Times of Tunbridge Wells 2nd February 2022

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Wednesday February 2 | 2022

Saturday 5th February 10am to 1pm or Wednesday 16th March 9am to 11am Meet staff and pupils and tour our School’s superb facilities, including our award-winning 25m indoor swimming pool, state-of-the-art Fitness Suite and dedicated Sixth Form Centre.

Tunbridge Wells remains tourist Cassidys KITCHEN 1823 Freehouse

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hotspot despite impact of Covid

Detective in charge of the Fuller case wins top police job

By Jonathan Banks THE Lead investigator in the case of Heathfield murderer David Fuller has been elected as the new president of the Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA).

Chief Superintendent Paul Fotheringham of Kent Police was voted as the new PSA head at the meeting of the association’s National Executive Committee last month.

Homicide

been estimated to be around £165million, with income from tourism falling from £295million in 2019 to just £130million in 2020.

Using the Cambridge Economic Impact Model – the industry tool for measuring the effects of visitors to a given area – Visit Kent found that the decline in visitors in Tunbridge Wells also saw a 34 per cent fall in the number of jobs in the tourism sector, including in restaurants, hotels and pubs.

But Tunbridge Wells ranks as among the top tourist destinations in the county coming third for chosen locations for day trippers.

Canterbury, with its cathedral and medieval streets, had the second

Ch Supt Fotheringham served the first half of his time in the force in local policing and the second half in specialist crime, including protecting vulnerable people and homicide investigation.

But it is ‘Operation Sandpiper’ – the investigation into convicted murderer and sex offender David Fuller PAUL FOTHERINGHAM – that he is most known for, after the case made national and international headlines.

The investigation led to the solving of the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce who were both killed in Tunbridge Wells in 1987.

The 34-year unsolved ‘bedsit murders’ finally came to a conclusion after Ch Supt Fotheringham’s team identified through forensic evidence Fuller’s brother, who was on police file, as a potential relative of the killer.

It was then the detective discovered

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TOURISTS Events like Jazz on The Pantiles make Tunbridge Wells the county’s third most popular destination for visitors

Town on road to recovery as £165million cost to tourism revealed

By Richard Williams TUNBRIDGE Wells remained the third most visited district in Kent for day trips, despite the pandemic, according to a report on tourist numbers to the area.

The borough saw about 2.3 million people visit in 2020, and combined, they spent around £77million during their trip.

But Covid-19 has cost businesses in the area more than £165million in lost revenue in the first year of the pandemic alone, according to the Kent Tourism Economic Impact Study 2020.

Published last week by Visit Kent— the body that promotes the county to visitors — the report has laid bare the true cost the pandemic on the shops, restaurants, hotels, attractions and car

parks in the area.

It reveals, unsurprisingly, that visitor numbers to Tunbridge Wells fell by half during the first year of the pandemic compared to 2019.

This 48.6 per cent decrease in tourists

‘We will see the tourism industry in our area bounce back better than before’ saw day trips to the town and wider borough plummet from 4.4 million to just 2.3 million in 2020.

Overnight stays also fell from 312,000 in 2019 to just 144,600 due to the various lockdowns and government restrictions.

The cost to the local economy has

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Wednesday February 2 | 2022

this week… Tourism to bounce back after £165m Covid hit Continued from front page

FLAGSHIP PROJECT: Things are taking shape inside the Amelia Scott cultural centre P6

GRAND PLAN: Celebrity architect Carlos Gris is building the foundations of a local reputation by entering the Times Business Awards P8

OWL BETTER: An injured tawny owl has flown free after the Folly Wildlife Rescue Centre repaired her beak. P10

FAB AT 40: Trinity Theatre’s new artistic director issues an open invitation to the centre’s big fortieth birthday programme. P20

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highest number of day trippers of the 12 districts in Kent, with the city 3.8 million tourists in 2020, and those people spent around £101million during their stay.

But topping the list was Dartford, largely due to its Bluewater Shopping Centre that helped the district attract 4.5 million people in 2020 who spent around £159million.

The report also found that around half of all visitors (47 per cent) that come to Tunbridge Wells do so for a holiday, with the average stay in the area being 3-4 days with people spending £220 during the trip.

People visiting friends and relatives accounted for 48 per cent of trips to the borough, while more than 22,000 people came from overseas.

Just 2 per cent of visits to the area were for business reasons.

Reliant Across Kent the pandemic has had a dramatic result on tourism.

Day trips to the county fell from 61 million to just 31 million in 2020 and overnight trips in Kent fell from 4.8 million to 2.1 million.

The value of tourism to the economy in the county plunged from £4.1billion in 2019 to £1.6billion in 2020 – a £2.5billion hit to the county’s businesses reliant on visitors.

Visit Kent chief executive, Deirdre Wells, called for ‘long-term support’ from the government following the release of the figures last week.

She said: “After a strong performance in 2019, our sector’s bold plans for 2020 were utterly disrupted by the Covid-19 crisis.

“This latest research is a stark demonstration of the direct impact on Kent’s brilliant tourism, leisure, and hospitality sector, which is one of our county’s biggest employers, and the life and soul of our high streets.

“The findings from 2020’s Economic Impact Study demonstrate exactly why our industry continues to need long-term support from central government, to enable a sustainable destination recovery.

She added that the county was ‘in a good position to recover from the pandemic, particularly given the strong level of support from local residents for our visitor economy businesses’.

She continued: “However, notwithstanding this support, it is likely that it will be many years – maybe until 2025 – before the industry recovers from its own version of long-Covid.”

However, the first signs that visitor numbers will rebound swiftly now that nearly all Covid measures have been relaxed, are beginning to show.

Already a number of venues in Tunbridge Wells are reporting customer levels are returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Findings Emma Martin, Operations Manager at One Warwick Park Hotel and its restaurant STEAK, told the Times: “One Warwick Park Hotel has seen occupancy levels bounce back to very near pre-pandemic levels since August 2021 boosted by weddings and family gatherings.

“At STEAK, January diner covers were higher than those seen in the autumn last year, at a time when usually restaurant bookings are seasonally lower, suggesting a return to eating out confidence.”

Cllr David Scott, head of Economic Development at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, said he is hopeful the tourism industry will bounce back.

He said: “The report’s findings won’t come as a surprise to anyone; it is difficult reading with

Head of Fuller investigation appointed to top police post Continued from front page the true extent of offending by David Fuller, who is now serving two whole life sentences, who abused more than 100 bodies in hospital mortuaries.

Proud The newly elected PSA president alongside Chief Superintendent Harvi Khatkar of West Midlands Police who was elected vice president, will represent superintendents and chief superintendents in 49 forces across the UK. Ch Supt Fotheringham said: “I am extremely

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DESERTED The Pantiles in April 2020

SUPERGROUP Paul Fotheringham with Harvi Khatkar [left] and Paul Griffiths [right]

proud to have been elected into this role, which has unique influence across policing, not only impacting on individual members, but across the entire service and the wider public.

“It is a role with huge responsibility but great privilege, representing members across England and Wales and other affiliated colleagues. I am determined to make a difference and will focus on building the fantastic work already underway, advocating for our members and pushing for positive change in policing.

“I would like to personally thank Paul Griffiths for the exceptional work he has led during his six years as vice president and president of the association. He has left a legacy of positivity which I look forward to continuing.”

Current President Paul Griffiths OBE added: “I’d like to extend my huge congratulations to both Paul and Harvi. We will have a fantastic team to lead our association for the next three years.

“It has been a great honour and privilege to lead the association, following on from my time as vice president.

“I am extremely proud of the difference we have made for our members and for the wider Service and am confident that Paul and Harvi will further grow this impact with passion and enthusiasm.”

the significant decline by 57 per cent of direct expenditure in the borough being a huge blow to local businesses.”

He continued: “The Council has sought to be as supportive as possible during this period, however these impacts put into perspective the £52million of support distributed to businesses to help DEIRDRE WELLS them through the pandemic.

“We recognised the need for a strong exit from the pandemic and accordingly progressed with delivery of the Amelia Scott centre which will be an important new visitor attraction that will see up to 450,000 visitors per year attracted to the area.

“Hopefully as lockdown restrictions lift, we will see the tourism industry in our area bounce back better than before as the public show their support to local businesses.”

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Wednesday February 2 | 2022

NEWS IN BRIEF

Witnesses sought after masked man incidents POLICE are appealing for information after a man wearing a black mask confronted two women in Tunbridge Wells.

The incidents happened last Wednesday [January 26] at 11.10am in Nevill Park and 1pm near Broadwater Down.

In both cases the man was reported to have been committing an indecent act.

Officers believe the same suspect is repsonsible for both incidents who has been described as being five feet and seven inches tall and wearing a black hat or hood, a black face mask and a green or khaki coat.

Inspector Ian Jones of Kent Police said: “Investigators understand there were a number of people in both areas at the time and we would like to speak to anybody who witnessed a man acting suspiciously or indecently.”

Witnesses are urged to contact Kent Police on 01622 604100.

Forest parking charge PARKING charges are to be introduced in the Ashdown Forest this summer, after its funding was reduced last year.

As revealed by the Times in December, the forest has suffered cuts to its support

by East Sussex County Council.

Charges are expected to be introduced this summer.

Chief executive of the forest’s Conservators, James Adler, said once the ‘bedrock’ of its income was assured, the money would be put the money into a repair programme.

“We realise that a change such as this will not be universally popular, but we have to raise money to care for this precious place,” he said.

Safe play in Cranbrook A NEW £30,000 play park has been opened by the parish council in Cranbrook after the previous apparatus used by children was deemed ‘dangerous’.

The equipment at Ball Field was commissioned after a report produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) in September that said the previous wooden multiplay equipment should be replaced on safety grounds.

Kim Fletcher, Chairman of Cranbrook & Sissinghurst Parish Council, said: “The new equipment will not rot like the last one and will be harder to vandalise.”

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Tonbridge MP first to throw hat in the ring to be next PM

By Richard Williams TOM Tugendhat has been the first to hint that he would stand in any future leadership contest for the Conservative Party.

The MP for Tonbridge & Malling told reporters at the weekend it would be a ‘huge privilege’ to be PM, in the first open indication from a sitting Tory parliamentarian that they would run if the top job became open.

It comes as Boris Johnson remains under pressure over a series of ‘gatherings’ at Number 10, which have been the subject of a report this week by top civil servant Sue Gray and that are currently under investigation by the Met Police.

Mr Tugendhat, who is currently the Chair of the Commons’ Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told Times Radio on Saturday: “I think I’m making it pretty clear that I think that it’s up to all of us to put ourselves forward. And it’s up to the electorate, in the first case parliamentary colleagues, and in the second case the party, to choose.

Colleagues “I think it’s a position of absolute integrity to say that of course you should offer yourself to the electorate if you think you can do it. Of course you should talk to colleagues and see if you can get a group together, and if you can get a group together you should go for it.

“Now I haven’t been canvassing support so I don’t know if I’d be able to get the first group together – you’ve got to get a group first. But if you could, of course you should have a go.”

On being Prime Minister, he said: “It would be a huge privilege. It’s one of those questions that I know many people ask and some people, some of my colleagues, are coy about and I don’t understand why.

“I don’t think you should be embarrassed to want to serve your country. I was very proud to serve my country in the armed forces and I got to the highest rank I could so that I could have the best effect that I could. And I was very proud to

PRIME MINISTERIAL Tom Tugendhat has said being PM would be a ‘huge privilege’ serve as a diplomat around the world.”

His statement comes as national newspapers have suggested the former army officer is gaining support among backbench Conservatives in Westminster as a replacement for Boris Johnson if the PM steps down following the ongoing row about parties at Number 10.

According to the Guardian, centrist Tories, those that sit politically on the left of the centre right party, have named the 48-year-old as their favourite to replace Mr Johnson, despite the Tonbridge MP having no ministerial experience.

“Tom would be my first choice,” one former cabinet minister told the newspaper. “I think a lot of people think he would be the best chance for a fresh start with someone who has a lot of relevant experience and deep thinking.”

The nephew of Tory peer Lord Tugendhat and the son of a high court judge, the Kent MP has had a long and distinguished military career, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During the fall of Kabul, he was very vocal at the chaos of the evacuation and the approach of world leaders, especially US President Joe Biden,

giving a personal and impassioned speech in the Commons that was widely praised.

But Mr Tugendhat is not the bookmakers’ favourite, odds on him being PM have come down from 33-1 before the party scandals to as low as 7-1.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak (2-1) and Foreign Affairs Secretary Liz Truss (5-1) still remain the bookies’ favourite, although neither have said they would stand if Boris Johnson were to go.

CALVERLEY CALLED IT FIRST THE Times columnist Calverley was ahead of the national press in predicting the rise of Tom Tugendhat as a potential new PM. The mischievous wordsmith wrote only last month how he believed the Tonbridge MP was in the running for the top job and even placed £500 on his prediction at odds of 33-1.

See this week’s Calverley’s column on our letters page on page 17.

Hawkhurst man’s quest to end long Covid using treatment he pioneered for horses

By Robert Forrester A FORMER Met police officer from Tunbridge Wells is now on a quest to end Long Covid using a device he has spent 20 years developing to bring injured horses back to full health.

Ian Thirkwell from Hawkhurst developed his ARC Microtech technology after stepping down from Scotland Yard and reading his wife’s PhD research on microcurrent therapy.

Symptoms “I was very sceptical at first,” he said.

“Apparently every cell in your body communicates to other cells using a microcurrent and this research was saying these currents could be used to treat illness.”

He said after being convinced by the peer reviewed studies on the subject, he spent several years developing a system that has become popular with the race horse industry.

“Irish horse trainer Willy Mullins asked if he could use it on two his animals that had sustained career-ending and life-threatening injuries,” said Mr Thirkwell. “It took about two years, but we nursed them back to full health.

These were horses there we were told could never race again.”

His device Arc Equine is now being used to treat

horses across the UK, but he decided to adapt it when Covid-19 struck and the Microtech team got involved in helping people treat coronavirus symptoms using his medically regulated and peer reviewed therapy.

“I was approached by a health care worker and two of her colleagues who had long Covid symptoms including anosmia and parosmia.

“These people either couldn’t smell, or everything had a disgusting aroma to it. This had been going on for months, but after treatment

they began feeling a lot better.”

Rechargeable and about the size of a small MP3 player the ‘Arc4Health’ device is worn in a band on the arm, leg or ankle and uses microcurrents to reduce inflammation and increase the rate of cell repair.

An estimated two million people in the TREATMENT UK have, or have had, Ian Thirkwell and long Covid, where [left] the symptoms persist for microcurrent device more than 12 weeks after infection.

Studies, including work carried out at the University of Glasgow, now suggest long Covid is, like arthritis, a chronic inflammatory condition, which is why microcurrent therapy might help.

“The biggest challenge at the moment is to get health service to take an interest in this technology.

