Deal Despatch

Summer 2021 FREE Modern-day Seaside Stories

EATING ON THE BEACH Where to pick up the tastiest treats

DEAL DESPATCH

MIDDLE STREET PHOTOGRAPHER Legendary image-maker Harold Chapman shares his memories of Deal

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REGATTA AND CARNIVAL 2021 They’re back! But when did it all start? And why?

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deal despatch

Editorial

Editor Kathryn Reilly

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Acting editor-in-chief John Murphy

Founder & Publisher Clare Freeman

Co-founder & Advertising director Publishing assistant

It’s a first!

Emilia Fuller

Design director Lizzy Tweedale

From the Editor

elcome to our launch issue in which we celebrate Deal and its people. Ours is a town like no other, thankfully still intact despite efforts to raze the old town to the ground in less enlightened times. It is a town by the sea, not a seaside town, and one that is proud to welcome strangers.

I discovered this when I moved here seven years ago and feel more at home now than anywhere else I’ve lived.

Deal is full of extraordinary people.

Our cover star, 94-year-old Harold Chapman, for instance, is Deal born and bred but has travelled the world in search of interesting people and

Contact

Issue one

regulator

Website

Summer 2021 – July to September

Fay Franklin Gemma Groombridge Joe Harris Larushka Ivan-Zadeh David Lowe Sharon Powell Becky Whalley

Kathryn Reilly

Photographers Danny Burrows Kate Forman Kathryn Reilly

Illustrators Jade Spranklen Squidoodle

With thanks to Robyn Bailey-West

cover image Harold Chapman returns to his roots

by Danny Burrows

Print Mortons Print

brightsidepublishing. com

art to look out for

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Bangle’s angle – columnist Joe Bangles shares his unique view of Deal (and Dover)

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Art and culture – what’s on at our local

10 Lending a hand in Deal – we’re a

charitable bunch. Find out which causes you can help out

13 A unique view – local legend Harold hidden scenes (most famously living in Paris with the Beat Poets in the late 50s). We took him back to the place where he caught the haunting image which was to become his first published photograph (in 1952).

Sprinkled through this issue, you’ll see other “firsts” recognised – we all have to start somewhere and we hope you think ours is a good effort.

We have an interview with Walmerbased violinist and composer Anna Phoebe, who confesses lockdown has been the only thing to curtail her wanderlust, and how she quite likes it. The good people at seafront hotspot Hut 55 talk about ditching the commute to create a hub of family fun. The founder of Deal Delivers speaks about adapting to lockdown and how the small independent companies of our town made the most out of a bad situation.

Then there’s our history of the beloved “only in Deal” carnival, round-ups of what’s on locally, what you can learn in town, and a look at the important work some of our many charities do.

To everyone who hasn’t made on to the pages of this first issue, we’d love to share your news and tell your story in the future. Our next issue comes out in October, so let us know what you’re up to by emailing kathryn@ brightsidepublishing.com. In the meantime, enjoy our seaside idyll.

Writers

5 The Scoop – new shops, menus, drinks and

galleries and Deal in miniature

Jen Brammer

Contributors

Contents

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Chapman talks about wartime Deal and much more

18 Mother of invention – Calypso Rolph came to the rescue with lockdown hit. Now Deal Delivers is a local institution

19 What’s on and when – from festivals to dog shows, discover the season’s best events

21 Of course you can! – want to learn a new skill but don’t want to travel far? We have the answers

24 Beach treats – plan a weekend of perfect picnicking on our fabulous seashore

27 Ditch the commute – a month per year on the train? Not for Kate Forman of Hut 55!

31 When the party comes to town – the

Regatta and Carnival are back. We trace the origins of the celebrations

34 Walmer waves – Anna Phoebe shares

her experience of lockdown and how it’s changed her whole approach

36 A writer’s paradise – where better to write and read? A local recommended reading list for the summer

38 A Sunny Dealite – meet out first local hero, a woman on a fundraising mission

39 Inspiring instas – it’s had to take a bad picture in Deal but some Instagram accounts take things to another level

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Ramsgate Recorder

Broadstairs Beacon

Whitstable Whistler

Sondes Road, Deal

Sa da s

Mouthblown Glass & Jewellery w w w. c o r l e y s t u d i o s h o p . c o m Studio Opening Hours: Tuesday - Friday 11am - 3pm Saturday 11am - 1pm or by appointment John Corley Stained Glass Studio 57 West Street, Deal, Kent CT14 6EB office@corleystudios.co.uk Tel: 01304 365160

/ 104-106 High Street, Deal CT146EE

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deal despatch

THE SCOOP

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The Rose

Deal in a bottle

Locals probably can’t justify a stay in the sumptuously decorated Rose. But you can still enjoy a cocktail on the terrace or dinner in the restaurant. The much loved crab-stuffed doughnuts (below) are back, and other new bar snacks include potted shrimp with spiced butter and Whitstable rock oysters with wild fennel. On the mains are a sensational new halibut dish, a new skate dish and new season lamb. Chef Nuno Mendes’ Portuguese olive oil cake is served with a greengage compote.

Karl Wozny of multi award-winning Cocktail in a Bottle (“traders of pre-made libations”) has just created something perfect to sip on the beach.

“Sea Mist Sour is a hybrid of a Margarita tasting of the sea and is flavoured with responsibly foraged wild beach fennel, sea salt and seaweed to give the drink its marine hue,” Karl explains. To enjoy this summer-ready treat add ice and top up with soda water or tonic. Ned Kelly of edgy art gallery Don’t Walk Walk provides the iconic artwork for the label.

Better still, you can win one of three prints simply by buying a bottle.

W: therosedeal.com A: 91 High Street

Pick up your tipple at the Merchant of Relish, 119 High Street, or online at cocktailinabottle.co.uk

Whippersnappers The town’s only children’s outfitter opened three months before lockdown and continues to delight with the cutest outfits and toys. Launched by retail merchandiser Nicola Tompkins, it’s easy to see that she knows her stuff. “I opened the shop because, despite having a thriving high street full of fantastic independent shops, there was nowhere selling good quality, ethically sourced and interesting clothes, toys and gifts for kids,” Nicola explains. “The brands I work with are independents themselves, many are small businesses and most are based in the UK. This is very important to me when choosing what will go into the shop, as is ethical manufacture and sustainability.” Pick up a Den Kit, which has everything little ones need to make a superior hideaway. Why didn’t they have things like this when we were small? But there are some things for big kids too, including cool Rave-Ing sweatshirts. We also like the Sunnylife giant dino sprinkler, which surely could be enjoyed by kids of all ages.

High priestess Digital artist Imogen Rae Holliday is bringing a touch of psychedelia (and oodles of cool) to Deal.

Her t-shirts, prints, mugs and totes offer a joyous burst of colour and celebrate the power of women, the tarot and horoscopes (amongst other things).

Find out more at @outsider_the_box

W: whippersnappersonline.com A: 7 Queen Street

Mrs Lang Adding a touch of glamour to the High Street, Roni Lang’s ethos is to create sustainable fashion. This means upcycling to create a contemporary twist on camouflage and denim jackets. Rosettes and ribbons, fringed epaulettes, appliqués and antique embellishments make the pieces really sing. Exwomenswear design co-ordinator at Next, Roni has a great Instagram account which exudes her creativity and passion for fashion. Her partner in crime is Lisa Taylor, whose recycled kaftans and saris work particularly well with Roni’s jackets.

Accessories for you and your home complete the welcome offering (and there are pieces for men too).

IG: @ mrs_lang11 A: 38 High Street

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deal despatch

OPINION

Don’t dream it’s Dover gl ban

e's angl

e

Writer

Illustration

Joe Bangles

Jade Spranklen

Editor of the eternally irreverent East Kent Mockery, Joe Bangles mulls over the appeal of Deal

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little over twenty years ago, I rolled into Deal for the very first time driving my second-hand Ford Sierra that had to be steered to the left to go straight. I had two mithering kids in the back and a white-knuckled wife in the passenger seat. We’d lost the will to live.

To be fair, we had just spent two days house hunting in Dover, which is enough to crush the dreams of any self-respecting human being.

On a tip-off, we barrelled down the Dover Road, past the bandstand on Walmer Green, set against a backdrop of boats sat on the steep shingle beach, and on beyond a castle that someone appeared to have left at the side of the road. We had found our spiritual home.

I had never heard of this strange, smuggling seaside town and, at that time, no one else had either. Even some of the locals seemed unaware of where they were living by the looks of things. Deal was a different kettle of fish at the turn of the century. It had the feel of a place that John Noakes might unearth from a time capsule in the Blue Peter garden. Nothing had changed since approximately 1958.

I parked my jalopy in the library car park, and we took a stroll along the deserted High Street. Despite the mothball-smelling gentleman’s outfitters, faded and jaded department stores, junk shops and greasy spoon caffs, it did have an M&S, which was the clincher for my other half. The pubs were spit and sawdust smoke-holes; Starburger was as near to a Michelin Star restaurant that the town could offer

and the closest thing to an artisan deli was the cheese counter in Somerfield’s. There were no hipster beards in those days; the fashion in facial hair was more Captain Birdseye than waxed moustache.

