Upchurch Choral Society - Remembrance Day Concert

Upchurch Choral Society are performing a Remembrance Day Concert on saturday the 9th of November at 7:30pm in St. Mary’s Church.

Music on the night from Mozart's Requiem and Stanford and Ireland.

Tickets are £5, available on the door or contact Liz Walters on: 01634 361897.

Refreshments will be provided by the Friends of St. Mary’s

Thank you,

Liz Walters

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Upchurch Best Kept Garden 2013 - The Winners

At the Upchurch Horticultural Society Show to be held in the village hall on Saturday 7th  September we will award the Barbara Webb Memorial Trophy donated by her father and first won in 1977 to the overall winner in this year’s competition plus awards to the category winners. Christine Madden, the sister of Barbara Webb, has kindly accepted our invitation to present the trophy.

Gardens that could be seen at the front of a house were inspected on 28th July across the whole of the parish by a team of four judges. Despite difficult weather conditions this year there were many good front gardens to choose from.

               

The category winners have been invited to receive their prizes at this event and are :-

Flowers

24 Crosier Court

Winners                                Mr & Mrs E. Mew of 24 Crosier Court

Runner-up                                           21 Drakes Close

Highly Commended                          Orchard Cottage Poot Lane and 15 The Poles

Small Gardens with Flower Troughs / Hanging Baskets

93 Chaffes Lane

Winners                                Mr & Mrs R. Balcombe of 93 Chaffes Lane

Runner-up                                           56 Beckenham Park

Highly Commended                          27 Horsham Lane and 31 Forge Lane

Mixed Flowers and Shrubs

16 Wilkes Close

Winners                                Mr & Mrs C. Panter of 16 Wilkes Close

Runner-up                                           3 Bradshaw Close 

Highly Commended                         105 Chaffes Lane and 134 Chaffes Lane                

The Overall Winner of the Barbara Webb Trophy in 2013 has been judged to be Mr & Mrs C. Panter – congratulations!

Our thanks to the Upchurch Parish Council and The Brown Jug for sponsoring this years prizes.

Gerry Lewin on behalf of the Best Kept Garden Committee

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The Three Tuns 3rd Annual Kentish Beer & Cider Festival

The Three Tuns Lower Halstow are holding their 3rd Annual Kentish Beer & Cider Festival from the 24th - 26th of August.

Doors open on all 3 days at 12:00pm with excellent Live Music and a delicious Hog Roast.

19 Real Ales From 19 Different Kent Micro Breweries and at least a dozen Ciders from 5 different Cideries will be on offer (subject to availability).

Half Pint tokens are sold at the bar and on the token stall.

The Bar menu is also available from 12:00pm - 9:00pm daily.

Chillbillies play on the Saturday at 2:00pm

Skatacus play on the Sunday at 7:30pm

Saturday August 24th

Hog Roast
2:00pm - Live Music from Chillbillies

6:00pm - Curry Buffet - £6.50

7:30pm - Live Music from Dakota

Sunday August 25th

Hog Roast

Sunday Lunches available
2:00pm - Live Music from The Bottles
7:30pm - Live Music from Skatacus

Monday August 26th

Hog Roast

2:00pm - Live Music from Fabulous Grandads

“ beauty lies in
the hands of the
beer holder ”

For more info on events at The Three Tuns, visit their Website here:  www.thethreetunsrestaurant.co.uk

Upchurch Matters

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DVD Release for Jessie Matthews Film Shot on Location in Upchurch

A film from 1938 starring Jessie Matthews and Sonny Hall is to be released on DVD in October by the Rank Organisation.

Sailing Along, a musical set around the love life of the star, used locations at Otterham and Lower Halstow.

The real star was the Thames Sailing Barge, Wiltshire.

Dance Clip  from Sailing Along - 1938 with Jessie Matthews.

Pictured below is the front cover of the DVD, a film still featuring Jessie Matthews singing to a group of bargemen with a London background and a still inside the wheel house with Jessie Matthews & Barry MacKay.

You can read more about Sailing Along here at:  Screenonline.org

Upchurch Matters

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Upchurch 50 Years Ago in August 1963 by David Wood

The Street, Upchurch taken later in 1967.

After excessive rainfall the month began with complaints to the parish council about the flooding of Chaffes Lane at the bend near The Paddock, but attention soon turned to the annual village carnival, the highlight of the month, with some colourful features which attracted a big turnout, despite the threat of showers. 

As usual the main event was preceded by a slow moving procession which began at the recreation ground and circled the village with a collection of floats with participants dressed in a variety of colourful costumes. A float with Carnival Queen Kay Latter from Drakes Close and attendants Maureen Clark and Muriel Clemons from Chaffes Lane became the main focus. Other floats which captured attention included ‘Holiday in Holland’ by Upchurch Youth Club which won the best tableaux, ‘Beauty Parlour’, ‘Cleopatra’, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and a Fremlins lorry which won ‘The Best Decorated Vehicle Competition.’ ‘Steptoe and Son’ with Derek Wraight and Colin Tress leading a horse won the best equestrian entry in a varied and attractive procession.

