June 2012 - Hothfield Parish Council

Hothfield News
Volume 3 No. 6
June 2012
The Monthly Newsletter by the Community, for the Community
IT’S ALL HAPPENING!
Never mind the Olympics, the Open
Golf, the European Football finals,
Wimbledon, the British Grand
Prix and all that unimportant
stuff; the real event of the
Summer is happening this
month right here in Hothfield.
Thanks to Her Majesty’s
Diamond Jubilee, we have a
five-day weekend which gets
better as it goes along. We can
dance the night away in
the Village Hall on the
Monday 4 June, and
on Tuesday 5 June
afternoon feed
ourselves to
bursting while the
kids bounce and run
and throw things.
And if you’re wondering
what to do with the other
three days – well, you can always
be sprucing up the garden ready for
the annual competition!
HELP!
Meanwhile, the
Jubilee Committee
still needs help;
helpers for all the
stalls, donations for
Raffle prizes,
Tombola
prizes, all
sorts of
prizes
large and
small; unwanted
items for the White
Elephant Stall; any help
you can offer will be
very, very welcome.
We even need
brave
goalkeepers for
the Penalty Shoot!
For all this, the place
to bring gifts or
volunteer services is the
Bluebells Centre (the old School to
long-time residents), where Ann
Parker and her staff will be happy to
receive you; or you can telephone the
Centre on 01233 622296, or email
ann.eparker@kent.gov.uk or
hothfield.reception@kent.gov.uk.
FANCY DRESS COMPETITION
Children up to the age of 12 can
enter and win prizes for Fancy Dress.
There will be two age groups: Under-5s
and 5-12s. The theme is Kings and
Queens. Nobody is specifying what sort
of royalty you have to be, so you can
be Queen of the Fairies or King of the
Vampires if you like! The parade and
judging will happen at 3pm, and the
final decisions will be made and the
prizes presented by our new Rector,
Sheila Cox. Take note that the prizes
are for the best HOME-MADE costume
in either age group.
Finally, all you big strong guys; get
ready for the Tug of War! We’ll make
up teams on the day and there will be
prizes. Tough gloves might be handy!
‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ is
coming to Hothfield
Have you ever wondered what Great Granddad did in the war or
what happened to Great Aunt Mabel, the family member that
nobody talks about? Now is your chance to find out.
Starting in January 2013 the Hothfield History Society will be
holding a series of workshops for anyone who would like to know
more. No experience necessary. Sessions will be held in Hothfield
on Saturday mornings between 10 and 12 o’clock once a month
for six months. Using a computer and with help from an expert
you will start to draw up your own family tree using a variety of
records available online. Space will be limited to six people so
book your place now. £12 for the six sessions.
Email: hothfieldmemories@hotmail.com
or leave a message on 07535618433.
Gardeners'
Competition 2012
Application forms are enclosed in this edition of the
Hothfield News, and we do
hope that all you gardeners
in Hothfield will enter.
Hothfield Heathlands Report
Godinton House
and Gardens
The Kent Wildlife Trust is working in
partnership with Ashford Borough
Council to restore and improve the old
heath and bog habitats of Hothfield
Nature Reserve and protect many rare plants and
animals. A key part of this
process has involved the
use of grazing animals,
primarily a combination
of cattle and ponies.
Many of you may be
aware of our herd of ponies that reside all year
round on the heath.
These animals are Konik
ponies, which actually
translates as “little horse”
in Polish. Koniks originated in Eastern Europe,
and are the closest living
relative of the last breed
of European wild horse, the Tarpan,
which is now sadly extinct. Later in
the spring when the vegetation puts
on a spurt of growth we augment the
Koniks with a herd of Highland cattle
to help to restore and maintain this
ancient and beautiful landscape.
The ponies and cattle carry out essential conservation work, preventing
invasive species
like bramble,
birch and soft
rush from suppressing the more
sensitive plants
such as southern
marsh orchid,
heath-spotted
orchid, cotton
grass and many
others that we see in the summer.
Grazing animals wallowing in the bogs
provide germinating opportunities for
plants and wet areas for insects such
as the rare Keeled Skimmer dragonfly
to breed in.
