HYTHE CIVIC SOCIETY

 

NEWSLETTER

 

 

No 131 August - September 2006

 

 

EDITORS NOTE

From time to time we would like to introduce some colour pictures and with our next Newsletter we plan to issue a 4-page colour supplement to illustrate “Hythe in Summer” which we hope will be interesting – any contributions will be very useful and your views will be appreciated. In addition we have had some comments that the type-face we have been using for headings is rather hard to read. Rather than experiment with completely new fonts we have simply changed the headings to a more easily readable but quite bold type-face called Gill Sans Ultra Bold.

 

SOCIETY EVENTS

You should receive your programme for 2006/7 with this newsletter and we hope you will all enjoy the wide variety of talks which begin on Tuesday 24^th October and have been planned by sub-committee members, Doug Amans, June Orrell and Ian Hill. They would be delighted to hear of suggestions you may have for the following year. Not all of the titles are exactly self-explanatory so we shall bring you more details in the newsletter as the dates approach.

Please make a special note that this year our Annual Lunch is in November, on Saturday the 4^th to be precise. The cost is £13.00 and will comprise:

Leek & Stilton Soup

Braised Steak, Mushrooms & Madeira Sauce

Brandysnaps filled with Lemon Mousse

Cheese, Biscuits, Coffee & Mints

Cheques (payable to Hythe Civic Society) or cash to D.Amans, 4 The Maltings, Hythe, CT21 5ES

 

TOWN EVENTS

Age Concern are holding a Quiz Evening on 22^nd September at 7.30pm at the Stade Street Centre.

 

FRIENDS OF ST. LEONARDS’ CONCERTS

August 19^th: “The Organist Entertains” A programme of light classical and popular music played by Nigel Ogden paying a welcome return visit.

 

September 9^th: “Cosi Fan Tutte” A concert performance in English of one of Mozart’s most delightful and amusing operas given by simply opera a most accomplished group from Rye.

 

September 30^th: a Concert of Piano Music by students from the Royal College of Music – Jianing Kong and Omri Epstein.

 

COMMITTEE SECRETARY

We are looking for a new Honorary Secretary following the recent resignation of Chrissy Sterling due to the pressure of her other commitments.

The successful applicant will receive an honorarium of £500 per year during which he or she will be expected to attend about 13 early evening meetings, take notes of the proceedings and prepare and distribute the official minutes. In addition the post involves acting as the focus for incoming correspondence by mail & e-mail from a number of related organisations, Local Authorities and committee members, (sending acknowledgements where appropriate) and, in a few cases, writing replies in line with the requirements of our Chairman with whom close liason will be required. The applicant will also be expected to look after the quite limited official records of HCS and file any important correspondence.

In summary, the post would suit someone with good secretarial training who has an internet connected computer and is accustomed to using the MS Office computer systems who would be interested in helping a dedicated group of volunteers serve the community in a practical way. Replies, please, to the Chairman, John Holman – 01303 269113.

 

STRANGE CARGO is a group of Folkestone based artists who have a major project called “Other Peoples’ Photographs”. They would like to borrow any photographs showing family or friends in the streets of Folkestone, Cheriton or Sandgate. Although not covering Hythe at present the organisers thought our readers might have relevant pictures they would be prepared to lend. For more details please call 01303 244533.

 

THE HYTHE FESTIVAL was blessed with excellent weather almost throughout and events contributed by the Society seem to have been successful.  The coach trip to Westenhanger Castle was well-attended, the Poetry Prom was ‘standing room only’ (it’s the tea that draws ’em in!), and no less than 107 seekers after knowledge joined the  Guided Town Walks.  Michael George’s talk on the defence works erected to protect England against Napoleon was particularly interesting for making the point (not unheard of today in defence matters) that had the French invaded in 1804 as Boney intended, they might well have succeeded, for the Canal and Martello Towers were barely begun!  By the time they were finished, he was safely locked up and escaped only in time to meet his Waterloo! Did you get to see our Exhibition on Photography in the Library Foyer?  Apart from the interesting hardware on show, and some remarkable wartime Air Photographs, we paid tribute to our late friends and colleagues, Jack Adams and John Davies.  One of Jack’s photos created some interest: it shows MV Hassell badly holed in the side with the caption that the damage occurred in Hythe Bay.  It is hard to see that stretch of water as a danger to shipping on this scale (unless the Ranges took it for a target) and no date is given.  Please can a reader tell us what happened, and when?

