The Open Page 4. (Easter Stories) - Copy
16 April 2009
See also the press release just added.
We paid a flying 'royal' visit to the guys yesterday up at the cave most topical. And there they were in blazing sunshine enjoying the whole media frenzied experience. I say 'media frenzied' because its a heck of an unusual good fun story, just what we need over Easter, and so far the campaigners have been visited by the BBC, KFMN, KFM, and the PA. So the message is getting out loud and clear...Dover wants its deserved George Cross.
The guys are raising money for the The George Cross Campaign but they recognise such a campaign is a tall order and could possibly be a long winded affair. But in the meantime the clamour is for a memorial garden in the ruins of the splendid St James's Church, itself fatally damaged by incoming shells. A memorial garden that will list all the civilian casualties of both world wars. This civilian listing is not something that has been done before as we understand it. The civilians lost have never been forgotten, but are not listed in a memorial anywhere. These guys aim to put that right. And what a great idea too, this could be a very satisfying recognition, and a great comfort to the families of all those killed.
Picture: Main protaganists in the campaign...Cllr Chris Precious, Alan Taylor, and Stewart Dimmock.
Picture above by Terry Cleaver. See the comments below. Add yours.
UPDATE: The Cave Dwelling Event is now over and has been heralded as a success on all levels..it attracted attention from the media far and wide and brought attention bigtime to the Campaign for the George Cross for Dover, plus with the added add-on possibility of the new memorial as mentioned earlier. The following press release has been issued by Chris Precious to mark the end of the weekends events...most of which we will be aware of already but here it is in full anyway...
Press Release
Over the Easter weekend three committee members, Alan Taylor, Stewart Dimmock and Chairman Cllr. Chris Precious, moved into The Grand Shaft in Dover, spending three nights and three days under conditions as close to wartime as possible. Sleeping on pallets in the tunnel once used as a wartime shelter from the bombing and shelling of the town they spent the days eating Spam and talking to the many visitors. A small exhibition of memorabilia, wartime posters and photographs of Dover during the conflict was on site and will be present at other events in the town over the coming year.
The whole effort was designed to raise awareness of the campaign as well as much needed funds to further promote the fight for the award and to see established a permanent memorial garden for the civilians who lost their lives to enemy action.
The campaign would like to thank DDC property services, The Western Heights Preservation Society, Crabble Corn Mill, PMS, Somerfields, Aldi, Farm Foods and Jewson’s for their help and support. Extra mention goes to Terry Nunn for providing exhibits and organising wartime music and radio broadcasts and the London Road Community Forum for the marquee as well as all those individuals and groups who lent exhibits and did so much to make the weekend a success.Thanks also go to all the visitors, from across the world, who made the whole weekend so worthwhile.
www.thegeorgecrossfordover.co.uk - end of press release -
The picture on the left above shows former mayor and now deputy mayor-in-waiting, Jan Tranter, presenting a £10 cheque from yours truly PaulB into the campaign kitty. It was such a wrench for PaulB to get that meagre amount out of his well sealed wallet, it really was, and rumour has it that he had to sit down afterwards with a cup of weak tea. Also in the picture are the lovable lads Chris Precious and Stewart Dimmock. The picture on right shows another legendary forumite..yes thats him on the right..Howard McSweeney, longtime longterm doverforum top contributor, joining in the photographing in the bright bright sunshine. 
The pic on the left here shows good natured Alan Taylor posing with a 1916 rifle. I dont remember at this juncture if its a 303 or a Lee Enfield, my knowledge is scant in these matters, but somebody will let us know. He gave us a demonstration on how to cock that knob thing after inserting the magazine in the breech! On the righthandside the much photographed Jan Tranter again, this time in Alan's bed and with Alan's teddy. Alan was insistent that Jan try his bed...no further comment possible. We cannot confirm at the time of writing that it is actually Alan's teddy, but there is a strong possibility!
PB
See also the thread "George Cross for Dover" in the Members Club, with further pictures by Terry Nunn.
* *
One disappointing aspect though about our famed White Cliffs nature reserve.. it can cost. Its £3 to bring the car in and if you are planning a sojourn into the Cafe dont get stung. Two bowls of soup to warm the springtime cockles and two prawn sandwiches cost £14. Total £17...ouch!
"Red Sky at Night
..Or so the old saying goes. So I hope there are plenty of sailors taking flight today as this was the scene last night as the sun sank behind the rolling hills of Dover. Looking from the Gateway rooftop position, or near as dammit, the sun sank behind Dover Grammar Boys School directly as the crow flies. So this picture to the left was taken over a considerable distance...many miles. Those trees are many miles away. It is not a cropped image but a full shot taken on the long lens of a fairly ancient Nikon Camera. It's always the good brand names that deliver!
So although Dover is famed for it's spectacular sunrises, our sunsets arent too bad either!
PB
in central Dover.
While pacing the floor in the dead of wednesday night I suddenly spotted swirls and swirls of what I thought was low level mist. Upon further inspection through bleary sleepy eyes I realised something was amiss so I whipped out the camera. Initially I thought Burlington House had taken hold, as from my angle in Boland Towers it certainly looks that way. But NO!! alas! Fortune doesnt always favour the brave and Burlington House remains unscathed.
Today I hear it was a store in Bench St. Not sure which one it was but I thought I would share this hugely grainy picture with you. Grainy.. well yes... but it was the dead of night. Around 1am.. PaulB
NOTE: more info in Comments below.
