£4 per year 50p per copy

SPELDHURST NEWS

WEB EDITION

July/August 2020

Page(s) Welcome 2

News & Announcements 3-7, 10-12, 16, 22

Parish Council 8-9

Village Shop 13

Village Hall 14-15

Speldhurst CEP School 17-18

Garden Hints 19

Letter from St. Mary’s 20

Church Diary 21-22

Chapel Comment 23

Clubs & Organisations 24-25

Local Info 25

Advertising 26-34

CONTENTS

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Dear Readers, It is officially the hottest day of the year as I write this - I do hope you are able to enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful countryside we are surrounded by in Speldhurst. We are all adjusting to the new normal and have had to learn to embrace new technology like Zoom and internet shopping and new fashion accessories in facemasks and of course queuing! Don’t forget our Village Shop as restrictions are lifted - it has been a lifeline to many. Please note that from Monday 6th July the Post Office will be open Monday to Friday from 9.00am-2.00pm. It is encouraging to hear that more businesses are allowed to reopen albeit with strict guidelines to adhere to - including our Village Hall (see pages 14-15). Jenny is planning on arranging a Community Market to raise much needed funds for the Hall so do put 25th July and 22nd August in your diaries. Do contact Jenny if you would like a table. We are planning on printing the September magazine as normal so do send in any contributions by 10th August and in the meantime we wish you a safe and happy summer . With our very best wishes. Sara Turner, for the Editorial Team, Speldhurst News Please remember that copy for the September issue should be sent by 10th August at the latest to: speldhurst.news@gmail.com. Word, Publisher or pdf files preferred.

The SPELDHURST NEWS endeavours to include articles in addition to village, church and chapel news. These are taken in good faith and without prejudice, therefore the committee will not be held responsible for the accuracy of the content, nor will it be held responsible for any work or treatment received from the advertisers. Readers should satisfy themselves of advertisers’ abilities before accepting a job quotation or undertaking a course of treatment. All articles & inclusions should be sent as a word document attachment. The editors reserve the right to amend submissions where they feel it is appropriate.

Welcome July/August

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NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

What’s on in Speldhurst for the Under 5s It’s really sad that Smiley Faces has not been able to reconvene but Bumps and Babes (the social group for new mums) and Toddler Praise (the service led by members of St Mary’s Church for the U5’s) now meet via Zoom. Bumps and Babes meet next on Mondays 29th June, 13th & 27th July at 10.30am. An invitation will go out to the present members a few days be-fore each meeting but do get in touch with Jenny if you are a new Mum or new to the area. Toddler Praise meets next on Wednesdays 1st, 15th & 29th July. Again, an invitation will go out to those of you already on Jenny’s mailing list, but do get in touch if you are interested. Meanwhile here is another activity for you all to enjoy – a treasure hunt. You’ve heard of a bear hunt … well how about a letter hunt. Hide letters of the alphabet around your garden, or house, and invite the children to find them. Are they able to recognise any of them? Maybe their first initial or even their own name, if they are older? Letters join together to make words and words help us to express how much we love each other. Give everyone a hug at the end of the game and thank God that he has given us families to care for each other. You can contact Jenny at jenny50fitz@gmail.com

Speldhurst Association of Men

All activities remain cancelled until further notice. We look forward to

welcoming back our members and new members as soon as we can. Brian Tasker

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Operation Christmas Child

We are hoping that Operation Christmas Child will go ahead as usual this year, and the need has never been greater. If you would like to offer a child in need some love this Christmas, and you

have some spare time currently, why not start working on some pieces that could be included in a box? Items can be knitted or crocheted or made with modelling materials - what-ever craft you fancy. Scarves and hats are always very welcome and ages range from toddlers to young teenagers. Leaflets won’t be available and box collection won’t start before the autumn but now is the perfect time to get crafting and make a huge difference to a child this Christmas. For more information contact Julie Pinnell on 863300 or search for OCC West Kent on Facebook.

