St Mary's Church Fundraising Sale

There will be no church fundraising sale this month.

Our next sale will be on Saturday the 11th of September.

For Homemade Cakes, Scones, Preserves, Puzzles, Paperback Books

and more...

Look out for our new advertising banners.

Mary Stone

Parcel Stolen - Upchurch

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Crime Number: 46/144774/21

At 1:00pm on Monday the 9th of August, a parcel was stolen from the doorstep of a property in Breach Lane, Upchurch, by an intruder.

The suspect drove off in a black Subaru, reg number: VK58 RKY.

If you have any information that could help investigators please contact Kent Police on telephone number 101 and quote the relevant crime number above.

For more information on crime prevention visit: www.kent.police.uk

Kent Community Messaging

The Rainbow Café at St Mary's Church, Upchurch

2nd September - 7th October - 4th November - 2nd December

All ages welcome

Hi everyone,

We are so pleased to announce that the Rainbow Café will be reopening on Thursday the 2nd of September. Then every first Thursday of the month.

Our opening times will be slightly longer. We will open from 2:00pm until 5:00pm. This will enable any adults who would like a bit of space to come and enjoy tea and cake before we get busy with our Rainbow Kids.

Safety

Our risk assessment is available to anyone who wishes to see it.

We will be asking everyone to sign in. This is so we can keep you informed if anyone at the Rainbow Café tests positive for Covid. It will also allow us to contact you about anything that we think you will enjoy. We will protect your details and if you don't want to be contacted, please tick the no contact square on the form.

There will be hand-gel readily available along with masks for those who want one and have forgotten their own. Please respect those who want to keep their distance and want to wear a mask.

There will still be our great 'Snack Deal' for the kids - 5 items plus a juice for £1. Our tea/coffee/cakes and savouries will still be really good value. And we are still keeping 4 Ugandan children in school, as well as providing them with books, pens, shoes and uniforms. The great thing was, that throughout lockdown we were able to keep funding them, because of generous donations from people in Upchurch.

Because Covid hasn't gone away there will be a small change. We will be asking the children to sit to eat, sit to play games and sit to do crafts. Until we have worked out how the Rainbow Café will run normally, we will be asking parents to help us make sure there isn't any running around. The other change will be that at the end of the Rainbow Café (4:30pm) there will be a bible story in the Lady Chapel while the Rainbow Café team clean and sanitize all the games, pens etc. Of course, the story isn't compulsory and you are free to leave at that point instead of stay for the story. However, we do hope the children will like the idea of a story and that you decide to join us.

We are really looking forward to seeing you all at the next Rainbow Café.

Gill Gay and all the Rainbow Café team

A History of Upchurch Recreation Ground by David Wood

A well known feature of the village, the recreation ground has hosted many events and activities since the end of the nineteenth century and has served as an open space for general recreational use.

The parish council decided to take the field opposite Black Horse Meadow (the present allotments) in Oak Lane and convert it into a recreation ground in 1897. Previously it had existed as a stony arable field owned by St John’s College, Oxford. After preparation of the field, grass was sown and hop poles were used to fence in the area. George Webb & Co acting on behalf of St John’s College negotiated a lease with the parish council and Upchurch recreation ground came into existence.

Apart from occasional football matches involving village boys on the ground, the only development during the early years was the construction of an iron galvanized urinal which the parish council had erected after complaints from residents about boys publicly urinating on the ground. The urinal became the first public toilet in the village.

After a relatively short period, the parish council viewed the recreation ground as being too expensive to maintain, so after a meeting on 9th August 1906, they decided to abandon it. The parish council gave notice to George Webb & Co and the area fell into disuse but there were calls to re-establish it in 1919. An application was made to George Webb & Co for the site and an agreement was then made for a 14 year lease at a cost of £28 per annum. This included seven acres for the recreation ground and additional land for allotments situated next to it in Black Horse Woods which had formerly been part of the vicarage.

During World War Two as part of the war effort, the recreation ground was taken for food production. Initially, it stood unused then Sid Jenkins from Horsham Farm took it over for his pigs on a lease of £12 per annum in 1942. He held the ground on condition that he maintained the gates and fences and at the expiry of the lease he left the ground in the same condition as when he took it on. A local army unit also got permission to use the area for physical training in October 1942.

