september 2008 go folkestone
TRANSCRIPT
September 2008
Go FolkestoneAction group
www.gofolkestone.org.uk
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Whether it’s “à la carte” or the Sunday Carvery in ourrestaurant; snacks and drinks in the bar; or a full-blown family
event in our function suite; Wards Hotel offers the flexiblevenue that caters for all your needs.
Our function suite is also ideal for corporate customers lookingfor a medium-sized venue for marketing exhibitions,
conferences, training events or team-building events withaccommodation on-site, if needed.
Contact our reception team on 01303 245166 [email protected] for further information or to
discuss the hospitality package we can put together for you.
Wards Hotel, 39 Earls Avenue Folkestone, Kent CT20 2HB
WWW.WARDSHOTEL.NET
“Welcome to Wards”
1
EDITORIAL
READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Creative foundation initiatedFolkestone’s first Triennial.
If you have not done the tour of theTriennial exhibits by the time thispublication comes out, you have untilthe 14th of September, so you will need to hurry or you will have missed a treat.
Go Folkestone’s 4th very successful“Sound Waves on the Beach” hasbecome a very popular event forfamilies and the youth of our town.
Yet another first for us was to set up anew group called “Step-short” chairedby Damian Collins Prospectiveparliamentary candidate.
Also in this issue you will find many apub “Inn Trouble, by Eamonn Rooney.
Still ongoing are the derelict buildingsand compulsory purchase issues.
There is also an insight to the start of:Folkestone East Communitypartnership.
“Didn’t they do well?” Terry Begent’sarticle on the A team.
Could you become a B team member?
I hope so.
If you have areas of concern let usknow by writing or e-mailing to theaddress below.
Ann Berry.
Chairman Go Folkestone.
Front cover photograph from TerryBegent: One of the few remainingphone boxes in town. This one is on theStade.
CONTENTS
2 Soundwaves
4 What parking problems? Areport from our consultationmeeting
5 Folkestone Town Centremanagement’s view of the new parking proposals
7 Step-short. Our project tocommemorate the outbreak ofthe Great War gets off theground.
8 History of Cheriton
10 Inn Trouble. The effect of thenational smoking ban on pubsin Folkestone.
13 What’s on
15 How’s the town council doing?
16 Literary Festival
17 New playing field
19 Buildings and environment
20 East Kent partnership board
21 Didn’t they do well? (Life in theold dog yet)
25 Differing views of the Triennial
Editorial Committee: Ann Berry, LynneSmith, Richard Wallace, Terry Begent.
Please send all comments/contributions to Ann Berry, 35 BirkdaleDrive, Folkestone, CT19 5LP or Email(Word document only please)[email protected]
Advertising rates
Full page from £60, quarter page from £25 (colour + 50%) per edition
2
Sound
Go Folkestone’s fourth“Sound-Waves” nearly went thesame way as last year’s Veteran’sDay when Shepway District Councilwaited until the 11th hour beforeasking for a wide range of detailedinformation that they could haveasked for anytime in the months that it took to put the event together.
Without extraordinary efforts by ourown Lynne Smith, Jonick Wicken,Ann Berry and SDC’s BeverleySaunders, Laura Pinkham, ChrisMcCready, Sandra Francis andAmanda Oates to overcome theproblems, this event just wouldn’thave happened.
As it was, hundreds of peoplepacked a picnic and headed for thebeach, at the end of July, to enjoysome glorious sunshine and headymusic.
The sponsored event was free tothose that wanted to come alongand listen to a wide range of musicprovided by local bands and DJs.
The playlist included the bands:“Shock Treatment”, “Spring TideCavalry”, “Luca” and “SomePeepshow”. Popular band “T.A.R”was specially re-formed for the day.
Headline band “Battleska Galactica” gave their penultimate publicappearance and are due to disband
3
Waves
after a farewell performance at theLeas Cliff Hall on September 6th.
To satisfy one of the conditions ofthe licence for the event a veritablearmy of ex-Gurkha stewards fromEverest Security was on hand tokeep the peace at a quarter of thenormal cost.
As the second band of the daylaunched into their set, whatappeared to be a bar-room brawlbroke out amongst the fans nearestthe stage.
With fists, feet and bodies flyingeverywhere, the guards closed in tosort it out, until they were stoppedin their tracks by Jonick whoexplained that the apparent carnagewas, in fact, a form of dancing
called “moshing”. Bloody as itlooked, nobody was actually getting hurt.
The only ones to show anydisappointment at this were theteam from St John’s who, deprivedof any bloody or broken casualties,packed away their bandages andwent back to reading theirnewspapers again.
The estimated 1,500 people that had spent some time at the event duringthe day demonstated that GoFolkestone and other communitygroups are perfectly capable ofarranging these events.
Just pull out the stops to make ithappen!
4
Shepway District Council throwsits sacrificial lambs to the GoFolkestone lions as part of theparking proposal consultation.
Nobody likes paying for parking so you might expect that the meeting arranged by Go Folkestone at Wards Hotel onthe 4th June to discuss the proposednew parking scheme for Folkestonemight be a little tense.
The District Council sent tworepresentatives along toexplain the proposals-Councillor MalcolmDeardon, who recently tookover the portfolio forparking, and Councilexecutive Peter Wignall.
Although the meeting hadthe potential to turn intoChristians versus the lionsoccasion, it stuck to theissues and turned out to bea lively discussion instead,with both of the council’srepresentatives giving openand honest answers to theissues raised.
As the meeting progressed, though,those attending became more andmore convinced that the proposalswere nothing more than a way ofraising money for the cash-strappedcouncil.
Anyone who lives in Folkestone withfour wheels knows that there are timeswhen it is nigh on impossible to find aplace to park them. Let’s face it, thistown was built before they wereinvented, so we would all hope thatany proposals on the table would dosomething to address the lack ofspaces but they didn’t.
Some years ago, the Councilcommissioned consultants, ColinBuchanan and Partners, to produce aParking Strategy for Shepway, whichwas published in February 2004.
From that the council produced astrategy paper to address the issuesthey identified which they published inNovember 2006. The current proposals derive from that paper.
The two main planks for the proposalsare residents permits and pay anddisplay bays. Residents permits cost£25 but in no way guarantee a parkingspace for those that have bought one.
Pay and display bays justmean that those that canfind a bit of kerb space willhave to pay to park there –including those withresidents’ permits whocan’t find a residents’space.
