Artist impression of the renovation of Pipers building, Tontine Street.

www.gofolkestone.org.uk

March 2012

LONDON MARATHON 2012

Once again I shall be running the London Marathon on 22nd April 2012 in aid of the Kent Association for the Blind. This will be my 12th official London Marathon in a row and to date I have raised over £40,000 for KAB and also over £6,000 for Cancer Research.

It would be appreciated if anyone wishes to make a donation payable to the Kent Association for the Blind, if they could send this to Ray Johnson, Church House, 136 Sandgate Road, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 2BN It is also possible to donate online at www.justgiving.com/rayjohnson

Ray comments: “My best time was 3 hours, 23 minutes in 2002 and I am already in training for this year’s event. I know I can’t beat this time, but I am sure I can certainly raise more money for charity that encourages me tremendously. Just the other day I completed a training run of 22 miles from Folkestone to Bonnington and back. Already I am on my way having raised over £750 so far for this year’s race.”

Thanks for your help. Ray Johnson, Tel no: 01303 221188 Mobile: 07968 29 03 02ray@independentinsuranceservices.co.uk

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Contents Editorial

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Interview with Josh De Haan

Go Folkestone and the Big Society

Enjoying Folkestone

Folkestone shines in June

Is Folkestone Suffering from Bad Body Image?

Edwardian Heyday

Visits from all over

Go Folkestone, Go Cycling

Ingles Manor Update

New Books from Folkestone Authors

News from the Planning Front

The Strange Case of The Lost Valley

Town Centre Parking

Didn’t we have a lovely time

Folkestone Museum’s Treas-ured Revealed

What’s On

Maiuko Sings Saudade

Editorial Committee: Philip Carter, Ann Berry, Nick Spurrier, and Richard Wallace..Magazine Layout: Mike Tedder

With the gloom of winter hopefully behind us, and summer on the way, this issue is unashamedly upbeat. But that is what Go Folkestone is all about. Josh De Haan, in an interview, talks of his new building in Tontine Street, while Jenny Coleman writes of her move to Folkestone. Damian Collins, MP, writes of the Big Society, and of the good work being done by volunteers in Folkestone, which shows itself in the preparations for the Folkestone Festival in June. There is a fresh start at the Creative foundation with the appointment of Alastair Upton as the new chief executive and Lewis Biggs as curator of the 2014 Triennial.

Meanwhile the new Go Folkestone website is up and running; it is the site to visit for an update on all that is going on in Folkestone. Of course we have to be realistic; the recession which has bitten hard is affecting our town, as it is everywhere in the country, but Folkestone is fast becoming a destination for enterprising people with fresh ideas. We all need to celebrate the many good things we have now and talk about them to other people. With this positive outlook and the continuing private investment,could we be the first to come out of the recession? I’m sure we all hope so!

Ann BerryChair, Go Folkestone

35 Birkdale Drive, Folkestone. CT19 5LPEmail: annber35@supanet.com

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“Banging the Drum for Folkestone”: an interview with Josh De Haan

By Nick Spurrier

From my first meeting him in his office in Tontine Street, it is plain that Josh De Haan is absorbed and enthused by his work, by what is happening in Folkestone and his contribution to the town’s regeneration. This focus on work is something he has inherited as he says “My car journey back to the King’s School on Sunday evenings with my father was usually a lecture on what was happening at Saga or the state of the economy, when I would perhaps rather have talked about rugby.” Others would confirm this handed down capacity for hard work “If you asked my wife I think she would say that I am cut from the same cloth as dad. Unfortunately (and she would say unfortunately) there is a workaholic side to me but I don’t think that is a bad thing although I should probably spend a bit more time with my four children.”

Pipers building, Tontine Street as it is now.

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His hard work has certainly paid off in Folkestone with the opening of Rocksalt and the Smokehouse on the Stade in partnership with Mark Sargeant and the reconstruction now taking place of the old Pipers club building in Tontine Street (see front cover), which will house the Headquarters of his Internet Company - View and his other businesses - businesses which will by that time, including the restaurants, be employing nearly seventy people in Folkestone.

The journey to Tontine Street started after he studied marketing at Newcastle University. From the start Sidney De Haan felt that Josh, his eldest grandson, should move into Saga, perhaps eventually managing it. This was not however the view of Roger De Haan who “did not think anyone should have the divine right to take over Saga. Eventually my father did offer me a job but I had to start at the bottom so I worked in telesales for a year on a salary of £7500, which was hard and an eye opener. I slowly moved up but I knew very early on that I was not particularly comfortable working for the family firm. I wanted to break out, go and do something on my own.”

“After leaving Saga I worked for a small publishing company in London in charge of their marketing which is where I became interested in the potential of the internet. At the time there did not seem to be anything that catered for the London market, though by the time I started the dot.com boom years had arrived.” But Josh and his partner, brother Ben, survived the eventual shakeout with the well respected View Group - an online entertainment guide to London, covering restaurants, pubs, bars and nightclubs, deriving income from advertising, ticket sales and reservations. With a “What’s On” guide, reviews of current cinema releases and forums where users can discuss current issues affecting the UK capital or interact with others, it has expanded to take in all major UK cities and New Zealand, where Ben De Haan runs a franchise. At present there are separate sites for each city but, as Josh says, “the endgame for us, in the terms of the city guides, is to have a one stop portal that covers the whole country as opposed to individual web sites for each city or town. The idea would be to have an entertainments guide all under the one portal (www.view.co.uk) where people could access information for their town or city maybe to include Folkestone one day.”

The business was first based in Sandgate but then moved to Ashford where, as Josh continues, “I was ready to buy a rather soulless stainless steel office building in Eureka Park. I thought Ashford, with the high speed rail link, was the next big thing but my father, after meeting me there, started to persuade me that Folkestone might be a better option. In the end he convinced me and, via Shearway Industrial park, we settled here. Moving to this part of the town has been brilliant. It is edgier and the town offers my staff so much more. You can see the changes happening and it is ever so exciting. I am banging the drum for Folkestone with all my friends and family to try and persuade them to do similar things”.

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With the Rocksalt and the Smokehouse up and running, Josh’s attention has turned to the renovation of the Pipers building. He is frank about his talks with Shepway planners, “We would have liked a modern building but being in a conservation area the local council and English Heritage were quite tough on what we could do. So we have been forced to keep the façade against my and the architect’s wishes. Doing this has increased the cost of the build significantly and I think most developers, with any sense, would probably have walked away. So it will be a modern building, though the façade of the first floor and above will be kept with an additional office floor and terrace. Though the ground floor is classed as retail, we are seeking to change that to commercial/office space so there will an entrance hall with two offices on either side” Though he does not say this, without doubt he could have bought a plot of land, say at Shearway industrial park, and built new offices for far less than it will cost him to convert the Pipers building but, by absorbing the extra costs, he has chosen to contribute in this way to Tontine Street’s regeneration.

