Winter 2007 The Historical Atlas This extract from John Ogilby’s Itinerary of 1675 is taken from the Local History Group’s Historical Atlas of Tunbridge Wells which should now be available for purchase - please see the enclosed leaflet. The

atlas has been nearly two years in the preparation, and is largely the work of John Cunningham, though with a number of other contributors. Please note that the quality of reproduction in the atlas is considerably higher than what we can achieve here. 2 Front Cover - - see page 12 www.thecivicsociety.org Contents

Introduction ... 4 From the Planning Scrutineers ... 5 Notes from Gill Twells.

Chairman’s Letter by John Cunningham ... 6

The ‘Local List’ of Heritage Assets ... 8 Philip Whitbourn explains a recent initiative by the Society and the Town Forum, to identify unlisted buildings that are worthy of note. Looking Both Ways ... 12 Paul McKinnell of the Spa Valley Railway considers its past and its future. Green Room Music ... 16 Dennis Smith explains the activities of the Green Room Music group. Tanks for the Memory ... 18 Some history of Tunbridge Wells and a picture from Ashford AGM and Accounts 2007 ... 19 Kenneth Miller 1919-2007 ... 21 Philip Whitbourn remembers one of the founders of the Society. Conservation Awards 2007 ... 22 Forthcoming Events ... 24

Editor: Chris Jones. 52 St James Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 2LB Tel 01892 522025 (evenings and weekends) Email [email protected] Secretary: Mrs Pauline Everett. Chenhalls, Glenmore Park, Tunbridge Wells TN2 5NZ. email [email protected] Newsletter Winter 2007 3 An Introduction

by Chris Jones

The Historical Atlas After many delays and set-backs, the Historical Atlas should now be available. It is an impressive achievement, and is mainly due to the vision and hard work of John Cunningham. Looking through the proofs, at the detailed Ordnance Survey maps from the 19th century, I was struck by an interesting historical parallel. The OS maps, which revolutionised cartography 200 years ago, were initially produced for the military. We are undergoing a similar revolution today with the widespread use of satellite navigation systems. These, too were produced for the military. One slight difference, though, is that the military could switch off the satellites. Earlier in the year I received an email from the Civic Trust. I assume all Newsletter editors did. They were encouraging us to publish an article about fighting global warming. I’m afraid I thought it was a bit patron- ising. But I’m not antagonistic to the cause, and would like to encour- age you all to do one thing - stop buying bottled water. It’s hard to think of a more pointless and wasteful activity. Just consider the fuel that is used, and the carbon that is generated, in just moving all that water around, let alone the production of the bottles. It is no better for you than the stuff that comes out of the tap, and if you drink the fizzy stuff it will rot your teeth. So stop buying it (and don’t eat in restaurants that won’t give you tap water). A couple of events coming up which may be of interest to members: - on Saturday 26th January Dr John Fuller will be giving the Annual King Charles Lecture. The subject this year is ‘Samuel Pepys at the Rhenish Wine Shop - The Earth, Religion, Science and What Went Wrong’. The lecture is at 2:30 in King Charles the Martyr. - on February 5th, 6th and 7th the Opera House will be putting on Cosi fan Tutte, produced by Opera by Definition. Three evening perform- ances and one matinee. Tickets from the Assembly Hall box-office. 4 www.thecivicsociety.org From the Planning Scrutineers

by Gill Twells

The proposal for a fabric canopy in Little Mount Sion. We think that over Ely Court was reported in the this will damage the simple shape last Newsletter. We were surprised of this important building. It is not to discover later that large areas nationally Listed, but we have in- of the central open space in the up- cluded it in our proposed “Local per mall of the RVP were being List” - see page 8. floored over. We were disap- There seems to have been a pointed to hear that the planners rash of proposals for creating new had been told of the changes but flats in the pitched roofs of the that they did not need permission, houses in Queens Road and Up- being internal alterations. The work per Grosvenor Road. We usually is now complete. What do you only object to these when such al- think of the results? terations result in very large “dor- We were pleased to see an ap- mer” extensions in the roof slopes plication for permission to turn 3 which will, in our view, be too domi- houses in Belvedere Terrace, nating. which had been converted to of- We have had discussions with fices, back into single dwellings. Fairview Homes about new hous- We have objected to a pro- ing on both sides of Grosvenor posed 3-storey rear extension to Bridge – which were designated in offices in Edwardian houses in the recent Local Plan Review as Lonsdale Gardens because of its new housing sites. The north area size and design – a crescent shape overlooks the lake in Grosvenor with plain floor to ceiling glazing on Park and the housing here will re- all floors, set back between project- place the former TWBC Medway ing concrete floor slabs Depot. There is to be a public ex- We have also objected to a pro- hibition in the Camden Centre soon posed 2-storeyextension, with – so look out for it, and give them

