Times of Tonbridge 18th January 2017

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

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Council Leader calls for policy reforms as rental market soars

By Murray Jones

newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk THE Conservative Leader of Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council has criticised the government’s housing policy, claiming that Westminster is not doing enough to tackle the lack of affordable homes in the region.

Speaking to the Times, Cllr Nicolas Heslop, 49, said too few properties in Tonbridge were attainable for those on below-average incomes.

In September 2015, council figures put average rent at £850. Currently, the average rent for a two-bedroom property within a two-mile radius of the town centre is £1,017 a month, according to property analysts Home.co.uk. This constitutes a 20 per cent increase in 15 months.

On a monthly rental of £1,000, estate agents would be looking for a minimum household income of £30,000 from prospective tenants.

The latest figures from Kent County Council put average weekly earnings in the borough at £510, or £26,520 a year.

And Cllr Heslop argues that the government’s current ‘Affordable Rent Scheme’, which allows housing associations to charge rates of up to 80 per CONCERNED cent of the Council Leader private market Nicolas Heslop rate, does not do enough to

make property in Tonbridge affordable.

“I don’t agree with the government policy on the rent levels that they are setting. I don’t think it takes account of the high cost of rent around here,” he said, asserting that a £1,000 a month flat that is discounted to £800 is still ‘not affordable’ to many people.

“Having a housing allowance of 80 per cent of the private rented sector around here is just not sustainable for many people. It should absolutely be a lower percentage.”

He admitted that recent new builds, such as the flats on Medway Wharf Road, were ‘controversial’ due to their

high price – a two-bedroom flat on the road costs around £1,050 a month.

When asked about the perception that those born in Tonbridge are being priced out of their home town, the Council Leader said: “The fact this is an attractive town means people will want to live here.

Conflict “In a free market, how can you stop people moving in? I don’t apologise for making this town attractive.”

The council has planned for the building of 6,000 new homes in the borough by 2031. Of these, 2,000 are earmarked for Tonbridge. Although he concedes

that when it comes to expanding residential areas, ‘you cannot please everyone’.

“Inevitably, there are two conflicting feelings. One is ‘I don’t want housing in my back garden’, which is understandable. The other one is a recognition that we do need more housing, particularly for young people who find it hard to get on the market.”

“There is always going to be a conflict between those emotions,” he said, adding that delivering infrastructure, such as schools, roads and GP surgeries alongside residential properties is essential to minimise the development’s disruption.

INSIDE TRIPLE THREAT

New deal for manager after three wins from three. Page 87

ANOTHER RAIL FAIL

Survey ranks local operators as worst in the country. Page 6

Continued on page 4 CONTROVERSIAL Davit House in Medway Wharf Road

HIKING CHALLENGE

Trio take on Mount Everest for local children’s charity. Page 4

STARS IN OUR EYES

Local actor takes on leading role in new short film. Page 5

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Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Swing and a hit… Call for help as the police spend too A TALENTED young golfer from Tonbridge has been awarded an academy membership by the prestigious London Golf Club in recognition of his excellent sporting achievement.

Guy Osbourne, 17, began playing golf at the age of 13. By 2016, he had reduced

his handicap to 18, and then went on to win last year’s Poult Wood Junior Open.

The award will enable him to be taught at the London Golf Club’s nationally acclaimed facility in West Kingsdown, next to Brands Hatch Circuit.

ON COURSE Guy Osbourne has joined the London Golf Club

Two thousand new homes in town Continued from page 1 He considers the council’s current approach to house building to be ‘measured’.

“The current life span of this growth is until 2031. This is not 6,000 homes a year, this is over the next 14 years.”

Currently, 40 per cent of a newly built development (of 15 homes or more) must be ‘affordable’, which the government defines as no more than 80 per cent of the average local market rent.

Overall, the target is not as great as neighbouring Tunbridge Wells, where they need to find room for more than 15,800 homes by 2033.

Robert Gordon-James, Director of Martin & Co estate agents, said: “There has been a quite an increase of available properties in the private rental sector in Tonbridge over the last five years.

“However, these are nearly all taken by applicants who are working and have an income of at least two and a half times the annual rent.

“For us, our average monthly rent is £1,000, so this requires the applicants to be earning £30,000 per household.

“In addition, the vast majority of landlords do not want housing benefit applicants or those on partial housing benefit payments.”

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much time on mental health issues

By Murray Jones

newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk A THIRD of Kent Police’s time is being taken up dealing with people with mental health issues, according to estimates by the county force.

Both Chief Constable Alan Pughsley and Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott [PCC] have agreed that custody should be the ‘last resort’ as a place of safety for those with mental health problems.

Yet this is often not the case with detentions under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act,

‘People often just need someone to talk to and a place where they feel safe’ commonly known as being ‘sectioned’, on the rise. The latest figures show that last financial year 1,005 people were sectioned. Yet in the first quarter of this year (16/17) the figure was 335.

A report to the PCC’s Governance Board admits: “If this upward trend continues the 2016-2017 financial year will see the highest numbers since this area began to be actively monitored.”

And it appears the problem is national, as the number of call outs linked to mental health rose by 43 per cent between 2011 and 2015.

The Kent report claims that police have ‘become the first point of contact for people in mental health crisis rather than the last’.

It goes on to state: “The policing of mental health related crime and incidents create great demand on officers and staff who are not experts in the many manifestations of poor mental health and the activities that

Tonbridge trio take on Mount Everest for Taylor’s 21st birthday ON A typical weekend, you would normally find these three friends on the sidelines at a Juddians’ game or playing a round down at Poult Wood golf course.

But in March, Darren Apps, 51, John Jenner, 55, and Nick Massey, 52, will be nearly 5,000 miles away – trekking up Mount Everest to raise funds for a local children’s charity.

The trio, who were all born and bred in Tonbridge, will be undertaking the eight-day climb from Kala Pattar to Everest Base Camp from March 24.

While the distance is only 100 miles, the real challenge comes from the altitude, as they have to ascend over 1,000ft a day.

Mr Jenner came up with the idea for the effort last year. He said:

officers find themselves dealing with is often outside of core policing duties.”

In September, Kent officers were called to an address where a man had harmed himself. No crime had been committed, but the officers wouldn’t leave the man in crisis. The lack of alternative available support meant it was several hours before the officers were able to leave the scene.

The PCC is now pushing for other organisations, such as the Kent and Medway NHS Partnership Trust and the mental health charity MIND, to help try and ease the pressure.

One such scheme has been launched in Tonbridge, with West Kent Mind set to open a ‘crisis café’ in their premises on St Mary’s Road after receiving £9,000 in central government funding in November.

WORRIED Crossways’ Chris Munday believes police time is being ‘wasted’

The café will be designed to offer a place of safety for those experiencing problems as an alternative to a police cell or a hospital bed, which can often be more distressing, further worsening an individual’s mental wellbeing.

Additionally, counsellors are now helping out in Kent Police control rooms, and their involvement has ‘already enabled some calls to be dealt with effectively without police officers attending’, according to the PCC. The Chief Executive of West Kent Mind, Jill Roberts, argues that good 24/7 mental health support ‘does not always mean expensive and stretched NHS resources’, adding: “People often just need someone to talk to and a place where they feel safe, listened to and supported.”

Chris Munday, the Chief Executive of Crossways Community, a Tunbridge Wells charity that provides residential care for those with acute mental health issues, agrees that police officers should not be left to deal with those in a crisis on their own.

“The police are understandably not keen to take people into custody, and the lack of local mental health crisis provision means that they are hindered in their work.

“Without a suitable place to take someone who is suffering poor mental health, valuable police time is wasted and people are not helped quickly enough,” he said.

“I’ve wanted to go to Everest for as long as I can remember.”

For the past three years he has been a coach for Tonbridge Juddians’ Ladies team, who sponsor Taylor-Made Dreams – a Crowborough-based charity which provides once-in-a-lifetime trips for children with life-limiting illnesses.

This has allowed Mr Jenner to get to know the charity’s founder, Suzi Mitchell.

She established it in 2014 in honour of her son Taylor, who died at the age of 15 after losing his battle with Neurofibromatosis type 2, a disease which causes tumours to attach themselves to the nerve endings of the spine and brain.

The climb is taking place in March to mark what would have been Taylor’s 21st birthday [March 3].

Last week, they crossed the £1,000 mark in their fundraising efforts.

If you wish to support Tonbridge trio on their challenging trip, visit: www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/JohnDarrenNick MountEverest2017 PEAK TIMES (L-R) John Jenner, Nick Massey and Darren Apps are taking on the eight-day trek

Local News

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

NEWS IN BRIEF

Hospital failures blamed for death, inquest finds THE death of Frances Cappuccini shortly after she gave birth at Tunbridge Wells Hospital was the ‘result of failures and inadequate diagnosis and treatment’ a coroner concluded on Monday [January 16].

In October 2012, the primary school teacher, aged 30, died from a cardiac arrest just hours after she gave birth to her second son, Giacomo, by emergency Caesarean.

Giving a narrative verdict at Gravesend Old Town Hall, coroner Roger Hatch concluded that the Caesarean, after which Mrs Cappuccini lost 2.3 litres of blood due to a postpartum haemorrhage, and the subsequent operation, from which Mrs Cappuccini never regained consciousness, had not been carried out with enough care.

He heard that the teacher, from Offham, struggled in labour for 12 hours before she was able to have a Caesarean section.

The family of Mrs Cappuccini welcomed the fact that ‘after over 4 years, the truth is acknowledged’. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust extended their ‘deepest sympathies’ and said ‘a number of changes’ have been made at the Trust as a ‘direct result of Frances’ tragic death’.

New old friends for tea ST STEPHEN’S CHURCH in Waterloo Road is inviting Tonbridge seniors for a traditional Sunday afternoon tea.

On offer will be homemade sandwiches and cakes on tables laid with tablecloths and bone china cups, saucers and plates, at no charge.

The afternoon teas are served from 2.30 to 4.30pm at the church once a month. The next date is January 22.

Deposit at food bank A DONATION point for Nourish Foodbank will now permanently be homed in Lloyds Bank at 121 High Street.

It was originally brought in during December to cover the busy Christmas period but it will now stay at the branch.

People are encouraged to donate nonperishable and sanitary items.

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Business guru convicted of VAT fraud ‘ripped off decent taxpaying people’

By Phil Spacey

newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk A MOTIVATIONAL speaker from Tonbridge ‘who lectured to others as how to conduct themselves in business’ has been revealed as a tax evader.

Keith Liddiard, 54, from Rowan Mews, defrauded the Inland Revenue of £44,870 in a VAT scam and was sentenced last week [January 10] at Canterbury Crown Court to nine months in prison, suspended for two years. The conviction follows an investigation by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [HMRC]. He must also undertake 100 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £2,900.

Mr Liddiard denied the charge of being knowingly concerned in fraudulent evasion of VAT at his trial at the same court in November.

Judge James O’Mahony heard that after the guilty

verdict was returned, the consultant repaid the money using a loan from his sister.

As the Director of Liddiard Associates Company Ltd, he registered for VAT in August 2010. He retrospectively deregistered the company in December 2012, backdating it to October 2010 and claiming that was when it had ceased trading. However, financial records revealed he continued to charge VAT to customers when he was officially no longer in business, but did not pay it to HMRC.

Deliberate For over 20 years Mr Liddiard has worked as a consultant, advising such firms as Microsoft, BBC, GlaxoSmithKline and Marks & Spencer on how to improve their business performance.

Upon handing out the suspended sentence, Judge O’Mahony said: “These courts deal daily

NEXT STOP HOLLYWOOD Olivia Murray drinks in her success

School choir reunion TONBRIDGE Grammar School’s Motet Choir – which will compete in the third European Choir Games in Latvia – is looking for past singers to attend a 25th anniversary celebration.

Choir Director and Assistant Head Teacher Adrian Pitts said: “When I first started the choir it was just a little audition group and I had no idea that it would still be going 25 years later.”

The reunion will be held at the grammar in Deakin Leas on Saturday January 28 to coincide with the school’s birthday (January 24, 1905).

To register, visit: www.tgs.kent.sch.uk/ events/motet25

NEWS

Starring role for actress as new film comes to UK THE red carpet was rolled out for decides to dip her toe into the world Tonbridge actress Olivia Murray last of online dating’. week as she attended the UK The actress describes the film as premiere of her latest film. a ‘thought-provoking modern tale Ms Murray plays a lead role in Dr about internet dating, with a vintage Sugarloaf, a short black comedy James Bond-style twist’. which featured at the Cannes The film was created in Film Festival last summer. collaboration with Oscar The Little Theatre in winners working Bath hosted the UK alongside newcomers premiere on January 12. to the industry.

Having moved to Ms Murray said she Tonbridge 13 years had been thankful to ago, Ms Murray joined work with ‘such an local performing arts impressive wealth of groups in productions talent in our area’, and at both the Oast and hoped that her role EM Forster Theatres. in this film would In the film, she allow her to ‘take plays Veronica, a things to the ‘disillusioned video next level’ in her Olivia Murray shop assistant who acting career.

with the whole spectrum of criminal activity and it is common that offenders come from broken, dysfunctional families, limited education and often illiterate. But you have had all the advantages: Highly intelligent, charm, academic achievements and great success in your consultancy business.

“Indeed, you have lectured to others as to how to conduct themselves in business with their aims and methods. But over a two-year period you ripped off other decent taxpaying people of nearly £45,000. This was deliberate dishonesty, taking other people’s money.”

Alan Tully, Assistant Director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Keith Liddiard showed a blatant disregard for UK tax law by knowingly defrauding HMRC of VAT. He knew what he was doing was wrong and now has a criminal record. It is simply not acceptable to steal from HMRC and honest UK taxpayers.”

MP criticises the Post Office and rail unions THE relocation of the town’s Crown Post Office is a ‘backwards step’ for Tonbridge, according to local MP Tom Tugendhat.

In a letter to Roger Gale, General Manager of the Post Office, Mr Tugendhat said he was ‘deeply disappointed’ that the plan to move services into the back of WH Smith on the High Street was going ahead, especially ‘after 99 per cent of residents of Tonbridge and surrounding villages objected’.

The branch will close on Wednesday March 8 and reopen the next day in the national chain’s store at 35-37 High Street.

The MP expressed frustration at the fact he has failed to receive answers on ‘six specific questions’ relating to accessibility issues for the elderly and disabled, as well as continuity of services.

Mr Tugendhat said: “This move is a backwards step for our town, at a moment when more independent

FRUSTRATED MP Tom Tugendhat

retailers are opening up and more shops and services are looking to invest in our town. It is sad that the Post Office wish to be different.”

The transfer to WH Smith stores is taking place in 60 further branches in the UK as part of a ten-year cost-cutting plan.

The Post Office argues that the Crown sector of its network has historically performed poorly, with losses of £46million four years ago.

It added that the new branch would be ‘fully accessible’ to all and that, following the public consultation, it will provide four chairs for those waiting to be served.

Strikes Mr Tugendhat has also expressed his dismay at the unions involved in the disruption of Southern rail services.

He called the industrial action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union [RMT] and the train drivers’ union ASLEF a ‘shameless, cynical move’ that was nothing to do with jobs or money but rather a ‘political project’ to maintain control of the railways. In his letter to the union bosses he concluded: “This is no longer acceptable. It is dictatorial, elitist and wrong. The strikes must stop. Please call off your action now and allow people to get back to school and work.”

The next round of strikes, due to take place on January 24, 25 and 27 were suspended yesterday, pending negotiations between Aslef and Southern today.

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Local News

NHS trust issues two ‘black alerts’ as patient pressure escalates…

MAIDSTONE and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has been forced to issue two ‘black alerts’ since New Year, resulting in cancelled or rescheduled operations, and measures to turn people away from A&E to seek treatment elsewhere.

An OPEL 4 (Operational Pressures Escalation Levels) alert was first declared at Maidstone Hospital on January 2, followed by the same category of alert being issued at Tunbridge Wells on January 11.

Demand A ‘black alert’ is a term used for OPEL 3 or 4, with a level four being the most serious, representing an acute shortage of available beds available.

A spokesman for the Trust said recent weeks had seen a ‘very high level’ of demand on services with a particular increase in patients suffering from respiratory illnesses, adding: “People can help us see and treat our patients as quickly as possible by making the most appropriate use of the full range of community and hospital-based health services available to them.

“They can use the Health Help Now website or download the app to help find the right service in Kent and Medway for their health needs, especially when they need medical help fast but it is not a life-threatening emergency.

“The site lists Minor Injuries Units and Urgent Care Centres too, as well as pharmacies and GP walk-in centres. People can also call NHS 111 when medical help is needed fast, but it’s not a 999 emergency.”

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Commuters bemoan lack of seats as operators hit rock bottom – again

By Murray Jones

newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk TRAIN passengers in Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge are serviced by the nation’s worst two rail companies, according to a new survey.

The study, conducted by consumer magazine Which? found that Southeastern and Southern were the lowest rated operators in the UK, with overall satisfaction scores of 31 and 21 per cent respectively.The best service was Merseyrail, which operates between Liverpool and Chester. It received a satisfaction score of 72 per cent.

‘We understand passengers’ concerns about the availability of seats on our trains’ The results for Southeastern are particularly damming, as, unlike Southern, they do not have months of industrial action to stoke their passengers’ dissatisfaction.

They received a one-star rating for seat availability, reflecting the daily experience of a cramped commute in and out of London, the top rating is five star.

In all other categories, including punctuality, frequency and standing space a two star rating was given.

Southern, which runs services from both Tonbridge and Crowborough, received the lowest score possible in all but two categories, heaping

further misery on the much beleaguered service.

The figures come after Southeastern routes into London from Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge were named two of the most expensive commutes in the UK. And in the most recent National Rail Passenger Survey in June, Southeastern was ranked joint last with Southern when it came to value for money.

John Reynolds from passenger group Tonbridge Line Commuters said that the trains in and out are ‘very crowded, especially around 8 – 8.30am’. He added that due to upcoming housing developments ‘the problem is likely to get worse’ therefore the group would continue to ‘press Southeastern and also the Department for Transport to provide more

paths for trains to and from South-West Kent’.

A spokesperson for Southeastern said: “We understand passengers’ concerns about the availability of seats on our trains, which stands out in this survey.

“We have seen passenger numbers rise 40 per cent in the past decade, but we have had no extra trains or carriages since 2009. That’s why we’re working with the Department for Transport to bring additional trains to our network.”

The survey gathered responses in October and November 2016, with 480 passengers asked for their views across the two franchises. Over 8,000 people were surveyed nationally.

