Use the form on the right to contact us.
You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right.
Herne Bay, England, CT6
United Kingdom
Community website for all things Herne Bay (Kent, UK). Covers: The Downs, Herne Bay Museum, Herne Bay Historical Records Society, Herne Bay Pier Trust, Herne Bay in Bloom, East Cliff Neighbourhood Panel, No Night Flights, Manston Airport, Save Hillborough, Kitewood, WEA, Local Plan and much, much more...
OK folks, here you go - all the paperwork you need to apply to CCC to run the Herne Bay Festival this year. It's an 8 month contract worth £35,000 to the lucky winner. Closing date 9am 17th January 2013.
Reading through the Delivery Partner Brief, I found myself starting to wonder whether CCC is actually trying to discourage applications.
People power – and a pinch of piracy – is behind a festive lights display erected more than a kilometre out to sea. A Christmas tree of light, made from around 1,000 lights, appeared on the stranded head of Herne Bay pier just before Christmas.
Pier Pirates claimed responsibility for the seasonal display and said the lights were a symbol of the town's future. A spokesman said:
"Ahoy! Me 'n' me hearties have put these lights up as a symbol of the unity that Herne Bay needs to display to overpower the tyranny of our current rulers. We believe that this be necessary to get our fair share of the treasure includin' gettin' the pier rebuilt to its original length smartly. There be many lubbers 'bout who have chosen to ignore the hopes 'n' aspirations 'n' determination of the people."
He said the project was inspired by the volunteer groups working to improve the town, including the Bay Promo Team, Beach Creative and the Kent Pier Marina Team from the Herne Bay Pier Trust as well as the people of Herne Bay themselves. He added:
"The town Christmas tree lights was voted the worst in the land 'n' news spread far and wide. Me and me hearties thought we should step in and gift the town the best offshore Christmas tree lights in the UK. All ye pirates mucked in and helped, including local suppliers."
Partygoers at the BayPromoTeam's Christmas ball were impressed by the lights and a spokesman said:
"They look fantastic and everyone was saying how impressive they were. We can only sum them up as a festive delight."
Jason Hollingsworth, of the Kent Pier Marina Team, which is working on plans for a marina around the old pier head, added:
"I think this shows that the people of Herne Bay are proud of their town and are willing to get involved in the Government's Big Society. This is truly a beacon of hope for the future of the town and for the pier. I think the sense of community is at an all-time high and this shows beyond reasonable doubt that Herne Bay is powered by its people."
HB Times 4th Jan 2013
The Goods Shed: 'The dishes that issue from the cheerful open kitchen are a vivid reflection of the season.' Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Guardian
The farmers' market has become a bit of a joke, shorthand – like Boden and Nespresso – for a good old sneer at the middle classes. I don't care for the knowing likes of Borough, but I genuinely love the market in a draughty old railway goods shed in Canterbury, its vast Victorian windows regularly rattled by high-speed trains thundering past.
And the restaurant here has never let me down. I've taken 80-year-olds and small children; sat beside fleece-clad farmers and David Starkey; called in for a starter and freshly-pressed juice, and been poured out into the night after many courses and a greedy assault on the drinks list.
This time, I go with a food writer not known for mincing words. The reaction is amazement: "It's not nearly as twee as I expected." Forget wicker basket-toting gals in flippy skirts looking for single-estate brownies: the Shed is a week-long working market where real people do their daily shop. Though it does do brownies, too. And handmade macaroons, slow-proved bread, local beer, cheese and charcuterie, and a wealth of hairy, grubby, misshapen vegetables that taste of what a hardcore foodist would call terroir. Each day, between 5.30pm and 7pm, these are sold off at knockdown prices. This is where Kent's "Garden of England" tag really makes sense.
For the first time in the restaurant's 10-year history, it now has a distinct identity and actual menus – it's officially been renamed Rafael's Restaurant at the Goods Shed, after long-term chef Rafael Lopez. You might have your scalp alternatively fried and frozen as the industrial overhead heaters click and gzzz into life, or be temporarily deafened while a whole Dexter beef carcass is butchered into manageable chunks, but none of this dims the pleasure of Lopez's gutsy, intuitive cooking.
The dishes that issue from the open kitchen are a vivid reflection of the season: roots and squashes roasted into toffee-like lusciousness; brassicas with cream for comfort; the earthy perfume of morcilla (sorry, got carried away: it's actually their own black pudding – crumbly, fatty, almost spreadable). There are sorbets of quince, or rosehip and crab apple, and pears in mulled wine with cinnamon cream. It all makes me feel festive in a way that the actual Festive never does. Or maybe that's just the Chapel Down Vintage Reserve Brut.
