Times of Tunbridge Wells 9th August 2017

Local, National and International

OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS

Charity horses take a tumble as vandals strike

PHOTO: Suzannah Niklas

By Jonathan Banks

FELLED Field of the Wild toppled from his stand

HOSPICE in the Weald have condemned the ‘heartbreaking’ vandalism of three of their life-size sculpted horses.

The 24-strong herd of colourfully coated creatures are dotted around key locations throughout the Weald as part of a fundraising drive.

Last week two of the horses placed by the Watergate in Tonbridge had to be removed after ‘purposeful vandalism’. Then late on Saturday night [August 6] ‘yobs swooped to try to wrench the fibre-glass model from their plinth on Pembury village green’, according the charity.

Income Generation Director, Nick

Farthing, said: “So much brilliant creative work has gone into the designs that it is heartbreaking to have this happen.

“The horses will be repaired but that is going to cost us money.

“Ultimately, all 24 horses will be auctioned off [in October] to raise more money for Hospice in the Weald, so we cannot afford to have this kind of damage.

“So many people have told us how much they have enjoyed going around Kent to find all the horses.

“It is incredibly upsetting that a small minority of people would attempt to ruin what has been a very positive campaign for the majority of the community.”

Mothers reassured after cot death charity refuses to endorse new giveaway murray@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

THE NHS is to continue offering so called ‘Baby Boxes’ to mothers attending Tunbridge Wells and Crowborough maternity units.

The confirmation comes after questions over safety were raised by The Lullaby Trust, the country’s leading cot death charity. The NHS told the Times that the boxes ‘meet all statutory safety standards’.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells [MTW] NHS Trust launched the programme last week [August 1] to encourage early engagement with maternity services and access to care for all pregnant women.

The boxes come with a firm foam mat-

tress, waterproof mattress cover and a fitted cotton sheet. They will be supplied, as part of a new initiative, free of charge to patients of Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone maternity units and the Crowborough Birthing Centre.

‘The boxes have been credited with drastically reducing infant mortality’ The scheme has been used in Finland for 75 years and is credited with drastically reducing the infant mortality rate from 65 per 1,000 births in 1938 to just 2.26 in 2015.

Lullaby refuted this link and said there was no evidence that baby boxes reduced

the rate of sudden infant death syndrome [SIDS]. The charity has refused to allow its leaflets to be placed in the boxes ‘as this suggests we endorse the product’.

Crucially, they argued that ‘it is not possible for baby boxes to fully comply with safety standards’, as current British and EU regulation only exist for traditional cot cribs and bassinets.

Their report concluded that ‘we still recommend that a cot or Moses basket is the safest place to sleep a baby’.

The warning from the charity last Thursday [August 3] came just two days after the MTW NHS Trust launched the giveaway. In an accompanying press release they quoted the Finish infant mortality statistics and added that the boxes ‘are traditionally used in Finland as a baby’s bed for the first months of

INSIDE PLANNING UPSET

Groombridge Place events were unauthorised for years Page 3

ARRESTING SIGHT

Dramatic drop in number of children in justice system Page 5

Continued on page 2

Baby Boxes ‘meet all safety standards’

By Murray Jones

r ur Yo EE pe a FRwsp

All the news that matters

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Wednesday August 9 | 2017

their life, replacing the need for a traditional Moses basket or cot’.

When the Times put Lullaby’s concerns to the MTW Trust and the Commissioning Group, they responded on Monday with a joint statement.

“Although the Baby Boxes we distribute meet all statutory safety standards, and are built to provide a safe space for a new born baby to rest should they need one, it is the educational benefits of the full package – and the significant evidence base supporting this – that provides the profoundly positive impact of the Baby Box programme.

“Families receiving a Baby Box become members of the Baby Box University - an online platform providing health advice

Continued on page 2

IT’S JUST BLISS

Pair plan to reopen popular community café Page 3

TALENT ON PARADE Youngsters turn dreams into reality at Disneyland Page 8

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Local News

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Continued from page 1

NEW MUMS Audrey Antione-Hart (left) with baby Luisa-Rose and Leigh Taylor with Dasie Freeman, were among the first to receive the Baby Boxes. They are pictured with Midwife Emily Steward.

Boxes aim to boost expecting parent’s education Continued from page 1 from a range of local health professionals, on a wide range of topics, including breastfeeding, smoking cessation, perinatal mental health and nutrition in pregnancy.

“The ‘Dos and Don’ts of Baby Boxes’ published by the Lullaby Trust entirely reflect the guidance we have issued alongside all Baby Boxes we have distributed.

“We have worked closely with the Baby Box Company and local maternity experts to ensure we are providing an offer that supports improved maternity experiences for everyone, while also offering all families a parenting starter kit.”

Jenny Cleary, Head of Midwifery and Women’s Health, said, “We welcome any initiative which promotes a safer environment for babies as well as knowledge and reassurance for new parents.

“Baby Box is an established and successful programme

which I am sure many of our local parents will be delighted to benefit from.”

The Chief Executive of The Baby Box Company, who manufacture the product, Jennifer Clary said: “What the success of Finland’s positive results actually demonstrates is the significance of parenting education, engaging prenatal intervention and accessible community supports.”

Senior policy adviser for the National Childbirth Trust, Elizabeth Duff directed parents to the ‘comprehensive’ information available on www.lullabytrust.org.uk.  In order to receive a free box, expecting parents need to complete the West Kent syllabus on www.babyboxuniversity.com, a maternal and childcare education platform. Upon completion, they will receive a certificate that can be redeemed for their free Baby Box.

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Local business quickly leapt to the rescue of the felled horses. Overnight accommodation for the stallions was found at Tonbridge Old Fire Station, before they were taken to the ‘vets’ for recovery.

While, in Pembury, the team at the Camden Arms took the model in and cleaned up twisted bolts on the plinth to make it safe.

The pub’s manager Simon Rejbakoz said: “People in Pembury are outraged. The horse has been such a novel attraction on the green and the attack is a real kick in the teeth for the

charity and people who have given so much time and effort to the cause.

“Whoever did that might just as well have come in and stolen the charity box.”

It is thought the damage will cost well in excess of £1,000.

One Facebook follower, Susie Pinder, said: “I am so shocked that such lovely decorated horses, for such a wonderful charity, should be targeted. Trust it is back soon, as it has brought a smile to my face as I’ve driven through the village.”

Hospice spokesman Nick Farthing added: “We can promise our supporters that the horses will be back on show once they have been repaired. Our Herd of

PHOTO: Posted by Sandra Pullen on Facebook

‘People in Pembury are outraged’

the Hospice campaign has had such a huge response that we don’t want these vandals to deprive people of their pleasure.”

DAMAGED Pembury Lass and the disconnected hoof (inset)

Stately home to take centre stage in BBC crime drama

By Adam Hignett PENSHURST Place will feature in a two hour BBC crime drama this autumn based on works by the acclaimed Harry Potter Author J.K. Rowling.

News that The Silkworm was filmed at the 14th century manor house in March has only just been released.

It joins a long list of productions to feature parts of the medieval building and its 2,500 acre estate, including Hollywood films The Other Boleyn Girl and The Princess Bride, as well as BBC shows Merlin and Wolf Hall.

The Silkworm is based on J.K. Rowling’s book of the same name, which she wrote under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

It forms the second novel in The Strike Series, between The Cuckoo’s

Calling and Career of Evil.

They tell the story of Cormoran Strike, a war veteran turned private detective. Though he is wounded both physically and psychologically, Strike’s unique insight and his background as an SIB Investigator prove crucial in solving three complex cases that have eluded the police.

Cormoran Strike will be played by Kent born actor and Musketeers star Tom Burke, who

THE PLACE TO BE J.K. Rowling and Tom Burke

most recently starred in BBC’s epic War & Peace as ‘Fedor Dolokhov’ and in The Musketeers as ‘Athos’.

Directed by Kieron Hawkes, the drama will feature Penshurst’s famous medieval Baron’s Hall, Porcupine Pantry and the outside Lime Walk.

Ben Thomas, General Manager, Penshurst Place and Gardens says, “It’s a privilege for Penshurst Place to have a role in bringing such a fantastic trilogy to life. Strike promises to be a hugely entertaining series of crime dramas written by the master storyteller, J K Rowling.

“While Penshurst Place is often used as a filming location for historical dramas, because of its authentic architectural features, the venue and surrounding 2,500-acre estate can accommodate filmmakers of any genre.”

DON’T LET THE VANDALS PUT PEOPLE OFF GOOD WORK It will come as little surprise to many that three of the fibreglass horses that make up the much publicised Herd of the Hospice have been vandalised.

It is a sad fact that every town has its share of idiots who will take pleasure out of senselessly destroying someone else’s property.

For some reason, nice things – such as the well-kept plants in Calverley Grounds – seem to bear the brunt of these unintelligible acts.

What makes this situation worse is the horses are symbols of community spirit and charity. The money raised from them will

go towards helping those who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

The public reaction online has been one of justified disappointment and anger.

It is hard to know what can be done.

Certainly the 24 horses could be put on display only indoors and in places with good CCTV monitoring, but that seems to go against the spirit of the project – it would also feel like admitting defeat.

If the perpetrators are caught they should be punished and shamed. Efforts to instil a sense of pride in people about where they live will also help, although clearly that is not

going to happen overnight and many people and organisations would have to play their part.

Ultimately, those who make the effort to contribute to the town through public arts, the maintenance of its parks, memorials, and other projects, should not be perturbed by the acts of a tiny minority – even if there is always some risk of vandalism.

The vast majority of reasonable people will continue to appreciate these efforts to make the town a nicer place in which to live.

Adam Hignett Chief Reporter

Local News

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

NEWS IN BRIEF

College hosts UK’s first reptile welfare centre HADLOW College is to develop the country’s first facility solely dedicated to looking after abandoned reptiles.

With the capacity to care for 600 creatures, ranging from lizards to exotic snakes, the centre will also offer students the opportunity to carry out research into the species, until new owners can be found.

The centre is being developed in partnership with the Reptile and Exotic Pet Trade Association and run in collaboration with The Pet Charity, which promotes the benefits of animal ownership.

The number of reptiles being abandoned has surged due to their increasing popularity as pets.

Dame Kelly talks health HILDENBOROUGH’S double Olympic champion and local businesswoman Dame Kelly Holmes will be sharing her experience with mental health at the inaugural Health and Wellbeing Live show at The Secret Manor, Mabledon in Tunbridge Wells.

The two day event, from September 22, aims to give people a place to discover more about physical and mental health from workshops, seminars and host speakers.

Other highlights include; Therapeutic spa treatments, healthy cookery demonstrations, fitness classes and a ‘Health MOT’.

For more information, visit: www.healthwellbeinglive.co.uk.

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Groombridge Place attracts thousands to events with no planning permission POPULAR Festival did not have green light

By Murray Jones

murray@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk VILLAGERS were demanding answers this week after it was revealed that for the last four years major events have been staged at Groombridge Place without planning permission.

The venue’s authorisation expired in 2013, despite hosting a litany of well-attended events since then including festivals such as Joy and Extreme.

Investigation

Businesses get in tune ROYAL Tunbridge Wells Together is to provide grant funding of £1,000 towards the costs of staging Local & Live this August Bank Holiday weekend.

Running from August 25-28 at venues across Tunbridge Wells, the event is a showcase of local music talent, delivered over three days in Calverley Grounds, The Forum and the Spa Hotel.

Together, a community interest company comprised of local businesses, is also providing sponsorship for this year’s Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival, due to take place in October.

NEWS

The oversight came to light after Groombridge Place withdrew an application to extend their licensed hours to stay open and sell alcohol until 3am at the weekend.

Permission for the grounds to be open to the public was first granted in 1992. They were authorised to hold events in 2007 but this was on a temporary basis, which ended in 2013. A borough council spokesperson confirmed that they were ‘not aware it had

expired’, until they received a complaint last month after which they ‘commenced an investigation’.

Operating without planning permission is not a criminal offence so there will be no punitive action.

Although if Groombridge Place fail to submit a retrospective planning application for the previous events they could receive a formal Enforcement Notice. Failure to comply with is a criminal offence.

Groombridge resident Julia Stitt said: “It seems grossly inefficient on the part of the Borough Council’s planning department to allow Groombridge Place to hold late night events that disturb the peace of some people in the village and permits overnight camping adjacent to residents’ homes, all with no planning permission.

“Surely there must have been an events manager at the estate whose job it was to ensure all correct processes were adhered to?”

The Times contacted the venue but were told that owner Justin Bodle was away and unavailable for comment.

Pair hope to save Café Bliss with help of an Italian twist

By Adam Hignett

adam@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk A popular community café in Southborough which was forced to close due to financial pressures could soon have a new lease of life, in the form of an Italian restaurant.

Business partners Angela Swain and Egidio Rosa (pictured right) want to retain the not-for-profit status of the Bliss Café in order to ensure the premises remains a community centre for people in the town. Ms Swain said they were inspired to step in when they heard of the café’s closure from members of the Pembury-based charity Pepenbury, which supports people with learning difficulties, and with whom she has close connections.

“We want to run it exactly as it was before, as a non-profit charity to help vulnerable people. Now the café is closed, many of its previous disadvan-

taged customers have nowhere to go,” Ms Swain said, adding: “I have met many of the café’s users and they are absolutely charming people, but we want to act fast before they disperse and go elsewhere.”

Helping to support their business case is Mr Rosa’s background.

The former manager of the now-closed Grosvenor Road restaurant Divizia has a history of running restaurants in his native Italy that offer programmes to help train up vulnerable people and those with special needs.

It is a model the pair wish to replicate in the new establishment, and hope to be able to take on fully-paid staff from among the previous Café Bliss clientele.

“Elaine Laurence [the previous owner] did a fantastic job running the place for eight years, but she had to do it all alone. Hopefully we can make a success of it with the resources of two people and Egidio’s organisational skills,” Ms Swain said.

Talks with letting agents about securing the lease are ongoing, but Ms Swain hopes Mr Rosa will be able to fire up the pizza oven within weeks.

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Local News

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Call for urgent rethink after rural revolt on central planning rules

By Adam Hignett

Staff survey shows bullying is endemic in ambulance service WOMEN working for the ambulance service responsible for patients in West Kent were ‘hounded for sexual favours’ in return for career progression, a report has revealed.

Commissioned in February when allegations of a serious bullying culture first emerged, the report into the South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) lays bare the scale of the problem.

Distressed The confidential survey of 2,000 employees found 42 per cent said they had been exposed to bullying at the organisation.

The report documents ‘overt and covert sexualised behaviour’ throughout the organisation which was ‘embedded’ within management.

Female staff bore the brunt and often felt ‘demeaned’ by highly sexualised gazing in front of colleagues and even patients, the study notes.

It adds: “Female staff talked about sexual favours being sought in return for career progression whilst others were hounded by managers seeking sexual favours for personal reasons.

“Some female respondents talked about ‘sexual predators’ among male colleagues who ‘groomed students’ for sexualised ends. Some managers felt there was a history of comments being turned to lewd remarks but slowly these were being addressed.”

The sheer scale of the problem shocked the researchers. Those analysing the data were ‘extremely distressed to hear of the experiences of several female Secamb employees’, the report states.

It also found half of all respondents said they had been treated in ‘disrespectful or rude way’, while just under a third had felt ‘threatened and intimidated’.

Secamb Chief Executive Daren Mochrie, appointed in April last year, said he was ‘truly disappointed and upset’ by the findings of the survey.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council is being encouraged to ‘urgently review’ its approach to planning in rural areas.

Parish councillors in Benenden have called for a rethink by their borough counterparts who ultimately determine planning issues, after several controversial village developments were given the go-ahead, despite strong local opposition.

‘They need to listen to local people more, especially in rural parts of the borough’ One such scheme saw a developer submit a plan to convert a former poultry barn in Iden Green into three dwellings.

The Parish Council said they have a long standing’ policy of encouraging smaller residential units in and around the village to enable young people and families to remain in the area and welcomed the ‘golden opportunity’ the development represented.