As you would expect with wild animals, they are generally able to look
after themselves; when hooves get too
long they break off and reform. If their
coats get matted or full of seeds they
clean themselves through “grooming”
and scratching against trees and fence
posts.
Their lifestyle of living naturally in a
May and June 2012
herd, roaming freely over
acres of ground, with a huge variety of
interesting food plants to discover and
eat, must make them the envy of many
a stabled horse!
The Kent Wildlife
Trust manages the
site and ensures
that the animals are
checked on a daily
basis. We are always
looking for more
people to become
official livestock
checkers. If you are
interested and can
give up 1-2 hours a
week, and would
enjoy combining a
walk on the heathland with visiting
the horses and cattle, then please get in touch with Ian
Rickards on 07889 737839 or
ian.rickards@kentwildlife.org.uk
Events at Hothfield Heathlands:
We run regular tasks and walks that
everyone is welcome to join in with.
Full details are available on our website www.kentwildlife.org.uk . On Sunday 10 June we are having a morning
task, clearing
young birch
scrub, followed
by a scavenger
hunt across the
reserve. The
task starts at
10:00am in the
reserve car
park, and the
scavenger hunt
at 1:00pm.
Visitor Survey:
If you are a regular visitor to Hothfield Heathlands, and would like your
say as to how the site is looked after,
we have compiled a survey to gather
people’s opinion on subjects such as
tree felling, car parking and dog walking. The survey can be found on the
Hothfield reserve pages on the KWT
website, or contact me directly.
Ian Rickards, Ashford Area Warden
Telephone 01622 662012. Email:
Ian.rickards@kentwildlife.org.uk
www.kentwildlife.org.uk
Iris Day – 27th May 11am – 4.30pm
Celebrate the fantastic collection of
Bearded Irises in the Walled Garden.
Plant sales.
Delphinium Week – 17 – 24 June
A week of events to celebrate the spectacular collection of delphiniums in
Godinton’s walled garden.
Picnic Evenings
17th – 24th gardens open until 8pm
Enjoy an evening in the glorious gardens, remember your rug or chair.
Delphinium Society Day
Sunday 17th 11am – 4pm
Expert advice and plant sales
Painting in the garden with Kaidy
Lewis: Wednesday 20th 11am – 2pm,
Booking essential, cost £8.00 for entry
to the garden and painting.
Bring your materials, join Kaidy in the
inspirational setting of Godinton.
Jazz Evening – The Colrose Five
Wednesday 20th 7pm – 9pm
Supporting St. John Ambulance, contact
Sally Joachim for tickets on 01732
876405, Tickets £15.00 each
NGS Open Day
Friday 22nd 2pm – 8.00pm
Music for Pilgrims Hospices
Charity Day, Sunday 24th 2pm – 4pm
Music from Highworth Jazz Band in the
Walled Garden.
Sewing Class with Clare Langdon –
29th June 10am – 3pm. Come along and
make a Summer Beach Bag.
Contact Godinton for booking form.
For information email Clare at clarelangdon@aol.com
Open Air Theatre Performance
30th June : As You Like It
Performed by The Changeling and
Hazlitt Arts Centre
Performance 7.00pm, picnics from
6.00pm, Tickets prices £15.00 Adult,
£5.00 Children.
Remember to bring your chairs, rugs
and picnics! Tickets available through
Godinton, now on sale
Gardens Open Daily from 2pm to
5.30pm £5.00 (gardens only) 1st March
to 1st November.
House Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
Bank Holiday Mondays from 6th April
2pm – 5.30pm £8.00 (house & gardens)
For more information or to book, contact Rachael on 01233 643854.
www.godinton-house-gardens.co.uk
Bob Rivers – A True Friend of Hothfield
Bob and Barbara Rivers moved to
Hothfield some 17 years ago. During
this time Bob and Barbara, in their
quiet and thoughtful way, have made a
remarkable contribution to the quality
of life of all villagers. Early on, Bob
turned his considerable knowledge
and skill to raising funds for village
projects. Many of these projects involved large sums of money obtained
from a wide range of sources, from
local funding bodies to the Big Lottery
Fund. Bob's attention to detail and his
relentless commitment to village projects meant that he negotiated the
tricky process of applying for funds
with his sense of humour intact. Bob
was always willing to offer guidance to
village clubs and societies who needed
to raise funds for projects. Over the
years, many of us have been welcomed
into his small, tidy study, which was
full of family photos, to discuss our
needs and aspirations for the village.
