ash with westmarsh parish magazine july 2021 £1
TRANSCRIPT
ASH WITH WESTMARSH PARISH MAGAZINE
JULY 2021
£1
The Canonry Benefice of
Ash – Chillenden – Elmstone – Goodnestone
Nonington – Preston – Stourmouth
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Useful Contacts
Service Organisation/Name Contact
Emergencies Gas Emergency (24hrs) 0800 111 999 999 UK Power Networks (24hrs) 105 Water Leak Line (24hrs) 0800 820 999 Community PCSO Richard Bradley 101 or email
[email protected] Non-urgent and other enquiries 101
Community Warden Team 07811 271 299 Neighbourhood Watch Martin Porter - email
[email protected] Crime Stoppers 0800 555111
Community Safety Dover 01304 872220 Consumer Direct 01845 4040506 Childline 0800 1111
Kent County Council 08458 247247 Dover District Council 01304 821199 Craig Mackinlay MP 01843 589266 Ash Parish Council Clerk 01304 832909 Citizens Advice (Dover area) 0844 8487978
Ash Village Hall Enquiries 01304 813087 Environmental Health 01304 872215
Trading Standards 0845 4040506 Ash Library 01304 812440
Healthcare NHS Medical Helpline (24hrs) 111 or www.nhs.uk Out of Hours Doctor Service 0844 8001234 Ash Surgery 01304 812227 Hospitals - Kent and Canterbury 01227 766877 QEQM Margate 01843 225544 William Harvey 01233 633331 Pharmacy - Ash (Boots) 01304 812242
Education KCC Area Office 03000 414141 Cartwright and Kelsey School 01304 812539 St Faith’s Prep School 01304 813409 Sandwich Technology School 01304 610000 Sir Roger Manwood School 01304 613286
Transport National Rail TrainTracker™ 0871 2004950 Stagecoach East Kent Ltd 0845 6002299
~ If an error is noted please inform the editors ~
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Welcome to the July magazine
Inside this issue
What’s On
Church Notices
Wally Hook
The Parish Letter
Referendum
Community News
A Formidable Women
Stories from the Archive
July Reflections
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Contacts
Clergy
Rev’d David Moulden The Vicarage, Queen’s Road, Ash 01304 812296
Rev’d Nigel Hale 01304 813161
This magazine is produced by St. Nicholas Parish Church. We
welcome items from individuals and village organisations. All items should come with a note of the contributor’s name. The editor
reserves the right both to edit and not to publish anything she
receives. Items on church matters do not represent the official position
of the Church of England.
Email copy for the next edition by Wednesday 14th July at
[email protected] or post hard copy at 69, The Street,
Ash.
Products and services advertised have not been tested and are not endorsed by the Parish Church.
Send advertising enquiries to
Front cover illustration
Ash Mill at Mount Ephraim by Pat Coles
Magazine Subscription
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Never miss an edition of your favourite parish magazine! To arrange a subscription including magazine delivery to your door (within the parish) phone Rebecca on 07443 605873.
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What’s On A COMMUNITY COFFEE MORNING for Christian Aid will be held at Ash Village Hall on Saturday 3rd July from 10am to noon. THE CHEQUER INN COMMUNITY GARDEN volunteers meet on Mondays and Tuesdays after 9.30am, weather permitting. Call 07885272985 for more details. MEET UP MONDAYS – a friendly companionship group - have restarted at the Chequer Inn from 10am-noon every Monday. THE ARTS SOCIETY SANDWICH is providing its 2021 programme of live monthly lectures over the internet via Zoom, each lecture starts at 7pm with log in from 6.45pm. On Monday 5th July: Peter Medhurst speaks on The Genius of Beethoven. Non-members are welcome but a £5 contribution per event isappreciated. If you would like to participate please email [email protected]
A FUNDRAISING FOOTBALL MATCH in memory of Ash’s Gary Neat will be held at Woodnesborogh Football Club on Sunday 25th July from 10am. JAN ANTON holds dance and acrobatic classes for young children at Ash Village Hall, on Mondays at 4pm. Primary ballet and tap (ages 3-6) is followed by junior acrobatic gymnastics (ages 5-10 approx) at 5pm. Covid-19 precautions will be in place at the hall. For more information email [email protected] or call 07484877574.
KYOKUSHIN KARATE and self-defence classes for children, adults and families take place at Ash Village Hall on Friday evenings from 6.30-7.30pm and 7.30-8.30pm. For more details contact Paul Cheesman [email protected] or call 07944 519069. THE GOODNESTONE FESTIVAL returns in August… See page 15 for
details.
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Church Notices Resumption of ‘in church’ services Church services are still being held alternate weeks at Goodnestone and Ash therefore for the month of July: Holy Cross, Goodnestone 1st and 3rd Sunday (4th and 18th July) St Nicholas, Ash 2nd and 4th Sunday (11th and 25th July The services are held at 9am to give Rev David enough time to arrive at the vicarage to conduct the online service at 11am. Private Prayer at St Nicholas St Nicholas’ Church, Ash is now open for private prayer Tuesday-Thursday 9am-4pm and on a Friday from 9:30am- midday. Please remember to sign in or use the QR code if you have a smartphone to comply with Track and Trace, sanitise your hands on arrival, wear a face mask and maintain social distancing from those outside your household/bubble. Timings may change on a week-by-week basis as we have to leave 48 hours between events to negate deep cleaning the church. Therefore there are some weeks the church will have to be closed if there are weddings or funerals taking place. Notice will be given of this in the weekly Benefice newsletter and by a poster on the church noticeboard.
