to the feel of the area,” he said.

Sports Minister climbs the Southern fined for environmental violation – putting wildlife at risk walls in Tunbridge Wells SPORTS Minister Tracey Crouch came next generation of Team GB stars.” to Tunbridge Wells last week to try Andre Hedger, Chimera’s Managing her hand at one of the new Olympic Director, opened the centre last sports to encourage children in Kent October with his partner Chris to get active.

Searle.

Visiting the Chimera Climbing He said: “The climbing centre is the Centre in High Brooms, she scaled newest in the south east. It is also the indoor climbing wall with the home to an elite squad of juniors, Kent and Sussex junior squad. some of whom will be aiming at the Her visit comes after the Tokyo Games and beyond.”

International Olympic Committee Matt Cousins, British Bouldering confirmed last month that sport Champion, regularly climbs at the climbing will make its Olympic debut centre and helps set the climbing at Tokyo 2020. routes.

Team GB made history during Rio He said: “Climbing is a mass 2016 when it became the first nation participation sport that will certainly to increase its medal haul four years get a boost as a result of its elevation after hosting the Olympic Games. to Olympic status. We’d really like to Ms Crouch said: “Climbing is an encourage as many people as exciting sport and a great way to get possible to give climbing a go.” active – and it’s been fantastic to see young people enjoying the session.

“We want even more people to enjoy sport from an early age and build on the momentum from our huge success in Rio and London. With Sport Climbing due to make its HIGH HOPES debut at Tokyo 2020, I Tracey Crouch hope more youngsters gets to grips with will get involved and the indoor wall maybe become the

Wednesday 7th September 2016

Murray Jones murray@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

REPEATED breaches of environmental standards at the Tunbridge Wells North Waste Water Treatment Works have led to Southern Water paying out over £57,000 in fines and costs.

The water supplier has a permit to discharge treated effluent from the Tunbridge Wells North works to the Somerhill Stream, which runs from Robingate Wood in High Brooms, through Southborough and into Tonbridge.

But the Environment Agency (EA) found that the amount of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in the effluent had surpassed the maximum allowance five separate times between July 2013 and July 2014.

Too much BOD has put the stream’s wildlife at risk, reducing the oxygen content in the water, which is a necessary resource for fish and plant survival.

Southern Water pleaded guilty to the charges and agreed to pay costs to the Environment Agency of £33,218.

With the stream’s water quality officially graded as poor by the EA, their Environment Specialist, Robert

Kenway, emphasised the importance of cases like this in ensuring the safety of public water: “We have to enforce these rules because, while there are no dead fish floating down the stream right now, over a long period these things add up.”

And ultimately, he argues, this is a victory for the public: “By taking forward a prosecution like this, we force them [Southern Water] to improve their game, which they certainly have done.”

Improvement In mitigation, Southern Water stated that they had already spent £360,000 on improvement to the treatment works and a further £6million was planned for the future.

This verdicts follows a series of rulings against Southern Water in recent years.

In September 2015, they were fined £160,000 for pumping raw sewage into the sea, resulting in the closure of Southwick and Ferring beaches to protect the public.

In November 2014, they were ordered to pay £500,000 after again discharging untreated sewage, this time into Swalecliffe Brook, killing hundreds of fish and eels.

SHARING Kevin talks to support worker Janine Jacquin

Public urged to help end abuse on buses of vulnerable adults AS SCHOOLS return from the summer break this week, a local charity has launched a campaign to protect vulnerable adults from abusive youngsters.

The Pembury-based charity Pepenbury, which supports people with learning difficulties, has become alarmed at the number of their service users who are being targeted on public transport.

“Our service users have reported many instances of name-calling, laughing and pointing, sometimes even physical abuse,” said charity spokesperson Camilla Slattery.

“This is obviously very intimidating, it would be for anyone, but especially for those who are vulnerable.

“We are working to build up our users’ confidence, to enable people to become more independent, but these incidences of harassment really set people back and undo a lot of the progress they make.”

Kevin Edwards, 53, is one person who has faced abuse and harassment. For him it was on the 402 bus, which travels between Tunbridge Wells and Bromley. With permission from his support worker, he talked to the Times about his experience: “I was on the bus and this big group of boys started pushing me up against the window. They started to swear and spit at me. One boy spat on my shoes and another in my eye.

“It’s made me feel terrible and worried whenever I get on the bus. People don’t help me, they just keep themselves to themselves.”

Incidents such as these are by no means uncommon, with Pepenbury claiming that a number of their service users refuse to get on buses since they are too intimidated by schoolchildren.

As well as suggesting schools should cover these issues more prominently in Anti-Bullying Week in November, Ms Slattery had a message to parents: “I would really encourage them to talk to their children about disabilities and about respecting differences. Obviously, they would not want their child to be harassed in this way, it’s a case of treat others how you wish to be treated.

“Also, I think it’s crucial for other travellers to intervene. Often people are on their own and have no one to stand up for them.

A spokesman for the bus company Arriva, Simon Baxter, expressed regret over the incident but reaffirmed that their drivers’ training equipped them with the necessary tools to deal with such incidents: “Drivers are trained to deal with incidents and depending on the severity they can usually solve them as they occur, and have a number of options at their disposal such as asking people to leave the bus or calling the police.

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6  LOCAL BUSINESS NEWS

A well-run club is the

President Roger Clarke explains the financial adam@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

FRESH from their Twickenham triumph in the Intermediate Cup, which topped off an ‘unprecedented’ unbeaten season, Tunbridge Wells Rugby Football Club (TWRFC) are looking forward to an exciting future.

With a victory over Maidstone on Saturday under their belts, the new season has already got off to a good start.

But the club is not all about headline-grabbing wins, well-attended matches and popular social events.

None of these things would be possible if it was not for a thriving and well-managed club to support, train, and provide a base for the numerous squads which form Tunbridge Wells RFC. And underpinning the success of the club, which has a history dating back to the turn of the 20th century, are the dual efforts of balancing the books and investing in the future.

Overseeing this task is the President, Roger Clarke, who has been involved with the club for the past 50 years. He explained the vast sums needed to keep Tunbridge Wells RFC viable and successful.

“We have a two-year investment programme into club facilities which will cost about £110,000,” he revealed.

“Of this, £60,000 alone has been spent on upgrading one of the training pitches with floodlighting and an improved system of drainage to ensure players can use it in all weathers.

TOP TEAM Club members at the awards

“Another £45,000 will be spent on a drainage project for the First XV pitch.”

The money, he explains, comes from three main sources: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, the Rugby Football Union – the governing body of English rugby – and of course the club itself.

While income from the first two sources is relatively secure and accounts for 66 per cent of the money, the club has to rely on the goodwill of its members and the local community to raise its portion of the funds.

The money it secures comes from numerous sources, such as subscription fees from its 950-plus members, sponsorship, hosting summer training camps and hiring out the clubhouse and bar for events.

Before becoming a limited company this year, the club had an income of roughly £75,000 per annum. But Mr Clarke said the figures are unlikely to be the same during the coming season due to changes in the business model.

“For the old rugby club we earned around £40,000 in commercial and sponsorship income, £30,000 from subscriptions and about £5,000 from donations.

“But we have to be careful to compare oranges with oranges and not apples here, because before we became a limited company there was a combined sports club called the Borderers which included the cricket club and Southborough Wheelers as a renting organisation.”

Much of this money is spent on upkeep of the grounds and facilities at St Mark’s Recreation Ground on Frant Road, and a few permanent members of staff.

This leaves very little profit at the end of the

Squad recognised as Team of the Year Tunbridge Wells RFC topped off a perfect season when they were named Men’s Team of the Year at the 2016 National Rugby Awards on Thursday (September 1).

Twelve members and associates of the club, including sponsors, volunteers and a player representative, attended the event, which was hosted in Twickenham’s Rose Room.

Sky Sports Presenter Alex Payne presented the award to Tunbridge Wells, which had fended off the other nominees Southport RFC, Barnet Elizabethans, Exmouth RFC, Moseley Oak RFC and Old Richians RFC. (Picture left, L-R: Graham Withers, Chairman, Tim Collins player, Alex Nicholson Director of Rugby)

ON THE BALL Roger Clarke

‘We rely heavily on volunteers and our members to pitch in… We have a plumber, an electrician and a lawyer helping out’

day, so the club relies a geat deal on those who love the sport to help out for free.

“We rely heavily on volunteers and our members to pitch in,” says Mr Clarke. “For example, we have a plumber, an electrician and a lawyer helping out, and club members will put up the coaches in their homes when the training camps are running.”

The community spirit, alongside the support of the council and RFU, has gone a long way to helping the club train up a formidable squad which is about to embark on a new chapter, fresh with even greater challenges than last year following their promotion to London One South Division.

“Following a hugely successful 2015-16 season for the club, with promotion and a national cup win at Twickenham in front of 9,000 town fans, preparation is well under way for the new season a league higher, where the competition will be even greater,” Mr Clarke said.

“The omens, though, are good, with three pre-season victories against Beckenham, Westcliffians and Chelmsford from, if anything, a stronger squad.”

TRY LINE Nick Doherty in the first game of the season

Bad loans by KCC to firms double County wins a THE county council has seen the amount of money it has lost through lending to small business double in a year, new figures have revealed.

The authority has been forced to write off more than £3million in interest-free loans after the number of firms it lent money to, and subsequently went bust, more than doubled to 17 since last September.

Previous figures recorded £1.5million in bad loans over

Wednesday 7th September 2016

the previous period in 2014/15.

Most of the money lent by Kent County Council through its interest-free loan schemes was awarded through the Government’s regional growth fund, which was established in 2010.

So far the authority has lent out just over £53million through a variety of schemes, the majority of which has been earmarked for the east of the county through its Expansion

East Kent programme.

The figures, which were obtained by the publication Kent Business, showed a total of 283 companies have received loans.

Kent County Council said it had initially expected a 20 per cent failure rate on loan repayment and was pleased it was below that level, although its Business Investment Chief Jacqui Ward noted the rise in bad debt was ‘disappointing’.

boost for tourism

KENT’S tourism industry received a boost last week when it won a share of a £40million Government pot aimed at helping promote UK destinations around the world.

Visit Kent secured £240,000 from the Discover England Fund in a joint bid with four other locations.

The money will go towards promoting bookable packages for international visitors, which gives them entry to key attractions in each region and features insider tips, local recommendations and interactive media.

PHOTO: Bruce Elliott

Adam Hignett

LOCAL BUSINESS NEWS 

7

route to victory…

PHOTO: Bruce Elliott

workings of Tunbridge Wells RFC

CHAMPIONS Tunbridge Wells celebrates last season’s Twickenham victory

A CLOSE START TO THE SEASON FOR THE TWICKENHAM CHAMPIONS THE rugby season kicked off with an away match between Tunbridge Wells RFU and Maidstone on Saturday.

It was a close game for the first XV squad, with Tunbridge Wells only narrowly beating their rivals 15 points to 14.

Around 200 spectators turned up to cheer on their teams and watch Lee Campion score the first try, later converted by Frank Reynolds, to give the visitors a 0-7 lead.

Despite some injuries for the

Tunbridge Wells team, this score held until the second half where Maidstone put on the pressure through a series of attacks.

A penalty given to the Tunbridge Wells team saw them extend their lead to 0-10 and was further extended to 15-0 when Reynolds scored a try.

But the visitors began to tire, allowing Maidstone to dominate the last ten minutes of the match, leading to their first converted try

bringing the score to 7-10.

A yellow card reduced the Tunbridge Wells squad to 14 men, allowing Maidstone to get another converted try and bringing the score almost level at 14-15 with three minutes to go.

However, the away squad managed to hold on to their tiny lead by the time the final whistle blew, claiming the 35th consecutive win.

Michael Hathaway is awarded Player of the Match for Tunbridge Wells.

Calais Mayor ‘holds out the hand of friendship’ to Kent

By Andrew Tong newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

THE Mayor of Calais has called for a more positive relationship between Kent businesses and their French counterparts.

Her comments follow the shock Brexit vote to leave the EU in June – but also the worsening problems around the ‘Jungle’ camp outside the French city as migrants make increasingly desperate attempts to PEP TALK enter the UK. Natacha Bouchard meets At a meeting with the county’s busibusiness leaders in Kent ness leaders and councillors last week, Natacha Bouchart added that issues over migrant camps should not tarnish corpo- – a problem which is also tarnishing the rate partnerships across the Channel. trade of French businesses.

She admitted at the time that she would The demonstrators want the camp to join the French hauliers’ blockade in be closed completely – with speculation Calais on Monday (September 5) in pro- growing that it might be relocated to Kent. test at the escalating violence and threats The southern section of the Jungle was they face as they pass through the port razed to the ground in March.

Mme Bouchart told the meeting in Ashford: “The reason I came here today is to send a very strong message to our friends that our city is secure, it is safe and we would not like this migratory crisis to affect our will to make sure we keep the friendship between the two territories.”

Referring to a ‘golden age’ of duty-free products, she added: “We want to go back to this particular era and want to make sure we are both prosperous. I am here to let you know we are in control of the situation.

“We are holding out the hand of friendship to our UK neighbours. It is important for us that whatever the aftermath and the problems that may arise with the emergence of Brexit, we need to keep working together to develop our economies.”

Wednesday 7th September 2016

8  BUSINESS NEWS

The man who’s made a career out of being a real Scallywag LIFE AS A SCALLYWAG John Butterworth

Murray Jones murray@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

LOCAL entrepreneur, John Butterworth, has never been one to stand still, with his career taking him from managing nightclubs in the West End to owning a large antique furniture store in Philadelphia.

Now he is re-launching Scallywags, a bar and café on Mount Ephraim, in the hope of providing an alternative place in the town to relax and have a drink, or on some nights, what he likes to call ‘a

Wednesday 7th September 2016

bit of civilised naughtiness’.

Although the desire to house both relaxing and riotous nights requires more than just the music choice. As John tells the Times, his background in high-end furniture have helped him carefully curate the interior to find the right ambience: “I was one of the first idiots to start the whole pine furniture craze. I started by making tables out of old joist, out of parts from buildings like this place and you’d find me ripping all the joist out and all the floorboards out to make furniture.”

“Having always been a naughty but fun, partyloving scallywag, I decided to call the company just that. So Scallywag was born in the summer of 1970.”

And it is a name that John has used throughout his life: “Originally Scallywags was a massive site in London, the biggest showroom in Europe for

‘I was one of the first idiots to start the whole pine furniture craze’ pine furniture at the time.

“Then I went to America and built a huge store in Philadelphia, called Scallywag Homes, and we sold everything under one roof: two thousand different types of fabric, to upholstery, TV Centres, antiques, lighting, rugs. The venue now

is essentially a small vignette from that store really.”

Then, after returning to the UK ten years ago, John started to look for a new challenge: “I started from zero again and it was the building here [Mount Ephraim] which really inspired me. But that’s because I knew the secret here – I knew there was a beautiful regency living room still hidden inside.”

RELAXED ELEGANCE After falling in love with Somewhere to put the premises, John did your feet up his research on the location: “I would sit on the corner and watch the traffic, would watch the people walking past, noting the demographics and the movement of people.”

This close attention to detail is something John has always strived to maintain throughout his life in business, even if it sometimes raises eyebrows: “People think I’m crazy, sometimes. But by constantly asking questions and thinking future prospects through, it means when an opportunity comes along, I’m ready.”

So when the premises became available, he jumped at the opportunity, completely rebuilding the interior himself, from scratch, a task he relished: “I’ve always liked working with my hands and that’s where my passion for furniture really came from, I think.

“When I was a kid I was always out in the street, watching the electrician, the telephone engineer, the plumber. And all that stuff stays in your head, especially if you’re a visual person.

“That’s how I built this place with my own hands – the only thing I didn’t do was plaster the ceilings and walls.”

And John is proud of the ambience he has

created in Scallywags, which first opened its doors in October 2013: “It’s the same idea that I sold in the States for years, which is relaxed elegance. It’s about being able to come home after a hard day’s work and if you want to put your feet up on the table, you shouldn’t be put off just because it’s a really nice piece.”

“You don’t need to be afraid of using the furniture. We’re only borrowing it for the time we are here, so don’t be afraid to use it. If it turns from a 12 piece china set into an 11 piece, so what?! You’re not taking it with you.”

UP AND COMING EVENTS With the re-launch, Scallywag are pulling in a diversity of acts between Wednesday and Saturday night from Cockney sing-alongs tonight to laid-back jazz on Friday. The reopening week is culminating in a ‘Musical Cabaret Murder Mystery’, performed by a group of top West End cabaret stars.

For details of future events, visit www.civilisednaughtiness.com

10 � LOCAL NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF

Two special rooms will cater for obese patients BENENDEN HOSPITAL has created two new rooms which will help it better cater for overweight patients.

The private hospital is launching a programme to tackle the massive and ever-growing problem of obesity, as well as conditions which can result from weight issues such as Type 2 diabetes.

Two rooms on the new Bensan Ward will feature purpose-built beds, bathrooms and furniture for larger patients.

The service is part of a multi-million-pound redevelopment of the Green Lane site, which also includes three new operating theatres.

Langton are the winners THE 1966 World Cup-winning footballer George Cohen was on hand to open a £500,000 state-of-the-art clubhouse for Langton Green Community Sports Association last Saturday.

The former England right-back was joined by Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark to unveil the new facility, which features two changing rooms, two rooms for officials, a clubroom, kitchen facilities, storage equipment and spectator toilets.

Langton Green CSA received a £384,500 grant from the Premier League and The Football Association Facilities Fund. The club worked in partnership with the Football Foundation and Kent FA to develop a fiveyear Football Development Plan.

Police chief takes top role at domestic abuse charity DAVSS has earned plaudits for the excellence of its services and success in preventing repeat victimisation. As Mark Hutcheon takes over as their Chief Executive, he tells Andrew Tong that plenty of challenges lie ahead MARK HUTCHEON may have left the police force after 30 years but he will soon be bumping into his old colleagues again.

The former District Commander for the Tonbridge & Malling branch of Kent Police took up the role of Chief Executive of the charity Domestic Abuse Volunteer Support Services (DAVSS) on September 1.

Not only do the police provide a headquarters for the West Kent organisation, which covers Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks, but they have liaised with DAVSS since its inception in 2009.

Mark said: “There’s a lot of synergy there. We used to work very

closely with DAVSS when I was an officer and we were keen supporters because they offer a superb level of service for victims of domestic abuse, which the police and some of the other agencies can’t do.

“The police have to make a risk assessment to prioritise because their resources are rationed. In an ideal world they would like to give everyone the same level of service.

“But DAVSS is a voluntary organisation which doesn’t distinguish by risk. They can offer the kind of service which goes far beyond what public bodies can provide.”

One of the greatest achievements of DAVSS has been their success in

BGT comes to Ide Hill BRITAIN’S Got Talent will be hosting a roadshow at The Woodman pub in Ide Hill, near Sevenoaks, on Thursday September 15 as it tours the country choosing next year’s judges’ auditions.

The event on Bessels Green Road begins at 4pm. This year magician Richard Jones, a serving soldier, was crowned the winner of the ITV show following his tribute to Fergus Anckorn of Westerham, a fellow conjurer and former prisoner of war.

To register for an audition, contact beth.millard@thames.tv. For more information email John Levett at john@ listeningroom.co.uk or call 07785 348108.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

TOP TEAM Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott with (L-R) DAVSS Co-Chairs Janette Berry and Kristen Paterson, and the outgoing Chief Executive Sue Dunn

stopping victims from falling prey to the perpetrators of abuse again after the first time they make a referral.

The repeat victimisation average across Kent is between 20 and 25 per cent, and yet where DAVSS has been involved it is less than nine per cent.

Janette Berry, Co-Chair of DAVSS, says: “Over the last year we have supported more than 740 victims of domestic abuse across the three districts. The low number of repeat victims is particularly reassuring. This is testament to the wonderful support provided by our volunteers.”

Mark takes up the theme: “It all boils down to preventing repeat victimisation. With DAVSS the ­ mechanisms are put in place to help people to change their lives and ­ not become a victim again – at the hands of the same perpetrator, or a ­different one.”

He has taken over from Sue Dunn, another former police officer who has stepped down after six years to focus on the DAVSS volunteers and her own training company, which also helps victims of abuse.

Sue said of her successor: “I will be leaving DAVSS in safe hands. Mark not only brings a wealth of experience of dealing with victims but also working with partner agencies.”

Mark also believes his experience on the force will stand him in good stead as he takes up the challenge.

“I’ve worked in public protection [PP] and that’s really what police work is all about. I have specialised in public protection arenas and run

teams that are purely focused on that in the past.

“I was a detective inspector in the PP Unit, and one element of that was domestic abuse. The other element

‘The value for money that DAVSS provides is fantastic.

For every pound they get in funding, it’s worth four to five times that for the services they deliver’ was the violent and sexual offenders register – so we were monitoring and managing the most risky members of our society.

“We did a lot of multi-agency work, which brings in psychiatry, probation and the like, to come up with plans around managing high-risk people in our communities.

“A lot of my role at DAVSS is about networking and who you know,” he adds. “A lot of the core people I will be working with, I’ve already been dealing with them day in, day out in my previous role. The police refer the largest amount of clients to us.”

Referrals for domestic abuse have risen inexorably over the last few years but Mark says that is probably more to do with a greater willingness to report incidents rather than an increase in the abuse itself.

“You could say that such an increase is a positive thing because it shows that people have got confidence in the police,” he says.

LOCAL NEWS 

VOLUNTEERS WANTED DAVSS is looking to recruit volunteers to help victims of domestic abuse.

The charity provides individual advisors to support clients on a one-toone basis because abuse can be complex and long-standing – and often cannot be resolved easily.

They will be hosting a seven-week training course from September 15, running two days a week. Volunteers will receive professional management, clinical supervision and mentoring training.

DAVSS is also looking for assistance with their helpline, administration, fundraising and publicity.

“Our volunteers are special people,” says Chief Executive Mark Hutcheon. “They give up their time to make a real difference to the victims and their families. The advisors don’t have to have any experience. They are mentored and fully supported because you are dealing with a very emotive subject.”  For more information, email office@davss.co.uk or visit www.davss.org.uk for an information pack.

“It gives them the courage to come forward and say ‘this has happened to me’, and they know they will be taken seriously and get the support and protection they drastically need.”

Numbers are also bound to rise following the introduction of new legislation last December which saw ‘coercive and controlling abuse’ designated as a crime. So there is now scope to prosecute for psychological harm as well as physical violence.