Once a year, on a random Sunday in August, the tourism industry hit its peak. A coachload of pensioners from Staines would rock up on the seafront and drain the Beach Parlour of tea and knickerbocker glories. The weekend entertainment consisted of excruciating cover bands in the Clarendon and sticky floor dancing in the Quarterdeck. This would be followed by three-way brawls on Queen Street between the Mill Hill massive, the Dover dunderheads and the Aylesham six-finger crew welting the living daylights out of each other. Deal did have an olde worlde, abrasive charm, but this forgotten jut-out-land with its own weather system was sinking fast into the Goodwin Sands.

Fast-forward two decades and, with the advent of a high-speed rail link to London, numerous Sunday paper “must visit” articles and a burgeoning community of artists, musicians and the good type of DFLs (those without Airbnb accounts), our little independent idyll is now the place to be.

I consider myself a fully paid up “Dealite” these days, and a part of me still hankers for that untouched tumbleweed town that I fell in love with. However it has flowed from being a stagnant paddling pool of a place into a whooshing waterslide of colourful life.

Deal now has a verve, a vibrance and a va-va-voom bubbling with people, thriving shops and something a little bit leftfield from your average seaside resort.

Above everything else, we are eternally thankful for one thing. We didn’t stop in Dover!

C o n t emporary Art PA I N T I N G P R I N T S C U L P T U R E Gallery Open: Tues - Sat 10am - 4pm Linden Hall Studio 32 St George’s Road Deal, Kent, CT14 6BA

Tel: 01304 360411 info@lindenhallstudio.co.uk www.lindenhallstudio.co.uk

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Open everyday. Lunch: midday–2.30pm (excluding Mon and Tues) Dinner: 6–9pm. Sunday: midday– 6pm. Book online or eat@therosedeal.com

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deal despatch

ART & CULTURE

art dealers As more and more artists move into town, so the spaces lent to display their work grows.

And there’s something for everyone…

TAYLOR-JONES & SON

Having recently secured sole representation for renowned artist Jennifer Durrant RA, Linden Hall goes from strength to strength. The gallery’s airy space will house several shows over the late summer. Human: Nature (20 July to 7 August) is a selected exhibition from members of Contemporary British Painting, an artist-led organisation which explores and promotes current trends in British painting. Paint, Substance and Light (10 to 28 August) demonstrates four different threads from four Camberwell alumni. Encapsulating what the famous art school stood for in the 20th century, it will have work from Peter Clossick, Anthony Eyton, Julie Held and Tom Espley.

The first floor space is dedicated to showing a vibrant and ever-changing collection of painting and sculpture.

Many of the exhibitors are some of the most established names in their field.

Focusing on modern British painting, print and sculpture, the gallery also has invited guests for monthly features. Always worth popping in for a look, popular contributors include Daisy Cook, John Hoyland, Arthur Neal and Cherry Tewfik.

In August, stylish gallery TaylorJones & Son has two artists on display.

Leigh Mulley produces hyper-real paintings where more is going on than immediately meets the eye. She says, “As a kid you are enchanted by the sights and smells and sounds – a rich, beguiling cacophony that hits you hard. Brash colour, waves of light bulbs, candy floss, chips, gulls, eightbit melodies and dropping coins. Of course you look closely and a lot of the bulbs are missing, the paintwork is tired and chipped, the arcade carpet is full of gum. You are being sold a lie. A beautiful lie – and you love it. These are the things I paint.”

Also playing with reality is an artist new to the gallery, Graham Thorpe. Graham has been a high-end automotive photographer working for the likes of Bentley and Jaguar.

He has now used his skills to create landscapes shot at Dungeness called Repose. “Like many boys who grew up in the late 70s I had a big passion for aircraft kits, which were all military.

To a ten-year-old mind with no concept or understanding of war, they were just cool things. As a nod to my earlier passion and my now total dislike of conflict, this series represents something of a twist in the lives of these aircraft and their original purpose. They now form a scattered group of ground training airframes used for the sole purpose of practising life-saving skills by the fire crews who attend airfield crash landings. Now in their twilight, they serve to help save life rather than taking it, and as such are unique and rare among their fellow warplanes.”

lindenhallstudio.co.uk 32 St George’s Road CT14 6BA

taylorjonesandson.co.uk 114 High Street CT14 6BB

LINDEN HALL

“Billie Holliday” by Kate Boxer at Will & Yates

“Rum and Coca-Cola” by Mark Maguire at Don’t Walk Walk

Jennifer Durrant at the Linden Hall Studio

deal despatch

ART & CULTURE

DON’T WALK WALK At this irreverent gallery there’s a decidedly punk ethic. Alongside works

by Vic Reeves and Noel Fielding, owner Ned Kelly sells his own hugely popular seascapes. New artist Mark Maguire has created a series of limited prints which channel his experience as a sound engineer to create unique pieces inspired by seminal music videos. “I use a long exposure for the length of the video,” Mark explains.

“So the camera is taking all the information and processing it into one image during the three or four minutes that it is taking the photo. I then do some post-production, colour correction and clean up the image, as a lot of digital noise is created by an exposure of that duration.” Inspired by Pulp’s “Common People”, “Rum and Coca-Cola” (opposite page) is £175. dontwalkwalkgallery.com 10 Victoria Road, CT14 7AP

WILL & YATES

One of Alison Spanyol’s delicate mixed-media creations

From 10 July to 22 August fine-art printmaker Kate Boxer shows her drypoint, carborundum, glitter and gouache pieces in the go-to interiors shop. In the autumn painter Marika Wenman exhibits. She is influenced

Deal in miniature

B

ehold! These utterly delightful mini Deal houses are the creation of ex-theatre designer Karen Britcliffe – artist in residence at the stunningly styled interior shop The Green and Found – who has been visiting Deal for years and has recently made it her home.

Miniature Tales is a celebration of both Deal’s higgledy-piggledy nature and of the Japanese-inspired dioramas and models she has been making for some time. “My first impression of Deal from the pier was of a miniature coastal town full of the most beautiful buildings,” Karen explains. “Street upon street of architectural treats, buildings that

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by movement, which feeds into her fascination with the human form.

Her work is collected worldwide. She is followed by Susan Absolon. An alumna of Central St Martins, Susan has shown her work nationwide. Her starting point is colour. “I don’t work from drawings and I don’t start with an idea of what the painting will be.

The idea forms as I work,” she says. willandyates.com 104 High Street CT14 6EE

ALISON SPANYOL Mixed-media artist Alison is interested in the interaction between objects, and ideas of nostalgia and vanity. “I have, in a way, made portraits of my favourite objects – chairs, mirrors, glass bottles etc.

Recently I’ve started using drawings that I made at life drawing class to make figures for the rooms I’ve created. I use old vintage fabrics that I’ve dyed and pieced together – the figures are made from my drawings using various embroidery stitches to create light and shade and form. Each element is made separately and then put together to make the final piece.”

Prices from £350. DM alisonspanyol on Instagram for details.

1 deal firsts

Kare Green a n is the nd have lived and first artisFound’s residenct in continue to live e colourful lives.”

Thinking about the meaning of home at a time when everyone was confined to theirs – feeling small but safe – and the memories contained within each individual building, Karen spends weeks creating each sculpture, paying minute attention to detail. She then adds in some surreal magic like imagined wallpaper from the adjoining house or attaches another building to create a “flying house”. Beach Street’s Nelson Cottage (left), for example, incorporates elements of the Victory on its side and is “grounded” with an anchor. They really do have to be seen to be believed and are future heirlooms.

If you’d like your house immortalised, Karen will be taking commissions. To get an idea of her process, Karen will be working on pieces at the exhibition and is running socially distanced workshops (6-8pm on 9, 16, 23 and 30 July), £65 including all equipment but bring your own pieces of inspiration. To book email info@thegreenandfound. com or pop in store.

Exhibition on until 2 August at The Green and Found, The Captain’s Gardens Stables, Victoria Road CT14 7BA

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deal despatch

COMMUNITY

Lending a hand in Deal Writer Fay Franklin

Images courtesy of The charities

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harities, good causes and campaigns are very much a part of the character of Deal, and locals get enthusiastically involved in every kind of fundraiser – from the Rotary Club Deal Icebreakers’ famed Boxing Day Dip to piratical “treasure hunts”, long-distance walks to mettle-testing marathons, table-top sales to lifeenhancing action. If you feel like doing your bit, here are just some of the options for lending a hand to help your community and your neighbours.

DISCOVERING DEAL’S PAST Deal’s colourful past is just waiting to be discovered, and one of the best ways is to look for the bright yellow gazebo on the seafront near the pier, from where the History Project (Pete and George, right) runs its series of fascinating guided walks, such as the Smugglers’ Trail, through the streets of the town. Not-for-profit THP also works with the local community and schools to bring history alive. Learn more at thehistoryproject.co.uk Mining is another important part of our local history, and the Kent Mining Heritage Foundation will soon be opening the Kent Mining Museum, based at Betteshanger Country Park. It will celebrate and preserve Kent’s rich coal-mining heritage, bringing together memories, archives and artifacts from the four Kent collieries of Betteshanger, Snowdown, Tilmanstone and Chislet. Follow them on Facebook. You could become a volunteer too – even if you aren’t an ex-miner! And don’t forget Deal Museum, in the centre of town, which is always on the lookout for helpers (email museum@dealmuseum.co.uk).

