Some sort of periodical is an essential life-line in village such as ours

Welcome to West Farleighs own

LIFE-LINE
Distributed freely in Sept 2016 Edition no 481
Editors: Helen Swan, Jacky Taylor and Stephen Norman
Website: www.farleighevents.com Email: editor@farleighevents.com

Upcoming Local Events

Sun Sept 4:

East Farleigh Farmers Market

Harvest Supper tickets now on sale!

The Village Harvest Supper will be at 7pm on Sat, Sept

Sun Sept 10:

Ride n Stride for Kent Churches

24th

Mon Sept 19:

at All Saints.

WF Parish Council meet at GI

No quiz this year, but Pete & Co are back with popular music to suit all
tastes. Pete, Roy and Lin are like Dr Jazz.they play because they love it
and it shows! The group will play two sets, with the Great
Thrombosie making a surprise return in-between! [That man has no
shame. Ed.] There may be an opportunity to take your partner for a boogie
60's/70s style.

Sat Sept 24:

Harvest Supper

Sun Sept 25:

Harvest Festival Service at All Saints

Thu Sept 29:

W.I. Macmillan coffee morning

Do contact Helen Swan if you would
like to promote your event
helen.swan2@btinternet.com

There will be an extensive buffet, with fresh salmon, ham, smoked turkey,
quiches, a cheese board and various salads followed by Terry Ayears
famous apple pies with cream (by the way, congratulations to Ann and
Terry who celebrate 50 years together this month!)

More events on Page 8 &

www.farleighevents.com

A bar will be provided for your wine and soft drinks (donations welcome).
Call 0778843383 (Jacky) or 01622 814561 (Terry & Ann) to reserve. Tickets
cost 10.

In this Lifeline
Pastoral Letters

Why not bring a table? Its a great way to meet your neighbours. PS. This
event sold out last year so dont delay!

Church services

Why litter? ...

Welcome to our village

Digital bad guys.

A View from the Garden

Sports Report

Organisations

Events diary..

And talking of neighbours, a warm welcome to our new,

youngest resident Sebastian Meddemen and
congratulations to his proud parents Peter and Cathryn.
The new Ewell Manor was ready for him just in time!

New on the website

The Farleighs from a microlite

Baby
Sebastian

Full Litterpicking article

Also a warm welcome to the Ward

family, (Darren & Tracy, children Aimee
and Ross) who have just moved into
Court Lodge Farm, next to the church.
Darren and Tracy have lived in Maidstone for many years, and they have
many friends and connections here in West Farleigh. Tracy is a keen
gardener and historian and is looking forward to tackling the extensive
garden. The first job is to repair the dovecote!

Ed Boyd rural images

Page 1 of 8

Pastoral newsletter by Hugh Grainger

This is the time of year for new beginnings: young children starting school,
older ones venturing into secondary school; young adults commencing at
University or beginning a new job. Altogether a challenging time. So how do
we cope with these issues? We are all different, so of course we shall each
have our own way of dealing with things. Does our way include GOD or
JESUS?
For many it wont, of course. This is unfortunate, because not only is God a great resource and
enabler; He very often knows much better than we do, not only what is best for us, but what He
would wish us to do. When we are young, we simply do not know what lies ahead: how could
we? To what extent should we trust Gods judgement? His knowledge? Perhaps, somewhere,
there are some words which may help us.
In the seventh chapter of St. Matthews gospel, Jesus has some very wise words about how we
should live our lives; and He sums up His advice with these words: The man who hears these
words of mine and acts upon them is like a man who had the sense to build his house on rock.
The rain came down, the floods, rose, the wind blew, and beat upon that house; but it did not
fall, because its foundations were on rock. Which way will we choose?
A note on the finances of Rochester Diocese by our Rector Peter Callway
You may have heard that there are some difficulties in the finances in the
Diocese. This is true, and is of some concern. The situation is that because of a
historical lack of full understanding about the actual financial position - caused
by complexity in the way accounts were reported, multiple funds, and one off
events which distorted the true picture - the reserves of the Diocese have been
steadily diminishing. This has been exacerbated by a poor response from parishes
under the new pledge scheme and this means that there is a forecasted shortfall
for this year which cannot be met through existing reserves.
Clearly, action needs to be taken and the new chair of the Diocesan Board of Finance is working
with Bishops Council to address the challenge. There are short term actions to keep costs down,
and longer term plans to bring the finances back on an even keel. Whilst this is of some concern,
there is no need for despair or panic, and I am confident that the issues will be addressed. Please
feel free to speak to me if you wish to find out more. Meanwhile, I want to take the opportunity to
acknowledge the continued contribution made by our parishes and so many individuals to the
wider mission and ministry of the church, both financially and through time and talents offered.
Peter Callway, Rector
Services at All Saints
Sunday 4 Sept
Sunday 11 Sept
Sunday 18 Sept
Sunday 25 Sept

