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Residents lose pub battle but may have won war


OTHAM residents have been thwarted in their attempt to buy the village’s only pub – but have welcomed a promise that it will be re-opened as an inn. Cash pledges from 48 current and former villagers helped to raise the £235,000 cam- paigners thought was needed to buy The White Horse. They planned to reopen the pub and possibly restore the lost village shop, library and post office at the property.


Platinum party for Frank and Doris


LENHAM couple Frank and Doris Wood are still going strong – 70 years after getting married. The couple, both 90, celebrated their platinum


anniversary with their family at the Dog and Bear Hotel in the village. They met at a dance in Hanwell, Middlesex, in


1938 and tied the knot in a hurry two years later. Doris recalled: “He came back on the Sunday and Frank was only here for a week before he had to go back to war with the Royal Air Force. He said, ‘Before I go, shall we get married?’. I said yes and by the Wednesday we were mar- ried.” After the war, Frank worked in aviation, latterly


as the chief designer of the auto-flight system on the Concorde. The couple moved to Bearsted and settled in Lenham in 1978 after Frank got a job working at Rochester Airport. Doris said: “The secret to us staying together is


an accumulation of lots of things. We just never thought of not being together. We got married and that was it. We have always made sure that we don’t go to bed with any problems. They are always solved.” While the couple’s enduring partnership has


But another party outbid the villagers and bought the property for £250,000. Otham resident Rocky Smith, an associate of the purchaser, said: “It’s definitely going to be re-opened as a pub for the community. There needs to be some tidying up because thieves have broken in and stolen copper pipes and beer hand pipes but we want it open as soon as possible. “It closed before through lack of trade be-


cause it was not being run very well. The person who has bought the property is going to serve food, open up the fireplace and refurbish the building.” The identity of this person remains a se-


cret, and there has been speculation that it could be an Irish property speculator. Campaigner Ron Gwinnett, who said a third of the village had contributed towards


the bid fund, said: “We thought £235,000 might be enough because we were told the property was worth £200,000, but it ended up being out of our league. We raised that money in just four weeks, which is amazing. Given longer we might have been able to get enough money to buy it. “We are concerned but the person who bought the prop- erty said he wanted it to be a pub and he seemed genuine. “There is nothing else he can


been a big factor in reaching their platinum an- niversary, they are quick to praise the efforts of staff at Len Valley Practice and Maidstone Hospi- tal in looking after Frank, who was last year fitted with his fourth heart pacemaker. Daughter Barbara Isaacs (67) said: “Had it not


been for the hospital and doctors’ surgery, he would not have been here today. They have all done a fantastic job.” The couple have two children, five grandchil- dren and 12 great-grandchildren.


do with it anyway. EricPickles [Secretary of State for Commu- nities and Local Government] recently said in Parliament that local communities would have the right to raise funds to retain pubs and village halls etc, and if the situation came up again I’m sure people would be pre- pared to pledge for the cause. “Even under current “last- pub-in-the-village” regulations, the owner would have to ad- vertise the building as a pub for two years before applying for change of use.We have to keep a careful and watchful brief.”


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Weds 9th Milestone Museum


The Buddy Holly Story(Orchard) £39.50 £22.50


Mon 14th Herne Bay with lunch and bingo £25.00 Thurs 24th Lunch in France


Holidays Fri 4th March


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3 Day Mystery


Mon 28th March Warners Alvaston Hall Mon 4th April


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Llandudno


Mon 23rd May The Pennine Mountains Wed 25th May Monets Garden


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