He listened carefully and then helped
us establish a plan of action. His commitment did not stop there, however.
He rolled up his sleeves and helped us
achieve our goals. For example, his
efforts were pivotal in securing just
under £100,000 from seven different
sponsors of the Multi Use Games Area
(MUGA) and the Youth Shelter.
A few years ago Bob was Secretary of
the Village Hall Committee. This was
at a time when the Hall was in desperate need of essential maintenance that
had not been carried out for about 20
years. Bob set to work to sort out the
problems and managed to obtain the
funding – some £50,000 – to carry out
the necessary work. This was achieved
with a minimum of fuss – Bob's signature style.
Bob was instrumental not only in
creating the Village History Society,
but also in raising over £40,000 in order to purchase materials for the correct storage and display of village artefacts. He was particularly interested in
a collection of notes compiled in 1900
by the then Rector of Hothfield, the
Rev Harry Russell. The notes were
hand written, detailed, and difficult to
follow. Bob thought it important that
these should be typed out and produced in an easily readable version. He
set to on a demanding labour of love. I
believe he found the best time to work
was from four o'clock in the morning.
The records of Hothfield dated from
680AD until the start of the 19th cen-
Get quizzical for
Air Ambulance
A quiz night in aid of life-saving charity Kent Air Ambulance is to be held in Ashford this summer.
Teams of six to eight people are needed to test their
general knowledge at Conningbrook Hotel in
Kennington on 24 June at 6pm.
Tickets cost £10 per person and include a food platter
for each table. Booking is essential, so please
contact Cheryl Johnson on 01622 833833 or email
cherylj@kssairambulance.org.uk. Kent Air Ambulance
is a life-saving charity which provides a Helicopter
Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) seven days a week,
365 days a year.
The helicopter flies with a highly-skilled doctor and
critical care paramedic who take the skill and expertise of an A&E department to the patient at the scene
of an accident or medical
emergency.
All proceeds from the
quiz night will go directly
to the service, which is
funded almost entirely by
public donations.
tury. Bob typed nearly 500 pages of
history which included many family
pedigrees; he created an index to include family names, topics such as
smuggling and education and place
names of houses, farms etc. This was
an amazing achievement resulting in a
magnificent, clearly-written history of
the Village. The book is available in
hardback and in CD form.
Whilst Bob was heavily engaged with
this work it became necessary for the
interior of the church to be repainted .
Paint and brushes were produced, tall
scaffolding was kindly lent and guess
who agreed to paint the ceiling while
standing on the top of the scaffolding?
Bob! We all owe him a great deal for
the variety of his achievements.
On a personal level. Bob was a gentleman and a true family man. He
never raised his voice, he was always
calm and thoughtful, and he was fully
committed to everything he did. And
that was a lot.
We are privileged to have had Bob as
an active member of our village community. Our thoughts are with Barbara
and her family during this sad time.
Charles Oliver
Peter Patten
Hothfield News
is edited, printed and published by Hedley Grenfell-Banks and
distributed to every house in the village by a dedicated band
of volunteers. Email: hothfieldnewsletter@tiscali.co.uk
Available on line in colour at www.hothfield.org.uk.
The deadline for the July 2012 issue is 15 June.
Letters and articles for publication are always welcome.
Advertising is free to businesses working in, or for, the
Parish of Hothfield. Email the Editor for information on
advertising prices for outside companies.
