News Swift release
A FEMALE swift had to be rescued from the church at East Farleigh during the coronavirus lockdown. George Moore, Ray Morris,
Sheila Alchin and Darren Nicholls captured the bird safely before re- leasing her back into the wild. She is thought to be breeding in
boxes on the church’s north wall. Ray said: “She immediately flew
round the church, rejoining the small group that presumably con- tained her mate and can be seen circling the building through most of the day. “Hopefully, she’ll raise her
young successfully and they’ll mi- grate to Africa in early August.”
Speed tickets
POLICE issued 365 speeding tick- ets in Kent in a national awareness campaign. Motorists were targeted between
Monday, May 25 and Sunday, June 7, with speed cameras catching an additional 4,443 drivers commit- ting motoring offences. A number of other motorists
were also prosecuted for non- speeding crimes such as driving while using a mobile phone or without a seatbelt.
downsmail.co.uk
The Mote features in cricket grounds book
FOR almost 150 years The Mote, Maidstone, was a popular centre for Kent county cricket – and now a fascinating new book looks at the ground’s history and glimpses at its future. Kent first played at The Mote in
1859, often in front of huge crowds, and lastly in 2005, when the Kent club decided the facilities and wicket no longer reached first-class standards. The Mote Cricket Club raised
more than £60,000 about 10 years ago to renovate the unique Taber- nacle building. But several at- tempts to raise £2m to rebuild the fast-fading main pavilion have all ended in great disappointment. The Tabernacle is one of the most
unusual architectural buildings on any cricket ground in the world. It was built in 1910 by Lord Bearsted, who lived nearby in Mote House, as his personal pavilion when he played cricket and for socialising. He made his fortune in shipping
and one his specialities was im- porting ornamental sea shells. He identified a gap in transport-
ing oil, built ships and decided to name the new company after his business interest. That is how the Shell Oil Company was launched. The book “Kent County Cricket
Grounds” devotes 14 pages to The Mote, with several historical pho- tographs. It covers all 18 grounds which have featured Kent cricket, including West Malling, Tonbridge and two in Tunbridge Wells. It is not optimistic about a return
of county cricket to Maidstone, saying: “Without sufficient fund- ing the pavilion will continue to decline.” It adds: “The departure of the county town from Kent’s county cricket circuit leaves an enormous gap.” The authors are Kent cricket
members – historian and statisti- cian Howard Milton and editor of Kent Supporters’ Club newsletter Peter Francis, who lives in Maid- stone. The book is available from Kent County Cricket Club, Canter- bury.
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