Upchurch Village Hall Invites you to Afternoon Tea

Saturday 21st August from 3:00pm to 5:00pm

As part of the full re-opening, the Upchurch Village Hall Management Committee would like to say “thank you” to the residents and organisations of Upchurch for supporting us prior to and during the closure. During the closure, we commissioned a significant amount of work on refreshing the hall ceiling, floor, electrics, and fire systems.

We are inviting you to accept our free afternoon tea, made by members of the Upchurch WI, from 3:00pm - 5:00pm when you will be able to sit and talk to friends whilst drinking a cup of tea, coffee or soft drink with a slice of homemade cake.

This invitation, open to all residents, will give you a chance to engage with village organisations present on the day. A chance to discover what plans they have going forward, to be talked into becoming a member, to be offered something to purchase etc. In fact a chance for us all to reconnect with each other again in the life of this village.

The following organisations are planning to be represented with others to confirm - the Choral Society, the Friends of St Mary, the Guides, “Old School Afternoon Teas”, the Players [oh yes they are!], the Scouts, “Smile Malawi”, St Mary’s church, UpARA, the Women’s Institute and “Wooden Crafts”.

If any others want a free stand please show your interest by contacting Gerry Lewin 01634 366113 / 07946 996789.

Covid-19 all but closed the Village Hall for use since April 2020. On the 19th July Government made its Roadmap announcements and the hall is fully open up to its regular users and new hirers.

We look forward to seeing you there with the family.

David Steward - Chairman UVH

Front Garden Sale in Bishop Lane

General household items will be for sale in front gardens at Bishop Lane, around number 17, from 10:00am until 3:00pm on Saturday 7th August.

Iris Martin

News from Upchurch Choral Society

It is with much pleasure and expectation that we announce that we will be resuming our singing on Friday 3rd September 2021.

We trust that restrictions by then will allow us to sing our hearts out every Friday evening as we used to do and present a concert of seasonal music in our church on Saturday 27th November.

A spring concert is also planned for 2022.

Also, we will be having a stall at the Village Hall Afternoon Tea on Saturday 21st August, see advert elsewhere. Do come and visit us and gain more information about our activities, maybe think about joining us.

We are a four-part choir and sing all manner of things in the church with the help of our conductor Marius and our accompanist Janet.

For more information do contact our Secretary Sue Rossiter:

Telephone: 01634 234780

Email: suerossiter@waitrose.com

Sue Rossiter - Secretary Upchurch Choral Society

Upchurch River Valley Golf Course - Customer Notice

Jenny Giles - Upchurch River Valley Golf Course

Telephone: 01634 360626
Website: www.rivervalleygolf.co.uk

August News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

We are now well into the summer and having a mix of hot sunny weather with occasional thunderstorms which is not too unusual. The garden will be reaching its peak now and regular maintenance, weeding, deadheading, watering and feeding will get the best out of it. We have been getting heavy dews in the morning which have kept things well watered, especially the lawn, however mid to late summer is normally dryer. I have kept the grass quite long this year which keeps the roots moist and so far it has paid off. There’s time to squeeze in a last high Nitrogen weed and feed in early August before the Autumn comes.

The expected Beanfest has arrived with Broad Beans, French Beans and Runner Beans in abundance. Climbing Beans need to be picked regularly and well-watered to keep the crop coming or else they will stop flowering. Broad Beans should be harvested by now with a large bag in the freezer. A lot of vegetables will be cropping now and second sowings can go in. I leave my early potatoes in the ground until needed in the kitchen but they can be lifted and stored in sacks if you want to reuse the plot. I am going to have a go at Maincrop Turnips this year which can be sown in early August for a crop by late October.

Cobra Climbing Beans, Scarlet Empire Runner Beans and

Exhibition Long Pod Broad Beans.

The borders are rampant and summer perennials and shrubs are flowering well. Tall plants need supporting and can be pruned back to bring on more growth especially Delphiniums which will flower again later in the year. The seed can be gathered now, sown and overwintered for planting next Spring. Now is also a good time to take stem tip cuttings to boost stocks for next year and it is always a good idea to keep spares of your favourite plants.

Apples and Pears should be filling out now and thinning out can be completed to leave the best on the tree to ripen. Give young trees a good watering and feed to bring them on and keep up the battle with pests. Plums, Cherries and Currants will be ready for harvest this month and can also be pruned afterwards. Summer raspberries can be cut back and strawberries tidied up and new runners planted for next year.

The tadpoles have now been released back into the pond having reached a good size in quarantine. The remaining 50 or so should stand a better chance of surviving to become adult frogs. All will become apparent next March when the adults gather in the pond for an absolutely ribbeting time.

As restrictions have lifted the Duchess and I have enjoyed frequenting the local village pubs in pursuit of new interests like the Carpenters Arms and Blacksmiths Arms. I presently have my eye on a bit of boat building and am thinking of The Shipwrights Arms at Oare Marina. However, we did enjoy an evening at the Dog and Bear at Lenham. I phoned beforehand to ask if we could bring the dog and was pleased to hear we could. The Landlord was then pleased to hear that we would leave the bear at home.

UHS is 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 shows we hold each year, 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

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 4th of August 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.

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

Everything is helpful providing it is long life and well within date.

The items they are most in need of are:

UHT Milk

Tinned Fruit

Squash

Tinned Meats

Tinned Fish

Coffee

Thank you for every single donation we receive - we are extremely grateful ❤️

Gill Gay - Foodbank Co-ordinator

Email: gilliangay99@yahoo.co.uk