Parish Register
Weddings Emily Bliss and Samuel Lacy, St Nicholas, Ash, 15th May Sedi Mookapele and Sarah Healy Holy Cross, Goodnestone, 21st May Stephanie Longley and John Covey, St Nicholas, Ash, 29th May Funeral Rory Fenton, Barham Crematorium, 23rd June
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Wally Hook August 27th 1940-June 1st 2021 Wally was born at Llandaff Bungalow, Old Romney to Walter Hook and Sarah Elvira May Hook, known as May. Later to become May Cousins as Wally’s dad died before he was born. May was 7 months pregnant at the time. Eventually May met Alfred Cousins known as Yorky who raised Wally as his own. In fact Wally was not to find out about his real dad until he was 13. Wally had two sisters Violet and Gwen He was the middle child. The family moved to Sheffield when Wally was 6, returning to Staple a few years later. He went to Staple Primary School and then to Sandwich Secondary School. This is where he would meet his future wife Margaret.
Margaret, known affectionately as Diggy. Wally left school at 14-years-old and went to work at Brook Farm Staple. When Wally and Diggy decided to finally get married, Wally went to Diggy’s parents to ask their permission. Her father’s reply was somewhat a little unorthodox; saying “it will cost a pint”. And so, that's what Wally did. Wally and Diggy married in 1962 and moved to Westmarsh, living in Rose Cottage, which was next to the Rose Inn (later to be renamed The Way Out Inn). In 1963 they moved the few yards down to Charnwood Bungalow, remaining there for the remainder of their lives. They had two sons, Kevin and Trevor. The family would grow even further with the additions of grandchildren Gemma, Sharna, Kieran and Nicki (sadly Nicki passed away) and great great-grandchildren Katheryn and Jessica. For a time Wally worked for Wingham Engineering. When this company closed he went back into farm work. Then he partnered up with his brother-in-law George forming a company, G. Cork & Partners. For about 10 years, the firm
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was responsible for a number of housing projects in Canterbury and surrounding districts. Wally also worked for several civil engineering companies including Godden & Lawson, A.L.S, Holleran and Clancy Docwra Eventually Wally retired but was unable to remain still for long, along with his tractor and three-ton digger it was hard to find a hedge that Wally hadn't taken out or a hole that needed digging in Westmarsh and Ware. There are two phrases in particular that keep coming up in regards to
Wally “a true gentleman,” “an old school gent”. He is a great loss to the village and I for one will miss him greatly. I will miss him and that cheeky smile that he always had as he went past my gate in his little blue tractor. He was a truly great man, very kind and always willing to help anyone in need. Carefree and very likeable. He will forever be a part of the history and fabric of Westmarsh. May he finally find rest and peace in God’s loving care,
although I suspect he may be getting a little bored and is probably working on some heavenly projects. Wally it was a real honour to know you albite a short time. And I wish you well on this new adventure, this new journey you begin. Farewell my friend!
Rev’d Bro Damien Nooney FCC
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The Parish Letter As I write this the G7 summit at Carbis Bay resort in Cornwall has just ended. With the G20 meeting this month (July), in Italy, is the G7 now surplus to requirements? The G7 ‘club’ emerged organically in the late 1970s as an informal forum. Back then, the G7 nations accounted for some 80% of global GDP; however, with the rise of China, India and Russia, the G7 nations account for about 40%. Despite this, the G7 discussed some thorny issues, such as tax avoidance, by multinationals and tech companies, and the global pandemic has provided the G7 with some degree of relevance. Perhaps the greater rationale for the G7 is not our diminishing lack of economic clout, or military muscle, but by our support for democratic values. Today’s existential question is whether the twenty-first century will belong to the rise of democratic or authoritarian governments. Few seriously imagined this to be a relevant question as we entered the 2000s - not anymore. If we, in the west, had to write about communist history, my hunch is that we would begin with Marx and Lenin, and continue in a line through Stalin and Khrushchev, centred on the Soviet Union and its satellites. We’d likely forget Mao’s China, which says a lot about our eurocentrism and education. But his impact was huge and, unlike Soviet communism, it still endures. This is the thesis of Julia Lovell’s wonderful history, Maoism which more than any book before, has exhaustively analysed the impact of Mao Tse Tung on global politics. And it’s a malign story. Where the Soviets delivered the Ukrainian famine, Mao’s Great Leap Forward led to the untimely death of between fifteen and thirty million people. While Stalin engineered his purges, Mao’s Cultural Revolution set society against itself - notably young against old, peasant against intellectual – producing a decade of misery and suffering. A firm believer in the idea that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, Mao invested great energy in developing strategies and tactics for waging revolutionary wars with both domestic and international aims. Mao had a great global reach, perhaps as a result of the Chinese Communist Party attaining power just as anti-colonial struggles erupted following the end of world war. Analysts speak of China’s current expansion into Africa, but Maoist influence has been there for decades. Many anti-imperial militias were taught how to wage Maoist guerrilla warfare against Africa’s European powers, including Zimbabwe, whose autocrat Robert Mugabe learned Mao’s playbook by heart.