Kent Barker But following

advice from the planning authority the developer changed their plans and applied for just one dwelling with five bedrooms which will be ‘out of the price range of most local people’, the Parish Planning Chairman, Kent Barker, said.

A similar incident occurred at another conversion in the village, Mr Barker added.

However, the Borough Council passed plans for an estate of 12 new houses on green field land despite concerted opposition from the Parish Council and local residents.

The row comes in the wake of the news that, under new government quotas, Tunbridge Wells Borough may have to provide 10,000 new homes by 2023.

Parish Cllr Barker said: “It seems quite ludicrous that the borough council foists unsuitable and unpopular green field developments on us, but won’t consider multi-occupancy conversions on brown-field sites.”

Cllr Alan McDermott, Cabinet member with responsibility for planning, said the Borough Council cannot comment on pre-planning advice in relation to the individual cases raised due to ‘confidentiality’.

He added: “The Council is currently producing the new Local Plan. We have been, and will be, engaging with the Parish and Town Councils as the Plan moves forward. All policies, including those regarding the conversions of buildings in rural areas and the size/mix of dwellings in both rural and urban locations, will be reviewed as part of this process.”

Local News

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

LAUNCH: KCC’s Employability Officer Allan Baillie

adam@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

BUSINESSES are being urged to sign up for a scheme to improve the connection between employers and young people.

The West Kent Enterprise Adviser Network matches an individual business leader with a local school with the aim of preparing students for the world of work. It was launched at West Kent College, Tonbridge, with a dedicated coordinator for the project joining in September.

The Chairman of the West Kent Partnership, Nicolas Heslop, said: “Local business leaders tell us of their frustration at the fragmented nature of careers advice and guidance for young people and the challenges of recruitment, and this initiative is aimed at positively meeting the needs of employers and helping youngsters understand the world of work.”

A survey from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills found that 66 per cent of businesses believe work experience is critical for recruitment yet only 38 per cent offer work experience in England.

Interested businesses are asked to contact Wendy Wood on wendy.wood@sevenoaks.gov.uk

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Police praised over a dramatic drop in number of child arrests

By Adam Hignett

Pairing pupils with business leaders

NEWS

THE number of children being arrested in Kent has fallen sharply in the last six years, a respected campaign group has revealed.

According to figures released by The Howard League for Penal Reform, the oldest organisation of its kind in the world, Kent Police presided over a 61 per cent decline in child arrests between 2010 and 2016.

The number of children aged 17 and under that were arrested fell from 7,505 to 2,900.

The statistics underline the success of a major Howard League programme launched in 2010, which involves working with police forces to keep as many boys and girls as possible out of the criminal justice system.

Across the UK, the organisation said every force was making fewer arrests and the number of children in prison in England and Wales fell by 58 per cent.

Keeping children out of the criminal

justice system helps prevent crime.

Academic research has shown that the more contact a child has with the system, the more entrenched they are likely to become, which increases reoffending rates.

Howard League Chief Executive Frances Crook said: “For the sixth year running, we have seen a signifi-

‘By working together, we are ensuring that tens of thousands of children will have a brighter future’ cant reduction in child arrests. This is a tremendous achievement.

“Kent Police should be applauded for their positive approach, and the Howard League is proud to have played its part in a transformation that will make our communities safer.

“By working together, we are ensuring that tens of thousands of children will have a brighter future and not be dragged into a downward Frances Cook spiral of crime and

custody.”

Superintendent Tim Cook from Kent Police said: “We’re pleased the figures show that Kent is following the national trend for fewer children ending up in police custody.

“The arrest of a suspect, especially a minor, should be considered as a last resort, and is dependent upon the seriousness of the offence and demeanour of the person.

“Officers do explore appropriate alternatives to arrest wherever possible and we conARRESTED: Figures tinue to review our cusdropped by 61 per cent tody practices to ensure the safest and most appropriate care for those arrested. with young people and support the “We work with other areas of the provision of diversionary activities criminal justice system, such as that keep them safe and away from youth offending teams and the crime. courts service, to look at ways we “Within the last year we’ve also can best deal with youths who enter had an excellent response to our the criminal justice system.

Police Cadet Scheme with just over “Our officers also work closely with 100 youngsters now volunteering community safety partnerships every week and working to support across Kent and Medway to engage their communities.”

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BUSINESS

Local Business News

Local firms partner up for £12million telecom acquisition TUNBRIDGE WELLS telecoms business AdEPT has continued its relentless drive to expand with a £12million acquisition aimed at opening the door to lucrative public sector contracts.

The purchase of the Orpington-based Atomwide by the AIM-listed company means AdEPT will now supply information technology solutions to over 4,000 UK schools, local authorities and Regional Broadband Consortia with over two million users.

This latest deal is the company’s fifth acquisition in the last two years, and the eighth major transaction carried out with the advice of local law firm Cripps since 2013.

Transformed Cripps Partner Nigel Stanford, who led the multidisciplinary team involving eight other lawyers, said his firm was working on a ‘tight schedule’ to get the ‘complex deal’ completed.

In order to meet the deal funding requirements, AdEPT secured £7.3million from the Business Growth Fund [BGF], with Cripps negotiating all of the agreements and dealing with BGF’s due diligence requirements.

The remaining funds were obtained by AdEPT through their existing banks, with Cripps again negotiating the detailed changes required to the company’s current debt facilities.

Ian Fishwick, Chief Executive of AdEPT, said: “Over the last two years we have completely transformed AdEPT from its origins as a telecoms company providing calls and lines to a managed services business providing complex solutions involving IT and telecoms.”

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Gloomy Q2 survey predicts business sales will plunge

By Adam Hignett adam@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk THE number of firms in the county predicting falling sales over the next 12 months is the ‘gloomiest prediction on record’, according to a recent survey by the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce.

Fewer than half of respondents to the year’s Quarter 2 survey (49 per cent), expect sales to improve in the coming year, while a quarter expect them to decline.

In addition, the report notes growing ‘polarisation’ between those firms managing to weather recent volatility and those finding it a struggle.

Polarisation is almost at its highest level among companies benefitting from the weak pound, with over a third reporting growth in overseas sales, but one in four recording a fall in exports.

Jo James, Chief Executive of Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce, said overall the export results point to a ‘pick up’ in activity for both service sector firms and manufacturers.

“The improving growth outlook for some of the UK’s key international markets, and the weaker sterling, have helped improve trading conditions for UK exporters,” she commented.

Other findings revealed that more firms were

investing in training than new equipment, with the report noting: “This is presumably a function of firms’ greater sense of uncertainty, with labour seen as a more flexible resource to deploy – or to dispense with.”

On a positive note, the gloomier sentiment among companies has not dampened their appetite to continue hiring staff, with over half looking to fill vacancies.

The report concludes: “This implies that some firms are seeking to reshape their skill set – and maybe business model?”

However, it adds: “Among the respondents trying to hire, the great majority continue to find suitable applicants hard to find for one or more skill set.”

In total, 110 firms took part in the survey. The services to manufacturing ratio was around 3 to 1.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Media firm mulls axing Church Road office VIRGIN media is to consider closing down its Tunbridge Wells office as part of a major restructuring.

The base, in Church Road, is one of 45 locations – over a third of the business’s total – that are listed to be shut as the media company aims to trim its £20million annual expenditure on office space.

Each of the affected locations reportedly has between 50 and 100 members of staff, although this has not been confirmed regarding the branch in Tunbridge Wells.

It is believed the process of closing all the offices will take up to three years.

Jobs fair set to return THE West Kent Partnership and Jobcentre Plus will be holding their third annual jobs and training fair at the Assembly Hall Theatre on September 14.

A supporting seminar programme will take place throughout the day which will provide employability advice to prospective candidates.

Further office losses BUT GOOD NEWS ON EXPORTS Jo James of Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce

VALE HOUSE in Clarence Road is the latest office block set to be converted into residential premises via a change of use.

The five-storey block, behind the former courthouse, has approximately 20,300 sq ft of floor space, and developer Vale CR plans to convert this into 31 single and double room units.

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Community News

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

SPECIAL GUEST Mayor Soyke (centre) in attendance

All the fun of the fair A NURSERY in Tunbridge Wells raised £1,750 at their annual summer fair last month, to help them provide low cost and free childcare to families in need.

The not-for-profit St George’s Community Children’s Project hosted the event in their Chilston Road garden, with Mayor Julia Soyke in attendance along with parents, staff and members of the local community.

They enjoyed a BBQ, Pimm’s, cakes, a tombola and face paint-

ing, and the children were entertained by a dynamic show from performer Kazzamataz and a singalong with Eli Palfreyman.

Delighted St George’s Cenydd Milne said: “We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported the fair by buying raffle tickets, donating prizes and joining us on the day. The money we’ve raised will make a real differ-

ence to all of the children we care for at St George’s.”

Mayor Soyke said of the July 21 event: “I loved the super-happy atmosphere at the fair, and was delighted to hear that Ofsted ‘outstanding’ rated St George’s is able to offer places to children from all backgrounds, even the most vulnerable and hard-up.

“This includes victims of domestic abuse, such as those being helped by my chosen charity DAVSS.”

Parading their talents A GROUP of young performers from Tunbridge Wells turned their dreams into reality for a once-in-a-lifetime performance in the iconic pre-parade at Disneyland Paris.

On July 22, students from Stagecoach Performing Arts travelled to the French capital to perform in front of their families and thousands of international visitors as part of the Disney Performing Arts OnStage programme as the theme park marked its 25th anniversary.

The students were given the opportunity to dance and sing

as they passed Sleeping Beauty’s castle and headed down the prestigious Main Street all the way to the Disneyland Railroad, leading out much-loved stars such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

They then showcased their talents, performing on one of the main stages in front of a thousand spectators.

Carrie Harrison-Iddon, the Principal of the Tunbridge Wells and Crowborough school, said: “The students worked hard towards this performance and I was so proud to see them all

TAKING THE MICKEY Stagecoach students sing in Paris

on stage.

“For many, it was their first time performing in front of such a big audience and they were very excited. I am so impressed by their commitment and have seen their confidence grow with every rehearsal.

“Being on stage at Disneyland is a once in a lifetime experience, and we certainly made life-long memories at Disneyland this summer.”

The students had been rehearsing for months, following their success in auditions earlier this year.

Community News

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

NEWS

9

Riding 100 miles Party brings disorder to village for meningitis ANARCHY reigned supreme in Hildenborough at the end of last month as various cartoon villains descended on the Law and Disorder charity party.

Attracting more than 120 partygoers,

A TEAM of local business leaders took part in the a cycle ride in London in aid of Meningitis Now – a charity that researches the disease and supports families affected by it.

They completed the 100-mile challenge over five and a half hours on July 30 alongside 30,000 other riders,

following the route of the cycling road race of the 2012 Olympics.

Calling themselves the Meningitis Mile Munchers, the team consisted of Peter Cronwell, owner of The Beacon in Rusthall, Jane Drew of Nuffield Gym, James Richards of Maddisons Residential, Sarah Duncombe-Jones, a teacher at Weald of Kent Grammar, Steve Bass, MD of Bass Engineering, and Steve Clark, MD of Chilstone.

VILLAINS The Joker and (far right) Penfold

Cheering

ON YOUR BIKE (l-r) James Richards, Steve Bass and Steve Clark

Mr Clark said the team burnt 3,800 calories collectively, but more importantly raised more than £5,000 for the charity – £2,000 over their target.

Around 3,200 people get bacterial meningitis each year in the UK, and for 10-15 per cent of those it proves fatal.

Many sufferers, approximately one in five, live with permanent disabilities such as brain damage, hearing loss, loss of kidney function or limb amputations.

Finishing outside Buckingham Palace, Mr Clark said: “For 20 seconds you feel like a pro rider at the end with the crowds cheering.”

To support the team, visit: uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Meningitismilemunchers

the criminal celebration was put on in aid of the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance on Saturday July 29.

The fancy dress events have been staged for the past 12 years and are hosted by local residents Paul and Tina Reeves, who allow their garden to be enjoyed by revellers.

Their son, Nick, had a near fatal road accident last year, and ‘if it wasn’t for the air ambulance team he wouldn’t be here’ explained organiser Teresa Seamer, who added: “My son, Keiron, also owes them a debt of gratitude after they saved his life approximately three years ago when he was hit by a car.

“And my husband, Ian, called them out several years ago when he saved a local fisherman from drowning. They are always there, they are truly incredible.

“We always create a theme, and spend a great deal of time making the parties as special as we can. Everyone puts in such an effort with their costumes. It’s amazing.

“This year, the rain didn’t prevent everyone from having a great time and we’re delighted to say we raised £1,400.”

Homeless help appeal TEAMS from the town’s churches who serve food to people living on the streets are appealing for more volunteers to come forward.

The Tunbridge Wells Churches Street

teams started in 1994. Now in their 23rd year, they operate seven nights a week in the Crescent Road Car Park.

As well as food, they offer a friendly face and give out sleeping bags and

Previous themes have included Medieval Mayhem, Pirates of the Caribbean, Alien Invasion, Psychedelic Fantasy and Hollywood, and the parties always attract a large crowd.

The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust provide emergency medical services through the provision of a helicopter.

Last year they spent £6.72million to run their service, and from November 2014 to October 2015, they aided 1,918 patients.

blankets where appropriate.

At least two volunteers are currently being sought for the Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday night teams.

If you can spare around one and a half hours a night on a regular basis, and are over 18 years old, please email: twstreetteams@yahoo.co.uk or visit www.twstreetteams.org

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County News

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Good progress in high-rise check-up

HALFWAY HOUSE The centre will ease patient transition

HOLLYWOOD’s Ethan Hawke and Rose Byrne were on set in Broadstairs last week to film the adaptation of the 2009 Nick Hornby novel Juliet, Naked.

They joined Irish comic actor Chris O’Dowd, of the hit TV show the IT Crowd, for the shoot, which has now been completed.

THE Kent Fire & Rescue Service [KRFS] is on to the second stage of a programme of visits to reassure residents living in high-rise properties in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June.

The service has completed visits to all of the residential buildings of ten floors or above in the county to carry out routine fire safety inspections and review firefighting plans for each building.

It expects to have completed visits to residential blocks of six floors and above by mid-August.

Each visit has been conducted by members of KFRS operational crews, alongside specialists from the community and business safety teams.

In the next phase, KFRS will continue this work with non-residential high-rise premises.

Medical campus expands Purple tide recedes to ease patient transition further in Thanet

UKIP has suffered a further setback at Thanet Council, losing another seat just weeks after its majority fell apart in the only local authority the party had controlled in the UK. The latest defeat came at the hands of Labour in a by-election for the Margate Central ward after its incumbent, Jeff Elenor, resigned to move out of the area.

Labour candidate Ian Venables won 454 out of 789 votes – a 57 per cent share of the vote, with the Conservatives in second place with 190 votes and UKIP third with 52 votes. However, the turnout was just 21 per cent.

The result leaves UKIP with 26 councillors and the other parties with 29 members. The by-election follows a defection last month by the former UKIP Councillor Beverley Martin to the Conservatives.

Broadstairs

THE green light has been given by Maidstone Borough Council for a 75-bed care home to be built at the Kent Medical Campus, which will focus on looking after patients well enough to leave hospital but not yet ready to return home.

The £10million ‘step down’ facility will provide 24-hour nursing accommodation for the frail and elderly consisting of a mix of rehabilitation, respite and dementia care.

Excellence The approved plans are for a 4,200 square metre building, which will be located near Junction 7 of the M20, on the edge of Maidstone, and will create more than 100 full-time equivalent jobs.

They were approved on August 2 as part of Kent Medical Campus’s existing permission to develop

98,000 square metres of floor space, resulting in a centre of excellence for health, science and education for both the borough and county.

Gary Watson, Director at JLL, the company advising Kent Medical Campus on property matters, said: “The development of a £10million new stepdown facility and care home will help those patients in need of further support after a stay in hospital.