8.00 a.m.
11.00 a.m.
9.30 a.m.
9.30 a.m.

Holy Communion (DJ)

Morning Prayer (mod) (ED)
Morning Prayer (trad) (PC)
HARVEST FESTVAL (PC)

All Saints Church is available for

hire for more information,
please ring 01622 820305

Clergy contact numbers

Rev Peter Callway: Rector 01622 747570 Call for Baptisms, Weddings & Funerals, not Fridays
Rev David Jones: Hon. Associate Rector 01622 741474. Not Friday
Rev Eileen Doyle: Associate Rector 01622 204241. Not Mondays and Tuesdays
Becky Parnham Childrens and Families Worker 07949 646885
All Saints is one of 5 churches in the Benefice, namely East Farleigh, Coxheath, Linton and Hunton
For Information about other churches in the Benefice, please visit http://unitedbenefice.church

Page 2 of 8

LITTER IN THE FARLEIGHS by Brian Cushing

Why do people drop litter? Is there a demographic that defines litterers?
My generation was born and raised in a 1940s and 50s society which paid little
heed to the environmental cost of rubbish disposal. There was little attempt to
separate and recycle stuff. Everything went into a metal dustbin which was
collected by the council dustmen and chucked into a dustcart which, when it
disappeared down the road, was out of sight and out of mind. Of course, the volume
of rubbish in the 50s was far less than we are faced with nowadays.
So...is littering a problem of our time?
Most of the conclusions of a Local Environmental Quality Survey of England (LESQSE) 2014/15 are blindingly
obvious to the volunteer litter-pickers of West Farleigh:
The top four litter types, comprising smokers materials, confectionery packs, non-alcoholic drinksrelated litter and fast food-related litter, remain the most prevalent...Three types of litter that have
significantly increased in the past two years have been plastic bags, discarded food and drink and
vehicle parts...Confectionery packs, non-alcoholic drinks material, fast food-related litter, snack packs
and discarded food and drink are all litter types associated with the consumption of food-on-the-go...
But one finding in the LEQSE survey would - I think - surprise us:The 2014/15 LEQSE shows a continuing picture of improvement since2001

[my italics]

Really? My personal experience, after cleaning our village roads and lanes, is that its only a matter of days
before thrown litter fouls it again.
Years ago, in the seventies, I was in the South Pacific islands. I was struck time and again by the beauty of the
environment....but it was frequently ruined by the litter, mainly non-biodegradable plastic bags, dumped on
the beaches, paths and roads by the inhabitants. So here we had a situation where it was the locals doing
the damage, and I have seen it repeated in countries across Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere.
But in our village, it seems that everyone hates litter. And the litter-pickers have found that almost all the
rubbish is found on the verges of our lanes and roads. The inescapable conclusion is that it is vehicle drivers
and their passengers who are the guilty ones.
So if the stuff that gets discarded nowadays is so indestructible, surely that should make us all rather more
careful about its disposal, shouldnt it? Surely sensible people would realise that its one thing to chuck a paper
bag that would rot down in a matter of months, but another to dump a Coke tin composed of aluminium
alloy with a plastic lining which will still be around in its extant form in ten or more years time.
However, Im no closer as to who these people are or why they take this irresponsible attitude. Perhaps the
litterers are fairly local maybe from Maidstone en route to Paddock Wood, or any other of hundreds of
journeys made within a radius of a few miles.
What age group are they? Its tempting to suppose that older people are generally more responsible in their
attitudes, and perhaps its a younger generation doing the damage, but thats not incontrovertible. Arguably,
the young are now more aware of the fragility of the planet than the old, who supposed it would just roll on
forever. Perhaps the miscreants are all ages.
What does the law say? Anyone who drops litter in a public place or on an adopted highway is committing
a crime under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. But do the litterers care about this? It seems not.
My conclusion is that other than having a few subjective views, Im really no closer to answering the questions
I posed at the beginning of this article. Why do people litter? I dont know. Can we define a littering
demographic? I cant say. Is it a problem of our time? I hope so because that way maybe there is hope for
the future environment.
A full version of this article appears on www.farleighevents.com

Page 3 of 8

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH - digital alert!

