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

Welcome to West Farleigh’s own

LIFELINE

Distributed freely in August 2022 Edition 546

Editors: Stephen Norman, Helen Swan, Sue Birchall, Katie O’Connor
Website: www.thefarleighs.co.uk Email: editor@thefarleighs.co.uk

Deadline for the next issue is 20th August 2022

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Pastoral letter by Sue Elliott
Dear Friends - Following on from David’s excellent Pastoral Letter last
month about memories, good or bad, and the first record his sister
bought, Magic Moments by Perry Como, I can remember that my
Mum loved Buddy Holly and I had memorized the words to lots of his
songs by the time I was five! The headline in 1959 was of his death in
an aeroplane crash at the age of 22. No doubt his early death deprived
us of many more toe-tapping songs.
I am actually on holiday in France as I write this but we are not
detached from what is going on in the world. The main headlines at
the moment are the assassination of Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former Prime Minister and, earlier in the
week, yet another mass shooting in the US. These are the sort of memories that we would rather not
have. Cameron Norrie got himself into the Wimbledon semi-final – that’s a better memory! I cannot,
however, avoid the elephant in the room news that Boris has resigned! For all the good or bad that
he may have done politically I cannot ignore the fact that our Prime Minister has been found wanting
in the truth and honesty department!
My daily notes UCB Word for Today, on the very day of the resignation, had the title ‘Control your
tongue’ and the Bible reference Proverbs 23:16 ‘My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak
what is right.’ I don’t know how long ago the notes were written but how relevant they were for this
day! There is another reference from Proverbs that I would like to share with you. It is Proverbs
22:20-22 ‘Have I not written for you sayings of counsel and knowledge, teaching you to be honest
and to speak the truth so that you bring back truthful reports to those you serve?’ Who do we serve?
Our families, friends, acquaintances, neighbours, our God? Whether we are the Prime Minister or
anyone else, let truthfulness and honesty be the ‘Order! Order!’ of the day.
I am now going to do what David suggested - sit in the sunshine and dream – with the Pyrénées on
the horizon. À bientôt!
Blessings, in Jesus’ name - Sue, Pastoral Assistant

Church services
Church 7th August 14th August 21st August 28th August 4th September
Coxheath 11am Communion Morning Worship Communion Morning Communion
David Jones Becky Parnham David Jones Worship David Jones
TBC
East Farleigh Morning Worship – Communion – Morning
9.30am Sue Elliott David Jones Worship
TBC
West Farleigh Communion – Morning
9.30am David Jones Worship
TBC
Hunton 9.30am Communion – David Morning Worship Communion
Jones TBC David Jones
Linton 9.30am Morning Worship Communion
Becky Parnham David Jones

Midweek Services – Coxheath, every Thursday 10am, BCP Holy Communion and
Linton, 31st August, 12pm, Holy Communion followed by soup.

Little Angels
Toddlers & young children, mums, dads and grandparents all welcome to Little
Angels Fridays 1pm – 2.30pm at All Saints.

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 BILLIE-ANNE FLEMING

It is with great sadness that the family of Billie-Anne Fleming

announces her passing, after a long battle with cancer, on the 21st
of June 2022, at the age of 59. Billie passed away in the Heart of
Kent Hospice, surrounded by her family. She will always be lovingly
remembered by her daughters Emilie and Alex, and by her grandson
Isaac, as well as the scores of other people whose lives she
touched.

Billie was born on the 11th of September 1962, in Pembury, to

parents Agatha and Thomas Turk. The family settled in Farleigh and
Billie attended Cornwallis School. She always loved music,
particularly classic rock and blues, and had seen all sorts of bands through the years. The house was
never quiet when she was around.

She was full of energy, silliness and positivity, she was no nonsense and straight talking and always
hilarious. Billie was a devoted Mum, Nana and friend. Even through her cancer battle and right to
the end, she put others before herself. She would take in people who were having a hard time and
still managed to make sure everyone else was loved and cared for.

Billie was absolutely one of a kind, adored by those around her and, even though we miss her
terribly, our family feels blessed to have had her for the time we did.

There will be a private memorial held for her, however the date is yet to be confirmed.

