Latest News from Upchurch WI

Hello Readers. Many of you will have seen in The Gabriel that to celebrate the Centenary of the WI we have been raising money to provide a Defibrillator for the Village.

We have been greatly helped by donations from village organisations and individuals for which we are very grateful. It is to be sited on the outside wall of Snaffles at the junction of Oak Lane and Chaffes Lane. The launch will be next Saturday, 17th October at 10:00am at the site and it would be lovely to see as many of you there as possible to celebrate with us as we officially hand over the Defibrillator to the Parish Council and the Village.

Councillor John Arnold already working to site the new village Defibrillator.

Please note: The Defibrillator will not actually be on site and operational until the day

of the launch on October 17th.

This will be followed by a Coffee Morning in the Village Hall at 10:30am (with lots of our renowned cakes and scones!) where there will be people available to answer any questions you may have about the Defibrilator and its use. We will also have a training session at a later date and you can sign up to register your interest at the Coffee Morning.

The talk at our next WI Meeting on October 13th is by Chris McCooey, entitled "Scandals - Sensational, salacious and sad" it would be good to see some new faces and you can be sure of a warm welcome.

Have you booked a table for our Quiz Night on Friday 23rd October starting at 7:30pm in the Village Hall? Tables of 6, food provided but bring your own drink and glass. You don't have to be a WI member, you don't even have to be female! Just get a group together and join us! Phone Chris on: 07796 860940 or Joyce on: 01634 232346 to book your table.

Christine Stevens

Upchurch WI

Website: www.thewi.org.uk

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Upchurch Parish Council Report - October 2015

The monthly Meeting of the Parish Council took place on Thursday 1^st October at the Village Hall where 5 Councillors were present and 6 members of the public including Ward Cllr Wright and Ward Cllr Baldock.

Minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd September 2015 – It was proposed by Cllr Horton and seconded by Cllr Masson that they be accepted as a true record. All agreed.

Public Time– KCC Grants – Ward Cllr Baldock advised that next year would possibly be his last year as a Councillor and therefore Parish’s should start looking into any major projects that they would like to undertake with a view to Cllr Baldock providing a quarter of the funding with the other three quarters being worked into the precept. Bus Timetable update – Ward Cllr Baldock reported that leaflets had been distributed throughout Upchurch and so far a very good response has been received. Lower Halstow are still awaiting a leaflet drop. The next stage will be to collate the results and put a case forward to the KCC transport cabinet.  

Correspondence – Letter of resignation – Cllr Tucker advised the members that a letter of resignation had been received from Cllr Maria Rose and all agreed that she would be missed and that she had been a committed member of the Parish Council.  Village Hall price increase – The Clerk advised the members that she had received notification of minimal price increases for the hire of the village hall.

Planning – 15/507464/FULL -  3A Upchurch Poultry Farm, Poot Lane – It was agreed that there appear to be no issues with this application. Cllr Tucker will forward a response for the Clerk to submit before the 14^th October 2015. 15/502716/FULL – Breach Farm Paddocks, Newington – Cllr Lewin reported that permission was granted for this application at the Swale planning meeting on 23^rd September 2015. Both Cllr Lewin and Ward Cllr Wright objected strongly to this. 14/505230/FULL Jack Russell Place Cllr Lewin reported that permission was granted for this application at the Swale planning meeting on 29^th September 2015. Horsham Lane Garage – The Clerk reported that the she had received a demolition notice for the garage. The demolition will be controlled by the conditions set out by the planning department. These conditions are available from the Clerk or via the website.

Other Planning - Traveller Sites – Cllr Lewin reported that the Government have produced a new policy on traveller sites. This policy is applicable from August 2015 although Swale Borough Council are still awaiting guidance on this. Bearing Fruits – Cllr Lewin reported that the draft was submitted in April 2015 to the Inspector, following this the Inspector has asked for further information and commented that the number of housing being submitted at 540 is distant from the objective assessed and has asked that this be reassessed. Following the reassessment a figure of 776 will be published but Swale will be meeting with the Inspector in November to defend its initial figure of 540.

Finance – The Clerk reported that she had received a cheque for £125 from Allianz insurance in respect of the excess paid when a vehicle collided with the allotment fence. Finance meeting update – It was agreed at the finance meeting that following the playground inspection, the removal of the old play equipment and rubber matting would need to take priority. It had also been agreed that the Parish Council would donate £500 to the village hall towards painting costs.

Casual Vacancy – As there are currently three vacancies on the Parish Council, it was agreed that a leaflet drop would take place throughout the village to promote these vacancies.

Allotments – An allotment rent increase for next year was agreed.

Recreation Ground – The Clerk reported that a bench had been vandalised and that this had been reported to the PCSO John Cork. The Clerk was asked to speak to the insurance company regarding making a claim for this. The Clerk also reported that a large amount of household rubbish had been disposed of in the Recreation Ground.

Paddock – The Clerk reported that there had been further vandalism to the rubber matting under the round swing in the Paddock and this had also been reported to PCSO John Cork. This was thought to have been damaged by an individual sleeping rough in the Paddock and PCSO John Cork asked that people be vigilant. Cllr Tucker reported that due to the GPC meeting not taking place the way forward with the removal of the old play area equipment was still awaiting discussion. Cllr Arnold reported that the new parts have been placed on the climbing frame. Cllr Arnold also reported that the Paddock gate is broken and that he will be looking into costs for fixing this.

Bus Shelter – The Clerk reported that she is still awaiting an appointment for a pre planning site meeting with Swale Planning. Following the Swale West meeting on 14^th September the Clerk reported that Ward Cllr Baldock had agreed to provide a £5000 match funded grant next year towards the bus shelter.

Burial Ground and Churchyard – The Clerk reported that she has begun sending the revised rules and regulations to plot owners requesting that they return the signed statement to confirm they have read and agree to the rules.

Highways – Cllr Lewin reported that the enforcement officers have had a degree of success with regards to the parking outside of Holywell School.

Other Matters not yet arising – Remembrance Sunday Service – This will take place in St Mary’s Church on 8^th November at 10.15am. Cllr Lewin has ordered the wreath. Defibrillator – Cllr Arnold reported that this cannot be placed in direct sunlight and therefore Snaffles is not a feasible site for it. It was agreed that Cllr Arnold would look into a place to temporarily site this until it can possibly be moved to the Bus Shelter next year.  

Please note the full Minutes from the Meeting can be seen on the Upchurch Parish Council website.

The next Parish Council Meeting will take place on 5^th November at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

Julia Cura, Clerk to the Parish Council.

Tel: 01634 363906

Email: clerk@upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

Website: www.upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

UpARA - October 2015 Events

David Powell - Chairman
Email: davidrpowell5@hotmail.co.uk
Telephone: 01795 843550
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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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