View, the restaurants and other companies - Rocksalt Recruitment, an agency that will provide high quality staff for the hospitality industry and an estate agents price comparison website - will take the top two floors while the remainder of the building except one ground floor unit will be leased out. Josh continues “This unit will become an incubator space where we will provide a desk, super high speed internet access, a telephone and other facilities, including mentoring and advice, for people who are thinking about setting up businesses and want a base to work through their ideas in an environment that is positive and forward thinking. From the ground floor an embryo business might then move upstairs, continuing with mentors who might be my marketing or IT guys or I am certain I can call in favours to bring in other people I know who will help. I really want it to be a positive dynamic place, a hub for enterprise in Folkestone.”

Josh’s fresh ideas and enthusiasm for Folkestone and its regeneration permeate the whole interview. With regard to Tontine Street he says “What this area needs is people who have got money to spend in the town. The knock on effect of that is that I think there should be a change of tack in which some shops are turned into business spaces, the employees becoming consumers in the shops, restaurants and cafes. We have business meetings which bring people into the town and reintroduce them to the area. They are all incredibly impressed with what is going on, often saying things like “We haven’t been to Folkestone for years. Hasn’t it changed?” When they’ve been here once, they often come back and talk to their friends and colleagues about what is happening. There is a lot in Folkestone to be upbeat about and we have to make sure people find out about it”

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Go Folkestone and the Big Societyby Damian Collins, M.P.

It is fantastic to behold the changes we have seen in our town since Go Folkestone was established a decade ago. The dedicated volunteers who first set up this group did so long before the term Big Society was even conceived and the testimony to their work is evident around us- from the growth in new businesses and jobs to providing youth services and commemorating our historic links. Since 2001, Go Folkestone has campaigned for or influenced the introduction of high-speed rail services to London, the opening of the Creative Quarter, Bouverie Place shopping centre and the University Centre, all of which has served to transform the landscape and open up new opportunities. These in turn have inspired other worthy initiatives such as the creation of the Town Council, the restoration of derelict buildings and the Step Short campaign to mark Folkestone’s role in the First World War.

This work is an example which the government wants to see replicated across the rest of the country - local people, who care passionately about their communities and want to see them thrive and prosper, getting together to plan the way forward.

Regeneration has been one of the key aims of the organisation and this has been brought to bear the most in Tontine Street, the Old High Street and the harbour area, working alongside the Creative Foundation. University Centre Folkestone has introduced higher education to the town for the first time, offering degree-level courses, equipped with the latest state-of-the-

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art technology and housed in the beautifully restored Glassworks building, complemented by The Cube adult education centre opposite.

Situated next door is the Quarterhouse, the performing arts venue which has provided a new cultural heartbeat to this previously-neglected part of town and has hosted top comedians, live music and festivals, including where Go Folkestone recently held its tenth celebratory Annual General Meeting. Shortly afterwards that same evening, the near capacity audience of 200 were treated to an exhibition of the plans drawn up by renowned architect Sir Terry Farrell in the next exciting phase of the regeneration plans for the seafront and harbour. The first of these planning applications is expected to be submitted shortly and will build upon the already excellent start made by restaurants Rocksalt and The Smokehouse, which have given an indication of what more is to come.

Coupled with this, the success of last year’s Folkestone Triennial arts festival in attracting an estimated 100,000 visitors to the town has also contributed towards the group’s aims in promoting interest and investment from outside. In particular, locals arts groups added to the public offering with the introduction for the first time of a Festival Fringe based in Rendezvous Street and the commissioning of a ‘People’s Guidebook’ to Folkestone.The introduction of the high-speed rail link to London makes the capital no more than an hour’s journey away and opens up the possibility not just for extra visitors to take in the growing number of attractions, but for new families and businesses to relocate here and enjoy what Folkestone has to offer. This would not have been possible without the continued input and campaigning of groups like Go Folkestone, who argued that improved fast connections will attract the kind of inward investment our area is beginning to realise.

The group has also played an integral part in the formation of the Folkestone Youth Project, based in The Shed in the harbour. I have been involved with the management committee alongside both councillors and community volunteers, with funding and refurbishment of the building coming from local firms, suppliers and others sponsors. Young people have been able to enjoy the on-site skate park, away from the streets and the dangers of night-time crime, while also taking various courses and qualifications ranging from first aid to fire safety to improve their employment prospects and career opportunities.

The centenary of the First World War will be marked in just over two years’ time, with Folkestone’s vital role being highlighted thanks to a group of active enthusiasts. The Step Short project, which I chair and whose trustees include members of Go Folkestone, is named after the order given to soldiers to shorten their stride whilst marching down, what is now known as the Road of Remembrance. The aim of the project is to renovate this road, with a fitting permanent memorial, together with making available online the digitised versions of visitors’ books signed by some 42,000 men

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who departed for Folkestone via the Western Front, many of whom were never to return. The painstaking work of transcribing the signatures into a database is being undertaken by members of Step Short, taking up many hundreds of hours of their time, but with the eventual goal of helping others trace their ancestors’ possible last movements. Some of the project’s goals have already been realised, with the opening last year of The Hub visitor centre, containing information about Folkestone’s role in the war as the departure point for some ten million men. There are further plans to create a museum within it, again staffed by a willing group of volunteers.

Of course there already many varied and excellent national organisations who have centres in the district, such as the Royal British Legion, the Salvation Army and St John’s Ambulance to name a few, who work all the year around. One particularly heart warming example is the Folkestone Churches Winter Shelter, made up of six local churches, agencies and about 300 local people who give up their time to provide a warm welcome, hot food and a place to sleep for those who are homeless. One of these, the Folkestone Rainbow Centre also runs a drop-in and counselling service providing a vital lifeline for those in need. The Shelter will be open from early December through to the end of February, during the coldest period of the year. Together this represents a great example of how public spiritedness and a shared ethos can combine with philanthropy to create a new and dynamic offering for our town and the next generation.

Roger De Haan’s commitment and investment has dramatically turned around Folkestone’s fortunes for the better, but this has also preceded a number of other smaller projects around the district which typify what the Big Society is all about.

Last summer the biennial Hythe Venetian Fete was held on the Royal Military Canal, which attracts thousands to see its tableau of themed decorated floats, with the event dating back to 1869. The tradition has been kept alive almost uninterrupted since, thanks to the efforts of organising committee chairman and Hythe town councillor John Schoner, who has been at the helm for 22 years. The not-for-profit Hythe Venetian Fete Society is supported by hundreds of volunteers in the build-up to and during the event, and in recent years has also featured outdoor concerts and fireworks displays. Schools, businesses and community groups from across the district take part in designing and showcasing their own floats and bringing a sense of summer family fun every second August.

