LORD DEEDES

Our Patron for many years, Lord Deedes of Aldington died on 20^th August at the age of 94. Better known, perhaps, as Bill Deedes, journalist, editor, M.P., Cabinet Minister, author of several books and scion of the historic local family, his name and personality will be very familiar to members of all ages. Perhaps less well known is the fact that in 1997 he dedicated the royalties from his books to The Lord Deedes of Aldington Charitable  Trust to fund projects in poor countries, particularly in Africa which he knew so well. Donations in his memory may be sent to the Trust c/o The Daily Telegraph.

We are grateful for his service to HCS and in particular for the strong support that he gave in defence of Eaton Lands, his family’s earlier and most generous gift to the people of Hythe.

We extend our sincere sympathy to his family.

 

SOCIETY COMMUNICATIONS

Below you will find details of our response to the planning application for a gambling den in the High Street. Lots of you have telephoned committee members to find out the HCS position and we would very much like to find a more efficient but inexpensive way of communicating urgent matters to you more promptly than is possible with a bi-monthly newsletter. We have therefore decided to ask as many of you as possible to give us your e-mail address so that we can do so. If you have one, please e-mail it to hythecivicsoc@tiscali.co.uk and we shall add it, confidentially of course, to our data base.

 

SOCIETY EVENTS

Our new season of talks starts on 9^th October when Jennie Uglow, author of the best-selling “A Little History of British Gardening”, takes us on an illustrated tour of our gardening heritage from Chaucer’s time to today. On 23^rd October Peter Ewart’s lifelong interest in Zulu history comes to life in his illustrated story of the travels of a young Zulu to 19^th century Kent where he proved himself to be a devout and remarkable scholar, sportsman and friend to many.

On 13^th November John Pearce relates “The Mystery of the Missing Nurse [I am not allowed to tell you any more or it won’t be a mystery! – Ed.] while on 27^th Robert Gay presents a “A Galaxy of Magnificent Cathedrals and Greater Churches” [which is self-explanatory! – Ed.] The 11^th December meeting, will take the usual form of a pre-Christmas Social with coffee, mince pies, a competition and a short talk on a topical matter.

 

Happy Birthday “CENTURIES”!

The article in NL137 by Tim Lawrence on ‘Centuries’, which celebrates its 900^th Birthday this year, was followed on 22^nd September by a recitation in the Canon Newman Hall of Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Reeve’s Tale”.  Tim acted as host on behalf of The Friends of St Leonard’s and HCS, and welcomed the Reader, Trevor Eaton, an academic who is known world-wide for his performances of the Tales. He generously donated his usual fee to the Hospitals of St Bartholomew and St John and the Friends, which also benefited from a retiring collection from a very appreciative audience. As well as telling the story in modern English, Trevor recited the text in Middle English, the common language of Chaucer’s time, accompanied by some amusing visual aids and a lot of very energetic stage business.

Mike Umbers writes for the benefit of those unable to attend that a Reeve was a steward, but this one had earlier been a Carpenter, and he tells his story of revenge on the wife and daughter of a cheating Miller in response to a tale that the Miller has told about a foolish Carpenter!  The tit-for-tat is typical of Chaucer - the lives and conditions he describes may be medieval, but the humanity and motivation of his characters are totally modern.  He is believed to have written the Tales around 1387; he was Clerk of Works to King Richard II and undertook other diplomatic duties for the King, but he took time off to make the pilgrimage to Becket’s Tomb himself in April 1388. He also travelled widely in Europe where he gathered much of the material for his Tales. After the performance, Tim generously provided refreshments for the audience which gave those attending the chance to discuss the performance with Trevor.

It is worth noting here that the preservation of ‘Centuries’ is something of a miracle in itself, for, after the War, a Town Council full of zeal to re-build and modernise planned its demolition.  It was the late Lionel Osborne (a former Editor of the HCS Newsletter) who lived there and loved and cared for it, and whose monograph on its history was instrumental in saving it

 

 

Notes to the HCS Constitution, which are issued to all new members, have become out of date and your committee has re-written them and we are providing a copy to all members with this issue of the Newsletter. There is one new note, no.6, to cover awards to amenities. The other changes are intended as improvements to wording. They should be kept with your copy of the Constitution. Annual subscription rates now appear in the Newsletter instead of the Notes.

 

FRIENDS OF ST. LEONARDS CHURCH

Forthcoming concerts include a piano recital by Jianing Kong from The Royal College of Music on 20^th October a traditional Remembrance concert by Hythe Town Band on 10^th November and a programme of music by students of the Trinity College of Music on 24^th November. All these concerts start at 7.30pm and tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance at Brandon’s Music Shop, 55, High Street, Hythe.