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The anti-colonial ethic of Maoism gave it a cooler cache in western campuses and left-wing circles than its Soviet equivalent. Mao badges and posters symbolised rebellion, onto which people projected their aspirations without either awareness of, or regard for, the terrible suffering it inflicted elsewhere – notably in Cambodia and Peru. Even today, Maoist ideology prevails in a long-running Naxalite insurgency against the Indian state and in Nepal, (where Sarah and I lived for some years), Maoists have been in and out of power since intimidating the population to vote for it. Sanctioned political violence causes deep pain and, in place after place, Maoists, whose beliefs support impoverished and landless peasants, ensured this cohort, sadly, suffered more than most as terror was inflicted on it in a tide of brutality that flowed alternately from the Maoists and government counter-insurgents. Among many influences that remain, two stand out: The first is the passion for ideological purity. Class has been replaced by identity as the governing ethic. As we try and make sense of our multiple, sometimes fractured identities, we should strive to avoid the denunciations of those who think differently if we are to escape the clutches of Maoism. The bitterness sessions of the Cultural Revolution find an eerie, disembodied echo in some social media feeds. Tolerance of others would be a start; showing them love would be of God. The other prevailing influence is modern China. The nation has global aspirations of leadership, most notably evidenced in its space race. It has a premier, Xi Jinping, who has abolished the constitutional limit on his tenure, meaning he will rule for life. Xi has imposed ruthless party discipline and control, and rolled out an unparalleled surveillance system. His family suffered in the Cultural Revolution and he is wary of chaotic, grassroots unrest. In this way, he differs from Maoism - until we think of the Xinjiang province - where the persecution and cultural genocide of Uighur life is worthy of Mao himself and likely to become one of the defining horrors of the early twenty-first century. Lovell’s book is a timely reminder not just of the enduring relevance of Maoist themes, but of the Chinese Communist Party’s ideological influence, whose ideas project across the world. We are left wondering and avidly praying for the Chinese who think differently – particularly Christians. If – when – they obtain their desired freedoms, the rest of us will be blessed with their faith, enthusiasm and fresh insights into Jesus Christ. The true Great Helmsman.
Rev David Moulden
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Neighbourhood Development Plan Referendum A referendum is taking place for residents of Ash Parish on Thursday 22nd July on the Ash Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP). The polling station will be open from 7am to 10pm at the Ash Village Hall, Queens Road, Ash. A neighbourhood development plan sets out policies in relation to the development and use of land within the neighbourhood area. The referendum will ask the question whether Dover District Council should use the Ash Neighbourhood Development Plan to help it decide planning applications for the parish of Ash. If the majority of voters agree, the neighbourhood plan will be used in determining planning applications and decisions where development is proposed in the neighbourhood area. The plan and explanatory documents are on the Dover District Council website at www.dover.gov.uk under Ash Neighbourhood Plan Paper copies will be available for people to view at the Dover District Council Offices. You can arrange an appointment by ringing 01304 821199 to view the documents from Monday to Friday, between 10am and 2pm.
Christine Haggart, Clerk, Ash Parish Council
NDP: A Summary
The Plan, which covers the entire parish – including Ash, Westmarsh,
Ware, Cop Street, Upper and Lower Goldstone, Richborough, Paramour
Street and Hoaden - sets out 20 policies which would guide planning
decisions made by Dover District Council and if adopted would be in force
until 2037.
The Plan’s mission statement is: “By 2037, we envision a rural community
with green spaces, safe spaces, adequate medical services, and the right
kind of houses in the right place, with good biodiversity (also a community
pub, a thriving church and schools).”
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There are several objectives including “to protect the parish’s historic
landscape and heritage, promote a healthy and safe environment, secure
existing and promote new green and open spaces, improve and reduce
the loss of biodiversity and wild-life habitats, address climate change
through sensitive site developments, good design, building techniques
and sustainable transport.”
Education, housing, employment, infrastructure and provision of internet
are also included.
The Plan proposes that: “Development in the countryside beyond the Ash
village settlement boundary will only be supported where it provides for a
local business or community need on a site that is adjacent to or beyond
the existing village settlement area and is physically well related to the
existing settlement boundaries.”
Development proposals that result in the loss of local green spaces or result in any harm to their character, setting, accessibility, appearance, or general quality or amenity value will not be supported.
The provision of high-quality local green spaces and opportunities for outdoor recreation space and/or access to these via green routes should be a priority of all developments.
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In total 14 sites were put forward for consideration for development in the Ash Neighbourhood Plan. Not all were accepted
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The Plan is required to propose sites which are acceptable for housing
development, some already have planning permission such as the
development at the top of Chequer Lane, White Post Farm and Saunders
Lane. Others would be new developments. In total the number of new
homes proposed in the Plan is 361.
Sites proposed in the Plan include the Agri / Cowans land in Sandwich
Road, land north of Molland Lane (to the west of the Chequer Lane site
along the by-pass) with 105 homes and land south of Guilton with 9
homes and land south of Mill Field.
The Plan proposes an extension to the GP surgery and policies to
encourage more home working.
A survey in 2018 found there were 37 businesses in the parish including
14 farms or nurseries. With 137 people employed in agriculture and 202
in other businesses.
Conversion of rural buildings to business use, tourist accommodation and
tourist attractions Proposals to convert rural buildings to business use and
tourist accommodation or attractions within the Plan area will be
supported, subject to meeting criteria.
The Plan proposes support for village shops and pubs stating: “Proposals
for alternative use will only be supported, where it has been demonstrated
that the current use is no longer economically viable, and that there is no
longer any realistic prospect of continued use.”