Elsewhere in the district, the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre near New Romney hosts local countryside activities, on what is part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The eco-friendly building, made from straw bale, is maintained by volunteers and acts as a tourist and information point. The centre also offers outdoor spaces for charitable health groups such as Folkestone Mind, whose ‘Ecominds’ horticultural programme helps improve mental health and wellbeing. The Kent Wildlife

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Trust, which manages the centre and others around the county, it itself supported by membership subscriptions and donations.

In Elham, a group of parents joined forces to organise the refurbishment of the village recreation ground. Briony Williamson, Helen Sharp and Kate Baker set up ‘Play for Elham’ in 2008 and since then have invested many thousands of hours in fundraising, meetings and events. The result was a £100,000 investment in new play facilities, aided by grants from local councils and the Lottery Fund.

Pictures courtesy of Damian Collins, MP

So there are plenty of examples in Folkestone and across the district of what can be done when a group of people come together with a common purpose to help others, without interference from government. Many of the solutions to our social and economic issues can be found here at home, worked on by the people who know their area best. It is this willing and largely unheralded army of volunteers that helps keep our communities alive through their efforts and desire to make where we are a better place to live and work. With so much more on the horizon with the transformation of the seafront and continuing growth of the Creative Quarter, I look forward to seeing what the next ten years holds in store for us.

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Enjoying Folkestone

By Jenny Coleman

Following the articles by Nick Spurrier and Anna Gorczynska in the December 2011 issue, I would just like to add my thoughts on living in Folkestone.

Moving from London on my retirement was a huge step for me and at first the different pace of life was difficult to cope with. I had a great life in London and made use of all its wonderful aspects while loving working there. However, I have now made many changes to the way I live – and have met so many interesting people and done so many different things that my days are always occupied.

I joined the Friends of the Book Festival Book Club about three years ago and also became very involved in the actual annual Festival. Through this I have met many interesting people, amongst whom are all our volunteers who now read in six schools in the area, to help primary school children improve their reading, in readiness for secondary school.

There are so many great groups to join, meetings to attend and outings. The monthly NADFAS meetings have diverse and fascinating speakers. There are classes at The Cube and the Uni – Art history, drawing, painting, talks and films at The Quarterhouse and the Silver Screen; Live music can be found nearby at Canterbury, Margate, Brogdale Farm, with some fantastic country pubs to visit on the way; and of course the wonderful Triennial last summer. It was a joy to have friends from London so that I could show them all the fantastic international art, take them to Rocksalt, have coffee at Fresh & Easy and enjoy the warm, sunny weather. Of course, with the fast train, I can always go and have my fix of London. But with all the things I loved in London here too – music, art, films and theatre – I don’t need to go too often!

Of course the sea is another attraction and I consider myself very lucky to have TWO friends who rent beach huts – the joy of sitting watching the sunset chatting to friends is only surpassed by a morning walk along the beach to Sandgate, watching the sun rise and the moon fade away.Finally I think we should all be saying a huge thank you to Roger de Haan for giving Folkestone the chance to expand and improve. Without him and the Creative Foundation I think the town would be looking and feeling very sad. Rather than being negative about the Harbour and seafront plans, everyone needs to get behind them, stop complaining and play their part in a positive way, helping to make the town as welcoming and popular as possible. It felt so good when we had all those visitors in the summer.Thank you Folkestone – I know I am very lucky.

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Folkestone shines in June: A new annual month-long Folkestone Festival launches

Building on the success of Folkestone as a festival destination, a group of local residents have taken it upon themselves to organise the inaugural Folkestone Festival 2012, which will be formally launched on Thursday 19th January 2012 at the Grand Hotel, Folkestone. Over 100 events will run at various venues across the town throughout June, and will include: the Folkestone air show, the new Leas Proms, the Folkestone Retro Fayre and the first ever running of the Kent Chilli Festival – a spicy affair for all those lovers of hot dishes.

Designed by local people for local people, the Folkestone Festival will give local people the opportunity to celebrate all that is great about Folkestone. With events taking place at a variety of venues and celebrating Folkestone’s talent, there really should be something for everyone. Events will include: busking competitions, food and drink tastings, film shows, alternative sporting events, classical music recitals, public works of art, community events and some high profile weekend events.

With many arts organisations reducing their activities due to reduced availability of funding, Folkestone is fighting back; showing that a community that pulls together and celebrates together doesn’t need to rely upon grants to exist. Combining creativity, ingenuity and a passion for Kent’s coastal gem, the ten-man Festival Committee have a plan to make Folkestone in June the place to be.

Town Centre Manager, John Barber, was upbeat about the launch of the new Festival, “We sometimes forget what a wonderful town we live in. I think the Festival will remind people of all the great things Folkestone has to offer. ”Speaking on behalf of the Festival Committee, Chair, Jason Martin, explained the aims of the Festival, “We want to create a buzz about the place that everyone feels during June and beyond. The Festival Committee members are all so proud to live here, and we want to run events that make the rest of the town feel as good about Folkestone as we do.”Local people wanting to get involved with the Festival, either running events or working as volunteers should contact Barbara Witham in the first instance by calling 01303 850522 or via email on Barbara.witham@gmail.com

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Is Folkestone Suffering from Bad Body Image?

By Nick Spurrier

Most of us will from time to time look in the mirror and record with some anxiety a badly shaped nose, receding hair, a swelling stomach or various body parts that are either too big or too small. A very few unfortunates suffer so much from hating their body that they can see nothing good about themselves at all. Concentrating only on their perceived bad features, they drag themselves down entirely. Some socially isolate themselves and on the rare occasions they venture out convey through their body language their feelings about themselves, thus appearing unattractive to other people and driving them away.

I have recently come to wonder if Folkestone is suffering from what could be called “Bad town image”. Writing letters to the papers denigrating the town - an activity unfailingly supported, even encouraged by some editors – or posting pictures of bad features on the internet seems to have become a local pastime. Like those unfortunates looking in the mirror, some notice only the bad features and see these as making the whole town a disaster zone. There is no doubt that these feelings are conveyed outside the town to potential visitors, who may well start to think “Don’t go to Folkestone, I have heard from people who live there what a terrible place it is,”

It may also result in people thinking that nothing can be done for those parts that do need attention – the situation is hopeless so why bother to look for grants for small improvements. Ultimately it can also mean some residents scoffing at money when it is offered, seeking to see in the offer some nefarious ulterior motive or even considering themselves not worthy of it. When told that things can be put right but may take time, might not be perfect and could require a change of attitude, some residents cry “No! No! We want it all put right instantly and perfectly. We will only be happy then”. Some poor misguided souls, drooling over old photographs, seek a return to a non existent golden age – a sort of partially remembered perfect youth - when there were no problems: steam trains ran to the harbour (on time of course), ferries plied the channel and children’s delighted cries were heard day after day at the fun fair where the sun always shone. The whole population was prosperous and happy and everyone liked the town.