Puddle Ducks
Baby and toddler swimming lessons (for children ages 0-5 years old) are
going to be available from the hydrotherapy pool in Hothfield Manor
from 2 June, and as a special offer, Angela from Puddle Ducks is offering
Hothfield residents (new customers only) the chance to join the classes
for a ‘mini-term’ from 2 June to 14 July 2012 for a one-off cost of just
£75 (for 8 weeks’ worth of lessons)! This offer is only applicable for
Hothfield residents booking before the 2 June start date, so call or email
Angela now on 01622 236111, eastkent@puddleducks.com.
Saint Margaret's Church
Hilda Makes
a New Friend
The Primate of All England, Dr. Rowan Williams, came to the
G7 Benefice on Sunday, May 13 and celebrated a G7 Eucharist at
Charing Church. After the service he came to lunch in Charing
Barn and chatted with lots of people, including our Churchwarden Hilda Golder.
All who attended the Service and the lunch were deeply impressed and delighted to meet this gentle, eloquent and
friendly leader. Although he is Archbishop of Canterbury, his
duties rarely allow him to go visiting round the Diocese, and we
were very lucky to have this visit, which was arranged at very
short notice. Our Rector, Rev. Sheila Cox, deserves congratulations for its organisation.
Services
for June
Sunday 3 June – Trinity Sunday
11.00am. The Eucharist
Sunday 10 June – Trinity 1
11.00am. Holy Communion
6.30pm Wholeness and Healing Service
Sunday 17 June – Trinity 2
11.00am. The Eucharist
Sunday 24 June – St. John Baptist
11.00am. The Eucharist
3.30pm. Messy Church (Bluebells)
EVERY TUESDAY
Charing - The Eucharist 9.00am
Charing Heath - Bible Study
and Prayers 7pm
EVERY WEDNESDAY
Charing Prayers 6.15pm
1st WEDNESDAY (6th)
Charing Heath – The Eucharist 10.30am
followed by Coffee in The Red Lion
1st FRIDAY (1st )
Westwell – Iona Eucharist 10.00am
followed by Coffee in The Wheel Inn
Healing and
Wholeness
The G7 Healing Service
will be held in
Saint Margaret’s Church,
Hothfield
on 10th June at 6.30pm
WYE PARISH CHURCH
FLOWER FESTIVAL
8, 9 & 10 June 2012
In celebration of
“THE GAMES”
(coinciding with Wye Garden Safari)
Friday 3—7pm;
Saturday 10.30—5.30;
Sunday 12—5.30
Stalls, Raffle, Musical events,
Tower trips
Admission by programme £2.50,
Children free. All proceeds to Wye Church
Friends of St. Margaret’s
As Tuesday June 5 is given over to
the Jubilee Party, this month’s
COFFEE
MORNING
will be on Tuesday June 12
At Hothfield Village Hall
Hothfield History Society
Annual General Meeting
Last month we held our AGM, where
I gave an update on our Heritage project. Our computer equipment has
been ordered and training days continue. I’m also pleased that we’ve had
further offers from volunteers to come
and support us – thank you. In June
we will start training on our new website and will soon start to scan and
record the various items that we have
on this village’s past.
At our meeting we also learned about
the lives of travelling pedlars
and gypsies from our guest
speaker, Gillian Rickard.
Gillian explained how groups
of people, often complete
families, moved from place
to place selling wares or
knife-sharpening, for example, or hop-picking in the
late summer. Such travellers
were sometimes referred to
as ‘vagrants’ and were occasionally
apprehended by the Police who had
the right to return these pedlars to
their home town or village. Even
though these people had committed
no crime they were expected to be
supported by their own Parish Council
and were often transported back
‘home’. Gillian showed us historic records that she had found in various
archives in Kent of the details of those
that were interviewed by the Police.
In Hothfield’s archives, the records
made by the Reverend Russell include
examples of where Hothfield Parish
Council had had to make payments to
support our own travelling community
or to make payments for food or
clothes for other travellers moving
through the village who may have chosen to lodge for a while with local residents or farmers.