“It offers the potential to reduce delayed discharges back into the community, making it possible to treat more patients.

“The combination of KIMS Hospital – the county’s largest independent hospital, the Cygnet Health Care facility and this new step-down development means that Kent Medical Campus is delivering on its ambition to be a centre for health to support Maidstone and the county as a whole.”

County News

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

hosts film stars…

The book, soon to be film, tells the story of Annie, the long-suffering girlfriend of obsessed music fan Duncan, and the object of his obsession, fictional singersongwriter Tucker Crowe.

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NEWS IN BRIEF

ECLECTIC MIX There will be a range of music

Barming street sees values soar overnight

A release date for the film has yet to be announced.

Surrey-born Hornby has seen several of his novels adapted into well-known feature films, including Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and About a Boy.

HOMEOWNERS in the Maidstone suburb of Barming have received letters from a major developer offering to buy their properties for 150 per cent their current value.

The affected homeowners live along Broomshaw Road and have received the offers from Taylor Wimpey, which is seeking to secure an access road to a major development planned in adjacent fields.

It is not known if any residents have yet taken up the offer, but a typical semidetached home in the street was sold for £360,000 in October, meaning its current occupants would now receive £540,000.

Wrotham’s music festival draws near THE village of Wrotham will be alive with the sound of blues, gospel, rock, folk and almost every other type of tune you can think of this August Bank Holiday weekend, as it holds its annual music festival.

A-LISTERS Film stars Ethan Hawke and Rose Byrne in Broadstairs

NEWS

‘For the third year running Wrotham will celebrate its love of music’ Now in its third year, Wrotham Music Festival has grown in strength attracting local musicians as well as

internationally-acclaimed artists.

The festival will run from Friday August 25 to Monday August 28, with live music performed in St George’s Church and St George’s Square, as well as the Rose & Crown, The Bull and The George & Dragon pubs.

Festival director Nick Castell said: “For the third year running Wrotham will celebrate its love of music.

“Whatever music you like, there will be something for everyone in the village this Bank Holiday.”

See: www.wrothammusicfestival.com

Pylons ‘scar’ landscape PERMISSION was granted by the government last week to build dozens of 50-metre high electricity pylons in between a village near Sandwich and the city of Canterbury in a move residents, campaigners and East Kent MPs say will ‘scar’ the countryside.

The Richborough Connection, named after its starting location, is part of a wider project to exchange electricity with the Continent.

Maritime hospital 24/7 PLANS have been unveiled by Medway Maritime Hospital to open a new round-theclock centre to deal with urgent, but not emergency, treatment to take the strain off A&E services.

If the plans are approved, a range of tests, treatments and services would be available in one centre 24/7 from April 2019.

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National News

NEWS IN BRIEF

Man dies in Channel during endurance feat A MAN died swimming the Channel as part of a gruelling triathlon from London to Paris.

Douglas Waymark from Cheltenham was 12 nautical miles from Dover when a support vessel radioed the coastguard.

A helicopter arrived within 10 minutes and airlifted him to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, but he later died.

The Arch to Arc Triathlon consists of an 87mile run from Marble Arch to the coast, the Channel swim and a 181-mile bike ride from Calais to the Arc de Triomphe.

The battle of Waterloo

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Parents’ victory in bid to change M25 killer Noye decision by NHS not to buy drug will be moved to open prison THE parents of a boy with a rare genetic condition are ‘greatly heartened’ by their High Court victory in a battle over the NHS’s decision to refuse funding for a ‘life-changing’ drug.

The seven-year-old, identified as S, has severe autism and suffers from a rare condition called phenylketonuria (PKU), which inhibits his ability to digest protein.

‘We are very pleased that the court has ordered that NHS England reconsider their decision’

warned: “Whilst this judgment is bound to give rise to a degree of optimism, I must caution against raising hopes too high.”

Peter Todd, of Hodge Jones & Allen, who is representing S’s family, said they were ‘greatly heartened’ by the ruling.

“We hope that the panel will now take prompt action and secure the funding to ensure that S’s long-term health is no longer endangered.”

S’s father added: “We are very pleased that the court has ordered that NHS England reconsider their decision not to fund Kuvan for our son “It’s been a very difficult two years for our whole family and we are hoping that the funding will be granted soon, so that our son’s quality of life can be improved significantly.”

Eric Lange, chairman of the The National Society for Phenylketonuria (NSPKU) said the family had shown ‘great determination and bravery’.

Mr Lange said: “Kuvan is already widely used across Europe.

“We would like to invite the NHS to actively engage with people living with PKU and ensure their needs are met.

“It should not need litigation to make the NHS listen to us.”

A POINTS failure and trespass incident outside London’s Waterloo Station caused fresh delays to services already disrupted by a huge improvement programme on Tuesday.

There were delays to South West Trains (SWT) services to and from Britain’s busiest railway station lasting until mid-afternoon.

Ten platforms – half the station – have been closed since the weekend as part of an £800million rebuilding programme being carried out by Network Rail.

His autism affects his ability to comply with the dietary restrictions which form the standard treatment for PKU, so his doctors sought funding for a drug called Kuvan.

His counsel Ian Wise QC told Mrs Justice Andrews that funding had been repeatedly refused by NHS England with differing reasons given.

The decision leaves S at risk of the consequences of poorly controlled PKU, including brain damage.

On Tuesday in London, the judge quashed the decision and remitted it for reconsideration but

Sainsbury’s spreads joy

Endangered spiders reared by hand

AROUND 135,000 workers at supermarket giant Sainsbury’s are to receive a 4.4 per cent pay rise, taking their basic wage rate to £8 an hour.

The increase makes it the third consecutive year of rises above 4 per cent.

Workers have also shared a bonus of around £78million this year.

ONE of the planet’s rarest spiders has been bred in captivity in what is believed to be a world first.

More than 1,000 Desertas wolf spiderlings, which are classed as critically endangered, have hatched at Bristol Zoo Gardens.

Keepers hand-reared some of the s­ piderlings

from tiny eggs because they are so precious.

They measure 4mm in diameter but will grow to be adults up to 12cm in size, with a 4cm body.

The species is currently found in just one valley on Desertas Grande, one of the Desertas islands near Madeira, Portugal.

ROAD RAGE killer Kenneth Noye will be transferred to an open prison after the Justice Secretary agreed to a recommendation from the Parole Board.

Noye (pictured below), now 70, was convicted of murder in April 2000 and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years, after stabbing 21-year-old electrician Stephen Cameron to death in an attack on the M25 in Kent in 1996. Last month the Parole Board said it was not directing Noye’s release, but recommended that he be transferred to ‘open conditions’.

The advice was passed to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for the final decision, and the department confirmed that Justice Secretary David Lidington had accepted the recommendation.

An MoJ spokesman said: “Public protection is our top priority and transfers to open conditions are made after a thorough, expert risk assessment carried out by the independent Parole Board.”

In September 2015 the Parole Board recommended Noye be moved to an open jail, but this was blocked by then justice secretary Michael Gove.

Earlier this year Noye won a High Court challenge against the refusal decision, which his counsel argued was ‘unlawful and irrational’.

One of Britain’s most notorious criminals, Noye had been jailed for handling bullion stolen in the ­infamous 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery and was released two years before the M25 attack. He went on the run after killing Mr Cameron and was arrested in Spain in 1998.

National News

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Police helicopter pilot is jailed after filming a romp on the patio A ‘SEX-obsessed’ former police officer who filmed a couple having sex from his force helicopter has been sent to prison for a year by a judge who told him: “You, quite literally, considered yourself above the law.”

PC Adrian Pogmore, 51, was in tears as he was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court for filming the married couple on their patio from the South Yorkshire Police aircraft.

He also recorded five other people who were sunbathing naked in the county.

Judge Peter Kelson QC heard how the officer, who served for 22 years until he was sacked, knew the couple through a shared interest in the swinging scene.

The court heard that Pogmore was ‘a swinging and sex-obsessed air observer’ who was referred to as the ‘team deviant’ by other members of the air support unit at South Yorkshire Police.

Judge Kelson said: “In short, you used a £2million helicopter which costs something like 1,000 dollars (sic) an hour to run to advance your own sexual curiosities when it should have been detecting crime.”

UNDER COVER Adrian Pogmore arrives in court

‘Errors’ allowed man with pipe bomb to be released A MAN who tried to carry a pipe bomb on to a plane in his hand luggage was initially released after ‘errors’ in the assessment of the device, police have said.

But the head of Manchester’s Specialist Operations unit insisted that the case proved ‘the effectiveness of the airport security checks’.

Nadeem Muhammad (pictured), 43, was planning to board a Ryanair flight to Italy on January 30 when security officers at Manchester Airport uncovered the device, made of masking tape, batteries, the tube of a marker pen, pins and wires, in the zip lining of his small green suitcase.

He was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday of possession of explosives with intent to endanger life or property.

The court heard that airport security had initially believed the bomb was not viable.

After being questioned by counter-terrorism officers, Muhammad, who was born in Pakistan but had an Italian passport, was released. He was able to board a flight to Italy five days later.

Superintendent Graeme Openshaw of Greater Manchester Police’s Specialist Operations unit said: “We accept that there were some errors with our assessment of the device on the day and we have already reviewed our practices.

He added: “However, this incident has demonstrated the effectiveness of the airport security checks where the item was successfully detected and the passenger intercepted.”

NEWS

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NEWS IN BRIEF

‘Kidnap’ accomplice needed cancer fund THE man who is alleged to have taken British model Chloe Ayling captive carried out the scheme because he needed to raise money for cancer treatment.

In his testimony to Italian police, Lucasz Herba said he became involved with the group behind the alleged kidnapping near Milan because he had leukaemia.

Ms Ayling, 20, was believed to have been held by a group called Black Death for five days and was told she would be sold in the Middle East ‘for sex’.

Murdoch bid in limbo

Childrens’ social care at crisis point

THE Government is seeking further advice from Ofcom on Rupert Murdoch’s £11.7billion attempt to take control of Sky after receiving ‘new evidence and comments’.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has written to the communications regulator asking for extra input before Culture Secretary Karen Bradley decides whether the proposed tieup should face an in-depth investigation.

CHILDREN’S social care is being pushed to breaking point, with growing demand leading to 75 per cent of councils in England overspending on their children’s services budgets by more than half a billion pounds.

The Local Government Association, which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, found that in 2015-16

THE Government has announced an £8.1million funding extension to charities involved in mine clearance work.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced the extra funds for the Global Mine Action Programme, which is delivered by the HALO Trust in Dumfries, the Manchester-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and Norwegian People’s Aid.

councils surpassed budgets by £605million in order to protect children at immediate risk. The funding gap is expected to reach £2billion by 2020.

Councils have faced an unprecedented surge in demand. More than 170,000 children were subject to child protection enquiries in 2015-16, compared to 71,800 a decade earlier.

Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Councils have done everything they can.

“However, they are at the point where there are very few savings left to find without having a real and lasting impact upon crucial services that many children and families across the country desperately rely on.”

Mine clearing boost

14

BUSINESS

National Business News

New Look warns of fragile market HIGH STREET chain New Look has revealed tumbling sales and earnings in a ‘difficult’ market and says trading will remain under pressure into 2018.

The fashion retailer, which has 593 stores in the UK, posted a 60.3 per cent plunge in underlying operating profits to £12.1million for its first quarter to June 24 after UK like-for-like sales slumped 7.5 per cent.

On a bottom line basis, the group fell into the red with losses after tax of £15.2million against profits of £5.8million a year earlier.

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Private pension holders see income rising faster THE retirement income gap between households with a private pension income and those without is growing, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

By 2016, retired households receiving a private pension had disposable incomes that were around 1.6 times higher than households that were not.

Between 1977 and the financial year ending 2016, the disposable income of retired households increased at an average annual rate of 2.8 per cent after accounting for inflation and changes to household composition, the ONS said.

BRIGHT FUTURE: Private pensions have increased sevenfold in 40 years

POOR VISION: New Look will face difficulty in 2018

Retail pressure grows as non-food sales slow RETAILERS experienced slowing sales last month as households reined in their spending amid mounting pressure on their finances.

Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG showed like-for-like sales grew by 0.9 per cent in July, down from 1.1 per cent last year – and in contrast to June, when like-for-like sales rose by 1.2 per cent.

BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said food was the main growth driver as non-food sales slipped into reverse.

British broadband beats France but not Bulgaria BROADBAND speeds in the UK lag behind many of its European neighbours, according to new analysis.

With a mean download speed of 16.51 Mbps, Britain comes 31st in the global rankings for broadband speed - nearly three times slower than table topper Singapore at 55.13 Mbps.

Countries including Romania, Slovenia and Bulgaria are ahead of the UK in the analysis, while people in France, Italy and Australia typically get slower speeds.

Fine for failed 999 calls

Message This compares with average annual growth in non-retired households of 2.1 per cent.

The average disposable income of households with private pension income has grown from £2,300 in 1977 to £27,800 in 2016.

Meanwhile, the average income of households without private pension income has increased from £1,700 to £17,200 over the same period.

The ONS said that 40 years ago, in 1977, just over a fifth (21 per cent) of retired households had an annual disposable income of over £10,000, after accounting for inflation and household composition. But by 2016, this had surged to 96 per cent of retired households.

More than half of the income increase between 1977 and 2016 was due to an increase in private pension income, which has increased nearly sevenfold over the period, the ONS said.

This is due to both an increase in the proportion of households receiving private pension income and increases in the amounts they receive.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Workplace pensions, individual personal pensions and annuities were classed as private pensions for the findings.

Steven Cameron, Pensions Director at Aegon, said that with a rising state pension age and an ageing population ‘ultimately, we’re likely to see yet further individual responsibility given to people, to support themselves in their old age’.

He said: “For younger generations, the message is clear: Get into the savings habit as early as possible in your career.”

David Newman, Head of Pensions at Close Brothers Asset Management, said: “Gold-plated final salary pensions have been instrumental in boosting incomes over the past 40 years.

“For young people in particular, putting aside as much as they can reasonably afford each month, and benefiting from employer contributions over the course of a career, will make a difference.”

PHONE and broadband network operator KCOM has been fined £900,000 after flooding in the wake of Storm Eva in December 2015 led to the failure of 74 emergency calls.

Ofcom said an investigation had uncovered a ‘serious weakness’ in the company’s emergency call service after the exchange flooded.

The regulator found that KCOM, which operates in Kingston upon Hull, broke an important rule designed to ensure that everyone can contact the emergency services at all times.

Standard Life in profit INSURANCE giant Standard Life produced a 6 per cent pre-tax operating profit for six months up to June 30 despite investors pulling out £3.7billion ahead of its merger with Aberdeen Asset Management.

Foreign News

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

SPORT IN BRIEF

Athletes struck down by norovirus at hotel TWO cases of norovirus were identified after an outbreak of illness at an official Athletics World Championships hotel in London.

Several competitors staying at the same hotel had suffered gastroenteritis.

Public Health England said around 30 people had been affected, with laboratory tests revealing norovirus.

A spokesperson from the Tower Hotel said: “We can confirm that regretfully a small number of our guests have been suffering from an illness.”

England go for youth COACH Simon Middleton has left players with a combined 392 caps on the bench for England’s first match of the Women’s Rugby World Cup against Spain today (Wednesday).

Big names including Emily Scarratt and Rochelle Clark have been left out by the defending champions.

Scrum-half Leanne Riley, centre Megan Jones and hooker Heather Kerr are among nine of the starting XV who will make their World Cup debuts.

Chamberlain farewell SOCCER AM presenter Helen Chamberlain is leaving her role on the Sky Sports football show after 22 years.

The renowned Torquay United fan will be replaced by comedian Lloyd Griffith and former footballer Jimmy Bullard.

We get France’s bankers while our ageing population goes other way MIGRATION between Britain and France is roughly equal – but the reasons for crossing the Channel are very different, an official report suggests.

While study and work draws French nationals to the UK, retirement appears to be a driver for a significant proportion of the British ex-pats who make the opposite journey.

