25 Years ago in Tenterden - January 2000
From the Tenterden Archives
Researched by Jack Gillett
January 2000
- A New Year’s Day peal of church bells noisily but appropriately coincided with an official opening of the Tenterden Millennium Garden
- The jubilant whistling of two locomotives heralded the new Millennium on the Kent and East Sussex steam railway
- A retired quantity surveyor, Pat Neal of Beacon Oak Road, Tenterden, wants to build a Millennium dome of stones from all over the world in his front garden
- Regulars at the Vine Inn dressed as Millennium Bugs for the traditional Bank Holiday collection in Tenterden High Street and this resulted in £400 being donated to the Hospice on the Hill
- The pews in the 12th century Tenterden Parish Church were pushed back for the biggest party in its history on New Year’s Eve
- The Tenterden Lions Christmas Charity float topped last year’s record collection, raising £3,890
- Janet Sye, a disabled pensioner, has challenged town councillors to take a bone-shaking ride the full length of Tenterden High Street in her wheelchair
- Tenterden librarian Sue Duckworth hopes for help in compiling a history of the town library as part of the 150th anniversary of the public library system
- Only one pub, the Eight Bells, in Tenterden town centre was open to the public on Millennium Eve and it was so quiet that it closed before midnight
- John and Heather Crease, one of the best known couples in Tenterden, held a thanksgiving service for their golden wedding in St Mildred’s Church
- The TODS will be singing songs from 100 Years of Musical Theatre for their Millennium opening production
- Tenterden Infants and Junior Schools have voted to retain the three term year, despite a decision by the town’s comprehensive school to introduce five terms from September
- Mayor of Tenterden Jill Kirk, is inviting volunteers to contact her to take part in a Town Spring Clean as part of the national event organised by the Tidy Britain Group
- The work of the Tenterden Citizens Advice Bureau is being helped by a donation of £750 from the Abbey National Charitable Trust
- The Weald of Kent Art Group sold 62 paintings at its Christmas exhibition in Tenterden town hall
- A shopper in Tenterden is waging a war on the clutter of advertising boards and merchandise outside shops in the high street
- