News

World famous actress Sophia Loren will be visiting Dover next year for the launch of the privately owned Italian cruise line, MSC Cruises most exciting and anticipated ship.
 
MSC Poesia, which translates as poetry, will make her debut in Dover on 5 April 2008, during an elaborate overnight pier side event attended by legendary Italian film star Sophia Loren, godmother to the elegant new ship.  Mrs Loren who will be joined by 2000 guests will also christen her before the Poesia sets sail on her pre inaugural voyage from the port on 6th April 2008, bound  for Venice.

At 90,000 tonnes and accommodating 3,013 passengers, with more external balconies than ever before, MSC Poesia will be a sister ship to the hugely popular MSC Orchestra and MSC Musica (launched in 2007 and 2006 respectively).  She will become the 9th ship in the MSC Cruises fleet, which has experienced the industry’s largest fleet expansion in the last 3 years. 

MSC Poesia’s pre inaugural voyage will sail from Dover to Venice for 13 nights and call at ports in Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Morocco and finally Venice, where she will be positioned for the summer of 2008. 
 

Claudia Baino, MD, MSC Cruises UK and Ireland, comments “This is an extremely exciting time for us.  As a European company we have a strong and long term commitment to UK customers and by launching our newest ship here, we are really demonstrating that.”
MSC Cruises is offering a special price to be part of this historical sailing.  Prices start from £958 per person, which includes free car parking in Dover, coach transfers from LHR back to Dover on the return journey and return scheduled air travel from Venice to London.  Achille Staiano, Commercial Manager, MSC Cruises, revealed “Children cruise free on all MSC Cruises, excluding port dues and flights”.
 
Other special prices can be found on summer 2008 MSC Poesia cruises, for example an 8 day sailing from Venice visiting Bari, Katakolon, Izmir, Istanbul and Dubrovnik starts at £698 per person including cruise, transfers and return by scheduled airline.
 
Throughout the summer of 2008 MSC Poesia will offer 8 day cruises in the Mediterranean taking in a variety of beautiful and cultural destinations including Bari, Olympia, Izmir, Istanbul and Dubrovnik, amongst others.  Full details will be listed in a dedicated Poesia brochure, which is available both from travel agents and direct from MSC Cruises from the end of August 2007.  For further details log onto www.msccruises.co.uk or call reservations on 0870 850 4883.
 

Pinnell or Pannell Drive

I would like to thank the reader who sent me the photograph of a new road sign in Pannell Drive.

I can understand, someone making a spelling mistake when ordering the sign.

And I can equally understand that the spelling mistake was missed when the finished sign was received by Shepway council.

But please help me here.

How did someone know where it should be sited when there is no road listed as 'Pinnell' Drive in Hawkinge?

Or have they just re-named it without telling us?

Editor

 

We are asking people who enjoy the countryside to come along and lend a hand to help improve the footpaths around Hawkinge. There is growing demand for access to the countryside from the many new residents in the area eager to explore the local countryside.

One by one we are improving our Hawkinge footpaths and we rely on volunteers to help maintain them. It is great fun and there is a good feeling of having achieved something worthwhile for the local community. In our tea and coffee breaks, we find out about the fantastic local landscape, history and wildlife.

We need volunteers of all ages to help improve our local footpaths and on each action day there are a range of different activities to be done such as clearing vegetation, restoring way-markers and installing new easy-to-use kissing gates.

The locations are all over the parish and surrounding areas. One day we could be putting up display panels in ancient woodland, the next we could be working in a medieval drove lane with stunning views across the valleys.

Volunteering is a great way to enjoy your local countryside throughout the year. You will meet other like-minded local members in our group and have a great time doing something worthwhile.

Do come along, you can choose to come as often or as little as you want to. We meet at 10.15am outside the Village Hall, Canterbury Road, Hawkinge (TR 215 399). Telephone for other pick up points.

The next few dates are: Sunday 1st July, Tuesday 31st July, Thursday 9th August, and Thursday 6th September. We will pleased to see you.

IIf you would like find out more you can contact me, Steve Walker Project Officer for Hawkinge at the White Cliffs Countryside Project. at Cherry Garden Upper Works, Castle Hill, Folkestone, CT19 4AJ. Telephone 01303 274806 or Email: swalker@whitecliffscountryside.org.uk

 

The six-week consultation on the controversial plans to expand Lydd Airport has finished and Shepway District Council has received more than 2,000 responses.

The consultation followed the submission of two planning applications by Lydd Airport – one for a 500,000-passenger terminal building and the other for a runway extension.

The council hosted three evening presentations, manned week-long exhibitions at Lydd and Greatstone, and had static displays in Folkestone, Hythe, New Romney and Lydd.

Major Applications Co-ordinator, Terry Ellames said: “Officers are expected to complete the review of all the consultation and comments by the end of April. Based on initial feedback, it is likely that more information will be requested from the applicants.”

No date has yet been set for the application to go before full council.

A CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS

Release your festive spirit by going along to an evening of classical carols and evocative classical music in the mansion at Port Lympne on Wednesday 13 December. 

The evening promises to be superb, with mulled wine and mince pies available, you can really get into the winter mood and enjoy the Christmas season. 

For more information or to book please call 01303 234111 or email enquiries@portlympneevents.co.uk

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

submitted by Finkle

http://www.farmersboys.com/music/Bugle_Calls/Remembrance%20Day/82.mp3


In Flanders field the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.



We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.



Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.



~Major John McCrae, May 1915.~



We Shall Keep The Faith



Oh! You who sleep in Flanders’ fields,

Sleep sweet - to rise anew,

We caught the torch you threw,

And holding high we kept

The faith with those who died.

We cherish too, the poppy red

That grows on fields where valour led.