It will take time for the results of this new law to become apparent, but Mark says: “I am personally a great supporter of it. I remember that I once went to the Crown Prosecution Service trying to get a charge for psychological assault. But there was no legislation so they wouldn’t authorise the charge. Eight years forward, there is now an offence.

“Domestic abuse can be controlling in many ways. It’s not just physical assault, it could be someone controlling bank accounts, or access to friends and family, or isolation. The new offences were set up to address all those points.”

One area where victims still need to be encouraged to seek help is when the abuse is against men.

Mark adds: “It’s not just female victims, there are male victims as well and that’s under-reported because they’re ashamed of coming forward.”

The charity reckons that men are twice as likely as women not to tell

anyone about their suffering, and this summer DAVSS received a grant of £10,546 from Kent’s new Police & Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott, specifically for a nine-month project offering support to male victims, including gay, transgender and disabled men.

Sue said: “Domestic abuse remains a taboo subject in our society, even more so for victims who are male. A year ago we were supporting seven male victims; today it is more than 60 per year.”

Last year, DAVSS held a conference entitled Men Standing Up Against Domestic Abuse, at which two victims spoke of their experiences.

“It was clear how much more difficult it is for a man to say, ‘I am being abused’,” said Janette. “If you walked past them on the street, you would never say they were victims.

One of them was even an ex-SAS officer. And these men are survivors.

That’s important.”

The Tunbridge Wells foodbank Nourish has seen a year-on-year rise in clients who are victims of domestic abuse, but pointed out that it is not a ‘poor people’s problem’ – a misconception that Mark is also Mark Hutcheon keen to correct.

“I don’t think it ever has been like that, to be honest,” he says. “One hundred per cent it cuts across all spectrums of society, irrespective of income levels. It does seem that people think if you’re lower class, lower income, you’re more likely to be susceptible, but all our evidence suggests that’s not the case.

“For example, in a wealthy family where the wife doesn’t work, the children go to public school – nice holidays, nice cars, nice house – the SUFFERING IN SILENCE Men find it hard to report abuse

‘Domestic abuse is not just physical assault, it could be someone controlling bank accounts, or access to friends and family, or isolation’ female may have no control over the finances, and I’ve no doubt that some victims remain in a relationship because of everything that it offers, to retain a certain lifestyle.”

The domestic abuse landscape is changing in many ways, and the police and support networks such as DAVSS have to work hard to keep up. Not only is abuse of men on the agenda, but there is also the issue of

cyber crime, which has introduced abusive behaviour such as ‘trolling’ – vitriolic abuse on social media – and ‘revenge porn’, publishing explicit images of partners.

The police have been criticised for failing to take such matters seriously, but there is a significant amount of training being provided on these topics – which have a technical complexity that can be hard to tackle.

After the police, the next largest source of referrals to DAVSS comes directly from the victims. “That indicates there are a lot of victims out there who don’t get want to get involved with the police as a personal choice, but they do need support.”

Coping with the rising demand for their services is a challenge for DAVSS, which is why they are conducting a recruitment drive for volunteers this month. One of Mark’s first tasks is to do that [see below] and also find extra funding.

“We’ve got many streams of funding from local councils, the police and other small donations. It’s a handto-mouth existence realistically. I’m exploring the possibilities of funding streams in the private sector, to make life a little more comfortable.

“The value for money that DAVSS provides is fantastic. For every pound they get in funding, it’s worth four to five times that if you pay someone for the services they deliver.

“Real success would be you didn’t get anyone ringing you up. It will never happen, sadly, because that’s not the society we live in.”

WHAT DAVSS DOES Helpline on weekday mornings, giving immediate safety advice Face-to-face support services at venues convenient to clients  Free legal advice from a pro bono lawyer  Referring children to social services for safeguarding  Signposting to other agencies e.g. police, benefits, housing, health professionals  Support for clients when they go to court – often a daunting and frightening experience  Raising public awareness, including Domestic Abuse Youth courses for young people  Delivering the Freedom Programme, a 12-week course for women to help regain self-esteem, improve quality of life and show the effect of abuse on children 



11

County’s schools surpass national Ofsted average Murray Jones murray@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

SCHOOLS in Kent received top marks this week, with Ofsted now rating 89 per cent of the county’s schools as ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’, compared to 84 per cent nationally.

This indicates a seven point increase in just a year, which continues the Roger period of sustained Gough improvement over the last five years, when, in 2011, just 59 per cent of Kent schools were at this level.

KCC’s Corporate Director of Education, Patrick Leeson, expressed delight at the result, adding: “Improving the education, welfare, safety and life chances of children and young people is the most important thing we do, and these continued improvements will make a difference for many years to come.”

The current situation is that 85 per cent of secondary schools, 90 per cent of Primary schools, 98 per cent of Special schools and 86 per cent of Pupil Referral Units are judged to be good or outstanding. Also, 95 per cent of Early Years settings are good or outstanding.

So in total, there are now 370 good and 114 outstanding schools whilst 57 schools require improvement and four are identified as in a category of concern. Although Cabinet member for education, Roger Gough, insisted that the KCC are not going to rest on their laurels: “Ofsted is continually raising the bar in terms of standards in schools and Kent schools have risen to this challenge. We are continually looking for improvements and have set an ambitious target of at least 90 per cent of primary and secondary schools to be judged good or outstanding in the next year or two.

“Our vision is that every child and young person should go to a good or outstanding school, have access to the best teaching, and benefit from schools and other providers working in partnership with each other to share the best practice as they continue to improve.”

Wednesday 7th September 2016

12 ■ COMMUNITY NEWS

Community basketball goes from strength to strength

HOOP DREAMS The winning teams with their subs at Calverley Park

NOW in its third year, the annual Tunbridge Wells 3on3 Outdoor Basketball Tournament continues to attract hundreds of amateur players and supporters.

Organised by a group of local teachers, doctors and business people with the support of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, the event on Saturday August 27 saw ten teams from all over the country and beyond competing for prizes, medals and local bragging rights.

“The idea of the tournament is to give basketball lovers an opportunity to play in a fun, competitive environment, to make the most of the excellent court facilities at Calverley Grounds and enjoy the last few days of the summer weather,”

Tom runs from one end of the country to the other CROWBOROUGH teenager Tom Hunt [left] is aiming to become the youngest person to run from Land’s End to John O’Groats – and raise money to fight ME. The 18 year old, who has just completed his A levels at Canterbury’s King’s School, is trying to cover 900 miles in 31 days – the equivalent of 38 marathons back-to-back.

He started on August 25, having already received pledges of £8,500 for the ME Association.

Tom wanted to help the charity because the head of the Cadet Corp at his school, Major Adam Vintner, has seen his father Fred suffer from

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) for 30 years.

“Major Vintner has helped me a lot, especially because I want to join the army after university,” said Tom. “I’d wanted to do this challenge for a while and I decided to run it to raise money for the ME Association as a thank you to him.”

Tom, who started running when he had to give up rugby because of a shoulder injury, has been training for a year, covering up to 60 miles a day.

He hopes to be included in the Guinness Book of Records when he completes his feat of endurance.

He is using a GPS to record his progress. You can follow him on Twitter @RunTomRun2016 or on Facebook www.facebook.com/tomhuntwr To make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/Tom-Hunt-Run

said Konstantin Kisin, one of the organisers.

“The amazing thing about sport is that it brings together people from all over the world. This year we had players and organisers from the Philippines, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Russia and the US – together with a strong British contingent – making it our most diverse tournament to date,” he added.

The tournament was won by Team Cougars [pictured left, in the centre], with the creatively named Dark Side of the European Tomato [left] coming second and Forecast Buckets [right] walking away with bronze medals.

Next year’s tournament will be held on August 26, 2017

GIFT HORSE Olympian Louis Smith dropped in to open NDGA’s extension last year

Gymnastics academy basks in Olympic glow

Wednesday 7th September 2016

TEAM GB’s success in the gymnastics hall at the Rio Olympics led to an immediate increase in membership applications and enquiries at the Next Dimension Gymnastic Academy (NDGA) in Tunbridge Wells.

Such has been the demand, a Floor & Vault trial for boys aged five to ten took place last week.

“In the week following Max Whitlock’s gold medals on the Floor and Pommel Horse, we welcomed ten new members and noticed a large increase in the number of general enquiries

about the academy, particularly from men,” said Amelia Page of the NDGA. “It’s really exciting that the performances of Max Whitlock and Louis Smith – who opened our extension here last year – have prompted such interest in the sport.”

The NDGA has a track record of success, boasting among its members Julia Kirk, who was recently crowned Women’s Artistic Novice Over60s champion while representing the NDGA in the British Veterans competition.

Help for hospices

Support for women

A BUILDERS merchants based in Tunbridge Wells is aiming to raise £25,000 to help local hospices this month.

Covers Timber & Builders Merchants will be hosting a series of events over five days beginning on September 12, including a ‘builders bake off’ and raffle.

The company has also pledged to give £20,000 of their own money to kick-start the campaign and further bolster funds.

It will also be making a £1 donation for each registered customer that makes a purchase during the week.

Rupert Green, Chairman of Covers, said: “We are delighted to be running our Help for Hospices fundraising event for a second consecutive year.

“Every contribution will count, so we hope as many people as possible will join us to support these amazing charities that do such incredible work for the communities around us.”

AN EIGHT-WEEK therapeutic support group for women is being held at various locations across Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks by the mental health charity West Kent Mind.

The Jasmine programme allows women to explore problems with emotional wellbeing, share their experiences and learn about coping strategies.

The courses are run by experienced counsellors or psychotherapists, and there is also a support worker who can offer help with practical issues.

The group is suitable for women aged 18 and over who have difficulties with anxiety and panic, depression, low self-esteem and confidence, sleeplessness and loss following a relationship break-up or bereavement.

There is no charge for the group, although participants are requested to confirm their commitment to complete the programme.

For more information, call 01732 744950 or visit www.westkentmind.org.uk

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13

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14  LOCAL NEWS

The day our man went along to the Sunday service of the town’s most controversial vicar The Rev Dr Peter Sanlon of St Mark’s in Tunbridge Wells made national headlines, along with the front page of this newspaper, when he hosted a meeting of clergymen unhappy at the prospect of the Church of England watering down teachings on key issues such as homosexuality. Naturally this newspaper was anxious to find out more – although Dr Sanlon was not responding to interview requests. So, we sent our Chief Reporter Adam Hignett along to his Sunday service ROWS of empty pews meant that even while sitting at the back of St Mark’s I was never going to be hidden behind its tiny congregation of around 16 people, many of a much older generation – and the notepad was a dead giveaway that I was a journalist.

I was there to find out what a service by Dr Sanlon was all about in light of recent events and to try and get his side of the story afterwards.

Personally I had experience of what he might say from a wedding he conducted a few years ago. Back then he had certainly come across as a very evangelical person who was uncompromising in his Biblical interpretations – a view reinforced by his infamous comments.

As it happens, I never got a chance to listen to him a second time; during a period of silent prayer a member of the congregation approached me asking for a ‘brief conversation outside’.

After a quick introduction to ‘Mark’ and the Church Warden Brian Lester in the vestibule, it quickly became apparent that my presence was not exactly welcome.

The pair quizzed me on my motives, warning that the reverend was ‘very sensitive’ to media interest and they may look at ‘removing’ me if my attendance was deemed upsetting for the congregation.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

I reassured them I would sit in respectful silence as I did not want to cause any disruption, and that if nothing deemed as newsworthy came of it then that would be that.

Equally, in the spirit of being honest, I added they might put me in the awkward position where all I could write was the headline: ‘Journalist kicked out of church’.

The warden said that for ‘reasons best known to the press’, journalists had decided to focus on the reverend and the church, adding it was ‘unreasonable’ for me to take notes and ‘further the difficulties and problems’.

By voluntarily giving interviews to The Telegraph Dr Sanlon had brought the attention upon himself I replied, and repeated that if everything he said during the service was of ‘non-interest’ then there was no story.

“We both know that is not going to happen,” said the warden, who I think meant I would have written anything regardless of what the reverend said; though I couldn’t be sure.

The discussion continued for a while longer before a compromise was eventually reached.

I was to be allowed back in for the rest of the service and they would tell the reverend I wished to speak to him, though by this point it was already an exercise in futility as the sermon was just minutes from ending.

And talking to the reverend was not exactly the edifying discussion I was hoping for.

“If you let me have your email address

ST MARK’S CHURCH Rev Dr Peter Sanlon

I have a general press release I will send you,” he advised me.

When pressed for more of an interview he simply said: “God bless.”

Indeed that was his sole comment – ‘God Bless’ – when pressed three more times for answers.

Eventually I gave up and left thinking it was just one of the most surreal experiences I had ever had.

True to his word though, Dr Sanlon did send me the press release later that day.

It read: “I have never suggested or believed that homosexuality leads to child abuse or that there is a direct link between the two. I was therefore somewhat surprised by the allegations.

“As I said in my original Facebook comment: ‘There is a difference’.

“No further comment will be offered concerning these allegations.”

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16 � NATIONAL NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF

Family ‘should be tried for rape and murder’ THE father and former husband of a British woman killed in Pakistan should be tried on rape and murder charges, according to a police inquiry in the country.

It described the killing of Samia Shahid as ‘premeditated, cold-blooded murder’.

The report accuses Mrs Shahid’s father, Muhammad Shahid, of standing guard while her ex-husband, Choudhry Shakeel, raped her. It said they then killed her together.

Mrs Shahid, 28, of Bradford, was visiting family in July when she was found dead of what were assumed to be natural causes.

Zayn’s extreme anxiety FORMER One Direction star Zayn Malik has cancelled a concert because of his ‘extreme anxiety’ about major solo performances.

The singer had been due to appear at Autism Rocks in Dubai on October 7, but has pulled out because he does not feel confident enough to perform.

He quit One Direction in March 2015 after he was signed off for stress on a world tour.

Police to use spit hoods THE Metropolitan Police is to start using spit hoods, which are classed as a use of force when dealing with suspects in custody.

Scotland Yard chiefs have approved a pilot scheme using mesh masks from October.

The hoods hit the headlines when the British Transport Police were filmed using one on a man at London Bridge in July.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

Protest group demo shuts City airport A BLACK LIVES MATTER protest grounded all flights at London City Airport yesterday (September 6) when a nine-strong group occupied the single runway for almost six hours.

The final two activists were arrested at around 11.25am on suspicion of aggravated trespass, being unlawfully airside and breaching airport bylaws, police said.

The international movement was

set up following the killing of black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida four years ago.

The British arm said the action was taken ‘in order to highlight the UK’s environmental impact on the lives of black people locally and globally’.

London City Airport has been given approval to expand its capacity, and the group says this is detrimental to the health of Newham residents.

THE LOWDOWN Activists protest against environmental damage

Passengers set to challenge compensation for rail delays RAIL passengers will be able to challenge the amount of compensation they receive for delays and cancellations under strengthened rules to take effect next month.

Rail Minister Paul Maynard said passengers who are unhappy with their compensation – which currently varies between operators – will be able to pursue their claim through the courts if they fail to resolve the issue with the train company.

He said the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) introduced on October 1 last year should apply to all transport services, including mainline passenger rail services, from the beginning of next month.

A 12-month exemption from one of the CRA’s compensation provisions, which was originally proposed to allow train operators time to move to

a consistent scheme, is to be scrapped.

In a letter to Transport Committee Chairwoman Louise Ellman, Mr Maynard said the Government was ‘now of the view that rail customers should not be denied any consumer rights or protections even for a temporary period while the rail industry works to put in place more consistent compensation arrangements between train operators’.

Existing compensation schemes will remain in place after October 1 and will continue to offer the main redress to customers.

He wrote: “The Government is committed to strengthening the standard compensation schemes that operators offer, including completing the roll-out of Delay Repay with our industry partners.”

As it stands, many train companies have different rules and schemes in place, meaning it can be difficult for customers to work out how much compensation they are entitled to if their train is delayed or cancelled.

Mr Maynard said: “We want to strengthen the rights of rail passengers to get compensation for poor service. We have decided to bring forward a provision in the Consumer Rights Act that will now allow rail passengers to challenge compensation amounts awarded for delays and cancellations where the train operator is at fault, in the same way that other transport providers can be challenged.

“Passengers will rightly be able to hold train operators to account from this October, when the Act comes into force for all transport providers.”

NATIONAL NEWS 

Vaz resigns from committee duties KEITH VAZ has stood down as head of one of the most influential House of Commons committees after he was embroiled in rent boy claims.

Announcing his resignation, the Labour MP said: “Those who hold others to account must themselves be accountable.”

Mr Vaz’s departure as Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee follows claims that he paid two male escorts he met at a flat he owns near his family home in north London last month.

The 59-year-old Leicester East MP has said he has referred the allegations to his solicitor.

His Chairmanship of the committee has come under intense scrutiny and in a statement yesterday (September 6) he confirmed he would be standing down.

He said: “It is in the best interest of the Home Affairs Select Committee that its important work can be conducted without any distractions whatsoever.

“I am genuinely sorry that recent events make it impossible for this to happen if I remain Chair.

“I have always been passionate about select committees, having served as either chair or member for half of my time in Parliament.

“The integrity of the Select Committee system matters to me. Those who hold others to account, must themselves be accountable.”

He insisted he was ‘immeasurably proud’ of the work the committee has carried out over the last nine years, adding that he is ‘privileged to have been the longest-serving Chair of this committee’.

Mr Vaz said the decision to stand aside immediately from the committee’s business was ‘my decision, and mine alone’ and ‘my first consideration has been the effect of recent events on my family’.

He has recommended that, in the

interim, Conservative MP Tim Loughton should chair proceedings.

Conservative Home Affairs Committee member David Burrowes told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: “I think he has done the right and honourable thing. It was the inevitable thing, I think, given the nature of the allegations and his role as Chairman of the committee.”

Mr Burrowes said Mr Vaz was ‘an excellent Chair’ but his position was ‘untenable’. His continued occupancy of the Chair would have led the committee’s integrity ‘being called into question’, he said.

The committee’s inquiries into issues like prostitution and drugs ‘demand an objective view and one that isn’t likely to be conflicted and isn’t liable to be undermined or compromised’, said Mr Burrowes.

“What has been exposed through the papers meant he was fatally compromised to continue as Chair.”

LURID CLAIMS Keith Vaz’s position became ‘untenable’

17

Post Office to strike over pension plans POST OFFICE managers have voted to take strike action in a row over pensions.

Members of Unite backed walkouts by almost two to one, and other forms of action by a bigger majority.

The union said around 3,500 staff are affected by plans to close the final salary pension scheme, claiming they will lose about 30 per cent of their retirement income.

Unite officer Brian Scott said: “This strong vote in favour of industrial action should send a clear message to the Post Office that it has got it wrong over its decision to close the pension scheme.

“The Post Office’s executive team and the board need to reflect on the closure of a scheme which is currently £100million in surplus and the anger it is causing among a workforce which is also

facing a large number of job losses.

“It is nothing short of pension ‘robbery’ and the anger has been compounded by a failing business plan underpinned by the continued franchising of Crown Post Offices and the outsourcing of vast swathes of the Post Office’s supply chain business.

Kevin Gilliland, Post Office Network and Sales Director, said: “All of our proposals are taken forward with the utmost care for the people they affect and we’re proud

of our track record in supporting people through difficult changes.

“The business’s financial position is improving but we remain loss-making.

Based on the advice of our actuary, the fund’s surplus, which is currently being used to help subsidise the cost of the defined benefit plan, will run out in 2017.

“Once this happens, the costs to the business of meeting existing commitments will significantly increase, and this is not sustainable.”

Wednesday 7th September 2016

18 � BUSINESS NEWS

Sports Direct will offer ‘permanent contracts’ SPORTS DIRECT has said it will offer casual retail staff guaranteed hours instead of zero-hours contracts and ensure all warehouse staff are paid above the National Minimum Wage following a review into working practices at the retailer.

A report carried out by professional services firm RPC found ‘serious shortcomings’ at the company’s warehouse in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, which Sports Direct’s board ‘deeply regrets and apologises for’.

The retailer will now offer its directly employed casual employees the option of either a zerohours contract or a permanent contract with at least 12 guaranteed hours a week.

PAYBACK Mike Ashley faces shareholders’ anger at today’s AGM

‘They lived in constant fear of losing their job for ‘excessive’ talking or spending too long in the toilet’ However, it added that agency workers, who make up the bulk of employees at Shirebrook, will not be eligible for the new terms. The firm is weighing up plans to move 10 agency staff a month to permanent jobs.

Sports Direct will also suspend its controversial ‘six strikes and you’re out’ disciplinary procedure and pledged to pay warehouse staff above the National Minimum Wage.

Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley told MPs from the Business Select Committee in June that staff were not paid during security searches at the end of their shift, meaning they took home less than the minimum amount required by law.

The report said Mr Ashley ‘takes ultimate responsibility for any aspects of the working practices that were unsatisfactory’.

The billionaire, who also owns Newcastle United FC, has faced increasing pressure from shareholder groups in the run-up to today’s annual general meeting, with calls to overhaul its board of directors and launch an immediate independent review into working conditions at its factories.

The company has faced a string of allegations, with the Unite union making clear in its

submission to the Business Select Committee that staff were subject to ‘Victorian’ working practices and lived in constant fear of losing their job or facing disciplinary action for ‘excessive’ talking or spending too long in the toilet.

The union said workers had likened conditions to a ‘gulag’ or ‘labour camp’, with one woman giving birth in the toilet and other female staff making claims of sexual harassment.

The report said that, as a consequence, the human resources team at Shirebrook will be ‘significantly strengthened’ and will include a full-time nurse and a welfare officer.

Several investor groups have also challenged the firm over its corporate governance structure and questioned the amount of power wielded by Mr Ashley, who owns 55 per cent of the group and is Deputy Executive Chairman.

To address this, Sports Direct said it will instigate an external report evaluating the board

later this year and RPC will be instructed to carry out another ‘360’ review of wider corporate governance prior to the 2017 AGM, where it will be presented to shareholders.

Mr Ashley is still expected to face shareholder and union anger at today’s AGM and ‘open day’, where he will open the retailer’s factory doors to the public in a rare act of transparency.

Business Select Committee chairman Iain Wright welcomed the report but said it did not go far enough.

The Labour MP for Hartlepool called for a wider, more independent review of corporate governance practices at the company.