 One planned event did NOT take place: the Concert by the US Army Europe Band and Chorus, who were forced to cancel their UK tour because of a sudden restriction in their travel budget.  We hope they might still come on a future occasion.  It is interesting that the Americans found out about Hythe from the Festival Website; it shows that this event – like the Venetian Fete – ‘advertises’ the town, to the benefit of its image, and we hope of its prosperity, across the world.

Two other events of historic importance took place during Festival Week: on Sunday 9^th July, the 85^th Anniversary of the Formation of the local Branch of the Royal British Legion was commemorated with a March from the Clubhouse in St Leonard’s Road to the War Memorial for a Service at which the Branch Standard was re-dedicated.  Music was provided by the St Cecilia Band of our twin town, Poperinge, which is celebrating its 175^th Anniversary!

And on Saturday 8^th July the Tower Theatre opened at Shorncliffe – the new home of FHODS is in business at last, though the internal conversion has only just started (the Bar and Toilets are up and running – so they have their priorities right).

 

PLANNING MATTERS

In NL 128 we told you about the planning application to demolish and redevelop the unusual, completely circular, house called “The Whim” in Park Road, reportedly one of only two such properties in the country. We are pleased to report that this property has now been listed and should continue to enhance the varied architecture of the town for future generations.

 

The latest developments in the saga of the Sports Centre were a Town Meeting in the Town Hall on 7^th June and a Referendum on 29^th June.  At the meeting the relatively small Council Chamber filled very early and quite a large crowd was left on the stairs and outside. (We really do need a Community Centre!)  The Convening Letter said that the Question to be presented would be:

‘Should Hythe’s new sports centre be built on the existing South Road swimming pool site in preference to the South Road playing fields?’

However, the Mayor as Chairman felt unable to allow this wording as HTC does not own the present swimming pool site (Shepway does) and would therefore have no power to implement a favourable vote. A representative from Shepway stated categorically that any location other than the South Road sports field would not be proceeded with. It was therefore proposed that the Question be changed to:

‘Faced with the closure of a worn out swimming pool in Hythe, do you want a ‘state of the art’ sports centre and swimming pool on South Road Recreation Ground as the only financially viable alternative?’

The new question was endorsed by the required ten electors and approved by the meeting. The result of the ensuing poll was: Yes: 1,843; No: 811. Although only 25% of the electorate voted, this is not untypical of such polls.

This Society holds to its view that Hythe needs a new Pool, that a Sports Centre is a desirable addition and that the facility shouldn’t just duplicate that of Folkestone but help provide for a good range of activities across the District.  We accepted the South Road sports field site only when it seemed that, otherwise, Hythe might get nothing. We shall continue to monitor developments with a view to influencing favourably the final design and operating conditions.

 

SOCIAL HISTORY

The  attractive row of houses on the North bank of the Canal,  opposite the Bandstand, was once called “Avenue Terrace”, and the stretch of pathway from Ladies Walk Bridge to Twiss Road was named “Mayor’s Avenue”.  The Mayor in question was Alderman John Scott who reigned in the 1890’s and again in 1906 and ’07 and lived in the end house which boasted, Miss Rayner tells us, a magnificent aviary.  Scott was a builder who came to Hythe originally as foreman of the firm which built the Imperial Hotel, and later set up for himself and owned the Timber Yard behind the houses.  This had previously been the Roller Skating Rink, scene of elegant waltzes and afternoon teas, and patronised by the officers attending the School of Musketry as a way of meeting the (female) population ot the town. It is now re-built as Wellington Mews, and won one of our Civic Awards.  The old houses were also under threat of demolition a few years ago and we feared what ugliness might replace them, but in the event they were and continue to be very nicely refurbished.  We wonder why and when the name changed to The Avenue tout court; did the pre-war owners not wish to live in a terrace?