Bob Rivers
It is with sadness that we report the
recent loss of Bob Rivers, and the History Society wishes to echo those sentiments elsewhere in this newsletter
that Bob’s hard work and dedication to
this village will be greatly missed. Bob
was not only a supporter of Youth facilities, the Village Hall and other aspects of Hothfield’s life but
he was also a founder of the
History Society. Bob’s extensive legacy to us all includes
his work, with others, on
writing and printing the 20th
Century book that we are still
selling. Bob, and his wife
Barbara, also painstakingly
transcribed the handwriting
of Reverend Russell into over
400 pages of text so that we can all
enjoy and learn from the extensive
research undertaken from the 1600s
up to 1900. Bob and Barbara have also
typed up the church’s records of christenings, marriages and burials by making numerous trips to the central archive at Maidstone to read more very
old handwriting and type up every
entry.
Latterly Bob had researched, in great
detail, a number of past families from
the village including the Bakers (who
were among the founding fathers of
early America) and the Gants (or
Gaunts) amongst others.
Bob’s greatest gift to us all was his
ability to write to dozens of different
organisations to obtain funds and
money so that visible projects can be
built for us all to enjoy. As well as getting large sums for the Village Hall,
MUGA, Youth project and others, he
also managed to obtain our recent
grant from the National Lottery. Every
one of these projects, large or small,
took up a considerable amount of
Bob’s time seeking out potential funders, completing detailed forms, attending meetings and working out
details of costs and programmes.
Some funders gave just a few hundred
pounds, and some gave a few thousand, but Bob’s dogged determination
ensured that he eventually collected
together enough funds to ensure that
our projects went ahead.
Bob’s final successful bid was our
own Lottery fund, which he said was
the hardest he had ever done and it
took two attempts. It is now our task
to see through this ambitious programme to provide the facilities that
we have planned. His work and his
publications will continue to be enjoyed by generations who will never
have had the pleasure of knowing Bob.
Raffle
Our raffle winners were also drawn
at our AGM and we thank everyone
who bought a ticket. By the time you
read this the winners will have been
informed, including Jan Campailla who
won the balloon ride for two, and
Jacky Crumpton who won the hamper,
among many more. The Society is
grateful to those individuals and businesses who donated prizes including
Godinton House, the Rare Breeds Centre, the Yellow Fisherman and Skybus
ballooning; and thank you to Jay for
selling our tickets.
Chris Rogers
On Sunday 24th June 2012
The Hothfield World Cinema Film Club
proudly presents:
A rare chance to see Gérard Depardieu in one of his earlier roles in this classic by legendary French director
François Truffaut. Bernard (Depardieu) is a happily
married man, until his life is thrown into disarray with the
arrival of new neighbours Philippe and his wife Mathilde
(a radiant Fanny Ardant) – Bernard’s former lover, with
whom he had once been passionately involved. Once reunited, the pair start a fervent but turbulent affair. Torn
between their unyielding obsession for each other and the
comfort and stability provided by their marriages, things
precipitate as they find they can neither live with or without each other. La Femme D’à Côté (the Woman Next
Door) is an alluring exploration of passion, guilt, and the
consequences of betrayal by a master of the theme of obsessive love or ‘amour fou’, a theme which reverberates
through much of Truffaut’s work.
(in French with English subtitles)
entrance: £5 /£2 (unemployed/students)
Doors open 6.30pm – 7pm start (ends approx.9pm )
Free parking, Tea/Coffee available
THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR
The Hothfield World Cinema Film Club meets on the 4 th Sunday of
each month. It is a non-profit organisation founded with the aim of
providing community entertainment and promoting awareness
and appreciation of other countries and cultures, and is run entirely
by volunteers. Any funds collected go towards the costs for hiring
and heating the Village Hall, and paying individual film license fees.
For more about our club, please go to
www.hothfieldworldcinema.org.uk
Hothfield
Post
Office
for all your day-to-day needs
www.everything-baby.org
The Yellow Fisherman
Maidstone Road
Hothfield
FISH AND
CHIPS
01233 712309
Open Mon – Wed
11.30am to 9pm.
Thurs – Sat 11.30am to 10pm
RAJ Curry House
Free delivery on all orders over £15 within a 5-mile radius
Watch out for
Special Offers
on Beer, Wine
and Groceries!
The very heart and centre
of our village
There's always a welcome
and a friendly face at
Hothfield
Post
Office