The other major concernthat surfaced at themeeting was that this wasnot the right time, in thecurrent economic climate,to make it more difficult forshoppers or businesspeople to come into town.
In spite of Councillor Dearden’sprotestations to the contrary, many ofthose at the meeting were convincedthat it was a “done deal” and that theconsultation was nothing of the sort.
Parking problems,what parkingproblems?
By Terry Begent
Councillor Deardenaddresses the meeting
5
The Chairman of FolkestoneTown Centre Managementalso questions whether theproblems exist.
Since our town centre completed itsrebuilding programme and opened inthe Autumn of 2007 our town isprivileged to have sufficient carparking space to accommodate theneeds of the community, as isevidenced by the fact that the new carpark over the ASDA store is veryrarely full nor is the Leas Cliff Hall carpark.
Given these circumstances therewould seem to be no immediate needto impose car parking restrictions inthe town centre other than those thatexist at the moment.
I have been advised at the parkingconsultation that the costs of installingpay-and-display meters in the town will take some three and a half years torecover from revenues so there wouldappear to be no immediate cashbenefit for the District Council.
Commercially our town has been in afragile state for a number of years.Marks and Spencers moving was asevere blow to customer choice.
In my opinion our councillors shouldbe concentrating on enhancingfacilities for short term parking in thetown centre and Town CentreManagement has produced somesketches which could improve the
number of car parking spaces on thestreet and make it easier for short-term parkers to visit and do their shopping.
We are told that all businesses inFolkestone were consulted about theproposals. Town Centre Managementhas done their own survey and whilstall the forms have not yet beenreceived, of those to hand:
• 26% have replied saying thatthey received the consultationpaper,
• 42% have replied saying thatthey did not receive theconsultation paper
• 32% can’t remember either way.
In any event, the consultation appears to have been flawed and therefore any decision councillors wish to makeshould not be based on theirconsultation papers.
In my opinion insufficient research has been done into the sources of parkedcars, particularly in the ShorncliffeRoad/Kingsnorth Gardens areas.
I suspect staff from South KentCollege are the main source of all-dayparkers and, if on-street restrictionsare to be introduced, the schemeneeds to be operated together withincreased parking facilities or,alternatively, increased communitytransport facilities.
Our relatively small population isspread over a very wide area and forthe moment at least it is uneconomicto provide for sufficient bus servicesfrom the outlying districts to provide for workers coming into our town.
Thank you for the opportunity ofsetting down my views which I hopeyour members will feel able toendorse.
Proposed newparking restrictions
By Andrew Beggs FRICS
7
Step-short
By Terry Begent
It started with a simple suggestion from local resident Peter Watchous tohistorian Eamonn Rooney that it mightbe a nice idea to have the badges from the regiments that marched down theRoad of Remembrance in World War 1 mounted somewhere on the side of the road itself.
That suggestion was passed to GoFolkestone members and theyencapsulated the idea into anembryonic project, given the workingtitle “Step-short”, which was outlined in a previous edition of this magazine.
On 13th June this year, Damian Collinschaired a meeting arranged to get theproject off the Ground. Those presentat the meeting includedrepresentatives from the District andTown Councils, local historians,interested local residents and our team from Go Folkestone.
“Step-short” is hoping to includePeter’s original suggestion into a range of other projects and activities to markthe centenary of the outbreak of TheGreat War in 2014.
This may seem a long way off but, ifwe are not to repeat the mistake ofmissing out on the opportunitiespresented by the Olympics in 2012 –the sooner we get started the better.
At the heart of the project lies thesuggestion to make physical changesto the Road of Remembrance, thewar memorial and the possibleprovision of a military museum in theunderground bunkers sunk into theslope next to the road. If these goahead it will involve considerablefund-raising and building works.These alone would need to be started in 2010 so there is not as much timein hand as you might imagine.
In addition to these “hard” buildingprojects there are a number of “soft”projects to arrange a series of eventsover the summer season of 2014 andto link in with projects in neighbouringcountries as well.
Britain declared war on Germany onthe 4th August 1914 and, four yearslater, on the 11th November 1918, theguns fell silent. It would make sense,therefore, that the “Step-short”programme should run from 1st
August until Remembrance Sundayon 9th November 2014.
At the time of writing, there are 33different ideas on the provisional listof events, ranging from an explosivefirework barrage to mark the start ofthe war, to sending educationalgroups to the battlefields, stagingre-enactments and encouragingvisitors to the town.
All of this would have to be tied in with the events of the 3rd Triennial.
Lots to do......
A local author chronicles thehistory of Cheriton in a series ofbooks to raise money for a newcommunity centre.
St Martin’s church has stood on thehillside at the top of the Horn Streetvalley, at the west end of Folkestonefor over a thousand years. The datethe church was built is not known,however the original building(consisting of the nave and tower) wasbuilt prior to 900AD. Inside of thechurch one can see the original Saxondoorway into the tower and a Saxonwindow above.
This building is the oldest church inFolkestone and the parish church ofCheriton. But whereas many localhistory books have documentedFolkestone few have given Cheritonmore than a passing mention; mostlyto acknowledge the fact that thechurchyard contains the grave ofSamuel Plimsoll, a Liberal MP forDerby, who is world renowned forcreating the “Plimsoll Line” on shipswhich has undoubtedly saved the livesof many thousands of seamen, andearned him the nickname “The Sailor’s Friend.”
There is evidence of a settlement inwhat we now know as Cheriton asearly as 2500BC although little isknown about the settlers. The only
evidence, so far, comes from thediscovery of late-Neolithic pottery in1972 by workmen laying a water main.The suggestion was that the twovessels found may have been casually discarded domestic rubbish, but theywere more likely to be burial vesselsas their condition tended to suggestthey were buried complete.
The two vessels found dated fromdifferent periods, the earlier one fromthe middle of the third millennium BCand a more complete bowl probablyfrom around 2000BC. Otherexcavations in 1948 had alsounearthed pottery believed to be Belgic and Samian ware, from a later period,1st century AD. At the time it wassuggested, although not conclusivelyproved, that this find gave credence toa Roman road from Lympne to Doverpassing through this area.
The name Cheriton derives from theOld English words “Cirice tãn” meaning Church farmstead and this church, asmentioned above, dates from Saxontimes with additions being made in the13th, 14th, 19th and 21st centuries.However, most people today think ofCheriton not as the rural village thatstretches down the Horn Street valleybut the built up area straddling themain road into Folkestone.