FAMILIAR SIGHT Standing room only on passenger train

Local News

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

More bobbies on the beat for Kent’s streets AN ADDITIONAL 54 Police Constables began patrolling the county’s streets last week – the latest batch of Kent Police recruits – with 20 of the new officers set to be based in West Kent.

Their five months of initial training ended on Friday January 6 in a formal Passing Out ceremony at Kent Police Headquarters in Maidstone.

Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott was among those attending, with guests including Police and Crime Panel Chairman Mike Hill.

Mr Scott said: “Kent Police is having to tackle new threats like cyber crime and terrorism – as well as an increase in reports of domestic abuse and child sexual exploitation – but the force still needs to provide effective neighbourhood and roads policing because the public have told me they want to see more boots on the ground.”

CEREMONY: (L to R) Kent Police Chief Constable Alan Pughsley, Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel Chairman Mike Hill, PCC Matthew Scott, PCs Benjamin Long and Jake Roberts

Search is on for a new manager to promote the Tunbridge Wells brand THE organisation set up to ensure a coordinated approach to promoting businesses in Tunbridge Wells is looking for a new Town Centre Manager.

Royal Tunbridge Wells Together was launched in February last year as a not-for-profit partnership between local businesses and the borough council.

In August, Rachel Jenman became the first Town Centre Manager to be appointed by the partner-

‘Together we have achieved a vast amount to draw Tunbridge Wells together as a fantastic destination’ ship – which charges large business members an annual fee of £5,000.

Her brief was to boost the visibility of the town, increase footfall, and help promote a strong brand for Tunbridge Wells.

Some of her achievements included running a Small Business Saturday event, during which pop-up shops were provided for small traders and local retailers got to talk to MP Greg Clark, the funding of street theatre at the Farmers’ Market and Calverley precinct, and organising the Christmas window competition.

Other achievements included promotional events, an expansion of the organisation’s

membership and collaboration with Southeastern to replace the murals at Tunbridge Wells station.

However, Mrs Jenman is stepping down from her position for personal reasons.

She said: “I am very sad to be leaving Royal Tunbridge Wells Together but unfortunately, due to family issues, I am unable to continue as Town Centre Manager.

“Together we have achieved a vast amount; both in engaging businesses and the local community, and in developing key projects to draw Tunbridge Wells together as a fantastic destination.

“For example, being a driving force with Southeastern to replace the murals at the station, to providing a fantastic Christmas campaign over three days – a first for Tunbridge Wells. There is so much more to come, so watch this space.”

Tunbridge Wells Together is looking to appoint an ‘experienced professional to grow the organisation and to work with stakeholders, large and small, to develop the brand Royal Tunbridge Wells.

The salary range is £36£42,000 per annum, depending on experience, and the deadline for applications is January 25.

Please email: rachel. jenman@tunbridgewellstogether.co.uk ACHIEVEMENTS Rachel Jenman

NEWS

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Hayesbrook students in hunt for the Higgs boson FIFTEEN A level Physics students and two members of staff have returned from a trip to Switzerland that even some of the most experienced physicists have only dreamt of.

Their destination was The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, buried deep under Geneva in the CERN facility.

The Hayesbrook students heard first-hand about what’s going on at the forefront of physics, and saw the scale of the engineering and technology required to help answer some of the big questions in science, such as the discovery of the Higgs boson particle.

Chef’s charity fundraiser A CHEF from the Waitrose Cookery School in London raised more than £1,000 for the homeless charity Centrepoint last week.

Russell Goad, 23, put on a five course tasting menu with matching wines for 12 guests during his first ‘supper club’, hosted at his home in Paddock Wood. Bicycle Bakery in Tunbridge Wells supplied various breads for the meal while a local property company supplied the wine and Waitrose donated liqueurs for the arrival drinks.

New corporate sponsor WEALTH management firm Brooks Macdonald will be the headline sponsor for this year’s Chiddingstone Castle Literary Festival, which runs from April 29 - May 2.

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Local News

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Crescent Road car park to expand as council seeks more town spaces

By Adam Hignett adam@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

A MAJOR overhaul of parking in Tunbridge Wells is due to take place over the coming years as the council aims to tackle a shortfall of spaces and revive ageing infrastructure. It’s part of a ‘clear and ambitious vision’ to develop and regenerate the town centre.

Among the schemes aimed at improving capacity is a £3.2million extension of Crescent Road car park to pro-

vide an additional 90 spaces to the 1085 currently available.

The council expects a return on the price of providing the extra spaces within 39 years.

The proposed expansion is on top of a planned £2.8million refurbishment of the ageing facility scheduled to begin in early summer, bringing the total cost to £6 million.

However, upgrading and expanding the car park will

cause a degree of disruption during the 12-month project. Council documents suggest up to 25 per cent capacity will be unusable at any one time as repairs are undertaken to the concrete structure.

It is proposed that disruption is ‘minimised’ by ensuring that if the provision of extra spaces goes ahead, it overlaps with the maintenance works and begins by the autumn.

Commenting on the project, Council Leader David Jukes said: “The car park was bought in the mid-60s and has needed constant maintenance. It is a major scheme, but we need to do it now if we are to extend the life of the facility.

“There will be some disruption, but we’ve got to do it at some stage rather than close the whole car park. We will phase the maintenance work to ensure the majority of the car park stays open.”

He added there will be ‘no impact’ on traffic along Crescent Road.

Cllr Jukes said the council has been actively seeking new sites for car parking, but would not disclose if anywhere suitable has yet been identified, adding: “People keep saying that we need more car parking.

“The difficulty is findMAJOR SCHEME ing land. They have Council Leader stopped making it, David Jukes warns you see.” of disruption

OTHER POTENTIAL CHANGES TO PARKING IN THE PIPELINE INCLUDE:  Plans to build a 250-space underground car park beneath Calverley Grounds at the cost of £17million. This project will go alongside the building of a new civic complex to house the council and a new theatre. Despite having the support of the majority of the council, it has been criticised by some members, from all parties, as well as some former councillors.

And it will still result in a net loss of spaces as it will replace the Great Hall and Mount Pleasant Avenue car parks, which combined provide 305 spaces.  Converting the use of Linden Park Road coach park into a car park for season ticket holders at £1,000 per annum. The displacement of coaches will be accommodated at the London Road site, with space for around 35 cars being freed up. Extra revenue expected for the council is £29,000 per annum.  The loss of up to 116 spaces as Union House car park is closed for redevelopment by Dandara.  Redeveloping the Linden Park Road car park adjacent to The Pantiles into a block containing 20 flats, resulting in the loss of 37 parking spaces, and the council’s own acknowledgement of this potentially leading to a ‘a significant under-supply’ in future. The proposal was roundly criticised by traders on The Pantiles and councillors representing the ward when it was disclosed last year. The council have since ‘deferred’ making a decision on whether to undertake the complex lease agreement that would allow development to take place.  Consultations are currently underway on changes to on-street parking in Zones A and C, which will affect approximately 40 roads. The proposed changes involve standardising the various parking restrictions to ‘permit holders only’ from Monday to Saturday 8am to 12noon and 3 to 8pm (or 7pm on some roads) and Sunday 11am to 3pm. Reaction has been mixed, with some businesses leaders fearing a loss of trade from tighter parking, while residents’ groups have broadly welcomed the idea. The consultation period closes on January 31. Visit: http://consult.tunbridgewells.gov.uk/portal/ts/pn

Business Awards

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

The award categories n New Business of the Year. You’ve come into business in the last three years (start date after January 1, 2014) with a bang and are really getting noticed. Tell us what makes you the best of a great new crop of companies. n Creative Business of the Year. This award category is for any company over two years old in any sector that can demonstrate creativity as well as adding value to your business’s success. n Family Business of the Year. The business must have been trading for a minimum of 12 months. Applicants must show the set-up, family members involved (past and present) and the financial success of the business. n Young Entrepreneur of the Year. This award is open to dynamic individuals aged 30 or under by the closing date of April 13, 2017 who are running their own business and are able to demonstrate great success and drive in growing their company. n Service Excellence Award. The winner of this category will give outstanding assistance and advice to those who buy or use their business or organisation’s products or services. n Business Person of the Year. The winner of this category will show they have a clear vision/strategy for their business and are committed to growing it. n Best Independent Restaurant of the Year. An award celebrating independent restaurants who source their food locally, demonstrate exceptional customer service and offer the very best all-round dining experience. n Best Small Business up to £2m turnover. This award recognises those who have maintained consistent growth and strong financial performance. n Best Tech Business. Innovation lies at the very heart of successful tech companies, and this award is given to recognise outstanding success in commercialising new technologies and making an impact on the local and wider community. n Outstanding Business of the Year. This is the ultimate award of all the categories and will go to the business that can show outstanding initiative, boldness and imagination in their enterprise, as well as sound management practices.

BUSINESS

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The ‘right tuition’ can go a long way With the Times Business Awards 2017 now open to applicants, we showcase The Right Tuition Company – the first firm to enter. Over the coming months we will be profiling a range of applicants in the run-up to the May 18 presentation of the awards, which are held in association with West Kent Partnership and sponsored by Cripps n COMPANY: The Right Tuition Company n CATEGORY: New Business of the Year TUITION is a word that can prove divisive. For some it is the key to ensuring their children get the best start in life. For others it is giving an unfair advantage to those who can afford it.

Its impact is all the greater in Kent, where thousands of children sit the 11-plus exam each year in the hope of obtaining a place at a grammar school, and having access to out of school education can make all the difference.

For The Right Tuition Company, it is not purely about business, but also about providing a ‘high quality’ supplementary education that is afford-

able. Founded in 2014 by Arthur Ponsonby and Daisy Downs, the Tunbridge Wells-based firm employs ten people full time, 18 part time, and also operates sites in Rochester and Sevenoaks.

‘I have a belief in an enjoyable education that can be accessed by a majority, not just the privileged few’ The ethos of the Ofsted registered business is heavily traditional – eschewing the use of computers, keeping class sizes to a maximum of eight pupils, and ensuring ‘meticulous’ marking and feedback. These values stem from Mr

BESPOKE EDUCATION Arthur Ponsonby

Ponsonby’s own experience as a teacher.

“I have a passion and belief in the value of a stimulating, enjoyable education that can be accessed by a majority, not just the privileged few,” he said.

Aware that tutoring can appear the preserve of the ‘anxious affluent’, he has striven to ensure it is open to an ‘ever-widening demographic’.

A testament to this is that 90 per cent of the company’s annual intake come from the state sector. A similar percentage of referrals for the classes come from parents, a statistic Mr Ponsonby said demonstrates a high level of satisfaction.

Their success is also reflected in their financials, with the company expecting an increase in revenues of just over a fifth in 2017 to £560,000.

Mr Ponsonby said he has entered his firm into the Times local business awards because he is ‘very proud’ of what they have achieved in such a short period of time.

“We started in 2014 with an empty three-storey Georgian building on Calverley Street, and since then we have seen over 700 pupils of all age groups and ability acquire access to our exclusive model of education.

“It would be really nice for all of my colleagues to get an accolade that recognises all their hard work, and to get a good name for the model of education we provide.”

To enter, visit our awards website and follow the instructions that could put you on to a winning path: www.timesbusinessawards.co.uk

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BUSINESS

Local Business News

BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF

No more Brexit blues for small businesses SMALL business confidence has rebounded in the South East despite increasing operating costs, a survey by the Federation of Small Businesses has revealed.

The federation’s quarterly Small Business Index [SBI] found business confidence in the last quarter of 2016 rose to +16 across the region, up from -3 in the preceding three months. This means more businesses feel confident than feel the opposite. Small business confidence rose to +8.5 for the UK as a whole in Q4.

Almost all (94 per cent) of small firms in the South East expect to remain the same size or expand operations in Q1 2017.

Amid a fall in the value of the pound, four in ten (40 per cent) of exporters surveyed expect to increase overseas sales in the next quarter.

Record store closes POPULAR pop-up store Vinyl Revolution has shut up shop in Camden Road after three successful months that ‘exceeded all expectations’.

Business owners Simon Parker and Rachel Lowe are already contemplating reopening the record store in a different location after their short lease expired, and are seeking places in Tunbridge Wells – maybe as soon as in the next few weeks. However, they have not ruled out a move to Brighton instead.

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Town businessman predicts a ‘strong’ year after EU vote – and a new pub!

Well-known local entrepreneur Richard Burrell is looking forward to 2017 being a record year for his businesses, and explains why Tunbridge Wells is on the up WHILE many business owners may see Brexit Tunbridge Wells has a thriving high street, which KICKER as a cause for concern, one Tunbridge Wells en- can only be a positive for 2017.”

Caption body go trepreneur believes his businesses have already He pointed to to a recent report released by Springbenefitted from the historic vote to leave the Eur- board Retail Intelligence which showed that opean Union.

Richard Burrell, whose local interests include ‘The Brexit vote has resulted the Abergavenny Arms in Frant and the recently in more people shopping opened Gabriella Fine Jewellery in Chapel Way, is in a buoyant mood about the future of his and spending their leisure businesses, and even plans further expansion. time locally’ Undeterred by the result of last June’s vote, the veteran jeweller said he has ‘already weathered’ four recessions and seven changes of gov- vacant ground floor units in Tunbridge Wells were ernment over the last 50 years, so leaving Eur- currently at 7.3 per cent, down from 15.1 per cent in 2014, as a reason to be optimistic. ope is not a threat.

Mr Burrell added that the Brexit vote has had “Part of being a successful businessman is about continuously evolving your approach and business based on market conditions and consumer habits, whilst spotting opportunities ahead of the curve.

“I decided to open my new jewellers in November last year after my daughter Gabby, who previously managed my shop in Canary Wharf, returned from New Zealand.

“I saw there was a lack of independent fine jewellers in the area who offered a complete service from design and creation to servicing and repair.

“So far, the new store is doing well with new customers coming in every day, choosing to spend locally and not online.”

Mr Burrell believes that ‘overall’ the UK economy is strong, and it is even more robust at local level.

“With the number BRIGHT FUTURE of vacant units at Richard Burrell has an its lowest for a number appetite for expansion of years,

tangible benefits for his businesses as it has resulted in more people shopping and spending their leisure time locally.

This has helped boost trade at his pub, the Abergavenny Arms, which he opened two years ago, and meant the establishment is now turning a profit sooner than he predicted.

He said: “Since buying the Abergavenny Arms, we have spent a considerable amount of money on the interior and exterior, recruiting new experienced staff and creating seasonal menus.

“This has helped us double our turnover since we first opened our doors in August 2015, and the business is now in profit – ahead of forecast.

“It is why we will also be looking to open a second pub in the area quite soon.”

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NEWS

Community

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Co-op crew sleep rough in support of homeless

By Andrew Tong newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk STAFF at The Co-op Funeralcare in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells took to the streets last month to experience what it’s like to sleep rough – and raise £500 for a local homeless charity in the process.

Workers at the local branches endured the cold and rain in Tunbridge Wells to support The Bridge Trust and gain an insight into what it’s like to be homeless.

Ian Richardson said: “It was a real experience sleeping rough. What got us through the night was the promise of a warm home to go back to and a comfortable bed to climb into.

OUT IN THE COLD (L-R) Pauline Taffurelli, Ian Richardson and Jak Hafernik slept on the streets of Tunbridge Wells

“As it was a Friday night, the evening was eventful, with all types of characters so you could never really get to sleep properly.

“Especially when the pubs and clubs emptied out – it could feel a little intimidating not knowing who was walking past next.

“We heard, shouting, arguing and highspirited people – which all added to the experience, but prevented any real deep sleep. Then the rain came!

“I am so pleased we took part as it gives us a small window into the world of what it must really be like to be without a home or secure place to rest your head at night.”

The Co-op Funeralcare are also donating useful items for residents who move on from The Bridge Trust, such as kitchen sets and toiletries.

The Bridge Trust provides accommodation and support for local people who are homeless, and has provided shelter to over 700 people.

It costs them £100 to house each person for one week, meaning that the company challenge has raised enough to house a person for a month.

If you would like to make a donation, drop into The Co-op Funeralcare in Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells. or look on their website: www.thebridgetrust.org.uk

Alphabetty donates 100th tutu to young girl for dance festival

TUTU GOOD TO BE TRUE Ellie Nicols models her new dress with its creator, Jane Parker

A LOCAL company that makes classical ballet tutus is celebrating after creating 100 dresses for the Royal Tunbridge Wells Dance Festival next month.

Jane Parker’s firm Alphabetty Designs reached a new record production total. So she decided to give away the 100th tutu, and asked local dance schools who are taking part in the festival at

the Assembly Hall on February 11-19 to send in their nominations.

The tutus are all custom-made and fitted, and cost from £110 to £290.

The prize went to six-year-old Ellie Nicols of the East Sussex Dance Studio.

“She’d been borrowing a tutu that did not fit and had to be sewn in for each performance,” said Mrs Parker.

Lost in Kent? You’re on the right lines A TUNBRIDGE WELLS mother has created a Tube-style map to show Kent’s road network.

Jessie Wilson, 38, a former demographer and market researcher, created the artwork as a Christmas present for her mother Pat Wilson.

She said: “I’ve been giving my mum homemade presents since I was a child – something I probably should have grown out of by now.”

Jessie, who founded the

website Institute of Mums, posted the map on social media.

After it created a lot of interest she is now selling prints for £25

at www.kentlines.com. They can be customised to incorporate additional towns and villages.

The pastiche is based on the iconic London underground map

by Harry Beck, with the lines loosely following Kent’s main road networks ‘with a little artistic licence along the way’.

Grandma Pat herself achieved popularity on social media with a collection of knitted dolls of politicians that she created for the 2015 General Election.

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NEWS

Local News

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Animal lovers discover a whole new way to ‘sit’ out the good life

By Jonathan Banks newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

JANET and Steve Groom are in their early 50s and are having the time of their lives staying in some fabulous properties – and all for free. That’s because they are homesitters.

This form of occasional employment gives people the chance to stay in new places and explore new surroundings, while taking care of a client’s home and any pets they have when they are away.

Janet and Steve, from just outside Tunbridge Wells, have been homesitters for more than four years since taking early retirement.

Janet was working as a customer service adviser when she read a feature about home and pet sitting in a magazine. She thought it sounded like an interesting and varied lifestyle. She also came across the Homesitters Ltd website.

Some months later, when Steve returned home fed up about his work in the civil service, where he had spent the last 32 years, Janet suggested he resign and that they take up home and pet sitting together.

Still feeling young, they didn’t want to stop working altogether as they wanted to keep busy, and the variety and flexibility homesitting offered seemed the perfect solution.

