JOHN


MUNSON SHOW TIME


THE popularity of much of Shakespeare’s plays is their modernity. London modern dress productions of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and ‘Richard the Third’ have been sell-outs. Local director Rob Fork-


The Comedy of Errors The Changeling and Hazlitt Arts Centre


nall’s Changeling and the Ha- zlitt Arts Centre gave us an absolutely knockout version of ‘The Comedy of Errors’. One left the show wondering: “Why isn’t this turned into a successful comedy series?” It was an absolute hoot from


start to finish. Another Boughton Monchelsea suc- cess.


Jake Hendricks played the


twins, both Antipholus. Lean- der Deeny played the twins Dromio. Just to see these two switching characters, body language, misunderstanding and fezzes, brought roars of laughter, interspersed with continuous chuckles. Lucy Thatcher as Adriana


and Rachel Nussbaum as Lu- ciana were the two gorgeous females who contributed to


End of treatment centre


Children’s unit to open THE new children’s unit opening in Maidstone Hospital on Septem- ber 22 will be named ‘Riverbank’. It replaces the children’s ward


when full paediatric services are switched 17 miles away to Pem- bury. The short-stay assessment unit


and outpatient department will open only 9am to 9pm Mondays to Fridays.


Counting up


the swans! THE mayor’s duties are many and varied but none could be more quirky than the centuries-old “swan upping” ceremony. It involves counting and ringing swans and cygnets on the stretch of the River Medway over which the mayor has jurisdiction. Liberties that were originally granted to the “Queen’s Town of Maidstone” by Elizabeth I in 1559 were extended by James I in 1619 to include the privilege of keeping swans on the River Med- way and marking them, now done by means of a numbered ring on their leg. Cllr Brian Mortimer upheld that tradition, accompanied by swan master Eric Philp, who caught and ringed this cygnet, which is now registered in the mayor’s name. His Court of Survey was assisted


by members of the Hampstead and Yalding Cruising Club and the East Farleigh Cruising Club.


Homes in ambulance station scheme


A PLANNING application has been submitted to build 14 new homes in a project that will see the downsizing of Maidstone Ambulance Station. Instead, the Loose Road building


will become an Ambulance Commu- nity Response Post, which will form part of SECAmb NHS Trust’s plan to develop aMake Ready Centre in Pad- dock Wood, where staff currently working from Cranbrook, Crowbor- ough, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Ton- bridge, TunbridgeWells stations will begin and end their shifts. However, during their shifts staff


will respond from the response posts.


SECAmb’s programme director of


estates, Geoff Catling, said: “While we believe the MaidstoneAmbulance Station iswell located to meet the de- mands on our services in the area, the station will be too large for our re- quirements once the new Make Ready Centre is operational “This is why we are looking to dis-


pose of some of the site and create a new ambulance community response post.” The Make Ready scheme will see


the deployment of specialist teams to clean, restock andmaintain vehicles, meaning which means ambulance staff, who routinely undertake these tasks, can spend more time treating patients.


THE Mid Kent Treatment Centre in Maidstone Hospital, used by many cancer patients requiring chemotherapy, is to close in November. But the hospital trust sees this as an opportunity to bring


new services in to the space vacated. The centre has been run for the Primary Care Trust by an in- dependent company, Care UK, for five years and has handled almost 40,000 chemotherapy treatments and 35,000 day cases. But the NHS sees a saving and believes there is sufficient alternative capacity within the hospital trust, with chemotherapy provided mainly in the nearby ward. “It’s a big building so there is plenty of opportunity to com- mission something good,” said a trust spokesman.


the general merriment and confusion. The way they gave us the lines would have made Shakespeare himself laugh with pleasure. David Corden, Henry Farmer, Vivienne Keen and our own local Tom Oakley made a powerful supporting cast.


Great costumes. Effective, simple set. No throat mikes and we heard every word.  Rob Forknall directs this year’s Hazlitt panto – should be good.


Hospice launches legacy plea


THE Heart of Kent Hospice has launched a campaign to en- couragemore people to think of it in their wills. Next year the Aylesford-


based charity celebrates 21 years of providing very spe- cialised care to patients and their families faced with a life- limiting illness. A spokesman said: “Thanks


to the very generous and on- going support of our commu- nity over the years we have been able to sustain and ex- pand this vital community service. However, with the cur- rent economic downturn, rais- ing the £3.6m we need each year to run our hospice is a challenge. Gifts in wills – or legacies – have formed a vital part of this funding. “It is for this reason that we


are launching a campaign to en- courage more people to think about our hospice when they are writing their wills and thereby ensuring that we will be here for the next 21 years, supporting our community and those that need our care.”


Quality mark MAIDSTONE solicitors Gul- lands has been granted mem- bership of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. To achieve this mark of excel-


lence for the home buying process, practices must un- dergo a strict assessment, com- pulsory training, self-reporting, random audits and annual re- views.


Parking plan is ‘more modest’


MAIDSTONE Hospital has submitted a revamped planning application to increase the amount of staff car parking. After pre-application discussions with Maidstone Council, the hospital’s new application for the north- west corner of the site is more modest. A planning statement says: “The proposal offers a reduced scheme than originally applied for, thus re- taining 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 facili- ties and departments currently in the process ofmov- ing to Maidstone Hospital. The expansion of departments includes cellular pathology, moved from Preston Hall, the formation of a new birthing unit and various administrative departments moving from Tun- bridgeWells toMaidstone.”


Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk Malling 25


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