The findings emerged in a detailed paper on the dynamics of migration between Britain and France published by the Office for National Statistics.

Analysis of various data sources showed there were an

estimated 148,800 British citizens living in France last year, compared to nearly 155,000 French nationals who were resident in the UK in 2013-2015.

Census figures from 2014 show that nearly half (45 per cent) of the Britons in France were aged 55 or over. About half of them were working.

Department for Work and Pensions records show that approximately 66,773 people receiving the UK State Pension were resident in France in November 2016, although the figure could include non-British recipients as well as expats.

The most common region for the British to live in is NouvelleAquitaine – 26 per cent live in the south-western region which includes the Dordogne.

A different picture of the French community in Britain emerges from the report.

Of the 154,800 French citizens living in the UK, almost four in five (79 per cent) were of working age, with 85 per cent of these in employment or studying.

Among those working, 27,300 (29 per cent) were in the banking and finance sector, while two in three (65 per cent) worked in ‘higher level professions’.

BRIDGE THE DIVIDE A quarter of Brits live in Nouvelle-Aquitaine

NEWS

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The ape who used sign language dies after two decades in US zoo AN ORANGUTAN who communicated with researchers using sign-language has died at a US zoo.

Zoo Atlanta said Chantek, who was 39, died on Monday. The cause of death is not known, but officials said vets had been treating him for progressive heart disease.

Chantek arrived at the zoo in 1997 at the age of 19. He was born at Atlanta’s Yerkes Language Research Centre and spent nine years living with researchers at the University of Tennessee.

Researchers raised him like a human child and taught him at least 150 words in American Sign Language. He was taught other human skills such as using a toilet and cleaning his room.

Game of Thrones actors’ phone numbers released HACKERS who have targeted the US television network HBO released phone numbers of Game of Thrones actors, emails and scripts in the latest dump of data stolen from the company.

They are seeking a multimillion-dollar ransom to prevent the release of the entire series.

A five-minute video letter from ‘Mr Smith’ to HBO Chief Executive Richard Plepler demanded ­payment within three days or the HBO shows and confidential corporate data would be put online.

The hackers claim to have taken 1.5TB of data – the equivalent to several box sets and in return they are demanding at least $6million in bitcoin.

They claim to earn $12m to $15m a year by blackmailing companies whose networks they have breached.

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Letters

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

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 newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk or write to the Editor at 16 Lonsdale Gardens, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1NU

AWASH AGAIN Nevill Street

Flooding comment that should send a shiver down the spine of residents Your succinct article [July 26 about flooding] made for depressing reading. I know from visiting shops in the High Street, Castle Street, London Road, The Pantiles and Warwick Park that many businesses were badly affected.

Do the authorities have a definitive understanding of the scale of the problem?

Then we hear the usual lament that ‘It’s not my fault’ and/or ‘it’s not my responsibility’.

The KCC [Kent County Council] comment about its inability to clear drains due to parked cars almost defies belief. It manages to put out ‘No Waiting’ cones in advance of road maintenance.

Is drain clearing an unplanned event or is there a lack of cones?

Southern Water is a private company answerable to its shareholders and regulator. It

Late arrivals at the Civic Centre and theatre ball

prides itself on profit and customer satisfaction, both of which are easy to measure.

Investing in infrastructure is a drain on the bottom line, is difficult to measure and, apparently, should only be considered for a once ‘in a 50-year’ rainy day (both puns intended).

The only comment you report from a TWBC [Tunbridge Wells Borough Council] representative was that ‘his team were making efforts to engage more with Southern Water’, giving the distinct impression that they haven’t been successful in the past and don’t expect to be in future.

Cllr Heasman made a telling point that should send shivers down the spine of every resident. He said that the TWBC Planning Committee are not allowed to refuse a planning application on the basis of concerns about sewers and surface water.

Over the next 20 years, TWBC are tasked with providing new homes in the borough for an additional population equivalent to that of Tonbridge. Surely there has to be a case that new homes are only allowed to be built once it has been proved to the council that the infrastructure will be more than able to cope?

Brian Lippard Tunbridge Wells Just as important, for how long are these leases? The debt will be with us for 50 years, will the clients?

Cllr Moore states that the people opposed to it are a handful with an undeclared interest.

Not true ma’am, there are plenty of us who have objected for longer, and more often, and have nothing to do with Calverley Grounds.

Ralph Steerpike Culverden Down

Cllr Jukes’ reply [July 19] to holding a referendum [on the proposed new Civic Complex, including a new theatre] was: “Why should we have a referendum?”

Can I refer him to the Local Government Act of 2003 which, whilst not binding local authorities to hold one or follow the result, contains the words: ‘To give people a bigger say…’ and ‘Modern local government in touch with the people’?

Cllr Moore characterises those against the scheme as those opposed to it because it intrudes into the Calverley Grounds, but these are late arrivals at the ball.

Opposition was articulated well before this petition got going. The opposition is much more broadly based than this.

John Ward Moorhouse Tunbridge Wells

Finding the council’s Code of Conduct

Will new tenants stay around 50 years?

Gatwick noise: What’s the problem?

Cllr Jukes [July 19] was less than clear when he indicated that he has clients lined up for the [council] offices – it will cost peanuts according to him.

I read your article on the lady complaining about the noise from aircraft using Gatwick airport.

We are both retired and in our 60s and live near the The Blue Anchor pub, which is close to the

I was very pleased to hear a councillor mention the Code of Conduct and the Seven Principles of Public Life at the debate [July 26] about the Civic Centre development in response [to] the ‘Save Our Park’ petition.

They are available on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s own website.

Nicholas Pope Chairman, Friends of Calverley Grounds

highest point in Crowborough, and love seeing and hearing the aircraft, particularly when they are circling.

A second runway would be great for Gatwick, especially if there were extra flights.

Why do people complain about such trivial matters?

John Lowden Crowborough

A cynically commercial ‘festival’ I was naturally excited to hear that one of the UK’s biggest acts – Florence + The Machine – would be playing just down the road at a festival in Eridge.

I rushed to my computer, googling where to buy tickets, and lo and behold I found it – my excitement was palpable.

But alas my heart soon dropped when I saw… £395 for a ticket. I presumed this must have been a mistake, that I’d accidentally selected the family VIP option or something of the kind.

But no, it turns out the only mistake I’d made was getting my hopes up for a cynically commercial ‘festival’.

If you choose to part with your £400 you get access to their ‘boutique camping’ – an egregious modern non-term which means you shell out for someone to put a tent up for you.

It’s a shame that events such as these, which attract fantastic acts, are made so inaccessible to most people.

I think I’ll stick to LeeFest (I got my ticket for £120 for a three-day weekend) – a festival with some soul and character behind it that doesn’t break the bank Francesca Parsons Via email

Build homes and win over young people The property market in Tunbridge Wells may be ‘alive and well’ as you put it [August 2], but only for those already on the ladder.

Whether or not £750,000 for a smallish twobedroom flat is worth it is one thing, but if developers believe the apartment can fetch that much then it simply shows how distorted the market has become.

Most young people have no hope now of owning their own place and this is because demand has far outstripped supply for decades.

If the government wants to win them over, it needs to start a huge housebuilding programme for first-time buyers, not mess around with silly polices like ‘help to buy’, which just load on more debt and have the air of sub-prime mortgages about them.

This country needs to get building. It’s good for the economy, good for young people and will help the government finally win them over.

John Brunswick Langton Green

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

Calverley

Observations on life and more important things

SUPPING a pint at The Grove Tavern in Tunbridge Wells the other Wednesday, Calverley overheard a most fascinating conversation.

Propping up the bar were a few of the protestors battling to stop the Civic Complex and theatre being built by Calverley Grounds [no relation]. They had just been going eyeballto-eyeball with council Leader David Jukes at a council meeting to discuss that very issue. One suddenly turned to the others and declared: “David Jukes is a dxxxhead… but I do admire him because he gets things done.” A backhanded compliment or what?

CONTRASTING experiences last week. One hour in the dentist chair having root canal and two other fillings. Pretty grim. Next day an hour with a bunch of screaming kids at one of those indoor trampoline arenas, this one called Urban Jump. Nice place but pretty harrowing. If Calverley had to repeat one of the experiences, which would it be? The dentist – even without an injection.

How long are the school holidays?

CONGRATULATIONS to one of Calverley’s oldest friends. She’s just finished year four at West Kent College (or whatever it’s called these days) on some course to do with print and design. It’s actually supposed to be a two-year course, but hey-ho, who’s counting…

CHATTING to a chap who has moved down from Durham, where he ran his own bakery. Talk turned to the miners’ strike back in 1984 (as it does when you meet anyone from up north).

The week it started, he put a sign in his shop window saying: “Bread on credit to all families of strikers – pay when it ends.” More than a year later, the strike finally finished and practically everyone paid their bills. He lost no money.

What’s happened to that sense of community?

THANK goodness the TV reality show Love Island has finished. For those who didn’t watch it (hopefully most of you) it features complete strangers teaming up and climbing into bed. You get the picture. Anyway, Himself did a straw poll in the office of who watches. Everyone under the age of 21 tuned in. Why? Because if they didn’t keep up to date with the show they had nothing to chat about to their peers. Sad, sad, sad.

Chin, chin readers

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

EDUCATION Times

Education

NEWS

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WITH THE

Charity receives funding for oneto-one reading in Kent primaries National children’s charity Beanstalk has received a cheque for £60,000 to further their work in getting more county primary school children reading with confidence BEANSTALK is a children’s reading charity which aims to raise literacy levels across the county’s primary schools recruiting, vetting and training volunteer reading helpers to provide one-to-one support to approximately 1,000 children across Kent and Medway.

Last month it was presented with a cheque for £60,000 from the Kent Community Foundation – a philanthropic organisation which connects generous people, families and businesses with local causes that make a difference in the community.

Ambition

PAGE TURNER: Representatives of the Beanstalk charity receive their generous funding cheque

The money will fund the ‘Read and Achieve’ project, which will identify and work with primary schools in areas where reading levels are at their lowest among children aged 4-11. The ambition is to recruit an additional 360 volunteer reading helpers, taking the number of Kent children supported to over 2,000 by the end of the academic year 2018-19.

A Beanstalk spokesperson said: “Child illiteracy continues to be a persistent problem both nationally and locally. In Kent, 39 per cent of children did not reach the expected standard in reading in the new SATS exams [2015-16].

“We work to help tackle this issue by providing trained reading helpers in local primary schools.

Each volunteer supports three children and sees each child for two 30-minute sessions a week during term-time for at least one academic year. With Beanstalk’s support, the child’s approach to learning and enjoyment of reading is transformed.”

Malou Bengtsson-Wheeler, Area Manager of Beanstalk South East, added: “We are incredibly grateful to the Kent Community Foundation and its funders for awarding us this grant.

“Their generous donations will enable so many more children to receive one-to-one support across Kent and Medway, helping to improve confidence and attitudes to reading and smoothing the transition to secondary school.”

“Without intervention, the outlook for children struggling with reading is very worrying. It can lead to all sorts of behavioural problems and can affect their future prospects in life and work.

“Our challenge is to ensure that every child leaves school with the skills and confidence to reach their true potential and control their own lives.”

EYES ON THE PRIZE: TV Star London Hughes and Principal Mike Price

Star London turn in Southborough

TV STAR London Hughes was invited to Barnardo’s Meadows School in Southborough to present awards at their end-of-term prize-giving ceremony.

London, the face of the BBC’s Comedy Classroom and co-host of CITV’s Scrambled, praised staff and students at the school, which caters for pupils with special educational needs.

She said: “I was honoured to be asked to support Barnardo’s, who do such invaluable work with vulnerable children and young people across the UK. The children have achieved great things during this academic year, and it has been a pleasure to award them for all of their hard work.”

Meadows School Principal Mike Price said: “We are very grateful that London took time out of her busy schedule to come along.”

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NEWS

Weekly Comment

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Martin Betts Labour Party local campaign co-ordinator

Labour Party member Martin Betts lives in Southborough and has long been active in local politics. He retired after a long career in the Civil Service, where his last job at the Department for Work and Pensions was in communications. He qualified at Leicester University in human resources and training and development. The Times also publishes regular opinions from Conservative and Lib Dems and members of the Green Party.

Tories have no mandate for Civic Complex LABOUR isn’t opposed in principle to a renovated, revitalised, or new Civic Complex. We are against the council borrowing £72m - landing tax payers with at least £2.4m of annual debt repayments for 50 years - without a full public debate about whether this is the best investment of public money in our town.

Labour wants to listen to the many people across the borough who are hit by austerity and work hard to pay their council tax and business rates. These are the people who will have to pay for this project, see increases in their tax bills, and further cuts to their council services as a consequence. Many of them may never use a new theatre.

Labour shares some of the detailed concerns being raised about the Civic Complex, but also believes we should all be posing some wider questions.

Firstly we should ask if the council has got its priorities right.

There aren’t enough houses available for long-term, affordable

rent across Tunbridge Wells. Nearly 1,000 people are on the housing register. 138 of these are homeless or in temporary accommodation. Other councils propose a housing investment programme to fix this.

Why doesn’t ours?

Consensus Our town is increasingly congested with cars pumping out fumes that are bad for our health. Why isn’t this council investing in tackling air pollution which recent research tells is a killer? Where is the support for better public transport to help people get to work and reduce the isolation of elderly people in our towns and villages?

Every month more people across the borough face poverty and become reliant on foodbanks. What message does it send to the ‘just about managing’ that the council is prepared to spend vast sums of public money on a new theatre and offices for its

employees, while ignoring their needs?

Secondly we should be asking if the council should be investing in a more modest proposal.

There would almost certainly be wider support for a project that provides funds for more housing, better council services, decent accommodation for council staff, and an affordable theatre aimed mainly at the requirements of local residents.

There is a growing political consensus that we need a much wider public discussion of the options for the Civic Complex, including looking at better ways of investing any money that we can borrow, before the council makes its final decision in December.

The recent full council meeting rejected an attempt to ensure an explicit electoral mandate is in place before any council decision goes ahead. We should be concerned at the one-party arrogance of a council unwilling to ask for the approval of

THE VISION Image of how it might look the people who will pay for the project.

Labour is one of an increasing number of voices, including the Liberal Democrats and Conservative ex-council leader Roy Bullock, demanding that the final Civic Complex proposal

should be tested in a referendum to be held at the same time as next May’s council election.

If the Tories are so confident of their decision, why won’t they put it to voters for their verdict?

WEST KENT’S ULTIMATE PROPERTY GUIDE – FREE EVERY WEDNESDAY A MUST-READ FOR THOSE LOOKING TO BUY, LET OR SELL

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WITH THE

Available in Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks

bracketts

est. 1828

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

The fairest Victorian villa of them all

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PROPERTY

To suit your budget

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Your at-a-glance guide to

CORNWALLIS AVENUE TONBRIDGE £899,950

UNDER £250,000 PRIORY STREET, TONBRIDGE GUIDE PRICE

£210,000-£225,000 Garden apartment with two bedrooms, both of which with windows, and arranged over two floors. There is a living room, with space enough for two sofas, adjoined to a small kitchen. The

kitchen has room for all the usual fittings as well as having long length windows above the sink area. There is also a courtyard garden. The property is close to both the station and high street, and is offered as share of freehold.

CONTACT Bracketts 01732 350503 www.bracketts.co.uk

UNDER £350,000 THE RIDINGS, PADDOCK WOOD

£312,500 Two bedroom semi-detached property in the centre of the Ridings development, with four off road parking spaces and within walking distance of the town and station. The property has double glazed windows and doors, gas central heating and plenty of storage as well as a

well-maintained landscaped garden to the rear. Internally, there is an entrance hall, fitted kitchen, sitting room and conservatory as well as two double bedrooms and a contemporary bathroom. There is also side access to the rear garden with area of lawn and patio.

