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LookerThe

The Community Newspaper for the Romney Marsh

87.8 Romney Marsh FM is back

on the air from Monday the 8th of

November.

The station is running another 28

day broadcast from its

headquarters in New Romney.

The Radio station is run entirely

by volunteers and will transmit 24

hours per day under the guidance

of the Allied Broadcasting

Company who have studio’s

which are also based at the

former Romney Marsh Potato

Company, Peter Martin partner in

the business said ‘it is always so

encouraging to have so many

people asking when the station is

back on the air, however the

licences that we have to pay

make it harder and harder to raise

the money’ he went on to say ‘this

year we still have not sold all the

available advertising spots but we

have also offered sponsorship

deals to local businesses from as

little as £50 for the months and

we can except adverts as we go

along and charge pro rata’

The last time station went on air it

benefited from a grant from the

European Social fund, which

enabled the parent company

Allied to offer a 12 week course to

a group of unemployed people in

the art of broadcasting.

It was very encouraging that after

we went of off FM that most of the

group still found time to volenteer

and have their own shows on our

Internet radio.

One of the presenters Tony

Wickenden presents a specialist

show called the ‘scooterist show’

on a thursday night which regu-

larly has thousands of listners on

the web from all over the world.

Tony said ‘the trouble with inter-

net radio is that you are sat in the

studio not knowing if anyone is

listening, but it’s fantastic when

we start getting e-mails and

phone calls asking for songs we

get on average about 200 e-mails

per show from countrys as far

afield as Peru and Argentina.

This time around the station

keeps to a familiar theme with

some of it’s original presenters

back on air. For full listings go to

page 17 and tune in to the

breakfast show at 7.00am on the

8th of November the Looker will

be sponsoring the show being

presented by David Wimble

Over a 100 people turned up at

an informal meeting set up by

STORM (Stop The Theft of

Romney Marsh) at the Assembily

rooms on last Monday evening

Alison Jeffery who chaired the

meeting said that she woulkd like

to thank all the people who turned

up and that a lot of issues were

discussed on the night.

The purpose of the meeting was

to discuss the proposed housing

developements on Green

Field sites

The Looker has a full report on

the meeting on 6

Edition 5

Marsh Radio ‘In Tune’ with

LocalsBy David Williams

Some off the presenting Team of 87.8 Romney Marsh FM

Over 100 people

Turn out over

debate

over housing

Paper Template issue 5_Layout 1 28/10/2010 18:59 Page 1

Thursday 4th November 2010 www.thelooker.co.uk

EDITOR’S

WORDFor the Eagle

eyed amongst

you will notice

that the Looker

is now available

from Thursday’s!

we have done

this for two reasons firstly because

talking to newsagents most people

relate Thursday’s to the day that

the ‘Local’ paper is available, so we

thought lets get this out a day

earlier.

The other reason is because we

have now changed printers to a

local company.

The first four editions we were

feeling our way a little. Although

some people said that they really

liked the quality of each edition so

far we have had several technical

issues with the two printer we have

used so far (one actually having a

fire on the day we were due to go

to print!) with this in mind we

needed to ensure that we had a

constant high quality, so we have

gone to Wealdon Printers, who

have gone out of their way to make

sure that we get the editions back

by Wednesday morning.

The other thing that you may notice

when you are out and about on the

Marsh is that once again we have

had to up our circulation by another

500 copies.

We really would like to thank all the

people who have said so many

nice things about the looker, we are

now starting to recognised as a

true local newspaper and it is great

to be stopped whenever we are out

and about with people asking’

when is the next edition out?’

We are also proud to offer another

service to people who find it hard to

get their copies of the looker.

We will post it too you!

We have worked out the costs and

you can guarantee that you get

your copy through the post. BY the

Friday after of our release week!

If you would like to take advantage

of this service pop into our office

and see Mandy at 13 High street

New Romney (Heath Artcrafts)

The other way you can see the

current edition is to go online to our

website

www.thelooker.co.uk

you can also read back issues and

see lots of other fantastic colour

pictures and competitions.

in our letters page you will once

again see we have had lots of

correspondence from our forum

room which is great and we would

like to invite more of you to use this

facility.

We also launch our competition to

find the best pub on the Marsh.

As you will see elsewhere in this

edition we have several categories

ranging from.

‘Best Foods Pub’, ‘Best Kept Pub’,

‘Best Family Pub’, ‘Best Real Ale Pub

and our overall

“Best Pub On The Marsh”

we have done this so that you can

have one vote on our website in

each category from any one IP

address. This again hopefully goes

some way to promote the local

businesses Across the Romney

Marsh. Our sports editor Craig

Avery has offered to try out every

pub on the Mash to check the

quality… which is very generous of

him! but as he pointed out it’s a

tough job ...but someone hass to

do it. If you do not have acsess to

the internet you can post in your

entry’s to ...

Finally please support your local

radio station 87.8 Romney Marsh

FM and join me every morning

Monday to Friday from 7.00 am

until 10.00 am for the Breakfast

show sponsored by …you

Guessed it “The Looker”

Every effort is made by The LOOKER

newspaper to ensure that the information is

correct. The LOOKER newspaper

reserves the right not to publish unsolicited

material being sent through to the

publication. Personal views expressed in

this publication are solely those of the

respective contributors and do not reflect

those of the publishers or its agents. All

material supplied to this publication is at

the owner’s risk.

Reproduction in whole or in part of this

publication is strictly prohibited without prior

consent. Photographic rights remain the

property of The LOOKER Newspaper.

Contact The Looker

Tel:01797 366450

Editorial

Tel: 0790 0080 656

Distribution

Tel:07866 502 578

E-mail: [email protected]

Web:www.thelooker.co.uk

The Looker is available from

Best Kebabs Lydd, Lydd Airport, Botolphs Bridge

PH West Hythe, Brenzett Garage, City Of

London PH Dymchurch, Coach House Coffee

Shop New Romney, Coastal Kebabs, Colorcraft

New Romney, Dungeness Lifeboat Station,

Dymchurch Garage, Elsie’s New Romney,

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Shop Littlestone Rd New Romney, Kebab Shop

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marsh, Littlestone Lifeboat Station, Lydd

Butchers, Lydd Fish Shop, Lydd Golf Club, M &

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2

Paper Template issue 5_Layout 1 28/10/2010 18:59

www.thelooker.co.uk Thursday 4th November 2010

Local racing rriver Bill Richards presented the crew of

Littlestone on sea Lifeboat station a cheque for £300

last week.

The donation was raised by Bill and his team after an

event at a ‘Mini Action Day’ at the Castle Combe

Circuit in Wiltshire by offering members of the public

'hot lap' rides in return for a donation to our team

charities. We have also raised money for The Poppy

Appeal.

Bill has w orkshop in Asford and spechialises in

preparing race Tuned Engines for both race and Road

use.

Bill curently competes with three different cars at

racing cuircuits all over the country and also overseas

and his company is regarded as one of europes

leading specialist engine bulders.

Littlestone lifeboat stations operations manager

Charlie Davis said’ People like Bill are so important to

the RNLI, the Lifeboats are finacedintirly by

charitable contributions and it is fantastic that Bill has

chosen our station and also the poppy appeal to raise

this money’. If you want to follow Bill and his team you

can get up to the minute information from there web-

site: www.billrichardsracing.com

3

Bill Brings

Boat Bounty

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘REQUISITIONED’?

I WANT MY TEA!!!



Unfortuntly we had just gone to press when our

MP Damian Collins sent through a press statement

regarding the proposal to get Dungeness ‘back on’

the agenda for new build power stations. The fol-

lowing

e-mail is what the press statement said...

Today the Government has published an update on

the National Policy Statement for Energy, including the

assessment of nuclear sites.

Dungeness has not been listed as one of the 8 sites

where new nuclearpower stations can be built by 2025

However, there remains a new 3 month consultation in

which we can make our case, and then there will be

debate of the final recommendations in parliament.

In the site report for Dungeness published today as

part of the report on the consultation, the Department

for Energy makes some important points that show

that the door is not closed on a new power station at

Dungeness. In particular:

“The Government remains satisfied that

Dungeness is credible for deployment by 2025

assuming that issues [regarding proximity to

sitesof ecological importance] could be resolved.”

[par 7.896]

“Should evidence come forward that satisfies the

Government that thereis potential for development to

take place at Dungeness, the Government would

consider whether Dungeness should be included in

theNuclear National Policy Statement.” [par 7.917]

“A new nuclear power station at Dungeness would be

likely to have long term positive impacts for

employment, the economy and communities at

the local level.” [par 7.939]

“Responses to the consultation have illustrated the

strength of feeling regarding the importance of

Dungeness to local people and the local economy in

particular”.

Speaking in response to this statement from the

Government, Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and

Hythe said:

“The fight for a new power station at Dungeness goes

on, I believe that a new power station is right for our

community and the energy interests of the country. It is

disappointing that Dungeness has not been included

on this revised list for nuclear sites, but the

Government has clearly not closed the door on

Dungeness, and in its report gives clear guidance on

the issues where it is looking for reassurance. I hope

we can use the final stage of the consultation over the

next three months to do just that”

He went on...