lean-to roof, to The Meeting House your comments. Newsletter Winter 2007 5 Chairman’s Letter Rusthall Manor Sale. Last Thursday, 29th. November, the outcome of this sale was announced – the Pantiles, and Tunbridge Wells and Rusthall Commons, are being sold to a single purchaser for the combined ‘asking price’ of £11 million (which asking price was at least £10 million for the Pantiles and at least £850,000 for the two Commons) and so TWBC has been unsuccessful in its bid for the two Commons. While the con- tracts will take another month -six weeks to complete¸ it seems almost 99% certain that they will go through. So the opportunity - not just of a lifetime, but of at least 350 years – has been lost to the residents of Tunbridge Wells and may never come again. Was it a situation where ‘For want of a horse-shoe, the Kingdom was lost?’ What can be put on record is that there was a considerable volume of opinion in the Town which wished to take the opportunity of putting the Commons into public owner- ship. What is also clear is that TWBC had no option but to put in a bid for the Commons – not to have done so, would have left them discredited for ‘not having even tried’. So they had no option. But how serious was their intention? What has not been declared is how much TWBC actually offered and they are not prepared to reveal this, as it is in their view ‘commercially sensitive’. (Is it still so commercially ‘sensitive’ after your offer has been rejected? Or it is just too embarrass- ing to admit what it was?) The Trustees, who apparently were very concerned about potential ‘asset-stripper’ bidders and wanted the Commons to be ‘put in a safe pair of hands’ (which they regarded TWBC to be) are said to have asked TWBC to make a further bid, which apparently TWBC said they would make, but no offer was received. So there is now a new owner of the Pantiles and the Commons, who could have a considerable influence on the future of our Town. Surprisingly, TWBC still maintains that they do not know (morning of Wednesday 5th December) who that new owner is. We have known who they are, since Friday 30th November, through a simple cross-examina- tion of Companies House, Google, other specific websites and The Courier. They are a company called Targetfollow, which already has an interest in the Corn Exchange in the Pantiles since about 2003; which is one of 63 Targetfollow companies with a parent company in the Channel Islands; and which are owned by Ardeshir Naghshineh, an Iranian, who came to the UK in 1979 as a refugee, following the overthrow of the Shah, and is now listed in the 2007 Sunday Times Rich List as the 151st. richest person in the UK with personal assets of £500 million. TWBC’s search for a Development Partner is still continuing and is down to a short-list of three –John Laing, ING and St. Modwyn, the largest of which has a capital value of over £1.2 billion and even the smallest has a value of over £350 million. All three have made a preliminary presentation to TWBC with a strong emphasis on more retail development in the Town Centre and at least two of them have radical ideas, such as the complete and/or partial demolition of the Civic Centre (Town Hall) and the driving of a new road from the Town Hall cross-road through the Town Hall site to Monson Road! While accepting that TWBC with its annual turnover of under £15 million, needs an imaginative development partner for its £90 million of properties, 6 www.thecivicsociety.org our concern is that a very large sophisticated developer could ‘eat TWBC for breakfast’ and will concentrate on retail as they did in their presentations on the Town Centre, overlooking the very deserving (and not necessarily retail) needs of High Brooms, Sher- wood and Ramslye; and Paddock Wood and Cranbrook. The question is how do you control the tiger, once it is let loose. A smaller partner might be more suitable, more amenable and more controllable. The question also needs to be asked as to how this Development Partner will fit in with the new owner of the Pantiles and Commons (and whatever his plans may be) and also with the existing developer of the Ritz site for whom time seems to be running out. TWBC says it will have made its decision about the Development Partner by February, which is a month before our next Newsletter. How much say, if any, will the residents of Tunbridge Wells have in this?? RTWCS Priorities for 2008 The Executive Committee has agreed our priorities for 2008: 1. Responding, as relevant, to issues (if any) arising out of the Rusthall Manor sale. 2. Continuing to press TWBC, as before, for a solution to TW’s ‘planning blight’. 3. Continuing to urge swifter action from both TWBC and KCC Highways about ‘grot spots’ and pavements, lighting and street furniture issues. 4. Continuing to urge earlier re-assessment of RTW Conservation Areas by TWBC, before 2009-10 as is currently planned by TWBC, and for the production of a Local List of Heritage Assets for non-conservation areas. 5. Continuing our responsibility for Heritage Open Days, to ensure its continued suc- cess. 6. Seeking to ‘organise’ a permanent memorial for the 2009 ‘Royal’ Centenary. 7. Continuing our annual membership recruitment drive. 8. Running a specific Corporate Membership drive. 9. Improving our website, both in terms of content, topicality, currency and being up-to- date. 10. Planning to commemorate/celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of RTWCS (originally The 59 Society) in 2009. We hope you agree with them. Our apologies to our members for the delay in publishing An Historical Atlas of Tunbridge Wells, which should now come from the printers in the week of 10th. Decem- ber. Regrettably a key member of the production team withdrew and this caused a delay of about six weeks, as well as some extra cost. But we believe when you see it, it will be worth the delay and you will enjoy it. Finally, we of the Executive Committee would like to wish all our members (and readers) ^7” A Very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.”7 ^