COMMUNITY CARING United Families UK was launched in 2019 as a one-stop family support charity. Its main focus is resolving issues around child contact after a relationship breakdown, but food services provide 30 to 40 local families with food and hygiene packages in an average week (many more during school holidays). The 2020 Christmas Dinner Project gave over 150 families everything they needed to cook and enjoy a festive meal together. This year the aim is to do the same for 500 families in Deal, Dover and Thanet.

Visit unitedfamiliesuk.org.uk Part of the nationwide Trussell Trust, Deal Area Foodbank is nonetheless very much at the heart of the Deal community, supported by and supporting local people. During lockdown it has been delivering food from warehouse to front door. If you need them, or want to lend a hand, call 01304 728428.

The North Deal Community Company was formed when a group of neighbours got together to improve facilities in the area – and that has been a great and visible success. It now owns the thriving Golf Road Centre, which provides wellbeing, education and leisure opportunities for local residents, and hosts the Skylight Café, offering training opportunities for young people. Further projects are planned and volunteers are always welcomed. Visit golfroadcentre.co.uk

deal despatch

COMMUNITY

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SPORT FOR SUPPORT The Clifftop Challenge is one of Deal’s biggest and most popular charity events. It involves running distances of between 55 miles (from Hastings) to five miles over the White Cliffs from Dover, ending in a big celebration on Walmer Green. So far the challenge has raised over £130,000 for Breast Cancer Now. This year’s event moves from its regular June spot to 11 September. To help out, offer sponsorship or take part, go to clifftopchallenge.com The other big White Cliffs charity event is the Crocus Walk, also for Breast Cancer Now. Usually in April but this year on 19 September, it sees a stream of pink-clad sponsored walkers trek the clifftops from “Julie’s Bench” near Walmer Castle to St Margaret’s and back. To find out more, visit the Facebook page.

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS

DOING IT FOR THE KIDS

MANY LOCAL HEROES

Social support group Talk it Out offers an incredible range of services, all completely free. These include courses run by MIND; crafts groups; counselling; help with form-filling from a Citizens Advice Bureau expert… there’s even a fabulous, award-winning allotment, called Lost the Plot! Find out more at talkitoutindeal.com Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Carers Support East Kent has gone from supporting 400 carers in 2001 to over 8,000 in 2020!

Anyone who looks after a relative or friend who cannot manage without their support – and needs support themselves – can get in touch with CSEK. They’ve also launched the Time for Me appeal, with fun, fundraising challenges for individuals and businesses. Visit carerssek.org.uk Most of those helped by the mental health charity SOLVE are on benefits, and have lived difficult lives. As well as assessments and psychiatric care, they receive up to 28 sessions of therapy (a lot more than secondary mental health services offer).

Lockdown has stretched this caring team of 14 volunteers to the limit and founder Sherill Searle is keen to hear from people who can help their work in any way, at solvementalhealth. charity. Get in touch!

The Kent charity Martha Trust aims to transform the lives of the 33 profoundly disabled young people and adults in its permanent care. Its home just outside Deal is bright and lively, with state-of-the-art facilities to help residents reach their full potential.

Perhaps their most famous fundraiser is the annual Car Challenge – to buy a roadworthy “banger” for no more than £200 and drive it to a European destination (Monte Carlo this year, fingers crossed!), raising at least £1,500 in the process. But there are loads more fundraising feats and events to take part in and support, as you can see at marthatrust.org.uk.

Digby is a little Deal boy whose Duchenne muscular dystrophy (a rare, incurable muscle-wasting illness) never dims his huge smile. The fundraiser Digby’s Smile raises money for his future needs and also feeds into bigger DMD charities researching a cure. Mum Lisa says: “As part of a Great Ormond Street clinical trial, Digby undergoes a huge number of appointments. He has completed 178 weeks of infusions via a drip and has around 200 to go. Yet he remains cheeky, cheerful and super-resilient.”

Digby’s Smile holds a wide range of fundraising events and gratefully welcomes all support – follow their Facebook page for more information.

Deal With It’s most high-profile project is Deal Hop Farm, which sees hundreds of gardens around Deal and district come together to grow and harvest hops for the brewing of an excellent range of ales. Since 2017 DWI has been in partnership with English Heritage to bring the historic walled Captain’s Garden at Deal Castle back to life as a community space. Volunteers care for the garden at Deal Station and run regular Seedy Swap Saturdays in the High Street.

DWI also fields a team of gleaners, picking leftover fruit and veg for food banks and community kitchens, runs regular beach cleans, and is the hub for initiatives such as Pick Deal Clean and Plastic Free Deal. Find out how you can get involved at dealwithit.org.

Reopen the Regent is dedicated to seeing through the long-promised return of the iconic seafront Regent building to its former incarnation as a cinema. Keeping the issue in the public eye – as well as having the building made an Asset of Community Value – resulted in planning permission being granted in 2019 for a two-screen cinema, but Covid-19 “stalled development”.

Further action is scheduled. Visit reopentheregent.com Mentioned in The Merchant of Venice, Moby Dick and Ian Fleming’s

Moonraker (as well as featuring in his Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), the notorious Goodwin Sands are the resting place of countless ships, thousands of sailors and scores of World War II airmen. They protect the vulnerable coastline from North Deal to Kingsdown, and are a sanctuary for seals and other marine life. The Goodwin Sands Conservation Trust was founded in 2018 in response to Dover Harbour Board’s repeated aggregate dredging licence applications, to raise public awareness of their environmental and historical significance. A seafront information panel and a mobile exhibition are now planned – for the latest, visit goodwinsands.org.uk Supporting Youth Deal District (SYDD) was founded in 2017, after local councillor Eileen Rowbotham discovered that two youth centre workers had formed the Sober Up project. “This came as a shock,” she says. “Young people – as young as 13 – were gathering at the back of Tides to drink alcohol. Simon and Albert were going out with flasks of hot chocolate and biscuits… just talking to them… not making judgments… forming a relationship.” Eileen established SYDD to apply for grants and funding, initially to help Sober Up but now supporting many other projects too, and working with the Lynwood Youth Centre on providing activities.

The most recent project is funding a laptop library for families suffering digital poverty.

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deal despatch

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PEOPLE

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a unique view Writer Kathryn Reilly

Portrait photographer Danny Burrows

Photographs courtesy of Harold Chapman

Before and after he took his seminal images of the Beat poets in 1950s Paris, photographer Harold Chapman lived in Deal.

Here he tells us about life before and during WWII, why he came back and how a one-man-band set him on the road

“

My first ‘camera’ was bought for me by my daddy. There was a distinct war between my father and mother over me and I was strictly told by my mother never to go along Middle Street. It was filled with prostitutes, she said, and all sorts of nasty sailors from all over the world, a disgrace to Deal and so forth... On arrival in the street, I was amazed at the bright lights everywhere and all of the shops. My daddy took me straight to an amazing shop [at the corner of Coppin and Middle Streets]

with sawdust on the floor and he bought me a magic photography set – all you needed was the magic of the sun. The feeling that I had when the pictures came out has never left me – photography is real magic!”

A little later, equipped with a second-hand Speed Graphic camera, Harold had a stroke of luck. The haunting images of a one-man-band plying his trade unsuccessfully on the corner of Farrier Street (see over), became his first published photos – printed in Reveille magazine in 1952.

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PEOPLE

►

Possibly Harold’s most famous photos, taken in 1957, shows Peter Orlovsky and Allen Ginsberg when they were living in what became known as the Beat Hotel

► Children watch the firemen do their work in 1970s Deal

* Harold Chapman is represented by Linden Hall Studio and is releasing a special limited edition of 50 giclee prints of “One Man Band”. It also has many other images. Prints of Harold’s Les Halles images are available at the Black Pig.

He had captured the desperation of post-war Britain. There was no money to hand out on Middle Street and the performer was a Welsh ex-miner suffering from TB. As well as describing the cacophony of sound and the distinctive smell of Deal (sulphur, smoked fish and tar) he remembers the first bomb to land in the town and digging the family’s air raid shelter in his back garden. Later there are reminiscences of Painless Jeff, the tattooist of Canada Road, a flash fire at an amusement arcade (opposite page), the many dance halls where the Marines played to welldressed dancers, fierce floods and low tides – and sneaking into Deal’s five cinemas without paying.

Harold describes himself as “a low-

“The feeling that I had has never left me – photography is real magic!”

life wanderer” and felt that the world had more to offer. His enquiring mind and different way of looking at people have taken him far and wide, first to the jazz clubs of Soho, then onto Paris, then all over Europe as contributor to the likes of the New York Times. His images of the market at Les Halles in Paris document a devastating shift in history and are some of his favourite works.* Having the opportunity to roam wartime Deal allowed him to begin his lifelong love of exploration. Mostly he did this alone but sometimes his adventures were shared with his beloved father. “One day a week, my daddy took me to the highest spot of the sand hills [the marshlands next to the ancient highway between

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► The one-man-band had chosen his pitch unwisely. Middle Street was a desperately poor area

1

Deal and Sandwich] to an odd character who wanted tins of sardines which daddy had ready, stuffed in his pockets.