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

To suit your budget

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

PROPERTY

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great properties by price range…

UNDER £450,000 FLEMING WAY, TONBRIDGE GUIDE PRICE

£410,000 Located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac with no passing traffic, this property has rear views across farmland and is within a short distance of the town centre. The sitting room has a wood burning stove, and a second reception room that is currently in use as a playroom but could be a fourth bedroom. The dining/family room has patio doors leading on to the rear garden and the newly fitted kitchen has porcelain flooring with streamlined cream and aubergine units. There are three bedrooms and a family bathroom.

CONTACT Barnes Kingsnorth 01732 771616 www.bkestateagents.com

UNDER £600,000 FERNDALE, TUNBRIDGE WELLS GUIDE PRICE

£599,995 The property is a recently refurbished bungalow and is accessed via a fenced boundary that leads to the easily maintained garden. There is a master bedroom with en suite which has inset ceiling spotlights, vanity sink unit and a panelled bath. The kitchen has wooden flooring that carries on through to the lounge/dining room.

There are three bedrooms in total. The rear garden has a raised patio area with well-stocked borders.

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

UNDER £1MILLION CORNWALLIS AVENUE, TONBRIDGE

UNDER £800,000

£899,950

The entrance hall of this five bedroom home leads, via double doors, to the dual aspect sitting room with French doors to the garden. There is a kitchen with fitted appliances and a breakfast bar as well as a dining room with bay windows overlooking the garden.

There is a utility room and downstairs cloakroom. Upstairs there is a galleried landing with master bedroom suite, a second bedroom with en suite and two further bedrooms. The bathroom includes a Wellness Chromotherapy Jacuzzi bath

GREENHOLME, LANGTON GREEN

£695,000 and there is the addition of an additional guest accommodation – approached via a glass and oak staircase from the study that leads to the annexe style bedroom with en suite. There is driveway parking, a double garage and enclosed rear garden with large patio area.

CONTACT Barnes Kingsnorth 01732 771616 www.bkestateagents.com

Grade II listed cottage overlooking the village green and arranged over four levels. It has been finished to a high standard and includes stone floors and solid oak doors. The kitchen has an array of handmade cupboards, granite surfaces and an Aga. There is a recent addition of an en suite shower room, as well as the family bathroom and three bedrooms. The gardens are landscaped to include a stone paved outdoor area and a sculpted lawn.

CONTACT Knight Frank 01892 515035 www.knightfrank.co.uk

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Impressive Grade II listed village house with established gardens

Shadwell

PROPERTY

AT A GLANCE SHADWELL SPELDHURST, TUNBRIDGE WELLS Main House: n Set over three floors, plus cellar n Entrance lobby n Drawing room n Dining room n Sitting room n Study n Kitchen/breakfast/garden room n Pantry n Laundry room n Two cloakrooms n Seven double bedrooms (one with dressing room, one with en suite) n Further bedroom/ sitting room n Three bath/ shower rooms n Cloakrooms The Oast: n Games room n Roundel kitchen n Roundel bathroom n Studio Detached barn: n Garage workshop with mechanic’s pit n Store room n Double garage n Garden store Outside:

Former farmhouse with seperate barn and detached oast

n Mature landscaped gardens n Garden store n Victorian-style greenhouse n Drive way parking

GUIDE PRICE

£2,300,000

Available for sale through Savills Tunbridge Wells 01892 507000 www.savills.co.uk

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PROPERTY

Advertising

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

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PROPERTY

Honeyfield Cottage

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

AT A GLANCE HONEYFIELD COTTAGE PENSHURST, TONBRIDGE ■ Entrance hall ■ Dining room ■ Sitting room ■ Kitchen ■ Garden room/breakfast room ■ Study/snug ■ Utility room ■ Cloakroom ■ Master bedroom en suite with balcony ■ Three further first floor bedrooms ■ Family bathroom ■ Two second floor bedrooms ■ Family bathroom ■ Two second floor bedrooms ■ Sitting room/study ■ Bathroom ■ Gardens with ponds and woodland ■ Paved terrace ■ Garden store ■ Swimming pool and pool house

Character property in delightful semi-rural setting

■ Field ■ Garage ■ Driveway parking ■ About 3.43 acres

GUIDE PRICE

£1,500,000

Available for sale through Savills Tunbridge Wells 01892 507000 www.savills.co.uk

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Advertising

PROPERTY

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PROPERTY

Interiors

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

HAPPY HOUR AT HOME 13 BRILLIANT BAR ESSENTIALS

FOR SUMMER SOCIALS

7

Cocktail menu and ingredients sorted? Now you just need to set the scene Whether entertaining close friends, throwing a summer soirée or creating colourful cocktails to showcase your mixology skills, you’ll need a whole bunch of accessories to pull it off in style.

And we’re going to make it a whole lot easier for you – because to help you on your way, we’ve scoured the stores to find the perfect paraphernalia to pimp up your tiki bar or glam up your gin palace.

It’s bound to be thirsty work, so keep buckets of ice close to hand and make sure all your ingredients are well chilled. Then all that’s left is to find your favourite cocktail book and take a seat at the bar…

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Wicker Rattan Tiki Bar with 2 stools & 2 chairs, £500 (www.johnlewis.com) If you’re craving sunshine and a tropical adventure, why not break the boundaries and invest in a Polynesianthemed tiki bar? Easy to style up, mix jungle-like greenery with gorgeous glassware and serve elaborate cocktails to your friends. Grass skirts optional.

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Cabana Polished Brass Palm Tree Lamp – Large, £449 (www.artisanti.com) When the sun sets on your summer party, this trophy palm tree lamp will cast an interesting light and keep the holiday vibe going long into the small hours.

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Eddingtons Pumpkin Cold Drinks Dispenser, currently reduced to £31.50 from £35 (www.amaroni.com) Who said pumpkins were just for Halloween? We love the thought of a rum punch served from this cold drinks dispenser that can be loaded with plenty of ice.

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LSA Gin Grand Serving Set with Ash Tray, £295 (www.amara.com) If you’re counting down to Gin O’Clock, this folding wooden stand comes with two cocktail glasses, tumblers, highball and balloon glasses, along with four garnish bowls for limes and lemons, and a glass ice bucket. Ta-da!

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LSA Lulu Cocktail Glass Set of 4, £40 (www.houseoffraser.co.uk) Whether you’re stirring a mean martini or creating a champagne cocktail, these long-stemmed glasses in four different shapes will make guests want to try every cocktail on the list.

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Pols Potten Reed Tea Glasses Set of 6, £46, and matching Reed Glass Jug, £40 (www.amara.com) Try filling these pretty tea glasses with a chilled, creamy concoction and watch all those cares melt away. The matching jug is perfect for topping up.

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Men’s Society Brass Pineapple Tumbler with Straw, £95 (www.amara.com) Our favourite rum cocktail, a cheeky pina colada, will taste even more delicious when served in this brass drinking vessel.

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Pineapple Clear Plastic Shot Glasses, £1 for pack of 60; Cups, £1 for pack of 24; and Bowls, £1 for pack of 24 (uk.flyingtiger.com) Perfect for summer parties, no need to worry about breakages with these fruity little gems that look like they’re worth miles more than they actually cost.

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Hollywood Cocktail Shaker, £17.50 (www.marksandspencer.com) Glamorous and glitzy, this cocktail shaker is all about style, and a true classic for your cocktail cabinet.

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Cult Design Moda Bar Stool with Backrest CD1 – Yellow, £109 (www.cultfurniture.com) With different colours and leg types to choose from (we like the copper leg), this trendy bar stool channels comfort and style, and could be tailored to match your cocktail shaker or stemware.

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Hardwick Metal Drinks Trolley, £225 (www.next.co.uk) Drinks trolleys are back in vogue, and for a sense of occasion there’s nothing smarter than wheeling in a drinks trolley stocked with all your favourite spirits. Don’t forget your little black dress.

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Tangerine Dream Birchwood Tray, £45 (www.lisatodddesigns.com) We love Lisa Todd’s range of quirky designs, which are printed on to Scandinavian birchwood and sealed with a melamine finish – so it doesn’t matter if you accidentally spill a drink while carrying the tray.

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Eddingtons Marlborough Kitchen Trolley, currently reduced to £567 from £630 (www.amaroni.com) This beech trolley may be designed with a master chef in mind, but a budding bartender will find it especially useful for holding all the bar essentials and serving party drinks.

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Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Park Road

PROPERTY

AT A GLANCE PARK ROAD TUNBRIDGE WELLS, KENT n Porch n Entrance hall n Sitting room n Dining room n Kitchen n Breakfast room n Rear lobby n Cloakroom n Cellar n Master bedroom n Three further bedrooms n Family bathroom n Gas central heating n Garden n Parking n Central location

£870,000 Available for sale through Hamptons Tunbridge Wells 01892 516611 www.hamptons.co.uk

Centrally-located Victorian villa with crisp and modern interiors

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FEATURES

Food & Drink

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Treat yourself to a healthier you In part two of our exclusive on Tunbridge Wells-based nutrition experts Keris Marsden and Matt Whitmore, who have just published a new book – The Paleo Primer: A Second Helping, Eileen Leahy finds out some of their top fitness tips…

Both have over 20 years of experience and extensive qualifications in both nutrition and training, and they’re passionate about sharing their message – hence their first book, The Paleo Primer, and their new follow-up, The Paleo Primer: A Second Helping.

Together with numerous online transformation programmes they have written, both books give people easy, effective and sustainable tips and tricks on eating and living well. Here are some of their guides to good health:

AFTER they met in a gym, Keris Marsden and Matt Whitmore quickly realised they shared a passion for health, fitness and great food.

That was ten years ago. A few years later they launched their company Fitter Food with the belief that optimum health is all about creating a lifestyle that not only includes a nutritious diet and daily physical activity, but other important factors, such as sufficient sleep and stress management, in order to obtain and maintain good mental health and buckets of energy.

How many times a week should we exercise, and should it be in long or quick sessions?

There is no magic number, you just need to move daily and occasionally do something that gets your heart rate up.

If you walk daily as part of your routine, and keep active by doing household chores, gardening, dancing, or by participating in a hobby or sport that gets you moving, that’s what counts the most.

We often recommend weight training to help people improve strength, prevent injuries, and build lean muscle which supports a healthy metabolism. However, the most important thing is that you enjoy whatever you do.

Interval training is great and has some benefits, but if you don’t like it there are other ways to get and stay fit.

What kitchen cupboard basics should every Fitter Food devotee have?

A good quality extra virgin olive oil, unrefined salt, garlic powder, herbs and spices. We’re big fans of fast recipes with minimal ingredients, and these cupboard essentials are all you need to make a great stir fry or jazz up some meat or fish.

Dark chocolate also increases beneficial bacteria in the gut and enhances mood health.

Next week is National Allotment Week.

To inspire people to grow their own vegetables, can you tell us which are your personal favourites and why?

There are so many to choose from! We eat around 8-10 servings of fruit and vegetables a day – local where possible.

Keris: I love all root vegetables: Celeriac, parsnips, squash and swede. They’re so tasty and versatile, great in soups, roasted or mashed, and provide an amazing source of energy to support your training.

Matt: Rather strangely, I love Brussels sprouts!

I must be the only person who puts these top of the list – however, I do serve them topped with butter. Our top fruit has to be bananas as they’re great in pancakes, as a porridge topper or a handy portable snack. We’re also enjoying all the Kent fruits at the moment, either in a crumble or stewed with yogurt as a healthy dessert.

What do you like most about Tunbridge Wells?

Tunbridge Wells is ideal for us. As two people who love food we’re spoilt for choice here! Whether that’s grabbing lunch out somewhere, enjoying a picnic on the Common or sharing a bowl of chips and a glass of wine on a sunny terrace.

We also love staying fit and active, so we’ll be Keris and Matt’s top spots in Tunbridge Wells for a healthier and happier lifestyle: n Chocolatl in The Pantiles – Keris is over the moon with this new chocolate café as she’s a chocoholic n Chegworth Valley Farm Shop – great for Kent produce n Pure Gym and Freestyle Yoga – we both train here and have met some great friends there n Basil and Juliet’s – both establishments do delicious sweet and savoury treats n Jazz on The Pantiles, Trinity Theatre’s Comedy Café n Everywhere is pretty dog-friendly, so we love just meandering around the town

Food & Drink

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

often found out running and walking in all the different woodlands with our dog Hamish.

It’s a great mix – the countryside that we both love, yet the town is vibrant and always buzzing with events, so we feel like we live in a mini London with access to some fantastic woodland, farm shops and gastro pubs. It’s perfect.

What are your top three ways to maintain a good diet and great fitness levels?

1. Educate yourself: There are so many myths and

overly-complicated recommendations out there when it comes to nutrition and fitness. In our experience, the confusion and overwhelming information is creating barriers for many. But if you understand the basic requirements for the body to be healthy, you can implement small steps each day. Sufficient hydration and walking more are a great place to start. Everything we do aims to provide people with the knowledge they need to support themselves.

2. Get busy in the kitchen: Try to cook at home

whenever possible, ideally using minimally processed ingredients and local produce if available. Food in its natural state is highly nutritious, especially fish, eggs, vegetables, herbs and spices. Cooking is also an essential life skill that allows you to look after yourself and meet your nutrient needs. After a little practise and some Fitter Food recipe inspiration, you’ll become a culinary pro and never look back!

3. Prioritise sleep: Aim for eight hours and take naps to make up for any deprivation. Sleep is the

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most underrated aspect of health as it influences blood sugar regulation, hormones and mood health. If you’re sleep deprived, your body will crave sugar and caffeine when it really just needs rest.

National Allotment Week runs from August 14-20. For further information, visit the National Allotment Society’s official website www.nsalg.org.uk

How to make the perfect smoothie We love smoothies, but many people make the mistake of including too much fruit and not enough protein, fats and fibre to keep blood sugar stable and hunger at bay.

The following easy step-by-step guide illustrates how to put together a smashing smoothie:

FISH IN A THAI BAG What you need: 2 white fish fillets 100ml coconut milk 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped 2 spring onions, chopped Juice and zest of 1 lime 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped 1 dice sized chunk of ginger, peeled and grated 1 tbsp tamari 1 tsp fish sauce (optional) To Serve Fresh coriander (optional)

Makes: 2 Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 25-30 mins What you do: 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

2 Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking dish and place the fish in the centre.

3 Scatter over the pepper and spring onion.

4 In a bowl, mix the coconut milk, lime zest

and juice, garlic ginger, tamari and fish sauce.

5 Pour the coconut milk mixture over the fish.

6 Take the four corners of the greaseproof paper and gather together, twisting the paper to seal the fish and vegetables inside.

7 Place in the oven to cook. Check the fish after 20-25 minutes.

8 Serve once cooked through.

 The Paleo Primer: A Second Helping by Matt Whitmore and Keris Marsden Nourish Books, 2017 Paperback, £14.99

•

SMOOTHIE STEP 1 ADD 15-25G PROTEIN • whey • pea • rice • collagen • hemp • eggs

STEP 4 ADD 1-2 SERVINGS OF GREENS • spinach • lettuce • kale • watercress

STEP 2 ADD A SERVING OF FAT • ½ small avocado • egg yolks • 1 tbsp nut butter • 10-12 nuts • 1 tbsp butter or ghee • 1 tbsp seeds (flax, chia, hemp or pumpkin) • coconut oil, coconut milk or coconut cream

STEP 5 • Add mixers • water • fresh lime or lemon juice • coconut water • unsweetened coconut milk • unsweetened almond milk

STEP 3 ADD 1-2 SERVINGS OF ANY FRUIT (OPTIONAL) fresh or frozen berries • pear • banana • peach • kiwi • plum • melon • pineapple • apple • mango

STEP 6 SWEETEN TO TASTE (OPTIONAL) • 1-2 tsp raw, unpasteurised honey • Sweet Drops Stevia Clear by Sweetleaf • Xylitol • 1-2 medjool dates • 2-3 dried apricots

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FEATURES

Advertising Feature

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Setting the bar high for personal fitness For the past seven years, Fitness Superstore has been offering both experts and newbies alike a vast range of sports equipment to suit all levels, with customers travelling to the Tunbridge Wells store from across the county. Here, Hannah Patterson speaks to Malcolm Faber, Head of Retail Operations, about the UK’s number one fitness retailer ‘Our ethos here is that we take the time to work with our customers to discover what the best option for them is’

How long has Fitness Superstore been operating for?