Rebecca Smith
Parish Council No meeting of the parish council was held in June due to changes in Government rules on holding virtual meetings. The next meeting is due to be held on Monday 5th July at Cartwright and Kelsey School in Ash. If you have questions for the parish council, contact the Parish Council via Clerk Christine Haggart: phone 01304 832 909 or email [email protected] or visit the Parish Council website https://ashparishcouncil.gov.uk
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Ash Surgery
Ash Surgery is seeking new members to join our Patient Participation Group, as we try and move towards some semblance of normality as lockdown lifts. The group meet a minimum of 4 times per year and this is your opportunity to have a say in the running of your surgery and the services we supply to our local community. Please feel free to contact me at the practice to answer any questions or sign yourself up. The past 15 months have been very different for all of Primary Care and we are currently experiencing a surge in demand for our services as the hospitals endeavour to catch up with the backlog and patients feel more confident about venturing out. Please bear with us, we are doing our best to accommodate the needs of everyone and continue to provide safe and effective care. As many of you will know, our practice has been heavily involved in the vaccination hub at Saga and we have just celebrated our 100,000 jab at the site, a magnificent achievement for CARE & Margate Primary Care Networks. Appointments for anyone over 18 are now available on the National Booking System online. We hope you all enjoy a peaceful, sunny summer.
Sue Skinner, Practice Manager
The Strip HELP!
There’s a narrow band of land running from the bottom of New Street towards the shops stopping at the first bus shelter you come to – generally known as The Strip. It is for the benefit of the village and when I’m up there quite a few people stop to say how lovely it’s looking, so we must be doing something right! BUT my trusty co-worker can no longer continue to help and I’m wondering if there’s some kind soul out there who could spare just ONE HOUR a week, depending on the weather, to help me keep things under control. It’s mainly weeding and cutting back so it does need someone who is happy kneeling. No gardening knowledge required just enthusiasm. We’ve been doing from 2pm to 3pm on a Wednesday but it’s flexible and if we’re on top of things it’s not needed at all! Please contact me, Vanessa, either on 01304 813330 or email [email protected] Looking forward to hearing from you.
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The League of Friends of the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Ash Branch In May we made £184.50 at St Peter’s Church, Sandwich. We are also starting a stall at the village hall in Ash at the monthly community coffee mornings. Thank you everybody who supports us in Sandwich and we hope people will support us in Ash as well. One of our members, Liz, is running out of wool to make blankets if anybody has any spare wool please let Liz know on 01304 812855 . We are also still collecting used stamps and old coins.
Marion Martin
The Friends of Elmstone and Preston Churches Public Meeting On Saturday 24th July from 10am-12pm there will be a meeting with coffee at Preston Village Hall for Preston and Elmstone parishioners regarding the future of St. Mildred's. We do hope you will attend this important meeting. Happy Hours at Elmstone On Friday 2nd July Compline will take place at 6pm followed by a Happy Hour at 6.30pm. We hope to see you there.
Elizabeth Timms
It’s Your Magazine
Do you have news or views to share?
The parish magazine welcomes contributions from
all our readers whether written or photographic.
Email [email protected] or post hard
copy at 69 The Street, Ash.
If you would like your copy returned, please include
your address.
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Goodnestone Music News
Having had no concerts at Goodnestone since February 2020, it is great to be starting to plan concerts again. We are staging another Goodnestone Festival - August 26th-30th and the following concerts are already confirmed. Thursday August 26th 7.30pm - The Ringlemere Ensemble We are very much looking forward to welcoming the Ringlemere Ensemble for their first concert at Goodnestone which will include the Schuman Piano Quintet. Tickets £10 Friday August 27th 7.30pm - Caritas Chamber Choir Caritas have been regular visitors to Goodnestone over recent years, but with Covid interrupting concerts last year it is now two years since their last concert here, so it is wonderful to be able to welcome back one of Kent’s leading chamber choirs. Retiring collection Sunday August 29th 7.30 pm – Christian Halstead - violin. Anthony Halstead - piano We are delighted to have Anthony and Christian playing at Goodnestone again this year. Their concert in 2019 was amazing and for many people the highlight of the 2019 Festival. Tickets £10. Monday August 30th 7.30pm - Organ Recital - Benedict Preece Benedict has been a great supporter of music at Goodnestone, and we are delighted that he is giving another Organ Recital at Goodnestone. This will be a brilliant, entertaining and informative concert. Retiring collection. If anyone would like to sponsor a concert in the festival or advertise in the festival programme then please contact Denyer Kittle by emailing [email protected] Further details about the concerts and how to purchase tickets can be found at www.goodnestonemusic.com
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Garden Jottings for July
Divide border (Flag) Irises after flowering, keeping a section of Rhizome with a fan of leaves, discard any old woody or shrivelled portions. Plant, after cutting the fan of leaves by half, on the surface of an open sunny site. Dead head and feed pots and hanging baskets. Hoe and weed borders before they set seed, as the old saying is “one year’s seeding means seven years weeding!”
Dahlia plants can be set into any empty spaces or potted Dahlias can be placed among borders to add some height and colour, remember to add strong canes to large varieties to support them. Cut back Lupins and Delphiniums and feed them, they will reflower later in the season. Perennial Geraniums can also be cut right down; they will come back after a good water and should make a bushy flowering plant again quite quickly.
Collect Foxglove seeds, these generally self-seed (although, mine this year did not) plant seeds straight away the same as any other biennials you have sown. This these seedlings and later in the Autumn plant to grow on to make sturdy specimens to bloom next year. Something I read recently made me think about the “right plant, right place” idea. If you keep trying to grow plants that fail to thrive, try to grow plants that like you (or your garden) not what you would like to grow! It is still an enjoyable challenge to try however.
Here are some ideas for difficult dry areas.
Sedum,
Euphorbia Verbascum,
Stachys,
Gaura,
Californian Poppy,
Alliums and
Irises
Keep picking Sweet Peas, feeding and watering well. Collect seeds of hardy annuals, dry them, strip off the bods or husks and put in paper bags to store in a dry place. Seed heads of Opium Poppies, Nigella and Alliums can be harvested and hung up in a warm airy place to dry. They can be used to decorate the home when flowers are in short supply. Honesty seedpods and grasses and teasels also look attractive when dried and all can be sprayed and sparked for use at Christmas time.
