10 Spr 01 2010.pdf · 2015. 10. 4. · AA Milne - a reseacher writing a book on AA Milne puts two...

Royal Tunbridge Wells

CIVIC SOCIETYNewsletter

Spring 2010

2 www.thecivicsociety.org

Conservation Awards

Civic SocietyAwards 2010The Civic Society Awards for 2010

were presented by the President of theSociety, the Marquess of Abergavenny,on April 8th.

An award was given for therestoration of the Hoare Memorial(above), and a Commendation for therefurbishment of the West Station(right).

See pages 10 to 12 for otherwinners.

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Personally Speaking ... 4

From the Planning Scrutineers by Gill Twells ... 5

Chairman’s Letter by Alastair Tod ... 6

Civic Voice - a new national organisation ... 8An update from Roger Joye on the ‘Civic Trust’ situation.

Return of Bloom ... 9Alastair Tod on the revival of Bloom in Tunbridge Wells.

Civic Society Awards 2010 ... 10

Arthur Shearly Cripps 1869-1952 ... 13June Bridgeman tells the story of one man’s unlikely career.

Dresden - a city rebuilt ... 18Christo Skelton on a talk to the Twinning Association.

Local History Group News ... 20

Langton Green Through the ages ... 21

The Summer Air was Soft and Warm ... 22Pictures by Richard Storkey.

Future Events ... 23

Forthcoming Events ... 24

Editor: Chris Jones. 52 St James Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 2LBTel 01892 522025 (evenings and weekends) Email [email protected]: Christo Skelton. 4 Caxton House, 19 Mount Sion, Tunbridge Wells TN11UB. Tel 01892 513241 Email [email protected]

Contents

Front cover: Gilly Bishop helps the recruiting drive in ‘Camden Road the Musical’ see p. 11(Camden Road pictures courtesy of http://picasaweb.google.com/camdenroadthemusical)


by Chris Jones

Personally Speaking

Local History Questions... One of the results of havinga Civic Society web-site, accessible to the world, is that we receive requests forinformation about the history of Tunbridge Wells. Some of these we can answer,some of them are beyond us. Three recent ones will give an indication of thetype of enquiry, and enable me to ask whether any of our readers can help:

Grosvenor School - the honorary historian of the Reedham Old Scholars’Assocation is researching the history of Reedham School - an orphanage nearCroydon which was opened in 1844 and originally known as the ‘Asylum forFatherless Children’. He is particularly interested in James Arliss Carter whowas Headmaster there from 1879 to 1908. Before that he was schoolmaster atthe Grosvenor United School - the Non-Conformist school in Tunbridge Wellsin Meadow Road, and lived in Calverley Street. Any information on Mr Carteror the Grosvenor School would be appreciated.

Mount Sion - a Professor at St Andrew’s is researching John Keats, and arelationship that he had in 1817 with a Mrs Isabella Jones. In 1819 she stayedat Clifden House in Mount Sion, where Frances O’Callaghan, Lady Lismore(née Ponsonby) was resident. James O’Callaghan, MP for the rotten boroughof Tregony, Cornwall, was also connected with the house. Mrs Jones also hadlinks with one Donat, or Donal O’Callaghan, who seems to have lived inHastings. Three questions arise:

• was Clifden House part of Berkeley Place / Ashenhurst’s Great House?• what was James O’Callaghan’s connection with Tunbridge Wells?• does anybody know of a Donat (Donal) O’Callaghan?AA Milne - a reseacher writing a book on AA Milne puts two questions:• In the 1920s, Winnie-the-Pooh will have needed repairing from time to

time. Did Weekes have a toy department and did they undertake toy repairs?Alternatively, was there a “dolls’ hospital” somewhere else in the town?

• The other question is rather intriguing - what happened to Milne after hedied (which was in January 1956)? The DNB says he was cremated in TunbridgeWells, but the Crematorium only opened in 1959.