At the end of the lease, Sid Jenkins sowed grass seed on the ground and then vacated it allowing it to revert back to recreational use. After this numerous organisations used the area. These included the Jehovah Witness Movement in 1947 and fair proprietor John Body who rented the ground for £5 per annum in 1954. This led to an annual fair taking place on the site. A little later the ground became the home of Upchurch Football Club and they had a basic wooden hut erected for changing purposes on the Bishop Lane side of the ground. The judging of floats and fancy dress parades also took place as part of the village carnival from 1952 to 1982.

During the early 1960s investigations were made into the establishment of a new recreation ground after George Webb & Co refused to renew the lease. Reverend Bradshaw offered The Paddock but it was rejected and farmer Frank Stevens was approached about selling some land at Holywell but he refused. Later in 1963 farmer Vic Mannering from Lower Halstow offered to sell eight acres of ground at Twinney to the parish council. At a public meeting on 29th January 1963 residents argued that the proposed site was too far out of the village and rejected it. Former resident Mrs Robinson then offered some waste ground beside the recreation ground on the site of the present Bishop Lane but the parish council deemed it unsuitable. Finally, George Webb & Co and the parish council made a deal and the former recreation ground became available to village residents again.

A young David Wood aged 12 or 13, playing in goal on the

recreation ground with other village boys around 1963/64.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Upchurch Football Club used the ground on Saturdays and Upchurch United used it on Sundays for several seasons but when these two clubs folded junior clubs from outside the parish rented the ground for football matches and training purposes. Eventually, organised club football ceased on the recreation ground.

More recently, trees were planted around the perimeter of the recreation ground, a pathway was constructed at each end and gates were fitted at the Oak Lane entrance to prevent unauthorised car parking. Goal posts were erected to encourage youngsters to play football on the site instead of in The Paddock. After this, the parish council had a beacon installed at the Oak Lane end of the recreation ground in 2018.

Upchurch Recreation Ground.

The beacon consists of a four metre high oak post with a steel basket on the top. An arm on the side of the post has a shield with one side showing the trenches and the other depicting soldiers at ease. A memorial bench was later placed beside the beacon.

The lighting of the beacon on 11th November 2018 included a ceremony called ‘Battle’s Over, A Nation’s Tribute’. The names of the fallen were read out and a bugler played ‘The Last Post.’ This was followed by the ringing of the church bells ‘Ringing for Peace’.

Although not an annual event, the next planned beacon ceremony is for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons on Thursday 2nd June 2022.

Issues have arisen over the years such as unauthorised car parking, an incursion by vehicles with caravans and equestrian enthusiasts riding their horses over the area, but the recreation ground has survived and is a familiar and popular open space in the village.

David Wood

About David

David was born and raised at Ham Green and still lives there today. He writes from personal experience about Upchurch village life and the changes that have taken place over the years.

David's book, Memories of Upchurch, is a very readable and detailed historical study of the village and is available direct from David at: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk price £12 + postage and packing.

Upchurch Halloween Party

On Friday 29th October 2021

From 7:00pm until 10:00pm

At Lower Halstow Memorial Hall

Please book your tickets at >> https://bit.ly/2U6pHoF

Hannah Bartlett

Temporary Road Closure - Vicarage Lane, Lower Halstow

Kent County Council has made an order to temporarily prohibit through traffic on Vicarage Lane, Lower Halstow from Monday 16th August 2021 for up to 3 days between the hours of 08:00 and 18:00.

The road will be closed at the junction with School Lane, to the extent indicated by signs and barriers on site.

The alternative route for any through traffic is via School Lane, The Street, Vicarage Lane and vice versa.

The closure is required for the safety of the public and workforce while ducting works are undertaken by Openreach.

For information regarding the closure please contact Openreach on: 0800 023 2023, who will be able to assist with the scope of these works.

KCC 24hr Contact Centre: 03000 418181

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

Kent County Council - Highways, Transportation & Waste