Sandgate sentinel 58 september 2017 in a5

Sandgate Issue 60 September 2017 This newsletter is compiled and edited by David Cowell who is totally responsible for content.

If you do not wish to receive these newsletters please email UNSUBSCRIBE to him at david@davidcowell.net

Sandgate Farmers' Market 2nd September, 2017 10:00 to 12:30

Old Hall Farm

Sandgate Bakery

traditionally reared meat & sausages, rare breed lamb & pork and fresh eggs, milk and cheese

Smoked French cheese, freshly baked bread, pies and biscuits and smoked salmon and smoked ham

Marsh Produce

Anna Stone NE W

greetings cards

seasonal local fruit & veg

Pauline's hand made toys

CAFE serving teas & coffees

Great gift ideas

Florrie's Jewellery

Fiona's Lovely Things

Hand crafted jewellery wonderful inexpensive gifts new items each market

Preserves

Our Kitchen Serving delicious cakes 2

Florrie's Old Hall Farm Jewellery Traditionally reared meat & sausages, rare breed lamb & pork

Hand crafted jewellery wonderful inexpensive gifts new items each market

Pre-order 01797 344430

Now also: milk yogurt soft cheeses cheese eggs

Pauline's

Marsh Produce seasonal local

hand made toys great gift ideas

fruit & veg

SPECIALITY BREADS A variety of speciality breads and cakes, gingerbread men, etc. A small artisan bakery based in Sandgate. We only produce bread with no additives all of which is handformed in our cottage kitchen.

Sourdough and Rustic mediterranean style breads are our speciality.

Fiona's Lovely Things

plus smoked ham

Preserves Anna Stone

Our Kitchen

greetings cards 3

NE W

Serving delicious cakes

Support your local Farmers' Markets in 2017

SANDGATE FARMERS MARKET January 2017 T

W

T

February 2017

S

M

S

M

T

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

F

14

S

5

6

7

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

12

13

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

19

29

30

31

26

March 2017

W

T

S

M

1

2

3

4

2

3

4

8

9

10

11

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

14

15

16

17

18

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

20

21

22

23

24

25

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

27

28

26

27

28

29

30

31

April 2017

F

S

T

1

May 2017

S

M

T

W

T

F

2

3

4

5

6

7

S 8

S 7

1

W

T

W

T

F

S

June 2017

M

T

S

M

T

W

1

2

3

4

5

6

8

9

10

11

12

F

13

S

4

5

6

7

T

F

1

2

3

8

9

10

S

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

23

26

27

30

31

25

26

27

28

29

30

F

S

S

M

T

W

T

24

25

28

29

28

29

S

M

T

W

T

F

S

S

M

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

6

7

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

13

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

25

26

27

28

29

30 July 2017

August 2017 W

1

2

3

4

5

8

9

10

11

12

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

14

15

16

17

18

19

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

27

28

29

30

31

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

1

23

24

30

31 October 2017

S 1

M

T

W

T

T

September 2017

T

S

S

M

T

W 1

T

S

1

November 2017 F

F

2

December 2017 F

S

S

M

T

W

T

F

S

2

3

4

5

6

7

2

3

4

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

10

11

12

13

14

15

1

16

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

2

29

30

31

26

27

28

29

30

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31 Farmers Market

Art and Craft Market

Great range of bread, pies, biscuits, fruit & veg, meat, eggs, cheese and charcuterie, fish, cakes and quiches, preserves and chutneys and confectionery (stall holders may vary between markets).

REAL F

D. REAL CL

SE.

Shop Local. www.sandgatebusiness.org.uk

Sandgate Library is open Monday to Saturday 9:30am - 1:00pm (closed Wednesday) For more information call 01303 248563 (mornings only) Sandgate Library, James Morris Court, Sandgate High St. CT20 3RR

4

W. MARTIN LTD. PET & GARDEN SUPPLIES 73 Cheriton High St.Folkestone.CT19 4HE PET FOODS & ACCESSORIES HUTCHES & RUNS ALL GARDEN REQUIREMENTS Large range of wild bird foods Seeds, bulbs, compost & fertilizers Vegetable & flower plants Concrete ornaments For a great pet and garden shop near you give us a call today on: 01303 275 223 or email wmartin4@btconnect.com

Hythe Farmers’ Market takes place on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month from 10am until 1pm.