 

TOWN AND AROUND

Remembrance Day A reminder that this year 11^th November falls on a Sunday and the usual Service of Remembrance will be held at the War Memorial.

The Cycle Forum Alan Joyce, responsible for cycling issues on the Committee and also the local Sustrans (National Cycle Network) representative, attended the inaugural meeting of the Shepway Cycle Forum. Part of the process of putting together a cycling strategy for Shepway as a whole is to involve as many residents as possible.  Its initial aim is to make the area more user-friendly for cyclists, particularly connecting schools, workplaces, stations and town centres with safe routes.  It was also recognised that there is a need to have a cyclists education programme, directed towards those who do not act responsibly. The next meeting is going to concentrate on safe routes to schools and they are being contacted for their ideas and suggestions.

If anyone has any thoughts on this matter or on cycling issues generally please contact Alan on 01303 267085. The next meeting of the Forum is at 7.00pm on 1st November, at the Folkestone Sports Centre - anyone is welcome to attend.

The Venetian Fete

The Fete was held on 15^th August and the standard of the floats, stalls and fireworks was quite outstanding. The attendance was somewhat lower than in the recent past because very heavy rain affected towns in the audience catchment area although, fortunately, it did not spoil the event here.

This year the principle guests included the Mayor of Poperinghe, our twin town in Belgium, and the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Admiral Lord Boyce. The records indicate that this may have been the first time the Lord Warden has honoured the event since Lord Reading did so in 1936. (If anyone knows differently, please let me know – Ed)

 

SOCIAL HISTORY

English Snobbery   We commented in [NL136] on the daughters of the gentleman’s family who were not allowed to play with the Sharp sisters next door because their father, owner of a prosperous building firm, was “in trade”.  It is a curious comment on English snobbery that the Mackeson family were deemed “gentry”, not “trade”.  Brewing has always had special status, and besides, they were Church of England not Methodists like the Sharps.  No-one thought of refusing the magnificent church organ that Messrs Mackeson and Osborne offered to St Leonard’s in 1936 because it came from the profits of a tainted trade!

As an aside, when the Drinking Fountain (see below) was unveiled in 1896 on the wall of a house on the East side of the Town Hall, later rebuilt as County (now NatWest) Bank, Sir Edward Watkin managed to drag in a graceful reference to Mackesons (the largest employer in Hythe) in his speech. His Lady, however, an ardent teetotaller, took a refreshing sip from the tin cup on behalf of water-drinkers everywhere.   Fortunately she never knew it would be moved in 1913 into Red Lion Square – where the Brewery genially accepted the provision of a rival beverage on their very wall!

Sir Edward Elgar Much is being written about the self-taught English composer’s life, and much of his music is being played in this the 150^th anniversary year of his birth.  It is especially jolly to learn that in his youth he conducted both a Glee Club and the County Asylum Band!  So as not to be left out we record that although he was born and is buried in Worcestershire, his forebears have strong local connections.  His father was baptised in Dover, his grandfather together with his six siblings in Dymchurch, and his Great Grandfather and his four siblings were from Saltwood where some lie buried.  Beyond that, in the 17^th and 18^th Centuries, his paternal family were entirely Kentish: Denton, Lyminge, Folkestone, Cheriton, and Newington appear in the family tree.  Newington Parish was then very large: its boundary ran just to the East of Hythe (roughly down the line of Twiss Road) and stretched North to Beechborough and East to Folkestone – there is no sign on the map of Cheriton and St Martin’s. (Does anyone know the explanation of this, please?)

The earliest name is John Elgar of Newington-next-Hythe; he was baptised in Canterbury on 19^th December 1583, which seems a long journey for a babe in those times, he married in Folkestone and is buried in Newington. 

[Our thanks to Bridget Wight for starting this train of thought by passing on the FamilyTree produced by the Elgar Society.]

The Hythe Recorder. Our newly appointed archivist, Jon Keeffe, has been familiarising himself with our extensive records and came across several complete files of the Hythe Recorder from the early part of last century and with his help we shall bring you some extracts bearing on the life of Hythe exactly 100 years ago.

The first quote is from the issue of 5^th October 1907 when campaigners against the demolition of “The Smugglers’ Retreat” (now 83-85 High Street) finally gave up their struggle – “So the glory of the High Street is to come down after all, to the regret of everyone. The utmost we and the general public could do to preserve the old building has been done. The whole matter, however, resolved itself into a matter of £ s. d. We understand to put the place into a sanitary condition would require the expenditure of £400. This the owner (Mr. Straughan) could not see his way to do…………If any money is to be spent in remedying the state of affairs it must take the form of a reconstruction altogether, so that large and commodious premises can be erected that would command a large rental.”  The paper’s comment was “If the public do not feel inclined to find the money, why should Mr. Straughan be expected to do so? – (Plus ca change……- Ed.)