Steve handed in his notice the next day and the couple took up their new career.

Now the pair are thoroughly enjoying the home and pet sitting lifestyle.

Staying in gorgeous properties and looking after animals has become a real highlight for them.

While Steve had grown up with dogs, Janet didn’t have much experience with them, but has discovered that she absolutely loves them.

Amazing “We love being homesitters, and the best thing about it for us is the animals,” commented Steve. “They are so loving and we have lots of fun with them.

“It would be too restricting to have a dog of our own, but through

FOUR-LEGGED FUN Janet and Steve Groom think their new life is a walk in the park home and pet sitting we get to have ‘part time’ pets with all of the love and none of the longterm responsibility, which suits us perfectly.”

The couple mainly look after dogs and cats, but have also looked after a goat, sheep and chickens.

Janet explained the latter were easy to look after as they just needed to be fed and put in their barn at night. The hardest thing was trying to eat all the eggs.

The Grooms have a regular London assignment in Barnes which they love.

Living in the countryside themselves,

they enjoy being in a more urban environment and being able to walk to the shops to buy a newspaper every day without having to get in the car.

They love taking the dogs for walks in Richmond Park, and there is a heated outdoor swimming pool they can use.

Janet said: “We often have to pinch ourselves to believe some of the homes we stay in. How else would you get to experience living in such gorgeous houses with swimming pools and beautiful gardens?”

One of the highlights of their Barnes assignment is an African Grey parrot who does a mean impression of Janet’s accent, and mimics her telling the dogs to ‘Sit’. He also says ‘Yummy yummy’ when he is given his food in the morning, and ‘Night all’ when they turn out the light and wish him goodnight.

Another of Janet and Steve’s regular clients has moved to Switzerland, and has asked if the couple can continue to homesit for them in their new ten-bedroom house there.

Janet said: “Home and pet sitting is an amazing experience, and we get so much out of it.

“We enjoy our regular assignments, but we also love the buzz of receiving a call offering us a new assignment. It’s exciting every time we go to a new home and get to look after new animals and explore new areas.

“The clients are so welcoming, and we find that they want us to enjoy their homes and make use of all the facilities. It’s almost as if we’re on holiday.”

In general, homesitters receive a food allowance and travel expenses, as well as a ’modest’ remuneration. www.homesitters.co.uk

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National News

Sinn Fein seeking UK concessions says DUP deputy SINN FEIN has been accused by the Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party [DUP] of ­triggering a snap election in Northern Ireland to secure concessions from the UK Government.

Nigel Dodds said the party had forced the election, set to take place on March 2, because it is ‘seeking opportune political advantage’.

Sinn Fein’s Deputy First Minister, Martin ­McGuinness, resigned from his post earlier this month citing irreconcilable differences with its power-sharing partner DUP. The deadline for Sinn Fein to renominate to the vacant post before an election had to be called passed on Monday evening.

His decision to quit was precipitated by the renewable heat incentive (RHI) scandal – a botched green energy scheme that was overseen

by DUP ministers.

Opportune Mr Dodds told the Commons that the DUP would not ‘bow down and give in to Sinn Fein’s u ­ nreasonable demands’.

He said: “What is this election about? It’s very clear it is not about the RHI issue because had it been then we could have got on with sorting it out, and indeed this election will serve to disrupt and delay sorting those issues out.

“What it’s about is Sinn Fein seeking opportune political advantage, seeking to overturn the result of the election held just a few months ago and seeking to gain a list of concessions from the Government on legacy issues such as rewriting the past and putting more soldiers and policemen in the dock and other issues and more ­concessions and other concessions from the DUP. “Let us be very clear. We will work through this election and afterwards to create devolved government that is stable in Northern Ireland.”

Mr Dodds’ comments came after the Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire delivered a statement in the House of Commons on the crisis.

Responding to the concerns raised by Mr Dodds, Mr Brokenshire said: “What I do very much welcome from what you have said is that ­willingness to engage, that willingness to work things through and that desire to get back into stable, shared, devolved government.”

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

‘No deal is better than a bad deal,’ says May PRIME MINISTER Theresa May has warned EU nations that she is ready to walk away from Brexit talks rather than accept a ‘punitive’ deal.

In a speech setting out her 12 key objectives for EU withdrawal, Mrs May announced that Britain will leave the European single market but seek a ‘bold and ambitious’ free trade agreement to allow it to keep trading with its 27 former partners.

She confirmed that she wants to take Britain out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and restore control over immigration.

And she gave her strongest hint yet that the UK could leave the European customs union [CU], stating that she wanted to ensure ‘frictionless’ cross-border trade.

She announced that MPs and the House of Lords will be given a vote on the final deal reached with the EU in talks under Article 50, which is due to be triggered by the end of March.

TIME TO LEAVE Theresa May at Lancaster House after her speech

‘A great, global trading nation that is respected around the world and confident and united at home’ But she did not make clear whether a vote against any agreement would mean the UK staying in the EU or crashing out without a deal.

Mrs May said she was ‘confident’ that a deal and a new strategic partnership between the UK and the EU can be achieved within the two-year deadline set out in Article 50, insisting that a good deal for Britain will also be good for Europe.

But she warned: “I know that there are some voices calling for a punitive deal that punishes Britain and discourages other countries from taking the same path.

“That would be an act of calamitous self-harm for the countries of Europe. And it would not be the act of a friend.

“Britain would not – indeed we could not – accept such an approach. And while I am confident

that this scenario need never arise – while I am sure a positive agreement can be reached – I am equally clear that no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain.”

Mrs May said that her plan would create ‘a truly global Britain ... a great, global trading nation that is respected around the world and strong, confident and united at home’.

The markets reacted positively to the PM’s speech, with the pound soaring more than 2 per cent to over $1.23 after slumping below $1.20 in the past few days as speculation grew that the UK would be leaving the single market.

Addressing an audience including diplomats from around the world at Lancaster House, Mrs May said she was committed to 12 key objectives, including controlling immigration, free trade with European markets and the freedom to strike free trade agreements with nations outside the EU.

Rolls-Royce’s corruption payments are approved A DEAL that will see Rolls-Royce paying around £670million to British, US and Brazilian ­authorities to settle bribery and corruption claims has been approved by a judge.

The engine maker reached a deferred ­prosecution agreement [DPA] with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and officials in the United States and Brazil.

The deal was approved by Sir Brian Leveson, at Southwark Crown Court, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice, yesterday (Tuesday).

Sir Brian handed down a written judgment in which he said it was ‘devastating and of the very greatest gravity that the conduct of this institution should fall to be examined within the context of a criminal investigation’.

He said the investigation revealed ‘the most serious breaches of the criminal law in the areas of bribery and corruption’.

She added that the deal should be implemented in a phased process to deliver a ‘smooth and orderly Brexit’, which could see changes to immigration laws, customs systems and legal frameworks introduced at different times.

She also called for ‘early’ agreement on the rights of EU nationals in the UK and British ex-patriates in Europe.

And she hoped for continued co-operation on scientific research, law enforcement, counterterrorism, the sharing of intelligence material and foreign and defence policy.

Other priorities included strengthening the United Kingdom, preserving workers’ rights and maintaining free travel between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

On immigration, she insisted Brexit ‘must mean control of the number of people who come to Britain from Europe’.

Top doctor ‘horrified’ by response to crisis in NHS

MEND YOUR WAYS Rolls Royce’s conduct is ‘devastating’ The agreements relate to bribery and corruption scandals involving intermediaries in overseas markets such as Indonesia and China.

The company first passed information to the SFO in 2012 after facing ‘allegations of malpractice’ in the two countries, after which the fraud squad launched a formal investigation.

Officials for the firm said at the time its own investigations had found ‘matters of concern’ in additional overseas markets.

Rolls-Royce said the sums were ‘voluntary agreements’ which result in the suspension of a prosecution, provided it fulfils certain requirements, including payment of a financial penalty.

THE HEAD of the British Medical Association [BMA] has accused Prime Minister Theresa May of ‘playing down’ the crisis in NHS hospitals.

BMA chairman Dr Mark Porter wrote to Mrs May saying the underfunding of the NHS and ‘salami slicing’ has led to a situation where patients’ lives and wellbeing are being put at risk.

On Saturday, Downing Street warned GPs in England who refuse to open surgeries from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week will lose funding unless they can prove there is no demand from patients.

It sees GPs as part of the solution to easing the pressure on A&E departments by offering more appointments to patients.

Dr Porter said: “I have been horrified to see the position which you have taken in responding to the current crisis in the NHS in England.

“In playing down what is happening in hospitals up and down the country – with beds at full capacity, daily breaches in A&E, and critical operations being cancelled – and in then seeking to lay the blame on general practice, your Government appears to be seeking deliberately to distract from what is really happening in the NHS. “The Government’s attempt to scapegoat GPs for a system-wide crisis resulting from years of underfunding must be addressed.”

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NEWS

National News

NEWS IN BRIEF

New Brexit challengers are granted anonymity FOUR people mounting a fresh High Court Brexit challenge say they have safety fears and want to remain anonymous.

A judge has said the four had a ‘very strong case’ and made an order barring journalists from revealing their names.

But Mr Justice Cranston gave the media permission to challenge his order after a reporter raised concerns about the principle of open justice being undermined.

The claim argues parliamentary approval was needed to quit European Economic Area.

Review ‘scaled down’ AN INVESTIGATION into the disappearance of chef Claudia Lawrence will be scaled down, according to North Yorkshire Police.

Miss Lawrence was last seen on March 18 2009 and was reported missing the following day after she failed to turn up for work.

Police believe the 35-year-old was murdered although no body has ever been discovered.

They said the £1million review ‘will start to scale down next month’.

Rapists pay damages A WOMAN has welcomed a judge’s ruling which found she was raped by two footballers after they avoided a criminal trial.

Plymouth Argyle player David Goodwillie and his ex-Dundee United team mate David Robertson were ordered to pay Denise Clair £100,000 in damages. The victim had waived her right to anonymity.

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Credit card company pays back half of Southern season ticket BELEAGUERED Southern Rail commuters could be eligible for a refund on their season tickets after one passenger claimed he was reimbursed £2,400 by his credit card company.

News of the unprecedented action came as the train drivers’ union suspended industrial action on Southern ahead of fresh talks aimed at resolving the bitter dispute about driver-only trains.

The Association of British Commuters [ABC] said a passenger named ‘Sean’ had reported that he used Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act to apply to American Express to dispute the sale of his yearly season ticket on the grounds of non-delivery of goods and services.

The ABC said he used punctuality statistics for Southern Rail to support his claim, estimating that 50 per cent of his journeys were cancelled or disrupted and requested 50 per cent of his money back.

According to a blog by ABC, Sean reported that American Express granted his claim for £2,400 and he believes Southern Rail received the ‘charge back’ instead of the taxpayer.

Credit card companies are bound under the Consumer Credit Act, meaning they are jointly liable for

the provision of goods and services until they have been delivered.

Martyn James, consumer rights expert and spokesman for complaints site Resolver, said: “This case is very unusual as it’s essentially saying that Southern Rail has systemically failed to provide a service.

‘Southern Rail has systemically failed to provide a service’ “The industry will not be happy with this news but the fact this passenger got his money back is genius.

This is exactly what Section 75 is for.”

In December, the Department for Transport reported that 84,000 passengers with season tickets for Southern would be in line for taxpayer-funded compensation.

A Southern spokesman said: “We cannot comment on arrangements between credit card companies and their customers and we are unaware of any charge-back claim from American Express.”

The train drivers’ union Aslef are set to meet Southern officials today [Wednesday] under the joint chair-

TIME FOR TALKS Aslef suspended next week’s strikes manship of TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady and Andy Meadows, HR director of rail firm Abellio.

Aslef said it has agreed to suspend three days of strikes next week. In a statement, Ms O’Grady and Mr Meadows said: “We are committed to finding a fair solution to this dispute. We are pleased the parties have agreed to meet for meaningful talks.”

Hundreds of thousands of passengers in the South-East were hit by three days of strikes last week and have endured months of disruption because of industrial action, staff shortages and other issues.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are set to strike next Monday in a separate row over changes to the role of conductors.

One in three OAPs forced to cut back on energy usage ALMOST one in 10 elderly people expect their health to suffer this winter because of the high cost of energy, according to a survey.

Out of 2,000 respondents, a third of older householders (32 per cent) say they will be forced to ration their energy usage over the coldest months to afford their bills, the poll for comparethemarket.com found.

Some 90 per cent said they believe that the cost of energy presents a real health threat to elderly people living in the UK. Just 36 per cent of OAPs said MAKING ADJUSTMENTS Pensioners say they will cut down on food

they could ‘definitely afford’ an increase in energy bills, while 43 per cent said they would have to dip into their savings.

And 38 per cent said that they would cut down on other spending such as food shopping and luxuries to pay off an increased bill.

Peter Earl, Head of Energy at comparethemarket.com, commented: “Cold weather and the resulting health problems are a real issue for the elderly who fall victim to the cold temperatures every year.

“Given the vulnerability of the elderly, it should be an absolute priority to ensure that they are able to afford their energy costs and appropriately heat their home.”

He added: “While the Government’s Winter Fuel Allowance clearly goes some way to solve the problem, the fact that the number of people struggling to afford their energy bills is so high shows that more action has to be taken to ensure that OAPs are on the best energy deal possible.”

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BUSINESS

National News

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Air fares and food cause inflation to rise sharply INFLATION jumped to a two-and-a-half year high last month as the price of air fares and food rose more sharply than expected.

The Office for National Statistics [ONS] said the Consumer Price Index [CPI] measure of inflation hit 1.6 per cent, up from 1.2 per cent in November, marking the highest level since July 2014.

The move surprised economists, who were pencilling in a 1.4 per cent rise.

Separate figures for the Producer Price Index [PPI] showed that factory gate prices rose 2.7 per cent year-on-year in December as manufacturers started to pass through higher input costs following the collapse of the pound.

It is expected that British households will be squeezed further by retailers, who have so far mitigated the fall in sterling through hedging practices that include buying dollars in advance, but retailers will be forced to raise prices as those positions expire.

ONS Head of Inflation Mike Prestwood said rising air fares and food prices, as well as a shallower fall in petrol prices compared with a year earlier, helped push up inflation.

“This is the highest CPI has been for over two years, though the annual rate remains below the Bank of England’s target and low by historical standards,” Mr Prestwood said.

The jump in food prices was one of the biggest contributors to rising CPI, with climbing vegetable costs helping push overall food up by 0.8 per cent

BUSINESS IN BRIEF

Big chunk of franchise sold to Japan’s Mitsui ABELLIO is to sell 40 per cent of its Greater Anglia rail franchise to Japanese company Mitsui, saying the joint venture will lead to ‘significant improvements’ for passengers.

Mick Cash, leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said the move showed that Britain’s rail network is ‘constantly up for grabs’, making a ‘mockery’ of the Government’s franchising process.

Abellio said the announcement fulfils its objective of finding a suitable partner to run Greater Anglia in a 60/40 joint venture.

BAT deal for Reynolds

COST OF LIVING Inflationary ups and downs over the last three years between November and December, having been flat a year earlier.

The ONS said sterling weakness was a factor in rising food prices, but not the sole contributor.

Renewed Brexit jitters sent the pound as low as 1.21 against the US dollar in December, a 19 per cent drop from its pre-referendum high.

A 49 per cent rise in air fares between November and December, compared with 46 per cent a year earlier, contributed to a 2.9 per cent jump in overall transport prices.

The cost of living was also pushed up by a shallower drop in fuel prices, which fell 0.4 per cent between November and December, compared with 2.8 per cent over the same period in 2015.

The price of petrol at the pump fell by 0.8p per litre to 114.6p in December, while diesel was steady at 118p. That was affected by oil production cuts announced by the Opec cartel in November.

The Retail Prices Index [RPI], a separate measure of inflation that includes housing costs, rose to 2.5 per cent, up from 2.2 per cent in November.

DUNHILL and Lucky Strike cigarette maker British American Tobacco [BAT] has agreed to pay $49.4billion (£40.8 billion) to take full control of US rival Reynolds in a deal creating the world’s largest listed tobacco company.

The mega-merger comes after several months of talks between the pair and sees BAT, which already owns 42.2 per cent of Reynolds, unveil a higher offer of £59.64 (£49.27) a share for the remaining 57.8 per cent of the company.

Apple’s apps going up APPLE is to raise the price of apps in the UK by up to 25 per cent following the fall in value of the pound.

The US tech giant has issued new pricing guidance to developers using its App Store that will mean the lowest priced app or in-app purchase costing 79p will increase to 99p.

RW_159x284_DPS_07_16:Layout Wednesday January 18 | 2017 1 17/01/2017 17:27 Page 1

National News

BUSINESS

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World News

TOURIST RESORT Sousse in Tunisia

Tunisian beach was not safe from attack SECURITY at beach hotels in the Tunisian resort of Sousse was criticised in a report produced for the British Government just a few months before 38 people were killed in a terrorist attack there, an inquest has heard.

The January 2015 ‘recce’ of hotels included the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba where extremist Seifeddine Rezgui massacred tourists – including 30 Britons – in June that year.

The inquests into the deaths of the British victims heard that the report questioned the security at the beach entrances to some 30 hotels in three Mediterranean resorts.

Rezgui killed around 10 of his victims on the beach and then entered the upmarket hotel from the entrance on the sand.

The resort had previously been targeted by a suicide bomber in October 2013, who killed only himself, the inquest heard.

Andrew Ritchie QC, who represents 20 of the victims’ families, read extracts from the heavily redacted report to the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

He said of the report: “Given that the attack on the Riadh Palms Hotel in October 2013 was launched from the beach, particular attention was paid to the beach access points.

“It said ‘Despite some good security infrastructure around the hotels and resorts there seems to be little in the way of effective security to prevent or respond to an attack [from the beach]’.”

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Britain in the dock over Libyan rendition claims FORMER Foreign Secretary Jack Straw faces legal action brought by a Libyan dissident and his wife who allege the UK participated in their abduction and rendition to Tripoli more than a decade ago.

The action follows a victory in the UK’s highest court for Abdel Hakim Belhaj, a leading member of the Islamist opposition to Colonel Gaddafi, and Fatima Boudchar, who say they were tortured after their kidnap under Gaddafi’s regime in 2004.

Mr Straw issued a statement after the Supreme Court rejected the Government’s bid to block the couple’s claim, which can now go to trial.

The former Labour MP said: “I was never in any way complicit in the unlawful rendition or detention of anyone by other states.”

In their claim, Mr Belhaj and his wife also name Sir Mark Allen, MI6’s counter-terrorism chief at the time. The action is also against the Home Office and Foreign Office.