Land ownership in early times wasbased on service usually grantedperhaps in the first instance by themonarch of the day and then grantedsimilarly by his supporters. Accordingto Hasted’s History of Kent in 1790there were several manors within theparish of Cheriton, namely: Cheriton,Enbrook, Bishops Enbrook, SweetArden, Caseborne, Swetton andAckhanger. Records of these dateback to the 12th century, but some hadlong since disappeared by the 18th
century and Hasted s time. It isimportant to note also that the word“manor” does not necessarily mean
8
A brief history ofCheriton
By Vincent Williams
9
that a stately home existed; the manormight just as easily have been afarmstead or other building and thesurrounding land. In fact until the late1800s well over 90% of Cheriton wasagricultural land.
But with the arrival of the railway andthe resulting success of Folkestone asa tourist resort together with theproximity of Shorncliffe Camp, aseparate entity called Cheriton Streetsprang up to service the needs of boththe army camp and Folkestone’shotels.
In fact Cheriton’s main industry was tobecome the laundry business andearned it the name of the “Washtub ofFolkestone!” Gradually the villages orhamlets of Cheriton, Risborough,Barton and now Cheriton Street haveall merged into one – Cheriton as wenow know it.
Over the years industries have comeand gone - the brickyards, andDormobile (who converted Vauxhallcars and Bedford vans). And theinvention of the washing machinesounded the death knell for the laundry industry with the last laundry closingdown in the 1980s.
The Channel Tunnel has brought some prosperity to a town in decline whilstrobbing it of ancient agricultural land,and yet Cheriton has continue d to
survive and grow in size. So withCheriton possibly losing some of itsown identity from becoming simply anoutskirt of Folkestone, local residentand author Vince Williams, hasdecided to chronicle the history ofCheriton in a series of books which are raising money for a new communitycentre.
The first illustrated 80 page bookdetails the history of St. Martin’sChurch, Cheriton, and is out now. Asecond volume to be published inOctober will cover such diverse topicsas the village’s manors, industries,water and windmills, shops and even a more social side such as the start ofscouting in the village, and even agrisly tale about the embalmed head of Oliver Cromwell that was once linkedto the village!
Hopefully interest in Cheriton’s richhistory will prompt more people tocome forward with reminiscences andold photographs future volumes to beconsidered as well.
The first book is available throughRocheforts Newsagents in Cheriton, St Martin’s Church, The Hythe Bookshop, and The Vine Bookshop in Folkestoneat a cost of £10. The second volumewill also be sold through these outletsand there will be a press launch inOctober so watch this space!
10
You may now be able to enjoy aquiet pint at your local withoutthe risks of passive smoking butfor how much longer?
One evening, armed with my notebook, I headed for the British Lion. En route Ipassed Mustangs (obviously closed)and in Church Street the ‘Pullman’displayed a notice reading “closed until further notice’ – I am assured that it will be reopening.
In the ‘Lion’ I thought about the‘smoking room’ now called the Dickens Room and wondered what he wouldthink of the smoking ban, which forbids smoking anywhere in the building.
Consulting a copy of “More Tales From The Taproom” (available at the “Lion”for just £5.99), I found that thefollowing have closed since 2004 when the book was published: -
• The Brewery Tap, • The Brevet Club, • The Imperial, • Kat-Man-Do, • The Martello, • The Prince of Wales, • The Thistle and Shamrock, • The Two Bells, • The Usual Suspects, • The White Lion (at Cheriton)
• Gate 28 at Sandgate (this onlyopened in 2004),
A total of 11 drinking establishments in4 years. Scheduled to close later thisyear are The Leas Club and TheRailway Bell, and a question markhangs over 5 more.
Although I am not suggesting that thesmoking ban was responsible for allthese closures, it was undoubtedly afactor in some cases. I have to say that I know many people –non-smokers-who are delighted with the smokingban, but who love pubs.
What they do not realise is that thismay help to spell the death knell for the pubs. According to one of the tradepapers some 27 pubs a week areclosing nationally and the ban willresult in many more before the year isout.
Not all public houses are able toprovide a suitable area for smokersand the result is groups of peoplestanding around outside smoking (andsometimes drinking) which can beoff-putting to people approaching thehouse and passers by.
Inn Trouble
By Eamonn Rooney
11
Are there any other factors at play?The answer is yes. The Governmentsays that it wants to curb ‘bingedrinking’ yet it increases tax on the pint in your pub by a greater percentagethan wine and alcopops.
And don’t forget that just like you and Ithe pub landlord has increasedoverheads for electricity, water andwages if he is an employer which hehas to be if we want his pub open allday – he needs time off too.
All this has to go on your beer, for howelse is the publican to cover them? ‘Cut his profit margin’ did I hear you say –well he may well be in trouble with thetax man if his profit margin is toonarrow, I bet not many know that. In allcases there are other factors – theBrewer – on top of the recent taxincrease by the Chancellor, theBrewers slapped a sharp increase onthe beer supplied to the publican.
You would think that the brewer wouldbe concerned with the plight of thepublican in these difficult times but itdoesn’t appear to be the case.
Another problem can be the publican’slandlord if his house is owned by oneof the big chains - or a brewer.
Back to the supermarkets – a couple of days ago I saw one selling 15 cans ofStrongbow (Cider) or 18 cans of Stella(Lager) for just £10 each pack. I haveoften seen youths carrying such packshome, no doubt to be drunk beforethey go out on the town – consequently well on the way to being drunk beforethey reach the pub. Sadly the resultantbad behaviour is nevertheless blamedon the pubs. These low supermarketprices are lower than those at whichbeer is sold to the publican.
I have spoken to a great many peopleon this subject and I don’t think mostrealise the seriousness of the problems ahead for the publican and his trade.
11 pubs closing represents 25% of thenumbers that we started with. At this rate,by the start of the Olympics in 2012, there will only by 36 big screens to go andwatch it on Ed
12
Go Folkestone
In 2001, Folkestone faced a bleak future. A once proud and thriving seaside resort faced a slowdecline as a minor part of the“Shepway” local authority –even its name seemed to havedisappeared!
However, the feelings of thetownspeople would not be ignoredand over 800 of them turned up to ameeting arranged by the FolkestoneLions Club at the Lees Cliff Hall todiscuss the town’s future.