The food cheers, too: a picture-perfect fillet of softly pickled herring, sweet and taut, with a tangle of onions, crunch of acidulated carrot and dollop of crème fraîche, on bread baked by Enzo in the market below. A bowl of soup, green lentils, whole mushrooms and kale is the essence of winter, as unglamorous as Uggs but every bit as comforting.
There's always superbly roasted local chicken, a herb-scented marriage of juicy meat and crisp skin; this time with a creamy sludge of brussels sprouts and blades of brittle bacon. And venison haunch, an improbable amount of it, black-and-rose meat of velvety pungency, just-wilted greens, that black pudding and the murky sweetness of prunes. I've eaten fat lamb chops with barley and mint; rough, meaty terrines with homemade chutney; thick slabs of hake with aromatic bisque of crab and fennel. Never mind "weekly-changing menu", this one changes twice daily. The only disappointment I've ever had is a timid treacle tart, lacking the texture and jamminess of the best. Such woe.
Ingredients are "sourced" from roughly 2ft away in the market: finest Kentish produce, British traditions and techniques, Spanish sensibilities. The result is balm to the soul, not to mention the kind of grub that sends you off with a giant grin on your well-fed chops.
The Goods Shed's philosophy has always been to bring farmers into the community and cut out the middle man. If the result is as consistently delicious as this is, all hail the horny-handed sons of the soil.
The Goods Shed Station Road West, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 8AN, 01227 459153. Open lunch, Tues-Sun, noon-2.30pm (3pm Sat & Sun), dinner, Tues-Sat, dinner 6-9.30pm. Three-courses for about £30 a head, plus drinks and service.
Food 8/10
Atmosphere 8/10
Value for money 8/10
Guardian 4th Jan 2013
Marcel Duchamp
Artist Marcel Duchamp wrote "I am not dead, I am staying in Herne Bay" during a visit to the town 100 years ago this year.
To mark the centenary, Sue Austen and Jason Hollingsworth, who run Bayguide.co.uk, are planning a three-week, town-wide celebration. It would feature exhibitions, a film festival and history walks and the pair are hoping people will get in touch to lend items they could use. Mr Hollingsworth said:
"We want to see this event marked in a variety of different ways. The town's reputation as an artistic centre is growing, along with that of the whole north Kent coast, and as part of this movement a Duchamp celebration would be a fantastic way to promote our vibrant town, during its busiest summer months. We think this will not only attract local attention but also draw visitors from the rest of Kent, London and the South East as well as giving our town great positive publicity to rival that of our neighbours."
They are appealing for articles, memorabilia, images and especially postcards sent from Herne Bay and post-marked 1913 to borrow for the festival. Artists are also invited to get involved by submitting a piece to an exhibition called "I am not dead, I am in Herne Bay".
Duchamp was in Herne Bay for August and part of September 1913 while his sister Yvonne studied English at Lynton College in Downs Park. That year is said to be a turning point in his work.
For more information about the planned Duchamp celebration, visit www.iamnotdead.co.uk or e-mail jason@bayguide.co.uk
HB Times 4th Jan 2013
A train carrying workers and shoppers home for Christmas crashed into a tree on Christmas Eve just outside Herne Bay. Passengers faced delays after the Southeastern train ploughed into the tree which had fallen onto the track.
The train's windscreen was shattered but the driver and passengers escaped injury. Among those on board in the front carriage, was Times sports editor Jon Homer. He said:
"The train was approaching Herne Bay when suddenly there was a bang and the front carriage shook violently. The train stopped for five minutes or so before the guard announced we had hit a tree and would be progressing slowly to Herne Bay but no further. It would be a huge exaggeration to say that my whole life flashed before me but I was surprised to see the damage that had been done to the front of the train. The driver looked a little shaken, if not stirred!”
The incident caused delays while bosses organised a replacement bus service and a crew from Network Rail was called to remove the tree. Mum-of-two Sarah Moore, who was trying to get back to her home in Gravesend, was left stranded at Herne Bay station with her young daughters. She said:
"It’s not ideal on Christmas Eve and the lack of information has been quite frustrating. Luckily we will be able to get home, eventually, and I’m glad no one was hurt."
Southeastern spokesman Sarah Boundy said the train’s windscreen was damaged by the tree, which was cut up and cleared by 5pm. She said:
"The service affected was the 3.05pm Ramsgate to Faversham train and there were some cancellations and delays while we organised replacement buses. We are very sorry for the disruption and that people were delayed on Christmas Eve."
