royal tunbridge wells civic society 2011.pdf · 5 from the planning scrutineers by alastair tod...

WINTER 2011Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society

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I assume you had no difficulty in identifyingour cover picture - one of the elephants inCamden Road. You may like to test yourobservational skills further with our picture quizon p.11. The Camden Road building was openedin 1878 for use by Friendly Societies, whichprovided sickness and funeral benefits in the daysbefore the welfare state.Its most striking featureare the elephants’ heads, carved by a Mr Hadleyof Grove Hill Road. The Gazette considered them‘excellent carving’, but spoiled things rather by then saying that ‘to the educated eyeof the initiated [they] seem somewhat out of character’.

But why elephants? One theory is that they are taken from the arms of the MarquisCamden (see above), the building after all is in Camden Road. But the Marquis wasnot represented at the opening dinner, and the Camden estate seems to have had noconnection with the building.

Vera Coomber, long-time member of theSociety has an intriguing suggestion. Shecame across a picture (left) of a building inLudgate Hill with very similar carvings.There is no connection between that buildingand Camden Road, but the bank next doorwas rebuilt in 1875 and the Clerk of Workswas a Mr Weeks.Could he perhaps have beenGeorge Weeks, builder of Tunbridge Wells,and brother of James , who was a partner inHughes and Weeks the architects of theFriendly Societies Hall?

Yet one doesnot want to give up

the Camden hypothesis so easily. There are carvings ofother animals too - dragons (right). And the second creston the Camden arms is a dragon’s head. This is shown, forexample, in Pelton’s 1881 guide to Tunbridge Wells. Theeditor of the guide was the Rev Radford Thomas. He wasalso a leading light in the building of the Hall. Were theelephants, and dragons, perhaps his idea?

The most likely explanation, though, is the one given in the Courier at the time,that the elephants are simply ‘emblematic of strength’.

Cover Picture

‘Elephant’s head erased’ from theCamden arms. ‘Erased’ is the heraldic

term meaning ripped rather than cut off.

3 www.thecivicsociety.org

Personally Speaking ... 4

From the Planning Scrutineers by Alastair Tod ... 5

Chairman’s Letter by John Forster ... 6

Financial Summary and AGM 2011 ... 8

Planning at a Crossroads ... 10Alastair Tod on the Government’s proposals for the planning system

Picture Quiz ... 11Brian Lippard presents a quiz for those quiet days after Christmas

Vienna, Paris and Blatchington Road ... 15 Alastair Tod researches the Tunbridge Wells connection

in a recent best-seller.

Sydney Gillingham RN ... 18An interview by Janet Sturgis of the Oral History Group

Local History Group ... 22

Programme Notes ... 23

Forthcoming Events ... 24

Editor: Chris Jones. 52 St James Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 2LBTel 01892 522025 Email [email protected]: Christo Skelton. 4 Caxton House, 19 Mount Sion, Tunbridge Wells TN11UB. Tel 01892 513241 Email [email protected]

Contents

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by Chris Jones

Personally Speaking

News & Views

Hospital Funding... In our last Newsletter Devon Twellsexplained his concerns over the funding of the new hospital at Pembury. I can re-assure members that the problem is not quite as grave as Devon feared - I have paidenough in car-parking charges there to finance operations for at least a month.

Things at the new hospital are still a bit chaotic, which is understandable asprocedures need to bed-down. Perhaps patients can be asked about their experiences.The single rooms are a great improvement, but you can feel very isolated if the dooris left closed. And staff needing access to the bed often move the furniture out of theway. When they leave, you find you can no longer reach the bed-side table for yourglasses or a tissue. The flat-screen televisions are wonderful. In one room, though,the television didn’t work, and in another the remote-control was faulty. The onlything worse than not being able to turn on a TV, is not being able to turn it off again.

Significant Women... I went to an excellent talk by Anne Logan of the Universityof Kent on the women’s suffrage movement in Tunbridge Wells. It was part of thetalks programme organised by the Museum. At the end, one of the audience askedwhether there were any women recognised on the burgundy plaques around thetown. I could only think of Princess Victoria, and somehow she doesn’t really count.So I thought we might have a series of articles on significant women in the Newsletter.My first choice would be Louisa Twining, resident of St James Road and campaignerfor better conditions in workhouses, but I would be very interested to hear yournominations. Even better, why not send me an article.

