Save the date for our Annual General Meeting

The Friends of the Commons Annual General Meeting will take place at 19:30 on Monday 12th March at The Royal Wells Hotel. All Friends are very welcome to come along. We look forward to seeing you there.

Annual Dinner 2012

For next year’s annual dinner, we’re thinking of a bit of a change. Instead of having a dinner, we thought a Sunday lunch might work well, with more people able to attend. What do you think? And what about a venue, preferably near to the Commons? Drop us an email at friends@friendsofthecommons.co.uk to let us know what you think.

The Annual Dinner

Friday 14^th October saw the Friends get together for the Annual Dinner at the TW Golf Club where the excellent speaker was Fiona Woodfield.  Fiona is a local historian who writes regularly for example for the Civic Society in a way that brings her subject matter to life in an engaging yet informative way.  She proved to be an equally compelling speaker.  Her subject, Southborough Common and its people, was one of immediate interest.

Fiona gave breadth and perspective by looking at the professions, classes and dwellings that have been a part of Southborough’s past. As befits a dinner this included reference to drinking and eating venues such as the Hand and Sceptre which appears to go back to 1731.  The past that Southorough enjoyed seems to have been grand and colourful to say the least – Southborough apparently being notorious for its  high life, with even references to a bawdy house.  Fiona described how in the early part of the 20^th century a skeleton was discovered under the floor of a house at Modest Corner.  It was suggested that this might be the remains of a gambler who disappeared without trace in past centuries!  Rather less surprisingly the Common was the site of dancing both around the Maypole and also the Bounds Oak. Cricket balls manufactured in Southborough were used as recently as the 1951 England v S. Africa test match.  Naturally her talk culminated with reference to the glorious building that is St Peter’s Church.  The Church when it was built in 1830 to the design of Decimus Burton marked the setting up of Southbrough as a new parish separate from Tonbridge.

It was pleasing to note, from an answer to a question to Fiona, that the fact that the Commons are effectively owned and run by politicians has not been seen to be in any way detrimental. Whilst bringing back grazing on the Common has been a topic that has been mooted it seems that the hurdles in the way of this may prove insurmountable.

If anyone has any suggestions for future speakers please let a Committee Member know.

John Barber

First work party of the autumn

The Commons are always a stunning sight in the Autumn, but they wouldn’t look half so good without the help of our volunteers. Saturday 1st October marked a very sweaty start to the work party season with a meet-up at Wellington Rocks, where we armed ourselves with shears, saws and gloves to tackle errant birch trees and other interlopers that have started encroaching on the rocks over the summer months.

Amazing what you find when you clear a bit of scrub

Fancy getting stuck in and giving us a hand? The next work parties will happen on:

• 5 November 2011
• 3 December 2011
• 7 January 2012
• 4 February 2012
• 3 March 2012

Just drop us an email to find out where we’re meeting.

Summer Tea Party, 22nd June

In typical British fashion, rain failed to stop play at the Summer Tea Party, which regardless inside the Mount Edgcumbe in despite the weather.

A good number of members turned up to sample the fantastic spread of cakes and biscuits, including the Mayor of Tunbridge Wells, Cllr Mrs Elizabeth Thomas, who gave a supportive speech about the role of the Friends in protecting the Commons.

Our next event is the Annual Dinner on Friday, 14th October at Royal Tunbridge Wells Golf Club. Keep an eye on the Events page for more information,

Tea Party

We are pleased to announce that our annual tea party will be held at Mount Edgcumbe Hotel, right in the heart of Tunbridge Wells Common.
The party will be on Wednesday 24th June from 3pm until 5pm.
Please order your tickets, £6 each from:
Mrs Sylvia Luckhurst, 76a Grove Hill Road, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1SP.

Look forward to seeing you there.