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SPORTS CLUB REPORTS
Cricket: Our cricketers have all continued their good form this season with our 2nd XI
having a particularly fine month! The 2nd XI have won all four of their matches,
putting them in a good position to push for promotion with only five games left to
play. Victories were won against Hadlow, Shoreham, Locksbottom and Betsham.
Meanwhile, our 1st XI started last month with a defeat against Ightham but followed
this with a victory over Bidborough. Their third match ended in defeat to Pembury but the fourth was
a fine win against Betsham.

Netball: Although our girls lost their last remaining game versus Fusion Flame 33-25,
this was still good enough to finish within the top four places in the league –
meaning they played a semi-final against Springboks. Unfortunately, the girls lost
this match 34-13 but they can still be very proud of their overall season
performance.

Football: Training is well underway for the upcoming season. As part of the build-up,
I’m glad to report that, after a two year break due to Covid, we will once again go to
Ringstedt in Germany for our weekend tour at the end of July. These tours have been
running since 1988 and it will be great to meet up with our friends once again! A full
report in next month’s issue if I can remember anything about it!

AND SOMETHING ELSE TO CELEBRATE!

West Farleigh is now producing England players! Alessia Russo, who is
playing for The Lionesses at the Euros and has scored 3 goals so far,
started her career playing for the West Farleigh Under 8s. Let’s hope we
produce more stars in the years to come!

Club news : our lucky ton-up winners were :

No.56 Yvonne Martin £ 30

No.41 Jane Reid £ 20
No. 129 Brian Aiston £ 10

Yours in sport – Tel

Family Friendly Rounders Match

We plan to have a family friendly village rounders match on Sunday 21st August at 1pm at the cricket
ground. Perfect for bringing your own picnic and drinks.

We hope that it will be an enjoyable social occasion that everyone can get involved in – either as
players, supporters or just picnic-ers!

If you would like to play please get in touch so I have numbers and can arrange teams.

Cheers! Tel (01622 815267 or 07761 355518)

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PERMISSIVE FOOTPATH UPDATE
The Permissive Footpath between Charlton and Kettle Lanes is currently closed for access on weekdays
between the hours 09:30 - 18:00 daily. Outside of these hours and at weekends the footpath is open
for access.

As from the 31st October access to the Permissive Footpath between Charlton and Kettle Lanes which
crosses Dandelion Time land will be completely closed. It is hoped that an alternative footpath further
north will be open by then. Thank you to all the villagers working hard to make this available for us
all.

WEST FARLEIGH IN BLOOM

TALLEST SUNFLOWER COMPETITION JUDGING ON Saturday 13 August.

Please let us know if you would like us to
measure your sunflower by emailing your
name and address
to bloom@thefarleighs.co.uk or putting a
note through the letterbox of Hoppers
Corner or 1, The Green in Charlton Lane,
stating your address and asking us to
‘please measure our sunflower’.

We look forward to the usual West Farleigh

competitive spirit!!

MOVIE NIGHT! A CHARITY EVENT FOR ALL SAINTS CHURCH

Come and join us on Saturday 10th September, 7-9.30pm at All Saints Church, West Farleigh for
another spectacular movie night, courtesy of Phillip Day. Phillip has produced these amazing war
movies on Kent fields and their secrets. The invasion of Europe, Operation Overlord, is underway and
people hope that the war may soon be over! Unfortunately, a new nightmare is about to begin… Free
entry!

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 EVERGREENS
We enjoyed afternoon tea at Paddock Wood Garden Centre on a very hot July
day, in their airy café. The tea was excellent and we thoroughly recommend it!
We will be enjoying a lunch of cold meats and salad at our next meeting. Going
forward, we have a new exciting programme for the second half of the year. A
trip on the Kentish Lady and a Christmas trip to Brick Lane Music Hall. We have
talks on metal detecting in the villages, Roman industry in the villages and
reminiscences of hop growing in the Farleighs too! We meet in the WI Hall in
East Farleigh, on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. We have
room for more members, so please do come and join us. You just need to be retired and like a social
life. You won’t regret it. We can even arrange a lift if you can’t get there under your own steam!

Ring Helen 01622 81445 for more info.

The Farleighs’ W.I.

Our July social meeting had teams making a Jubilee themed cake. The
winning team managed to produce a magnificent crown complete with
turrets and decorated with jelly beans!

At the next meeting on 10th August, we have Sue Spiers giving a recital of
Pam Ayers’ poetry.

