News

The Royal and Ancient has today (25 September)confirmed Royal St George's  at Sandwich as the venue for the 2011 Open Championships.

Ben Curtis won last time the Kent venue staged the Open golf championship in 2003.

"We would like to thank both clubs for their cooperation, enabling the Open to return to these fine venues," said R&A director of championships David Hill.

Cllr Paul Watkins, Leader of Dover District Council, said: “This announcement confirms East Kent as an international golfing destination and showcases East Kent and the South East. Local partnerships and KCC are looking forward to working closely with the R&A and Royal St George’s, together with SEEDA to deliver a world class event.

"The opportunity to market the area and its advanced transport links around the world in the run up to the Olympics will highlight the many attractions and development opportunities that are driving Dover District and East Kent forward into a world class arena.”

 

The motorcycle grass track venue in Swingfield will be hosting the European championships this weekend.

Eleven world champions are expected to compete for the finals of the European Grass Track Championship.

The Astra Grass Track Club will stage this prestigious meeting on the 650 metre track which hosted two semi finals of the competition in previous years.

It is the first time the championship has been held in Britain for nearly 30 years.

England's newly crowned British Masters champion Glen Phillips and pre meeting favourite Andrew Appleton are due to race.

World Champion Gerd Riss of Germany will make his first UK appearance for five years.

Top challengers include England  speedway rider Joe Screen and Kent’s number one Paul Hurry.

Racing begins at the Swingfield Track at 1.00pm this Saturday (15 September).

The record for swimming the English Channel was smashed  by a Bulgarian swimmer on Friday.

Petar Stoychev crossed the straits of Dover in less than seven hours, becoming the fastest man ever to swim the Channel.

Stoychev's time was six hours, 57 minutes and 50 seconds , a full six minutes faster than the time of previous record holder Christof Wandratsch's time set in August 2005.

He became the first man make the crossing in under seven hours.

The Bulgarian has won the Open Water World Championships seven times and has long targeted the English Channel record, never succeeding until now.

Note: To become the official record holder, Stoychev's swim has to be validated by the Channel Swimming Association (CSA) or the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation (CSPF), the two organisations that observe and verify the swimmers who attempt to cross the Channel.

 

Show Jumping:

Sunday 12th August – Senior Affiliated BSJA – progressive/advanced

Sunday 19th August - Unaffiliated showjumping

Sunday 26th August - Unaffiliated showjumping

Sunday 23rd September - Unaffiliated showjumping

Dressage:

Saturday 8th September (2pm start)

Prelim 16Q
Prelim 17Q

Saturday 13th October (2pm start)

Prelim 13Q
Prelim 14Q

Sunday 14th October

Novice 27
Novice 36Q
Elem 44
Elem 50Q
Medium 63
Medium 71Q


Please ring for further details and other events

Limes Farm telephone number is 01303 891222 or you can contact Darrell Connock (new owner) on 07709 917478 and a new website that is currently being developed and can soon be found at www.limesfarmequestriancentreltd.co.uk  

A top-flight international sporting event is targeting world-wide attention on Dover this summer.

The Archery World Cup is coming to town from 31 July to 5 August, and an exciting range of events for the whole family is being organized, from an amazing torchlight Viking Parade to a spectacular launch at Dover Castle and there is also an opportunity for all the family to try their hand at being an archer.

The fourth leg of the Archery World Cup is being hosted at the Duke of York Royal Military School from Tuesday 31 July to Sunday 5 August. This will be a fantastic opportunity to watch the world-class competition and see the archery teams in action prior to the Olympics in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.

On Saturday 4 August there will be a torchlight Viking parade from the Market Square and a firework spectacular. For timings and details of events, please log onto www.dover.gov.uk or www.dovertown.co.uk

A special opening ceremony, featuring a spectacular archery-based finale is being held at Dover Castle on Tuesday 31 July. Tickets are free and can be collected from Dover Town Council and Dover District Council offices and Dover Visitor Information Centre, or email archery@dover.gov.uk or call (01304) 872428 (tickets subject to availability).

Tickets for the Archery World Cup are available at www.archerygb.org.uk or call 0870 0601815 and cost £8 Tuesday-Friday, £8 per day Saturday and Sunday, £20 Tuesday-Sunday. Half price tickets are available in advance, quote reference 'Dover 2 for 1'.

Cllr Bernard Butcher, Chairman of Dover District Council said: 'This is a prestigious sporting event which we are honoured to welcome to the district. This not only helps to target Dover as a world-class sporting venue, but will bring thousands of people to the area and is being organized with a range of events for visitors and the local community.'

For more information please call (01304) 872428.
  

By Peter Hogben

This picture taken from the air of the old Rhodes Minnis grass track is believed to have been shot in the sixties when vast numbers of enthusiasts put that lovely village on the sporting map.

Events which were held three times a year attracted crowds of around eight thousand people who thrilled at the daring solo and sidecar racing set before them.

Riders from as far afield as New Zealand who rode for speedway clubs here in our summer would travel down to appear on the track, recognised as the best to ride on and to watch in the country. It was a natural arena.

The legendary Barry Briggs and top local rider Reg Luckhurst regularly rode the track.

