Town Mayor Hung at the Grand
The Portrait of Cllr Ann Berry First Town Mayor of the newly
formed town council 2004 was hung in The Grand by kind permission of the owner
Michael Stainer
On Friday 20th May 2007 a portrait of Cllr Ann Berry, the first Town Mayor of
the newly formed Folkestone Town Council was unveiled in a ceremony at The
Grand. This became the first mayoral portrait to be commissioned for one hundred
years since Daniel Baker.
Last year vice chair of Go Folkestone Lynne Smith met artist Ken Fisher by
chance on the train and spoke about how they would like a portrait painted to
commemorate Ann Berry and Go Folkestone’s achievements. Mr Fisher kindly offered
to take this task on and presented the portrait to Ann as a gift from him to her
a few days before the unveiling.
Go Folkestone had it framed by Gallery 49 in the Old High Street and the
commemorative brass plaque is by KB Shoe Repairs Sandgate Road. This reads
“Councillor Ann Berry First Town Mayor June 2004 – May 2005 of the newly formed
Folkestone Town Council successfully petitioned by Go Folkestone Action Group.”
Article from Go Folkestone Newsletter June 2007
