“Some sort of periodical is an essential life-line in village such as ours”

Welcome to West Farleigh’s own

LIFELINe
Distributed freely in May 2019 Edition no 510
Upcoming Events:
See back page
Editors: Stephen Norman, Helen Swan and Jacky Taylor
Website: www.thefarleighs.co.uk Email: editor@thefarleighs.co.uk In this Lifeline

Pastoral newsletter…. 2
With your Lifeline, you should have Village in Bloom….. 3
received a packet of sunflower The Detectorists…. 4
seeds. You can plant these and Farleigh Feathers … 5
help the village [in] Bloom! With View from the garden 6
judicious watering, you might win Organisations……. 7
the sunflower competition as well! Events…………………. 8

Plant seeds somewhere sunny, not Do visit our website for

boggy, 6” apart, 1 or 2” deep. articles, events and
Water lightly until seeds sprout. much more.
When true leaves appear,
separate plants to 2’ apart. That’s See Ed Boyd’s new
it! Need help? email atmospheric banner river
picture on
bloom@thefarleighs.co.uk
www.thefarleighs.co.uk

Please contact the

April car rallies and Victorian evenings: it’s a knockout!
editors if you would like
Engines racing, 16 cars filled with Sarah’s Treasure Hunters  hurtled from the
an article in Lifeline or on
start at the Tickled Trout on April 14th. The event was thoroughly enjoyed and
the Website – Email
raised £477 for Action Against Hunger. Next event Quiz Night on 11th May see
editor@thefarleighs.co.uk
back page.

Follow us on Facebook

Likewise the Victorian evening at Smiths Hall with the Farleighs choir was a
classic. See pics and video on the website or Farleighs facebook. £821 raised
towards upgrading heating in the church. Thanks to all performers!

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April 1st 2019

Dear readers

It is my turn to write the monthly letter for May which means it has to be to the
editors of the newsletters by April 15th. So there was I checking my emails on
Sunday 31st March when I received the following: ‘I am preparing a spring
edition of Linton Parish News which is delivered to every home in Linton.
Peter’s April pastoral letter isn’t really suitable as it is all about April Fools which
will be long past by the time this is delivered. I know that the May edition isn’t
due until 15th April but I thought I would just check if you have it nearly ready and available this week.’ My
reply was I hadn’t even thought about it yet and anyway how could I write anything at the moment that
wouldn’t be out of date by the time May arrives? Ought I to write about Prime Ministers, general elections,
Europe or referendums? The only certainty in my life at the moment that would not be changed by May is
that Maidstone United Football Club will be relegated! Whatever I wrote would be bland if it was to remain
topical.

Well, that got me thinking and a good night’s sleep brings me to the present, 9.00am on Monday April 1st. I
am writing a ‘topical letter ‘which I hope and trust will not be out of date whenever it is read.

How would you like to live in a ‘certain world’ where everything in the future follows a predicable pathway?
As one of Newton’s laws states, ‘to every action there is a reaction’. It might appear great to live in a
perfect world where any action we take leads to the predictable reaction. Yet look back on your life and
see how things have actually turned out from the predicted pathway. I got my first job because the other
candidate for the job didn’t turn up! I wasn’t run over when I stepped in front to the car because the driver
happened have good reflexes. The doctor’s initial prognosis didn’t turn out to be correct yet the symptoms
indicated otherwise. I didn’t marry my first ‘love’ but I wouldn’t have changed the outcome! Our world is not
a ‘certain world’, it’s full of surprises, some welcome others not so and I thank God for that so many times
when people forgive me for what I have said, done or not done.

But there is one certainty in this world and it was a truth that I learned as a young man over sixty years ago in
a chorus that we were taught:
Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same,
All may change, but Jesus never!
Glory to His name, Glory to His name, Glory to His name;
All may change, but Jesus never!
Glory to His name.
Yes, in a changing and uncertain world God’s love, God’s forgiveness and his presence is the one constant
and the one statement that I believe is true today and will be true whenever you read this letter. Simplistic,
maybe but why complicate things?

There it’s written and the time is 9.55am on the 1st April and I am sending this off now to the editors.
Whatever happens in the coming hours and days before you read this letter, trust in God’s promise to be
with us as we journey through life.