“It has full regulatory approval and from the results we have seen and in other studies this could really make a difference to a lot of people’s lives,” said Mr Thirkwell.

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Record 40,000 patients now on waiting list as figures set to rise which was before the first cases of Omicron were reported in the UK. The new variant led to increased ‘Plan B’ restrictions and rocketing coronavirus cases across the area, with Tunbridge Wells seeing around 1,500 cases a week during the peak in January.

By Richard Williams A RECORD number of people remain on waiting lists for non-urgent treatment at Tunbridge Wells Hospital and at the Trust’s sister site Maidstone, figures show.

The most recent data published by NHS England, shows that waiting lists for non-urgent or life-threatening treatments such as knee and hip operations reached a new high at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW) of 39,341 in November. This is up from 38,775 from October’s figures.

Backlog

Treatment The latest data shows that the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment has also risen slightly from 72.7 per cent to 73.7 per cent. The operational standard is 92 per cent.

The longest waiting lists at MTW are for the Ophthalmology Service (eye treatments) with 8,434 patients waiting to be seen, and general surgery, including knee and hip operations, which has a backlog of 4,534 patients.

The average wait time for non-emergency treatment at MTW currently stands at 10 weeks.

MTW is currently getting through the waiting lists by admitting around 2,000 people a month for procedures and beginning treatment, to a further 6,886 patients that do not have to be admitted.

The figures come against a national backdrop of a record high of six million people waiting for treatment in England at the end of November.

The number of people admitted for routine treatment in hospitals in England in November was 276,535 – up 24 per cent from a year earlier (222,810), although this reflects lower-thanusual figures for November 2020, which were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tunbridge Wells praised for electric vehicle charging as Tonbridge rolls outs its plans

The equivalent figure for November 2019, a non-pandemic year, was 301,928.

NHS England said the number of people waiting more than a year for NHS treatment fell by 1.8 per cent in November compared with the previous month.

But the figures at the Trust could be set to rise further as the statistics, published in January, only show waiting times up until November,

This led to a slight increase in hospital admissions, although nowhere near the numbers seen during the height of the pandemic at the start of 2021.

NHS national medical director, Professor Stephen Powis, said: “Omicron has increased the number of people in hospital with Covid at the same time as drastically reducing the number of staff who are able to work.

“Despite this, once again, NHS staff pulled out all the stops to keep services going for patients – there have been record numbers of lifethreatening ambulance callouts, we have vaccinated thousands of people each day and that is on top of delivering routine care and continuing to recover the backlog.

“But staff aren’t machines and with the number of Covid absences almost doubling over the last fortnight and frontline NHS colleagues determined to get back to providing even more routine treatments, it is vital that the public plays their part to help the NHS by getting your booster vaccine, if you haven’t already.”

Crowborough’s injuries unit to reopen after charity warned it will cut funding

By Robert Forrester TUNBRIDGE Wells Borough Council (TWBC) has been commended for providing free electric car chargers while owners across the country face a ‘postcode lottery’ when it comes to using authority-owned charging points.

Figures obtained by British Gas show Tunbridge Wells was among just 21 councils across England and Wales that allow motorists to top up their batteries for free.

TWBC has a number of electric vehicle (EV) chargers in its car parks as well as a street charger on Mount Pleasant Road.

Drivers can use these devices to recharge for free, if they have paid for parking, but drivers in other areas are charged up to £4 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

Costs To charge a typical EV from flat to full at that rate would cost £240, the analysis found.

EV drivers without a driveway or off-street parking often rely on public charging points.

British Gas issued a warning over the ‘postcode lottery’ of fees after commissioning a survey of 2,000 motorists, which indicated one in three are nervous about switching to EVs due to charging costs.

The energy firm’s head of EV enablement, Lucy Simpson, said: “Currently, we have 21 progressive councils that have decided to support local EV adoption, so we would expect a greater uptake of EVs to come through in these areas than in councils where it is expensive to charge.

“If this continues, we risk leaving a huge number of drivers behind in the transition to electric cars.”

The survey comes as Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council [TMBC] has confirmed it is to install up to 32 electric vehicle charging points in

VISIT MP Nus Ghani with Richard Hallett at the MIU

By Victoria Roberts six of its car parks this spring.

They will be the first charging points installed in TMBC car parks and will provide charging facilities for residents and visitors to the area.

The car parks with the chargers will include Bradford Street, River Lawn Road, Sovereign Way North, and Upper Castle Fields.

TMBC’s Cabinet member for Environment and Climate Change, Cllr Robin Betts said: “It’s a real step forward to have electric vehicle charging points easily available to residents and visitors alike, which in turn I hope will encourage people to invest in electric and hybrid cars in the future.

“Working in partnership with Connected Kerb and KCC will be an important step in the challenge to meet our key climate change targets and responsibilities for the borough and the early rollout of the electric vehicle charging points signifies good progress.”

The announcement comes as the Department of Transport figures show a 57 per cent year on year increase in ultra-low emission vehicles licensed in Tonbridge & Malling with 1,142 cleaner cars on the roads.

THE Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) in Crowborough is to reopen this month after being closed in mid-August to redeploy staff to Uckfield MIU and Lewes Urgent Treatment Centre.

The facility is set to begin seeing patients again on Valentine’s Day (February 14) and comes after calls to reopen the unit from Wealden MP Nus Ghani and a community group that considered withdrawing its donations.

The temporary closure had helped the Sussex Community Foundation NHS Trust to ‘respond to the significant pressures the NHS has been experiencing this winter due to the high rates of Omicron within our communities.’ the Trust told the Times.

From February, the MIU will be open again from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week.

The news follows a visit to the site in January by the MP for Wealden, Nusrat Ghani, at the invitation of Friends of Crowborough Hospital (FOCH).

The community group had been pressuring Sussex Community Foundation NHS Trust to reopen the MIU and had even investigated the possibility of giving its funds to another provider.

The Friends now say they are ‘delighted’ with the news the centre is reopening.

“It was prudent for the Friends to suspend expenditure on any projects with the Trust while we clarified the potential costs of any alternative arrangements that might be required, including potential expenditure to enlarge and improve the facility, but we are delighted that this much valued and locally important urgent treatment service will soon be restored for the benefit of the local community,” said Richard Hallett MBE, vice president and trustee of FOCH.

Service He continued: “The Friends of Crowborough Hospital have never withdrawn co-operation from the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, and we have continued to work closely and collaboratively with all of the several NHS Trusts that provide services at Crowborough Hospital.

“In particular, we have worked collaboratively and closely with Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust throughout the extended closure of the MIU, seeking ways to support and encourage the re-opening of the service to local people.”

“This is a peaceful, nonpolitical community event: a coming together to reflect, pause, reclaim the night, and exchange ideas around safety, fear and the night sphere

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Town’s flagship cultural project takes

The Amelia Scott in the centre of Tunbridge Wells is set to open in the last week of April and it’s hoped it will attract nearly half a million visitors to Tunbridge Wells each year, so Victoria Roberts takes a look to find out what will be inside the new cultural centre…

AFTER ten years in development and over two years of building work in the middle of town, the Amelia arts and heritage centre based in the new Amelia Scott building on Monson Road is on track to be open to the public this spring.

Set for an opening date in the last week of April, the £21 million project is a joint venture of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC), Kent County Council, with National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England funding.

‘The Amelia Scott is one of the best things to happen to Tunbridge Wells in years’ The Amelia Scott building and the Amelia cultural centre within, are both named after the early 20th-century campaigner for women’s suffrage who was one of the first two women to be elected to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) in 1919.

Once it begins welcoming people inside, the Council hope the combined art gallery, museum, adult education centre and visitor hub is expected to bring around 450,000 visitors a year.

Despite having gone over budget from the original planned £13.2million, the Amelia project has enjoyed unanimous support from all the political parties at the Council.

Cllr Jane March, Conservative cabinet member for Culture and Leisure said: “We are delighted we have all party support. This is incredibly important for Tunbridge Wells as a town, as an

LISTED Some of the original features of the old museum remain

area, and for the Southeast. Culture is a real driver for our town.

“It is accessible for all. The Amelia should be part of our everyday life. We hope people will feel comfortable in here even if you’re not here for the Cllr Jane March culture but for the café, or the children’s room.”

Cllr Justine Rutland of the local Lib Dems added: “The Amelia Scott is one of the best things to happen to Tunbridge Wells in years.

“We Liberal Democrats are pleased to see the Amelia Scott finally opening, albeit well over the original £13.2million budget.

“We trust that it will be popular with residents and also draw visitors to our town who will want to stay, shop and eat out.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Hugo Pound who leads the Labour group continued: “The Labour Group of Councillors support the development of the Amelia Scott; all the available resources will hopefully be fully explored by many visitors.

“We want the Amelia Scott to be the starting point for people to spend time and money in the town and surrounding areas.

“It will need to be actively and widely marketed and not become a beautiful but empty space in the middle of town. The Council currently say they hope 400,000 people per year

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shape as its opening day approaches will visit – let’s hope that proves correct.”

Local traders, especially those near the site in Monson Road, are also keen to see the Amelia open.

“I am very excited about the spring opening of the Amelia centre and have been following the development of its beautiful building with great anticipation,” Claudia Wiegand of Monson Road based studio shop GLASS told the Times.

something different,” he said. “Since the traffic restrictions have come into place, we’ve noticed a downturn of through traffic on the road.

Having a destination on the road could make this a creative hub.”

Energy “I am sure the events, activities and workshops on offer will attract many artistically minded visitors and generate a wonderful influx of creative energy in this part of the town,” she added.

Meanwhile, at artists’ suppliers M. Saltmarsh, also in Monson Road, Jake Maher had seen an increase in interest in artistic activities due to the development.

“People are interested. A lot of people got activated during lockdown. They wanted to do

10 YEARS IN THE MAKING THE Amelia arts, heritage, culture and well-being centre will replace the original Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery, which was not fit for purpose, according to Cllr Jane March, who holds Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s [TWBC] Culture and Leisure portfolio.

The project was partly prompted by a long-term loan to the museum from the fifth Marquess of Camden’s will trust, in 2012.

Once the priceless Georgian and Regency portraits were on the premises, the museum’s limitations became apparent, and made the need for a solution urgent.

“There was light and heat; the collection had to go into a small office and the sun had to be restricted,” explained Cllr March.

“There were leaks in the roof in the room where we had the dolls’ house, and the

costumes collection as well. We had buckets on the floor!”

Meanwhile, the Kent Adult Education facilities were also in need of repair.

Given the situation, the TWBC leadership decided to look at the complex of buildings as an entire ‘island site’, surrounded on three sides by roads, and won the support of Kent County Council.

With national funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2015 followed and Arts Council England, in addition to funding from TWBC and KCC, the project got the final go-ahead in 2018.

Despite later budget troubles connected with Brexit and Covid causing the price to rise, the project has srecently ecured £1.4m funding from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) .

What’s inside the Amelia at the Amelia Scott?

THE NEW building will house Kent Adult Education (KAE) courses, the town’s museum, the library and local archives along with the local register office, a gallery, tourist information and café.

Meanwhile, in the children’s room, small visitors would be able to hide in cubbyholes or lie on the floor, looking up at the ‘night sky’ on the ceiling above.

There will also be a public accesible courtyard for people to relax wihtin the confines of the building.

The accessibility features of the building have also been designed to include everyone.

“Where there are steps, there is also a ramp or a lift,” said Cllr Jane March.

“We will also always have people walking around with a laptop who can help.”

The redesign had turned an outdoor waste space in the old complex into an integrated courtyard, where visitors will find a number of the seven specially commissioned artworks, starting with the courtyard gates, which tell the story of the Weald in wrought iron, explained Ms March.

Having moved out of Monson Road for the works, the museum and art gallery maintained a small exhibition space at Royal Victoria Place, but the brand new premises will allow curators to bring star objects and old favourites out of storage.

Chief among the celebrity turns on display when the Amelia opens will be paintings from the ‘Camden Collection’ including a Thomas Gainsborough, the 18th century landscape and portrait artist, and two by his contemporary, Joshua Reynolds.

The collection is on long-term loan to the museum from the trustees of the 5th Marquis Camden Will Trust.

BIBLIOPHILES Tunbridge Wells library will move from the shopping centre to the Amelia

Library The museum collections also cover the natural history and culture of the area.

There are many objects including toys, historical costume and the intricate wood work of Tunbridge Ware.

The local library, which also operated out of Royal Victoria Place during the building period, will return to Monson Road, much to the delight of local bookworms.

Local history resources, which had been temporarily relocated to other libraries, will return home, forming the archives, sitting alongside the local register office, where residents come to record births and deaths.

Meanwhile, the town visitor centre will serve those in search of up to the minute activities and attractions.

EDUCATING ADULTS

OLD MASTER A portrait by Thomas Gainsborough is in the museum’s collection as are many examples of Tunbridge Ware [below]

ON DISPLAY Some of the museum cabinets which are ready to be filled

ONE OF the original tenants of the old museum and arts complex, Kent Adult Education (KAE), is already listing arts courses at the Amelia in the week of the opening, and has signalled that the state of the art facilities will eventually include jewellery making and silversmithing.

As a Kent County Council (KCC) service, KAE courses offer Kent-based adult learning with a social dimension, both in terms of subjects and skills. The service is supported by a mixture of government funding, fees from those who can afford to pay, and additional funding from community partners which use KAE training to meet their objectives.

“We are very much looking forward to delivering courses from the Amelia Scott building when it opens. We are still in the planning phase but we do have a selection of courses at the Amelia that are available to book,” said Nick Foord, campaign manager of community learning and skills at KAE.

8

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Meet the man with Grand Designs on winning a Times Business Award

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

Ten chances to be shortlisted There are ten different categories at this year’s awards, ranging from Creative Business of the year award to Best Family Business.

And as long as you meet the criteria, there is no limit on how many categories your business can enter.

Start-Up Business of the Year Award – This award recognises new start-ups under two years old at the closing date for entries of February 14.

Creative Business of the Year – To recognise those businesses based on innovation and creative thinking.

Entrepreneur of the Year – The award for the most dynamic individuals who and are able to demonstrate significant success in growing their company.

Times Business Awards are in collaboration with:

Young Business Person of the Year – Entrants for this award must be aged 30 or under by the closing date on February 14, 2022 and need to show they have a clear vision/ strategy for their business.

Resilient Business – The winner of this category will have risen to the recent challenges of the pandemic and diversified or come up with a new business strategy to adopt to the ‘new normal’.

By Robert Forrester A DESIGNER who appeared on a hit Channel Four show to show off the Malaysian-style home he built for his aunt, is among the first entrants to the Times Business Awards 2022.

Carlos Gris who runs his design studio in Tunbridge Wells appeared on Grand Designs in September last year to show of the property he designed in Ely, Cambridgshire.

Best in Food and Drink – For those local business that provide truly remarkable food and/or drink in the area.

