WT H E ESTWELL EYE 210 August 2020

The Wheel is open as usual, serving food and drink Tuesday 4pm-8pm Wednesday and Thursday 12noon - 10pm Friday and Saturday 12noon - 12 midnight Sunday 12noon - 8pm 2 baggettes for £10 Beef Burger and Fish and Chips £10 10oz Steak £15 Sunday Lunch 2 for £20 Children eat free

Contact Leah or James on 01233 712223 or at [email protected]

Parish Council From the Editor’s Desk The PC held a virtual meeting on Zoom on 6th July. The meeting began with the Open Session, and although a virtual meeting it was still open to the public. Comments were made during the Here we are in August – how did that happen! Open Session on planning matters. Councillor Larry Krause, our borough councillor, reported There is a very interesting obituary to Jean Pepperal on page 5, well worth a read. that meetings of the borough council continue to be held, on Microsoft Teams. Following a review by the Selection and Constitutional Review Committee, the Planning Committee is to The Church is back. I was asked to put the services in the calendar but seeing as nothing else is be reduced in size and will now comprise 14 councillors. Councillor Krause is no longer on happening yet I have taken an executive decision not to take up a whole page for an almost empty the Planning Committee but he can still call in applications to this Committee and his role on calendar, however if you turn to page 12 all the details of the church services are printed there. other Committees remains unchanged. The borough council budget is to be discussed by the The Friday morning service is back, (first Friday of the month). Overview and Scrutiny Committee, with particular reference to the coronavirus pandemic. The The coffee morning at The Wheel, at 10.30am, on the first Friday of the month – 7th August – is Parish Council asked to be kept informed of any changes in the borough council budget, and back, do support your village and pub! Food at the Wheel is on the menu again, see back page. also of the date of the Planning Committee meeting at which planning application 20/00217/ AS (Bridgewood Farm) is to be discussed. The Minutes of the May and June meetings were Page 9 is an interesting read, helpful advice about wills and Power of Attorney etc.. approved. The fete is almost definately not going to happen, but just incase something happens in its place Planning: Eureka Park – proposed development of 400-600 dwellings (more than in the keep or ears pricked and your eyes peeled! Local plan). The initial plans show an access onto Sandyhurst Lane for 150 dwellings on the development (which would also be in contravention of the Local Plan ); the Chairman wrote to Carolyn Thorneloe the agent drawing attention to this. A reply was received stating that this is being reviewed and offering a meeting between the agent and parish councillors; the invitation was accepted as a means to clarify what is being proposed and alignment with Local Plan. One planning application was discussed to which the Parish Council objected. Finance: Payments were authorised. An arboriculturist will be engaged to carry out the Front page photographs recommended 5-year survey of the trees on the church green. An application has been submitted Farewell to Jean to South East Water for permission to lay in a water supply to the cemetery. Gaps in the box hedge Welcome back to Church after lockdown - by Jane Horne in the Garden of Remembrance will be replanted in the autumn. The Westwell Eye Working Weeded path at St. Mary’s with thanks to Tessa and Martin Wyatt. Group presented a comprehensive report on the magazine’s finances; no changes were proposed in the short term. A request for a donation from the Air Ambulance was discussed and it was The views of any contributor to this publication may not necessarily be those of the editor and agreed to send £100. team, nor can the Westwell Eye accept any responsibility in connection with any companies or Playing field: A weekly inspection is required and a log kept of any issues identified. A playing organisations mentioned or any advertiser. field warden is to be appointed following the sad loss of David Hooper and Robert Bellwood. The Correspondence to: Carolyn Thorneloe, Gaoler's Retreat, 5, Faversham Road, Lenham, playing field remains accessible to all, but to discourage over use the football nets will not be put Maidstone, ME17 2PN. Tel: 01622 859376, Email: [email protected] up yet. A “reopening” will happen after a risk assessment is carried out in line with guidance. : The existing website does not comply with the new accessibility COPY DEADLINE - 20th of the month Parish Council website ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS IN THE WESTWELL EYE regulations and it was agreed to move the website to HugoFox, which offers a free template Classified ads from £3 p/issue - Business block ads from £60 