UPDATED: Gill Gay Will Be Collecting For Swale Foodbank Again

Hi everyone,

I would like to thank you all for the tremendous support we have received on behalf of Swale Foodbank so far.

My husband Ron and I will be collecting again at the bus stop opposite the Church in Horsham Lane on Wednesday the 9th of June (a week later than usual) 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.

The items they are most in need of are:

Long-life Milk
Squash
Coffee
Tinned Meat
Tinned Fish

Thanks so much for every single donation we receive - we are deeply grateful!

Gill Gay - Foodbank Co-ordinator

Email: gilliangay99@yahoo.co.uk

The Strand 125th Anniversary - Online Exhibition and Gallery

This year marks the 125th anniversary of The Strand since it first opened in June 1896.

Earlier this spring, Medway Sport asked residents to send in their favourite memories of the park from years gone by.

They received lots of entries while also uncovering lots of memorabilia and moments from their own archives.

Now you can visit the online exhibition page and scroll through the timeline looking back over the last 125 years, or take a look at the celebratory memory gallery.

New signs will be installed in July to showcase memories and milestones from The Strand's long history.

#TheStrand125

Upchurch Matters

Swale Borough Council - Have Your Say on Local Heritage Assets

Periwinkle Mill - Milton Regis.

People are being asked how to decide which local buildings and green spaces make a positive contribution to the character of the borough.

Swale Borough Council is consulting on the criteria for a new local heritage list to promote awareness of the area’s local heritage assets and highlight their importance.

As part of its heritage strategy, the council committed to creating a local heritage list and wants to work with the community to identify local assets that are valued as distinctive elements of the local identity.

If a building, structure or green space is designated as being of local interest, it will be given the status of heritage asset. This makes its conservation a material consideration in any planning applications.

To decide if an asset can be added to the local heritage list, the council needs to agree the criteria they must meet.

The criteria being proposed are:

• Historic interest - buildings/structures/spaces that are of special social, cultural or economic interest to Swale, and/or have proven affiliation with important local people or events, or other community associations.

• Architectural interest - buildings/structures/spaces that are of special architectural interest to Swale for reasons of their vernacular, aesthetic, type, form, style, plan technology, townscape, unity, or association with important architects.
• Age or rarity - buildings/structures/spaces that are: legibly pre-1700 in interest; of appreciable interest from between 1700-1840; of a high level of interest post-1840; of an outstanding interest and less than 30 years old.

Cllr Mike Baldock, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for planning, said:

“We have such a rich and diverse range of local heritage assets, and we want to make sure we formally recognise their importance to the borough.

“They might not reach the nationally set benchmark for grade I or II listing, but they do have special interest or value to the local area.

“Any local heritage listing needs to be fairly and consistently applied across the borough, so we need as many people as possible to help us decide the criteria heritage assets will be judged against.

“Being on the list will not only be taken into account when considering planning applications but will also - for the first time - create an accurate record of our local heritage assets.”

The consultation asks people for their views on the criteria being suggested and is running until Friday 9th July.

To take part, and find out more, visit: www.swale.gov.uk/lhl-criteria

Swale Borough Council

Urgent Road Closure - Raspberry Hill Lane, Iwade

It will be necessary to close Raspberry Hill Lane, Iwade from Tuesday 8th June 2021 for up to 2 days.

The road will be closed between the junctions of Basser Hill and Old Ferry Road.

The alternative route is via Basser Hill, School Lane, The Street and Old Ferry Road.

This is to enable carriageway maintenance to be carried out by Kent County Council.

KCC 24hr Contact Centre: 03000 418181

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

Kent County Council - Highways, Transportation & Waste

Upchurch Players - Auditions for Cinderella

Auditions

On Monday 28th June - from 7:30pm 

For our production of

Cinderella

On 2nd, 3rd and 4th December

At Upchurch Village Hall

Why not come and give it a try?

For more details or if you are interested but can’t make the auditions, please contact
Rozz Dyett Email: upchurchplayers@gmail.com Tel: 07787 878839

Regrettably...

Due to factors beyond our control, the minimum age for membership is 10 years. Children not attending secondary school need to be accompanied by an adult.

Remember, Daniel Craig and Olivia Colman had to start somewhere!

Upchurch Players

June News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

I didn’t manage to get a May article written last month as the economic challenge distracted me, but given one of the coldest April’s for a while, I imagine progress in the garden was quite slow. Although some days have been wonderfully sunny we have been hindered by a persistent cold wind. A pub garden was a good alternative but it was necessary to dress for the occasion! Despite the wind, the seeds were sown, although a bit late this year. Germination has been good and the seedlings are hardening off… just need to get planted out.

The scratch and patch with Canada Green grass seed (available from Amazon) was completed and starting to come up, so hoping this will be the cure for the persistent droughts we get these days. I will give it a bit of time to get going and then give the lawn a cut.

The fine fellows from the Hideaway Nursery have erected a greenhouse for me so it’s time to get serious about propagation. It’s a bit too late for basal cuttings, but plenty of opportunity for stem tip cuttings and hardwood cuttings later in the year. Although hardwood cuttings can often go straight into the ground without needing a greenhouse. What is good is that even on a cool day, it is lovely and warm with the door closed and I can see myself spending a lot of time in there. One worrying development, though, is that the Duchess has started putting the laundry in there when it rains!

Exochorda “Pearl Bush” suitable for stem tip cuttings in summer.

We picked up some fantastic White Delphiniums, Penstemons and Tomato Plants from the Shoregate Nursery. The perennials have gone into the ground and the Tomato Plants are racing away in the greenhouse. I also noticed that the Leek seedlings planted in January are struggling in B&Q General Compost so picked up a few bags of seedling compost from Josephine which I am sure will be better.

The fruit has blossomed in time to avoid the April frost and the small fruits are forming. It is best to wait for the June drop and see what is left before thinning out. Branches on plum trees can be ripped off due to overbearing as the fruits swell and dwarf rootstock apple trees need to be supported. It is tempting to hang on to as much fruit as possible but young trees may not be able to support the weight and a bumper crop can exhaust the plant. Alternatively, simply prune back fruit trees and remove half the crop, although this is more indiscriminate. Personally, I like to pick off the small ones and let the big ones develop.

There was not much happy ribbetting from the frog pond this year, but we did get a couple of clumps of spawn. This has been collected into a separate container to allow the tadpoles to develop unhindered by predators. We tried this last year but with no apparent improvement in frog numbers… but worth another go.

June is the month when you go into maintenance routine and keep the garden looking at its best through the summer and start to enjoy outdoor living. But having said that, I am sitting here hoping that the weather will pick up as nothing much has happened yet. Definitely looking forward to restaurants and pubs opening for indoor activity. In fact, I have drawn up a list of my favourite country pubs to visit during the summer. In fact, I have decided to take up woodwork…so the first one will be the Carpenters Arms.

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