Chairman, 5th. December 2007 Newsletter Winter 2007 7 The ‘Local List’ of Heritage Assets

by Philip Whitbourn

Royal Tunbridge Wells has long Although, therefore, there are a been recognised as a nationally- few groups of statutorily listed build- important historic town, character- ings in Mount Sion, Mount Ephraim ised by a number of Victorian and and elsewhere, most of the large earlier buildings. The town’s fa- Conservation Area in Royal mous ‘set pieces’; the seven- Tunbridge Wells depends for its teenth-century layout of The Pan- character upon unlisted buildings. tiles, and Decimus Burton’s late- There are, for example, no Georgian plan for Calverley Park, statutorily listed houses at all in are well protected by the govern- Broadwater Down, nor are there in ment’s statutory list of buildings of Boyne park, nor in Madeira Park. special architectural or historic in- In the town centre too, landmarks terest. But this was compiled back such as Great Hall and the Station in 1974, when Victorian buildings clock tower are unlisted, as is the were still only beginning to be prop- range of buildings up the Eastern erly appreciated. side of Mount Pleasant fom Carluccio’s. Paragraph 4.27 of the govern- ment’s Planning Policy Guidance note PPG15 states that there should be a ‘general presumption in favour of retaining buildings which make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of a Conservation Area’. Yet nobody has hithertoo sought to identify which are those Tunbridge Wells buildings that make a positive con- tribution to the character or appear- 8 www.thecivicsociety.org ance of the town we know and per said, ‘provides a means for lo- cherish. In the year 2000, the Bor- cal communities to identify and to ough Council published a Conser- protect buildings, sites and spaces vation Area Appraisal for Royal that matter to them’. There may be Tunbridge Wells. This identified differing opinions on how the views particular areas and sub-areas that of the ‘local community’ in Royal have distinctive characters such, Tunbridge Wells should be articu- for instance, as Camden Park, lated. A combination though, of the Pembury Road, the St James’s Town Fo- area, Nevill and Hungershall Parks rum and the Royal Tunbridge Wells and so on. Nevertheless the ap- Civic Society would seem to pro- praisal stopped short of logging in- vide quite a good starting point. dividual unlisted buildings that con- The Royal Tunbridge Wells tribute to the character or appear- Town Forum was established by ance of the Conservation Area. the Borough Council in 2005,with However, in March 2007, the the aim of bringing Ward Council- publication of the government’s lors in the un-parished area of Heritage White Paper seemed to Royal Tunbridge Wells together offer an invitation for the local com- with residents’ representatives, in munity itself to address the issue. order to address local issues. ‘Local Designation’, the White Pa- Membership of the Forum consists Newsletter Winter 2007 9 mainly of representatives of Resi- Langton Road, Montgomery’s No dents’ Associations, but with some 12 Corps Headquarters in Councillors and reprsentatives of Broadwater Down and Molyneux bodies such as the Civic Society. Heights on Mount Ephraim. The Civic Society, of course, has Lists of buildings have been been dedicated to the conserva- compiled for each of the thirty eight tion and enhancement of the town sub-areas in the twelve main Iden- for nearly fifty years, and is the lo- tity Areas described in the Coun- cal Amenity Society registered with cil’s Conservation Area Appraisal. the Civic Trust. These then have been brought to- Through the summer of 2007, gether to form a Local List of Herit- upwards of a dozen field-workers, age Assets for Royal Tunbridge drawn from or approached by the Wells. The Document was pre- Forum or the Society, have been sented to the Leader of the Coun- busy identifying those unlisted cil and to the Director of Planning buildings in the Conservation Ar- before the Cabinet Meeting on 15th eas that, in the words of the White November 2007 and a copy has Paper, ‘matter to them’. That, in a been placed in the Reference Li- nutshell, has been the criterion. brary. Buildings such as the former At this stage, the List consists Friendly Societies Hall in Camden simply of addresses. In an ideal Road, the Spa Hotel on the world, and with more time and re- sources, it would be good to expand upon it with de- scriptions, his- torical informa- tion, photo- graphs and maps. Also at this stage, the List has been confined to the currently des- ignated Con- servation Area,

