Swale Borough Council Win Gold Awards for Animal Welfare

The RSPCA has recognised Swale Borough Council’s commitment to animal welfare with two PawPrints Awards.

The council picked up Gold Awards for both its stray dog service and contingency planning team, which go the extra mile to promote animal welfare.

The stray dog service received the award for the tenth year in a row for going above and beyond their basic service requirements to ensure higher animal welfare standards, and actively promoting schemes and services such as micro-chipping.

The contingency planning team picked up the award for the third consecutive year in recognition of their work to make sure the care of animals and pets is included in the council’s plans for emergencies.

Leader of the council, Cllr Roger Truelove, who also has responsibility for emergency planning, said:

“To have our commitment to animal welfare recognised by the RSPCA is a great honour.

We know that in an emergency people want to be sure that their animals are safe, and it’s not unheard of for people to put themselves at risk for the sake of their pets.

By having plans in place to offer space in rest centres for pets wherever possible, and helping the public prepare in advance, we can ease the worry of people in an already difficult situation.”

Cllr Tim Valentine, the cabinet member for environment at the council, said:

“I’m incredibly proud of the work that the stray dog team do, and it’s fantastic they have been recognised for the work they do to help lost or abandoned pets.

The award recognises the entire service - the initial call, the officer who retrieves a dog, the out-of-hours provision, and even the use of social media to reunite owners and pets.

Most dog owners will never use the service, but if they ever do, I hope it’s reassuring to know their pets will receive excellent care until they are reunited.”

For more information about how to plan for animals and pets in an emergency, visit: www.swale.gov.uk/emergency-pet-welfare

For news on stray dogs found in Swale, follow the council’s Twitter account or the service’s Facebook page

To report a stray dog during normal office hours, the public should call: 01795 417850 where arrangements will be made for the dog to be collected.

If a dog is found between 5:00pm and 9:00pm on weekday evenings, and between 9:00am and 9:00pm at weekends and on bank holidays, the public should ring the found stray dog line on: 07795 237479.

Swale Borough Council

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Newington History Group - A-bomb Mystery in Chatham

Are stories true about there being an atom bomb in Chatham during the Cold War? Even today there are people who find it hard to believe or know nothing about the event.

You can get the answer when Graham Dudley explains the mystery at Newington History Group’s meeting on Thursday, September 12th (7:30pm) and tells what really happened.

The group meets monthly in the Methodist Hall, Church Lane, Newington ME9 7JT, on the second Thursday, excluding January and August.

It seeks to unearth, preserve and promote the history of the village and neighbouring areas. Annual subscription is £15; guests (£3) are welcome.

For more details, contact the group through: www.newingtonhistorygroup.btck.co.uk
or call: 01795 842711. Follow on: Twitter and Facebook

Richard Thompstone - Newington History Group

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The Former Edward I Inn, Upchurch by David Wood

Like other former Upchurch inns such as the Lord Stanley and the Anchor & Hope at Otterham Quay, the Edward I no longer exists in the village. The building in which the inn was first located is still situated opposite the church in Horsham Lane and is known as ‘Wayside,’ while the inn’s second location in The Street is now used by the Co-operative Stores.

The building in Horsham Lane dates back to the late seventeenth century after the original fourteenth century building which had once served as the vicarage had fallen into disrepair. This is mentioned in the list of all the benefices in the diocese of Canterbury dated 1663.

After being owned by farmer Thomas Dodd and then Wakeley Brothers to house their workers during the first half of the nineteenth century, flint merchant Edward Gaskin occupied the building during the 1850s. The building then operated as an unlicensed beer house during the 1860s. According to the ‘Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald’ dated September 21st 1867, Edward Mills applied for a license to sell alcohol but the application was refused. A few years later the building appeared as the Edward I Inn for the first time in the national census for Upchurch dated 1871. The census also shows that Charles Copping had become the new landlord. He lived in the building with his wife Anne, a maid and seven farm workers who lodged there. Like The Crown, the Inn provided alcohol and a social meeting place for male village residents who mainly worked on local farms and in the brickfields. Popular beers on offer at the time were English porter, stout and pale ale.

The national census for Upchurch dated 1891 shows that Michael Smitherman had replaced Charles Copping as the landlord and he lived at the property with his wife Rebecca and four children. He arranged smoking concerts at the building during the 1890s. These were live musical events where an exclusively male audience smoked, drank and chatted while the performance took place, popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Michael Smitherman held smoking concerts at the Edward I to raise money for Upchurch residents in need of support. A smoking concert held in July 1898 raised money for George Capeling whose wife had recently died and for an ailing Edward Hollands in July 1899. Horticultural shows were also organised at the building three times a year and these raised money for St Bart’s Hospital in Rochester.