TV TALENT: Carlos [second right] with Grand Designs’ Kevin McCloud [far right] and Mr Gris’ family

Best Family Business of the Year – This category recognises those businesses that not only have the passion and commitment that comes with a company run by a family concern.

Best Business 25+ employees – For larger firms that have consistent growth and strong financial performance alongside an engaged workforce and a business plan.

Profile Since then, the architect and designer from Carlos Gris Studios has moved on to converting a cottage in Clarence Road in Tunbridge Wells to turn it into a three-story building into a homage to the town’s most prominent architect’s work, Decimus Burton.

Mr Gris says he is entering this year’s Times Business Awards to raise his profile locally after moving here two years ago.

He said: “A lot of my work is in the Middle

East, around 80 per cent, but I would like to make more of an impact here.

“I’ve lived in Tunbridge Wells for more than two years and fell in love with the place and I HOMAGE: An artist’s impression of Carlos’ Decimus Burton build

Pre-dinner drinks courtesy of Elysian Residences

would like to make more of an impact over here as I see some of the buildings that go up I don’t feel they do the town justice.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m turning the Clarence Road property into a homage to Decimus Burton as he had the largest influence on Tunbridge Wells.”

Early entries will be profiled

If you have not yet entered the Times Business Awards, it is not too late – the deadline of this years’ shortlist is not until February 14 – but if you get your entry in early, you might even find your business profiled in the Times.

If you are yet to apply, register your interest and choose your category please go to timesbusinessawards.co.uk or email info@ timesbusinessawards.co.uk Every year sees more and more organisations put themselves forward for the first time, but past winners and entrants are just as welcome.

If you have entered the awards before, you can still re-enter this year and it’s completely FREE.

Best Business 1-25 employees – Here we recognise owner-managers and SMEs employing up to 25 people that have maintained consistent growth and strong financial performance.

Outstanding Business of the Year – The ultimate award of all the categories will go to the business that can show outstanding initiative, boldness and imagination in the enterprise, as well as sound management practices.

business

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2022

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

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Why honesty is the best policy for estate agents With house prices now fetching record amounts (see Times front page January 26), Victoria Roberts speaks to Deborah Richards from Maddisons Residential in The Pantiles about the secret to working in such a hot property market - and giving back...

IT WAS a background in private banking and property development which led Deborah Richards to create an estate agency, but despite keeping to the principle that only the seller is her client, being ‘really honest’ is what keeps the firm on top.

Having renovated and sold many properties, Deborah says she came to estate agency without training in the business, but clear ideas about the balance of the relationship it had to be based on.

Client “I wanted to think about what I could do better, how I wish I had been treated in my property journey.

“Never forget the seller is your client, not the buyer.”

This meant not just pro-actively passing on all feedback given by potential buyers but being ‘really honest’ in doing so, she said.

Hearing what outsiders have said about your home can be difficult, she acknowledged.

However, she advised: “People have to detach from it.”

Persuading a client to accept professional staging could be one of these moments, as it was not widespread practice in the UK, as it is in the US and Australia.

“It takes a lot to get someone to agree to this at first. But if it has been to market before, and hasn’t sold, then they can be very receptive.”

However, staging was not suitable for every property, and there were plenty of less drastic interventions available for people still living in

their property while selling, such as decluttering, putting things into storage, or even moving out into rented accommodation.

Her assessments about the housing market in general also make mixed news for property sellers.

LAPTOP GIFT GOES DOWN WELL AT BROADWATER DOWN PRIMARY

Properties Commenting last week on Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, showing that the average UK property price was £271,000, and had increased in price by 10.0 per cent annually by November, Ms Richards said there were not many properties in Tunbridge Wells available at such a price, but they were available, especially if a buyer was forced to compromise on property type or location.

“For a traditional family home with a great school nearby, driveway and garden, we would expect more growth than that (10.0%),” she said.

“The houses around £1m have been very, very hot over the last 12 months. We have secured some great prices.”

Maddisons expected Tunbridge Wells to continue ‘strongly’ attracting family buyers However, Ms Richards warned, she could not generalise across all family houses, and access to a good school, nearby made a big difference to price.

She also cautioned: “However, if it’s a flat, with no outdoor space and no access to outdoor space, we would expect less than 10% (price growth).”

NEW PC Deborah [left] and James Richards with Broadwater Head Katie Harris A LAPTOP donated to broaden schoolchildren’s access to digital life and learning has gone down well at Broadwater Down Primary School in the south of the town.

Deborah Richards found out about the Computers for School initiative from its founder, estate agent ‘guru’ Stephen Brown, who set up the initiative to donate laptops to children.

Under the initiative, estate agents agree to donate £10 for each completed sale towards

buying a laptop, while Mr Brown also subsidises the purchase. After selling 20 properties, the agent can choose a laptop and a school to donate it to.

Ms Richards presented the new computer to Broadwater Down, which is located near the Maddisons office in the south of Tunbridge Wells, last month.

She said: “The initiative is an important way to minimise the gap between less fortunate children and their peers.”

10 14 10

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Wednesday November Wednesday December 2021 Wednesday February10 28 || 2022

Volunteers needed after record The Post Office saved breaking return for Repair Cafe Times

EDUCATION by villagers reopens

“I am excited to be a part of this partnership and look forward to introducing new initiatives”

By Taylor Catton

A NEW fully refurbished village Post Office has opened its doors again, three months after it was bought by the local parish council.

As reported by the Times in August, Groombridge Post Office was set to be closed.

Educational group West Refurbishment Withyham Parish Council held a public Kent Independent State consultation that found that 98.8 per cent of those in the Kent/East Sussex border village School Partnership has voted in favour to keep the shop.

A similar number of residents happy for their appointed a partnership council tax to be used to pay staff and run the store, so the parish council bought it. co-ordinator to further its work with students LAST WEEK the West Kent Independent State School Partnership (ISSP) announced that it has appointed Louisa Priestley as its first dedicated partnership co-ordinator.

ByThe Victoria Roberts ISSP was established in 2019 and is the partnership of and eightfixers localare secondary MORE movers needed schools by the working toWells shareRepair resources provide high Tunbridge Caféand after the local aspirational learning opportunities for 105 pupils volunteer-staffed organisation helped people across the area. in November, a new record.

The repair new co-ordinator willtakes help place manage and The centre, which in Trinity run partnership events include annual Theatre, relaunched lastwhich autumn afteran being lecturetoand dayduring of masterclasses, as well as due the forced close the Covid pandemic West Kent ISSP’s involvement to social distancing measures.in the Tunbridge Wells Soapbox Race.

Following a refurbishment, the post office and community store, now called ‘The Shop on the Corner’, reopened on October 28.

Unfortunately, the new store has had to reopen without long serving postmistress Rosie Wyatt, who has retired after 32 years of service in the village.

People within the village have spoken of their ‘delight’ being able to retain their local Post LOUISA at PRIESTLY Office.

One Groombridge resident said: “I am delighted that the Post Office has been saved, it is a vital hub of the community and seeing it looking so bright and welcoming is great.”

The Shop on the Corner and Post Office is next to the village bakers and boasts easy access and ample parking.

BEFORE AND AFTER – A wind-up clown kept a patient company in hospital over Christmas but stopped working

battery to buy and how to change it,” said Mr Murphy.

“Now the little boy has returned to doing good work, driving his fire engine around the lounge, rescuing soft toys!”

However, a mechanical clown presented a more complex repair challenge, requiring the textile experts to unpick and repair the original clothes, while volunteers with different skill set repaired the mechanics of the wind-up musical box inside, explained Mr Murphy.

The clown kept his owner, Renée, company Wonderful over Christmas when she wasBACK in Pembury IN BUSINESS Delighted Hospital, but stopped working.

Now it has returned, the Repair Café saw its Staff at the revamped Julie Lodrick, at Kent College said; “She came out of hospital having received highest numberHeadmistress of satisfied customers in its last Groombridge Post Office “I am delighted that thefor West Kent ISSPhelp. is now wonderful careWest but they didn't ISSP manageis to a heal “The Kent outing so is appealing more expert sufficiently established and resourced her clown.

“We are looking to grow the number that of we partnership of a number of local have beenwe able to appoint a co-ordinator.

“She didn’t know where to get it mended, but repairers have, especially the electricalWith schools including Kent College, Louisa’ssaid energy, enthusiasm and commitment, her son tried the Tunbridge Wells Repair Café. team,” Repair Café organiser Chris Murphy. there no the doubt that the will “The café’s volunteers managed to fix it and This is was skillset thatpartnership was used by Oakley School, The Skinners’ continue totogrow andsmile flourish by providing a get it working again, and she has been enjoying volunteers fix the on one little boy’s School, Skinners’ rangewhen of exciting opportunities for all the pupils seeing it workingThe ever since, as she Kent face, they helped his mother repair a in our schools to extend and develop their recuperates,” Mr and Murphy said.

Academy Tunbridge Wells second-hand fire engine toy during November’s learning beyond the classroom.”

Anyone with repair skills can School” contact the record turnout.

Girls’ Grammar On her new appointment asthat ISSPthe co-ordinator Repair Café on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or “The electrical team found battery Louisanot Priestley am excited to be a email twellsrepaircafe@gmail.com would hold acommented: charge, and“I advised her what part of the partnership and am looking forward to designed to be academically challenging, thought-provoking and offer stimulating reinstating our annual programme of events and DAILYinNEWSPAPER/GROCERY opportunities.DELIVERIES Students were able to select from introducing new initiatives due course.” classes including Anatomy and Art, Engineering The West Kent ISSP is a partnership of The NEWSAGENT and Ethics, Politics and Media, Engineering and Judd School, Kent College, Oakley School, The OFF LICENSE Textiles and Beginners’ Italian. In 2020, a lecture Skinners’ School, The Skinners’ Kent Academy, ran on the theme ‘Adventures in Sound’ before Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar School, CORNER The SHOP the pandemic prevented further activity. The Malling School and Mascalls Academy.

SHOP lecture and masterclasses 2022 and The partnership operates with a HERMES Heads’ Group PARCEL Broadwater Forest repairedwill its return brokeninbeak By Katie Harris continue with this topic. which meets each term to oversee the projects, using dental putty.

The tawny owl was brought NATIONAL LOTTERY alongside thisinisNovember the West Kent andINJURED an Operational Groupfree comprising toRunning Folly Wildlife Rescue withISSP’s a split AN owl hasSteering finally flown after STATIONARY involvement theresult Tunbridge Wells Soapbox senior teachingvets staffatwho meet regularly bill – possiblyinthe of a collision – and was quick-thinking a wildlife centre into drive Race 2022.

Forming part not of a performed new schools the initiatives forward. treated using procedure atrace the the GREETINGS CARDS event isbefore, open to all local schools to build a go-kart In 2019, on the 500th anniversary of Leonardo centre veterinary nurse Rachel Bright RELEASED The TOBACCONIST fromthe an Times. agreed set of plans held centrally by Kent da Vinci, an evening lecture ran at The Judd told owl after its College. The project will be for Year 9 and above School, which was followed by a day of beak repair students. masterclasses at Mascalls Academy. Aimed Helpless For further information visit www.wkissp.com at students in Years 7 and 8, the events were FRESH BARISTA COFFEE, MILKSHAKES, She and the rescue centre’s veterinarian, SMOOTHIES,Ashley HOT FOOD ANDthe FRESHLY Clayton, undertook operation on December 3, placing dentalEVERY putty on the bird’s BAKED PASTRIES AVAILABLE DAY beak to bind it together, so the keratin – the MONDAY-FRIDAY 06:30-17:00 same material that fingernails and claws are SATURDAY 08:00-17:00 made of – could grow. Without this, the owl would have been helpless in the wild.

SUNDAY 09:00-17:00 “They use their beaks for everything, eating, building nests, defending themselves,” said Ms Bright.

5 LONDON ROAD, CROWBOROUGH, EAST SUSSEX She explained the centre tries to minimise handling of wild animals, but this case was a different, due to the urgent need for the beak to ALSO NOW WELCOMING ALICE - FRIDAY 08:00-16:00 grow back: “We TUESDAY kept her for three weeks to allow FOR ALL YOUR FLORAL NEEDS SATURDAY her beak to grow, and she spent08:00-13:00 that time in our Weddings - Funerals - Events 07847 699107 aviary, where it wasCONTACT: a bit quieter,” added Ms ORDER ONLINE peoniesfrompluto.co.uk info@peoniesfrompluto.co.uk Bright. “The aviary lets us be more hands-off.” @peoniesfrompluto The owl was released back into the wild in THE ISSP HEADS GROUP mid-January.

Life is back to being a hoot thanks to a wildlife centre

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Town councillor’s mission to remove the inconvenience from public convenience

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Heritage train portrait raises £2,000 for Spa Valley Railway

INCONVENIENCE TRUTH Cllr Alan Bullion

CANVASSING SUPPORT Nigel Wade and Dr Peter Mace who bought the picture

By Robert Forrester PARTS of Tunbridge Wells are a ‘public toilet desert’, with implications for disabled people but also women and those with small children, a town councillor has warned.

Dr Alan Bullion who represents Labour at South Borough Town Council, has been forced to walk with a stick for the last year, which has led the former journalist to notice the lack of public facilities in the town centre.

Problems “Tunbridge Wells is a very busy town, but from the south of Calverley Gardens to the end of the Pantiles, it is a public toilet desert,” Dr Bullion, told the Times.

“There is no obligation for local authorities to

provide toilets, unfortunately. Due to a lack of funding, increasingly they are relying on pubs and cafes, and not everyone is confident about going into a pub, and not all of them are disability friendly.

“All toilets in theory should be disability compliant. However, often, they say: ‘It’s an old building. We can’t fit them.’ It’s very difficult to enforce.”

Stairs were a particular problem for people with mobility problems, or those with a small child in a pushchair, he said, adding that businesses were not always happy to have non-customers using their facilities.

But he praised for the Duke of York pub on The Pantiles, which he said he had visited in the past and found the toilet inaccessible.

“Now they have put in an accessible loo on the ground floor – not upstairs!”

Remembering the Holocaust TRIBUTES Mayor Cllr Chris Woodward at the War Memorial

A ‘HYPERREALIST’ painting of a locomotive has raised several thousand pounds as well as creating an additional income stream for the Spa Valley Railway in Tunbridge Wells.

The watercolour of the ‘Sir Keith Park’ fetched its asking price of £2,000 and was bought by Dr Peter Mace. Thanks to Gift Aid, the heritage charity would receive ‘considerably more,’ even after his costs, artist Nigel Wade told the Times.

Charities He and gallery Rich Clark Images, based in Crowborough, also have an agreement to sell prints and fine-art prints of the painting while donating 10 per cent of the profits to the railway.

“Gift Aid is vitally important to all charities,” stressed Mr Clark.

The project had been a positive one, he said, raising the possibility of further spin-off

products such as greeting cards and post cards.

“We will be hoping to support more local charitable organisations over the coming months,” added Mr Clark.