10 www.thecivicsociety.org where buildings enjoy protection Park Cemetery and the properties from demolition under section 74 in Upper Grosvenor Road that of the Planning (Listed Buildings back on to the Cemetery. Also, and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. houses in Queens Road and Outside that area Local Designa- Newcomen Road, for example, tion could be of little help at would have featured on the List, present, as no protection from had they been within the Conser- demolition exists for unlisted build- vation Area. So the list does not ings there. Even so, the exercise necessarily set out to represent the did pin-point a number of anoma- final word on the subject. It is a lies that deserve to be rectified.The substantial piece of work by a Beacon Hotel, in Tea Garden Lane, cross-section of local residents, for example, is on the boundary of brought together at a particular the Conservation Area, but outside point in time, namely October 2007. it. The building is an interesting It may be that the document can one, designed by the noted Archi- be refined in the future, should cir- tect Sir Robert Edis, and there is a cumstances permit, but, in the strong case for adjusting the mean time, it is hoped that it may boundary to include the property. be useful in feeding in to the Mas- On a wider front, there could ter Plan and the Local Develop- also be a case for extending the ment Framework, now in course of Conservation Area to include preparation by the Borough Coun- whole areas, such as Woodbury cil. Newsletter Winter 2007 11 Looking Both Ways

Paul McKinnell, Volunteer Co-ordinator, describes the past and future of the Spa Valley Railway, ten years old this year

