What’s happening where you live...
Correspondent: Jean Watson Mob: 07966 361434 Tel: 01622 687053 Garden Safari: On Sunday July 10 from 2-5pm. Programmes £5 available from the St Nicholas church office. Tea and cake in the church hall from 3-5.30pm. Coffee time: The Peggy Wood Foundation invites you to a coffee morning on Wednesday, July 13 at the community centre in Castle Road startsing at 10.30am. Go along and support the charity. Cilla’s quiz: At the next Get Together meeting on Wednesday, July 13, you will need your thinking caps as Cilla presents another chance to test your memory in a fun quiz. Runs from 2.30-4pm in the Baptist Church. At the library: Baby rhyme time on Thursdays July 14 and 21 from 2.15-2.45pm. Take your pre-school child along for a session of songs and rhymes. If you need some help with your computer, the IT buddy is at the library on Fridays from 1-3pm. The experienced volunteer is available to provide assistance with your computer queries and to help you get online. Booking recommended, phone 03000 413131. Also on Fridays, you can go along to the library from 10-11am for Talk Time. Have a cup of tea and a chat while meeting new people. Correspondent: Gilly Hurley Tel: 01622 790734 AylesfordEccles@ aol.com Brassey bazaar: Held every Saturday from 10am-noon at the Brassey Centre. Gifts, books, bric-a-brac, toys, plants, and refreshments on offer. Aylesford Priory: The last couple of months have been spent making some improvements to the fabric of the priory. The pathways around the pond and the Pilgrims’ Hall courtyard have all been resurfaced. Fr Michael Cox is a dab hand with cement and a trowel. The main thoroughfares were repointed and the flagstones made safe. The tea room barn is being rethatches which is fascinating to watch. There is always something that needs replacing or repairing. July is a busy month with plenty to see and do. There is a woodturners exhibition on display in the north barn until Sunday, July 10 from 10am-5pm. The next farmer’s market is on Sunday, July 17 from 9am-1.30pm. There will be an outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well on Friday, July 22 starting at 7.30pm and Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer on Saturday, July 23. Tickets available from www.changeling-theatre.com Finally, on Sunday, July 24 from 10am-5pm, there is the Kent Kit, Custom and American Car show. Adults £3, children under 16 go free. Refreshments, auto jumble and trade stands. Visit www.kentskitcustomandamericancarshow. co.uk for details. Correspondent: Ron Stubbs Tel: 01622 726962 Barbecue at St Andrew’s: A barbecue will be held on Saturday, July 9 from 4-7pm in the grounds of St Andrew’s Church. Vegetarian options will be available in addition to the usual meat dishes. Adults £5 and children £2.50 with proceeds going to church funds. Everyone is welcome. Details and/or tickets available from John (01622 728233) or Liz (204569). Gala occasions: Replacing the September fete, Maidstone Hospital’s League of Friends has come up with a gala spread over three days. This will take place on Monday to Wednesday, July 11-13 from 10am2pm each day, and will be largely in the main entrance so the weather will not spoil matters. Monday will feature strawberry cream teas; Tuesday has a barbecue lined up along with a bric-a-brac stall and teas with cakes and fresh fruit will be available on the Wednesday. The annual fete has been a well-known fundraising event for Exploration explained: Thinking of baptism for your child? Need to know more? Then go to Church Cross House at the junction of South Street and Church Lane, on Saturday, July 16. In just 90 minutes you will find the answers to your questions. The meeting will start at 11am and for details contact Kathleen by email on kab.barming@btinternet Closing times: A section of Farleigh Lane is to have its carriageway resurfaced this month. The area between Glebe Lane and the A26 Tonbridge Road is due to be closed to traffic for up to six working days from 9.30am-3.30pm from Monday, July 25. The recommended diversion is via Glebe Lane and the A26 Tonbridge Road. Re-elected: James Lakeland (vicechairman), Andrew Thomas (secretary) and Annaselvi Nadal (treasurer) were re-elected to the parochial council of St Andrew’s Church. Well done: St Andrew’s fair, held on