Traditional Sunday Roast at Upchurch River Valley Golf Course

Jenny Giles - Upchurch River Valley Golf Course

Telephone: 01634 360626

Website: www.rivervalleygolf.co.uk

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Temporary Road Closures - Boxted Lane and Wardwell Lane, Lower Halstow

National Grid is currently working to replace the overhead electricity lines that run between Littlebrook substation and Kemsley, Sittingbourne, as well as some minor upgrade work to the pylons themselves.

To safely accommodate these works, National Grid will need to temporarily close Boxted Lane, Lower Halstow from the junction with Breach Lane to Church View Cottages and Wardwell Lane, Lower Halstow from the junction with School Lane to near the Newington Enterprise Centre between 20th July and 16th August 2020.

The closures will be clearly signposted along with diversions.

It’s likely you’ll notice some activity during the works. National Grid appreciates that at the moment peopleare at home and the team will do all they can to keep disruption to a minimum. Work on the overhead line is set to be completed by the end of 2020 and please also be assured there will be no impact on your power supply.

National Grid continues to liaise closely with the Government to ensure it is are following the most updated guidance and that the decisions made are in the best interests of the workers and communities throughout this period.

If you have any queries about the project, please do not approach the workers on site but contact the project community relations team on: 0800 319 6188 Email: nationalgrid@littlebrookkemsley.co.uk

The team is available every day from 7:00am until 7:00pm.

Daisy Rudd - Local Dialogue Ltd

For and on behalf of National Grid

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SGN - Gas Network Upgrade in Station Road, Rainham

We're upgrading our gas network in Station Road, Rainham

Project ref: SOE4895

We will shortly be starting safety-critical work to our network in your street. We'll be replacing our old metal gas mains and services with new plastic pipe.

This project needs to go ahead now, rather than wait until the Coronavirus pandemic passes, to ensure you and your neighbours continue to receive a safe and reliable gas supply. Our contractor Forefront Utilities will be carrying out this project on our behalf.

In close consultation with Medway Council, our project will start on Monday 27th July and will last approximately 7 months.

Our engineers will be working in Station Road from Caversham Close and progressing northwards towards Ellison Way in 5 phases.

To keep everyone safe, we'll need to install temporary traffic lights around our work area, which will move with us as we progress northwards along Station Road. While we are working close to Rainham rail crossing, we'll manually control our traffic lights Monday to Friday between 7:00am and 7:00pm.

All work will be suspended over the Christmas period and we'll resume our work in January 2021 to avoid disrupting the town during the busy festive period.

We've worked closely with UK Government and public health bodies to make sure we're working in line with expert advice during the coronavirus pandemic. We have extra safety precautions in place to protect you and our colleagues from catching or spreading the virus.

Once our engineers start work, they'll be happy to answer questions at any time during our project. Please remember to keep a safe distance when speaking to our team or passing our site.

We understand that people can get frustrated by roadworks. However, the new plastic pipe has a minimum lifespan of 80 years. This means that when the work is complete, local residents will continue to enjoy the benefits of a safe and reliable gas supply for years to come.

Thank you in advance for your co-operation.

Yours faithfully

Steve Jones

Project Manager

Website: www.sgn.co.uk
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July News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

July has arrived, summer is under way and the weather has turned exceedingly average. Things are steadily returning to normal but there is an undercurrent of concern about what the future holds, but one thing is certain, the weeds will still grow. Hopefully you have managed to light the BBQ and enjoy a few evenings in the garden although it is still a bit cool.

Watering, deadheading, pruning and fertilising are the main priorities to keep everything at its best... and of course weeding! I have made a start on the front garden but struggling with enthusiasm. The borders look so much better for it but I can always find something better to do. As the early shrubs finish flowering, prune out the older branches (the ones with the most sub laterals) or pollard the entire plant and start again, is does them good especially if the flower is becoming sparse. The cooler weather suits the lawn but keep it watered and green and take this opportunity to apply a final high Nitrogen (N) weed and feed to see it through to the Autumn.

The vegetable patch should be in full swing with so much ready for harvest and second sowings to be planted out. Potatoes have done well this year with a bumper early crop and the maincrop flowering and looking healthy. All my beans are late this year, but the broad beans are getting close and the climbing beans are starting to flower, I think they will all come at once. The rhubarb has produced well again although recent hot weather has set it back. Plenty of water and cool weather should produce another pick and I will ignore the stop picking in July rule, I picked until August last year and it hasn’t weakened them at all.

The June drop is now over so see if fruit needs a final thinning to increase the size of the final crop. Watch out for all the pests and diseases, pick out the tips of lateral branches if they are starting to wither and lightly prune apples, cherries and plums. Give them a good watering and feed along with the raspberries which are shallow rooted and tend to dry out.

