*** UPDATE: the meeting with Sir Roger de Haan on Thursday 26th October has been changed from Wards Hotel to Three Hills Sports Park.***
Thursday 26th October 6.45pm. Three Hills Sports Park, Cheriton Rd, Folkestone CT19 5JU. Sir Roger De Haan and Acme architects will be talking to Go Folkestone about the plans for the former Princess Royal AND will take questions on the Seafront development. Non-members charge: £5.
Walking With Ghosts Saturday & Sunday 11th c. 3.30-11pm and Remembrance Sunday morning 12th November
Last year the University of Kent’s Walking with Ghosts, in cooperation with the Imperial War Museum, created a modern Son et Lumiere based around a moving projection of a ghostly army onto the Folkestone Harbour Station walls. It is being repeated as the centrepiece of a late opening of the Harbour Arm on Saturday 11th November. It will only be shown from near twilight as the pictures are best at night. It will be coupled with a 4pm (sic) screening of They Shall Not Grow Old by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) at the Harbour Cinema. In that realistic, award-winning and moving film, footage of the individual soldiers in what they knew as The Great War or The War to End War, was evocatively renovated and sometimes colourised by a fine director. As we all know in the time of Gaza, there are an awful lot of wars to end war, and they all have casualties. Hence, we now know the 1914-18 War as World War I! A good time to think about the balance between a ‘just war’ & carnage [personal view]
Go Folkestone, Shorncliffe Military Trust, New Folkestone Society and Shepway Heart will be helping out the Harbour Arm, sometimes in uniform. Member Ann Berry and Go Folkestone will be particularly focusing on recreating the Mole Café (between 10am and 10pm), where volunteers in 1914-18 served soldiers cups of tea and kindness as they went off to the War through the boat train to Etaples. Member Jan Mc Neil has created a poppy sculpture with her knitting group with Tony Hill’s help.
Please contact info@gofolkestone.org.uk by 8th November, to help with assisting the café and collecting for the local Royal British Legion. It would be great if you could dress in Edwardian garb.
See https://www.kent.ac.uk/news/community/34006/walking-with-ghosts-returns-for-remembrance-weekend-2023
LITTER PICKS:
The Go Folkestone Litter Pick usually takes place at 2pm on the last Friday in the month, and one location is nearly always the Leas Arch on The Leas, if you just want to spot the FHDC van. But check our magazine, website and Go Folkestone Facebook for details because we aren’t doing December (!) and usually gather in two sites, often a second at Tram Road car park.
See you Friday 27th October and Friday 24th November 2pm at Leas Arch and Tram Road barring heavy rain at the time. The Weather very often suddenly clears at about 1pm!
In Cheriton the Community Network organise a litter pick from their shop on Tuesday mornings usually at 11.00am.
GREEN GANG:
Go Folkestone are trying to help the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership with scrub clearance, weed pulling and other things to make local reserves a lot better, but only a couple of us are going at the moment. Typically, this means going to Folkestone Warren, Shorncliffe Military Cemetery or Folkestone Downs near Crete Road West at 10.00am on one of a few mornings a month. Please, if you are capable at least of effective gardening, then join our green gang group via info@gofolkestone.org.uk and we will try and organise a carload to do some open air volunteering. The WCCP have a website and are the guardians of the nature reserves including Shorncliffe.
WATERING GANG: Join the green gang and help our friends at Incredible Edible water in Cheriton and Folkestone West, albeit there won’t be much in November and December! But we might plant a few trees.
FRIENDS OF CHERITON ROAD CEMETERY: Remember this group will always be tidying up and weeding on Saturdays around 11.00am. And sometimes even refurbishing a grave. I’d like to particularly thank Mr Robert Mouland for cleaning the grave of Ernest Edward Smith.
HERITAGE HELPERS: The Sandgate Society, New Folkestone Society and Go Folkestone are always looking for help with spotting eyesores around town, and old buildings in danger from developers. Contact us if that is your forte.