Upchurch Choral Society sing to their French Friends

Upchurch Choral Society singing in the Church of our Lady of the Assumption. 

Upchurch is twinned with the commune of Ferques in Northern France.

On Sunday 15th April 2012, Upchurch Choral Society travelled over to France and gave a concert in the Church of our Lady of the Assumption in Ferques to an audience of approximately 150 people, including both Upchurch and Ferques residents. The Upchurch Twinning Group arranged the event with their counterparts in Ferques and funded the coach that carried the choir and local residents over the Channel for the day.

Upchurch Choral Society is a four-part choir, conducted by Helen Osborne and accompanied on this occasion by Upchurch Organist, Sue Rossiter. Both received a beautiful bouquet of flowers as a gesture of thanks, following the concert.

The whole day was a wonderful success and much appreciated by all concerned. The coach arrived safely and coffee was enjoyed in the local café adjacent to the church. Then the group headed off to a local restaurant, where about 60 people enjoyed a delicious lunch. The choir rehearsed in the afternoon and then performed a variety of well-chosen pieces in the church in the evening. The programme included items in English, French, German and Latin, ranging from Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine to some items from Les Miserables. The choir was rewarded with a standing ovation at the end.

After the concert, there was a reception at the local Mairie, where copious drinks and canapés were provided by the Mayor of Ferques and his Council. Eventually, the coach full of Upchurch choir and residents departed to return home tired, but very pleased and happy with the whole experience.

Sue Rossiter

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Terry Spinks MBE and ‘The Crown’

Terry Spinks MBE.

If you had ventured into ‘The Crown’ pub during the early 1980's you would have been politely greeted by a small, smartly dressed man wearing glasses and a suit. In reality he was far from ordinary having experienced the ups and downs of nationwide fame. Terry Spinks former professional boxer, ABA champion and gold medal winner at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 had become new landlord of ‘The Crown’ pub.

Originally from Canning Town in London’s East End, Terry arrived at ‘The Crown’ on September 21st 1981. His opening ceremony saw many famous faces from the boxing world converge on Upchurch, including Alan Minter, Terry Downes, Gary Davidson and Jimmy Revie.

Intending to make his business a success, Terry initially closed the pub for two months and had the interior completely refurbished. Having previously been a rather bare interior with three bars, it was converted into one large, neatly decorated bar with wooden ceiling beams, new carpets and furniture. Terry even had the initials of himself and his wife Barbara engraved into the wood of the bar. The result was an immediate improvement and an influx of more customers.

Such was Terry’s popularity that soon he was in demand for personal appearances at local boxing functions throughout Kent. He also raised £606 for charity at H.M.S Pembroke in Chatham and sponsored the first ever car to run on petroleum gas at the Lombard RAC Rally.

After being told by locals that the pub was haunted because of its location next to the church graveyard, Terry noticed that barrels were mysteriously being moved out of position in the cellar and lights were periodically flickering in the building. Feeling that something wasn’t quite right Terry caused a sensation by calling in the vicar who performed an exorcism to rid the establishment of possible evil spirits.

Terry owned an Old English Sheepdog named Ben and saw the funny side of its eating habits. The dog loved crisps so much that it became overweight. Forced to put his pet on a diet, Terry placed a sign around its neck which stated ‘Don’t feed me.’ A hungry Ben obviously unimpressed would sometimes sneak behind the bar, take a packet of crisps from the crisp box, tear it open with its teeth and eat the contents. Terry maintained that the dog took after him because it ate the wrong things.

Terry and his wife Barbara left ‘The Crown’ in 1987 and became tenants of ‘The Coach and Horses’ pub in Worthing Sussex. Unfortunately, after getting divorced Terry became seriously ill but recovered in Sutton Manor Clinic in Newnham in 1993. He later appeared on TV in ‘This is Your Life’, in one episode of ‘The Bill’ and in the film ‘Shiner’ with Michael Caine. After another spell raising money for charity Terry was eventually awarded the MBE in recognition of his achievements in November 2001. Terry later moved to Essex where his cousin Rosemary looked after him but he continues to be fondly remembered in Upchurch as the most famous person to have managed ‘The Crown’.

About the author:
David Wood was born and raised in Upchurch and is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village. David's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David on:  david3702001@yahoo.co.uk  price £12 + p+p £2.

David Wood
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Local Produce Fair at the Three Tuns

The Three Tuns Lower Halstow will be holding another Local Produce Fair on bank holiday Monday the 7th of May, 12:00 - 4:00pm.

See  Map


Meet local producers & suppliers presenting their wares. Cream Teas available.

Stall holders will include:

The Seafood Centre & Farm Shop
Just Cutts Butchers
Taywell Ice Creams
Ellies Dairy & Kent Cheeses
Cottage bakery
Veggie Perin
Muffleflutt's Pet Emporium
& Many more

There will also be a Hog Roast.

This will all be taking place under a Marquee so the weather won't be stopping us !