 

We have often reported on The Mill House in Horn Street, the deterioration and vandalism, the sudden short-lived refurbishment (which attracted yet more vandalism), the reluctant enforcing role of Shepway District Council … Now it seems at last that the Grade II Listed 18thC building once occupied in the summer season by Mrs Keppel, mistress of King Edward VII (who stayed in somewhat greater state in The Grand on the Lees)  has a future again, and refurbishment and conversion into separate units is progressing.  The work is authorised but the owner/developer is in breach of some of the consents, and in particular, the high blank block wall in front of the property has not been authorised, and will surely not be.  Apart from its ugly impact on the house and adjacent roadway, it must make the rooms behind both dark and dismal with no outlook.

Were there two mills here?  One burned down in 1859 (according to the Easdown/Sage text in their excellent ‘Back in Time’ book of old Hythe picture postcards), but they reproduce another card showing an 18thC mill and mill house on the other side of the road which survived to 1961, and which apparently produced variously paper and flour. Do members have any information about this?

 

CONSERVATION

Committee member Alan Joyce spoke to us recently about the Ancient Tree Forum and its task of listing all ancient trees (over 500 years old) in the country. Up to now, in our area, such trees have been listed in Saltwood and Lympne, on private property, and Newington but none, as yet, in Hythe. He would be pleased to hear of any that might qualify.

He also reports that there is an increasing incidence of Bleeding Canker among horse chestnut trees. This, often fatal, disease is generally manifested by a discharge of a rusty-red, yellow-brown or almost black gummy liquid which usually dries as a dark brittle crust. If you see a tree which exhibits these symptoms please call the KCC Arboriculture Officer, Dave Sephton (01303 245831) or Alan on 01303 267085. A colour picture with NL 132.

 

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Noted in the Hythe Reporter, 19^th Oct 1934:

 

Showing at the Grove Cinema

 

‘Bulldog Jack’

 

with Jack Hulbert, Fay Wray, Claude Hulbert

 

‘A story that will thrill and amuse: a ring on the phone, the scream of a police whistle, the roar of a runaway train, a bit of romance, uproarious comedy and capital entertainment.’

    

Compared with Brokeback Mountain and the

Da Vinci Code, times were simpler then!

 

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A MYSTERY ORCHID

Members, Doctor and Mrs Woodward were walking on the hills behind Hythe earlier this Summer when they found an orchid in bud beside the track with a similar plant nearby. It was generating a robust spike and was a substantial plant about two feet tall but with just the buds to go on it was not easy to identify. However, when the buds opened all became clear. It was a Lizard Orchid, (Himantoglossum hircinum) so called because its long trailing lip has the appearance of a lizard’s sinuous body. Although quite common on the Continent it has been rare here and is still confined mainly to the South-east, especially Kent where, in Sandwich Bay there is a large colony.

 

GEOFFREY ROBERTS

In NL130 we reported Geoffrey’s death and promised to give more details of his contribution to HCS & Hythe. Mike Umbers has been reviewing some of his work and prepared the following appreciation.

During his Editorship of this Newsletter, Geoffrey Roberts converted it from the single sheet record of activities and membership news, to a four page campaigning journal.  You hear his voice in every line he wrote. Here he is in May ’94 on the move of the Post Office from purpose built premises (now Bathtime) into Paydens, with scant notice and no consultation:

‘..the combined chemist/post office [opened] in an atmosphere of resentment against this down-grading of the town’s Government Service premises.  It is now to be seen if the service level can overcome the site’s comparative unsuitability.’

