Friends of Meredale - Summer Fayre

Debbie Hensby
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Kent County Council Election 2017 - Swale West

Residents will be voting in The Kent County Council Election taking place on Thursday the 4th of May 2017.

Kent has 1.5 million residents and KCC are responsible for providing many of our valued and essential services and amenities.

Voters will choose a total of 81 Councillors to represent their own area of Kent, down from 84 following a division review. Turnout in 2013 was low, just 30%.

Voters in Medway will not go to the polls until May 2019.

The council is currently controlled by the Conservative group and made up of:

46 Conservative Councillors
14 UKIP Councillors

12 Labour Councillors

7 Liberal Democrat Councillors

2 Independents Group

3 Independents

Upchurch, Lower Halstow, Newington, Hartlip, Bobbing, Iwade and The Meads amongst others are all now part of the newly redrawn Swale West division.

608 persons are entitled to vote at our local Polling Station, Upchurch Village Hall which will be open from 7:00am to 10:00pm.

The persons nominated for election as our single County Councillor to represent Swale West are:

Mike Baldock - UK Independence Party (Current KCC Councillor for Swale West)

Tim Valentine - Green Party

Mike Whiting - Conservatives

Marc Wilson - Liberal Democrats

Tony Winkless - Labour

The results are expected around lunchtime on Friday the 5th of May 2017.

With all this in mind, who will be your local champion?

Who do you think will represent our division best on the local issues we face in our communities?

Will you just be voting the same way you always do? Just out of party loyalty? Without thinking about the important local issues.

Do you think party politics and squabbling already play far too much part in decisions made at Parish, Borough and County levels?

Would you vote for a Councillor who is more interested in scoring points off of a fellow Councillor than they are in representing your best interests?

Do you believe in democracy? And therefore think a balance is always needed for a strong and effective opposition at County level? Is one party already too dominant?

Would you be prepared to vote for a candidate standing for a party you wouldn't usually vote for at a general election? Because you know they genuinely care about keeping the villages and areas they represent as the nice places we all love to live in.

KCC stopped subsidising many of their operators unprofitable bus services. Who do you think is the best candidate to fight to get them back?

Healthcare, Education, Roads, Policing and Social Care are all under funding pressure too.

Who do you think will fight our corner best when it comes to fending off large, national predatory house developers looking to spoil our small villages with unsuitably large developments that impact badly on our already overstretched infrastructure?

Will they always be free to vote the way they would like? And always in your best interest? Or are they required to follow their party line?

Will they regularly attend all the meetings they are required to?

Have they delivered on past promises? Do they have a good reputation for actually getting stuff done?

Will they be on hand should you have a problem and need their help?

All things to think about...

Whatever choice you make, make your vote count on Thursday May 4th!

Upchurch Matters

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Newington History Group

Newington used to be famous for its cherries and bees were important in pollinating the crop. Eric Layer will talk about bee-keeping and the insect's declining numbers at Newington History Group's annual meeting on Thursday, May 11th.

Guests are welcome to attend meetings on the second Thursday of the month in the Methodist Hall, Church Lane at 7:30pm. A 'Show and Tell' will hear members' stories of historic interest on June 8th.

The group seeks to unearth, preserve and promote the history of the village and neighbouring areas. An annual subscription is £15.

For more details contact Thelma Dudley on 01795 842711 or

Email Thelma@newingtonhistory.co.uk Follow the group's activities on Twitter @newingtonhg

Richard Thompstone - Newington History Group

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May News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Club - www.rivervalleygolf.co.uk

May is another busy month in the garden but it is when all the hard work starts to show and you can sit on the patio in the sunshine with a drink and start taking some satisfaction.

The lawn will be well under way with regular mowing required with the blades low. The weed and feed in April should be producing results and new seed will start to germinate. Avoid cutting new grass until it is 3” long. Good maintenance through the year with another weed and feed later in the summer (avoiding times of drought) will keep it looking lovely.

Deadhead spring bulbs but avoid cutting down foliage and just let them die back naturally. Harden off seedlings and plug plants by putting them outside during the day. Herbaceous perennials can still be divided and now is the time to prune penstemons. Trim back spreading plants like aubretia and the dead stems of lavender. As the early flowering shrubs finish, prune them back to encourage new growth which produces the flowers next year. However, after June stop pruning. Also tidy up the spring flowering clematis by cutting out dead or overcrowded growth. Start tying-in and supporting new growth where needed. Now is also a good time to take cuttings from tender new growth. Evergreen hedges can be clipped.

Maintain a routine of watering and feeding containers and give them a top dress and even mulch with bark or decorative stone to retain moisture and suppress weeds. A balanced liquid feed every 4 weeks will keep them in good shape. Keep an eye out for pests and diseases which will start to get to work especially rose blackspot which can be treated with a systemic fungicide. Remove infected leaves and do not compost.

