EXTRACTS FROM BI-MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
No 148 June and July 2009.

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SOCIETY EVENTS	FRIENDS OF ST. LEONARDS CHURCH	TOWN AND AROUND
PLANNING MATTERS	SOCIAL HISTORY	HELP WANTED

SOCIETY EVENTS.

A quick reminder for those signed up for Doug’s outing on 24^th June 2009 to Walmer Castle and its Gardens that the coach will leave Lydd at 3.00pm and Red Lion Square, Hythe, at 3.30pm.
Our Autumn Lunch will be on Saturday 24^th October at Hythe Bowling Club. Members who have reserved should send cheques – payable to Hythe Civic Society – for £15.00 per person to D.Amans, 4, The Maltings, High Street, Hythe, CT21 5AB before the end of June. As there is a waiting list, bookings not confirmed in this way or by contact with Doug. (Tel. 269847) will be cancelled. The speaker will be our Patron, Admiral the Lord Boyce, GCB, OBE, DL.

Just to whet your appetite, the menu is:
Mixed hors d’oeuvre (prawns, pate, egg, meat & avocado); Coq au Vin; Strawberry & Raspberry Pavlova; Cheese & Biscuits; Coffee and Sweets.
A vegetarian option is available but must be arranged with Doug. in advance.

The 64^th Annual General Meeting of HCS was held on 12^th May when an excellent attendance of members gathered to hear the reports of our activities given by the Chairman and committee members. Click here for a full report.

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FRIENDS OF ST. LEONARDS CHURCH

At Saltwood Church the great east window is in urgent need of repair, a process that will cost several thousand pounds. A fête entitled A Kentish Cornucopia is planned for the weekend of June 12th to 14th to help raise funds for the project. The central feature will be an exhibition in the church hall, known as The Lads' Club, in Rectory Lane. This will portray 24 famous people of Kent including Sir Winston Churchill, Samuel Plimsoll, Charles Dickens, Lord Deedes and many others. There will be an early morning nature walk at Brockhill Country Park followed by breakfast, morris dancers on the village green, a song and dance show at Brockhill College and a visit to the school's farm. A children's fun afternoon will be held in the church including a nature feature, treasure hunt and RSPB display. There will be a Saturday evening concert by the Church Choir, the Saltwood Choral Society, Brockhill College Music Group as well as several solo features. On the Sunday morning, there will be a special festival service conducted by the Emeritus Archdeacon of Birmingham and contributions in the afternoon from the Church Folk Music Group and the Bellringers. The exhibition mentioned above will also be open and a local artist will give a demonstration of watercolour painting.The weekend will end with a jazz concert and supper in the church. Further information can be obtained from Val Adams 01303 269989 or John Woodward 01303 268109.

Armed Forces Day/Veterans Day - Saturday 27^th June
You may already know that the Government has announced plans for an official day to celebrate the British armed forces. Armed Forces Day will take place annually on 27 June and will merge with the already established Veterans Day to provide the nation with the opportunity to honour the contribution made by all those who are serving or have previously served in H.M.Armed Forces (including National Service personnel and Reservists) and those in the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who supported military operations. The day will enable us all to join together to pay tribute and for Veterans of all ages to feel that they enjoy the respect and commitment of the nation.
The Mayor of Hythe, Cllr Alan Ewart-James, has decided that Hythe should commemorate the above, and has asked the Hythe & Saltwood Branch of the Royal British Legion to organise a Parade and Service in Hythe High Street on 27^th June. The Parade will start at about 11.15am, and the Service at l1.30am. The Mayor has decided that Uniforms, Medals and Regalia will be worn.
Canada Day Service – 1^st July at 10.30am By 1915 some 40,000 men of the Canadian Expeditionary Force were in training at the Saltwood and Sandling Camps.  Their tents were all too visible from the air and many fell victim to air raids and died before they even saw the enemy.  Others marched down the Road of Remembrance in Folkestone and embarked for France – they could be in the line the day after they left here, and the Force took appalling casualties especially at the First Battle of Ypres and Second Somme.  The wounded were evacuated to the Canadian Military Hospital in Beachborough House in the Elham Valley (where they were visited by Colonel John McCrae of the Canadian Medical Corps, who was later that year when back in the line himself, to write ‘In Flanders Fields the poppies grow’ – its symbolism is part of the story of how we come to wear the poppy still at Remembrance time).  Those who did not survive were buried in the Shorncliffe Military Cemetery – there are 296 Canadian graves, and you see from the headstones how many of them were mere boys.  On Canada Day a Service of Remembrance is held with local Mayors, veterans and VIPs, representatives from the Canadian High Commission, and – most touching of all – children of local schools who place a posy of flowers on every one.
The first of these ceremonies, the inspiration of Edward Palmer, founder-editor of the Hythe Reporter, took place in 1919, and they have continued annually ever since, except during the years of WW2.  The public is welcome at the Cemetery on Hospital Hill above Seabrook from 10.30 am on 1^st July. 
Eaton Lands Work on the improvement project has continued, largely behind the scenes, with preparation of information panels to be set at the main entrances.  On site, an avenue of whips has been planted along the eastern edge of the playing field and a single row along the southern edge.  There are more sections of boardwalk to be made and laid through wet areas in the quarry.
Eaton Lands is becoming much better known now and the steady increase in numbers of people strolling through in the past year or two is quite noticeable.  The new seats in the middle of the wildflower meadow are well used: one party had a barbecue there a week or so ago!  Is this a first?  The bad news is that they failed to take away their rubbish.  The good news is that it was picked up the following day by a commendable couple who showed a better respect for community areas.  There was a lot of other rubbish, mostly quite old, laying about, mainly in the quarry and woodland and a litter-pick by volunteers took place on 26^th May to clear the whole area.