The silent majority spoke from theheart and gave voice to a civic pridelong-since thought to be extinct andthat pride led to the creation of “GoFolkestone” - a non-profit making,politically-independent, communityaction group.
Since its inception, the group hasbeen at the forefront of theregeneration of the town and led thecampaign for the return of the towncouncil. Its role was redefined earlier this year and its mission statementnow is:
”To provide a voice to thecommunity and a structure to enable its citizens to more fully participatein the regeneration of our town”
New members are always welcome,whatever the level of commitmentthey want to make, whether theywant to be an active committeeworker or just to be kept up to datewith what is going on in our town.
Membership form inside back cover.
Gardener/Handyperson
Required by local buildingcompany on a part time basis
Knowledge of caring for exotic treesand shrubs (such as Peach,Trachycarpus and Pomegranite)desirable but training will be given tothe right person.
Applications with hard landscapingexperience preferred. Applicantsshould ideally have their owntransport. Tools and uniformprovided.
The post is open to male and femaleapplicants. Hourly rate £8.55. Hoursby arrangement
e-mail to [email protected] telephone Cross Builders on01303 211805
www.rogerjoyceassociates.co.uk
13
What’s on
Mon Sep 01- Ceroc at The Pavillion Beginner Class: 8pm,Intermediate:9pm,Freestyle; 9.30pm Wear Bay Road, 01303 226229
Tue Sep 02 - Drinks morning @ Kidz-Planet Family Entertainment Centre.open 7 days a week. Units 1 & 2 Centurion Park, CaesarsWay, Folkestone 01303 277773
Tue Sep 02 - Tea Dance Tea Dance at the Grand Burstin Hotel, 2:30pm to5:00pm. Price: £3.50 per person for non-residents, information 0845 838 1005.www.britanniahotels.com
Tue Sep 02 - Steak Night - Valiant Sailor PH New Dover Road, Capel leFerne. Tel: 01303 252401. www.valiantsailor.co.uk
Tue Sep 02 - Steak Night at Chambers Cheriton Place, Tel:(01303)-223333
Tue Sep 02 - European Folk Dancing Tuesday evenings..United ReformedChurch, Castle Hill Avenue, Info: 01227 709 557 or on 01303249199 for further details.
Wed Sep 03 - Fen cutting, Folkestone Downs meet at the bottom of CastleHill (off M20 junc 13), Folkestone (TR210377) 10:15
Wed Sep 03 - Walkabout Lydd Circular conducted walk around this historictown. Adults £2.00; children free. Meet at MittelsNewsagents, Lydd. www.whitecliffscoutryside.org.uk
Sat Sep 06 - A Folkestone Walk meet Cherry Garden Lane, (off CherryGarden Avenue), Folkestone (TR212369) 10:00-13:00
Sat Sep 06 - Showbiz Academy Musical, Theatre, Dancing, Sing, Acting.Boys & Girls aged 6-16.Folkestone School for Girls, CoolingeLane. Details & bookings: 01233-650045.
Sun Sep 07 - Antiques Fair at the Grand, The Leas, Folkestone. 9:00am to4:00pm.Refreshments/Bar available. Information: 01303245542 or 01303 201764
Sun Sep 07 - Brigade of Gurkhas Visitor Centre Sir John Moore Barracks,Shorncliffe. 01303-225370 www.thegurkhamuseum.co.uk
Sun Sep 07 - Faversham Mission Brass playing on the Bandstand, TheLeas ,Folkestone. Information: www.shepway.gov.uk14:30-16:30
Sun Sep 14 - Reinden Wood Tidy meet Reinden Woods car park(TR213408). 10:20
14
Sun Sep 14 - Brigade of Gurkhas Visitor Centre Sir John Moore Barracks,Shorncliffe. 01303-225370 www.thegurkhamuseum.co.uk
Sun Sep 14 - Betteshanger Brass Band playing on the Bandstand, TheLeas, Folkestone. Information: www.shepway.gov.uk14:30-16:30
Tue Sep 16 - Mature Movers Keep Fit 50+ Fitness to music. Programme oflow impact exercises (no floor exercises). Ward’s Hotel, Earl’s Avenue, Folkestone. 10:30am to 11;30am. Information: 01303 261876 or [email protected] . 10:30-11:30
Wed Sep 17 - meadow cutting, Folkestone Warren meet at Pavilion car park, Wear Bay Road, Folkestone (TR239364) 10.15 am
Fri Sep 19 - Quiz Night at Keppels Bar, The Grand, The Leas, Folkestone. 8:00pm. Information please call 01303 222244. 8.00 pm
Sat Sep 20 - 21 EUROMILITAIRE Leas Cliff Hall, www.leascliffhall.co.uk
Tue Sep 30 - Comedy Club, Sandgate Hotel, The Esplanade, Sandgate. Last
Thursday in the month. Tickets £5. Info: 01303 220444.. 7.30 pm
Wed Oct 01 - 11 Photographic Exhibition: ‘Identity Crisis’ Oaklands, Hythe. Acollection of photographs by Sarah Burns, a localphotographer. Information: Hythe Library on 01303 267111.
Thu Oct 02 - Folkestone & District Family History Society talk - “Farewell to Kent -
19th century emigrants whose passage was paid for by their
parishes” - by Helen Allison. Radnor Park Community Association
Hall, Castle Hill Avenue, Folkestone. Www.folkfhs.org.uk. 7.30 pm
Sun Oct 05 - Antiques Fair at the Grand, The Leas, Folkestone. Time:9:00am to 4:00pm.Refreshments/Bar available. Information
01303 245542 09:00-16:00
Tue Oct 07 - Flat Racing Folkestone Racecourse Stone [email protected],www.folkestone-racecourse.co.uk
Thu Oct 09 - One Night of Queen Performed by Gary Mullen and ‘TheWorks’, Leas Cliff Hall. Box Office 0844 847 1776 7.30 pm
Wed Oct 15 - Folkestone Rock n Roll Club every Wednesday evening.Members £4, Guests £5, Children £3 Info: 01303 245683.8.00 pm
Thu Oct 16 - Jazz Club Every Thursday at 8pm in Keppels Bar. The Grand, The Leas, Folkestone, Info: 01303 222 222 8.00pm
15
As Town Council antics start torival popular soap operas, we geta personal view from an avidwatcher.
In the March edition of our magazine, Iwrote of my concerns about the Liberal Democrat majority; party politics andthe "whipping" & bullying that I knewwere affecting our Town Council andits ability to function.