It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies,

But lends a lustre to the red

Of the flower that blooms above the dead

In Flanders’ fields.



And now the torch and poppy red

Wear in honour of our dead.

Fear not that ye have died for naught

We’ve learned the lesson that ye taught

In Flanders’ fields.



Written by Miss Moina Belle Michael



An American, On Nov. 9, 1918, the Saturday before the Armistice was signed,

she read Col. John McCrae’s poem, In Flanders Fields and

it made such a impression on her, that she wrote this reply to it.



http://www.farmersboys.com/music/Bugle_Calls/Infantry/36.mp3

Come fly with us!

Great Paper Plane Race 2005

COME FLY WITH US!

Folkestone Herald announcement

Fun for all the family will be on offer this Saturday (November 12) at the Herald's Annual Great Paper Plane Race!

The event is starting at 12 noon in Hawkinge village hall, Canterbury Road.

Top prizes will be on offer, including tickets for a family day out at Port Lympne, and a limited edition Harry Potter First Day Cover and Cineworld tickets.

For more information contact the Folkestone Herald newsdesk on 01303 851656.

We hope to see you there!

HAVE FUN BUT STAY SAFE WITH FIREWORKS

Having fun but staying safe is the message from Kent Fire and Rescue Service as the firework and bonfire season is now upon us.

In a bid to help prevent firework and bonfire-related injuries, KFRS is urging the people to take extra care this year and follow a few basic tips to keep you and your family safe.

These include:

• Always follow the DTI’s firework code (log onto www.dti.gov.uk/fireworks)

• A bonfire should not be lit before any firework display unless the firework display is sufficiently far away to ensure stray sparks from the bonfire cannot fall into the firework area.

• A bonfire should not contain any potentially hazardous materials which may explode or give off toxic fumes, such as; aerosols, batteries, bottles, foam-filled furniture or tins of paint

• A bonfire should be kept to a manageable size and evenly built so that is collapses inwards as it burns.

• Always check the bonfire’s construction is still sound prior to lighting it, that there are no children or animals inside, and that hazardous items such as aerosols and fireworks have not been thrown onto it.

• The bonfire should not be lit by children or left unattended and nothing should be cooked on it.

• Flammable liquids such as petrol, diesel, methylated spirits or white spirit should NEVER be poured onto the bonfire to light or revive it. 

• Enjoy your fireworks event!

Head of Community Fire Safety Stuart Skilton said: “Bonfire and firework season should be an enjoyable time of year but sometimes it can end in someone either being injured or property damaged. Always treat fireworks with care and respect and, when holding a bonfire event, follow the simple tips provided.�

For more fire safety tips log onto www.kent.fire-uk.org, alternatively call 01622 698360 or contact your nearest fire safety office or fire station.

LIB DEM WIN COULD PROVOKE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

By Finkle

Did you hear the one about the the ...don't be alarmed...read on. 

I may be wrong but, at this election, something unprecedented is taking place in British Politics - for the first time we go into election where each of the leaders of the three main political parties belongs to a different faith - Blair is a High Anglican, Howard is Jewish and Kennedy is a Roman Catholic.

Even as someone who believes firmly in the separation of church and state I consider this to be a good thing, a small but positive reflection of the diversity of modern British society.

Today we have an Anglican, a Catholic and a Jew leading our three main political parties and in the future, who knows? A Muslim leading the Labour Party? A Sikh, perhaps or maybe even a Buddhist.

Anything is possible given time and tolerance and that's something that reflects well o­n 21st Century Britain......except that were the Lib Dems to somehow win this upcoming election it could, and is some quarters would, provoke a constitutional crisis.

There's nothing explicit in law which expressly forbids a Catholic from becoming PM - interpreted strictly the 1701 Act of Settlement applies such a prohibition only on the Monarch as head of the church - nevertheless there is what amounts to a constitutional bar on a Catholic, and therefore Charles Kennedy, becoming PM.

The problem resides in this passage of the 1701 Act:" And it was thereby further enacted, that all and every person and persons that then were, or afterwards should be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with the see or Church of Rome, or should profess the popish religion, or marry a papist, should be excluded, and are by that Act made for ever incapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown and government of this realm, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, or any part of the same, or to have, use, or exercise any regal power, authority, or jurisdiction within the same.

In simple terms, the Act of Settlement prohibits a Roman Catholic from exercising any powers which fall within the Royal Prerogative which includes:(for the Royal Prerogative see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Prerogative )

* The appointment and dismissal of ministers;

* The dissolution of parliament and the calling of elections;

* Clemency and pardon;

* The awarding of dignities and honours;

* The declaration of war;

* The declaration of an emergency;

* The granting of Charters of Incorporation;

* The collection of tolls;

* The minting of coinage;

* The issuance and revocation of passports;

* The expulsion of a foreign national from the United Kingdom;

* The creation of new common law courts;

* The creation of new universities;

* The appointment of bishops and archbishops in the Church of England;

* The printing of the authorised Church of England version of The Bible;

* The publication of all statutes, legislative instruments and Orders-in-Council.

If this is the case, then how does Tony Blair, who is married to a Roman Catholic hold office ?

Ironically, this same problem does not affect Michael Howard; his Jewish origins are of no consequence to the 1701 Act and Britain has already had a Jewish Prime Minister and one of its most famous ones at that, Benjamin Disraeli.

This is a situation in which something will eventually have to give, where if we are to have a fair and equitable one  in which anyone, of any faith or of no faith at all, can aspire to the highest political office in the land, then we cannot allow the constitutional position of the Crown and of the Church of England to exclude Catholics from realising such aspirations.

As Geoffrey of Occam observed, the simple solution is invariably the best - separate church and state and disestablish the Church of England - you know it makes sense.