Frances Avery... We heard at the AGM that FrancesAvery was to withdraw from the committee. On mycalculation she had served for twenty-three years. She wasfor a long time the Membership Secretary, so was the mainpoint of contact for many members. She was also themaster-mind behind the Newsletter distribution process -quite a complex mechanism, involving both the Post Officeand a number of delivery rounds manned by volunteers.And of course she handled the catering at Civic Societyfunctions. The picture to the left was at Adams Well duringthe 2007 Garden Party. I hope she will continue to attendevents for many years to come.


From the PlanningScrutineers

by Alastair Tod

Kent and Sussex HospitalThe Society criticised the original proposal for nearly 400 units of housing and

two commercial buildings on this site, and commented again when this was variedto include more flats. The applications are still formally pending while discussionsare held about the possible need for a primary school on the site, but it seems theland may now be sold without planning permission.

Brewhouse HotelWe objected to the size and prominence of the new block on the north side of

Cumberland Walk; to the extent of excavation; to the implications for access duringconstruction and thereafter; and, in particular, to the glass canopy over the Walk andits effect on views of King Charles Church. Some variations to the original proposalhave now been made and the application is still pending.

Morrisons SupermarketWe were pleased at the decision by Morrisons to re-open their store at Vale Road

but dismayed by their wish to remove all the existing trees, including mature Londonplanes, to make way for a ‘vertical feature‘ in an extensive forecourt. The proposalhas now been varied to omit the vertical feature and replace the London planes withlimes. We welcome this change as far as it goes; the application is still pending.

Tool-Hire site adjoining West StationThe Society considered an application to develop this long-standing eyesore with

56 flats and 10 houses. We found the design unsympathetic and the extent of buildingover-development, in particular the apparent intention to pave almost the whole sitewith minimal provision for landscaping. We objected accordingly and the applicationhas now been withdrawn.

Land at Bayham RoadThis was a proposal for 45 new houses at a site on the borough boundary. We

objected that it was premature and over-development of the site, and the applicationhas now been withdrawn.

Land adjoining Brook Cottage, Cumberland WalkThe latest application for a single large house on this site has now been refused.

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December 2011

In 1980 when my then neighbour bought a BBC computer,we asked why on earth anyone needed a computer at home.How times have changed. The Internet makes our lives easierin so many ways; from researching facts, booking holidaysto communicating, almost instantly, with friends and familyin distant places. But it does have its downsides.

Just recently, comments have appeared on Google+, one of the new social mediawebsites (Christo likes to think of it as Facebook for grown-ups). These gave anincorrect view of the Society. But however wrong the views were, they were thegenuine perception of that person, and probably many others. It highlighted to methe importance of considering our public image, which is something we hope will beaddressed by one of the sub groups announced at our recent AGM.

TheAGM (see page 9) marked the end of the first year of my second term as yourChairman. Much has happened in those twelve months. Soon after I was elected,M&N launched the consultation exercise on the future of the Civic Centre, on behalfof the Regeneration Company; and we were in the middle of a plethora of rumoursabout what may have already been secretly decided.

With the election of the new Leader of the Council and the pressing of the ‘pausebutton’ on any consideration of redevelopment, the heat was taken out of the situation.RTWCS can once again be considered as TWBC’s ‘critical friend’; there to help andoffer advice, but also to challenge where appropriate. We are pleased that TWBCmembers and officials, and some developers, are talking to us more, sharing ideasand seeking out our opinion on plans for significant sites.

We have the opportunity now to play an important part in changes that will happento our town in the coming months and years, but the Executive Committee cannot doall that is required to achieve this without more help from the membership. At theAGM I talked about the working party that we held in August to consider our prioritiesand the sub- groups that we needed to establish to discuss, research and plan foreach of them. We now have committee members who have kindly agreed to organiseeach of the groups. All we need now are the volunteers to work with them.

If you would like to be involved please contact the relevant group organiser whowill be pleased to talk to you about just what is involved, your interests and theamount of time you have available to help. We look forward to hearing from you.

As this is the last Newsletter of the year it only remains for me to wish you a veryHappy Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. 2012 is bound to be an eventfulyear and RTWCS is anxious to be able to play a part in the future shape of our town.

