underriver newssheet...4. use those hashtags and emojis sparingly – after all, by now you can...

Underriver Newssheet

This Month

6th Horticultural Society Plant Sale

12th Golf Day

24th Tim Stanley (see page 10)

MAY 2017

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Key: BCP = Book of Common Prayer - a service using traditional (17th C) language and form; CW = Common Worship - a service using contemporary (21st C) language and form

The Church of St Margaret, Underriver

Contact:... St Lawrence Vicarage, Stone Street, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0LQ

Telephone: 01732 761766 Email: [email protected]

Church Calendar MAY

7 4th Sunday of Easter White

11:15 All-age Family Service Reading: John 10:1-10


08:00 Holy Communion (BCP) Readings: Acts 7:55-end & John 14:1-14

18:00 Evensong Readings: Acts 7:55-end & John 14:1-14


11:15 Short Family Communion (CW) Readings: Acts 17:22-31 & John 14:15-21

25 ASCENSION DAY White

10:00 Holy Communion at St Lawrence’s

28 Sunday after Ascension White

11:15 Parish Communion (CW) Readings: Acts 1:6-14 & John 17:1-11

JUNE 4 PENTECOST Red

11:15 All-age Family Service Readings: Acts 2:1-21

St Margaret’s Church Website St Margaret’s now has its own website. To keep up to date about services and events please see

www.stmargaretsunderriver.org.uk

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Siobhan O’Reilly Calthrop of LICC (London Institute for Contemporary

Christianity) considers the phenomenon of Fake News.

Fake news

‘Fake news’ has received much media attention lately. The spread of disinformation, propaganda, and fabrication of fact is hardly new: humans have been spreading mistruths through trusted sources for years. What has taken it to a new level, however, is the way it is now spread: social media.

Fake news items can pop up on our social media stream at any time and, being one of myriad other pieces of information passing before our eyes, they are easily read without care for checking the source. Add to this the fact that they are usually sensational in content, can be shared or liked in just one click, and you have the ingredients for gossip and lies on a global scale.

Some media organisations are taking measures to fight back by hiring companies to check facts, or design algorithms to stop the spread of fake stories. Yet even the best software is never 100% successful. Human wisdom, or just basic common sense, will always need to be applied.

In this age of information overload and ‘like’ buttons, it can be so easy to accept things without proper thought, to forward or ‘like’ things that may be inaccurate or heavily biased.

Even beyond social media, though, news has become increasingly concise, presented in bite-sized portions for us to easily digest as we rush from one task to another. Nuances and truths get lost in the sound-bites of news headlines and our personal updates.

So how are we to respond to this as Christians seeking to engage with contemporary culture? How do we maintain integrity, authenticity and honesty in our speech and relationships both online and offline? And what ‘false news’ might we be presenting about our own lives?

We’re called to be salt and light, to be wise as serpents but innocent as doves. When reading the news, whatever form that takes, how often do we check the source, find out what other news sites are saying, and critically weigh up agendas?

Siobhan is a tutor in St. Albans. Her blog at www.everyoneelseisnormal.com

Some thoughts for the month ahead

http://www.everyoneelseisnormal.com/

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CHURCH NEWS

Looking back:

Easter Day A marvellous Easter family Celebration of Holy Communion.

The church looked absolutely beautiful, both inside and out. The bulbs planted in the Churchyard last November made a glorious display of Spring colour. It has taken a lot of time (and money) to get our Churchyard to its current state but judging by unsolicited feedback the result has been much ap-preciated by the Village.

Looking forward:

Ascension Day Thursday 25th May 10:00 am Joint Holy Communion at St Lawrence’s

Pentecost 4th June 11:15am Celebration All-age Service.

ST MARGARET’S CHURCH 150th ANNIVERSARY DINNER Friday 21st July 7pm at The White Rock Inn

Tickets are £28 a head, inclusive of a tip for staff; drinks extra. Names please, including guests, to Graham and Maxine Clark

email [email protected].