Entertainment in The Paddock followed the procession with the annual dog show organised by Bert Millen from Jasmil Kennels. This remained popular throughout the 1960s although nobody from Upchurch won any of the major events at the 1963 show. A coconut shy, a bran tub, a roundabout, swings, a punch and judy show and loud recorded pop music provided by Rich Boakes from Chaffes Lane kept the large crowds entertained as the afternoon progressed.

In the fancy dress parade Malcolm Swift as ‘Cassius Clay’ won the most original entry, Ian Donald and Richard Woolley came second in their version of ‘Steptoe and Son’, while Jennifer and Rosemary Apps from Chaffes Lane won the most topical theme with ‘Witch and Cat.’

In the week leading up to the carnival several fun events took place. On the Wednesday evening a five a side football competition took place in The Paddock with various teams representing different parts of the village. These included Horsham Hotspur, The Street Albion, Crosier Courtiers, Caravan Otters, Drakes Close Ducklings and Oak Lane Acorns. Each game lasted for ten minutes and at the end of a hard fought competition Drakes Close Ducklings defeated Oak Lane Acorns 2-1 in the final. A crowd of over 200 people attended the competition which ended in almost complete darkness but beer was presented to the finalists and referee after the competition. Other activities included a ‘Glamorous Grandmother Competition’ won by Edith Colven from Horsham Lane, a ‘Dress the Doll Competition’ won by Barbara Trice from Drakes Close. Stan Gilbert from Drakes Close won the ‘Knobbly Knees Competition’ and Roger Hepton and Maureen Clark from Gore Bank won the dance competition performing ‘The Twist.’

David Wood.

On the Friday before the carnival the village marathon took place with a three mile race for the Pepperill Challenge Shield. M. Somers won the men’s race in 19 minutes 56 seconds while Christine Cripps from Poot Lane won the women’s event and Lawrence Duncalf from Oak Lane won the boy’s event in a series of hard fought races. 

The cricket club playing at their Poot Lane ground experienced a month of mixed results but had good victories against Murston, Boat House, Riverside and Plumbers and Coppersmiths. Successful batsmen included Peter Porter with 58 against Murston, Don Diffey with 51 against Plumbers and Coppermiths and 48 against Boat House. Bowler Frank Cook took 6-23 against Riverside and Alan Auger followed this up with 5-30 against Plumbers and Coppersmiths.

Finally, the only recorded burial in August involved Louisa Jane Still aged 70 from Otterham Cottages while birthdays were celebrated by Carol Button from Drakes Close aged eleven, Gordon Frost from The Street aged nine, Tina Harris from Twinney aged four and Roy Kemsley from Otterham Quay Cottages aged five which ended a busy and entertaining month in Upchurch.

About David:

David Wood was born and raised in Upchurch and is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village. David's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David on:  david3702001@yahoo.co.uk  or from us here at Upchurch Matters.

price £12 + p+p £2.

David Wood

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SBC - Community Governance Review

Click Poster to Enlarge.

Swale Borough Council is consulting on how communities across the Borough are represented and governed at a local level, known as a community governance review.

The review will focus on the unparished areas of Swale, the arrangements for the existing parish councils that border the unparished areas of Swale and will also respond to any requests from existing town or parish councils who ask for their arrangements to be reviewed.

From Thursday the 1st August 2013, a document entitled ‘Have your say…local arrangements for your area today’ outlining details of the review, and possible options available to communities, will be available at:  www.swale.gov.uk/cgr

We are holding Community Governance Review drop-in sessions:

• Sittingbourne on  Wednesday the 7th August 2013 from 10:00am to 12:00pm Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne.

• Sheppey on Thursday the 8th August 2013 from 10:00am to 12:00pm The Sheppey Gateway, High Street, Sheerness.

There are a number of ways in which you can respond to the consultation:

 • Complete the on-line form on the website:  www.swale.gov.uk/cgr

 • Email:  cgrconsultation@swale.gov.uk

 • Follow the council on Twitter:  @SwaleCouncil

 • Follow the council on:  Facebook  and comment

 • Attend one of the public meetings being held across the Borough - further details on location and timings will be available on:  www.swale.gov.uk/cgr

The aim of this review is to improve community engagement, improve local democracy and ensure that electors have a say in how local services are delivered. Responses from this consultation will be summarised and form a draft proposal document which will then be published for consultation early in 2014.

The overall review will be completed by June 2014. We would welcome your views on the arrangements for your local area to help shape how Swale’s communities will be governed at a local level.

Louise Matthews

Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications, Swale Borough Council

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