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Put houseplants outside in a sheltered area. Lemon and orange trees also benefit from 2-3 months outside. Spider plants are a good addition when planted up pots with mixed bedding. Christmas Cactus should be rested and kept dry until September along with Amaryllis.
Prune Deutzia, Philadelphus and cut large shrubby Euphorbia flowers right out.
Wisteria should have long shoots needed to add to the pergola tied in and others trimmed back to 4-5 leaves on the main shape of the plant to maintain a good tidy structure. Trimming stems this way promotes flowering on the shortened stems of the main structure. Tie in law new growths on climbing roses preferably horizontally to encourage blooms along the length of the branch.
Take cuttings of rockery plants and Dianthus and Pinks. Rock Roses, Arabis, Aubrietia and miniature Hebe all root well in a pot of gritty compost.
Feed tomatoes weekly and remove and large yellowing lower leaves. Take out the growing tip after 4-5 trusses of flowers have formed leave a pair of leaves above the highest truss to draw nutrients into the flowers to form fruits. Sow lettuce, spinach, carrots, even French beans will grow quickly now. These can be planted where you have harvested new potatoes.
Pick courgettes and runner beans while they are young and small. Remove any old bean pods, as with Sweet Peas any old pods left on the vine will prevent formation of new beans or flowers. Keep up watering on dry days, preferably in the evening giving a thorough soaking.
Fruit trees can be summer pruned taking out any over long shoots and crossing branches. Thin apples, removing the centre fruit out of a cluster giving room for fruit to swell. Red currants and gooseberries can have their branches “tipped” at this time.
Remove flowers from rhubarb and stop picking stems to give the plant time to bulk up for next year.
Cut down summer fruiting raspberries after cropping, taking out the old brown-fruited canes leaving pale green canes for next year’s fruiting. Cut back any tatty large leaves on strawberries when they have ceased bearing fruit. If you then feed and water after tidying the bed a few berries may appear later in the season.
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Raise the mower blades in dry weather, use the grass cuttings as mulch round roses avoiding resting it up on the stems. Mulch will keep weeds down and as rose roots are often near the surface, digging weeds can damage them. Keep edges of lawns tidy and sharp as this really sets off a lovely border and well-mown lawn.
In warm weather top up ponds and maybe install an oxygenator pump or run a fountain or waterfall to increase oxygen supply for the fish. Pull out blanket weed and trim dead and decaying leaves and dead heads on Lilies leaving the debris on the side of the pond for an hour or so, allowing small pond creatures to crawl back into the water. Do not overfeed fish, food should all be devoured within 5 minutes.
Take a look at the garden and see if you can squeeze in more bee and insect loving plants. Open Daisy type plants and any Salvia type plants et Mint, Lavender, Rosemary, Hebes or Foxgloves for next year.
There is still time to slot in some container-grown Autumn flowering plants such as Rudbeckia Echinacia, Asters and Michaelmas Daisies which will all add colour and food for wildlife this year.
Christine Brown
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The Wonderful World of Women The Formidable Elizabeth Hollingbury The Chequer has been at the heart of the village since the reign of Richard II (he of the Peasants Revolt, later deposed and done away with - according to some via a red hot poker up his bottom!). It was built in 1383
as a simple hall house and was owned by John de Septvans, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, which explains the name! The property was rented out to local farming families and remained a pretty basic dwelling until in the late 1500’s when an upper floor was built, soon followed by an attic. It was a decent sized private home, but by no means luxurious! But in 1674 everything was to change! The house was bought by a Mr Thomas Roberts. He was a hop grower and brewer from Canterbury and was granted a licence at Dover to sell ales and ciders at the Chequer. This was the beginning of the Chequer Pub we know and love today.
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In 1708 the house was purchased by Richard Hollingbury, a brewer from the ward of Staplegate in Canterbury. Shortly after the purchase, a joint license was procured for Hollingbury and his wife Elizabeth. Richard brewed the ales whilst Elizabeth was the landlady. This was an exciting time in pub history as it was the beginning of the coaching inn craze. Basically, before 1667 travel along England’s highways was irregular and unreliable. But in 1667 a new venture was introduced, a regular, timed coach between London and Bath that took only three days(yikes!) and stopped every ten miles or so for refreshments, fresh horses or rest! This proved so popular an idea that soon regular coaches were hurtling around all the main roads of England, and enterprising landlords and ladies could cash in by making sure they were one of the stops en route (a bit like a modern service station on the motorway). This was a boom time for many pubs as it meant they cou,d ply their wares to a much wider audience, not just locals. The Lion in Ash was another coaching inn. Coaches too and from London and Sandwich would have been regular visitors and Elizabeth and her husband made sure they took full advantage of it offering refreshments and accommodation to weary travellers. We don’t know too much about Elizabeth other than that mention of her name in the joint license, but that in itself shows she was a woman to be reckoned with as her husband clearly thought of her as an equal. A rarity even in a time when England was ruled by a Queen (the tragic Queen Anne). She was obviously a very enterprising woman and one in a long line of great ladies to hold the bar at the Chequers. I’m sure she’d be thrilled there is another enterprising and enthusiastic landlady still holding the fort at the Chequer today!