Regardless of what was underdiscussion, when it came to the vote,the leader pulled their strings and thegroup raised its hands in unison.
Cut to the full Town Council meetingon the 10th July and the plot not onlythickens but boils over.
In the past two months, four LiberalDemocrat members of the TownCouncil and three Liberal Democratmembers of Shepway District Councilhave "walked the floor" to join theConservative party much to thechagrin and downright annoyance ofthe "ever fragrant" Lynne Beaumontand Councillor Tim Prater, who appear so mystified by the defection of theirmembers that they have resorted tosuch allegories in the press as "shakyapples"
Let me assure readers that the onlyreason for this mass exodus lies within the rigid manipulation of the group,who not allowed to vote individually orexpress their own opinion as to whatmight benefit our town and its future.
In the early days, when the GoFolkestone team were sitting on thecouncil, there was no overall majorityand all the groups, including theLiberal Democrats, worked welltogether.
We never suffered from this type ofrigid enforcement of how the groupshould behave and therefore we wereable to get on and do the business ofthe town.
Back to the meeting.
At question time, I found myselflabelled as "impertinent" for daring toask why so few councillors turned upat civic events.
Obviously the real nitty-gritty of being a councillor is getting on with the work to get things done but there is aceremonial role as well whether theylike it or not and I don't thing it an"impertinence" for any rate-payer toask them why they are not carrying out that role.
How can the group that forced throughthe vote to elect the mayor fail to turnup to support his charitable work inthat position?
How can the group that claims to beworking for the people of the town fail
LiberalDemo-puppets?
By Lynn Smith
Continued on page 18
16
This year’s Literary Festival,from 1st - 9th November, willhave a “Regeneration” theme fortwo of its events.
For this year's Short Story Competition the theme will be Regeneration, partlyto celebrate what is now happening inFolkestone, especially now theCreative Quarter is really taking shapebut of course writers will be able tointerpret the word regeneration in avariety of ways.
It could be a story concerning therenewal of a relationship that has sadly elapsed. It may be about reconciliationor perhaps the mending of a marriage.
The narrative could refer to a spiritualand moral revival, a sense of rebirth orrecovery from serious illness or thediscovery of thoughts and feelings long buried or subdued.
The story may possibly concernsomeone who has fallen out of favourbut then redeems themselves orperhaps the account of an idea ortrend that suddenly experiences arenaissance.
The short story may well be a tale ofre-growth, of finding something lost ordestroyed, or the restoration of aneglected space, item or possession.
This year the competition will be openonly to people who live in Kent and
there will be two age categories -under 18 and 18 and over, with theprizes being £25 and £100respectively.
Entries should be previouslyunpublished and not exceed 1000words.
The Winning stories will appear on theFestival website, where the successfulentries for previous years can be seen.
It is planned to have an event duringthe festival at which some of thestories will be read out and the winners announced.
To further commemorate this and tie in with the short story Competition theFriends have chosen “Regeneration”by Pat Barker as this year’s FestivalRead.
It tells in fictional form the story of thepoet Siegfried Sassoon’s treatment ata hospital for victims of shellshock.
Three copies of your story togetherwith a completed entry form should be:
• posted to:
Friends of the Festivalc/o Waterstone's BooksellersThe Old Town Hall1-2, Guildhall StreetFolkestoneCT20 1DY
• e-mailed to:
• alternatively they can be handed in at Waterstone's, where entryforms can also be obtained.
Other details are on the Festivalwebsite at www.folkestonelitfest.co.uk .
The closing date is 20 October.
Literary Festival short story competition
By Nick Spurrier
17
Local residents were upset wereupset at planning permission fora large residential developmenton the site of St Mary’s Convent .
90 flats and 6 houses will eventuallybe built. However, because thenumber of new flats was so large andthere was no play-space on thedevelopment, The Sisters of Fidelityoffered the large former St Mary’sSchool playing field on the other sideof Shorncliffe Road for public openspace.
Something had to be done because as Go Folkestone pointed out anydevelopment of this size has to bewithin 400 metres of a decent playarea, and this WASN’T.
Nevertheless at between one and twoacres it is a generous gift for the townas a whole, but neighbours still feelaggrieved by the density of thedevelopment.
The key to the Church’s success ingaining such a development in theteeth of opposition, other than theirgift, was the height of the existingschool.
This was built in 1917 by the nuns’order that probably were partly FirstWorld War refugees, since the Sistersof Fidelity are largely Continental and
only have one other UK base in SouthLondon.
The plain but imposing five-storeyschool will be converted into flats, aswill the Edwardian houses at 74-76Shorncliffe Road.
New five-storey blocks of flats at analmost matching height will be built inthe gaps created when the 1920sconvent and the 1960s schoolextension are demolished.
Fortunately we objectors gained somepoints since even the playing field wasnot originally proffered, and the initialdesign for the new blocks wasflat-roofed and unimpressive.
The large majority of trees will beretained thanks largely to theFolkestone Tree Officer DavidSephton.
Parking spaces at 107, generous byShepway’s normal stingy standards,still leave residents worried in the lightof the forthcoming residents’ parkingscheme and the development ofFolkestone West Station as a parkway.
Finally 6 semi-detached houses are tobe built on the Broadfield Roadfrontage. Though too poky byBroadfield Road standards these areat least better than flats.
Two nuns, a cook and a helper remainto be rehoused. It is a nice sylvanneighbourhood, but even the ownersare pessimistic in the current climatethat major works will happen for threeor four years.
Perhaps the houses will be built as alittle scheme first, since it is rumouredthat some local educational bodies are pursuing using the modern school fora time, even after Lympne School whoused it due to a fire leave this year.
Development dealgives town newplaying field
By Richard Wallace
18
The Go Folkestone Action Group
Are holding their
Seventh Annual General Meeting
In
Wards Hotel, Earls Avenue, Folkestone
On
Wednesday 19th November 2008
7.00 for 7.30pm
With refreshments
to turn out on Town Sunday tocelebrate its institution?
With one breath they said that they aretoo busy working hard for the people in their wards to attend and then, with the next, they were asking the town council to dip into its contingency fund (that'smoney the town has put aside to dealwith real, sudden emergencies) andbuy them a speed gun so that theycould give the local press aphoto-opportunity of them catching(sorry, recording) speeding motorists.
After all, they have no more powerthan the rest of us to actually doanything about speeders.