Watch out for IT scam callers who know more
than they should
Many of us are familiar with unwanted calls from a long way away. The caller is called Tim or
Janet and works for Microsoft Technical Centre and claims that your computer is or has been
attacked or hacked from the Internet. Well, heres a new and sinister twist. Last month one of
our editors changed broadband supplier and an OpenReach engineer came to install a new
line. Within one hour, our editor had received a call from Tim and then half an hour later,
Janet, purporting to work for BT OpenReach. Disturbingly, they knew that an OpenReach
engineer had just visited and they now needed to test the new broadband.
The test began by asking our editor to run tracert 8.8.8 on his computer. This trace
command reveals the details of your connection to the internet and is the first step in hacking
into your computer, (for example to install software to capture your passwords etc.) Our editor
did not complete the test.
The caller called back twice. This attack has been reported to BT OpenReach who passed the
matter to their security department. The moral is: never let a stranger tell you what to type into
your computer unless you are absolutely certain who they are!

Peter Baggott and Stephen Norman are

taking part in the annual "Ride and
Stride for Churches" on Saturday 10th
September. This is a fund raising event
where participants gain sponsorship to
visit as many churches as they can
either by cycle or on foot. Half the
money they raise will go to All Saints
and the rest to a central fund to help
maintain the beautiful churches of
Kent.
They would love some company,
whether riding or striding! Or you can
support them from the couch by visiting
www.farleighevents.com/fundraising.
PS. AND, we need volunteers to record
visitors to our church on Sept 10th. Can
you spare an hour? Call Sue O'Donnell
01622 727852 to sign up!

The Coxheath Chiropractic & Natural Therapy

Centres
43 Stockett Lane, Coxheath, ME17 4PT
Established 1993
Telephone number 01622 745178
Promoting Natural healing & Health

Offering a range of complementary therapies to

ease your aches and pains
And soothe away the stress of life:
McTimoney Chiropractic Massage Craniosacral
Therapy Health & Wellbeing & Money Coach
Autogenic Training Organic Facials Dry Body Brushing
Reflexology Psycotherapy and Counselling

For full details please visit

www.coxheathchiropractic.co.uk

Page 4 of 8

View from the Garden by Lee Brayshaw

After a late start, our
summer eventually
arrived and hopefully we
have all made time to
enjoy our gardens.
Summer will soon start to
wind down as our days
get shorter, but there are
still jobs to keep
everything looking at its best.
Continue with the dead heading, especially the
roses and dahlias as they will continue to give a
show right into late autumn. Remove any annuals
that finish and start thinking about what you might
like to plant next. This is a perfect month for planting
new shrubs if you have room, or maybe older plants
need digging out and replacing with something
new.
New lawns can be laid or grass seed sown later this
month. The mornings start damp and odd days of
rain but most importantly the soil is still warm which
encourages root growth and germination of the
seed.
Established lawns will benefit from a scarifying
towards the end of the month. Use a spring-tine rake
to remove excess thatch which is basically a buildup of cut grass and moss and is the cause of most
people's poor lawns. They will then need an Autumn
weed and feed when we are expecting a spell of
rain.

You will soon start to notice packs of bulbs appearing for

sale in shops and garden centres as this is the month to
start planting daffodils, alliums and all other bulbs
(except tulips) so they develop a good root system but
for tulips, wait for cooler weather which I will talk about
next month and explain the reason.
One of the main jobs for any gardener is weeding.
Along with many others I battle with bindweed! If you
have the time and patience it can be treated by
unwinding it from plants and laying it on the ground and
then carefully spraying with a glyphosate based
weedkiller. Be careful to only spray the weed and of
course keep pets away for a few hours until it has dried
and is safe. Always follow the manufacturers instructions.
A shrub performing
particularly well this
month is hydrangea.
They keep
flowering, while many
of the border
perennials start to
fade. There are many
beautiful colours and
flower shapes and
remember they prefer
semi-shady parts of the
garden.
So, to sum up keep on
top of general maintenance and start thinking about
spring bulbs for next year. And finally make the most of
the remaining warm and sunny days!

