UPDATE: Flu Vaccinations at Maidstone Road Surgery - Upchurch and Changes to Upchurch Surgery Times

Dr Supriya Das & Dr Lakshmi Subbiah

Flu vaccinations

The second batch of Flu vaccines has arrived, available to those 65 yrs and over: plus those vulnerable patients.

Please contact the surgery by telephone or call in to make a Flu vaccination appointment.

For those patients who are ‘house bound’, the surgery will contact you to make an appointment for a home visit.

Changes to Upchurch surgery times on 20th October

Upchurch surgery will be closed on the afternoon/evening of Wednesday 20th October 2021 but will be open between 10:00am and 1:00pm instead.

Ray Kemsley

Chair - Surgery Patient Participation Group - Upchurch & Rainham

A History of Greylag Farm at Ham Green by David Wood

Nowadays, Greylag Farm is a charming white country cottage in a pleasant setting situated at Ham Green. Constructed during the second half of the 18th century as a farmhouse, outbuildings are located at the back of the property and were once used for the storage of agricultural equipment and produce.

The house originally consisted of three bedrooms, a loft and four downstairs rooms which included a kitchen, a living room, a sitting room and a storage room.

Another feature that dates from the farm’s early period is a concrete boundary post with the letter U on one side and H on the other situated to the left of the driveway entrance to Greylag Farm. The post served as a boundary marker dividing the parish of Upchurch from Lower Halstow. This happened because during the mid-18th century the body of a dead sailor was recovered from the river but permission to allow it to be buried in Upchurch churchyard was refused by the village overseers. However, Lower Halstow overseers allowed the body to be buried in Halstow village churchyard. This resulted in the farmer who owned the land at Ham Green to present the parish of Lower Halstow with 500 acres of land in the area as a gift in appreciation for what they had done. The land was returned to Upchurch during the 19th century but the rights of Ham Green residents in the former Lower Halstow part to use Upchurch church were not restored until 1961.

During the late 18th and the first half of the 19th century farmer Stephen Hedgecock and his family lived at the property which became known as Hedgecocks Farm. The farm consisted of 40 acres. A garden was also located on the opposite side of the road’ slightly to the right of the house according to the Upchurch Tithe Map of 1839.

Stephen Hedgecock, a well-known farmer in the parish, became one of only sixteen Upchurch residents to be given the right to vote in a general election in 1832. He also patronised the church and the village school as shown in the list of the school accounts for 1828 and 1829 where he is listed as giving the school seven shillings.

The acreage of the farm had decreased from forty to only eight acres during the 1850s, probably due to the death of Stephen Hedgecock and the running of the farm by his wife and his son Stephen who likely sold some of the land.

According to the National Census for Upchurch dated 1881 farm worker George Harriss and his wife Ann lived at the property and they were still resident there in 1901. This indicates that the house had become a tied farm cottage believed to have been owned by landowners Webb & Co.

Well known Upchurch parish councillor and fruit grower Ted Tress lived at the property with his family from 1909 to 1923. The house still had ten rooms including a flagged stone floor downstairs, a dairy and a big kitchen with a massive bakery oven no longer in use. Ted Tress’s mother used it for storing her homemade jam. There were 6½ acres of orchard attached to the house.

During the inter-war years, farmers A Hinge & Sons bought the property and land along with other farm properties and land in the area.

Actor James Robertson Justice lived in the house during the 1930s. He left for a while to serve in the Royal Naval Reserve during the war, but he got wounded and had to leave the service. He became resident at the property until 1945.

Greylag Farm at Ham Green.

While Justice lived at Hedgecocks Farm, ornithologist and broadcaster Sir Peter Scott became a frequent visitor and he and Justice spent time on and near the river bird watching. During this period Sir Peter Scott suggested the name Greylag for the property to Justice, so from this point, the house became known as Greylag instead of Hedgecocks Farm.

Justice caused controversy while living at Greylag by bathing in a tin bath in the garden, marching around the Ham Green peninsular wearing a kilt while playing the bagpipes, racing around the country lanes in his open top sports car and swimming naked with lady friends in the river. The police arrested Justice in 1944 and he appeared at Sittingbourne Magistrates Court for breaking the blackout law. He was released after being given a warning.

After Justice had moved away the property became a tied farm worker’s cottage again belonging to A Hinge & Sons. Several farm workers resided at the property during the 1950s but Ken Baldock and his family resided there the longest from 1958 to 1975. Ken Baldock became a long term worker for A Hinge & Sons for whom he worked well into retirement. He also became a long serving member of Upchurch Horticultural Society where he exhibited flowers, fruit and vegetables.

When the Baldock family left Greylag, printer Frank Russell bought the house from A Hinge & Sons. He renovated the property over several years and sold it. He and his family then moved to Callows Cottages at Ham Green.

Tristram Bower, a surveyor who spent his time working in the Arabian Gulf and then the Falklands, renovated the house and outbuildings and lived at the property with his partner Valerie until 2018. As a keen artist, he painted pictures of the local landscape and wildlife and he exhibited these locally. He also had one of the outbuildings converted into a studio where he spent his free time painting and hanging his work. While at the property Tristram Bower had a blue plaque in memory of James Robertson Justice fitted to the front wall of the house which can still be seen.