David

Services at All Saints

Sunday 5th May 8.00 am Holy Communion (Traditional)
Sunday 12th May 9.30 am Morning Prayer
Sunday 26th May 9.30 am Morning Prayer with Holy Communion

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NEW: FOOD FOR THOUGHT
All Saints Church West Farleigh, is hosting an afternoon tea on Saturday 1st June at 4pm,
in the church. All the family are invited, children young and old! There will be suitable
things for them all to do.
There will be a topic for us to discuss while we drink tea and eat cake. This could be
anything (NOT POLITICS. Anyone mentioning Brexit will be expelled!). Topics which have
a moral or ethical issue could cover anything from Global warming to euthanasia. Do
come and join us. More details next month.

WEST FARLEIGH IN BLOOM

The West Farleigh in Bloom team have been busy this month – finding sunflower
seeds and packing them up to give to you! Please plant them somewhere
prominent where they will be seen by the judges when they visit us on 4 July.
We will be holding our tallest sunflower competition again this year with judging to
take place on Saturday 24 August – let’s see if we can beat the number of entries
this year and put West Farleigh on the map as the village of sunflowers!
There is exciting news from our wildlife area on the triangle at the top of Teston Lane.
Ray has been to inspect the three bird boxes and one of them has a nest with 8
eggs in!! (SEE RAY’S PHOTO IN FARLEIGH FEATHERS over).
Last Sunday some of the
team were out digging up
the triangle at the bottom of
Ewell Lane in preparation for
the seeding of wild flowers.
Typically we haven’t had
any rain since - we are
hoping they will germinate and grow! We have also
tidied up the rocks on the top corner of the Green and
are hoping to build a rockery there. If anyone has any
boulders they no longer need please let us know and
we will collect them.
Two dates for your diaries:

HARD WORK IN THE HEAT…

Sunday 12 May – Church plant sale –our team will be
selling cream teas and personalised bird and bat boxes
– and hopefully plant pots. We will be on hand to assist children paint their own.
Fathers Day - Sunday 16 June – Family Ramble around West Farleigh. Following the success of this event
last year we are doing it again this year – with a treasure hunt and quiz this time!
Our aim is to make the village bright and colourful and
we are very grateful to those villagers who have put out
planters and planted bulbs on grass verges. As the
judges will be viewing the village from the road anything
we can do to tidy up the verges and plant nice flowers
will help our entry enormously!

Our next meeting is on 9 May at 7.30 pm at the Good

Intent. New members are always welcome to join us,
and of course if anyone has any ideas please let us
know!

*** STOP PRESS *** LITTER PICKING 9am at the Good

Intent on Sunday 5th May Bacon butties afterwards ***
TIME FOR A PINT IN THE TICKLED TROUT?

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A NEW SPECIAL ITEM FROM THE “DETECTORISTS”

I have kindly been invited to offer a few words on my hobby/obsession which is metal detecting. Stay with me
dear reader, the dowdy image of the pastime is misplaced. It is a truly exciting and intriguing hobby. We are
often referred to as ‘Treasure Hunters’. I’m not keen on this as I’ve yet to meet any “detector” that does it for
financial gain. What is common to us folk is that we are lovers of the countryside, anthropologists and
historians. The thrill is not in finding an object, but in the wonder of the images it paints in the mind and the
detailed research we do after the find, plus it offers a nice walk in the countryside and the opportunity to
make it a little tidier when we leave.

Here for example. A dear friend in the village has

given me permission to hunt on ‘the field’. I found
a USA 1930s Barclay toy artillery cannon. Make up
your own story of how it got there, but I am thrilled
that it is now saved, it is under restoration and in
the future another little boy or girl will once again
enjoy the thrill of playing with it.

So what is our aim? I am setting up the ‘Farleighs

Detectorists’ metal detecting club. The modern
mission statement is for detectors to go
undetected. We aim to remove all objects from
the ground and all visible litter from a permission.
To dig small, neat holes to recover objects and
back fill invisibly.

To be a club we need people, we are a modest 3

people currently, we need more people,
experience not necessary and we need the
permission to detect more land.
For you the land owner, you are entitled half of all
finds. We will remove all objects found, including
the ubiquitous large chunks of metal that can
damage plough blades and cultivator tines.
However, we are bound by the Treasure Act 1996
and any finds may need to be declared to the
local coroner.
Picture: The 2019 finds so far from our current
permission and the search of my field in West
Farleigh!
Please contact me if you are interested in joining the soon to be formalised: ‘Farleigh Detectorists’ club or if
you are a land owner and you would kind enough to offer the club permission to detect your land.

