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It's not being held in Dover, Sue, because Walter Tull has connections to Folkestone equally as strong as Dover, if not more so. He went to school in Folkestone, lived in Folkestone and in all probability embarked in Folkestone for the Western Front (twice). This year Folkestone Town Council will be unveiling two plaques in his memory - one in the Garden of Remembrance and one on the wall of his old school, which has renamed a sports pavilion in his honour; at c.£800 each, these plaques are not cheap, and for FTC to place two of them in his honour represents a good deal in terms of cooperation and funding.
Finally, it's being held at The Grand because the owner, Michael Stainer, paid a great deal of money to take the Walter Tull Exhibition there in July last year, and has arranged the book signing and launch privately with the publishers and author. All in all, Folkestone Town Council and the business community of the town have invested much in the Walter Tull story, and deserve any benefit that may come of it. I take my hat off to Lawrence Avory, Folkestone Town Clerk, for actively wanting the town's involvement and promoting it in conjunction with the business community. It's something we need to do more of ourselves here in Dover.
The Dover War Memorial Project (and Friends of) - which carried out much of the background research into the Walter Tull exhibition and some for Phil Vasili to use in his new book - will be represented by myself, our Chairman Michelle Cooper and our Treasurer Brian Rowland. We are hopeful that some of our volunteers will also be there, as well as Maggie Stephenson-Knight and Simon Chambers. The emails will be doing the rounds this week. We hope to see many of you there; Dover has much to be proud of in the story of Walter Tull and it would be nice to see a few Dovorians there.