The London Brighton and South ting off in opposite directions: - one Coast Railway opened its line from to Victoria via Oxted, the other to East Grinstead to Tunbridge Wells Charing Cross via Tonbridge. West station in October 1866, with Goods traffic was an important el- the line south to and ement of the line’s business, con- Lewes opening in 1868. The South veying mails, livestock and other Eastern Railway had already agricultural produce. This contin- opened the line from Tonbridge to ued until the 1960’s, though by then Tunbridge Wells Central as early it was costing the railways more as 1845. A single line connection than it earned, but was a manda- through the Grove Hill tunnel was tory service that had to be provided opened in 1872. Trains therefore under the railway’s “Common Car- radiated from Tunbridge Wells to rier” regulations. When Ernest London, Hastings, Brighton, East Marples, the then-Minister of Trans- Grinstead and to Eastbourne via port, relieved the railways of this re- the long-lamented “Cuckoo Line”. sponsibility in the early 1960’s they By the 1920’s was were able to shed many staff, a busy country junction, with up to goods yards, tracks and trains. 50 trains a day leaving in four di- A more radical solution to the rections, including a simultaneous railways’ financial problems was departure of two London trains set- promulgated two or three years 12 www.thecivicsociety.org later by Richard Beeching. The bridge Station represented devel- government at the time was sub- opment possibilities to the BR jected to relentless lobbying from Property Board. road builders and hauliers, in an So, with a very British sense of economic environment which occasion, the last train rumbled into couldn’t justify the enormous out- the West late on a warm summer’s lay on railways where trains were evening, to the racket of exploding running around with no passen- fog signals placed on the line by gers in them, let alone goods. In the local railwaymen. Black bunting 1965 the lines to East Grinstead and a wooden (supposedly empty) and to Eastbourne were cut, and coffin awaited Driver Coomber and in 1968 the link south from Uckfield his packed six-coach train. The to Lewes. For reasons unknown coffin was put in the Guard’s Van, the line north from Uckfield to and the train skulked off to the sid- Oxted, and the link from Eridge to ings. Signalman Barnes sent “Box Tunbridge Wells were retained. Closing” on the bell to his col- Closure of the latter was first leagues at Birchden Junction and proposed in 1982, but the local Tunbridge Wells West “B” Transport Users group fought it for signalbox, locked the door and as long as they could. Contrary to went home. Others, less-temper- the statistics provided by BR, the ate, piled into the Lord Cornwallis line remained well-patronised to at the bottom of Nevill Terrace and the end. But railways close for a drowned their sorrows. reason (not out of spite as some The Eridge Line Action Group are wont to believe), and as some- had failed in its initial objective to one who has spent the last 18 save the line from closure, but years rebuilding the Groombridge thoughts quickly turned to re-open- line, I would say the overriding rea- ing for com- son for closure was that it was muters with KNACKERED. Against the back- steam drop of the multi-million pound electrification pro- gramme, there was simply no money to pay for it. The signal- ling was life-expired, the culverts blocked and the track rotten. Im- portantly too, the enormous West Sta- Newsletter Winter 2007 tion site and Groom- 13 trains at weekends. No-one really back pockets (kindly loaned by TW knew how, or why, except that they BC), British Rail suddenly became wanted to see trains running again more interested. A deal was done, between Tunbridge Wells and a Light Railway Order was granted, Eridge. and “The Groombridge Line” was BR took three years to disman- on its way back. tle the track and platforms, and Meanwhile, though, Groom- weren’t very receptive to a bunch bridge station platforms had been of amateurs staking a claim to their flattened for a housing develop- hardware. However, the demolition ment, and the track and infrastruc- men were jolly decent to us, and ture were life-expired. We spent allowed the nascent TWERPS to countless Sundays chopping down pilfer as much as they could, and trees and replacing sleepers to hide it in the old engine shed. bring one of the two tracks up to Soon, the extensive West yard standard. This purgatory continued and station had disappeared under for ten years, and we were begin- a car-park and supermarket, a ning to think that it was beyond us heartbreaking