He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “This isn’t a whitewash in terms of a report. There are questions over the independence of the people who have done it, because it is Mike Ashley’s lawyers who have published the report.

It has gone a long way but not far enough.”

Mergers fell sharply before Brexit vote CORPORATE deal-making slumped amid uncertainty in the run-up to the Brexit vote as firms put merger and takeover moves on hold, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said there was a 54 per cent fall in successful £1million or more mergers and acquisitions (M&A) between April and June, with 87 deals involving UK companies worth around £14billion.

It marks a sharp decline on the 190 deals ­completed in the first three months of the year valued at £69billion, which the ONS said was ‘unusually high’.

The second quarter figures also show a 34 per cent drop in deals year-on-year and mark the latest sign that M&A activity was hit by Brexit jitters.

The ONS added that foreign M&A deals with UK firms fell to its lowest level for three years in the second quarter, with 20 deals compared with 52 between January and March.

The number of domestic deals more than halved quarter-on-­quarter, with 47 deals worth £5.9billion against 95 transactions valued at £11.8billion in the previous three months.

Liberty Global’s £3.5billion takeover of Cable and Wireless Communications was the biggest and most high-profile deal completed in the second quarter, according to the ONS. There have been a number of deals scrapped since the Brexit vote, with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group revealing shortly after the referendum that it had pulled the plug on the acquisition of a UK firm employing 3,000 staff.

But despite the referendum blow to M&A, Brexit bargain-hunting has helped spur on a number of deal announcements in recent weeks, led by ­SoftBank’s £24billion mega-takeover for Apple chip maker ARM Holdings.

The swoop by the Japanese firm for one of the UK’s biggest technology companies came in spite of a rise in ARM’s shares after the Brexit vote, thanks to its revenue stream outside the UK. South African retailer Steinhoff I­ nternational took over Poundland after the EU vote, although discussions were under way long before the vote.

Cinema chain Odeon & UCI was also snapped up

by US firm AMC Entertainment for £921million in the same week, with its new owner confirming the plunging pound was a major factor.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Start-up loans John Lewis keeps Huge increase in turn to bad debt up with delivery energy switches NEARLY a third of the public money lent to entrepreneurs to start their businesses has become bad debt.

The Government-backed Start Up Loans scheme has seen £72.4million worth of loans written off or fall into default since it launched in September 2012.

The amount is equivalent to 31 per cent of the £231.8million loaned out under the project since its inception and is higher than the £69.7million recouped in loan re-payments.

The Start Up Loans scheme aims to help people launch small companies by offering personal loans of up to £25,000, which must be used for a business.

The loans have a fixed interest rate of six per cent per annum.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

TWO new distribution centers have been opened in Milton Keynes by John Lewis, creating 500 jobs, in a bid to keep up with online sales and delivery demands.

The £150million expansion of John Lewis’s Magna Park campus is part of the company’s five-year, £500million investment plan, £250 million of which has been earmarked for distribution. John Lewis said demand for deliveries jumped from four per cent to 47 per cent in the past 10 years.

The retailer’s distribution teams processed 18 per cent more parcels over the 2015 Black Friday weekend, compared to a year earlier, which equated to about five parcels processed per second during peak hours.

THE number of UK households switching their energy provider rose by 30 per cent in the first half of the year, according to Ofgem figures.

More than 3.8 million switches took place between January and June this year as people changed their energy supplier – around a million more than during the same period last year, according to the regulator.

Around 1.6 million domestic gas customers and 2.2 million domestic electricity customers found new suppliers.

However, the figures also show that 66 per cent of domestic customers are still paying the most expensive standard variable tariffs.

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20 � WORLD NEWS PARALYMPICS IN BRIEF

‘Colourful character’ Pearson to carry flag TEN-TIME Paralympic champion Lee Pearson has been named by his teammates as Great Britain’s flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the XV Games in Rio today (September 7).

The 42-year-old equestrian rider from Staffordshire won three golds at each of the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Paralympics.

He also won team gold at the London 2012 Games, plus one silver and one bronze.

Pearson, who is openly gay, describes himself as a ‘colourful character’.

He was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, meaning his limbs were twisted and have very little muscle.

“I am so proud and honoured to be the flag bearer for such a talented, strong and passionate group of British athletes,” Pearson said.

“Being a diverse character myself has meant that being voted by the athletes themselves has made this moment even more special.”

Prince Harry offers help AS THE Rio Paralympics open, it has been revealed that Prince Harry has made a donation to a campaign that aims to help Brazilian children watch the Games. The #FillTheSeats initiative is working with Paralympics organisers to buy 10,000 tickets for local children.

The former soldier founded the Invictus Games – a Paralympic-style competition for injured servicemen and women – in 2014.

Before Prince Harry’s contribution, the campaign had raised $53,773 (£40,300) towards a target of $300,000 (£225,000).

Obama talks tough over missile launch BARACK OBAMA has said the United States will work with allies to toughen sanctions on North Korea after further ballistic missile launches on Monday (September 5).

But the US President added that there is room for dialogue if North Korea changes direction.

President Obama’s comments came after a meeting with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea.

The two leaders are attending a meeting of the

‘We are going to work together to make sure we’re closing loopholes’ Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos.

President Obama said the latest North Korea launches are provocative and that the country must realise such actions will increase its isolation in the world.

Mr Park said a nuclear test and continued missile launches are fundamentally threatening the security of the Korean Peninsula.

“We are going to work diligently together with the most recent UN sanctions,” President Obama said.

“We are going to work together to make sure we’re closing loopholes and make them even more effective.”

North Korea fired three ballistic missiles in what was widely viewed as a show of force timed to get the attention of world leaders visiting the region for a series of summits.

Last month the UN Security Council strongly condemned four North Korean ballistic missile launches in July and August. It called them ‘grave violations’ of a ban on all ballistic missile activity.

Despite the heavy sanctions, North Korea says the programmes are justified because of the threat posed by the US and South Korea.

Both leaders suggested they would continue to push China, North Korea’s only ally in the region, to use its influence to intervene.

“President Park and I agreed that the entire international community needs to implement these sanctions fully and hold North Korea accountable,” President Obama said.

He added that the US had not closed off the possibility for dialogue with North Korea, if it were to change course.

“If it is willing to recognise its international

obligations and enforce the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, the opportunities for us to dialogue with them are there,” he said.

“We do not have any interest in an offensive approach to North Korea.”

President Obama was making the first visit to Laos by a sitting US president and acknowledged the scars of a secret war.

He said the United States has a ‘moral obligation’ to help the isolated south-east Asian nation heal and vowed to reinvigorate relations with a country of rising strategic importance to America.

He said too few Americans know of the US’s covert bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War. He offered no apologies, calling the campaign and its aftermath reminders that ‘whatever the cause, whatever our intentions, war inflicts a terrible toll’.

FLAG DAY President Obama makes a historic first trip to Laos

Concern over role of ex-EU chief in Brexit negotiations OFFICIALS have raised concerns over the potential influence of a former president of the European Union on negotiations related to Britain’s exit, following his appointment at Goldman Sachs.

Jose Manuel Barroso, who served two terms as European Commission President, joined Goldman Sachs in July in a move that revived complaints about EU officials taking up lucrative jobs after leaving their posts.

Mr Barroso is understood to be advising the US bank on issues related to Brexit.

EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, who oversees transparency issues, said: “This is a significant public interest issue and must be openly and comprehensively addressed.”

In a letter to the current Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, she said: “Public unease will be exacerbated by the fact that Mr Barroso has publicly stated that he will be advising on the UK’s decision to leave the EU.”

Wednesday 7th September 2016

The EC’s Brexit team is led by French politician Michel Barnier, who was Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services during Mr Barroso’s second five-year term.

Ms O’Reilly wants to know whether Mr Barnier and other staff have received orders on how to ‘engage’ with Mr Barroso.

Though Mr Barroso respected the mandatory 18-month cooling-off period before joining Goldman Sachs, his appointment has drawn widespread criticism.

In July, Mr Juncker told French media: “The fact that the former president works for a bank does not pose a problem. But for that one [bank], that one poses a problem for me. You must carefully choose your employer”.

Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein said that any meeting between Mr Barroso and officials would be noted on the EU executive’s public register.

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22  LETTERS

And another thing…

This is the page where you, the reader, have your chance to express your views or comments on what’s going on in our part of the world. We like to hear from you. You can email us at newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk or write to the Editor at 16 Lonsdale Gardens, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1NU

REV DR PETER SANLON Vicar of St Mark’s Church, Tunbridge Wells

Rebel vicar: Discriminates over which church traditions he chooses to promote The Rev Dr Scanlon must be very satisfied that he has reached the front page of the Times of Tunbridge Wells and had significant column inches in the national press.

He does, however, seem rather discriminatory over which church traditions he promotes and which he changes. He was quite happy to discontinue the choir which – according to one

Train strikes: Guards are just not needed What a fuss about who opens and shuts the train doors. I travel to Tunbridge Wells twice weekly from Waterloo. The driver does the doors as far as Tonbridge and then a guard controls them for the rest of the run.

This is job creation at the fare-payers’ cost and it also means the train has to be cancelled because of ‘staff shortage’ if the guard decides to have a lie-in.

The entire London network, overground and underground, is run totally safely without guards.

So are most railways in Europe.

Good luck to nearby Southern in their battle to be able to run a train if a guard does not turn up. The passenger, for once, will be the winner.

Southeastern should bite the bullet and do the same. The strike pain will be worth the ultimate gain of more reliable trains.

J Elson Via email

EU: Foolish if we tried to go back now Not only is Alexander Magnus [Letters, August 31] ignoring the positive economic news which has followed the vote for Brexit, he is also missing the point about why so many supported leaving.

report – had been in place at St Mark’s Church for 150 years.

I note from the St Mark’s website that those not confirmed are welcome to go to the altar rail at communion. I am not sure this is a traditional church practice.

The St Mark’s website quotes at the top, ‘Jesus said, I will never turn away anyone who comes to me’.

I would be interested to hear from the Rev Dr Scanlon if this also applies to gay people.

Philip Ovenden Via email It is the deliberately undemocratic nature of the EU, in which unelected bureaucrats are in control and where wishes of the electorate are ignored, which remains the prime objection to membership.

We would be foolish indeed were we, having escaped from this declining and doomed organisation, to follow his advice and reverse our decision.

Colin Bullen Via email

Stop petty finger-pointing over Brexit It was to my delight that I noticed Cllr Stewart’s letter in your column with regard to the proposed expansion of my business in Tunbridge Wells [August 10]. It’s nice to see that the powers that be are keeping in touch with the local community via your paper.

However, I must stress that I have, like the majority of our town, not come round to her point of view on Brexit – it’s just that I have been brought up to deal with the situation that is in front of me. The nation made a decision collectively, albeit by a small margin, and here we are.

Now your letter has raised a very important point that I feel both the Remain and Brexit camps have

Congregation should stage boycott of St Mark’s

Thank you for highlighting the appalling homophobia of Rev Dr Peter Sanlon at St Mark’s Church. It is shocking that bigoted attitudes like his persist, especially within religion supposedly based on love. I hope Dr Sanlon’s campaign leads to his services being boycotted by those who consider themselves good Christians.

It would perhaps be very useful if we could hear the views of other local churches, mosques and synagogues and their leaders on the subject.

People are entitled to know what services they can attend without endorsing such backward notions.

Donagh O’Leary Via email

Do not define my religious beliefs by my sexuality As someone who happens to be gay and also a committed Christian who has lived in Tunbridge Wells for many years, I can say with complete confidence a significant number of churches are the opposite of inclusive.

Some of these churches will be familiar with my views and my passion for inclusivity for those who are gay and followers of Christ.

I have myself protested publicly when the local church has acted like a bully and stood up to hardcore fundamentalist Christian views in the missed amongst the ludicrous political wrangling that we have all been put through over the last few months.

The message needs to be clear Cllr Stewart.

Instead of finger-pointing and ‘I told you so’, should we not be rallying the troops together and getting on with business?

Stop the petty finger-pointing and crack on together as a community, because that is exactly what we need to do if, as a nation, we are to make a success of Brexit.

It’s worth noting that we have yet to actually leave and we are just at the start of this adventure.

To start making claims that one party’s view is more correct than the other’s merely months after the vote is political point-scoring at its very lowest.

Let’s work together and make the best of it, please.

However, thank you for your kind words with regard to my business, and I look forward to greeting you at its doors in the near future.

Matthew Sankey Via email

Badger cull: Unnecessary and cruel Thank you very much for publishing the News in Brief story about the RSPCA opposing the badger

town and wider afield, which has meant on several occasions being verbally attacked and on one occasion having a death threat.

Whilst Dr Sanlon’s church may not be all things bright and beautiful, I myself share some of his views, and in particular marriage being between a man and a woman. No doubt some in the gay community may throw their toys out of the pram by me saying that, but not even I can bend the scriptures to suit my orientation.

What is sad about the maelstrom Dr Sanlon finds himself in is that once again the church is exhibiting the type of behaviour that many outside, and some inside the church have come to expect – tribal thinking, hostility, disingenuous and exclusivity.

Recently on a visit to a big and vibrant evangelical church near town I was recognised by the greeter on the door who said to me, ‘We are a family church!!’ Basically the we are a family church brigade is code for ‘You are not welcome!’

So let me say to St Mark’s and Dr Sanlon, do not define me by my sexuality because I, too, have a family. And let me say to the gay community you are welcome in some of our churches and there are particular churches who have made a significant effort in being inclusive, like St Peter’s in Pembury.

Finally, Christianity is about love, and the Bible puts it so beautifully when it says, ‘God is love those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them’ (1 John 4v16) Matthew Rosenz Via email cull, which looks about to be extended to seven new areas.

At a time when our NHS is caving in, how can it be justified to spend £7,580 killing each individual badger without any scientific evidence to prove this will make a difference to TB in cattle?

Over the last four years of culling there has been no change in the number of cattle destroyed because of TB. Wales seems to be successfully tackling the problem without culling but with badger vaccination and better management of cattle.

The British Veterinary Association is against the free shooting of badgers as being cruel and inhumane, and it can take many years for an area to recover a healthy eco-system after culling as all wildlife is affected.

The cull will be discussed in Parliament and I would ask readers to contact their MPs and ask them to attend and stand up for our wildlife.

Valerie Russell Cornfield Way Tonbridge

Calverley

We do our best to publish letters in full. However, the Editor reserves the right to edit any letter. Please ensure that letters do not exceed 250 words.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

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EDUCATION ■

23

EDUCATION Times WITH THE

Single sex versus mixed schools In an occasional series, the Times asks two local headteachers for their opinion on topical education issues. This week we talk to Julie Lodrick, Headmistress of Kent College in Pembury, and Francie Healy, Headmaster of Bethany in Goudhurst, about single sex and mixed sex schools, and what they believe to be the benefits of each FOR SINGLE SEX SCHOOLS “In Kent, we are fortunate to have a long tradition of excellent single-sex education in both the independent and maintained sectors. To some of our overseas boarding families, it is more unusual. However, once they understand the rationale behind schools where girls and boys have the freedom to grow up in an environment where they can be themselves, they see the benefits that a single-sex education can bring.

Across the sector, academic results speak for themselves where girls’ schools continue to dominate the top positions. At Kent College, we also know how important it is for our girls to develop the ‘soft skills’ required for success in the world of work, and we prepare them with ‘employability’ skills. Increasingly, employers are looking for confident young people with strong communication and leadership skills.

Without the presence of the opposite gender and the pressure to impress, they are more likely to take risks and will make the most of

new opportunities and develop talents.

Having had the space and time to develop at their own pace, our girls emerge from school ready, well-prepared and confident to engage with society. They go on to eminent careers and make a real difference to the world around them.”

‘Girls and boys have the freedom to grow up in an environment where they can be themselves’ Julie Lodrick, Kent College

FOR MIXED SEX SCHOOLS “Boys and girls can think very differently, we all know they grow and mature at dissimilar rates.

In classrooms where boys and girls learn together we find that not only does a co-educational environment add diversity, but that differing opinions and ways of thinking complement each other wonderfully well.

Pupils learn from their teachers, they also learn from each other; the fundamental differences between boys and girls mean they benefit from a richer and more diverse educational experience and thus are better placed to progress seamlessly in co-educational post-school environments – be that in university or the workplace.

Everything we do at Bethany School revolves around ‘Education for life in a changing world’.

Families are co-educational, society is co-educational and our education provision reflects this.

Bethany prides itself on teaching each child as an individual. The best teachers teach children.

By getting to know each child as an individual we

can then tailor our teaching accordingly so that every child maximises his or her potential.

We also believe that having boys and girls working together in school is the best way to prepare for men and women developing positive, collaborative and professional relationships in the future.”

•This article first appeared in our sister publication SO magazine

‘Everything we do here at Bethany School revolves around education for life in a changing world’ Francie Healy, Bethany School

Wednesday 7th September 2016

24  WEEKLY COMMENT

Andrew Sharp Chairman of Tunbridge Wells Constituency Labour Party

Andrew Sharp is an experienced freelance Political, Communications and Organisational Adviser, having practised in Political Management for 39 years.

He has studied law and political party funding at King’s College London and business administration at the University of Essex. The Times also publishes regular opinions from Conservative and Liberal Democrat Party members

Give councils the power of rent control “WHEN our children grow up, will they be able to afford to live in Tunbridge Wells?

Can anything be done to deal with the housing crisis?

These are difficult questions facing many young people in the borough who want to rent or buy their own home.

So far the Conservative Government has been unable to come up with a plan that has made the difference although they say they are making this a priority.

Real intervention is required, not just advice, as the hurdles faced by today’s younger generation are far greater than for many of us who got on to the housing ladder years ago.

The facts speak for themselves. Home ownership in England reached a peak of 71 per cent under Labour in 2003, but has now dropped to 64 per cent – its lowest level since 1986.

Around 300,000 fewer under-35s are home owners than when Labour left office in 2010.

The Conservative Party says that it believes in home ownership, but so far the opportunity for younger people to have a share of our nation’s wealth, through eventually owning their own home, has become less likely than it was in the

decades since the 1960s.

Tunbridge Wells borough is one of the most sought-after places to live in south east England with its close proximity to London, its schools and the quality of life.

The Sunday Times recently produced a report on findings from Savills estate agency that puts Tunbridge Wells borough second in the table in England for the proportion of pupils in top state schools and independents (63 per cent), giving the borough a weighted average house price of £403,000, one of the highest in Kent.

AFFORDABLE HOMES Real intervention required

‘The Government could start tackling the housing crisis’ This demand for housing, fuelled to some extent by the demand for our local schools, makes it more difficult for young people to settle in their home town as prices continue to rise at a far greater rate than salaries.

The rental market is fuelled in the same way.

These factors also have an effect on social mobility, as many people on lower incomes will not have access to send their children to the best

performing state schools because they cannot afford to live in the catchment areas.

If replicated elsewhere, it could have further implications for the life chances of those many young people aspiring to do well from lower income backgrounds but who may be denied the opportunity.

There are measures the Government could take to start tackling the housing crisis: One of them would be to allow councils, including Tunbridge

Wells, to build more affordable homes to rent.

Under the Labour Government of 1974 to 1979, a third of new homes across England were built by local authorities (around 100,000 per annum).

Today it is a trickle.

The Government could lift the borrowing cap and devolve to local authorities the powers to build more homes at a time when interest rates are at their lowest.

If local authorities were allowed to control and regulate private rents, as they used to, this could help young people, too.

The effect of these devolved measures alone could provide more affordable housing for our young people. For those who want to buy, it could allow them to save more for a deposit if rents are controlled at more affordable prices.”

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For further details contact The Registry, Benenden School: registry@benenden.kent.sch.uk or 01580 240592 Wednesday 7th September 2016

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TONBRIDGE MEDIEVAL FAYRE 

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History comes alive at Tonbridge Castle Medieval Fayre 10am to 5pm – Saturday 10 & Sunday 11 September FREE admission

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A SPECTACULAR and colourful Medieval Fayre will burst into life at Tonbridge Castle this weekend.

Come ye one and all to feast, drink and be merry at this free to enter event, which is now in its ninth year. Immerse yourself in the authentic sights, smells and sounds as the excitement of life in 15th-century England is re-enacted before your very eyes.

There is something for the entire clan from the youngest squires and maidens to the bravest knights and jesters and wisest of kings and queens.

Longbows, swords and arrows will be the order of the day as knights in chainmail do battle.

A medieval village will be created on the lawn of the Norman Castle, where you will be greeted by Pelican-in-herPiety, a group of individuals who all love history, late medieval history in particular.

Jules Rogers from the group said: “Our aim is to entertain, educate and enthuse visitors at historic sites and events across south east England. Our displays reflect our individual areas of interest – even Dr Poo in the Turdis (the medieval toilet)!

“Tonbridge provides a vibrant and exciting show, with displays and activities taking place throughout both

days. There is something for all the family and we love being a part of such a great event.

“We work with several organisations, including The Weald and Downland Museum, English Heritage and the National Trust and we have become a familiar sight at Tonbridge Castle, having attended since the very first medieval event took place when the Tour de France passed through the town in 2007.”

For more information and a programme of events, turn to the next page

Wednesday 7th September 2016

26 ď Ž TONBRIDGE MEDIEVAL FAYRE

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

WARNERS-SOLICITORS.CO.UK

An action-packed trip back in time THERE is so much to see and do at the Tonbridge Medieval Fayre and there will be entertainment throughout the weekend, plus the chance to have a go at activities such as archery and skittles.

Rough Musicke creates a feelgood foot-stomping sound by combining early music traditions with raucous percussion.

The line-up of nine musicians play a range of traditional and reproduction period instruments, including bagpipes, gralla, shawms, curtal, recorders, frame and side drums and tambourines, backed by a strong rhythm section.

Inspired by folk and street performers from the continent, Rough Musicke brings medieval and renaissance tunes to new audiences, playing danceable melodies in a style rarely heard in the UK. Based in the medieval Cinque Port of Sandwich,

Wednesday 7th September 2016

Rough Musicke was an idea born from the Sandwich 1457 celebrations, organised by community heritage group BASH. A group of musicians were brought together by the events and, discovering a shared love of upbeat medieval music, formed a band in the autumn of 2007. An inspirational trip to the Greenwich Early Music Festival followed, and the band began to create a repertoire of tunes that continues to grow and develop.

With acoustic instruments designed to be heard across field and battle, they can be spotted leading armies, heading processions and bringing busy streets to a standstill. The band also has its subtler side. Bagpipes and reeds give way to chamber instruments such as medieval fiddle and hammered dulcimer.

