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SMART DECORATINGPAINTING AND DECORATING

Michael G SmartHigh class decorations by qualified craftsman

“Special effects and paper hanging a speciality”

23 Roman RoadSnodland, Kent ME6 5PPTel: 01634 242021 Mobile: 07885 765917Freephone: 0800 0190634

MONKS HEAD22 Constitution Hill

Snodland

Pamela and Chris welcome you

to the Monks Head

Home made food served lunchtime

12 - 2pm Monday - Saturday

Come and try our lovely

Sunday Lunch - all fresh produce

Served 12 - 3pm

01634 240477

No santawhen lights go on

Father Christmas will notbe handing out sweetiesto young children whenSnodland’s Christmaslights are switched on on24th November.

Shirley Hunter, clerk ofthe town council,explained that the coun-cil would have to payKent County Council’sHighways Departmentfor per-mission to closethe High Street, and thecost would be “phenom-enal.”

She also complainedabout the behaviour of a

small group of 11-14 year-olds last year.

“Father Christmas andhis helpers were punchedand kicked when theywere handing outsweets. Some boys hadcarrier bags and tried tofill them with as manysweets as they could.

“Parents of small chil-dren were appalled bythe behaviour.

“We can’t have membersof our staff subjected tothat sort of treatment,”she added.

Beaversare busy

Members of the1st SnodlandChristie Beaversare picturedfeeding hens aspart of their PetCare Badge.

The childrenwere also ableto see the firstsix chickensbred by BobComber on hisallotment atMalling Road,Snodland.

Bob’s wife, Helen, andBeaver Leader, LynPilkington, founded thegroup 22 years ago.

Lyn explained that manychildren would not haveseen baby chickens

before and it was a goodexperience for them tofeed the hens.

The following week an airambulance paramedicspoke to the Beaversabout his work.

Bob is given a helping hand

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SnodlandPolice beat

Zero tolerance forunderage drinkers.

Police started an operationin Snodland from the begin-ning of June which isfocussing on anti-socialbehaviour, under age drink-ing and criminal damage.

Sgt Steve Cable said theoperation will run through-out the sum-mer into thefirst two weeks ofSeptember.

Anti-social behaviour andcriminal damage weremainly due to drink relatedproblems, he explained.

“Neighbourhood teams,supported by response offi-cers, will identify the placeswhere youngsters gather todrink under age,” he said.

“We will be remindinglicensees, including offlicenses, of their responsi-bilities and support them indealing with this issue.

“We appreciate it can bequite intimidating for staffwhen they refuse to sellalcohol and it is difficult forthem to know when anolder person is buying alco-hol for someone who isunder age.“We will identify and prose-cute those who are buyingit for youngsters.

“We are determined to getthe message across that wewill not tolerate under agedrinking.”

Pc Erica moves on.

Pc Erica Hall, who arrived inSnodland early last yearafter 10 years with theMetropolitan Police, hasbecome the local officer forEast Malling, although shewill continue to be based atthe Snodland office.A replacement is expectedto be appointed in the near

future.

Vehicle watch.

Police have launched ascheme, called VehicleWatch, to help motorists toprotect their cars and con-tents.

Sgt Cable said 25% of allreported crimes in theMaidstone and Malling areaare vehicle related and 60%of all criminal damageinvolves vehicles.

The Vehicle Watch packageincludes a sticker formotorists who do not drivebetween midnight and 5am.This gives police officersthe option of stopping thecar and checking the identi-ty of the driver if they see iton the roads.

There is a “Don’t Bother”anti-theft card which dis-plays a message to would-be thieves that there is noproperty of value in thevehicle.

A coded car kit has smallstickers displaying the vehi-cle’s identity details whichcan be hidden in places inthe car. A window stickeradvertises that the car hasbeen coded.

Sgt Cable said the kits arefree from the police office inWaghorn Road or will bedelivered on request.

New appointments

Chief Inspector Martin Veryhas been appointed thenew District Commander forTonbridge & Malling, whichincludes Snodland.

The new inspector for thearea is Gian Chahal.

They will both be based inTonbridge.Marathon

Sgt Cable completed the

London Marathon in threehours five minutes andraised £220 for Spadework,a charity based in Offham.

“It was a very enjoyable day

but the last three mileswere quite an effort,” hesaid.

Police contactsIn an emergency dial 999

For immediate contact or to report a crime dial

01622 690055

To talk to a Snodland Police Officer or CSO on localnon-urgent matters dial

01634 249466 or01622 600975 answerphone

Contacting your local PCSO :Christopher Hay 07989 992437

Julie Turner 07989 992446

Snodland Police Office, Waghorn Road, Snodland(Town Hall Building)

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ALL AT £36 PER BAGPHONE: 01634 240854 OR FAX: 01634 245043

07808 951945•Conditions apply

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Pupilspraised for effort...

One child in each classat Snodland Church ofEngland Primary Schoolhas been awarded a giftand certificate for “100%

effort in learning.”

Head teacher, PaulineDavis, made the present-ations assisted by MrsGail Spragg of theMalling Cluster, who sup-ports the 26 primaryschools in the Mallingarea, helping raise stan-dards and celebrat-ingsuccess.