Words and illustration by Penny Bernard
Food Stories Deb’s Mayo On the first hot weekend of the year our family battle cry “shall we have a barbie…” can be heard and then comes the rounds of quick phone calls to family… “…we’ll light the barbie around 2ish….no no you don’t need to bring anything… of well if you want to bring a dessert.. no, nothing fancy.. we’ll just be doing sausages and burgers and some roasties and salad etc...”and then the mad dash to the supermarket for supplies… The
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“nothing fancy” starts off with all good intentions with some sausages and burgers but ends up including my version of pulled pork, various homemade burgers, various chicken offerings flavoured with homemade marinades, homemade onion relish, halloumi burgers and me worrying that there’s not enough food despite there being enough supplies to feed a small army for a week! When family start to arrive and make their way up to the summerhouse there is always a look of sheer delight on my sister in law’s face and that of my daughters when they see a particular green dish on the table – “AAAHHH I know what’s in there!!” The lid gets lifted and she is greeted with crunchy garlicy and herby mini roasties with the now much loved homemade garlic mayonnaise. (Incidentally during lockdown 1 I used to make little batches of my mayo for one of my closest friends and on delivering it to her in the little bottles she would say ‘yay I can have my tuna mayo again’). Which brings me nicely to the point of this piece... Mayo. Making mayo needn’t be as daunting as it sounds. Trust me... All you need is
a bone dry bowl or jug (preferably glass but good quality plastic will work)
a stick blender (mine has 3 blades – don’t know if that is important or not)
some good vegetable oil (not olive as it is prone to splitting)
large free range egg,
mustard powder (which makes this recipe gluten free, I’m coeliac so that’s really important to note – also you can use English mustard but that contains gluten)
salt and pepper (just a small pinch)
small splash of vinegar (balsamic/Apple cider/White wine not malt vinegar)
small glug of Lemon juice (or lime juice works well too)
Garlic (either fresh or granules and as much as you can handle. Roasted garlic is good with rosemary too. You can add chillies, herbs etc whatever flavour you are after)
With this method there is no need to separate the egg and there is no slow drizzling of oil and furious whisking…. Here’s the way I’ve learned to do it – pour around 250ml of oil into the jug and crack the egg into the oil (whole egg). Place the blender blades over the top of the egg yolk and blitz it. After a few seconds, as soon as you start to see it thicken slightly, lift the
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blade at an angle towards the side of the bowl. Gently start to lift the blender up and move it slowly upwards to the top of the oil. Repeat this until the oil is mixed in. Then lift the blender up and down and go across the top of the mixture to blend in the oil. Once it’s mixed (which takes no more than about 1 minute.) add your seasoning (small amount of salt and pepper, a splash of the vinegar, a dash of the juice and, if using, add the garlic. Either mix with a spoon or return the blender and blitz it again. I find fresh garlic is best to use and I put it in whole and blitz it. If the mayo tastes a bit too oily just add a little more juice and a tiny splash of vinegar. If you prefer then you can put all the ingredients in the bowl all at the same time. Hint – if making on a hot day chill the bowl first so that
the mixture is less likely to split. Good luck and enjoy! 😊
Debbie Sales
We would love to share your favourite family recipes or meals with a special meaning. Email [email protected]
Stories from the Archives (17)
Heads or Tails? Both! There are still plenty of people around, including some in Ash, who will be familiar with the old Rat and Sparrow Clubs which were a widespread feature of rural life not so long ago, although their knowledge of them is now likely to derive from the reminiscences of their parents' generation rather than from personal memory. In the days when farming was less mechanised, when the control of destructive vermin was essential and before the era of rat poisoning, large numbers of farm workers occupied some of their spare time by catching and killing rats to make some handy extra cash - and enjoyed the accompanying social celebrations too. In an age when we lament the decline of our bird population and look hopefully for a change in current downward trends, it may come as a shock to learn that in not so distant times the common sparrow was rightly regarded as a pest on which the farmer waged war - and had done for centuries. Like the rat, the sparrow ate prodigiously among the large stacks of corn which were once a prominent rural feature after the harvest. For a nominal sum, a farm worker became a member of his local Club and would undertake to catch and slaughter a minimum number of rats and sparrows, then spend many months amassing a collection of evidence that proved his skill and industry in ridding local farms of these unwelcome pests. Between the autumn and early spring he attended the
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monthly meetings of his local Rat and Sparrow Club, usually in the back room of a local pub, triumphantly emptying from his pockets a jumble of rats' tails and tipping a bag of sparrows' heads onto the Secretary's table, which was soon covered by the fruits of several local men's labour. We can spare the reader a detailed description here of the cages in which rats were trapped before being drowned, or of our predecessors in Ash who held a rat's body in one hand before slicing off the tail with the other. Or, indeed, the methods employed in snatching sparrows from inside stacks before ripping heads from bodies and tossing away the latter. Best left unspoken today! Clubs were administered by local farmers and the "great and the good" of the parish. The cash prizes might seem very modest to us, but to an agricultural labourer this extra activity provided welcome additional income and the annual dinner was a popular function looked forward to with relish, at which a surplus of club funds was expended on entertaining the members. The Ash and District Rat and Sparrow Club which lasted until the 1950s, when times were changing, had been re-formed in 1933 under the presidency of Sir Reginald Tower, KCMG, CVO, JP and chairman Thomas Coleman. Among the vice presidents and the committee were many other names which are still very familiar in local farming circles today, among them Foat, Quested, Stickells and Spanton. The Club also covered Westmarsh (then a separate parish), Woodnesborough and Staple and met monthly between October and April, alternately at the Chequer Inn and The Lion. Working members were required to submit proof that all heads and tails produced had been obtained only in the Club's designated parishes and were reminded that "the use of poison in the destruction of sparrows" was strictly prohibited. The members of the Club "shall dine together at the end of the season when working members shall be paid for all heads and tails. Those entitled to receive 10s 0d (50p) and over for the season shall be given a free dinner." It seems to this writer that they had to work rather diligently before amassing their fortunes. Liquidating 100 sparrows would bring in 2s 6d (half a crown, or 12.5p today). There were thirty "old pence" in half a crown, so around three heads would be needed for a penny - which was, of course, worth less than half of today's penny. Even after allowing for inflation it doesn't seem much. Robbing a nest was rewarded at the rate of 4d a dozen eggs. And Queen wasps, as a bonus, would be worth a penny! The sum of 8s 4d (42p) would be paid out for 100 rats' or moles' tails - not such an odd sum as it might seem, as 8s 4d contained exactly