p/year. compliant with the accessibility regulations. The Westwell community website is unchanged. Prices include free design, illustration and layout. Highways: The draft report of the Highways Improvement Plan was presented; the suggested Copy & payment to be received by the 20th of each month. priorities will now be discussed by the working group – those for Sandyhurst Lane are being led Payable to:- The Westwell Eye, either direct to bank or cheque by the Residents’ Association. An overgrown hedge on Gold Hill has been reported to KCC for Sue Wood, 14, Sandyhurst Lane TN25 4NS cutting back. Would you like to receive the Westwell Eye but don’t live in the area? Reports: The Ashford Area Committee of the Kent Association of Local Councils (KALC) You can receive it every month by post. For an annual subscription, simply send the editor has not met. ACRK (Action for Rural Communities in Rural Kent) is working remotely. The your name and address and pay £8.55 to Sue Wood, cheque payable to The Westwell Eye Parish Hall Management Committee met using Zoom; after a discussion of the requirements for reopening it was decided the hall will remain closed for the time being. Broadband is now Printed by Print Junction - 01233 624462 - [email protected] - available in the hall. Brunswick Road Cobbswood Industrial Estate, Cobbs Wood House, Ashford TN23 1EP The next meeting of the Parish Council will be on Monday 7th September at 7pm. - 2 - - 19 - Useful Contacts AZ CARING SERVICES Westwell Players Age UK 642094 Ashford Volunteer Bureau 665535 Ashford Volunteer Car Service 633219 Bees (swarming) Westwell Players are enjoying a well earned rest for the summer months and look forward Andy Bithell 740650 / 07933892413 to more readings and hopefully, getting back into full rehearsal for our next Show. We were Borough Councillor: Larry Krause 643497 saddened to hear of the death of one of our loyal ‘regular’, Jean Pepperall – Jean has been CAB 626185 For all aspects of care and support work, to most of our shows and was always one of the first to book up once we opened up our Carers Support Group 664393 Daily and Live In ticket sales, she was generally accompanied by her daughter Anna with her husband Alex, both Childline Freephone 0800 1111 please contact Arthur and his team on from Newcastle upon Tyne!! We enjoyed boasting about how far flung our audience was and Cinema: Picture house 0871 9025747 07552 766428 sometimes her other daughter would come and that was even more of an event, as she lives in Cineworld 0871 2208000 email: [email protected]. Australia! Our condolences to the whole family. We have our Murder Mystery in the pipeline and have read a number of pantomimes so there is Citizens’ Advice Bureau 626185 Excellent local references Cruse Bereavement Counselling 878225 a lot to mull over in the weeks ahead. We have a Committee Meeting planned and are hoping Doctors () 714490 to go ahead with our Players Picnic on the field - as long as we have good weather. That will (Hayesbank) 624642 be on Sunday, 9th August at 12 noon, with our usual arrangement of everyone bringing a dish Dog Warden 01233 330340 to add to the whole, making it a feast to remember, with games thrown in for good measure and Hospital (William Harvey) 633331 families included. CROP 01622 851200 May I wish all Westwell dwellers a happy summer with plenty of beautiful weather and more Library (Ashford) 03000413131 and more freedom taken gently with plenty of good sense regarding social distancing. It will (Charing) 713177 be so good to be able to meet up again, let’s hope we have that nasty bug on the run! MS Therapy Centre 01227 470876 If you are interested in joining Westwell Players, we are always delighted to welcome new NHS Direct 0845 4647 members so please telephone me on - 01233 714241. NSPCC 0800 800500 Parish Hall Booking 01233 712016 Mary Anne Pitt  [email protected] Parish Council (clerk, Sue Wood) 623902 Plans Parish Office 07395 910317 The following were supported by the PC and a decision is awaited from the Borough Council: email : [email protected] 20/00606/AS Retrospective application for erection of single-storey flat roof rear extension Pilgrims’ Hospice (Admin) 504100 20/00607/AS 3 Kingsland Lane Retrospective application for single storey timber summer (Patient enquiries) 504112 house. CHIROPODIST The PC objected to the following application and a decision is awaited from the BC: PCC Secretary (Heather Lister) 712981 CHRISTINE GRIFFITHS Police (rural matters only 07980978202 20/00809/AS 5 Leda Cottages, Maidstone Road Construction of games room over existing Rector see Parish office Vacant MSSCh MBChA garage Samaritans 610000 HPC reg The Borough Council approved the following: 20/00377/AS Nash Court, Watery Lane Shopmobility 621196 FOOT CLINIC Solicitor (Thorneloe & Co.) 01622 859416 20/00462/AS Heskyn, 11 Sandyhurst Lane, Westwell Mon - Sat including evenings Victim Support 0845 30 30 900 Home visits available Water Supplies Queries 0333 000 0002 Tel:01233 664702 Water Leak Line 0333 000 3330 07958 328525 Wealden Wheels 01233 840000 Westwell Community Website: http://www.westwellpc.kentparishes.gov.uk/

