Lovely Charing - Kent

Activities Calender

Check what is going on in Charing, where and when:

Wood You Like, Best Flooring Retailer 2010

Exciting news from the desk of Wood You Like:

The readers of the magazine Interiors Monthly have voted for the 2010 Best Awards:

Best Flooring Retailer ( 1 - 2 stores)

Just returned from our short break we received a very nice surprise in the mail: the above framed certificate of the readers choice in the category Best Flooring Retailer ( 1 - 2 stores).

All winners in all categories will be announced in next month's issue of Interiors Monthly.

Guild News

Following the very successful AGM held on July 6th, the Charing Guild of Players' programme for the forthcoming season has now been finalised. John Easun was awarded the George Hutchinson Shield for his services to The Guild since 1981 as a performer, stage manager and as The Guild's treasurer. Also at the AGM, it was decided to send a questionnaire to all members, sounding out their thoughts on future productions.

Forthcoming Productions:

FOLKESTONE ONE-ACT PLAY FESTIVAL: The Guild will, once again, be entering the festival on September 18th at The Tower Theatre.
Gill Magson will be directing Alan Ayckbourn's 'Between Mouthfuls', a situation comedy set in a restaurant. A play reading was held on Monday July 12th and director, Gill Magson, has now cast the play:

• Waiter - Mark Woods
• Pearce - Nick Hawley
• Mrs Pearce - Marguerite Morris
• Martin - Rayner Missing
• Polly - Marian White

COMFORT & JOY: The November production will be Mike Harding's 'Comfort & Joy', 'a comedy featuring a family Christmas, a disaster in the kitchen, inappropriate presents and too much booze!' It will be directed by Michael Headley.

ONE ACT PLAYS: February 11th and 12th 2011 will feature an evening of one act plays including The Guild's last two entries to The Folkestone One Act Play Festival.

'ALLO, 'ALLO: Carolyn Banham will be directing a stage adaptation of the popular BBC TV series, 'Allo, 'Allo which will take to the stage of The Church Barn on May 4th to 7th 2011.

The Guild is always pleased to welcome new members who are interested in acting or in assisting backstage. Contact details can be found on the links page of their website.

Charing Parish Church Fete, Flower Show and Craft Fayre 2010

Saturday 19 June 2010 - Clewards Meadow - from 12 o'clock

We welcome you all most warmly to the 2010 Church Fete with its fun, stalls and activities.

The Fete represents something very important as it provides a means to build on the friendship and acquaintances we have with others in our community. The involvement of the Gardening Society and the Primary School makes this much more than just a church event. An observer would recognise that there are many parts of the overall Fete that come from outside the immediate village community but none the less would see it as a typical English village activity.

A community only grows as the relationship between its members are enriched. Spending time together at events like the Fete enables our relationships to grow.

So, enjoy the hog roast, and the other things there are to eat and drink. Good luck with "guess the wieght of the cake" and other games and may you make new friends and renew old friendships.

Finally, my thanks go to the many, many people who work so hard to make this event possible. It is months in the planning and without the effort of all involved it would be impossible to hold. So to you all, thank you so much.

Rev Richard King - Priest for Charing.

Program of Events (as known to date)

12.00pm Fete opened by Rev Richard King

12.05pm Prize Giving - Primary School Painting Competition

12.15pm Headcorn Morris Dancers

12.45pm Dancing, Charing Primary School

01.15pm Punch and Judy Show

01.45pm Headcorn Morris Dancers

02.00pm Dancing, Charing Primary School

02.15pm Magic Show

03.15pm Novelty Races for Children and Adults

04.00pm Gardening Society Sale of Flowers

04.15pm Announcement of Competition Winners

04.15 Dine out and Grand Draw

Plus:

• a variety of Side shows and Stalls on and around the Meadow;
• Craft Fayer in the Archbishops Palace;
• Rose, Sweet Pea and Clematis Show and an exhibition of the "in the style of..." paintings by Charing Primary School in the Gardening society Marquee
• Hog Roast at about 12.30pm
• Kent Fire & Rescue Service (Charing Fire Station)
• Norton Knatchbull School Jazz Band
• Two Classic Cars, a Police Car and possible some old motor cycles
• "Dine out" stall ticket £ 1.00 (see the menu on the day, there may be some "chef specials of the day")
• Grand Draw tickets £ 1.00 available from High Street shops (First prize £ 250.00)

The Fete Committee wish to express their appreciation and thanks for the generous support received from businesses, local traders, the Primary School, Gardening Society and individuals. At the time of going to print here are many who many not yet realise that they are going to volunteer or be involved in some way. As a Committee we will never be aware of every individual's involvement but rest assured that we are grateful for everyone's support.

We would encourage everyone to make use of the local traders and businesses whenever possible. Sourcing things local is likely to be an ever-increasing aspect of our daily lives as we start to look at our carbon footprint in response to the concerns about global warming.

Having sustainable village shops and businesses is a vital part of what makes this a vibrant and active village rather than simply being a "residential suburb of Ashford".

The Fete Committee

The Charing 10k is coming....

Charing Primary School PFTA in conjunction with NiceWork are organising a 10k running race, (and 1 mile children's race) on

SATURDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER 2010

We are hoping this will become an annual community event, and fundraiser for the school.

All local businesses are invited to be involved in some way. Possible ideas are:

• Entering the race!
• Have a FREE stand on the day (with a suggested donation of 10% of any takings)
• Perhaps donate a prize of a bottle of wine (we haven 30+ prizes to purchase)
• Could you be a Marshall? We need 30 adult volunteers to direct runners and man water stations.
• We are open to other ideas if there is some other way you'd like to be involved!

What are we fundraising for?

Many of you will have seen the huge amount of work that has been undertaking over the last 12 months on the school grounds, both to the interior of the classrooms and also externally. One of our priorities now is to extend and resurface the main playground, and improve the playground equipment for the older children. We are extremely fortunate to have such fantastic outside space and want to maximise its use.

How to get in touch?

If you would like to be involved or find out more, please contact Pip Tanton in the School Office on 01233 - 712277, or email ict@charing.kent.sch.uk

If you would like to enter the race you can do so online at www.runnersworld.co.uk, www.nice-work.org.uk, or pick up an entry form at the school office.

As ever we greatly value the support that our local businesses provide to the school

Yours sincerely

Mrs Pip Tanton, on behalf of the Charing Primary School PTFA

(Click on the image to view the large poster you will no doubt will see popping up in Charing windows soon.)

Heaths Countryside Corridor Launch Walking Route

The official launch of the Heaths Countryside Corridor walk will take place on Saturday 5th June.

This free walk will start at Hurst Wood in Charing Heath at 11am and will go through the sites owned by Heaths Countryside Corridor, ending at Chilston Ponds in Sandway. Highlights will include the chance to find out more about the flora and fauna on the route as the party will be joined by wildlife expert Jon Bramley and refreshments and craft activities will be provided at the end of the walk. Transport will also be provided back to the start of the walk.

The walk will take people through ancient woodland, a disused sand quarry that is now a nature reserve, ancient parkland and the farmed environment of the area. The total length of the walk is about 4 miles which will be taken at a gentle pace.

This walk will build on the success of the Walk in the Woods that took place in April and saw 35 people celebrate the woodlands of the area and forms part of a Heritage Lottery funded Wandering and Wondering project. Heaths Countryside Corridor is a charitable trust set up to help conserve and protect the green spaces in and around Charing Heath, Lenham Heath and Sandway.

If you would like to attend meet at Hurst Wood on Hurst Lane at 10.45am for an 11.00am start. All are welcome but dogs should be kept on leads. For further details and to get involved in the project contact Mike Phillips on 01303 815170 or mike.phillips@kentdowns.org.uk

The Return of "The Odd Man Out"

Last years successful Odd Man Out competition is about to return to our village shops and businesses.