Like bad body image, this is of course a purely psychological condition. For some, any improvements will never be enough, just like the man who has a nose job and then discovers his ears are too big. But there are people in Folkestone, and those who visit year on year, who consider it a marvellous place; also newcomers with no knowledge of the town’s past, who look only to the future. They ignore the bad and see the good – the Leas, the coastal park and the beaches, each year celebrating the ongoing regeneration – the adventure playground, the fountain, the new restaurants, cafes and pubs and the refurbished shops in the Creative Quarter. They are not dragged down by dwelling on the empty seafront or railway line and comparing the current situation to the supposed perfect past. This optimistic attitude makes the town attractive to other people - something that ensures future growth and improvement.

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Edwardian Heyday

While there are now many triennial installations remaining all over Folkestone, it looks as if the Triennial Fringe might also have created at least one permanent exhibit. Edwardian Heyday is an installation of three life size Edwardian styled cut-outs on the Leas, for the public to interact with and take their own photographs. The artwork, a collaboration between Peter Oetzmann and Tom Shedden, has been tremendously popular, as one can tell from the bare earth behind the cutouts, where people have stood. At weekends during the Triennial, Tom and Peter recorded over 80 visitors in 2-3 hours, taking photographs. It had been intended to take them down by now but as Tom says “Every weekend people are still using them and enjoying them. As an artist, I am really pleased to have been able to create something that has connected to thousands of people. To further demonstrate its success, we hope to be able to hold an exhibition of some of the photographs in the waiting room at the bottom of the lift early in the spring”.

A former resident, Peter Oetzmann decided to return to Folkestone when the fast train started, something which also attracted Tom Shedden who is a total newcomer to the town, having moved here from Hackney. Both also saw the potential in the Creative Quarter and the ongoing regeneration.

For further information see: http://peteroetzmann.co.uk and www.tomshedden.co.uk

Visitors from all over

By Nick Spurrier

Usually happy to spend our New Years Eve at home, if not invited to a party, this year, at the suggestion of a friend who had come to stay, we booked up for the dinner/dance at Folkestone’s Clifton Hotel – seven courses and a small band. For me it was something to be endured but surprisingly I greatly enjoyed it: the food was excellent, the staff friendly and the other guests, mostly around my age (66 now), were dancing enthusiastically, if not expertly, to music entirely suitable to them, from the sixties and early seventies. However I was surprised that I knew no one there and discovered then, and later by contacting the manager, that the majority of guests that evening were from outside Folkestone - London, Cardiff, Germany, Torquay, Norfolk, Sheffield, Colchester, Shropshire, Maidstone and Newcastle upon Tyne. I talked to a few of them and found that they had, without exception, enjoyed their stay in Folkestone; some were regular visitors to a town of which they were very fond.

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Go Folkestone, Go Cycling

By David Taylor, chairman, Cycle Shepway

“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.” So wrote H.G. Wells. And what inspiration for Folkestone cyclists that Wells lived hereabouts. But, hang on! Hadn’t I read that line elsewhere? Wasn’t it from Spokesong, a play by Belfast writer Stewart Parker? “You can’t despair for the human race when you see someone riding a bicycle.” Well, yes. Parker wrote it in 1975 and could well have been re-cycling! But who can blame him? Fifteen years later, I was tempted to do the same when I read Parker’s quote. Filming the BBC2 series Bicycle, I was trawling for good lines. In the event, I didn’t lift it, but the line lodged in my mind. Hence my puzzle on authorship when, six years ago, I moved to Folkestone and read Wells’s brilliant observation. And what luck we have it. Wells lends gravitas to Cycle Shepway and our campaign for better cycling across Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh.

Before moving here, I’d imagined French, Dutch and German cycling standards would prevail, so close was the Continent to this corner of Kent. The reverse was the truth. Folkestone was in the dark ages, Where were the cycle paths and lanes? Where was the signage and cycle racks? Where were the kids cycling to school? And parents to the shops? Where were the commuters cycling to work or railway station? Where were the activists lobbying our deeply conservative local authorities? Who was wrestling drivers from their cars? Why was there such an entrenched anti-cyclist mindset? Then, hope! I chanced on a band of pioneers lobbying from a gazebo in Sandgate Road: the Shepway Cycle Forum. I signed up. Founded and led by Jean Baker, the forum was battling with the highway planners of Kent County Council to agree a strategy to improve the cycle infrastructure. After years of prevarication, the Shepway Cycle Plan was finally agreed in 2011.

Mission accomplished, Jean withdrew to complete a book she’d had on hold. Now, as chairman of the newly named Cycle Shepway, I’m privileged to assume her mantle. It’s our task to build on the achievements of Jean and the forum. We must turn the aspirations of the Shepway Cycle Plan – for that’s all they are - into realities.

Cycle Shepway is now a charity. We have a website, Twitter and Facebook and approaching 250 supporters, including several councillors. KCC has just granted us £1,000 to erect dual-use signage along the seafront to Hythe. We’re engaging with SDC and have high hopes of Alan Lague, the young highways engineer, who has great ambitions for cycling provision. Cycle Shepway has a mountain to climb. We take heart that cyclists have conquered Kilimanjaro. So, come Folkestone, come cycling. Join the campaign.

Read more on: cycleshepway.org.uk or email: campaign@cycleshepway.org.uk

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Update: Proposed Development of Ingles Manor/Garden Centre Site

By Liz Brown

A second set of plans has been produced for consultation prior to a planning application some time early in 2012. The current plans suggest the departure of the Folkestone Garden Centre, which, according to Charles Evans at Smith Wooley & Perry, does not wish to be included in the long term future of the site. Go Folkestone’s recent response to the proposals has concentrated on the following issues on behalf of concerned residents and has elicited some changes, as advised by Lee Evans Planning.

Nature Conservation: We have received assurances from Lee Evans that the trees will feature prominently, with all ‘boundary buildings’ sited behind the retained and improved tree line, but concerns remain. We have requested sight of the tree survey commissioned by SW&P and await a response.In the semi-rural setting, sighting of squirrels and foxes is common, and now evidence of badgers and bats has prompted us to contact local nature conservation groups to ensure that their views are taken into account.