“The benefits to the local economy and the important

new jobs that would be created by Dungeness C are

accepted by the Government. I believe these interests

are greater than the objections that have been

raised by Natural England who want to protect the

vegetated shingle around the power station.

“However, the land disturbed when Dungeness B was

built has shown that this vegetation can grow back

within a relatively short period of time

– so perhaps this habitat is more robust that Natural

England would have us believe. I know that the local

people are.

“I would also like people to sign the ‘Say Yes to

Dungeness’ petition that I will present to the Prime

Minister before the consultation closes, to show the

strength of local opinion in supporting a new power

station”

You can find the petition online here -

www.gopetition.com/petition/39781.htl

4

Dungeness is

Not Over YetBy Damian Collins



Peter Faulkner editor of the

Greatstone.net website informed

us recently of a campaign to in-

crease broadband connection

speed across the country. Obvi-

ously the larger towns and cities

are getting preferential treat-

ment, but as BT rolls this ‘Ex-

change Upgrade’ across the UK

they are prioritising towns who

can dictate a real need.

The new internet scheme is

called Infinity Internet and

utilises the latest Fibre Optic

Technology with connection

speeds of up to 40 Mb. Most

people on the marsh are lucky if

they currently have a 5Mb

speed

With this in mind the Looker is

asking that all internet users log

online and vote for this service

we currently circulate nearly

7000 issues of this paper and

we estimate that three people

on average read a copy so lets

all take a few moments to vote

either go to the Greatstone.net

website or just log on to

http://www.racetoinfinity.bt.com/

5

THE ROMNEY MARSH DAY CENTRE

There’s more going on than you think !

We now offer a wide range of activities including;

ORGANISED BIKE RIDES,

PILATES,

TAI CHI,

OVER 50’S KEEP FIT,

SEATED EXERCISES,

COOKING, GARDENING AND ART GROUPS.

There is also tea and coffee and freshly prepared meals everyday,

lots of friendly company and regular entertainment to enjoy.

We offer full day care facilities and we also have a Rehabilitation

Unit, a monthly Stroke Contact group and our own Independent In-

formation and Advice Outreach Support Service. There is also a

limited transport service to and from the Centre.

To find out more just pop in or contact us here at the

Day Centre, Rolfe Lane, New Romney, TN28 8JR.

01797-363888

or visit www.rmdc.co.uk

faster broadband

on the Marsh



In responce to the article from

Mandy Heath in the last issue

Ferrets on the MarshEvery year I get a very small

number of ferret sightings

reported to me, particularly at

Dungeness/Lydd and

occasionally across the wider

Marsh. White/albino ferrets and the

polecat ferrets (brown with a white

face and a bandit mask) are used

for rabbitting and they do disappear

now and again. The art of ferreting

is slowly being lost across the

countryside and is not as well used

as decades gone by (mainly due to

getting landowner permissions and

the lack of interest in eating rabbit

by the public).

A similar species which can be

tame and is found across the

Marsh is the American Mink which

has no white face and more

importantly can swim and hunt in

waterways, unlike the land based

ferrets. Mink can vary in colour

from black, through chocolate

brown to grey, depending on the fur

strains and origins of the fur farms.

Mink will eat duck, moorhen, fish,

frogs and water voles and are seen

as a problem to our native water-

ways, canals and rivers.

The proper way to hold a ferret to

avoid being bitten is by the scruff of

the shoulders or under the arm pits,

away from the reach of those very

sharp teeth.

However, I was just impressed you

tried to pick it up to start with.

Owen Leyshon.

Romney Marsh Countryside Partnership

Dungeness CHaving seen the link seen the link

on your forum room and also read

the correspondence in other local

publications. It seems that there is

two opinions on Dungeness C the

people who glasses are always half

empty seem to think that it is a

“closed Case” however reading our

Mps online article it is clear that the

only thing that seems to go against

the building of a C Station is the

ecological reports from natural

England! Surely Natural England.

The site that the station is pro-

posed to be built on was formally

part of the site used in the con-

struction of B station. I think that

Time has shown that the Marsh is

incredibly good natural re genera-

tion and the fact that the Dunge-

ness peninsular is growing at a

steady rate, surely this small part of

land is not much to ask for the

economy of not just the Romney

Marsh but the whole of the South

East in General.

I was bemused to see that Natural

England again want to extend the

SSSIi area to encompass about a

quarter of the Marsh. By doing this

they are just making it harder for

business to grow on the Marsh. At

what point does the Marsh become

a desolate area no one wants to in-

vest in Lynne Beaumont “Tourism

Dream” so lets get behind the

station. I ask everyone to sign the

online petition

http://www.gopetition.com/

petition/39781.htmlMarsh Man

From Forum

In response to Marsh Man. Per-

haps I have the answer…at the ex-

pense of upsetting some of the

people of the Marsh.

The Nuclear authorities have spent

a lot of money on Dungeness A to

make the building Secure, It is well

known that the country is short of

space when it comes to storing

Short Term (50 – 100 years) low

level nuclear waste could we not let

the site become available for this in

exchange for the space to build a C

plant? Not only would it get a

power station it would also mean

that their would be even MORE

JOBS in the area. And lets face it

the risk is so minimal and technol-

ogy has improved so much it could

be a real win win situation. And

just to really set the cat among the

pigeons…. This is playing nicely

into the hands of the Airport who

would also have even greater

grounds for their expansion plans

sighting Jobs as their main plus

pointAnon

From Forum

Before i start..excellent newspa-

per..you had an article in your

paper about the fire brigade and

what would happen if they where

busy...well..on the day of the range

'damping down' there was a seri-

ous incident.. a bungalow 2 bunga-

lows up from me had a boat in the

front garden, as you know the

weather was very hot and some-

thing set the boat alight, we saw

the flames from our front window

called 999 then went out to try to

control the traffic.. the road is coast

drive and was quite busy, we ran to

the surrounding neighbors telling

them to get out of their properties

as it was windy and the flames

where quite severe ..the owners of

the bungalow and boat where out

so i phoned their mobile and they

told me their son was asleep in the

back bedroom, by this time the

front of the property was also

alight, a neighbor climbed the fence

banging the windows to wake up

the son, he got out OK, 20 Min's

had passed STILL NO FIRE EN-

GINE.. passersby stopped and

used garden hoses to try and

dampen the fire, other people had

phoned the fire service and i

phoned them again only to be told

there was a fire on the range and

all available fire engines where

there, the frightening thing was that

when the owner arrived he told us

that there was petrol cans on the

boat and petrol in the tank,

6

Your

Letters



the sky was black with smoke the

boat burnt to a shell, the bungalow

front was in a badly burnt

state..then 45 MIN'S LATER the fire

brigade from ASH FORD turned up,

and took over, the very brave peo-

ple who helped, put their life's at

risk to save the property, and it was

so lucky the wind did not turn as

the bungalows next doors might

have caught alight as well.. when

the fire brigade took the petrol cans

out they had just began to melt

through.. so please tell me what

was more important a house fire

that could have spread or range

bush firesTinaForum Post

It's a time of change for Dym-

church. On one hand we have a

fantastic new seawall development

which is to be finished early and

will make a real difference to the

quality of village. On the other we

have a quite serious outbreak of

yob behaviour.

I've spoken to a number of people

in the last few days from all differ-

ent walks of life in the village.

There are not many answers forth-

coming.

There is talk of a vigilante group, a

very dodgy idea, football training,

only a small part of the solution, a

youth club, but where and who

would run it? The current thinking is

that the youths, who number up to

around 50 at times are coming from

other places where there are dis-

placement orders, Lydd for exam-

ple. The Parish Council are

considering an order for Dym-

church, this would move them on

but the problem would resurface in

another area.

In my opinion the residents, our

council representatives, people

who work with young people and

any other people with an interest,

need to get together and try to for-

mulate a new. plan for the village,

including schemes for young peo-

ple.

I think that Dymchurch is slowly

starting to move forward in many

ways, but the problem of useful ac-

tivity for young people will not go

away and must be tackled soon or

Dymchurch will start to go back-

wards and will develop a bad repu-

tation, which in turn will stop people

visiting and will affect the economy

of the villageAndrew J

Forum post

7



over 300 hundred Sea and army and air cadetsCadets

braved the torential rain Last sunday to mark the

150th aniversary of the cadet movement in a

Trafalgar Service and Parade in New Romney.

After assembling at the Marsh Academy and being

inspected by The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports,

Admiral the Lord Boyce the Guard and Cadets

marched to St. Nicholas Church in the Town.

Leading the parade was the District and New Romney

Sea Cadet Band. with many family and friends braving

the sudden downpour just after the inspection.

Local police moved the road closure of the avenue

and High street forward by 20 minutes to help the

cadets getting to cold and wet.

Following a 30 minute service conducted by Revd. Jim

Field the parade marched along Church Road and up

the High Street where the salute was taken outside

the Town Hall.

Other dignitaries present were the Deputy Lord

Lieutenant of Kent Mr. Robert Alston CMG, QSO, DL,

Shepway Council Vice Chairman Cllr. Hollinsbee, the

Mayor & Mayoress of New Romney Cllr. and Mrs.