In the Methodist Church Hall, Chapel Street, Hythe,

Parking is available nearby.

For more information call (01303) 266118 or 268715

5

The Historic Houses Association (HHA) represents over 1,640 of the UK's privately and charitably owned historic houses, castles and gardens.

These are listed buildings or designated gardens, usually Grade I or II*, and are often outstanding. Many are considered to be iconic symbols of Britain's unique heritage.

Around 500 of these properties open their doors to visitors for days out, special tours, school visits, film locations, weddings and events, or as memorable places to stay. 24 million people a year visit HHA Member properties and there are over 45,000 Friends of the HHA. Members range from iconic stately homes such as Blenheim Palace, Highclere Castle, Castle Howard, Knebworth House, Longleat and Burghley House, to more intimate houses such as Traquair in Scotland, Treowen in Wales and Belle Isle in Northern Ireland. Most are still private family homes.

The Association was established in 1973 to help owners conserve these wonderful places in the interests of the nation and carries out important lobbying, advisory and marketing work on behalf of Member properties.

6

7

!

Available to pre order from Amazon

From the cutting-edge London design agency Here Design - writer and poet Philip Cowell, and award-winning designer Caz Hildebrand, author of The Herbarium, this playful, original, beautifully designed book brings to life the punctuation marks we use every day, including: The dashing dash So-called "quotation marks" The colon: and on and on.

The shouty exclamation!

Kindle edition The three dots of... ÂŁ9.99 (Not forgetting the brackets) Hardback

8

And even more

ÂŁ14.99 Great gift

Sandgate Farmers' Market dates Just some of the groups that use the Chichester Hall on a regular basis (contact The Sentinel for details): Tai Chi Dance Pilates Tamalpa Table tennis Short mat bowls Sandgate Society monthly talks Sandgate Art Group

Rooms to hire in Sandgate

The Secret Drawing Club

Need to hire a hall? There's no need to look any further.

Sandgate has a room to suit your needs.

Chichester Memorial Hall

SANDGATE HERITAGE TRUST

Old Fire Station Reading Room

R EG C HARITY NO. 2 8 7 2 8 1

Have you heard about The Reading Room Sandgate?

St Paul's Church Hall Tower Theatre

SANDGATE HERITAGE TRUST REG CHARITY NO. 287281

The Library Whether for a party, business meeting, music evening, club meeting or annual general meeting, Sandgate has a room for you with space to accommodate from 10 to 300.

To see if there is one to suit your needs, do email the date (s) and number of attendees to david@davidcowell.net.

The Old Fire Station 51, Sandgate High Street Sandgate, Kent CT20 3AH

The Reading Room In The Old Fire Station Sandgate is a beautiful wood panelled room and is an ideal venue for small functions: Birthday Parties, small meetings, studio lighting & photography sessions, music practice, wakes etc. There is seating for a maximum

Phone

of 30 people and there are folding tables for your use. There is a fully

01303 772873

equipped kitchen which includes crockery & cutlery settings and a

Mobile

combination microwave, tea urn, fridge, coffee machine & kettles.

07778773500

E-mail:

Please note there is NO WHEELCHAIR ACCESS. For more information please visit our newly designed website:

theoldfirestation369@gmail.com

Website www.theoldfirestationsandgate.co.uk

www.theoldfirestationsandgate.co.uk Or ring Mike Chalk 01303 772873 or Zoe Varian 01303 248114

We'll do the rest.

9

10

11

To advertise in three The Sentinels with circa 2300 targetted readers and growing please email me at: david@davidcowell.net for a rate card.

Thank you.

No job too small Please call to discuss your needs

12

Support local events

www.aridzonaawnings.co.uk For the finest German engineered awnings and glass rooms Installed by a Kent based family company.

Call Sam Ruddle for a free survey on 0330 6600949

To advertise in three The Sentinels with circa 2300 targetted readers and growing please email me at: david@davidcowell.net for a rate card.

Thank you.

13

Ticket prices [Friends]

Franck – Final, Op 21 Saturday 28 October 7.30pm (Note changed date) £12 [£10]

Saturday 16 September 7.30pm £12 [£10]

Monteverdi 450 Helen Bailey, Amy McEnroe Montagu Singers – (sopranos), vocal ensemble Fiona Mackay (mezzo-soprano), Anthems and songs by Ben Thapa (tenor), Tallis, Bach, Purcell and others Jim Clements (baritone), Sunday 24 September 3.00pm Dale Wills (harpsichord), plus string £12 [£10] ensemble Staged madrigals, scenes from Icknield Trio: operas, instrumental and choral Anna Le Hair (piano), pieces.