John Forster

Chairman’s Letter


It is clear that we need statements on a variety of local issues;conservation, new developments, green spaces, transport, retailtourism, etc. which clearly state the RTWCS view. The ExecutiveCommittee, our members and the community at large need to be clearon RTWCS’s areas of concern and, in broad terms, what its views in awide spectrum of topics are likely to be. The manifesto cannot coverevery eventuality but will give an outline of the Society’s work andintentions. John Forster T/W 525152

In the coming years there are a number of sites up for redevelopmentand other changes to our town. These will generate concerns forRTWCS. If we are to influence any of them we need to raise the profileof the Society in the community. The recent Google+ contributor askedwhat the RTWCS did? The answer is quite a lot and in the 52 years ofits existence RTWCS has had a major impact on Tunbridge Wells. Weneed to communicate this and what we are doing now so that ourviews will be taken seriously. Helen Featherstone T/W 526420

Our membership currently represents just less than 1% of theborough’s population and we are underrepresented in the major ageband, the 25 – 44 age group. The perception recently expressed thatthe membership is largely made up of ‘retired colonels’. We have hadmembership drives in the past and would like to initiate further action.RTW is a special town which people aspire to live in. There are manypeople in the above age group who move into the town and we needto recruit them as members. Christo Skelton – T/W 513241

There are key individuals in the town who influence what happens andit is important that they are aware of our views. We already have goodlinks with our MP, the Leader of the Council, members of the Cabinetand senior TWBC officials, but there are others we need to be able tocontact. The object of this group is to consider who they may be andhow we can establish a dialogue with them and what we are able tooffer them. It may be that through this group we can also recruit somecorporate members for RTWCS. Peter Clymer – T/W 525152

RTWCS is not just concerned with buildings but with green spacesand the environment of Tunbridge Wells as a whole. We should alsoconsider transport and energy efficiency. How much we should beinvolved is still to be decided and this subgroup has beenestablished to discuss all these issues. Its output will feed into themanifesto mentioned above. Sue Daniels – 07557 132 607

We are planning a number of events in 2012 for which the ExecutiveCommittee would welcome some assistance. Help is required forideas and planning as well as at the events themselves. JohnForster – T/W 525152, Alastair Tod – T/W 532127

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2011 2010UNRESTRICTED FUNDS (see Note below)

£ £ £ £INCOMING RESOURCES

From generated funds:Voluntary Income 5,197 4,174Investment Income 13 16

5,210 4,730

From charitable activities:Sales 2,489 7,863Events for members 1,120 1,127

3,609 8,990Total Incoming Resources 8,820 13,720

RESOURCES EXPENDED

Charitable activities:Cost of sales 13,615 11,429Events for members 1,986 2,144Newsletter 1,382 1,420Support costs 3,296 2,095Community activities 0 1,446

Total Resources Expended 20,280 18,534

NET INCOMING RESOURCES (11,460) (4,814)

FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD 20,310 25,124

FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD £8,850 £20,310

Note: From 2007, income and expenditure relating to Heritage Open Days have been separatelyidentified as Restricted Funds. These sums are not included in the figures shown above. TheRestricted Fund figures are as follows:

RESTRICTED FUNDS

Restricted Income: £1,860 £3,000Restricted Expenditure: £1,615 £3,706Net Restricted Incoming Resources: £245 (£706)

Restricted Funds brought forward: £2,460 £3,166Restricted Funds carried forward: £2,705 £2,460

TOTAL FUNDS

Funds carried forward: £11,555 £22,770

Financial Summary to 31st August 2011


Annual General Meeting 2011The Annual General Meeting was held at the Royal Wells Hotel on 10th November

and attended by over fifty members.Trustees’ Report. John Forster presented the Trustees’ Report. He reviewed the

activities of the committee over the year: the detailed work of the planning scrutineers;the regular meetings with TWBC and Greg Clark; and liaison with the Town Forum,Civic Voice, and the Kent Federation of Amenity Societies. He described the variousmembers’ meetings, the very successful garden party in July, and the website andnewsletter. The planned award ceremony in May had been cancelled as there wereinsufficient schemes worthy of consideration, but Heritage Open Days went fromstrength to strength, due largely to the drive and commitment of Fiona Woodfield.

He explained that Gill Twells was stepping down from her co-ordinating rolewith the scrutineers, and thanked her for her contribution over many years. We arelucky to have a worthy replacement in Alastair Tod.

Membership. At the end of August membership stood at 429, compared with 410the previous year. The committee is keen to increase the numbers, to make the Societymore representative of the town.

Local History Group. John Cunningham explained that it had been a year forreviewing activities and objectives, culminating in an open meeting of members inApril. A new project was set up to record the memorial inscriptions at the HawkenburyCemetery, and new members joined the Oral History group. In July there was asuccessful visit to Chatham Historic Dockyard, organised by Lionel Anderson.

Finance. The Treasurer, Nigel Price, presented the accounts for the year (seeopposite). The most significant feature was a radical re-valuation of the book stocks,following a detailed title-by-title review of likely future sales. He felt that the newfigure, where the books represent 57% of Society assets (previously 90%) wasappropriate and realistic. He confirmed that the books had been most valuable andsuccessful over the years, and that continuing sales were vital to the Society’s financialhealth. He reported that a good start had been made on sales in the new year.

