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‘Rain stops play’ for Catherine at age 107


CATHERINEHart,whowas one of the oldest ladies in Kent, has died at the age of 107. Affectionately known as Kate, she


lived in a Bearsted care home for the last few years before she passed away on September 6. Born in Bermondsey, she spent the


first 85 years of her life in London, surviving being bombed out by the Blitz a couple of times. Her Lon- doner husband, Harry, died in 1994, at the age of 87. The couple had one son, David,


now in his 70s, who lives in Vinters Park. He paid frequent visits to his mother at Barty House care home, where she celebrated her birthday earlier this year with family. He said: “To use a cricketing anal-


ogy, I wouldn’t say shewas bowled out, but rain just stopped play.” Her first jobwas at thePearce Duff custard factory in south London and she went on to work for top insitu- tions in the City. She was house- keeper at the Royal Bank of India and the Savoy Hotel, and a tea lady for an Australian insurance com- pany. Catherine also served as a nursing assistant at St Olave’s Hos-


Catherine at 100 (left) and 18 (above)


pital in Rotherhithe. Shemoved to Rochester in the late


1990s and then to Barty House about seven years ago. On her latest birthday, she was


very pleased and proud to get her birthday card from the Queen. This was the fourth she had received, as they are not sent between 100 and 105.


David said at that time: “She is an amazing person and has always been very generous and caring for others. She would give someone her


last shilling if she thought theywere in need.” During WorldWar II, Harry was


away in the Army, and she was made homeless during the bombing of the London docklands, but her son said she never complained. Catherine was the fifth oldest woman in Kent, four years behind 112-year-old Alice Ducat of Hythe, and ranked 146th in the UK, with Bessie Cammin, of Rotherham top- ping the longest living ladies league at the age of 113.


News Blaze destroys


allotment huts EIGHT wooden shedswere lost in a fire at allotments in Bearsted. Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) sent a crew to Church Lane after being alerted by members of the Bearsted and Thurnham tennis club. A number of the sheds – which


were funded by lottery money – did survive the fire, which is thought to have been started acci- dentally. One allotment holder said: “It is


a great shame as some of the guys lost their tools and other bits and pieces. They were just made of match wood, so they went up. It seems itwas just an accident.” The issue was discussed at Bearsted Parish Council on Sep- tember 12 when the clerk Sarah Lewis told members that she has asked KFRS for a report. Cllr Geoff Bennett said that he


feared the shedswere not insured. One theory is that a spark from a


fire – possibly in an incinerator bin - may have been blown onto the structures and quickly spread from one to the other. The burnt remains were re-


moved from the scene within a few days. More Bearsted news, page 28


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