Town Talk TELEVISION personality
Kirstie Allsopp, star of “Loca- tion, Location, Location” has made a surprise visit to Snod- land. She is appearing in a new Channel 4 programme, “Fill your house for free”, and ar- rived at the home of Liz and Steve Moss in Covey Hall Road for filming. The programme features families who are short of cash but whose homes are in need of a makeover. It aims to rem- edy the “throw away and spend” attitude and show how homes can be transformed for little or nothing. “I applied to the programme and got through, which was a
Local news for Snodland and Halling TV’sKirstie gives couple’s home a new look
Steve and Liz Moss (left) and above, Kirstie Allsopp
shock,” said Liz. “It was per- haps because we are foster carers for Kent County Council and, although we have no chil- dren at the moment, we did have some destructive chil- dren and our home was look-
ANDREW and Brenda Ashbee, two of Snod- land’s best known residents, have celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. They are joint conductors of Snodland
Choral Society, founder members ofSnodland Historical Society, Andrew is curator of theMil- lenium Museum and Brenda is the founder of the local book club. Andrew said: “We metwhenBrenda’s father,
Ted, played the organ at All Saints Church in 1957.Within a couple of weeks I was asked to play the organ at ChristChurch as a temporary measure, and I amstill there.” They continued to meet at the church youth club and went on to study at music colleges in
ing like a war zone.” Steve and Liz, who have
three children, had their dining room, living room and kitchen restyled. Steve had to paint the rooms in the colours specified, and the family was put up in
Musical pair mark golden wedding
London, Brenda at the Royal College of Music (piano and ‘cello) and Andrew at the Royal Academy of Music (flute and piano). They both taught music in schools before marrying in 1963. Brenda first taught at Slade Green and Andrew at St George’s,Gravesend. Hebecame head of music atRochester Gram- mar School for Girls, where Brenda was al- ready teaching some classes. They played with theOld Barn Orchestra and
sang with theWeald Singers, Maidstone. After resigning from RGS in 1990, Andrew
taught for the Open University and the Work- ers’ Educational Association while Brenda taught piano in schools and at home.
Their two children inherited their interests in
music and history. Catherine manages the CambridgeUniversity Bookshop in Cambridge and sings with two groups. Jeremy is head his- torical properties curator for English Heritage. The family, including grandchildren Joe (13) and Nat (10), are pictured above.
Editha celebrates centenary with friends
SNODLAND’S oldest lady, Editha Piper, has celebrated her 100th birthday. She is pictured with her card
from thequeen and, from left, Jane Rimmer, Michael Lyons (her nephew), JanetRussell, LizzieVeg- lio and David Luther. Janet and David had travelled from Bournemouth to see her. Editha lives in Malling Road, in
the house she sharedwith her par- ents. She carried out clericalwork and was a dinner lady at the old Brook Street Primary School. She was also a member of the WRVS, gave piano lessons and in later years worked as a shop as-
sistant in SnodlandNewsagency – nowthe Gift&CardGallery – in the High Street. She recalled how she was walk-
ing in Malling Road on August 5, 1944, when a doodlebug fell in Malling Road, in what was Snod- land’s worst war disaster. Twelve people were killed and 16 injured. She said: “Suddenly the building across the road collapsed and I could hear people screaming, but you could not see where you were. “I didn’t realise what had hap- pened, I just ran back home.” Snodland’s oldest resident,
Henry Skinner, celebrated his 100th birthday inOctober last year.
PUPILS from the Church of England Primary School, Snodland took part in a giant walking bus to promote road safety, along with hundreds of pri- mary schools across the country. About 160 children, with teaching staff and police community support officers, walked in a crocodile, carrying banners they had made around roads near the school. “The school has been involved in the Walk on
Wednesday campaign over the past year,” said teaching assistant and walk administrator, Maria Turner. “This encourages children to take the health- ier option of walking to school and learn about road safety.
“Everyone was glad the rain held off, the children enjoyed the walk and were very happy to be involved in promoting road safety,” she added.
Giant walking bus aims to promote road safety Minibus sold
THE Snodland Partnership has sold its community minibus due to lack of use. Provided 11 years ago it was
used by clubs, organisations and individuals but recently running costs and maintenance have out- stripped its use and the partner- ship felt themoney could be better used for other things in the town. The Snodland Sports Associa-
tion asked for funding towards a defibrillator at the community cen- tre and members agreed to pay £1,500. It was also agreed to give £1,000 to Snodland Chamber of Commerce towards hanging bas- kets for the town centre.
the Russell Hotel, Maidstone, the night before the filming. Their reaction when they saw their home was “Wow!” Channel 4 features deputy commissioning editor, Katie Horswell, said: “People are shunning the stores and in- stead they’re searching the in- ternet and visiting events trying to get fantastic stuff for free. “We want to capture this on a massive scale and prove that with confidence and hard work, we can inspire everyone to use someone else’s junk to create their own treasures.” The programme was due to
be aired at 8pm on August 6 as Town Talk had gone to press.
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