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- 4 - - 17 - Charing and District Local History Society Jean Pepperall. Unique Tea Towel Incorporating a Hand-Painted Map of the Ashford Area Jean was born in 1927, the only child of Winnie and Joseph Andrews, and grew up in North Covering 77 Square Miles London, in Palmers Green and then Winchmore Hill. She was 12 when WW2 started and stayed in London throughout the war years. She slept down an Anderson bomb shelter in the Peter Holman was an accomplished artist who lived in Charing in the 1960s, and one of his garden, with her mother, father and two cats, Flinky and Muggy, which fostered her life-long works is a map that he painted in 1965. The style is very individual, as it shows the great love of cats. countryside around Ashford, with the lie of the land, hills, good viewing points and other Jean remembered the family coming up from their shelter every morning to inspect any places of interest and historical information covering an area of 77 square miles. damage and a man coming down the road every day to replace any broken windowpanes. She Villages that are included on the Tea Towel Map include: Ashford, , also remembered lying in the gutter of the road if doodlebugs came over while she was out. Braybourne, Brook, , Charing, Charing Heath, , , Kennington, Growing up, Jean had many happy holidays in Cromer, Overstrand and Waxham in Norfolk in , , , Westwell and Wye. the 1940s with huge family gatherings. Her cousin recalls playing beach cricket and going for CDLHS have been given permission by Peter’s family to produce the Tea Towels long walks across the sands, with Jean forever doing handstands! that we are now selling, to help raise funds for the preservation and conservation of Back in London, Jean played at the local Wimbledon tennis club and actually for Junior items of historical significance that we own. Wimbledon one year! She studied textile design at Kingston Art College, working later briefly In this instance, the funds will be used to restore a painting of Horace Barwick, who lived in at Heals in London. In later life she came back to textiles, making silk screen scarves at classes The Moat in Charing between 1830 - 1845. He was a prolific artist, who sketched and painted in Ashford. She had various jobs in London as a receptionist and a stenographer and also a job many buildings and scenes in the Charing area. in an advertising agency – Young & Rubicam. Her claim to fame was having her hand in In 2015 Horace’s great-nephew gave CDLHS an oil painting of him, which is now with the a Branston Pickle billboard ad! Courtauld Institute of Art for restoration. For many years Jean lived the army life – she used to say that she lived in 21 houses in 20 The quality of the Tea Towel is very good and they make excellent presents. years, including in Canada, Gibraltar, Newcastle, Germany and, best of all, Hong Kong. The To order one of these unique Tea Towels, please contact Keith Oram last posting was to Templer Barracks in Ashford which eventually closed and was replaced by ( [email protected] ). They are priced at just £8 + £2 p&p. new houses. And then to the house in Westwell, the first house she owned, bought in 1975 and where she stayed, with the same valued neighbours and friends on either side, for 45 years. Jean remembered that they moved into the house in January, it poured with rain all day, the staircase was too narrow and bendy to get the furniture up and they had to take the upstairs bedroom window out as an emergency measure to get the furniture in. In the kitchen was an awful Raeburn, which belched smoke and took an hour to boil an egg! Jean was a guide at Leeds Castle for number of years through the 1980s where she made good friends, with whom she shared several happy holidays to the Italian Lakes and Tuscany. A famous visitor that she showed around was Zza Gabor and she enjoyed imitating her Husky voice! In more recent years she very much enjoyed the NADFAS lectures in Egerton, and the Wye ladies’ luncheons, the coffee mornings at the Wheel and the annual play performed by the Westwell Players. Many kind friends in the village ensured that she could continue getting to these social events right up until this year. Jean was always beautifully dressed and elegant too. She sometimes appeared shy but underneath was an incredibly resilient, independent and determined person who had a playful glint in her eye and was always keen to hear the latest village news. She was able to remain living at home and to enjoy being in her flower-filled garden until she died aged 93.