Bosco the jester is an absolute family favourite,

delighting the crowds everywhere he goes, bringing his own brand of laughter and merriment to the event. And another wellloved by kinfolk young and old is the Punch & Judy show.

You’ll enjoy the melodic entertainment from travelling minstrels and the anvil and furnace of the blacksmith from Circus Malabaristas is well worth a visit.

Refreshments will include libations fit to wet the inside of the finest pewter tankard, such as the wonderfully named Trollsbottom Mead.

Mouthwatering fare comes in the form of a hog roast brought to you by The Butcher and the Hog family-run catering business using locallysourced meat from Haywards Butchers, Tonbridge,

and there are sweet and fudge stalls, too.

The village market will be bustling with all manner of interesting things like costumes, pewter wear, woodcraft, jewellery, precious stones, handmade crafts, including complete knights costumes, shields and swords, etc.

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Your at-a-glance guide to

Rupert Connell Partner, Office Head Knight Frank Tunbridge Wells

As Autumn arrives the market seems to be showing signs of a renewed appetite and confidence. It is fair to say that the last 18 months have been far from ideal with the high degree of uncertainty caused by a General Election, Stamp Duty changes and then, of course, the EU Referendum.

That is all behind us now and with a new Prime Minister and Cabinet in place and a safe pair of hands Governing the Bank of England, there is every reason to be very positive about the property market in the foreseeable future.

Already there are more properties preparing to launch to the market and an increase in buyer activity as people realise that they cannot put their lives on hold for years until the exit from the EU is realised. Article 50 hasn’t even been invoked yet so this process is

ASHLEY ROAD HILDENBOROUGH

£595,000

likely to take a very long time.

The recent Bank of England base rate cut was designed so that the benefit was passed straight to borrowers, meanwhile UK house prices have remained steady while average values in prime London have dipped again.

The rate cut means that mortgage rates, some of which are already at record lows, could edge slightly lower.

Taking all this into consideration, now could be the best time for a couple of years to move in a market where prices are more stable, borrowing is the cheapest it has ever been and there is a growing confidence returning. If Knight Frank can help with your sale or search for your next property, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your requirements.

UNDER £200,000 PENNINGTON ROAD SOUTHBOROUGH

newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

DO YOU HAVE A STORY? Wednesday 7th September 2016

£175,000

Offered for the over-60s only, this very well presented ground floor flat is at the front of this prestigious retirement development. The flat has an entrance hall with storage cupboards, a bright and spacious

living/dining room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. Outside, there are delightful, well maintained communal gardens at the front and back. This property comes with an allocated parking space and is being offered on a no-onward-chain basis.

CONTACT Wood & Pilcher Southborough 01892 511311 www.woodandpilcher.co.uk

UNDER £350,000 CANTERBURY ROAD, PEMBURY

£320,000

This very attractive semi-detached family home is situated in the heart of Pembury village and benefits from spacious accommodation.

Internally, the ground floor has an entrance lobby, a sitting room with an open fire, a separate dining

room, a fitted kitchen and a utility lobby. There are three bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor.

Additionally, the property boasts lots of storage, and a pretty garden to the rear with a sunny aspect.

CONTACT Firefly Properties 01892 838363 www.fireflyproperties.co.uk

PROPERTY SECTION 

great properties by price range…

UNDER £450,000 HADLOW ROAD, TONBRIDGE

£375,000-£400,000 This modernised townhouse is close to Tonbridge High Street and station and has been remodelled by the owners. On the ground floor there is an entrance hall, dining room, sitting room and kitchen.

The first floor has a master bedroom with en-suite shower room and family bathroom, and the second floor has two further bedrooms. Outside, there is parking for two cars to the front and a delightful south facing garden to rear.

CONTACT Bracketts Tonbridge 01732 350503 www.bracketts.co.uk

UNDER £800,000 CHURCHSETTLE LANE, WADHURST

£795,000

Believed to date back to around the 17th century, this quintessential oak-framed character home enjoys a tucked-away position on the rural outskirts of Wadhurst, with an outlook over mature grounds of about 0.58 acres. The accommodation comprises a kitchen/ breakfast room, dining room, sitting room, ground floor shower room, study, an impressive master suite and three further bedrooms. The master suite’s dressing room could be used as a further bedroom. Externally, there are beautiful gardens plus a private parking area.

CONTACT Savills Tunbridge Wells 01892 507000 www.savills.co.uk

UNDER £1MILLION GOUDHURST ROAD, LAMBERHURST

£995,0000

UNDER £650,000 ASHLEY ROAD HILDENBOROUGH

£595,000 A stunning family home situated close to the local primary school.

Standing in a large plot, this modernised house offers roomy accommodation over two floors. To the ground floor there is a light galleried entrance hall with double doors leading to an open-plan kitchen/dining room. Further doors lead to the living room, two bedrooms and a shower room. To the first floor are two further

substantial bedrooms and a family bathroom. Outside, the rear garden is laid to lawn with borders and to the front is a further area of lawn with a driveway and garage.

CONTACT Bracketts Tonbridge 01732 350503 www.bracketts.co.uk

This fine Grade II listed farmhouse has origins dating back to the 17th century, or earlier, and includes high beamed ceilings and character features. The ground floor has a dining room, family room, kitchen/ breakfast room, drawing room, utility room and shower room. The first and second floors have six bedrooms and two bathrooms. There is a parking area plus several outbuildings, including a barn, stables and garaging. There are around 2.9 acres of grounds with two paddocks.

CONTACT Jackson-Stops & Staff Tunbridge Wells 01892 521700 www.jackson-stops.co.uk

Wednesday 7th September 2016

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RENCHLEY-

£950,000

 PROPERTY SECTION

Stylish former stables in pretty private park

T

HE STABLES is a character house enjoying a semi-rural position in one of Tunbridge Wells’ highly desirable private park locations, and overlooking the countryside.

This converted stable block offers well-proportioned accommodation, with two reception rooms giving direct access to a south-facing garden terrace Features include multi-paned windows – some Gothic style – decorative barge boards and panelled wood internal doors.

The property opens to an entrance hall with useful fitted storage and a cloakroom.

To one side is a sitting room leading through to a studio with stairs to the first floor.

To the other there is a superb kitchen open-plan to a dining room. The kitchen is fitted with contemporary high-gloss units, a gas-fired Rayburn and integrated appliances.

The dining room has a marble fireplace and a wide bay window incorporating double French doors out to the terrace.

Off the dining room is a drawing room with a stone fireplace and two sets of

‘The property is well-placed within its pretty cottage gardens, giving a lovely outlook from all the principal rooms, and the garden is divided into several distinct areas’ Wednesday 7th September 2016

double French doors to the terrace, with a useful boot room to the far end. An inner hall leads to a second cloakroom, a utility room and a study, with a second staircase to the first floor.

Upstairs there is an impressive master bedroom, plus three further double bedrooms, all with fitted cupboards, and two family bathrooms.

The property is well-placed within its pretty cottage gardens, giving a lovely outlook from all the principal rooms, and the garden is divided into several distinct areas, each surrounded by well-stocked borders.

Access from Hungershall Park is via a wrought iron pedestrian gate opening on to a brick path leading to the front door, as well as double gates opening on to a block-paved driveway, providing parking for two to three cars. A single garage provides further parking.

The property also benefits from a gate to Cabbage Stalk Lane, giving a direct link to the footpaths heading across Tunbridge Wells Common towards the town.

There is around 0.32 acres in all.

PROPERTY SECTION �

AT A GLANCE

THE STABLES HUNGERSHALL PARK TUNBRIDGE WELLS

£1,550,000

n Period home n Private park setting n Very well presented n Entrance hall n Sitting room n Dining room n Drawing room n Kitchen n Studio n Study n Boot room n Utility room n Two cloakrooms n Master bedroom n Three further bedrooms n Two bathrooms n Parking and garage n Pretty gardens of around 0.32 of an acre

£1,550,000 For sale through Savills Tunbridge Wells 01892 507000 www.savills.co.uk

Wednesday 7th September 2016

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,________________________

WOOD & PILCHER

Following the Perfect Finish to the Perfect Season the team at Wood & Pilcher would like to wish all the teams at TWRFC continued success in 2016/2017

Tunbridge Wells Office I 01892 511211 tun brid ge w e 11 s@ w ood and pi I cher. co. u k Southborough Office I 01892 511311 south bo roug h@ w ooda nd pi lch er. co. u k Tonbridge I 01732 351135 ton brid ge@ w ood and pi I cher. co. u k

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Other offices in Cro w borough , Heathfield & associated London Branch

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WOOD & PILCHER

Bidborough

£1,500,000

Fordcombe

£710,000

Substantial detached family home with breathtaking views, a remarkable ridge-top residence with lovely south-facing gardens, garage and further outbuildings. Far-reaching views across the Kentish Weald can be enjoyed from this elevated position in a traditionally much-envied address. EPC: D

Set in an extremely desirable lane within the heart of the popular village of Fordcombe is this 3/4 bedroom detached home, surrounded by mature gardens and enjoying forward views across open farmland. EPC: E

South borough

Tonbridge

OIEO: £370,000

£325,000

This well presented three bedroom semi detached house has to be viewed internally to be fully appreciated as it is deceptive in it in appearance with a converted master bedroom in the loft, sitting room, dining room and a well presented rear garden. EPC: D

A two bed detached bungalow with driveway and garage, very private rear garden, within a mile of town and station yet with Haysden Country Park just down the road. EPC: C

Tunbridge Wells

Tunbridge Wells

£320,000

This three bedroom semi detached house situated in a cul du sac location on a popular residential development has to viewed on the basis of its potential as it has does require modernization. EPC: C

Tunbridge Wells Office I 01892 511211 tun brid ge w e 11 s@ w ood and pi I cher. co. u k Southborough Office I 01892 511311 south bo roug h@ w ooda nd pi lch er. co. u k Tonbridge I 01732 351135 ton brid ge@ w ood and pi I cher. co. u k

A spacious one bedroom second floor apartment is situated within a purpose built development conveniently located in the St Johns quarter of Royal Tunbridge Wells. EPC: B

woodandpilcher. co. uk rightmove

£229,950

~ nTheMarkelcom

Other offices in Crowborough , Heathfield & associated London Branch

� PROPERTY SECTION

AT A GLANCE LONG MILL LANE, DUNK’S GREEN n Attractive modern family house n Desirable location n Exceptional accommodation n Arranged over three floors n Entrance hall n Sitting room n Conservatory n Kitchen/breakfast/family room n Utility room n Shower room n Master bedroom with dressing area and en-suite n Bedrooms 2 and 3 sharing ‘Jack and Jill’ bathroom n Bedroom/study n Family shower room n Two second floor bedrooms (one with sitting room, one with store/guest room) n Family bathroom n Good sized gardens n Outdoor pool and summerhouse n Driveway parking and integral garage

£1,395,000

Dunk’s Green gem packs in six double bedrooms

T

HIS deceptively roomy detached house offers an impressive 4,049 sq ft of accommodation arranged over three floors.

Commissioned to the vendors’ own specification, it has been a much loved family home for many years, and benefits from a good-sized garden and heated swimming pool.

Located in the quiet hamlet of Dunk’s Green, between the soughtafter villages of Shipbourne and Plaxtol, it is about four miles north of Tonbridge.

Opening into an entrance hall, the house features engineered oak flooring throughout the hall and sitting room, as well as underfloor heating to much of the ground floor.

There is a double-aspect sitting room with a stone fireplace housing a wood-burning stove, a

Wednesday 7th September 2016

conservatory with sliding doors that fully open to the rear garden terrace, and a stunning openplan kitchen/dining/family room with bifold oak framed doors to the rear garden and wide French doors to the conservatory.

The kitchen has painted shakerstyle units with walnut worktops and fitted appliances, including an electric Aga. A separate utility room includes a butler-style sink and space for a washing machine and tumble dryer, and a shower room completes the ground floor.

The first and second floors offer superb bedroom accommodation, with a total of six generouslyproportioned double bedrooms, including a master suite with walk-through dressing room and en-suite bathroom.

Oak-framed, double-glazed windows and French doors with

Juliet balconies feature in four of the rear-facing bedrooms, and one of the second floor bedrooms has its own sitting area, while the other has an adjoining study/ storeroom that could be used as a spare bedroom.

The bath/shower rooms, of which there are five in total, are all well-fitted with white suites.

The property is accessed off Long Mill Lane, with a gravel parking area to the front of the house in addition to an integral garage.

The west-facing rear garden has a paved dining terrace with stone steps leading up to a lawned area.

At the end of the garden is the heated outdoor swimming pool, which has its own paved pool terrace as well as a pool pump house and a summerhouse.

In all, the plot totals around a quarter of an acre.

For sale through Jackson-Stops & Staff Sevenoaks 01732 740600 www.jackson-stops.co.uk

‘The kitchen has painted shaker-style units with walnut worktops and fitted appliances, including an electric Aga’

London Square Bassetts House Launching Saturday 17TH September, 11am - 4pm A gated collection of 1, 2 & 3 bedroom refurbished apartments

London Square Bassetts House is a stunning gated collection of just thirteen refurbished 1, 2 & 3 bedroom luxurious apartments, each offering the finest in contemporary design and benefitting from their own car parking space.

This grand building is rich in history, yet offers modern living with each apartment boasting integrated designer kitchens, plus sleek and stylish bathrooms. Some apartments have a private outdoor space in the form of a terrace or balcony, and all have access to shared landscaped grounds set in mature surroundings.

At London Square Bassetts House, you can experience the charming and relaxed pace of Orpington and the nearby countryside, in a market town that is only 27 minutes by train from Charing Cross.

One bedroom apartments from ÂŁ295,000 RSVP to confirm your viewing appointment. Please call 0333 666 4040 London Square Bassetts House, Broadwater Gardens, Orpington, BR6 7UA

WhatHouse?

0333 666 4040 Computer generated image depicts London Square Bassetts House and is indicative only. Travel times are sourced from National Rail/Google Maps/Citymapper.All journey times and distances are approximate.

Details and prices are correct at time of going to press, September 2016.

www.londonsquare.co.uk

.__...AWARDS

z::¡ 2015

Langton Green

Tunbridge Wells

Attractive modern family property built by Berkeley Homes

Stylish family home within walking distance of the station

5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 reception rooms. Double garage, pretty landscaped gardens. EPC rating D.

5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 4 reception rooms. Detached 1 bed annexe. Carport. Established rear garden. EPC rating C.

Cran brook

Tunbridge Wells

An attractive twin roundel oast house within walking distance of the town centre

A spacious townhouse just 0.4 miles from the mainline station

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 3 reception rooms. Detached double garage, off-road parking, immaculate gardens and grounds.

EPC rating D. In all about 0.4 acres.

patio garden, off-street parking. EPC rating C. In all about 1,314 sq ft.

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 reception room. Integral garage, rear

Wadhurst

Sandhurst

Plot with full planning permission to create an impressive country house

A family farmhouse on the edge of the village with impressive equestrian facilities

Created for modern family living, designs provide for a unique home of up to 9,000 sq ft with a luxurious leisure complex, cinema and games room. Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In all about 11 acres.

Brochure with full details available. *CGI

7 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 5 reception rooms. Swimming pool, tennis court. Substantial outbuildings, stable yard, all-weather sand school, paddock. Triple garage with annexe above.

EPC rating C. In all about 25.72 acres.

Southborough Beautifully presented family home just 0.5 mile from Frant Station

Attractive period house close to Southborough Common

5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 reception rooms. Garage, lawned garden and natural woodland. EPC rating D. In all about 0.9 acre.

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 reception rooms. Formerly part of the Holden House estate. Private garden and carport. EPC rating C.

Benenden

Smarden

An impressive architect-designed family house with spectacular views

Attractive Grade II Listed former school house

6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 4 reception rooms. Heated swimming pool.

Gardens, grounds and garaging. EPC rating C. In all about 1.65 acres.

heart of the village. Walled garden with lawned area. Garage.

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 3 reception rooms. Situated in the

Holtye

Rolvenden

An exciting opportunity to create a stunning family home

An attractive Grade II Listed oast house with wonderful views

7 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 4 reception rooms. Extensive garaging, outbuildings, tennis court, former swimming pool. EPC rating G. In all about 4.37 acres.

5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 reception rooms. Triple open bay garage with office/ study above. Gardens and grounds. In all about 0.56 acres.

. . Knight . . Frank

 PROPERTY SECTION

AT A GLANCE

Delightful rural views from this character farmhouse

ETHNAM ETHNAM LANE, SANDHURST ■ 16th-century listed farmhouse ■ Lovely semi-rural location with views ■ Character features ■ Vaulted entrance hall with galleried sitting area ■ Cloakroom ■ Drawing room ■ Dining room ■ Kitchen/breakfast room ■ Boot room ■ Study ■ Cellar ■ Master bedroom with en-suite shower room ■ Guest bedroom with cloakroom ■ Three further bedrooms ■ Two bathrooms ■ Stunning gardens and grounds ■ Swimming pool and pool house ■ Detached storeroom ■ Private parking ■ 2.59 acres

£1,650,000 For sale through Knight Frank Tunbridge Wells 01892 515035 www.knightfrank.co.uk

E

THNAM is a Grade II listed farmhouse filled with character, and sited in a semi-rural position in the village of Sandhurst, near Hawkhurst.

Offering excellent accommodation and many period features, the property has red brick lower elevations and tile hung upper elevations under a tiled roof with two towering chimneys.

There are leaded light windows in the majority of the rooms, some with views over the garden and beyond, as well as exposed

‘There are leaded light windows, some with views over the garden and beyond, as well as exposed timbers and some original flooring’ Wednesday 7th September 2016

timbers and some original flooring.

Internally, the accommodation is well laid out and boasts reception rooms of excellent proportions, as well as an attractive full-height entrance hall with a galleried sitting area, parquet flooring and a brick inglenook fireplace.

The ground floor features a spacious triple-aspect drawing room, a separate dining room, a kitchen/ breakfast room, a cloakroom, a boot room and a study. Plus there is a useful cellar below.

Upstairs, the property has a master bedroom with an en-suite shower room, a guest bedroom with en-suite cloakroom, two further bedrooms and two more bathrooms.

There is a fifth bedroom with eaves access on the second floor.

The house is located towards the end of a lane and approached via a gated entrance over a sweeping driveway leading to a parking area.

The gardens are of particular note, and include a formal garden with large lawned areas and flower borders, and a beautiful rose garden with box hedging.

The grounds also include two ponds, a small orchard, a secluded compost area and a multitude of mature trees and shrubs.

To the rear of the house there is a walled swimming pool with paved surround and a pool house with a shower room.

There are wonderful south-facing views over the surrounding countryside, and the land totals around 2.59 acres.

we open doors torrou...

BarnesKingsnorth

A recipe for success

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Q} Primelocatior

Residential

• t hightmove.co.uk Sales & !Lettings

Pembury: 01892 822880

Tonbridge: 01732 771616

Lettings: 01732 771616

e.pembury@bkea.co.uk

e.tonbridge@bkea.co.uk

e. Lettings@bkea.co.uk

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BarnesKingsnorth

NORTH TONBRIDGE

£925,000

SUPERB DOUBLE FRONTED FAMILY HOME in stylish and sought after location. Immaculately presented accommodation with four to five bedrooms, two luxury bathrooms, delightful through sitting room with feature fireplace, dining room, study, utility and extended kitchen/breakfast/family room overlooking garden & terrace. Attractive, westerly aspect garden, detached double garage and block paved driveway. EPC: D

Apply Tonbridge

TONBRIDGE

£630,000

CONVENIENT LOCATION. Detached spacious family home on the Tonbridge/Hildenborough borders with well planned accommodation including four bedrooms, two with en-suites, a family bathroom, two reception rooms plus conservatory and stylish kitchen/breakfast room. Part walled garden and ample parking. EPC: D

Apply Tonbridge

;.:- :-· ....

PEMBURY

£450,000

NEW BUILD BUNGALOW. A detached bungalow due to be completed and ready for occupation in October 2016. Low maintenance and well-proportioned with 3 double bedrooms, sitting room opening to a decked terrace and !awned garden, kitchen/ dining room with integrated appliances, bathroom with separate bath and shower and a further en-suite shower room. Block-paved driveway parking. Village centre location. Gas central heating, double glazing and supplementary solar power. PEA: B

Apply Pembury

'B)Primelocatior

Residential

t f rightmove.co.uk Sales & !Lettings

Pembury: 01892 822880 e.pembury@bkea.co.uk

Tonbridge: 01732 771616 e.tonbridge@bkea .co.uk

Lettings: 01732 771616 e. Lettings@bkea.co.uk

www.bkestatea1ents.com

South Tonbridge

£925,000

Well presented Detached Family House, close to the High Street, Station and a number of Schools. 5 Bedrooms (2 en-suites) 3 Reception rooms, delightful rear garden. EPC D

Tonbridge £179,950 Ground Floor I bedroom Retirement Apartment within the popular Castle Court development, with its waitress service restaurant, residents lounge and other facilities. EPC B

Tonbridge

Tonbridge

£225,000 - £245,000

£450,000 - £475,000

Stunning I st floor 2 bedroom Apartment, balcony overlooking Tonbridge 50 acre sports ground and beyond, with the Town Centre and Station within walking distance 'No Chain'. EPC B

Late I 930's built Semi-Detached House a little over half a mile of the Station, in need of general updating etc., 3 Bedrooms, through Lounge, 95ft garden, garage & parking. EPC D

Tonbridge

Tonbridge

£275,000 - £300,000

3 Bedroom Mid Terrace House, close to a local general store and bus services.

Kitchen-Diner, Cloakroom, Living Room, south facing rear garden. EPC C

Offers in Excess of £500,000

SIMILAR REQUIRED -We have applicants looking for Detached Houses in the area, many being in a position to proceed. For a Free Market Appraisal call us to-day

Tunbridge Wells

OPEN HOUSE- SATURDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2pm -4pm - Call to book appointment

Tunbridge Wells £325,000 - £350,000 OPEN HOUSE - SATURDAY I O SEPTEMBER I 2noon - 2pm - Call to book appointment

A much improved detached home situated in heart of St James'. 2/3 receptions rooms, superb kitchen/ breakfast room, 4/5 bedrooms ( I en suite), bathroom.Attached garage, gardens. No onward chain. EPC: C

A generous semi-detached house located in popular St Peter's. L-shaped living/dining room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, bathroom. Scope for further improvements and loft conversion (STPP). Paved garden. EPC: C

Causley Wood, Wadhurst

£925,000 - £950,000

£825,000

A most interesting, generously proportioned, detached residence, offering flexible accommodation, situated in rural position about 1.5 miles station. 3 reception rooms, kitchen/family room, 4 bedrooms, bathroom. Delightful rear garden, detached garage. EPC: E

Tunbridge Wells

£399,950

A spacious split level 3 bedroom maisonette, situated in the favoured of the St John's area about

a mile from the town centre. Own front door, large sitting/dining room, kitchen/breakfast room, 3 bedrooms ( I en suite), bathroom.Allocated parking. EPC: C

Rusthall

£210,000

Set close to amenities and overlooking Rusthall Common is this spacious ground floor apartment, modernised with quality fittings throughout. Living room/kitchen/breakfast area, double bedroom, bathroom. Own private enclosed garden. EPC: C

Tunbridge Wells

£195,000

A top floor apartment located in a purpose-built block on the north side of Tunbridge Wells within easy reach of High Brooms and Tunbridge Wells stations. 2 reception rooms, kitchen, double bedroom, bathroom. Allocated parking space and use of communal patio. EPC: C

Your local independent Estate Agent

~MJProperty

...contactable 7 days a week

consider ourselves part of the community. Having lived locally all our lives we immerse ourselves in the community and support local events throughout Tunbridge Wells, whether through advertising them, helping at them, donating to them or our children 'K', 'M' and 'J' being there on duty with St John Ambulance.