sight for those who after all, and that the railway should remembered the gas lights and be allowed to die. Vistorian signals just five years Then, out of the blue, some earlier. Such nostalgia was fortu- blokes from Dartford were given nately not lost on John Sainsbury, notice on the field in which they had who gave the revivalists a huge built their own railway. They had leg-up by leasing us the engine steam engines, carriages and ex- shed and building a platform. His perience of working on them. And generosity extended to new roller- now they were homeless. In short, doors and a new roof for the en- they had everything we needed, gine shed. Without his intervention, and we had everything they it is unlikely the railway would have needed. survived. With £250,000 in our They duly turned up with low- loaders full of rolling stock, track and signals - a complete full-size train set. They relaid their track in the shed yard at TWW, and we TWERPS drooled with the excite- ment of finally seeing our railway reborn. In Decem- ber 1996, the chaps who 14 www.thecivicsociety.org had previously been called the North Downs Steam Railway ran the first passenger trains out of TWW for 11 years. The Spa Valley Railway was born. It only went a quarter of a mile into the woods, but it was a start, and after a mas- sive effort, we swept triumphantly into Groombridge on a hot August bank holiday seven months later. Since that happy day the Spa Valley has been busily consolidat- ing, ready for our next and final Big into Eridge station to connect with Push to Eridge, which we are now the main line to London. It’s only a ready to deliver. We run a steam mile further, but running our trains train service every weekend be- over Network Rail infrastructure tween Easter and the end of Octo- has meant years of negotiation and ber, plus Santa Specials in Decem- development. Now, Network Rail ber and weekday running in the have written a lease agreement school holidays. Trains now include and committed time to helping us a buffet-bar car, serving drinks and deliver this groundbreaking project, teas in a Pullman-style environ- which has never been attempted ment with uniformed stewards; and before in Britain. The Uckfield line a station building has been con- itself has undergone a transforma- structed at Groombridge. The re- tion, with new trains and an ex- introduction of full semaphore sig- press service to London. Passen- nalling proceeds apace. The rail- ger numbers have gone through way relies entirely on volunteers to the roof. Incredible, considering man the trains, stations, work- that until the mid-1990’s there was shops and lineside, and the vari- real concern that it too might close. ety of jobs on offer is testament to With this success to build on, a re- our development into the largest juvenated Groombridge line has tourist attraction in Tunbridge massive potential as a public car- Wells, with around 30,000 visitors rier and tourist operation. per year and rising. For those who have invested We have now built an opera- blood, sweat and quite a lot of tears tional railway all the way to in rebuilding the railway they once Birchden Junction on the Uckfield saw die, the future has never line, and next year intend to extend looked more exciting. Newsletter Winter 2007 15 Green Room Music A Journey from the Elizabethan Barn to Trinity The first Green Room recital tracted sell-out audiences of over was held in the Elizabethan Barn 1,000. 40 years ago, by the Green Room In September 1977 the musical Club of Royal Tunbridge Wells. wing of the Club was hived off, This had been founded in 1965 to enabling it to acquire charitable sta- campaign for a theatre and arts tus and resultant tax advantages. centre in the town. From that date we became Green The chief architect of the Club Room Music in our own right. and its Chairman from 1966 was Sadly, Hans died in 1982 and Hans Romney who, while retaining was succeeded by Jimmy Hinves his vision of a theatre, organised who continued the tradition of re- theatre outings and professional citals at the Assembly Hall but also classical music recitals as Club ac- initiated a ground-breaking ‘Unfa- tivities. miliar Music Series’ at Trinity Thea- The recitals became so popu- tre. These continued until 1996. lar they were transferred in 1970 Meantime, in 1987, the main re- to the Assembly Hall. Famous art- citals moved to Trinity on Sunday ists were engaged and audience afternoons and we have enjoyed numbers climbed. Three memo- this venue ever since. rable recitals by Janet Baker, Paul The Society has initiated a Tortelier and Alfred Brendel at- number of education projects such

