Tribute to village heroes
FOUR villagers who lost their lives inWorldWar II have at last been remembered on Loose war memorial, with a new plaque which will be officially unveiled on Sunday, November 11. The inscription was commis- sioned by the parish council after it was discovered that the names of Harry Golding,Aubrey Moore, Gwendoline Peach and Harry Quested were missing. Other restoration was under-
taken and the plaquewill be un- veiled at the Remembrance Day service at All Saints’ Church, Loose, conducted by the Rev Steve Price at 10.15am. Additional funding came from
the War Memorial Trust, Cllr Eric Hotson’s KCC member’s fund, Loose Amenities Associa- tion and the Chequers public house. Parish clerk Jan Capon said;
“This is truly going to be an his- torical occasion.” Harry Golding, who was a
driver in the Royal Army Serv- ice Corps, died in Italy on Sep-
DETAILS have been released of Maidstone’s Remembrance Day Service and parade on Sunday, November 11. The military parade will
leave County Hall at 10.20am, marching along Week Street to meet up with the civilian pa- rade, which leaves from Earl Street. From there they will continue down the High Street, Lower High Street and across
Harry Golding and, right, Loose war memorial
tember 5, 1944, aged 21, and is remembered in the Florence War Cemetery. When he was young, he lived at the Old Or- chard, Loose, but was adopted after his mother died and lived with a family in Loose Road. In 1941, he married Bernice
the bridge to the Cenotaph on the Broadway. There they will be joined by the mayoral party for the service at 10.50am. After the service the parade
will return to the High Street, where the mayoral party will take the salute on the dais to- wards the front of the town hall, opposite TheMuggleton Inn. The following roads are likely to be closed during the
Car seller’s flat scheme backed DAVID Sayner has made another attempt to create a new garage and flat at Staplehurst Car Sales, Cradducks Lane, Staplehurst. Maidstone Council refused a previous application, for a seven-
bay garage with two-bedroom flat, in August 2010, as it was in an unsustainable location and causing harm to the open countryside. However, the latest scheme for Crabtree Barn is for a six-bay garage and one-bed live/work property. The supporting paperwork argues that the new building would be well sheltered by existing vegetation from all directions. The application is backed by neighbouring Staplehurst Golf Club, whose owner Colin Jenkins wrote in a letter to the council: “There is a need for more business in rural locations and these businesses must have adequate service and security.”
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balance its books. Chief execu- tive Bonny Malhotra has pledged to leave no stone unturned in a bid to plug the funding gap – and vowed that the service will go on.
However, he is hopeful that a
local entrepreneur, philanthro- pist or benefactor will realise the value of the service and come forward to help in the interim. He said: “The irony is that the Government depends heavily on the voluntary sector. They know we will shout and scream, but we will still provide the service as that is whatwe signed up for. When someone knocks on your
6 South
door asking for help, you can’t close it.” As with most charities, pleas
for volunteers to help generally result in more people seeking that help, but Mr Malhotra said: “That’s fine. We want people to come to uswith their problems. “In times of plenty, we don’t
have a problem, but at the mo- ment, too many people are chas- ing too little cash. “Unfortunately, Maidstone is perceived as quite well off.Apart from four deprived areas – Park Wood, Shepway,Tovil and Man- gravet – the borough is relatively affluent. “People like Lloyds TSB, who
and they had two children, Bernard, now a professor at Newcastle University, and Barry (1943-48). Bernice later remar- ried and now lives in Little- bourne, near Canterbury. Aubrey Moore was a Com- mander in the Royal Navy. He died of tuberculosis, contracted as a result of his war service, on October 9, 1946, aged 66, at 5, Pickering Street. For a long time there was no
trace of his grave until in 2005, a new headstone was erected in the cemetery by the Common- wealthWar Graves Commission. Although many of his forefa- thers were priests, including one Archbishop of Canterbury, he did not follow them into the church, but pursued a Naval ca- reer. He was a member of the first
crew ofHMSRainbow. The war- ship’s World War I operations included transporting $140 mil- lion in bullion for the Russian
government.ALeading Aircraft- woman in the Women’s Auxil-
Town prepares for Remembrance Day parade
morning: Sandling Road (out- side County Hall); Earl Street; Week Street; High Street; Pud- ding Lane (junction with High Street); Lower High Street; Bridge Gyratory; St Peter’s Street; Broadway; Rocky Hill; London Road (from junction with Buckland Hill to Rocky Hill); and Tonbridge Road (from junction with Broadway to junction off Terrace Road).
iary Air Force, Gwendoline Peach was 22 when she died of tuberculosis and meningitis at Ashford Isolation Hospital on February 26, 1944. Born in Cornwall, she married in 1943, and came to Loosewith her hus- band, John, a transport contrac- tor. They lived at 1, Cape Cottages during the 1940s, but were living at Headcorn at the time of her death. Harry Quested, who died in
North Africa on Friday, Novem- ber 13, 1942, at the age of 28, was a corporal in the Pioneer Corps. He was awarded two campaign medals and is remem- bered at La ReunionWar Ceme- tery. He lived in Pear Tree Cottages, Pickering Street, and married Betty Reed in 1940.
New plan for barn conversion AN application has been submitted to convert a barn into a self- contained one-bedroom dwelling in Hunton. The barn, which was originally built in Detling before being dis- mantled and resurrected in the 1970s, is located to the south of Wheelwrights, which is one of a small cluster of residential prop- erties near the foot of Hunton Hill on its west side, close to its junc- tion with East Street andWest Street. A similar schemewas withdrawn in 2005, after Maidstone Coun-
cil recommended its refusal. It cited as reasons the absence of evi- dence of efforts to secure a business re-use, lack of historic interest, unsuitability of the design proposed and lack of an ecological re- port. The council will also decide on the latest proposal.
Advice bureau hoping for ‘generous benefactor’
weapproached for funding, were looking to help the top 20 de- prived areas, and we’re not one of them.” When Mr Malhotra joined Maidstone CAB 14 years ago, it was 100% funded by the bor- ough council – to the tune of £145,000. Now, although the council has
put in £185,000 this year, as the service has grown that represents just 30% of the total funding. Mr Malhotra said: “We have
been successful at raising funds and we are fortunate in having been able to grow and are grate- ful to the council for their con- tinued support. But we can’t
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expect them to give us more at a time when everyone is having to settle for less.” MaidstoneCABhad just seven salaried employees when Mr Malhotra joined in 1998. Today, it has 28. He said: “We ask our volun-
teers to give at least a day a week, but they cannot manage without professional support and people to provide administrative and clerical back up. “The staff here have years of experience and, as our success rate shows, are crucial in provid- ing specialist advice with regard to debt, housing, employment andwelfare benefits issues.”
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