The Medway Cruise on the Allington Belle will set sail from The Malta Inn, Allington at 1.30pm on Sunday 30th September.
A Quiz Night will be held at Bidborough Village Hall at 7.30pm on Saturday 27th October.
A Beetle Drive will be held at The Arc, Gallards Almshouses, Southborough at 7pm on Friday 23rd November.
The Christmas Lunch will be held at the Royal Wells Inn, Tunbridge Wells at 12.30pm on Sunday 2nd December.
Obituary – Ian Hughes Hinton
It is with sadness that we have to display yet another obituary within the pages of our Newsletter. Ian was known to many of us. At Easter, he and his family were involved in an awful road accident, to which reference was made in our last edition. He survived for six weeks under the care of both Glasgow and Tunbridge Wells Hospitals and finally succumbed to his injuries.
Ian was born in Eltham and was educated at Eltham College and Tonbridge School. He graduated from Oxford University and was later called to the Bar. He worked for a time on the editorial staff of The Times and then became a lecturer at Kingston University, but it was the sea that was always in his blood. He rose to Lt. Commander in the Royal Navy Reserve and was awarded the Volunteer Reserve Decoration. As an ardent sailor himself, he thrived on teaching others the skills of seamanship, especially with the London Sailing Project “making young lads sick for a week!” But it was as a family man, a father and grandfather (of eleven grandchildren) that he will be remembered, as well as someone who has played an active part in local charities as well as in his home village of Bidborough. He was a Reader in the local church and his spiritual side made him a person of great compassion, as well of endearing wisdom. He was also a very amusing man, revelling in a good joke and often chuckling at the surreal side of life. Taking into account his popularity, it was no surprise that Bidborough Church was packed out at his funeral, with many people standing outside the church listening to the service on the relay system. He now rests at Bidborough Churchyard.
His sort of compassion and generosity led him to join SAKA and he and Rosemary attended our various meetings and events when they could, bearing in mind that in later life Ian was suffering from painful disabilities. I and so many – whether in SAKA, Bidborough or the wider community – will miss him enormously and will count it a great privilege to have known this lovely, remarkable man.
Michael Lee
The Medway Cruise – Sunday 30th September 1.30-3.30pm from The Malta Inn, Allington ME14 3AS
£18 per adult and £10 per child, including light lunch.
“Of all the events we held last year, the most enjoyable was the cruise on the Allington Belle along the River Medway. It was so relaxing to travel along Kent’s premier river at a gentle unhurried pace, enjoying the riverside properties, gardens, the dozens of boats tied up along the banks, the bird life and the pleasant company of good friends. The delicious tea provided was much appreciated and excellent value – and the bar remained open!” –
Mike Hancock
Congratulations to SAKA members Farah and Nasir Jamil
Nasir and Farah were blessed with a baby daughter, Minal, on 17th June. As you know, Farah and Nasir hail from Pakistan. There is an Islamic tradition for the parents, in celebration, to shave the hair from the baby’s head after seven days, weigh it and donate the equivalent weight in gold as a zakat, a charitable donation to the poor. The ceremony resulted in £200 being duly sent to Nasir’s father to distribute amongst the poor in Farah and Nasir’s home village of Jalal Abad. Following another tradition, Aqeegah, within seven days Nasir’s father sacrificed a goat, the meat of which was distributed amongst the poor. Minal was appropriately born on Father’s Day. On starting school, Minal will, of course, automatically become a family member of SAKA.
Who else can claim to come from a town or village named after a relative? Jalal Abad was named after Nasir’s grandfather, Jalal Din, who was Finance Minister in the State of Bahawalpur before the partition of India.
More than one winner of Euro 2012!
So at last, The European Cup Football Tournament is over and Spain won! But what of the host countries, Poland and Ukraine, who received such a bad press before the tournament began. Did they come out of it as winners or losers?
The only disturbing incident I can recall was a clash between Russian and Polish supporters, when the two teams played each other and that could hardly be attributed to negligence on the part of the Polish Authorities. There were also some firecrackers thrown onto the pitch by one group of spectators, but the stadium stewards seemed to have dealt with this calmly and efficiently. Certainly no blame could be attached to the host country. In fact, it appears that those who attended the matches and visited both countries were treated with politeness and consideration throughout. Those who ventured into the towns and countryside liked what they saw and enjoyed the hospitality of the local people.
I hope those who visited Ukraine will wish to return in the future and get to know it better. It was a shame that the European dignitaries - who decided not to attend the tournament due to the imprisonment of the opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko – denied themselves the opportunity of learning more about the country and meeting some of its people. Tymoshenko herself made it quite clear that she did not want them to stay away. In an article to the Guardian newspaper, the Ambassador of Ukraine, Volodomyr Khandogiy, responded to the hostility of some of the press coverage prior to the start of the tournament. He wrote:
“My countrymen are looking forward to show our openness and hospitality to the World. Recent allegations about racial intolerance in Ukraine are scaremongering. Boycotting the Euros or Olympics would take us back to the times of the Cold War. We are not perfect, but nobody is. So instead of puzzling over finding ways to punish, it might be better to look for ideas how to help”, -I agree with His Excellency
I remember how dubious I was when I first visited Ukraine in September 2003, but being met at Borispol International Airport near Kiev with kisses, hugs and bouquets of flowers set things off to a good start and the four of us were treated throughout our stay with generous hospitality and great kindness wherever we went. No wonder I have been so often and am confident of encouraging SAKA members to visit Ukraine.
The magnificent capital of Kiev, where the final of the tournament took place, is thought of as “The Heart of Ukraine” and our friendship town of Kaniv is considered to be “The Soul of Ukraine”. I have stayed in both and rejoice that I have had the opportunity to do so. There are many other parts of this vast country I would like to have seen, but my chances of doing so are now pretty remote, so I must be grateful for past pleasures, happy memories and the many friendships made over the years since that first visit.
