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

Welcome to West Farleigh’s own

LIFELINE
FAMILY REUNIONS AT CHRISTMAS
It was great that so many families were able to meet up this Christmas, after last year’s solitary Christmas.
Many of us shared a Christmas meal with our nearest and dearest.
There were some who had not seen their families, for a very long time. Those living abroad and not able to travel.
Much happiness was shared in these West Farleigh households.

Janet and Derek Kemp shared Christmas with their two

sons, Martin and family from Texas and Robert from
Redhill, with his fiancé and their newest
granddaughter.
They all stayed in a Barn in Dean Street

Gabby and Peter King had not met their 17 month

Granddaughter Zoe, who lives in Australia, due to
Covid Travel restrictions.

Jacky Taylor flew to Dublin to be with her son,

Michael and his family.
She was delighted to see her grandchildren

George Baines and his wife Alex with Miah their

niece. They flew over from Atlanta to spend
Keven and Sue Stiff had their daughter, husband Christmas with their family.
and Granddaughter, from Germany to stay so they George’s first job on arrival was to go shopping for
could celebrate together. Essentials as his case had gone missing!

Distributed freely in February 2022 Edition 540 Editors: Stephen Norman, Helen Swan and Jacky Taylor
Website: www.thefarleighs.co.uk Email: editor@thefarleighs.co.uk
Deadline for the next issue is 20th March 2022

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Pastoral Letter
February – the month of love and romance - or so the shops will have us
believe! February 14th in the Anglican calendar is indeed the day of
commemoration for Saint Valentine of Rome, and St Valentine of Terni.

But very little is known about either of these men. There are many
speculative stories that involve priests defying the emperors’ laws and
marrying couples in secret, or of Valentine falling in love with his jailer’s
daughter and writing her a letter but nobody really knows.
It appears that we actually owe more to the writer Geoffrey Chaucer for
our modern-day obsession of sending cards and gifts to our loved ones.
He wrote a poem in 1382; entitled ‘Parliament of Fowls’ to
commemorate the engagement of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia;
which was about birds choosing their mates at this time of year.

By the 1400’s this had translated into February 14th becoming an annual celebration of love, with lavish
celebrations being recorded as happening in the courts of France – maybe starting the French
reputation as the best lovers too? Handwritten notes have changed into commercially made greetings
cards that you can buy for just about anyone – from your significant other to your favourite pet!

In recent years it has been thought that over 70% of the UK population will celebrate Valentine’s day
despite it not being a national holiday, spending around £30 per person! However, with the media and
commercial establishments pushing this image of the perfect romance onto us it can be a difficult time
for those who are on their own or suffering from a relationship breakdown. Feelings of loneliness and
worthlessness can increase and even become detrimental to an individual’s health.

This is where I believe having a Christian faith can help – we know we are all imperfect individuals, but
God loves us anyway. It’s not the mushy, romantic type of love that the shops are trying to sell us
either, it’s a deep, caring, lasting love that costs nothing except time. So the challenge for us in this
month of romance is to try to share God’s version of love with everyone we meet.
With love to you all,
Becky

Services at All Saints 13th Feb Holy Communion 9.30

27th Feb Morning Worship 9.30

Everyone is welcome
LITTLE ANGELS

Toddlers & young children, mums, dads and grandparents all

welcome to Little Angels Fridays 1pm – 2.30pm at All Saints.

Hugh Grainger
We are sad to announce that Hugh Grainger (retired Lay Minister) passed away on 24th of January.
There will be an obituary in the next edition.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Valeria and his family.

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SHEEP Farming in Farleigh
Climate change has created a new interest in UK farming. This is the first in a series of informal articles
about farming in West Farleigh. We talked to Ollie Martin, who is in charge of the Martin family’s sheep
enterprise. The Martins sheep graze over about 90 acres of grassland in West Farleigh, managed from
their farm off Hunt Street.
Lifeline: In the Middle Ages, I believe that wool was Kent’s
most important export and source of wealth.
Ollie: Sadly not today! Today, we get 80p per fleece! Many
farms burn the fleece, it’s not worth the transport and the
admin costs. Our business is breeding sheep and selling them
for meat.
How does that work? Well, we have 150 breeding ewes. From
them, we hope to have 200+ lambs. Some of the ewes’ lambs
we keep, to build up the flock, but the rest either go to
slaughter at 3 months (about 40kgs), or we might sell them on
the West Country to fatten.