The artist had turned an interest in railways into a project to raise money for the restoration of the Spa Valley Railway’s flagship locomotive.

Named after the Battle of Britain Air Vice Marshall, ‘Sir Keith Park’ was built at Brighton Works in 1947, and previously served on the Severn Valley Railway in the West Midlands and Swanage Railway.

Mr Wade’s painting depicts the locomotive hauling a rake of British Railways Southern Region coaches at Lealands, near Groombridge on the Spa Valley Railway.

Prints can be ordered at richclarkimages.co.uk * Keep an eye on the Times Going Out section for news of when journeys on the Spa Valley Railway commence again in February.

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Theme The annual ceremony was a virtual affair in 2021, but the Mayor of Tunbridge Wells, Cllr Chris Woodward, laid a wreath at 11am, on Thursday, January 27.

Marking the ‘One Day’ theme chosen for 2022, local poet Sonia Lawrence had written a poem with the same title, recalling the Jewish ‘Kindertransport’ refugees who came to The Beacon in Happy Valley, Rusthall.

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Beleaguered PM flies to Ukraine as Russian hostilities continue BORIS Johnson flew to Ukraine yesterday in a bid to quell tensions between Russia and the former Soviet state, as he struggles to maintain his premiership over recent partygate scandals.

The PM met with his Cabinet telling them the situation on the Ukraine border was ‘deeply concerning and that there were no indications of Russia de-escalating with more than 100,000 troops currently amassed on Ukraine’s border’.

No 10 said Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin was at the meeting and warned Russia was acting in a way that ‘fitted into a pattern of coercion and intimidation that sought to undermine the values and principles of the West’.

But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “Obviously we are aware of the significant public interest with regard to the Prime Minister and we would always look to provide what updates we can on him, specifically.”

Latest

Aid Mr Johnson is expected to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin today [Wednesday], where it is thought he will again urge the leader to dial down the aggression.

A planned call on Monday had to be rescheduled due to the Prime Minister defending himself in Westminster over the partygate allegations engulfing No 10.

In Kyiv, Mr Johnson discussed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the support the UK can offer, before the two leaders held a joint press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The Government announced overnight that £88 million in aid would be sent to Ukraine to support the country.

Meanwhile, the clamour around partygate shows no sign of easing as Downing Street has been forced to clarify if it would be revealed if the

ARRIVAL The PM in Ukraine yesterday [Tuesday]

Met Police were to fine the PM for his part in attending gatherings during lockdown.

There had been concerns that the public would never officially be told if the Prime Minister was issued with a fixed penalty notice for attending a No 10 party, because the identity of people issued with a ticket is not usually disclosed by police.

But Downing Street acknowledged the ‘significant public interest’ in the case of the Prime Minister.

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Officers are investigating 12 separate gatherings in No 10 and Whitehall during 2020 and 2021 – including three that Boris Johnson is known to have attended and one in the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat – to find out whether coronavirus lockdown laws were broken.

Downing Street had originally insisted it was a matter for the Metropolitan Police to decide whether to name those found to have broken the law.

Asked if that meant No 10 would say if he was given a fixed penalty notice, the spokesman said: “Hypothetically, yes.”

Meanwhile, Peter Aldous became the latest Tory MP to publicly call on Mr Johnson to resign “in the best interests of the country, the Government and the Conservative Party”.

He said that he believed the Prime Minister had no intention of going voluntarily and so he had submitted a letter of the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady calling for a vote of no confidence.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab defended Mr Johnson, saying he “believes he acted in good faith at all times”, suggesting the Prime Minister does not think he personally did anything wrong.

Asked whether Mr Johnson should quit if he is issued with a fixed penalty notice, Mr Raab said: “Let’s wait and see … Allow the police to conduct their investigation and see, when they have ascertained the facts, quite what they conclude.”

The Met is examining hundreds of documents and photographs in relation to the 12 events in 2020 and 2021 held while England was under coronavirus restrictions.

Supermarket prices to add £180 a year to the average food shop ANNUAL shopping bills are set to rise by around £180 on average as inflation pushes up the cost of groceries, according to new data.

Analysts at Kantar said inflation in the past four weeks stands at 3.8 per cent – a rise on levels in December – with savoury snacks, fresh beef and crisps up, whilst beer, bacon and vitamins fell.

The higher prices come as sales continue falling compared with a year ago when lockdown restrictions saw restaurants, pubs and nonessential retailers closed.

Insight But there was strong growth in sales of vegan and low-alcohol products as customers embraced Dry January and Veganuary.

In the 12 weeks to January 23 overall sales fell 3.8 per cent, although they remain 8 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels, Kantar said.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “Prices are rising on many fronts, and the weekly shop is no exception.

“Like-for-like grocery price inflation, which assumes that shoppers buy exactly the same products this year as they did last year, increased again this month.

“Taken over the course of a 12-month period, this 3.8 per cent rise in prices could add an extra £180 to the average household’s annual grocery bill.

“We’re now likely to see shoppers striving to keep costs down by searching for cheaper products and promotions. Supermarkets that can offer the best value stand to win the biggest slice of spend.”

The market growth figures do not include on-the-go food and drink purchases, which are likely to be higher than last year.

Mr McKevitt added that the end of lockdown

rules and a return to the office means prepandemic shopping patterns are starting to return.

He explained: “Since the first lockdown in March 2020, shoppers have been buying in bulk and visiting the supermarket less often.

“But basket sizes are now 10 per cent smaller than this time last year, hitting their lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic, while footfall increased by 5 per cent as every major retailer was busier in their stores.”

Londoners changed their habits the most, Kantar said, with take-home sales of food and drink down 11 per cent.

The return to work also saw an increase in sales of personal hygiene sales, Kantar found, with razor blade sales up 14 per cent and deodorant up 20 per cent.

There was also strong growth in plant-based products, with shoppers embracing vegan diets in January. Around 10.7 million households bought at least one dairy-free or meat-free alternative.

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

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Lockdowns led to fall in greenhouse gases GREENHOUSE gas emissions fell by a tenth in 2020 as pandemic restrictions cut pollution from traffic, industry and energy supplies, official figures show.

Pollutants which drive climate change had fallen by half (49.7 per cent) between the baseline year of 1990 and 2020 – which marks the half-way point for the target to reach zero emissions overall, known as “net zero”, by 2050.

In 2020, emissions were estimated to be nearly 406 million tonnes, a drop of 9.5 per cent from 448 million tonnes in 2019, and compared to 806 million tonnes in 1990.

Sector But Covid-19 lockdowns had a significant impact on the fall in emissions, in particular

driving down transport pollution by nearly a fifth (19 per cent) due to a large reduction in road traffic.

The transport sector still remained the biggest polluter, accounting for nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, the last year for which figures are available.

Emissions from energy supply fell by 12 per cent on 2019 levels as a result of lower energy demand during the pandemic and continued reduction in the use of fossil fuels in power stations, the data from the Business Department (Beis) show.

They are now 70 per cent lower than they were in 1990, as coal power has dwindled to just 3 per cent of electricity supplies and renewables have boomed.

There were also falls in emissions from industrial processes, waste management, the business sector and agriculture, but pollution from homes increased by 1 per cent on 2019 levels as more people stayed at home.

Pollution The figures for 2020 account for “territorial” emissions, which only include pollution that occurs within the UK’s borders.

Consumption emissions, which account for the pollution associated with all the goods and services consumed in the UK, such as imported products, are considerably higher, having peaked in 2007, and have not fallen as far territorial emissions since 1990.

Met commits to ‘real change’ following probe into racist and offensive texts Lily, aged eight, was treated at GOSH for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

By leaving a gift in your Will ‘DISGUSTING’ racist, sexist and homophobic messages exchanged by police officers have been published by a watchdog that found the highly offensive language was dismissed as ‘banter’.

Details of messages from WhatsApp groups and a Facebook chat group including multiple references to rape, violence against women, racist and homophobic abuse were unveiled by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on Tuesday.

The watchdog took the unusual step of publishing the messages in full – despite the fact that much of the content is too offensive to print in mainstream news coverage – as it detailed the ‘disgraceful’ behaviour of Metropolitan Police officers based in a now disbanded Westminster team between 2016 and 2018.

Nine are still serving with the force, while another is working as a contractor in a staff role.

Messages exchanged in two WhatsApp groups and one Facebook group included multiple references to sexual violence, homophobic language, and a number of racist texts.

The messages were uncovered as part of nine linked investigations into officers based in Westminster, mostly at Charing Cross police station, that began in March 2018 after allegations that an officer had sex with a drunk

person at a police station that were later found unproven.

Disbanded IOPC regional director Sal Naseem said: “The behaviour we uncovered was disgraceful and fell well below the standards expected of the officers involved. While these officers predominantly worked in teams in Westminster, which have since been disbanded, we know from other recent cases that these issues are not isolated or historic.”

Deputy assistant commissioner Bas Javid said: “I am angry and disappointed to see officers involved in sharing sexist, racist and discriminatory messages. It’s clear we have a lot of work to do to ensure bullying and discrimination does not exist in any part of the Met.” He continued: “The actions of these officers between 2016 and 2018 were unacceptable, unprofessional, disrespectful and deeply offensive. I read their messages with increasing disgust and shame.”

“We recognise that there is need for real change in the Met and we are committed to creating an environment that is even more intolerant to those who do not uphold the high values and standards expected of us.”

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Wednesday February 2 | 2022

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EDUCATION Times

Education

NEWS

15

Local boys’ grammar celebrates Ofsted’s positive report Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys has been commended as having a ‘strong culture of learning’ following a recent official inspection. The Times finds out more ....

The staff and students at Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys (TWGSB) are celebrating the extremely positive feedback they have just received after Ofsted – the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills – visited their school in November last year.

On November 24 and 25, Ofsted, which is a non-ministerial government department and responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, visited for a Section 8 inspection.

These happen approximately every four years

sample of students’ work.

“The Inspectors recognised the ambitious school leadership and rich, broad and challenging curriculum, where the important knowledge students should learn, and the order in which they should learn it, is clearly set out,” continued the school’s spokesperson.

Excellence

“Thorough investigations were carried out in English, maths, geography and history” after a school is judged to be ‘Good’.

The Section 8 inspection is a new shorter visit and determines whether the school continues to deliver a good standard of education and that safeguarding is effective.

The brief two-day inspection last year found that TWGSB continues to be a ‘Good ‘school.

A spokesperson told the Times: “Ofsted reported that students ‘love coming to school and achieve well’ and that ‘a strong culture of

learning and achievement runs through the school’.”

The report also found that students are proud to be part of a harmonious community, saying ‘they feel safe and well cared for and that students approach all aspects of school life with maturity’.

Inspectors met with the Headteacher Amanda Simpson, as well as TWGSB senior leaders, staff,

students, five governors including the Chair of the Governing Body, and a representative from Kent County Council.

They carried out thorough investigations in English, mathematics, geography and history.

For each one, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and some students about their learning and looked at a

In a letter to parents, Headteacher Amanda Simpson said, “It is no surprise to us that the inspection team were blown away by our student body: how well rounded our students are, articulate, well-mannered and utterly proud of their school.

“The feedback received from this inspection will assist us on our continued drive to be even better. Our school vision is to be ‘the best selective boys’ school in West Kent’ and our aim of ‘All Round Excellence’ continues to drive us forward. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the incredible staff body, who have worked and continue to work tirelessly at being the best that we can possibly be each and every day.”

The full report can be found on the school website – twgsb.org.uk - and on the Ofsted website.

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NEWS

Weekly Comment

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Cllr Tom Dawlings

Conservative Council Leader for Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

Cllr Tom Dawlings has represented Benenden & Cranbrook at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council since 2014. Before entering local politics his career was spent with the Bank of England. He was elected Leader of the Council in May 2021.

This Council’s achievements are many and varied THROUGHOUT the Covid pandemic and various lockdowns our Council staff have performed outstandingly to support residents and businesses.

With the lifting of the Plan B Covid restrictions, I hope we are now over the worst of the pandemic.

provide a real boost to the town.

Owned by AXA, their funding is secure and the development being planned will be good for the town. With the Borough’s Local Plan now submitted for examination, our Planning Department is now working on a Town Centre Area Plan.

Affordable

Amelia Scott Our achievements are many and varied ranging from the ‘Everyone In’ initiative to accommodate rough sleepers (including new flats in Crescent Road for their temporary accommodation), the vetting and distribution of Government grants to local businesses keeping many afloat (nearly 10,000 grants totalling £53m), the ice skating in Calverley Grounds with record numbers attending, and the completion of the construction phase of the Amelia Scott with work having continued throughout the pandemic.

The Council’s own income from fees and charges has substantially reduced.

We have had to address the consequences of significant changes in working practices (more people working from home and less people commuting to London or working in the town centre) which has demanded active management of our finances to ensure the financial stability of the Council.

SUCCESS Ice rink broke records Much has been achieved during the last few months with our two major projects at the top of the town.

The fit-out of the Amelia Scott is well underway and the building will be opened at the end of April for the adult education summer term.

The building is impressive inside and out; it will be completed for a total project cost of £20.6m of which £9.5m will have been funded by grants from the Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, KCC and the Get Building Fund.

I am sure it will prove to be popular for the museum exhibits and art gallery, for exhibitions, as a library, for adult education and a café – the integrated offer will also include registration services, tourist information and customer

services re-located from the Gateway.

For the Town Hall, we are close to appointing a partner to manage the vacant space (about 20,000 square feet, 2/3rds of the building).

This will increase income and reduce costs for the Council; it will also provide a boost for local small businesses and increase footfall in the centre of the town to provide wider economic benefit.

For the local economy we will continue to support local businesses and promote our Borough by encouraging footfall and business investment in our town centres, especially vacant retail premises.

Undoubtedly Retirement Villages re-development of the ABC Cinema site will

For the environment, we are focused on continuing to reduce the Council’s direct carbon emissions to achieve net zero by 2030.

Re-roofing the Town and Assembly Halls, newly secured grant funding for the Weald Sports Centre and depot and bidding for further grants for environmental improvements to St John’s Sports Centre are part of this process.

More generally on reducing carbon emissions, all new homes in the Borough are being built to higher environmental standards – a record 662 new homes were built in the Borough last year, including 272 affordable homes which will help reduce the waiting lists of the various Housing Associations and Social Housing Providers.

EV charging points are now mandated for new homes with off-street parking and EV points are being installed in Council-owned car parks. We have been having discussions about cleaner and greener transport for the town centre and we are strongly promoting safe active travel.

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Letters

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NEWS

17

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 you can write to the Editor, Times of Tunbridge Wells, Salomons Estate, Tunbridge Wells TN3 0TG

With the news that the average house price in Tunbridge Wells now exceeds half a million the town is continuing on its trajectory as an exclusive enclave for those who can afford it.

For many of the residents in my ward, this news might as well come from another world. Dozens of families, many of whom are already struggling with the cost of living, are being made to move out of their homes in Showfields to make way for a large-scale redevelopment.