Fitness Superstore has been trading for over 20 years and Paul Walker is our Managing Director. My role with the business is to look after our store network across the UK. The Tunbridge Wells store has now been here for the last 7 years.

The Tunbridge Wells store like all our others is what we refer to as a Destination Store meaning most of our customers travel to us knowing that we have the product and expertise that they need.

What makes you worth the journey?

The vast range of gym machinery and equipment, including exclusive brands, and we provide an advisory in-store service alongside it.

Our ethos here is that we take the time to work with our customers to discover what the best option for them is. If they’ve got any injuries or want to achieve specific goals, then this is something we can talk through with them. Our staff have backgrounds in sport so they can talk you through what best suits you – no one here is going to start selling you a product on arrival.

It’s about taking the time to get to know you.

And how did you get into this role?

My background is marketing and sales,

Do you have a ‘typical’ customer?

FIT FOR PURPOSE! Malcolm Faber with two of his store staff including investment banking, sales management at Royal Mail and running my own business.

Are you personally into fitness?

I’m embarrassed to say, not as much as I was when I was younger. I’ve been here for six years and, ironically, I probably do the least exercise now as I’m so busy investing myself

into this place!

Saying that, I do have one of our exercise bikes that I jump on when I get home, which suits my busy lifestyle. This was the perfect job for me as I’ve always hated gyms, but loved fitness. I think it’s the unhealthy competitive attitude that I don’t enjoy, and I can tell from speaking with many of our customers that a lot of them feel the same way.

Not at all, although a lot of our customers are those who are fed up with the gym. A lot of people are spending money on full gym memberships only to use one or two pieces of equipment.

People are becoming more and more health conscious. It’s no longer gym bunnies who are seeking out equipment – it’s all ages and all fitness levels.

It’s not just those with a ton of disposable income. You can get a treadmill here for £500 or one for £7,000. There are those who want to have a bike in their bedroom, and those who want to kit-out a fancy home gym. You never know who is going to walk through the door. We

Advertising Feature

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

In addition to weight training, have you noticed any other growing trends in the fitness world?

Cross fit. It’s the biggest trend of the moment, without a doubt! It combines weights and cardio through circuit training. It’s huge in America and even here there are gyms dedicated to cross fit.

Other than that, yoga is still huge, and boxing is popular. We cater for all, and like people to know they can come to us for a punchbag or strike tube, and their yoga mat or yoga bricks, as well as the heavier equipment.

If I were to come in as a customer, what should I expect?

PEDAL POWER A whole range of cycling machines offer a 0% finance option, so we aren’t exclusive. We work very hard to be accessible to everyone from any economic background.

We also provide suitable equipment to a lot of local schools and fitness centres, including St Gregory’s, Kent College, Assassins and SixForty Studios.

What is the most popular piece of equipment?

I think the cross trainer and treadmill will always be up there, but the rowing machines and bikes are becoming increasingly popular. We get a lot of elderly people referred to

us from local healthcare providers to buy a bike in preparation for an operation, or to gently improve overall fitness.

There has also been a definite growing interest in weight training, especially among young people, which is cheaper in general – but ultimately you will always need a combination of cardio and weights to effectively workout.

Plus, you don’t have to always go for the most expensive treadmill if you’re just wanting to do a little walking each day to tick off some cardio.

Come in, talk to us and try it out! We usually spend, at the very least, half an hour with a client. This time is spent working out exactly what it is they need, asking those questions, and answering any that they might have.

We always encourage our customers to try the products out. We had a family of marathon runners in the other day, in their gym kit, trying out one of our brand new state of the art running machines that minimises impact on the joints.

Then there are customers coming from as far as Dover and Folkestone to test out pieces of equipment they’re interested in.

One thing I would recommend trying out is a fluid rowing machine! I’m surprised to find a lot of people are only aware of the Concept air rowers that you get in gyms and don’t realise how much better, and sometimes cheaper, a fluid rower is – you get a far better workout and it feels like you’re actually on the water. The overall experience is much smoother.

And how does the delivery process work?

Obviously no one walks out of here with a rowing machine under their arm! Most of our branches don’t have stock in store, except display models, so it’s only the small accessories

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and weights that you can expect to take home with you on the day.

However, if you order anything in store with us before 3pm, then your purchase can be in your house the next day.

We also offer an installation service, which I’d recommend using, as we get a lot of calls from customers who are wondering what the spare screw they found is for.

All of our display equipment is set up by our sales assistants, so they can easily help you sort any issue over the phone if you choose to put it together yourself.

Do you operate online as well as in store?

We do, but I like to recommend for customers to come in and try the equipment before purchasing. That really is the only way to find what’s truly right for you.

The Tunbridge Wells store is open seven days a week in the centre of town, in Grosvenor Road – so there’s plenty of time to pop down and take advantage of the staff’s expertise.

Fitness Superstore

30-34 Grosvenor Rd, Tunbridge Wells TN1 2AP www.fitness-superstore.co.uk 01604 673042 or 01604 673000

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FEATURES

Travel

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Three go adventuring in Dorset To mark 75 years since the first Famous Five book was published, Kate Whiting takes her family to Enid Blyton’s beloved Isle of Purbeck, and happily finds it unchanged from the author’s descriptions

‘M

OTHER have you heard about our summer holidays yet?’ said Julian, at the breakfast-table. ‘Can we go to Polseath as usual?’

‘I’m afraid not,’ said his mother. ‘They are quite full up this year.’

So begins Enid Blyton’s first Famous Five adventure, Five On A Treasure Island, which was published 75 years ago this September and set in Blyton’s adopted home, Dorset’s Isle of Purbeck.

With Cornwall off the cards, Julian, Dick and Anne’s parents pack them off to Aunt Fanny, Uncle Quentin and their ‘lonely’ cousin Georgina, in Kirrin Bay. As many families will be doing this summer (including my own), they leave the crowded city streets behind and soon see the ‘shining blue sea, calm and smooth in the evening sun’.

Purbeck’s not really an isle, more a peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides, with the island-dotted Poole Harbour to the north, the seaside town of Swanage (where Blyton used to stay in the The Grand Hotel in the 1950s) to the east, and the secluded coves and bays of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast to the south.

Born in London on August 11, 1897 (she would be 120 this year), Blyton’s main home from the late 1930s was Green Hedges (named by her readers in a competition) in Beaconsfield, a London commuter town bordering the Chiltern Hills. But she had a love affair with Purbeck, and spent three holidays there every year for more than two decades, even buying the Isle of Purbeck Golf Club with her husband Kenneth in 1950.

With its green hills rolling like sleeping

TIME FOR TEA At the Blue Pool Tea House

dragons, dramatic cliffs plunging down into the sea, and the ruins of Corfe Castle at its heart, it’s easy to see why she kept coming back and mined the area for her famous children’s books.

We take a picturesque ride in the Pullman Observation Car, right behind the engine, on the impeccably well-kept Swanage Railway steam train from the town to Corfe Castle.

Blyton did just that in 1941, arriving at what she turned into Kirrin Castle, on Kirrin Island, owned

by George’s family, where the cousins and Timmy the dog discover gold in the dungeon in Five On A Treasure Island.

‘Blyton would have approved of the exotic antique decor, with menus from old cruise ships and tiger skins adorning the walls’ There may not be any gold bullion for us to find, but our three-year-old son Ollie enjoys hunting for the six shields that are hidden around the 11th-century ruins, and answering questions from the facts written on each that will reward him with a rubber Corfe Castle wristband.

A short drive from the castle is Blue Pool, a former clay pit that’s naturally filled with rainwater, surrounded with scented pines and

rhododendrons, and perhaps the most beautifully calm spot in the whole of Purbeck.

Blyton was a fan, and described it in 1946’s Five Go Off In A Caravan, where they picnic beside an ‘enormous blue lake that glittered in the August sunshine’.

We wander around the 20-acre site, sipping ginger beer and watching the colour of the lake change subtly from blue to green.

“We try very hard not to change,” says Miss Barnard, the 88-year-old owner of the pool and tea house, whose father bought and established it as a tourist attraction in the mid-1930s.

“We get customers who come back after 20, 30, 40 years, who say: ‘We were afraid to come back in case you’d done something terrible’ and they’re so relieved to find we haven’t.”

In July 1946, aged 18, Miss Barnard began working as a waitress in the tearoom, which still has its original pale teal formica-topped tables, and still bakes sumptuous scones today.

Home for our stay is Moonfleet Manor, just to the west of Weymouth, a Georgian country pile that overlooks the iconic pebbles of Chesil Beach.

Part of the Luxury Family Hotel Group, it has its own literary connection, having inspired J. Meade Falkner’s 1898 tale of smuggling and shipwrecks, Moonfleet.

The hotel has its own Timmy, a tea-coloured spaniel called Snoopy, who befriends all the smaller guests, and Blyton would have approved of the exotic antique decor, with menus from old cruise ships and tiger skins adorning the walls. In the hall is a chest full of buckets and spades and a rack of welly boots.

There are three swimming pools as well as an enormous indoor play area and a fairy door hunt to keep little ones entertained when they’re not exploring Dorset – and a spa for grown-ups to relax, while the kids can be looked after in The Den creche.

From here, it’s just an hour’s drive through KING OF THE CASTLE The ancient ruins of Corfe Castle are a child’s dream

Travel

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

ISLE BE BACK Mysterious Brownsea Island featured in Enid Blyton’s tales

Purbeck to Poole, from where we catch the ferry to the mysterious Brownsea Island, Blyton’s Whispering Island, also described as Keep Away Island in Five Have A Mystery To Solve.

In her day, it was owned by Mary BonhamChristie, a recluse who let it return to nature and would not tolerate visitors.

Today it’s owned by the National Trust, who cleared the island of its rampant rhododendrons.

As it’s a perfect summer’s day, we take a picnic of goat’s cheese and roasted red pepper sandwiches, juicy oranges and homemade chocolate chip biscuits (ordered and brought with us from the hotel) down the steps to South Shore’s sandy beach, overlooking the smaller Furzey island, where Ollie paddles and throws handfuls of seaweed into the water.

Rejuvenated, we go in search of Brownsea’s most famous residents – red squirrels.

Besides the wetland and lagoon to the north, managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust, much of

the island is woodland, but no matter how much we wander around looking up into the trees, we can’t see a single squirrel.

Then, just as we near the church, a flash of red darts across the path in front of us, followed by a peacock. We stop, crouch, and are joined by Hayley, a wildlife photographer with a tub of unshelled pistachios.

Soon our little squirrel is back and happily cracking into the nuts as we watch, spellbound by its little paws and tufty red ears, like something out of a children’s book.

On the drive back to our hotel, I verbally recount the whole of Five On A Treasure Island, with its shipwreck, gold and dastardly villains, to an unusually rapt Ollie, a sure sign that Blyton’s power of storytelling has not waned in 75 years.

And after the few days we’ve had here, neither has the lure of her beloved Purbeck.

SPELLBINDING Elusive red squirrels are easier to spot if you go armed with nuts

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HOW TO GET THERE MORE LITERARY LINKS The manor that inspired Moonfleet

 Moonfleet Manor has family rooms from £210 B&B for two adults and two children, and from £120 B&B for a standard double room. Children up to 15 stay free when staying in the parents’ room. Visit www.moonfleetmanorhotel.co.uk  Return ticket from Swanage to Corfe Castle: £12.50 adults, £7.60 children (under 5s, free).

Visit www.swanagerailway.co.uk  Corfe Castle entrance prices: From £9 adults, £4.50 children. Visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/corfe-castle  Blue Pool is open from March until the end of November: Adults £7, children under 16, free. Visit www.bluepooltearooms.co.uk  Brownsea Island Ferries sail from March 18 to October 29 from Poole Quay to Brownsea Island, and return through the islands if tides allow. Fares: £10.75 adults, £6.75 children.

Visit www.brownseaislandferries.com  Brownsea Island entrance prices: From £6.75 adults, £3.35 children. Visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/brownsea-island

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Motoring

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

FIRST DRIVE

MercedesAMG S 63 Mercedes-AMG has updated the ludicrously fast and sumptuously luxurious S 63.

Jack Evans takes it for a spin…

WHAT’S NEW? Mercedes has brought a refreshed S-Class into the market. With updated looks, as well as a host of new safety technologies, it’s an attempt to bring the big, ultra-luxurious saloon into 2017.

We’ve driven the top-of-the-range, fire-breathing AMG S6 3 model. It’s packing the same twin-turbocharged V8 as found in the current C 63 and E 63, with over 600bhp and a staggering 900Nm of torque. Fitted within the S-Class, it transforms the car from a standard saloon into one that can hit 60mph in under four seconds – frankly astounding for a car of this size.

LOOKS AND IMAGE There’s no denying that the S-Class is a handsome-looking beast. All cars get new LED headlamps, and there are various scoops and vents added to make it look more muscular.

The S 63 receives larger air intakes at the front to increase airflow to the car’s radiators, while there’s a large diffuser at the rear. Four exhaust pipes give some indication of the performance, but it’s an overall subtle affair. Tough thanks to the noise the exhaust makes, it’s unlikely many people will miss it approaching.

Inside, the S-Class is more luxurious than ever. It benefits from the widescreen display that we’ve seen on the E-Class, and there’s an overall solid feeling to the cabin. Those in the rear of the car are the best off – they get exceptional levels of leg and headroom, as well as features such as heated and vented seats.

SPACE AND PRACTICALITY There’s a huge amount of space to be found inside the S 63. The seats in the front offer plenty of shoulder room and it’s an easy place to get comfortable. As mentioned earlier, the rear of the car is more than spacious enough – which is good, considering the S-Class’s appeal to those who would rather be driven than drive themselves.

The S-Class’s boot space remains unchanged over the previous car, and sits at a respectable 510 litres. It’s deep and of a square shape, meaning it’s ideal for storing suitcases or weekend bags.

The rear seats can’t be folded flat, so unfortunately the standard boot size is all potential buyers have to work with, and this does limit the storage flexibility somewhat.

BEHIND THE WHEEL There are few companies as accomplished at changing standard cars into real performance machines as AMG. The S 63 is no different, with its engine, gearbox and suspension all extensively worked upon and tuned, changing it into a car which covers ground impressively quickly.

The engine is responsive and even light changes in throttle travel are greeted with changes in pace, while the nine-speed gearbox shifts crisply.

The 900Nm of torque on offer also make it a relaxing car to drive slowly, with plenty of low-down shove making for swift and simple overtaking.

It’s remarkable that a car of this size feels quite so light on its feet, and it corners with an admirable lack of body roll, too.

It’s also worth mentioning the extensive range of new safety features that have been fitted. Designed to bring a new level of autonomous assistance to the car, it now features Active Distance control and Active Steering Assist, which work together to support the driver when travelling on motorways. It assists the person behind the wheel with steering and throttle inputs, and even automatically adjusts the car’s speed to compensate for a bend.

Active Emergency Stop Assist is now fitted, too, and this can apply the brakes should it detect a pedestrian in the road, as well as assisting the driver when avoiding other potential hazards in the road. The system can also recognise speed limit signs and adjust the car’s speed, should the driver choose this function.

VALUE FOR MONEY There’s no denying that the S-Class is a luxurious car. It comes with front seats that are heated, vented and feature a massage function.

FACTS AT A GLANCE: MODEL: Mercedes-AMG S 63 ENGINE TESTED: 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 POWER: 612bhp TORQUE: 900Nm MAX SPEED: 155mph 0-60MPH: 3.3 seconds MPG: 31 EMISSIONS: 203g/km CO2 BASE PRICE: £125,690

The new 12.5-inch screen is clearer and more user friendly than before, while all of the leather feels of the highest quality.