So what kind of sheep are they? Our breeding ewes are Cheviot Mules, which means they are Cheviot ewes
crossed with Bluefaced Leicester, and we mate them with our own Texel rams. Texel? Texel is a breed of sheep
originally from the island of Texel off the Dutch North-Sea coast. Texels are hardy, docile and tough – and so are
their offspring when crossed with another breed, like Cheviots.
Do all sheep look the same to you? Is that why you paint numbers on them? Not at all! We get to know them all,
they’ve all got different habits and behaviours. And they recognise us, as well. They know me when I go out
What about sheep dogs? Are they relevant in today’s world? Absolutely. Especially here in Kent, where we need
to move the stock a lot to new pastures, our 4 collies are essential. We have the amazing Millie and Floss, and now
my own puppy, Juno. Trained sheepdogs are very sought after; a good collie will fetch £1,000 to £2,000.
What’s the sheep breeders’ calendar? We introduce the rams to the ewes in October, and the lambs are born in
the spring, in late February or early March. Nowadays we are able to bring our ewes into season at the same time,
and so our lambing season is very hard work but predictable. In June, the lambs go to market and its shearing time
for the ewes.
How do you compete with the massive sheep producers, like New Zealand? That’s got easier, because nowadays
the Japanese and the Chinese are hoovering up the NZ production. So here, lamb prices are up now by £30 -£40 a
head compared with 3 years back. We are getting £100 - £140 for a spring lamb which was just unheard of a
decade ago.
How has the business developed? Do your lambs go to the supermarkets? We used to send our lambs to auction,
so probably some did. But 7 years ago, we began sending our lambs to a local abattoir and selling them boxed,
direct to neighbours. The business has grown. This year we will sell 40-50 boxes. So we are doing more and more
local business, straight from our farm to your table.
Is it hard work? Yes! It starts at 7am, when we drive round, looking at the stock. Sheep are hardy but we have to
worm them, and trim their feet. And we move them regularly to give them the best pasture. Lambing is 24 hours a
day, and shearing is exhausting.
What do you enjoy about sheep farming? I love being outdoors, I love helping our ewes to deliver the new born
lambs.
And what do you hate? The escapees! Sheep can be stupid. They try to get through the fences, and get stuck. Or
when they are in lambs, they roll over and get stuck on their backs and can’t get up! Also we have trouble with
dogs and owners who don’t keep their dogs on a lead. Dogs love chasing sheep, and when that happens, we can
lose a dozen lambs in just one incident, through miscarriage.
Is climate change affecting you? Definitely. Winters are not as harsh nowadays, which is good news in some ways
but it increases the parasite and worm burden. The cold isn’t killing the parasites as it used to. And the grass can
be very dry in spring.
Thank you, Ollie, and good luck this spring

Note: sadly, the Martins are leaving West Farleigh, heading for a bigger farm in Devon so this is your
last chance to come to the last Lambing Day on Sunday March 6th, 2022. See “What’s on.”

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Parish Council Report
For the first time the meeting was held in Bramley Barn on the Dandelion site. A parishioner asked if
Quiet Lanes could be considered for some roads around the village. This would need KCC agreement.
More research is to be done. Inconsiderate drivers on Lower Road was brought up again, but as we have
had a traffic survey done and Kent Highways will not agree to anything we suggest. The only course of
action, is to report every incident to the Police! The general state of the road was discussed, but this
seems to be general and not a lot is done!
The CEO of Dandelion was concerned that the vulnerable children have to cross a Permissive Footpath,
which could be a problem for traumatised children, meeting dogs, strange men etc It is hoped that an
alternative path can be installed.
The village precept will be kept the same as last year. £106.21 per annum for a band D property.
A donation of £500 will go to the church to maintain the open churchyard. Pukka Ponies £250.
The childrens’ Play Area on the Green is to be completely overhauled, with new equipment put in.
The rotten/broken/missing posts round the Green are being replaced this month. The finger post on the
Green need refurbishing. It is hoped we can get it smartened up, it was felt that a modern metal one
would look out of place.