We are genuinely contactable 7 days a week, we don't tie clients in to a long contract and we always provide realistic market appraisals and advice and offer competitive fees.

Selling property throughout Tunbridge Wells and surrounding villages

So if you are thinking of moving now or in the future, please do not hesitate to give us a call on 01892 515188 for your free market appraisal.

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SATURDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 10AM - 4PM at One Warwick Park Hotel ~--------To register for your free tickets simply email property@timesoftunbridgewells.co. uk with your name and the number of tickets required

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LOOKING TO BUY, LET

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MOVE"'1ifrt~es Pretty country paradise With views over the Beul! valley and bluebells!

Pickup your FREEshow guide in TOTW 21 st September

HELP TO BUY AVAILABLE AT KNIGHTS WOOD Owning your first home should feel like a dream come true. With just a 5% deposit, now is a great time to purchase a new home at Knights Wood with Help to Buy.

Knights Wood offers a variety of exceptional new homes in a peaceful woodland setting in Royal Tunbridge Wells.

Our marketing suite is open daily from 10am to 5pm, so come and visit us to see how Help to Buy will get you the home you want for less. Alternatively, call us on 01892 800580.

Two and three bedroom homes available with Help to Buy from ÂŁ355,000 to ÂŁ530,000.

Knights Wood, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UW

KNIGHTS WOOD ROYAL

TUNBRIDGE

WELLS

ďż˝ PROPERTY SECTION

please contact us below to make your appointment

L!AMPTONS 11 INTERNATIONAL

Hamptons International Tunbridge Wells

Freeman Forman Tunbridge Wells

01892 597039

01797 363194

Description: Good use of underdeveloped land Type:

Any size and number of units

Location:

Anywhere in the South East

If you have been refused planning permission for what on the face of it would seem a reasonable application, SJD Projects may be able to assist.

Through our network of developers and investors, we have been instrumental in achieving planning on sites that otherwise have not achieved their full potential.

For a no obligation assessment please contact our offices on our freephone number 0845 456 8969.

Mobile: 0773 951 4350 Website: sjd-projects.com

Wednesday 7th September 2016

LAND & DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS

Freephone: 0845 456 8969 Email: steve@sjd-projects.com

PROPERTY SECTION 

Sunset style

‘Opt for something akin to what you might find with a wow factor in a stylish holiday villa or boutique hotel’

Are you longing for an Indian summer, or simply not ready to let go of those sunny season vibes just yet?

A

LATE summer soiree can be an ideal way to keep the season alive a little longer – and Decorate for a Party, the new book by bestselling interiors author Holly Becker in collaboration with Leslie Shewring, will provide all the inspiration you need for setting the scene.

Exotic prints and spicy tones, along with a warm mix of textures and tables dressed with pretty blooms, are all perfect for the job – but Becker and Shewring’s gorgeously illustrated settings prove there are endless possibilities as well as something to suit all moods.

The stylists and lifestyle bloggers (Becker runs www.decor8blog.com while Shewring is the talent behind A Creative Mint – www.acreativemint. typepad.com) explore a wide palette of decorating themes and styles, with

detailed tips to help you get the look.

Ideas include a colour code of denim blue, peach and sand, alongside shibori designs (a Japanese dyeing technique) and simple woven patterns, complemented by elements such as hand-dyed cotton, leather twine and garden roses.

They are so lovely you’ll probably want to keep them long after your guests have gone home.

DOWN TO DETAILS So the invitations have been sent, but you’re wondering where to begin with the decor? Becker and Shewring advise making a specific chair a focus for photo opportunities in the room (great for sharing on social media!)

Opt for something akin to what you might find with a wow factor in a stylish holiday villa or boutique

hotel (they feature a gorgeous fanback peacock style chair in the book), along with ‘creating an assortment of cushions around low tables, which makes a wonderful alternative to a formal setting’.

When planning a dinner party, for a fresh and modern take and hint of drama the designers are fans of a bold palette, with bright fuchsia, matt black, shiny gold and a mix of greens.

“From outside on the patio to inside the dining room, we wanted to keep the colours consistent, and just a few leaves in an assortment of vases can brighten up the hallway.” they say.

Little creative touches, such as using lush green leaves as place cards, with names written on them in gold, can be striking.

TWEAK THOSE TEXTILES Along with using flora and ferns to add some green garnish to your entertaining space, an assortment of throws, rugs and cushions can be changed to suit the season and can be easily dressed up or down.

Think wooden beads with linen, and woven threads with silk.

“We all want to keep summer going as long as possible, and a good way to do this is to bring the

outside in, perhaps with house plants, such as a beautiful fiddle leaf fig tree or palm,” says Helen Cordy, founder of the UK-based lifestyle and homeware store Wood/Grey.

“Another way to prolong the summer feeling is by adding pops of colour to an otherwise neutral interior. Vibrant, intricate cushions that remind you of faraway places enhance the feeling of wanderlust.”

Wednesday 7th September 2016

Martin & Co Tunbridge Wells 11 Vale Road Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent TN 1 1BS

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01892 543856

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PROPERTIES FOR LET

PROPERTIES FOR SALE I BED

• Close to BR station

• New build • Semi-detached • 3 bedroom family house

• Garden • I bedroom

• Allocated parking for 2 cars

• Private parking

£1600 PCM TO LET

GUIDE PRICE £170,000 FOR SALE

5 BED

• Detached period house • 5 bedrooms

• New build • No chain

• Garage• Quiet location

• 3 bedrooms • Off road parking

• Large gardens

£4500 PCM TO LET

GUIDE PRICE £325,000 - £350,000 FH FOR SALE

or over-estimate your optimum sale price.

David Rogers, Managing Director Our last article considered some of the dangers associated with pricing your home in relation to other properties available for sale (ie those remaining unsold). This time we'll consider pricing in relation to properties which have actually sold.

When considering what asking price to quote, common sense dictates that the price of other homes which have sold locally could be a good indicator of the price you should be quoting. However, your research could well prompt you to price your property at a level which could under-

Irrespective of national trends, the property market is very sensitive to imbalances in supply and demand even on a street by street basis. When there are many qualified buyers all seeking a rarely-available house in a popular street the price goes up. If fate dictates that the following week five such houses become available in the same street, the price will inevitably fal I. Likewise there can be situations where a property is sold at a record price to an individual who particularly wanted a specific property for personal reasons. Conversely a situation could arise where a desperate seller, who might otherwise suffer repossession, agrees a sale at a very low figure for a quick sale.

Only the estate agent involved in any of these transactions knows how the individual circumstances of sale can affect value. So a word of caution leave the science of valuation to an experienced local estate agent who is highly active in the market and has a good track record of achieving swift sales at or close to his/her suggested asking price.

PROPERTY SECTION �

A jean-ius at home

By Gabrielle Fagan

W

HEN you’re a fashion designer who dresses the crème de la crème of the celebrity style pack – from Cara Delevingne and Beyonce to Margot Robbie, Suki Waterhouse and Kendall Jenner – it’s almost a given that your own home will be a celebration of Hollywood-style glamour.

Jamie Blakey, however, shuns the red carpet lifestyle beloved by her coterie of famous clients, and lives in a chic shoreside house, with a laidback atmosphere which is totally in tune with her relaxed rock-n-roll design ethos.

“It’s a house by the beach, of course, but I think of it as an open, communal home where we can all relax and have fun,” says the designer and owner of the hugely successful fashion label One Teaspoon, famous for its denim cut-off

shorts, ripped jeans and flowing tops.

“I hate formality, and that’s why this place works for me. I sit on the deck looking out to sea and it really inspires my designs,” she adds.

Her pared back decor palette mirrors the shades favoured in her ranges – black, white and denim blue – and perfectly suits the simple, two-storey wooden house nestled in the sand dunes in northern Sydney, Australia.

Eight years ago, when Blakey and her family – husband Ron, who works in the surf industry, and their three children, Eddie, Mickey and Minnie – moved in, they had quite a job on their hands refurbishing the property.

It had been painted avocado green on the outside, while inside sported timber walls and floors so oiled and polished they were almost orange, making it more barn than beach.

The couple subtly altered the layout to make the spaces on the ground floor ‘flow’ into one another, replaced timber, and chose a crisp all-white decor scheme to further enhance the light, which streams in from the wrap-around windows and floods every area.

The final transformation was painting the exterior charcoal.

Linen fabrics, collections of shells, framed music posters and, for drama, a particularly show-stopping animal skull decoration, combine to provide texture and interest in the fuss-free space.

Meanwhile, Blakey’s favourite interior accessory, pot plants, fulfil their role of bringing the rooms alive and blurring the boundary between the outdoors and in.

“I love the upstairs as it’s relaxing, but downstairs is where everything happens – family, friends, dogs and music all combine, and I love the spontaneity of that,” she says.

Unsurprisingly, the designer – who hates to pigeonhole her style and loves the description of her fashion as ‘rebellious’ – doesn’t think there should be any hard and fast rules for decor.

“I like to improvise and change rooms around, so we can show off our belongings in a new light,” she says, which explains why there’s a Bohemian feel to the rooms.

A life-size model peacock is perched on one of the ceiling rafters, and Blakey has recently paid a nod to the house’s location and added an authentic ship’s wheel to a group of monochrome wall prints.

This quest for originality and desire for change reflects her approach to work.

Her mother taught her to sew and, from the age of 12, Blakey made her own clothes.

‘After failing to find items she wanted to wear, she launched her own brand’ She worked for several years in the fashion industry, until 15 years ago, after failing to find items she wanted to wear or those which expressed her style, she scraped together her savings and bravely launched her own brand.

The name, One Teaspoon, came as she was sat in a café one day, nervously planning her first show, and suddenly glanced at a single sachet of sugar on the table.

“It was only a small idea that got me to the point of my own collection, so it seemed fitting,” Blakey explains.

Her anxiety over how her clothes would be received proved unfounded – they were snapped up instantly and are now sold worldwide, as well as regularly being showcased by the brand’s famous fans, of course.

Her inspiration comes from experiences and random sources, she says, including fabrics, a colour and her travels –but more often than not, day-to-day life in her special home by the sea…

‘ I like to improvise and change rooms around, so we can show off our belongings in a new light Jamie Blakey, Fashion Designer

Wednesday 7th September 2016

Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

Crowborough £1,600,000 An outstanding superbly presented 5 bedroom detached character house in a beautiful garden setting with full planning consent for an additional house in the garden. EPC: D

Boars Head £985,000 A fine Grade II Listed 4 bedroom former Sussex farmhouse with many original features, situated along a private lane of a no-through road within a small and little known hamlet in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Tunbridge Wells £965,000 A substantial 4 bedroom Victorian town house situated in a very central location within close proximity to the picturesque High Street, fabulous Grove Park and mainline station. EPC: D

Rotherfield £875,000 An excellent 4 bedroom detached family house which dates from the 1930's in an elevated position on the village edge with views of the surrounding East Sussex countryside. EPC: D

Langton Green £495,000 An excellent 4 bedroom deceptively spacious town house situated in the heart of this popular village on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells. Offered with no onward chain. EPC: C

Matfield £397,500 A spacious 2 bedroom apartment on the top floor of this fine Edwardian country house set in wonderful gardens and grounds with a lake on the outskirts of both Matfield and Brenchley. EPC: F

Tunbridge Wells Office Sales. 01892 597607 I tunbridgewells@hamptons-int.com

Ticehurst ÂŁ895,000 A lovely unique 4 bedroom detached house, available for the first time in 38 years, occupying a wonderful position along a quiet country lane with glorious gardens and grounds including formal gardens, a croquet lawn, wild flower meadows, ponds and a delightful hidden glade. In all about 10 acres. EPC: G

Tunbridge Wells ÂŁ1,350,000 A stunning 5 bedroom detached contemporary house designed and finished to a high specification by a Scandinavian architect with an exceptional light and spacious interior and well established private gardens. EPC: C

Drl

T-"!:AMPTONS

Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

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THESUNDAYTIMES

INTERNATIONAL

THE . . . .TIMES

REDUCED PRICE

REDUCED PRICE

Hale Oak Road, Chiddingstone - £3,250pcm Modernised 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom detached cottage set within approximately 2 acres of grounds and surrounded by countryside. EPC: D

Philpots Lane, Hildenborough - £4000pcm Well presented 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom detached house in a sought after location within a walk of the mainline station. EPC: D

Pilgrims Way, Brasted - £1,600pcm A charming 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom detached cottage with private garden and parking. EPC: B

French Street, Westerham - £6,000pcm A beautiful 5/6 bedroom detached house, tennis court, swimming pool and gardens. EPC: E

Sevenoaks Office Lettings. 01732 430291

I

sevenoaks@hamptons-int.com

Drl

PROPERTY SECTION �

AT A GLANCE WILSLEY OAST ANGLEY ROAD, CRANBROOK n Twin roundel oast house n Close to centre of Cranbrook n Generous accommodation n Entrance hall n Kitchen n Breakfast room n Study n Family room n Garden room n Cloakroom n Sitting room and dining room within the roundels n Master and second bedroom within the roundels n Two further bedrooms n Shower room n Family bathroom n Private parking and detached double garage n Pretty gardens with views to rear

£975,000 For sale through Knight Frank Tunbridge Wells 01892 515035 www.knightfrank.co.uk

A twin roundel oast house with its own orchard close to Cranbrook High Street

W

ILSLEY OAST is a substantial converted twin roundel oast house within walking distance of Cranbrook School and the town High Street. It is believed to date back to the 1800s and is constructed of brick with part weatherboarded elevations.

On the ground floor, the principal reception rooms are of a generous size with the dining room and sitting room located in the roundels.

To the rear of the house there is an attractive garden room with a gasfired imitation wood burner and doors opening into the garden.

There is also an entrance hall, study, kitchen, breakfast room, family room and cloakroom.

Upstairs, the bedrooms are

‘The rear gardens are a particular feature and include a paved terrace area, a large area of lawn and a vegetable and fruit garden with a shed’

also of a good size, with the master bedroom situated in one of the roundels and enjoying views over the garden.

Of the remaining three bedrooms, one is set within the second roundel and two have fitted cupboards.

These bedrooms are well served by a shower room and family bathroom.

The property is approached off the main road over a gravel driveway

leading to a parking area and detached brick-built double garage.

The rear gardens and grounds are a particular feature and include a paved terrace area, a large area of lawn and a slate chipping path leading to a vegetable and fruit garden with a shed.

There are well-stocked flower borders along with mature hedging and there is also a small orchard.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

Motts Mill, Groombridge £495,000

School Lane, Crowborough £699,995

Positioned within 1.5 miles of Eridge railway station, this 3 bedroom character cottage with off street parking and an outbuilding is on the outskirts of Groombridge. The gardens and outside space are a particular feature with a vine clad seating terrace positioned to the rear of the house providing peace and seclusion. EPC Band E

A 3 bed detached period house offered for sale with a vacant possession occupying gardens and grounds in excess of half an acre located in a highly desirable positon close to schools, Crowborough town centre and on the edge of Ashdown Forest. The grounds are a particular feature surrounding the house on all sides. EPC Band D

St Johns Road, Crowborough £575,000

Rannoch Road, Crowborough Guide Price £700,000

An attractive three double bedroom detached home occupying a pleasant south westerly facing corner plot located within a 'stone's throw' of Crowborough town centre, St Johns primary school and local facilities. Constructed by the renowned local builders Connors, retains a wealth of features inherent with the era to include picture rails and fireplaces. EPC Band B

A substantial five/six bedroom (three bath/shower rooms) detached family home forming part of the highly desirable Warren area on the edge of Ashdown Forest. Ayton offers accommodation extending to 2,900 sq. ft. offering tremendous scope for remodelling.

The gardens and grounds surround the house on all sides. EPC Band D

Springhead, Tunbridge Wells £675,000

Melfort Road, Crowborough £355,000

An extended 4 bedroom (3 bath/shower rooms) detached home with gardens forming part of the St James' area. This property offers accommodation extending to 2,139 sq ft and has been enlarged on the ground floor to provide a study and open plan sitting/dining room with cast iron stove and bi-folding doors opening to the rear terrace. EPC Band D

A stunning 4 bedroom country house apartment extending to 2,367 sq ft with fine roof top views located in a quiet position forming part of the Warren Area on the edge of the Ashdown Forest. This impressive property is offered for sale with vacant possession available and benefits from mains gas fired central heating and double glazed windows. EPC Band C

Eridge Green, East Sussex ÂŁ1,295,000-ÂŁ1,325,000 A charming detached period farmhouse occupying gardens and grounds of about 4.2 acres with a substantial brick outbuilding offering scope for conversion the whole located in a rural position yet within walking distance of Eridge railway station. Ren by is a fine Grade II listed property which dates from the l 600's and retains a wealth of exposed oak wall and ceiling timbers as well as fireplaces with accommodation spanning three floors and extending to 3,437 sq. ft.

Withyham, East Sussex ÂŁ1,650,000 A fine character farmhouse with a substantial detached granary barn providing secondary accommodation, several further outbuildings/garaging with gardens and grounds of 3.8 acres beautifully positioned in a peaceful, rural location surrounded by open fields and rolling countryside. This impressive character home, believed to date from the 1400's is Grade II listed and has been sympathetically improved and updated by the current owners retaining a wealth of features inherent with the era. The gardens and grounds are a particular feature which surround the property on all sides within which are several substantial outbuildings including an unconverted stone barn, a large three bay open barn and a 1,857 sq. ft. granary barn which could be used as a home office or two/three bedroom secondary accommodation.

ď Ž PROPERTY SECTION

Old meets new in a marvellous Tudor manor with outbuildings

Wednesday 7th September 2016

PROPERTY SECTION �

AT A GLANCE WAYSTRODE MANOR SPODE LANE, COWDEN n Magnificent Grade II* listed Tudor manor house n Ample ancillary accommodation n Character features n Refurbished and extended n Dining hall n Drawing room n Sitting room n Kitchen/breakfast/family room n Cloakroom

‘There is also an oak-framed orangery providing another wonderful area for entertaining, and a shaped swimming pool and pool house next to a pond’

W

AYSTRODE MANOR is an exceptional Grade II* listed Tudor home which has been the subject of complete refurbishment and extension by the present owners. The house now provides wellproportioned accommodation and the wealth of character you’d expect together with a subtle mix of modern styling.

Features include exposed timbers, oak floor boards, lattice and lead light windows, inglenook fireplaces, high ceilings, modern bathroom suites, a bespoke kitchen/breakfast room and underfloor heating to the ground floor.

Set in a stunning rural location, it also enjoys uninterrupted views over the countryside.

n Utility room n Wine cellar n Master suite n Four further bedrooms n Two bathrooms n Three-bedroom cottage with garaging n Grade II listed timber-framed barn

The house itself has an impressive reception/ dining hall, sitting room, drawing room, superb kitchen/breakfast room open to dining room plus a utility room, cloakroom, wine cellar, master suite, four further bedrooms and two bathrooms.

In addition to the main house are the various comprehensive secondary properties, which could be utilised as an annexe, home office and entertaining areas.

They comprise a large detached cottage with a spacious first floor flat and garaging on the ground floor, an oast house, a coach house, and a Grade II listed timber-framed barn with a doubleheight vaulted interior.

The manor is approached over a tree-lined drive

which splits – with one arm leading to the house, where there is a turning circle – and the other to the cottage, barn and coach house.

The gardens are principally laid to lawn, interspersed with trees and well stocked borders, and two terraces that would be excellent for alfresco entertaining.

There is also an attractive oak-framed orangery providing another wonderful area for entertaining (and admiring the house), and a shaped swimming pool and pool house next to a pond and water feature.

On from the pool is a hard tennis court.

The grounds provide a wonderful backdrop to the house and amount to about 7.8 acres.

n Oast house n Coach house with storage and garaging n Orangery n Swimming pool n Tennis court n Gardens and grounds n In total, 7.8 acres

£3,950,000 For sale through Savills Sevenoaks 01732 789700 www.savills.co.uk

Wednesday 7th September 2016

WADHURST,

EAST SUSSEX

WAD HURST,

EAST SUSSEX

Stunning farmhouse in secluded location + outstanding country views + 6 bedrooms + 4 bathrooms + 6 reception rooms + swimming pool + Council Tax=G + EPC=D

Beautiful Edwardian home + 4 bedrooms + 3 bathrooms + 2 reception rooms + utility room + private terrace + communal gardens + double garage + Council tax=G + EPC=D

£4,995 pcm + £282 inc VAT tenancy paperwork fee. Other charges may apply* Contact: Louise Minifie

£2,750 pcm + £282 inc VAT tenancy paperwork fee. Other charges may apply* Contact: Louise Minifie

TUNBRIDGE WELLS,

TUNBRIDGE WELLS,

KENT

KENT

Saint John's area + open plan kitchen/reception + 2 bedrooms + bathroom + allocated parking space + communal garden area + bicycle store + Council Tax=C + EPC=C

Newly built + double bedroom + open plan kitchen & sitting room + bathroom + entrance hall + allocated parking space for one car + Council Tax=C + EPC=B

£1,200 pcm + £282 inc VAT tenancy paperwork fee. Other charges may apply* Contact: Louise Minifie

£1,100 pcm + £282 inc VAT tenancy paperwork fee. Other charges may apply* Contact: Louise Minifie

*£36 inc VAT for each additional tenant/o ccupant/guarantor reference where required. Inventory check o ut fee - charged at the end of o r early termination of the tenancy and the amount is dependent on the property size and whether furnished / unfurnished. For more details including example inventory fee, visit

www.savills.eo.uk/fees.