Advertisement: Dine like a prince at the Old

School Hall, East Farleigh on Sat 17th Sept.
International chef Ben Spalding will create a
seven course taster evening. 7 courses including
his trademark dishes such as his 30 ingredient
salad plus the half chilled, half hot soup. The food
will be accompanied by fine wines and delicious
cocktails from a highly skilled mixologist to
compliment the different flavour sensations your
mouth will experience during the course of the
evening. Tickets 49. Ben@benspalding.co.uk

All Saints Church, West Farleigh:

Tidy your topiary and hedges soon to give your yew
or box a sharp shape for the winter. You can use
electric cutters but I prefer to use a good set of
sharp shears and take my time doing it by hand.

Little Angels toddlers & babies group restarts

after the holiday Fri 9th September! 1pm.

Professional Pilates at All Saints: Tuesdays at

9.30am. Call Hilary 07903762585. All Ages!

Page 5 of 8

View from the Scoreboard

Cricket
Unfortunately, after our previous run of results, last months fixtures proved that when your
luck is against you, you just have to grin and bear it. The last time I wrote, it was about
possible promotion and now its possible relegation! Although last months four fixtures
ended in four defeats, three of three of them were lost in the final over. Whilst we lost
against Locksbotton, our final over defeats were versus Southborough, Horsmonden and
Betsham. It could have been so very different! Our final three games versus Speldhurst,
Farningham and Leigh will, hopefully, be more successful.
BREAKING NEWS: We defeated Speldhurst, with a strong batting performance.
Football:
Our Ringstedt visit was another great success, not only did 36 Farleigh Boys travel out, but
36 travelled back! Whilst our hosts as always fed and watered us to their usual standard,
we actually won this match 4-2 which amazingly was on the 50th anniversary of
Englands victory over Germany in the World Cup Final (1966) and it ended with the
same score!
We also had time to visit the local beer festival and took a boat trip up the River Weser
from Bremer-Haven to Bremen. Heres hoping next years tour in West Farleigh will be just
as good.

Club News
Our lucky ton-up winner for July were:
No. 88
Karim Habibi
30
No. 68
John Day
20
No. 27
Maurice Baggott
10

Yours in sport Tel (815267)

Do you need a Helping

Hand?

If you are looking for an alternative to

residential care or extra support for those
everyday tasks that are becoming difficult for
you or a loved one then were here to help
from 30 minutes per week to full time Live-in
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Our Maidstone care team has been providing
award winning quality homecare since 1989
and can help with: personal care,
housekeeping, help getting around or even to
provide a break to an existing family member
or care-giver.
To find out how we can help you
Call: 01622 528 397
Visit: www.helpinghand.co.uk

s.co.uk

Page 6 of 8

Local organisations and information

EVERGREENS

Our 10th August meeting was fun and games with

an indoor sportsday.
Building a structure with spaghetti and masking
tape proved challenging for some as was the
slippery bean bag race. Much laughter was to be
had as members tried to throw balls into a head
net - most proved masters of the egg and spoon
race. In true Olympic style medals were given to
the winning team.
We were delighted that Paulina Stockell (Kent
County Councillor) joined us for the festivities and
we were able to say thank you for arranging a 2k
grant which has enabled us to purchase a new
boiler. She was impressed with the work we have
achieved so far on improving the hall and Keith
Perkins has made a brilliant job of decorating the
main hall.

East Farleigh Farmers Market

At the August Farmers Market we welcomed Keith
Knox, watercolour artist, who was delighted with
sales of his attractive table mats and coasters which
were a new venture for him. Customers also dived
into the exciting collection of pottery seconds and
end of lines brought by Mike Goddard Pottery.
Almost everyone seemed to leave clutching a
bargain!