Reports from around the village organisations

SPORTS REPORTS:
Football 1st XI, after a poor start, when we lost badly 4-1 to Greenways, we are now on a
great run of results winning our last four games. Firstly defeating Cuxton 5-1, next a fine
2-1 victory over St Lawrence in the cup, an amazing 10-1 win over lowly Rochester and
finally a terrific 4-1 score line against Premier division leaders FC Revoe, also in the cup.
Unfortunately, our 2nd XI have mirrored our 1st XI, but with the results reversed! Our
defeats came against Pembury 2-1, Green Street Rovers 3-0, Chipstead 4-1, and
Horsmonden 3-0. However,our victory over West Kingsdown was remarkable, 2-0 down with 10
minutes to go, we looked dead and buried but an amazing final effort we eventually won 3-2!
Netball:
Just the two games to report, as our girls had a break before Christmas, however, not
good news, we lost 43-23 to a tough Dragonflies team and we were unfortunate to lose
31-29 to Breakaway after leading the game until the final couple of minutes.

Club news:
Decembers Ton up winners:- Christmas Jackpot January Ton up winners

133 Matt Brooks £30 134 Yvonne Martkn £50 14 Andy Starr £30
22 Jack Martin £20 91 George Baines £30 148 Tina Woodward £20
43 Mick Back £10 116 Farleigh Forge £10
Have a good and healthy New Year.
Yours in sport Tel

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 EVERGREENS
The first meeting of the year was cancelled due to illness. However, the
meeting on the 4th Tuesday went ahead with Haggis, bashed neeps (swede
turnip) and Champit tatties (Mashed potato). With sausages as an alternative.
Finishing with a small tot of Whisky, coffee and shortbread!
All this as it was Burns Night. Many of the members had not eaten Haggis
before and most of them were pleasantly surprised! The leaders have had a
brainstorming session and will be coming up with a program for 2022, which
will include some outings. (Covid permitting)

THE FARLEIGHS W.I

Our January Zoom meeting gave us the chance to catch up on events over
Christmas – most members had disrupted festivities due to Covid within the
family. A vote took place to ascertain which of the five resolutions proposed
by National we would like to put forward – the majority of votes cast were in
favour of –‘Tackling Digital Exclusion’ Our votes will be added to other W.Is in
the Region and the final votes totalled and adopted at the National AGM in July.
Our speaker for the evening- Sheila Farmer gave an interesting talk on ‘What women wore’ from Eve to
the present day, with illustrations of how fabric and clothing had evolved over time.
Next month (9th February) our Zoom speaker is Diane Burstein giving a talk on ‘From Markets to Malls’
an historic romp through the history of London’s shops – which sounds really interesting.
Face to Face meetings will resume as normal at 6:30 on 9th March when we would welcome any visitors
or new members to join us and find out more about our W.I.
The Farleighs’ W.I would welcome new members who are looking to become part of a friendly group,
who enjoy and share many different and diverse hobbies – we are not all Jam and Jerusalem. If you
would like more information on the W.I please e-mail thefarleighs@wkfwi.org.uk
Diane Scott- President.

A REQUEST FROM CLIVE STEPHENS

Clive painted our village sign and di the artwork for the village information boards around the village.