BERKELEY ROAD,

GRECIAN ROAD,

TUNBRIDGE WELLS

TUNBRIDGE WELLS

Exceptional 3/4 bedroom townhouse + central location in favoured Village area + MLS 0.2 miles Period townhouse in Village area + MLS 0.4 miles + 2 reception rooms + 3 bedrooms + sitting room with balcony view + separate kitchen + double garage + 1 ,223 sq ft + EPC=D + kitchen/breakfast room + courtyard garden + permit parking + 1 ,011 sq ft + EPC=D

Guide £675,000 Freehold

BISHOPS DOWN ROAD,

Contact: Becky Card

TUNBRIDGE WELLS

Guide £565,000 Freehold

QUEENS ROAD,

Contact: Becky Card

TUNBRIDGE WELLS

Spacious modern apartment + MLS 0.7 miles + open-plan reception room + separate kitchen + 2 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms + communal garden + parking space + 978 sq ft + EPC=C

Period upper ground floot apartment + within 0.5 miles of town centre + MLS 1 mile + sitting/dining room + kitchen + 2 bedrooms + bathroom + 662 sq ft + EPC=D

Guide £450,000 Share of Freehold

Offers in excess of £300,000 Share of Freehold

Contact: Becky Card

Contact: Becky Card

 PROPERTY SECTION

CHINE FARM PLACE MAIN ROAD, KNOCKHOLT

£850,000

Development of a striking home ‘The superb kitchen/breakfast room is fitted with a comprehensive range of units, including a pullout larder’

Wednesday 7th September 2016

PROPERTY SECTION �

AT A GLANCE

n Attractive attached property n Character features n Stylish interior n Entrance hall n Cloakroom/utility room n Sitting room

A

N ATTRACTIVE attached property exuding charm and character which forms part of an exclusive private development in the village of Knockholt.

The accommodation is arranged over two floors and has been designed to enhance the property’s character, while adding a stylish and modern finish. The delightful enclosed courtyard and landscaped gardens amount to about half an acre, and complement the property’s appeal.

The inviting entrance hall has a staircase rising to the first floor, which features a skylight allowing natural illumination to fill the stairwell.

There is also a utility/cloakroom, which has a built-in cupboard with space for a washing machine and dryer.

The generously proportioned sitting room has

n Kitchen/breakfast room four aspects and is ideal for both entertaining and everyday living. From here, sliding doors open to the enclosed courtyard and two separate glass doors each open to a stable door providing access to different parts of the garden.

The superb kitchen/breakfast room is fitted with a comprehensive range of units, including a pull-out larder. The Corian work surfaces incorporate a sink with a waste disposal unit and instant hot water tap.

Upstairs, the master bedroom has views over the adjoining countryside and there is an accompanying dressing room and en-suite bathroom.

The guest bedroom provides a built-in wardrobe and a well appointed en-suite bathroom.

There are two further bedrooms, one of which is

currently used as a study, while the other is being used as a dressing room, with fitted wardrobes and a dressing table.

The development is approached via an electric gated entrance opening on to a shingle driveway, which continues to the house, and five allocated parking spaces.

The landscaped garden has a southerly aspect and extends to the side of the property, with paved pathways leading to both the entrance and parking area.

There are two raised paved terraces as well as a range of herbaceous beds and borders, with a pergola offering additional decoration.

A curved archway with a door also leads to the enclosed courtyard, which provides an additional area for al fresco entertaining.

n Master suite with dressing room and bathroom n Guest bedroom with en-suite n Two further bedrooms n Gated driveway with five allocated parking spaces n Private enclosed courtyard n Delightful gardens of half an acre

£850,000 For sale through Savills Sevenoaks 01732 789700 www.savills.co.uk

Wednesday 7th September 2016

Tunbridge Wells

Andrews >

andrewsonline.co.uk

Brookfield Court, Southborough, TN4 OLY £149,950 1st floor flat in retirement building, with house manager, residents lounge, laundry room, off road parking, communal gardens.

Energy Efficiency Rating: TBC

Gimble Way, TN2 4BX £405,000 Versatile family living in village cul-de-sac with 3 bedrooms, log burning stove, kitchen leading to al fresco dining area with pergola.

Energy Efficiency Rating: D

Tunbridge Wells Sales 01892 515 11+1+

LANDLORDS WANTED

Montacute Road, TN2 5QR Guide £265,000-£280,000 Ground floor apartment with large garden, set to the south of Tunbridge Wells and only 300m from the Pantiles. Bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room and basement area, parking.

Energy Efficiency Rating: D

To view more properties available from all 85 of our offices, visit andrewsonline.co.uk

Andrews

REQUIRED FOR PROPERTIES IN TUNBRIDGE WELLS

Contact us on: 01892 51511.tlt

lettings@andrewsonline.co.uk

� PROPERTY SECTION

AT A GLANCE VINES LANE, HILDENBOROUGH n Pretty chalet bungalow n Desirable road n Flexible accommodation n Entrance hall n Living/dining room n Conservatory n Kitchen n Utility area n Two ground floor bedrooms n Family bathroom n First floor master bedroom with storage and en-suite n Fourth bedroom n Integral double garage n Pretty landscaped gardens

£820,000-£840,000 For sale through Robinson Jackson 01732 757300 www.robinson-jackson.com

Chalet bungalow in sunny gardens has the big bonus of an extra floor

A

CHARMING detached chalet bungalow sitting on a generous plot in a sought-after lane in Hildenborough. Lying well back from the road, and within pretty gardens, this very well presented home offers plenty of space and a flexible layout.

The property opens to a large T-shaped hallway via a storm porch.

There is a large living/dining room with a dual aspect and a feature central fireplace dividing the two areas.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

To the rear is a spacious conservatory with double doors to the garden and an L-shaped kitchen/breakfast room with fitted appliances and a utility space.

Also on the ground floor are two of the four bedrooms and a family bathroom.

There is a first floor, too, reached via a staircase in the hall, featuring a dualaspect master bedroom with built-in wardrobes, eaves cupboards and an en-suite shower room.

A fourth bedroom has further storage

space under the eaves, as does the first floor landing.

To the front of the house is a large garden with a driveway leading to the integral double garage.

The lovely landscaped rear garden has a terrace, a level lawn, a large stable (currently used as a shed) and access to the side of the house.

‘Lying well back from the road, this very well presented home offers plenty of space and a flexible layout’

A charming two bedroom three storey period built house ideally located for high street and mainline station. Offered to the market chain free.

£510,000 - £530,000

Hildenborough

A charming individual architect designed three bedroom detached family house on the site of a former pottery, for local schools, Hildenborough station and fast access to the A21.

Hildenborough

£820 ,OOO - £840 ,OOO

A charming four bedroom detached chalet bungalow set in this sought after road in Hildenborough. Located on a generous sized plot this property is very well presented throughout.

Tonbridge

£250,000 - £270,000 Tonbridge

A two bedroom, third floor, modern apartment located in the popular Whitefriars Wharf development just off Tonbridge High Street. Offered to the market chain free.

£500,000 - £520,000 Tonbridge

A three bedroom detached family house set in a desirable 'rare to the market' residential road, convenient for Tonbridge Station and access to the A21.

£550,000 - £575,000

Conveniently located for Tonbridge High Street in this sought after road is this stunning three bedroom semi-detached house, offering generous accommodation throughout.

 PROPERTY SECTION

AT A GLANCE

‘This apartment is the top half of a 1950s detached house and has been stylishly updated’

ROYAL CHASE,TUNBRIDGE WELLS ■ Stunning refurbished apartment ■ Highly sought-after residential area ■ Use of private park ■ Top floor of a 1950s property ■ Communal entrance hall ■ Staircase to dining hall ■ Cloakroom ■ Sitting room ■ Three bedrooms ■ Kitchen ■ Laundry room ■ Family bathroom ■ Garage and parking space

£495,000 For sale through Jackson-Stops & Staff Tunbridge Wells 01892 521700 www.jackson-stops.co.uk

Generous period apartment has a share of Great Culverden Park T HIS apartment in Royal Chase is the top half of a 1950s detached house and has been stylishly updated in keeping with its period. The house was converted into two apartments in the 1970s, and this one is being offered with the benefit of a lease extension alongside the transactional sale.

With powder-coated aluminium double-glazed windows, a ‘Hive’ central heating system and a feature fireplace in the sitting room, the ample accommodation is extremely well presented.

A covered entrance leads into a communal hall, with a front door opening to a staircase with picture window and remote control blind.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

Up the stairs, the flat opens to a large dining hall with intercom entry system, solid oak soundproofed flooring, cast iron radiator, cloakroom and storage cupboard.

The sitting room has an open feature fireplace and picture rail, and has a rear aspect overlooking the garden below.

Also at the rear is a recently fitted kitchen with slate floor, high gloss units with quartz worktops and built-in double oven and gas hob. There is a door to a laundry cupboard with top loading washing machine and wall-mounted gas boiler.

The master bedroom has a picture window to the front, built-in wardrobes and a vanity unit

concealed within a cupboard. There are two further bedrooms and a family bathroom with window to the side.

The residents enjoy a share in the private, 9.5-acre Great Culverden Park, which is accessed by way of a locked, gated passageway nearby.

The property also comes with a single garage and a parking space.

ELLIS&CO

01732 770077 tonbridge@ellisandco.co.uk

e

l

OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS AND TONBRIDGE

TO PROMOTE YOUR PROPERTY CONTACT RAJ'SY I<ELLY

PKelly@markerstudy.com I 01892 i74781

WARNERS-SOLICITORS.CO.UK

You can have a tarot card reading by Mystics of the East while looking in wonderment at their fabulous stone collection which you can also purchase. There will be other interesting artefacts and precious metals on sale through Trade Winds.

So come and join in the 15th-century Fayre party and soak up the atmosphere of the village and the inhabitants dressed and living as they would have 700 years ago.

The Knights of Longshanks will do battle during the day laden with traditional armour and weaponry, but despite their frightening appearance they’re really very friendly to 21st-century folk and love nothing better than to chat about what life was like back in medieval times.

TONBRIDGE MEDIEVAL FAYRE 

75

Saturday & Sunday programme of events* 10am – Event opens 11am – Arming of the Knight 11.30 – Combat display 12noon – Bosco the Jester 12.30pm – Medieval Music and Dance with Rough Musicke 1pm – Punch & Judy 1.30pm – Combat display 2pm – Bosco the Jester 2.30pm – Arming of the Knight 3pm – Medieval Music and Dance with Rough Musicke 3.30pm – Punch & Judy 4pm – Combat display 4.30pm – Bosco the Jester 5pm – Close

*Same both days

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Wednesday 7th September 2016

76 � TONBRIDGE MEDIEVAL FAYRE

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

WARNERS-SOLICITORS.CO.UK

Visit some hidden treasures THE Tonbridge Medieval Fayre is one of many events taking place this weekend as part of a nationwide Heritage Open Days programme being held from September 8-11.

In September every year, around 40,000 volunteers across England organise 5,000 events to celebrate the country’s history, architecture and culture. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore (www.heritageopendays.org.uk) Other events in Tonbridge include guided Jane Austen-themed walking tours of the town, which will take place at 11am on Saturday and Sunday starting at the Castle Gateway.

The Tonbridge Art Group, Tonbridge Civic Society, Tonbridge Historical Society, Tonbridge Parish Church Bell Ringers and members from the Jane Austen Society will all be exhibiting at Tonbridge Castle throughout the weekend.

Cllr Maria Heslop, Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: “There is a really exciting range of properties, events and activities taking place throughout the Heritage Open Days weekend this year, celebrating a slice of England’s fantastic architecture and culture in and around Tonbridge and Malling.”

There has been a castle in Tonbridge since the Norman Conquest of 1066, when William of Normandy defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings. Richard Fitzgilbert, his kinsman, was granted estates in Kent to guard the crossing of the Medway at Tonbridge and he raised a simple Motte and Bailey castle on the very site where the present one stands today.

On August 30, 1999, the Gatehouse at

Wednesday 7th September 2016

Tonbridge Castle closed to visitors and work on a £375,000 millennium project began. The missing floors on the ground and first floor levels have been replaced, and the spiral staircase in the East Tower repaired.

‘Today, Tonbridge Castle boasts Kent’s best example of a Motte and Bailey Gatehouse and one of the best in England’ This enabled a circular tour of the gatehouse to be possible.

In replacing the floors, two additional rooms have been created. An education room, mainly for school and group use, provision for an exhibition space for local community use, and a second venue for civil marriage ceremonies has been provided. Architect Stuart Page ensured the

work was of a high quality and in keeping with the fabric of the Medieval Gatehouse.

In September 2000, the Gatehouse reopened in celebration of the Millennium. A Victorian Birthday Party commemorated 100 years of the castle being in local authority ownership, and the Heritage Open Days Festival was celebrated Borough wide.

In 2003, the reroofing of the Gatehouse was completed. The project, led by Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council, cost approximately £450,000. The council received some financial

help in the form of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This latest restoration work will help preserve the structure of the Gatehouse, improve the interior of the building and provide shelter all year round. You can now enjoy your visit to Tonbridge Castle whatever the weather!

Today, Tonbridge Castle boasts Kent’s best example of a Motte and Bailey Gatehouse and one of the best in England.

Free partial tours will operate over the weekend, but you will have to book a place.

For more details visit www.tmbc.gov.uk

~i~

THURSDAY NIGHT IS STEAK NIGHT

NOW TAKING BOOKINGS for Christmas

@

The Abergavenny Arms, Frant Rd, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN3 9DB 01892 750 233 I 750 933 abergavennyarms.co.uk

@

78 ■ FOOD AND DRINK

Enjoy a taste of the bygone era of hop-picking courtesy of these fascinating photographs Paul Harvey is a keen photographer who has been taking and collecting images of the ancient art of hop-picking in Kent since his interest was first piqued in the 1980s. Here he tells the Times how he started documenting one of the county’s oldest industries and how he aims to preserve its legacy through the power of these photographs

TWO’S COMPANY ‘These two characters stripping the hops into bins are likely to be Londoners – perhaps a tad worse for drink!

Darby & Joan was the title on the original image when I acquired it. Joan must have been quite a character, hardly surprised at Darby’s state!’

Wednesday 7th September 2016

“During the summer of 1982 I decided to take my camera into the hop gardens surrounding the Goudhurst area, with the objective of capturing the symmetry of hop growing.

I was mesmerised by them, and thought that the poles, green hops and miles of stringing created such a strong visual impact across the thousands of acres of surrounding countryside that I just had to photograph this idyllic country scene.

I was also aware that by then the once thriving industry was slowly dying. This decline was probably instigated by the numerous machines put into place in the mid-1960s, into the hop sheds, and also due to the fact costs were rapidly increasing against a falling demand for our hops.

So, after taking a number of pictures of these stunning rural landscapes adorned with hops during the early 80s, I now consider them to be archive records of how the Kentish landscape used to look.

The hops have all but pretty much vanished and the majority of oast houses are now converted into residential properties, but the legacy of hop-picking still lives on through

GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND ‘This shot was taken from the top of Horsmonden Church’ these precious photographs.

But as well as my own hop images, I have a big collection of other historical ones which date from 1886 up to the 1950s.

They capture everything from folk at work in the hop gardens to others larking about – possibly after a little too much liquid refreshment!

Although most of the hop-picking industry has totally gone from this area now, there are still a few places that carry out hop-picking by hand

‘The poles, green hops and miles of stringing created such a strong visual impact across the thousands of acres of surrounding countryside that I just had to photograph this idyllic country scene’

FOOD AND DRINK ■

79

DRINK IN THESE FASCINATING HOP-PICKING FACTS DIG THIS! ‘An amusing shot of two gravediggers having a prank with the stocks in Marden Churchyard, circa 1898. The stocks are still in the graveyard!’

 The word ale was originally reserved for

brews produced from malt without hops.

This was the original drink of the AngloSaxons and English, whereas ‘beer’, a brew using hops, probably originated in Germany  Hops were cultivated in the Low Countries

(now known as Belgium and Holland) from the 13th century and introduced to England in the Maidstone area at the end of the 15th century

 By the early 19th century the main hop

growing parishes were in The Weald of Kent. Acreages included: Cranbrook 819, Benenden 584, East Farleigh 590, East Peckham 614, Hadlow 618, Marden 578, Mereworth 569, Tonbridge 723, Wrotham 667 and Yalding 937 acres  Thousands of Londoners

invaded Kent for hoppicking time at the end of August, and for many it was their paid holiday. Lots of them stayed on and settled here

 By 1724 there

were 6,000 acres of hop gardens in East Kent alone  By the 19th century

every September. They include Little Scotney Farm, part of the National Trust estate, just outside Tunbridge Wells at Lamberhurst.

Westerham Brewery are involved in the operation here as three different varieties of hops are used to produce the Scotney Ale brand on sale.

Throughout the month of September, Scotney is putting on a series of twice-daily hop walks where visitors can enjoy visits to the hop gardens, picking shed, drying oast and hopper huts, and then finish up with a little sample of Scotney’s ale. Sounds like a perfect way to pass the time. Cheers!”

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DISCOVER MORE OF PAUL HARVEY’S FASCINATING ARCHIVE ON HOP-PICKING, THEN YOU CAN CALL HIM ON 07736 898240

it was the golden age of the hop industry. Acreage continued to increase until 1878, when it reached its peak with 77,000 acres  In the early days of brewing

OAST WITH THE MOST ‘Hop-workers pictured in 1903 doing the most important job on the farm: Hop-drying to perfection’

hops the sole reason for using them was to preserve the beer and keep it in good condition  Pasteurisation arrived in the late 1870s and

fewer hops were needed as a preservative.

Clean water became more available and this may have reduced demand for beer. These factors meant there were only 32,000 acres of land growing hops by 1909

 In 1922 the first hop-picking machine was imported from America by a Worcester grower, but machine picking didn’t become widely practised until the 1950s as the American machines were not suited to conditions in England and hand-pickers were still available

 Horticulture Research International at Wye

College in Kent joined with England’s hop growers in the 1980s to develop a new category of hops called hedgerows. These grow to eight feet rather than the traditional 20 feet, are cheaper to establish, can be harvested at speed by machine, require less chemicals and provide a wonderfully beneficial environment for bugs and insects.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

80  ADVERTISING FEATURE

Tunbridge Wells travel firm launches inspirational show The first #HolidayInspirations Show at Salomons on September 25 is set to be the biggest holiday show in the south east, with more than 50 tour operators tempting potential travellers.

It has been organised by Baldwins Travel Group, which has eight branches across the region

Regent Seven Seas Cruises HAVE you always dreamt about allinclusive, ultra-luxury cruising?

Well, Regent Seven Seas Cruises® welcome you to the most inclusive luxury experience.

This is cruising as it was meant to be, where everything is included; return flights and transfers, unlimited shore excursions, all fine dining including the speciality restaurants and in-suite dining, all beverages including Champagnes, fine wines and branded spirits, unlimited WiFi and even gratuities and service charges –

Wednesday 7th September 2016

without exception, without compromise.

Find out about their all-suite, allbalcony* fleet – Seven Seas Explorer® – ‘the most luxurious ship ever built’ ™, Seven Seas Voyager®, Seven Seas Mariner® and Seven Seas Navigator®, which carry 490-750 guests and are pinnacles of elegance and grace.

These ultra-luxury ships offer spectacular gourmet restaurants, suites that are amongst the most spacious at sea and an

enviable staff-to-guest ratio that makes queuing and waiting a thing of the past.

There really is no better way to experience luxury travel.

The intimate ships are also small enough so that you never experience a queue, and large enough that you can get lost in a bestseller without interruption or distraction.

In fact many of the 350 ports visited on these cruises can only be reached by

these perfectly sized ships.

Plus take advantage of the company’s exclusive show offers, with up to £1,000 off per suite and low deposits!

With Regent Seven Seas Cruises® you really can have it all. *Navigator 10 per cent window suites

ADVERTISING FEATURE 

Kuoni BALDWINS TRAVEL is a long-standing partner of Kuoni, and each of the Baldwins Travel teams specialise in tailor-making Kuoni holidays and honeymoons.

‘Over the past 50 years, Kuoni has won more than 200 awards, including Best Large Luxury Tour Operator at the Daily Telegraph Ultratravel Awards 2016’

During the #HolidayInspirations Show on September 25 there will be a pop-up Kuoni store to talk over ideas for your next holiday and get expert travel advice.

Over the past 50 years, Kuoni has won more than 200 awards, including Best Large Luxury Tour Operator at the Daily Telegraph Ultratravel Awards 2016.

The company also specialises in honeymoons and special occasions, including weddings abroad.

Kuoni offers a huge range of holidays in over 90 countries and has hotels – and even islands in the Maldives – exclusive to Kuoni guests from the UK. Stay in a 5* over-water villa in the Maldives, or enjoy a boutique 3.5* beach stay in Antigua with only 16 rooms and personal service.

Alternatively, join a small group tour of India with an insightful guide, or create a bespoke journey around

81

PARADISE AWAITS Discover little pieces of Heaven on Earth with Kuoni

South America, perhaps combining a private tour with a rail journey or cruise.

Entry to the show venue and on-site parking will be free of charge.

Registering your attendance online in advance offers free fast-track admission, plus entry into the prize draw, with many great prizes to be won, including an Abu Dhabi holiday for two people courtesy of Kuoni and Etihad Airways.

Details will be regularly updated at www.holidayinspirationsshow.co.uk and you can follow news about the event on Twitter @btg_hishow.

For more information about Kuoni holidays or the show, call Baldwins Travel Tunbridge Wells on 01892 511 999, or visit them at 25-27 Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells TN1 2AJ.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

82  GARDENING GARDENING TIPS

Drift away with bulbs

By Hannah Stephenson

T

HERE are few things more evocative of spring than drifts of snowdrops or bluebells in dappled shade, or daffodils casting a yellow haze over fresh new grass.