Anna and Jane Pepperall

- 16- - 5 - Airport Transfer & 1st Charing Scout Group Chauffeur Service ETM Cars Competitive Prices Scouting is taking a bit of a back seat during the summer as we aren’t able to get together as we would like. Nevertheless, lots has been happening. Beavers have achieved a record number of Professional Service badges by working hard at home.. One has even gained the Chief Scout’s Bronze Award which Safe Comfortable Journey is the highest possible for a beaver. Well done! Bottled Water Provided Cubs have had the result of the carrot growing competition. Quite a challenge when we were unable to get to water them during the dry spring. We are very grateful to the Charing Gardeners Society for their help and support. 01233 629551 Scouts are itching to get back to proper scouting. There is lots of planning going on. [email protected] Can you help. Our fabulous beaver leadership team is hoping to recruit another helper. If www.etmcars.co.uk you have been involved in scouting in the past that would be wonderful, but no experience is necessary. All necessary training is provided. I’d love to hear from you Kilby‛s Chimney Sweep Many thanks Terry Lister ANP Security Group Scout Leader 1st Charing Scout Group All Types of Fires and Stoves Tutt Hill Farm Cottage, Westwell, Ashford, Kent TN26 1AH 0774 8818660 / 01233 712981 Swept Using Brush and Vacuum Supply, install and maintain Pots, Cowls security systems, including and Birdguards Westwell Parish Hall Supplied and Fitted. Intruder Alarms You will no doubt know that the Parishh Hall has been closed since the beginning of lockdown but we have now reached a stage where Government guidance has slightly relaxed and some hall CCTV managers are considering whether to open. The Westwell Parish Hall Management Committee 07756 007428 / 01233 840948 Free no obligation had a virtual meeting and decided to continue to keep the hall closed but to review the position survey and quotation at the next meeting on 27 July. ICS Registered - Fully Insured We decided to continue with the closure on the basis that many of the Hall’s biggest users Certificates Issued Andy Peddle 01233 224874 - Westwell such as fitness, dance and pilates classes are still not permitted indoors and secondly for those other more leisurely pursuits there is a restriction on numbers of people and a requirement to Making the Difference deep clean after each use. Without prejudging the position it seems unlikely that we will alter A different and innovative approach to Well-being for our view on closure unless there is a further relaxation of the rules, which seems unlikely at People living with Dementia, using our Model of Care the moment. However, if there is anyone who is desperate to use the Hall then please contact Focusing on enabling our clients to continue as empowered participants and either Doris Cackett or myself and we will assess the proposed usage and if it appears that it not just inactive recipients of care could be opened within the rules then we will ask the Committee for their view on reopening * Promoting safe and independent living * Rehabilitation-Goal focused early interventions for specific uses only. * Delivering personalised care * Companionship and respite In case you are worried about the future of the Hall with no income for many months I can *Mood management and monitoring * Therapeutic interventions say that we have a very reasonable financial position and this has been boosted by receiving * Cognitive functional and environmental assessments a Government grant for ‘businesses’ that have been required to close. We can, therefore, with * Support and assistance with Activities of daily living (ADLs) some certainty say, we will be back. Clive Bainbridge Paula Larter Occupational Therapist BSc. Hons MRCOT 01233 521818 / 07391485101 [email protected] www.makingthedifference-kent.com - 6 - - 15- Westwell Community Watch Scheme B & B in Westwell House Bay Tree Lodge - Police and Gardens at Glebe Cottage TN25 4LQ Detectives investigating fraud offences reported to have been committed against vulnerable people across Kent have made four arrests. Men from Canterbury, Loughton in Essex, HOUSE CLOSED Maidstone and Ashford were detained at around 3.30pm on Wednesday 15th July and remain in custody. Sculptures in the Gardens They were arrested by officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate. 25th July - 16th August Victims have reported being targeted by rogue tradesmen carrying out substandard or 1 - 6 pm Many Apologies but due to unnecessary repairs for a high fee and then, posing as police officers who are investigating Booking Essential Sheilding we are the very crime they themselves have committed, Closed Until Further Notice asking for your bank cards so they can be used as evidence! internet (or ‘phone) Ring Geraldine Bortoli The Police stress they will never ask you to withdraw money or hand over your bank cards. 