I’ve recently started my fine art paintings after several years of retirement in the commercial art field,
having spent all my working life as a freelance illustrator. I have now been retired for nine years and
wish to resurrect my painting skills with the intention of offering my work to the general public.
My only problem is, I live in a tiny alms house cottage and there is absolutely no room to paint and as
some of my pieces are 1500 x 1200 cms it’s just impossible!
With this in mind, I’m looking for someone who can offer me workspace to paint and store canvases.
Sadly, I cannot afford much as I’m only receiving a state pension, but as soon as the work starts selling
I’ll be in a better position to rent.
If there’s any lovely person out there who feels they may be able to help me, you can reach me on
Facebook…Clive Stevens Artist or 07521 888447

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FARLEIGH FEATHERS by Ray Morris

My blackbirds – ‘A Tail of Two Pretties’

Sorry about the awful pun, but read on anyway and all will become clear!

With the farmer’s permission, in September we gleaned a stock of Bramley

apples from those left over after the pickers had finished. As we use the best,
we throw out the deteriorating ones for the birds who, so far this winter,
haven’t been seriously challenged by long periods of hard weather. But a large apple in the centre of a
potentially attractive garden breeding territory hasn’t gone unnoticed by the local blackbirds. Add a fit-
looking female and it’s a good reason for local males to get excited.

Please note – describing her as fit-looking is not misogyny gone

mad. Fit is a genuine biological term used to describe an individual
of either sex that appears, to a potential mate, to be in robust
health, and with sufficiently good genes with whom to reproduce!
Romantic, eh?

Anyway, my female has attracted the amorous intentions of two – it

has to be said – pretty males. They circle the apple (and occasionally
her, the object of their affections) turn-about-turn, each following
the other, in a Charlie Chaplin-like gait. She, meanwhile, assumes a bored demeanour while scoffing the
fruit, but is probably surreptitiously sizing them up. Which one, if either, will capture her affection?

Both appear equally attractive from a distance. Equal in size, so probably both British birds and not
winter migrants over here from Europe for a milder winter. I’ll resist the politicians’ ploy of regaling
them as our Great British blackbirds because they are probably slightly smaller than their foreign
cousins – the further north individuals of a species live, the bigger they are likely to be (according to
Bergmann’s rule).

Looking more closely though, one appears to have a slightly less depth of yellow on its bill and eye-ring
– an indicator of a slightly less-strong immune system. This same bird isn’t quite as glossy black either –
his wings are a dark brown, rather than glossy black. His tail is the clincher though – the feather ends
are worn and tatty, rather than neat and near-pristine like his rival’s. He’s a young bird, less than year
old. Likely to lose out, therefore, to the more mature (and more experienced) contender to father the
female’s young.

Not the actual birds-editor

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 LOCAL TRADES LISTINGS (neighbours who can help you)
Business
Business name service Website Contact name Phone no email
Firefly Payroll
Services Payroll www.fireflypayroll.com Jason Hart 01622 934110 enquiries@fireflypayroll.com
Professional
and affordable
No Muck'in cleaning
About services Sarah Dunn 07885 634559 nomuckinabout@outlook.com
Heathside
Electrical Electrical www.heathsideelectrical.co.uk Sam Sephton 07976 895001 heathsideelectrical@gmail.com
Bespoke
SF Carpentry & carpentry and
Joinery joinery www.sfcarpentryandjoinery.co.uk Spencer 07710 477570 sfcarpentry@mac.com
Plumbing &
Heating
D. Ward services Darren Ward 07973 314266 darren@dward.biz
01622 842481 or
Pest Purge Pest Control www.pestpurge.co.uk Richard Lee 07758 615101 richard@pestpurge.co.uk
Top Dog Fencing and
fencing Gates Sam Morton 07709 530166 Topdogmaintenance@icloud.co
Castle Portable
Loo Hire Ltd Events http://www.castleportableloohire.co.uk/ Steve Millsom 07990 606067 castleplh@gmail.com

WELCOME TO STEVE DAVIES

Steve moved into Dawson’s Cottages, in
November but he is no stranger to West
Farleigh.

Steve has known Steve Millsom, from the Good

Intent, since they were at playschool together,
in the WI Hall in Forge Lane., East Farleigh. They
have been friends ever since, so it would have
been rude not to frequent the pub!