Maxine & Graham Clark

A Date for your diary:

Memorial Concert for Heather Clemence

Given by students of the Royal Academy & the Royal College of Music

Saturday 23rd September 2017

in St Margaret’s Church

Proceeds to Scotts and St Margaret’s

Full details and tickets to follow

mailto:[email protected]

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Underriver Village Association

Chairman: Miles Hayward

Annual Membership £10 per household - To join contact [email protected]

Pilates Classes Mondays 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm

Tuesdays 9:25 am

Contact: Zoe George 07950 494 335 Email: [email protected] www.zoegeorgepilates.com

BOOT CAMP Fast paced circuit based workout

Every Tuesday 7.30pm Contact: Chris -

email: [email protected] or call 07796 693756

Dates for your diaries:

• May 12th UVA Golf Day

• Jun 17th U Fest

• July 22nd Horticultural Society Summer Show

• Jul 21st -23rd St Margaret's 150 Years Weekend

• Oct 27th Fireworks & Halloween Night

• Dec 10th Second Wind Christmas Concert St Margaret’s

Cookies Kitchen Children's cookery classes held during

school holidays & at weekends. For further information -

email: [email protected] or call 07786 271227

The Band Jam Runs a three day courses in Underriver during

school holidays for young singers and musicians aged between 8-14 years old.

For further information - email: [email protected].

Telephone: 07786 166009

Newssheet Subscriptions A reminder.

£7.00 or £13.00 for postal subscribers. Cheques made payable to St Margaret’s Church, Underriver or cash should in the first instance be handed

to the person who delivers your newssheet.

If you are unable to hand to your delivery person then please send to: Belinda Goodwin.

The Kentish Barn, Underriver House Road, Underriver. TN15 0SJ.

Belinda


7

Tim Stanley to speak at

the Underriver Village Hall Wednesday 24th May at 8:00 pm

Tim Stanley is a leader writer and columnist for the Daily Telegraph, some-times seen on BBC Question Time and often heard on Radio 4. His fascination with US history and politics have led him to teach at the Universities of Sussex, London and Oxford as well as fellowships at Royal Holloway and Harvard.

As part of his work for the Telegraph he covered the 2016 US election. He will be telling us about his experiences on the campaign trail, why last year’s vote swept away the received orthodoxies of presidential contests and his views on the future of the Trump presidency.

The evening is being held to raise funds for Hospice In The Weald. Tickets are available from Mike Clyne (01732 832000 or [email protected]). We are hoping to raise as much money as possible and therefore a minimum dona-tion of £20 per person is requested (light refreshments will be served and are included).


8

‘U’ FEST

Saturday 17 June

and an afternoon of

cars, face and

are for to out on

Please for

Sevenoaks Greensand Commons Heritage Lottery Funded Project

This is to update you on this exciting project which covers all the Commons managed by Sevenoaks District Council. Locally, these are Bitchet Common, Seal Chart/Redhill and Fawke Common, a larger cluster at Westerham and Sev-enoaks Common, bringing the total area to about 300ha.

Since October 2016 we have been working with a wide range of local groups, organisations, individuals and the landowners to work up ideas for an exciting programme of practical habitat restoration, public participation in scientific re-search, involvement of local schools and groups, heritage learning activities and access improvements across all the Commons. This consultation will continue over the late spring and into the summer to ensure that everyone has an oppor-tunity to have an input into the project. The result will be a worked up costed proposal of around £700,000 for the HLF to consider in March 2018.

We will be leafleting properties adjacent to the commons and carrying out other consultation activities. Updates and further details will be posted on the project website at: http://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/sevenoaks-greensand-commons. Please do get in touch if you would like more information or to be-come involved in any way.

Andrew Willmore Sevenoaks Greensand Commons Project Development Officer

07720 093128 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/sevenoaks-greensand-commonshttp://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/sevenoaks-greensand-commonsmailto:[email protected]

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Social media manners

There is ‘good practise’ and ‘bad practise’ in just about everything we do, not least our social media habits. No wonder that when Vogue magazine recently published a ‘modern girl’s guide to social media etiquette’ (which encouraged constant self-promotion), a daily national newspaper* responded with ten of its own ‘commandments’ for good behaviour. We paraphrase them here:

1. Don’t be a food bore. By all means post a photo of your impressive home-made birthday cake, but not a running commentary of what you are having for breakfast, lunch and dinner…

2. Don’t get into political arguments. No matter what you say, someone is going to disagree, and it could turn ugly. So minimise the potential damage: keep your politics to live conversations.

3. Don’t do the humblebragging stuff. Especially, don’t boast about all the running/cycling you do with comments like ‘sad to see that I only clocked up 15 miles today… must do better…!’

4. Use those hashtags and emojis sparingly – after all, by now you can spell lots of words; you are not 10.

5. Beware of cut-and-paste – some people have even managed to tweet their passwords that way.

6. If you are in a row with a family member, don’t start tweeting about it. It never improves the situation.

7. Looking for a restaurant or other information? Don’t use social media as a search engine: ‘Can anyone recommend… ?’ Ask Google, instead.