Meanwhile, at the junction of High Street and Douglas Avenue two handsome new benches have been installed.
One is dedicated to John Spencer who was a councillor and former landlord of the Kings Head.  The other bench is dedicated to Jack Adams the photographer who gave his archive to HCS and John Davies, a former president of HCS as well as a recipient of our Outstanding Service Award.

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The Imperial Hotel development project has been modified slightly (one of the blocks of flats has been removed and the other set slightly further from the canal), HTC has approved it again and at the time of writing it is being re-considered by SDC. Meanwhile a group of residents has formed an opposition action group which is open to all to join.

If you would like more information or to support them please call Les Cudmore, Treasurer on 01303 779076 or click here to visit their website

“Travellers” have recently caused more nuisance on The Green and HCS has written to HTC urging that a locked barrier should be installed to prevent casual vehicular access.

SOCIAL HISTORY

The Society’s website continues to attract interest from people researching knowledge about our town, often linked to family history projects.
Three enquiries have reached us recently, and any help our readers can give will be much appreciated by our correspondents: A certain Filmer Denne is recorded as living at 30, Theatre Street in the 1901 Census, and later at 33, St Leonard’s Road.  The census records that the family had lodgers.  Filmer was the son of a farmer, John Denne, who farmed at Frogholt and later in the Parish of Aldington. Our enquirer visited Hythe and discovered that 30 Theatre St had “disappeared”.  We unravelled that conundrum a bit – part of Theatre Street had been renamed Prospect Rd and the houses renumbered – but we have no information about the fate of the family.  The War Memorial includes the name C. (Clifford) Denne, who was one of Filmer’s sons.  Our former archivist, Mike Lilly, has given us some information about Clifford, but what became of the rest of this family?  If any member can throw light on this, our enquirer would be most grateful.
By coincidence, we were contacted at about the same time by someone living in California who wants any information about The Manor House, and in particular Frederick Clark DL, who was living there between 1888 and 1891, and probably from 1875.  The coincidence is that during our enquiries it emerged that a Thomas Denne, DL, JP was recorded as living in the Manor House in the 1871 census – although it would appear that this Denne was unrelated to Filmer’s family.  In fact the name Denne is associated with some well-known, wealthy families in Hythe and Lydd in the mid 19^th century – the Thomas who lived in the Manor House, and a daughter, Katherine, are commemorated on the mosaics on the pulpit at St. Leonard’s Church.  David Denne, DL, JP was a Bailiff of Lydd 23 times, and Thomas was born in Lydd.  To return to the Manor House, it appears that the vicarage was the adjoining house to the Manor House at the end of the eighteenth century (see Hythe Haven, p. 102).  But does anyone know whether Frederick Clark owned or rented the Manor House, and when it was divided into apartments?
Finally, one contact who is researching the Home Guard in Saltwood and Hythe, which was led by Lt. Colonel Rodney Foster, came down from Northumberland and, as part of his enquiries, visited our archive room.  He was most impressed by the material that John Keeffe, our archivist, was able to show him. Any further information about the Home Guard hereabouts would be helpful to them and might usefully be recorded in our archives.

If you can help on any of these requests please contact Tony Hill by phone (239587) or click here to e mail the Society.

“Terrible Murder at Saltwood” In NL 146 we reported this 100 years old case and queried the location of “Boxley Square” where the murderer was apprehended. Your editor quickly received a response from Mr & Mrs Mee who live in “Boxleigh Cottage”, Dymchurch Road, a few doors away from The Gate Inn. They wrote: “Since buying the cottage in 1987, we have spent a lot of time in the garden and spoken to many local passsers-by, all with stories to tell about the garden. It is said that the area was a square of cottages, each tenant having two – one to live in and one to sleep in; that in the far corner was a sweetshop; that the brick out-building remaining at the top of the garden was the communal wash-house – contradicted by one lady who said she went to school with a girl who lived there! Our own experience of the garden has been the challenge of digging round old foundation walls and sewer pipes. The centre of the garden is a “minefield of beach stones. Our cottage was built around 1750 and is attached to the old farmhouse with a further identical labourer’s cottage the other side. Ours was extended in the 1930’s, making it half ragstone and half cavity brickwork. No need to tell you which is the warmest half! We can offer no explanation for the change of spelling to “Boxleigh” (sometime since 1909) As for the garden – if only it could speak what stories it could tell!”

Our thanks to Mr & Mrs Mee and if this reminds any reader of further details of the “Square” or possibly an old photograph, please write to or e-mail the Editor.

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HELP WANTED

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Annual subscription for HCS membership is £8 per household.
We are on the Web : www.hythe-tourism.com/civic
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