Elections. Roger Joye supervised elections for officers and committee. FrancesAvery had wished to withdraw from the committee, and Andrew Bridge had movedacross to became a Vice President. They were replaced by Sue Daniels, who hadbeen co-opted earlier in the year, and Peter Clymer.

Discussion. Following the official business of the meeting there was a discussionon what we might do next year to mark the Diamond Jubilee and Olympics. Thepossiblity of a fountain was raised by Michael Holman. The Committee willinvestigate the feasibility of this, though time is very short.

Please note that copies of the Trustees’ Report have been sent to all members forwhom we have an email address. If you would like a copy please contact ChristoSkelton - contact details on p.3.

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Planning at a CrossroadsEarlier this year the Society welcomed the ideas of the Coalition Government for the

planning system. We were keen to see the amount of ‘guidance‘ from Whitehall reduced,more freedom for councils to shape their areas, and more involvement for localcommunities. The Localism Bill has just passed through Parliament, and the ideas havealso been expressed in a Planning Policy Framework. This has raised much controversyin the press; the Society has responded and discussed it with Greg Clark, the Ministerresponsible.

What is proposed is a revolution in the way planning works, but, like many otherbodies, the Society is unhappy with the Framework. We have serious doubts about howthe new provisions will work, and whether they will achieve their aims.

The Framework says ‘a presumption in favour of development‘ is a golden threadrunning through planning. We find this disingenuous; the job of elected councils is tobalance the need for development expressed by the market with a number of otherconsiderations. These include protecting people and environments, considering safetyand national defence, and managing scarce resources. They also need to ensure the qualityof what is built; planning is more than just yes or no.

The Framework recognises this by requiring development to be ‘sustainable‘. Thedefinition of sustainability that is quoted is the familiar one of not damaging the interestsof future generations. It is hard to see how this can be used to test whether a particularproposal is desirable – nearly all development could be either approved or rejected onthese grounds. ‘Sustainable‘ is a deeply ambiguous and contradictory term.

The Framework further says that in the absence of an up-to-date Local Plan,development shall be permitted, as shall development which complies with the LocalPlan. The incentive for councils to adopt local plans is welcome, but this seems to over-estimate what they can do. The great majority of development proposals in TunbridgeWells are not foreseen, and do not relate to allocated sites. Deciding these requires themto be judged against a matrix of policies. Limiting the ability of a council to considerapplications in the light of all its policies is the reverse of freeing it to shape its area.

The Framework encourages communities to plan their own neighbourhoods but weare also concerned about this. Greg Clark thinks his Bill will foster a less hostile planningenvironment, and encourage local people to promote development by means ofneighbourhood plans. In general we find this unlikely, but it is also difficult to see a localcommunity taking on the considerable cost and uncertainty of producing a neighbourhoodplan when this is limited to making proposals for implementing a Local Plan. It seemslikely this will only happen where a council or developer directs and funds the process –not a significant gain for local initiative.

Consultation on the Framework has now closed and we wait with some concern to seewhat the Coalition makes of the furore raised by their proposals. AT

Alastair Tod considers proposals to change the planning system


Picture QuizA Picture Quiz for those dozy days after Christmas - with Prizes

Clear away the Christmas cobwebs by identifying these 26 pictures, and winyourself one of three fantastic prizes - your choice from the range of Local HistoryGroup publications. Many thanks to Brian Lippard for the idea and the pictures.

• the competition is open to everyone, including non-members (but excluding theLippard family and the Editor)

• answers (comprising a list of the 26 buildings) to be sent by post/email to theNewsletter Editor (address on page 3) to arrive by 8th March 2012

• senders of the three entries with the highest number of correct answers will begiven the book of their choice from the Local History Group collection (in the caseof a tie, the winners will be selected at random - Editor’s decision final)

• answers and prize-winners will be given in the Spring NewsletterNote: all the buildings are central - within 600m. of Wagamama in Mount Pleasant

A B

D

E

C

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F

G

H

I

J K

L


M N

O P

Q

RS

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T U

V

X

Y

Z

W


Readers of Edmund De Waal’sremarkable book The Hare withAmber Eyes discover that his great-grandfather, Viktor von Ephrussi,ended his days in Tunbridge Wells, ina house called St David’s at the cornerof Blatchington Road andCumberland Walk. As recalled by hisdescendants, the house had two gablesand a brick path leading to the frontdoor. The house (right) is still therebut it’s no longer called St David’s.