Mix of buildings: Go Folkestone has commented that the plans issued for consultation include buildings which are too dominant by comparison with Ingles Manor and the semi-rural nature of the plot. We understand that the housing mix is under consideration and await sight of the revised plans. According to Lee Evans, “the Local Planning Authority refused to consider the provision of live/work units as part of the ‘employment’ phase” even though supporting entrepreneurship seems to have a high central government priority.

Parking: Lee Evans advise that they have increased the parking to the proposed office phase but not that for residential parking, for which Go Folkestone suggested at least two spaces per dwelling plus additional spaces for visitors. This remains a sensitive issue, especially as residents in nearby roads have been informed by SDC that a parking scheme will be imposed to deal with “congestion”.

Access: Go Folkestone is concerned that one of the proposed access points is into busy Castle Hill Avenue and would prefer that the existing tree lined avenue to Ingles Manor is retained as a relatively safe cycle path, a view shared by Cycle Shepway.

Drainage: Lee Evans have a specialist investigating the sewer capacities in response to local concerns regarding overloading of the antiquated drainage system.

The semi rural nature of the site, the conservation area status of some of it and the existence of Grade II listed Ingles Manor at its centre all point towards the need for very careful consideration of this development and we will continue to represent the views of local residents.

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New Books from Folkestone Authors

By Nick Spurrier

Those of us born in or immediately after World War II will remember the rash of war books that appeared in the fifties such as Dam Busters, Cockleshell Heroes and The Colditz Story, often reprinted in paperback by Penguin or Pan, the latter with the far more exciting covers. Amongst these was “The Man who Never was” by Ewan Montagu, recounting the successful attempt to convince the Germans that the invasion of Southern Europe would come though Greece rather than Italy by depositing a corpse, with documents indicating this, in the sea off the coast of Spain, predicting rightly that these would find their way to Hitler.

Nicholas Reed’s new book “My Father, the Man who Never was: The Life and Times of an MI5 Officer” retells this story as part of a biography of his father, Ronnie, whose photograph was used on the identity papers of the corpse. It is also a fascinating family history starting with Ronnie’s father Thomas Reed, who, brought up in Sandgate, moved to London to become deputy head-waiter at the Trocadero. Enlisting in the “Buffs” on the outbreak of the First World War, he became a batman to an officer on the home front but in 1917 requested a posting to France, where he was tragically killed by a stray shell before he even reached the front line. Nicholas Reed then tracks Thomas’s son and his father, Ronnie’s, recruitment into M15 from the BBC, where he was a sound engineer, and his subsequent rise through the ranks to become case officer of the triple agent Eddie Chapman during World War II. The well illustrated book deals with Ronnie Reed’s later life including his work in setting up a New Zealand MI5, ending with an interesting chapter on George Blake and the ethics of spying.

Also concerned with memoir is FAScination, a thirty-six page booklet published by the Folkestone Art Society, it contains short pieces on the lives and art of eleven of its members. There are accounts of setting up exhibitions in Provence (Neville Eldridge), Canterbury Cathedral Chapter House (John Doyle) and Spain (Joanna Sims) as well as some memories of Folkestone Art School, 1953-58 by Britta von Zweigbergk. Others write of lives brightened or revived by art. In a moving piece Annie Begley writes of encouragement at the age of eight when she won a Persil painting competition and praise for her lavishly illustrated school homework. But she also tells of an art teacher’s dismissive comments when she became more experimental in her artwork – something she survived and avoided when she became an art teacher herself.

At a recent book group we read “Sense of an Ending” by Julian Barnes, a book that required a couple of readings, at least, to fully appreciate it. “Transitions : a journal of crossings” published by Pavement Pounders is also one of those books that for me at least, rewarded several readings in

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consequently revealing the deeper meanings of some of the more difficult pieces. It is a collection of poems, short stories, essays and memoirs, a fair proportion by local people linking into the Triennial theme “A million miles from Home”, thus concerned with journeys: James Bennet develops an essay on “The archetypal Underworld and the Psychogeography of Descent” from the continuing belief in America of the possibility of an eventual journey to hell. Closer to home is Maiuko’s account of being trapped for three hours in a hell of darkness and billowing smoke during a crossing in the Channel Tunnel; battling the waves above, Shaukat Khan recounts a desperate struggle to complete a channel swim to France. Coming in the opposite direction at the start of the First World War, Belgian refugees were the subject of Fredo Franzoni’s painting, whose recent restoration is described by Julie Crick.

Many readers will be familiar with Paul Rennie’s shop at 47 The Old High Street, a treasure trove of the best of 20th century British art and design, from original vintage posters and prints, books, scarves, textiles, vintage clothing to badges - enamel and ‘60’s buttons, furniture, ceramics & glass, but may not be aware that he has now also written, or contributed to a highly successful range of lavishly illustrated books, partly based on his collections.

Festival of Britain 1951 (Design), published in 2007, covers all aspects of the festival’s design, including structures on the South Bank, souvenirs, and typography used in publications. In 2010 he produced two books: Modern British Posters: Art, Design & Communication tells the story of poster design in Britain during the 20th century through the study of posters which are in a number of archives – the first time this has been done. GPO (Design) covers all the posters, leaflets and brochures produce by the GPO – which for those who may not remember was responsible for both post and telephones in Britain. The GPO also had a film unit, to the history of which - The Projection of Britain (2011) - Paul has contributed a chapter entitled “Modem art and design in 1930s Britain: The context and legacies of the documentary film.” Finally he is the author of a chapter on “London Transport Posters: a Century of Art and Design (2011)

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“My Father, the Man who Never was” can be obtained from Waterstones; “FAScination” from John Sussams at john@sussams.freeserve.co.uk or 01303-242990; “Transitions” at www.pavementpounders.org.uk. Paul Rennie’s books are obtainable from Rennies Seaside Modern at 47 The Old High Street, Folkestone www.rennart.co.uk. Tel: 01303-242427

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NEWS FROM THE PLANNING FRONTBy Richard Wallace

The biggest proposal of recent months is the plan to put a 130 house development on Park Farm Primary School in Park Farm Road. A fairly dense development was proposed, with ten or more mature trees removed and some houses as close as 20 metres to Lynwood. Of course the reason for this development is that the money will largely go into building a new primary school in a plain and low level but much better new building tagged on the back of the existing Folkestone Secondary Academy. We have to be reasonably positive to the principle of the old school site being used to subsidise the new school. However it is a slippery slope. I am sure many more people would have objected strongly to public playing fields being sold off to finance a new school, were it not clear that the existing school is, physically a wreck, however good the teachers are. Much of the housing is where the existing school is, though some is on the open space immediately behind it.

GF and the Town Council are pushing for a development that was similar, but further away from the ‘edges’ i.e. longer gardens and possibly tree and hedge boundaries in public ownership . The Alder Road residents want possibly MORE hedges and trees as a screen, though acknowledging that the distance may be as good as they get. The Lynwood residents want the houses shifted further away from them ‘period’, which would mean losing a few and rejigging the layout.

