Upchurch 50 Years Ago in October 1965 by David Wood

The month began with the parish council discussing village children playing ‘follow the leader’ on their bicycles in the village centre between Forge Lane and Horsham Lane. This created a dangerous situation as vehicles had to swerve to avoid them. Council chairman Ted Tress suggested that parents should be made aware of the dangers and that more emphasis should be placed on road safety.

Groups of youngsters congregated outside the Infant’s School to socialise during the 1960s because there wasn’t enough to occupy them. Rich Boakes ran the youth club every Sunday evening and played music on his loudspeaker system in the village hall which proved popular but youths still got bored. Some played football or climbed trees in The Paddock and often had to be ejected by Reverend Bradshaw.

At the October meeting of the Women’s Institute Mrs Dickinson showed the ladies the art of dressmaking and answered questions. Mrs Stevens then read a letter about the history of Upchurch Women’s Institute and mentioned that Illness had caused her to retire from regular active participation at the institute. Following this Mrs Tress won the competition for an embroidered handkerchief with Mrs Wraight second and Mrs Fisher third. The evening concluded with country dancing organised by Miss Staines.

In village social affairs an Autumn Fair took place in the village hall where donations of fruit, flowers and vegetables were on sale. The only other village social event of the month was the cricket club’s Annual Dinner and Dance in the village hall on Saturday October 30th with Kent cricketer Alan Dixon the guest of honour. Ted Tress gave a speech about the past season which had proven to be satisfactory after which the guests tucked into a dinner and then danced the night away.

If you had walked through The Street in October 1965 you would have seen far fewer vehicles parked on the side of the road than today and a Maidstone & District bus service ran through the village with greater regularity and operated from early morning until late at night. Not so many people had cars in those days so there were more customers for the buses. Unlike today general satisfaction existed with regard to bus regularity.

On October 17th for the first time Reverend Bradshaw tried to encourage more people to attend church by holding a Children’s Eucharist in the church which turned out to be very successful with many young parents and their children turning up and taking communion together. However, the evening service which followed this was less successful while Sunday morning services were very well attended with regular churchgoers.

Because the church required money for the repair of the church tower the Friends of Kent Churches donated £100. The Historic Churches Preservation Trust also promised a grant of up to £750 for the church tower which had suffered damage as a result of vibrations from the ringing of the church bells which had been taking place for centuries. Bell ringing had to be suspended until further notice.

Baptisms of village children during October included Karl Ronde from Chaffes Lane, Alison Singyard from Gillingham, Catherine Rush from The Street, Ruth Watts from Church Farm Road and Thomas Smith from Windmill Hill. There were not any recorded marriages and the only burial was that of Robert Dennis aged 75 from Hubbard’s Cottages at Otterham Quay. This ended a fairly typical month in the life of the village in 1965.

About David

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 at: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk or from us here at Upchurch Matters. Price £12 + £3.50 postage and packing.

David Wood

The Three Tuns Halloween Party

The Three Tuns
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News From Upchurch Twinning Group - Holywell School Day Trip to Ferques

In the early hours of Thursday 1st October the children of years 5 and 6 of Holywell School, came to their school and with mums and dads waving goodbye they set off in a Chalkwell Coach to visit the school children in our twin village of Ferques and it's commune in France.

There was lot's of excited chatter from the children who seemed to enjoy the journey particularly when the coach parked in the train and it moved off. We rather suspect this was a "first" for many of them.

We were soon in France and at our destination; where the children were greeted by the French children and given soft drinks and croissants. As ever, the French teachers had things well organised and the children were soon seated at big round tables with English and French children seated opposite each other and given simple written exercises. They were invited to explain a little about themselves to the child opposite using photocopied prompt sheets. Plenty of writing material was provided. Other simple exercises followed until they were all allowed outside to "let off steam".

The pattern of indoor and outdoor activities continued throughout the day. Fortunately the weather was kind to us and sunny with just an early autumn chill in the air. Another nice activity was some singing simple French and English folk songs with lots of arms and leg movements. This was organised by Marian, a bi-lingual lady who lives in Ferques and to whom we offer our thanks for coming along to help.

After saying our goodbyes and au revoir's the coach set off for Upchurch, England and home.

It must be said that all the children were very well behaved throughout a very long day and they were a credit to their teachers who willingly gave their time to come along and help.

You can read more about Upchurch Twinning Group at the link: here

Mike Johnson, Chairman: 01634 234226
Email: mikeinupchurch@gmail.com
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Latest POLICE.UK Crime Data for the Area - August 2015

A brief summary of crime information for the past 2 months:

July 2015 August 2015 All crime 36 34 Anti-social behaviour 7 9 Bicycle theft 1 0 Burglary 6 9 Criminal damage and arson 8 5 Drugs 1 0 Other crime 0 0 Other theft 4 3 Possession of weapons 0 0 Public order 1 0 Robbery 0 0 Shoplifting 2 1 Theft from the person 0 0 Vehicle crime 1 2 Violence and sexual offences 5 5

Please visit: www.police.uk for more information including outcomes for these crimes and contact information for your local policing team.