At this time the building housed “Straughan’s (lending) Library” advertising full membership for one guinea, a year’s membership for ten shillings & sixpence and individual books at 2 pence each and The “Smugglers” Tobacco Store selling their own blends of pipe tobacco (2 shillings for 4 ounces) and Turkish and Virginian cigarettes. Their advertisement (impossible today, of course!) says: “You cannot compare the flavour of a “Smuggler” with that of any other brand, the “Smuggler” flavour is distinctive – original – incomparable. Smuggler means Enjoyment”

 

PLANNING MATTERS

The Gambling Den: An application has been made for the change of use of 100, 100A, & 102, High St. from retail shops to an Amusement Centre. Committee member, Christine Case-Leng wrote the following letter to Shepway Planning Office on behalf of HCS:

“Hythe Civic Society objects to the proposal for an Amusement Centre in Hythe High Street for the following reasons:

1) The proposal is contrary to Annex D of PPG6, which sets out the Government’s policy on the location of Amusement Centres. To quote: “Amusement centres are most appropriately sited in secondary shopping centres, or areas of mixed commercial development. They are unlikely to be acceptable in primary shopping areas.” Hythe High Street is without doubt, the primary shopping area of Hythe.

2) The proposal is contrary to Policy S5 of the SDLP, which states that:

“Proposals for the development, redevelopment, or change of use of ground floor units in Hythe Shopping Area to any other class will only be allowed where it is demonstrated that they are appropriate to the character of the shopping area”; An Amusement centre is inappropriate to Hythe primary shopping area.

3) The proposal is contrary to Policy LR15 of the SDLP which refers specifically to Folkestone Town Centre  and not to Hythe.”

We very much hope that when added to all the other objections that we know have been made, the Local Authority will reject the application and vigorously defend any subsequent appeal.

Hythe's Post Office   The move of the Post Office from its purpose-built accommodation in what is now Bathtime to Payden’s the Chemist, caused great angst at the time. It was done without consultation, it was clearly a degradation in the service offered and it would change the pattern of shopping in the High Street as, inevitably, fewer people would visit the East end, always perceived as the poor relation in terms of ‘footfall’.  Some clown put forward the idea that as the father of Sir Francis Pettit-Smith, who was born at the Payden’s site in 1808, was the Hythe’s Postmaster, it was an appropriate place to go to, but townsfolk were not impressed with that historical red herring.  Protest was in vain, and so were complaints after the move that queues stretched out of the shop on to the already narrow and dangerous pavement.  SDC did say in June ’97 it planned to ‘do something’ about the parking on that stretch of High Street, so we will continue to wait patiently for its plans to materialise.

Queues inside do seem worse now, probably because of the loss of the sub-offices elsewhere in the area.  We have followed the debate on the closure of the main Post Office in Folkestone, and its re-location into Smith’s with resigned interest, and sure enough there appeared in the Herald the expected announcement that Hythe was on the list of future closures.  Well, it ain’t so:  staff assure us they have a continuing contract and the Hythe Office is here to stay.  It helps, of course, if we use it, and the more business we transact there (if you have time to wait) the more certain its retention.

 

CORRESPONDENCE

Thank-you to our members who responded to the request from Surrey University for memories of pre-supermarket days. We also received a good response for information about Collyer & Son from readers as far afield as Versailles!  Unfortunately, we cannot reach the Mr. Cowes who requested this, so if he is out there and would like to make contact again (see below) we will do our best to answer his request.

Mr. Bamford from Folkestone is researching a Hythe man, Edward Alec Edgeworth, who died during World War 2. Edward served with the Royal Norfolk Regiment during the war. He was killed in the retreat from Dunkirk sometime between 26th May and the 1st of June 1940. The 2nd battalion had been given the job to hold the line to the last round and last man, to enable others to be evacuated and they incurred heavy casualties. He served in B coy and it was under his command that the regiment fired their first shots of the war at a German plane on the last day of April. His parents, Edward John and Winifred Louise Edgeworth, lived in Tanners Hill Gardens.

Mr. Bamford writes: “I would love any information, no matter how small, on this man, a photo would be fantastic.  I am just hoping that some of your members may remember him or have known of him.” If you can help then please let us know by phone 01303 239587 or e-mail us and we will put you in contact with Mr. Bamford.

 

ERRATA Our Programme for 2007/8 omitted Mrs Woodward’s role – she is a talks organiser. It also incorrectly assigns Bert Drury who in fact helps with planning matters and, also, is not co-opted but was elected. Apologies to you both!