01233 643854 www.godintonhouse.co.uk. 01233 713919/07852 271886 Anyone who does receive a suspicious telephone call of this nature should hang up, wait five minutes to ensure the line is clear, and then call 101 to check the credentials of the person who called. High Quality ‘Remember the ABC rule to help protect yourself and others against fraud – never ASSUME Painter and Decorator someone is telling the truth, never BELIEVE what they say unless you are sure who they are, and always CONFIRM the details they have claimed. for all your domestic needs Remember NO ONE who is legitimate will EVER ask for your password or card numbers. If in doubt do not proceed. Contact your bank immediately if you think you may have been scammed and report the incident to Action Fraud or phone 101. Despite the Pubs re-opening, or maybe because of it, we are seeing incidents of mindless David Farnfield vandalism or more accurately called – criminal damage - with a number of “odd” incidents Excellent Westwell reference being reported locally overnight. Garden furniture moved or broken, plants uprooted or available distressed etc. An inexpensive solar powered PIR light is a good deterrent, add to that a dashcam type camera and you can get yourself a simple, but effective, security system. For www.davidfarnfield.com something more, seek professional advice. 07710 130275/01233 750450 So, their message, and mine, is unchanged - Stay vigilant. Community Watch Westwell Firewood PARISH HALL RENTAL Make sure you have your neighbours telephone numbers, and they have yours, so that we can Local Delivery Available Would you like to hire the Westwell Hall all keep in contact with one another and we have someone to call in an emergency! Save money:- for your next event? Equipped with:- Remember you can also contact any one of these organisations for help and support: Stock up early for next winter! Full Catering Facilities, Age UK 0800 678 1602 Asthma UK 0300 222 5800 BHF 0300 330 3311 Stage with lighting and Piano Diabetes UK 0345 123 2399 Mind 0300 123 3393 Scope 0808 800 3333 Rates: The Silver Line 0800 470 8090 Weekdays £10 per hour Don’t Forget: If you see anything suspicious call 999 (if a crime in progress), call 101 or Weekends £15 per hour report it on-line. Use Country Eye and Farm Watch . Prices from £75 per 0.75m3 bag/bin Table and chair hire also available Be aware of on-line and phone Scams including local delivery. (to take away) [email protected] Keep Vigilant & HEALTHY - Tony Bartlett – WCWS Co-ordinator Visit westwellfirewood.co.uk for more info Please contact: and to place an order, or call 07946 755966 to Doris Cackett (01233) 712016 discuss your requirements. [email protected] -14 - - 7 - Letter to the Parish Etc Coffee at The Wheel Inn living in surreal times at the moment. Locked- Weeds or not? **Coffee at The Wheel is back. down and unable to venture very far. Have we This time of year, as harvest starts, we may feel wistful about the cornfield weeds. That gorgeous 10.30am 7th August got Covid-19 or not..and will we catch it when we begin to allow ourselves to venture out and poppy field that saw so much aggro on the Faversham road for example. These weeds come everyone welcome.** back year on year given the slightest provocation, I still remember fondly the carpet of yellow travel? As an adventure this story was a relief corn marigolds when our field lay fallow for a year before we planted 2000 trees to make a to read. It is hard to find one character that mini wood. Greene truly likes. But this is certainly a story Jesus talked about weeds in Matthew 13 vv24-30 & 36-43. He compared the weeds that grow worth reading. And there are so many other of within the good wheat to the works of the devil, to be harvested with the wheat but burnt in his writings to read. All succinct and with no the fires to prevent them contaminating the good seed. He was talking about those allowed into waffling. One favourite passage follows. the kingdom of heaven, the good seed, and those who would be cast out on Judgement day, the One’s life is more formed, I sometimes think, weeds. by books than by human beings; it is out of You may be able to bring to mind people who would count as weeds, those you think of as WAGS – Westwell Art Group books one learns about love and pain at second NO art group until further notice hand. Even if we have the happy chance to fall a waste of space or total pains. It is easy to judge people by their behaviours and appearance and mentally throw them away. However, weeds aren’t always a waste. Perhaps someone who in love, it is because we have been conditioned by what we have read, and if I had never known counted as a major human weed in biblical times was a man who made it his life’s work to Westwell Book Club Zoom meeting love at all, perhaps it was because my father’s persecute Christian groups wherever he found them. He saw the light on the road to Damascus We are still here. Reading and meeting. It is library had not contained the right books. (I and, as Paul, become one of the founders of our Christian churches. Jesus had time for many always good to see each other