The couple have offered to settle for a token £1 from each defendant as well as an apology and an admission of liability for what they suffered.

The international human rights group Reprieve and the Belhaj family say the abduction involved a joint MI6-CIA operation after Tony Blair’s government reopened diplomatic links with Gaddafi.

Government lawyers had argued the claims should not be allowed under state immunity and the foreign ‘act of state’ doctrine, which prohibits the courts of one country sitting in judgment

SPORT IN BRIEF

Veteran lock Jones is chosen to lead Wales ALUN WYN JONES has taken over from Sam Warburton as Wales captain for this season’s Six Nations Championship.

Warburton led his country a record 49 times in his 69 appearances, and also skippered the British & Irish Lions.

The Ospreys lock Jones, 31, has 105 caps and has often deputised for Warburton.

Deputy coach Howley said: “He is the first name on the team sheet.”

£430k a week rejected YAYA TOURE is reported to have turned down a £430,000-a-week offer from China.

The Manchester City midfielder, 33, had been courted by the Chinese Super League during the summer after it appeared he would not form part of the new manager Pep Guardiola’s plans. The offer has remained open during the current transfer window.

The Ivorian’s contract at Manchester City is due to expire in the summer.

on the acts of the government of another country in its own territory.

The High Court agreed with the Government’s stance and ruled that the claims should be struck out. But the Court of Appeal reversed that ruling, saying the ‘act of state’ doctrine might not apply to alleged breaches of international law or human rights obligations.

Reprieve said the Government has already settled a related claim out of court by paying compensation to another family who were rendered to Libya weeks after Mr Belhaj and Mrs Boudchar.

The human rights group said the cases came to light after the fall of Tripoli and Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, when faxes from Allen describing the rendition flights were found in Libya.

Mr Belhaj and his pregnant Moroccan wife attempted to take a commercial flight from Beijing to London while they were living in China.

Instead they were deported by the Chinese authorities to Kuala Lumpur where they were detained.

The judge said: “MI6 is alleged to have become aware of their detention and on March 1 2004 to have sent the Libyan intelligence services a facsimile reporting their whereabouts.”

Mr Belhaj would be detained in Libya until 2010.

The judge added: FORMER MINISTER “They allege that Jack Straw they suffered mis-

treatment amounting to torture at the hands of US agents in Bangkok and in the airplane and at the hands of Libyan officials in Libya.”

The couple accuse the UK of ‘arranging, assisting and encouraging their unlawful rendition’.

The judge said they were relying on a letter dated March 18 2004, claimed to have been written by Sir Mark, ‘allegedly a senior official of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), to Mr Moussa Koussa, head of the Libyan External Security Organisation’.

“The letter congratulated Mr Moussa Koussa ‘on the safe arrival of [Mr Belhaj]’,” said the judge.

“It said that ‘This was the least we could do for you and for Libya to demonstrate the remarkable relationship we have built over recent years’.”

‘I will never wear GB vest again’ says furious Weir SIX-TIME Paralympic champion David Weir has expressed frustration at British Athletics and declared he will never wear a Great Britain vest again.

The 37-year-old wheelchair racer missed out on the medals at Rio 2016 last summer having won four golds in London four years before.

He said he would retire after the London Marathon on April 23,

Bradford’s new owners NEW ZEALANDERS Andrew Chalmers and Graham Lowe have been revealed as the owners of Bradford’s new rugby league club.

Chalmers, a former chairman of the New Zealand Rugby League, and ex-Wigan and Kiwis coach Lowe were given the approval of the Rugby Football League on Friday to form a new club but their identity was kept secret.

DISSIDENT Abdel Hakim Belhaj

TIME TO GO David Weir (far right) endured a tough Rio 2016

rather than at July’s IPC Athletics World Championships at the London Stadium.

Weir also hinted at behind-thescenes tensions with the national governing body, but refused to discuss them publicly.

“I have been let down again,” Weir wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

“Today is the day I officially retire from GB I will never put a shirt on again. #thanksBritish

Athletics what a joke.”

He added: “I have just retired from GB I will still be at the London Marathon this year.”

The Rio Games did not go according to plan for Weir, who finished his Paralympic career with a crash in the marathon.

Afterwards he said: “Sometimes I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the back.” But he declined to reveal the reasons for his comment.

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NEWS

Letters

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

And another thing…

This is the page where you, the reader, have your chance to express your views or comments on what’s going on in our part of the world. We like to hear from you. You can email us at newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk or newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk or write to the Editor at 16 Lonsdale Gardens, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1NU continue providing this vital service, and we are reliant on our local community to help us do this.

Rachel Holweger Director of Income Generation, ellenor

How children lost out when no one volunteered for a PTA role and the association folded I enjoyed reading the article you published [January 11] about how important it is for parents to get involved in volunteering at their children’s school. I have been an active member of our Parents and Teachers Association [PTA] since my eldest child started primary school seven years ago, and although it’s meant extra work (on top of the day job) planning fairs and fundraisers, manning stalls and clearing up after everyone else has left, I have to say that it has all been worth it.

It’s great to see the children enjoying themselves at these events, and really brilliant that the majority of families turn out to support them. But, like so many schools, our PTA tends to be driven by only a very small number of parents and that’s a shame, because what if everyone thought ‘Oh I’ll leave it up to someone else to do all that organising’?

Well, I’ll tell you what would happen, they’d end up with no PTA. This has happened at my niece’s school, where the outgoing President stepped down after four years and no one wanted to take on the role. The result? No autumn fair, no

One should always get a lady’s age correct First of all, congratulations on your circulation achievement [average 20,429 printed copies per week].

Secondly, I have meant to write before to thank you for your coverage of the life of my wife Caroline [Elliott] on her passing. It was much appreciated by my family and I. One small detail (although it would not have been small to her since she was sensitive to her age!), in your obituary you gave her age as 86 when it was in fact 84. This was repeated in your coverage of the unveiling of the foyer dedication at Trinity.

In case you are covering her memorial event at Trinity on January 14, I thought I would bring it to your attention.

Michael Elliott Via email

Brussels ‘gravy train’ hits the buffers The Brussels ‘gravy train’ which Colin Bullen refers to [January 4] will finally hit the buffers after Brexit for UKIP politicians, and those who have either left or been kicked out of the party while remaining in the European Parliament as so-called ‘independents’.

They have all made a very good living from salary and expenses as MEPs over many years spouting their opposition to the wider work and

Please leave our cycle paths alone

personalised Christmas cards organised for children to post to family, and a depleted PTA bank account – which impacts on things like extra match kits and equipment being bought.

Without vital parental support – whether it’s as part of the PTA or going in and helping out with reading sessions, etc – schools simply wouldn’t flourish.

Yes, all this does take a little bit of effort and (unpaid) extra work, but surely your children are worth making that sacrifice for?

So, if you’re a parent reading this and you haven’t already done so, please volunteer to help out in some way. The rewards for both your children, their school and your own sense of wellbeing are priceless.

Katie Jackson Tunbridge Wells

It may be a nuisance to Rupert Harmsworth [January 4] having a slower journey because of the [Pembury Road] cycle path. But fortunately cars do not completely rule. To wheelchair pushers, mums with prams and the disabled on scooters – of which I am one – that path is our lifeline.

Pat Stone Via email

Someone has to pay for police force As a council tax payer, I do not for one minute begrudge the necessity of paying an additional £5 to ensure we have a strong county police force.

I think the proposals put forward by Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott [January 11] are very sensible, and if paying a little extra ensures the force remains well funded as central government continues to make cuts, then so be it.

Everyone in their right mind supports the elimination of waste, and every organisation has fat that can be cut, but I do worry that when it comes to policing the Home Office has gone too far.

Mark Bollanger Via email

Every commuter has a choice to make benefits of EU membership. Now former UKIP leader Nigel Farage has jumped ship to become a talk-show shock-jock on LBC four evenings a week, while still drawing on his MEP wages.

They have certainly profited richly at the expense of ordinary working people like me from a council housing background, and millions of others, to paraphrase the cheap jibes of Mr Bullen.

Alan Bullion Tunbridge Wells

Charity reliant on local community A huge thank you to all your readers who have supported hospice charity ellenor in any way over the past 12 months by donating, fundraising, setting themselves a challenge, visiting one of our 16 ellenor shops – including those in Tunbridge Wells and Westerham – or attending an event.

Your support makes such a huge difference to us!

In this area, we provide hospice care for children facing terminal illness in the child’s own home, keeping families together – and this has been particularly important over the recent festive period. In addition to vital medical treatment, such as chemotherapy in the home, we offer essential respite care and support such as play and music therapy. We are there for the whole family – caring for parents and siblings, too.

We need to raise nearly £7million each year to

To me, freedom is about choice – to be free is to have multiple options available to you, to not be destined to be stuck on one path. To be trapped on the road to one destination, to be predetermined, is to be unfree.

These philosophical ponderings have re-entered my mind as I sit here on a Southeastern train to London Charing Cross. We’ve just passed Hildenborough but have now stopped. Twenty minutes have passed yet we are still here.

Discussions have ignited in my carriage over the terrible service. Someone shakes a copy of the Times, which shows this is one of the most expensive commutes in the country. They protest that we have to pay these increases to continue to work in London. They argue that we have no choice over the matter, as if to say that our freedom is being curtailed by a tyrannical train operator.

Freedom does not mean that everything must go your way to accommodate you in your particular lifestyle. You do not have to work in London – you choose to. In the same way that you choose to accept parting with thousands of pounds as a condition of getting to the city. If you no longer believe these terms are acceptable, then make a choice and change your situation.

You have the freedom to do so.

Nigel Watkins Via email

We do our best to publish letters in full. However, the Editor reserves the right to edit any letter. Please ensure that letters do not exceed 250 words

Calverley LOVERS of French cuisine could be in for a real treat. Himself has it on good authority that premises are, even as we speak, being prepared for just such a restaurant near the station. Word is that the folks behind it are those who have made a big success out of Soprano Tapas and Wine Bar in the High Street. Watch this space.

NEVER ceases to amaze Calverley the way some people get attention. While sitting in a local hostelry (when isn’t he?), it became clear the regulars we’re not enamoured with The Queen music blaring out. Repeated requests to bar staff to get rid of it brought the response: “Sorry, only the landlord can change it and he is out.” Five minutes later the phone rings and the landlord tells them how to switch music tracks. Seems a woman at the bar posted on Facebook a plea to the landlord and also texted him direct. Social media sometimes has its uses.

SO MUCH for New Year diets. According to an informed source, they rarely last beyond two days once people are back at work. And guess who that font of wisdom is? No less than the sandwich man who visits the office each day.

According to the chap from Kett’s Kitchen (great sarnies), he takes pastries off the menu immediately after the holidays because people are on diets. Day three of the return to work he puts them back on as people fall off the diets. Who needs expensive surveys to find out about eating habits?

CALVERLEY hangs his head in despair. Driving into Waitrose car park in Crowborough the other day, he has to brake as a woman comes out the wrong way. With the vehicles grill to grill, he steps out and politely says: “Sorry, but you’re trying to come out of the entrance.”

Woman: “Yes, I know.” Calverley: “But it’s one-way.” Woman: “Yes, I know – but I always come out this way.” Off round the corner to shop at Morrisons, then. Only joking.

SUDDEN thought. Why is it that the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award is won (not always, but often) by people with no personality? Andy Murray took the title in 2016 – for a record third time. Sorry, should have said Sir Andrew Barron Murray, OBE. Jealous? Moi? Yes. Chin, chin readers

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

EDUCATION Times

Education

NEWS

25

WITH THE

Pupils on song for singing success Top marks for student School students are invited to attend a free day of musical entertainment as part of Children’s Singing Day held this February 12. Here’s how to get in involved…

FOLLOWING the popularity of the 2016 Ready Steady Sing! event children and their parents are being invited to attend a special workshop on Sunday February 12 at Tonbridge School.

The event, which is run by the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain (NYCGB)

and will be overseen by their Assistant Music Director, Dominic Peckham, is open to all school children in years four to eight.

The day will comprise of a series of singing sessions, warm ups, games and special vocal techniques before a special

NOTEWORTHY Children enjoying last year’s Ready Steady Sing! event

concert which will be held at 2.30pm.

Dominic Peckham is regarded as one of the UK’s finest young, dynamic orchestral and choral conductors and is also an international ambassador for choral music through both performance and extensive pioneering educational work.

According to the NYCGB organisers it will be an ‘energy-filled, fun-packed vocal day’ for children. Starting at 9.30am there will be warm up sessions followed by refreshments and top tips on how to get the most out of your voice. Participants of all abilities can sing and explore their voices with music from Motown to Mozart, and African street songs to chart mash-ups.

This musical workshop day is funded

by Tonbridge School and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and is free to attend. Morning refreshments will be provided but pupils are asked to bring a packed lunch. To book your place, please contact the Tonbridge School Box office 01732 304241.

MARTHA GRITT, a GSCE geography pupil at Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar School has just received an Excellence Award from the Royal Geographical Society for achieving the highest mark nationally in the 2016 GCSE geography examinations.

Martha said after hearing of her success: “I am so pleased to have won this award. I really love studying geography, and I am very much looking forward to deepening my knowledge of the subject at university level.”

The Royal Geographical Society’s Excellence Awards recognise and celebrate the hard work and success of the pupils who achieve the highest marks in the GCSE, IGCSE, Certificate in Geography, A Level, International Baccalaureate and Pre-U geography examinations each year. Students from schools across England, Northern Ireland and Wales

are eligible for the awards.

Steve Brace, the Society’s Head of Education and Outdoor Learning, said: “The Royal Geographical Society is delighted to recognise the hard work and success of those pupils who achieved the highest marks nationally in the 2016 geography examinations.

“The pupils receiving these awards have all demonstrated their excellent understanding of geography as a subject and how it can inform us about the world we live in. Their exceptional marks reflect both their ability as geographers and the high quality teaching that takes place in their schools.”

Martha and her fellow winners will each receive a cash prize and certificate from the Society.

BRIGHT FUTURE MAPPED OUT Martha Gritt won a prestious award for her results in geography GSCE

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NEWS

Weekly Comment

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Rachel Sadler

Liberal Democrat Candidate

Rachel Sadler is the recently appointed Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Tunbridge Wells, who is currently employed in a pre-authorisation role for an established healthcare company. Her previous political experience includes party fundraising and campaigning, as well as running for positions within Kent County Council and the borough council

We need to rethink the financial barriers to many foreign spouses IN 1967, The Beatles told us ‘All You Need is Love’, but sadly this is not the case when a Briton falls in love with a foreign person. And given that one in ten residents of Tunbridge Wells was born outside the UK, it’s a situation which many of us do, or could, face.

Since July 2012, UK citizens and settled residents applying to bring a partner to the country from outside the European Economic Area [EEA] must meet a minimum income requirement of £18,600 per year before tax. The income threshold was based on analysis by the Migration Advisory Committee, which was asked to advise on the income level at which migrants will not become a ‘burden on the state’, from a purely economic perspective.

There is no single way to calculate such a level.

In my opinion, this minimum earning requirement is draconian and illiberal. I understand that couples need to prove they won’t be reliant upon the state, but surely they

just need to prove they can earn enough to live here?

According to The Guardian, in 2015 approximately 33,000 foreign spouses have been unable to remain in the UK because of this arbitrary financial barrier, thereby putting them

‘We are supposedly a forward-thinking, outward-looking nation’ and their families under immense and unnecessary pressure.

The couples who meet the requirements are equally pressurised. For example, according to evidence provided by The Guardian, one couple living in UKIP-controlled Ramsgate spent £7,000 to allow them (a British man and his Gambian wife) to be able to reside in the

UK together, a battle which took two and a half years to come to fruition. Because his wife is from outside of the EEA, she also needs to pay an NHS surcharge of £200 per year.

We are supposedly a forward-thinking, outward-looking nation, but these rules undoubtedly make us appear intolerant and xenophobic. Given our upcoming exit from the EU, we can ill afford to be perceived so negatively.

There must be a better way. In my opinion, the Government needs to remove the financial restrictions on foreign spouses and give them the opportunity to find work in the UK, in order to prove their commitment to being part of British society.

This would help strengthen the UK economy.

Studies by Middlesex University have shown that most foreign spouses would be able to find work in the UK, thereby bolstering the economy to the tune of £850m. And no doubt benefitting our local economy, too.

MARRIAGE BANS Thousands of husbands and wives face the stress of the income test

WEST KENT’S ULTIMATE PROPERTY GUIDE – FREE EVERY WEDNESDAY A MUST READ FOR THOSE LOOKING TO BUY, LET OR SELL

The Times is proud to work with:

WITH THE

Available in Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks

bracketts

est. 1828

Food for thought Blandford House is a fabulous haven

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PROPERTY

To suit your budget

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

In my view…

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Your at-a-glance guide to

Mark Haffenden Partner

Stay Positive What an interesting year 2016 turned out to be!

From politics to The Premiership, the economy to property, it all became rather difficult to predict.

I am, however, pleased to report that 2016 turned out to be very a good year for us and the early signs for the year ahead are positive, with new enquiries and new properties showing us encouraging early activity.

With over 30 years’ experience locally I’ve seen some major fluctuations in the market but the underlying confidence in the property market in this area has always remained a constant, its links to London, schooling options and wide ranging amenities mean buying in this area remains a sound investment. The effect of the Brexit decision appears to have been most keenly felt in London thus far and the political uncertainty will inevitably offer some concerns over the coming months. It is therefore vital to get the right advice and for those wishing to move our advice will reflect our realistic approach to the market whilst working closely with our clients to understand their needs.

PROSPECT ROAD TUNBRIDGE WELLS

£600,000 GUIDE PRICE

Batcheller Monkhouse is the largest independent agent of its type in the South East. We offer a wide range of services including sales, letting, professional services, planning, equestrian and rural agency giving us an unrivalled specialist knowledge and as members of the RICS and ARLA we ensure our clients receive the right advice from our property and land experts.

Please contact us if you have any questions or require advice.

Batcheller Monkhouse No 1. London Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1DH 01892 512020 www.batchellermonkhouse.com newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

DO YOU HAVE A STORY?

UNDER £250,000 CRANWELL ROAD, RUSTHALL TUNBRIDGE WELLS

£230,000

This end of terrace two bedroom house is in need of updating, and currently comprises two bedrooms, a lounge/dining room, upstairs bathroom and front and rear

gardens. The property is double glazed. The front garden includes a path to the front door and an area laid to lawn. The rear garden has a patio, storage shed, rear gate and a driveway and is mainly laid to lawn.