If you are interested in meeting others, or you like craft or art, darts, walking or just talking - come
and join us for a free taster session – you have nothing to lose and who knows you may find you
would like to join the other 200,000 women who are the W.I.! If you would like more general
information on the W.I. or any of our specific events please e-mail: thefarleighs@wkfwi.org.uk

Diane Scott – President, The Farleighs W.I. Hall, Forge Lane, East Farleigh.

PARISH COUNCIL REPORT

The Green is getting a makeover. New play equipment has been installed in time for the
Holidays – see the front cover. New picnic benches have been ordered, two of them with access for a
wheelchair. The green fencing will be repainted as will the goal posts. We hope that every child in the
village has received a Jubilee mug? If anyone has been missed out we still have a few and they are
also available to buy. Contact the clerk, westfarleighpc@gmail.com.

Maidstone Borough would like everyone to complete a questionnaire. Use this link
https://letstalkmaidstone.uk.engagementhq.com/resident-survey-2022-2

Every resident who completes the survey can claim a 7-day gym membership to Maidstone
Leisure Centre, if they are over 18 years of age, as well as entering a prize draw with a chance of
winning a variety of prizes.

Upcoming Events
Sun 21st August Family friendly village rounders competition. Bring your own
1pm picnic and drinks.
WF Cricket Ground
Sat 10th Sept Charity movie night. More spectacular war movies courtesy of
7-9.30 pm Phillip Day. FREE entry, refreshments available.
All Saints Church,
WF

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Business Service Website Contact Phone email
enquiries@fir
Firefly Payroll www.fireflypay 01622 eflypayroll.co
Services Payroll roll.com Jason Hart 934110 m
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About services Sarah Dunn 634559 om
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Heathside www.heathside 07976 trical@gmail.
Electrical Electrical electrical.co.uk Sam Sephton 895001 com
Plumbing &
Heating 07973 darren@dwa
D. Ward services Darren Ward 314266 rd.biz
www.pestpurg 07758 richard@pest
Pest Purge Pest Control e.co.uk Richard Lee 615101 purge.co.uk
Topdogmaint
Fencing and 07709 enance@iclo
Top Dog fencing Gates Sam Morton 530166 ud.com
http://www.ca
Castle Portable stleportableloo 07990 castleplh@g
Loo Hire Ltd Events hire.co.uk/ Steve Millsom 606067 mail.com
Facebook/
Instagram
Hairdressing @hairtraditional. 01622
Hair Traditional & beauty maidstone 817800

From Ukraine to West Farleigh

We have been privileged to welcome a wonderful Ukrainian refugee, Kateryna Vasylchenko, into
our home and have found it to be an overwhelmingly positive experience. Katya has obviously
been sad to leave behind her country, her husband and her much loved dog but is also excited to
be living in West Farleigh. She comes from Kremenchuk, the town in Ukraine which suffered the
terrible Russian missile attack on a shopping centre and, as such, is very appreciative of the calm
and tranquillity of our village. At home she works as a translator, working in English, Russian and
German but also has extensive experience in logistics. Katya is very keen to find work and would
be grateful for any suggestions leading to employment of any type.

If anyone is considering becoming a sponsor to a Ukrainian family we have contact details for a
mother, her daughter, her son-in-law and their 9 month old baby. The couple are English speaking
IT professionals who can work remotely. They are looking for accommodation for about one
month under the Homes for Ukraine scheme before renting their own property. If interested we
would be pleased to supply further details.

