Upchurch Burns Brightly for The Queen's Platinum Jubilee 2022

Click photo to enlarge.

Thanks very much to Reverend Nathan Ward, Vicar at St Margaret's Church, Rainham, for sending us his photos of The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Beacons taken from the church tower on Thursday the 2nd of June 2022.

Nathan's three photos of the beacons visible at Riverside Country Park and Hoo show Upchurch burning the most brightly.

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For more information, visit: www.queensjubileebeacons.com

Upchurch Matters

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Beacons - Upchurch

Click photo to enlarge.

Hundreds gathered at the village beacon on the Recreation Ground this evening to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's incredible 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth.

As part of a national celebration, a Piper played Diu Regnare, and a Bugler played the unique Bugle Call - Majesty before beacons were lit across the nation and abroad at 9:45pm.

Congratulations to Elizabeth Shorthouse, this evening's lucky winner in the Parish Council draw to light the beacon.

Thanks to councillors Tyrone Ripley, Alan Horton, Gerry Lewin, Pam Denny, Upchurch Parish Council, DJ Dave Neale and his fire crew, and everyone else who gave their time to help stage such an excellent village event.

Your donations for the hog roast this evening have raised a considerable amount towards the urgent repairs needed to the Bell Tower at St Mary’s Church.
Thank you

#PlatinumJubilee

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Upchurch Matters

Fence Damaged - Newington

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Crime Number: 46/104590/22

Between 10:44 on Saturday the 28th of May and 10:44 on Sunday the 29th of May, somebody damaged a fence at a public building in Orchard Drive, Newington.

The police are continuing their enquiries.

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

St Mary’s Church Rainbow Café at The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Beacons

St Mary’s Church Rainbow Café will be serving coffee and tea for £1 in Upchurch Scout Hut from 7:30pm during the beacon lighting at the Recreation Ground on Thursday the 2nd of June.

Every cup will help support a group of children to go to school in Uganda and urgent repairs to St Mary’s Church Bell Tower, which are going to cost in the region of £50,000.

Gill Gay

UpARA - June 2022 Newsletter

Hello UpARA members,

Our Fundraising Day - Friday 3rd June 12:00 - 4:00pm

Our day of celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is now upon us. We really hope that as many of you can join us and are able to bring along friends and family, even if just to pop in for a cuppa.

As you will know, all proceeds from the day will be donated to the DEC Ukraine Appeal, and every pound spent on teas, coffees, raffle tickets, rolls and cake etc will go towards that total.

To help kick start the proceedings, our normal Village walk will set off from the Village Hall Car Park at 10:00am, and on returning it would be lovely to see all the walkers pop in for some lunch and stay for a while. It would be nice to get a good crowd on the walk.

We are also asking for donations of Cakes that we can sell by the slice on the day. If you can donate a cake (bought or homemade), please bring it along, or Email: uparaupchurch@gmail.com to bring it earlier. Books and Jigsaws will also be on sale, so if you have anything to donate, please bring it on the day.

A lot of work has gone into the day as well as the evening quiz, we look forward to your support.

The thoughts of Chairman John

Hello everyone,

Is it really a month since we embarked on a coach trip to Leonardslee Gardens? Some of us had experienced the fantastic gardens back in the sixties prior to their shutdown to the public late in that decade. At that time, I was living in the Tunbridge Wells area, so it was almost on our doorstep, my lasting memory is the Wallabies and how steep the gardens were above the lakes. 

This has now been dragged into the 21st Century by the new owners with the introduction of the 8 passenger buggies, using it to go down to the Lakes Cafe' (as we did!) was a real "white knuckle" ride. Our more sensible members used them to come back up the hill, while we more hardy members who climbed back via the Rock Garden were more than compensated with a fantastic vista of multi-coloured Azelaias and Rhododendrons.

Tonight’s (Thursday 26th) evening Boules, once again I spent another almost lonesome evening, but for Alan. We enjoyed a very competitive game, the loser paying for the hot chocolate (with sprinkles!) This has prompted me to try plan "B" Tuesday evenings as mentioned earlier in this newsletter.

A final request, please support our Fundraising Day on Friday 3rd June, remember all proceeds go to the Ukrainian Charity.

John W

Our Fundraising Evening Quiz - Friday 3rd June 7:00pm 

We have many other village organisations joining us for our quiz, as well as several UpARA teams. There is still space for one or two teams. If you are interested, please Email us. It promises to be a fun evening.