In six months since the project was communicated to tenants, only a small handful of residents have been able to find a new place to live.

Is it any wonder? There are currently nearly a thousand people on the housing register in

Town has a falling birth rate As you recently reported in your newspaper, the top end of the town centre is struggling. It faces many challenges, but one of these is the collapsing birth rate in Tunbridge Wells.

This decline in the birth rate has been going on for well over a decade. This has already affected a number of local primary schools, who have struggled to attract pupils.

You recently reported on the difficulties faced

by St Paul’s Primary School. These difficulties were largely caused by this problem.

This is invariably leading to an ageing of the town’s population. What Tunbridge Wells needs is not more flats and elderly persons’ accommodation, but family housing.

The problem with the emerging Local Plan is that almost all of the new housing is going to be located at Paddock Wood and a new settlement at Capel. People living in these new houses will mainly shop at Paddock Wood, Tonbridge and Maidstone.

Tunbridge Wells town centre will, as a result, continue in its inevitable decline.

Graham Clark Tunbridge Wells Is Calverley a changed man?

I am sure I'm not alone in wondering where Calverley has been of late – drying out perhaps, or has he been banned from local hostelries for riotous behaviour, because his column wasn't ever complete without some barfly anecdote; or perhaps away at writing school for a refresher of the non-liquid variety, for his style has changed.

Is he, in short, a changed man or man changed?

Whatever, it's good to have him back.

James Sommerville Tunbridge Wells Neglect of the Nevill Karen Bryant usefully flags wasteful spending

the borough. The average wait for a two-bed property for social rent is three years.

For a three bed, it's longer and rising.

Against those kinds of odds, many will probably be forced out of town, with children uprooted from schools and family connections.

This Conservative led Council’s failure to deliver affordable housing for rent, on their watch over the last twenty years, speaks volumes.

If we genuinely want this town to be an inclusive community that puts residents' wellbeing front and centre, we need a change in who controls the council this May. Cllr Christopher Hall [Lib Dem] Broadwater

by the borough compared to simpler but slimmer Rajasthan.

If Tunbridge Wells Borough Council wants to show leadership in the fight against sedentary obesity in the young it would be well-advised to promote local sporting activity, partly by a renovation of the Nevill ground clubhouse, rather than wasting our taxes on another

No excuse for restriction flouters Over the past few days, the council have been erecting yet more road signs to try and stop vehicles from driving through the restricted access road at the top of Mount Pleasant during working hours.

Let’s hope it works this time. It appears many drivers have been ignoring the signs up till now.

I hope that the council’s next move will be to install cameras to catch these people and issue a fine, as it is perfectly obvious now that entry is not permitted, except for certain vehicles.

There is no excuse.

Tessa Worthington Tunbridge Wells We’re not all technophiles TWBC’s Zoom initiative may be a welcome sign of reaching out to the community, but it should be noted that many do not have the benefit of this.

Like the constant advice to ‘download the app’ for those who have phones – rather than so-called smartphones, this is another piece of technology that marginalises those sections of society that (a) cannot afford it, and (b) it’s beyond their technical competence.

What next, download the QR code to vote?

Ben Hardy Warwick Park Tunbridge Wells Ice rink success I am so very pleased to read that the Ice Rink was so successful. It made the local people very happy. Can we have a permanent one, say the old BHS store? It would help Royal Victoria Place to make a profit, a big one.

Brian Lambert Cavendish Drive

PEPPY SAYS

Calverley

Observations on life and more important things

CLIMATE change sceptics please note. The Beijing Winter Olympics that kick off this week will be using fake snow. Not a single, genuine, fall from-the-sky flake. And experts warn that’s what it’ll be like in future – all downhill!

SORRY but Calverley can’t resist blowing his own trumpet. For the last few years Himself has said Tonbridge Tory MP Tom Tugendhat is a Prime Minister in waiting. He’s now announced he’ll run for office if (when) Boris goes.

REALITY TV ‘star’ Millie Mackintosh (think Made in Chelsea) is in desperate need of help. While the world battles the ravages of Covid she has sent out a social media plea for a hand – in tidying up her jam-packed kitchen cupboards. She’s asking for assistance from a decluttering expert who charges £40 an hour. Mind you, the expert does promise to leave your space ‘decluttered, calm and organised’. What cultural divide?

SURVEY: Calverley always hands over a couple of bob to Big Issue sellers, people trying to help themselves. But He never takes a copy which got Him pondering if others do the same. Last week He watched (not quite from behind a bush) when ten people over half an hour approached a seller. Five of them took no magazine. Another handed over a cup of coffee. Faith in human nature restored.

It was outside a supermarket. A Waitrose, of course.

EAMON HOLMES is a first class chappy. He

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

House price rise is bad news for local families

community arts hub for [virtual] gamers just to sit around in.

Barry Taleghany Tunbridge Wells

must be. Not only is he hosting this year’s Times Business Awards in March (the social occasion of the year, don’t you know) he’s also joined GB News TV as a presenter. And that’s the station that now starts each day with God Save the Queen, in her Platinum Jubilee year. Unlike another national TV broadcaster that stopped playing the National Anthem at the end of the day in 1997. No prizes for guessing who that is… begins with a B.

FINAL THOUGHT: Being a big David Beckham fan Himself wants to put the record straight.

The soccer legend might own a thousand pairs of boots, it is said, but it is not true they are marked ‘left’ and ‘right’.

Chin Chin, dear reader

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

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Wednesday February 2 | 2022

Life&Times

ARTS • BOOKS • GOING OUT • FOOD • HOMES • INTERIORS • TRAVEL • MOTORS and MORE...

Arts - Page 20

Interiors - Page 30

Antiques- Page 34

Turning up the heat

How top chef Bobby Brown is stirring things up at The George & Dragon...

P24

Arts

arts

20

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

“Life begins at 40 – and that’s certainly true for Trinity Theatre”

This year Trinity Theatre celebrates its 40th anniversary. So we asked its new Artistic Director Sean Turner to talk to us about what the venue has planned for its big birthday and also reveal a little about the exciting new cultural programme he’s curating ...

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Arts

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

2022 is a big one for us at Trinity Theatre as it’s our fortieth. It is fitting really, that such an important milestone should follow such a period of darkness. Trinity has always been phoenix-like; a building created by SEAN public consultation TURNER to serve the growing Christian populace.

Then, centuries later, saved from demolition by a group of passionate cultured Tunbridge Wellians and transformed into a theatre whose work thumps like a heartbeat throughout the community it serves.

Now though, our beloved Trinity stands on another precipice. This pandemic has caused an existence level epidemic in the entertainment industry and yet, day after day, artists of all kind continue to find ways, through films, books, television, music, dance and theatre to make our lives just a little more enjoyable and meaningful.

And therein lies great hope.

“This year we will burst into life with new in-house productions and we’ll also present a host of new recurring events to suit every appetite” We’ll also present a host of new recurring events to suit every appetite. These will include The Breathing Room, a series of meditative Sunday evening gigs with the likes of Fiona Bevan and Seth Lakeman. The Open Page which will be frank literary interviews with big names like Claire Fuller, Joanne Harris and Ben Aaronovitch. And then there’s our new and improved Comedy Club, The Good Ship Comedy with our regular host Ben Van der Velde which will feature some of the hottest acts on the circuit. February’s event includes Laura Lexx and Eshaan Akbar. Our comedy offering will also see big name solo acts like Mark Watson and Sharparak Khorsandi take to the stage at Trinity.

When the sun is shining, we’ll be making the

most of our beautiful grounds with summer garden parties, fetes, and outdoor performances.

This is also when one of our major on-going projects will reach its thrilling completion as our Heritage Lottery Funded Clocktower Project will finally open to the public. We have undergone hefty restoration of a significant part of our building and will re-design it as a heritage attraction celebrating our incredible shared history and leading the visitor to a breath-taking viewing platform with panoramas as wide as this newspaper’s circulation, probably!

Community Of course, Trinity is more than just a theatre, we are a charity that truly serves the people of Tunbridge Wells and the surrounding areas.

Whether it’s through our incredible creative engagement team who deliver a programme that reaches over four hundred children a week as well as our senior choir and cinema mornings that bring isolated adults together. Amazingly they still find time to rehearse our spectacular youth theatre productions (the much under-

Entertainment This year we will burst into life with new in-house productions, like the brilliant and hilarious Miraculous Misadventures of Robin Hood this half-term, open-air classics this summer and - if you’ll forgive me mentioning Christmas already - our newly commissioned festive family comedy Not the Three Musketeers (tickets are on sale now!). We’ll carry on connecting with the community through our support of The Repair Café - an incredible local initiative helping to combat waste by restoring your worn out things. There will also be exclusive shopping evenings with independent retailers in partnership with the TN Card, monthly Arts Society lectures and so much more.

21

ROBIN HOOD IS COMING TO TRINITY THIS MONTH

TRINITY’S YOUTH THEATRE rated musical Legally Blonde is coming up in February). Then there’s our offering of the best in independent cinema (in comfy seats, with good wine!), world class theatre, talks, dance and music. Simply by just being open and offering a home-from-home for the many community groups that use our building daily Trinity aims to reach every corner of our community.

We have tremendous plans for our big birthday year, but what use is a party with no guests!

Audiences have been understandably slow to return, but I am here to say - when you’re ready, we’re open. We need you, all of you, to embrace us again. Come and have a coffee, see a show, hell, just park in our car park! Every little helps us do all the great things that we do. Let’s make sure that the old adage proves true and, for a beloved local institution like Trinity, life really does begin at forty. Who’s with us?

See www.trinitytheatre.net for all more info

this school is us. we are the future.

open morning

Tuesday 1sT march 9.00am Book online kenT-college.co.uk

Going out

22

going

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

OUT

Culture vulture Victoria Roberts provides a round-up of the live events over the last seven days and explains where to go and what to do locally in the coming week…

T

HIS COMING week sees the start of a busy tribute music scene coming to Tunbridge Wells, kicking off with a timely testament to rock opera legend Meat Loaf.

‘Hits out of Hell’, featuring Dead Ringer for the American rocker, Craig Halford, is on at the Assembly Hall on Saturday, February 5.

The show was booked long before the singer passed away on January 20, but is sure to be a great tribute to the much-loved star, especially as Mr Halford is an already established performer, having brought his singing and impersonation to Stars in Their Eyes and The Last Leg as well as many tour audiences.

A day earlier, fans of Wham have the chance of seeing Rob Lamberti as George Michael, in his tribute to the former Wham star who died at the end of 2016.

It has also been 20 years since Queen star Freddie Mercury left the stage, but ‘Killer Queen’ have kept the band’s flame alive.

Fronting the tribute band, Patrick Myers not only bears a ‘spooky’ physical resemblance to Freddie Mercury, but also his voice and range have earned him a number one hit single as Freddie Mercury, on Fat Boy Slim’s record ‘The Real Life’.

Killer Queen are appearing at the Assembly Hall next week [February 9], and following on from that on [February 10] will be a tribute to the King himself as singer and musician Ben Portsmouth comes to town after becoming the first non-US artist to be crowned ‘Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist’ in Memphis..

Here’s a glimpse of where to go and what else to do over the next seven days...

REMEMBERED Hits out of Hell is a timely tribute to Meat Loaf

family fun

LOOKING at screens and stages big and small, The Times of Tunbridge Wells presents a selected guide to the week ahead.

Trinity Theatre has two comedy shows this week, starting with socio-political comic Simon Evans reflecting on his world being turned upside down, in ‘The Work of the Devil’. Friday, February 4 at 8pm.

If you prefer your comedy slightly less intense, the Comedy Club is back on, also at the Trinity Theatre, presenting a double bill of FUNNYMAN Eshaan Akbar, Simon Evans [above] is coming who has a past to Trinity Theatre [below] life in in banking, wealth management and public policy to mine for his comedy – and Laura Lexx, who once wrote a twitter thread (about Jürgen Klopp) so viral that she turned it into a book. Saturday, 5 February, 8pm.

On the silver screen this week, there is just time to catch a terrifying mini-season being shown by the Odeon, with ‘Scream’ (18) (matinées and evening showing) and ‘Friday the 13th’ (18) (evening showings), both ending after Thursday, February 3. The also disturbing but lower-rated ‘Nightmare Alley’ (15) also finishes that day. Thank goodness for ‘West Side Story’ (12A), because we’re not sure how much more our poor nerves can take!

WITH ONE of the best live music scenes in the South East, here is a round-up of some of the best bands and acts performing this week.

The Royal Tunbridge Wells Symphony Orchestra is back on stage for the first time since last autumn, and the occasion is a big one: its 100th birthday. The ‘civic’ theme will see it RONNIE SCOTT’S ALL STARS play pieces spanning the gamut of social class, from Aaron Copland’s ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’ to Edward Elgar’s Symphony No.2 in E flat (Op.63), which the composer dedicated to the memory of King Edward VII after the monarch’s death in 1910.

Assembly Hall on Sunday, February 6 at 3pm.

Tribute junkies are in for a treat this week, whatever their musical taste.

If your hankering is for sunny, nostalgic music, your magic spell is the Bee Gees Entertainer Show, making some ‘Bee Gees Magic’ at the Assembly Hall on Wednesday, 2 February at 7:30pm.

For a more soulful nostalgia, Soul Street Productions’ nine-piece band and entertainers offer Temptations indeed, featuring music from greats Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Temptations. Assembly Hall on Thursday, 3 February at 7:30pm.

‘Hits out of Hell’ Meat Loaf tribute act (profiled above) Saturday, February 5 and Rob Lamberti as George Michael on Fabruary 4.

Ronnie Scott’s All Stars are presenting a new show at the E.M. Forster Theatre (Tonbridge School), telling the story of legendary jazz club Ronnie Scott’s, featuring live jazz with narration, archive video footage and photos.

Thursday, February 3 at 7:30pm The Forum has its own slate of tributes, with The Cureheads standing in for The Cure and Siouxsie & The Budgiees standing in DEAD RINGER Craig Halford as Meat Loaf for Siouxsie & The Banshees on Friday, February 4 at 7:30pm.

WHETHER your family is young or old, big or small, there’s plenty to do both indoor and outdoor over the coming week, and active ideas too.

Half term is coming up, when the littluns may feel a bit left out of all the school-age activities. For a little treat beforehand, the Twirlywoos Live event will have your toddlers and preschoolers twisting in their seats in sync with the puppets on stage. Age one and older. Thursday and Friday, February 5-6 at the E.M. Forster Theatre, Tonbridge School, at 2:30pm.

Enjoy a ‘bring and browse’ at the Little Monsters Swop Shop.

