Sue Shircore SUE Shircore (45), lived all but the very earliest years of her life in Larkfield. Born Susan Williams in Strood, Sue trained as a hair- dresser at West Kent College and worked in local sa- lons includ- ingMalcolm’s Hair Studio of Larkfield and Twylites in Ditton. For the last


15 years Sue worked as a mobile hairdresser, with clients throughout the local area and to the south and west of Maidstone. Married in 1994, Sue was mother to Jason. Her brother,, Stuart, said; “Sue was friendly and kind, she loved the band Take That and had seen them live after they re-formed.” Sue’s Facebook page has now become a tribute site. One friend posted: “Still can’t be- lieve I will never spend time with such an amazing, beauti- ful person.” Sue leaves her son, partner


Tony, brothers Simon and Stu- art and her parents. A Just Giving internet page established to raise £500 in Sue’s memory for the Heart of Kent Hospice has already dou- bled its target.


Allen Durling ALLEN Durling (66), of Lon- don Road East, Royal British Legion Vil- lage, was born – one of 11 children – at 81 Calder Road, Ringle- stone, and lived for many years opposite his parent’s


home at number 82. Having joined the second bat-


talion of The Queen’s Regiment in 1966, he served in Hong


We will remember


Kong and Northern Ireland. He met wife of 41 years, Philom- ena, in Northern Ireland and re- turned to live at Calder Road, working as a bricklayer along- side his father and brothers. With his wife he raised chil- dren Thomas, Catherine and Alan.


Philomena said: “Allen worked all round the local area, including building Brenchley House, houses at Penenden Heath and walls at Aylesford Priory. He loved having a laugh and was a great practical joker. “As a family we went horse


and dog racing and Allen bought his own dog from York- shire. The dog – Mr Bill – won three races, including wins at Catford and Romford. “Wehavesomanygood memories of Allen; he was a very positive and determined person. He fought cancer at the end of his life with his usual bravery, and no complaints.” Allen – who moved to Lon-


don Road East six years ago – leaves his wife, children, three grandsons, two granddaughters and seven surviving siblings.


Connie Maidment CONNIE Maidment (91), had lived in Norman Road, East Malling, since 1982, and had previously spent her life in West Malling. Married to Reginald for 68


years, Connie was mother to Sandra and Brenda. She raised her family whilst her husband spent time in the Army and went on to work as a clerk of works for Kent County Council. Connie’s own employment included domestic work in a large local house, time spent pruning trees at East Malling Research Station, and local cleaning work. Karen Tomsett, Connie’s granddaughter, said: “My


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


Give us pastors a chance Dear Sir - I am writing in response to Tony Frost's letter to you in last month’s edition (September, Town) of Downs Mail. In his letterhe talks at length about the won-


derful work that the youth service ofKCCpro- vides and the fact that unfortunately the council is seeing fit to cut this funding. I agree with a majority of his points. I do, however, want to comment on hispoint about the voluntary sector. He suggests that the voluntary sector does


nothave qualified and experienced staff. This is a falsehood. I am a local youth worker for MaidstoneBaptist Church, amnot only a qual- ified JNC level youth worker but have over 10 years of experience working in a variety of sit- uations with young people. Just because the term voluntary is used does not neccessarily mean understaffed or underqualified. At our churchwe run anumber of very good quality young people’s groups, from our open youth club that runs on a Friday evening to


22 Malling


grandmother was kind, loving and always there for everyone. She had a really lucky streak and often found herself win- ning raffle prizes and other competitions.” Connie leaves her widower, daughters, grandchildren Tracy, Gary, Karen and Matthew and five great-grandchildren.