8. Don’t make cryptic whinges. You know, like the ‘some people aren’t wor-thy of a place in your heart’ variety. Don’t moan, rant or rave on social media: save it for the privacy of your own home.

9. Double-check the recipient list. The consequences of not doing so could be very embarrassing…

10. Know when to put your phone down. Remember it is okay to talk to peo-ple who are standing right in front of you, to eat with two hands, and to walk down the street looking around you.

(*Daily Telegraph, 31.03.17)

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Open Farm Sunday is on 11th June this year. It is a national event and farms all over the country are open for people to go along, learn more about farming and enjoy a day out. We are lucky to have two farms right on our doorstep……

Romshed Farm is open from 11am – 4pm, Free entry, it is an opportuni-ty to see the piglets, calves, lambs and hens. There will be guided and self-guided walks, activities for children and home-made refreshments.

The main theme this year will be History with a metal detector operator showing a display of finds throughout the centuries that he has found on the farm, right back to a piece of bronze age pottery, and a Diviner who has used divining rods to find remains of old buildings on the farm.

Everyone is welcome for a fun day for all the family. Further information will be on www.romshedfarm.co.uk nearer the time.

Mote Farm Open Farm Sunday will be taking place on 11th June at Mote Farm, Ivy Hatch, Sevenoaks, TN15 0NT from 10am until 4pm.

Tractor & trailer rides, working machinery displays and static displays.

RSPB bird walks.

Farm trail and children's activities.

BBQ and tea & cakes.

Produce stalls.

£1.00 entry fee for over 12's will be donated to Marie Curie.

Dogs on leads only permitted in farm yard due to livestock.

http://www.romshedfarm.co.uk/

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THURSDAY UNDERRIVER GROUP

On Thursday 6th April the ladies from T U G and two men, met to enjoy a delicious lunch, served onto beautifully decorated tables, the theme being of course Easter, complete with tiny chickens and rabbits [ not real] and little eggs [chocolate]

Adrian Bluff a volunteer helper from Folly Wildlife Rescue Service gave us an interesting talk about the work they do, and the lengths they go to revive and mend damaged birds and wild animals. The star of the show was Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, a ten year old hedgehog, who was about to go into a hedgehog retire-ment home, a walled garden with attendant vet, after a busy life in public rela-tions !

These charming creatures are now greatly endangered, we once had 30 mil-lion in England and now we have only one million, and in 6 years they could be extinct.

Should you be lucky enough to have one in your garden, they thrive on cat food or scrambled eggs, not bread and milk. March 6th is hedgehog awareness day, we wish them well.

Our next meeting in on May 11th, an evening meeting, when our speaker is Alexander Hunt, who will talk about a very local crop, Kentish Cobnuts.

Fionna Brooks

Volunteer crisis

When did you last see a ‘young’ volunteer in your local charity shop? Many organisations which depend on volunteers report that young people are less and less willing to give up their free time.

The average time people aged 25 to 34 spend volunteering fell from 15 minutes a day in 2000 to six minutes a day in 2015, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. This is the age group that were entering the workforce when the recession hit. Many of them are still struggling to get jobs that they really want; meanwhile many are working only part-time and zero-hours. Such stress will have an effect on their ability/enthusiasm to volunteer.

There is some good news: those aged 16 to 24 have increased from nine minutes a day to 17. Experts said this was because teenagers were increasingly being told that volunteering was necessary for them to get a job later on.

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What a difference a year makes! Last year we struggled to put on a Spring Show, this year the hall was full to bursting, the daffodils were spectacular and the other classes had more entries then we have had for years as well. Two long standing members, absent last year, tied for first place, the cup was awarded to John Clemence as he had the most first places but Kit Thornton equalled him in points.

The judge was very im-pressed, I think she likes coming to a village show when people pick the best out of the garden instead of growing them in pots one bulb at a time to achieve perfection.

Liz Bird made fantastic cakes and kept the coffee flowing and a new member Kirsty Alfredson won first prize in the mixed daffodil class and her daughter was sending photos off to her grandparents in Australia and putting us on facebook!

Next on the agenda is the Plant Sale on May 6th at Absaloms and the money will go to the Ellenor Hospice for families facing terminal illness. As usual you can bring any contributions on Friday afternoon and come and support this very worthy charity from 10 -12 o’clock on Saturday.