Arwen Newband (violin), Sarah Boxall (cello) Saturday 11 November 7.30pm Beethoven – Op 70(1) “Ghost” £12 [£10] Bridge – Phantasie Piano Trio in C Shepway Singers minor Late Romantic composers.

Dvořák – Piano Trio No 4 in E minor, Op 90 (‘Dumky’) Saturday 2 December 7.00pm Thursday 12 October 12 noon [L] Band concert. Details to be advised.

Anne Marshall (piano) & Saturday 16 December 7.30pm Niall O’Riordan (flute) Retiring collection Works by Bach, Frühling, Gaubert Carols for All. Saturday 21 October 7.30pm £12 [£10] Nicholas King – organ recital Bach – Toccata & Fugue in D minor, BWV565 Howells – Psalm Prelude, Set 2 No 2 Reger – Sonata No2 in D minor, Op 60 Archer – A Festival Toccata Schumann – Two Fugues on B-A-C-H Joubert – Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor, Op 35 14

Tickets available from Brandon Music Shop, 55 High Street, Hythe CT21 5AD (01303 264429), online www.friendsofstleonardshythe.org

Light lunches available in church after lunchtime concerts indicated by [L].

Support local events

15

The Celebration of a life............

I first made contact with Linda René-Martin by letter in 2000, writes David Cowell, to seek information about the Goose Cathedral, the long gone lifeboat station cum cafe that had been on the intersection of the coast and the Seabrook roads and immortalised in the eponymous book by local author Jocelyn Brooke. She replied in her normal prompt, business like manner and it was obvious when my wife Sue and I moved to Sandgate a few years later we would become good friends and we collaborated on many projects and shared many interests.

Linda was born on 18th September 1920 to Mother Davide and Father Mark Lion better known as Max who in the 1930s, to avoid the growing anti German feeling prevalent in this country, changed their family name from Rittenberg to Ritson. Max (1880-1965) was an Australian of German desent. A prolific author for several English magazines, he is best known as the creator of the character Dr. Xavier Wycherley, a psychologist and psychic who helped solve crimes. He wrote a total of eighteen Wycherley stories and he also wrote a series of stories about Magnum, a scientific detective, beginning with The Mystery of the Sevenoaks Tunnel in 1913. He was Chairman of a successful advertising agency in Covent Gardens and gave a career start to a young Charles Saatchi. Linda was active in the Company in its early days and during the bombing of London during WW2, she defied authority by passing through a live bomb cordon to retrieve documents essential to Company, family and business.

Linda’s mother edited an extensive and very comprehensive series of ‘How to Books’ under her pre marriage family name of Minter. Beautifully laid out and illustrated they showed everything from darning socks to making cocktail dresses.

While Davide was outworldy of the Victorian to Edwardian era, she wore the same well-made suits for perhaps 30 years.

She also loved the avant-garde including Salvador Dali. It is easy to see the origins of Linda's life long love of literature and art. Linda religiously did the London Times Crossword puzzles in her youth which possibly explains her genius at Scrabble.

The family, including Linda's brother David who was born in 1924, lived in London, intially in Greencroft Gardens in NW6 and then in Belsize Avenue in NW3. It was at the Kingsley School in Belsize Park that Linda began her education then moved on to the South Hamstead School where her teacher was Susan Stebbing who would 16

continue over

become the first British woman Professor of Philosophy. Linda would later say that Stebbing's classes taught them how to think not what to think although Linda's mother was less sure of these unconventional techniques and felt that the study of Logic would make her daughter argumentative and scare off potential suitors. Linda would often say that her Mother was half right on the matter.

In 1932 the family purchased their house in Coastguard Cottages Sandgate and so began her long, enjoyed and valued association with the village. During the war Linda served as a Leading Wren Plotter at Portland and was actively involved in D Day planning. In 2009 she gave an enthralling talk on the subject to the Sandgate Society. After the war she worked as an Information Officer for UNICEF in Paris and in 1957 for the 11th General Assembly in New York. In her early 20s she left America alone on a cargo ship bound for Greece returning to England overland. She was the first woman to join HMSO's Design Team and later became Production Editor for Shell Aviation News and then Production Manager for Scientific Publications at the Zoological Society in London. She also worked at the Curwen Press where she spoke of passing the likes of T. S. Eliot and Cyril Connelly on the stairs. At Curwen, Oliver Simon who ran the company and who was the leading British typographer and a major player on the international scene was an immensely important mentor in Linda's life and their friendship continued until his death in 1956.