CONTACT KMJ 01892 515188 www.kmjproperty.co.uk

UNDER £350,000 NORTH ROAD, GOUDHURST

£295,000

Set over two floors and with its own entrance, this maisonette in the pretty village of Goudhurst, famous for its duck pond, feels more like a house. It features a living room with log burner and wooden beams, a

dining area, a kitchen/breakfast room with a larder, a downstairs bathroom and two bedrooms, one on the ground floor. Outside there is a courtyard garden, and it also has a parking space and a single garage.

CONTACT Andrews 01892 515144 www.andrewsonline.co.uk

To suit your budget

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

PROPERTY

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great properties by price range…

Under £450,000 FIRST STREET, LANGTON GREEN

£375,000

This bay fronted period house, in the heart of popular Langton Green, near Tunbridge Wells, is semi-detached and includes a living room with cast iron fireplace and bay window, a dining area with views across the garden and a kitchen/breakfast room with French doors out to the garden. Upstairs there are three bedrooms and an independently accessed bathroom.

Outside there is an improved garden with a lawn and a raised patio area.

CONTACT Andrews 01892 515144 www.andrewsonline.co.uk

UNDER £600,000 WHITE FRIAR’S CHAPEL, MONKS LANE, COUSLEY WOOD, NR WADHURST

£599,000

Constructed in 1892 as Cousley Wood Free Church, this house was completely rebuilt as a contemporary home in 2010. In a semi-rural location, the accommodation comprises an airy open-plan living area, modern kitchen, laundry area, two double bedrooms with en suites upstairs and a third bedroom with en suite on the ground floor. An oak bridge joins the property to its secluded garden and there is a new oak-framed open-bay garage.

There is also further off-road parking.

CONTACT Country Property Group 01580 211888 www.countrypropertygroup.com

UNDER £800,000

UNDER 1 MILLION

PROSPECT ROAD TUNBRIDGE WELLS

CEDAR HOUSE, CAMDEN PARK (FOREST ROAD), TUNBRIDGE WELLS

£600,000 GUIDE PRICE Within close reach of the town centre and station, this midterrace home was built around the turn of the century. Arranged over two floors, the property has been extensively renovated and decorated throughout with two reception rooms and four bedrooms. The large kitchen/ breakfast room is a particular feature, with a glass extension

£995,000

providing direct access to the level south-east facing rear garden.

CONTACT Knight Frank 01892 515035 www.knightfrank.co.uk

A six-bedroom family home on three floors, just under a mile from the station.

The ground floor offers a lounge, drawing room, a kitchen with dining area, a conservatory, a walk-in pantry, utility room and cloakroom. The upper two floors include the large master bedroom suite, which has the benefit of a dressing area. The garden has two sheds and a further summerhouse-style shed next to a sunken patio. There is also off-road parking and a garage.

CONTACT Firefly Properties 01892 838363 www.fireflyproperties.co.uk

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PROPERTY

The Ridgeway

AT A GLANCE THE RIDGEWAY TONBRIDGE ■ Detached house in a prestigious road ■ Living room ■ Family room ■ Dining room ■ Kitchen, utility room ■ 5 bedrooms, two en suite ■ Family bathroom ■ Garden with patio area ■ Two garages ■ Ample parking

£800,000 – £850,000 Available for sale through Bracketts Tonbridge 01732 350503 www.bracketts.co.uk

Large family home with further promise ‘The property has planning permission to extend the ground floor substantially’

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

www.hamptons.co.uk

Tunbridge Wells £1,395,000 A superb detached 5 bedroom 1930s family house significantly extended and refurbished with exquisite attention to detail to provide bright and spacious interior and a wonderful flexible layout. EPC:C

Langton Green £1,185,000 An excellent detached 5 bedroom family house with a light and spacious interior and south facing rear garden, situated in a very highly regarded area of this popular village. EPC: C

Fordcombe £875,000 Situated on the edge of the village and well presented throughout, this 5 bedroom detached home offers superb accommodation and enjoys some far reaching views across rolling countryside. EPC: B

Tidebrook £825,000 In a wonderful setting about 2 miles from Wadhurst this highly individual 4 bedroom detached house with accommodation mainly on one floor has lovely gardens and grounds, including a wonderful walled garden, extending to just over 1.5 acres. EPC: D

Tunbridge Wells £700,000 Situated at the very heart of the popular ‘Village Area’ and within walking distance of the picturesque High Street, several public houses and Grove Park, this elegant 4 bedroom Victorian townhouse provides both spacious and versatile accommodation. EPC: E

Lamberhurst £399,950 This delightful 3 bedroom character cottage is located on the outskirts of Lamberhurst village with views of the surrounding countryside. The interior is light and spacious with gardens to the front and rear. EPC: E

Tunbridge Wells Office Sales. 01892 597607 | tunbridgewells@hamptons-int.com

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PROPERTY

Blandford House

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

BLANDFORD HOUSE SOUTHVIEW ROAD CROWBOROUGH

£1,125,000

Rare chance to buy Edwardian AT A GLANCE n Reception hall n Drawing room n Sitting room n Dining room n Kitchen/breakfast room n Pantry n Utility room and boot room n Cellar n Principal bedroom with dressing room and en suite n 5 further bedrooms n Detached garage n Established south facing gardens n In all about 0.64 acres

£1,125,000 Available for sale through Hamptons Tunbridge Wells 01892 516611 www.hamptons.co.uk

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

beauty ‘A delightful family house with attractive front and rear elevations.

Believed to have been built in 1898 and completed in 1904, with with only four owners since’

Blandford House

PROPERTY

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PROPERTY

The Willows

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Last home in a new village development

AT A GLANCE PLOT 3, THE WILLOWS BOWEN ROAD, RUSTHALL n Exclusive new build development n Set over three floors n Underfloor heating on ground floor n Living room n Kitchen with granite worktop/ breakfast room n Cloakroom

n Utility room n Master bedroom with en suite n 3 further bedrooms, one en suite n Family bathroom n Garage

£650,000 Available for sale through KMJ Properties Rusthall 01892 515188 www.kmjproperty.co.uk

‘Finished to an exceptionally high standard and close to open countryside’

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PROPERTY

Advertising

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

48

PROPERTY

Advertising

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Landfall

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

AT A GLANCE LANDFALL FIELDEN LANE, CROWBOROUGH ■ Close to golf course ■ Former coach house built in 1890 ■ Split-level reception hall ■ Impressive double-aspect sitting room with wood burner ■ Dining room ■ Study/bedroom 6, with double doors to the terrace and gardens ■ Kitchen/breakfast room ■ Utility room and cloakroom ■ Generous part-brick conservatory ■ Master bedroom with en suite ■ 4 further bedrooms ■ Family bath/shower room ■ Gardens and grounds ■ Two detached double garages ■ Driveway and large parking area ■ Grounds of about half an acre

Offers in excess of £795,000 Available for sale through Mansell McTaggart Crowborough 01892 662668 www.mansellmctaggart.co.uk

Gorgeous gardens and views of Ashdown Forest

‘There is an ornamental water feature and a pleasant raised seating terrace with a wisteria-clad arbour over’

PROPERTY

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PROPERTY

Maplefield

‘A unique, and mainly single-storey detached property with a wealth of Arts & Crafts features’

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Maplefield

PROPERTY

AT A GLANCE

n Entrance hall n Cloakroom n Drawing room n Study n Dining room with ornate vaulted ceiling and high windows n Kitchen/breakfast room n Utility room n Music/reading room n Garden room with vaulted ceiling and skylight windows n Principal bedroom with en suite n 3 further bedrooms n Shower room n Attic room n Garage and studio n About 0.75 acres

£1,250,000 Available for sale through Hamptons Tunbridge Wells 01892 516611 www.hamptons.co.uk

MAPLEFIELD EWEHURST LANE, SPELDHURST

£1,250,000

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Food & Drink

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Thou shalt follow these wise (food) commandments

Award-winning journalist Jay Rayner is one of the UK’s most respected restaurant critics. He’s also a judge on MasterChef and has written many books, including The Ten (Food) Commandments, which he’s recently turned into a one-man show where he talks about how we should love leftovers and how it’s ok to eat with our hands. Eileen Leahy spoke to him ahead of his appearance at the EM Forster Theatre in Tonbridge this Friday to pick over a few more of his culinary morsels of wisdom… effect is utter cobblers and based on a misunderstanding of science, and we need to challenge that stuff. That’s a commandment the audience tends to be really disappointed with, though, as they’ve been stocking up on kale and spirulina only to discover they don’t have the benefits they thought they did.

‘The problem with predicting is that you’re always wrong.

I’ve been wrong for years, and I hate being wrong’

KILLER BLOW WHEN IT COMES TO KALE Jay Rayner doesn’t think we should treat food as pharmaceuticals What is your new show The Ten (Food) Commandments all about?

It’s based on the book of the same name and is essentially 55 minutes of stand-up comedy about how and what we eat now, using audiovisual tools as a second performer on the stage.

It’s a lot of fun and, as well as talking about my own food commandments, I ask the audience to come up with theirs, too, as the second half of the show is a Q&A where we challenge one another and try to put the world to rights.

How did you come up with the idea of bringing the book to a live audience?

It all grew out of a desperate attempt on my part to avoid having to sit on discussion panels at literary festivals – because I hate them! I knew the book I’d written on my food commandments was fodder for discussion panels, but the only way I could avoid doing them was by coming up with a series of one-man shows – and out of that I’ve developed a slightly surprising career on the comedy circuit.

How do you get your audiences involved?

The second half of the show is a Q&A and I love it, as I don’t know what’s going to happen. I get the audience to Tweet me during the interval with their own commandments, and then we go through them. Some of them I may be quite rude about, but that’s the jumping-off point to a good

discussion.

I’m one of those performers who asks for the house lights not to be turned off – I like to see the audience and talk to them.

Have you any other personal nuggets the audience will enjoy hearing about?

The one about my dining companions over the past 18 years of being a restaurant critic. It’s just pure therapy for me, and it gives me the chance to get a few things off my chest.

There was the time I went to review a Sovietstyle café after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and a guy who was a former Deputy Director General of MI6 was emerging into the light and agreed to have dinner with me.

But on the day, I’d gone and had a health test for a genetic heart condition, and as part of that they made me leave the hospital wearing a halter which is essentially a wire connected to a tape recorder, so I turned up at this Soviet café to meet this former MI6 member wearing a wire! I had to convince him it was only recording my heart and not our conversation.

So could you enlighten us with a taste of your favourite food commandments?

Well, they’re all my ‘children’, but one in particular is how people mistake food for pharmaceuticals.

There’s an awful lot about superfoods, and how things like beetroot can protect you from dementia, or how chocolate can help prevent cancer, and they can’t.

Obviously a good, varied diet is very important Can you pick out a memorable for human health, place you have dined – but the idea or is that impossible? that individual Yes, because after 18 ingredients have years, and having eaten MODERN-DAY MOSES a pharmaceutical at nearly 1,000 restaurants Jay – but only when it comes to consumption

all around the world, it is very tricky to pick just one. Lots of people ask me this question, and I literally cannot answer it as it has a lot to do with mood and location and who you’re with. It could be anything from the cheapest fish shack on the seashore to a gastronomic palace – it all depends on those factors.

What about food trends for 2017 – do you have any predictions?

No! The problem with predicting is that you’re always wrong. I’ve been wrong for years, and I hate being wrong. I could say: ‘Ooh, Korean fried chicken’, as there’s quite a lot of it around, and my review on Sunday (in The Observer) was on Korean fried chicken, which would make people think: ‘Oh, isn’t he clever?’ The one thing I hope we’ll continue to see more of is smaller, less fussy restaurants being set up in unlikely spaces – a kind of pop-up gone permanent. It may be that I’m just being hopeful because they tend to be cheaper and you’re not always sure what you’re going to get.

Do you feel we’re losing a lot of our identity with the rise of restaurant chains?

Yes, and it does require councils to be a little more enlightened when granting licences, because a lot of venerable towns like Tunbridge Wells do suffer from the march of the mid-market chains. Pizza Express, Strada, wagamama and Côte – they’re all very sophisticated at what they do, and for the most part they’re not bad at it. But every time a site comes up on a British high street with an A3 licence, which is what you need to open a restaurant, all of them pile in and the landlords will take one of them over an independent, and you then end up with identikit restaurant sectors, and that’s somewhat depressing.

Finally, what do you enjoy most about performing on stage?

Live performance is a booming area in Britain at the moment. In the digital age you can see anything online, so now I think we search for more authentic experiences, and there is nothing more authentic than being in the presence of someone doing something live – whether that’s music, theatre or comedy.

Jay Rayner’s The Ten (Food) Commandments is on this Friday [January 20] at the EM Forster Theatre in Tonbridge. Tickets cost £15 per person and can be booked by calling 01732 304241 or visiting www.tonbridgearts.com

On The Menu

On The Menu…

Soprano Tapas and Wine Bar • 56 High Street, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1XF. Tel: 01892 535842 • Web: www.sopranowinebar.co.uk

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Gin bramble

Chuletas de cordero

Manhattan

Ternera ahumada y rucola

Mojito

Don platter

Verdure y besciamelle

Infused gin and tonic

Cerdo en brandy

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FEATURES

Travel

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Book a novel spring break WOMAN OF MYSTERY Jane Austen

there’s no knowing whether Jane used this particular pattern to keep her feet dry – ‘but there’s certainly a chance’.

This is the church where Jane’s father, George Austen, was rector from her birth in 1775 until the family moved to Bath in 1800, when Jane’s brother James took it on. Simple and compact, with a sharp steeple puncturing the grey, wintry sky, it’s a plain, stocky building. Inside, all is quiet, the cool air wafting with a sense of history.

I am visiting Jane’s home county of Hampshire as 2017 marks the 200th anniversary of her death from suspected Addison’s disease, in 1817, aged just 41. St Nicholas’s is something of a pilgrimage site for Austen fans around the world.

The church and grounds are open to visitors, and there are regular services people can attend, too.

Linton shows me an entry in the parish marriage register that contains Jane’s scrawl, where she had jokily inserted herself.

By Ella Walker

‘An unmarried woman supporting herself through novel writing was not exactly the ‘done’ thing’

TRUDGING through the misty graveyard of St Nicholas Church in Steventon, Hampshire, on a chilly Saturday morning, I could really do with some of the ringed metal patterns that author Jane Austen and her sister, Cassandra, strapped to their boots to keep off the sodden, muddy ground.

Local churchwarden, Linton, who is whitehaired and stooped with age, but robust and animated with it, has taken care of the small village’s place of worship since 1993 – and in the process, the Austen family legacy here.

He pulls a circular piece of metal from a nook in the stone wall and hands it to me. It operates like a traditional skate, but without the sharp slip of blade for carving through ice, and he explains

“Jane got hold of it when she was a teenager for a lark,” he says, adding, with a chuckle: “What her father thought of it is not on record!”

He speaks of the Austens with such affection and good humour, it’s almost as if he knew them personally, even wryly quoting Jane’s witticisms on the ‘big’ family who dominated the village during her childhood (she was not a fan of them).

The author of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Linton’s favourite, Emma, Jane amassed a body of work that is, frankly, one of the most searing, amusing and nuanced in existence.

She queried – bitingly and drolly – the role of women, religion, marriage and wealth, in ways

FESTIVE The Georgian house in Chawton where you can see the author’s desk

that no one before her had attempted, and no one since has surpassed.

While in Steventon all that’s left of the rectory where Jane grew up is the church, a towering elm, a twisty lime tree and a gate, there is more of her to be found in nearby Chawton.

A wide, red-brick house squats on the corner of the village, eave windows peeping from beneath raised eyebrows of roof tiles, at a tea room across the street, glass all fogged up by cakes baking and steaming mugs of tea.

In 1809, the house was bestowed upon Jane, her mother, sister and family friend Martha Lloyd by Jane’s brother, Edward, who owned it as part of his far grander estate close by, Chawton House.

It is now home to the Jane Austen’s House Museum, which reopens after its preparations for the anniversary commemorations on March 3.

The nook of a cottage has a curvy garden crammed with fragrant herbs and bitter plants that would have been used in tinctures and homemade medicines, while inside you can find trinkets and replicas of the Austen household’s belongings, including a turquoise and gold ring of Jane’s.

The cottage is where Jane did the bulk of her writing, so finding yourself stood in front of the tiny, teetering walnut desk and chair where Lizzie Bennett, Anne Elliot and Emma came into being is actually quite emotional.

The desk itself is so small – barely large enough to prop a notebook and an elbow – that it’s hard to imagine Jane hunched over it, her brain unspooling stories that would weave themselves into the fabric of our literary and cultural history.

Her gravestone, then, in the floor of the vaulted Winchester Cathedral, scuffed by generations of visitors’ feet until it gleams blackly, knocks you out with its simplicity.

It’s quite a slab, but it doesn’t say what she did, or who she really was. Instead, her male relatives decided to highlight her ‘charity, devotion, faith

and purity’ in the inscription Historians wrangle over this omission, one that’s arguably a deception and a disservice.

Did they do it because they were both proud of Jane’s writing – hence the expense of laying her to rest in Winchester Cathedral – but also conflicted?

After all, an unmarried woman supporting herself through novel writing was not exactly the ‘done’ thing. Best, instead, to mention ‘the extraordinary endowments of her mind’ without noting just how progressive and profound her mind and ideas really were.

Of course, the cathedral now has a permanent exhibition detailing Jane’s achievements, and features a series of illustrated boards that share biographical notes and snippets on her novels.

The problem is, for someone who changed so drastically the way we think about the novel, there is comparatively little known about Jane, and many of her private letters that could shed more light are still guarded closely by her descendants.

The truth is, the only place you will ever really find Jane is within the pages of her books.

Travel

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

FEATURES

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TRAVEL FACTS  Ella Walker was a guest of VisitHampshire (www.visit-hampshire.co.uk)

‘The cottage is where Jane did the bulk of her writing, so finding yourself stood in front of the tiny, teetering walnut desk and chair’

 Doubles at Lainston House Hotel (www.exclusive.co.uk/lainston-house; 01962 776088) from £175 with breakfast.  Details of events and exhibitions scheduled for Jane Austen 200: A life in Hampshire can be found at janeausten200.co.uk

JANE AUSTEN 200 – EVENT HIGHLIGHTS 1. The Mysterious Miss Austen, The Gallery, Winchester Discovery Centre, May 13-July 24 See the only item of clothing that can certifiably be traced back to Jane – a scallop edge, brown patterned pelisse coat. The Mysterious Miss Austen exhibition will also feature portraiture, letters and first edition copies of Jane’s novels.