Michael and Laura Sears replaced Tristram Bower at Greylag in 2018 and they are the present occupants. They re-named the property Greylag Farm, redecorated the house and improved the appearance of the paddock.

Nowadays, Greylag Farm, like other former farm cottages and farmhouses in the Ham Green area, is an attractive and well-known property of historical significance.

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.

Poppy Day Appeal - 2021 - Large Poppies for Upchurch Street Lights

Upchurch Parish Council has purchased 100 Event Poppies that we plan to place on the street lighting columns throughout the parish over the weekend of Saturday the 30th of October, beginning at 9:00am. 

A team of volunteers will be needed to install them, two poppies back to back per column.

Residents are welcomed and encouraged to participate in the installation throughout the Village, are you willing to help?

The dates for Remembrance this year are:

Thursday 28th October - National launch of the 2021 Appeal

Saturday 30th October to Saturday 13th November 

(Official dates for the Poppy Appeal 2021)

Sunday 14th November - Remembrance Sunday

(the service in Upchurch starts at 10:15am and is very well attended, best to arrive early if you would like to choose where you sit).

Please contact Cllr Tyrone Ripley, to register your interest.

Email: tyrone.ripley@yahoo.co.uk
Telephone: 07702 222093

Upchurch Parish Council

Making Miracles - Baby Loss Awareness Week and Charity Event

A night under the umbrellas with Jamie Johnson & Josh Roots

'Sheltered from the storm of baby loss'

During Baby Loss Awareness Week, 9 - 15th October, we will be displaying 400 pink and blue umbrellas which will hang from the ceiling of the beautiful setting of St Margaret’s Church in Rainham, Kent.

Standing together in the rain, we will remember all babies gone too soon with wooden personalised hearts which will hang from one of the 400 suspended umbrellas.

Jamie & Josh have kindly agreed to support us and raise awareness by performing an intimate gig at this amazing venue.

How to book:

1️⃣ Please make a £10 donation via the Virgin Money giving link👇

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MakingMiracles7years

2️⃣ When you make your donation, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU clearly state your name and code: ANWJJ

Date: Wednesday 13th October 2021
Time: Doors open at 7:00pm
Location: St Margaret’s Church, Rainham, Kent, ME8 8AN
Donation: £10 per person

We remember,
the babies born sleeping,
those we carried but never held,
those we held but could not take home,
those who came home but could not stay.

www.makingmiracles.org.uk

Team Making Miracles 💗 💙

Temporary Road Closure - Lower Hartlip Road, Hartlip

It will be necessary to close part of Lower Hartlip Road, Hartlip from Thursday 28th October 2021 with estimated completion by 17th November 2021.

Lower Hartlip Road, Hartlip will be closed between the junctions with Munn's Lane and Old House Lane, to the extent indicated by signs and barriers on site.

The alternative route is Lower Hartlip Road, A2 Hartlip Hill, Mill Lane, Munns Lane, The Street, Mount Lane and vice versa.

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

For information regarding this closure please contact Openreach: 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

Councillors Approve Change in Governance for Swale Borough Council

At last night’s (Wednesday 6th October) Council meeting, councillors unanimously agreed to change the way Swale Borough Council makes decisions by moving to a committee system.

Councillors have agreed that the council’s current leader-and-cabinet led structure, where most decisions are taken by fewer people, will be replaced with a committee system, which will come into effect at the annual council meeting in May 2022.

The new system will mean decisions are made by politically balanced committees representing all councillors.

Cllr Roger Truelove, Leader of the Council, said:

“This will be more democratic. It ensures that when people go to vote they will know that their elected members will no longer be excluded from major policy decisions. Swale is a diverse borough with diverse politics and the cabinet system does inevitably exclude both communities and members. Cabinets belong at Westminster but are not appropriate to local councils, with more intimate contacts with different communities.

“This will not prevent the Coalition delivering on its agenda. We will have a majority on the committees. But going forward, beyond the elections of 2023 the committee system will lead to a more consensual approach to local politics, which in my long experience, is what most local voters want.”

Cllr Mike Baldock, Deputy Leader with responsibility for constitutional change, said:

"This is a huge decision for us to have taken, and I am delighted we have taken the whole council with us on this journey. Good politics is about listening and working together to support our residents and our communities. The committee system will help ensure everyone's voice is heard better."

Cllr Alan Horton, Leader of the Opposition, said:

“The Conservatives have worked constructively with the Coalition to bring about this important change as it gives all Councillors an opportunity to speak for their communities and be involved in decision making. This is a fundamental change in how ward councillors are able to represent their residents​ and how the council makes decisions. We believe it is important that all voices are heard and we are looking forward to being able to better serve our residents from May next year.”

More information about this change in governance and what it will mean for Swale Borough Council can be found in the report to Council here

Swale Borough Council