Linda's first husband, René Martin was part of the French Aristocracy and they married in 1950. René, a Moroccan designer and art dealer, was commissioned by the American tobacco heiress, art collector and philanthropist Doris Duke to redesign the living room of her Honolulu estate Shangri La which, following her death, became Linda and René 1950 and still is the excellent Museum of Islamic Art, Culture and Design. René was a major authority, and source, for Moroccon art. While the relationship was unfortunately short lived, it was a bittersweet dream-come-true. Linda had the opportunity to live in an ancient Moroccan Palace until her husband's premature death only six months after Linda 1962 they married. Her second marriage was to Dr Jack Grobstein. Jack did his medical studies in Geneva Switzerland and had time between studying medicine to play the clarinet in a jazz band. Jack had a successful career as a psychiatrist in New York where they lived for a number of years, until they retired to Sandgate Linda and Jack and London. They were enthusiastic tennis players and 17

continue over

Linda still played into her late 80s. Jack sadly died in 1989. Linda retained the name RenĂŠ-Martin for the rest of her life because, she told me, she liked the sound of it.

She travelled extensively but it is as a stalwart defender of the village she loved that she will be best remembered.

She had various articles published in magazines such as Country Life (on William Wilberforce in the May 1975 edition and also spoke on the same subject at the Chichester Hall in 2007 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade) and Kent Life (on the Old Fire Station in Sandgate in the October 1983 edition) and two books on the subject of Sandgate and would never hesitate to get into the fray whenever an inappropriate development loomed. She was a founding member of the Sandgate Society in 1962 and, in 1983, helped set up the Sandgate Heritage Trust to protect the Old Fire Station from the clutches of developers. The escarpment, Encombe and Princes Parade (in defence of which she attended a House of Commons Select Committee in 1990 which lasted 13 days and was successful in stopping the construction of an outer harbour and lock-gate to the Canal) all received her personal attention right up until her demise.

Her incisive intellect and fastidious attention to detail made her a formidable opponent and would often rattle friends and foes alike but one could never question her unswerving loyalty to any cause she supported and the many friends she accumulated. Despite her work committments in London, Linda stood in 1970 as an independent candidate for the Sandgate Ward on what was then the Folkestone Council. Although narrowly defeated she said that it was a shake-up, a signal take notice of Sandgate.

An avid writer, Linda would put pen to paper to express her views on a diverse range of subjects and often did so in poetic form so it is fitting that we remember the poem she wrote for the Sandgate Society's 50th birthday celebration: Forever Sandgate Here, ceaseless Enbrook meets a timeless sea, Near Castle, Church and Ilex tree And Wilberforce and HG Wells Live deep in village memory.

A VC, too, among the dead Is writ on stone with pain and pride.

Progress, now , among us dwells As Saga spells prosperity.

18

continue over

Martellos echo times gone by, Pebbles murmur with the tide Clear we hear the seagulls cry.

Dawn and sunset paint the sky – But creeping concrete, loss of green Eat into our well-loved scene Hard as we defy.

Though wind and waves are rarely still Sandgate survives and ever will Without any doubt she had an amazing life in an era when women were at a significant disadvantage and to Linda such disadvantages were challenges to be faced and conquered.

Linda stayed at home in her beloved Coastguard Cottage until the last ten days of her life, dying on 17th August at St Margaret's Nursing Home in Hythe and is sadly missed by her brother David (Emeritus Professor of Physics at Stanford University), niece Francesca, nephews Marc, Vincent, Matthew and Peter and all members of her family of whom she was immensely proud and she spoke often of their many achievements.

The family would like to thank all those who assisted Linda during her later difficult days, especially the staff at St Margaret's Nursing Home, Ray Govier and Stuart Macintyre.