Alan Snoad and Commander A. Hogben R.N.

This was a major event for New Romney Sea Cadets

to host in this 150th year of the Cadet movement and

T.S. Veterans Officer in charge CPO Alan Bell

commented “Events like this provide a wonderful

opportunity to attract more young people to become

Cadets and to welcome more volunteers to assist with

the running of the unit”.

Ten things you might not know about The Sea Cadets 1 Delivers key youth policy i.e. diversion from crime, community

development, social inclusion and Agenda 21.

2 Provides additional learning opportunities and qualifications for

10 – 18 year old girls and boys.

3 Sponsored by the Royal Navy, but not pre-service or recruiting

focussed, our Aim is to foster good citizenship by preparing young

people to play an active role in their own community.

4 Our parent charity The Marine Society & Sea Cadets is the

largest, oldest maritime charity in the world, and each of the 400

Sea Cadet Units which make up the Sea Cadet Corps is an inde-

pendent charity in its own right.

5 Junior image of the Senior Service, the Sea Cadet Corps flies

the flag for the Royal Navy (and Merchant Marine) where it matters

most, in the youthful heart of the community.

6 Preserving nautical traditions, hornpipe and cutlass drills, knots

and splices, seamanship under sail aboard our square rigged flag-

ship, semaphore and the flags of Nelson’s Navy, adventure and

excitement – the perfect antidote to computer game syndrome!

7 Sea Cadet Units serve their local community from which volun-

teer staff and Cadets are drawn.

8 All our instructors are qualified, CRB cleared and approved to

work with young people. All our staff are required to conform to a

written, formal Code of Conduct.

9 Uniform and equipment is provided free of charge and weekly

activities cost Cadets less than the price of a packet of chewing

gum.

10 Many Units have Marine Cadet Detachments, open to boys and

girls over age thirteen, based on the traditions of the Royal

Marines. Forty percent of Sea Cadets are girls.

If you are interested in joining any of the cadet cores

then why not call in and find out a little bit more about

these three superb organisations.

8

Please Don’t

Rain On My Parade

Asks Lord Wardon



Dungeness Lifeboat RescuesLocal Fishing Boat

At 13.55 hours on Monday 18

October, 2010 a local six metre

fishing boat with two persons on

board from Dungeness requested

the help of the Dungeness RNLI

lifeboat as their engine had failed.

Duty Coxswain Stuart Adams, said

‘We are always available, and were

able to assist quickly. We took the

casualty under tow and return her

safely to the berth on Dungeness

Beach’

Litlestone Night Time Launch

Just as crew were settling into a

nice night infront of the telivision

Dover Coastgaurd paged the Crew

of Littlestone Lifeboat to launch to a

17 foot long fishing boat called

‘Blue Lagoon’ which had broken

down nearly a mile of off the

Metrapole Hotel in Folkestone.

The Lifeboat towed the boat the

three crew onboard to Folkstone

Harbour before returning back to

the Littlestone Boat house at 11.30

The following evening the lifeboat

returned to the RNLI Headquarters

in Poole Dorset for its five yearly

overhaul.

The boat was only of service for 45

minutes as a releif boat boat ‘The

Pride of Penarth’ was delivered to

the station.

BRITAIN’S Maritime and Coast-

guard Agency is braced for

substantial reduction in its budget

as chancellor George Osborne un-

veils plans to reduce public

spending by £83bn over the next

four years.

The Department for Transport, of

which the MCA forms part, is likely

to be hit particularly hard, with the

expectation that its annual budget

of £15.9bn will be slashed by

anywhere between 25% and 40%.

MCA chief executive Sir Alan

Massey is understood to be

working on the assumption that he

will need to trim costs by a quarter,

according to sources aware of MCA

internal affairs. However, he has

privately given assurances that

outlays for safety critical work such

as surveys will be ring fenced.

Employees of the agency believe

that some of the current 19

coastguard stations around the

coast will inevitably be shut down

to save money.

There is speculation that coverage

provided by four emergency towing

vessels will be reduced, although

there is some confidence that

search and rescue helicopter

operations will emerge relatively

unscathed.

But insiders insist that there is little

fat to cut, with spending already

tightly controlled and wages for

some coastguard grades little

higher than the legal minimum

wage. A recruitment freeze have

left some stations understaffed,

and in certain cases inexperienced

staff have had to ‘act up’ in roles

not expected of them in the past.

A 2009 report from the National

Audit Office, a public spending

watchdog, pointed out that the

MCA was even at that point

suffering from a shortage of spe-

cialists with key skills, forcing it to

outsource work to classification

societies.

One coastguard worker, who asked

not to be named, commented: “If

you were to parachute into any

coastguard station up and down

the country and speak to any

coastguard, you will be told that

yes, almost certainly there will be

station closures.”

“The beancounters will be asking

how much money they cost and

how many lives they save. It

wouldn’t surprise me if they are

reduced,”

The government has already

cancelled plans for the part

privatisation of Search and rescue

helicopter work, which was due to

be handed over to a private sector

consortium in 2012. The MCA

currently co-ordinates this field,

employing both its own helicopters

and those of the Royal Navy and

the Royal Air Force.

9

Masrsh Lifeboats

Have A Busy

Month

Is Coastgaurd

Under Threat?



Extract from “Farming in the 1920s and 1930s”The farming year began in the late summer or autumn

when the land was ploughed, mostly by horse drawn

plough. This was one of the occasions when outside

help was employed. Mr. George Bourne from Lydd

came with his team of two horses and I remember

being surprised that he and his team 'knocked off' at 3

p.m. But he still had to walk home, stable, feed,

groom and bed his horses, by which time it would be

well after 5 o’clock. Sometimes the horses would be

left overnight. If it were summertime they could be

turned out in a neighbour's field, but in winter they

were housed in our stable where, by the light of a

lantern, I would watch my father replenish their food,

water and bedding and settle them for the night.

Every few years the large field, about quarter of a mile

long, would be ploughed deeper by steam plough.

The big steam engines stood one at either end while,

by means of a cable fed onto revolving drums on each

engine, the multi-furrowed plough was pulled to and

fro. The plough had two sets of shares. While one cut

the furrows the other was carried high. At the end of

each journey, the plough was up-ended so the second

set of shares came into use for the return journey. One

disadvantage of steam ploughing was the wide head-

land it left which either had to be ploughed by horse or

dug by hand.

Not all fields were ploughed, a cultivator sometimes

being used instead. With this the surface was broken

up by a series of prongs or tines which curved

obliquely forwards, disturbing the weeds and produc-

ing a good tilth. The tines varied in length and weight

according to the job and the type of land, and could be

raised and lowered by the operator to release accu-

mulated weeds. After ploughing, a seed bed was pre-

pared by harrowing. The harrows were made of

crossed parallel timbers with tines at their intersec-

tions. The tines of these and all other cultivating ma-

chinery were periodically taken to the local blacksmith

(Hartops of New Romney) for sharpening.

Much of the year between seed time and harvest was

spent combating weeds, this being before the general

use of weed killers. In spring the wheat field was har-

rowed to break up the pan caused by winter rains, and

then rolled to firm the plants in again. Often a flock of

sheep was brought in at this stage to eat off the grow-

ing corn, which seemed at first sight an odd thing to

do. But this not only firmed the plants, but encouraged

them to make more roots and to send up extra shoots,

thus increasing the final yield. The sheep, at the same

time, were manuring the land.

The other major enemy could be the weather. Little

could be done when weeks of drying March winds

turned soil to dust and when a continuously wet and

cold season made mud of the fields and prevented

any work being done. A sudden thunderstorm during

a day's corn carrying could drench the middle of a

stack before tarpaulins could be brought to cover it.

No wonder farmers developed a 'weather eye' and

made good forecasters. My father once said that he

would much rather the season be too hot and dry than

too cold and wet, as plants seemed to be able to com-

bat the former drought condition rather than the latter

soggy ones.

Times were very hard in the late 1920s and early

1930s, and the only way to survive was to capture the

best part of the market. Being dependent on outside

labour for ploughing etc. was disadvantageous as hav-

ing to take one's place in the queue meant that sowing

and cultivating was not always done at the ideal mo-

ment. One year my father had managed to have his

early potatoes well advanced and a fine healthy crop

gave promise of catching the early market and the

best prices. Alas, a late frost one June morning cut off

the whole crop. We woke to find a blackened field -

the haulm completely cut off - resulting in a reduced

yield and a much later crop. As 'relaxation' from a

day's farming, my father's evenings were spent in the

garden where he grew market garden produce, includ-

ing soft fruit, cauliflowers, cabbage, ridge cucumbers

and lettuce, which he sold to local shops or sent to

Ashford market. One year, getting up at dawn, nine

dozen lettuce were cut and packed ready for the car-

rier to take to Ashford. Imagine the disappointment in

the evening when we learned that the nine dozen had

fetched 9d with market dues of 3d and carriage of 3d -

total left for us was 3d (just over 1p).

