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business. He became a respected school bursar, notably with Red Hill special school (he was also a trustee of the Red Hill Trust) and a businessmanager and governor of Roseacre Junior School, which he helped guide to grant-maintained status. He joined the Rotary Club of Maidstone


in 1995, was treasurer for five years and president in 2004. Last year he was honoured with a Paul Harris Fellowship. Bernard is survived by his wife Helen


and sons Graham, Michael, Tim and David and grandchildren.


Norman Harlow


NORMAN Harlow (79) lived in Bearsted for more than 50 years. He was born in Margate, was educated at Dover College and lived in Kent all his life.


Throughout the


war, he and his parents lived in The Victoria Hotel in Maidstone, where his father was a hotelier and publican. Later he lived at the Masonic Hall in Bower Terrace. His work as a sales


rep and manager meant he travelled widely. He ended his career as general manager at Aylesford Priory. He hadmany interests and belonged to


the Association of KentishMen and Men of Kent’s Maidstone branch, where he was chairman and president. He organised many outings for members and friends. He also belonged to Bearsted History Society and more recently was a member of the U3A. He leaves his wife Rosemary and sons Christopher, Anthony and James.


AllanWillett


ALLAN RobertWillett CVO, CMG, KStJ (78) of Chilham was a former Lord Lieutenant of Kent and a company boss known for donating about £4m to charity. Born to a Kent


family who were working as tea planters in India, Mr Willett returned home and spent most of his youth living on farms in Thanet. He excelled at rugby as a


boy and joined the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment). After working in Canada and


in the packaging industry he founded Willett International Limited, which grew into one of the world’s largest companies involved in electronic coding and labelling of information. MrWillett sold the company in 2002, launching a charitable foundation which benefited Kent causes. Many public figures have paid tribute to


MrWillett, including former Mayor of Maidstone Cllr Dan Daley who said: “Allan was the truest of gentlemen and so dedicated to whatever he did. He valued people, in every way, and encouraged whatever they were engaged in doing.”


Damen Crompton


MAIDSTONE’s Damen Crompton (36) died in a motorcycle accident. Damen was heading to his home in ReculverWalk, Senacre on the A229 Loose Road when he lost control of his motorcycle. Damen’s partner Lianne Farrow paid tribute at the scene of the accident. Damen worked for the past four years at Dempson Ltd, a packaging company in Hermitage Lane, Maidstone. The company has supported his family through the tragedy.


There is no charge for our obituary service. Call Neil Nixon on 01622 630422 or email nlnxn@aol.com JOHN


MUNSON SHOW TIME


Feverish end to the season


Hay Fever, Changeling Theatre at Monchelsea Place.


THE play’s theme is a nightmare weekend at the Bliss country house. Mother, father, sister and brother


have each invited a guest for the weekend, without telling the others. Felicity Sparks as mother was ab- solutely fantastic as the over-the-top resting actress. Her richly dramatic voice and her pretence at a broken- hearted sympathy for the suffering of others was worth 10 times the ticket price. Jessica Rose Boyd was equally brilliant as the daughter. EmmaRose Lowtherwas the cata-


tonic Jackie. BenWiggins, as Simon, just didn't care what others thought. Peter Dukes was wonderfully “too, too polite” as diplomat Richard and Holly Piper was the convincingly up-for-it Myra. Sam Haywood was admired by


Mrs Bliss for his boxing prowess and Bethany Forseywas the maid to end all maids. David Whitney as the fa- ther and alpha male in this crazy set- up was so distinguished in his dressing gown. Rob Forknall the di- rector had cooked up this riotous, comedy in the Changeling style. A terrific way to end the season. Thank you, Noel Coward.


Book your place on music train


LOCAL band CoCo and the Butter- fields will be playing at a charity gig, raising money for the KentCommu- nity Rail Partnership. Colourful, energetic and crowd- stamping, CoCo and the Butterfields express the vibrance of a village folk fair with powerful vocal melodies. They will perform aboard the KCRP’s Music Train on Saturday September 12, which leaves Maid- stoneWest Station at 14:27 for a two- hour stint on the Medway Valley Line, returning to MaidstoneWest at 16:27. Travellers can join the train at any


of the stations. It leaves Maidstone West at 14:27 to Tonbridge (15:04),


then back to Strood (16:04), then back to MaidstoneWest for 16:27. Light refreshments and real ale


will be available on board. Tickets for the event are free, but


places should be reserved – go to www.eventbrite.co.uk and search for Music Train. You will need to buy a train ticket for the journey (Tonbridge to Strood return). The Kent Community Rail Part- nership brings together a range of local community groups to help support improvements to local rail links


and facilities.


www.kentcrp.org.uk It includes Sustrans, KCC, Swale, Medway, Maidstone and Tonbridge


Trust towelcome visitors


AWEALDENcharity which is al- most half a century old is open- ing its doors in a bid to attract more volunteers. The Yalding-based Kenward


Trust has been at Kenward House, Kenward Road, since 1968, helping isolated and disad- vantaged people to recover from addictions. The charity is opening its mag- nificent Georgian house and gar- dens to the public from 10am to 2pm on Saturday September 19, offering visitors the chance to pick their own dahlias from the


magnificent collection, and also to visit the pottery painting stu- dio.


The charity has a thriving nurs-


ery and garden centre, aswell as a shop selling produce and various crafts produced on site by resi- dents, staff and volunteers. Although the Yalding house is


the trust’s headquarters, it runs outreach projects and has satellite centres around Kent and East Sussex, with a variety of opportu- nities for volunteering. For further information, tele- phone 01622 814187.


Formore local news www.downsmail.co.uk


& Malling Councils, Southeastern Railway, Parish & Town Councils along the lines, Nu-Venture Coaches and others. Sustrans is a charity enabling peo-


ple to travel by foot, bike or public transport for more of their daily journeys, encouraging smarter travel choices. Mike FitzGerald, chairman of the


Kent Community Rail Partnership, said: “I am very excited to have Coco and the Butterfields fronting the Medway Valley Line Music Train this year. This will be huge and I look forward to welcoming a capacity train, full of people just coming to enjoy this special gig.”


Bank to close


HEADCORNis about to lose its last village bank. NatWest is to close its High Street branch at the end of November, leaving customers with a journey of more than four miles to the next nearest branches in Tenter- den and Staplehurst. NatWest has been based in the village since 1955 but says current banking trends mean fewer cus- tomers visit a branch. Transactions at the premises have dropped by al- most a quarter in four years. Customers will be able to pay in


and withdraw money at the Post Office, aswell as checking their bal- ance and the bank is looking at the possibility of introducing a mobile banking service on one or more days eachweek.


Maidstone South September 2015 37


Obituaries


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