Free entry. Visit hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk/ the-gallery-at-winchester-discovery-centre 2. Jane Austen Tour And Tea, Winchester Cathedral First Saturday of the month, Feb-April and June-November Pop along to Winchester Cathedral (usual admission £7.95), firstly to see Jane’s tombstone, and secondly because on selected dates throughout the year it will be hosting Austen related tours – a cuppa and cake in the refectory afterwards included!

Explore the cathedral itself and learn about Jane’s relationship with it, before seeing her f inal home on nearby College Street.

Tours are £12.50.

Visit www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk

 For more information on the Jane Austen’s House Museum, which reopens on March 3, visit www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk For more information on the Jane Austen’s House Museum, which reopens on March 3, visit www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk

3. Sitting With Jane, various locations in Basingstoke, June to September Follow a trail to find 25 specially designed ‘Book Benches’ inspired by Jane and her stories Visit www.sittingwithjane.com for full details.

4. Northanger Abbey, The Haymarket, Basingstoke, March 8-11 The only surviving English Regency theatre is staging a production of Northanger Abbey, Jane’s satire on Gothic novels published after her death. Tickets £19-£24.

Visit anvilarts.org.uk 5. Rethinking Sanditon, Chawton House Library, Chawton, March 11 Over (more) tea and cake, discuss Jane’s unfinished manuscript, known as Sanditon, with Dr Anne Toner, Professor Michael Biddiss and Dr Sarah Comyn.

Tickets £18.50. Visit www.chawtonhouse.org

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Wednesday January 18 | 2017

A firm grip on family affairs Following success and growth in central London and Croydon, the firm Thomas Mansfield, a small but specialist group of solicitors, are making the move to Kent. Hannah Patterson meets Partner Neill Thomas to find out more about this focused practice and their exciting plans for the future How did you first get into law?

Perhaps not the most usual way. Until the age of 27, I was managing a large catering company at Heathrow, completely unaware of where my true interests lay. Part of my role involved managing a unionised workforce consisting of a few thousand employees. I negotiated agreements with the unions, undertook disciplinary meetings and appeals, motivated poor performers and dealt with grievances.

It was at the union negotiations that my interest in employment law began to grow. I often found I was more engaged by the HR issues with the employees, rather than the areas my role focused on.

My employers sent me on a management course that I did well enough in to get sponsored to do a Masters in Business Administration. Within the MBA, employment law was covered, and it was like a smell the coffee wake-up call – a realisation that I was in the wrong job!

It inspired me sufficiently to seriously consider changing my career. At this early stage I could foresee opening my own specialist employment law practice at Heathrow, and that became my life goal.

My brother was a solicitor, and had become one through what is considered to be the more conventional path of university. For me, I was concerned that perhaps it was too late for a change of career in my early 30s, but I took the plunge and I’m certainly glad I did.

And now you have your own practice – how did Thomas Mansfield originate?

Once the decision was made to move into law, I combined the second year of my MBA with a law degree conversion course.

It was possibly the most gruelling and challenging period of my life because I was undertaking academic study for two degrees after working a 60-hour week. I did enjoy the study, though, and the end result was worth every sleepless night.

After qualifying, I spent years gaining experience in some exceptional law firms in the South and London, working exclusively in employment law Thankfully, after all the hard work, and keen to take on more responsibility, I succeeded and was offered fantastic opportunities.

It was at one of these firms that I met Jonathan Mansfield, himself a late convert

‘We see ourselves very much as a specialist practice, so we went out to recruit lawyers with the right knowledge and experience in the new area’

to employment law.

Although we are completely different personalities, I respected him and we shared the same goal of opening an employment law practice.

When he was offered a Partnership, we realised it was now or never. We both handed in our resignations and Thomas Mansfield was born. We have now become one of the leading specialist practices in the country.

How has the practice evolved since then?

We have adapted with the times, like every firm must, as the law is ever-changing.

You swim with the tide, or you drown. For example, in 2014 the government introduced fees for those looking to claim against their employer.

As you can imagine, this

PARTNERS IN LAW (L-R): Neill Thomas, KICKER Susi Gillespie and Caption body to go in Mansfield thisJonathan style thankyou

Advertising

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

explain procedures thoroughly and will effectively defend their interests.

In divorce cases, it can often be that one partner is more forceful than the other. In this situation, you need to make sure the client is getting the best deal for them and a fair say, whilst also avoiding conflict that could escalate into court proceedings.

Successful family law solicitors also need to understand finance. There can be a whole range of complicated assets, including bonuses, pensions, share options, overseas property and the goodwill in businesses.

Do you notice any client trends in the numbers of men and women?

It’s equally balanced, and divorce can affect any couple. And, to be honest, most people want the same thing – a lawyer who is dynamic enough to help them.

Although we always advocate a collaborative resolution in which both parties sit together with a legal representative, we can’t always get what we want. Realistically, we need to strive to be as amiable as is possible in each scenario. We are aware that it’s not always suitable, of course, to all sit down together. You need someone who is tough and experienced in litigation and disclosure to deal with the less amiable cases, no matter who you are.

triggered a massive decline in the volume of claims coming through.

Following this, it felt like the right time to branch into family law as well as employment. It was a move that had appealed to us for a while, but this gave us the push needed.

The direction felt natural as our passion was in working with people, and we have always prided ourselves on client care. It doesn’t hurt that we have an excellent success rate, as well. We see ourselves very much as a specialist practice, so we went out to recruit lawyers with the right knowledge and experience in the new area.

We now have a great team headed by Susi Gillespie, a dynamic, practical, forward thinking and well regarded family lawyer.

What makes a good family lawyer and what should a potential client look for?

Ultimately, it’s someone who can guide you through what can be a complicated, stressful process.

As a family lawyer, you need to be aware that, much like employment cases, you’re dealing with people who are working through a highly stressful period in their lives and can be facing uncertainty.

The client needs a solicitor who will

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‘We have adapted with the times, like every firm must, as the law is ever-changing. You swim with the tide, or you drown’ Partner Neill Thomas

Ultimately, our website is their first port of call before approaching us directly. Its functionality and appearance has always been a priority for us. There’s a wealth of information available for our clients – both current and potential – to peruse. It’s a website for educated adults that want clear facts.

It’s at that point they make an educated decision on whether or not we are suited to their needs.

Have you found your website has greatly aided your success?

Definitely. It makes it clear who we are and, most importantly, what we specialise in. The fact we specialise in family law is the real reason for our success. We aren’t dabbling in a bit How has the age of technology of family work, a bit of conveyancing affected law firms? and a bit of personal injury, etc.

Firms of lawyers are always fighting Originally, we considered merging with the competition, both online and our original employment law website in print. Essentially, the key to success with the family side, but I decided I is recommendation. If you do a good wanted to keep them both separate job for someone, they will pass that on, and tailored – to make the much the same as if you do a bad job. information more accessible.

If you want to keep the firm’s name alive, you have to give clients a service Have there been any recent that will lead to recommendation. changes in divorce law?

Word of mouth is crucial, and a The Children and Families Act 2014 personal recommendation is worth its brought in (amongst other things) weight in gold. the requirement for couples to first of all attend mediation before issuing How cost-driven are clients? proceedings – the idea being that Very rarely will someone call up families should be encouraged to asking for an upfront cost. People do reach agreements negotiated a lot of research, often online, and between them rather than those talk to friends or family first before imposed upon them by the courts. making a choice.

A relatively new method of dispute

resolution is Collaborative Law, which is a positive, non-adversarial method of negotiating settlements we have inherited from the US. Collaborative Law involves four-way meetings between spouses and their respective solicitors and Collaborative lawyers have to be specifically trained.

The process is open and transparent, and clients have the benefit of their legal adviser being by their side throughout the negotiations.

Because Collaboratively-trained solicitors are present and engaged in the negotiations, both spouses can be advised during the meetings, and agreements are usually reached more quickly. However, if no agreement is possible, the Collaborative lawyers must be disinstructed and the spouses will each be required to instruct new solicitors if they wish to commence court proceedings.

So, what does the future hold for Thomas Mansfield?

We are establishing an office in Sevenoaks which will also cover Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Maidstone. If it is as successful as we predict, then we can replicate it elsewhere in the surrounding areas.

In terms of our practice, family law ties in closely with probate and Wills. That is an area that we will be looking to expand into.

It makes sense as a next step.  www.tmfamilylaw.co.uk

Beauty

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

When in foam...

Essential oils

FOR the ultimate in relaxation, a frothy bubble bath will make you feel like you’re floating on a cloud.

Lavish, oil-infused bath foams offer skin-softening properties and will prettify any bathroom shelf.

THE most luxurious way to scent your soak, bath oils dissipate in hot water, releasing the fragrance and creating a moisturising film that clings to your skin.

They may be more expensive, but you only need a splash, and the potent aroma of essential oils can be invigorating (citrus and ginger) or slumber-inducing lavender works wonders before bedtime to ensure you have a good night’s sleep.

Lollia Dream White Tea & Honeysuckle Bubbling Bath, £59 (www.curatedLiving.co.uk)

Magic lotions PROLONG that post-bath Zen by slathering on a body lotion - particularly important if you’re partial to a piping hot soak that can leave your skin dry.

Gourmand scents, like vanilla and tonka bean, are real mood-boosters, while ingredients like shea butter and argan oil will soften and restore moisture.

Liz Earle Superskin Body Cream, £33 (www.lizearle.com)

Soaper Duper Shea Butter Body Butter with Tahiti Monoi, Macadamia Oil & Pressed Vanilla Pods, £10 (www.tesco.com)

This Works Deep Sleep Bath Oil, £80 (www. thisworks.com)

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Buy it now IT’S a match made in technicolour heaven: Clinique has teamed up with Crayola to bring you 10 lip balm Chubby Sticks in crayon-bright shades, like Mango Tango and Mauvelous.

Available in full size, £17.50 each, or a box of eight adorable minis, £35, that evokes the childhood joy of opening a fresh pack of crayons.

Clinique Crayola Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in Razzmatazz, £17.50 (www.clinique.co.uk)

Sprinkling of salt TempleSpa Drift Away Bathing and Massage Oil, £25 (www. templespa.com)

IF SOOTHING aching limbs and cold symptoms is your top priority in the tub, bath salts are what you need.

A capful of the clever crystals in a hot bath will relieve muscle tension, plus the salt draws out moisture to reduce bloating (result!), while the vapours help clear airways.

Bathe away your winter blues AS GOOD for your mood as they are for your body, baths can become addictive in winter, but that’s no bad thing.

The four essential ingredients for a super soak?

You’ll need a candle, soothing music or a podcast, wine (or tea if you’re abstaining this month), and something delightfully fragranced to pour into your steaming tub.

Turn your bathroom into a spa-like sanctuary with these bathing beauties...

Kneipp Eucalyptus Cold Season Mineral Bath Salts, £8.95 (www.

FeelUnique.com)

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Life & Style

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

ASPREY HOMES Asprey Homes are delighted to announce that work has begun on developing the former site of Edenbridge Bowls Club, in Grange Close, Edenbridge.

The site, which has been left dormant since the former bowls club closed in 2006, will be given a new lease of life providing just six beautifully-appointed new homes due for completion in Summer 2017. The development will comprise two chalet bungalows and four three and four-bedroom homes in a quiet, yet convenient location.

Grange Close is perfectly situated just moment from Edenbridge Town railway station and a short walk from Edenbridge High Street, and all the facilities the town has to offer.

PENSHURST PLACE AND GARDENS The double award-winning venue introduces new menus featuring locally-sourced produce at its Wedding Open Day on Saturday January 21, 2017

Award-winning developers Asprey Homes are based locally in Westerham, and have an excellent reputation for building new homes that are sympathetic to their surroundings and offer a high standard of specification.

Love is in the air at Penshurst Place and Gardens this January, as the 14th-century historic home holds its first Wedding Open Day of 2017 in the beautiful private banqueting rooms and medieval Baron’s Hall, which have won the Heritage Wedding Venue of the Year at the Kent Wedding Awards twice – the only venue to have done so.

Director Elliott Bance said: ‘We are delighted that work has finally begun at Edenbridge, and are looking forward to creating a new and attractive street scene in Grange Close, which is so conveniently located for everything that Edenbridge and the surrounding area has to offer our purchasers.”

To register for further information, or for any other land and sales related enquiries, please contact Asprey Homes on 01959 568383. For a brochure and further information on Grange Close, please contact Savills on 01732 789740 or sevenoaksnewhomes@savills.com

Set in the beautiful Wealden countryside, the Wedding Open Day will take place on Saturday January 21 between 10am and 3pm, when revamped and modern menus featuring local produce sourced from within 70 miles of the house will be revealed.

Couples will be able to explore the historic home with a glass of Prosecco in hand, and sample a few canapés, while touring the characterful banqueting rooms and beautiful outside spaces of the Inner Courtyard and listed Tudor gardens. They will also meet wedding specialists offering photography, toastmasters, cakes, musical entertainment and floristry. Throughout the event, Penshurst Place’s experienced wedding coordinators will be able to provide wedding planning tips covering all aspects of the marriage celebration, and the newly installed catering team will be available to discuss menu options.

The stately home is expecting increased enquiries from couples wishing to celebrate their special day in these medieval surroundings during 2017 and 2018 as a result of the new menus.

Prospective couples are welcome to bring along key members of their wedding party so they, too, may sample the atmospheric beauty of Penshurst Place.

For more more details, and to request an invitation, please contact the Banqueting & Events team on 01892 870307 or via email: banqueting@penshurstplace.com

THE ELEPHANTS HEAD The iconic Elephants Head pub was transferred by Harvey’s Brewery from their management portfolio on Monday December 13, 2016 to a new tenant, David Stanley, who has over 40 years of experience running pubs and restaurants. With his award-winning kitchen team and knowledgeable bar staff, he is aiming to rekindle successful times from the past. The pub offers a great range of ales, lagers, wines and platefuls of very traditional pub food, so he is sure you will not be disappointed should you wish to visit. There a many events being lined up – Burns Night supper on January 25, Valentine’s night on February 14, and much more – as the pub website will show.

A new private dining room has been developed, and the team are specialists in private events and celebrations. Look out for their spitroast and BBQ events. They look forward to seeing you.

The Elephants Head, Hook Green, TN3 8LJ

ADD SOME VA-VA-VOOM TO YOUR KITCHEN! Are you looking for a new kitchen to kick off the New Year? Then get ahead of the trend and be the first to show off a shiny new Schmidt kitchen. Offering a blend of German quality furniture with some French design flare, Schmidt Kitchens has arrived in Tunbridge Wells.

Unknown still to many in the UK, Schmidt has been around for many years, being the top kitchen brand in France and one of the biggest in Europe. The kitchens offer up to 66 per cent more storage and premium features as standard, as well as 139 colours and finishes of doors. Fully bespoke interior solutions, bedroom and bathroom furniture are also available.

Visit the brand new showroom and see plenty of full-size, fully operational displays, and let Schmidt’s designers help you create your dream kitchen and living space.

Schmidt will be hosting a grand old opening party on Saturday March 4, with guest chefs, live music and live demonstrations.

Everyone is invited and they look forward to seeing you there!

20-24 Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells TN1 2AP www.turnbridge-wells.schmidt-kitchens.com

Motoring

WITH THE

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS AND TONBRIDGE

Smart Brabus fortwo

LOOKS AND IMAGE As previously mentioned, the Smart Brabus ForTwo is slightly more aggressive-looking than the city car it’s based on. You get a sports bodykit, 17-inch wheels and a rather sporty-

looking chrome exhaust, too – which work together to give the car a much more substantial appearance on the road, and one which is much closer to that found on parent company Mercedes’ vehicles.

Smarts have experienced varying popularity since the first City-Coupe hit the road in 1998. The brand has had its many ups and downs – but appears to be returning to form.

With better levels of reliability, as well as consistently good safety scores, the Smart car very much seems on the up-and-up.

SPACE AND PRACTICALITY At just 2,740mm long, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Smart Brabus ForTwo wouldn’t offer too much interior space.

Yes, compared to a conventional, it isn’t too roomy, but given its diminutive footprint, there’s a lot more room than you think. There’s about 260 litres of boot space which, thanks to its depth, is more than enough for a weekend bag.

FACTS AT A GLANCE MODEL: Smart Brabus ForTwo ENGINE: 898cc threecylinder turbocharged petrol (108bhp, 170Nm) TRANSMISSION: Six-speed dual-clutch automatic PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph in 9.3 seconds, 103mph top speed ECONOMY: 62.7mpg combined EMISSIONS: 102g/km

just to test yourself – and the car.

And fuel economy sits at a respectable 62.7mpg combined, which means you won’t have to fill up all that often – and the small tank doesn’t cost the earth to fill, either.

VALUE FOR MONEY

There are plenty of cubbies in the interior, too, with a neat drawer that slides from underneath the gearstick – ideal if you want to keep items like mobile phones out of sight.

The Smart might be small, but it’s not difficult to live with.

The Smart Brabus ForTwo starts at £16,320, rising to £19,135 for the higherspec Xclusive model.

There’s also a cabrio version, though this commands a premium, resulting in a price range from £18,105 to £21,275.

This is a fair amount of money for such a small car. When you compare it to a standard hatchback, it does seem expensive, while being able to offer only a limited amount of practicality, as well as room for only two.

BEHIND THE WHEEL

WHO WOULD BUY ONE?

Despite its boxy proportions, the Smart is actually quite a hoot to drive.

Thanks to Brabus’s attention to the suspension, there’s not much body roll.

The engine, when linked to a surprisingly sharp six-speed dual-clutch gearbox, provides more than enough power, which means on country roads it’s a fair bit of fun.

It’s not too unsettled on the motorway either, thanks to cruise control. The car buzzes quite a bit at higher speeds, but it’s not too tiring a place to be on a longer drive.

However, the Brabus is best suited to buzzing around town. It nips in and out of traffic with ease, and parking is equally simple. You actually start looking out for the smallest possible spaces

If you’re not worried about transporting too many things or people, but more concerned about low-cost city motoring, then the Smart Brabus ForTwo could be just the car for you.

It looks stylish, has decent levels of standard equipment, and won’t cost the earth to run. Easy to park and nimble to drive, it offers the perfect solution for people who don’t want to feel stressed by limited parking opportunities.

The little Smart car won’t turn its nose up at a long motorway run either, which makes it a respectable all-rounder.

If low-cost and small-size motoring is what you’re after, then you’d do well to choose the Brabus ForTwo.

By Jack Evans

Thanks to its innovative and quirky design, the Smart car is one of the most recognisable on the road. The latest model brought with it greater levels of technology and comfort.

