TALK about giving a dog a bad name … in this case two of ‘em – Kent and its cross Channel counterpart Nord- Pas de Calais which, along with Aisne, Oise and the Somme form part of Hauts de France. In much the same way the South East Tourist Board includes not just Kent but Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, …

ON September 7, 1914, Herbert John Ruler, an eager young reservist, from Barming, Kent, joined the British Forces in France. He died, aged 18, on October the 26th in a field hospital after a shell fractured his skull six days earlier. If it had not been for a strange coincidence, I would never of known he even existed. I do …

IT took a fluffy wide-eyed white charmer called Marvin not only to fulfil Julie Smith’s wish to own a puppy but convince her to form Adorabuddies selling hand-crafted pom pom and felt collectables based on the heads of pet lovers’ cats and dogs. ‘ I never thought I could have a dog because I have allergies until I discovered that …

FOR years its solitary northwest tower has remained virtually unknown, forlornly hidden from public gaze in wooded parkland off the main road to Sevenoaks. Now at long last the future of Otford Palace, forerunner even to Hampton Court, which it matched in size – if not bigger– lies in the hands of the Archbishop’s Palace Conservation Trust. Formed in 2017, …

‘To be or not to be’  behind – or even written – Shakespeare’s works, as some claim. That is the question!. Either way, Canterbury’s ‘Rash Boy’, Christopher Marlowe, has certainly led the literati a merry dance as rumours still swirl around not simply his rumbustious lifestyle but his equally controversial death – or disappearance – aged 29 at Deptford in …

WITH a history stretching back to at least medieval times, quilting is all too often associated with make do and mend and bed covers rather than an ancient craft involving considerable skill and artistic ability. Yet, probably linked to the Latin word culcita, meaning a bolster or cushion, it has been woven into English culture through a variety of techniques …

Look out for those hidden goodies… ONE big concession when the Greater London Boroughs were set up in 1965 was that those such as Bromley and Bexley retained  ‘Kent’ as part of their postal address.   Wisely so, for behind the clichéd ‘leafy suburbs’ are hidden corners every bit as worthy as those further down the line. It certainly applies to Bromley.  Though battered by the architectural …

We all hate change. Even War of the Worlds writer H.G. Wells who raved about his wonderful childhood in Bromley left complaining that the arrival of the railways had turned it into a morbid sprawling commuter town. He also turned down the Freedom of the Town. A wee bit harsh, perhaps, though as chief reporter of the old Bromley & …

There’s a blooming lot more to the Garden of England THINK of oast houses and apple blossom and you think of Kent. But though worthy starters, as are castles and cathedrals, there’s so much more to explore –not just the main attractions. While Dover and Canterbury might literally be as different as chalk and cheese – for which the latter’s …

Look out for those hidden goodies… ONE big concession when the Greater London Boroughs were set up in 1965 was that those such as Bromley and Bexley retained  ‘Kent’ as part of their postal address.   Wisely so, for behind the clichéd ‘leafy suburbs’ are hidden corners every bit as worthy as those further down the line. It certainly applies to Bromley.  Though …