Winnie Stevens WINNIFRED “Winnie” Stevens (86), lived locally for 60 years, spending over half that time in Birling, before moving to Ley- bourne in 1983 and, a couple of years later, to Mandeville Court, Maidstone. In 2010 she moved to The Grove in Bower Mount Road. Born Winnifred Martin in


Worthing, West Sussex, she spent time during the war in communications with the ATS and later did bar work. After moving locally she fol- lowed a career in psychiatric nursing at Leybourne Grange. Winnie was mother to Roger, Yvonne, Valerie and Richard. She worked for a number of years with husband Jack, who was also a psychiatric nurse. Her daughter Valerie said:


“My mother loved to spend time with her friends, espe- cially playing Scrabble. She loved knitting and crochet. “She was a great reader of the


Bible and often had more than one Bible on the go. “My mother was very much


her own character with a wicked sense of humour. Her talents included being able to finish the Daily Mail crossword every day and later in her life she took classes in watercolour painting. “She also enjoyed the time


she spent at the local Blind Club.” Winnie leaves her children,


four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.


Tony Wood ANTONY “Tony” Wood (77), who lived for around 40 years in Milton Street, Fant, was known locally from his many years running a specialist motor sports business and, prior to that, in a career as a local wrestler. Born in Loose, Tony did Na-


tional Service and returned to the local area to work as a heavy goods mechanic and car salesman. His local employers included now defunct firms like Stockers and Dave Stone’s, respectively located in Hack- ney Road and Hartnup Street, Fant. In 1975, Tony established his


own operations, going on to head MiltonMotors andMilton Race Preparations. Tony’swork included building cars for oval track racing, and taking part himself in events at circuits in- cluding Arena Essex and Lyd- den Hill. The company went on to pro-


duce specialist parts for Ford Anglia,where the Milton name is well respected. Married for 54 years to Pauline, Tony was father to sons Lee and Kevin and daugh- ter Sharon. Kevin worked with Tony in setting up the business and took it over when Tony retired. Kevin’s death in 2010 led to Lee stepping in to run the busi- ness and Tony came out of re- tirement to provide specialist knowledge. Lee said: “My dad was really


down to earth and straight with people. He was very creative with a talent for drawing and painting. He wrestled for years locally under the name of ‘The Viking’.” Tony leaves his widow, two surviving children and grand- children Samantha and Lewis.


You can write to us at: Downs Mail, 2 Forge House, Bearsted Green Business Park, Bearsted, Maidstone, ME14 4DT or e-mail: info@downsmail.co.uk


our brigade companies that runeveryWednes- day. We are also in close contact with a num- ber of local schools, aiding them in their work with the young people in their care. I would suggest that, actually, if they were allowed and enabled, the local churches could carry out amazing youth work across this town and county. Across Kent there are a highnum- ber of qualified youth workers working in churches. Formore information please feel free to con- Alastair Middlemist


tact me. Youth pastor,Maidstone Baptist Church


Why we stay wary of NHS Dear Sir – The latest debacle of hospital ma- ternity services in Kent shows how little we should trust statements made at the top of the NHS, driven by finance and political expedi- ency at several levels. We in Maidstone, fighting to retain consult- ant-led births in our hospital, sat through end- less spin sessions when managers from East Kent tried to sell us the endless benefits and


safety of midwife-led birthing units, even though statistics showed one-third of patients would be transferred by ambulance in labour to a full hospital unit. Now East Kent consults on closing the birthing units at Canterbury and Dover – and talks of ‘safer’ options for mums-to-be having to make long journeys to Margate or Ashford. Meanwhile, a new birthing unit has opened


at Maidstone Hospital – but most women will have to make a journey of up to 20 miles to Pembury onveryunsatisfactory country roads. We have been saying for years this whole arrangement isunsafe – butNHSmanagement thinks it knows better. Just how long will the new Maidstone unit survive? It is no more than a sop for the 250,000population ofMaid- stone area. We now await proof that the Pembury op-


tion is seriouslywrong forMaidstone women. It will not take long. Dennis Fowle, chairmanMASH


(Maidstone Action forServices in Hospital) Have you got news for us? Phone our News Desk on 01622 734735


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