downsmail.co.uk
Beatles just a few of town’s famous visitors
FIFTY years after the Beatles filmed there, West Malling has launched its own magical mystery tour to bring its celebrity-studded past to life.
Residents were amazed to dis-
cover how many famous and im- portant people had been linked to the town and devised a blue plaque scheme to commemorate them. Now the Rain Grill kebab shop in
the High Street has one of the signs to mark it as the place, then a newsagent’s shop, where John Lennon sold Ringo Starr tickets to the “The Magical Mystery Tour” at the start of the film of that name. The Fab Four spent severalweeks in the area and the 1967 film features local scenes and residents recruited as ex- tras.
Culture minister and local MP Tracey Crouch (pictured) unveiled the plaque at a ceremony attended by the mayor of Tonbridge and Malling, Cllr Owen Baldock; MP Tom Tughendat, and Amanda Cot- trell, High Sherriff of Kent. Six more plaques have been put up in the town with more on the
way. The roll of honour includes au- thor George Orwell, painter JMW Turner and Group Captain Peter Townsend – a test pilot for the Comet jet airliner, perhaps better knownfor being refused permission to marry Princess Margaret, sister of the Queen. Also remembered are Dambusters
heroes who flew from nearby RAF West Malling, notable sportsmen, admirals and politicians, as well as dignitaries such as Dr Perfect – an 18th-century male midwife who ad- vised other doctors to remove their swords when attending a birth. The project is the brainchild of
Peter Cosier,whosuggested the blue plaques scheme run by English Her- itage could be brought up to date. He and Ray Lawrence developed a plaque carrying a QR code which enables smartphone users to connect to an online account of the individ- ual’s history. Pupils fromWest Malling Primary
School will be working with the scheme to help make some of the stories appealing to children. Mr Cosier said: “West Malling is
an extremely beautiful place with an extraordinary mix of historical movers and shakers. We have opened electronic windows wherebywe can put the actors back on the set. They are far more inter- esting than any on the television.” Chairman of the West Malling
BluePlaques group,KCCCllr Trudy Dean, said: “We believe we have brought the national scheme up to date, and made it more relevant to younger people. We hope our scheme will be adopted by other local communities who would like to celebrate their residents and visi- tors.”
Broadband
speed ‘right’ GOOD news is on the horizon for broadband users in Kings Hill and West Malling. The Government plans to intro-
duce a broadband Universal Serv- ice Obligation by 2020. The announcement follows
strong campaigning by Tom Tu- gendhat, MP for Tonbridge, Eden- bridge and Malling, and others, who havewelcomed the news. Communities across West Kent
and centres of commerce such as Kings Hill are plagued by slow broadband in an increasingly inter- connected
world.AUniversal Serv- ice Obligation would give people a legal right to request affordable broadband on aminimum specified speed. Mr Tugendhat said: “I welcome
the action the Government is taking to look for ways to increase broad- band speeds. Broadband is an es- sential service which requires a fast speed. I have been working with local communities and service providers to explore every option of getting a faster connection.” The public consultation to decide
the appropriate speed for a Univer- sal Service Obligation will open in early 2016. The MP said: “I will be arguing for a high threshold.”
News
Call Now – 01732 617557 Malling December 2015 3
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