Despite the scare stories before the event, I believe the host countries did extremely well for their visitors. So yes, Ukraine and Poland too were, in my opinion, winners during the major football tournament of 2012.
Mike Handcock, Chairman
The Garden Friendship Afternoons in May and June
We did things slightly differently this year. Instead of having three or four gardens to visit in one day, we visited one garden each over four consecutive weekends. The first of these was Mike and Rhona Handcock’s garden in Bidborough on Saturday 12th May, followed by David Ward’s garden, also in Bidborough, on Saturday 19th. On Saturday 26th we were in Southborough at the garden of Bert and Val Alldis. On each Saturday the weather was lovely. Keith and Lynda Emberson opened their garden on the garden in the Broadwater area of Tunbridge Wells on Sunday 3rd June, the day of the Queen’s Jubilee River Pageant. As everyone will recall it rained most odf the day and therefore much of the time had to be spent indoors, but we all braved the weather for a photo! It was agreed that Val and Bert should receive recognition for their hard work and they were awarded the trophy for Best Garden. Lynda Emberson
Over the four week period £158.56 was raised to boost our funds. Altogether it was a very worthwhile activity, thanks to all our hosts and to those who visited one or more of the gardens, enjoying very pleasant surroundings and good company. Mike Handcock
Coffee Morning on Sunday 22nd July and the Lotto Club Draw
A most enjoyable social occasion hosted by Lynda and Keith Emberson at their home in Tunbridge Wells. As always the food and drink was delicious and it was pleasant enough to sit in the garden, chat and take part in a raffle.
The first set of draws took place in this year’s Lotto Club and an amazing thing happened. The promoter is always careful to ensure the cards with the members’ numbers are firmly held with the numbers face down. After each draw the winning card is returned to the pack and the pack is then shuffled. Our President, Jacqui Jedrzejewski drew the first number and then others present took turns to draw the next four winners and this is what happened:
March – winning number 22, Michael Lee
April – winning number 22, Michael Lee
May – winning number 3, Arthur Angel
June – winning number 1, Val Alldis
July – winning number 22, Michael Lee.
Thanks to all those who have joined the club so far. There are Thirty-nine Lotto Club members so far. If you would like to be in with a chance for the five months from August to December, please send in your application by Wednesday, 31st October latest! We do know that the December prize will be at least £50 and the draw will take place after the Christmas lunch.
Updating our website
Negotiations are in progress and it is hoped to be announced very soon that we have a local company sponsoring our website.
We are constantly keeping our eyes open for more interesting items about Southborough and Kaniv to include in the website. In recent months, pages have been added for Barnetts Wood, the Botticelli copy at St. Thomas’ Church and the memorial in St. Matthew’s Church to the HMS Hythe WWI disaster, Southborough and High Brooms’ worst wartime tragedy. Updates have been made to the pages for the Colebrook Viaduct, St. Peter’s Church, Southborough Common, David Salomons’ House and the C.J. Gallard Almshouses.. We are currently researching Bidborough and keeping our eyes on the planned siting by the Southborough Society of green plaques outside the homes of prominent former citizens. More information has been received from Kaniv, but it has not been easy translating from the Ukrainian originals. Take a look at the Southborough Gallery right now! Brian Dobson
Membership matters
We are pleased to welcome David Marriott to membership and hope he will be able to take part in the remaining activities we are planning for 2012.
Unfortunately Keith Bridgland is no longer able to continue his membership. Sadly his eye problems have meant he has had to give up driving and he lives out in Hawkhurst. Taking part in activities, as he would like to, has become very difficult, so it is a sensible decision to resign, but if he moves back this wa, he will rejoin. He sends his best wishes. We will miss him and wish him well in the future.
Membership currently stands at 66.
Supplement to Newsletter 23
More on the Behaviour of Football Fans
Mike Handcock shared with me his article on the UEFA 2012 Football Championship. I too was saddened by reports of alleged football violence in Ukraine, which I could not believe. From the autumn of 1999 until January 2002 I worked in Kiev and regularly attended football matches. Not once did I see the slightest sign of violence. Indeed the Ukrainians showed me something our own football crowds come nowhere near to matching for sportsmanship.
Towards the end of the season 2000-2001 Dynamo Kiev played at home to Shakhtar Donetsk, at a time when both teams were contesting the league championship. So many people wanted to see the match, that it was transferred from Dynamo’s 16,000 capacity stadium to the 85,000 capacity Olympic Stadium in Kiev. 25,000 fans from Donetsk travelled to Kiev by coach, a distance equivalent to that between London and Edinburgh, to see the match. Most Dynamo fans were seated in the main stand and all around the lower tier surrounding the pitch to create a sea of blue, while the Shakhtar fans were seated above them in the upper tier, a solid block of orange. Shakhtar won the match 2:1. At the final whistle the Dynamo fans stood up, looked towards the upper tier and burst into applause. The Shakhtar fans responded likewise.
In our media in Britain, during the 2012 Euro Championship, the role of the media in provoking violence between the Polish and the Russian fans was not reported. Take a look at the front page of the pre-match Polish edition of Newsweek. It reads “Poland-Russia. Battle of Warsaw 2012. Why in matches with Russia it is not just football.” The illustration has been mocked up to show Polish trainer Franciszek Smuda dressed in a Polish officer’s uniform, circa WWII. Remember that in 1940 Josef Stalin ordered all prisoners-of-war officers of the Polish Army to be taken to the Katyn Forest near Smolensk and be executed. Is it any wonder that emotions were running high?
Brian Dobson
