Spring 2017 FREE Raise money by WALKING IN THE WOODS Over the BEESOTTED! garden fence with Turning honey BBC Radio Kent’s into a hobby Andy Garland Theatre • Homes & Gardens • Walks • Good Food Contents LivingMid Kent 14 24 Covering the Mid Kent area Mid Kent Living is published every three months with a free circulation in Maidstone, Medway, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Malling, Ashford and Sittingbourne. It is available at selected pick-up points throughout the area including major 18 supermarkets. Subscription copies are posted (£8 annually). 32 The team Mid Kent Living is published by Mail Publications Ltd (which also publishes the Downs Mail newspaper), 20 Forge House, Bearsted Green Business Park, Bearsted, Maidstone, ME14 4DT. Tel: 01622 630330 email [email protected] www.downsmail.co.uk Interview Leisure & Tourism Lifestyle 7-9 Personality Profile - 20-21 Tourist Profile - 32-35 Good Food BBC Radio Kent’s Andy Garland Across the border into 1066 36-37 Mind, body & soul Country 38-41 Senior living Editor's Choice 24 Gardens to Visit - Goodnestone Park Gardens 42-53 Property, homes & gardens 11-18 A selection of hand-picked events and great days out 27 Walks - 54-59 Sales & Services around the county throughout Walking for Charity the spring months 60-61 Motoring 28 Hobby Focus - Beekeeping 62 Competitions PRE-BOOK YYOUROUR TICKETS 7,8,9 JJulyuly 2017 NEWEW F FORO 220170 www.kentshow.co.ukwwww..kentshoww..co.uk MEET THE 0162201622 633060 DINDINOSAURSSSAAURS KentKent Showground,Showground, Maidstone ME14 3JF kentcountyshowkentcountyshow kentcountyshowkentcountyshow Will, Estate or Power of AttorAttorneyney dispute? Do you have a dispute regarding how a Will, Estate or Power of Attorney has been handled? 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AuthorisedAuthorised aandnd rregulatedegulated bbyy tthehe SSolicitorsolicitors RRegulationegulation 01622 672563 AuthorityAuthority uundernder no.no. 608279.608279. www.eye2eyeonline.co.uk DM2016 4 Mid Kent Living Editor’s Letter The snowdrops, which carpeted Robin Hood-themed walking performances at Leeds Castle this the highways, by-ways, gardens Easter or a modern take on the classic tale, Cinderella, at the and parks of Kent, have long Hazlitt Theatre. faded and given way to glorious daffodils and crocuses – heralding Both are on the doorstep and well worth the effort to go and see. the new season. We hop across the Kent border into 1066 country, where history- By mid-May, when the trees are covered in leaves once more, lovers will find themselves steeped in the Battle of Hastings story. bursting with life and vitality, winter will be a dim and distant Former police officer Dave West gives us an insight into how to memory. stay healthy and fulfilled in “retirement” – in his case, long walks At this time, I am always reminded of the first line of The Trees on the golf course and working by Philip Larkin: “The trees are coming into leaf, like something as a handyman. almost being said.” Getting active and supporting It’s time to throw open the doors and windows, tidy up the a good cause is also the theme garden and make plans for the longer days and warmer weather. of our feature on this year’s As ever, Mid Kent Living is brim-full of ideas to get spring going. walks for charity. In this issue, we get a peek into the world of Andy Garland, BBC Radio Kent’s popular gardening presenter. Writer Dawn Kingsford All the best. learns about his love of surfing and troubles in growing pumpkins. Now that spring has arrived, our local theatres have also sprung into action, with some amazing acts on offer, not least open-air Simon Simon Finlay, Editor PARTY PACK FANTASTIC SAVINGS ON OUR £10 PARTY PACK DEAL &UD\IRUG6WDGLXPtV SAVE OVER £25 PER PERSON WHEN ITEMS BOUGHT SEPARATELY Heathview Restaurant *over 18’s only. This all inclusive package includes; • Entry and Race programme • Fast food basket meal • 2 drinks from the bar (either lager, wine or soft drinks) • Tote Jackpot Bet £25.00 • PLUS a readmission voucher for 2 people on a future Friday night! www.gambleaware.co.ukwww.gambleaware.co.uk crayford.racingcrayfgord.racin ccrayforddogsrayforddogs 0132201322 557836557836 | www.crayford.comwwwmw.crayford.co | StadiumStadium Way,Way, Crayford,Crayford, KentKent DA1DA1 4HR4HR Mid Kent Living 5 THE BIG CAT SANCTUARY OPEN DAYS 20TH - 23RD JULY 2017 A fun day out for all the family. Come and visit our cats including tigers, lions, leopards and cheetahs. Enjoy face painting, BBQ, falconry display, bouncy castle, arts & crafts and stalls. 