The question is, of course, how theywill find the time to do this from theirbusy schedule, when they can't evenfind the time, for example, to turn up for a short Sunset Service to acknowledge the work done by our veterans?
So, now that the puppet master hasfewer and fewer strings to jerk, can wenow look forward to a new, era inwhich those that we have elected to do a job will feel “liberated” enough tospeak their own mind and vote the way their conscience, and not the party.dictates?
Liberal Demo-puppets
Continued from page 15
The Building and Environmentgroup reports back on its ongoing mission to preserve the beauty ofour town
The collapse of the housing marketseems to make the job of the emptyhousing officer at Shepway DistrictCouncil, Ian Cobby much moredifficult.
Derelict and unsightly buildings maynot be so quickly converted. But in fact many of the current problems owemore to the human failings ofdownright peculiar owners who havehad twelve years to take advantage ofa rising market.
The highlights of the Environment andBuildings Group’s derelict buildings listput together by Bill and Irene Athertonand others prove the point.
45 Augusta Gardens, our longeststanding case is now up forcompulsory purchase due to theprotracted failure of the Phagura Singh family to stop it becoming a shell inwhich even builders cannot reach theupper floors from the inside withoutinternal scaffolding.
Councillor Keren (sic) Belcourt chairsthe committee which has hadcompulsory purchase notices drawnup and is giving the family one more
month to complete a sale to adeveloper.
Go Folkestone has obtained MichaelHoward’s clear written support forcompulsory purchase. But the point isthat there is no logical reason whymatters should have gone this far.People are strange.
1 Manor Road is another eyesorewhich has had, eventually, planningpermission for conversion to four flatsand a scheme for affordable housing.But both the owner and the housingprovider have dawdled.
The broken–windowed, rat-infestedshell is next to Christ Church Gardensand even the municipal gardenershave asked us to help.
Will yet another Remembrance Dayceremony come and go with veteransfacing and walking past this disgrace?
These properties could sensibly havemade their owners a lot of money along time ago. It is usually people thatmake properties derelict.
This is actually encouraging because it means that given the political willstrong pressure can produce results.
If you are a Go Folkestone memberyou can join the Environment andBuildings Group meetings at 8pm onthe second Wednesday in the month at Wards Hotel.
We discuss other things as wellincluding the listing of buildings, suchas our successful efforts on The Leas Club, 70 Sandgate Road and thesupply pillar in Bathurst Road, thecontroversial town parking scheme and many planning applications, such asthe appalling 14 Cherry G- Aargh -denAvenue, defeated but back againunder appeal.
19
Dire buildings facecompulsory purchase
By Richard Wallace
20
What’s being done for the peoplemissing out on the grandregeneration, the local residentsof the poorer part of town?
It’s all very well having grandiose plans for the town centre and the seafrontbut few of those plans improve the lotof the residents in East Folkestone –one of the most deprived areas in thecountry – and Shepway District Council missed their own target to dosomething to regenerate this area.
When this was pointed out to them bythe Shepway Economic RegenerationPartnership (SERP), they did at leasthave the decency to get embarrassedenough about it to rush to getsomething moving.
That something was to look at theHawkinge Community Partnership andinvite them to come along to a meeting at St Mary’s School to explain to localresidents what they had done up therewith a view to doing something similardown here.
A “community partnership” is a comingtogether of local residents; statutoryorganisation like the Police, SocialServices, Health trusts and ParishCouncillors. It is given real powers todirect resources to dealing with theproblems that are important to localresidents.
(That’s funny, I always thought thatwas the job of the District and Parishcouncils in the first place but, thereagain, what do I know?)
Anyway, this meeting was the second of three - the first consulting withgroups and the third to consult withbusinesses.
We all arrived, expectantly and, after45 minutes being told what a wonderful job they had all done in Hawkinge,were invited to list the most seriousissues in East Folkestone which, as far as SDC was concerned, meantHarbour, Foord, Folkestone East andHarvey Central wards.
SDC had already held a similarmeeting for local organisation and thisone was meant to be for local residents but it turned out that many of themwere anything but that and their view of what was important differed markedlyfrom what those of us that live consider to be the things that blight our livesmost.
Having primed us already by telling usthe structure of the HawkingePartnership, they then asked us whowe thought ought to invited to join thepartnership and, surprise, surprise wecame up with the same list of people.
Yet another shining example of theunderrated skill that SDC displays ineliciting the answers they want inconsultations by asking the questionsin a restrictive way.
We left after two hours’ brainstormingbuoyed up by the certainty that, sooner or later, we were going to be invited tojoin a series of committees set up to get things moving.
That sounds very much like the earlystructure of Go Folkestone. Is the District Council following us yet again?
Ed
Folkestone Eastcommunitypartnership board
By Terry Begent
21
A look at the events surroundingour activities and leading to theneed to reassess the future of thegroup.
In previous issues of the magazine welooked at where the group could begoing next so, this time, in response toa number of requests, we look at justhow much we have contributed to thetown and its future.
In 2001, Go Folkestone arose from theclamour of the people of the town, whowere determined to reverse the serious decline in the fortunes of the town inwhich they lived. More than 800 ofthem were passionate enough to turnup to a public meeting in the Leas CliffHall to show their support for thecreation of an action group to tacklethe serious problems that faced usthen.
Folkestone was not the only seasidetown facing a decline but the creationof Go Folkestone meant that it was one of the first to reverse the trend. In theensuing years, the group has enjoyeda success that many other towns havesought to emulate. Signs of thatsuccess and evidence of the town’sregeneration is all around us.
As the town became a smaller, almostinsignificant component in the newlycreated district of Shepway, it wasclear that the townsfolk needed to finda way of restoring the town’s identity
and giving us back a voice in what was happening in it.
This led to the successful campaign torestore the Town Council and the sixGF! councillors that were elected ontoit provided the leadership necessary tocreate an award-winning, qualitycouncil. They also managed to keep ita non-political, community council andthis was a key factor in its success.With no political in-fighting, it was a loteasier to get together and get thingsdone.
You only have to look at the currentsituation, where one of the majorpolitical parties has “hijacked” thecouncil for its own political ends, to see how the in-fighting stops anythinggetting done. Just ask yourself whatthe council has actually achieved since the last election? Lynne Smith reportsback on their antics elsewhere in thisissue.
Would you believe, that the last time Iwent to a full council meeting, theywere actually discussing the possibilityof setting up a grant scheme to provide roads in Nepal?