I don’t want the clear failure of planning policy that occurred at Bowden Crescent in Shornecliffe to be repeated i.e .big trees are praised and officially protected , but new houses are still built so close that 20 years later in 2011 the ever-larger trees are chopped down ! There are guidelines about houses being built close to trees and they ought to be followed. This is currently quite a green and sylvan area, and the good principle of the new school cannot turn a bad development into a good one.

Elsewhere the proposed demolition of an old house in The Bayle for two new ones would usually ring alarm bells. However 1-3 The Bayle is a pretty ugly, Victorian ex-workshop and flat next to St Eanswythe’s School. The Environment Group meeting thought the two houses quite attractive and couldn’t object, though David Noble and Frank Bond did discuss whether the workshop hired out Tannoys or not ; remember them ?

Likewise the new houses proposed for the remainder of the old Richmond Dairy site in Stanley Road in Cheriton are well designed and face wisely across Stanley Rec , instead of the road itself . Milk distribution is one thing that has changed out of recognition in the last 50 years, and the last float rechargers at the dairy are about to be built over. I can still remember the Cheriton milk bottling plant, closed about 1985, as well as milk churns on churn-stands next to the fields on Cornish holidays in the late 1960s.

What new build this year will be named after Queen Elizabeth or The Diamond Jubilee? Will a patriotic developer come forward to us at Folkestone Town Council and go halves on the nameplates for the Park Farm site? Will Harbour Square be renamed Diamond Square, or Lower Sandgate Road become Queen’s Promenade! At least then we would not have two Lower Sandgate Roads as we have had since the Lower Leas playground was created. Maybe Shepway, which unlike Folkestone Town Council has put aside no money at all to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s 60 years on the throne, will be moved to name the still fairly new Sandgate to Folkestone seaside path for The Queen, or even the Coastal Park itself ? After all the promenade from the Harbour to Baker’s Gap is [since 1936] Coronation Promenade. Time is running out because The Lord Chamberlain apparently has to approve each naming to make sure the road to be named isn’t too down at heel!!

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The Strange Case of the Lost Valley

By Richard Wallace

The Boundary Commission is currently sifting through representations made against its initial proposals for changing the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies. In deciding the terms for the Commission last year the current Government, perhaps ill-advisedly, did not give it very much room for manoeuvre around the average size that each constituency was to be , but it is going to decide where we vote.

Like many of us the Coalition was irritated by the way that over the years, typical inner city seats had fewer voters than suburban and rural areas, due to the continuing drift out of cities, and from depressed areas like the North East to new growth points such as Milton Keynes. All election enthusiasts knew that Sunderland, South or Central, would declare first in a general election, mostly because there were not very many voters. Over the years the number of voters in some constituencies such as the Isle of Wight grew to nearly double the number of those in places like Sunderland Central and Glasgow Springburn. So in an over-logical way, the target number was set at 74000, and Parliament set the divergence from this at no more than 5%. So Faversham town gets put in a quite urban mixture with Canterbury and Whitstable, and the former Faversham and Mid Kent seat vanishes. Herne Bay is the centre of an amorphous mass from Blean to the suburbs of Margate.

Sadly this strait-jacket has resulted in some very odd decisions, not least the proposal that Folkestone and Hythe should shed the Elham Valley and Hawkinge. Hawkinge is to go to Dover. There is no doubt in my and many others’ minds that this is not a good idea. Hawkinge lies naturally with its immediate neighbour Folkestone. It has nothing in common with Dover, divided as it is by the wide open spaces of Swing field, Capel and Alkham. Nothing that affects Dover locally such as road proposals or new supermarkets or harbour problems could possibly be of relevance to Hawkinge, and vice versa. People who depend on public transport could not easily get in one trip to Dover to see their MP, unlike currently...

It would make a little more sense to lose the lovely Elham Valley to Canterbury, poised as it is roughly equidistant between Folkestone or Hythe, and Canterbury. However the crazy fixation with the 74000 numbers game means that that too is proposed to go to Dover and Deal! Words fail not only me but most people in the Elham Valley! They have no historic connection to Dover, no natural road links to Dover, and nothing in common with Dover.

It is too late for you to complain in the main consultation of autumn 2011, though there is a final chance in October 2012. But surely a groundswell of complaint to your MPs now will still have an effect on the powers- that- be, even if Elham goes to Canterbury and Hawkinge stays with Folkestone. The domino effect of the population cap does mean maybe that Sandwich will have to go with Dover and Deal instead of Thanet, and maybe the Saxon Shore villages around Sellindge will go back to Ashford, but these combinations make more sense historically and geographically than Hawkinge and Elham Valley going to Dover.

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TOWN CENTRE PARKING : A SENSIBLE WAY FORWARD

by Richard Wallace

Recent reports have suggested that Shepway is having second thoughts about its parking policy. Well, the Scrutiny Committee, a sort of House of Lords (!) has voted against it and put it back to Cabinet, but it is still the latter that has the power. As we go to press it would still introduce parking meters to the centre of town, from Tontine Street to Christ Church and from The Leas to Bouverie Road West by April [probably June now]. It would then plan, subject to further consultation, to introduce residents’ parking and probably meters, section by section, across a wider area, including the centres of Hythe, New Romney, poor Sandgate and the seafront, over a year or two. The West End including The Grand and Grimston Avenue, but not as far as Turketel Road is one area. The Guildhall Street North area stretching to the railway line at Kingsnorth Gardens is another.

Go Folkestone and the Town Council have pointed out that nothing should be done to discourage shoppers from entering the town in the current recession, even if a small profit is made by Shepway. The latter is projected as averaging £300,000. This is not much in Council terms, and one wonders how much it will be when, in view of the public mood, any money is subtracted for replacing vandalised meters and watering down the whole scheme. Is the game worth the candle for anyone except the consultants? The Town Centre Manager and all or nearly all local professional and commercial bodies are also opposed, notwithstanding the implementation of similar policies in some other towns. Those who support the current administration worry that the new parking policy if implemented will firstly genuinely worsen a bad situation by driving people away to out of town centres with free or virtually free parking, particularly the Outlet Centre in Ashford and West Park Farm. Secondly it will probably be blamed for closures actually caused by the general recession which will be a political problem for the Conservatives.

I can do no better than to quote from an email from Charles Evans, the principal of Smith Woolley Perry who writes ‘The argument that other towns charge for parking is not dissimilar to one animal following another happily into the slaughter house.’ Even in Dover, Deal, the Thanet towns and Ashford, the proportion of metered streets in each town seems less than is projected for Folkestone. The prosperity of Tenterden, a town which still has the same ‘one hour free’ policy as Folkestone, is testament to the fact that not going ahead with central parking charges may well not be the stupid nimbyism that the few supporters of the policy suggest, but a sensible new way forward IN THE RECESSION .