Turk's of Lydd drove across the Marsh calling at nu-

merous villages on the way to Ashford every Tuesday

and Friday. Amongst many ways in which Mr. and

Mrs. Turk, and later their daughter, served the commu-

nity was this of taking produce to market, delivering it

to the appropriate stall, paying market dues, collecting

the proceeds and then returning it and the empties to

the owners. Many a time as a child I was grateful to

them for a lift as I walked the two lonely, dreary miles

home from school.

Threshing took place in autumn or winter when the

threshing machine was hired for one or two days. It

was drawn and powered by a steam engine, and the

driver, for many years was old Mr. Christmas who

would come about 5 a.m. to light his fires to get steam

up. All day long the engine would be supplied with

buckets of water from the pump.

10

Marsh

MemoriesCompiled By John Wimble



Many of the men travelled with the thresher, the rest

of the team being borrowed from neighbouring farms.

Two men worked on the stack, pitching sheaves to the

two on the thresher, one of whose jobs it was to feed

the machine, cutting the binder twine as he did so.

The grain, beaten out of the ear and passing over a

number of sieves to clean it, poured into waiting sacks

which when filled and weighing two and a quarter cwt,

were each carried to the barn. The straw which

emerged from the other end of the thresher was col-

lected into sheaves and tied with straw or hay bonds.

The potato harvest was in two parts, earlies and main

crop, the former being lifted as required by the market.

Many of ours went to the potato merchant, F. Strick-

land, of Hastings. They were sorted and sized as they

were picked up using two trugs. Having filled the trug,

it was emptied into bushel baskets and thence into

sacks, 2 bushels weighing 1 cwt, this being checked

with platform scales and two half-cwt weights. Later in

the season the main crop potatoes were picked up re-

gardless of size and tipped directly into sacks as

weight did not matter and transported to the clamp for

storage. To protect the potatoes from rain and frost,

the clamp was covered with reeds or straw and soil.

Once the corn had been carried from the field, the

hens, henhouse and all, were transported to it from

the yard, and for the next few weeks they could roam

at will, finding their own food. Water had to be taken to

them every day, and the eggs collected. Selling eggs

was one of the sidelines of the farm and even this

could not be relied upon to be profitable. Selling to the

local grocers resulted in only a penny three farthings a

dozen (a tenth of the normal price) on one occasion.

When in the yard, the hens were fed mash twice a

day. This was a mixture of bran in hot water, often en-

hanced by small potatoes which had been boiled in an

old copper in the yard in the morning, and wheat, oats

or maize in the evenings. Ducks too were kept for a

while, but they tended to swim round the Marsh

ditches and lay their eggs away from home. When all

but one of a new brood of ducklings was killed one

night by a stoat, duck rearing was abandoned.

A little extra money was earned by spudding thistles in

Balcomb's field, a neighbouring pasture. Thistles were

not, as now, left to grow tall and then mown or at-

tacked by herbicides, but were chopped off individually

when young at ground level, using a thistle spud, a

small blade about two inches wide on a long handle.

My father also sometimes did some 'lookering’ (the

Romney Marsh term for shepherding) for Mr. Balcomb,

in return for our horse being allowed to graze in the

field. This mainly consisted of making sure the sheep,

especially when the wool was heavy, did not slip into

the steep sided ditch, and become bogged down, and

of watching for foot rot and for 'fly'. The latter were the

maggots of the green bottle fly which would burrow

into the flesh of the sheep, spoil the fleece and cause

lack of condition and appetite. The wool had to be

clipped away, the maggots brushed off and the skin

well rubbed with disinfectant.

The winners of our recent first round of our Marsh

Photography compitition were the two pictures below

The Picture of the

Sheap was by

Lorraine Easton

From Greatstone

The Second photo of

St.Mary’s in the

Marsh church was by

Nigel P Crick

From Littlestone.

Both winners recieve a voucher from the Village hotel

in Maidstone for a sunday Lunch for two people (7

courses!!!) at their award winning Restauraunt at the

Village Hotel Maidstone.

If you would like to see the photos in Full colour then

why not log onto our website

www.thelooker,co.ukit is not too late to enter your photo into the next round

just e-mail your pictures to

[email protected] Pictures will feature in our calender available in December

11

Winners of Looker

Photo Comprtition



The Eagles –Hell Freezes Over

Just to prove that we take on board

requests from our readers and the

forum, this week’s review, as

requested, is of one of the most

eagerly anticipated albums of it’s

time. The album was released in

1994 a mere 16 years ago (!) well,

take 2 years from that – and that’s

how long you had to wait for any al-

bums to be released by the Eagles

since they “split” in 1980. Indeed

the album title relates to a quote

from Don Henley made in that very

year when he stated, “Hell would

have to freeze over before The

Eagles would play together again.”

I don’t recall such a cataclysmic

event happening, however Messrs

Frey, Henley, Walsh, Schmit, and

Felder did re-group to perform 4

new studio tracks plus 11 live

tracks from a special performance

for MTV.

1)Get Over ItA good rockin’ way to the start the

album off – the fastest of the 4

new tracks, this is heads down, no

nonsense, rock ‘n’ roll! If your foot

doesn’t tap along to this, you have

no soul! Taking an aim at

victimhood, is there a hidden

meaning behind the title to fellow

band mates about bygone times in

this Henley collaboration?

2)Love Will Keep us AliveA typical Eagles ballad, this has all

the hallmarks you’d expect from

them - the wonderful harmonies,

the tight musicianship, plus a

tempo softer than an English rose.

3)The Girl from YesterdayA straightforward country love song

embellished with a string bed from

middle to end. I can’t help but have

that “Alice” song enter my head

when I hear this one though (don’t

pretend you don’t know it!).

4)Learn to be StillOk, so if you haven’t been relaxed

by the last 2 songs, this one cer-

tainly will. Sit back and enjoy this

one as it gently drifts on through –

based mainly through 2 chords, just

as your eyes start to close, the

track ends and you are awoke by

the sound of cheering. We leave

the new stuff behind and find our-

selves in more familiar territory with

the older ma-

terial.

.

5)TequilaSunrisePerhaps the

most

poignant part

of this track is

the introduc-

tion, not to

the song it-

self, the set intro is greeted with

cheers at the quote, "For the

record, we never broke up, we just

took a 14 year vacation". Sunrise it

is then, as the start of a new dawn

begins

6)Hotel CaliforniaSo, what can you do to a song al-

ready established in the public con-

science? Well, on this superbly

crafted acoustic version, the guitar

work for the introduction is some-

thing in itself to behold – in fact if

you didn’t have a track listing, you

probably couldn’t predict this was

Hotel California. Nice work gentle-

man!

7)Wasted TimeFor those people of an emotional

nature, it may be time to keep the

tissue box handy as the first of the

live ballads kicks in. Vocally excel-

lent, the band couldn’t be tighter on

this one as they effortlessly ease

their way through it.

8)Pretty Maids All in a RowAnother one from the Hotel Califor-

nia album, this Joe Walsh effort fol-

lows on nicely from Wasted Time

and is very much in the same vane.

Beginning with a nice piano intro,

the song gently meanders along,

passing all the Eagle traits on the

way through – the harmonies, the

lyrics, the guitar work. I have to say

the recording quality of this whole

album is excellent and every note

played can be heard perfectly.

9)I Can’t Tell You WhyYet again, a flawless rendition of a

classic. You could be forgiven if you

thought these tracks weren’t being

performed live such is the quality of

the delivery. Prepare to be sedated

by this song, although not into too

much of a slumber as you’ll miss

the rest of the album!

12

Sound BytesBy

Lee Hillier



10)New York MinuteSo the tempo remains slow. I love

the intro to this, it’s got an air of a

James Bond theme about it! The

bass work seems to shine through

more on this before the

percussion comes in and guides

you through to the end. Just to add

to the James Bond

comparison, there’s even some

muted trumpet in there which itself

is normally associated with

suspense!

11)Take it EasyWoah there boys! The tempo

suddenly comes up a notch and if

you’re like me, so will the volume!

Back to their roots, this was The

Eagles first single and played live,

it sounds just a fresh as the first

time it was heard. A good ol’

fashion country song – yeeeeehhh-

haaaaa!!

12)In The CityThis track was never released as a

single, despite this it’s included in

the set. The verses are

predominantly based on a few

power chords with then evolves

into a typically harmonised Eagles

chorus – watch out

for the Daytripper lick!

13)Life in the Fast LaneIn the fast lane indeed, this one is

all about the guitars with both Joe

Walsh & Don Felder creating that

unique Eagles sound between

them and that fantastic riff

prominent throughout the track.

14)DesperadoOk, tissue box time again. If you

know the words, it’s definitely one

you want to sing along to (albeit out

of tune!!). The last song of the set

and the album, it’s one of those

songs that leaves you

wanting more (as all good

performers should!). Again, it’s

steeped in Eagleisms (making up

my own words again!) and

completes a very professional

performance.

Overall then, for such an eagerly

awaited album, it may have been

disappointing to some that there

wasn’t more new material

recorded, but on the other hand

based upon the strength of the new

material offered, some people may

have preferred it that their icons

chose to belt out their back cata-

logue with such aplomb.