Kentish Lady Boat Trip 

For those going on the Kentish Lady boat trip on June 14th, the pickup times are as follows: -

• 5:00pm Upchurch (opposite the Church)
• 5:05pm Otterham Quay Lane
• 5:10pm Rainham (Lukehursts / Cricketers)
• 5:15pm Rainham (bus stop opposite Pump Lane)

Evening Petanque 

We have changed the evening Petanque during the summer to just one evening, and changed from Thursday to Tuesday - the 4th or 5th Tuesday of the month. We will see how popular this becomes, but have realised that Thursday is not the right day!

T-Shirts

Having discovered (and remembered) the stock of T-shirts still in the cupboard from pre lockdown, I thought it would be good to try and sell the rest. Great value, £15, all sizes available and ideal for attending our activities, please Email, or ask at the meetings.

June Calendar

Wednesday, June 1st - Lunch Club at The Crown

Wednesdays June 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th at 10:15am - Line Dancing

Friday, June 3rd - Fundraising Day at 12:00 - 4:00pm and Evening Quiz at 7:00pm

In support of DEC Ukraine Appeal

Friday, June 3rd, 17th at 10:00am - Village Walk

Monday, June 6th at 2:00pm - Kurling

Mondays June 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th at 10:00am - Short Tennis

Tuesday, June 7th at 9:30 - Coffee Morning and Art

Tuesday, June 7th at 2:00pm - Table Tennis

Friday, June 10th at 2:00pm - Monthly Meeting

Pete Allen ‘Tingling tales of theatre ghosts’

Tuesday, June 14th - Kentish Lady Boat Trip

Tuesday, June 14th at 10:00am - 10 Pin Bowling

Tuesday, June 21st at 2:00pm - Petanque

Tuesday, June 28th at 6:00pm - NEW: Evening Petanque

Tuesday, June 28th at 9:30am - Coffee Morning and Art

Tuesday, June 28th at 2:00pm - Table Tennis

Wednesday, June 29th - Lunch Club at URVGC Rivers Restaurant

Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.

Email: uparaupchurch@gmail.com

Website: www.upara.club

June News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

Hopefully, most of the hard work is over and you can ease into June and outdoor living with a tidy and well organised garden. Unbelievably we have managed to get all the weeding done, and the garden has never looked so good… but then we are selling. However, the plan is to make the most of the Summer before taking on another property in Suffolk.

May has turned out to be a bit wetter than April, which has spared the lawn a bit, although the hose came out a number of times as the grass took on a light brown hue. A number of small round bare patches have been appearing courtesy of the Junkyard Mutt. Diluted urea is very high in Nitrogen which is good for the grass, but when it becomes concentrated it just kills it off with a ring of vigorous green grass around the edge. The lawn has a good mix of Canada Green weaved into it, which contains Creeping Red Fescue which is a rhizogenic grass which will re-cover the bare patches fairly quickly.

It's the Dog.

The vegetable patch should be fully planted out and well underway, and New Potatoes will be ready for lifting this month. The Rocket went in at the end of March this year and will be ready to start lifting by the middle of June. No need to cut down the haulms as New Potatoes do not require thick skins, but it is a good idea to do this with the Maincrop if you wish to lift and store. It also provides protection from blight which becomes more active later in the year. Earth up the Maincrop if you wish, or just spread a bit of soil over any potatoes which break the surface. I tend to plant my seed potatoes quite deep in well conditioned soil, and very few come to the surface. Watch out for blackfly, which will start to show at this time of year. Spray at any sign of attack and pinch out the top of broad beans planted earlier in the year.

June is the month when fruit trees naturally reject unwanted small fruits in what is called the “June Drop”. This is fine for traditional fruit varieties and the remaining fruit can be allowed to swell and ripen in the coming months. However, with modern dwarf rootstock and especially with young trees, further thinning will be required in July or else the crop load may get too heavy and start ripping off branches. Keep battling the pests, which can become very persistent and give your trees a periodic potash feed.

Perennials will be blossoming all over, and will need regular deadheading to keep them coming. Water regularly and use a potash feed to keep them at their best. Similarly, with baskets and containers do not allow the compost to get dry and feed periodically. It is all about staying on top of the borders now and getting as much flower out of them as possible.

The most important thing of all is to enjoy your garden, especially with Summer coming and the long warm evenings. Otherwise, all this hard work is just a chore. Solomon, who was a very wise man, said that there is nothing better a man can do than eat, drink, be happy and take satisfaction in his labours… for gardeners, now is the time to do it. I intend to start this evening!

UHS is always looking for new members and tries 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