This w Harold’sas On the top of the slope this publishefirst strange old man had stuck d photo a sail cloth, which had been ripped off in a storm, in the sand. He collected bits and pieces of broken wood. He lived there permanently, protected from the wind and the rain by the sail cloth.

They had strange talks which I didn’t understand and then me and my dad wandered home.

“During one air raid, I was roaming about on my bicycle when I suddenly heard the roar of approaching aircraft. Looking up, I was horrified to see a bomb glittering in the morning sunlight, slowly whistling downwards. Luckily, there was a nearby underground shelter so I started frantically pedalling towards it in terror. My bike hit the kerb and I sailed slowly over the handlebars into the entrance. Floating down into the darkness, I crashed painfully onto the wall inside the dugout.

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PEOPLE

Suddenly, people were shrieking and screaming as I collapsed onto the floor. Recovering myself, I staggered out. There was nothing in sight, the planes had passed. All was silent.”

The railway line had been bombed but Harold was virtually unscathed.

Post-war Deal was a grim and grimy place. “Before electricity was available, the streets and houses were illuminated by gas lamps.

The gasworks in Cannon Street consumed enormous quantities of coal which was cooked in huge retorts to produce domestic gas. The coal in Betteshanger Colliery was hard to extract and expensive to produce. It burned very hot and was widely used by the steel industry. Cheap domestic coal was inferior, with a high sulphur content, and arrived by rail in open wooden wagons. In the winter the air in Deal would be thick with yellowish smoke belching from chimneys. The death rate was very high in cold winters among those with respiratory diseases when there were noxious smogs.”

“I knelt in the road and Churchill gave me two fingers!”

But there was fun, too. Harold talks of the fortune tellers at the Carnival’s funfair back when it was steampowered and sited north of the Royal Hotel. He speaks of Divito’s glamorous ice cream parlour and Ling’s Café where tall tales were exchanged.

And the infamous Hooden Horse, which frightened local children at Christmastime. “It kept closing its mouth with a sharp snapping sound.

I didn’t go anywhere near it and kept clear of it. Nobody put any money in the horse’s mouth.” Then there were famous visitors. In 1951, Sir Winston Churchill received the Freedom of Deal and, naturally, Harold was there.

“Deal loved Churchill... I knelt in the road and he gave me his famous two fingers! It almost started a small riot but Churchill had none of it and walked off with the mayor.”

Harold’s love of the sea brought him back to his home town in 1993. He can still be seen snapping the waves – his second favourite subject after humankind. Now 94, he is never seen without his camera and although the shops on Middle Street are long gone, he always finds something to catch his eye on our history-drenched streets. ► Harold’s wife, Claire, recently took this picture of Harold capturing the waves

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BEHIND THE BUSINESS

mother of invention Illustration Squidoodle

Deal Delivers founder Calypso Rolph explains how she helped local businesses come to the rescue when were told to stay at home

I

t has been (well over) a year of tiers and fears. On 21 March 2020 it was clear that my much-loved high street in Deal was about to close for some time. Rather selfishly my initial reaction was one of total panic. Me? Cook? EVERY DAY? Deal didn’t have Deliveroo, and we needed one

by Monday.

I could see action was needed.

Luckily I do function best when there is an element of drama. I raced around the shops and market on the final Saturday, asking if anyone had considered offering delivery, and took details. I am an entrepreneur and I have an online experience company, so I look at websites with a professional eye. Speed was of the essence, but I still wanted it to have a designed look. I knew I would be a hopeless frontline key worker, but selling online was something I knew about, and I could see that it would be needed.

Deal Delivers – a branded, online

directory – launched on 1 April. It was filled with all the businesses in Deal that were prepared to deliver.

Groceries and cocktails vied with pet collars and stick insects (yes, really). Ready meals were a major hit – afternoon teas, fish and chips, soul food and roast dinners were soon to be found on doorsteps all over Deal.

Within three days of launching, the accompanying Facebook group had 1,000 members and the website was getting 1,000 visitors a day.

Meanwhile, just as I was getting into my stride, I had a bike accident. It was only two weeks into lockdown and I was cycling down a country lane with

my small son on the front riding “shotgun”. He put down a leg and havoc ensued. I broke my jaw in five places, lost a couple of teeth, and found myself booked in for emergency surgery. My son was shocked, but intact. My jaw was subsequently wired closed for the next two months and I was put on a soup diet. It was a bad start to lockdown!

It soon became clear that Deal Delivers would be invaluable to the town. It was a simple idea, but soon over 120 businesses started not just to survive but thrive. The town got behind its high street and vowed to

shop local. Everything was being sourced via the Facebook group. As soon as someone wanted to find, say, garden fencing, there would be someone there to help. It really was a community and Facebook working at its best.

After two weeks I gave the website template to volunteers in other towns.

There are currently five delivery directories; we are The UK Delivers: Ashford, Four Heatons, Dulwich and Reigate. Between us all we have helped over 700 small business and communities to shop hyper-local.

The groups have raised awareness and money for local causes, and rallied community spirit in a tough time. They have also delivered a lot of cocktails. We also brought out a mini “yellow pages” (thanks to local design and print heroes Howell and Hicks and Tower Design and Print) which was dropped through letter boxes in November, as some of the older residents preferred the print edition. Deal Delivers is still going strong. We have nearly 7,000 Facebook members and 22 per cent of the Deal population use the site.

The site has inspired some people to start businesses, and given others an alternative revenue stream. It has also been huge fun. Conversations and friendships have been made, and it has been fascinating to meet the people behind the shops, and it reminds me how tenacious you have to be to run a business. The owners of these businesses have worked their socks off to keep going.

The food shops have also provided free school meals, and helped to feed the lorry drivers stuck in the Covid traffic jam at Dover. It really has been very inspiring. The call goes out, and inevitably the call is answered. I may have been a catalyst, but it is absolutely and totally a town effort. The customers wanted to help local business and local business responded. I really hope that shopping locally will continue when we are all released. I feel it will.

There is a personal feel to the area which has grown since lockdown.

You can see it as you walk down the high street.

It is very convivial, and everyone does seem to know each Deal De li v other. Maybe it is e rs is our to w local de n’s first something to do with li collectivvery the scale of the town. e There are such a lot of excellent and exciting independents – and they may be independents by design, but it doesn’t mean they can’t collaborate.

Shopping evenings and events are absolutely on the horizon, and Deal Delivers will have their backs. I am proud to be a part of it.

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@dealdelivers

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EVENTS

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what's on and when Compiled by

Image courtesy of

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

Brad Hobbs

LAST CHANCE FOR THE FESTIVAL

SMUGGLERS AHOY!

THE NEW LIGHTHOUSE

OUR THEATRE

The Deal Music & Arts Festival goes out with a bang on 17 July with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra giving their first performance since the March 2020 lockdown and a wealth of free “wall-to-wall” music on Deal High Street. This year’s glittering programme also features a tribute to Philip Jones from the UK’s finest brass players (10 July), a screening of silent movie classic The Cabinet of Dr Caligari with a live score by Minima (13 July) and a talk based on his latest book, How Britain Ends by Gavin Esler (14 August). Read Larushka’s interview with Gavin’s wife, Anna Phoebe, on page 34.

Celebrating its tenth year, the Smugglers Festival is back (2-5 September) to weave its woodland magic in glades on the outskirts of Deal. Promising to be “bigger, better, bolder than ever”, its earthy and eccentric blend of folk and world music is curated by the founders of independent record shop and music label, Smugglers Records (also great for mini session gigs). Expect holistic workshops, glitter face paint and craft beer on tap. There’s a family vibe during the day and more naughty one at night. Camping tickets sold out in June but adult full price day tickets are still available from £40.80.

The Lighthouse underwent a facelift under lockdown and this rocking seafront music pub now boasts a stylish new look and upgraded sound system. Upcoming ticketed highlights include Bamboozle (28 July) who take influences from the 20s to 50s and combine them with today’s popular music, “extremely unique” protest singer Beans On Toast (18 August) and legendary harmonica player Errol Linton aka “the greatest British blues performing artist”, according to Cerys Matthews (26 August). See the website for other arts events including film, comedy and their ever-popular monthly quiz nights.

The deluge of donations to Save The Astor demonstrated how much this central venue is loved by the community. Their eclectic live programme of everything from standup to wrestling, tribute bands (Prince, Simply Dylan, Wrong Jovi et al) and classical orchestras to History Project lectures, now comes accompanied by sizzling Jamaican food from Dexter’s Soul Chef Kitchen. Book now for two fundraiser nights: Classic Cabaret: A Benefit Evening For The Astor Community Theatre on 13 August; and Dan-a-Palooza’s cancer benefit on 21 August (check website for confirmed bands).

dealmusicandarts.com

shop.smugglersrecords.com

thelighthousedeal.co.uk

theastor.co.uk

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EVENTS

CULTURE AT THE CASTLE The rolling lawns of Walmer Castle provide the glorious setting for their Lazy Sunday Music session on 18 July (free to members or from £12.50 for adults). Parents on the hunt for holiday activities can set their offspring loose on the Summer Explorer Quest (24 July to 31 August), which will have kids racing around the grounds – maybe picking up some local history along the way. english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/ walmer-castle-and-gardens

STILL NO CINEMA Calling all local film lovers and makers. The Deal Film Club will be reviving their pop-up screenings of world and independent cinema, in and around Deal, accompanied by live presentations. To get become a member, pick a film – or submit one for the Deal Film Festival later this year email hello@dealfilm.club. dealfilm.club

MUSIC FOR MARTHA The Martha Trust’s crowd-pleasing fundraising events were not possible last year, due to COVID, so they hope you’ll be out in force to support Music4Martha on 1 August, a day of live music and family at the square outside Dunkerley’s, the King’s Head and the Port Arms. Face painting and candyfloss are promised alongside the chance to win a barrow of booze. All proceeds to the trust. marthatrust.org.uk

A PAWSOME EVENT Deal wouldn’t be Deal without its dogs, so here’s something just for our furry residents. Aiming to be one of the largest dog festivals in the UK, the first Pawfest launches on 4 September.