New children’s books donated by WHSmith, old books donated by… you! (No donation necessary to choose a book and receive a sticker.) Little Monster Swop Shop, Royal Victoria Place The Comedy Club 4 Kids de-fangs stand-ups and sketch acts for a family audience. From age 6. This week, the acts are sharp dresser Ada Campe, double act Shelf and Matt Green, who seems to have done a lot of things for career reasons. Sunday, February 6 at the E.M. Forster Theatre, Tonbridge School, at 2:30pm.

Parkrun is an international weekly community event, free to enter, whether running the 5K or walking it. Dunorlan Park, Saturdays, 9am.

Register at parkrun.

TWIRLYWOOS LIVE org.

For a slower pace, try guided mindful walks at Bedgebury Pinetum, Thursday, January 27, 11.1512.15pm. These are organised by yoga guru Lisa White.

Tickets available from lisawhitehouse.co.uk.

Pamela Raith Photography

going live

Shawn Pearch Photography

on stage and screen

Books

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

23

Times book reviewer

VINTAGE SUMMER #1

VINTAGE SUMMER #2

The Feast by Margaret Kennedy

The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden

Hannah Kirsop grew up in Kent and now lives in Horsmonden with her family. She loves to read and share recommendations and runs Bainden Book Club for a group of local women to discuss interesting fiction and non-fiction in a range of genres. You can find www.baindenbookshelf.com online or on Instagram: @baindenbookshelf

Writing the eulogy for a funeral, a Cornish vicar reflects on a recent cliffside collapse which took with it a seaside hotel along with a collection of staff and guests.

Rewind a few weeks and the novel is split into seven parts, one for each day of the week preceding the collapse. Throughout that week, we follow the relationships, exploits and interactions of the unusual and varied assortment of characters at the hotel; and as the cracks in the cliff slowly begin to widen, the reader can’t help but choose who they would like to disappear with the hotel.

The Feast offers a hugely entertaining and enjoyable insight into a brilliantly depicted post-war, British seaside holiday…with a twist.

With a wonderfully vintage ‘Christie’ feel, this is a very readable book that will have you imagining the sun on your back and itching to get out the sandals and beach ball..

Set in 1923, a frustrated British mother whisks her five children off to the Great War battlefields to teach them about the sacrifice of others. However, an infected horse fly bite en-route sees her hospitalised and the children arrive alone at Les Oeillets, a hotel in the Champagne region, ready for an adventure.

Our narrator is the second eldest child, thirteen-year-old Cecil, and through her the distinct and believable characters of each of the five children are uncovered as their new world – and the carefully characterised supporting cast at the hotel – is openly observed and commented upon through each of their different perspectives.

This is a sophisticated coming-of-age novel which brings with it the taste of freedom, love and lessons in growing up along with surprising twists and turns in the narrative, and is beautifully evocative of the splendour and heat of the French countryside in August.

HANNAH KIRSOP

(published in paperback by Faber & Faber, priced £9.99)

8/10

9/10

Everything Is True: A Junior Doctor’s Story Of Life, Death And Grief In A Time Of Pandemic by Dr Roopa Farooki

The bookcase…

Published in hardback by Bloomsbury Publishing, priced £14.99 (ebook £10.49). Available now

Here are some more reads to inspire you this week …

The Love Songs Of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers Published in hardback by Fourth Estate, priced £20 (ebook £9.99) Available now Slavery is often referred to as America’s ‘original sin’, but in her remarkable debut novel, poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers begs to differ. She argues the real problem was greed – and her point resonates throughout 800 pages, written so beautifully and lyrically they truly sing.

The story of one family’s travails from slavery to the modern day tells much of America’s story, but does so without sentimentality. Ailey

(published by Picador, priced £8.99)

Pearl Garfield guides us through this saga – herself the victim of horrible crimes growing up in the 1970s, her attempts to come to terms with what happened to her and her sisters leads her back to the past.

She finds that the lines of colour, supposedly the foundation of so much in society, are deeply blurred, but the love passed down by generations of black women never wavers.

Review by Ian Parker

9/10

9/10

Published in hardback by Viking, priced £14.99 (ebook £7.99). Available now

Published in hardback by Mantle, priced £16.99 (ebook £8.99)

8/10

workers were magnified by governmental ineptitude. Her political observations throughout are offset with recollections of mundane tasks as a mother-of-four coping during the pandemic, all the while concerned she could infect them.

The phrase Everything Is True appears throughout the memoir and in the last sentence, giving you a sense Farooki wants you to pay attention. Although it frequently makes for difficult reading, the raw honesty in Everything Is True makes it a must-read.

Review by Ellie Iorizzo

The Key In The Lock by Beth Underdown is

The Christie Affair

by Nina de Gramont

Agatha Christie is known for solving mysteries, but her readers never discovered the secret behind her own disappearance. The 11-day period in 1926 when the author went missing provides the basis for Nina De Gramont’s novel, The Christie Affair. The story is not told from Christie’s perspective, but instead from the point of view of

On the face of it, Everything Is True is an NHS doctor’s memoir about working on the frontline during the early days of the pandemic.

However, Dr Roopa Farooki’s striking recollections are haunted by grief, following the loss of her sister weeks before the pandemic – and it’s reflected in her tone. The first 40 days of the first lockdown are remarkably well-documented, with chapters and sentences varying in length, giving you a feeling her accounts were scrawled down as they were happening. The memoir recounts how the risks faced by frontline

her husband’s mistress, Nan O’Dea. The book has mystery, intrigue, love affairs and drama – even before you get to the mysterious deaths at a spa hotel.

There are twists you can’t see coming – it’s a treat for fans of murder mysteries, but still leaves you desperate to find out the real truth behind the story.

Review by Eleanor Barlow

The Key In The Lock is a neat piece of historical period drama, and a love story with many twists and turns.

It covers a 30-year timespan, with the action leapfrogging between 1888 and 1918 – a device that can drag the reader away from a good thread, but it worked well here.

It covers an age of great change in society, from the late Victorian era to the horrors of

8/10

trench warfare in the Great War. Underdown devotes many lines to describing the fighting’s fear and futileness.

The main action is located in Cornwall – Ivy has lost her son in World War One, and thinks back to someone else who died in a fire many years before – and there are definite hints of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca.

It’s a slow-burn and at times a tough read, but it really hots up towards the end and becomes a rewarding tale.

Review by Mark Davey.

Food & Drink

food & drink

24

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

“We want to make this pub top of people’s list to visit”

The George & Dragon in Speldhurst is the perfect country pub – especially now that it has a top chef running its kitchen. Eileen Leahy finds out how the former BBC Masterchef The Professionals star Bobby Brown is stirring things up …..

W

hen it comes to good country pubs we’re certainly spoilt for choice given the amount we have on our doorstep, but as soon as you step over the ancient threshold of The George & Dragon in Speldhurst you genuinely feel like you’ve entered into somewhere very special indeed.

It certainly comes into its own during the winter months thanks to the cosy fires crackling away in each bar area which certainly ensure there is warmest of welcomes.

But life wasn’t always this harmonious at the hostelry which dates back to the 13th Century. Over recent years the former coaching inn has changed hands a number of times and lost its way a little as a result - and that made some of its loyal customers pretty sad.

“We live in Speldhurst and really missed The George & Dragon when it was closed after the previous owner left so we decided to do something about it.”

They exchanged just before the first lockdown and suddenly found themselves with a big old pub on their hands and no customers to support it due to Covid.

But despite the odds being stacked against them Becky says this didn’t deter them. The collective decided to keep going with their revival plans and therefore used the months of coronavirus closure to their

advantage. The ultimate aim was to breathe new life into the pub - not just into the building itself but also into the menu and overall hospitality offering too.

That involved lots of work and passion and engaging the services of local interior designer Joss Miller who took over the brief to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the inn.

Meanwhile former Masterchef The Professionals 2016 star Bobby, who is a personal friend of Becky and her partner, was charged with ‘finessing’ The George & Dragon’s menu.

Enterprise But instead of sitting back and watching someone else take it over - and gamble with its future yet again - a group of locals which included Speldhurst resident and business entrepreneur Becky Moran decided to take the matter into their own hands.

“We wanted to reclaim our village pub and give it the TLC it deserves,” explains Becky who along with her partner Ian helped set up a new enterprise: The Country Pub Collection.

CHEF: BOBBY BROWN

A FEAST OF FISH

“We want people to stay here, to feel comfortable and so having excellent service is part of all that. ”

Food & Drink

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

The Gordon Ramsay trained chef, who spent five years at The Kentish Hare under the Tanner brothers - was initially consulting on The George & Dragon before he came on board as Chef Patron earlier last year.

“The pub wasn’t getting the recognition it deserved so I came in and started to change things for the better ”

25

PICTURE PERFECT PUB

Vision “I’ve known those guys for years and was therefore keen to help them but I was happy working at Bank House in Chislehurst for Stuart Gillies at the time. Stuart is the former CEO of Gordon Ramsay Holdings and I learnt a lot from him while I was there so I wasn’t looking to leave but then over lockdown I started to think about things and decided that I wanted to put myself out there again. I wanted to do my own thing; create my own menu and have that freedom.”

Bobby was offered the role of Chef Patron and duly accepted.

“We have the same vision. The pub wasn’t getting the time and effort it needed so I came in and changed a lot of things. Some people liked it, some didn’t but if things aren’t being done well then you have to change that.”

“I want a good gastro country pub with great food and staff who I’m confident about leaving in charge when I’m not here. The way I work is everyone is a commis chef – whatever your role.

You have to do what needs to be done.

Consistency is key. And we’re certainly getting there.”

COSY AND INVITING

Of the food Bobby says: “We’ve simplified a lot, it’s still tasty and fresh. And everyone’s loving it.

I’d describe it as being somewhere between British and French that’s got finesse yet is still hearty. I think only the halloumi burger survived from the original menu – I got rid of everything else! When I took over, the meat burgers were more meatball so I’ve given my recipe to Stuart at Southborough Butchers and he makes them properly and consistently and I now know the provenance of them too.”

Bobby, whose idol is the legendary Raymond Blanc, says he also uses Seasons by Nature for fresh produce and Sankey’s for fish. He adds they are doing 50% more covers since he came on board and the front of house team have really stepped up – even polishing plates as you would in a restaurant.

CELEBRATE MONDAY 14th FEBRUARY

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with us on Monday 14th February 2022 and treat yourself and your partner to a delicious meal at STEAK, accompanied by live music by Jess Nelson and a rose for your loved one.

To make your booking, please call 01892520587 or email reception@onewarwickpark.co.uk. Live music from 7pm - 9pm.

Deposits are required.

17-19 Chapel Place, TN1 1YQ www.steaktunbridgewells.co.uk

“We want people to stay here, to feel comfortable and so having excellent service is part of all that. We’re here more than we are at home so you need to be enjoying it. I guess I want to do is bring a level of higher-end cooking and service to the pub as it’s a beautiful place to be.”

Richard Maher is The George & Dragon’s new manager. The former manager at The Lyle says that taking over the pub is not about revolution, but evolution instead.

“The pub belongs to the people who use it so my job is connecting with them, with the staff and owners to see how we can work together. It’s about learning the direction of where Bobby is taking the cuisine.

“We want to make The George & Dragon top of people’s list to visit.”

26

Wine

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

“Where there is no wine, there is no love”

Euripides (c. 484-407 BCE)

This week Times drinks editor James Viner looks ahead to the feast day of love on February 14 and chooses some top quality tipples to toast your beloved with

T

he weather may be dull and the festive season a faded memory, but spring will soon be here and love is most certainly in the air since Valentine’s Day is less than two weeks away!

If you’re looking for a special bottle that will bring out the best of your Valentine’s Day dinner and add some fizz to the proceedings, here is a handful of top-quality suggestions: To kick off things off in my opinion it just has to be sparkling wine – it’s pure romance in a glass...

1. Cheers, the moreish pink prosecco has arrived!

Il Papavero Rosé Prosecco Brut 2020, Italy Laithwaites, £9.99 mix 12+ bottles, 11.5% If there's one day in the year when you must open a bottle of pink bubbly, it has to be Valentine’s Day. Neither sickly nor too sweet (unlike much prosecco which tends to be a tad less dry than Post other sparkling wines), this pale pink rosé Prosecco Brut DOC is lacy and very flirtatious and would be so easy to love as a V-Day apéritif. It has a slighty floral fragrance, pillow-soft texture and a soft, generous flavour, with notes of red apples, strawberry and cherry that entice one sip after another. One for panettone, it’s lots of fun, easy-drinking and ideal to stock up on and pack into the fridge should Valentine's Day turn into merrymaking.

You will polish off the bottle in no time; it’s a real crowd-pleaser. Serve well chilled. Veganfriendly. Cin cin!

2. Romantic, finely-grained must-try red from Ribera del Duero, Spain Finest* in partnership with Bodegas Portia ‘Ebeia’ Ribera del Duero 2019, Spain Tesco, £12, 14.5% Located in Castilla y Leon, northern Spain, DO Ribera del Duero’s main grape variety is Tempranillo, which represents over 90% of vineyards and is recognised by the local clone labels of either Tinto Fino or Tinta del Pais.

Unlike in Tempranillo’s spiritual home of DOCa Rioja, around 100km to the northeast, here the early budding/ripening red grape absorbs the high-altitude sunlight by developing thicker

skins, something reflected in the deep colour intensity and high tannin levels of the resultant wines. From just 24 wineries in 1982 when the DO was established, today there are more than 300.

Watch out for Ribera’s elegant wines, like this soft and supple Tesco beauty, from the eastern district of Soria where the nights are cool and the days hot, imparting more acidity and intensity in the wine. Sourced from vineyards at around 850m and harnessed into a flavoursome package of thrumming length and sophistication, this beautifully perfumed, purply, dark-fruited, silky red has fine, ripe tannins and a characteristic flick of acidity; the light oak (less than a year) merely a means to an end. Just the ticket for roast lamb, winter stews (hello boeuf en daube Provençale), jugged hare, wild mushrooms, oily fish such as tuna and cod, cheddar and Manchego. 10/10 for the super light bottle too! This will be an indulgent treat for your loved one. Effortless. Filigreed. A real find!

3. Gorgeous fizz from a five-hectare organic vineyard located on the edge of Marden village, some 15m NE of Tunbridge Wells Herbert Hall Brut 2016, Marden, Kent WineBuyers/Herbert Hall/Lea & Sandeman, £39.50, 12% With its fine bead (bubbles) and scented honeysuckle, stone fruit, sweet pastry and citrus qualities, this exquisite, pleasingly biscuity sparkler from a nine-acre vineyard in nearby Marden, Kent, is a real hit with seafood, especially oysters, fruits de mer, sushi and fish and chips. It’s a really pleasurable aperitif and sure to raise the amorous mood. Marvellously long and complex with a bone-dry finish. Very little is left of this vintage – snap it up ahead of V Day! Made with great care from the classic three Champagne grapes here in Kent, this is a case of love at first sip. Very complete and impressive.