Left: Sir Peter Maxwell-Davies conducting 110 string players from 22 schools

Opposite: Tunbridge Wells High Sschool boys getting ready for the Percussion Workshop

Photos: Gareth Villano 16 www.thecivicsociety.org as Young Composer Competitions. We are currently awarding a prize to the student who gains the highest marks in Music AS Level from schools within 10 miles of Tunbridge Wells. In October, our new Education Programme featured two highly suc- cessful events. The first was at Tunbridge Wells Grammar and our aim now is to encourage School for Girls where Sir Peter more people to sign up. Maxwell-Davies, The Master of the This year we offered a half price Queen’s Musick, led a workshop deal for new Season Ticket Sub- of 110 string players from 22 scribers and are still offering this schools in one of his compositions. deal for the remaining three recit- The second was a percussion als in the Season at the knock- workshop of 50 students from down price of £17.50 for the three. Tunbridge Wells High School led The single ticket price is £15. by percussionist Fabian Baird and The three recitals are: clarinettist David Campbell. The 20 January - The Maggini two events attracted a two page Quartet (works include Haydn, spread in the Courier. Mendelssohn) The Society’s main function, 17 February - pianist Robert however, is to organise six profes- Scamardella (works by Chopin, sional recitals every year between Schumann, Ravel) September and March. These take 16 March - Kungsbacka Piano place at 3.00pm on Sunday after- Trio (works by Beethoven, Ravel, noons at Trinity Theatre, and are Schubert). open to everyone. We are always Please apply to me for a bro- seeking Season Ticket Subscrib- chure or tickets, Dennis Smith ers as they form the bedrock of our (01892 526566). audience and our regular income. (For more details of Green Room There has been a reduction in the Music, please see their web-site, on number of Subscribers recently www.greenroommusic.org Ed) Newsletter Winter 2007 17 Local History Group: Tanks for the memory There may be a few readers They were built by William Foster who remember the First World War & Co of Lincoln, who normally built tank that stood outside the main agricultural equipment such as Post Office in Vale Road. It was traction engines. presented to the town in July 1919 The display tanks were mainly in recognition of its contribution to the female variant of the Mark IV. War Savings, but had been re- The male had two cannon and four moved for scrap before the start of machine-guns, the female had six the second war. machine-guns. Frank Chapman, in A correspondent from Lewes, Tales of Old Tunbridge Wells, sug- Mr P Jennings, has provided me gests that Tunbridge Wells re- with more details. The government ceived a male version. offered 265 tanks to towns and cit- The tanks were in working or- ies, though not all of them were ac- der and were typically driven cepted. Only one remains in situ - through the recipient town from the in Ashford, (see below). The local railway station. In our case tanks were about 8 feet high to ac- this was the original goods station, commodate so the tank had to come a crew of along Camden eight.

18 www.thecivicsociety.org Road, Monson Road and York on the Common. This latter in- Road, before turning down London cluded a new activity called ‘jazz- Road. On reaching Richmond Ter- ing’ - perhaps another legacy of the race it did a final detour up and over US Army. the Common. During the formal Mr Jennings also explained that handover to the Mayor a military another tank, called ‘Egbert’, had band played ‘Over There’, the toured the country in 1918 to pub- marching tune of the US Army. The licise the savings campaign, and final drive chains were then re- had possibly visited Tunbridge moved. According to the Courier Wells in July of that year. I wasn’t the side guns were left in place, a able to confirm this, but Tunbridge honour shared only with Swansea. Wells was planning a big auction The route taken through the for Red Cross and Red Triangle town still had decorations from the funds at that time. I believe that Peace Day celebrations two weeks ’Red Triangle’ refers to the YMCA. earlier - readers may remember The Courier had league tables seeing pictures of ‘victory arches’ comparing the per-capita contribu- in Camden Road. Peace Day itself tions to War Savings of different had been affected by bad weather, towns. Tunbridge Wells came sec- and some of the planned events ond in a list of spa towns, leading were delayed until 30th July. There Leamington, Bath and Buxton, but was a concert by massed choirs in a long way behind Harrogate. What what was called ‘Calverley Park was probably more galling was that Meadow’; a carnival with fancy it was also slightly behind Maid- dress competitions; and dancing stone. Annual General Meeting 2007 The Annual General Meeting of scribed the activities of the Soci- the Civic Society was held at the ety over the previous year, and the Town Hall on November 8th. Mem- Treasurer, David Wright, presented bership of the Executive Commit- the accounts (see page 20). Mem- tee for the coming year was con- bers are reminded that a full set of firmed. The only changes are that accounts are provided to those at- Daniel Bech has withdrawn, and tending the AGM. If you were un- Alistair Tod has been elected as able to attend, but would like a Vice-Chairman. The current Chair- copy, then please contact Roger

man, John Cunningham, de- Joye. Newsletter Winter 2007 19 Summary of Financial Activities for the year ended 31st August 2007 2007 2006 (as restated) ££££ INCOMING RESOURCES

From generated funds: Voluntary Income 8,699 6,099 Investment Income 410 285 9,109 6,384

From charitable activities: Sales 3,646 12,925 Events for members 794 642 4,440 13,567 Total Incoming Resources 13,549 19,951

RESOURCES EXPENDED

Charitable activities: Cost of sales 1,930 9,977 Events for members 2,781 2,106 Newsletter 795 700 Support costs 2,560 2,726 Community activities 1,953 330