An estimated 10,000 people and 8,000 dogs will descend on Betteshanger Park to enjoy dog shows, lake swimming, a doggy cinema, live music and more canine treats than you can throw a stick at. betteshanger-park.co.uk/event/ pawfest

COFFEE

+

PICNICS

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This Bettesha is first dog nger’s gy day

+

BIKES

HUT FIFTY FIVE

Hut55.co.uk

@Hut55Deal

Marine Rd, CT14 7DN

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LEARNING

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of course you can!

Writer David Lowe

Photographs Courtesy of businesses

From baking banana bread, to strolling unfamiliar local routes and competing in tipsy online quizzes, chances are you’ve tried a few new things in the past year. While circumstances have thankfully changed, there’s no reason to stop broadening those horizons. Here David Lowe presents a selection of interesting courses and classes available here on the doorstep in Deal WILL YOU WILLOW WEAVE? If you want to take your arts and crafts skills to the next level, why not branch out into willow weaving? At his five-hour workshop, expert wicker man Dominic Parrette leads an introduction to the specialist techniques needed to create wonderfully woven willow objets for your home or garden. With over 20 years’ experience as a coppice craftsman and basket weaver, Dominic’s beautiful handiwork graces National Trust properties and the Kew botanic garden at Wakehurst. By the end of the session, nimble-fingered participants will have their very own handmade dragonfly fish hanging.

The course is held at picturesque Beacon Hill Cottage on 21 July and the fee includes tuition, materials and a scrumptious light lunch.

© Sarah Wenban

Price: £55pp Book / find out more: migkimptonflowers.co.uk/workshops

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LEARNING

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CONQUERING SEAFOOD Make no bones about it – many people find dishing up fish a struggle.

So why not release your inner Rick Stein at this Cooking With Fish and Shellfish masterclass on Saturday 24 July? Participants will pan-fry scallops to perfection, steam delicious shellfish and learn a fool-proof parcel cooking method that gets results every time. Led by Pieter van Zyl, the class includes plenty of tasty sampling, so no one goes home hungry, or indeed empty handed – attendees take away a personally filleted fish for supper. Yum!

Price: £90pp.

Book / find out more: chequersdeal.co.uk Tel: 01304 362 288 HEAL WITH MOVEMENT Take a breather with Deal-based somatic movement and breath coach Nahid de Belgeonne, for a transformative session to soothe body and mind. Each Human Method Somatic Restorative class begins with breath work, before progressing to a series of movements to reboot brain-muscle communication and release tension.

Nahid’s unique approach has won her many fans – including actress Gemma Arterton – who report improved sleep and mobility, as well as reduced stress.

Just what we all need right now.

Price: £12 per online session, or £75 for a month’s membership.

One-hour private sessions cost £120 Book / find out more: thehumanmethod.co.uk @thehumanmethoduk

REALLY RUNNING WILD Join nature-loving running enthusiast Gavin Oakley for a life-affirming dash through stunning scenery. Itineraries can be tailored for different abilities.

Whether you scale the heady heights of the White Cliffs of Dover, or enjoy a leisurely woodland canter, Gavin guarantees a fun three-hour session that reconnects participants with nature. A breath-taking experience – in more ways than one.

Price: £50pp.

Groups of up to six people.

Book / find out more: thewhitecliffs.com/retreat Tel: 07841 406070

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FOOD & DRINK

beach treats Main photograph siobhandoran.com

Not that long ago, you’d more or less have to rely on M&S for beachfriendly food (no, we don’t miss you, St Michael).

But nowadays there’s choice aplenty whether you’re planning a quick sundowner of a full-on party. Who needs a sandy beach?

Friday night It’s the start of the weekend, so a glass of fizz must be in order. Head to Le Pinardier (102 High Street) to pick sommelier Marina’s brains. Tell her what you like, what your budget is and she’ll find the perfect match for you.

We’re particularly fond of Barnsole’s 2016 old vine sparkling wine.

And to eat? Charcuterie and cheese in a box, of course! What’s not to like? Having spent many years living in Spain, founder Mary Gleeson has a particular passion for the concept of sharing food with your favourite people. With lockdown the idea of presenting a beautiful and delicious food experience, direct to the customer’s door, came to life.

Sea Graze platters always feature a couple of “stars of the show” which change on a weekly basis. This might be a gorgeous Kentish cheese, English cured meats, or some punchy French cheese sourced via a wholesaler in London’s Borough Market. To order, go to seagraze.co.uk

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FOOD & DRINK

Saturday morning There’s only one place to be on Saturday morning and that’s at the Union Street market. Now largely food-focused, you can pick up your flowers, veg and home-made dog biscuits, too. If you’re lucky you may score one of Bygga Bo’s muchlauded Swedish buns which are particularly good when consumed with some restorative chai, available from the lovely people at the Chai Stand next door. Real Deal Roasters provide fresh coffee should you need a boost.

Saturday evening The brainchild of Miles Shirley, the BBQ Bike not only takes care of that tiresome cleaning of the grill but is super eco-conscious.

Having seen pesky disposable barbecues piling up by the bins on the seafront, he came up with the idea of delivering a barbecue along with coal and all the kit to wherever you need it. Cook your chosen delicacy (kebabs from the Black Pig, sausages from Deal Deli or fresh fish from Jenkins & Son plus some veg from the Merchant of Relish), tuck in and the bike will come back to pick it up. To book your BBQ bike, DM on Instagram @the_bbq_bike.

If that sounds a bit too much like hard work, let Dexter of the Soul Chef Kitchen deliver you a punchy slice of Jamaican spice. Mixing Caribbean spices, traditional recipes passed down through many generations and local Kent produce results in something both surprising and succulent. His Ultimate BBQ Box includes (among other treats) jerk chicken and pork, brisket, plenty of sides and, of course, peas and gravy. Cajun fried catfish, traditional goat curry, ribs and burgers are all cooked to order and delivered free to the beach. Call 07377066851 or order online at soulchefkitchen.co.uk ►

▲ Sea Graze box ©Clare Randell Photography

▲

Head to the Town Kitchen’s stall (also early – it’s first come first served although you can order ahead) to pick up some of saucy Jill’s award-winning knockers (coal mining-inspired artisan pasties with a difference) or a tasty scotch egg for lunch. And the Sausagegazy variety will definitely raise a smile. It’s all rather Carry On (you may even pass Charles Hawtrey’s blue plaque on your way back to the beach). Visit kentishknockers.co.uk

Dexter and Gosia of Soul Chef Kitchen

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Bar & Restaurant FOOD & DRINK

ed to providing quality beautiful cocktails and ood whilst relaxing under in our ambient venue.

Sunday Moving further south down the beach, grab your spot for breakfast and then hit Eva’s (61 The Strand, Walmer) for fresh croissants filled with gorgonzola, sun-dried tomatoes and prosciutto, granola pots with fresh fruit, yoghurt and mint, treacle tart, banana and strawberry cake and all manner of delicious temptations.

Italian sodas are cooling in the fridge, plus there are lots of great boxed, bottled and jarred ingredients that are ideal to take home or give as a gift (black truffle crisps, beer and smoke pickled gherkins, sloe gin cheese jam and many other wonders). Working with Sarah Fisher of Pomegranate, Eva’s menu is ever-changing.

To wash it all down, pick up a can of wine at Arno & Co’s (94 High Street).

Ever-genial proprietor Arno says, “As a specialist in small-producer wines, we stock a range of interesting grape varieties and blends from winemakers breaking the mould and making their mark. One of these innovative producers is Adi Badenhorst, a South African winemaker who produces the Curator – a white, red or rosé available in a 250ml can – perfect for a beach picnic, barbecue or party.” And might we recommend the rhubarb and Campari cheesecakes, which are truly phenomenal (and addictive).

With over 100 gins we have had to extend the restaurant bar, you can try any of our gins ndividually or why not try our exclusive gin trees.

T.C.Y The Court Yard

After a swim and a walk (the calories must be piling up by now), flop on to a beanbag on the beach next to Hut 55.

Since its opening in 2018 it’s become a social hotspot for locals and tourists alike. Come for the food (picnics at their best) and coffee and hire a bike while you’re at it (see next page for our feature on this special spot).

Now for the diet. Until next weekend...