If you can help with any of these, please contact me - details on p.3. CJ

News & Views

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From the PlanningScrutineers

by Gill Twells

Recent DecisionsApproved and Refused Demolition of various houses in Dunorlan Park for

redevelopment approved but, the proposed redevelopment was refused ! Wethink this a very peculiar decision.

Approved Alterations to the house, Autumn Hill in Dunorlan Park.Approved A proposal for a new shopfront for the former Halifax building

in the High Street, for The White Company - which looks good.Pending The proposal to enlarge the Tesco Supermarket at Pembury.Pending The replacement of 2 public footpaths through the cinema site in

the redevelopment scheme.Refused Permission for the sale of a wider variety of goods at Wickes store

in the Industrial Estate - which pleases us because we think that this area hasrecently become too much of a “Retail Park”, resulting in the closing of somany small shops in the town centre.

Appeal Dismissed For the redevelopment of the site at 9 Park Road withnew housing.

Appeal Dismissed For a new house on land adjacent to 67 Warwick Park.GT

So the Council has produced a plan for moving the Town Hall offices, withothers, to the Land Registry building at Hawkenbury. We’ve known of theirwish to move out of the listed complex in the town centre ever since the openingof the Gateway, and have questioned the Council Leader and Chief Executiveabout it. We are concerned at the threat to the unique complex, whose historicfeatures are said to make it unsuitable as a town hall. We also oppose theremoval of town hall activities from a central site, as we oppose any otherbarriers to public access to those working for us. But Hawkenbury is not asinaccessible as some of the alternatives that have been mentioned, and we supportbringing public functions together. At a reported price of more than £10m whycan’t they be brought together at the Town Hall? AT

‘Town Hall Quit Plans’


Chairman’s LetterChairman’s LetterChairman’s LetterChairman’s LetterChairman’s Letter

Tunbridge WellsMarch 2010

The Society is bemused by the Council’s decision to press onwith the demolition of the bandstand on the basis that it is unsafe.The Council’s survey did not describe it as unsafe, and it was

left in public use for several months after the report was written; we havebeen refused permission for our expert to inspect it. The cost of demolitionand reinstatement of the site were put at £28,000 last year, and we feel surethe present bandstand, strengthened in 2004, could be secured and paintedfor less than that.

Public opinion as expressed very clearly last year was that the structureshould be restored, or failing that replaced with something similar. Wediscussed with the Council at that time how this could be independentlyfunded, and the Society offered to lead an appeal.

The Council now say they want a large level performance space in frontof the cafe, with space for a seated audience of several hundred, whichwould be incompatible with a bandstand on the present site. They havepublished an architect’s study showing what this would mean. We questionthis objective.

The architect’s design implies much larger formal events in CalverleyGrounds than we believe are likely or legally possible; organisers of thelargest current event the Mela do not object to the presence of the bandstand.The architect proposes the occasional erection of a tensile fabric roof, butthis does not give Calverley Grounds the permanent landscape feature itneeds, and still has in the present modest structure.

However the architect’s scheme could not be implemented for at least fiveyears. Meanwhile there is to be a comprehensive review of the use andmanagement of the park, in which the form and location of a performancestage will be a key issue. The Society and others will be consulted on thisreview, and will have the chance to push again for our preferred alternativeof a multi-use stage in traditional bandstand form – as adopted in manyother towns, and supported by various organisations here.

We would welcome band performances in Calverley Grounds – but also

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other kinds of performance, and a structure which is decorative in its ownright, available for informal use and addressing an informal audience. Thisreflects a modern version of Tunbridge Wells’ traditional spa role. Manyfond memories of the present structure relate to the fact that it was a shelteredenvironment for children’s play, meeting friends and drinking tea.

We accept the cost of restoring this now for an indefinite life would beuneconomic, and few of the components warrant preservation. If it is to bereplaced alternative locations are possible, which would free more levelground for other events, as the Council wishes. But we expect the review toconsider the option of preserving the present layout, with a replacementstructure on the present site. In the belief that any progress on this must bethe product of co-operation between the Society, the Council, and thecommunity, we have after due deliberation withdrawn our formal objectionto the demolition of the bandstand.