Go Folkestone’s Crime and DisorderCommittee, set up to tackle the nighttime crime-wave being caused byyoung people, worked long and hard to provide a youth centre which led to theopening of “The Shed” in the harbourlast September.
The Folkestone Youth Project charity is now looking towards its replacementsomewhere in the seafrontdevelopment.
The other arm of the project’s work isdirected towards increasing theparticipation of young people in therunning of the town and a voice in itsfuture.
Other GF members responded to a call for help from Roger De Haan to set upa farmers market to increase the
Didn’t they do well?
By Terry Begent
22
footfall in the Harbour area as part ofthe regeneration effort and to supportlocal businesses. In its first year, thatmarket became the largest one in Kentand is already firmly established aspart of scene to both visitors and localresidents alike.
HarbourMart, the not-for-profit,Community interest Company set up to run the market used the income fromthat market to fund the opening of the“The Hub”, the community informationcentre based in the Tram Road carpark. That particular project still has away to run and is very much a “work inprogress”.
The success of the market has been at considerable cost to the peopleconcerned, some of whom have had to stand face to face with the anger,violence and threats of injury from local residents and, in particular, tradersfrom the very businesses it was set upto help.
The Luddites of the past were totalamateurs compared with the tactics oftheir modern-day counterparts, someof whom have waged a continuouscampaign to sabotage the marketrather than facing up to the challengesof fair competition.
That campaign has lasted the wholetwo years of the market’s existenceand has seen traders literally drivenfrom the site by threats and intimidation from local traders for daring to sellsomething similar to what they do.
Go Folkestone’s Leisure and Tourismgroup has spawned the ShepwayTourism Action Group (Stag), whichwas set up by Ann Berry to fill thevacuum left by the closure ofShepway’s tourism department. It isnow working, very successfully, toincrease the image of the town and the facilities provided to visitors.
The Leisure and Tourism group alsograsped the baton of the “Step-short”
project for the commemoration of thecentenary of the outbreak of the Great War (WW1) and on the 13th Juneorganised a meeting to get the ballrolling. (see report elsewhere in thisissue)
The Community Arts group providedthe impetus and still leads the way onproviding a range of events in theamphitheatre each year including“Soundwaves” (see report elsewherein this issue) and “The Big Draw”.
Go Folkestone was at the forefront ofthe battle to save the Sports Centre.As well as providing new Trustees tofight the financial battle with thedistrict council it has also, morerecently, started the “Friends of theSports Centre” to help raise funds.
The most important achievement,spearheaded by our own “PresidentCarter”, has been the creation of theShepway Economic RegenerationPartnership (Serp) – what some havecalled a sort of “Go Biz!” since itmirrors the structure of Go Folkestone in the business, commercial and localgovernment areas.
What Go Folkestone sought toachieve by commitment and voluntaryeffort, SERP achieves with politicaland economic clout.
Its regular meetings with the DistrictCouncil and other public sector bodies in Shepway are ongoing and it iscontinuing to make its voice heard ona number of key issues including:
• An affordable housing policy
• Making private sector moneyavailable to help the districtcouncil to carry out a strategicflood risk assessment forShepway
Continued on page 24
23
Eight year-old Siena Berry “flies the flag” for the Triennial after buying a kite at the“Kite Kiosk” on the Leas and proves that even modern-day kids can can get suchgreat enjoyment out of something as simple as a kite. (See article on page 23f)
www.megafun.co.uk
24
Dear Ed,Your March edition had a fascinatinghistoire of The Leas Pavilion, latterlyknown as The Leas Club, and also RayDuff’s extracts from The Irene Woodhams Diaries. The latter mentions that The LeasPavilion “was home, for several years, tothe Arthur Brough Players”
“Several” is an understatement! ArthurBrough moved from The Grand to TheLeas Pavilion in 1928; his lastperformance there was in 1968, at whichhe told my father, Peter Stainer, thenalmost a next door neighbour of his inBouverie Road West, that they were theonly two present who had also been thereon the opening night forty yearspreviously.
I, too, was there, and it was suggested thatthis was the longest manager / proprietorrun for a repertory theatre ever – ie. no-one knew of a longer one.
But this was far from the end – he’ddecided that the modern medium of TVwas the future, and went on to become ahousehold name as Mr Grainger in theBBC hit “Are You Being Served”.
This regularly had audiences of20,000,000+ (numbers unheard ofnowadays for any entertainment) until hedied at a great age about 25 years ago.
Michael StainerThe Grand
Just goes to show, doesn’t it, that the longapprenticeship served treading the boards in “rep” left old troopers with in-depthskills that easily translated to modernmedia. Compare that to the shallowness of those enjoying the modern so-called“celebrity cult” who are here today andgone tomorrow (if only!!) withoutcontributing anything worthwhile on theway.
Ed
• Keeping local developmentand control committeemembers are made fullyaware of the positive effectsthat a planning application(that may not have thesupport of council officers)can have on tourism,employment (we need jobs!)or community facilities
• Supporting Councillors, so as to enable them to have theconfidence to make tough,some times unpopular,decisions on planning andother issues for the benefit of all that regeneration andemployment growth will bring
• Working with the council toestablish an East FolkestoneCommunity Partnership toensure residents have a realsay in their future prospects.
With so many of the original GoFolkestone campaigner – the “A”team – having moved on and being so heavily committed to theprojects that we have initiated, ithas been important to start the“Life in the old dog yet” process toencourage new and existingmembers to join the “B” team,ready and willing to grasp thebaton and carry on the group’swork in tackling the new issuessurfacing for the future.
Why not be one of them? The AGMin November is your chance to stepforward and make yourself known.
Ed
Didn’t they do well
Continued from page 22
The Triennial is going to play amajor part in the future of thetown so we went out and about tosee what people thought of it.
I went towards the white Marqueesitting in the Ark market area that, Ithought, was the Hospitality Marquee,“It’s not here luv”, said a man sportinga fluorescent jacket, “this is for thebands. the Hospitality Tent is overthere, on the other side of the Harbourcar park.”
Another fluorescent jacket told me Imust be getting warm and a courteousGhurkha gentleman pointed me in theright direction to eagerly-sought,resplendent blue and white marqueebehind the Harbour Master’s house.
