I was greeted with excellent hospitality by Neil and Kate at the Homeground Café in the Old High Street. As we sat and chatted with the managers of the café we began to grasp a better understanding of the changing sense of belonging that the artists, apartment tenants and business owners are beginning to develop.
we were greeted at the Tower Theatre on North Road with a welcome drink which gave the opportunity to meet the other people attending this event. As always, the Nepalese women were dressed in the most beautiful saris. Welcome speeches were made, including one from me, and the background to the plan for a Gurkha Memorial on the Leas was described.
The hopes of over a thousand residents in the coastal part of Lydd, to have their own local council are set to be smashed by the block vote of Tory members on Shepway District Council, most of whom do not have the best interests of Lydd and the Marsh at heart.
It was a great pleasure to join with hundreds of other people at The Grand to hear the first four Triennial artists named. There was an air of excitement and anticipation in waiting to hear some of the plans, especially being able to remember the last Triennial and having enjoyed the exhibitions.
I have come to account to you, Conference, for the work I have been carrying out in the Coalition Government. I have managed to infuriate the bank bosses; acquire a fatwa from the revolutionary guards of the trades union movement; frighten the Daily Telegraph with a progressive graduate payment; and upset very rich people who are trying to dodge British taxes. I must be doing something right.
Two and a half years ago, I stood in this very hall to make my first speech as Leader of our party. I said that the chance for change was within our reach, and we had to seize it. That chance came. Perhaps not quite in the way many of us could have expected.
Kent Highways has had to close Gough Road, Sandgate temporarily at the junction with Sandgate High Street. The road remains open for access from Military Road. The closure is because of emergency works to repair an electrical fault.
HMS Kent was docked in Dover Western Docks and I was one of a few to be invited to lunch aboard the ship with the Commodore.
Meeting at the Grand Hotel is always a treat and this was no exception. I was introduced to Reg Turnhill, retired BBC Science correspondent, whose idea it was to hold this incredible festival.
Shepway District Council workers have to do some pretty disgusting things, not least of them clearing up a pubic recreation area of the dog mess left by selfish dog owners.
A short service of remembrance around the memorial in Capel-le-Ferne gave everyone an opportunity to recall lost friends and to thank the pilots of 70 years ago for their courage and sacrifice. Hundreds of names are written on the wall there to remind us all, of the task undertaken by these brave men.
As the small group gathered and rightly proud men displayed their medals, the mood softened and our united thoughts centred on the task in hand. Flag bearers, worship leaders, ex-servicemen and women and supporters heard the Rev. Mark Hayton gather our thoughts in prayer and we turned our minds to the importance of the occasion.