Members know we have recently revised our objects to remind ourselveswe look forwards as well as back, and are concerned with community lifeand public involvement in decisions that concern them, as well as theenvironment. The bandstand issue is where several of these concerns meet.Public opinion was outraged by the announcement last spring, and by theclaim that the decision to demolish expressed public wishes (including theSociety’s). One collector of 120 signatures on the Save Our Bandstandpetition encountered only one refusal. Many objectors saw the loss of thebandstand as further erosion of our limited public facilities.

We don’t see any case for developing a listed park as a majorentertainments venue. We do advocate recreating an appropriate landscapefeature, a facility in a historic spa town and an essential focus for its listedsetting, an illuminated landmark at night, but also like the present a focusfor informal social activity, and a range of relatively small-scale events -drama, jazz, children’s shows, fashion shows, and choirs, as well as bands.This is how a community comes together, and we believe there is ampleevidence that it is what the public want.

In a way this is a minor issue – there are no statutory duties or commercialcontracts involved. But for that reason it is an opportunity to show ourability to co-operate in finding solutions appropriate to their environment.

Alastair Tod


Civic Voice - a new national organisation

News & Views

An update from Roger Joye on the ‘Civic Trust’ situation

In our Summer 2009 newsletter, wereported on the demise of the CivicTrust as a result of financialdifficulties, and on proposals for apermanent successor organisation to beestablished after an interim periodduring which ideas and offers ofsupport would be canvassed. Ninemonths or so of great activity have nowproved fruitful, and a new nationalorganisation called Civic Voice – thename was chosen by societies andother interested parties from a shortlistof four possibles – is being launchedon 17th April 2010.

Civic Voice will be registered as acharity and set up as a company limitedby guarantee. It aims to developgradually over a period of three yearsinto quite a different body from theCivic Trust in its latter days, basing itsprogramme on what civic societiesaround the country have said theywant. Knowing that the subscriptionsit received from societies werewoefully inadequate, the old CivicTrust had sought to boost its incomeby running Green Flag and similarprojects paid for by councils and otherorganisations (and having very little todo with civic societies); when thesesources dried up in the face of therecession, the Civic Trust collapsed.

Not wishing to see a repeat of this

sad story, the interim body ascertainedwhat societies wanted (a lot more) andthen candidly told them it would costa lot more. The societiesacknowledged this, and it remains tobe seen in the coming months if theywill put their money where theirmouths are.

Civic Voice’s budget for 2010/11 is£180,000 which, we are told, will bespent on meetings of societies andvolunteers, developing a website,events, travel and publications, as wellas mounting one or two campaigns,lobbying on the highest priority issues,and offering support on strengtheningthe civic societies network. In threeyears’ time the budget would need tobe between £300,000 and £400,000 tomeet all the aspirations expressed bycivic societies, and Civic Voice aimsto build up to this gradually. The lastannual subscription paid by RTWCSto the Civic Trust was £170; for 2010/11 it should be £500, rising to £800for 2011/12.

Your committee recognises the needfor a national organisation to representthe interests of civic societies atnational level and also to providesupport in various forms to thosesocieties. It has participated in theconsultation process which hasresulted in the creation of Civic Voice.

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Alastair Tod on the revival of Bloom in Tunbridge WellsReturn of Bloom

For several years Tunbridge Wellshas not competed in Britain in Bloom,and outside the parks the Council’sefforts have been limited to thePantiles, the Museum triangle andoutside the Town Hall. Last year’sdisplay in the Pantiles was spectacularbut the rest of the town centre was bare.

In 2010 the Society is supporting theTown Forum in reviving Bloom inRoyal Tunbridge Wells – not yet as acompetitor in Britain in Bloom, but asa campaign to brighten ourpublic realm and promotecommunity participation.The Council will continue toprovide flower baskets butwith a wider distribution inshopping areas.

