Town Talk
10k road race THE 12th Snodland 10k road race will be held on October 9. Race director Dave Keeley
told Town Talk: “It’s a beauti- ful course running through Birling, Ryarsh and Pad- dlesworth and it’s a great fun day for all the family, with an indoor market to pass the time while the runners are out on the road. “It is well marshalled and marked at every kilometre so there is no fear of getting lost on route. “Runners of all standards,
from joggers to accom- plished athletes, are all wel- come.” More details are available
from Dave on 01634 240707 or from the town council of- fices on 01634 240228.
Bluebell walk
for charity PATRICK Lawry, the organiser of the annual Eve Appeal Bluebell Wood charity walk in Upper Halling, has thanked the walkers and sponsors who have given donations. He has received over £500
so far, butsaiditwillbeJuly before he has collected all the donations. The Eve Appeal directs all its monies to the gynaecological cancers research programme at University College, London. Almost £10,000 has been raised from previous walks.
Bowls club delay THE official opening cere- mony for Smurfit Bowls Club has been put back to July 24. It should have opened on
May 30 but there has been a delay in completing the build- ing of the pavilion. Mick Galloway said the
club would be playing on the green before then but the offi- cial opening date had been put back “to be on the safe side”.
THE United Church in the centre of Snodland will cease to be a church from August 31. It will withdraw from the Methodist and United Reformed Church and be sold. As reported in previous issues of Town
Talk the floorboards had rotted and had to be ripped up. Services have contin- ued to be held in a room at the back of the church. The building, completed in 1888 is not
listed but is in a conservation area. Alan Parris of Birling Road, Snodland,
the treasurer and a steward, said that, as far as he knew, the headquarters of the United Reformed Church, which owns the building, would deal with it and he did not know if it would be sold as it stands or planning permission for demo- lition and building would be sought. It would cost £100,000 to make it suit-
able for normal use and another £50,000 to modernise it.
Churchgoers are in good spirits despite the “sad” news about the closure
“Naturally everyone is very sad and
upset that this has happened,” said Alan. “When you think it started with a few rot- ten floorboards. We just thought the floor would be repaired and we would be back up and running. It is the speed of it all. It was only a few weeks ago that this happened. “We have never had a vast congrega-
tion but as the elderly died, younger people have come in so it has remained constant over the years. If the congrega- tion had dwindled we could have fore- seen this happening. “Some people were christened here
and have been going to the church for 60 years.” Alan said a suggestion had been
made that services could be held in indi- viduals’ houses, but that was a “non- starter”. The nearest Methodist Church is in
Mums with a passion for play
A GROUP of Snodland residents have taken it upon them- selves to improve and increase playground equipment in the town and to provide facilities for teenagers. Jane Adams (left) and Ella Randall jointly chair the newly formed P.I.P.S group (Parents Improving Play areas in Snod- land). Turn to Town Talk page 3 for the full story.
FREE FUNDED SESSIONS
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St. Katherine’s Lane, Snodland ME6 5EJ
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Town Talk 1
New Hythe Lane, Larkfield. and Alan thought that some of the older residents might go to Christ Church or All Saints in Snodland. “Ideally I would like to see the church knocked down and something smaller to be included on the site, but that is not going to happen,” Alan added. Cllr Anne Moloney, chairman of the
town council, described the closure of the church as a very sad loss to the commu- nity.
“There is every chance it will be sold for development, in which case I hope it will be done very sensitively.”
Local news for Snodland and Halling
A Downs Mail supplement produced in conjunction with the Snodland Chamber of Commerce.
Town centre church to close its doors after repair costs escalate
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