4. Refined, romantic, vegan, PinotNoir-forward rosé NV champagne Deutz Rosé Champagne Brut NV Sakura

2 4

1 3

Edition (in a gift box), France The Finest Bubble/Laithwaites, £42.50-£50, 12% With only one or two exceptions, don’t buy cheap pink Champagne! Buy this. Based near Bollinger in the revered Pinot Noir village of Aÿ, Champagne Deutz owns 42 hectares of vineyards, which supply 20% of its grapes. This spot-on, pristine wine is a particularly attractive, well-crafted, elegant, pale salmon-pink colour rosé champagne with raspberry, nectarine, strawberry and cranberry fruit characters delivering depth and length of flavour within a chalky, minerally texture. It was aged for three years, with a further six months following dégorgement before release, and is very obviously Pinot Noir-dominated and vinous. It has flow and is an extremely accomplished wine indeed. One for duck in a red berry sauce, a plate of smoked salmon, smoked salmon paté, sashimi, fruit salad, red fruit crumble or creamy cheese (Brillat Savarin perhaps?). Vinous seduction at its most charming and mouth-watering. Well worth splashing out on – resistance is futile. ‘Sakura means ‘cherry blossom,’ Japan's unofficial national flower. Enjoy it in its ravishing youth.

Follow James on Twitter @QuixoticWine’

THREE REMARKABLE SWEET WINES TO COMPLEMENT BOXES OF CHOCOLATE & INDULGENT DESSERTS: • Specially Selected Tokaji Aszú 2017, Hungary (Aldi, £10.99, 11%, 50cl) • Andrew Quady Essensia Orange Muscat 2019, California (Majestic, £11.99 mix 6, 15%, 37.5cl) • Banyuls Cuvée Léon Parcé 2018, Domaine de la Rectorie, France (The Wine Society, £22, 75cl)

APARTMENT PREVIEW EVENT SATURDAY 5TH FEBRUARY Join us between 10am and 6pm where you will have the exclusive opportunity to have a sneak preview of the apartments at Foal Hurst Green.

sporting facilities and the train station with frequent connections reaching London Bridge in just 41 minutes*

Foal Hurst Green is a stunning development of apartments and houses within walking distance to Paddock Wood town centre, schools, retail,

Prices from £335,000** Help to Buy Available with just a 5% deposit†

TO BOOK AN APPOINTMENT AT THE EVENT, PLEASE CALL 01892 886 971 OR VISIT FOALHURSTGREEN.CO.UK Photography is of Foal Hurst Green and is indicative only. *Source thetrainline.com. **Prices correct at time of print. †Help to Buy available on selected plots only, subject to qualifying and terms and conditions.

www.foalhurstgreen.co.uk Proud to be a member of the Berkeley Group of companies

PKWD-00009_FHG_Times of Tunbridge Wells_V1.indd 1

24/01/2022 11:16

PLOT OR NOT?

If you think your land or property has development potential. Why not give us a call without obligation and in confidence.

We are always on the lookout for land and property with development potential.

Commercial buildings for residential conversion, former public houses, redundant buildings for redevelopment, buildings for conversion or replacement, houses for improvement, large sites on the edge of town, barn conversions, large gardens in residential areas and major regeneration projects.

For more information contact Stephen Donnelly on: 07739 514350 01892 579937

sjd-projects.com steve@sjd-projects.com

Many of our clients retain our services and, in the majority of cases, pay our fees saving property owners significant costs.

Property News

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

property news

Rocketing rental rates rising at record speed

29

Advertisement feature

RELUCTANT SELLERS AND THE IMPACT ON THE MARKET

THE average rental asking price in the UK has increased at the fastest rate on record, a leading online property company has found.

Rightmove’s quarterly rental trends tracker has found the average asking price per calendar month is £1,068 outside London and £2,142 inside the capital.

This is a 9.9 per cent rise for the rest of the UK, and a 6.1 per cent jump for London.

The real estate giant also predicted that asking prices will rise by a further 5 per cent this year, as competition between tenants for available properties increased by nearly double the previous year.

The number of available properties is also 51 per cent lower than the same period last year, which has led to properties being filled within only 17 days on average.

The average rental yield, the value of rent you can expect to receive from your property in a year, is at its highest point since 2016 in Great Britain at 5.5 per cent, with the North East and Wales seeing record yields.

Rising rents are outpacing house price increases in all regions except for the East Midlands, South West and South East, Rightmove said.

Wales’ annual asking price for rent increased by 12.7 per cent, followed by the North West which jumped by 12.5 per cent and the South West, rising by 11 per cent.

London hit record annual growth of 10.9 per cent, with asking prices in the capital now 3 per cent

higher than before the pandemic started.

The effects are also being felt on a smaller scale, as Pontypool in Monmouthshire, Wales, saw the largest annual increase in asking price of any local area, jumping 20 per cent from £562 per month to £674.

Prediction Ascot had an increase of 18.8 per cent while Littlehampton saw a 17.5 per cent rise.

The director of property data for Rightmove, Tim Bannister, said: “Tenant demand continues to be really high entering the new year, meaning the imbalance between supply and demand is set to continue until more choice comes on to the market for tenants, which has led to our prediction of a further 5 per cent increase in average asking rents in 2022.

“Landlords understand the importance of having a good, long-term tenant, and there is a limit to what renters can afford to pay, which will prevent rents rising at the same rate we’ve seen over the past year.”

This rise has reversed a downward trend experienced during lockdowns, when there was an increase in tenants wanting houses with gardens outside cities.

At the end of 2020, London recorded a near-record 6.4 per cent drop in average asking rents, as landlords lowered prices to incentivise renters to stay in their properties.

South East homeowners are going green when it comes to decorating

This week, Deborah Richards, founder of Maddisons Residential discusses the far-reaching impact of the low stock levels within the UK property market and how this pressure could potentially be alleviated.

The biggest worry I hear from any potential seller is “there’s nothing for sale”. All agents are reporting the lowest seen stock levels for some time, which is due to two factors. Firstly, the pandemic and the associated re-evaluation of home, this combined with the stamp duty savings, brought forward many people’s moving plans. Indeed, last year saw a record 1.2 million transactions!

Secondly, the Government Guidelines were that viewings should only be undertaken with buyers intending to make an offer, thereby reducing unnecessary contact and the spread of the virus. This meant generally proceedable buyers only could complete viewings.

However, unless you have no choice on selling, to become a motivated seller, you must first become a motivated buyer: you see something you like, understand how it meets your changing needs, and fall in love with your next dream home.

And so, we have a self-perpetuating problem: sellers will not list their property, disheartened by the low level of new listings that they are seeing, meaning even fewer properties come to market.

This market is dominated by the “power buyer”: the one in the strongest proceedable position. Imagine Rightmove sends you an alert that your dream home has just launched, but no matter how saleable your house is, you cannot proceed, and you miss out to someone who is? Heart-breaking! My advice? Take a leap of faith, get yourself in a position to proceed, and either consider breaking the chain (for which in this market you can command a premium) or work with a good agent who will find you a buyer prepared to wait. The stars will always align eventually.

FOUR in ten homeowners in the South East are showing more receptiveness to buying sustainable home décor products now compared to five years ago, a new survey can reveal.

The Sustainability survey, conducted by Blinds Direct, asked homeowners about their receptiveness to purchasing sustainable products, and what their key concerns are when doing so, to reveal their attitude towards eco-friendly home décor.

Transcends Just 13 per cent of respondents from the region reported that they are less open to purchasing eco-friendly home décor products.

For homeowners in the region, the most important factors behind purchasing eco-friendly products proved to be the cost (50 per cent) and the quality (46 per cent), followed by lowering energy bills (37 per cent) and ease of maintenance (35 per cent).

Although there is a significant shift towards a more proactive purchasing attitude of sustainable home decor products, cost and quality transcends this to remain key decisive factors.

The Sustainability survey progresses to identify some key trends supporting the positive shift towards eco-friendly purchasing, showing where youngest homeowners are behind the biggest

changes in perceptions.

Sylvia James, Interior Designer from Home How, says: “Today’s young homeowners are more environmentally aware than previous generations.

Climate change is now normalised for them, as a key part of the curriculum.

“Older generations may be more sceptical about climate concerns as a result of this unfamiliarity, with different purchasing priorities. Forward-thinking retailers should be - and many are - taking it upon themselves to educate buyers about why they are offering more sustainable options.”

Meet the expert: Deborah Richards is the founder and Managing Partner of Maddisons Residential, a leading, award-winning independent estate agent based in Tunbridge Wells, offering expert advice on all aspects of sales and lettings, combined with excellent customer service.

www.maddisonsresidential.co.uk 18 The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 5TN Telephone: 01892 514100 Email: info@maddisonsresidential.co.uk

Homes & Interiors

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Wednesday February 2 | 2022

Year of the Tiger:

12 ways to work feline stylish stripes at home

Take inspiration from the Chinese zodiac for a fierce decor update. says our resident interiors guru Sam Wylie-Harris who has some wild ideas...

F

eeling decadent? The Year of the Tiger is a great excuse to free yourself from the confines of beige, grey and neutrals and channel some fierce flair to liven up your living area.

The symbol of power and lordliness, tigers love the limelight and will feel very much at home when they’re adding a new dimension to a feature wall, pouncing onto your bed with their luxurious stripes, or giving a new spin to a sofa with their bold orange and black colourway.

Here’s how to take a walk on the wild side and welcome a touch of tiger into your home…

1. Velvet Tiger Cushions, from £46 each, Graham & Green With a choice of four vibrant colourways, this streak of hand-appliqued tigers on luxurious velvet will give a new lease of life to an accent chair or plain sofa.

2. Ceramic Tiger Head Vase, £15, Dunelm Whether you opt for fresh blooms, dried

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flowers or a faux fern, this ceramic tiger vase is a vision of loveliness.

3. Jonathan Adler Safari Rectangle Tray, £82, Jonathan Adler Posing proudly, anything you proffer on this Safari tray will look that much more tantalising with this fabulous feline taking centre stage.

4. Evans Lichfield Jungle Tiger Piped Cushion, £15, Next Set against a background of lush forests, these majestic creatures cry out to be scattered among a rich array of soft furnishings, in the bedroom or lounge.

5. Jungle Tiger Illustrations Art Print, £30 (Framed), Abstract House If you’re more minimalist than more is more, contemporary artwork such as this jungle tiger illustration will complement a Scandi-style interior or chic white walls.

6. Caspian Jungle Bedding, from £125-£145, Avalana (Main picture above)

Homes & Interiors

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

This striking bedding evokes an exotic wildlife sanctuary, where tigers peer through palms.

Could this be the closest thing to a night safari, with the promise of sleeping within a whisker of a tiger?

7. Large Diamanté Effect Tiger Ornament, £38, Next Dressed in diamanté, we’ve a sweet spot for Tiana the Tiger, and you could always glam her up even more with a big cat rhinestone collar.

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5 up or down, based on how much you want to showcase your tiger reserve. Depending on your budget, the matching foot stool doubles up as a storage solution, for extra opulence and a touch of practicality.

9. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen Tiger Tiger Black Cushion, £18, Dunelm

3 8. The Sofology Offbeat Chesterfield in Offbeat Tiger Print All Over Loveseat, £1899, and Storage Foot Stool, £599, Sofology An investment piece for sure, this lavish sofa (available in luxurious velvet or cosy chenille) is a statement in its own right, and can be styled

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Another cushion we’ve taken a shine to, this one’s embellished with a metallic foil tiger motif for some surplus glamour.

10. Paloma Home Pouncing Tigers Duvet Set, from £85-£105, Freemans Plush and playful, this Pouncing Tigers bedding can be layered with tactile fabrics –

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think faux fur throw in burnt orange for those all-important creature comforts.

11. George Pink Tiger Dispenser and Tumbler Set, £8, Direct.asda.com For a quick fix, tiger treats in the bathroom could be complemented with sage green and dusty pink towels. But this daring duo next to the sink is bound to liven up your mornings.

12. Jungle is Massive Wallpaper in Jungle Green, £42, Lust Home Feeling fierce? A feature wall with a streak of tigers, who look ready to roar or pounce, provides the perfect backdrop for indoor palm plants – like a Chinese Fan Palm with starshaped leaves.

8

LOCAL NEWSPAPERS

OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS

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The deadline for entries is fast approaching so get your application forms in quick if you want to take part in the gala night of the year IN ASSOCIATION WITH at the Salomons Estate Science Theatre on March 24.

HOST: Star of daytime TV Eamonn Holmes will be presenting the 2022 awards

There are ten categories to choose from ranging from Creative Business of the Year to Best Family Business. If you have not yet applied for an entrance form it is not too late - and best of all applying for the Times Business Awards is completely FREE! For details or an application form visit www.timesbusinessawards.co.uk or email: info@timesbusinessawards.co.uk

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34

Antiques

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

Ushering in a new Bronze Age

antiques

Eric Knowles turns spotlight on an ancient commodity – long-favoured by artists

H

ELLO everyone! I hope that you’re all as excited as I am about the impending arrival of our new partners here at the Corn Exchange, David Hickmet and Jeroen Markies. As well as the sheer delight of being able to work with friends, the items they will be making available will enable us to greatly enhance our involvement in the field of Art Deco objects.

Artefacts from this era are just now gaining ‘genuine’ antiquarian status.

If I can generalise with the rather glib definition as used by our friends at HMRC, the term should only be applied to items which are at least 100 years old. The start of the Art Deco period can be traced, essentially, to 1925 and an exposition in Paris of “Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes”, from which the name was

Artefacts from this era are just now gaining ‘genuine’ antiquarian status.

derived. Clearly, though, the pieces shown at the Grand Palais – and the artistic genre - had to have been pre-existing rather than conceived at the last minute, so although that date defines the origin of the term, items worthy of the name had been made since the end of the Great War. As with many artistic movements, Art Deco involved so much more than just a proliferation of generic objects – there were ideas, concepts, realisations which underpinned the thought-processes of those at the forefront of the culture’s creativity. In this instance, one of the foremost ideals was the emancipation of women – not just in the literal, political sense, although that certainly played its part, but one of a release from the perceived drudgery of domesticity and the strictures of staid complicity within social guidelines.

The vibrant sensuality of – particularly – youthful women was overtly celebrated by Art Deco designers, and there was an abundance of figurines depicting dancers, coryphées and sprites emphasising movement, vigour, grace and – not to put too fine a point on it – sensuality and eroticism.

Somewhat incongruously, the substance of choice from which many of these ‘new wave’ pieces were made was one of the oldest sculpting materials known to mankind – bronze. The use of the alloy in a decorative sense, dates back some three thousand years. It has proved so enduring as a resource for sculptors as it has one

Eric Knowles

important property when being used in its molten state for casting with moulds. As it cools and solidifies it expands very slightly, then contracts, so having been forced in to every last, intricate feature of the mould it then becomes very much easier to separate from the forme into which it has been cast.

It’s therefore ideal for producing figures which demand the reproduction of very fine detail, and this was very much to the fore with the ‘realist’ style of Art Deco figures.