Bloom 2010 aims tospread the effect of thelimited Council commitmentthroughout the town. It willinvolve schools andcommunity organisations,and there will becompetitions for bestcontainer, best front* gardenand best street, amongothers. Trophies will beawarded. With the aid of

sponsorship, volunteers will clear uproundabouts and replant the Museumtriangle. With other townorganisations the Society isundertaking the replanting of acontainer in the Calverley precinct.

Competitions will be judged by anRHS judge in early July, and entriescan be made at the Gateway up to 28th

June. AT*A ‘front’ garden is anywhere

visible from the street.

The new organisation now needspositive and active contributions fromsocieties if it is to succeed, and

RTWCS is committed to supporting it.Further information can be found at

www.civicvoice.org.uk. RJ


Civic Society Awards

Restoration of thecanopy at 8, Calverley

Park. (left)

New house at 35Warwick Park. (right)

Conversion of warehouse todesign studios, Culverden

Square. (left)

Civic Society Awards 2010 (contd)

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AE Hobbs, Mount Pleasant Le Rendez-Vous, Camden Road

CommunityContribution

Awards

Community Contribution awards were given to JonOram of Claque Theatre for the enormous achievement oforganising the Camden Road events of 2009, and to DaveProdrick for continuing the work with the community inthat area.

Lantern Procession, 2010

Lantern Procession, 2008

Camden Road - the Musical, 2009Camden Road - the Musical, 2009


Community Contribution AwardsCommunity Contribution awards were also given to four shops for

bringing high-quality local food to the town.Sankey’s Fishmonger, Vale Road

Wood’s Produce Store, Pantiles Taywell Farm Produce Store, High St

Peter Speaight Butchers, Chapel Place

Civic Society Awards

CommendationsCommendations were given for:

- the restoration of the Whitefield Memorial (see Autumn 2009)- the Panorama on Mount Ephraim (see Autumn 2009)

- new shops at 3 and 5 Grosvenor Road- new development at Kentish Gardens

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Builders and lawyers seem anunpromising family background for aman of whom his bishop said “I thinkI know a saint when I see one”. ArthurShearly Cripps spent 50 years of hislife as priest, poet and missionary inwhat is now Zimbabwe, where theShona people called him “the-man-who-walks-like-thunder”. The Britishadministration had lesscomplimentary names for his longcrusade against colonial land andlabour exploitation in Africa.

Arthur was born in Tunbridge Wellsin 1869, youngest child of Williamand Catherine Cripps. He grew up inMount Calverley Lodge, a sizeablefamily house built by his developergrandfather, Charles Cripps, in whatis now Prospect Road. His father had,in 1852, set up a flourishing legalpractice that still exists today as CrippsHarries Hall. Arthur’s early years musthave been anxiously watched over byhis parents, for in 1867 they had lostthree children to diphtheria. Twomonths after his birth, another sisterdied from whooping cough. All fourare buried in Woodbury ParkCemetery.

The Cripps family had hitherto

worshipped at Holy Trinity Church, thedomain of Edward Hoare, but around1869 switched allegiance to the newSt Stephen’s Mission Church inCamden Road, serving animpoverished part of St James’ parish.In the eyes of Canon Hoare and otherlow churchmen of the town, the“Romish” practices of St Stephen’sinvolving incense, candles andvestments were an abomination and

Arthur Shearly Cripps 1869–1952“The-man-who-walks-like-thunder”

June Bridgeman tells the story of one man’s unlikelycareer

Arthur aged about 2 with his mother CatherineCripps. She is still wearing half mourning for

her dead children.

Local History


they succeeded in getting it brieflyclosed by the Archbishop ofCanterbury. However by 1882, whenWilliam Cripps died aged 51, StStephen’s church had been reopenedwith a different priest and the parishof St Barnabas formed.

