…the plane came by several more times, giving me chance to grab my camcorder, and film these images. Play Loud!

Up and running in the now closed Bank Gallery at number 46, Adam, one of the brains behind Orange Street Music Club, Canterbury, has opened up this new sister location.

The S&G team paid a visit on the opening weekend at the end of August, and was very pleased to find the locals making use of the new amenities.

Photos below :

Welcome to The Bank.


From the outside in.


The seating area by the window.


Local artists Oliver Harland and Matt Rowe deep in conversation, with Emily and Adam manning the bar.


“I’ll have an Old Peculiar please”


Adam checks on the music.

We also paid a visit to the NEW Pullmans. Article coming soon.

Not sure about its chances of survival in the long term, but it happily hopped off into the undergrowth when approached, so if it hasn’t been eaten by a fox (or ‘large’ smudged-looking ‘big cat’), is presumably still at large. We, at S&G, wish it all the best.

Due to the summer beauty we were bathed with here down in Folkestone (the most hours of sunshine for the whole of the country) we could be found, splashing around in the sea, swimming out to buoys, sunbathing down the beach hut, or a combination of those with a touch of music, nature,exploration, beverages and football thrown in for good luck.

Keep them peeled, and keep checking back for new articles!

Not much has changed on the Hevy Music Festival site today.

Today’s photos:

The main stage has had a covering attached. It looked like silver duct tape from a distance.

An even closer view of the back of the main stage. I couldn’t see the ‘third stage’ anywhere though.

This might be the ‘main entrance’ coming in off the road, but I’m not sure.

A new sign appeared on one of the trees on the perimeter of the seafront concrete plateau area. The rest of the area to the left of the compound (where the rest of the seaside funfair used to be) has been fenced / taped off.

Weather is looking kinda ok tomorrow, so hopefully we will have some sun, but there is possible rain in the afternoon.

More photos tomorrow of the event, from any possible vantage point, and maybe a zoom lens.

Seems today has been quite eventful on the Hevy Music Festival Site…….

Photos below:

I guess the wind has taken revenge on any unnatural structures in it’s path, as the fencing around the Hevy compound took a kicking today.

A lot of the fencing had buckled over. On the day it went up I thought it looked pretty heavy duty, and it wasn’t particularly windy today, but somehow it took a tumble.

Another view

Another view

A view from the Leas of the fencing affected.

Hope they get this all sorted for the event, wouldn’t want this happening with people on the other side.

Also looks like the third stage was going up (to the right of the JCB).

More tomorrow!

More activity today with the main fence perimeter looking like it’s all complete, and to be honest, the ‘Festival’ site looks pretty small.

Today’s photos:

The view from my vantage point has changed slightly, with what seems like the main stage fully erected, which faces out to sea.

The rear side of the main stage.

The view from the Leas Cliff Hall upper viewing platform. Is it me or does this site look tiny? How many people could you fit in there? 500? 1000?

More tomorrow!

Today I can confirm we have activity, portaloos, workmen, fencing, the lot, all on the Hevy Music Festival site.

The photos:

The overall site is a lot busier than yesterday, with marquees and fencing being erected on the roadside entrance.

Seems the portaloos are getting placed around the site.

The fencing is about 10ft tall, not sure if this will be placed around the entire site, if so, it will block any potential ‘non payees’ from seeing much. Well, apart from all the people who live in Marine Crescent who will have an awesome view (depending on stage position etc).

There wasn’t much fencing waiting to be erected in this stack, but they could well have more.

More tomorrow!

Hevy Music Festival is coming to Folkestone this Saturday the 1st of August, and will take place on Folkestone seafront.

No information has been released about where it actually be situated, but judging by the carparks they are using it will more than likely be on the old Funfair / Sunday Market area (as I can’t see where it else it could go anyway).

So everday we will post a photo overlooking the supposed scene to see the buildup. The first is below :

No activity as of yet, and only 4.5 days to go.

Another issue the organisers are going to have ( if it is held here ) will be the rubble left behind after the Dome Arcade etc (R.I.P) was demolished. Surely they will have to clear this up and remove the weeds etc, before anything can take place.