Naturally the performance was

assured as you would expect, but I

have to congratulate the

production work on the album to

have recorded the sound in such

high quality – particularly on the

live material. Every note played can

be heard in crystal clear quality, it’s

no wonder electrical stores have

used this so demonstrate

hi-fi equipment. So, if you wanted

to test out your own sound

system, I would recommend that

you purchase a copy of the album,

as you also get a high quality

performance of some great songs

thrown in for good measure!

13

Dungeness RNLI lifeboat station is hosting a

Christmas Craft Fair at the

boathouse on

Sunday 28 November 2010

from 10 am until 4 pm.



If soaps were a true depiction of

real life, the world would not only

be a very scary place but chances

are few of us would remain suc-

cessfully married for longer than a

few months. Not only that, but one

in five of us would be jilted at the

altar or have our spouse die during

the nuptials, while one in eight of

us would tie the knot during the

Christmas holidays.

Even more worrying is that if you

did manage to make it through the

wedding day, which would be an

achievement in itself, with divorce

rates of four times the national av-

erage, chances are you wouldn’t

make your first wedding anniver-

sary.

The statistics are real but the wed-

dings, thankfully, are not, because

this is the picture of modern mar-

riage presented by the nation’s

leading soap operas. The report

into the state of matrimony as por-

trayed by the nation’s favourite

soaps was commissioned by insur-

ance provider Ecclesiastical.

Ecclesiastical mounted its study of

soap weddings to understand how

the depiction of marriage in televi-

sion dramas differs from the experi-

ence in real life. The details of

every marriage ceremony between

2003 and the present in each of

Britain’s three most-watched soap

operas were recorded and

analysed.

It seems the inhabitants of some of

the nation’s most well-known

streets have been quite busy over

the past few years as there were

48 marriages in Britain’s three

favourite soaps: Coronation Street,

Eastenders and Emmerdale.

But its just as well real life has little

bearing on the relationships por-

trayed in soaps, as 23 per cent of

all marriages over the past five

years were called off before they

even got to the church. A further

five per cent were annulled and an-

other five per cent were later found

to be invalid. A total of 36 of these

weddings were completed success-

fully, but only 11 of these couples

are still together today.

Chris Pitt of Ecclesiastical Insur-

ance says: “A wedding is one of the

most stressful times in any couple’s

life together and many things can

and do go wrong – even in the real

world. All it takes is a couple of

mishaps and it’s not long before a

real wedding starts to feel like a

soap opera.”

Thankfully the drama that can

sometimes occur around real life

weddings is on a much smaller

scale than in the soaps. According

Ecclesiastical, about one in 10 mar-

riage ceremonies is cancelled in

advance, although not at the altar,

as portrayed in soaps. However

you can breathe a sigh of relief be-

cause, unlike Corrie or Eastenders

weddings, once cancelled, many

real life weddings will go ahead at a

later date.

“While many viewers innately know

that the rate at which marriages fail

in soaps is going to be high, what

we’ve found anecdotally is that

people don’t realise how low the

UK divorce rate actually is. They

believe the soaps are more repre-

sentative than they really are,” says

Pitt.

However, the soaps aren’t always

wildly off the mark and occasionally

reflect a truer picture of real life

weddings. “We were also struck by

the findings that some aspects of

marriage in the soaps are quite ac-

curate,” says Pitt. “For example,

the percentage of weddings in

Coronation Street which are civil

ceremonies is virtually the same as

the national figure.”

Given some of the soap weddings

from recent history, it’s probably

just as well that art doesn’t always

imitate life

A man from Lydd, Romney Marsh,

has died, apparently taking his own

life. Stephen Knight's body was

found in his car in Boat Lane,

Aldington on 6th October 2010.

Mr Knight previously worked at the

nearby Silver Springs drinks and

bottling plant. A spokesperson for

the company said, "We are deeply

sorry to hear of the loss of Steve

Knight and our sincere condo-

lences are offered to his family and

friends. We were unaware of his

personal issues, had we been

aware, we would of course have

offered him support."

Kent Police say they are not

treating his death as suspicious.

14

Divorced from realityBy David Wimble

Lydd man in

apparent suicideStory From the RM Times

www.romneymarshtimes.com



15



A new group of New Romney resi-

dents concerned about the building

of 300 houses in the Cockreed and

Rolfe Lane area , Held its first pub-

lic meeting at the Assembly Rooms

in the Town on October 25th.The

organisers had hoped for an

attendance of 30 people, but this

was more than doubled and it was

standing room only on the night.

The group are using the acronym

STORM, Stop theft of Romney

Marsh. Alison Jeffery opened the

meeting with an overview of the

project including the alarming

statement that the planners admit

that the plans that they have been

displaying may well have no re-

semblance at all to what is actually

built. Both in design and density

and the social benefits outlined by

the planners were just a wish list

and that the affordable

housing intended for New

Romney residents could actually

be built anywhere within

Shepway.

Amanda Jones elaborated on Ali-

son concerns and Barry Gilbert

spoke on the

environmental impact in detail ,

concentrating on the dangers of

flooding and urging residents to

write to Alistair Stewart , Chief Ex-

ecutive of Shepway District Council

and Councillors Carole Walters and

David Stephenson to gain guaran-

tees that this

development would have not

increase the chance of flooding in

the Town. He also questioned the

historic validity of Shepway District

Council. A point we will cover in a

later edition of this paper.

A letter was than read out from

David Wimble, who was unable to

attend due to work

commitments in London, David felt

that development of the brown field

site of Romney Marsh Business

Park, an area known to locals as

the Potato company site was pref-

erential to a derelict industrial site.

However he opposed the

development of the green field

sites.

This reflected a minority view of

residents at the meeting, the

majority opposed to any

development, some saying

allowing this would be just the start.

This was the starting point for

members of the audience to have

their say. Some expressed fears

over stretching local schools, doc-

tors and police force , however an-

other resident said the school could

cope.

The fact the Herring Hang Field

which lies between Spitalfield Lane

and Sussex Road was

denied planning permission due to

flood risk was raised, as this is a

very short distance from the pro-

posed development.

Councillor Gould stated the Varne

pumping station was struggling to

cope with the

existing work load. Flooding risk

and the access to the site via the

small lanes around it were the main

concerns of the body of people as-

sembled.

At close of the meeting

Councillor Butcher suggested that

the group arrange another meeting

with the planners,

district councillors and local press.

16

S.T.O.R.M

Public

Meeting

By Craig Avery



Having an allotment means you

can grow your own fresh fruit and

vegetables, enjoy the fresh air and

keep yourself healthy with a little

exercise.

It's also a great way to meet friends

and relax.

You can choose what you grow on

your allotment and (with planning

permission) you can put up a

greenhouse or garden shed. Each

year there is a competition for Best

Site and Best Individual Plot

selected by variety and layout of

the site, cultivation, weed control

and overall cleanliness.

You need have no worries as to the

quality of your crops as they will

mature and ripen naturally and you

can have the satisfaction of

harvesting your own produce. It is

always exciting to dig up your first

potatoes or to watch the runner

beans that you sowed as hard, dry

seeds in spring grow around their

poles, attracting bees and forming

long, luscious pods in summer. You

will get a real sense of

achievement as you watch your

plants grow and mature and are

able to take home bags of your

own crops, knowing that you

haven’t had to queue at the

checkout and pay top price for

them.

If you have ever tasted home

grown vegetables you will

remember the very special flavour

quite unlike that of anything bought

from the supermarket.

Why pay extortionate prices for

flowers when you could pick your

own from your own plot? Or you

could just leave them to cheer the

other plot holders as they pass and

admire your plot.

Health advantagesHaving an allotment means that

you have to get out into the open

air. It is a means of taking exercise

without the boredom of a work-out

and you can spend as long as you

like at any one session and can

stop when you have had enough.

You don’t have to run the Marathon

or even go jogging round the

houses after a session on the

allotment you will feel you have

done your daily exercise routine,

knowing that your efforts will be

worthwhile, since you will be

working to till the ground and

improve your crops.

For the good of the familyHow many children are unwilling to

eat greens and other vegetables? If

they have grown or helped grow

them they are sure to want to try

them! You know that by giving the

family home grown produce you

are giving them the best.

Relaxation and leisure

Working an allotment is

therapeutic, a change from the

workplace or the home. You can

work off your frustrations and anger

by digging or pulling out the weeds.

It will give you an added interest

that requires both mental and phys-

ical

exertion – in planning what crops to

grow and when to sow or plant and

in the day to day maintenance of

your plot. It will take your mind off

your problems and give you a quiet

and peaceful environment to work

out possible solutions.

The social aspectAllotments are friendly places

where you meet all sorts of differ-

ent people, with different interests.

The whole family can get involved

and can work together with a com-

mon purpose or you may just want

to get away from them for a while

and be on your own! You need

never feel isolated on an allotment

because there will always be

people passing and ready to

exchange ideas and offer advice.