and catch up on don’t think there was much passionate love in who were viewed as outcast, as worthless, during his time on the road. Perhaps we need to look who is going out..are we wearing masks..have Marion Crawford, and only a shadow of it in again at someone we think of as worthless and search for a spark that could be fanned to life we been to the pub or a restaurant..to Ashford Walter Scott)’. and develop to a worthwhile person. Even if we can’t do that ourselves we can support others even! There were seven at this meeting. We Not all our readers enjoyed it. Some thought the who work to turn human weeds into useful citizens. were to discuss Graham Greene’s ‘Travels with writer racist (at the beginning a main character my Aunt’. This was written (published) in 1969. Heather Lister  who is black is dealing with marijuana. That Some said it was a bit dated. Others called it a man is the most descent in the story) And others classic. Excellent narrative and comic plot. It said there are aspects of misogyny. Most did not The Bridge takes on several of Greene’s life experiences. give up on it and thought it was an easy read in The bridge still stands firm, after two hundred years, His Catholicism, sometimes doubtful and times when it may be hard to concentrate. A Monument to the Designers of, its splendour and piers, doubting. His life across Europe and in Sierra Next month’s read is to be arranged. People still cross this grand old bridge, Leone/Angola, and in Latin America. Greene’s Where Gentry once travelled in carriages and gigs. characters are very colourful and the plot Thank You So Much It allows us to cross over, the river so wide, gripping. The protagonist meets his aunt at I want to make sure you are all aware of the To town and back home to where they reside. his mother’s funeral. The first thing she tells hard work done by James and Leah during the him, after admitting she had last seen him at Everyone who crosses here each day, lockdown. his baptism, is that the dead woman was not his Are in such a hurry, to school, work or play, Being a shielder their fast reactions to delivering real mother and he had been adopted! How’s Rich or poor, all are the same, ignoring it’s history, supplies was very commendable. For us (my that for a capturing start? Some know not it’s name. wife was shielding with me) the Wheel were The plot moves on. The man and his ‘aunt’ quick off the blocks. We never worried again With no thought of Builders’ and stories untold, travel through Europe and back to London and regarding fresh food and delicious Sunday The bridge stands there still, so solid and bold. then to Paraguay! All in search of one of his lunches. Thank you both so very much. It is just as strong, since the days of old, aunt’s lovers of days gone by. As you read this Marc Westbrook That’s why it’s story just needs to be told. fantastical plot you sometimes laugh out loud Sandyhurst Lane J. Jones and hope no one is looking! We ourselves are - 8 - - 13 - Parish News “Putting your affairs in order” Westwell Church Services for August The general grimness of the last few months has made many people think about their mortality www.calehill-westwell.uk and how and what arrangements to put in place that will help make a future difficult or distressing situation much easier for loved ones. For many people, deciding on the terms of a Sunday 2nd 8th Sunday of Trinity There will be NO Messy for the foreseeable will is easy. For others, particularly those either with second families or with no family, it can 8am Holy Communion future. Friday 7th be very difficult. It is however always preferable to have a will than not and a good solicitor will 10am Iona Eucharist Parish News August 2020 advise you about who would inherit from you should you die without one, depending on your Sunday 9th: 9th Sunday of Trinity We rejoice in the reopening of our church circumstances, as well as talk through any ideas or questions you might have. 11am Iona Communion and services. The PCC would like to thank Parents will often delay making a will if they cannot agree who to appoint as guardians of their Sunday 14th: 10th Sunday of Trinity especially all those who have helped clean young children. This can be an emotive subject but it is also important to address. Appointing 11am Iona Eucharist and sanitise the church, those who have made guardians in your will is not binding on anyone and it is quite acceptable to have wishes it beautiful with flower displays and weeding Sunday 16th: 11th Sunday of Trinity expressed, either in the will itself or in a letter to sit beside it, giving a much more nuanced idea the path and those who have lightened our of how and where and by whom the parents would want their children to be cared for should 11am Family Service hearts with music, especially Sarah Geering. Sunday 23rd: 12th Sunday of Trinity they both die. As part of getting back to normal, our much Not knowing what you want to include in your will should not deter you from talking to a 11am Morning Communion