Consequently, Steve has got to know a lot of

the West Farleigh people who are regulars at
the pub.

When he has time, he likes to fish in the

Medway and in his youth swam in it also.
Steve has travelled the world. The furthest
place he has lived was Sidney, but he always
came back to base in East Farleigh, to his Mum, who lives in Priory Close.

He is working for the NHS Technical Services and working from home at the moment. He is enjoying the
house and its views, but is curious to know who Dawson was and why he needed four cottages!

We hope that he enjoys living in our friendly and sociable village

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 WHATS ON THE HORIZON

Photo courtesy of Candy Martin

February 27th 11am BENEFICE SERVICE at Coxheath with the Bishop of Tonbridge
March 6th 10am-4pm LAMBING DAY at Smiths Hill Farm, Hunt Street
June 5th Times tba THE BIG LUNCH on the Green to celebrate the Jubilee
(Samba Band plus much more. More details to follow. Save the day!)

MORE ABOUT LAMBING DAY

At Smiths Hill Farm Hunt street
10am-4pm
Geoff, Candy and Oliver are holding their last Lambing Day
before they move to Devon.
There will be Hot Dogs and hot drinks and CAKES.
Tombola and a Raffle, with a Hamper from Farmers Farm
Shop as one of the prizes!
ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO THE AIR AMBULANCE

Tombola and raffle prizes gratefully accepted! These can be dropped off at the Farm or at Jacky Taylor’s.
Lucita at very top of Charlton Lane.

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IN THE GARDEN with Sara Cushing
I have to admit, I do love the beautiful frosty mornings that January and
February offer up! The garden is so quiet (apart from the companion robin)
and it is a time to plan for the year ahead. And yet the gardens still continue
to throw up surprises. I've seen Penstemon and Scabiosa flowering in January,
which should be late summer, and in some places, daffodils have come up
before the snowdrops. I wonder what this year will bring us….as gardeners we
need to be increasingly adaptive and cunning!

February is a fab time. Because it is the start of seed sowing! One of my

favourite things to do is the sweet peas. They can literally be planted in cells
in a multi-purpose compost and left outside. And when they come up,
pinching out the tips will give you a bushier, rather than leggy plant, with
more flowering side shoots. With sweet peas, the more you pick, the more
they flower. So, I always have a little vase in the kitchen all through the
summer. They smell amazing! Cosmos and salvia can be sown as well to give
great colour to your borders throughout summer.

Hellebores are a fabulous show of colour through January and February. The leaves can be cut back to
the base to give flowers the maximum show without detriment to the plant. These give a great flower
when much is dormant, and you're waiting for all the bulbs to come up. There are some fabulous
varieties out there!

Once snowdrops have finished flowering, clumps can be lifted and divided.
They are best done 'in the green', after the flowers have faded and before
the leaves have died back. This gives a really good start on new clumps.

Hedging can be cut back now. Growth is slow, and

it will prevent disturbance of nesting birds in
March, and now is the perfect time to plant bare
roots such as roses, or hedging so roots are well
established before summer.

Wisteria can also be pruned back, cutting side shoots to two or three buds, as
can summer-flowering clematis before the end of the month.

In the Veg Patch

January, and to the latest, February, is when you should be pruning back currants and gooseberries (soft
fruit canes), apples and pears to ensure a good crop. The three D's are a good guide.. Diseased,
Damaged and Dead. Any crossing or inwardly facing branches should be removed to leave an open
centre. Raspberry canes can be pruned hard down to the ground.
The ground for this season's crop should be well dug
over and, where needed, manure or compost should
be incorporated. I cover some areas with plastic to
warm the soil in readiness for planting next month.
Tomatoes, peppers and chillis and salads can be
sown but they need a min 15⁰ to germinate, so a
sunny windowsill or heated propagator are ideal.
Broad bean seeds can be planted directly outside if
conditions are mild to get a head start on Spring and potatoes tubers can
be chitted for the early and main crops.

Happy gardening!

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