So, within a week or so, we will be able to offer for sale many such pieces demonstrating the exuberance and vitality of the Art Deco style – provided and curated by two of the very finest dealers in their field. We very much hope that you’ll join us to take a look at their wares – and don’t forget to visit ScottishAntiques.com to get a preview of what’s on offer. I’ll also be hosting a talk on this same subject at the start of April – more details to follow shortly.

Antiques

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

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How to get that Royal seal of approval Alexander Pushkin, of Pushkin Antiques in the High Street talks about what it takes to get a Royal Warrant To apply for such a recognition, a brand must have provided goods or services on request to the Royal Household for a minimum of five years.

After being abolished during the Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell, the Royal Warrant got re-established by Charles II in 1660.

The Royal Warrant is a sign of quality, excellence and patronage officially given by the Lord Chamberlain

Magnificent One of the first silversmiths appointed was Paul de Lamerie who was granted the Royal Warrant in 1716 by King George I (1714 -1727).

Paul Storr was certainly the most famous silversmith receiving the Royal Warrant by George III (1760 - 1820). His magnificent pieces

NESTLED Pushkin is next to two Royal Warrant holders & Co., Hunt & Roskell, Philipp Rundell & John Bridge and can regularly be found for sale in our gallery and website.

To oppose the improper use of the Royal Arms and protect the rights of the Royal Warrant holders in 1840 the Royal tradesmen’s association was founded. At the same time the rules to apply tightened up, Nowadays there are around 800 Royal Warrant Holders.

Alexander Pushkin

T

O SERVE the Royal Court has been the highest aspiration of tradesmen and craftsmen for centuries, ever since in 1155 King Henry II gave a Royal Charter to the Weavers’ Company.

During the 15th Century tradespeople started to be officially recognised with the Royal Warrant of Appointment.

The Royal Warrant is a sign of quality, excellence and patronage officially given by the Lord Chamberlain which indicates that there is an established trade relation between the Royal family member granting the Warrant and the company who receives it. Businesses granted with this document were - and still are - allowed to display the Royal Arms and the legend ‘by appointment’ advertising the fact that they supply the Royal Family; thus giving prestige to the supplier.

Coincidence

PAUL STORR

Can hand or wrist surgery be performed under local anaesthetic?

Historically for more major hand and wrist surgery patients would have a general anaesthetic, but over the last few years, anaesthetists have become increasingly skilled at doing regional blocks. Mr James Nicholl, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Nuffield Health Tunbridge Wells Hospital explains: “For many years a number of hand operations have been done under local anaesthetic, where the surgeon injects the local anaesthetic into the area being operated on to numb it. Carpal tunnel and trigger finger releases and most surgery on the fingers is done this way. This involves injecting long acting local anaesthetic around the nerves in the top of the arm under ultrasound guidance, so that the whole arm goes numb for a few hours. This allows the surgeon to perform the surgery without the patient feeling anything, the patient can remain awake avoiding a general anaesthetic. This has the advantages of patients not feeling groggy or sick for a while, which can occur after a general anaesthetic.

They can eat and drink immediately after their operation, can leave the hospital almost straight after their surgery and the block provides very

are nowadays displayed in the most important museums of the world and can be found in our collection.

During the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901) around 2000 shops were granted the Royal Warrant, from silversmiths and jewellers to tea merchants. Among our favourite Silversmiths & Jewellers appointed are Elkington & Co., Garrard

DESIGN Some of Miller’s work can be found at Pushkin

good post-operative pain relief for several hours.

We did a small survey of patients who had had their surgery under an awake regional block recently, and of 21 patients we asked, 100% were satisfied with the experience although one would have liked some sedation during the procedure. The mean time to needing postoperative analgesia was 12 hours, and none of the patients needed strong opiate analgesics.

Most patients are a bit apprehensive beforehand which is understandable, but once the procedure starts they are usually completely happy, and if they are feeling a bit anxious the anaesthetist can give some sedation. Patients can’t see what I’m doing, but if anyone wants to look they can. This is most often the case when I am doing keyhole surgery on the wrist, where I am working from images on a screen which the patient can also watch if they are interested.”

If you have a problem with your hand or wrist which you are putting off having treated because of concerns about having a general anaesthetic, then it’s usually possible to have the surgery done under an awake regional block.

For further information about Mr James Nicholl please visit : nuffieldhealth.com/consultants/mr-james-nicholl

Although in this article we only focused on the British Royal Warrants, there are other monarchies granting similar acknowledgments, such as the Royal family of Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands and Imperial Russian.

It’s no coincidence I’ve brought up the topic of the Warrant as our Gallery is nestled between two Royal warrant holders: Mappin & Webb and G.Collins & Sons and we pride ourselves on offering a wide selection of silverware, jewellery, watches and interiors made by all the above mentioned jewellers, silversmiths and luxury brands with royal warrants.

Travel

travel

36

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

Take the classroom to the canal, with a boating trip to educate all the family

The 20th anniversary of the Anderton Boat Lift’s restoration gives Aine Fox and her family a chance to explore Cheshire’s serene and pleasant waterways...

“

LEFT a bit, now right a bit, OK, straighten her up”.

With those confidently-delivered directions, we’ve safely navigated past our fellow canal boaters as we emerge from the second tunnel of the day.

The orders are given by my first mate. He’s nine years old, and taking to his new role like a duck to water.

Black Prince Holidays states on its website that no previous experience is needed to hire a canal boat – so it seems like the ideal adventurous getaway for first-timers like our group of three adults and three children.

The company, which has nine holiday hire bases across England, Scotland and Wales, promises a British Marine Federationaccredited handover before letting us loose on the water.

Ian, our guide, is a former canal boat resident, so we are in good hands. His ex-military background also means his hour-long induction is thorough but engaging, firm but with a humorous overtone to temper our nerves.

He assures us we’ll be fine as he waves us off – the adults slightly apprehensive, the children bursting with excitement.

Our weekend break from Acton Bridge begins with a two-and-a-half hour journey along the Trent and Mersey Canal. Standing at the back of the boat, with one hand on the long handle – or tiller – we stay in first

gear as we get our bearings. Even when we switch to top speed, we’re motoring along at around four miles an hour.

Ian advised us that a good gauge is to travel at about the speed of someone walking along the towpath – a canal boat holiday is meant to be enjoyed at a slow pace.

We get off to a shaky start as we end up with the rear of the boat wedged into the shallow edge of the canal – prompting a rush for the long poles stored on top of the

vessel, which we use to push ourselves out from the bank. It’s the first of a few that day, as we get to grips with the steering (move the tiller left when you want to turn right and vice versa), negotiate tight corners or pass other narrowboats along the way.

By day two, with better spatial awareness and steering, we realise the turns aren’t really that tight and there is plenty of space between us and other boats.

There is a blissful serenity at points where

‘Our ‘Duchess 6’ boat is named Jessica Ellen much to the children’s enjoyment...’ we seem to have the canal to ourselves, lush green foliage on either side, reeds so high we joke this might be what it’s like to travel through the Amazon rainforest, and silence but for birdsong and the gentle background hum of our engine.

The tunnels – some which you can see through, and others which are timed meaning you can only proceed at a certain point in the hour – are daunting at first, but soon become the most anticipated part of the day for the youngest onboard. Pitch dark but for our headlamp at the front, they make a suitably scary backdrop for telling ghost stories, as well as for contests to see who can produce the best echo.

It hadn’t occurred to any of the adults that travelling during the day would always require one of us to be out at the back, steering. So a good ratio of adults to children on your trip is advisable – with supervision on the front and back outdoor areas a must, and of course someone on hand to make tea for the captain.

Our ‘Duchess 6’ boat is named Jessica Ellen – much to the children’s enjoyment as they affectionately declare on mooring up that “Jessica needs a rest for the night”, and excitedly exclaim “there’s Jessica!” when

Travel

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

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we approach her on return from our pub meal one evening.

At 69ft long and 6ft 6ins wide, she sleeps six of us in three compartments, but can fit eight when the eating area is transformed into another bedroom. Narrowboats live up to their name, so might not be for the claustrophobic, but I’m pleasantly surprised by how spacious it feels, and with the heating on in the evening it’s cosy.

We have two toilets and a shower, a small kitchen and a table with a seating area for meals, board games and plenty of colouring in.

The company has a handy guide on its website of what to bring in terms of food, clothing and perhaps less obvious items like a large umbrella (a godsend if it rains while you’re steering) and a torch for evenings. Don’t forget food for the ducks too.

Attractions Planning your route is advisable: have an idea of how long it might be until the next attraction, and most importantly time it so you moor up before dark.

While the boat’s kitchen is well-equipped, booking in to a pub en route in advance for at least one evening is a nice change of scenery, and allows for a well-deserved beverage after a day’s captain-ing.

A must-see on our route is the 147-year-old Anderton Boat Lift, where visitors can take a guided boat tour of the River Weaver before a trip in what the Canal and River Trust describes as an “an incredible edifice”, likening it to a “giant three-storey high iron spider”.

The lift, celebrating the 20th anniversary in 2022 of its restoration and reopening, was built in 1875 to move boats 50ft between the River Weaver and the canal – a job it still does today. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the UK waterways and known as the Cathedral of the Canals.

The accompanying visitor centre, play park and maze, are a great spot to while away a few hours off the boat. The cafe also has a great margherita pizza and gift shop.

The Dutton Stop Lock is the only one on our route and is described by Black Prince as the “perfect ‘practice’ lock”. With only a few inches of difference in the water levels, we get the fun of opening the gates and steering into and out of the chamber without any risk of sinking.

It helps that we also have a kind canal boat resident who happens to be nearby and takes an interest in talking us through the process.

Along the route we are greeted by waves and FAMILY FUN

smiles from both fellow holidaymakers and others living on the canal. The gentle pace of life is certainly appealing, and we all feel like we’re just getting into the swing of it when we reach the final day of our short trip.

It’s simultaneously been an action-packed yet relaxing break, getting to grips with new skills but happily settling into life in the slow lane.

Arriving back at base, I ask the children to give their verdict. All three break into big smiles, with the eldest proudly proclaiming: “I’ve loved giving orders!”

How to plan your trip Black Prince (black-prince.com; 01527 575 115) offer a three-night break from £1,175 for up to six sharing, from their Acton Bridge base, departing April. Diesel costs extra at around £15 per day.

Black Prince has a choice of nine holiday hire bases, from the Peak District to the Midlands, Cheshire, Cambridge, Oxford, Wiltshire, Scotland, Wales and London.

A trip on the Anderton Boat Lift and river tour costs £13 per adult, £11 for under 25s, and children under three are free. It’s £37 for a family ticket (two adults and two children or one adult and three children).

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38

Wednesday February 2 | 2022

Motoring News

This week…

Electric Mini conversions

n

Porsche’s infotainment upgrade

n

New e-Berlingo trim n

Mini creates new department to offer electric conversions of classic models CALLED the Mini Recharged project, it has been developed following a positive reception to a one-off classic Mini Electric created in 2018 and shown at the New York Auto Show. Because of this reaction, a dedicated team has been set up at Mini’s Oxford plant to offer the same type of conversion to customers who own a classic Mini.

The classic’s engine is swapped out for a 121bhp electric motor and battery, enabling a 0-60mph time of just under nine seconds and a fully electric range of up to 99 miles. The original’s four-speed manual gearbox, meanwhile, is taken out in favour of a single-speed version.

Guages The charger port of the electric Mini is located under the original fuel filler cap, while the battery capacity is relayed to the driver within a redesigned version of the original gauges.

The petrol motor is also marked and stored – rather than being thrown away – so that the car can be returned to its original state should the owner desire. Only reversible changes are made as part of the conversion.

Bernd Körber, head of the Mini Brand, said: “What the project team are developing preserves the character of the classic Mini and enables its fans to enjoy all-electric performance. With Mini Recharged, we are connecting the past with the future of the brand.”

No new vehicles are being created for the project, with only existing cars being converted to electric power. Created ‘exclusively in the United Kingdom’, each car is given an individual number. For now, Mini has yet to announce a price for the conversion.

Porsche’s infotainment system Citroen’s e-Berlingo line-up features full Spotify integration expanded with a new trim actually connect the phone to the car.

Elsewhere, the new system can be identified by the coloured shortcut buttons, which make it ‘easier to recognise’ for customers, while the upgraded voice control system is said to make it easier to access news and in-car music streaming. Wireless Android Auto is also now included.

Chargers

PORSCHE is rolling out a new sixth-generation infotainment system to many of its core models as its cars become more connected.

The system, known as Porsche Communication Management (PCM) has been enhanced, with one of the main changes being the addition of full Spotify integration. C ustomers of the music streaming service can link their account to the car, and use Spotify as an additional media source without having to

The infotainment system is now featured as standard on new Porsche 911, Cayenne, Panamera and electric Taycan models. It will be particularly useful to drivers of the Taycan, as Porsche has enhanced its ‘Charging Planner’ service, with the firm saying the system is now able to ‘plan charging stops more efficiently’ by prioritising the quickest chargers. Drivers are able to filter electric car chargers by their output, too.

It can also now factor in how long it takes to start and end a charge when calculating routes.

These changes are said to make a ‘muchimproved charging service’, and let owners maximise the impressive rapid charging speeds that the Taycan is capable of.

Any of the aforementioned Porsche models that are newly configured on the firm’s website will feature this latest infotainment system, though the full scope of the features does depend on the car being configured.

CITROEN has added a new trim level to its electric e-Berlingo line-up, bringing more space and versatility to the model.

Previously, the high-specification Flair XTR trim level could only be included on more compact medium versions with five seats, but it can now be added to XL versions which bring seven seats and added boot space.

The XL bodylength offers an additional 35cm over the medium version, giving it a maximum load length of over three metres and an extra 500 litres of boot space when the rearmost seats are folded flat.

Citroen recently announced that it would be ending petrol and diesel-powered versions of its Berlingo people carrier, instead offering solely battery-powered models. The e-Berlingo has a 100kW electric motor and 50kWh battery, which enables a range of up to 174 miles. Thanks to 100kW charging, the e-Berlingo’s battery can also be taken up to 80% in as little as 30 minutes or seven-and-a-half hours when connected to a standard 7kW home charger.

As standard, Flair XTR models boast Airbump exterior styling pieces and 17-inch alloy wheels alongside gloss black roof bars and front and rear scuff plates.

All cars get orange

light surrounds and special XTR badges too.

Systems Inside, there’s an eight-inch touchscreen system with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while a second 10-inch digital driver’s display showcases all key information such as speed and remaining range. A series of assistance systems, such as autonomous emergency braking and lane keeping assist, are included as standard too.

Prices for the new e-Berlingo Flair XTR in XL length start from £32,995 and it’s available to order now. The wider e-Berlingo line-up starts from £29,495 including the Government’s plug-in car grant.

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Wednesday February November | 2021 2 10 | 2022

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