Supporters cling to a poll of years ago which showed 52% in favour of a scheme, but this was a vote for a general rosy future of £50 to park outside your house, with the hard detail only now supplied. AND the ‘vote’ was ‘monitored’ by a firm which supplies parking services for profit!! The recent open poll showed 72 people in favour and 1152 against, on a very rainy day in November with half the polling stations in different buildings to normal. GF believe 52% may be in favour of residents’ parking, but virtually everyone is against town centre charges. Damien Collins MP is believed to have formed this view now. Crucially residents’ parking could be brought in with adequate, if not ideal controls without expensive parking meters and without badly affecting the town. Just do what has been done in Folkestone West and have a prohibition for non-residents for a short period which reflects any variation in the nature of local parking problems (schools, stations, offices): 9-11am, 10-12 noon, or

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3pm to 4.00pm. Relatively few traffic wardens could cover several districts cheaply depending on the prohibition period and locals would still get their parking permits for £50 or so, and by Folkestone West’s experience ( I am a resident) judge it money well spent . Two new developments outside Folkestone should cause further worry for the small Cabinet of 8 members which is driving the policy. Firstly Westminster Council’s abandonment of its 2011 proposition to charge for street parking at evenings and on Sundays which has been widely reported in the national papers . This has been due to a widespread outcry within both the community and all political parties. Secondly the December report by the retail expert Mary Portas, commissioned by David Cameron, on the decline in town centres. This advised the Government to increase the provision of free parking in town centres: stating the bleeding obvious some would say, when one sees the effect of Westwood Shopping Centre on Margate. If the Government accepts this, Shepway may be moving in the wrong direction at the wrong time.

Shepway is looking for every way to get money for valuable services , and it believes, wrongly according to GF members, that a small increase in Council Tax would be more unpopular than the palaver of parking meters. I know that the officials and councillors involved genuinely believe , though with no scientific studies quoted , that parking meters charging hopefully as little as £0.20 for every ten minutes are going to improve circulation ; they close their eyes to the major irritant for our members of double parking, which will surely worsen if kerb parking is charged from scratch.

In various discussions with members and at the EBTG group, which meets on the second Wednesday of every month at 7.45pm at Wards Hotel, the following extra ideas have been floated. Firstly put meters mainly on the seafront and cliff top, if you must get some more income, where parkers are viewed as getting something: views, sea air or beach access, for nothing. Secondly very restrictive meters in a couple of special locations such as immediately outside the Post Office, so that people can be in and out collecting their parcels and letters. Thirdly serious long term parking concessions for the many office and shop employees in Folkestone. Fourthly a serious review of yellow lines and/or the possibility of echelon or diagonal parking in roads like Manor Road , Shorncliffe Road , Westcliff Gardens and The Leas. Fifthly a special scheme for hoteliers who are still a remarkably resilient and important local industry due to Folkestone being one hour from London , one hour from France and five minutes from the beach. Sixthly Shepway’s own council car park to be opened on Saturdays, which Canterbury does.

If the policy is not considerably altered, a few Council jobs will have been safeguarded at the cost of significantly more job losses through closed shops, hotels and offices. Europa House, Academy House over Boots, and Aspen House, are all empty town centre offices crying out for easier, not more difficult, employee parking. Saga could go to Hastings and make the problem much worse. Give the potential employees cheap parking in Shepway’s car parks and the number of jobs and shoppers could actually increase.

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Didn’t we have a lovely time, the day we went to... Faversham!

David Germaney

About 10 days before Christmas, a dozen or so members of Go Folkestone! ventured beyond the comfort zone that is Shepway into the chilly northern wastelands where the ancient town of Faversham is to be found. Organised by local photographer David Noble, a trip was arranged to the country’s oldest brewery, Shepherd Neame; even more kind of him, he did the driving, which meant that the rest of us could have as much or as little to drink as we wanted. Through his contacts he was able to organise a minibus, on loan from the Folkestone Sports Centre Trust.

Plenty of time was allowed for the journey, bearing in mind how bad the weather and traffic can be at that time of year. The result of course was that we arrived in Faversham far too early, having experienced no problems whatsoever! As we hit the outskirts of the town, someone came up with the brilliant idea of stopping off at Macknades (www.macknade.com) to fill up the time and also to fill up with unusual foodstuffs. Whenever I go to Faversham, I always pop in there as they have an incredible selection of continental foods at reasonable prices (I’m not being paid to say this, I hasten to add).

We then went to the brewery, which was the main point of the exercise. The extremely informative tour lasted about 2 hours and was a fascinating insight into the whole brewing process, as well as a history of brewing and the Shepherd Neame brewery. This was aided by the fact that our guide was very knowledgeable as well as putting across all the information in a relaxed and interesting way. I think her name was Julie (old age, not alcohol, has made my memory fuzzy) and we all enjoyed her presentation.

Naturally we had to sample some beers afterwards, starting with lager (not very special, to my palate), followed by Spitfire (excellent) and finishing with their special Christmas brew (historic) – you would be correct in assuming that I am a real ale man. As it was the festive season, we were also given a mince pie and some mulled wine.

To round off the day we went to the Duke of Cumberland at Barham where we had booked a table (www.dukeofcumberland.co.uk). An excellent meal finished off a perfect day – we have some superb pubs in Folkestone but should you fancy a change of surroundings, then I’d be happy to recommend this place. All we need to do now is find another brewery to visit that isn’t too far away, for a tour next December...!

Just a final thought, how about setting up a micro-brewery as part of the harbour redevelopment so that the noble tradition of brewing can stage a return to Folkestone?

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Folkestone Museum’s Treasures Revealed

By David Noble

A fascinating activity was tucked quietly away in the Sassoon Room at the History Resource Centre above Folkestone Library last year. Here a public conservation of some of the Town’s much loved paintings took place, including two events of interest for children, to enable visitors to learn more amount the whole process. It was part of the “Treasures Revealed project”, funded by the European Development Fund. Julie Crick, Conservator at Cambridge Painting Conservation Restoration, was painstakingly working her skills and magic to give a new lease of life to paintings and frames after years of wear and tear, the oldest dating from the early 19th century.

Left: FOLKESTONE BOAT TRAIN, B PRIESTMAN, DATED TO 1932Right: DOG FISH SEASON, C M PADDAY, ACTIVE BETWEEN 1890-1940

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In between the open sessions, when she answered questions and explained her techniques, she patiently reinstated flaking areas of paintwork using a thermostatically controlled hot spatula and cleaned off years of grime revealing brighter colours beneath; she endeavoured to correct conservation work done at an earlier period when techniques were less sophisticated, retensioned sagging canvases and repaired damaged gilt frames. Also “Miss Marple” like she tried to detect the authenticity of the works, whether additional painting had been added later or if there was the possibility of an original work beneath the visible one.