Bar & Restaurant

Dedicated to providing quality wines, beautiful cocktails and fantastic food whilst relaxing under the stars in our ambient venue.

With over 100 gins we have had to extend the restaurant bar, you can try any of our gins individually or why not try our exclusive gin trees.

Feel free to contact us:

m

01304 36661 - tcydeal@gmail.com We now have an extensive brunch & lunch menu with a wide variety of dishes as well as the a la carte menu served in the evenings.

These are all accessible via our newly redesigned website.

WWW.THECOURTYARDDEAL.CO.UK

Feel free to contact us: 01304 36661 - tcydeal@gmail.com

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LIFESTYLE

ditch the commute

Kate Forman had a job many would envy but, like others before and after her, she realised she didn’t want to be away from Deal a moment longer than she needed to be. So she did something entirely different…

A

nyone who’s visited Hut 55 – on the beach between Deal and Walmer – will know what a special place it is. Not only do they serve up the most delicious snacks (with witty Enid Blyton-inspired descriptions), they do so with beaming smiles and a doggy biscuits to boot. Comfy bean bags, traditional deck chairs and retro games draw families as does the opportunity to hire bikes by the hour. And now you can also enjoy their beach yoga and breakfast club.

No wonder it’s been such a hit since opening in 2018.

It was Kate’s second business,

27

Writer Kathryn Reilly

Photographers Danny Burrows and Kate Forman

having opened a commuter coffee shop called the Post Room at Deal station in 2016. That in itself was quite a change of direction. “I used to be a digital editor for women’s magazines in London, doing the daily commute from Deal for three years,” Kate explains. “Then one day I added up all those hours and realised I was wasting a whole month of every year sat on a train. A month! Which is fine if you love the job you’re travelling for – but I realised I just didn’t any more.

So I quit with no idea what I wanted to do instead, I just knew I needed to spend all my time in Deal (not just the weekends) and work for myself

doing something creative.” Kate and husband Ben are originally form the Midlands (“about as far from the sea as you can get”) but – as so many people do – knew it was the place they wanted to call home from their first visit.

She had no experience in the field though. “Not unless being a brunch eating enthusiast count,” she laughs.

“But I lived in Singapore for a couple of years working remotely as a web editor, which meant I spent every day sat at a laptop by myself in coffee shops. I turned it into a bit of a mission to seek out the best cafés and I’d work from different ones ►

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LIFESTYLE

all the time. After a while you start to do the mental jottings of ‘well if I ran this place, I would do xyz…’ and when I came back to the UK I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something I wanted to do. My sister-in-law runs a great deli and she let me come and be their thirtysomething work experience girl to see if the reality of serving customers and making sandwiches was as good as the idealised vision in my mind, and thankfully it was. Even the endless washing up didn’t put me off.”

Deal being the place it is, happenstance had a part to play in moving from the station to the beach.

This is a town built on collaboration.

“Mick and I met at Deal train station – he launched Mike’s Bikes in the unit next door in the same week we opened. Coffee and bikes have always

gone hand in hand and we found that having the two businesses next to each other worked well and that we enjoyed being work neighbours. I wanted to launch another takeaway venture and Mick was keen to move the bike business away from busy roads. So while drinking coffee in Deal train station car park the idea was hatched to open a joint place together with better access to cycle routes (and a much better view) down on the beach.

“The idea was to have complementary businesses in one shared space – with the bikes being operated out of one end, and the café the other. While running a business in an off-the-grid wooden hut has its challenges, one of the many perks is that it’s really versatile so we can move things around to accommodate

what each other needs easily and quickly.” Ben designed the Hut, changing the position of the doors at the last moment when local seafarers pointed out the direction of the strongest winds (they still struggle on super-windy days, regardless). You

“Carly’s classes are really restorative, especially when set to the backdrop of sea and sunshine”

will always find someone willing to share their knowledge in Deal.

Sharing and working together has been an important part of the Hut’s success. “Mick and I are very different in how we go about things, and I like to think that’s worked in our favour,” says Kate. “It’s easy to surround yourself with people who think the same as you and are in to exactly the same stuff that you are, but working alongside people that have different ideas and are passionate about different things hopefully makes us more well rounded as a business.

“Down at the Hut, we all muck in to help each other out which is always great to know you have that back-up and that the staff will all pull together when needed. My daughter Ellery [four and as cute as a button] has played catch on the beach with “Uncle

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Mick” [above], as she calls him, on more than one occasion, while I juggle kids and coffee shop. Working together means you become part of each other’s lives like that.”

Kate is not one to rest on her laurels and spotted an opportunity to offer her customers something new. “I met Carly from Love Yoga in Deal a few times out and about and approached her about collaborating together on a beach yoga and breakfast class.

When I lived in London I used to go to a lunch-hour fitness class that would give you a healthy salad to take away at the end so you could be back at your desk in time, and I loved it.

The idea with our class on the beach was to take that concept and turn it into more of an experience. We run early morning classes on Fridays

LIFESTYLE

and Sundays, and in the week some people grab their healthy breakfast and head off to work, whereas at the weekend people relax on the deckchairs and linger over their coffee and granola. Anyone that has been to Carly’s classes knows she is effortlessly calm and positive, and it means her classes are really restorative, especially when set to the backdrop of sea and sunshine.

And what’s lovely is that we have built a beach yoga community now – people come every week and some go for a dip in the sea afterwards, sit around and chat together eating their breakfast pots, their families come down and meet them for breakfast – it’s just so lovely.”

Sadly, the Post Room didn’t survive the lockdown – Deal station was

deserted for well over a year and the commuters gone. But the Hut was just exactly what everyone needed once we were back outside.

“We’re lucky that Deal has so many independents and producers, and as a town we see the value in supporting our small businesses and helping them flourish. That was really apparent last year when it felt like everyone was actively and almost fiercely embracing local through the pandemic. As a business, knowing you have that support and that you work in that kind of safe space means it doesn’t feel as intimidating to try offering something new – and collaborating with others is a great way to experiment and do that. I love working with other people that are passionate about what they do,

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especially if we have different skill sets. I see the Hut as a place where that can all come together.”

Does she miss London and that epic commute? Er, no: “Now I have one of the best office views going and get to come up with exciting ways to make the most of this location, whether that be working with local producers, or collaborating with other people that love this little patch of coastline as much as we do. What could be better?”

Yoga classes are held every Friday and Sunday throughout the summer and they fill up quickly.

To book go to hut55.co.uk @hut55deal

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Creative Folkestone Triennial 2021 Thursday 22 July - Tuesday 2 November

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s Fortress: Folkestone s, Janu ero int Qu ar

Pi l

Folkestone Triennial is back!

Enjoy great art by the seaside and discover The Plot.

Never miss an issue.

Subscribe to the Deal Despatch for only £19.95 per year, or all our magazines for £34.95 per year, and get every issue delivered to your door. margatemercury.com/subscribe

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HISTORY

WHEN THE PARTY COMES TO TOWN

Writer Sharon Powell

Images courtesy of Deal Museum

Trustee of Deal Museum and part of the History Project, Sharon Powell, has lived in Deal all her life and hasn’t knowingly missed a Deal carnival.

Here she traces its history

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D

eal is a wonderful place to live whatever the time of year.

But, on the last week in July, it’s magical. Many people comment on the town’s old-fashioned appeal and ours must be one of only a few places who still throw a carnival in quite such a retro way. Visitors pour in and residents from the furthest reaches of the town make their way down to the seafront to watch the carnival parade slowly make its way past pavements packed with excited crowds blowing horns, clutching balloons and waving flags.

During this special week, the streets are full of balloon sellers, stalls selling fun toys covered in flashing lights, families picnicking on the beach, the bright bursts of the firework displays brightening up the evening sky and music coming from every direction.

As we sip gin, bite into toffee apples or get tangled up in candy floss while watching the carnival pass by, we too become part of this week’s long and colourful history.

Deal’s Regatta Week has been a calendar fixture for almost 200 years, beginning in 1826 when the Deal and

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Downs Regatta was first held – initially to boost morale in the town, bring in Deals’s town pafirst visitors and raise rty was held much needed funds in 1826 for the local boatmen who were facing a lean, bleak winter.

Contemporary records show that this early waterborne event was a huge success, drawing estimated crowds of at least 20,000. With the coming of the railway to our then sleepy town still 21 years away, most ►

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HISTORY

visitors arrived by coach and horses.

The Regatta events were all designed around sailing boats and yachts, with Deal boatmen, in their own crafts, joined by vessels from Dover, Ramsgate and even as far away as the Isle of Wight.

So successful was the Regatta that it became a yearly fixture, taking place mainly in early autumn. It wasn’t long before royalty bestowed its patronage on the event, beginning with the Duke of Clarence, who later became King William IV, and his wife, the then Princess Adelaide. The royal couple were very fond of the town since Adelaide had taken her first steps on English soil when landing at Deal in 1818 to marry the Duke. By 1858 it was Queen Victoria who continued the support and, until the second world war, the event was known as the Royal Regatta. In 1963 Winston Churchill became the first President of the Regatta Association.