Post a message on any topic:No membership needed.
The Cave Dwellers!
See also the press release just added.
The Campaign for The George Cross for Dover Gathers Pace.
We paid a flying 'royal' visit to the guys yesterday up at the cave most topical. And there they were in blazing sunshine enjoying the whole media frenzied experience. I say 'media frenzied' because its a heck of an unusual good fun story, just what we need over Easter, and so far the campaigners have been visited by the BBC, KFMN, KFM, and the PA. So the message is getting out loud and clear...Dover wants its deserved George Cross.
The guys are raising money for the The George Cross Campaign but they recognise such a campaign is a tall order and could possibly be a long winded affair. But in the meantime the clamour is for a memorial garden in the ruins of the splendid St James's Church, itself fatally damaged by incoming shells. A memorial garden that will list all the civilian casualties of both world wars. This civilian listing is not something that has been done before as we understand it. The civilians lost have never been forgotten, but are not listed in a memorial anywhere. These guys aim to put that right. And what a great idea too, this could be a very satisfying recognition, and a great comfort to the families of all those killed.
Picture: Main protaganists in the campaign...Cllr Chris Precious, Alan Taylor, and Stewart Dimmock.
Picture above by Terry Cleaver. See the comments below. Add yours.
UPDATE: The Cave Dwelling Event is now over and has been heralded as a success on all levels..it attracted attention from the media far and wide and brought attention bigtime to the Campaign for the George Cross for Dover, plus with the added add-on possibility of the new memorial as mentioned earlier. The following press release has been issued by Chris Precious to mark the end of the weekends events...most of which we will be aware of already but here it is in full anyway...
Press Release
Over the Easter weekend three committee members, Alan Taylor, Stewart Dimmock and Chairman Cllr. Chris Precious, moved into The Grand Shaft in Dover, spending three nights and three days under conditions as close to wartime as possible. Sleeping on pallets in the tunnel once used as a wartime shelter from the bombing and shelling of the town they spent the days eating Spam and talking to the many visitors. A small exhibition of memorabilia, wartime posters and photographs of Dover during the conflict was on site and will be present at other events in the town over the coming year.
The whole effort was designed to raise awareness of the campaign as well as much needed funds to further promote the fight for the award and to see established a permanent memorial garden for the civilians who lost their lives to enemy action.
The campaign would like to thank DDC property services, The Western Heights Preservation Society, Crabble Corn Mill, PMS, Somerfields, Aldi, Farm Foods and Jewson’s for their help and support. Extra mention goes to Terry Nunn for providing exhibits and organising wartime music and radio broadcasts and the London Road Community Forum for the marquee as well as all those individuals and groups who lent exhibits and did so much to make the weekend a success.Thanks also go to all the visitors, from across the world, who made the whole weekend so worthwhile.
www.thegeorgecrossfordover.co.uk - end of press release -
PB
See also the thread "George Cross for Dover" in the Members Club, with further pictures by Terry Nunn.
* *
Easter in Dover:
Many of us are looking around for pleasant ways to spend the Easter Break and nothing could be more pleasant than a walk or two atop the White Cliffs. If you are lucky enough to have a bit of sunshine while doing so, then the experience is enhanced, as the whole magnificent cliffs become alive with spring bursting colour. A day or so ago, in blazing sunshine, we took an amble up there to blow off some of these awful winter cobwebs and it was fantastic. Exhilarating.. in a word. While there, was lucky enough to have some wild ponies, the famed wild ponies , wander into our path and I snapped up the pictures above on a little Hewlett Packard, all the while being careful enough to include the Dover communication landmarks in the background, by way of indicative proof of where the ponies actually are. Hopefully these pictures of the ponies capture the fresh faced nature of the experience on the White Cliffs of Dover.One disappointing aspect though about our famed White Cliffs nature reserve.. it can cost. Its £3 to bring the car in and if you are planning a sojourn into the Cafe dont get stung. Two bowls of soup to warm the springtime cockles and two prawn sandwiches cost £14. Total £17...ouch!
"Red Sky at Night
Sailor take Flight!"
..Or so the old saying goes. So I hope there are plenty of sailors taking flight today as this was the scene last night as the sun sank behind the rolling hills of Dover. Looking from the Gateway rooftop position, or near as dammit, the sun sank behind Dover Grammar Boys School directly as the crow flies. So this picture to the left was taken over a considerable distance...many miles. Those trees are many miles away. It is not a cropped image but a full shot taken on the long lens of a fairly ancient Nikon Camera. It's always the good brand names that deliver!
So although Dover is famed for it's spectacular sunrises, our sunsets arent too bad either!
PB
FIRE!
in central Dover.
While pacing the floor in the dead of wednesday night I suddenly spotted swirls and swirls of what I thought was low level mist. Upon further inspection through bleary sleepy eyes I realised something was amiss so I whipped out the camera. Initially I thought Burlington House had taken hold, as from my angle in Boland Towers it certainly looks that way. But NO!! alas! Fortune doesnt always favour the brave and Burlington House remains unscathed.
Today I hear it was a store in Bench St. Not sure which one it was but I thought I would share this hugely grainy picture with you. Grainy.. well yes... but it was the dead of night. Around 1am.. PaulB
NOTE: more info in Comments below.
Post a message on any topic:No membership needed.