HB Times 4th Jan 2013
Herne Bay's most recent Christmas tree (photo by Alan Porter)
A group of volunteers hailed as "stars" will make the town shine next Christmas thanks to a grant from a Bay county councillor. Jean Law, who represents the town on Kent County Council, is gifting the remainder of her member's fund to four community groups in a bid to make Christmas 2013 the best ever.
She hopes the £10,000 will help Herne Bay Town Partners, Herne Bay in Bloom, Beach Creative and the BayPromoTeam attract more cash in match funding to pay for a spectacular lights display. Mrs Law said:
"These are all groups I have worked with in the past and they work brilliantly together. They are all stars and I know that working together they can make up for this year and all the negative publicity. I have lots of ideas and I would like it to be like Herne Bay in Bloom, where the whole town comes together to make it great."
This year's tree was slammed as the "worst in the country" by national newspapers, and its replacement was also panned by critics. There were complaints about the lack of lights in the High Street and that crossover lights used in previous years were missing. Mrs Law said:
"I was desperately disappointed with this year's display and there was a lot of negative feeling about it. It was supposed to be so magical and it didn't quite work like that. But I know next Christmas will be better than ever, and I want to see really inventive displays, not just common or garden lights."
Among the ideas being considered are trees for over shops, projected images of moving snowflakes on buildings, and a mini forest of Christmas trees, donated from different sources. Mrs Law said:
"We also need shopkeepers to get involved and do their bit in brightening up the town and that's where Beach Creative can get involved. It is a long-term project. We don't need bling, we just need it to be magical for the children and it is a real privilege to be involved in it. I hope that this year we can invite all those who criticised us to come back and see what Herne Bay can really do."
Former town trader Geoff Wimble has also set up a Christmas lights group made up of residents and shopkeepers, and they are planning fundraising events.
Terry Gore manages homelessness charity Catching Lives, a self-funding day centre in Canterbury's Station Road East. The service is running on empty and needs to find around £100,000 to fund each year. For more information on Catching Lives or to donate, visit www.catchinglives.org
What are your New Year's Resolutions?
Dropping four stone and giving up smoking.
What are you looking forward to in the New Year?
Working for Catching Lives and making sure we ensure we get the funding for this vital service for another year.
Canterbury resident Ian McQuaibe, 25, was homeless for more than five years and now volunteers at Catching Lives and as a youth worker at Thanington Resource Centre.
What are your New Year's Resolutions?
To get a well-paid job and to give up smoking.
What are you looking forward to in the New Year?
It just being the New Year. I'll see how it goes. You never know what might happen in the future.
Margaret Burns is chairman of Herne Bay in Bloom. Herne Bay was the overall winner of the coastal town category in the 2012 Britain In Bloom awards and a silver gilt medal winner in the competition.
What are your New Year's Resolutions?
To put more into the community. I was born in Herne Bay and I feel it's our duty to keep uplifting it for residents and visitors.
What are you looking forward to in the New Year?
Making Herne Bay even more beautiful. We're very involved in the Queen Elizabeth Coastal Park – the new gardens near the Kings Hall and the clock tower.
Gerald McCarthy is the founder of the Bay Promo Team, which puts on Herne Bay events such as the Zombie Crawl, which raises money for Kent Air Ambulance.
What are your New Year's Resolutions?
To reach more people in Herne Bay so we become more of a hub. We want to bulk out the social calendar. We're trying our best with Halloweek, the Zombie Crawl and Christmas Ball.
What are you looking forward to in the New Year?
Putting on more events and promoting other people's. We're looking forward to a big sci-fi event in June with replica Daleks, a 45-foot marshmallow man and superheroes. We're also doing a Titanic-themed ball for the centenary celebrations of the Kings Hall.
David Birch is chairman and trustee of Herne Bay Historical Records Society. He was born in the Bay, and his granddaughter was the 269th Holness to be baptised in Herne Church.
What are your New Year's Resolutions?
I'm 80 years old and I've never made a New Year's Resolution but I'd love to see my youngest granddaughter reach school age.
What are you looking forward to in the New Year?
I'd love to see the society, which is a registered charity, have its own income and premises so we have more control over what we own.
We've got a smashing little town, but I think we come third to Canterbury and Whitstable. I'd like to see the town's fortunes improve. We need someone who will push and shove and drive it forward.
Whitstable artist Carl Stafford, 48, is giving away his paintings – all 100 of them. He hired Whitstable's Horsebridge Centre for an exhibition called Nothing's Free, in which the twist is that the paintings are free.
What are your New Year's Resolutions?
I don't generally make resolutions as they get broken on January 2.
What are you looking forward to in the New Year?
To becoming a multimillionaire. I get a lottery ticket every few weeks. To make a million from my art, I'll have to wait until I'm dead and gone.
HB Times 3rd Jan 2013