delayed Annual Parochial Church Meeting solicitor about your options and seeking general guidance. will follow the 11am service on September St Mary’s church is open everyday for personal 20th starting at 12 noon. This will offer A will only comes into effect on death but for many people, help in managing their affairs and prayer or quiet contemplation from 9am to opportunities for anyone who wants to help making decisions will be required whilst they are still alive. Lasting Powers of Attorney are 5pm. Please use the hand sanitisers in church choose next year’s churchwardens and for documents by which family members, friends or professionals are appointed as “attorneys” and wipe down pew surfaces that you have everyone on the electoral roll to help elect which gives them authority to manage the assets and, if you wish, to make decisions about touched. next year’s PCC. We will recap the activities health care and medical treatment, of the person appointing them if and when necessary or The Churchwardens and PCC are hoping to of 2019 and discuss future developments. desirable. If you lose your mental capacity, whether temporarily or permanently, and there is no This September service will also mark the run a full program of services in August as Lasting Power of Attorney in place then it may be necessary for the Court of Protection to be beginning of Harvest month, which will end long as we can find priests to help us. There asked to appoint someone to act on your behalf. Not only is this a lengthy and expensive process in mid October with the Harvest Supper. Look but it is the Court rather than you making the appointment and that clearly could and sometimes will be a lay led service at 11am if no priest is forward to exact dates next month. available for communion. does result in someone you would not have chosen being given authority over your affairs. Finally, it is possible to draw up a document known as an “advanced decision” or “living will”. We have a maximum of 30 people at a service Church Cleaning Rota. These are commonly referred to as “living wills” and can set out your wishes surrounding as we are careful to maintain social distancing. Cleaning: Melanie Major termination of treatment in certain situations, thus allowing you to die. They are increasingly Face masks, hand sanitisers and antiseptic Flowers: June Jones popular! wipes are available in church. The church is Brass: Rosemary Harding carefully prepared before Sunday services. We What is most important, about “getting your affairs in order” is talking to your family, close are expecting to provide accompanying music friends or professionals, about your wishes and opinions about the end of your life. Consider but there will be no singing. taking out a funeral plan. Whilst some people welcome the distraction of organising a funeral There will be no sharing of the cup nor when a loved one has died, for many people knowing that arrangements have already been kneeling at the altar rail to minimize made reduces the stress and distress of the situation enormously. opportunities to spread Coronavirus. Make a list of assets or just keep recent statements in an easy-to-find place, including details of any accounts held only online. If you know (or think you know) that you want to be kept alive at all costs and regardless of your quality of life or prognosis, or you know (or think you know) that you don’t, make sure that you have told the people who will be asked to make that decision if the situation arises. Family Service at 11am on 16th August. An Write it down so they know you meant it and they are not troubled by doubts if and when the informal service led by church members, time comes. this week considering one of Jesus’ miracles, None of this is pleasant to think about but forethought and preparation can make a huge walking on water. difference to an end of a life. None of these arrangements are irreversible. You are (almost) always free to change your mind. Harriet Thorneloe, Thorneloe & Co Solicitors -12 - - 9 - Charing Gardeners’ Society webinar talk and August on Hothfield Heathlands actual Wine and Wander in August

Bison coming to Kent was a national headline in mid-July as Kent Wildlife Trust launched its flagship wilding project. Bison, a keystone species missing from the British Isles for thousands of years, will live in ancient Blean Woods and help naturally manage and restore an abundance of wildlife. No bison are heading to Hothfield, but longhorn cattle, another conservation grazer, have been settling in here this summer. These gentle descendants of 16 th and 17 th century draft We have continued to stay in touch with members via a newsletter twice a month and people animals enjoy the unfertilised and at times tough all-year grazing here, controlling the more are now finding the gardens that are open to visitors. CGS members will be able to have a glass rampant plants to give space to a wider plant range including the rare and less vigorous. Their of wine and wander around the garden of a member