The Cripps family remained staunchsupporters of the new St BarnabasChurch, though secretly a year after herhusband’s death, Catherine Crippsbecame a Roman Catholic. Arthur’ssister Edith followed suit 5 years later.His other sister, Emily, married a HighChurch minister she met at StBarnabas, who was bitterly opposedto Roman Catholics. Arthur, whoremained on the Anglican side of thefence, was throughout his lifeecumenical in approach and workedhappily alongside other Christiandenominations.

Encouraged by his sister Edith,Arthur started composing verses at anearly age and when he was 15 had hisfirst volume of poems privately printedat the Gazette Steam Printing Works,in the High Street. In 1887 he went upfrom Charterhouse School to TrinityCollege, Oxford – the first of his familyto attend university. There, he formeda lifelong friendship with LaurenceBinyon, already an up-and-comingpoet. In 1890, Blackwells publishedPrimavera, a slim volume of poetrywhich Oscar Wilde’s review at the timemischievously suggested “under-graduates might read with advantage

during lecture hours”. Wilde focussedhis review on three of its four authors,Laurence Binyon, Stephen Phillips andManmohan Ghose. He remarked ofthe fourth only that “Mr Cripps ismelodious at times”.

In fact all four youthful poets wenton to earn places in the Dictionary ofNational Biography and four ofArthur’s poems are in the Oxford Bookof Mystical English Verse. Besidespoetry, Arthur wrote novels, articles,short stories and pamphlets. Throughhis work a recurring theme is his lovefor England’s countryside, includingthe surroundings he remembered fromhis boyhood (see example on page 17).

But he also had many other interestswhile at Oxford. He acted in OUDS

Arthur when he went up to Oxford - boxer,rower, long distance runner as well as poet.

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Local History

plays, received his boxing half-blue,rowed in the Trinity first boat and(significantly for his later trekkingfeats in the African Veldt) was anotable long-distance runner. It hadbeen envisaged he would join his elderbrother in the Cripps law practice aftergraduating. However the influence ofCharles Gore, charismatic Principal ofPusey House, led him instead to seekordination. He was appointed to thecomfortable Trinity living of Ford Endin Essex in 1893 where he serveddiligently, but grew restless as it failedto satisfy his longing for a more asceticand penitential form of ministry – whathe called in one poem “tensestretchings on the rack”.

Around 1899 he read OliveSchreiner’s novel Trooper PeterHalket of Mashonaland, an attack onCecil Rhodes and the seizure ofAfrican land by the British SouthAfrica Company, and was fired up tobecome a missionary with the Societyfor the Propagation of the Gospel. ToMashonaland he therefore set off at theend of 1900 on a salary of £16 amonth. His planned two year stint wasto stretch to 50 years dedicated to theFranciscan ideal of living as one of thepoor. To the disdain of some of localwhite society and the puzzledadmiration of others, he adopted theAfrican way of life, his home athatched hut. He gave away hispossessions, including most of hisclothes, to those poorer than himself,

and travelled around his huge districton foot, either walking or running,wearing boots tied up with string andrepaired with metal from bully beeftins, carrying his remainingpossessions in a biscuit tin. Indignantat the growing exploitation of Africansby incoming white settlers he took upthe cause of African rights, starting bywalking the 95 miles to Salisbury in1903 to protest to the Anglicandiocesan synod about the raising of thehut tax by the British South AfricaCompany. In later years hiscampaigning was directed with somesuccess not just at the local church andadministration but at the ColonialOffice in Britain, involving MPs, thePrime Minister and the Archbishop ofCanterbury.


Meanwhile he used all his ownmoney resources and any he couldsecure from his family and friends, tobuy two large farms and give the landrent-free to tenant Africans who hadconverted to Christianity. He ran a VDclinic and built schools and churches,one of which was inspired by the ruinsof Great Zimbabwe, with round wallsand five pillars, out of stones, mud, andgrass. He called it the Church of theFive Wounds.

