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Post by La femme de Vic Jobson on Sept 21, 2019 20:44:36 GMT
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Post by daveu on Sept 21, 2019 21:06:57 GMT
Can the exhibition be made permanent? Surely a lot of the exhibits are on loan and will at some point be reclaimed by their owners.
As for the town only hosting tribute acts and z Listers, well if you're a lover of classic rock, for the last 6 years we've hosted one of the UK's finest rock festivals in the jewel in Maidstone's crown that is mote park.
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Post by jdl on Sept 22, 2019 0:48:34 GMT
Brilliant writing.
Only I wish you'd lay off Brenchly Gardens. Even with the drinkers and kids it's still an oasis that side of the town.
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Post by 61666 on Sept 22, 2019 7:59:45 GMT
A fine piece of reflection. The Ramblin' Man festival must be the only vaguely A list event in the town and we certainly don't have a theatre or concert hall to match even the likes of the Orchard or Marlowe. But you can say the same thing about the Medway towns. Most of Kent is a cultural desert, perhaps because we are too close to London. We have County Hall, a prison and a hodge podge of a town centre that actually has many historic buildings going to waste. It could and should be so much better, starting with a decent train service to London and the airports. Indeed, it probably all goes back to when the railways were first built. Maidstone ended up on a couple of branch lines and it has been a bit of a backwater ever since.
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Post by distantfan on Sept 22, 2019 10:11:19 GMT
On a personal level it was an unexpected pleasure to read your comments about my late uncle Hugh Laing. He took me to my first game, the replay against Charlton. A couple of weeks later my mates and I went to watch a Saturday match on our own. Different times, the guy on the turnstiles didn’t blink when a bunch of unaccompanied primary school kids rocked up.
Hugh had an immense pride in the town and its football club. His passion for the Stones didn't pass down to his two sons, both lovely lads, who supported Man Utd and Chelsea.
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Post by nws on Sept 22, 2019 10:43:38 GMT
Sadly, our great town could be so much better. It is held back by the twin curses of apathy and an utterly useless council
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Post by sword65 on Sept 22, 2019 13:10:32 GMT
Sadly, our great town could be so much better. It is held back by the twin curses of apathy and an utterly useless council Maidstone is dying as a town. The influx of Londoners to mix with the Eastern Europeans has resulted in scenes like Saturday night when arrests were made for drugs,carrying knives and now carrying guns. It wasnt like this 15 years ago before we let the scum in.
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Post by La femme de Vic Jobson on Sept 22, 2019 13:48:00 GMT
Sadly, our great town could be so much better. It is held back by the twin curses of apathy and an utterly useless council Maidstone is dying as a town. The influx of Londoners to mix with the Eastern Europeans has resulted in scenes like Saturday night when arrests were made for drugs,carrying knives and now carrying guns. It wasnt like this 15 years ago before we let the scum in. Sorry Sword, but I couldn't agree with you less. If you read John's book you'll see there was violence at matches in the 1890s and the the 1980s. It's nothing new and to blame the town's problems on Londoners and Eastern Europeans is sad.
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Post by La femme de Vic Jobson on Sept 22, 2019 13:51:28 GMT
On a personal level it was an unexpected pleasure to read your comments about my late uncle Hugh Laing. He took me to my first game, the replay against Charlton. A couple of weeks later my mates and I went to watch a Saturday match on our own. Different times, the guy on the turnstiles didn’t blink when a bunch of unaccompanied primary school kids rocked up. Hugh had an immense pride in the town and its football club. His passion for the Stones didn't pass down to his two sons, both lovely lads, who supported Man Utd and Chelsea. Very sorry to hear he's passed away. I remember him at the planning meeting in 2004, when he gave a speech that really fired everyone up. The vote in favour of the new ground was unanimous, but I think a lot of the other members were reading the room and waiting to see what the mood was like. When they realised how many votes were in it, they all jumped on board. Did he get to see the new ground?
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Post by distantfan on Sept 22, 2019 15:14:06 GMT
Yes, he passed away earlier this year.
He could play a bit too, I saw him at Mote Park once as a marauding left winger. He was about 40 years old and of 'solid' build yet he still had the skills and nous to take on players 15 years younger than him.