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100 old pence, making the price exactly a penny a rat. Easy! Why, oh why, did we abandon our beautiful currency for this soulless, boring decimal stuff? Having superseded at least one previous local club, the Ash & District Rat & Sparrow Club was formally constituted and its annual accounts audited by a Sandwich bank manager. The then defunct Ash and Staple Sparrow Club (later the Ash Sparrow Club and no mention of rats) had been founded in 1888, again with very formal rules and a distinguished local committee. Their working members paid a shilling membership and honorary members five shillings, the latter being "exempt from bringing in heads." Working members had to produce at least 24 heads at each monthly meeting at The Lion, each deficiency costing a ha'penny fine. Linnets, chaffinches, bullfinches and starlings counted as sparrows - what destruction among these garden and songbirds! Careful records were kept of membership, attendance, fines and prizes - and, of course, the toll in local sparrows, which totalled 9,515 in 1891/92 alone. Clearly, this organised slaughter of birds (not just rodents) went back a long way, but these formal clubs did not predate the Victorian age. Why? Because before the 1830s, when new legislation would introduce a number of measures in local government, much of the burden of administrative affairs fell on the local parish church, and those charged with these (secular) responsibilities were the two churchwardens, nominated each year at the parish vestry meeting. The need to curb vermin was no less in those times, and so before the 1830s (when churchwardens' duties, as well as their right to collect rates from all, were eventually constrained) one of their tasks involved paying out regular sums to those killing sparrows - and what sums! In 1833 our churchwardens were Thomas Solley and Thomas Kelsey and at various times during the year they forked out for sparrow heads. Between June 1833 and May 1834 Solley was brought 427 dozen heads. That's right - 5,124 heads! For these he paid out £7 9s 10d. Kelsey took in even more - 572 dozen and a half, or 6,865 heads which cost the parish £9 10s 0d. That's nearly 12,000 sparrows captured and beheaded by parishioners in a single year - all in Ash. The total cost of just under £17 would be equivalent to well over £2,000 today. Back further, in 1813 Benjamin Rouse and William Smith had been appointed and seem to have got away with a smaller outlay, £3 6s 0d and £2 4s 4d respectively.
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It goes way back. In 1805, when Nelson was defeating the French at Trafalgar, Ash churchwardens John Southee and William Bushell laid out over £15 but that was for a two-year accounting period. Were the farmworkers of Ash less industrious the further back one goes, or were there fewer sparrows about? Or perhaps the price per head was lower? Well, we can work out the exact prices from the accounts of Robert Beake and Henry Minter in 1775/76. A dozen times during the year Beake purchased separate consignments of sparrow heads - anything from three dozen to 27 dozen at a time. He differentiated between young heads and old heads and it looks as if he paid 3d per dozen for young heads but only 2d a dozen for old heads. So a parishioner who killed and brought in 72 older sparrows (presumably the "younger" ones were the result of nest robbing?) received a shilling for the lot - just 5p in today's coinage. Interestingly, Miles adopted a slightly different tariff and the combined outlay that year, for about 1,300 heads, was less than £2. The price was lower and the "catch" was also reduced. One can go much further back and the toll of poor sparrows is always there… When churchwardens were relieved of this duty it was clear that farmers would need to provide and finance a new system themselves, hence the birth of the widespread Rat and Sparrow Clubs of Victorian times and after. Is there, perhaps, a little food for thought in all this for us? How large would our sparrow population be today without this ancient carnage? How would our current churchwardens, Bill Vennart and Jenny Taylor, appreciate the job of counting out the heads and tails before handing over a few pence and the odd farthing? More to the point, next time you sit up to the table and lick your lips as you tuck into a meal at the Chequer, will you be wondering how many rats' tails and sparrow heads once adorned that surface at a well conducted count during a monthly meeting? You probably should! Records of the Ash & Staple Sparrow Club survive among the archives held at the Ash Heritage Centre ([email protected]) and some papers, too, of the Ash & District Rat and Sparrow Club. Records of the latter are also held at the Kent History & Library Centre, Maidstone ( www.kentarchives.org.uk). The churchwardens' accounts of St Nicholas, Ash, are available at the Cathedral Archives, Canterbury ([email protected]). At the time of going to press, it is expected that the proposed re-opening of the Ash Heritage Centre to the public will be delayed by at least a month.
Peter Ewart
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July Reflections
The mill shown on the cover was based on a early and very ‘grainy’ photo
in Julian Arnold and Adrian Aubertin’s book Old Sandwich, they also
show another later photo from a similar angle which clearly shows the
bank and corner of Coombe Lane. In this there is also what I presume
was the miller’s house closer to the road with the mill behind and the
church spire visible to the right of that. I would guess that it was taken in
the 1920s or early 1930s.
Another picture in Jenny West’s book, The Windmills of Kent first
published in 1973, comes somewhere between the other two; the same
angle, but with more sheds hiding bits of the mill from view. She notes
that it was “One of the last post mills to work in Kent, collapsed in storm in
1955 just before finalization of plans for preservation.“
According to David Downes’ book on Ash, An East Kent Village, the mill
on Mount Ephraim was “…originally erected in Ringleton, and re-erected
at Ash in 1818. It had two cloth covered sweeps, commons and two
shuttered sweeps. Until it blew over in a gale in October 1955 and was
wrecked, it was the oldest surviving mill in Kent.”