On top of this, the S 63 packs blistering performance in a car that you just wouldn’t expect it from.

However, prices for the S 63 are expected to start at £125,690 – and that’s a huge amount of cash for a car which, in all respects, never set out to be the last name in performance. It’s an impressive package, but one that will not be for everyone. The S-Class comes with a more standard range of petrol and diesel engines, and it’s likely the vast majority of buyers will opt for these.

However, for those who really want to stand out from the crowd as well as be able to give sports car owners a fright from the lights, then the S 63 is the one to go for.

WHO WOULD BUY ONE?

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD And give sports car owners a fright…

The standard S-Class is for those who would rather spend their time in the back seats rather than in front of the wheel.

The S 63, meanwhile, is angled closer towards those who like to take control of the driving, and it handles surprisingly well given the car’s overall size.

Its price is hefty, but then the sheer level of craftsmanship and technology on board makes it almost justified – almost.

‘The V8 transforms it from a standard saloon into one that can hit 60mph in under four seconds – frankly astounding for a car of this size’

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Advertising

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Advertorial

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Osteoporosis: what is the big deal and why the need for action?

Osteoporosis is common, affecting hundreds of thousands of people in the UK. Every year, there are over 500,000 osteoporosis-related fractures, and every month, 1,100 deaths occur following a hip fracture. The impact of osteoporosis can be devastating, but it is treatable, and preventable.

By Dr. Taher Mahmud What do you know about osteoporosis? · In the UK alone, 1 in 2 women, and 1 in 5 men over the age of 50 will have osteoporosis. · Almost every minute, because of osteoporosis, someone experiences a fracture. · An estimated 3 million people in the UK, and 9 million worldwide, suffer from osteoporosis · Each year, thousands of patients experience wrist, hip, or spinal fractures – and the numbers are on the rise What actually is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis happens when bones become gradually more fragile. This can progress painlessly, until a bone suddenly breaks. Our bones are made of a thick outer shell, which surrounds a strong mesh network filled with calcium salts, collagen (protein), and other important minerals.

When the mesh becomes thin, it can break easily.

In the body, bones are constantly in a state of renewal. Old bone breaks down, and new bone is made. This happens more slowly in old age. In young people, the body makes new bone faster

than it breaks down the old bone, so bone mass is increased.

Over time, this process slows down. We reach our peak bone mass level in our early 30s, and from them, bones break down faster than the body is able to create them.

Therefore, the more you produce bone and accumulate bone mass in your younger years, the less likely you are to develop osteoporosis as you age. Think of your body like a bank, saving bone for later in life.

What causes osteoporosis?

As well as a low peak bone mass, there are other factors that can contribute to the development of osteoporosis: · A sedentary lifestyle (e.g lack of exercise, not being active) · Drinking excess alcohol · Smoking · Low sun exposure and lack of vitamin D · Low calcium levels · Inflammatory conditions (e.g arthritis)

· Genetic variation · Drugs, such as steroids · Apoptosis (cell death) · Menopause – particularly early menopause Osteoporosis is also more common in women than it is in men. The most commonly affected areas in the body are the wrist, hip, and spine.

As the process is gradual, osteoporosis often displays no symptoms until a bone breaks.

However, as bones become weaker, you may notice back pain, a slight loss in height over time, or a stooped posture.

Treatment and prevention of osteoporosis There are ways you can help to reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis, and many start with your lifestyle.

Smoking is advised against, as it can increase rates of bone loss, and reduce levels of calcium absorption.

If you drink excess alcohol, this can decrease your bone formation and decrease the body’s

ability to absorb calcium. Moderation is key, and more than one alcoholic drink a day is considered excessive. Alcohol can also increase your risk of falling, which is another risk factor for osteoporosis.

To prevent falls, wearing shoes with a low heel is recommended, along with making sure your general environment is as safe as possible. Tuck away wires or cables, and avoid having slippery surfaces around the home.

Once osteoporosis has been diagnosed, there are various medications and therapies that can be prescribed by the doctor. After diagnosis, your specialist can recommend the best course of treatment.

Prevention, however, is always better than cure in this case. Your lifestyle and the decisions you make can affect your bones and their health.

Factors such as nutrition, exercise, and daily habits can affect how likely you are to develop the condition. While osteoporosis is common, it can be helped, and you have the potential to prevent it.

Recruitment

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

NEWS

WITH THE

FIND YOUR PERFECT JOB TODAY – A MUST READ FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR WORK LOCALLY

OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS AND TONBRIDGE

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FEATURES

Arts & Culture

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Never say never when it comes to your dreams

PHOTO: Andrew Benge

How one mini music festival held in a local back garden grew to become LeeFest – one of the UK’s ‘most celebrated’ summer events…

I

T’S every parent’s nightmare: You go away on holiday only to find out that your teenager has thrown a huge party in your absence.

Lee Denny was guilty of doing just that over a decade ago, but has turned his rebellious mini music event into the award-winning LeeFest: The Neverland – one of the UK’s best festivals, which starts tomorrow [Thursday] at a farm near Hever, with Slaves revealed as the ‘secret’ guests and Jake Bugg, Kate Tempest, Annie Mac also performing.

Here, Eileen Leahy gets the lowdown from Lee… Can you give us a potted history of LeeFest?

When I was 16, my parents went on holiday and left me home alone, with the warning: Do not

THE ATMOSPHERE SHINES OUT Last year’s LeeFest have a house party! Being industrious and a somewhat overconfident teenager, I decided that if I was to host a festival in the garden instead, then technically I wouldn’t be breaking the rules!

I delegated various jobs and in five days managed to organise a festival for 150 people with ten bands performing, and we raised over £500 for charity.

What did your parents have to say about it?

Well, I did get grounded, but eventually they saw the funny side! Since then, word has spread about LeeFest, as it’s now known, and each year it’s become bigger and better. We now have 5,000 people attending and over 200 artists performing across 11 stages.

You obviously no longer organise LeeFest in your garden, so where can people find you?

We keep outgrowing venues so have had to move the festival four times. For the next few years we have settled in an incredible location in a designated Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty that’s just outside Tunbridge Wells.

What have been your top highlights over the past few years?

Probably building The Neverland for the first time last year – that had been a dream in the making for several years! We took inspiration from JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, creating a ‘magical kingdom of music, art and wonder’.

The Neverland has three realms with three tribes: The Neverwoods for the Lost Boys; Skull Ridge for the Pirates; and Mermaid’s Lagoon for the mermaids. We encourage all festival-goers to join a tribe for the weekend and get dressed up.

I think we created a really outstanding experience for people last year, and to hear everyone talking about it afterwards gave the whole team an incredible sense of achievement.

Do you find people come from far and wide or is it a more local scene?

LeeFest has an incredible core of attendees that have grown into a close-knit family over the years. That family keeps on growing as they bring their friends and recommend it to likeminded people, so we have people from all over the world but it feels really close and personal.

STAR TURN Poet Kate Tempest, who was guest director of this year’s Brighton Festival

PHOTO: Hayley Louisa Brown Which other festivals do you admire?

I love Shambala – which this year takes place in Northamptonshire – for their unbelievable commitment to their environmental policies.

I hope that we can follow in their footsteps and learn from what they have done by making LeeFest a sustainable festival.

GIMME THE LOVE Singer Jake Bugg

What does make LeeFest so unique?

I could tell you loads

Arts & Culture

about our exclusive headliners, or new music discoveries, or immersive kingdom that we’ve spent years and millions of pounds developing – but to be honest, the answer is the people.

Everyone attending has such an incredible spirit and truly believes in our ‘never grow old’ ethos.

The way you will be welcomed into the LeeFest family when you arrive on-site for the first time is impossible for other festivals to imitate, and is what you will leave remembering…

PHOTO: Eve Delf

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

And finally, if you could have anyone play at LeeFest, who would that be and why?

Queen with Freddie Mercury! I don’t even know how to start explaining how good that would be!

■ LeeFest: The Neverland festival is on from August 10-12 at John Darlings Farm, Wilderness Lane, Hever TN8 7LP, near Tunbridge Wells and Edenbridge. Some tickets are still available. To find out more information, visit www.leefest.org

ORGANISER Lee Denny

BAND PROFILE:

The Modern Strangers LOOKING FORWARD Max (right) and Archie Davenport

Ahead of their Saturday slot at LeeFest, we meet this Tunbridge Wells band

As for music that shaped our sound, we invested our time heavily into 1970s disco/funk music.

Earth, Wind & Fire, William Onyeabor and The BeeGees, to name a few, have all been acts we’ve tried to channel.

FORMED just last year, The Modern Strangers, led by brothers Max and Archie Davenport, have quickly become rising stars. Their first single, ‘Vanilla’, has won radio play on BBC 6 Music, while their early-2017 release ‘Margarita’ was featured on a BBC Four programme after it was chosen by a computer algorithm to be the ‘perfect pop hit’.

This summer, they have already played Radio 1’s Big Weekend and The Secret Garden Party, and after LeeFest are set to headline a show at Birthdays, a club in Stoke Newington, in October.

Here, Max tells Murray Jones all about the band:

How would you describe your music?

Disco, wearing a leather jacket…

Who are your musical inspirations?

I think the bands that got us into music in the first place would have been The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines. Around that time (mid-2000s), when indie guitar music was thriving, we’d be in school swapping the songs via Bluetooth.

Which up and coming band (aside from yourselves) would you recommend to our readers?

The Lightning Year, they’re a band from London.

We’ve played with them a few times and we have become friends. They also make great music.

As for something Kent-based, Will Joseph Cook has just released a brilliant album and we got to catch his set at The Secret Garden Party.

What’s your dream gig?

We’ve always wanted to play Glastonbury.

Obviously next year it’s not on. But hopefully 2019?

You have gained much prized airtime on Radio 1?

How did this come about?

Through a wonderful system called BBC Introducing. You upload your current single and it

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gets sent to the local BBC Introducing team.

In our case, they are BBC Introducing in Kent, which is presented by Abbie McCarthy. She’s been really supportive and has helped push the music on to all the right people at BBC Radio 1.

We even managed to get a slot at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend from it. If you’re from Kent and in a band reading this, upload your songs! You never know what might happen…

How and when did the band form?

Just after New Year in 2016 my brother and I wrote our song ‘Margarita’, it sort of came accidentally and quite easily. It was a sound we’d never really made before, so we were quite excited.

We wondered for a while what to do with it, but after a bit of thought and planning we came up with The Modern Strangers as a band name, and spent a few months forming it.

We already had Jimmy and Will for keyboards and drums, but had to search for a bass player. We’d met Patrick a few years before in Gibraltar and saw he was living in the UK for university, so we gave him a call. He initially said no, but then texted back immediately afterwards saying yes! We played our first ever show this time last year in London, it was a sellout.

What is it like playing in a band with a sibling?

Any Gallagher-like antics?

We get on really well. I think we always have, plus we’re both quite laid back, so there’s never any friction. As for antics, they’re all written about in our songs!

What do you make of the local music scene ?

The Forum has always been a pillar in the Tunbridge Wells music scene. I’ve been lucky enough to play there a few times in other bands growing up, and we’ve also seen loads of touring bands play there on their way around the UK. We’ll be supporting Little Cub at The Forum on September 15.

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What’s On

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

SEVEN DAYS OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCE

WHATS ON WITH THE

Eileen Leahy Local events

DUNKIRK Catch the hit film at The Hop Farm >> WEDNESDAY Young readers will enjoy Storytime with Litterbug Doug at Grosvenor & Hilbert Park this morning from 10am in the Hub. Afterwards, there will be the opportunity to take part in some post-story crafting. Tickets cost £1 per child and the event is suitable for those aged 2-6 years. All children must be accompanied by an adult. To book, email: steff.dagorne@tunbridgewells.gov.uk Hever Festival Theatre hosts a production of The Lost World tonight from 7.30pm. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous adventure was the inspiration for King Kong, Indiana Jones and Alien and more, and is interpreted by the talented Illyria outdoor theatre company. Go along to see how a group of intrepid explorers convince others that they’ve unearthed some of the world’s rarest wonders. Tickets are priced at £16.50 for adults, £15 for children or a family ticket for two adults and two children costs £54.

See www.heverfestival-tickets.co.uk

There’s entertainment of a different kind on offer at Trinity Theatre this evening, courtesy of a screening of William Shakespeare’s bloodiest play, Titus Andronicus. The titular character is a former ruler of Rome who is so utterly exhausted by the tribulations of war he steps down – only to see his city unravel into corruption, exploitation and murder. Blanche McIntyre directs the Royal Shakespeare Company’s version of the Bard’s brutal revenge tragedy. Tickets cost £19 and the screening starts at 7pm. www.trinitytheatre.net >> THURSDAY Bore Place in Bough Beech is putting on a fun baking session for children and their parents this morning entitled Organic Bread and Butter.

Running from 9.45 am until 1pm, it will help keen young cooks get to grips with baking. They will first explore Bore’s organic vegetable garden to source herbs to flavour their homemade butter, then learn how to grind flour and make THE LOST WORLD See Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s gem at Hever Festival Theatre

If you would like to see your events featured in our weekly What’s On pages, please email eileen@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

bread rolls and butter sticks. While the bread bakes, the children can tour around the farm and meet the dairy cows. Tickets cost £15 per child and can be booked via www.boreplace.org Ightham Mote is hosting a stargazing-themed event called Starry starry night* today from 11am until 3.30pm. Coming ahead of this weekend’s annual Perseid meteor shower, it promises to be a fun day looking at all the different elements involved with stargazing. Taking part will help you complete number 27 of the National Trust’s 50 things to do before you’re 11 3/4. *Please note, this is a daytime event and therefore does not feature actual stargazing! For more details, see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ightham-mote Jazz on The Pantiles continues this Thursday evening. To make it a really special event, why not avail yourselves of the exclusive menu offered by One Warwick Park Hotel before the music gets underway? Between 12noon and 7pm you can enjoy one course for £10, two courses for £15 and three courses for £20, including a large glass of house wine. Alternatively, you can sip a glass of your favourite wine or cocktail of choice in the hotel’s lounge bar, which is offering 2 for 1 on all drinks every Thursday between 5pm and 7pm. See www.onewarwickpark.co.uk >> FRIDAY Groombridge Place’s summertime special Wizards, Magic & Monsters

runs until August 20. Meet the colourful characters of ‘olde Groombridge’, hear their interesting tales and see mesmerising tricks. To book tickets, go to www.littleboxoffice.com/groombridge The much-acclaimed wartime film Dunkirk is showing at the Hop Farm from today until next Thursday courtesy of the Moonlight Drive-in Cinema. Starring Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy and Harry Styles, it has already outgunned most of the summer’s other big blockbusters and is tipped for Oscar success. Screenings start at 9pm and tickets cost £25 per vehicle. For further information, visit www.moonlightcinema.com

PICK OF THE WEEK Tonbridge Calling Saturday August 12 Tonbridge Racecourse Park Now in its second year, Tonbridge Calling is a free and friendly family festival with plenty for all ages to see and do. Running from midday until 7.30pm at the town’s Racecourse Park, there will be lots of live music, food stalls and fun activities to enjoy, including belly dancing, wacky faces and Ringpullman. For more details, see www.tonbridgecalling.uk

What’s On

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

SEE DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES At Grosvenor & Hilbert Park >> SATURDAY There will be a fun event for all the family today at Dunorlan Park. Birds of a Feather runs from 11am until 4pm with birds of prey demonstrations and a pop-up arts and crafts area. Organised by the Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery, entry is free and children must be accompanied by an adult.

The Assembly Hall theatre is the venue for That’ll Be The Day, a live nostalgic music show that’s proving enormously popular up and down the country. Kicking off at 7.30pm, the show features a number of tunes from the golden age of music – namely from the 1950s to the 80s. There are also plenty of funny comedy sketches thrown in for good measure. Tickets cost from £23.50 and are available from www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk >> SUNDAY The Bell Inn, Ticehurst, will be screening the popular children’s film Zootopia as part of its summer entertainment calendar. For ticket details and timings, call 01580 200 234.