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Post by jdl on Sept 22, 2019 16:05:37 GMT
I think the problem with Maidstone is that at some level 'we' (the people, the council?) don't really believe that we are an important place.
We are the county town, and yet we don't feel like it. If you were visiting Kent, where would you go - Rochester, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, the Weald, the coast? Probably. Maidstone? Why?
And then there's Medway just over the hill. Mostly a shithole, certainly, but a huge conurbation compared to Maidstone.
We're a medium sized town, known for almost nothing (Watt Tyler, gin, that bloke on the telly being born here, anything else?), we're a county town that doesn't feel like one, we have a river running practically through the middle of town (that most towns would love to have) but we virtually ignore it, we have a 'main line' that runs like a branch line, the HS line runs close by but doesn't stop - you can get to London quicker by train, not just from Tonbridge and Chatham, but even from Ashford and Canterbury.
And so on.
In fact if you want one really potent symbol of our lack of self-belief, the river says it all. Once our source of wealth and importance, and, along with the church, the very reason for our existance. But now it just bypasses the town, virtually ignored.
The centre of the town has moved north, an urban motorway has been built along its bank, separating it from the town, and, instead of restaurants, pubs, gardens, etc along its banks, we have 'out of town' shopping centre, sheds, and surely the ugliest hotel ever built.
Whilst the view across the river to the Archbishop's Palace and All Saints is spoiled completely by a shanty town of a 'floating' restaurant. And, of course, the Palace and the Church, Maidstone's one claim to being something special are cut off from the town by that abortion of a 60's one-way system.
Indeed, most people, even those who live in the town are probably only vaguely aware that there IS a river. Anyone who lives north or east, rarely even sees it, and for most of those living south or west it's just a glimpse of water as you navigate the 'Bridges' one-way system. Most drivers probably don't even notice it.
And don't get me started about the grandfather clock, the LED 'pole' and the bandaged egg...
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Post by shamstone on Sept 22, 2019 16:15:31 GMT
It’s the bastards on the council. They have no vision
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Post by pedant on Sept 22, 2019 16:25:23 GMT
It’s the bastards on the council. They have no visionOr, probably more accurately, no power or unallocated money.
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Post by shamstone on Sept 22, 2019 16:38:44 GMT
It’s the bastards on the council. They have no visionOr, probably more accurately, no power or unallocated money. They just waste the money
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Post by sword65 on Sept 22, 2019 17:06:49 GMT
Maidstone is dying as a town. The influx of Londoners to mix with the Eastern Europeans has resulted in scenes like Saturday night when arrests were made for drugs,carrying knives and now carrying guns. It wasnt like this 15 years ago before we let the scum in. Sorry Sword, but I couldn't agree with you less. If you read John's book you'll see there was violence at matches in the 1890s and the the 1980s. It's nothing new and to blame the town's problems on Londoners and Eastern Europeans is sad. Sorry to disagree with you but members of my family feel they are no longer safe walking around Maidstone especially alone something they never had a problem with a few years back. They say the same of Chatham as well. It doesnt affect me but I listen to others and the stories they tell me are quite frightening especially for women. Now I know there will be women who say that this is not so but these women live with it everyday and are hardened to it,used to it but for infrequent visitors it can be a worry. More and more of my family now do their shopping on line to avoid our town centres which is why more and more shops are going to the wall. I dont frequent Maidstone of an evening now that I have moved away but when I did I was openly offered drugs on the streets whilst the police sat in their nice warm cars on jubilee square, they need to get out in numbers and get things sorted that's what you are paying your council tax for. I can see the same thing is gradually happening in Tonbridge which in years to come will probably be the London borough of Tonbridge with its excellent rail connections, let's face it London transport buses now travel as far as Sevenoaks,so I am told,and that is only 10 minutes down the road. Will Brexit make a difference? I hope so we need foreign workers but we dont need the scum that come with them so keep the nice hard workers who want to make a future for themselves and their families but wheedle out the criminal aspect and get rid of them before it's too late.something needs to be done or Maidstone will end up a filthy toilet like so many other towns across the country and that would break what is left of my already shattered heart.
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