You need never be afraid to ask

what crops to grow or how to set

about it. You can be assured that

there will an abundance of knowl-

edge and experience which you

can tap into and before long you

will be sharing your experiences

and expertise with new tenants

The educational aspect and wildlife

There is much to learn about the

environment and nature. You can

learn how to make compost and

recycle your kitchen waste to

improve the fertility of your soil and

grow bigger and better crops. You

will learn to recognise the song of

the robin or the call of the green

woodpecker. You will come across

ladybirds, lizards and slow worms.

Your children will learn to care for

the environment and be

encouraged to discover how plants

grow and develop. If they have a

part of the plot that is their own

responsibility they can have the

satisfaction of growing and eating

their own radishes or onions, for

example as a change from

watching TV or playing computer

games.

When is a good time to take on an allotment?

You can start at any time, although

the best time is the autumn when

weeds and grass are beginning to

die down. There is no rush to plant

or sow new crops until the spring

and the ground is usually just right

for digging to prepare and feed the

soil for the spring.

If you are interested in renting a

plot talk to your Council to ask

about becoming a plot holder. If

you are not sure about any of this

and would like to talk to a plot

holder by visiting any site they will

only be willing to talk.

Lydd Council and New Romney

Council have allotment site:

17

Down the

AllotmentBy Ian Dimmock



Dreams can come true and they certainly did on

Saturday at Reachfields, where Hythe Town made it

through to the first round proper of the FA Cup for the

first time. This is an incredible achievement and I was

thrilled to be at the ground to watch the game and

share in this special moment for the club. The last time

a side from the Kent League made it through to the

first round of the Cup it was the 1957/58 season. Their

reward is a trip to football league side Hereford United,

a club with their own track record of giant killings

when in the 1970’s, whilst still in the old Southern

League, they

knocked Newcastle

United out of the

Cup. Let’s hope

that this time the

roles are reversed

and that Hythe can

add another higher

league scalp

to their impressive

run in the Cup. I

would like to add

my specialcongratulations to the club Chairman Paul

Markland and the teammanager Scott Porter.

Last Friday I visited Greatstone Primary school to

meet Headteacher Nicola Wood, and the staff and

pupils. I was also interviewed by the School Council

and as always received some searching questions. In

particular I was interested to discuss the future needs

of communities on Romney Marsh and along the coast

with regards to the kinds of jobs that might be avail-

able when these pupils leave school. Following that

I joined Pete Talbot, the Headteacher of Castle Hill

Primary School in Folkestone to see their work and

also join some of the pupils for lunch in the school hall.

On Monday morning I was invited to see the nuclear

decommissioning work at Dungeness A power station.

Hundreds of people are employed

there which shows how the active

live of a nuclear power station

continues long after it ceases to

produce electricity. Some of their

work is also at the cutting edge of

technology in this industry. I was

pleased to note as well that the

Department for Energy has been

able to protect its support for nuclear decommission-

ing; following the Government’s spending review.

Later that day I was joined by the Headteachers of

Brockhill Park and the Highview/Foxwood schools,

Sonette Schwartz and Neil Birch, along with Yvonne

Parry the Chairman of Governors at Highview/

Foxwood and Fiona Chapman the Deputy

Headteacher of the Folkestone School for Girls, for a

meeting with the Education Minister Jonathan Hill. We

were there at the Department for Education to press

the case for investment in new buildings for these

schools, and also Pent Valley and the Harvey

Grammar School. The schools have been affected by

the review of the Building Schools for the Future

programme, which the Government is conducting to

make sure that as much of the fundingavailable goes

to the schools that really need the investment, andthat

as little as possible is wasted on consultants and

unnecessary regulations; problems that schools had

complained about under the old system. However, we

were reassured that the review will be concluded

by the end of the year, and that funding will be

prioritised for those schools in the greatest need for

new buildings.

18

Our Man In

WestminsterDamian Collins MP

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MONDAY7.00 - 10.00am

The Breakfast

Show

With

David Wimble

10.00 - 12.00 am

Phil Hoyles

Mid Morning Show

12.00 - 2.00 pm

Marky Mark

Lunchtime Show

2.00 - 5.00 pm

Simon Collins

In the Afternoon

5.00 - 7.00 pm

‘Romney Marsh

Today’ with

Craig Avery

7.00 - 9.00pm

Clive Ashford

Soul Show

9.00 - 11pm

The Local Band

show

with Chris Ashman

TUESDAY7.00 - 10.00am

The Breakfast

Show

With

David Wimble

10.00 - 12.00 am

Phil Hoyles

Mid Morning Show

12.00 - 2.00 pm

Marky Mark

Lunchtime Show

2.00 - 5.00 pm

Simon Collins

In the Afternoon

5.00 - 7.00 pm

‘Romney Marsh

Today’ with

Craig Avery

7.00 - 9.00

WEDNESDAY7.00 - 10.00am

The Breakfast

Show

With

David Wimble

10.00 - 12.00 am

Phil Hoyles

Mid Morning Show

12.00 - 2.00 pm

Marky Mark

Lunchtime Show

2.00 - 5.00 pm

Simon Collins

In the Afternoon

5.00 - 7.00 pm

‘Romney Marsh

Today’ with

Craig Avery

7.00 - 10.00

The Big Question

With

Clive Goddard

And David Wimble

THURSDAY7.00 - 10.00am

The Breakfast

Show

With

David Wimble

10.00 - 12.00 am

Phil Hoyles

Mid Morning Show

12.00 - 2.00 pm

Marky Mark

Lunchtime Show

2.00 - 5.00 pm

Simon Collins

In the Afternoon

5.00 - 7.00 pm

‘Romney Marsh

Today’ with

Craig Avery

7.00 - 9.00 pm

Youth Of Today

Sarah Baker

& Denis Connoly

9.00 - 12.00 pm

Scooterist Show

With Toe Knee

And Guests

FRIDAY7.00 - 10.00am

The Breakfast

Show

With

David Wimble

10.00 - 12.00 am

Phil Hoyles

Mid Morning Show

12.00 - 2.00 pm

Marky Mark

Lunchtime Show

2.00 - 5.00 pm

Simon Collins

In the Afternoon

5.00 - 7.00 pm

‘Romney Marsh

Today’ with

Craig Avery

7.00 - 9.00 pm

Ready for the

wkkend with

David Mills

9.00 - 11.00 pm

SATURDAY

7.00 - 10.00 am

The Breakfast

Show

With

Richard Hubard

10.00 - 12.00

Saturday Madness

With Mikee T

12.00 - 3.00pm

Lunchtime With

3.00 - 5.30 pm

Saturday Sports

With Steve Ross

5.30 - 7.00 pm

Sarah Baker

and Friends

7.00 - 9.00 pm

John Wimble’s

Golden Oldies

9.00 - 11.00 pm

The Blues Bunker

With Kev Beal

SUNDAY

7.00 - 10.00 am

Yhe Breakfast

Show

With

Richard Hubard

10.00 - 12.00

Sunday Morning

with

12.00 - 3.00 pm

Martin Pauly’s

Sunday Lunch

3.00 - 5.00 pm

With Sam Worrel

5.00 - 7.00 pm

7.00 - 9.00 pm

The Sunday

Request Show

with

Lee Hillier

9.00 - 11.00 pm

The ‘Off Shore

Radio Show’

With Captain Bob

19

87.8 ROMNEY MARSH FM Shows



For those trying to sell their

homes at the moment, this can

be a really frustrating time. The

current worries about the gen-

eral economy have unnerved

many potential buyers and the

brakes have been applied once

again to the house sales market

just when it looked like things

were taking off. Currently we are

seeing a sort of ‘stand-off’ be-

tween many buyers and sellers.

On one side of the ‘OK Corrall’

we have the sellers, many of

whom feel that their properties

are worth the price that they are

marketing them at. On the other

side are the buyers, who feel

that many properties are over-

priced bearing in mind the

downward pressures of the

economy and lack of mortgage

lending. Often, we here the

phrase ‘I’m not in any rush – I

can wait’ from our sellers. The

problem is that the wait is likely

to be much longer than they

think and in reality their best

course will be to reduce their

price to sell now and lock in the

gains that they have made over

previous years or alternatively to

‘think outside the box’.

The current ‘buyers market’

does, however, produce a great

opportunity for those who are

able and willing to buy without

selling. The property market is a

see-saw in many ways, in that

when the sales side is down

then the other side (lettings) is

riding high. Nevermore so than

at this moment, with everyone

from those elusive ‘would-be

first time buyers’ to retirees look-

ing to rent. So here’s a

thought….

1. Raise capital against your

current property

2. Let out your current prop-

erty to cover the mortgage pay-

ments

3. Take out rent indemnity

insurance to guarantee the rent

income

4. Buy your dream house at

a bargain price

5. Sell your original house

when the sales market eventu-

ally heads back up again

Lenders are looking at various

products with this very scenario

in mind. So, what next? Well, if

you think that this might be

worth at least looking into then

give me a bell! Lettings is a

complicated business which is a

potential minefield for the inex-

perienced. As the only agent in

this area recognised by the pro-

fessional lettings association

ARLA, let me give you a free no

obligation valuation and answer

any queries or worries that you

might have. You’ve got nothing

to lose but it could just be one of

the best moves you ever

made…..