Now, esteemed tuning company Brabus have taken the ForTwo and breathed a little extra fire into it.

The car’s three-cylinder engine has extra power, and the suspension has been lowered to give the Smart not just better handling, but a meaner stance on the road.

Add to that a muscular bodykit, and you have a Smart that distances itself somewhat from the cutesy image that comes with the standard car.

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THE TOWN’S TOP MOTORING GUIDE FROM E V E R Y D AY D R I V E S T O LU XU RY SU P E R C A R S

FIRST DRIVE

WHAT’S NEW?

FEATURES

‘Despite its boxy proportions, the Smart is actually quite a hoot to drive’

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FEATURES

Motoring

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Rolls-Royce is set to stay in Britain The high-class car firm, which is owned by German manufacturer BMW, announces some good news for the UK following Britain’s vote to leave the EU as global sales rocket…

Honda’s hot hatch bows out in special edition black A SPECIAL edition of Honda’s Civic Type R hot hatch has been revealed to commemorate the final run of the current-generation model.

The Black Edition, which is limited to just 100 units, will be the last of these cars to come off the production line before the next model begins production.

Honda’s new Civic is being built at the firm’s factory in Swindon, and is due to go on sale in March. The all-new Civic Type R, meanwhile, is expected to enter UK dealerships in the second half of this year.

The Black Edition has certain visual changes to help differentiate it from the standard car, such as

red rear wing end plates, while red accents are used throughout the cabin.

Pricing is based on the existing GT model, with the Black Edition retailing for £32,300.

Powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, the Civic Type R Black Edition produces 306bhp and 400Nm torque.

Phil Webb, Head of Cars at Honda UK, said: “There are only going to be 2,500 of the current Civic Type Rs on UK roads, so the car is going to be pretty special as it is. But with the addition of this special limited run of 100 Black Editions to the product line-up, owners will have a real collector’s piece on their hands.”

Motoring

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

PRESTIGIOUS car manufacturer RollsRoyce has confirmed it will remain based in the UK after achieving the second-highest sales figures in its history.

The 113-year-old brand delivered more than 4,000 vehicles to customers last year – 6 per cent more than in 2015.

According to the BMW-owned company, sales grew by 26 per cent in the UK, while the Chinese market rose 23 per cent, and sales in Japan were up by 51 per cent.

The USA, however, remained the brand’s largest market, with sales there rising by ten per cent.

Announcing the results, Torsten MüllerÖtvös, the Sussex-based company’s CEO,

said: “This remarkable result emphatically affirms the global appeal of the very finest British luxury goods to the world’s most discerning patrons.

“Rolls-Royce is a true Great British manufacturing success story, one driven by the hard work and ingenuity of the men and women employed at our Centre of Luxury Excellence in Goodwood, West Sussex.

“We are deeply committed to a longterm, sustainable, successful growth strategy, and this result – amidst a backdrop of global uncertainty – affirms this approach.

“The year 2016 has proved the perfect year to sign off the successful first chapter of the renaissance of Rolls-Royce.

“Success for Rolls-Royce is success for Great Britain, and we reaffirm our commitment to maintaining the home of Rolls-Royce in the UK.” Rolls-Royce was not the only British car manufacturer celebrating success, though, as Jaguar sold almost 150,000 vehicles to set a new record.

Andy Goss, Jaguar Land Rover’s Sales Operations Director, said: “This has been a significant year for Jaguar Land Rover, with updated models being introduced across the range, as well as the completely new Land Rover Discovery Sport and the Jaguar F-Pace.

“It is particularly pleasing to see the Jaguar brand setting impressive new sales records.”

FEATURES

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Volkswagen goes large with enough space for all…

VOLKSWAGEN will launch an extendedwheelbase version of the Tiguan called the Allspace later this year.

Set to compete with the Nissan X-Trail and the forthcoming Skoda Kodiaq, the newcomer is expected to come with five seats as standard, although a two-seat third row will be an optional extra.

The Allspace, which was announced at the Detroit motor show, will use the same MQB platform as the standard Tiguan, albeit stretched to offer greater capacity.

Volkswagen has said nothing of the engine range, but it is expected it will pick and choose units from the standard Tiguan’s line-up – possibly with an emphasis on the torque-rich 2.0-litre diesels.

The company says the Allspace will be launched in Europe from ‘as early as late spring’, and although

there is no confirmation that the car will make it to the UK, it seems highly likely that we will see it on British shores before the year is out.

The new vehicle is very much aimed at the US market, though, where the manufacturer has already confirmed it will launch the new Atlas mid-size SUV early this year.

Dr Herbert Diess, Chairman of Volkswagen Brand’s board of management, said: “The new Volkswagen Atlas and the all-new Tiguan mark the beginning of a major product offensive.”

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Births, Marriages and Bereavements

OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS AND TONBRIDGE

Do you have an announcement?

Times of Tunbridge Wells and Times of Tonbridge are pleased to receive announcements from readers for publication in the newspaper.

To help you provide the information required please email info@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk or call 01892 779650.

We try to publish reports as quickly as possible after receipt and when space allows.

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Puzzles

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C A B A R E O O H H I N D U E A B N U N A V Z R F L A B B Y E D I ON Y S E R R U B B I N A I R L A T H E

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In this Sudoku, the normal 3x3 boxes are now strangely odd shapes – but all the rules and logic of normal Sudoku apply.

Fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 so that each row, column and box contains every number uniquely.

Puzzle solutions will be published in next week’s paper

3 9 5 7 1 2 8 6 4

8 7 6 9 3 4 5 2 1

Y P E D L E C U R E M P A B L E N C K E D U M A B Q O Q U AW A E I T O R

Jigsaw Sudoku:

Sudoku:

1 4 2 5 8 6 9 3 7

T H R I O B S J A I L N D E V X I A C A I G S R E A U D

9 3 1 8 2 5 4 7 6

7 2 8 6 4 3 1 9 5

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CODEWORD

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FEATURES

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NEWS

Recruitment

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

WITH THE

FIND YOUR PERFECT JOB TODAY – A MUST READ FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR WORK LOCALLY

“

After just one day of the newspaper being out, our recruitment advert had received a great response from potential candidates; three of which we had at interview stage.

We will certainly use the Times of Tunbridge Wells for future recruitment adverts.

“

John Haynes, Partner, Belvoir Tunbridge Wells

OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS AND TONBRIDGE

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Recruitment

NEWS

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FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO PLACE AN ADVERT CONTACT OUR SALES DEPARTMENT ON 01892 779624

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FEATURES

Arts & Culture

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

What women want – an opportunity to take part in a new life-enhancing event On Friday March 10, the Assembly Hall Theatre will host the first Women Work series of inspirational seminars and workshops to help women, the men who support them and young people of all ages to enjoy a more fulfilling life. Traci Ferguson is a qualified Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner, Coach and Progression Mentor with The Prince’s Trust, and has been instrumental in the organisation of this unique event. The Times spoke to her about what the Tunbridge Wells audience can expect…

So Traci, what are the key aims of the Women Work event?

The day will showcase the stories of individuals from Tunbridge Wells and the wider Kent community, sharing positive messages and hopefully giving rise to some powerful conversations about everything from overcoming adversity and building both self-esteem and mental wellbeing to creating a business at any age, as well as becoming more confident, and how to take those tentative steps into employment.

The day, and evening, will boast a diverse range of inspirational speakers with something to appeal to everyone attending, whether they are women, the men who support them, or young adults looking for guidance.

There will also be companies such as Natwest Mobile Business School present. They can help with writing a business and marketing plan, finding investors, crowdfunding, mentorship, how to build partnerships and how to network.

They’ll be parked up in a specially refurbished bus with speakers such as Hannah Martin of Talented Ladies Club, Stephie Ann of StephieAnn Design and Kathryn Colas of Simply Hormones all on hand to give advice.

And Citi CV will be offering a free two-minute CV appraisal to anyone who brings their CV along.

How will the day take shape?

It starts at 10am with speakers talking in themed areas of the theatre – and this part is completely free. The evening is a ticketed, sit-down event in the theatre auditorium, where attendees will be thrilled by the tumbling routine of local cheerleaders, entertained by local singers and inspired by speakers sharing the positive messages from their real-life experiences.

Why should people be getting involved?

We’re often so focused on living our individual lives that we are unaware of what is happening on our doorsteps. As the event’s main organisers, myself and Ania Jeffries have been amazed at the wealth of talented people and ACTION WOMEN (L-R): Organisers Ania Jeffries and Traci Ferguson

groups around us who are all so willing to give their time and share their journeys with us.

We also have a great committee made up of Nigel Youds, Dionne Curtis, Tammy Clark and Francesca Turner. They’ve helped us with every area of the event.

Our speakers, too, are really inspiring, and they’ll be giving the people attending ‘takeaways’ – and by that I mean golden nuggets of information gained from their individual experiences.

‘There really will be something of interest and value for everyone.

And what a fantastic opportunity to network with people who have shared interests’

What kind of guest speakers will be there?

There will be many with some amazing stories to tell, but there will also be others who are talking about their experiences for the first time – stepping beyond their comfort zone and finding their voice. These are real people who will relay their stories from the frontline of life.

Tell us why you’ve also had a big focus on the community aspect of this event?

We believe there are many areas of the community where people would not normally interact with one another. By doing this, it will allow us to engage in and continue on conversations that we potentially may not previously

have had. For example, you might get someone talking about areas such as body image, vulnerability and mental wellbeing, with another speaking of how making mistakes has helped them learn and go on to improve their life.

Other people will be experts in their particular field, and will show us how we, as individuals, can move beyond our limitations, suggesting ways to help us become better informed – whether that’s about our personal potential, or how to guide our young people, and be positive role models for them.

How will the event benefit people as a whole?

Well, the daytime part is free to attend, so this is obviously a great opportunity for those who might not necessarily have the

Arts & Culture

Poster with 3mm bleed A4.pdf

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

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Women Work

FEATURES

Coming to Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall Theatre

DATE WITH DESTINY At the Assembly Hall in Tunbridge Wells

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Be Bold, Be You, Be Heard Friday 10th March 2017

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Women Work is an event to inspire women, young adults and the men who support them all over Kent. An amazing opportunity to network and meet other like-minded local people. A day with great FREE workshops and evening of amazing, inspirational speakers for just £5.

BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW

www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk

Box office: 01892 530613 All proceeds go to The Pickering Cancer Drop In Centre

In association with:

Times of Tunbridge Wells disposable income to spend on buying tickets to get involved. But it’s also beneficial for those people who have never been to a big workshop event like this, as they will have the chance to sample an amazing range of topics covered on the programme. There really will be something of interest and value for everyone. And what a fantastic opportunity to network with people who have shared interests and experiences in the same things as you.

How has the event affected you as organisers?

Whilst working on putting the whole Women Work project together, Ania and I have already seen friendships and partnerships forming from the many people involved. And with over a thousand people coming to the Assembly Hall Theatre on March 10, just imagine what all these interactive sessions and conversations could lead to into in terms of future possibilities.

There will be a £5 fee for the evening part of this event. Tell us who this will benefit?

All of the proceeds will be going to support the wonderful work that Polly Taylor and her team do at The Pickering Cancer Drop-In Centre. This event is a fantastic way to raise awareness of the work that small charities do, and how greatly they depend on both a network of volunteers and public generosity to survive.

What do you think people will take away with them after the event?

The knowledge that we can create opportunities, we can expand our horizons and turn our dreams into reality. Women Work’s aim is to show we can transform our lives and have a positive impact on those around us. We can achieve anything we want to, we have a voice, a story that could inspire others and we deserve to be heard.

And in all of this, we are not alone.

To book your place at the daytime Women Work event on March 10, or to purchase a ticket for the evening’s entertainment, visit: www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk/ whats-on/spoken-word For more information on Women Work, please visit their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ womenworkevents, or find then on Twitter @womenworkevents

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FEATURES

What’s On

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

SEVEN DAYS OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCE

WHATS ON WITH THE

Eileen Leahy Local events

>> WEDNESDAY The Oast Theatre in Tonbridge continues its run of What The Butler Saw by Joe Orton until Saturday. This fast-paced farce is set in the consulting room of a psychiatric clinic and sees all manner of chaos ensue due to the clinic’s Dr Prentice trying to seduce his prospective secretary without anyone finding out… It runs until January 21, and tickets cost £10 or £7.50 for members. To book visit www.oastheatre.com Trinity Theatre is screening the much acclaimed Les Chevaliers Blancs (The White Knights). This French-Belgian drama is based on the true events of the controversial Zoe’s Ark rescue mission of 2007, which saw hundreds of young orphans from war-torn Darfur in Africa taken by an NGO called Move For Kids, headed up by Jacques Arnault (played by Vincent Lindon).

Louise Bourgoin, Valérie Donzelli and Reda Kateb also star.

Literary lovers will enjoy the Read Your Words session at the Javabean café this evening from 7.30pm. Entrance to this spoken word open mic session is free and all are welcome.

There will be a winter rose pruning session at Scotney Castle today. The estate’s gardening experts will be on hand to guide you through which varieties to cut back when to ensure your garden is blooming this summer. For more details visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/scotney-castle

FAIRY-TALE MOVES The Bolshoi Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty at the Odeon

>>THURSDAY One of Shakespeare’s classic plays, The Tempest, is being streamed into Trinity at 7pm. Performed live by the Royal Shakespeare Company [RSC] in Stratford, it stars Simon Russell Beale, who returns to the RSC after 20 years to play the pivotal role of Prospero. It promises to be a highly bewitching interpretation of this tale of betrayal, revenge and dark arts, thanks to Artistic Director Gregory Doran’s production. Go along to see why critics are calling it ‘groundbreaking’. For tickets, which cost £18 per person, visit www.trinitytheatre.net >>FRIDAY The Tunbridge Wells Museum and Library Friday Fun and Saturday Craft Club sessions are back for the new year.

These free, drop-in art, craft and storytelling sessions are aimed at two to five year PERFECT STORM olds and (L-R): Mark Quartley as are held Ariel and Simon Russell monthly.

Beale as Prospero in The The Tempest, at Trinity Theatre

Image courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare Company

REAL-LIFE RESCUE Les Chevaliers Blancs at Trinity Theatre

If you would like to see your events featured in our weekly What’s On pages please email eileen@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk

January theme is ‘Ancient People’, so pop along either Friday from 10.30-11.30am or Saturday from 10am to midday or 2 to 4pm to find out more.

Food critic and MasterChef judge Jay Rayner comes to the EM Forster Theatre tonight with his Ten (Food) Commandments. He’ll explain why ‘thou shalt always eat with thy hands, why thou should worship leftovers, and why thou must always celebrate the stinkiest of foods – among many other kernels of culinary wisdom. The event, which also includes a Q&A session and book signing, starts at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £15 and can be booked at www.boxoffice.tonbridge-school.co.uk  See page 64 for our exclusive interview with Jay Rayner ahead of his appearance.

A Monster Calls is the emotional tale of a little boy called Conor (played by Lewis MacDougall) who is having a pretty tough time dealing with his mother (Felicity Jones), who is battling a serious illness. His father having moved miles away, Conor finds himself having to live with his grandmother, with whom he has little in common. One night, though, a monster (voiced by Liam Neeson) knocks at his window and introduces him to a fantasy world where the boy goes on a journey of courage, faith, and truth. Emotive and beautifully shot, it’s on at the Hop Farm until next Tuesday courtesy of the Moonlight Cinema. Tickets cost £25 per vehicle. See www.moonlightcinema.com

>>SATURDAY A new year equals a new start, and therefore a new you. But if your resolutions are still proving to be a bit sluggish, then why not kick-start things by joining in the weekly park runs at both Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, and Castle Street recreation ground, Tonbridge. They’re free to enter. All you have to do is register your details beforehand so you can participate in the 5k circuits, which start at 9am. More information at www.parkrun.org.uk If you want an evening with a difference, then make sure you book tickets to the Mercure Hotel in Pembury’s Only Fools and Three Courses dinner.

Starting at 7pm, it’s a play on the name of one of the BBC’s most successful comedy programmes and forms the theme of the evening. Your hosts are two of the show’s best-loved characters – Marlene and Boycie – with Del Boy, Rodney and Uncle Albert down on the guest list. As well as a three-course meal, the event also includes a comedy and disco. Tickets cost £38 per person.

Call 0844 815 9074 or email: events@mercuretunbridgewells.co.uk >> SUNDAY The Pantiles Market is on all weekend and, as usual, boasts an array of delicious gourmet goods and interesting buys for your home. There are also a number of pop-up food and drink stalls

What’s On

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

FEATURES

A ROUND-UP OF THIS WEEK’S MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Paul Dunton

The must-read guide to what’s on musically for the week ahead… www.paulduntonandguests.com

Live music

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE Enjoy a new year health boost at one of the local park runs so you can sample as you stroll around.

Ballet fans will enjoy the live screening of the Bolshoi’s Sleeping Beauty, which is on at the Odeon from 3pm. It’s described as a ‘dreamlike’ journey through the famous fairy tale of Princess Aurora, who on her 16th birthday is sent to sleep for 100 years by the evil witch Carabosse. Expect lavish sets, stunning costumes and a traditional retelling of this classic story. Tickets cost £20 and are available from www.odeon.co.uk The winner of the prestigious Palme D’Or prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival was the moving I, Daniel Blake and it is being screened tonight at Trinity from 5pm. It focuses on the story of a joiner who finds himself unable to work after a heart attack, and his ensuing struggle with the Department for Work and Pensions and his doctor.

It’s director Ken Loach at his emotive and political best. Tickets cost £10.50. >>MONDAY Every Monday morning from 10am until 12noon, the Tonbridge branch of the Knit & Natter group meets at the library. So if you’ve promised yourself you’re going to finish that baby blanket, or just fancy taking up a new hobby, why not pop along? >>TUESDAY The Beau Nash pub quiz is once again under way for the year and runs every Tuesday evening at 8.30pm. Just turn up with your team members to this pub on Mount Ephriam and register. For more information visit www.beau-nash.co.uk

PICK OF THE WEEK Perfume-making workshop Knole House, Sevenoaks Saturday January 21, 11am-4pm

AS WE move deeper into January, the local music scene starts to pick up again with some great live events.

For fans of indie and alternative, Young Apollo, White Liars and No More Vertigo are all performing at The Forum this Friday evening.

If you’re planning on venturing out this coming weekend, this Saturday night you can catch the funky/jazzy sounds of Lionel Shell and Over The Edge at The Grey Lady.