Thanks Pete
metal@thefarleighs.co.uk

Don’t miss Friday 7 June

8:15pm at the Good Intent

“Back to the 60s” with Pete & Co

(Formerly of Soft Sensation, celebrating 50 years in music. Guess who was who?)

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Farleigh Feathers by Ray Morris

And all because the lady loves ...

... a juicy worm (apologies to Cadbury’s Milk Tray)

This month, as female birds begin laying their clutch of anything up to
fourteen eggs (a blue tit, for example) the males help by providing additional
food to ensure their mates have sufficient nutrition for the task. If a robin, for
example, carries food away from the birdtable, this is likely to be for his mate;
later in the month it will be to feed their young. Male blue tits have to provide
the female with miniscule snails to provide the calcium for eggshell
production. It is estimated that the female uses the equivalent of up to fifty per cent of the calcium in
her skeleton to produce her eggs, hence the need for the male’s help with extra, high calcium food.

As I write, one of the nestboxes erected behind ‘the triangle’ has a pair of blue tits producing their
clutch. Being in woodland they have easy access to the kind of snails needed by the female as these
are found in leaf litter on the woodland floor. Although this is only a small area of woodland, jammed
between a cricket field and a busy road, it demonstrates the importance of these ‘wild’ or ‘natural’
areas for wildlife.

Untidy parts of gardens and

farmland are the most productive in
terms of providing homes for the
plants and insects that larger
animals like birds depend on. Sadly,
whatever garden centres will have
you believe, no amount of bird
tables with peanuts and fat balls
can compensate for the weed-free
lawn, extensive stone patio and
decked barbeque area they want
you to buy.

As the criteria for judging West

Farleigh in Bloom have a section on
biodiversity, if every village garden
had an intentionally provided ‘wild’
area we would pick up points.

So why not leave a wild area in your garden for the wild plants and animals we all ultimately depend on.
After all, points means prizes!!

See Ray’s blog with colour photos on www.thefarleighs.co.uk

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View from the Garden by Jon Fenlon
The Narcissus display planted for Village in Bloom in front of Smiths Hall is fading
now, but still colourful. We planted 4,500 bulbs: Actea, Jack Snipe, Bravoure,
Surfside, Chinita, Green Eye Lady, Fortissimo and Jetfire. They were chosen for a
variety of reasons: when they flower, height and colour. You never know how the
combinations will play out until it all unfolds in front of your eyes.

This month I thought I would revisit the white border pictured in June’s blog last year. We planted most
of the perennials and shrubs in May 2018 and the bulbs in November 2018. So this is the first time the
bulbs have flowered (see picture below). All the plants survived the winter with a couple getting slight
frost damage on leaf tips, so this winter they will be fleeced to try and prevent it from happening again.

The bulbs are Narcissi triandus petrel,

Tulipa diana, Tulia hakuun, Hyacinth
aiolos. They have all performed well and
have displayed a great contrast of
shapes across the bed. The Hosta white
feather has also started to appear and
the new young white leaves are bright
and eye catching, even the alliums
multibulbosom nigrum which are yet to
flower have a glaucous leaf which mutes
the green and gives it a silver sheen.

When choosing plants for a

monochrome display it is hard to get the colour just right. I have never personally designed a white
border from scratch so this was no small challenge. A lot of research went in to finding the crisp white
flowers and you can never rely on a photo for a precise match. You can Imagine my relief when they
all came up crisp white. I remember at Sissinghurst walking into the white garden and finding the newly
planted tulips coming up with a hint of pink! Needless to say they were removed instantly.
Even the professionals make mistakes!

I wanted to show you the native English tulips I like very much but ran out of space! See the website…

See lots more colour photos on Jon’s blog on www.thefarleighs.com

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View from the Scoreboard by Terry Baines
FOOTBALL Our 1st XI run of bad results continued at the start of last month. We lost 3-1
away versus Margate, followed by another away defeat, against Southborough 2-1.
Thankfully we finished with a much needed victory, a hard fought 2-1 scoreline against
Bearsted. With the season almost over, we have secured another place in the division next
season.

Meanwhile our 2nd XI have become the score draw specialists of our division, having three draws from four
games last month. We began with a 4-4 draw at home to Tatsfield but we lost the following week 2-1 to
Southborough, back to another draw, 3-3 versus T.K.F.C. (Tonbridge) and finally a 1-1 draw against Five Oak
Green. We must be a good bet on the pools!

Our last game of the season was for our Vets and we finished on a high by thumping Ashburton 7-0!