Despite his mother and sister’sdeparture from Tunbridge Wells to ateaching convent in Torquay, and theinfrequency of Arthur’s furloughs fromAfrica, the Cripps remained a close-knit family linked by the hundreds ofletters that passed between them. Hiselder brother, William Charles,

continued to prosper as lawyer andTown Clerk in his handsome mansionin Camden Park and to manage all thefamily financial affairs as he had donesince his father’s death. This was a verynecessary check on Arthur’s completedisregard for worldly wealth, andefforts to steer every penny he and hisfamily had into support for his Africanprojects. When Arthur set off forAfrica from Tunbridge Wells inDecember 1900, big brother Williamwrote to their mother “We got him acomfortable carriage ... I gave him £12(and) impressed on him that this wasfor his own personal use and that hewould be committing a breach of trustif he expended it either on churchmatters or charity. He is a real goodfellow- too good in fact and tooimpractical just at present to cope withthe world”. Or as his sister later put it“poor Arthur is quite mad”. Hisbehaviour never changed. Years laterMuriel Spark called him “one of themost saintly men in the colony ... whofrequently went cold or hungrybecause he had given the coat off hisback or his dinner to an African”.

Over the years, his sister Edith kepthim supplied with books andnewspapers and basic clothing. Hisfamily’s letters were eagerly lookedforward to by him as a lifeline amongthe hardships and loneliness of his life;and his haunting sense of “so littledone, so much to do”. It is thanks tohis niece Elizabeth Roberts that so

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much of this family correspondencestill survives today.

The Community of theResurrection, an Anglican order ofmonks founded by his Oxford mentorCharles Gore and the training groundof Trevor Huddleston and DesmondTutu, still supports the mission he

founded. As the Shearly CrippsChildren’s Home, it houses some 75of Zimbabwe’s millions of AIDSorphans. A worthy memorial for a sonof Tunbridge Wells, of whom his friendand admirer John Buchan said “Hefinds altars in waste places andrefreshment in thirsty lands”. JB

Local History

‘Kent’

Then our wild boughs wore white blossomUnder last Spring’s skySo like Kentish cherry-blossom I would stare and sigh.Christ that likened them so, lead me.Home to Kent will I!From our cliff I see the dark wealdYon spread valley dressSo from Bidboro’ I saw once Kent’s wide lovelinessChrist, that limnest me her picture,My lost county bless .Quaffing here upon the iron shale at a cold spring’s brinkRusty-rilled like Pantiles’ water, I’ll not flinch nor shrink.To Kent, whose like is not in England,Full of heart, I’ll drink.

Arthur Shearly Cripps

Three generations of the Cripps family are describedin the latest publication of the Friends of Woodbury ParkCemetery. William Charles Cripps and Son: Solicitorsserving Tunbridge Wells, was written by Ruth McChesneyand June Bridgeman. It is available from 01892 525578or [email protected] price £3 including p & p.


Talk

Dresden - a city rebuiltChristo Skelton reports on a talk given to the

Twinning AssociationDresden is the capital of Saxony in

Germany and is situated in a valley onthe River Elbe, near the Czech border.There has been a settlement there sincethe late 12th Century. It was a leadingEuropean centre of art, classical music,culture and science in the early 20thCentury.

This all changed on the night of the13th February 1945 when the Britishand American airforces completelydestroyed large parts of the city in afire bombing campaign. Twelve squarekilometres of the city were destroyedand it is estimated that 25,000 peoplewere killed.

On March 4th, I attended a talkgiven by Dr. Alan Russell, OBE of theDresden Trust under the auspices of theTunbridge Wells Twinning Associationwhere he discussed the destruction andthe rebuilding that has occurred inDresden since the end of the SecondWorld War. Also present at the talk wasMasha Davis née Obolenskaya whoexperienced the bombing and told us“it was the night my childhood ended”.