An event was held there three years ago to commemorate those days. Many of the early riders watched today's youngsters and to their amazement found they rode even quicker.

Do you have any memories you would like to share.....please let us know....click here  

Olympic gold medallists Linford Christie and Darren Campbell are coming to Hawkinge to meet local youngsters at the Street Athletics competition to be held in the village next week.

Linford and Darren will be arriving at 2.30pm and staying to support the youngsters until 6.30pm.

The event held in large towns and cities throughout England and Scotland will take place in the Lidl car park, Haven Drive, Hawkinge on Friday 20 July. Registration is between 3.30pm and 5.00pm and the races take place between 4.30pm and 6.30pm.

The winners and first runner-up in each age category at the Grand Final in Manchester on 15 September will receive a year’s kit sponsorship from Reebok and ongoing mentoring from Linford and Darren.

Street Athletics was started by Olympic gold medallists Christie and Campbell two years ago, and has already seen thousands of children around the country take part and, more importantly, has taken hundreds of them off the streets and into serious training and competition on the track.

With sponsorship from Gaz de France recently signed, some of last year's top sprinters headed for Paris last weekend to see the Golden League meeting for themselves.

The Street Athletics initiative was launched in 2005 by Christie's Nuff Respect organisation. By using sport - and music - the scheme has attracted many youngsters who feel disengaged with society and have not been catered for by any existing grassroots schemes. Young people are invited to turn up to an area in their city and race.

In the first year the event was focused on Manchester, where more than 17 areas of the city were visited by Christie and Campbell. In 2006 they expanded the programme to areas of London, Bristol and Liverpool. It has been a unbridled success.

"It really struck me at one of the finals how athletic so many of these kids were, how they were more relaxed because of the more 'informal' setting, and I had the biggest shock when one of our boys in one of the finals was running with an ASBO tag. It just shows what can be done," Christie explained.

He added: "Street Athletics is an amazing project which started in 2005 and has seen thousands of young people taking part in races and enjoying the same thing that got the two of us inspired to make athletics part of our lives.

"It started with challenging kids from other estates and neighbourhoods to race against us and if we hadn't done that we wouldn't have got where we are today. The best thing about it is you don't need anything to come and take part. No expensive equipment, no club membership, no entry fee. . . just a desire to take part and realise your ambitions and dreams."

A Street Athletics session consists of a series of races and will result in a final race for each age group. Races are split into four age groups (U-20, U-17, U-15 and U-13) for boys and girls. The top two from each age group category are invited to attend the grand final event. Sixteen athletes from each city race at the final. The only rule is that participants do not wear spikes in the heats or in the grand final.

This year, Street Athletics is taking place in the following cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Hawkinge, Newcastle and Gateshead, Sheffield, Liverpool north and south, London (Lambeth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hackney, Wandsworth and Sutton) Manchester, Inverness, Glasgow, Stranraer, Stevenston, Shotts, Dundee, Edinburgh. You just need to turn up, register and run! To find out the dates, just e-mail info@streetathletics.co.uk.

"Just e-mail us and you can get all the details, or go onto the website - www.streetathletics.co.uk - to find out about Street Athletics," Christie said. "You just need to bring your bad self to give it your all and compete. See you on the street."  

Despite crashing less than 15 miles from the finish, Australian Robbie McEwen showed everyone just who is the world's best sprinter when he stormed home to win the first stage of the Tour de France in Canterbury (8 July).

More than two million people watched the race pass through the county but  the riders only briefly skirted Shepway before racing off along Stone Street on their way to the finish.

189 riders left Greenwich at 11am to race the 126-mile route to Canterbury, reaching the finishing line shortly before 3.50pm.

McEwen, who rides for Belgian team Predictor-Lotto, hit the accelerator in the final 150 metres of the race to stun Belgium's Tom Boonen and Thor Hushovd of Norway and win by over a bike length.

He now has 12 Tour de France stage victories, equalling German sprinter Erik Zabel, who until Sunday held the record of most stage wins in the Tour among active riders.

Kent County Council Leader Paul Carter today led a massive thank you to the people of Kent for making the visit of the Tour de France cycle race so successful.

"Every street, hamlet, village, town and city on the route did itself proud and showcased Kent to a world-wide television audience. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the Tour organisers said they had rarely seen crowds so big, even in France for the showcase stages." he said.

"The enthusiasm of the crowds was outstanding and must have been a tunnel of sound for the riders. The people of Kent did themselves proud and could not have put on a better shop window for tourism," said Mr. Carter.

A former Folkestone Invicta player has been killed in a motorcycle crash.

Steven Smith, 36, known as Smudge, suffered serious head injuries in a motorcycle accident in Hawkhurst on Tuesday morning and died later that day.

He leaves a wife and three young children.

Richard Murrill, Folkestone Invicta Programme Editor said; "I am very sorry to hear the news, I always got on very well with Steve."

"He made 16 appearances for Invicta towards the end of the 2000-01 season, joining the club in January 2001."

During his long career Steven also played for Hastings Town, St Leonards Stamco, Bexhill Town, Rye United, Lewes, Margate, Eastbourne Borough, Southwick and Hollington United.

In his youth, he played for England Boys and Brighton Boys, and had trials at Newcastle United.