And let’s not forget all the fun of the fair. Synonymous with Deal Regatta week is the exciting arrival of Forrest’s Fun Fair, heralding the start of the fun. For many years the fair was situated on the north side of the Royal Hotel but, in 1962, it was moved to its new home on Walmer Green. The ties between Forrest Fun Fair’s owners and the town of Deal are close. After the tragedy of the bombing of the Royal Marines’ barracks in 1989, ground manager the late Robert Bailey visited the town and made a generous donation to the Royal Marine’s Appeal Fund and, in 2006, a member of their family was christened at St Saviour’s Church in Walmer.

Over the years the focus has moved to more land-based events and activities, but none of the atmosphere has been lost, especially on carnival night. The carnival procession was well established by 1856 and, back in those days, titled the Regatta Parade, it moved off from the Timeball Tower, then known as the Lloyds Signal Station. As the procession moved along the packed high street, each shop and house came alive as the residents waved flags from the doors and windows.

By the 1950s the parade started further south, moving off from Deal’s Royal Marines’ North Barracks drill ground. For many years lead by the Depot Band or Junior Band, the parade – a well received jumble of floats decorated by businesses and families, walking contestants, decorated prams, bicycles, marching bands, majorettes and even a wellmade miniature mock up of a steam train – moved along Canada Road, along the length of the Strand past the whirring rides of the fair and on through the town.

The buzz of the events, the summer evenings and the fun of the carnival procession and fair has made this week special for generations. My own

carnival timeline first Regatta draws 1826 The crowds of at least 20,000 railway comes to 1847 The Deal, bringing more tourists than ever

first carnival 1856 The procession (Regatta Parade) takes place

Victoria takes 1858 Queen over patronage and

it’s renamed the Royal Regatta

elephants and 1896 A20dozen cages of wild animals

are paraded by the circus

revelry halted during 1914 The both world wars route is used for 1950 Athelonger carnival, starting at the North Barracks

USA was not 1955 The impressed when officials banned hot dogs

1956

Girls under 18 banned from entering the competition to become carnival queen

1962

The fair moves from just north of the Royal to Walmer Green

1963

Winston Churchill becomes the first President of the Regatta Association

Red Arrows fly over 1976 The the proceedings for the first (but not the last) time

the Royal Marine 1980 Once barracks were closed, the band no longer led the parade

Regatta and Carnival 2020 The are cancelled for the first time since 1946

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mum, Daphne Powell (nee Sims), who was a teenager in the 1950s, remembers it all with great fondness, saying, “I loved being out with my friends, visiting the fair and enjoying all the fun and happy atmosphere while dodging the boys playfully trying to knock our Kiss Me Quick hats off! The Octopus ride used to go out over the sea and we’d have to hang on to our skirts so they didn’t fly up! I’d go back to then in the blink of an eye.”

Each procession takes a great deal of organisation and it hasn’t always been plain sailing. In 1956, both national and local newspapers reported on the decision to ban girls under 18 from becoming Regatta queens. The town’s 16- and 17-yearolds were unhappy, with one girl claiming that “the most attractive

HISTORY

girls of the town are under 18 and, therefore, the Regatta Committee will not obtain the best selection to represent the town”. Their argument was countered by a female official who called them “silly children” and said that the committee “wasn’t looking for another Marilyn Monroe”.

Married women were also banned, “after one perturbed young husband called to say his wife had entered without his knowledge”. That decision was soon reversed.

Back to the present and the current chairman of Deal Community Carnival Association John Trickey says, “As we move through the year and I begin to put things in place for this year’s week, I start to get more optimistic that we’re going to have a fantastic carnival. This year will be my 25th and I’m often asked when

“We’d have to hang onto our skirts so they didn’t fly up!”

I’m going to retire. 2026 will be my 30th year of running Deal carnival and it’s my ambition and hope to lead out the carnival… After that, who knows?”

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Even though the sounds of the Royal Marines band have long since faded, and the Kiss Me Quick hats are no more, Deal’s carnival and Regatta week continue to draw the crowds – and this one will be especially important given last year’s hiatus.

With live music, firework displays, the Teddy Bear’s Picnic and a great Caribbean Beach Party, mixed with the more traditional raft race and lorry pull, there’s a lot to look forward to. Here’s hoping for sunny skies.

See you there!

Regatta week starts on the 24 July; firework display on the prom 28 July; Carnival procession 29 July.

Deal Museum has a small display about the Regatta and Carnival until the end of August. Thanks to the Museum for use of its images

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MUSIC

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“It was such a cathartic thing just being able to see the horizon and feel connected to a body of water”

Image by Robert Blackham

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MUSIC

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walmer waves Larushka Ivan-Zadeh catches up with violinist and composer Anna Phoebe, who has finally put serious roots down – thanks to the sea and our community (and lockdown)

“

It was a really, really wet day,” Anna laughs, recalling her first sodden sight of Deal. “I had this spontaneous idea in my head that I wanted to live in a place that’s by the sea – and within two hours of London.

I grew up by the sea, and I think once you’ve had that connection to water it becomes part of your system.”

After being told Deal had an “amazing creative scene”, by her sister’s fashion industry friends, Anna hopped on the train to check it out.

“My husband said, ‘Don’t do anything too rash.’ Then we literally put in an offer on the first place we saw – a little smugglers’ cottage on Middle Street.”

That was around 10 years ago.

Since then, Anna and her husband, writer and former newsreader Gavin Esler, have upsized to Walmer, to accommodate a growing family of Kerry blue terrier Wallace and two children. “Because I do feel, in Deal, like it’s that way around: dogs are the biggest thing,” she jokes.

Today we’re chatting in her home recording studio, a light, airy white box, converted from their garage.

“The sea has massively influenced my writing – my whole connection to my own music,” declares Anna, sitting cross-legged, bright eyes shining beneath her fringe. Shelves bulge with exciting-looking instruments from flutes to thumb pianos, while a monkey light dangles impishly over banks of keyboards and speaker stacks. Above my head is a huge rainbow tangle of “Access All Areas” lanyards – mementos of 20 years spent on the road with everyone from Jethro Tull and Roxy Music to the TransSiberian Orchestra. Their house is so close to the beach you can almost hear the surf.

In 2019 its sound inspired her to write Waves, her debut album with her duo, AVAWAVES. A neoclassical, instrumental boundary-pusher, it was created after long walks along the Deal beachfront with her friend and collaborator Aisling Brouwer. She has a fortnightly show on Soho Radio titled Between Sea & Sky, a mix of new classical, ambient and electronic sounds based on her Between Worlds project, which looks at the interface between science, space and music. And now she’s composed a new solo album, Sea Souls, which she describes as “my Dear Diary, dedicated to the sea”.

A restless creative spirit, who has described her genre-transcending oeuvre as a “crazy melting pot”, Anna has always led a romantically itinerant life. Born in Hamburg to a German mother and a Greek/Irish father, as a child her family relocated to Manchester, then Hull, then America, before settling her for secondary school in St Andrews. That Scottish stint, by the sea, was the longest she’s stayed in one place – until 2020. After two decades criss-crossing the globe as a session musician for the likes of Sean “P Diddy” Combs, George Michael, Bob Dylan and LeAnn Rimes, nomading her way from LA to Amsterdam to Berlin, the lockdown finally grounded her.

For a year the seafront became her daily pilgrimage: “It was such a cathartic thing just being able to see the horizon and feeling connected to a body of water: something bigger and constant and yet ever changing.” So, when Dominic King at BBC Radio Kent asked her to contribute to a feature on artists in lockdown, she wrote a track called “By The Sea”.

A hauntingly meditative piece, it was picked up by the DJ Mary-Anne Hobbs, who played it on BBC Radio 6Music and suggested that Anna release it as an EP. Instead, Anna created an entire album, Sea Souls.

“It’s the idea of a body of water that’s also like a collective consciousness,” she explains. “I want the listener to go on a journey of their own and find their own space, so that when you come out the other end, you feel warm and you feel protected. It’s a form of catharsis, I guess.”

Each track explores a different aspect of the sea. For example, “Light On Waves” captures that glorious moment when the sun rises, and you get what Anna’s young daughters delightfully call “the fairies” – where the sun is dancing on the water. As their mother puts it, “There is so much beauty and hope at the start of the day.”

Yet Anna was determined that her album also reflected the darker undercurrents of the English Channel. “I’m very aware of my privilege, sitting here in my studio saying, ‘Oh, I like to wander down to the beach to get my inspiration,’ particularly after the morning she passed a big pile of outdoor clothes, discarded by migrants, next to a bin.

“I mentioned it to some of the parents at my daughters’ school, who work for Border Force, and they said it was a bunch of Vietnamese refugees who came across in a boat.”

That experience made her consider those who risk everything to seek asylum in Deal. “The idea of how this body of water can represent so many different things to different people. And that it’s also a barrier, geographically and psychologically, in a very real sense, for the people trying to come here.”

She contacted the Kent Refugee Action Network and considered doing a benefit gig to raise money. “But that’s me as a performer, not me as a member of the community,” she explains. So she’s signed up for their mentoring programme, where she’ll get matched with a young person trying to claim settled status here, as soon as Covid restrictions lift.