With a large number of small rooms, the bar area was situated on the ground floor with a beer cellar directly below. It isn’t known how many separate bars existed at the Edward I but there were usually two or three for different classes of people in nineteenth century pubs and inns.

The Former Edward I Inn, The Street, Upchurch.

Thanks to: www.dover-kent.com - Kent's Public House Archive Site for this photograph,
taken after the Edward I Inn had closed and the building became
The Royal Naval Convalescent Home for Wounded Sailors.

New premises were constructed for the Edward I in The Street in 1893. An opening ceremony took place followed by a musical procession led by the village brass band which marched through The Street on October 19th 1893.

While Medway brewery Style & Winch owned the Edward I, Michael Smitherman, formerly the landlord in the Horsham Lane inn, became the first landlord at the new building in The Street and he continued there until 1911. His two great granddaughters Mary Barden and Jane Goodwin live in Upchurch.

After Michael Smitherman finished as landlord, Alfred Wyles who had previously served as proprietor of the Anchor & Hope at Otterham Quay took over as a beer retailer at the inn which, according to the electoral register for Upchurch, continued to function with the name Edward I until 1916.

When the Edward I Inn finally closed the building became The Royal Naval Convalescent Home for Wounded Sailors in 1917. Miriam Hilton-Coulton lived and worked there as the matron and continued running the convalescent home as ‘The Miriam Rooms’ after the war. Only The Crown has continued to function as a pub in the village centre.

About David

David Wood was born, raised and still lives in Upchurch today. He is able to write from personal experience about village life and the changes that have taken place over the years, making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and 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

UpARA - September 2019 Newsletter & Latest Schedule of Events

John Wishart - Chairman

Tel: 07971 511956

Email: john@togthedog.co.uk

Website: www.upara.club

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Upchurch WI - Quiz Night

Wendy Pitts - Upchurch Women's Institute

Tel: 01634 362253

Email: marwen.pitts@btinternet.com

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SGN Gas - Slideshow Presentation for Gas Main Replacement Works on the A2 from Oak Lane to Key Street

The video may not be visible in your Email version.
If not, you can watch it at the link here >> http://bit.ly/2ZoutiO

KCC Member for Swale West, Councillor Mike Whiting held a very well attended public meeting at Newington Village Hall on Thursday 22nd August, to discuss the proposed replacement of 4.46km of old iron gas main along the A2, from Oak Lane to Key Street.

At the meeting, Southern Gas Networks (SGN), their contractor, Kent Highways and Kent Police all addressed residents concerns over some of the things that went well, and those things that did not go so well (or went badly) during the recent emergency closure of the A2 - Newington High Street.

It is proposed that engineers will start gas main replacement works on the A2 - London Road at its junction with Oak Lane and will progress eastwards towards Key Street Roundabout. At this stage to ensure everyone’s safety, SGN will need to have temporary traffic lights in place around their work area which will move with them as they progress along the A2 towards Key Street Roundabout. They have also agreed with Kent County Council to carry out specialist surveys over the coming week on all the utilities located in the road, which will help determine exactly which traffic management is required.

SGN Gas estimate that to replace the 4.46km of old iron gas main along the A2, from Oak Lane to Key Street will take them 42 weeks. They plan to carry out the works in 11 small phases. Some phases of the works may require the closure of side roads. More info on this will be advised nearer the time. Contractors will be working 6 days a week replacing the old gas main with reinstatement work being carried out on Sundays. They plan to carry out the works under temporary traffic lights this time, meaning no more full road closures of the A2 Newington - High Street are planned.

SGN, their contractor, KCC Highways and Kent Police all plan to work together to minimise any disruption to residents and business during these works. All have listened to residents concerns about the high number of HGVs using the A2 and the problems it causes, the unsuitability of some nearby country lanes as official diversion routes, improving signage next time round and extra police enforcement to deal with drivers who choose to ignore the road signs that have been put in place.

The proposed start date of Monday 16th September is now looking unlikely because of KCC Officers' concerns, many of which were raised by members of the public during the meeting.

For those that couldn't make the meeting, above is a video created from the slideshow presentation given by SGN Gas during the meeting.

Upchurch Matters

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