Although a substantial house it musthave seemed a stark contrast withViktor’s family home, the Palais Ephrussion the Ringstrasse in Vienna (below) –more than a hundred rooms on five floorsornamented outside with caryatids. Thehouse was stuffed with treasures,including a collection of netsukes, oneof them a hare with amber eyes.

All the family were collectors, but thenetsukes were collected by Viktor’scousin Charles in Paris, during the crazefor japonisme in the 1870s and 80s, andsent as a wedding present when Viktormarried Emmy in Vienna. The book isthe story of the netsukes surviving thedesecration of the house and thedestruction of a fortune.

Viktor was the head ofa family which originatedin a shtetl in the Ukrainein the 1830s, yet within ageneration had becomeleading grain brokers inOdessa. By the end of thecentury they were said to

Alastair Tod follows up a link to Tunbridge Wells in the recentbest-seller ’The Hare with Amber Eyes”

Left: The Palais Ephrussion the Ringstrasse in

Vienna.Top: St David’s in

Blatchington Road,Tunbridge Wells.

Vienna, Paris and Blatchington Road

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be among the wealthiest commoditybrokers in the world. As such they werebankers lending to governments, withestablishments in Vienna and Paris, andhad been made barons of the Austro-Hungarian empire (hence the ‘von‘).

In Paris the family’s wealth enabledViktor’s cousin Charles to become thefirst substantial patron of theImpressionists. Charles was a flâneur,collector and critic, a model for Proust’sSwann, a friend ofManet, Degas andRenoir, and theauthor of a work onDürer whichintroduced theGerman renaissanceto France. The Parisbranch occupiedanother newly-built

palace in the Rue de Monceau, a districtof substantial houses of the newly veryrich, so that monceau became Parisianslang for nouveau riche. The friendshipcame to grief during the Dreyfus affairwhen the artists took the nationalist side.

Even before Dreyfus there was perhapssomething ambivalent about therelationship. Charles is present inRenoir’s Le dejeuner des canotiers,showing a relaxed party at a riversiderestaurant on a sunny afternoon withidentifiable artists and their mistresses incasual dress and attitude. Charles is at theback, upright in dark suit and top-hat. Ajoke, says de Waal. Perhaps.

Viktor, his wife Emmy and youngerson Rudolph were living in the Viennapalace at the Anschluss in 1938, andwitnessed Hitler’s ceremonial return tohis homeland from their windows. Likeother prominent non-religious Jews,

Renoir’s Le dejeunerdes canotiers. Charles

Ephrussi is in thebackground in dark suit

and top-hat.

Viktor vonEphrussi, born

in Odessa in1860, diedTunbridge

Wells 1945.


admirers of German values, the familywere dismayed by the events butunwilling to believe they were a threat tothem personally. They helped supportViennese Jews left destitute when barredfrom employment. Then Viktor is bannedfrom his own bank. The house is invadedby the mob, and when order is restoredthe Gestapo come to evaluate its contents.The servants desert, and Viktor aged 78is taken away for interrogation.

The Ephrussis’ elder daughterElisabeth was a poet and one of the firstwomen to qualify as a lawyer at theuniversity opposite the palace. By 1938she was practising in America and urgingher parents to get away, but Emmy’shealth was failing and Viktor could notbear to leave his library. On Viktor’srelease they at last recognised theirsituation, and confronted the rigmaroleof exit permits and taxes designed to stripemigrants of their remaining assets.

Elisabeth, now married to a DutchLutheran, confronted the authorities andbullied and cajoled them into issuing thenecessary passes, at one stage pretendingto be a Gestapo lawyer. Through herefforts the old couple were allowed totravel to Czechoslovakia in May 1938,

leaving the bank, the library, the netsukes,everything behind, just as theSudetenland crisis blew up. There Emmydied, but as Czechoslovakia crumbledViktor got a one-way visa from the Britishenabling him to fly to England in March1939.

Thus it is that the last act of theextraordinary Ephrussi saga was playedout in Tunbridge Wells. Elisabeth foundSt David’s, and her husband took the traindaily to London to work for the Dutchgovernment in exile. The family attendedKing Charles Church on Sundays, andViktor took The Times and the local paperand frequented Halls bookshop.Elisabeth’s son became a priest of theChurch of England and eventuallychancellor of Lincoln cathedral. Viktordied in Tunbridge Wells in March 1945,and was buried at Charing.