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Coming Soon - The Speldhurst Range

We are excited to launch this new range of products featuring famous Speldhurst landmarks from the Church to the George & Dragon to the Community Shop. These items are now available to pre-order and will be available to purchase at the Community Markets in the Hall in July and August.

Tea Towel (as seen below) £9.50

Bone China Mug (in gift box) £13.50 Tote Bag £14.99

Heat-Resistant Laminated Coaster £4.25 Unframed A3 Print £14.99 Single Greeting Card £2.50

Notecard Set (6 boxed notecards) £7.99

Delivery to Speldhurst and surrounding villages is free 10% from every item sold will be donated to Speldhurst Village funds.

These will be split between Speldhurst Rec and Speldhurst Village Hall.

If you would like to pre-order some items, or find out more please contact Jenny on jenny@jennifercoopertimesaver.com.

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SPELDHURST NEWS, LOCKDOWN and OUR SUBSCRIBERS

The Speldhurst News committee do not consider it acceptable to expect our 25 Distributors to deliver the magazine in the present situation. As a temporary solution we have arranged for the magazine to be available on the Village web-site, speldhurst.org/newsletter. This arrangement will continue until we return to normality. We had planned to move to an all colour print run in June rather than our pre-sent part colour approach. This will mean that there will be an increase in price. We have not increased the price of the magazine since 2008 so inflation and the cost of full colour printing means the new price will be £5 for ten Issues. This will be effective from the next collection of subscriptions which is usually in June. However, it looks unlikely that we will print the magazine before Septem-ber, so taking account of the current situation; we have decided the following as a plan. That: The next printed copy of Speldhurst News will be a full colour print. The collection of subscriptions will take place in September or the next

printed copy of Speldhurst News after September. The price will be £3 for the year 2020/21 which reflects our savings on

printing costs. Next year the collection of subscriptions will take place in June, as usual,

and the price will be £5 for the year 2021/22. These plans are of course subject to the Government’s rules and regulations and therefore may have to be amended. Eric Roughley.

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July/August at Speldhurst Village Hall We are pleased to announce the Hall will be reopening for hire from Saturday 11th July. We will be available to hire to all groups and activities that can observe social distancing rules. Sadly at the moment this does not include parties. The knees up will have to wait a little longer. If you are interested please do not hesitate to get in touch. We will keep you updated on our Website and Facebook page and when our regular user groups return. Please be assured we have implemented a wide range of actions to ensure the Hall is Covid-19 safe. Changes include: hand sanitiser available at every entrance and exit, automatic hand dryers turned off and replaced with paper towels in the toilets, new lidded pedal bins and clear signage and guidelines. If you have any concerns or would like further information please contact Hall Administrator Jenny on speldhurstvillagehall@gmail.com.

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Speldhurst Community Market

We are conscious that many of the key village events have sadly been postponed this year. We also need to generate more income for the Hall, which is a charity. To this end we will be holding 2 small community markets in the Hall on:

Saturday 25th July 9:30am-1pm Saturday 22nd August 9.30am-1pm

We are permitted to do this , and can accommodate 10 tables in the Main Hall and 3 tables in the Committee Room safely. We will not be advertising this beyond the village, as we cannot have large numbers attending. This is an event for you, the people of Speldhurst. Pitches will be £15. If you would like to have a stall please get in touch with Jenny on speldhurstvillagehall@gmail.com. We will be able to advise you as to how you can safely manage your stall. Volunteers to help on the day and control the flow also welcome!

We hope to see you there.

Speldhurst Village Hall welcomes bookings for meetings, parties,

fundraisers etc. You can also hire our tables, chairs and crockery for your own functions. For hall availability and bookings please go to our website: www.speldhurstvillagehall.co.uk or contact Jenny Cooper on

07786 948952.

