News


Panto celebration just what doctors ordered


EXCITEMENT is growing as curtain-up approaches in Hollingbourne, where villagers will be treading the boards for their 40th pantomime production.


Few villages have managed to


keep the giggles and grease-paint going this long, and to mark the achievement, the doctorswho came up with the idea in 1978 at a New Year’s Day party in Tile Fields will be guests of honour. Dr Derek Manners will travel


from the Isle of Wight to the com- munity hall to watch Holling- bourne Pantomime Group in full flow, while Dr Peter Bonds still lives in the village. The pair wrote the first six pan-


tos, fromwhichwas born the tradi- tion of ‘home-grown’ in terms of scripts,music and acting talent. This year’s presentation is The


Wizard of Hozz, a magical mon- tage set in a mythical Holling- bourne featuring a frog, Sleeping Beauty and Simple Simon in the three lead roles. It has beenwritten by villager Glenn Bryan – a former food importer and supermarket supplier, by day. He said: “There are no dames this year, but all the usual silliness and expected ‘gen- der fluid’ casting of themain char- acters!” Known by many as Mr Panto,


this will be Glenn’s seventh script for the group, which includes a cameo role for himself as Knocker. The music has been written this


time around by Sevenoaks bank manager and villager David Head. Together the event once again


brings together a 30-strong team for “a giggle in thewintermonths”, which has raised cash for various local groups, charities and the vil- lage hall. Glenn says he will miss the vil-


Forty years on and Hollingbourne villagers are rehearsing for their tradi- tional panto at the village hall


lage hall if it is forced to close. “It’s noWest End, but nor are our


productions and it has been home to the panto for 40 years, with our three performances of Cinderella, two ofMother Goose and a double


helping ofAladdin.” Pantomime tickets for February


7, 8, 9 and 10,with amatinee on the Saturday, are available from www.boxofficediva.comor by call- ing 01622 880200.


Caring design for family home wins RIBA prize


A CONTEMPORARY home set in countryside near Othamhas been named the House of the Year by the Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA). The property (pictured left),was designed by James


MacdonaldWright andNiallMaxwell, and is not only controversial in its design but also because it is home to 15members of the same, extended, family. Described by the judges as having “a contemporary


design that has clear links to the rural vernacular”, CaringWood, sits on Caring Road. Inspired by traditional oasts,with four ‘kiln’ towers


and interlinked roofs, it uses clay peg tiles, locally quarried ragstone and coppiced chestnut cladding. Award’s jury chairman Deborah Saunt described


the development as “unobtrusive within its land- scape”.


16 Maidstone East January 2018


The cast fromHollingbourne Pantomime Group in 1996 rehearse their open- ing chorus


downsmail.co.uk Castle votedis


top araction LEEDS Castle has won a major accolade in the first Kent TourismAwards 2017. The tourist attraction was


given the Big Day Out Award (Large VisitorAttraction). Following a round of public


voting, the castle was among seven winners announced at a ceremony in London. The awardswere devised and


launched by destination spe- cialists Go To Places – the com- pany that delivers Visit Kent – to reward exceptional standards in local tourism. More than 4,300 people voted


for thewinners in the end. Thewinnerswill nowalso get


the chance to go forward to the national Awards for Excellence operated by VisitEngland.


Unpaidwork


for stealing A MAIDSTONE woman has been sentenced to 280 hours of unpaid work after stealing more than £2,000 from her em- ployer. Kayleigh Vidler (29), of Bic-


knor Road, stole £2,301 from a shopwhere sheworked inCan- terbury. The theft took place over a


three and a half-month period fromSeptember 24, 2016 to Feb- ruary 4, 2017. Vidler pleaded guilty to theft


by employee when she ap- peared before Thanet Magis- trates Court lastmonth. She was sentenced to carry


out 280 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months and ordered to pay £2,301 in com- pensation.


Safety checks


TWENTY rookie police officers took part in a road safety cam- paign in Bearsted – targeting speeding drivers and thosewith faulty cars – as part of a winter safety check. Three squad carswere parked


in a layby near Bearsted in late November to carry out their ob- servations.Numerous carswere stopped and “offered advice” about their driving or the state of their cars.


Man detained


POLICE have arrested a deliv- ery driver who allegedly ex- posed himself to a Bearsted resident. A Snodland man, aged 43,


was detained on December 13 following two alleged incidents. Enquiries are ongoing.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48