Upchurch Matters
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Christmas Craft Fair at St. Margaret's Church Lower Halstow

Liz Mouland
Friends of St. Margaret's Church Lower Halstow

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Centenary Marks a Generation Lost in Kent's 'Somme'

This weekend (Sept 25-28) marks the centenary of probably the blackest day in Kent's history when thousands of young soldiers from the county were killed in the Battle of Loos during World War One. 

Twelve attacking battalions, including the East Kent, West Kent, Queen's West and East Surrey Regiments, lost 8,000 out of 10,000 men in just four hours of fighting on Sept 26, 1915. The 8th Bn The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) was virtually wiped out.

The Battle of Loos was the largest British battle on the Western Front during WWI and the casualty figures rivalled the horrors of the first day of the Somme.

Kent's small rural farming communities were hit hard with many villages and hamlets left grieving the loss of their young men.

One of them was Sgt Arthur Harrison, of Newington, near Sittingbourne, who will be commemorated by Newington History Group and the village primary school on Monday (Sept 28) - the centenary of his death.

Sgt Harrison enlisted in Chatham in 1910 and fell in the Loos battle aged 23. The pupils have been learning about his family life and years in the 2nd Bn The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). They will present the History Group with a small cross with Sgt Harrison's name on it to be placed at the village's war memorial.

British casualties in the main attack at Loos were 48,367 and 10,880 more died in the subsidiary attack - about twice as high as the German casualties. It represented 59,247 of the 285,107 British deaths on the Western Front that year.

It was the first time the British used poison gas - a move that backfired when wind blew much of it back over our own trenches - and was the first mass engagement of Kitchener's Army units. The battle was part of the attempt by the Allies to break through the German defences in Artois and Champagne.

The initial advance over open fields on Sept 25 was within range of German machine guns and artillery. In many places British artillery had failed to cut the German wire in advance of the attack, leading to the devastating losses.

Though the British were able to break through the weaker German defences and capture the town of Loos-en-Gohelle, supply and communications problems, combined with the late arrival of reserves, meant that the breakthrough could not be exploited.

The Germans had recovered and improved their defensive positions by the time the reservists arrived and the battle resumed the following day.

However, as WWI researcher Kyle Tallett, from Ashford, says: "The reservists (the 8th Bn) arrived in France - untrained and unacclimatised - and were marched straight into battle. They hadn't even had dinner!"

The advance with the reserves was repulsed and 8,000 men died in four hours.

The 8th Bn arrived in France on Sept 1 and were sent to the concentration area for the Battle of Loos on Sept 21 before being marched to Bethune on Sept 25. They were told to move to Vermelles for an attack that night which was postponed until the following morning.

Detailing the battle, Mr Tallett says: "The unit had only been in France for three weeks, hadn’t done it’s apprenticeship in the trenches as was customary plus it had marched hard to get to the start point without rations.

"The Buffs attacked an objective at Hulluch, they had to cross a stretch of no man's land a mile wide. The brigade and the Buffs reached their objective, despite being badly machine gunned, to find intact wire in front of it. The fight was conducted from in front of the German wire. The Division to the right withdrew leaving the right flank open with machine gun fire coming through it. 

"The Germans started shelling. The Buffs withstood this for four hours before withdrawing taking casualties as they withdrew. They were relieved that night, but the casualties were staggering. Only one officer was left alive to bring them out. The casualty figures were 24 officers and 610 other ranks.

"It was a similar story with the West Kents, Queens, and East Surreys. The battalion was virtually non-existent within three weeks of landing in France. The Division, the 24th never recovered, and had to have a regular brigade attached to it to stiffen it up. The truth is they were not taught to fight and never saw a trench until the attack."

By Sept 28 the British had retreated to their starting positions. Further fighting during October was hampered by fog, a lack of hand grenades, heavy rain and accurate German shelling as the losses mounted up.

The 6th Buffs, with three month's experience to draw on, were committed on Oct 13, also at Hulluch. By a cruel coincidence they clambered over the killing fields of their sister battalion.

The Kent men crossed no man's land to find the wire uncut and were machine gunned before they could retreat. Ten of the 13 officers were killed along with 450 other ranks.

Mr Tallett says Loos was Kent's equivalent of the first day of the Somme but is not as well known. "Our divisions were wiped out at Loos - a good seven months before the Somme - with casualty figures that rivalled the first day of the Somme on July 1, 1916.

"If the casualties of the 8th Buffs had occurred on that day they would have been second in the table for most casualties sustained. The 6th Buffs would have been in the top half.

"In terms of proportion to Kent's rural communities it was every bit a disaster."

The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 soldiers who fell in the battle and have no known grave - including Sgt Harrison.

Richard Thompstone - Issued on behalf of Newington History Group

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