For fans of rock and pop hits from 60s to the present day, the excellent Wayne Bridle is at The Beau Nash Tavern and popular local fivepiece The Heartbeats are at The Royal Oak pub.

For fans of acoustic and roots, local artists Caleb Howard-Almond, Jennifer Lee-Ridley and Dave ‘Shep’ Sheperd are all at The Grey Lady this Sunday evening.

Looking ahead to next week, there is a great Open Mic evening at The Duke of York pub on Monday evening, and popular local rockers Mitch Feral and The Moveable Feast return to The Punch & Judy pub in Tonbridge on Tuesday night.

Young Apollo

THE TUNBRIDGE WELLS FORUM

The Common Doors 7.30pm, entry price variable, event information and tickets at www.twforum.co.uk

THURSDAY Private Party FRIDAY Young Apollo, White Liars, No More Vertigo THE GREY LADY MUSIC LOUNGE

The Pantiles Doors 7.15pm, entry £6/£7, websites www.pdag.co.uk + www.thegreylady.co.uk

WEDNESDAY Jimmy Harrison, Peter Taylor, Rachael Stalker, Roberto Picazo FRIDAY Soul Kitchen SATURDAY Over The Edge SUNDAY Caleb Howard – Almond, Jennifer Lee-Ridley, Dave ‘Shep’ Sheperd TUESDAY Gronk, Issey Cross, Anna Howie, Jack Leon Mackey THE CROSS KEYS

St John’s Road Open all day, free entry, music from 8pm website www.crosskeystw.co.uk

MONDAY TWUNT: Ukulele Jam Session THE ROYAL OAK

Prospect Road Open all day, free entry, music from early evening onwards

SATURDAY The Heartbeats: Pirate Night MONDAY Open Mic Night THE BEAU NASH TAVERN

Mount Ephraim Open all day, free entry, music from 8.30pm till late

If you want to do something just a little bit different this weekend, then why not sign up for this fabulous fragrance workshop. Under the expert guidance of Stephen Nelson, this olfactory event will look at the history of scent at Knole – it’s famous for the pot pourri made

by Lady Betty Germaine – and you’ll also get the chance to make your very own perfume to take home. Tickets cost £125 and can be bought from www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Jennifer Lee Ridley

SATURDAY Wayne Bridle THE DUKE OF YORK

The Pantiles open all day, free entry, music from 8.30pm onwards

MONDAY Open Mic Night THE PUNCH & JUDY

11 St Stephen’s Street, Tonbridge Open all day, free entry, music from 8.30pm

TUESDAY Mitch Feral & The Moveable Feast

Wayne Bridle

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Sporting Times

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

The octogenarian who just keeps on running

By Andrew Tong newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk ONE man for whom life is a marathon, not a sprint, is Graham Brooks. The Tunbridge Wells resident has been running in the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon since it began in 1983 and now, aged 84, he’s warming up for the next one.

One thing’s for sure, he’s guaranteed to win the Over-80s category.

“I’m lucky in lots of ways,” Graham admits. “I’m the only one above 80 so I don’t have much competition.

“It’s not because I’m good, it’s because I’m the only one. And whenever I see that someone else is approaching 80, I start worrying about what happens next. How good are they going to be?”

Graham was born in Umtata in South Africa’s Transkei, where Nelson Mandela came from, but has lived in Tunbridge Wells since 1969. A chemical engineer by trade, he was a founder member of the Tunbridge Wells Harriers Running Club.

He is being rather modest about his athletic abilities. The long run began back in his native South Africa, when he took part in the Comrades Marathon, a 90km race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

“Back in South Africa most people played sport at school, so I played cricket and rugby, tennis and squash. I started running to keep fit for squash, because you need to train hard in case you have to play a five-setter.

“Comrades is a very special race to me. I did it twice, I remember that one of my times was ten hours 35 minutes. You do five months of training from the start of the year. Every weekend you do a marathon, then you do three 54km races.

“It’s very important that you put a lot of energy drinks into yourself. But provided you do that, it’s not a problem, you just keep going.”

As if 90km was not far enough, when ALL TOGETHER The Comrades Marathon, a South African tradition

Graham came to the UK he took a step further – and then some more. “I’ve run 100 miles twice, with the London Distance Walkers Association up in the mountains of north Wales.

“The first time it took about 30 hours, the second time was 42 hours. But that was ten years ago.” Let’s just pause for breath there: 42 hours – at the age of 74.

How do you actually do that? “You keep running or walking throughout this period, but you have stops for food and rest, and perhaps even a sleep. Say two hours, if you feel the need.”

‘The race organiser lets me start half an hour early’ Graham is still running marathons, though he admits that he prefers to avoid the hilly courses because otherwise he struggles to make the six-and-a-half-hour cut-off time.

“It’s a bit of a challenge,” he admits.

“I still try to run two marathons a year, although I tend to only do the flat ones – like Hamburg and Edinburgh.”

The Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon has one fairly brutal climb, 300ft up Spring Hill into Fordcombe.

“In the Half you’ve got a really big hill in the last few miles, but you’ve just got to keep plodding along and you will get to the top. It’s not a problem for me.

“The only problem is that every year you get slower. I’m pretty slow at the moment. The

Half takes me about three hours now.

“I get a special concession from the race organiser, Mark Taylor. He lets me start the race half an hour early. I get passed after about six miles and then you’ve got someone to chase. You’ve got to have that or you get lazy, it makes a real difference.”

So what motivates the octogenarian to keep going? “I like running because it keeps me fit for life. It makes you healthy, you don’t catch colds and it makes your body strong. When winter comes, friends of mine tend to get ill, but I don’t.

“I don’t get aches and pains either,” Graham adds. “I do short runs, duration one hour, five times a week around the streets of Tunbridge Wells, and then I go running once a week with the club.”

Graham has four children and seven grandchildren. Does his family think he’s crazy? They wouldn’t dare. In fact there will be three generations of the Brooks family running in the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon this year.

“My daughter Jackie, who also lives in the town, has taken up running at the age of 50. She began with Sarah’s Runners, it’s a club that starts the ladies off and then they become Harriers. She’s coming along nicely.

She will be taking part in the Half with her daughter Amy, who’s 18.”

So what’s next for the man who can’t stop running? As ever, there’s another challenge ahead.

“I’m looking forward to getting into the next category, for 85 to 89 year olds.”

NO END IN SIGHT Graham Brooks completes yet another Half Marathon

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Four weeks to go:

Why flexibility and strength are crucial IF YOU’VE signed up for the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon, you’ve probably been out braving the elements to get the miles in. But working on your strength and flexibility are also important for a great race.

There’s no getting away from it, FITNESS running is very high impact and puts TIPS a lot of pressure on your joints; over Jane Dew long distances, that pressure is compounded.

But working on your strength and flexibility will enable your body to cope with those pressures better and help you avoid injury.

Jane Dew, a fitness instructor at Nuffield Health Fitness and Wellbeing Gym at Knights Park and a run leader for RunTogether, is here to “If you get a tight muscle guide you through your build-up to somewhere it will cause your the big race. body to be uneven, which you wouldn’t necessarily notice in Training everyday life. But once you start She says: “Logically, you think you putting in longer distances you need to work on leg strength to are likely to feel it, and it could protect knees, ankles and hips, but result in an injury.” you should also work on your core to You can overcome some of this assist pelvic stability and upper body tightness by stretching properly to help you maintain good posture after each run, but Jane advises over distance.” that most runners can benefit “You may not realise it, but you use from additional flexibility training. them all when you’re running. For Jane recommends yoga and example, if you have a shoulder Pilates as appropriate exercises. weakness it may put your spine out “Not all runners are good at of alignment, which can then lead to stretching after each run, and injury if you are running high mileage. those who do often concentrate “The stronger the muscles, the less on their legs,” she says. likely you are to suffer fallout from She also suggests gym courses the impact of running.” such as grit strength, bodypump All exercise shortens your muscles, and kettlercise for weighted leading to tightness, so it is also strength training. important to work on your flexibility.

But she adds: “You don’t have to “This isn’t helped by our modern use weights for strength. Bodylifestyles,” says Jane. “We tend to sit weight workouts, incorporating down a lot, leading to tight hip squats, lunges, press-ups and flexors and weak glutes. sit-ups also work well.”

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Wednesday January 18 | 2017

Squash club hosts major event in memory of champion Payne

CORNER THE MARKET Donington Park hosts the World Superbikes

Brands Hatch’s owners buy up Donington lease

By Andrew Tong MOTORSPORT:

THE owners of Brands Hatch have bought the rights to host races at another iconic British race track, Donington Park.

MotorSport Vision [MSV], based at the West Kingsdown venue, has acquired the business for the Leicestershire circuit on a 21-year lease, subject to regulatory approval.

Donington Park currently hosts the British leg of the World Superbike Championship and previously held motorcycling’s MotoGP for 23 years.

It also staged a single round of the Formula One World Championship in 1993 under the title European Grand Prix – won by Ayrton Senna.

The Kent company, which is owned by former F1 driver Jonathan Palmer and Sir Peter Ogden, also owns Oulton Park, Snetterton and Cadwell Park.

MSV will take over from Donington’s owner Kevin Wheatcroft, who saved the track from bankruptcy in 2009. It has been holding motorsport competitions since 1931.

Mr Palmer, MSV’s Chief Executive, said: “Like many circuits in the UK, Donington has had a turbulent time over the last 10 years, though thankfully Kevin Wheatcroft and his team have now recovered the damage done by the previous owner of the business.”

Donington was reopened by Tom Wheatcroft 40 years ago after falling into decline. His son Kevin commented: “Since taking the circuit back under my own control in 2009, huge efforts have been made to bring Donington back to the forefront of British Motorsport, not to mention the many millions it’s taken to do so.

“It seems very fitting in this celebratory year to hand over Donington’s reins to Jonathan Palmer and his expert team, a man whose business model my late father and I have admired for many years.”

In 2015 MSV expanded its operations on to the European mainland when it bought a former military airbase in north-eastern France.

SQUASH: TUNBRIDGE WELLS Squash Club has held a professional standard tournament in memory of former member Colin Payne, who died in November. The Colin Payne Tournament, the club’s third Professonal Squash Association Open event, was held on London Road on January 13-14.

Tunbridge Wells Squash Club Chairman John Croft said: “Colin has been a stalwart member of the club and a first team player for many years.

“He is well known in the wider squash community having won the British Over-50s title. He was Kent champion five times and won the county over-35 title 10 times.

‘Colin was instrumental in bringing the first professional tournament to the club’ He added: “Colin was instrumental in bringing the first professional tournament to the club in 2014 and has been a leading light in the squash scene for most of his adult life.”

Mr Payne’s partner Ina Herridge was present to hand out the prizes to the winners.

The tournament featured some of the leading lights of the sport. Richie Fallowes, the world No 62, successfully defended his title by defeating fellow Englishman Charles Sharpes, who is 50th in the world rankings.

Sharpes was making his debut in the event but has previously played at the club when he took on the former world No 1 James Willstrop in an exhibition event.

Among the overseas contingent were Lance Beddoes of New Zealand, who recently claimed his first ever PSA World Tour title, and Portugal’s Rui Soares.

The Ladies’ event featured England’s Millie Tomlinson, twice champion and current title holder

CUP OF CHEER Hot prospect Elise Lazarus with Mr Payne’s partner Ina Herridge; (below) Chairman John Croft with men’s winner Richie Fallows

VETERAN PERFORMER Colin Payne (left) beat Fredrik Johnson at this year’s British Open Over-50 final in Hull

who has reached her highest world ranking at No 35.

She overcame the five-time British junior champion Elise Lazarus, who made her first appearance at the event at the age of 16 and is one of the leading female English prospects.

TJs secure crucial bonus as battle of titans looms Amersham & Chiltern 5 Tonbridge Juddians 37

By Adam Hookway RUGBY: TONBRIDGE JUDDIANS travelled to winless A&C knowing that only a bonus point win would do as they look to stay on top in National League Three London & South-East.

Conditions were reasonable despite the weather having an impact on other fixtures in the division and both sides started brightly.

It took TJs 25 minutes to get on the board but then both Ryan Fuller and Mike O’Sullivan dotted down and Liam Prescott added a penalty.

The hosts also grabbed a try and the half ended at 5-13 to TJs. They had been impressive but the floodgates had not yet opened.

The second half saw TJs go up a gear as Murray

Galbraith-Lowe added two more tries with Fuller adding his second and Dave Irvine another.

Liam Prescott converted the last two and the all-important bonus point win was secured.

‘We can now focus on next weekend’s game as we know Wimbledon will turn up this time after we beat them 12-25 at their place’ Elsewhere in the division Wimbledon notched another half-century of points as they saw off Southend Saxons 50-17. That win keeps them second, just one point behind TJs as the sides meet on Saturday at The Slade.

Third-placed Hertford are 15 points further back so this weekend’s game is important in the chase for automatic promotion.

“It was a good performance today from the squad,” said Coach Pete Dankert. “We came through it relatively unscathed and got the BP win which we wanted.

“We can now focus on next weekend’s game as we know Wimbledon will turn up this time after we beat them 12-25 at their place.”

TJs will be making the most of the new 3G pitch at Tonbridge’s Judd School for training and will be hoping that the facility gives them an extra edge over other teams who are still stuck in the mud.

The 2nd XV also enjoyed a victory with a 15-17 win over their nearest rivals in Zoo 3 South. That result puts them one point clear of Sutton & Epsom at the top but TJs have a game in hand.

Sporting Times

Wednesday January 18 | 2017

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Polished diamond brings three out of three for Angels

CRUNCH TIME Man of the match Nick Doherty puts in a fierce tackle

Tonbridge Angels 3 Hendon 1

Havant make Wells pay for lacking focus at kick-offs

By Roger Clarke RUGBY: THIS was a vital game in the Wells’ campaign in London One South.

Havant lay in second place, just four points above Tunbridge Wells in third.

With only one automatic promotion place to move up to National League Three and a play-off place for the second placed team only, the stakes were high – even with 11 games still to go.

Wells were without four regular second rows while in the backs Hayden Pope returned after a month out.

The visitors found themselves immediately under pressure from a Havant side seeking revenge for their 27-13 defeat at St Marks in September.

Having come close on two occasions Havant got over the line from a rolling maul try scored by No 7 Joe Davis but Joel Knight missed the conversion.

It was around the half-hour mark that Wells finally started to find some continuity.

On 34 minutes Havant’s Tom Blackburn received a yellow card for a high

tackle and Frank Reynolds got Wells on the board. Yet twice in this match the visitors were to rue allowing Havant back into the game from the kick-off.

A smart move to the right culminated in a lack of Wells defence and a try for Joel Knight, though he could not convert.

Reynolds kicked another penalty to go into half-time at a respectable 10-6 down despite Havant’s domination for large parts of the first half.

The Wells backs started to look more the part in the second half, but it was the home side who countered from lost possession to allow No 8 Gavin Hart in for a try converted by Knight, putting the hosts 17-6 ahead.

It was a case of ‘now or never’ after several minutes of Wells attacking in the

Havant 22 and Mike Hathaway was deservedly driven over under the posts.

Reynolds converted to make it 17-13.

Then the restart problem resurfaced.

The hosts retrieved the ball from a Wells error in receiving and spun the ball wide for Knight to score. He also converted for a 24-13 lead on 76 minutes.

With a minute left, Havant’s Steve Cruddas received the second yellow card after Reynolds’ brilliant kick to the corner put the forwards under pressure.

Wells rolled the maul inexorably to the line and over for prop Turi Uini to force the touchdown.

Reynolds failed with the conversion as the final act of a frustrating encounter in what had been Wells’ hardest away fixture of the season.

FOOTBALL: TONBRIDGE ANGELS again made light of their lack of wingers to record a third straight win in the Ryman Premier with their new diamond formation.

It’s not quite Alf Ramsey’s wingless wonders but Angels manager Steve McKimm’s master stroke coincided with him receiving an extension to his contract to remain in charge of the Angels next season.

But the home side depended on the services of keeper Anthony di Bernardo to keep them in the game as Hendon certainly had more of the play in the first half.

In the opening exchanges Kezie Ibe forced a double save from Di Bernardo, and the visitors didn’t have to wait long to get their goal.

Despite Di Bernardo producing another fine save after nine minutes, Karl Oliyde forced the ball home to put the visitors one up.

The Angels replied in the 13th minute when Damian Scannell’s corner was powerfully headed by Mitchell Nelson past Tom Lovelock in the Hendon goal for the equaliser.

But the visitors continued to have the better of the play until Tom Phipp made a good run into the Hendon

box and was brought down in the 36th minute. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Alex Akrofi converted.

Four minutes into the second half, another Damian Scannell corner was forced in by George Beavan after a scramble for Tonbridge’s third.

Hendon stayed on the front foot but the Tonbridge defence was able to deal with their opponents’ forays into the final third.

Once again, man of the match Di Bernardo was forced to make a point blank save from Hendon’s Arthur Lee on 75 minutes but it was an isolated scare for the home side.

With no recognised wide men for the third game in a row, manager McKimm again employed a diamond formation. But now he faces something of a dilemma as winger Nick Wheeler returns to action.

McKimm accepted that it had been a workmanlike display, saying: “We are in the business of maximising points and to be honest I’m not too bothered how we get them.

“Yes we won ugly today, but to be fair the boys stuck to the task, didn’t make too many mistakes and closed out the game effectively.

“Tony di Bernardo deserved his man of the match award but there were other good performances.”

Crandley dives in late to earn well-deserved point AFC Croydon 1 Tunbridge Wells 1

By Scott Bartlett

PHOTO: Bruce Elliott

Havant 24 Tunbridge Wells 18

PHOTO: Bruce Elliott

By Jim Rowe

FOOTBALL: TUNBRIDGE WELLS fought back from a 1-0 deficit to draw away at promotion contenders AFC Croydon thanks to a superb Ryan Crandley goal.

Wells had never taken a point at Mayfield Stadium since Croydon came into the Southern Counties East League.

The match was goalless at half-time despite an entertaining, end-to-end first half in which Josh Biddlecombe had a good chance to poke home Jon Pilbeam’s cross.

Croydon started the second half

brightly and came close to opening the scoring in the 52nd minute when they hit the post.

The home side finally broke the deadlock on 68 minutes when the league’s leading scorer Warren Mfula grabbed his 23rd goal of the season off a rebound after Steve Lawrence made the initial save.

Manager Jason Bourne made his final substitution in the 73rd minute, bringing on Crandley, and it proved inspired as he scored a deserved equaliser in the 85th minute.

Pilbeam, who was having an exceptional game, delivered a deep cross that was met by Crandley with a diving header into the net.