James Hawkins MNAEA MARLA

is the director of Your Move New

Romney. Call 01797 363900 or

e-mail newromney@your-

move.co.uk

20

Time For Some

Lateral Thinking



21



The Kent fire brigade are used

to odd callouts but this one was

strange, Bruno the one tonne

bull had got himself stuck in a

muddy ditch up to his shoulders

in mud.

The nine yr old Charolais Bull

was discovered after his owner

went to check on him and found

him stuck in the mud. The Bull

was on a farm in Marsh rd

Ruckinge after assessing the

bull was not just stuck, but also

to tired to move, the fire brigade

were called for with special lift-

ing gear to hoist the one tonne

bull free. To do this they had to

put special harnesses around

the bull and then lift him out of

the muddy ditch in order to free

Bruno.

The bull suffered no ill effects

from being stuck in the mud;

once he was free he was only

too happy to rejoin his herd.

An image of the Romney Marsh

by photographer Marshall Pin-

sent was voted runner up in the

prestigious Landscape Photog-

rapher of the year award. The

image that won the £10,000 first

prize was of Corfe Castle in

Dorset taken by Antony

Spencer. The images will go on

exhibition at the National The-

atre, South Bank, London from

22nd November until 16th Janu-

ary. They are also included the

book, "Landscape Photographer

of Year, Collection 4”.

More Murial art has sprung up

around New Romney.this time

three fantastic bright boards at-

tached to Colour Craft in New

Romney High Street.

The public displays are the brain

child of local artiste Briony Lombay

Kapoor who aims to show off tal-

ented artistes across the marsh.

The first picture was painted onto

the side of the office of the Romney

Hythe and Dymchurch Railways

office.

with other works on show in the en-

trance to Saindsburys deplicting

loocal shop fronts.

The Looker caught up with Briony

at a all 3 media networking night in

Central London a few months ago

and she explained that she plans to

put many more works of art across

the marsh.

The editor has asked Mandy Heath

to interview her and we hope to

have the full story in a future edi-

tion.

If you can think of an area that

could do with brightening up why

not contact the looker with your

suggestions and we will pass them

on.

We could not help noticing one of

the sheep in the colourcraft murial

painted by James Marsh has ‘devil

horns and a pointed tail’ ???

see if you can see it next time you

are in the high street

For more information about this

project go to the website...

http://www.imosfoundation.org/

22

What A Load

Of Old

BullMandy Heath

Photographer

of the

Year

What are Ewe

Looking At



In response to Tery Edwards report on Lydd

Town Council we thought we would inform

you a little on how to become a town or

parish councilor. What is involved and how to

go about it.

Our first advice is to pop along to your town

hall and find out from the clerk when the next

full council meeting is and go along sit and

listen, Here is a brief description of the roles

played by Councillors here on the Marsh.

What is a Town Council?

A town council is a local authority that

makes decisions on behalf of the

people in the parish. It can be also

called a parish council but is know as a

town council as a result of a decision

to elect a Mayor. It is the level

government closest to the community,

with the district authority (Shepway)

above it in the hierarchy.

As it is the authority closest to the

people, parish councils are invariably

the first place people will go with

concerns or ideas. For this reason they

are a vital part of any community.

Why become a Town Councillor?If you’ve never been to a town council

meeting before, you may be forgiven

for thinking that town councillors are a

group of (probably older) people who

meet now and then in a draughty

village hall. If, however, you live in a

community where something ‘big’ has

happened, you’ll know that when

people in the community need support

and guidance, it is sometimes the town

council that is turned to.

By becoming a town councillor you

become someone your community will

look to for help, guidance and support

a community leader with the power to

influence decisions for the benefit of

the people you serve. Seeing your

community change for the better, as a

result of decisions you have helped

make, is something that can give you a

sense of achievement and pride.

What decisions do Town Councils make?

Town councils make all kinds of deci-

sions on issues that affect the local

community. Probably the most com-

mon topics that parish councils get in-

volved with are planning matters (they

are statutory consultees), crime pre-

vention, managing open spaces and

campaigning for and delivering better

services and facilities. It’s true to say

that on their own, town councils have

limited powers to make decisions. But

they do have the ability to negotiate

with, and the power to influence, those

other organisations that do make the

final decisions (such as the borough

council, health authorities, police etc).

In this respect town councils are ex-

tremely powerful. The organisations

that make the final decisions know that

a town council gives the best reflection

of how a community feels about some-

thing, and its views will be taken seri-

ously.

How much time does it take up?Councils usually meet once a month

for the council meeting, to which

members of the public are also invited.

Meetings may last two or three hours,

depending on the agenda set for the

meeting to discuss. Some councils

have committees to deal with specific

subjects, such as environmental

issues. In addition to the regular

meetings,

councillors are required to attend other

meeting representing the council. for

example acting as a representative on

an outside body, community activities

or helping develop a new project for

the community. Such meetings won’t

happen every day, so it’s not going to

take over your life.

How long does a town councillorserve for?

Once elected, town councillors sit on

the council for a maximum of four

years. If they then want to stay in the

post they can stand for re-election.

Am I eligible to be a Town Councillor?

To stand for election on a parish

council, you must:be a UK or

commonwealth citizen, or;be a citizen

of the Republic of Ireland, or; be a

citizen of another Member state of the

European Union;be a least 18 years

old.

To be eligible to stand for an election

for a particular parish, you must:

be an elector of the parish, or;

for the whole of the previous 12

months have occupied (as owner or

tenant) land or other premises in the

parish, or;during the previous 12

months have worked in the parish (as

your principal or only place of work),

or;for the whole of the previous 12

months lived in the parish or within

three miles of the parish boundary.

You don’t have to be connected to a

political party.

If you do become a town councillor you

will have to sign up to the Code of

Conduct.

What powers do town councils have?

They have a wide range of powers

which essentially related to local mat-

ters, such as looking after community

buildings, open space, allotments, play

areas, street lighting, bus shelters, car

parks and much more. The council

also has the power to raise money

through taxation, the precept. The pre-

cept is the town council’s share of the

council tax.

The precept demand goes to the billing

authority, the district council, which col-

lects the tax for the parish council.

Town Council DutiesThe duties and functions of a town

council are many and varied.

The Council meets monthly and con-

siders planning applications and any

other matters referred to it by local res-

idents and by central government. All

meetings are open to the public and

there is a forum before the start of the

meeting at which members of the pub-

lic can raise concerns and ask ques-

tions. There is also an annual meeting

which all parishioners are invited to at-

tend. All meetings are advertised on

the council notice boards. Residents

can bring to the attention of the town

council

anything that concerns them, either di-

rectly or though the clerk. If matters

raised are not the responsibility of the

council, the clerk can bring them to the

attention of the proper authority.

Don’t take The Lookers word for it!

The best way to find out what it’s like to

be a town councillor is to talk to some-

one who’s doing it now. Come along to

a town council meeting, or speak to

one of the

councillors and find out what they think

of the job.

23

Have You Ever

Thought About

Becoming A

Councillor?



Any one who knows our editor will

know he has something of a

strange sence of humour some of

the following ‘Jokes’ have all

featured in his stand up comedy

routine.

We think that our readers can do

better. If you have a “Printable”

Joke send it to us at the looker and

we will give a prize to the best.

Please e-mail to

[email protected]

Here are some of davids to set the

bar!Craig avery Asstant Editor

So I went to buy a watch, and

the man in the shop said

"Analogue." I said "No, just a

watch.!

I went into a shop and I said, "Can

someone sell me a kettle." The

bloke said "Kenwood" I said,

"Where is he?"

So I went in to a pet shop. I said,

"Can I buy a goldfish?" The guy

said, "Do you want an aquarium?" I

said, "I don't care what

star sign it is."

So I met this bloke with a

didgeridoo and he was playing

Dancing Queen on it.I thought...

that's Abboriginal.

Two cannibals are eating a slow

roasted comedian and one says to

the other,

"Does this taste funny to you?

Tenants at Prescott House, Rolfe

Lane, New Romney hold monthly

'in

house' coffee mornings in aid of

various Charities selected by the

tenants at the beginning of the

year. In September they held their

first 'open' coffee morning where

they sold cakes and held a raffle in

aid of the McMillan Nurses and

raised £272.90p

This month they have raised

£154.61p for Breast Cancer Aware-

ness. All

the tenants wore something pink,

including Cleo the dog and the raf-

fle

prizes all had a pink theme.

On the 8th December they are

holding another 'open' coffee and

cakes

morning to support the "Help 4 He-

roes" charity, from 10.30am. This

will include a raffle with many

prizes and the opportunity to have

a mini hand massage and nail

painting. Last year they raised

£800 for this wonderful cause and

are hoping to collect a £1000 this

year.