The hare and his companions now livein London with the de Waals. Those whoneed to know how they survived shouldread the book. AT

St David’sThe house in Blatchington Road

was built sometime between 1907and 1914 by T. Bates & Sons for the

developer Henry Wild. The firstoccupants were Walter and Louisa

Phillips, possibly retired from servicein India or the colonies.

Elisabeth vonEphrussi, poetand lawyer.Managed toextricate herparents fromVienna; andfound the housein TunbridgeWells.

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This is the story of how the life of alad born in Tunbridge Wells was alteredforever by the effects of the Second WorldWar. Sydney Gillingham was born in StStephen’s Road in Tunbridge Wells in1924. His first real contact with the waroccurred when he was a young lad livingon a farm outside Bexhill, when a GermanJunkers 88 aircraft came down in a fieldnear his home.

As was common practice at the time,telegraph poles had been buried in theearth at an angle to stop planes landingon open areas of ground. Sydney wasamazed to see the aircraft pass hisbedroom window and even more amazedat the skill and dexterity of the pilot whomanaged to land the Junkers 88 betweenthe poles without damaging theaeroplane. This experience led him todream of becoming a pilot.

Sydney had become aware of theeffects of war from his parents’experience. Their first farm was locatedbetween Hawkhurst and Hurst Green.During the Great War, all his father’shorses had been commandeered, leaving

the family farm all but unworkable. Hisfather had served in the war and up untilrecently many of his father’s war-relatedartefacts had remained in Stanley’spossession until his move to a care homehad forced him, reluctantly, to sell them.However, he still possesses manyphotographs which give a fascinatinginsight into army life during thoseturbulent years.

On an autumn day in 1941, at the ageof 17, Sydney volunteered, hoping to jointhe RAF, only to be called up six monthslater to join the Royal Navy. This wasnot altogether disappointing, as he haddeveloped a fascination with the sea as aresult of going one time to watch the fleetat Spithead with his father.

Once enlisted, he was sent by train toScotland for basic training. YoungSydney had never felt such cold as heexperienced in the winds and rain of theNorth Sea. However he survived,toughened up and by the end of the winterhad completed his initial training andbeen selected to work in telegraphy – thevital task of communications between

Sydney Gillingham RN

interviewed by Janet Sturgis


ships at sea and central command. He wasbeginning to feel at home and to enjoythe camaraderie with his fellow youngsailors.

Time passed in his Scottish postinguntil a day in late spring when his ship,HMS Deveron, was ordered to the southcoast. He was at first relieved to beheading for better weather. However, thiswas May of 1944 and the south coast wasbuzzing with preparations for the alliedinvasion of Normandy, the secret planknown only as D-Day. On D-Day plusone – Wednesday 7th June, Sydney wason a vessel that collected a number ofAmerican troops from Weymouth. To thisday he still remembers the military policein their white helmets – ‘Snowballs’ –shepherding the extremely frightenedyoung men on board. Many of the youngsoldiers were in tears, while others werebeing sick from fear as they made theirway onto the ship. Just offshore, Sydneywas jointly responsible for co-ordinatingthe launch and landing of the landing craftat Omaha Beach. He witnessed adistressing sight as landingcraft in the second wavewere blown up in the wateras a result of magneticmines that had beendislodged by the first wave.

Explosions peppered thewater, which ran red with

the blood of fallen soldiers. Equipment,life-jackets and human debris floated inthe water and even now Sydney canvividly picture the floating bodies ofsoldiers who were churned up by thelanding craft he’d had to deploy. For ayoung man not yet 20, this encounter withthe true horror of war was indeed anexperience never to be forgotten.

Sydney celebrated his 21st birthday onboard HMS Deveron and was therecipient of many ‘sippers’ of rum fromhis fellow crew members. He remembersto this day the horrendous hangover hehad the next day when consuming glassesof water only made him feel drunk allover again.

At the end of Sydney’s time on HMSDeveron, he had learnt Morse code inEnglish, Italian and German. He had alsomet his future wife Kathleen at a NewYear’s Eve dance in London that had beenorganised by her father, who had servedas a Grenadier Guard during the GreatWar. Kathleen had been engaged to anairman who had lost his life over

Oral History Group

HMS Deveron. Frigate. BuiltSouth Bank (Tees-side) 1942.

Picture courtesy of Museums inRedcar & Cleveland

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Germany. But when Sydney andKathleen met, it was love at first sight.

Sadly, soon after their wedding, whenSydney thought his time of conflict wasat an end, he was commissioned to HMSShah, an ‘Ameer’ (‘Ruler’) class escortcarrier. He was commissioned underCaptain W.J. Yendell RN who went on tobecome an Admiral of the Fleet after thewar.