May 21, yielded just over £1,000 for church funds (£949.59 after expenses) with the raffle accounting for the largest single element. Parish outing: The annual parish outing organised by St Andrew’s Church is on Saturday, September 3 to Southend. Demand has been high but there are a few seats left for the trip for which tickets cost £13 (inclusive of a tip for the driver). The money is needed by July 31 at the latest. Contact Liz on 01622 204569. Correspondent: Martin Hider Tel: 01622 736327 mhider5@ gmail.com School summer fair: Madginford Primary School will hold it’s Summer Fair on Saturday, July 9 at 1.30pm. Many stalls, side-shows, games, refreshments and more. Parish meeting: The parish council will meet at the memorial hall on Tuesday July 12 at 7.30pm. The public are invited to attend. Cricket: The 1st XI will play Plaxtol in a home league match on Saturday, July 9 at 1.30pm while at the same time, the 2nd XI will play an away league match against Hadlow 2nd XI. The Sunday XI will play Pluckley in an away league match on July 10 at 2pm. Drop-in: A social drop-in afternoon, for a chat, refreshments and if wanted, board games, will take place at the Methodist Church on Thursday July 21 from 2.30pm-4pm. All welcome. RSPB: The local group will go on an evening trip to Hemsted Forest on Saturday, July 9. For details phone Simon on 07783 354337. The group will be given an illustrated talk entitled The Russian Far East by Chris Collins at Grove Green Community Hall on Thursday, July 21 at 7.30pm. Visitors £4.50, group members £3.50. Easy parking. Coffee and Chat: A coffee morning will take place in the room at Holy Cross Church on Friday July 15 from 10am-11.45am. Cost £1. For information phone Debbie on 07444 539171. Action For Children: The Methodist Church will hold a Morning Worship Service on Action For Children on Sunday, July 10 at 10.30am. Messy fun: Messy Church of Holy Cross Church will meet at Thurnham School on Sunday July 10 at 9.45am. All children with their parents/carers welcome. Taize: A Taize Service will be held at Holy Cross Church on Sunday July 10 at 7pm. Bible Aativity: Maidstone Christadelphians will be given a Bible talk or have a discussion or be shown a DVD with a Bible theme at Madginford Hall on Sunday July 10 at 4.30pm. Church meeting: The parochial church council of Holy Cross Church and St Mary’s Church, Thurnham will meet on Tuesday July 12 at 7.30pm. Christian Aid: The collection for Christian Aid in May raised £3,100, including gift aid. Many thanks to all those who donated but particular thanks to those who were willing to go house-to-house and made the collection possible. Fellowship: The Ladies Fellowship of Bearsted Methodist Church will meet on Tuesday July 12 at 2.30pm, when the topic will be Poetry/ Prose. Summer fair amount: Maidstone Mencap’s grand summer fair made a profit of £4,000. Thank you to everyone who supported this event and in particular Cobtree Scottish Country Dancers and CAMRA who both made generous donations. Choral Society: The society present a summer concert Folk Songs the English Way on Saturday, July 16 at 7.30pm in St Nicholas Church, Leeds. Tickets £10, students £5 available from 01634 666730 or tickets@bearstedchoral.org.uk also available at the door. Madginford WI: An Adventure in Peru was the interesting and enjoyable topic by the July speaker. The district challenge for Denman made £26. The institute made more than £100 profit at the Bearsted Fair, some of which may need to be spent on a new gazebo, after the rain and wind broke the one used this year. Four members attended the district meeting. Various dates on events during the summer were given out and a report on the annual meeting at Brighton was read out. The craft group meet on July 25; the garden group go to Downderry Lavender on July 20 followed by lunch at Broadview Gardens Tea room, Hadlow College and members are going to put a team in the darts competition again this year. They are still looking for a pub and dart board for practice meetings. There is no formal meeting in August, but on August 11 a trip to Biddenden Vineyard has been arranged. The WI offers women the opportunity to make new friends, learn new skills and campaign on wideranging issues. Visitors welcome –meetings are held at 8pm-10pm on the second Thursday in each