Temporary Road Closure - Old House Lane, Hartlip

Kent County Council has made an order to temporarily prohibit through traffic on Old House Lane, Hartlip from Monday 6th July 2020 for up to 1 day between the hours of 09:00 and 17:00.

The road will be closed from the junction with Grainey Fields to outside Old House Farm, to the extent indicated by signs and barriers on site.

The alternative route for any through traffic is via Old House Lane, Lower Hartlip Road, Cowstead Road, Bull Lane and vice versa.

Access for emergency service vehicles and pedestrians will be maintained at all times during the closure.

The closure is required for the safety of the public and workforce while tree surgery works to hang over head fibre are undertaken by BT.

For information regarding the closure please contact BT on: 0800 800150, who will be able to assist with the scope of the works.

The KCC Highways 24hr Contact Centre helpline is: 03000 418181

For details of roadworks see: https://one.network

Kent County Council - Highways, Transportation & Waste
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The Dance of Distancing - A Parody

Revd Pat Tatchell.

As a Member of the Royal British Legion, I receive regular weekly reports of RBL activity from the local Sittingbourne and Milton branch included in which is a prayer from the branch Chaplain, the Revd Pat Tatchell.

In the last report, the Chaplain offered her prayer by writing the parody below.

Gerry Lewin

“As a change this week I offer a parody of Wordsworth’s Daffodils.

My prayer being that as we look back on this time we can be thankful that social distancing will have kept us safe.”

The Dance of Distancing 

(With apologies to William Wordsworth)

I wander'd lonely as a cloud
that floats on high o'er empty streets,
when all at once I saw a crowd
of people queuing for their meats,

beside the store, beneath the trees
dodging and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the stony shore,
they stretch'd in never-ending line
along the margin of the store:
so many saw I at a glance
keeping their gaps in sprightly dance.

They moved aside and gave some space

as starlings in a murmuration.

No one competing in a race

but moving round in odd rotation

I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought.

For oft, when on my couch I lie
in vacant or in pensive mood,
they flash upon that inward eye
which is the bliss of solitude;
and then my mind with memory fills
that dances kept them safe from ills.

Pat Tatchell

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UPDATE from SGN - Gas Network Upgrade in A2/High Street, Newington - Wednesday 10th June

I’m pleased to let you know that our engineers are currently inserting the final sections of new plastic pipe in the A2 Newington as part of our programme of work developed with the Health and Safety Executive to ensure a safe and reliable gas supply to properties in the local area and beyond.

We will shortly start our process of reinstating the road following our engineering work being completed. For everyone’s safety while this work is carried out, temporary traffic lights will remain in place around our work area.

We expect to complete our whole replacement project and safely remove our traffic lights from site by Friday 21st June, 10 weeks ahead of schedule.

After close consultation with the local authorities and the community, our project began at the end of September 2019 and was expected to last 12 months. However, several contributing factors meant that we’ve been able to progress quicker than expected with our upgrade project.

For example, our engineers were able to use a new insertion technique allowing greater lengths of new plastic pipe to be inserted, and our teams were able to work simultaneously on different phases. Working closely with the local authority, and how they accommodated our needs for a full road closure, allowed us to speed up our progress further.

We would like to thank residents, traders, shoppers and road users for their continued patience and understanding while we’ve carried out this essential work to ensure the local community can enjoy the benefits of a safe and reliable gas supply for many years to come.

Please feel free to share this information with anyone you think may be impacted by our work.

If you have any further queries please let me know.

Kind regards

Paige Roberts

Stakeholder and Community Manager

SGN Gas

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Urgent Road Closure - Breach Lane, Upchurch

It will be necessary to close Breach Lane, Upchurch from Wednesday 10th June 2020 for up to 2 days.

The road will be closed at the junctions of Landrail Road and A2.

The alternative route is via Breach Lane, The Street, Halstow Lane and Holywell Lane.

This closure is necessary to enable carriageway repairs to be carried out by Kent County Council.

This Notice applies when the relevant signs and barriers are on site and is valid for a period of no more than 5 days.

For information regarding this closure please contact Kent County Council on:

03000 418181 (9:00am - 5:00pm)
03000 419191 (5:00pm - 9:00am)

For details of roadworks see: https://t.co/EOqjXthCZR?amp=1

Kent County Council - Highways, Transportation & Waste
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Road Closure - Lower Rainham Road, Rainham

Lower Rainham Road will be closed near the junction with Station Road on Friday 26th June 2020 for 1 day between 9:30am and 3:30pm for carriageway resurfacing works by Medway Council.

Street parking will be suspended during the period of work.

If you require access to your property, please ask the contractors on site for assistance.

The diversion route is via Lower Rainham Road, Otterham Quay Lane, A2 - High Street and Station Road.

For information regarding this closure please telephone: 01634 333333

For details of roadworks see: www.medway.gov.uk/resurfacing

Upchurch Matters

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Medway to Mark 150th Anniversary of Dickens’ Death Virtually

Medway will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens virtually.

Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic planned events and activities to celebrate Dickens 150 were unable to go ahead, in line with government advice, however a number of virtual activities will now be held to mark the anniversary.

Dickens spent much of his life in Medway and many of his novels and characters were inspired by his experiences of living here. Eastgate House in Rochester features in The Pickwick Papers and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The Grade 1 listed Elizabethan mansion, which was built in 1590, was also used as a Victorian school.

A host of videos, quizzes, talks and virtual trails have been created by Medway Council and its creative partners which will be posted on social media from Tuesday, 9th June until Sunday, 14th June for residents to take part in. These include a video where residents can meet one of Great Expectation’s lesser known characters created by Play on Words, a Dickens themed online Medway Print Festival and a tutorial from Dizzy O’Dare on how to write your own masterpiece.

The council’s Heritage Team education officer, Dr Jeremy Clarke, has also created videos to illustrate Dickens’ association with Medway and how it influenced his work as well as glimpses into Dickens’ private and public lives. Children will also be able to take part in a virtual trail and meet some of his best loved characters as part of a drawing activity as well as search their homes for items that would have been familiar to a Victorian family in a special Victorian treasure hunt on Friday, 12th June. Quizzes will be posted on the Enjoy Medway social media accounts to test residents’ knowledge of the author.

Residents can also download a copy of The Mystery of Edwin Drood from Medway’s library service and join in virtual discussions about the novel on the Reading Drood blog each month until October. If you’re not already a member of Medway libraries you can join online and borrow eBooks immediately. A member of the Medway Libraries team will also read an extract from The Uncommercial Traveller on their YouTube channel.

Cllr Howard Doe, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Services, said:

“Although we will not be marking the 150th anniversary of Dickens’ death as we had planned I am pleased that we will be commemorating his death and celebrating his much loved works. We are proud of Medway’s connections to Dickens and I would encourage residents to take part in our virtual celebrations.”

To join in the fun and exciting activities for families and Dickens fans from home visit www.medway.gov.uk/dickens150 or follow Enjoy Medway on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Medway Council

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