The Shah was bound for the theatre ofwar in the Pacific. The ship was based inthe port of Trincomalee in Ceylon – nowSri Lanka. Having by then also learntMorse in Japanese, Sydney was now anexperienced telegrapher. He had his ownhigh-security cabin: teak-lined to ensureprivacy for the communications he wassending to and receiving from hisopposite numbers at Bletchley Park.

While this was a comfortable berth for

the young signaller, he recalls an incidentthat made his life difficult for a while. Ascan happen aboard a ship, a large rat hadfound its way on board, having managedto manoeuvre itself past the protectorsthat were put in place over all the ship-to-shore mooring lines. While workingin his cabin, Sydney suddenly felt andsaw the rat as it landed on his arm. As hechased it around his cabin, the ratmanaged to get behind the teak panellingand there it stayed for the remainder ofits days. As it began to decay, the smellwas horrendous, so at this stage Sydneycost the admiralty a lot of money as theShah had to once again come into portfor all the panelling to be removed, therat cleared and the cabin re-panelled!

Life had its lighter moments for theyoung sailor. One time while stationedat Trincomalee, Sydney had gone outwith some mates in a small boat. Despitebeing a sailor and having encounteredmany dangerous situations, Sydney hadnever learned to swim. In the rough sea,he was tipped into the water and foundhimself being tossed and tumbled in thewaves. He managed to get the assistanceof some fellow crew members who wereenjoying a beer on the nearby beach. Thesailors ran in to save Sydney, only to findthemselves being caught up in the swirlthemselves. Suffice to say, they allsurvived this watery experience.

With the war in Europe ending, allefforts of the Allied forces were nowbeing focussed on the war against theJapanese, and Sydney’s ship was orderedto head for Singapore. Lord Mountbatten


Sydney Gillingham was interviewed by Dr Janet Sturgis at Tunbridge Wells CareHome on 11th October 2011. These notes have been reviewed and expanded by

Bill Blackford, Activity/Training Manager at Tunbridge Wells Care Centre

as Supreme Allied Commander in SouthEast Asia, joined the men onboard to tellthem that the mission they were nowembarking on would be very, verydangerous. He instructed them all to writea final letter home and to make a will incase they didn’t survive.

Sydney is aware that there has longbeen controversy about the dropping ofthe atom bombs at Hiroshima andNagasaki, but that action he believessaved his life because following thosebombings, Japan surrendered and hismission was cancelled.

Sydney recalls the great camaraderieamong his fellow sailors. He also recallstwo Mosquito aircraft that performed a‘victory roll’ beside one of the ships hewas on, only to see one of the planesexplode mid-roll, scattering debris andthe pilot into the sea. After the pilot’sbody was retrieved, he was buried withall the ceremony the ship’s crew could

muster at sea.For his services in the South Pacific

Sydney received the Burma Star.On the completion of his two-year

commission on HMS Shah, Sydney wasable to return to his new wife who hadobviously also suffered anxiously as anewlywed without her husband for thefirst two years of their marriage.

After the war Sydney joined theMetropolitan Police and was based at OldScotland Yard in intelligence. He retiredat 61 and then took up a demandingvolunteer post as District Organiser forthe South East Division of the RNLI.

Sydney doesn’t consider himself ahero. “I just went through the war,” hesays quite simply – a view that seems tobe that of so many of the men and womenwho endured the horrendous experienceof war when they and their lives changedovernight. JS

Oral History Group

HMS Shah. Aircraft Carrier. Built Seattle-Tacoma 1943. Provided to RN under the Lend-Lease Agreement. After the war she was converted for passenger use between Italy and

Argentina.

22

Local History Group

Talks by other SocietiesTunbridge Wells Museum. Wednesday 25th January. ‘The presence of black

people in Kent since 1600’. A talk by David Killingray. Camden Centre at 7:30.Tickets £5, from the museum, or book by phone on TW 554171

Tonbridge Civic Society. Has talks on the restoration of Hadlow Tower (Jan24th), the secret wartime tunnels under Dover Castle (Feb 21st), and memories ofthe Home Front in World War II (March 20th). Talks are given in the Angel Centre at8pm. £3 for non-members. Further details from the Hon Secretary on Ton 363163.

Summer OutingThe Local History Group outing next year will be to Battle Abbey and the site of

the Battle of Hastings. The proposed date is Saturday, August 18th. Transportarrangements will depend upon numbers. If you are interested, it would be helpful ifyou could advise either Chris Jones (522025) or John Cunningham (534599).