He captured our feelings perfectly, and some items are topical still: the High Street direction of travel (then just reversed, and still a nonsense); the refurb-ishment of the Canal (a success story in which he played a large part); his running feature ‘Living in Hythe’; and, above all, his reporting of the Great Community Centre Debate.

Geoffrey represented HCS on the Community Centre Working Group – a sub-committee set up by HTC. In early ’94 he was able to report encouragingly on a meeting with the Architect, at which an agreement was reached for a 300-seat hall with a stage, committee rooms, kitchen and toilets on a site near the Canal Bank (where Waitrose now stands).   Then in September he disclosed a snag: detailed drawings had been produced but SDC ‘had inexcusably forgotten about a large sewer running under the site’.  In November, he told us doubt and delay continued, but then, in the following July, he announced a completely new site – on the corner of South Road and Ladies Walk: precisely the site of the now proposed Sports Centre!  The new Town Council was enthusiastic, societies lined up to say this was just what we needed, and people talked of dances, drama groups concerts….‘Horizons and aspirations are lifted for us all because of the opportunities stemming from this one vital building.’

The following month, in good Hythe fashion, the F&GP Committee of HTC voted in favour of South Road – but a different part of South Road! And when that went to full Council, some councillors expressed regret that the Green had restrictions preventing building there.  HCS released a statement to the effect it would support The Green site if the question of restrictions were resolved.

HTC decided to consult the public (those were the days!)  It proposed two sites: The Green near the car park, or the South-East corner of the South Road land.  Of 40 organisations asked, 24 replied, 19 of them favouring The Green.  HCS sent out 450 letters and received an astonishing 404 replies by letter and ’phone: 261 voted for the Green, 114 for South Road, and 29 wanted neither. The Hythe Herald telephone poll showed a small majority for The Green.  On the 11^th July within a two-page statement to the Press, HTC explained the legal situation regarding The Green, which many do not understand to this day:

The Covenant was introduced in 1853 by the Hythe Corporation at the time of the sale of those lands which now comprise the residential and commercial properties to the north, west, and south-east of The Green.  … ‘The Green shall  be used as an Archery and Arboretum, Cricket Ground and Bowling Green and is reserved by the Corporation for those purposes or for other similar uses for the amusement recreation or benefit of the public in perpetuity and that this land shall not be applied to building purposes.’

Legal opinion…[considers this to apply] to buildings for domestic or commercial purposes. A Community Centre ...is considered to be outside the restrictions the Borough itself imposed more than 140 years ago when social/ leisure requirements were somewhat different.

(Quoted in NL65)

On the 20^th July, councillors voted 8-7 for The Green – a majority of only one.  The old debate is worth reporting, not just for its intrinsic interest and current relevance (we still have no Community Centre 11 years on!) but also to draw attention to Geoffrey’s meticulous recording of the tortuous debate – not all of it conducted in the open.

We will complete this sad story as told in the last editions that Geoffrey edited in our next Newsletter.

 

CIVIC AWARDS

Last year, as many of you will remember, we were unable to find a new or restored building (or amenity) of sufficient merit to make one of our Civic Awards. This year there are several projects coming to fruition which could deserve consideration and as the year goes by we shall illustrate some of them and encourage you to take a good look. Hopefully, you will let the committee know your views about these and other possible prize winners so that we can reflect members’ views when the time comes, in March ’07, to make a decision.

The first, in the “restoration” category, concerns the former SEEBOARD showroom (latterly a video hire shop) in the High Street which was a fairly vile example of “sixties” style, devoid of any element that chimed with the existing building stock. As shown below it has been re-faced with more traditional materials, an interesting roof line has been added, which incorporates additional accommodation and the inset doorway is a pleasant slightly “olde worlde” feature.