As soon as they do, you’d imagine Anna would be itching to get back on the road. “Completely the opposite!” she declares. “Lockdown has made me realise the cost of living out of a suitcase. Some years I was travelling eight months out of twelve. I was literally coming back from Portugal, having a day here and then flying off to Australia. Now I have the whole package of feeling at home in a place, with my family. And,” she adds, peeking out of the window at a far sunnier Deal than ten years ago, “this is a beautiful place to be stuck.”

Sea Souls is out on digital download and DInked limited edition vinyl on 3 September and available on CD and standard vinyl on 24 September

A few of Anna Phoebe’s favourite Deal things DEAL DELIVERS (see page 16)

“There’s such a great community in Deal. And I feel like through the last year it got even stronger with people really getting to know the local producers who started to do deliveries to your door through Deal Delivers.

Some of my regulars are Richard [Kingsdown Breads] with his bread, Malin [Bygga Bo] with her buns, Lizzie [The Black Pig] with her bacon and lamb chops = the reason I’ve failed to become a vegetarian – and Kate with her cakes [Eat And Mess]. My daughter is a keen baker and is doing a day course with Kate, whose birthday cakes are amazing.”

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SMUGGLERS RECORDS “I absolutely love local independent record stores. For Sea Souls we are putting it out on special edition vinyl through a company called Dinked.

Their Time and Tide beer is really nice too. I go for the Urban Goose.”

9 King Street, Deal CT14 6HZ shop.smugglersrecords.com

WALMER LAWN TENNIS AND CROQUET CLUB “Highly recommended. What a privilege to have grass courts right here. And if you play three times a week, like I do, then the annual subscription is really worth it.”

Archery Square, Walmer, Deal CT14 7HP walmertennisclub.co.uk

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Gemma Groombridge, senior bookseller at the Deal Bookshop, has her ear to the ground on all things local and literary.

Here, she recommends some great reads for the summer

D

eal is one of the hottest places to be right now, and we all know why. It is, of course, all down to our abundance of wonderful authors, journalists, scriptwriters and poets. Deal has always been quite the creative hub.

It was the birthplace of Elizabeth Carter, English poet, translator, and member of a famous group of literary “bluestockings” (you will see her name outside her old house on South Street). In surroundings such as these, you can’t help but ponder a little longer over the perfect word, a beautiful sentence, a stunning thought. I like to imagine many a masterpiece has been written while surveying the English Channel, listening to the seagulls or – as I am right now – listening to the swifts on my chimney breast. So enjoy what Deal’s finest authors have to offer this summer.

Two Wrongs

by Mel McGrath In the city of Bristol, young women are dying in mysterious circumstances. The deaths look like suicides – but are they something more sinister? Honor is terrified that her daughter might be next.

But as she looks for clues about what really happened to the girls, she stumbles upon a link to a dark secret in her own past – one that she’s kept from her daughter. Now Honor has the chance to avenge her child for the terrible events of years ago. But how far will she go to protect her daughter and right the wrongs done to her family?

Be careful, Mel writes amazingly addictive storylines – you will not be able to put this one down.

Simon & Schuster, hardback out now, £14.99

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READING

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Where We Belong

by Anstey Harris

How Britain Ends

by Gavin Esler

One summer. One house. One family learning to love again. Cate Morris and her son, Leo, are homeless, adrift.

They’ve packed up the boxes from their London home, said goodbye to friends and colleagues, and now they are on their way to “Hatters Museum of the Wide Wide World” – to stay just for the summer. Cate doesn’t want to be there, in Richard’s family home without Richard to guide her any more. And she knows for sure that Araminta, the retainer of the collection of dusty objects and stuffed animals, has taken against them. But they have nowhere else to go. They have to make the best of it. Richard hasn’t told Cate the truth about his family’s history. And something about the house starts to work its way under her skin. Can she really walk away, once she knows the truth?

An articulate and important book about the rise of English nationalism and the impending breakup of the UK from one of the finest BBC journalists of the last 20 years. How Britain Ends is a book about history, but also about the strange, complicated identity of Britishness. In the past, it was possible to live with delightful confusion: one could be English, or British, Scottish or Irish and a citizen/ subject of the United Kingdom (or Great Britain). For years that state has been what Gavin Esler calls a “secret federation”, but without the explicit federal arrangements that allow Germany or the USA to survive.

Where We Belong is set in the beautiful grounds of nearby Powell Cotton Museum at Quex Park. I was utterly amazed by the research and compassion that has been shown regarding the mental health storyline and the beauty and kindness that has been weaved within her protagonist’s stiff-upper-lip attitude.

Every little subtle twist and turn takes you through an incredible story of strength, forgiveness, the ability to change and the importance of friendships – however unlikely their beginning.

Simon & Schuster, paperback out now, £8.99

Ballad of a Happy Immigrant

by Leo Boix

Little Black Dress

by Deborah Moggach

“They are sailors from another century, stalwart / captured on daguerrotype, casually masculine, tender of heart.”

Pru is on her own. But then, so are plenty of other people. And while the loneliness can be overwhelming, surely she’ll find a party somewhere?

Pru’s husband has walked out, leaving her alone to contemplate her future.

She’s missing not so much him, but the life they once had – picnicking on the beach with small children, laughing together, nestling up like spoons in the cutlery drawer as they sleep. Now there’s just a dip on one side of the bed and no one to fill it.

In the middle of the last century, the SS General Pueyrredon from Buenos Aires deposited Leo Boix’s paternal grandfather on English soil for the first time. In the two years that he spent there, he acquired a taste for his new homeland: from taking his tea white – muy blanco – to plunging into unfamiliar sensual worlds.

*A Poetry Book Society wild card choice*

Little Black Dress is a funny, heartwarming, whirlwind of wit and charm, from the best-selling author of Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Now our archaic state – without a written constitution – is coming under terrible strain. The English revolt against Europe is also a revolt against the awkward squads of the Scottish and Irish, and most Conservatives would be happy to get rid of Northern Ireland and Scotland as the price of getting Brexit done. If no productive trade deal with the EU can be agreed, the pressures to declare Scottish independence and to push for a border poll that would unite Ireland will be irresistible. Can England and Wales find a way of dealing with the state’s new place in the world? What constitutional, federal arrangements might prevent the disintegration of the British state, which has survived in its present form for 400 years?

Vintage Publishing, Paperback Out Now, £10

Hatchett, hardback out 22/07/2021, £12.99

Head of Zeus, paperback out now, £14.99

So begins the poet’s own journey, arriving in the United Kingdom as a young queer man. Ballad of a Happy Immigrant tells of the life he makes there: a dazzling collection of what it means to live, love and write between two cultures and traditions.

Effortlessly moving between the English imagination and Spanish language, it is a boundless exploration of otherness and home, and the personal transformation that follows between “loss / and a life / that starts anew.”

In a daze, Pru goes off to a friend’s funeral. Usual old hymns, words of praise and a eulogy but… It doesn’t sound like the friend Pru knew. And it isn’t. She’s gone to the wrong service.

Everyone was very welcoming, it was – oddly – a laugh, and more excitement than she’s had for ages. So she buys a little black dress in a charity shop and thinks, now I’m all set, why not go to another? I mean, people don’t want to make a scene at a funeral, do they?

No one will challenge her – and what harm can it do?

A Sunny Dealite In each issue we will be celebrating a Deal resident making a difference. First up is knitting legend, Pat Wilson

P

at is a fundraising powerhouse.

In partnership with other good people of Deal she’s raised substantial amounts of money for several charities through the power of her knitting and crocheting. In the lockdown she made over £12,000 pounds for the Martha Trust by selling face masks.

And then there’s what she does for mental health: many people go out of the way to walk past her knitted

window displays on Griffin Street which have caught the attention of Mary Portas, Buzzfeed and the BBC. “I love the reaction,” Pat laughs. “I can hear people laughing outside the window.” What started ten years ago to celebrate Kate and Will’s wedding has grown exponentially. The next project is a knitted float for the Lord Mayor’s Show this November.

“Pat is so passionate about everything she does – she has the BIGGEST heart and will help anyone or any cause. When I started at Martha Trust in 2016, Pat got involved with fundraising and went on to do three car challenges raising over £20k. Pat has continued her support and was an absolute pillar of strength for our very special residents with

profound disability in 2020, when she raised a further £11k through her mask making. The Martha Trust is so lucky to have her ongoing support and I am so lucky to have her as my friend – she is truly amazing!”

Kerry Banks, Martha Trust

“We are so grateful to Pat for all her hard work and dedication in making a giant knitted Pixelart Poppy in 2018. It went on to tour the country and raised over £4,000. In 2019, Pat and ‘Grans on the Make’ won a Community Award in honour of their contribution and the support they had shown. The money raised through her incredible efforts will help make a real and lasting difference to the lives of our Armed Forces community.”

Jane Ayres, Royal British Legion

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“Thanks to Pat’s amazing hard work and sound knowledge we Pat is o have a wonderful first offi ur Sunny D cial website which ealite we are incredibly proud of. Her dedicated efforts in assisting our cause hasn’t stopped there, she has even found precious time to create merchandise for our fundraising efforts, making lovely hand-crocheted Goodwin Sands seal key-rings.”

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To nominate your Sunny Dealite, email kathryn@ brightsidepublishing.com

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There’s more to Deal than the pier, as these front runners demonstrate (alright, we had to include at least one pier snap)

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