Courier ArchiveIn the last Newsletter we reported that the Society had found a temporary refuge

for the Courier’s newspaper archive, made homeless when the paper moved toCalverley Road. That was in one of the lodges at the Hawkenbury cemetery, but itwas only a temporary arrangement. The Council kindly extended the licence untilDecember, but the papers have had to be moved again. This time the CanterburyChrist Church University has allowed us to store them at Salomons. The preciselocation is one of the early garages that John Minnis researched in 2009 for EnglishHeritage (see Autumn 2009 Newsletter, p.21). As yet it is simply a place of safestorage - we need to discuss arrangements for possible future access.

Heritage Open Days - even better in 2012Fiona Woodfield is already working on next year’s Heritage Open Days. These

will run from Thursday 6th to Sunday 9th September. In recent years many of theideas for developing the programme have come from parts of the borough outside ofTunbridge Wells itself. Fiona is keen to encourage new venues within the town, andis hoping for ideas from members of the Civic Society. If you have any suggestions,or feedback from last year, then please come along to an informal meeting atWillicombe Houseon on Thursday 19th January at 7.30 p.m. If you can’t make themeeting, please contact Fiona directly ([email protected] or TW 544429).

Hawkenbury Memorial InscriptionsAnybody interested in joining the Hawkenbury Memorial Inscriptions project

should contact June Bridgeman on TW 525578. There will be a progress report onthe project in the next Newsletter.


The season begins with a return visit by Fiona Woodfield. Apart from being amember of RTWCS and leading its involvement in the Heritage Open Days projectfor the last couple of years, she is a highly knowledgeable specialist in the history ofSouthborough and High Brooms. Her subject on Thursday 12th January is “Whatthe Victorians did for High Brooms”, covering its transition during Queen Victoria’sreign from an area comprising just a few cottages and a railway viaduct (below), toa community boasting industry, thousands of homes, and numerous supportingfacilities.

Programme NotesRoger Joye, who organises our programme of events, previews the

talks for the beginning of 2012.

“The Architecture of Decimus Burton” will be the subject of an illustrated talkon 9th February by Dr. Philip Whitbourn OBE, FSA, FRIBA. Philip is well known toSociety members as the founder secretary in 1959, four times chairman, and presidentfrom 1995 to 2005. He last spoke to us about Decimus Burton (1800-1881) just tenyears ago, and has since produced the best-selling monograph on him. The talk willexplain the importance of Burton’s work, both nationally and locally, in and aroundTunbridge Wells.

On Thursday 8th March we welcome two speakers from Israel, Eilat Negev andYehuda Koren, who will present a talk entitled “A Haven for the First Lady ofFleet Street”. Their fascinating subject is Rachel Beer (née Sassoon, and aunt ofSiegfried), who remarkably owned and edited both The Observer and The SundayTimes while also caring for her seriously ill husband. The stress of his death in 1903,and the pressure of her workload, culminated in a breakdown in 1904, after whichshe retreated to her “haven” at Chancellor House on Mount Ephraim, dying in 1927.Our speakers’ book, “The First Lady of Fleet Street,” was published last year. RJ

CIVIC SOCIETYForthcoming Events

Meetings start at 7.30pm on the second Thursday in the month (unlessotherwise stated) in the Town Hall. Remember to bring your membership card.

Visitors are welcome, but there is a £2 charge for non-members.

The views expressed in this Newsletter are those of the named author or of the editorand do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Society.

Published by the Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society.Registered Charity No. 276545

www.thecivicsociety.org

‘What the Victorians did for High Brooms’Local historian and RTWCS member Fiona Woodfield on

the 19th century development of this part of town.Jan12th

‘A Haven for the First Lady of Fleet Street’Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev on Tunbridge Wells

resident Rachel Beer, editor of the Observer and SumdayTimes in the 1890s and early 1900s.

Mar8th

‘The Architecture of Decimus Burton’Dr Philip Whitbourn OBE explains the importance of the

work of this late Georgian and Victorian architect, bothlocally and nationally.

Feb9th

‘A Journey through the Weald of Kent’A lyrical John Betjeman film from 1959, followed by its2010 counterpart, commissioned by the Weald of KentPreservation Society and made by pupils of Cranbrook

School.

Apr12th

For previews of the talks, please see page 23.

** Please note the change of venue and start time. **Entrance to the Town Hall is via the main door. If you are late and find that it

is locked, please ring the bell and wait to be admitted.

royal tunbridge wells civic society 2011.pdf · 5 from the planning scrutineers by alastair tod...

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