Above: LEAS SHELTER, J WILLIAMSON, ACTIVE BETWEEN 1868 -1889.

One of the nicer aspects of the project for Julie was the reminiscences of visitors, prompted by the periods when the paintings where created. One man amused her with his tales of youthful daring in the scenes and places in the paintings. I wonder if he might have been one of the Mud Larks begging for pennies in the inner harbour. She gained the impression that the people of Folkestone are very fond of these paintings which made it very pleasing for her to be involved in getting them back on display. Three of the paintings: Dog Fish season, Folkestone Boat Train and Foot of the Downs were re-hung in the History Resource Centre at the end of January.

Right: FOKLESTONE VIADUCT, UNKNOWN, POST 1844

All photos in this article courtesy of:

David Noble

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What’s on:

Capel Farmers Market every Tuesday at Capel Village hallCapel le Ferne 10.00am – 12.30pm contact 01303 252354 or 211480

“Ben’s Vocal Harmony Group” Capel Village Hall every Wednesday 7pm – 8.30pmHeaded by Ben Millbery BA Hons contact 01303 243514

Antiques fair first Sunday of the Month in the Grand on the Leas Folkestone.

Friday 2nd March, 7.30 pm. A Magical Night at the Grand. 7.30pm. Enjoy a night of live magic with a meal, tickets £19.00 Tel: The Grand 01303 222222

Saturday 10th March Spaghetti Western Orchestra - £20.00 Leas Cliff Hall

Saturday 17th March, 7.00 pm. St Patrick’s Celebration 7pm Traditional Irish Menu £17.00 per person. Featuring The Buckthorn Band.

Sunday 18th March Mothering at the Grand, with present for mum too, £26.00 per person. Children half price.

Thursday 22nd March Charlie Landsborough £17.00 - £18.50 Leas Cliff Hall

March 25th Folkestone Sports relief mile01303 850522

Thursday 29th March Cher Lloyd Thursday 29th March - £16.50 Leas Cliff Hall

April Titanic Day – Harbour area.

April 21st St Georges day Folkestone, Parade and traditional dancing.

Friday 18th May, 7.30 pm St. Eanswythe’s Church – Sacconi Quartet and Tom Poster (piano) - Mozart, Bartók and Franck Tickets: £15 Saturday 19th May, 7.00 pm St Eanswythe’s Church - Sacconi Quartet, Tom Poster (piano) and RCM Chamber Orchestra – Grieg, Mozart abd Tchaikovsky Tickets: £15 Saturday 19th May, 9.30 pm Venue to be confirmed - Sacconi Quartet and Matthew Sharp (cello & actor) - Death’s Cabaret:From celebrated composer Stephen Deazley and award-winning writer Martin Riley, Tickets: £12 Sunday 20th May, 3.00 pm St Eanswythe’s Church - Ben Hancox (violin) & Tom Poster (piano), Cara Berridge (cello) & Elizabeth Burgess (piano) – Schumann,Debussy, Faure and Elgar. Tickets: £10 Sunday 20th May, 7.00 pm St Eanswythe’s Church - Sacconi Quartet, Matthew Hunt (clarinet) and Tom Poster (piano) – Haydn, Brahms and Elgar. Tickets: £15

For Further details of the Savcconi Music Festival see www.sacconi.com/festival

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Maiuko sings saudade

By Marko Wilson

Maiuko, the voice of Mozambique, is far from the assumed traditional African music act, but don’t get me wrong, she is so much more. This is real music, fearlessly expressed and possibly a little ahead of our time.

At the Lost Theatre on Monday 31 October, as part of the London International Festival of Exploratory Music, Maiuko’s involving powerful voice flooded the small room with feelings of ‘saudade‘ in the singer’s own translation, a blend of sadness and joy. She explains, “As I have been away from home most of my life, this feeling has been my grounding companion. It helps me keep connected with my roots and inner essence“.

Maiuko captured the audience right from the start with ‘Jose‘, a song she wrote, dedicated to her father who recently passed away. Choosing her notes very carefully, in this song Maiuko makes excellent use of her vocal extensive range. Immersed in fusion and accentuated African vocal influences, she performed over a jazzed-up concept rhythm section occasionally topped with flowing high quality improvisation by flautist Paul Cheneour. Further success of cross-over Afro Blues /Jazz was also demonstrated in other compositions of her own - Mozambique, Sweet Back Mama and Shuffle- collaboration with Max Middleton.

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Later on in the set, Maiuko briefly spoke about the African origins of the Blues and the impact these influences add to her development as a singer /song-writer. To highlight this moment, she invited on stage Senegalese singer Laye Sow for an African blues inspired ballad – a smooth combination of two great interpreters in which once again Maiuko’s voice elevated the performance to another level. She paid respect to Billie Holliday, Nina Simone and Miriam Makeba as “great women of inspirational black music”. Finally she closed the show with a second encore ‘Voa’, a vocal and rhythm moment inspired by African/Portuguese blues, Fado. It left us all living a little more.

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Described by Time Out magazine as a Mozambican “nu-soul diva”, Maiuko, now resident in Folkestone, was born in small village in Mozambique, with a grandmother who was part of the Swazi royal family. Her singing career started in Portugal, where between 1987 and 1992 she had three songs in the charts with two at number one. On moving to England in 1993, she was selected to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and was subsequently signed by UK based Production Company RL-2, recording and releasing the Album ‘Different Wars’ in 2000

Between 2000 and 2003 she toured Europe, Brazil, Africa, UK and Japan, promoting ‘Different Wars and doing collaborations with various established musicians including Max Middleton, Dick Pearce, Sara Tavares. At the end of the tour, she settled in Folkestone and, after a short break, began to dedicate more time to developing her painting and sculpture. In 2007, in partnership with others, she opened the ‘Chimaera Gallery’ in Tontine Street, which for four years successfully supported international and local artists. As well as regular local performances, Maiuko has, in the last two years, done a short UK/European tour and recorded in collaboration with Max Middleton, featuring as special guest on his latest album ‘One Thousand Sails’. She is at present writing and working on pre-production for her new Music Album “Roots Harmonia”, which will result in a further international tour. 2012 will also see her participation, with five paintings and a sculpture, in an Olympics inspired art exhibition in London, and, on 17 March, an award designed made by her will be presented at the annual Portuguese Awards Gala ‘AS NOTICIAS’. On 2 March she will be performing at the Astor theatre in Deal.

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