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Speldhurst School welcomes children back into Reception, Year 1 and Year 6

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement that some pupils would return to school from 1st June, staff at Speldhurst School have been working on the com-plex business of carrying out risk assessment to ensure that pupils, parents, teachers and the wider community are kept as safe as possible. The school has remained open for the children of Key Workers throughout the lockdown and teachers have also provided home learning for all classes. There has been a constant dialogue between children and their teachers, through unique class websites where children can upload work, and via class email ad-dresses. Working through the Government guidance in preparing for re-opening has involved an immense undertaking and has provided quite a challenge. There have been huge changes to classrooms and everyday routines. Arrival and depar-ture times have been staggered, furniture has been removed to allow for social distancing within classrooms, and teachers now plan lessons around limited resources which can be sanitised at the end of each day. Not all parents have wished their children to return to school with approxi-mately 50% of eligible pupils across the school coming in. Year 6 pupils began on 1st June, followed by Reception and Year 1 pupils on 8th June.

Year 1 children on their first day back at school

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For Year 6, this is the second week back at school. Here are some of their thoughts: Halle: It was scary at first but I think we've bonded even more. We've been able to express a lot more creativity in our work and the teachers have been working really hard to make all our lessons really fun and exciting. Joris: It's a lot different to school before lockdown. It's not scary or terrible; in fact I'm finding it more interesting. Isla: It's fun and quite creative. We need to go outside more and we've done a scavenger hunt. I'm enjoying it even more than I enjoyed school before lock-down.

For Year 1, this was the first day back at school. Here are initial thoughts on their experience: Noah: I like washing my hands and saying bye, bye to mummy. I like seeing the rainbow door again. Henry: I think it’s been good. I’ve liked having packed lunch. There’s still the same landscape. Sophie: It’s the same having the field but strange having the lines and dots to stand on. The tyres on the field are still the same. Arty: I like playing with my friends again. The clock is still the same … time has gone slowly. Zoe: Really good. We now have our own baskets and desks. We get to tidy up our own places and have our own packed lunches at our desks. We still have our class which is the same. Juliette: There are less children in the classroom and we have our own desk! It’s nice to have some days in the class and some at home with mum and dad.

Phonics in Reception

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Garden Hints

Who would have thought that with all the rain we had last spring that we would be wanting more this year, but that is English weather for you. Some places have had some rain but in my own allotment rain is very bad-ly needed as I write this. Vegetables If you use slug pellets please use them as per instructions, they should be spaced out not put in piles which then makes them a danger to wild life. We are told that metadehyde will no longer be up for sale next year. Some crops will now be ready to harvest like beetroot and some potatoes. Beetroot are best harvested while they are small and tender. It is better to sow small amounts over a period than to have a lot all at the same time. You can still sow lettuce, radish, and even runner, broad and French beans. Keep an eye on the watering of your tomatoes as irregular watering can lead to blossom end rot where you get a hard black area where the flower was. If you are growing them as a single stem it is best if you remove the side shoots in the early morning whilst the stems are stiff and full of mois-ture. Seed of spring cabbage can be sown so that you have plants for planting out later. Leeks can be planted where early potatoes have been lifted. I like to trim both tops and roots of leeks when I plant them so that they go well down into the hole. Flowers When the first flush of flowers has finished on the roses they can be dead headed. I like to cut the stems down about 2 thirds so as to encourage new growth lower down. A feed of rose fertilizer will help the next flow-ering. Fruit Strawberries will need picking as they ripen and should you find any damaged by slugs etc do remove them completely from the crop area so that they do not start to decay and spread mound to other fruits. Laurie Manser

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A Letter from St Mary’s

July 2020 Dear Friends,

The tragic and unnecessary death of George Floyd in the USA has opened up a whole set of interlinked issues across the world including in the UK. At the time of writing some statues of people who made their fortunes through slavery have been removed and a debate goes on about how we live today with the legacy of their influence and money. This raises the question, how do we live with our past?

Pausing for a moment to consider my own past, although I have never transported a slave, I’m pretty sure that some of the things that I said and did in earlier decades I would now be embarrassed about. If you were planning a statue of me I suggest you put it on hold because my past isn’t perfect.