Total Resources Expended 10,019 15,839

NET INCOMING RESOURCES 3,530 4,112

TOTAL FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD 17,215 13,103

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD £20,745 £17,215

Note: From 2007, income and expenditure relating to Heritage Open Days has been separately identified as Restricted Funds. This distinction is not made in the table above, where the Restricted and UnRestricted figures are combined. The relevant sums are as follows:

Restricted Income: £4,100 Restricted Expenditure: £1,217 Restricted carried forward: £2,883 Therefore, Unrestricted carried forward: £17,862 20 www.thecivicsociety.org Kenneth Miller 1919 - 2007

A dwindling number of long- and much more, his stentorian and standing members will have been out-spoken voice could be heard saddened to learn of the death of ex-horting the Society to act as a Kenneth Miller on 18th December, bridge between what were then at the age of 88. perceived as “an often ignored As a former member of the old public and an often secretive Civic Association, Kenneth pre- Council”. It is awful to think that, sided over the Society’s Inaugural following a stroke, he was unable Meeting on 17th June 1959. The to speak for the last three years of Society was at first called the 59 his life. Society and, by the time he took The youngest child of Edward- over as Chairman in 1963, devel- ian parents, Kenneth was brought opment had become a major issue up at the family home, Uplands, at in the town. The re-development of Wadhurst, now the Community no.2 Calverley Park and of the College. He trained as an Architect Calverley Hotel, now the Hotel du at Liverpool and set up practice at Vin, had been successfully re- Decimus Burton’s Calverley Park sisted; although the future of the Crescent. A war veteran, he sus- Congregational Church, later Habi- tained an injury to his leg, although tat, remained uncertain. that did not prevent him from in- Kenneth’s term of office started dulging his huge passion for sail- with a Public Inquiry into a re-de- ing. His great loves were classical velopment scheme for no.72 Lon- architecture, sailing and music. It don Road, which was seen off, was hopeless trying to ring him if along with threats to the Opera Bach’s B Minor Mass was on the House and to the Wellington Ho- radio and, if he had occasion to call tel. The County Council’s Town De- on me, the first thing he would do velopment Plan loomed large in would be to sit down at the piano. those days, and the threat of park- His body was laid to rest in the ing on the Common was all too real churchyard at Wadhurst on 5th and serious. Kenneth maintained November, and Tunbridge Wells that the Society had every blade owes him a deep debt of gratitude.

of grass numbered. So in all this PW Newsletter Winter 2007 21 Conservation Awards 2007

On October 11th, Greg Clark presented the Civic Society’s Conservation Awards for 2007 to: • the new boat store and ticket office in Dunorlan • the new conservatory to no.2 St Marks Rd • the restored Opera House • the converted Chapel in Woodbury Park Cemetery • the restored Farnborough Lodge.

Conservation Commenda- tions were given to: • Siete in the High Street • White Rose Cottage in Frant Road • 47 Upper Grosvenor Road • the restored Gower Foun- tain, Camden Road

Details of all the award and commendation winners will be provided on the Society web-site.

22 www.thecivicsociety.org Newsletter Winter 2007 23 Meetings start at 7.45 on the second Thursday in the month (unless otherwise stated). Please remember to bring your membership card. Visitors are welcome.

Jan A presentation by Robert Cottrill, Director of Planning & Devel- 10th opment, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council * Royal Wells Inn *

Feb ‘Scotney: a Work of Art and Nature’ - an illustrated talk by Mrs 14th Heather Woodward of the National Trust * Royal Wells Inn *

‘Robert Marnock, Victorian Capability Brown’ - an illustrated Feb N N talk by Kay Keeton. * Town Hall *. Please note that this is a joint E 28th E 7:30 meeting with the Friends of Dunorlan, and places must be booked W in advance - please phone Ruth Baker on TW 722406. W

Mar ‘Books about the House’ - a talk on locally-held National Trust 13th book collections by Stephen Massil * Town Hall*

Apr ‘Kent, Brick by Brick’ - an illustrated talk by Lt.-Col. Dick Bol- 10th ton. * Royal Wells Inn *

Please note that during this session, meetings may be in either the Town Hall, as usual, or in the Royal Wells Inn on Mount Ephraim.

The views expressed in this Newsletter are those of the named author or of the editor and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Society. Published by the Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society.