1900

Wood-surface roads to cut down traffic noise!

>f Qfl/yTS DIFFICULT to credit it today, but a century ago local councils sometimes paved streets with blocks of hardwood which helped to lessen the noise of heavy traffic. And this was the Herald's solution to some pretty deafening noise from motor traffic in Hytlie High Street. The editor suggested that the councillor who could persuade the council to lay down a little wood paving to solve the problem of noise would soon be considered worthy of being honoured by putting up a statue. One trader complained that it was necessary to suspend all conversation in some shops while traffic passed by. To deal with a similar problem in Sandgate Road, opposite Alexandra House, where well known businessman Adolphus Davis, lay seriously ill in bed. tan (bark chippings?) was laid down on the surface of the road. But Felix wrote that unfeeling charabanc conductors persisted in blowing their 'discordant' horns. It was a noise which seemed to grow worse every day, he complained. New Superintendent of the local Methodist circuit, was the Revd Ralph Spoor, who was given a big welcome. He succeeded the Revd George Adcock.

1925

Shock as RAF Hawkinge flier nose-dives to death.

•4 QO r MANY local people watched in horror as an experienced RAF pilot, flying a bi-plane machine plunged out of control to his death, into a ploughed field at the foot of Waterworks Hill. Folkestone. One eyewitness told of being startled by the sound of a crack "as if something had busted" another told of looking up and seeing that both wings on one side were drooping and buckled up. From 100 ft up the aircraft noso-dived into the ground 15 yards behind him. Another eye-witness told how the plane was at about 2.500ft when something went wrong. The flier was Lieutenant A.W. Cudden-Davis. of the 17th Squadron RAF from Hawkinge. who was killed on his wedding anniversary, the inquest was told. An officer from his unit told the coroner a structural fault was thought to be to blame. Bournemouth Gardens resident C.H. Stevens pressed the Town Council to include steps up the cliff at East Cliff as part of the improvements being made there, saying it would protect the cliffs from damage caused by young climbers. Dymchurch bowler Mr M Upton set up a remarkable record in a match against Folkestone Century Club. He took all 10 wickets, each player being clean bowled. Pity the Herald writer didn't find out his Christian name, but then it wasn't, it seems the done thing 75 years ago, although it was by no means a hard and fast rule.

1950

“Mrs Brough” has first play at the Leas Pavilion.

•f Q C/\THE Evening Standard was advertising >L«/3V/in local papers a special series, headed ~A Mid-Century Inquiry into Marriage and Morals" claiming readers would find it an "arresting" feature. Its stated purpose was to examine changing moral standards in relation to marriage and divorce and the new personal and social problems facing married couples in 1950. An obvious ploy to boost circulation. Lord Louis Mountbatten travelled on the footplate of the Romney. Hythc and Dymchurch Railway's steam locomotive Hurricane, when he accompanied Lord and Lady Brabourne on a visit to the line. The ill-fated British airliner Brabazon was due to fly over Folkestone and Hythe as over 70 aircraft took part in the Daily Express Round-the-Coast handicap race. The Brabazon. flying from Hum airport, wasn't taking part in the actual race. Ten years to the month after the battle the Herald recalled the epic dog-fights over Kent in September 1940 when the Battle of Britain reached its peak, the German Luftwaffe failing to gain superiority in the air over the RAF. One of the Brough husband and wife partnership behind, the Arthur Brough Players, who entertained for years in the Leas Pavilion theatre, Elizabeth Addyman had her first play, Fortunes in a Teacup, performed at the Leas.

1975

Torrents of rain flood area and swell the reservoirs.

•4 Q*» r A DELUGE of rain hit Shcpway 25 years ago. _L«7 I 9 enough, estimated weather experts, to provide baths for every resident until the year 2000! Well over 15 million tons of rain fell in a week causing flooding. A little under two inches of rain - and weathermen said one inch over an acre of land represented 100 tons of water! Council-backed town guides looked likely to be phased out by 1977 as Shepway Council looked into ways to cut costs. The idea was that each resort in the area should go it alone and produce their own guides to attract tourists. A name associated with cross-Channel ferry traffic for 60 years, the Maid of Orleans made her last trip on the short sea route in September. She was the last traditional passenger ferry to run on the short sea routes from Folkestone and Dover. But she was no sluggard. The old lady was capable of a nifty 22 knots. Three years earlier she had closed the Golden Arrow service. Skipper for the last trip, Capt George Sutcliffe, of Dover, was joined on the bridge by ex-masters Elgar Blaxland and Jim Giddy. Great inventive pioneer in the field of transport. Thomas Aveling began farming on his own account on Romney Marsh. Recognising the potential of steam, in 1859 he took out a patent for a self-propelled engine -a traction engine - he designed himself. His story was told in Your Book of Traction Engines, by Alan Bloom, published in 1975 and reviewed in the Herald's former ■‘Family Bookshelf" column.