19

Linda Renè-Martin - a Sandgate fighter Back in the 80′s Linda was a driving force in the campaign to save our village landmark, The Old Fire Station, for posterity. She always supported the continued work that the Sandgate Heritage Trust (SHT) does to maintain and preserve this iconic and much loved building. She maintained interest and continued to voice her suggestions for improvements right up to her passing. The Trust and the Sandgate Community are indebted to her for her fortitude in her campaigning and for the generosity she always showed the Sandgate Heritage Trust.

This is the history behind her connection to the SHT and the Old Fire Station, Linda René-Martin, whose family have occupied a Coastguard cottage since 1932, was a founding member of The Sandgate Society (1962). With Sandgate’s interests at heart, her wide knowledge of local history has often been turned to practical use in village campaigns, and public Inquiries. She also helped to defeat a Private Bill to construct an environmentally damaging marina complex on Sandgate’s borders, put to a Select Committee of the House of Commons (1990). The eastern end of the historic Royal Military Canal was incidentally saved, and the Princes Parade area thus remains fully accessible to the public.

On behalf of The Sandgate Society, Linda was solely responsible for an extensive written and photographic survey, SANDGATE - A VILLAGE which, with Kent County Council’s support, overcame Folkestone Council’s opposition and finally won two large Conservation Areas, designated in 1972. In 1978, after years of combined research and pressure with Alex Todd of Encombe, the Local Authority made partial attempts (under a Coast Protection Scheme) to stabilise that area – in 1992 a comprehensive scheme took place. As a petitioner at the Channel Tunnel Select Committee hearings (September 1986), she aroused interest in possible pollution and flooding in Sandgate.

When, in 1982, the landmark Volunteer Fire Station with Public Library on the upper floor became surplus to the needs of KCC, Linda, as first Chairman of the specially formed Sandgate Heritage Trust Ltd (a registered charity) helped to promote and ensure its survival for community use. The Sandgate Society was thus able to maintain its HQ in the old Engine Room. Less known is Linda’s considerable input into the Society’s local history display, funded by the UK Carnegie Trust, and imaginatively conceived jointly with Ann Nevill.

She also contributed articles on Sandgate to Country Life, Kent Life, the Daily Telegraph and Coastguard magazine, among others, and gave illustrated talks on local history.

Linda’s book ‘Sandgate Rise and Progress of a Village’, was a carefully researched and concise history of Sandgate and in a sense, Linda’s further legacy to Sandgate.

It does not aim to be exhaustive but is intended to be of reference both for old timers and newcomers to Sandgate and to stimulate detailed studies of Sandgate’s many-sided history.

Thanks to the The Old Fire Station web site for allowing me to reproduce this article.

20

21

WOW Design-led gifts and interiors 76 High Street Hythe Kent CT21 5AL

01303 265340 www.facebook.com/ wowhythe 22

Niamh Dempsey was a British Wheel of Yoga qualified instructor and first opened her classes in the Chichester Hall on 6th September 2012 and continued until the start of her illness a year ago. Niamh set up the Sandgate classes on her return from France where she had lived and taught the subject in Monestier a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the south west of the country although she originally fared from Southern Ireland where many of her family still live. Prior to moving to France she had been been teaching in universities, Adult Education Centres and fitness centres in London. She had practised Yoga for over four decades.

Niamh had infinite patience with us less agile members of her class and entertained us all with tales from her childhood and experiences and learnings as a yoga teacher. She was totally committed to the value of yoga and would constantly remind us that it was the union with self which can be achieved regardless of size, age or state of health.

Through the practice, she would tell us, you will peel away tensions in your mind and body to undo the damage you have accumulated through your day to day lives. Niamh will be remembered with fondness as an inspiring teacher and good friend.

Niamh died on 8th August and leaves a daughter Lucy, grandchildren Gracie and Charlie and son Ferdia.

Namiste

23

If you have any photographs of the area either current or past do send them to me by email and I will feature them in future editions.

If you just have prints do drop them round to Clyme House (see below) and I will scan.

If you would like to make a donation to the Trust to help with the upgrade to the Sandgate free wifi you can do so by clicking here

Support local events

Thank you If you would like to submit an article or letter please email it to me.

I will print almost anything as long as it’s not libellous, racist or unkind.

Name must be supplied but can be withheld if requested.

Please put your articles etc in plain text or Word and images should be in .jpg, .tiff or .png.

My contact details are: Address: Clyme House, Hillside Street, Hythe, Kent CT21 5DJ Mobile: 07771 796 446; Landline: 020 3239 5828 (via Skype); email: david@davidcowell.net