The Evergreens met in the Farleigh WI Hall, on

a warm and sunny afternoon. Pity the weather
was not like this when we had to abandon our
visits to Smiths Hall Gardens, the previous two
months!
Maureen Johnson came and spoke to us about
the work of the MacMillan Charity, starting with
how it helped her with the diagnosis and
subsequent problems with her own cancer.
Sarah Grant also came along and talked about
the charity Look Good Feel Good. A charity
which helps women undergoing cancer
treatment. They are shown how to use makeup
and wigs to the best advantage, in a friendly
and good humoured way. Both ladies are new
to speaking and were a little unsure of their
delivery, but it was interesting and informative.

Bubbles

I apologise to all the people who brought tools to be

sharpened by Knife Ninjas. They had been expected
to attend but I have been assured they will be here
in September.

COXHEATH VETERINARY
PRACTICE
6 Westerhill Road, Coxheath
Professional Pet Healthcare in a bright, caring friendly
atmosphere
Modern Diagnostic & Operating Facilities
Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 8.30 am 7pm; Sat: 9am 12 noon

PATRICK TIBBITS BVSc (Massey) MRCVS

Balloons for All Occasions

Parties, Birthdays
Weddings and Anniversaries
Your local supplier in West Farleigh
Balloons delivered and Venues decorated
7 days a week
01622 815666

For Appointments or 24 emergency cover,

phone 01622 734888

Page 7 of 8

Events
Day

Time

Where

What

Sat 27th Aug

12 noon 5pm

Tickled Trout

Tickled Trout Fun Day with W.I. cake stall

Sat 3rd Sept

10am 1pm

Market Hall,
Lockmeadow

Sat 3rd Sept

1.30pm 4.30pm

Sun 4th Sept

10am 1pm

Coxheath
Church
East Farleigh

Fri 9th Sept

Sat 10th Sept

1pm 2.30pm
All Day

All Saints, WF
Kent

1pm 9pm

The Spitfire
Pub, Kings Hill

Sat 17th Sept

7pm onwards

Mon 19th Sept

730pm onwards

Old School
Hall East
Farleigh
Good Intent

Wed 21st Sept

8pm onwards

Wateringbury
Village Hall

Sat 24th Sept

Sun 25th Sept
Thu 29th Sept

7pm onwards
9.30am
11.30am 1pm

All Saints, WF
All Saints, WF
WI Hall, EF

Sun 2nd Oct

9am onwards

Sat 8th Oct

Evening

E. Malling
Research
Centre
WI Hall, EF

ACCESS FOR ALL Carnival supporting people

with disabilities. Fancy dress competition for
children. Sports demonstrations. Samba band.
Church fete: strawberry teas, BBQ, local
produce, raffle, tombola etc
Farmers Market: Grandma Bakes, PJs Farm
Shop, Knife Ninjas, Trophy Pet Foods and more.
Little Angels restarts after the summer break
Ride and Stride. Fund raising event round
local churches. Help West Farleigh - Sue
O'Donnell 01622 727852.
Kings Hill Rotary Club charity Cider and Music
Festival in aid of Heart of Kent Hospice.
ciderfest@kingshillrotary.org
INTERNATIONAL FOOD EVENT: 7 course taster
meal by Ben Spalding. Tickets 49.
Ben@benspalding.co.uk
WF Parish Council meeting, parishioners
welcome
Robert Sackville-West on disinherited, a talk
about lesser members of the family who lived
at Knole Park
West Farleigh Harvest Supper see front page
Harvest Festival service
Coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Nurses, all
welcome
Cycling sportive: 3 cycling events in aid of
Heart of Kent Hospice. www.hokh.co.uk

Vacancies at Teston Allotments

Teston Parish Council owns allotments at
Tonbridge Road, near the border with
Wateringbury on the south side of Tonbridge
Road with views over the Medway Valley. We
have a few plots available and as there is
currently no waiting list, non-Teston residents are
invited to apply for plots. Annual rental is currently
15.50. Apply to:

Indian evening with dancing and food by the

Spice Lounge. Tickets 814561

RG Building & Property

Maintenance
For All building works
Plumbing
(emergency call out no charge)
Kitchens/bathrooms.
Maintenance/repair Decorating/painting,
leaks/damage
No job too big or small .
competitive rates .
Email rgilbert2009@hotmail.co.uk
Tel 07779 617817/07790 089734
Mr Robert Gilbert

Michelle Tatton, Clerk to Teston Parish Council

Phone:01732 521889
Email: testonparish@aol.com

Page 8 of 8