The CBA received the following pre-announcement:

As discussed, following the success of the 'Odd Man Out' Competition last year, Charing Primary School PTFA (Parent, Teacher and Friends Association) would like to organise this event again this year.

We would like to run the competition in the week leading up to the Church Fete, encouraging families to visit the shops, further publicise the Church Fete, and raise much needed funds for our school, and provide some fun for local children too!

It was fantastic how the shops and businesses entered into the spirit of the competition last year and I know my children loved it.

 

I would be very grateful if you could publicise this to your members, and on the website, I have put a brief description of how it works below!!

 

Odd Man Out Key Facts!!

 

• The shop/businesses that are participating put something that they DO NOT sell (an 'ODD' item) somewhere in their shop window
• The children of the village pay for an entry form, and over the period of a week look in all the windows and try and identify what the 'ODD' item is
• We would like to run the competition in the week leading up to the Church Fete with the winning entrant pulled out of a hat (of correctly completed entries) and presented with a prize at the Church Fete
• The PTFA would provide the prize (unless a Trader would like to donate one!) Many thanks to Wood You Like who donated last years prize.
• The competition will be open to all children whether or not they live in the village or attend Charing Primary School

Many thanks in advance, for your continued support of our school.

Lisa Bellamy - for the PTFA

(A number of CBA members have already confirmed their participation - but of course we won't tell you who!)

Bat and Trap in Charing Heath

Charing Heath and Lenham Heath Village Society

Bat and Trap (an outdoor game, played with a bat & ball on a pitch slightly shorter than a cricket pitch. This game, an ancestor of cricket, has been played in Kent for hundreds of years

Sunday, June 13th at Woodruff, Hurst Lane, Charing Heath.

Bring a picnic and refreshments!
2pm Start - Family fun - teams and instruction will be given on the day.

No tickets - donations - everyone welcome

Well done Charing Homework Club!

BRIGHT sparks from the Charing Homework Club enjoyed a party to celebrate their success in a countywide competition. Children from the club were rewarded with the party, certificates and medals for winning an annual general knowledge quiz for young people organised by Kent Libraries.

The club is made up of pupils from Charing Primary School, who meet on Tuesday afternoons for extra study support from homework helpers to use books and online resources.

After competing against 17 other clubs across Kent, the group were described as “outstanding winners” by Christine Heald, Kent’s service development librarian for school children.

Sneak preview: Absent Friends

The cast of "Absent Friends" - Alan Ayckbourn's brilliant comedy - the next performance of the Charing Guild of Players has had their dress-rehearsal yesterday and allows you with this picture to have a sneak preview of things to come:

(click on the image to get a large panoramic view of the full cast)

Tickets a £6.00 each are still available - but you have to get your socks on!

Performances are on:

This Thursday - 6 May
This Friday - 7 May
and this Saturday - 8 May

Curtain on all evenings: 7.30pm

Don't miss your chance on a enjoyable evening out a the Church Barn, forget about the election and politics, come and see this famous comedy.

(Tickets available at Wood You Like's showroom on School Road, during opening hours - 9.30am - 5pm, tickets must be paid for and collected asap)

A Walk in the Woods

Spring is the time when English woodlands look at their best so what could be better than to take a relaxing stroll through a local wood.

The Village Society and Heaths Countryside Corridor have organised a walk through Hurst Wood in Charing Heath on Sunday 25th April.

The walk will start at the car park of Charing Heath and Lenham Heath Memorial Hall on Church Hill at 2pm.

The walk will last for about 2 hours and will be a gentle stroll around Hurst Wood, which is between Charing Heath Rd and CTRL. The woodland is a semi-natural ancient woodland which means that it has been a wood for over 400 years and contains traditional native tree species. The highlight of the walk will be the springtime flora. All are welcome to attend but do make sure you come dressed for the weather.

Please contact Mike Phillips for more information on 01303 815170 or by email 

Picture: Bluebell woods - courtesy of Kent Downs AONB Unit