Before that night in 1945, Dresdenhad many beautiful buildings includingthe Frauenkirche (the Church of OurLady), the foundation stone of whichwas laid in 1726. In the 19th centuryindustrialisation took place and

buildings such as TechnischeUniverstat (1840) and the SemperOper (1841) were completed. All weredestroyed on that night of bombing.

At the end of the war, Dresden wasin the Soviet sphere and so was part ofthe German Democratic Republic(East Germany). Despite this, muchbuilding and reconstruction took place.Some of this featured Stalinistapartment blocks but also some of thehistorical buildings were rebuilt as theyhad been. In 1964 the rebuilding of theZwinger Palace was completed andthen in 1985 the Semperoper, nowknown as the Sächsischestaatsoper,was completed.

When I visited Dresden in the early1990s I was amazed at how goodDresden looked and how muchrebuilding had occurred. Numerousimportant buildings, such as theCatholic Court Church (now acathedral), the Johanneum andAlbertinum museums, and the RoyalMews were also restored during theCommunist regime, though at the sametime the valuable remains of othermonuments were demolished. Despitecertain important successes, the laterexclusive devotion to industrialconstruction technologies andincreasing economic difficulties left

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the reconstruction of the City overallincomplete and unsatisfactory. Sincethe government of the DemocraticRepublic was Communist and henceatheistic. it had no intention ofrebuilding all the churches. Once,though, the Berlin Wall tumbled andGerman re-unification took place onthe 3rd October 1990, thought turnedto rebuilding the true symbol ofDresden - the LutheranF r a u e n k i r c h e(pictured right)

During my visitthere I saw the stonesfrom the Frauenkircheall catalogued andstored for the eventualrebuilding. After muchdebate in the city, thefoundation stone waslaid in 1994 and therebuilding wascompleted in 2005 -one year before the800th anniversary ofthe city. Thereconstruction cost•180 million and wasraised from privatedonations includingthe British basedDresden Trust. TheDresdner Bank raisedmore than half the costbut it was the Germanmethodical and

meticulous approach to thereconstruction that amazed me themost. As of 2010 the completedJohanneum and Albertinum willreopen after a period of restoration totheir former splendour. CS

The Frauenkirche in Dresden. Built in the1720s. Destroyed in 1945. Restored in 2005.


Local History Group News

ReviewThe Local History Group Committee is currently busy with arrangements

for the Kent History Conference in King Charles the Martyr on May 8th (seepage 2 of the last Newsletter) but is also reviewing the group’s activities andprocedures. We might, for example, re-introduce the idea of holding a separatelist of members - not because we wish to separate ourselves from the mainCivic Society, but to be able to concentrate our attention on those memberswho have specifically said that they are interested in local history. We expect tobe able to present our ideas in the next Newsletter.

When preparing the 1909 book I came across suggestions that eggs were aseasonal food - more available in the spring - something which I had notpreviously realised. A reader of the book has sent me a little poem which furtherillustrates the point. I wonder whether any other readers have similar memories.

Mary had a little hen‘Twas feminine and queerIt laid like smoke when eggs were cheapBut stopped when eggs were dear

Memories

On page 18 Christo Skelton describes a talk that he heard at the TwinningAssociation. It is a reminder that other groups offer talks that would interestour members. In October, for example, (exact date unknown) the Friends ofWoodbury Park Cemetery will be giving a talk on Canon Hoare.

Canon Hoare

Our visit to Faversham, which is being organised by John Cunningham,will take place on Saturday August 14th. We will be guests of the FavershamSociety. The suggested programme for the day is:

11:00 Meet at the Fleur-de-Lys Centre (the town museum) for a presentationon the history of Faversham, and a tour of the museum.

12:45 Break for lunch13:45 Guided tour of the town by members of the Society15:30 Tea and biscuits at the Fleur-de-Lys CentreIt is not easy to get to Faversham from Tunbridge Wells by train, so we are

proposing to hire a coach. The combined cost of the coach and entry to themuseum is likely to be £15. Further details in the next Newsletter, but in themeantime, it would be helpful if you could indicate whether you are interested.