After that is the summer show and the Photo Classes will be “Water” and “A Misty Morning”

Angela Ridge

UNDERRIVER HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

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UNDERRIVER BOOK CLUB

The God of Small Things

By Arundhati Roy

What a travelled lot we are! The novel our Book Club reviewed in April is set in Kerala in South West India. Quite a number of our members had either been there or had had come experience of Asian society. This led to a very lively discussion. Arundhati Roy has appeared recently on Desert Island Discs, which added to the interest.

The God of Small Things was pub-lished in 1996 and won the Booker Prize in 1997 and has since been published in over 40 countries. It was the first novel by the now acclaimed Indian author. It was met with rave reviews on the American continent and more down beat ones in the UK. The Guardian described it as ‘profoundly depressing’, and it is depressing in that everything goes wrong for the characters, but it is also beautifully written. The rich texture of the prose was praised and it was felt to be an extraordinary tour de force.

The story is set in a rural communi-ty. It is an area rich in mythology and tradition, and also with an inflexible attitude to cast. The year is 1969 and new ideas are filtering through, in particular Communism. The family at the centre of the drama is Syrian Christian. Central characters are the twins Estha and Rahel, brother and

sister and seven years old, their mother Ammu and a poisonous great aunt Baby Kochamma.

There is much that is semi-autobiographical about the twins and their mother and Rahel’s later life. Arundhati Roy’s mother was also a Syrian Christian, divorced, and returned to her roots in Kerala. Near the beginning of the book a scene describes the funeral of Sophie Mol, a visiting cousin from England, who is a couple of years older than the twins. The story jumps backwards and forward as it describes the events surrounding the visit of Sophie Mol and her mother and the consequences for all the characters.

The main criticism was that the story didn’t flow. Interestingly those who had downloaded the book on Kindle had found this more of a problem. Having a proper book was thought important. Otherwise it was found to be quirky and original and even quite comical in parts. After a gap of 20 years the author’s second novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is to be published in June. It will be very interesting to see how this is reviewed.

Janet Rucker

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Live shows on stage

On Thursday 4th May, Tunbridge Wells’ Trinity Arts

Theatre (01892 678678) will present Steven Berkoff’s

Metamorphosis, based on Kafka. Gregor wakes to find

himself transformed into a dung beetle. This disturbing play

casts its eyes over the norms of society and illustrates the

alienation of a painfully normal individual with deft surrealism.

The production will include some grotesque ensemble

puppetry.

Trinity (01892 678678) will have three shows for young children on Sundays 7th,

14th and 21st May.

For children aged 5+, Shakespeare for Juniors will bring The Winter’s Tale,

Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream to life for a family audience. There will be

three actors and some audience participation.

For children aged 3+, The First Hippo on the Moon, adapted from

David Walliams’ space adventure, will feature two big hippos with an ENORMOUS

dream. Who can make it to the Moon first?

For children aged 5+, a ‘near-soap-opera’ approach to Aesop’s Fables will bring

his wise and foolish creatures to life. With their simple morals and universal truths,

these tales have survived over 2000 years.

From Thursday 11th to Saturday 13th May at Sevenoaks’ Stag Theatre (01732

450175), the Petts Wood Operatic Society will perform Betty Blue Eyes, a

comedy musical based on Alan Bennett’s A Private Function. In a cold 1947 winter when

everything was rationed, local dignitaries are illegally rearing a pig (Betty) for the Royal

Wedding celebrations. But the rest of the community has other ideas …

From Monday 15th to Saturday 20th May at Tunbridge Wells’ Assembly Hall

Theatre (01892 530613), you can see a stage adaptation of Ruth Rendell’s

A Judgement in Stone. Eunice struggles to fit in; but, when she joins a wealthy family

as their housekeeper, a lifetime of deceit, despair and cover-ups is unravelled - leading

to a cold-blooded murder on Valentine’s Day.

From Saturday 20th to Saturday 27th May, Tonbridge’s Oast Theatre will stage

David Tristram’s tragi‑comedy Going Green. John is the obvious future leader of the Green Party but suffers from an extremely rare illness from which there appears to be

only one way out – “Go green … or die!”

From Tuesday 23rd to Saturday 27th May, the Assembly Hall (01892 530613) will

present Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent. This show was inspired by Puccini’s La Bohème

(Continued on page 15)

LOCAL THEATRE

15

and ran on Broadway for twelve years. A group of impoverished young artists struggle

to survive in New York City’s East Village. Songs include Seasons of Love, Take me or

Leave Me and La Vie Bohème.