I have noticed that a lot of my plums are oozing a clear resin so have resorted to Google to try and find the reason.

Unfortunately the advice is a bit inconclusive. Some say it is just excess pectin which means the plum will make good jam. Others say that it is due to dry roots and needs a good watering. What is worrying is that some articles say that it is sawfly which will render the fruit inedible and if allowed to fall to the ground will allow the grub to go into the soil and pupate into next year’s sawfly. I have picked one plum and found nothing so I will give the tree a good watering and allow them to ripen and then we will see.

Anyway it’s the Fourth of July and the pubs have opened, although I will give them a miss for a couple of weeks until the heaving sigh of national relief has passed. Instead I will celebrate the independence of the colonies from the comfort of my own home. We recently managed to settle up our war debt with our American allies, although I discovered that we never fully settled up our debt from the first war. That gives me something to celebrate and can be considered as fair recompense for all that unpaid tea tax… cheers Mr President.

We are always looking for new members and try to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables and flowers or even enter any of the 3 shows we hold each year, then please get in touch, we would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Rosey on: 01634 377812 (evenings) or Email: rosemary@ringwoodaccounting.co.uk

Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
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KCC Announces Schedule for Reopening Some Libraries

Following the Government’s latest announcements to ease lockdown restrictions, Kent County Council will start a phased reopening of its libraries from Monday, 13th July, with a new ‘Select and Collect’ service that will temporarily replace bookshelf browsing.

The reopening will initially start with 12 of the county’s main town centre libraries and will focus primarily on the Select and Collect service, as well as free PC and WiFi use, which will be bookable in advance.

The 12 libraries scheduled to reopen include:

- Sevenoaks Kaleidoscope

- Dartford Library

- Sittingbourne Library

- Herne Bay Library

- Gravesend Library

- Broadstairs library

- Southborough library

- Deal Library

- Ashford Gateway Plus

- Tonbridge Library

- Kent History & Library Centre, Maidstone

- Folkestone Library

James Pearson, KCC’s Head of Libraries, Registration and Archives, said:

“Our priority is to make Kent’s libraries as safe as possible, so not all of our services will be available initially.

Our Select and Collect service will provide a book-borrowing service where orders can be made both online and over the phone, allowing customers to pick their items up from one of the 12 libraries at an agreed date and time. Crucially, the Select and Collect service will avoid the need for physical bookshelf browsing - keeping our customers and staff as safe as possible.”

KCC plans to launch the Select and Collect book ordering service from 7th July. Customers who order items from that date will be contacted and given a time slot to pick up their items when libraries reopen from Monday, 13th July. From that date, the book collection service, along with pre-bookable PC and WiFi usage, will be available from each of the 12 libraries 10:00am - 4:00pm, Monday to Saturday.

“We know many of our customers have lots of books and other items that they borrowed before the lockdown,” said Mr Pearson. “We can reassure everyone that there will be no overdue charges for any items for this period and we are renewing all items taken out before lockdown until 31st December.”

Customers will be able to return borrowed items to any of the 12 libraries listed to a drop box or a return bin outside one of the 12 open libraries from Tuesday 7th July.

In addition, KCC has already restarted its Home Library Service deliveries, along with its postal loan service to the blind and partially sighted - ensuring it continues to provide crucial services to its most vulnerable customers. KCC expects to restart the mobile library service in late July.

These services complement the various digital library offers currently available online at: www.kent.gov.uk/libs - including free online joining, e-books, e-audio books, e-magazines, and e-newspapers.

Mike Hill, KCC Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services, said:

“We know how important our services and spaces are to the entire community and, subject to Government guidelines, we will be opening additional buildings over the coming months and developing our offer, including the return of bookshelf browsing.

We appreciate all our customers’ patience and support while we work to restart our services and we look forward to welcoming them back.”

Customers can start using the Select and Collect service from Tuesday 7th July by visiting www.kent.gov.uk/libs or by calling: 03000 413131

Murray Evans

Kent County Council

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Gill Gay Will Be Collecting For Swale Foodbank Again

Hi everyone,

I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful support we have received on behalf of Swale Foodbank so far.

My husband and I will be collecting again in the bus stop lay-by opposite the Church in Horsham Lane on Wednesday 8th July between 10:30am and 11.30am.

Please come along with your donations (in carrier bags would be helpful) and put them into our open car boot while we remain at a safe distance.

We will then deliver your donations to the Swale Foodbank Warehouse, part of the Trussell Trust.

Please tell your friends and family.

This need won't be going away soon, unfortunately, if ever.

Thank you

Gill Gay - Foodbank Co-ordinator

Email: gilliangay99@yahoo.co.uk

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