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Totally tropical taste of Kent Berries bring sweet success


Nigel Bardsley expects to pick


about 120 tonnes of apricots at his farm near Staplehurst, with the clement conditions expected to boost the harvest to about 200 tonnes in Kent and the South of England this year. Indeed, Clive Baxter’s apricots, grown at Amsbury Farm, East Street, Hunton, were judged the best in the country in The National Cherry and Soft Fruit Show at the county show, Detling, in July (see our show report on page 12). And according to Tesco, the cool


spring and warm summer means enough of the fleshy favourite has been produced to supply its stores


for the whole of the summer from England, instead of southern Eu- rope. It believes English apricots could become the newest seasonal must- have fruit, alongside strawberries. Meanwhile, in Larkfield, Martin


and Yvonne Leaver are honing their horticultural skills after a ba- nana plant in their garden began to bear fruit for the first time. They bought the banana plant – a


herb – in Cornwall seven years ago and thanks to some tender, loving care by the garden enthusiasts it has produced a bunch of 30-40 baby bananas, measuring two inches long.


THEwarm summer could be bringing a more tropical flavour to our fruit bowls if Maidstone and the surrounding area is anything to go by.


BERRIES fromCoxheath are earning a place on supermarket shelves across the country. Clock House Farm took the title for pro-


ducing the nation’s best strawberries at the Kent Show this year and now its blackber- ries are in demand. The family farm’s new Victoria variety,


from Driscoll’s, is larger, and, more impor- tantly, sweeter than our popular hedgerow variety. Farmer Robert Pascall’s (pictured) cus-


tomers for the increasingly popular berry in- cludeWaitrose, M&S, Tesco and Sainsbury’s as well as other high street retail chains.


Vera celebrates her 110th birthday


MUSIC and merriment was the order of the day when SuttonVa- lence Care Home resident Vera Pigott notched up her 110th birth- day. Vera, who is five years short of


being the UK’s oldest person, cel- ebrated with family and fellow residents to the sounds of four- piece band Strings and Things. The mother of four has lived at


the home in North Street for the past nine years. She is visited every day by son Graham, from Dickens Close, Langley, whowas


Bakery plan A SMALL bread production bakery


could be established in Teston. A planning application has been submitted requesting the rebuild- ing of a garage in Fairlawn Cottage, Church Street to create an area for the sole production of bread, which would be sold to local shops, cafes and restaurants.


A supporting statement said: “There are a number of commercial practices nearby, the largest being Turfsoil Ltd. They, together with the farm shop, generate scores of traffic on the country lane one property away. “We are practically adjacent to


Turfsoil and feel that the proposed bakery would not add or generate more disturbances. Our immediate neighbours are positive and enthu- siastic for this to go ahead.”


Hay bale blaze


KENT Fire and Rescue Service dealt with a fire involving four tonnes of straw bales on the trailer of a tractor at the junction of Stile- bridge Lane and Underwood Lane in Marden.


at the party withVera’s grandson Kevin Lee from Horsham. Married to Douglas in 1924 and widowed in 1988, Vera had four children – Beryl (88), Monica (78), Donald, who died in 2009, aged 79, and Graham (68). The oldest living person in


Kent at the moment is Alice Ducat, from Hythe, who is 61 days older than Vera. The longest living person in the


UK was Charlotte Marion Hughes, who died in March 1993 aged 115 years and 228 days.


Short cut to help charity


TWO girls will be having their locks lopped off for charity at a pub in East Farleigh. Mollie Sunnucks (11) and sisterGemma(24) will be donating their much-


loved tresses to the Little Princess Charity and Cancer Research. Proud mum Trudy (45), from Upper


Fant Road, Barming, has been working with friends and the licencees at The Bull to make the event one to remember for Mollie and her sister. Mrs Sunnucks said: “Both of the girls


have always had long hair. But Mollie starts at St Augustine’s Academy in Sep- tember and wanted a style that I don’t have to help her with. She was prepared to go shorter, but we compromised on a shoulder-length cut.” Molly’s granddad David, who she never


met, died of cancer at the age of 42. Trudy said: “It is hard to realise that I am now older, with two daughters, than my father was when he died. You always think of your parents as old.” Gemma works for River Island in Brom-


ley, which has pledged to double the amount she raises. To support the girls, visit the Just Giving


page and search for Mollie and Gemma’s haircut for the Little Princess Trust, or go to the pub in East Farleigh from 3pm on Bank Holiday Monday, August 31.


New CEO at


Leeds Castle SIR David Steel is the new chief ex- ecutive of Leeds Castle. He takes on


the day-to- day running of the castle following the departure of Victoria Wal- lace and seven months with estate director Bill Lash as in- terim CEO. Niall Dickson, chairman of the


Sir David Steel


Leeds Castle Foundation, said: “Admiral Steel has had a stellar ca- reer and brings a wealth of experi- ence, including responsibility for the major heritage site at Portsmouth, which contains HMS Victory.” Admiral Steel has moved to Kent from Portsmouth.


Shop upgrade


THE Chart Sutton shop is set to re- ceive an upgrade, after serving the local community since December 2009. The steel container, measuring


5m by 2m, in Chart Corner is “get- ting old and falling to pieces”, ac- cording to Julia Painter, shop secretary. It is to be replaced by a similar,


but larger – 7m by 3m – structure, whichwill include the currently ab- sent store room and windows. Chart Sutton Parish Council has


put about £4,000 towards the new building.


For news and community information, go online www.downsmail.co.uk


Maidstone South August 2015 25


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