There is a distinctive Christian perspective here, which is that people are redeemable and not trapped by their own past mistakes. No matter what you or I or anyone has done, God’s love reaches out to forgive us and re-new our lives.

A very appropriate example of this is John Newton who although not very successful at it (he was shipwrecked several times) was a slave trader. During his life he came to faith, became a vicar and wrote many hymns that are still popular today: “Glorious things of thee are spoken”, “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds” and probably his best known, “Amazing grace”. In that last one he wrote, “how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost, but now am found”.

Our past might be murky but with God we can have a clean future.

Douglas

PS I can be contacted at douglas.wren12@gmail.com or on 01892 862821 or at The Rectory, Southfields, Speldhurst, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN3 0PD

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CHAPEL COMMENT

WHAT THE BIBLE HAS TO SAY ABOUT LOVE

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind, love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, and thinks no evil. Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails, and now abides faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a, This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No-one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love has been perfected in us. 1 John 4:10-12 Ricky Fawcett On behalf of the Chapel

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Age UK Lunch Jan Mann 863931 Allotments Mark Oddy 862746 Beavers Jo Smith 518706 Bowls Club Linda Boyd 512474 Bridge Club Heather Hughes 863367 Brownies Louise Scott 862972 Bumps and Babes Jenny Fitzsimmons 541200 Chapel Ricky Fawcett 863217 Cricket Club Nick Coffin 07867 803121 Cubs Karol Leeves 531104 Flower Show Alan Ford 863276 Football: Speldhurst Rangers Ollie Crees 07919467576 Footpaths Group Rupert Milner 863255 GP Surgery 863040 Guides Sybil Oddy 862746 Library Olive West 863234 Mothers’ Union Christine Baker 540793 Mothers & Toddlers Jenny Fitzsimmons 541200 Nursery School Elizabeth Pannell 864907 Parish Council: Chair Neil Barrington-Johnson 863959 Vice Chair Rupert Milner 863255 Parish Clerk Chris May 862927 Richard Ellery 864077 Dave Pate 278287 Joy Podbury 315549 Alan Rowe 863404 Police Community Support Officer Sam Bolton Contact tbc. Primary School Stephanie Hayward 863044 Rainbows Lucy Wild 07910 304691 Recreation Ground Ed Wesson 07799 731247 Running Group Paul Eames 07975 577630 Speldhurst Association of Men Brian Tasker 862301 Snooker Club Glen Fuller 862213

SPELDHURST VILLAGE CLUBS AND ORGANISATIONS

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Speldhurst Art Exhibition Maria Turner 863394 Speldhurst News Editors Abi Dawson 860616 Maria Turner 863394 Sara Turner 863226 Advertising Eric Roughley 863222 St Mary’s Church Rector Douglas Wren 862821 Administrator Andrea Burgess 861187 Stoolball Yvonne Harmer 863519 Scouts Nick Burgess 863362 Shop & Post Office Jo-Anne Dekker 863158 Village Fete: Chair Lynsay Bischoff 864923 Village Hall Jenny Cooper 07786 948952 Village Website Miranda Hawkins 863601 Walking Group Brian Tasker 862301

Opening Hours & Local Info: Buses Timetables for bus #282 Speldhurst to Tun Wells at www.nu-venture.co.uk George & Dragon PH: Closed temporarily; please see www.speldhurst.com for more details GP: Mon - Fri 8am-6pm Dispensary: Mon - Fri 8.30am-1pm; 2.30-6pm (dispensary calls 8.30-11.30 only) Library (village hall): Monday 2-4.30pm (Closed currently) Shop: Mon-Fri 9am-3pm; Sat 9-12; Sun 9.-11 Post Office: Mon-Fri 9am-12pm From Monday 6th July Mon-Fri 9am-2pm

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Cover image: Naomi Murray (www.botanicahealth .co.uk)