From Wednesday 24th to Saturday 27th May, at the Stag (01732 450175), Kentish

Opera will perform Verdi’s La Traviata. The wonderful music follows Violetta’s

journey from her dolce vita life through her doomed love for Alfredo to her tragic

deathbed scene. Take handkerchiefs! The production will be traditional, with

professional soloists and orchestra; and the opera will be sung in English.

On Monday 29th May for children aged 2-7, the Assembly Hall (01892 530613)

will stage Marty McDonald’s Toy Machine. This interactive, song-filled adventure is

set in a colourful farmyard and features a host of loveable puppet characters.

Screened live performances and encores

May’s screenings will include:

On Thursday 11th May, Obsession based on Visconti’s 1943 film from the

National Theatre (live at Trinity);

On Wednesday 17th May, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar from the Royal

Shakespeare Company (live at Trinity);

On Wednesday 24th May, Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra from the RSC

(live at the Stag and Trinity); and

On Saturday 27th May, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf from

the National Theatre (encored at Trinity).

Arthur Rucker

(Continued from page 14)

Services at St Lawrence, Seal Chart

MAY

7 4 Sunday of Easter 8:00 Holy Communion (BCP)

9:45 All-age Family Service

14 5 Sunday of Easter 9:45 Family Communion (CW)

21 6 Sunday of Easter 9:45 Family Communion (CW)

25 Ascension Day 10:00 Holy Communion

28 Sunday after Ascension 9:45 Matins (BCP)

4 Jun Pentecost 8:00 Holy Communion (BCP)

9:45 All-age Family Service

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Church Cleaning

6 May J Horner & S Owen

13 May L Talbot & F Mullick

20 May S Honnywill & J Rucker

27 May F Brooks & E Shirtcliff

3 Jun J Hurrion & K Lambert

Church Brass Cleaning

20 May Elizabeth & Richard Shirtcliff

17 Jun Robert Wells & Phillip Payne

Rotas for St Margaret’s

Sidesmen/-women and Readers 7 May Sides: J Fair

Reader: tba 14 May

8:00 Side: J Scott Reader: tba

18:00 Sides: C Honnywill Reader: tba

21 May

Sides: J Rucker Reader: tba

28 May Sides: A Rucker & G Clark Reader: tba

4 Jun Sides: C Thornton Reader: tba

Newssheet subscription: £7.00 or £13.00 for postal subscribers. Cheques payable to St Margaret’s Church, Underriver or cash should be handed to the person who delivers your

newssheet or Belinda Goodwin, The Kentish Barn, Underriver, TN15 0SJ.

Church Flowers

7 May Jennifer Horner

14 May Caroline Devaney

21 May Ann Martin

28 May John Clements

4 Jun Janet Rucker

Useful Names and Addresses Church Warden Andrea Pierce, 1 Grenadier Cottages, Riding Lane, Hildenborough, TN11 9QH; 832408.

Underriver Village Association Secretary: Robert Talbot, Weald Heights, Fawke Common, Underriver, TN15 0SP; 761546. [email protected]

Village Hall Reservations Laura Chappell, 07778 128082 or [email protected]

www.underriver-village.org.uk Omar Mullick , [email protected]

Thursday Underriver Group Secretary: Pat Hope, 01732 833933.

Horticultural Society Secretary: Mary Owlett, Absaloms Farm; 838716.

Underriver Youth Group Charles Honnywill, Underriver Farm; 838036.

Cricket Club Ian Batty 07877 106681

Scotts Project Secretary: Jill Scott, 833498.

Kent County Council Nick Chard, 42 High Street, Sevenoaks, TN13 1JG; 07855 787511. [email protected]

Sevenoaks District Council Ward Representatives Roderick Hogarth, 01732 760325 [email protected]

Julia Thornton, 07831 234449 [email protected]

Seal Parish Council www.sealparishcouncil.org.uk Clerk - Lorna Talbot; 01732 763488. [email protected] Tim Martin; 07929 839914 [email protected] Fidelity Weston: 463372 [email protected]

Parish Administrative Assistant Tim Pierce [email protected]

All contributions should be submitted to the editor by 15th of the preceding month.

Editor Tim Pierce, 1 Grenadier Cottages, Riding Lane, Hildenborough TN11 9QH

01732 832408 [email protected]

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