on 9 August, all carefully arranged to meet hooves churn the soil creating pools for insects to hatch in and revealing invertebrates for birds current guidance. Our talk on Wednesday 12 August will be in the form of a Zoom webinar to eat. They have a distinctive white line or finching along their back above dappled flanks, and by Dr Ian Bedford on Garden Bugs: Cohabit, Control or Conserve? - What are the good and a rosette of curls on their brow. Their spectacular horns, which can grow at quirky angles, used bad garden bugs we often find in our gardens and what should we do with them? What do we to be used for buttons, beakers, cutlery and thanks to their translucency, lamps. Their aggressive do when foreign pests such as the Spanish slug invade our gardens. Members will be emailed appearance is deceptive, centuries of breeding have produced a calm animal, unless worried details of how to access the webinar and it will be available for viewing for a time after the by dogs or someone gets between a mother her calf. Herds are usually matriarchal. Rearing date. of the Kent Wildlife Trust calves through winter was supported by crowd-funding. As this conservation work progresses there are many ways to help nature beyond Kent Wildlife Trust The virtual summer show on 18th July was a great success, with thirty-three members sending reserves. Encouraging insects in the garden by leaving wild corners, being less tidy generally, in seventy photos of flowers, foliage, produce and more. Charing Cubs sent in seven entries and ditching the poisons for organic alternatives are small steps with big results. for the childrens’ garden on a plate class. Members are voting for the best in each class, and The nectar-rich papery flowers of the ling, Calluna vulgaris, started flowering in July and winners will be awarded a certificate, appear in one of our newsletters, on our Facebook page we hope for a longer display than in last year’s drought. Meanwhile, rising elegantly above and in next year’s annual. It’s been a great celebration of lockdown gardening. We don’t yet the bracken is another of my many favourite flowers, although not an indicator species for know what form our Autumn Show on 26 September will take but we will be doing something, Hothfield habitats. Rosebay willow herb, Chamanaerion angustifolium is a pioneer plant able that’s for certain. to colonise burnt bare ground. Its subtly coloured flowering spike deserves close inspection, the four magenta petals are not quite identical, the sepals a deeper hue, the pollen is grey, the long We have been helping look after the carrots Charing Cubs sowed in buckets on a soggy March flower stems colour red where they face the sun. Up to 80,000 seeds per plant (who counted?) evening, and helped harvest them in mid-July. Results were very patchy, but there were some float far and wide on tiny plumed parachutes. British Canadian indigenous groups use the good bunches for the Cubs to collect from the Scout Hut, and an alert blackbird was searching flowers and young leaves for food, add the seed fluff to other materials for weaving and padding for worms in the compost as we emptied it onto the Scouts’ raised beds. A newt found in one of and use stem fibre for twine. The white variety is an attractive less vigorous garden plant. Rich the buckets was carefully placed in the undergrowth away from predators. At the final Zoom in nectar, the flowers provide sustenance for many insects, including the equally beautiful gold meeting of the Cubs in July we showed photos of the harvesting and I pulled my own bucket of and pink elephant hawk-moth, Deilephila elpenor, which lays its eggs on the plant where the carrots, a bunch of small but tender carrots. Next year we hope to be helping each Cub plant a caterpillars larvae feed before the chrysalis drops to overwinter in the ground litter. spud in a bucket which they can harvest themselves. Everyone is welcome to visit Hothfield Heathlands but please remember this is first and foremost a haven for wildlife. We are a friendly social bunch and miss our regular get-togethers, but gardeners are an adaptable Please keep dogs close to you at all times, do not let your dog run and play off the paths and lot and are staying as active as possible, and looking forward to making our 125th anniversary through the areas of heather and gorse. Breeding and feeding birds are seriously impacted celebrations last well into next year. Come and join us. New members can join at any time in by this disturbance, causing them to abandon nests or preventing them from collecting the the year and are always welcome, contact Nicky Bromley [email protected] 01233 food they need. 713615. See our web site www.charinggardeners’society.org.uk and FaceBook page. Make sure anything you bring with you leaves the reserve with you. Remove litter, dog mess Margery Thomas and place all dog bags in the bins. Hothfield Heathlands is one of the best spots of wildlife in the county, with your help we can keep it that way. Margery Thomas -10- -11-