Temporary Road Closure - School Lane, Iwade

It will be necessary to close part of School Lane, Iwade from Wednesday 24th November 2021 at 09:30, with estimated completion by 24th November 2021 at 15:30.

School Lane, Iwade will be closed in the general vicinity of Tiptree Bungalow, to the extent indicated by signs and barriers on site.

The alternative route is School Lane, Ferry Road, Sheppey Way, Stickfast Lane and vice versa.

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

For information regarding this 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

Warehouse Broken Into | Vehicle Window Smashed - Newington

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Crime Number: 46/218557/21

Between 00:26 and 00:55 on Friday the 29th of October, 2 men broke into a warehouse at a golf course and stole various items in Wormdale Hill, Newington.

Crime Number: 46/220002/21

On Saturday the 30th of October, somebody smashed the window of a vehicle travelling along Bull Lane, Newington.

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

Hi everyone,

The Rainbow Café will be open at St Mary's Church on Thursday the 4th of November, between 2:00pm and 5:00pm.

Come and join us for homemade cakes and savouries. Our children's snack deal will be available - Choose 5 items for £1.

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

All ages welcome.

Gill Gay and all the Rainbow Café team

November News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

The first half of October turned out to be quite mild although not sunny but then turned colder. At the time of writing the leaves have yet to really start falling and Autumn is being held at bay but by the time this article is published the clocks would have gone back and the dark evenings will be here. During a time of energy shortage, I am glad I bought my logs back in June and it’s amazing how easy it is to find wood lying around. Although, even fallen wood collected from private land counts as poaching. I still have a few jobs to complete around the garden and will venture out on good days but I am now settled by the fire with the Junkyard Mutt at my feet.

The beans have lasted well into October, but then they were planted quite late, so I still need to cut them down and dig next year’s compost trench. The Parsnips are waiting for the first frost and the Turnips for the first casserole. Looking back over the year in the vegetable patch, the successes this year have been the Climbing Beans and the Rhubarb. Everything else has been quite poor. As the garden has matured, shrubs and hedges have grown taller and thicker and the patch has become quite shady. Light and sunshine are essential for success and I need to do some serious pruning. The Marrows failed again for the second consecutive year as the seedlings died within days of being planted out. I have been using a variety called Zebra Cross but will switch back to Lion Cross. The Sweet corn cobs are small and the Leeks are not bulking up. My soil is thin and sandy and growing onions has always been difficult as they are greedy plants. The patch will need some serious soil preparation to get it back to normal. The Rhubarb finally died down and is mulched with compost to fertilise the crowns.

The Carolina Reaper - Now in Upchurch!

The perennials continue to produce a bit of flower but the first frost will finish them up. Meanwhile, I will overwinter seedlings, cuttings and divided perennials in the greenhouse. With the door and louvres closed the nighttime temperature remains above the frost zone, for now anyway, and the daytime temperatures will generate good growth. The greenhouse will also be ideal for starting seedlings early in the New Year. I was given a number of Chilli plants this year which have happily ripened in the greenhouse and given a decent crop. They are drying in the conservatory and the seeds will be re-sown next year. One of them is the Carolina Reaper which apparently is the hottest chilli on the planet scoring 2,200,000 on the Scoville Heat Scale. I tried a very small piece in a large Chilli Con Carne and it was hot. I then made the mistake of licking my fingers and realised just what 2,200,000 SHUs really means. Four ice cold beers in 30 minutes finally managed to tame the raging inferno but it was an hour before I could talk and my eyes stopped streaming. I will wear gauntlets the next time I handle this Habanero from hell.

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

Poolside Bar Music Night with Annie Love at Upchurch River Valley Golf Course

From 8:30pm

Free entry - Non-members welcome

Jenny Giles - Upchurch River Valley Golf Course
Telephone: 01634 360626
Website: www.rivervalleygolf.co.uk

UpARA - November 2021 Newsletter

Hello UpARA members,

The Inn on The Lake Country & Western lunch at the beginning of October was a tremendous success, so much so that another booking was made at the time for ‘Salute to Christmas’ on 7th December and tickets sold out within a couple of days before a few more tickets were obtained, making the number of UpARA members going at around 80.

The second Friday afternoon Social went very well. Special thanks to Jeff Pedley for working so hard on his three ‘sets’ and his running quiz. Well done to the table that managed to get a very respectable 44 points, and well done to those that received their cash prizes in our ‘Golden Ticket’ draw.

Speakers are now booked right through to January 2023; please visit www.upara.club to view and to check on our calendar of events which we are working hard to ensure is current and up to date.

You may notice that there are less activities than normal towards the end of the month - this is due to the Torquay trip taking place and the Upchurch Players Pantomime having the hall for the week afterwards…

The thoughts of Chairman John

Hi everyone,

It seems an age since lockdown, our activities have restarted and are as strong as before, a good testament being our recent London Walk to Southwark.

We've also found a demand for an extra Boules afternoon, usually attracting 20+ members with the chance to catch up, over a coffee afterwards.

The only disappointment now is 10 Pin Bowling, possibly due to the proximity of others, although the lanes are laid out very well; we will continue and review in the new year.

Another success has been the Friday Social afternoons, an idea thought of in lockdown to provide a simple way of bringing people together to just enjoy themselves in a social setting (that we weren’t able to do back then).

The "Social Degenerates" have met up once again and have some events in store for 2022, including a Birthday Party in March, a "Do" for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, and the return of the Christmas Party. A festive social gathering on the afternoon of 17th of December is also planned.

Under the circumstances, I can't believe the steps we have made over the past few months, including our trips and events. Next stop Torquay!

John W 

Trips

UpARA members dancing off their lunch at the Country and Western

afternoon at the Inn on the Lake.

A lovely row of listed cottages in Borough. Turns out one of our members

lived at No.2 till he was 12!

The George Inn, Borough. Owned by the National Trust, this is the only surviving

galleried coaching Inn in London and mentioned in Dickens’s ‘Little Dorrit’.

They also serve a mean Fish & Chips.

November Calendar

Monday, November 1st 2:00pm - Kurling

Mondays November 1st, 8th, 15th - 10:00am Short / Soft Tennis

Tuesday, November 2nd 2:00pm - Table Tennis

Tuesday, November 2nd 9:30am - Coffee Morning & Art Class

Wednesdays November 3rd, 10th, 17th 10:15am - Line Dancing

Friday, November 5th 10:00am - Village Walk

Tuesday, November 9th 10:30am - 10 Pin Bowling (Hollywood Bowl)

Friday, November 12th 2:00pm - Monthly Meeting

Tuesday, November 16th 1:00pm - Petanque ***

Friday, November 19th 10:00am - Village Walk

Mon - Fri November 22nd - 26th - Torquay Trip

Tuesday, November 23rd 9:30am - Coffee Morning & Art Class

Tuesday, November 23rd 2:00pm - Table Tennis 

*** Please note new ‘Winter’ timings for Petanque. Any ‘extra’ session this month will be communicated separately.

Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.

Email: uparaupchurch@gmail.com 

Website: www.upara.club