Also giving support werethe Rev Elaine Northern,Snodland curate, and

school governor, IdaBellchambers.

Mrs Davis told proud par-

ents that the awardswere for pupils “continu-ally trying hard and puttingin lots of effort” during

the course of the term.

Members of staff nomi-nated the winners.

After eight years atSnodland Church ofEngland Primary School,deputy head teacher,Ashley Crittenden, hasbeen promoted.

She will takeover theheadship ofWest Boro-ugh PrimarySchool, Maid-stone afterthe end ofthe currentterm.

Ashley, wholives inGi l l inghambut will bemoving toMaidstone,told TownTalk:

“I shall be very sad toleave the children, par-ents and the com-munity.I have become veryattached.“Having gained my NPQH(National Professional

Qualification for Head-ship) I felt it was time tolook for a new challenge.

“West Borough is fairlysimilar in size and

catchment area with 400children and a nursery.

“I am looking forward tothe challenge and I amexcited about it.”

...and deputy head promoted

Ashley (left) is congratulated by Snodland C of E

School headteacher, Pauline Davis.

Courtman and SquireCourtman and SquireMen’s dress hire wear

Getting Married?Attending the annual

dinner & danceTreating yourself

to a cruise?

Morning suitsDinner suitsFrock coats

All sizes includingchildren’s wear.Also range of

accessories

Full Savile Rowtailoring service

available

We have an extensive rangeof formal wear for every occasion

Telephone for a quote on our prices

Tel: Snodland 01634 245470

18 High Street, Snodland, Kent

The prizewinners with from left to right Pauline Davis, Ida Bellchambers, Gail Spragg and Elaine Northern

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Short matbowls club have another bumper charity day

Snodland Short Mat BowlsClub once again pulled outall the stops at theirCharity Day and their cho-sen charity, the OrthopticDepartment - which is part

of the Eye, Ear and Mouthunit at Maidstone Hospital– were themselves bowledover by the £1500 dona-tion.The event, organised by

Don Cribbens, attractedteams from all over Kentand the money raised onthe day was supplementedby a donation of £500 inmemory of the loss of one

of the club’s players, PeterMiller, who sadly died lastyear.Other monies contributingto the bumper donationwere raised through raffles,sale of cakes and competi-tions.

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Amanda Sparham (left), head of the Orthoptic Dept, and Jennie Broad (right) who also works at the hos-pital, being presented with the cheque by Joan Tree, a committee member, and Peter Miller’s threegrandsons, Joshua, Benjamin and James.

into village life. They joined theestate association and thechurch, Ernest was one 11 new-comers to stand as anIndependent candidate for theparish council and was a foundermember of Nomads FootballClub(originally called OctoberNomads).

One of the first members of Oast

life and it was after he acquired a jobin London they moved to Taylor Roadon the newly developed Rookery FarmEstate-on Cup Final day, 1963, withson, Ian, and daughter, Susan.

Their second son, David, was one ofthe first born on Rookery Farm Estate.

Ernest and Jeanne threw themselves

Park Golf Club, he joined WestMalling GC about 10 years agoand his pride and joy is a trophyshowing he made a hole-in-one atthe 164-yard 5th hole on the 8th

July, 2003.

Jeanne, who trained as a chil-drens’ nurse, joined the youngwives group and helped at theLeybourne Play Group (nowDevonshire Rooms).

She has also been involved withthe Brownies and the Sunday

Paul & Betty Beaney

The great fire of Snodlandanniversary of paper mill fire

The 100th anniversary ofthe worst disaster in thehistory of Snodlandtakes place in August.

On the 12th August 1906a fire almost destroyedthe Townsend Hookpaper mills and caused31 families to be evacuat-ed.

Incredibly, 99 years earli-er on 17th December1807, the mill, which wasthen much smaller, wasentirely wiped out in afire.

The 1906 fire was startedduring maintenance work.The men were splicing arope in the machine roomin the light provided by aparaffin lamp. The rope

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caught fire and flameswere carried to all partsof the mill.

The Kent Messengerreported: “In a few hoursit created damage esti-

imperilled the parishchurch; filled the air withfragments of burnt paper– resembling a snow-storm – which the windblew about for a distance

mated at from £150,000to £200,000; deprivednearly 400 people oftheir ordinary employ-ment; caused 31 familiesto leave their cottages;

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distance of seven oreight miles; and engagedthe services of six firebrigades.”

The fire brigades couldonly try to contain theblaze – which was sosevere even a stack of900 tons of wet pulp wasreduced to ashes.

Fire fighters were ham-pered by the fact that thetide was out in the RiverMedway, the water pres-sure was low and thegas, which was to beused to pump the fireengines, had to beturned off because of therisk of explosion.

People viewing the scenefrom the top of nearby AllSaints Church, wereforced to leave becauseof the heat.

the worst disasterin the history of Snodland

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Four houses in Mill Streetwere burned beyondrepair and many otherswere severely damaged.

A local committee wasformed on the same dayas the fire and a fund wasset up to support the dis-tressed families. Manyemployees were taken onto help with the rebuild-ing and the new mill wasready for operation by1908.

An exhibition to com-memorate the fire ison show at SnodlandMuseum, WaghornRoad from now untilDecember.