In late winter, pink and white cyclamen provide a carpet of colour along slopes and rocky banks, while the first snowdrops often appear with blue crocus, and camassias add sparkle to longer grass.

If you want that natural effect, start planting now. You don’t have to have a massive garden to naturalise bulbs. You can achieve a natural

BLUEBELLS A beautiful addition to a wild garden

Wednesday 7th September 2016

effect by planting bulbs under a tree or at the base of a fence, providing you pick the right bulbs.

Avoid planting double-flowered, highly coloured daffodils if you want a natural look.

Instead, go for varieties with smaller, more subtle flowers.

If you want to plant in grass, lift a rectangle of turf the size of a spade blade, digging a hole four times the depth of the bulb and loosen the soil in the bottom of the hole. Plant the bulbs and replace the turf. This size of hole should take around 10 narcissus bulbs or 20 crocuses, spaced the same distance apart and twice the diameter of the bulb to allow them to multiply

without becoming overcrowded.

Group at least five of these plantings close together to create impact, placing other clumps a short distance from the main colony to give a natural effect.

In thin grass, you may be able to use a bulb planter, pushed into the ground with your foot.

Just remember though, that lawns need mowing and dodging bulbs is impractical unless they are confined to a specific patch for part of the year. Bear in mind that the foliage will remain after the flowers have died and you won’t be able to mow until the leaves have died down naturally, which could be another six weeks.

Good bulbs for grass include Crocus vernus subsp. albiflorus, such as the purple ‘Grand Maitre’ and short-stemmed daffodils such as Narcissus ‘Carlton’. Keep yellow and white daffodils apart or you won’t have the same naturallooking impact.

You’ll need to plant an awful lot of snowdrops to achieve a naturalised effect quickly, so it might be better to build your colony gradually, planting a few more clumps each year.

They will naturalise in grass, but if you want them to multiply quickly, they need to be allowed to set seed before the grass is cut.

Foliage and flower stems should have died back completely before you mow.

If you are not planting in grass, scatter bulbs over the planting area in handfuls and plant them where they fall. Avoid spacing them regularly, but plant drifts of one type of bulb, except in the case of large-flowered crocus.

If you have longer grass and a wildflower meadow-style planting area, try planting snakeshead

SNOWDROPS A wonderfully delicate flower fritillaries, and native Lent lilies (Narcissus pseudonarcissus).

Bulbs which prefer shady spots in woodlands and under trees include Cyclamen coum, snowdrops and aconites, which should multiply freely if they get just a few hours of sunlight daily.

Bluebells will survive quite dense shade if they have enough sunlight during their crucial weeks of growth and flowering.

An alternative to bluebells is grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum), which succeed in virtually any situation. With both bluebells and muscari, let the green seedheads turn to parchment, split and shed their seeds before mowing.

Other good candidates for naturalising include the dainty Chionodoxa luciliae, glory of the snow, which likes dappled shade, and anemone blanda, which likes welldrained soil with added compost in sun or partial shade, within a tree canopy or in short, thin grass.

GARDENING 

What to do this week

BEST OF THE BUNCH – Stipa

This large group of perennial grasses, featuring both evergreen and deciduous types, forms tufts of narrow foliage above which tall flower stems rustle in the wind, providing movement and texture to your garden. You might go for a statement specimen such as Stipa gigantea (Spanish oat grass), which grows to 2.5 metres and whose flowers turn gold when ripe in summer. It looks beautiful planted with the tall, open Verbena bonariensis, giving an airy feel to any planting scheme. I love the smaller S tenuissima, a wispy feather grass which looks wonderful as underplanting for tall, lollipop alliums, or next to brilliant crocosmia such as the vivid red ‘Lucifer’, accentuating the hue of the flowers. It produces mounds of fine, jade-green leaves topped with airy beige flowers. Like other stipas, it grows well on dry soils or in any reasonably fertile, well-drained soil in full

SOFTLY SOFTLY Smaller S tenuissima

■ Pot young alpine plants raised from cuttings

83

SPRING-FLOWERING BULBS

in spring and overwinter them in a cold frame before planting out next year.

■ Lift early-flowering Lilium regale and reset

them in well-drained soil.

GROW YOUR OWN Why go to the shop for fruit?

■ Sow poppies outdoors where they can flower

next year.

■ As the seedheads of annuals and perennials

sun. Dig in coarse grit on heavier soils to improve drainage. Cut back deciduous species in early winter or spring, and divide clumps from mid-spring to early summer.

GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT – Prune summer-fruiting raspberries

If you’ve finished eating your summerfruiting raspberries it’s time to prune them to encourage a good crop next year. Cut off all the leaves about 7-8cm above the crown, cut off unwanted runners, rake them up and compost them. Remove all the old canes which have fruited and cut weak new ones down to soil level. Retain the best of the young unfruited canes and tie in strong new shoots, spacing them evenly along their supports - usually horizontal wires attached to vertical posts at either end of the row.

If your raspberries are newly planted, wait until spring to cut down the old cane to near ground level when new growth appears.

ripen, collect seed, remembering to label with care.

FRUIT TREES

■ Give autumn green crops a light dressing of

fertiliser hoed into the soil around them.

■ Continue to harvest apples and pears and

store them for use over the winter.

■ Plant spring-flowering bulbs, particularly

daffodils as they begin their root growth earlier than most bulbs.

■ Continue to remove weeds so that they

don’t shed seeds which will be stored over the winter.

POPPY FIELDS

■ Lift slightly tender perennials such as

fuchsias before the first frosts hit them.

■ Order new fruit trees, canes or bushes.

■ Protect ripening fruit from birds and squirrels

Wednesday 7th September 2016

. ,6th September Fr1.daY

Dirty Dancing #feelgoodfridaY

; I Sunday 18th September

I

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§ Back To The Future •§ 1

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£11 PER TICKET INCLUDES PARKING GATES OPEN 6.30PM WATCH SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE ICONIC FILMS IN A SETTING LIKE NO OTHER! OUR OPEN AIR CINEMA IS SET IN THE STUNNING SURROUNDINGS OF THE RESERVOIR IN OUR 800 ACRE COUNTRY PARK.

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A PRE-CINEMA TWO OR THREE COURSE MENU WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE BOAT HOUSE BISTRO FROM JUST £15.50.

WE ALSO HAVE SPECIAL ACCOMMODATION FROM JUST £149 PER ROOM INCLUDING A TRADITIONAL BREAKFAST AT TUNBRIDGE WELLS' NEWEST HOTEL, ONE WARWICK PARK. FOOD ANO DRINK WILL BE AVAILABLE TD PURCHASE FROM THE WATERFRONT CAFE ANO THERE WILL BE POPCORN - OF COURSE!

TO BOOK PLEASE VISIT WWW.BEWLWATER.CO.UK

LIFE AND STYLE n

85

A MESSAGE FROM RTWSO’S MUSICAL DIRECTOR RODERICK DUNK It gives me great pleasure to tell you about another exciting season of Sunday afternoon concerts in our 2016/17 season starting in October with the rising star Callum Smart performing the lyrical Korngold Violin Concerto.

Our new season also sees the welcome return of world renowned pianist Peter Donohoe with Rachmaninov’s ‘Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini’. Guest conductors George Vass and Neil Thomson join us again for two concerts of great English and Russian music, and I am looking forward to conducting the first Opera Gala in the orchestra’s 94-year history.

HELP TO BUY COMES TO KNIGHTS WOOD! Buyers can now take advantage of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme at Dandara’s award-winning development in Tunbridge Wells

Other highlights include Prokofiev’s brilliant music from ‘Romeo & Juliet’, Mozart’s superbly crafted ‘Sinfonia Concertante’ with the orchestra’s principal wind players as soloists, and to close the season, Mozart’s vibrant Symphony No. 39 and Mahler’s mighty Symphony No. 5, with its beautiful ‘Death in Venice’ Adagietto.

For anyone who dreams of owning a new-build property in Tunbridge Wells but only has a small deposit, a home at the stylish Knights Wood development could now be within reach, thanks to the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.

With our ticket prices still representing the best value for quality orchestral concerts in the south east, we hope you will continue to support the RTWSO. We look forward to seeing you!

Traditionally, a deposit of around 20% of the purchase price has been necessary to secure a mortgage for a newbuild home. However, the scheme is designed to help

For more information check out www.rtwso.org

buyers who have at least a 5% deposit.

Under the scheme, buyers can borrow 20% of the purchase price interest-free for the first five years, as long as they

FLOW - Move better, feel better, live better

have a 5% deposit and the property price does not exceed £600,000.

This ‘equity loan’ arrangement makes new-build homes affordable to buyers who would have previously been unable to afford the deposit required.

At Knights Wood, there are a number of stylish house types available below the £600,000 Help to Buy threshold, including the two-bedroom, semi-detached Victoria and the three-bedroom Sunburst, with semi-detached and detached versions currently still available.

Buyers of the two-bedroom Victoria house type may be eligible for the Help to Buy scheme.

Speaking of the arrival of Help to Buy at Knights Wood, Susie Bennett, Dandara’s UK Sales Director for the South East said, “We are delighted to be able to offer Help to Buy on some of our stunning new homes at Knights Wood.

“I really hope that the scheme allows us to welcome some new buyers who may previously have thought a new home at Knights Wood was out of their reach. Availability is limited though, so I would urge anyone interested in Help to Buy to act fast!”

Two, three and four-bedroom homes are now available at Knights Wood, with prices from £360,000.

For further information or to make an appointment to see the new View Home, visit www.knightswood.co.uk or call 01892 800580. Alternatively, please visit the Marketing Suite at Knights Wood, which is open daily from 10.00am to 5.00pm.

ALBION SIGN SUSSEX’S STAR PLAYER Brighton & Hove Albion’s latest signing comes in the shape of estate agents Mansell McTaggart in a three-year deal.

As part of the agreement, a magnificent pitch-side and dual-aspect lounge at the Amex Stadium will be renamed ‘The Mansell McTaggart Lounge’, giving a stunning view of Albion’s home games.

This deal follows many years of sponsorship and advertising

by Mansell McTaggart.

Lee Hubble, director of Mansell McTaggart said: “we’re really excited to be extending our association with a high profile organisation like Brighton & Hove Albion.

“Their meteoric rise up the league last season reflects our own determination to stay the no.1 estate agent in our market area, and we look forward to our mutual continued success in our respective fields”.

Paul Rogers, commercial and premium partnerships manager of the Albion said “we’re thrilled to have Mansell McTaggart join our team of corporate partners, and we look forward to providing great entertainment and value for them over the coming three seasons”.

Brighton & Hove Albion came third in the EFL Championship League last season – a big jump from 20th place the previous year.

Mansell McTaggart meanwhile are the agency which sells the most property in their area.*

Flow looks forward to welcoming old and new members to its yoga studio and treatment room after the summer break. From its stylish, contemporary studio in a leafy Tunbridge Wells avenue, scented candles, vibrant mats, airy glass doors and a warm welcome from the team create an atmosphere that ensures those seeking a holistic approach to health and wellbeing feel welcomed, comfortable and relaxed.

Co-founded in 2015 by Lucy and Ben Parker, Flow is the convergence of Pantiles Yoga and Groombridge Osteopathy.

The two therapies go hand in hand, as osteopath Ben explains: “I want to fix people, and yoga is the ideal way to maintain a healthy body.”

Since its launch, the team at Flow has continued to grow, with therapists now offering a range of yoga styles and other treatments, including reiki, acupuncture and massage. Flow welcomes seasoned practitioners, as well as those curious to try out yoga for the first time, and classes are kept small, with one-to-one sessions available.

“We understand that people want different things from yoga,” explains Lucy. “Some are seeking an emotional outlet, or recovering from injury or trauma, while others need the physical energy of a dynamic flowing class. Flow has been created for ‘every body’, and as such we treat each and every one as an individual.”

29 Woodbury Park Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 9NQ 01892 671 764 www.flowtunbridgewells.com hello@flowtunbridgewells.com

Wednesday 7th September 2016

MASERATI GHIBLI DIESEL. FROM £399 A MONTH +VAT.* You kno w you ha ve always wanted to own a Maserati. Now there is absolutely nothing to hold you back.

The Ghibli Diesel is every inch a Maserati, featuring a gorgeous, coupe-like silhouette, luxury leather interior and with its economical yet potent diesel engine, 8-speed ZF automatic transmission, there are also plent y of rational reasons to justify your decision.

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Offi cial fuel cons umpti on fi gur es for t he Mase rati Gh ibl i Di esel in mpg llitres/100 km] : Urban 36 .7 17.71, Extr a Urban 57.6 li.j .9], Comb ined l.j7_9 15.91. C0 2 em iss ions on comb ined cycle : 158 g/km . Fuel consumption and CO, figures are based on standard EU tests for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results. *BUSINESS USERS ONLY. Model shown is Maserati Ghibli Diesel MY16 V6d ljdr Auto. Contract Hire payment profile of £/j,788 +VAT in advance, followed by 35 monthly rentals of £399 +VAT. Rentals shown above exclude maintenance and are based on 8,000 miles per annum. Excess mileage charge apply. Finance subject to status. Guarantees and indemnities may be required, we work with a number creditors including Maserati Financial Services. Vehicles must be registered with FCA Fleet Services UK Ltd by 30th June 2016. PO Box lj590, Slough, Berkshire SU OWU.

WITH THE

THE TOWN’S TOP MOTORING GUIDE – FROM EVERYDAY DRIVES TO LUXURY SUPERCARS

OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS AND TONBRIDGE

BEHIND THE WHEEL

FIRST DRIVE

ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA

This is where the Alfa starts to make sense. The 1.6-litre, 118bhp diesel engine on our test car felt like it had a fair bit more tug than its numbers suggested, and through the corners the Alfa’s nicely weighted steering made the car a fun one to pilot. It doesn’t roll too badly either, and Alfa’s D.N.A drive mode switch (which lets you choose between Dynamic, Natural and All-weather driving modes) is fun to play with, if a little gimmicky.

Take the Giulietta away from twisting country roads and plonk it on a motorway and you’ll find it copes relatively well. The cabin is fairly insulated from wind and road noise, and the car doesn’t feel too nervous or twitchy at higher speeds.

Yet there are a couple of flies in the Alfa Romeo’s ointment. The pedals are really quite close together, and the seats aren’t hugely comfortable – making for a slightly awkward driving position. The biggest issue, though, is the car’s steering wheel.

Thanks to its large, chunky size, a significant portion of the speedometer is blocked from view – specifically, the part between 30mph and 80mph.

This made trying to catch a glimpse of your speed an annoying process at best, and a dangerous one at worst.

VALUE FOR MONEY

By Simon Davis WHAT’S NEW? Alfa Romeo put the Giulietta under the knife earlier this year, updating the hatch’s already rather pretty face in the process. A new honeycomb grille features prominently on the car’s nose, while piano-black bumper inserts and revised headlamps have also been introduced.

Under the hood, the Italian manufacturer’s 118bhp 1.6-litre JTDM-2 diesel engine can now be paired with its six-speed, twin-clutch automatic transmission. However, while our test car featured this engine, we had to make do with the standard six-speed manual – which is by no means a complaint.

LOOKS AND IMAGE The Giulietta has always been quite the looker, and Alfa’s most recent updates only serve to maintain this. The aforementioned new grille design and black inserts on the bumper have been introduced

by Alfa to

‘The 1.6-litre, 118bhp diesel engine on our test car felt like it had a fair bit more tug than its numbers suggested’

emphasise the car’s close ties to its new Giulia saloon – which is arguably one of the bestlooking cars to go on sale this year.

Unfortunately, though, that attractive face hides an interior that is largely dull and now starting to feel quite tired as well. However, the touchscreen Uconnect infotainment system fitted as standard across the range is one of the cabin’s few redeeming features.

But while the interior may be a bit of a let-down when you compare it to the car’s exterior, at the end of the day you will still be driving around in an Alfa Romeo. The Alfa badge has always adorned something that is a bit special, and on the Giulietta this is no exception.

SPACE AND PRACTICALITY Even though it might look like a three-door coupé thanks to hidden rear door handles – a classic Alfa styling cue – this is in fact a five-door car.

However, you shouldn’t let that fool you into thinking there are bags of space in the back.

That dramatic roofline does cut into the rear headroom somewhat, and legroom isn’t as abundant as you think it might be from a family hatch. As a result, adults might find it a slightly uncomfortable car to sit in on longer journeys – although children should be more than catered for. Isofix mounting points also help to accommodate child booster seats.

When it comes to boot space, it is rather middle-of-the-road. With 350-litres-worth of capacity on offer, the Alfa comes with more storage room than a Ford Focus’ 316-litre boot can offer, but less than a Volkswagen Golf’s 380-litre boot. Though if you fold the rear seats down you will increase the Giulietta’s capacity to 1,045 litres.

Opt for one of Alfa Romeo’s JTDM-2 turbodiesel engines, and this will be a fairly inexpensive car to run. Even the most powerful 2.0-litre, 173bhp diesel car still returns a claimed fuel consumption figure of 65.7mpg on the combined cycle.

The 118bhp, 1.6-litre diesel engine we had in our test car carries a claimed combined fuel economy figure of 74.2mpg, and returns 99 grams of CO2 per kilometre, meaning that it is exempt from vehicle excise duty.

All Giuliettas come with a fairly good level of standard equipment, too, which helps justify the slightly expensive £18,700 price tag for the most basic car. Standard kit on the entry-level model includes 16-inch alloys, an Uconnect infotainment system with a five-inch touchscreen, DAB radio, Bluetooth and smartphone connectivity and LIVE services for internet access. LIVE services are smartphone enabled, and carry features such as music streaming from Deezer and TuneIn, Facebook check-in and Twitter connectivity.

WHO WOULD BUY ONE? The Giulietta will appeal to anyone who is in the market for a family hatch that is both good-looking and slightly left-field.

Even though this car does have its many foibles, it is still entirely likeable, and rather fun to drive.

With the right engine, it’s pretty economical, too.

FACTS AT A GLANCE PRICE: £21,150 MODEL: Alfa Romeo Giulietta Super 1.6 JTDM-2 120hp ENGINE: 1.6-litre diesel producing 118bhp TRANSMISSION: Six-speed manual gearbox PERFORMANCE: 0-62mph in ten seconds, top speed of 121mph ECONOMY: 74.3mpg combined EMISSIONS: 99g/km CO2

Wednesday 7th September 2016

88 n MOTORING

We invite all new and seasoned enthusiasts to visit us today to find out more about our classic and vintage car restoration services.

We will use our experience to advise you on the best way to restore your classic, vintage or collectible car, and help you to revive its past glories.

~ @capyr;pt

All pictures and designs are own byMorgan Hansford Art. For any enquires please contact morganhansfordart@ outlook.corn

Bl66ER

Ford Tonbridge TN91TN 01732 758726

Ford Tunbridge Wells TN48AG 01892 739131

www.lifestyleford.co.uk

Standard EU Test figures for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving result s. Official fuel consumption figures in mpg (l/lDDkm) for the New Ford Fiesta Zetec Nav 5dr Hatchback 1.0 lDDPS Petrol Manual range shown: Urban 42.8-52.3 (6.6-5.4), Extra Urban 72.4-76.3 (3.9-3.7), Combined 57.6-65.7 (4.9-4.3). Official C02 emission figures ll4-99g/km.

Retail only. Images shown for illustration purposes only. Finance subject to status. Guarantees may be requirec. Failure to make payments on time may make obtaining credit in the future more difficult. Your vehicle may be repossessed If you do not keep up payments. Subject to availability for new vehicles, contracted and registered before 30/09/2016. *Payable with the first instalment. **Payable with the Optional Final Payment if you wish to own the vehicle at the end of the agreement. Further charges may be made subject to the condition of the vehicle, if the vehicle is returned at the end of the finance agreement. At the end of the Personal Contract Purchase there are 3 options: (i) Renew: Part-exchange the vehicle, where equity is available, (ii) Retain: Pay the Guaranteed Future Value (GFV) to own the vehicle or (iii) Return the vehicle. 'Ford Options' is a form of finance agreement provided by Ford Crecit, Freepost, Ford Crecit. We may receive a commission for any introduction to this finance company. We are licenced credit brokers, written details are available on request. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for the purpose of insurance mediation activity. Firm reference number 305672.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

MOTORING n

89

Model shown is Alfa Milo 875cc TB TwinAir 105 bhp, OTR £14,660. Official fuel consumption figures for the Alfa Milo range: Urban 38.7 - 64.2 mpg (7.3 - 4.41/100km); Extra Urban 61.4 - 97.4 mpg (4.6 - 2.91/lOOkm); Combined 50.4 - 80.7 mpg (5.6- 3.5 1/lOOkm). C0 2 emissions 130 - 90 g/km. Fuel consumption and co, figures are obtained for comparative purposes in accordance with EC directives/regulations and may not be representative of real-life driving conditions. •customer deposit is£1,250. Optional Final Payment is £3,867. Contract Term is 48 months. Promotion available on Alfa MiTo registered between 24th August and 30th September 2016. !Alfa Deposit Contribution only available in conjunction with Alfa Romeo Preferenza PCP. With Alfa Romeo Preferenza you have the option to return the vehicle and not pay the final payment, subject to the vehicle not having exceeded an agreed annual mileage (a charge of 6p per mile for exceeding 6,000 miles per annum in this example) and being in good condition. Finance subject to status. Guarantees may be required. Terms and Conditions apply. At participating Dealers only. Alfa Romeo Financial Services, PO BOX 4465, Slough, SL! ORW. We work with a number of creditors including Alfa Romeo Financial Services.

THAMES MOTOR GROUP TUNBRIDGE WELLS, LONGFIELD ROAD, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, KENT TN2 3EY. TEL: 01892 549766 WWW.THAMESMOTORGROUP.CO.UK Fuel consumption figures for the new Fiat Tipo range in mpg (11100km): Urban 30.7 (9.2)- 70.6 (4.0); Extra Urban 56.5 (5.0) -94.2 (3.0); Combined 44.8 (6.3)-83.1 (3.4). C0 2 emissions 147 - 89 g/km. Fuel consumption and CO, figures based on standard EU tests for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results. "Promotion available on Fiat Tipo LOUNGE 1.4 95HP (including option of Electroclash paint at £550) registered between 1st August and 30th September 2016. Customer deposit is £3,549. Optional Final Payment is £7,879. Contract Term is 24 months . With Fiat i-Deal PCP you have the option to return the vehicle and not pay the final payment, subjec t to the vehicle not having exceeded an agreed annual mileage (a charge of 6p per mile for exceeding 10,000 miles per annum in this example) and being in good condition. Finance subject to status. Guarantees may be required. Terms and Conditions apply. At participating dealers only. Fiat Financial Services, PO BOX 4465, Slough , SU ORW. We work with a number of creditors inc luding Fiat Financia l Services. Tipo EASY 1.4 has the lowest starting price (OTR) in C-segment on 2.8 .16. Vi si t www.fiat.co.uk/amore for more info.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

90 ■ MOTORING NEWS

The Uber self-drive Volvo is en route to making us all safer SWEDISH car maker Volvo has announced it will partner with ride-sharing company Uber to develop the future of autonomous driving cars.