Make up new pots and containers especially hanging baskets and let annuals harden off for a couple of weeks. Use good quality compost and add slow release fertiliser and water retaining gel or crystals. Plant up around the edges to give good visual impact.

The vegetable patch should be up and running. Pick asparagus when it’s about 8” long and unforced rhubarb should be ready but only take about one third of the new stems. When the broad beans start to develop pinch out the top leaves to control blackfly and bump up the bean pods. Continue to earth up potatoes (although personally I don’t bother). Harden off tomatoes, climbing beans, marrows and pumpkins ready for planting out and erect bean and pea supports. With runner beans it is good idea to dig a trench in the Autumn and collect all the compost over the winter and spring which can now be raked over with soil all ready for planting. With tomatoes, marrows and pumpkins dig a pocket about 12” square and 12” deep and fill with well rotted compost from the bin. Fill with water and give it a stir to get a compost soup. Rake over the soil and plant out when hardened off. Avoid tying tomatoes to canes at first let them thicken up a bit and remember to keep spares as tender plants easily become casualties. Brassicas and leeks can go into their final positions. Firm brassicas in place and if growing blanch leeks use a dibber to produce an 8” deep hole and pop the leek in and water, allowing it to earth up over time. Protect carrots with horticultural fleece.

Maintain your ponds and remove duckweed and blanket weed leaving it beside the pond for a day or so to allow any pondlife to escape back into the pond, hopefully you have plenty of tadpoles.

We are 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 3 shows we hold each year, then 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

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Friends of Upchurch Village Hall, Wine & Wisdom Quiz - Thank You

We held our first fund raising evening on Friday the 28th of April and a great success it proved to be, we raised in total £559.30 with our Wine & Wisdom Quiz.

The group would to thank all those that came along and made this evening such a success. In addition we would also like to thank all the helpers from UpARA, and other groups who promoted and helped run the event.

If you would like to be part of the future of this fund raising group, please contact John Tutt via his Email address: captaingrandpa@hotmail.co.uk

John Tutt

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Rainbow Café - 1st Birthday

On Thursday 13th April Rainbow Café celebrated its 1st Birthday – and I would really like to give a big thank you to everyone who helps make Rainbow happen - from those who help move the tables and chairs and set up the Café, to those who bake and donate cakes, biscuits and savouries, to those who take time to chat and play, to those who help clear away – thank you so much, without you Rainbow wouldn’t happen. And that would be a real shame because the older folk, the mums and children who come say they really love coming to Rainbow – and it doesn’t end there.

Rainbow is now attended each month by a couple of people from ‘Early Help’. Early Help are a team trained to support children, young people and families in Kent. They are able to give advice and support on a number of issues that affect children and families. They deal with issues around grief, bullying, anxiety and any other issue that affects a child or young persons’ well-being – come and have a chat and a coffee with them – children struggle with a variety of things these days they may be able to help.

Rainbow is also using some of its income to support 3 children in Uganda. Through Lesley Ambrose, a missionary in Uganda, we have had the privilege to pay for the fees, required books, pens etc. along with uniforms and shoes for Raymond and Deborah and we also give financial support to another child called Andrew who we hope to be able to put through school in the near future. So eating cake at our Café makes a real difference.

Another issue we are really aware of at the Café is that more people are struggling in our local community and each week our church family at both St. Mary’s and Uplift donates food to the Sittingbourne Food Bank. Recently Julian our Rector has become a Food Bank voucher holder – which means he is now in a position to give vouchers to anyone in need, which will enable them to go to a Food Bank centre and get food for themselves and their family. We know that getting there may not always be easy so we have decided that at Rainbow Café we will hold emergency boxes of food. We haven’t worked out all the ins and outs yet but look for Julian, Elizabeth or Gill at the Café and we will certainly sort something out if you need help.

Our next Rainbow Café is at St Mary’s, Upchurch on May 11th from 2:30pm until 5:00pm. Come and enjoy our yummy home-made cakes and savouries and a very warm welcome. All are welcome. We also do a great deal for the kids – 5 items plus juice for £1.

Gill & The Rainbow Team

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Open Day at The Oak Grove - 27th May

Here at The Oak Grove we are hosting an Open Day on Saturday 27th May, 11:00am till 4:00pm. We would be delighted if you could join us for a glass of fizz and to take a look around.

We will have a number of suppliers to meet and chat to (more announced soon), as well as all of us in The Oak Grove team.

Please click where it says “Please Register Us For The Open Day” to let me know by Email if you can make it.

For directions, please go to our website - www.theoakgrove.uk or click here for Google maps.

Stay up to date with more info at our Facebook Event - click here 

We look forward to seeing you on the 27th.

Best Wishes

Sam Holland - The Oak Grove
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