Mark and Jill Hills

markndhills@gmail.com
07538268415

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FARLEIGH FEATHERS by Ray Morris
It was a devil to catch!
So I told my wife on arriving home at 7pm. Earlier, on my way home from a
ringing session (that had started at 4am), I had received a call to rescue,
what seems now to be, the annual swift trapped in East Farleigh church!
Previously, it’s been quickly done and dusted with a net held aloft in the
nave.
On this occasion, however, the bird stubbornly remained within a few feet of
the nave ceiling throughout. After a break for lunch and a much needed shower from 4 to 5pm - half
time score: Morris 0 - Swift 3 (times in the net and escaped) - the combination of the bird’s
inexperience and Gary’s practised use of gaffer tape to extend the net poles resolved the stand-off at
just after 6pm.
This year’s bird was newly fledged, probably
hatched in the roof of the church itself. It was duly
measured, weighed and fitted with a numbered ring
so it can be registered on an international swift
database and digitally preserved for posterity.
As swifts have never been accused of being harmful
in any way to humans, their old name of Devil Bird
seems inappropriate, especially for species so
closely associated with churches. Perhaps devil was
used in the sense of an impish child refusing to
behave? This one certainly was a little devil -
evading three humans trying to catch it! The third
was Sheila, who cleans the church. Was it devilish
behaviour when the bird let loose a well-aimed dropping at her from the rafters? The fact it missed
her by a whisker must surely have been Divine intervention!
We have long celebrated the sheer enjoyment of their summer presence and marvelled at their
aerial displays. Their breath-taking acrobatic manoeuvres above the hayfields were aptly described
by poet Edward Thomas: ‘As if the bow had flown off with the arrow’.
Most of us still experience a spiritual uplift at the sight of soaring swifts - something we three weary
swift-rescuers remarked upon as we stood in the graveyard and watched this thirty-five-gram scrap
of life take off to spend its life flying (almost) totally non-stop between East Farleigh and Southern
Africa!
One can understand how those who worship in this church might link the departure of a loved one
with the swift rising to the heavens. The much-
needed comfort of religious – or simply human –
spirit to be found in nature, perhaps?

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IN THE GARDEN with Sara Cushing, Happy Gardening!
In the 20+ years that I have been gardening professionally, I’ve never
known such a dry summer with the unprecedented heat we encountered
in July! It’s challenged us all to keep our gardens looking beautiful with the
lack of rain and water butts running dry. I’ve been using every resource I
have to keep everything from dying! Bearing in mind we still have two
months of summer to get through, I thought I’d post some tips. The
general advice is to keep watering, keep deadheading to keep your border
plants flowering and keep feeding those baskets, pots and veg! I guess we’re all going to have to
accept that summers here in Kent are going to be a lot drier than this and it’s down to us to adapt
and pre-empt the inevitable issues!

Watering

Switching to morning watering, before the sun gets too hot, helps! Everyone loves hanging baskets
and pots and if you place display pots under hanging baskets, you can water both at the same time!
Try and keep potted displays in shade, it’s surprising how quickly these things dry out. If you have
terracotta pots, they will absorb water as well, so give these a spray too - helping keep roots cooler.
If you have plant saucers to put under pots, the roots will draw water from these and the pots will
not dry out as quickly.

My Dad recently installed a 1,850L tank with a gravity-fed line for his veg patch from rain water. In
spite of the two days of rain in July, it’s 60% full! While we haven’t all got the space/time for this size
of experiment, we can still collect plenty of rain off garden sheds or greenhouses by fitting effective
guttering. Though many of us have dishwashers, I have to confess I’m a pre-rinser! However, I do
save most of the water (if it’s not too oily or full of stuff) and chuck it out onto the borders.

Borders

Deadheading is the most important job this month - not only to keep plants flowering, but also to
stop things seeding off. I adore lychnus for example, but it can be difficult to control if it seeds
everywhere! I’m still collecting/labelling seeds this month from the summer flowers I’ve kept going;
poppies, aquilegia, Delphinium etc but also appreciating the amazing Canna this year! These South
African natives have thrived in our hot, dry summer and are worth the effort of lifting in autumn.

My roses are still going strong! My grandpa grew the best roses I’ve ever seen. He taught me to cut
down to just above the five leaf formation on the stem which promotes a decent plant shape and a
good flower. Unfortunately, in contrast, my sweet peas frazzled and I don’t think I was alone in this!

A favourite job this month is cutting back lavender, it smells amazing! English lavender can be cut
back at least to half if it has been pruned before. I cut to at least an inch above this year’s growth
which will give a thicker growth for next year.

In the Veg Patch

Currants and berries will pretty much have finished so keep the base and stems clear of fallen leaves
and put compost/leaf mulch down to feed them up before winter. Raspberries should be ready and
the last rhubarb can be picked. Strawberry runners should be potted, remembering the first runner
off the mother plant is the best and strongest!

The last of the lettuce and salad seeds can be sown for a late harvest! Carrots and parsnips can be
harvested, though if you leave parsnips in the ground ‘til the frosts they are sweeter - so save a few!

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