The sun shone on Maidstone River Festival to make it one of the ‘best-ever’
007 and Jaws were
among the films depicted by the river festival floats
Crowds get on board for a great festival
THOUSANDS lined the River Medway on one of the hottest Satur- days of the year for the 32nd Maid- stone River Festi- val.
Billed as a more family friendly event than in some previous years, the day drew a huge crowd to enjoy watching the ‘splashabout’ fun of the raft race. There was some-
Man overboard! TheWest Kent Engineers make a splash
thing for everyone, including boats, live music, a fun- fair in the grounds of the Lock- meadow complex, and even an artists’ quarter on the towpath near the Archbishop’s Palace. The evening fi-
nale was a fire- works spectacular, which was rated one of the festival’s best-ever displays.
Blind man praises rescuers A BLIND man was res- cued from the River Medway during the festival after he fell in on his way to see his daughter
perform
in Whatman Park. A speedboat had revved up alongside Neville Butteriss (pic- tured) and startled his guide dog, Ali, as they walked along the river- bank. Both plunged in. Two passers-by man- aged to pull the pair from the water. Mr Butteriss, of Campbell Road, who re-
cently led a campaign against A-frame ad- vertising boards in the town centre, hurt his knee during the drama and was taken home by ambulance. He did not get the names of themen who
saved him but said: “I’d like to thank them, and the wonderful medical staff.”
Musical mayor on song FOR a rock musician of more senior years, Cllr BrianMortimer (pictured, second right) has a mighty fine piece of bling. But he put his mayoral chain to one side
when he joined the four other members of his band, 2BC, on the riverside stage. Minutes after declaring the festival open,
New at this year’s river festival was an artists’ quarter Nursing home sports day
STAFF at Staplehurst Manor Nursing Home, in Frittenden Road, held what is be- coming an annual sports day. The event, organised by Katie Harrison
(20), saw staff taking part in a range of events from fancy dress race and puzzles to more traditional events including egg and spoon and relay race. Residents Josephine Humphries and John McKinder carried out scoring. The event was held in aid of Help for He- roes, with £57 being raised.
Cllr Mortimer was playing a mean guitar for the audience, which included council leader Chris Garland and cabinet colleague JohnWilson.
More modest hospital parking plan
MAIDSTONE Hospital has submitted a re- vamped planning application to increase the amount of staff car parking. After pre-application discussions with Maidstone Council, the hospital’s new ap- plication for the north-west corner of the site is more modest. A planning statement says: “The proposal
offers a reduced scheme than originally ap- plied for, thus retaining the majority of woodland. The existing car park offers 67
spaces. If adopted, this proposal will ac- commodate 251 spaces in total. “The extended car park has been designed
to help with additional personnel required to staff new facilities and departments cur- rently in the process of moving toMaidstone Hospital. The expansion of departments in- cludes cellular pathology, moved from Pre- ston Hall, the formation of a new birthing unit and various administrative departments moving from TunbridgeWells to Maidstone.”
Visit Downs Mail’s website —
downsmail.co.uk South 25
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