Visit to Faversham

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Last year was the 50th anniversary ofthe Langton Green Rural Society. Tocelebrate the event Ed Langridgeproduced a book of old photographs ofthe village. It tells a charming tale ofrural life, just three miles from TunbridgeWells. All proceeds from the book,which costs £10, go to Hospice in theWeald. Ed Langridge can be contactedon 862006.

Society NewsLangtonGreen

Through the ages

Local History Group News

Winter seems to have lastedsuch a long time. Not quite aslong as these photos from lastsummer might suggest. Theyrecord the making of a Christmasadvert for a certain supermarketchain whch closed its branch inthe town. They were taken byRichard Storkey, who died inDecember.

My thanks to Fred & RitaScales.

TheSummer Air

was Softand Warm

“And on these longest days wespendAll the time trying to pretend”

The White Stuff

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Future Events

Roger Joye previews forthcoming talksAt our meeting on 13th May there will be an illustrated talk entitled “The

Sussex Downs” given by Christopher Rudd, an experienced speaker on a rangeof historical and travel subjects, but for whom this one holds special fondnesssince he lives right on the edge of the Downs themselves. This area of rollingchalkland is unique in England, offering turfy ridgeway walks with distantviews of Weald and coast, and we can expect this presentation to give us avisual feast including hidden “combe” villages with Saxon or Norman churches,flint-walled cottages and barns, and prehistoric hill forts.

10th June sees the return of Dante Vanoli, who works with the renownedarchitectural practice of Purcell Miller Tritton. Dante last spoke to us in 2004on the restoration of Danson House, Bexley. This time his subject will be “TheRefurbishment of Kew Palace” which was built in 1631 and was once thelavish country residence of George ll’s family. The practice undertook the finalphase of a ten-year long restoration so that the Grade 1 listed palace could bere-opened to the public - and in fact, the project enabled the rooms on thesecond floor, once used by the princesses and largely unchanged in 200 years,to be opened to the public for the first time. The project involved extensiverepairs to masonry and joinery, but focussed on a painstaking reinstatement ofthe decorative scheme after meticulous research and analysis.

The awards recognise outstandingwork by individuals or organisationswho make a real difference and go theextra mile to help others.

Forms are available online atwww.lovewherewelive.co.uk or pickup from Tunbridge Wells Gateway,Weald Information Centre, AssemblyHall Theatre, Trinity Theatre and locallibraries.

Closing date Friday 14 May 2010.

TWBC ‘Local Hero’Awards

Future Events

Meetings start at 7.45 on the second Thursday in the month (unlessotherwise stated). The location can vary, so please check the detailsbelow. Please remember to bring your membership card. Visitors are

welcome.

The views expressed in this Newsletter are those of the named author or of the editorand do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Society.

Published by the Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society.

Registered Charity No. 276545

www.thecivicsociety.org

‘The Sussex Downs’ - illustrated talk by Christopher Rudd.May13th

June10th

July24th(Sat)

‘The Refurbishment of Kew Palace’ - presented byarchitect Dante Vanoli.

Kent History Federation Annual Conferencehosted by RTWCS Local History Group

(advance booking required - see previous Newsletter orcontact Chris Jones on 522025)

May8th

(Sat)

Royal Wells Hotel, Mount Ephraim

Royal Wells Hotel, Mount Ephraim

For previews of the two talks, please see p 23.


CIVIC SOCIETYForthcoming Events


CIVIC SOCIETYForthcoming Events

Aug14th(Sat)

Guided Tour of FavershamSee page 20 for more details.

Annual Garden PartyProvisional date - details in the Summer Newsletter.

10 Spr 01 2010.pdf · 2015. 10. 4. · AA Milne - a reseacher writing a book on AA Milne puts two...

Documents

Transcript of 10 Spr 01 2010.pdf · 2015. 10. 4. · AA Milne - a reseacher writing a book on AA Milne puts two...