There was no one there to greet youas you went in but tea and coffee were readily available and we sat andchatted, waiting for the speeches Ithought were coming. After an hour orso, with people coming and going Ithought it was time for me to leave too. The speech I thought would happendidn’t, neither were we introduced toany of the Artists, I’m sure a lot ofpeople there had no idea who theartists were.
The Following Saturday was a reallysunny day, so Maurice, the grandchildren and I decided we would startat the Metropole on the Leas, pick up a
Triennial route map, and make a starton the tour of the Town.
At 11.00 am we ventured into theMetropole to view David Bachelor’s‘Disco Mechanic.’ There we were given a route map and an activity mapespecially designed for children.
As we stood there watching thesunglass spectacle, (pardon the pun)the slow silent circular movement ofthe display had a calming effect on us.
Then it was onto the Kite Kiosk wherea pleasant young lady sold us a couple of kites. Following the instructions weassembled the kites and off the grandchildren ran, kites aloft. They reallyenjoyed the activity.
At Christian Boltanski’s “TheWhispers”, we listened to readings ofletters from the trenches in the FirstWorld War.
From there to ‘Folk Stones’ all 19,240of them, each one representingsomeone who lost their lives on thefirst day of the battle of the Somme.
“BarkingRocks” in Pleydell Gardens,which the catalogue said was alandscape theatre for dogs and theirowners, was next. It was a fantastictransformation from the dog loo thatwas there previously.
After lunch, we went on an “Emin hunt” looking for the baby clothes scatteredaround town. The children were getting tired, so we took them home, wherethey animatedly told Mum and Dad allabout the exhibits they had seen.
Some of the works of Art do not suit all tastes, and for those, you don’t linger.As for understanding it all - I leave thatto the experts. With any new projectthere will be teething problems and weall learn from that experience.
For me, I’ve enjoyed Folkestone’s 1stTriennial. And I look forward to thenext one.
25
The first Triennial
By Ann Berry
26
Grace and Peter Jones fromRainham, Essex.
Never mind the experts, we wentout and about to find what the manin the street thinks of the Triennialexhibit.
Down in the Harbour, I met Graceand Peter Jones from Rainham,Essex. They had come down toFolkestone on a day trip. They hadheard nothing about the Triennialand were a bit confused when Istarted asking them about theworks of art surrounding them.
When I pointed out “Foreshore”, byRobert Kusmirowski, the twowooden structures against thearches in the bigger picture, Peterthought it was just “a pile of junk ofold wood, like a rabbit hutch”.
Grace thought it was a case of theEmperor’s new clothes, “You getsome twit in charge who tells you
these things and they expect you tobelieve them – but you don’t”.
Another couple, Elsie and Jim, alsoon the trip from Essex said more orless the same thing. They didn’tbelieve it was a work of art, letalone an expensive one.
Jim thought, “It looks like a heap ofrubbish” and Elsie suggested it was a chicken run - “It looks as thoughit’s just been chucked in there”.When I pointed out that a local artist had thought it was “wonderful”, Jim said, “Them sort of people have gotdifferent minds to what we’ve got.”
Robert Mouland, from Folkestone,said, “As far as I'm concerned, if Igive you my true feelings, itresembles a scrap yard and I'veheard tourists even commentingabout the amount of iron that
Elsie and Jim from Essex.
27
lingering around. I don't think it's awork of art, it's appalling!”
In nearly six hours of trying, Icouldn’t find anyone ready to singthe praises of the work so, in theinterest of balanced journalism, Isought out a local expert,internationally- renowned artistPhyllis McDowell to explain it to usmere mortals.
“Well it seems that I'm the onlypositive person in Folkestone, Kentand the whole of the area. The way I look at it is that it makes peoplelook at something that they wouldtake for granted normally and,through looking at the colour andthe surfaces, it makes them think
‘Oh yes! we've got other things likethat all round the harbour!’
This is no different but, where theywould normally be completelyoblivious to it, it's focused theirminds on it so they see the textureand they see the colour on view allaround them.”
So there we have it, widely differingviews on what is truly acontroversial piece of work.
Some would say that the purpose of art is to divide opinion andchallenge people’s perceptions.
If that is so, then “Foreshore” hassucceeded beyond measure and the Triennial has been a success aswell.
Robert Mouland, fromFolkestone
Phyllis McDowell,from Folkestone
The dilemma when putting on ashow like the Triennial isknowing just where to target yourmarketing effort.
Do you lower your artistic sights andexhibit art for the masses or do youstick to your guns and aim for theartistic intelligentsia?
It is clear that the Creative Foundationhas gone for the latter approach for the first Triennial and I think that, by doingso, it has failed to maximise thepotential of the event.
When I was seeking the opinionsexpressed on the previous page, Ispent a couple of weekends sitting bythe harbour looking for passers-byclutching their Triennial maps.
In nearly 5 hours of doing so, I didn’tsee anyone with one or stopping tolook at “Foreshore”.
The Grand Burstin Hotel attracts nearly a thousand short-break visitors to thetown each week and a number ofcoach companies bring many more onday trips.
When I got tired of looking for thoseobviously on the “Triennial Trail” Ispoke to a number of these visitorsand was surprised to find that none ofthem had even heard of the event.
Day trippers had been told that therewere now three markets each Sunday,but not that there was a major artisticevent.
Whilst it may not be too surprising thatsmaller, up-country coach companiesknew nothing about it, I cannot believethe same to be true of the GrandBurstin, who seemed to be neithercapitalising on the event nor tellingtheir guests about it.
Students of Zen have long ponderedover the questions, “What is the soundof one hand clapping?” or “If a treefalls in a forest and there’s nobody tohear it, did it make a noise?”
The Triennial poses a similar question: “Is it a work of art if nobody recognises it as such?”
Is the Triennial map showing thelocation of all these “masterpieces”around town nothing more than thesmoke and mirrors that Victorianmagicians used to cover up theirtricks?
If the catalogue says it’s amasterpiece, am I at fault for not beingable to recognise it as such or is it , asone of the ladies from Essex on theprevious page says a case of theEmporer’s new clothes?
Or is that the whole point of theexercise? Is the purpose of art tochallenge and divide, as some havesuggested?
When Henry Moore staged anexhibition of his sculpture in Hyde Park many years ago, like it or loathe it,people did at least recognise it whenthey found it.
If the subsequent Triennials are tobuild on the success(?) of this one,they may need to lower their sights alittle to include art for the masses.
Or is that the job of a fringe?
28
Smoke and mirrors?
By Terry Begent
29
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