We shall wait and see.

Hevy Watch #02 coming Tuesday 27th July.

However closer inspection revealed that the van had no seats and looked rather the worse for wear, unlikely therefore to be the sort of vehicle still owned by a school described in the Good Schools Guide as “Everyone’s idea of a traditional, up-market, girls’ boarding school though not remotely hidebound by tradition; cutting-edge and unconventional in multiple ways, in a stunning setting and underpinned with common sense”, whose most famous alumni is Princess Anne. With annual fees of £28,000 one would have thought they could afford something better.

But perhaps like many independent schools, it has fallen on hard times. Could it possibly be an advertisement for the school, such as those often seen on old farm wagons in fields, as one falls in and out of sleep on the long train journey to London or crawls slowly round the M25? Was this an attempt to encourage more applications by parking an older little used vehicle in Tontine Street? If so the marketing team at the Creative Foundation deserves congratulations, since it bodes well for the Creative Quarter that Benenden sees Tontine Street as a promising place to site such an advertisement. The School must also have come to some agreement with Shepway District Council as at the time of writing it has incurred no parking ticket

Being an always curious person, on subsequent visits I took an even closer look. In the windows are clean and possibly new lace curtains. In the back are a black rubbish bag and a card showing the meaning of British road signs, together with a small cardboard box. On the front seat and on the dash board are some mineral water bottles and a patterned cloth.

Suddenly it came to me. The net curtains and the careful arrangement of the van’s contents indicated an art installation – a vehicular Unmade bed. Indeed I even caught sight of what was possibly an unused condom in the distant recesses of the van. But who was responsible. To some extent it had the trade mark of Matt Rowe of Bed and Breakfast and Club Shepway. On the other hand could it be a try out by a more eminent artist for the next Folkestone Triennial?

A prize of £25 if offered for:

An imaginative description of why the van is there and how it came to be there.

Or

An artist’s statement of the van as an installation.

Entries to: Spurrier@btconnect.com

THE 2009 FOLKESTONE SANDCASTLE COMPETITION!! SUNDAY JULY 12th

Raising money for The Church Street Project, a registered charity providing Creative Therapy and Counselling to children in Shepway.

Could YOU be CROWNED the KING or QUEEN of SANDCASTLES?? When: Sunday July 12th, 10am start. Judging at 12.30pm. Where: Sunny Sands Beach, Folkestone.

Families, teams, individuals and businesses are invited to enter. You will be provided with a sponsorship form. Half the money you raise will go to The Church Street Project and the other half to a charity of your choice.

How to enter: To get an entry pack which includes sponsorship forms, call Shane Record (01303 240452) or email shane@shanerecord.com. Alternatively, pop into Shane Record Paintings & Prints (21 The Old High St, Folkestone). Minimum Sponsorship is £10.

For this year’s Short Story Competition entrants should submit a fictional historical story. It can involve love, mystery, crime but must be set in the past and either be connected in some way with an historical event in Kent or be involved with some part of Kentish life.

It could be for instance concerned with the Roman or Anglo-Saxon settlements, the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381, the Miners Strike of 1984 or the building of the channel tunnel. It might involve a soldier or nurse waiting to go to France during the First World War or a Battle of Britain pilot during the Second World War. Alternatively it could involve something to do with hop or fruit picking, fishing and the channel ferries or any other aspect of Kent life.

To tie in with the short story competition, the book chosen for this year’s Festival Read is an historical novel, The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, who has always had great success with some little known historical characters. This is the story of Anne Boleyn’s sister Mary Boleyn, the mistress of Henry VII and reportedly also of Francis I, King of France, though Gregory denies the latter. As with many recent historical novels, the book is well researched and, the author says, factual up to the point obviously of dialogue and character’s thoughts, though her accuracy has been disputed by some historians.

Regardless of these disputes it is an enjoyable book and it is hoped as many people as possible will read it and come along to an event being organised for the Festival at which it will be discussed.

Download the Short Story entry form here and the Short Story Rules here.

Good luck!