St Mary’s Mission Church – Northdown Foundation Stone laid 1892

On Tuesday 20th October 1892 the foundation stone of a new Mission Church being built at Northdown, near Margate, by Mr. J. T. Friend 5J.P. and Mrs. Friend was laid in the presence of a large and interested gathering of the villagers and others including Captain Hatfield, Mr. and Mrs. Boys, Miss De, Vaynes, Mr. Churchwarden Malins, Mr. O. Bodger, Mr. Manser. J. Brown and almost enclosed by a cluster of trees, is being built by Miss. J. Brown & Son, Margate from plans by Mr. T. Andrews, A.R.I.B.A. Margate. The structure is in flint with red brick and stone dressings and the interior fittings will be of pitch pine, whils the inner linings of the walls will be bath stone. The length is 42 feet width 18 feet and 6 inches and height 26 feet. The east end will be apsedal in form and there will be a porch at the entrance and a vestry 80 to 90 worshipers. The clergy present at the ceremony were the Fosters, Rec. J. H. S. Randolph and the Rev. W. H. Sautez. The choir was composed of 18 scholars from Osborne House School and Mr. Pearson. the organist St. Paul’s Church presided at the Harmonium. The service opened with the hymn “In the name of earth and heaven … shall a house be builded here” after which followed prayer and blessings were evoked. Mrs. Friend then declared the stone well and truly laid and the concluding portion of the ceremony was carried out.

The stone which was of polished red Peterhead granite with gilt lettering had on the outside this inscription – “To the Glory if God this building is erected by J. T. and M. S. Friend A.D.DCCXC11″. The inner side was inscribed – “This stone was laid 28th June, 1892.” In the stone were placed a copy of the current issue of the “Times” and a copy of the service.

Mrs. Friend was presented with the silver trowel with which the stone was laid, and subsequently a party of about 25 were entertained to luncheon by Mr. and Mrs. Friend at their house Northdo

A passion for weather Geoff Philpott, Thanet Brassica grower

A passion for weather Geoff Philpott, Thanet Brassica grower

philpott-photo-examining-cauliflowers

Geoff Philpott Thanet Cauliflower grower

The unpredictable weather is a focal point for many growers and none more so than brassica grower Geoff Philpott. He studies the weather avidly from his coastal farm in Broadstairs on the Isle of Thanet, Kent. For him, the weather is not so much the bane of his life but a passion and a hobby.

His farm, which stretches onto a cliff edge that boasts a picturesque lighthouse. is in the most south-easterly tip of the country and has its own microclimate that is ideal for growing cauliflowers. “It’s difficult to grow good quality cauliflower – they do not like wet feet,” he says. “But we are up in the most frost-free part of the Isle of Thanet”.

“It does not get quite so cold in the winter Dr quite so hot in the summer. Just two miles away from here the temperature is on average 20c lower.”

Philpott’s farm provides a relatively stress-free environment for the crop because the soil has a chalk sub-base, is very alkaline” and only gets about 23 inches of rainfall. “The chalk gets us fairly free draining,” he says.

Philpott’s cauliflower fields are now as noticeable a part of the seaside town as its sandy beaches. More than half of the 240ha he farms are devoted to brassica, with the remainder being for his other crops including early and main crop potatoes and cereals

Philpott grows more than 100 varieties of cauliflower. “We grow from September right through until June so we need to have continuity,” he explains. “That’s why we overlap with so many varieties. All of the time we are growing three or four. There’s a whole plethora of varieties that you can grow.”

Half of his seeds come from the farm’s own seed business, that breeds new cauliflower seeds. “Tozer Seeds markets them for us throughout the country.” Philpott claims that many varieties in the UK have been bred with milder winters in mind.

“Unfortunately, everyone has banked on the fact that warmer winters are here to stay and breeders took liberties. They didn’t think we would get colder winters and a lot of them are breeding for a friendlier climate. I don’t think other growers are aware of this. Last year [like this year] was a hard winter, more difficult than normal, and winter is a difficult growing period. There will be milder winters but not with such frequency.”

Perhaps the breeders would be wise to listen to Philpott’s predictions. A week before most of Britain was covered under snow, he explains that we are now in a new 22-year sun cycle. “The sun cycle changed two years ago,” he says. “Overall, the product of this will be much colder winters. Last winter was a colder one, which is why in tile first six months of 20 1 0 the quality of brassica was appalling at times. The weather hit them.”


thanet-cauliflower-grower-quoteYears of experience and a love of growing have brought Philpott his wisdom. He has worked on farms since he left school at 17. He is now in his seven ties and has no intention of retiring any time soon. His decades of experience mean that he has got cauliflower growing down to a fine art. “We operate a no fungicide regime in cauliflowers and have done so for 12 years. This is because, over the years, we have learned a bit more about the cultural needs of cauliflower,” he says.

“We space the rows out so we have wider rows but have them planted closer together within the rows. That’s had a warming effect on the plants because it’s allowed more light below the canopy and more air movement. We are also using varieties that are slightly more resistant to disease. When the head is coming up we have to make Sure it’s well covered to protect it from sun, frost and rain – all three can discolour the
cauliflower. It’s a tricky operation and we are very fussy about planting dates.”

Philpott’s expertise has helped him survive in an industry that has drastically depleted over the years as sales have reportedly shrunk by 35 per cent over the past decade. This depletion has partly been because of the poor returns growers have received from supermarkets and partly because the vegetable had been going out of fashion.

“The cauliflower growers in Thanet who supplied supermarkets have all disappeared over the years, whereas those [like me] who have found their niche in the free market are all still here. That is an important point,” says Philpott.

Some 75 percent of Philpott’s crop goes to the free market. The fact that supermarkets are not his main customer has enabled him to speak more freely about their impact. He has supported Brassica Growers’ Association (BGA) campaigns including “Save the Cauliflower” a couple of years ago and this year’s “Love Your Greens”, which has helped boost sales and returns to growers, he says.

“We are just beginning to turn a corner,” he adds. “In Lincolnshire, I understand that they have had better prices this summer. The average grower is getting around 40p now, but it was nearer to 30p a couple of years ago.”

He reveals that the BGA plans to continue promoting the vegetable, which, with his support and wisdom, hopefully has a sunnier future.
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Broadstairs Cauliflowers

broadstairs_cauliflowers article

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