The joint project, which will look to produce fully autonomous vehicles, will see base vehicles manufactured by Volvo and then bought by Uber.

Each company is putting forward $300million USD [just under £230million sterling].

Hakan Samuelsson, President and Chief Executive of Volvo Cars, said: “Volvo is one of the most progressive and contemporary car makers in the world.

“It is a leader in the development of active safety and autonomous drive technology, and possesses an unrivalled safety credibility.

VOLVO ARCHITECTURE The XC90 is in the frame

Wednesday 7th September 2016

“We are very proud to be the partner of choice for Uber, one of the world’s leading technology companies. This alliance places Volvo at the heart of the current technological revolution in the automotive industry.”

The new car will be based on Volvo’s modular Scalable Product Architecture, which is one of the latest car frameworks in the world.

The current-generation XC90 uses the platform, as do the S90 and V90 cars.

Travis Kalanick, Uber’s Chief Executive, said: “More than one million people die in car accidents every year. These are tragedies that self-driving technology can help solve, but we can’t do this alone. That’s why our partnership with a great manufacturer like Volvo is so important. Volvo is a leader in vehicle development and best in class when it comes to safety.

“By combining the capabilities of Uber and Volvo we will get to the future faster, together.”

LIMITED EDITION LUXURY Aston will only produce 99 Vanquish Zagato Volantes

Yet more Aston muscle ASTON MARTIN has debuted its stunning Vanquish Zagato Volante at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey, California.

It comes after huge interest was shown in its partner, the Aston Martin Zagato Coupe.

Limited to a run of just 99 cars, the Zagato is the newest car in a collaboration that stretches over six decades.

Previous models include the DB4 GT Zagato race car of 1960, and the DB7 Vantage Zagato of 2002.

Powered by a V12 engine producing 592bhp, the Zagato’s 0-60 mph time is estimated to be around 3.7 seconds.

Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, said: “Just like the coupe, we have emphasised the way surfaces change and intersect to create a muscular form.

“We’ve endeavoured to create an elegant,

flowing shape that really works to emphasise the car’s sculpted rear haunches.

“The Vanquish Zagato Volante illustrates the ways in which Aston Martin design can evolve in collaboration with such a trusted and longstanding partner.

“Vanquish Zagato Volante continues Aston Martin’s new century of innovation and creativity, strengthening the association between these great automotive marques in the process.”

The car features ‘bladed’ LED rear lights which echo those used on the Aston Martin Vulcan hypercar. A bespoke folding hood is hidden under the rear deck, while carbon-fibre sills sit around the lower half of the car’s body.

The Volante has a unique ‘Z’ quilt pattern stitch on the seats and door sections, with the Zagato trademark embossed on the headrests.

Customer deliveries are set to start in 2017.

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94  WHAT’S ON SEVEN DAYS OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCE

WHATS ON WITH THE

Eileen Leahy Local events

A DAY AMONG THE DAHLIAS Debuting at Pashley Manor this week >> WEDNESDAY Tonight cheeky comic Jethro comes to the Assembly Hall with his unique style of witty, and sometimes bewildering, banter. Celebrating 40 years in the business, this tour sees Jethro at his laugh-out-loud best. For tickets, which cost £20, go to www. assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk The Dahlia Debut event is on all this week at Pashley Manor near Ticehurst. Gardening enthusiasts can see over 40 different species on display in various parts of the beautiful grounds, including the Elizabethan and Golden Gardens. Entrance costs £10 per person. For further information visit www. pashleymanorgardens.com If you’re looking to do something a little fun and original, then how about treating yourself to the last fish and chip supper on the Kent and East Sussex Railway? Running from Tenterden to Bodiam. it’s not only a very pleasant and picturesque way to spend an evening but you get fed Jethro too! Tickets cost £25.95 per person.

For more information visit: www.kesr.org.uk

Wednesday 7th September 2016

If you would like to see your events featured in our weekly What’s On pages please email info@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

>> THURSDAY Heritage Open Days kicks off this morning and runs until Sunday. This annual event gives people the opportunity to be a tourist in their own town as many interesting and historical buildings are opening their doors free of charge so you can have a mooch around. For more information read our special feature in Arts & Culture on page 96-97 or visit www.tunbridgewellsheritageopendays.org The Kent High Weald Partnership (KHWP) will be doing a demonstration workshop at Grosvenor and Hilbert Park today and showing visitors how to finish off the cutting and thinning of Appledore Wood. These workshops will be interactive so you can have a go, too! All tools and training are provided by the KHWP experts. Please dress appropriately for the weather. For more details visit www.khwp.org.uk The Sussex is holding its weekly pub quiz tonight. Entrance costs £2 and the winner takes all. See www.thesussextw.co.uk >> FRIDAY The Weald of Kent Craft and Design Show is on all weekend at Penshurst Place. So if you love browsing vintage crockery, colourful ceramics and handmade jewellery, or are in the market for some new artwork, then this is the fair for you. There will also be gardening producers present and lots of pop-up foodie stalls. To book tickets go to www.ichf.co.uk All weekend at Knole there will be a special behind the scenes event where members of the stately home’s project team take visitors on a special tour through the showroom spaces which are currently being refurbished or opened up for the first time in hundreds of years. Each tour group is limited to ten spaces. Please refer to the website for more information or to book go to www.nationaltrust.org/knole

>> SATURDAY The Pickering Cancer Drop-In Centre is holding a fundraising afternoon tea party today at 3pm. The venue is the picturesque Court Lodge Estate in Lamberhurst, where guests can enjoy a cup of tea – or glass of fizz – with their delicious sandwiches, cakes and scones. They will also be able to walk around the beautiful Pulham-designed gardens.

Entrance costs £35 and tickets can be purchased from www.courtlodgeestate.co.uk The Tonbridge Town Medieval Fayre and Heritage Weekend takes place today and tomorrow from 10am. The event is now in its 8th year and takes place on the lawn of Tonbridge Castle. It is free and you can enjoy a host of 15th-century-inspired entertainment, including Medieval re-enactments and ambient music courtesy of the Living History Group. For more information please visit www.tmbc.gov.uk Poult Wood is hosting a Golf Family day. This new event aims to offer families and friends the chance to enjoy a round on the nine-hole golf course and is open to both novice and experienced players. Tickets cost just £10 per group of four, one of whom must be under 16. For more information or to book tickets call: 01732 364039. >> SUNDAY If you want to experience an enjoyable afternoon of classic big band music, and do your bit for charity, then make sure you book tickets for the More Miller Magic Show at the Assembly Hall today at 3pm. The 17-piece orchestra, which is headed up by octogenarian Terry Steel, will play a medley of Glenn Miller and West End musical hits and there will be a collection in the interval for the Royal British Legion.

Recreate the magic of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book by visiting his childhood home at Bateman’s near Burwash. There are a Sarah number of childMillican friendly activities as

GO BROW-SING Through street photography at Trinity Gallery well as a lovely café in which you can take tea. For more information visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/batemans Tonbridge Town Team’s Dragon Boat Race takes place today on the River Medway from 10am. This is the fourth time the town has hosted this fundraising race and each year it gets bigger and better! There are a series of heats before the big race, which should take place just before 4pm.

The Medieval Festival will be still going on so there will be plenty of street food and entertainment to keep you occupied during the day. For more information visit: www.tonbridge-ourtown.org.uk >> MONDAY Starting today at Trinity Theatre is the Street Photographer Exhibition by Andrew Mason. All the images are shot in black and white and capture both personal poignant moments and more public ones, which makes for a fascinating insight into human behaviour. For more information visit www.trinitytheatre.net The hop walks at Scotney Castle continue all this week. Visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy ambling through the hop fields, checking out the drying rooms and then enjoying a sample of the estate’s delicious brew. If you’re a fan of beer then turn to page 78-79 for our special on

WHAT’S ON 

A ROUND-UP OF THIS WEEK’S MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Paul Dunton

the history of hop-picking. www.nationaltrust.org/scotneycastle Sarah Millican comes to the Assembly Hall this evening at 8pm. The Geordie girl is known for her sharp, observational wit and funny turns on the BBC’s Live at the Apollo and Would I Lie To You? Tickets cost £25. >> TUESDAY With the children back at school, now is the perfect time to indulge in the Seven Wonders of the Weald Tour. Stops on this picturesque circuit include Chiddingstone and Scotney Castles, Kent & East Sussex Railway, Biddenden Vineyards and Thackeray’s Michelin-starred restaurant in Tunbridge Wells. For more information and group ticket deals see: www.sevenwonders.org.uk There’s always something interesting to discover at Riverhill Himalayan Gardens. Whether it’s an artistic workshop, a walk around the gorgeous grounds with one of the horticultural experts or even trying to spot the fabled yeti in the woods, it guarantees a good day out. For entry fees see: www.riverhillgardens.co.uk

WORTH THE TRIP:

Dragon Boat Race, Bewl Water September 10

The must-read guide to what’s on musically for the week ahead… www.paulduntonandguests.com

Live music THE local music scene never sleeps and as we move into September there are more wonderful gigs and concerts to be enjoyed. My picks of the week are as follows: The jazz series continues this Thursday night with the excellent Project 5 headlining on the Pantiles Bandstand. The band are renowned for their soulful and funky grooves and are a fantastic live act.

Night Beats are an edgy and vibrant psychedelic R ’n’ B-influenced band from the USA touring the UK at present. They will be at The Forum this Friday night and are not to be missed!

For blues lovers I highly recommend the superb Dave Jackson Duo at The Cross Keys Pub this Friday night, and for Jazz Piano fans Ed Watts is at the Scallywag café.

There are plenty of fantastic live acts on Saturday, with Groove Agents at The Grey Lady, The Harveys at The Royal Oak and Mick Mepham at The Beau Nash, and if you are partial to a bit of hip-hop, pop along to the Rusthall Street Jam which features an array of deeply talented local rappers, including Will B, J Rista, Li Sterling and many more.

THE TUNBRIDGE WELLS FORUM

Doors 7.30pm, entry price variable, event information and tickets at www.twforum.co.uk

FRIDAY Night Beats SATURDAY The Melting Pot

SUNDAY Lo Behold! Abi Hudson, Peter Mercer TUESDAY No More Vertigo, Miar Murphy, Annie Chew, The Pioneers WEDNESDAY Ian Knapp, Poppy Raine THE ASSEMBLY HALL THEATRE

Crescent Road, information on times and tickets at www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk

95

THE ROYAL OAK

Prospect Road, open all day, free entry, music from 8pm onwards

SATURDAY The Harveys MONDAY Open Mic Night THE BEAU NASH INN

Mount Ephraim, open all day, free entry, music from 8.30pm till late

SATURDAY Mick Mepham SCALLYWAG CAFE

45 Mount Ephraim, see venue for ticket information

WEDNESDAY Carradine’s Cockney Singalong FRIDAY Jazz piano with Ed Watts SATURDAY Musical Cabaret Murder Mystery WEDNESDAY The Naked Jazz Jam

SATURDAY Thank You for the Music SUNDAY More Miller Magic

CASSIDY’S BAR

MUSIC ON THE PANTILES BANDSTAND

Castle Street, open all day, free entry music from 8.30pm till late

8pm-10pm live music on The Bandstand, free to attend, donations welcomed

THURSDAY Jazz series: Project 5

FRIDAY Insane Society Dave Jackson

THE CROSS KEYS

St John’s Road, open all day, free entry, music from 8pm, website www.crosskeystw.co.uk

WEDNESDAY Sonny’s Jazz: Paul & the Nocasters with guests FRIDAY Dave Jackson Acoustic Blues Duo MONDAY TWURPS Ukulele Beginners’ Session WEDNESDAY Sonny’s Jazz: Refer to venue website above

RUSTHALL STREET JAM 2

Southwood Road Park, Rusthall, TN4 8UX 1pm-7pm SATURDAY Free entry but donations to the Rusthall Skatepark welcome. Food and drink available.

The 19th annual Dragon Boat Race takes place today at Bewl Water. If you’ve never been then what are you waiting for? It’s a great day out for all the family which sees crews of 16 paddlers (plus a drummer) race in Chinesestyle Dragon boats over a 250-metre course to raise money for charity. For more information visit www.bewlwater.co.uk

Straight Minded Records Presents…

Hatter (Rum Com), Will.B, Kayncee, J.Rista, Earny Baits, Li Sterling (Tenbag Banditz), ATP JOK3R and Open Mic competition THE GREY LADY MUSIC LOUNGE

The Pantiles, Doors 7.15pm, entry £6/£7, websites www.pdag.co.uk + www.thegreylady.co.uk

FRIDAY Miss D & The Loop SATURDAY Groove Agents

Wednesday 7th September 2016

96 ■ ARTS & CULTURE

Discover the hidden historical gems in and around our towns From tomorrow (Thursday) until Sunday September 11 there will be a series of free Heritage Open Days taking place in Tunbridge Wells and the surrounding area. One of the event’s organisers, Pat Wilson, tells the Times about some of the unique and fascinating historical finds visitors can discover on their doorstep courtesy of this annual event

H

ERITAGE Open Days have been happening for almost a quarter of a century. They are organised nationally every year by English Heritage to celebrate England’s architecture and culture by offering free access to properties and gardens that are either not usually open to the public, or would normally charge an entrance fee.

This year there’s more than ever to see and do in West Kent, and particularly in Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge.

In essence, Heritage Days are your chance to look inside the surviving great houses of your area, visit the historic churches and castles – and discover more quirky things, such as the former opera house and a working windmill.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

The big coup for this year in Tunbridge Wells is Mabledon, the childhood home of Decimus Burton. Lying on Southborough and Tonbridge border, it was designed and built by his father, James.

Other grand houses opening up their doors include Salomons, Southborough, which boasts a fascinating museum and interesting 19th-century laboratories.

Another new venue is The Skinners’ School, which is welcoming people to browse around. One thing to look out for is its selection of 19th-century punishment books!

As usual there will be a number of conducted tours taking place over the four-day period, and one that has proved to be very popular over the years is backstage at the Opera House in Mount

‘The big coup for this year in Tunbridge Wells is Mabledon, the childhood home of Decimus Burton’ MABLEDON HOUSE Open Day Sunday

Pleasant Road. Although it’s now a pub it was the predecessor to Glyndebourne and still provides a full opera once a year.

There are also churches galore to explore. For stained glass enthusiasts there are the nationally-celebrated High Victorian Burne Jones windows at Speldhurst, and Chagall’s modernist memorials to a drowned girl at All Saints’ Church in Tudelely.

Just down the road at Capel there are some rare 13th-century wall paintings to enjoy at the normally closed St Thomas a Becket parish church.

Memorials and mementoes are everywhere, including Princess Victoria’s ‘personal’ seat at King Charles the Martyr Church by The Pantiles (timely with Young Victoria dominating our TV screens) and archives of Edith Cavell at St Thomas’s Church in Southborough.

In addition, there are a number of tours and outings on offer. At the Woodbury Park Cemetery visitors can see ornate tombs of heroes of the Empire or Victorian dignitaries – which include

Jane Austen’s brother. You can also take a steam train ride on the Spa Valley Railway along to High Rocks, which boasts eight acres of sandstone rock – free to explore.

Or you can get right down into the sandstone and mud courtesy of the Southborough Archaeological Society, who will take you to their dig site just off Vauxhall Lane to find out what our Neolithic ancestors were up to.

There’s also the working windmill in Cranbrook to look around, and not far away you can watch prize-winning blacksmith Michael Hart demonstrating his skills at his Horsmonden forge.

OPEN-AIR ELEGANCE We have a treasure trove of parks and gardens

ARTS & CULTURE ■

97

A DAY AT THE OPERA HOUSE Take a tour of the circles and boxes

OTHER HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING Friends of Tunbridge Wells Cemetery – a historical presentation of Tunbridge Wells Cemetery. Kent & Sussex Crematorium and Cemetery, Benhall Mill Road, Tunbridge Wells TN2 5JJ

Tunbridge Wells developer William Willicombe, with an attractive garden.

Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UU Somerhill House/The Schools at Somerhill – a chance to view this Grade I listed Jacobean Mansion (1611), which is the second largest Jacobean house in Kent.

Somerhill, Tudeley Road, Tonbridge TN11 0NJ St Stephens Church, Tonbridge – St Stephens Church dates back to 1842, when the railway arrived in the south of Tonbridge. St Stephens Church, Waterloo Road, Tonbridge TN9 2SW The Oast Theatre – see what happens at this local theatre.

It’s not just acting! This year the art group will be holding an open-air exhibition.

London Road, Tonbridge TN10 3AN

NO PERSUASION NEEDED Dressed for a Jane Austen tour

Guided Jane Austen-themed walking tours – these will take place at 11am on Saturday and Sunday and start at the Castle Gateway in Tonbridge Tonbridge Castle, Castle Street, TN9 1BG Past and Present Tunbridge Wells – a drop-in event where visitors can see photographs and artefacts Tunbridge Wells Library, Mount Pleasant Road, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1NS Rusthall and World War Two (1939-1945) – a display by Rusthall Local History Group titled ‘From Workhouse to Farm, and Much More’ St Paul’s Parish Church, Langton Road, Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells TN4 8XD

Bellringing at St Margaret’s, Horsmonden – an opportunity to ascend the church tower, tour the belfry, and watch the bell-ringers in action, with the possibility of taking part.

St Margaret’s Church, Horsmonden, Near Tunbridge Wells TN12 8EJN Dunk’s Green Free Church – the Church, built in 1837, is the last surviving rural chapel in the Kent Downs – an area of outstanding beauty.

Long Mill Lane, Dunk’s Green, Near Tonbridge, TN11 9SF But these are just a few of the events taking place this week. To find out about more and to book tours visit www.tunbridgewellsheritage opendays.org and www.tmbc.gov.uk/events

Willicombe House – the elegant home of the major Victorian Wednesday 7th September 2016

98 � PUZZLES SUDOKU & JIGSAW SUDOKU

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Wednesday 7th September 2016

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All solutions to be published in next week’s paper

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THE GREAT OUTDOORS ■

Kent Barker Country matters

After taking a leap from London, the plan was to start a new life in the countryside and a career as a famous author. Instead I acquired a dog and part-time work managing a community orchard. You can read these experiences on my blog: www.kentcountrymatters.blogspot.co.uk

The hazards of tractors in the vines GRAPE EXPECTATIONS French vineyards

M

YRTLE and I had ventured up this dirt road which climbed steeply away from the valley floor. Traffic is extremely rare on these tracks that criss-cross the hills around the village, making walking on them with the dog a delight. However small the roads around me in Kent, there’s always the likelihood of traffic.

In the hilly country of the Herault in southern France the chances of seeing a vehicle are remote.

And if you do it’s likely to be a wine grower on the way to tend some sloping vineyard that somehow clings precariously to the side of the mountain.

But as we turned the corner a white van rattled down the road towards us, raising clouds of

dust into the hot morning air. And no sooner had it passed than a pair of pickups in convoy came up from behind, forcing us to step into the woodland on the side of the road. The men driving looked preoccupied and 500 metres further on we discovered why. They had stopped, blocking the track, and were gathered in a huddle peering at the underside of a vehicle a little way down the slope.

It took a minute to realise this wasn’t some abandoned rusting relic, but a relatively new tractor – on it’s side in the vineyard.

These special vehicles have extremely narrow wheelbases in order pass between the vines, and it must have overbalanced as it turned at the end of the row that it had been spraying.

It didn’t look as if anyone was hurt – except perhaps the pride of the driver – so we walked on, but it did make me realise just how tough it is growing grapes up in the hills around St Chinian – at least compared to the flat plains down towards Beziers and the sea. There they have room to manoeuvre those huge great mechanical pickers up and down the rows of vines, which are grown

along a wire. Up round the village where I stay, just about everything has to be picked by hand.

At first glance it seems amazing that vines grow in this terrain at all. There’s no earth to speak of, just a covering of flinty rocks known as schist.

But actually grapes positively thrive on hard terrain (much of the Bordeaux wine is grown on sand, gravel and round, flat pebbles) forcing the plant to search for moisture and nourishment.

The problem is that in an age of mechanisation it’s much more expensive to do everything by hand. A century ago the horse or mule provided the muscle power in the vineyards of the Languedoc, and these animals were equally stable whether they were on the flat or on a hill.

As we saw, a tractor pulling a sprayer – or a plough or mower – is a different matter. And mechanical picking is vastly cheaper than doing it by hand. Added to which there’s an increasing labour shortage in villages like Berlou – one of the 20 that make up the St Chinian Appellation D’origine Controlee (AOC).

There’s little to keep young people here, and it’s a hard life being a vigneron so, with EU offering grants to cut overproduction a few years back a surprisingly large number of vineyards were grubbed up. For a while it even looked as if the village wine co-operative might go out of business.

Fortunately there’s been a revival of interest in Languedoc wines generally, and the more

99

specialist St Chinian ones in particular. Quality has been improved and new independent domaines have started up.

The advantage for these independents is that they often produce secondary ‘vin de pays’, preferring not to be bound by the rigid AOC system that determines exactly which blend of grapes must be used, and almost always forbids single varietal wines. But not all the independents are thriving. One in the village closed its doors last year – though the two brothers who owned it have yet to remove the faded ‘ouvert’ or open sign from the front. We heard there’d been a rather public fraternal bust-up, with one wanting to keep going while the other was already grubbing up the vines on their joint parcel of land immediately in front of the village church.

It’s hard to assess the quality of two other independents in Berlou, their Caves never seemed to be open for tasting. But the third is definitely impressive. Decanter magazine described Domaine La Grange Léon as one ‘to keep an eye on’ with its emphasis on the ‘purity and expression of fruit’.

Unfortunately few St Chinian wines are really cheap – most sell locally for between six and ten euros a bottle.

The irony is you can often find the same wines in the big supermarkets in northern France for half that.

Wednesday 7th September 2016

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