The Knights of Royal England return to Hever Castle this weekend to continue their annual Summer Jousting Tournaments. Visitors will be treated to a thrilling show as the brave knights compete for points to find this season’s champion.

Witness spectacular displays of action, stunts, falls and fights in an authentic arena complete with Royal Box. Ticket prices start at £14.20 for adults and a family ticket costs £38.90. For more information, visit www.hevercastle.co.uk

Chiddingstone Castle will be putting on an Ancient Egyptian Family Day from 11am until 5pm.

Visitors can learn all about this period in history, get up close and personal to objects more than 3,000 years old and listen to talks by a Professor of Egyptology. There’s also the castle’s unique, award-winning Ancient Egyptian-themed conceptual grass maze. All activities are included in the usual castle admission fee. Adult tickets cost £9.50, those for children aged 5-13 are priced at £4.50, and under 5s go free. For further information, see www.chiddingstonecastle.org.uk >> MONDAY Royal Victoria Place is home to the DinoLive until August 28. Visitors can walk around this interactive exhibition and experience incredible life-size replicas of the fascinating creatures that first walked the Earth. Little ones will have the chance to have their photo taken with a baby T-Rex and also get involved with a Dino Draw workshop which will help them get creative – and also learn about these amazing prehistoric animals.

This evening from 5.30pm, Grosvenor & Hilbert Park will be inviting visitors along to their Dragonfly and Damselfly Walk and Talk. Meet in the Hub before going out and about with a local nature expert to discover these insects. Dress appropriately for the weather. >> TUESDAY Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery is now open on Sundays from 10am-4pm until September 8, in addition to its normal opening times. It is currently running the exhibition Springlines – a show inspired by the drought of 2012. Writer Clare Best and artist Mary Anne Aytoun-Ellis went in search of bodies of water that are ‘concealed, forgotten or overlooked’. They discovered all manner of dew ponds, chalk springs, ancient wells and old clay pits, not to mention lots of wildlife, mythology and the ‘variety and vitality’ of water.

See www.tunbridgewellsmuseum.org

FEATURES

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A ROUND-UP OF THIS WEEK’S MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Paul Dunton Live music THE GREY LADY MUSIC LOUNGE The Pantiles, doors 7.15pm, entry £6/£7 Websites www.pdag.co.uk and www.thegreylady.co.uk

WEDNESDAY Matt Falloon, Gronk, Quentin Holway FRIDAY Julius Cowdrey (ticket only show) SUNDAY Joe Ackerley, Jennifer Lee Ridley, James Medhurst, Bea Everett TUESDAY Red, Green & Blue, Hamish Donald, Zoe Deighton-Smythe, MangeTout Recovery WEDNESDAY The Frampton sisters, Will Watson, Sean Manuel, Mike Wilton THE TUNBRIDGE WELLS FORUM Event information at www.twforum.co.uk

FRIDAY Task Force, Lady Bird, Tenbag Banditz SUNDAY Bury Tomorrow, Provoker, Dream State MONDAY Dead!, Airways, Red Coast, Jellyfish

The must-read guide to what’s on musically for the week ahead… www.paulduntonandguests.com

THE BEAU NASH TAVERN Mount Ephraim, open all day, free entry, music from 8.30pm till late

SATURDAY John Whitehorn THE BULL INN Frant Road, open all day, free entry, music from 8.30pm till late

SATURDAY The Badflys THE DUKE OF YORK The Pantiles, open all day, free entry, music from 8pm onwards

MONDAY Open Mic Night THE ROYAL OAK Prospect Road, open all day, free entry, music from 8.30pm till late

THE BEDFORD 2 High Street, open all day, free entry. Music from 8pm till late. More information at www.thebedfordtw.co.uk

FRIDAY The Harveys SATURDAY Duvet Dogs

SATURDAY Daisy Garside

THE PANTILES BANDSTAND The Pantiles, open all day, donations welcome for evening entertainment, music from 7pm

THE SUSSEX ARMS Sussex Mews, music from 8pm till late. For more information, visit www.twforum.co.uk

FRIDAY Top Cat Collective, Best Intentions, Radidas KING WILLIAM IV Pembury, open all day, free entry, music from 8.30pm till late

SATURDAY Soul Knights

THURSDAY Jazz on The Pantiles: Spice Fusion SATURDAY Soul Train THE CROSS KEYS St John’s Road, open all day, free entry Music from 8pm Website www.crosskeystw.co.uk

MONDAY TWUNT: Ukulele Jam Session

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NEWS

Sporting Times

CONTACT US:

Please send your sports stories to newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk or newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Rustics’ historic FA Cup tie ends in stalemate Rusthall 0 CB Hounslow United 0

By Richard Smith FOOTBALL: DESPITE the game having to be switched to Tunbridge Wells FC’s Culverden Stadium, a crowd of 262 flocked through the turnstiles to witness the Rustics’ long-awaited debut in football’s most famous cup competition.

But the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round proved to be a game of few chances as both defences remained solid throughout.

Nervous

UP FOR THE CUP: Rusthall’s historic team (back row, l-r) Paul Butler, Drew Crush, Joe Fuller, Stewart Gostlow, Dan Mitchell, John Sinclair (captain); (front row) Michael Tubb, Calum Gallie, Callum Christie, Dan Powell, Jon Sebbar

With the Rustics looking nervous at the start of the contest, Hounslow’s only shot on target came inside seven minutes.

Good link-up play saw Charlie McKee stroke a first-time drive from inside the box, which was well held by Callum Christie diving low to his right.

Inn the 17th minute Rusthall should have opened the scoring when Michael Tubbin delivered a deep cross from the right. It was met on the volley by an unmarked Callum Gallie but he struck the ball straight at the keeper from 10 yards.

Captain Potter gives Bourne’s fresh squad a nod of approval

Rusthall were to be denied again on the halfhour mark as Siqak Beyene made a vital block on the edge of the six-yard box to deny striker Joe Fuller from Daniel Powell’s cutback.

Gallie whipped in a deep cross from the left channel but John Sinclair guided his free header into Terry Buss’s hands at the near post.

In the second half Rusthall looked the more likely team to break the deadlock.

On 63 minutes Paul Butler’s out-swinging free-kick from the right was met by Daniel Mitchell’s free header from 12 yards but the central defender sent it wide.

Rusthall substitute Steph Harper then missed the best chance of the game to earn his club £1,500 in prize money and a lucrative derby against Tunbridge Wells.

The chance came only 39 seconds after he came on to the pitch. Sinclair’s superb flicked pass put the striker through on goal but he placed his shot past the left-hand post from 10 yards out.

Rusthall almost snatched the victory at the death when another sub, Ryan Waterman, teed up Drew Crush. He cut on to his right foot to drill a 30-yard screamer which flew past the left-hand post.

The Rustics begin their league campaign on Saturday with a trip to big spending Sheppey United, who will be among the favourites for the Premier Division title.

BOLD MOVE Becky Saxby scores with a backheeled volley

By Scott Bartlett FOOTBALL: TUNBRIDGE WELLS welcomed Beckenham Town FC to the Culverden Stadium on Saturday in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round and earned a well deserved victory.

Before kick-off Wells unveiled their new Nike playing strip and announced their two-year shirt sponsorship deal with MAP EFS. Manager Jason Bourne has had a busy summer reshaping his squad with eight players coming in, including four who contested the FA Vase final in 2013, Josh Stanford – who scored at Wembley – Chris Oladogba, Scott Whibley and Tom Davey.

WALL OR NOTHING: Tunbridge Wells threaten the Beckenham goal with a free-kick at Culverden

Wells’ starting line-up included three other signings Jake Beecroft, Alex Kendall and Steven Ita. A crowd of 271 saw Tunbridge Wells start brightly and force Beckenham Town on to the back foot.

Wells created several early chances with Beecroft firing a shot just over the top and a Stanford freekick that clipped the crossbar.

Beckenham were struggling to contain Stanford on the left with Beecroft and Jamie Lawrence controlling the midfield.

Despite Wells’ dominance the score was goalless at the interval. A reorganised Beckenham outfit came out with more energy in the second half and their captain, former Wells player George Benner, marshalled his defence well.

Bourne made early changes with John Shea regaining some control of the midfield while Rhys Bartlett took over on the right wing.

After a slow start to the second half with the rain pouring down, Beecroft was getting on the ball and spraying passes as Wells upped the tempo.

The breakthrough came on 69 minutes from a fast Wells counter-attack that was scrambled to safety. Beecroft’s out-swinging corner was met with a well-placed looping header into the top lefthand corner by Wells captain Brad Potter.

Beckenham did apply pressure in the last five minutes, forcing a couple of corners, but Oladogba in the Wells goal never looked like conceding.

On Saturday Tunbridge Wells start their league campaign at home to Lordswood, kick-off 3pm.

Photo: David Couldridge

Tunbridge Wells 1 Beckenham Town 0

Nomad newcomers are put to the sword Nomads 1 Tonbridge Angels 9 FOOTBALL: TONBRIDGE ANGELS Ladies continued their pre-season preparation with a comfortable 9-1 win away to league newcomers Nomads.

It was a first-ever match for the Edenbridgebased side and despite the one-sided nature of the contest, they fielded enough experienced

players to make the Angels work hard.

Goals from Abigail Skilton, Megan Akehurst and Nancy Syrett – her first for the club – gave Tonbridge a 3-0 lead at half-time.

In the second half Skilton and Akehurst completed their hat-tricks with Becky Saxby’s backheeled volley and a strike from Beth Kemp completing the rout.

Sporting Times

Wednesday August 9 | 2017

Hulbert gets down to business as Sankey’s win first Corinthian Cup

Sale and O’Riordan boost Wells’ hopes of staying up

By Alan Cutts CRICKET:

TUNBRIDGE WELLS hosted Tenterden on the back of two rain-affected games which had looked promising for the relegation strugglers before the elements intervened.

The visitors won the toss and inserted on a warm and sultry day in which rain was not forecast to interfere.

Kent’s influential all-rounder Adam Ball was absent from their line-up while the prolific batsman Jacobus Du Plooy had returned home.

Wells were once again indebted to opener Chris Williams, who had scored a century and 75 in the two abandonments.

Exuberant

BIG DEAL: (L-R) Freddie Hulbert and Matthew Sankey are presented with the trophy by Robert MacGregor, Linden Park’s Chairman CRICKET: THE inaugural Corinthian Cup was held at Linden Park Cricket Club last week, providing a chance for a local business to enjoy a day’s cricket.

The competition was sponsored by Corinthian, the pensions, investments and employee benefit company which has relocated to Tunbridge Wells from Croydon. Sankey’s answered the call and brought with them, not a pub side with a couple of decent ringers, but a league representative side captained by the hosts’ very own Freddie Hulbert.

Punished Sankey’s chose to bat first and compiled a commendable 249 thanks to a stylish 87 from Finn Hulbert, the skipper’s brother, and Ollie Bone chipping in with 37.

The Park were boosted in the field by Chris Mingard, who took 3 for 34, and young Dillon Hobbs but the last two overs of the innings were heavily punished and Sankey’s posted an ­imposing 249 for 8 in their 40 overs.

James Speer and Driaan Brewer looked good in the run chase but both fell after they had laid the foundations of a sizeable innings.

It was left to Jayden Hoare to spearhead the reply but he fell for a typically aggressive 56 and the home side were bowled out for 159 in 29.3 overs.

The cup was presented by Robert MacGregor, Managing Director of Corinthian and Chairman of Linden Park, who said: “It was a great day played in the right spirit and well captained by Freddie, who ensured there was a good game played.

“It is hoped that other businesses will take up the challenge and make it a great day of cricket at Linden,” he added.

After the loss of two early wickets, Williams duly reached his third consecutive half-century before falling for 52 off 67 balls.

He had provided a platform at 109 for 4, and Christian Davis and Nick Sale kept the ­momentum going amid stop-start conditions.

Davis was beaten by the turning ball one short of his half-century, but then Marcus O’Riordan and Sale embarked on a riot of scoring after the innings was shortened to 48 overs apiece.

The pair rampaged along at better than eight per over, adding 89 from just 69 balls with intelligent invention and strong running.

Each man reached an exuberant half-century, O’Riordan hitting three successive reverse-sweeps for four on his way to 55 not out off just 37 balls.

Sale was dismissed for 62 off as many deliveries but by then the home side were on the way to posting a testing total of 260 for 6.

Tenterden set off as the skies darkened, and an hour was lost in Stygian gloom and gusting

Vine halt Seconds’ long unbeaten run CRICKET: TITLE-chasing Tunbridge Wells Second XI lost for the first time since May 13 at Sevenoaks Vine, ending a 10-week unbeaten run which had put them on top of the table.

The Wells Seconds have not won the Premier Championship pennant since 1990, but their run-in will not be easy.

However, they still have a dozen points over their nearest rivals, of whom Sandwich Town and Bexley look most likely to upset their plans.

Linden Park shared the points with Bromley in Division Two as rain curtailed proceedings at the Higher Cricket Ground.

Bromley won the toss and reached 241 for 8 off their 50 overs, but there was no further play.

In Division Four, Tonbridge posted 206 for 4 at Old Colfeians thanks to keeper Stuart Bridgen (63) and Stuart Hall (54 not out).

In reply the hosts were restricted to 166 for 5 after 46 overs despite Alex Lorimer’s impressive 86 at the top of the order, but the game was deemed incomplete.

showers after just three and a bit overs. DLS duly provided a revised target of 206 from 32 overs.

The prized wicket of dangerman Ben Price was captured by Sale at 40 for 2, and the attack, based predominantly upon spin and guile, wheeled away inviting indiscretion.

O’Riordan’s off-breaks accounted for a couple more scalps, and outstanding catches from Davis and William Stickler added to the visitors’ woes.

The tally showed 77 for 5 until Andrew Crawford and Jamie Drewe posted a vigorous 34 in six overs, and suddenly the skies cleared.

Then the top-scorer Crawford was run out in bizarre circumstances as both batsmen headed for the same end.

He kept on running back to the pavilion even though the fielder Fred Florry had not even got round to removing the bails.

His dismissal was effected with the batsman having disappeared from view, and he was given out in absentia by the bewildered umpire.

Meanwhile, the equation kept tightening and wickets kept falling, while Wells used their Twenty20 skills to close out the game.

The skipper Alex Williams bagged three victims with his pace to leave the chase some way off target on 154 for 9, and Wells won by 52 runs.

The hosts were relieved to have achieved a result, which increased the lead over Sevenoaks Vine to 25 points in the tussle to avoid the drop.

Two teams go down, and the Vine’s neighbours Holmesdale look doomed so that leaves Wells, Hartley and Lordswood scrapping it out to stay above the Vine with four games remaining.

Sale and O’Riordan had fine all-round games, and the spirit within the team soared as they continue to play as a tight unit.

Now this youthful side must strive for further success on their visit to Blackheath at The Rectory Field on Saturday (August 12).

NEWS

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Roche takes plaudits in Bewl Water Sprint TRIATHLON: CLAIRE ROCHE of Tunbridge Wells continued her fine form at the Bewl Water Triathlon, finishing first F60 in the Sprint event.

Roche, who recently qualified to represent Team GB Age Group at Rotterdam 2018, performed consistently across the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run to cross the line after 1hr 40min.

Su Bonner also took first place, in F40 with a time of 1:30. She consolidated on an impressive swim and was delighted with her performance on this challenging course.

Mike King (M35) was first home for the club in the sprint race in 1:19 with John Kendal (M50) not far behind in 1:31.

Chris Dickinson (M55) completed the standard distance event in 3:11 in his first race for the club.

Chris Nieuwoudt (M40) completed the 3.8km distance in the solo swim event in 1:18, which was excellent preparation for Ironman Kalmar in two weeks’ time. Andy Muir completed the 1.9km swim in 54min, finishing first M65.

RULE AT BEWL: (L-R) John Kendal, Claire Roche, Su Bonner and Matt Usher