The Three Tuns  Website

Carol

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Volunteer Event Marshalls Required

The Olympic Torch Relay through Faversham - Volunteer Event Marshalls Required

You may not have obtained tickets for the 2012 London Olympics but you can still be a part of the show leading up to the event.

The Olympic Torch Relay will be in Faversham on the 19th of July and Swale Borough Council are seeking volunteer Event Marshalls to help with the event.

The Faversham Olympic Torch Relay offers a highly evolved, all-round experience that is completely unique, due to the infrequent visit to the United Kingdom. It is about energy, community and fun.

If you are interested, then contact Martin Goodhew at Swale Borough Council before the 11th of May. Email: martingoodhew@swale.gov.uk  Tel: 01795 417399 Mobile: 07827 956832

Gerry Lewin

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Annual Parish Meeting - Agenda

I give you notice that the Annual Parish Meeting of the Upchurch Parish Council will be held in the Main Hall of Upchurch Village Hall on Thursday 26^th April 2012 at 7:30pm.

Dated this 3rd day of April 2012.
Clerk to the Parish Council: Mrs C. A. Attaway. 

Agenda

1.             Chairman’s introduction

2.             Apologies for absence

3.             Minutes of the meeting held on 28^th April 2011

4.             Presentation from Sergeant Tim Hill, Community Safety Sergeant for Swale  Community Safety Unit

5.             Chairman’s report

6.             Matters arising and questions on the Chairman’s report

7.             Presentation of Accounts

8.             The Queens Diamond Jubilee Celebrations – update from Cllr Tucker

9.             Paddock Play Equipment – update from the Clerk

10.         Rural Needs Housing Drop In Event – further information from Cllr Lewin

11.         Activities for teens in the village – report from Cllr New

12.         General Parish Business

Refreshments, including wine and nibbles will be available after the meeting.

Clerk to the Parish Council: Mrs C. A. Attaway.
33 Church Farm Road, Upchurch, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 7AG.
Tel: 01634 363906  Email: clerk@upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk
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The New Upchurch Matters - One Year On

The New website was a year old at the end of March 2012.

March 2011.

It's been a busy first year for us here at Upchurch Matters, starting at the end of March 2011 when the new website went live. We quickly hand delivered promotional flyers to every home in the village and put up signs in key locations. The launch was also helped along nicely by various mentions in the local press. Overall, the new website has been very well received, with just a few negative comments (mainly against change in the village and advocating the status quo). We did, however, receive quite a few admiring glances from other nearby villages who asked if they could have one too. In its first year, the website has grown as more and more people have chosen to get involved. We now regularly receive news items from nearly every village group and organisation, something we are very pleased about. With many print titles in decline, the future of media really is online and we're embracing this together with the use of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. Our Facebook account has swelled to a huge 1400+ friends, while our Twitter account is acquiring more followers each week. Both are great modern ways to get messages to people fast!

So, what have we actually published and achieved in our first year?

In just over 12 months, we've had 51,157 page views from over 7,905 individuals in over 69 countries, and over 700 people regularly read our Facebook updates every week.

 We've posted 216 items on our Notice Board Page – most of which are emailed and phoned into us from village groups and organisations - along with messages from our Classified Advertisers. We have promoted many events and offers from our local pubs, and published 17 excellent articles from David Wood on the history of Upchurch; some taken from his book, "Memories of Upchurch". We have also kept residents up to date with regular neighbourhood watch messages relating to crimes committed in our village or the immediate surrounding area.

Our Village Diary Page is filling up nicely now and really is becoming the central online location to discover what is happening in and around our village. In addition to the Diary Page, the Village Hall and Twinning Group pages have proved popular too. Don't forget The "Quick links" on our homepage. This is where we've brought together all the most commonly searched for Upchurch-related website links and info, so you can quickly and easily find all things Upchurch related. Just remember to Start at Upchurch Matters!

In March 2012 we were thrilled to have been featured in the publication "Inside Swale", which is delivered quarterly to over 80,000 homes in the Swale Borough Council area. This was great publicity for our village and the website.



Over the last year, we've been pleased to support The Farmers’ Market by having a regular stall, and we're also involved with the new Upchurch War Memorial Project. Look out for us at other village events this year and please do come and say hello. It's nice to be able to put some faces to names and we're grateful for any feedback or ideas you may have for the site.

Classified Advertisements.

When the new website launched we had just 4 adverts in the new Classified Advertisements Section, but with lots of hard work we've boosted the number to over 40! Searching online, we still haven't found anything else like it (certainly not for the same rates anyway). Economic times are tough, with many people feeling the squeeze on their standard of living. We truly believe in the benefits of supporting local businesses, services and tradesman whenever possible, and that is what our Classified Section is all about.

So, as you can see it's been a busy first year online for us here at Upchurch Matters.

If you have any interesting village news, nice photographs or village events you would like publicized, please get in touch as the more we all contribute the better the website will be!

Once again, thank you to all our friends, supporters and advertisers and here's looking forward to many more years of a successful and thriving Upchurch community both off and online.

Upchurch Matters

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