Later in his book he tells a number of tales about the mill: for example,
that the move to the Ash site involved 16 oxen to pull it across country!
That it “ceased to grind bread flower about 1918 but continued to make
animal and poultry foods for another ten years.”
When Joseph Brockman was the miller after the First World War, “he
heard the revolving sweeps ‘bumping’. Going outside he discovered 14
year old Rose Beer, from New Street... lying unconscious with a fractured
skull…” Fortunately, she did survive and lived until 1946, though in what
state we are not told!
In 1920 the same accident happened to Selina Brockman, who was the
miller’s wife, but sadly she died of her injuries a few days later.
David Downs also mentions 5 other mills that were once situated in Ash
or on its surrounding farms, but the only one still visible is at Guilton, here
there was once a post-mill, like the one on Mount Ephraim, by 1872 there
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was a smock-mill which was demolished except for the brick built base in
1933. It has since been converted into a private house and can be seen
just before the nursing home and the orchards.
The only other surviving mill in our benefice, though every big estate and
village would once each have had their own, is Chillenden Mill. As Jenny
West comments “during the period between 1769 and the mid-nineteenth
century, milling by wind was at its most active in the county in general
with the exception of Romney Marsh.
Most villages at this time continued to be self-sufficient, with one or two
mills fulfilling the needs of both inhabitants and their livestock…often
having in addition an adjoining bake house with large ovens for bread
making: the mill was a hive of activity, and apart from the church, the very
core of village life.”
Chillenden’s wind-powered post-mill was constructed in 1868 by
Holman’s of Kent and was the last of its type in Kent. Tom Burnham,
artist, and Gregory Holyoake’s book Kent Windmills and Watermills, is an
informative delight with beautiful watercolours by Tom and insightful
commentary by Gregory, published in 2012 by Dovecote Press. They
have also
published a
companion
volume: Deal
and Walmer
– A
Celebration.
Back to the
mill, it is
unusual in
that the
strong trestle
framework,
that supports
the timber
body, has
been left
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exposed. It may include timbers from an earlier mill on that or a near-by
site.
My drawing is from a photograph in Jenny West’s book, possibly taken in
the 40s before it was badly damaged when a gale took off one of the
sweeps, this made it incapable of operating by wind power.
According to the watercolour book, it was acquired by Kent County
Council and restored as a memorial to millwrights. They explain that
although it looks complete, much of its original equipment had to be
removed, it is now fixed facing southwest without any sail covers and the
brake wheel securely strapped.
In November 2003, a major storm blew it over, more careful restoration
took place and Tom Burnham’s picture shows it in all its splendor. A track
leads up to the mill with a well -placed bench, a good place to visit for a
picnic (be sure to take all your rubbish away!) or to contemplate the view
over towards Knowlton and Fredville woods. And, to take a good look at
the mill, especially the cartwheel tail pole that would have allowed the
millers to turn the sails into the wind. Also to be seen, though not so
clearly, on the Ash mill drawing, this also helps explain why this type of
mill could be so dangerous as if you were working in the stores or granary
and hadn’t realized that the miller had turned the sails to face a new wind
direction, the long sweeps could catch you unawares, has happened to
Josephs wife. Just going up and down the steps around the pole looks
pretty difficult too!
However, our most easily recognized local mill, is of course the White Mill
and Rural Heritage Centre on the outskirts of Sandwich.
Some of you may remember the awful picture in the paper in February
2020 when we had been battered by a number of storms with incredibly
strong winds?
One of these rammed into the almost completed restoration work that had
been done by skilled volunteer craftsmen on the hood, sweeps and
mechanism to try and get them fit to be working again, like Sarre mill near
St Nicholas at Wade.
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It had been under a temporary shelter which with the hood was swept up
again the mill doing damage to the side of the mill. Devastating for those
who had worked so long and hard on the project.
So, the mill in my drawing from a recent photo does not look like the one
on the leaflet, but still a beautiful sight.
Sadly, one of the oldest but
very gifted and experienced
wood workers died shortly after
the storms, his meticulous
restoration gone and with Covid
little hope of open days to raise
the funds needed to start again:
yet, they have, and I hope
some were able to be shown
what has been rebuilt so far.
The site, once officially able to
open as they were before on
Tuesdays and Sundays, is
worth a visit: The charming
miller’s cottage a heritage
display of a long gone way of
life, with its separate laundry
hut.
The galleries in the granary
below the mill are an eclectic
mix of machinery and
equipment from all aspects of
rural life, plus a new case to
display taxidermy of examples
of British wildlife. There are
toilets (always important for a
day out!) a small café and shop
selling cards, gifts – some
made in the forge, bird boxes,
hedge-hog homes and craft item made from recycled materials found on
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the site. The café and open workshops may only be open on special open
days.
Sandwich also once had a mill on the Mill Wall, no surprise there then! It
was destroyed by fire in the late 1800s.
Gregory Holyoake’s commentary on all the mills illustrated in their book, is
very informative with a full page on the White Mill with the painting
showing the sails draped in bunting for a fairly recent heritage festival. Do
keep an eye open for developments there and future open days; I feel
strongly that we should preserve and respect our past industries and
remember the lives of those who worked in them.
It might help to
make us more
satisfied with
what we have
now and
appreciative of
the older
generations who
have enabled us
to have so much.
Enjoy July in all
its summer glory!
Pat Coles
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