24

Just For FunFund raising

efforts

from local

pensioners



25

T1

H A N A T2

O P H O B I A

C3

R

A4

R A5

C H I B U T Y R O P H O B I A P6

R I N S Y

A L O K R B7

C U N8

P A9

A P10

O I

H R O H L I H P B

N O S O G H11

Y D R O P H O B I A

O P E B O E B O L

P H M I P K O B I

H O A A H A P I O

O B P O P H A P

B I H12

E M O P H O B I A H O H

I A O I O B O

A B A B I B

I I A I

C13

L A U S T R O P H O B I A A

Answers to Issue 4 Sudoko and Phobia Crossword

SudokuPlace a number from 1 to 9 in each

empty cell so that each 3x3 block,

column, and full row includes each

of the numbers from 1 to 9 only

once.



JOHN WIMBLEHappy 73rd Birthday

Love David, Vicki, Holly, Katie and

Andrew

Lucy Hardingham20 years old love from all the family

Happy Birthday

Mark ElliotYou Are The Real Stig!

Love Mum & Dad and sparkle the

Rabbit (told you we would

embarras you!)

26

Birthdays

Anniversarys

And

Announcements

NannyBing

(Anne Bingley)

Happy

80th

From

Libby & Tom

If you would like to put a

Birthday or anouncement iinto

the Looker please contact our

office:

13 High Street

New Romney

Kent

TN28 8BN

Tel: 01797 366450

prices start from...

£5.00 for small text box

£8.00Medium Photo box

£10.00 Large Photo box

A race night to raise money for The

Grasshoppers Juniour Football club

will take place on the 20 November

betweem 7.30 pm and 10 pm at the

Institute club, Lydd.

Tickets £5 inc buffett. To book ring

or text me on 07833491726. Please

note tickets will NOT be available

on the night.

Race Night for

Grasshoppers

football club



27



The Paris Motor show has long been the launch pad for the euro-

pean car market. This year was no different with over 70 manafac-

turers showing off both to the Press and the general public there

latest offereings.

You could by everything froma £4000 budget car from India right

the way through to the new Bugatti Veyron Super Sport a mear snip

at only $2.3 million dollars! however the majority of the attention

was at the ‘middle mar-

ket’ with company’s like

Ford showing of there

newly styled Mondeo

which has been the

backbone of the rep-

ping industry for over

10 years!

28

What will we be driving

next year???2010 Paris Motorshow



29

A lot of people were keen to see what new ‘Eco’ Cars would be on display

A brand new concept car designed by Citroen and Lacoste is

understandably made its debut on French soil. The vehicle is a super-mini

SUV deemed to be “very economical” with a 1.2litre petrol engine that

emits less than 100g/km of carbon dioxide (CO2).

As with a lot of car shows it was an oppertunity for designers to be let

loose and come up with some very futuristic designs, reality dictates that

although some of the cars will never

be seen on the actual roads a lot of

the special features will make their

way into road going vehicled over

the next three years.. You do not

need to be a ‘Petrol Head’ to enjoy

the a motor show, it is a great day

out. but if you are looking to buy a

new car in the next 12 months it is a

great oppertunity to look at all the cars that may ‘tickle your fancy’ without

feeling the pressure of a salesman breathing down your kneck.

If like a lot of people there is of course the option to buy secound hand

and the time has never been better to pick up a bargain, with many

dealers taking advantage of companies down sizing and buying ex

company cars...something that a lot of people never think of buying, but if

you think about it, a chance to buy a car at a good price..OK it may have

higher mileage than another car of the same age, but company cars are

serviced on a regular basis on a need it or not basis ans can offer superb

value for money.

other options include going to an auction, the only trouble with auctions is

that you get very little time to look at the car and you do not get the

oppertunity to have a test drive! you really are buying a car as seen! you

have some comeback when buying at auction but you normally only have

24 hours from purchase to return the vehicle and the owness is oon you

as to why it does not fit the description as advertised. Also a lot of cars are

entered into auctions as motor traders can not sell them on there

forecourts! so be ware all is not allways what it seems when buying a new

car... happy motoring

David Wimble

10% Discount with this advert

Free Winter Check



BROOKLAND

Brookland are the first of our two nearly stories as they

just missed out on promotion to the top flight. They

finished a very creditable third in Division Two of the

Kent Village League, a competition of seven divisions,

each containing 12 teams with two being promoted

from each division. Brookland won eight and lost two

of their 11 league games. Runs came along at a rate

of knots for the Marsh side with Stuart Paine averag-

ing 53 a game, Antony Stanley 46 and Scott Balcomb

42. This was complimented by the mid season return

of the prodigal son, Olly Furnival, who boosted their

strength even further. The bowling was in the very ca-

pable hands of Jack Meadows and stalwarts Andrew

Abrey and Doctor Robert Cullen. Brookland's

achievements are even more remarkable when you

take into consideration that they played several games

short handed, winning one league game with only

eight players.

DYMCHURCH

Dymchurch were the second of our bridesmaids,

though the thought of Peter Cox in a dress gives me

nightmares! They play one Division below Brookland

in the third tier of the Village League and they won six

and lost two of their 11 league games. Runs as al-

ways came from the Fords, Matt and Andy and

Bradley Harper also made a large contribution. Spin

twins Gary Cox and Dion Sessford were the top wicket

takers, closely followed by veterans Graham Newing

and Chris Savage. Then followed a vast array of

younger seam bowlers including Sam Lancaster and

Dan Newing. Lets hope 2011 sees the return of Peter

Cox to the team.

NEW ROMNEY AND LITTLESTONE

New Romney play their league cricket on Saturdays in

the Kent Regional League Division 1B East. They

were promoted last season and this year finished sev-

enth out of ten, winning five of their 18 league games.

Batting success was in the hands of Rob Liddell, Amar

Gurdka, Lee Smith and Dan Anderson who all scored

over 300 runs. Dan Anderson making his first century

(103) at Elham Valley and Rob Liddell (98) just miss-

ing out at Shepherdswell. The main wicket-takers for

Romney were Lee Smith, Everton White, Steve

Fletcher and Amar Gurdka. Praise should also go to

Jerry Brown who returned to the side this season and

whose past efforts with youth development are now

bearing fruit in their first team. The club continues to

bring on young talent. The pick of them in the 2010

season has been Casey Williams.

LYDD

Lydd played 17 matches,winning five and losing the

other 12. They also had four games cancelled. Steve

Fletcher was named their player of the season at the

club’s annual presentation recently, and rightly so as

he scored 515 runs, averaging 39 and he took 16

wickets, averaging 16. Other notable run-scorers for

the season were Steve Smith (388) Colin Mathews

(221) and Adam Lindsay (167). Bowling averages

were topped by Martin Ham, followed by Suru Patel

and Colin Mathews. Edward Goddard was the unani-

mous and popular choice of young player of year. He

may one day keep his father off the front page of the

Herald!

BRENZETT

The death of popular wicketkeeper/batsman John

Thomson, while playing for Brenzett at Rolvenden

sadly overshadowed what was a renaissance season

for the club.

The team were the only Marsh side not to lose a fix-

ture to the weather and they won five and drew four

and lost 15 times. However this does not tell the full

story. Youth certainly came to the fore, with six regular

starters being aged 15 or under. Ashley and Rhys

Haywood, Joe and Elliott Symonds, Ed Goddard and

Parry Torres all improved dramatically as the season

progressed. No surprise that all the victories came at

the back end of the season.

The clubs three seamers, Will Ainsley, Brian Knight

and Joe Sissons all performed well, although getting

runs on the board proved harder with only Joe Sis-

sons, Nick Frampton, Elliot Symonds and Craig Avery

passing the 200 run mark for the season. However,

30

and our folke evening every second Tuesday in the month, open mike, all new musicians welcome.

and our Jazz afternoon every second Sunday in the month from 3-6p.m.

[email protected]

CRICKET REVIEW



GOLF

Pauline Woodley was the winner of the October

Ladies medal at Littlestone, Rosemary Smallman took

second place andthird was Liz Jones.

FOOTBALL

Kent County League Div. 1 East

New Romney 0 Milton and Fulston 0

A Romney side missing suspened Wayne Rogers and

Adam Purse held on for a draw at home against Milton

and Fulston. This was their second clean sheet of the

season.

Kent County League Div. 2 East

Lydd Town 2 St Nicholas at Wade 0

Lydd Town have boosted their ranks with the signing

of three players with a wealth of Kent League experi-

ence, Roy Godden, Billy Sommerville and Rhys Tay-

lor-Ryall.

They comfortable overcome the league’s bottom side,

Thanet based St Nicholas by two 2-0. Joe Nielson

scored Lydd's first after 25 minutes and Mike Sheridan

added a second in the 55th minute. The win takes the

Lydders to fifth place in the table.

Kent County Reserve Div. East

Canterbury City Res 2 New Romney Res 3

An excellent first league win of the season away at

Canterbury pulled New Romney away from the bottom

of the table, and could be the turning point for the

much improved side.

Ashford & District League Div. One.

Riverside Res 2 Lydd Town Res 5

Lydd Reserves moved three points clear at the top of

the table with goals coming from Frankie Steer 2,

Mark Ashdown 2, and Mark Wellstead.

Ruckinge 1 Lydd United 1

Chairman Clive Goddard was disappointed with his

side's draw at Ruckinge. The home team took a first

half lead through Neil Jarvis but substitute Dan Frost

equalised for United with ten minutes left on the clock.

31



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LOOKER SPORT

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