CRICKET Good time to play cricket what with all the nice weather at the moment. We start our new season
next weekend with a friendly at home against Southborough (27th April) and on Sunday 28th we play Linton
Park at home in a National Cup game. Come and support us if you can and maybe you can cheer us all the
way to Lords where the final will be played! The game starts at 1pm.

CLUB NEWS Our annual Quiz night will be held in West Farleigh Church, on Saturday 18th May, 8pm start. Six
(approx) per team at £5 each. Please bring your own food and drink and support your club if you can,
enjoyment is the key!
.
Our lucky TON UP WINNERS last month 108:Claire Beck £30 48:Mike Allingham £20 21:Terry Ayears £10

Yours in sport, Tel

PS. NETBALL! Any budding netball players in the village, we are thinking of putting a team together,
maybe starting in September. If you are interested, please get in touch (07761 355518)

Our monthly report for April The Farleigh W.I. are

It is a lovely start to the spring with our speaker Becs hosting
from Blooming Green Nursery in Boughton
Monchelsea, she shared with us how she and her A PAMPER EVENING
cousin started the business, what they grow and 10th May 2019 at 7pm
how. She gave a presentation on "no dig" for your
garden, that would be a benefit to all with Treatments include
Interesting ideas and inspiration, will certainly try. We had three new Clairvoyant, Nails,
members started this month. All welcome to our Pamper Night on May Reflexology, Swedish
10th at the Hall. Many therapists will be there giving trial treatments Massage, Facial, Therapist
and there will be a body shop, where you can try products and treatments
buy. See ad to the right. For more information or an appointment then
Body shop, chocolate
please ring Pam on 01622 726337.
tombola
Entrance £3 including
Evergreens glass of wine
We welcomed two new members from East Farleigh, Appointments and prices
who joined us for a very good a Fish and chip lunch,
Email
supplied by Coxheath Fish Bar. Even the child’s
pamlindon@btinternet.co
portion of chips was too much for many of our
members! We were also made to think about the
past with a Powerpoint presentation compiled by Mags, one of our leaders. Very thought
provoking. We used our newly acquired projector, which will gets lots of use I am sure.

On the 23rd April we will be having lunch followed by entertainment from Pete and Co. A local group that
plays music of a certain era! On the 14th May we will be visiting Headcorn Airfield to look at their museum
and having tea. On the 28th May we will be having lunch in the Farleighs WI Hall.
If you would like to join us ring Helen 814445 or Terry 814561.
We are able to collect you if you do not have your own transport.

Page 7 of 8
Village Events

Sunday 5th May 9am Litter picking, meet at Good Intent, bacon butties after!

Thursday 9th May 7.30pm Village in Bloom group

Meeting at the Good Intent, new volunteers welcome

Saturday 11th May 7.30pm on ACTION AGAINST HUNGER Quiz Night

Join the challenge at the WI Hall Forge Lane East Farleigh ME15 0HG.
Advance tickets: Jane on 07928036800 or janehunter01@gmail.com
£5 per person, teams of 6-8. Bring your own drinks and nibbles

Sunday 12th May 11am – 4pm Bring and Buy Plant Sale and Teas at the Church
The Annual church plant sale, this year at the church with tea and cake
by Village in Bloom. Bird and bat boxes on sale. Many plants are locally
grown and fantastic value. Please bring some of your own plants to sell.

Saturday 19th May 8pm SPORTS CLUB ANNUAL QUIZ NIGHT

Six (approx) per team at £5 each. Please bring your own food and drink
and support your club if you can, enjoyment is the key!
Sat 1st June 4pm FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Tea and cake discussion at All Saints, all welcome, children also.
Friday 7th June 8.15pm BACK TO THE 60s at the Good Intent
The music you love from Pete & Co. Optional SIXTIES fancy dress. All
proceeds to the Heart of Kent Hospice
Sunday 16 June Family Ramble around West Farleigh.
Following the success of this event last year we are doing it again this
year – with a treasure hunt and quiz this time!
Sunday 30th June 11am – 5pm SMITHS HALL NGS Open Garden
The gardens of Smiths Hall will be open as part of the National Garden
Scheme. Admire the 400 roses, herbaceous borders, the meadows and
woods. Lots to see. Tea, homemade cake & quiche by the pool.
Saturday 20th July 7.30pm ALL SAINTS ANNUAL QUIZ NIGHT
Whey-hey! Pete and Den will be in charge again! Everyone is welcome.
Make up a team or turn up and we will make up a scratch team or two!

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