11:00am - 5:00pm (Last entry 4:00pm) Prices from: £15.00 to £19.25 Children under 3 years free Advanced booking only - book your place today by visiting our website www.thebigcatsanctuary.org The Big Cat Sanctuary, Headcorn Road, Smarden, Kent TN27 8PJ | 01233 771915 Charity Reg No. 1104420 6 Mid Kent Living Personality profile GARDENING – It’s the circle of life that I love Dawn Kingsford grabbed some “off-air” time with BBC garden show host Andy Garland ahead of the start of the show’s busiest season... Few of us share our Sunday morning He took the programme on as a in spite of his much-loved mum, Ruth, with a bacon butty and an audience of complete garden novice, but like many asking if he’s ever going to get a proper 70,000 people – but it’s all in a day’s newcomers he has been hooked by job. work for Radio Kent’s Andy Garland. horticulture and has just completed two That awakening was enough for him RHS-accredited training courses at Along with his garden gurus, Jean to make the move to Kent to study Hadlow College. Griffin and Steve Bradley, he has been radio, film and TV with sports science at in the horticultural hot seat answering It’s a far cry from his childhood in Christ Church College, where he earned our questions from 8am every Sunday Plymouth, where he was the youngest a first class BA (hons). He remembers for the last 10 years. by far of four children, with a love of the arriving in Canterbury and seeing the While he has been a part of the Radio coast. His father, who died of a heart Kent team for nearly 21 years, during attack when Andy was eight, was in the which time he has hosted every slot Navy, and his uncles beguiled him with from Breakfast to Drive Time, he war-time tales. However, a term with confesses that at just 45 he is one of Radio Devon’s youth posse was enough the “old hands” at the station and to turn his fancy from the sea to the delights in having propagated many a airwaves. new talent. He remembers: “It was one Sunday In fact it’s his second stint hosting the night and the red light was on and we station’s most-listened-to garden show, were playing some great records and I having taken the helm for two years in realised that it made me feel so happy the 1990s, when, he remembers, his and energised. It was an epiphany for first show was shelved, owing to the me.” death of Princess Diana. And it is a feeling that has endured – Mid Kent Living 7 ornate gate to Kings School and its cathedral and proclaiming: “I could spend the next three years of my life here.” And while he misses his friends – and his surfing – he has never wanted to leave. It was at college that he met Lucy, his wife of 12 years, who also works for the BBC, and they moved in together in Sevenoaks. The couple now have two beautiful “ballet- mad” daughters, Martha (10) and Isabelle (seven) with whom they share what they believe will be their “forever home” in West Malling. Andy says: “It has a big garden and a giant oak, which often features in the show because it has 800,000 leaves – every one of which I’ve raked up over the years.” It is this humour that he brings to his show, with the thrifty team of three full of ideas on how to save money by propagating, gifting and throwing a life-line to plants stranded on the discount shelves. Andy adds: “Jean and Steve are the experts and I try to present the show as a family affair. In fact, we’ve proved very able at solving marital disputes between “head gardeners” and “under gardeners” (usually the men) who call in!” In a typical show, the trio tackle questions from FACT FILE more than three dozen 1971: Born, Plymouth callers, with texts from as 1982: Debuts as DJ at youth club The Cellar far afield as France and Club in hometown of Holsworthy, Devon, America, courtesy of the web.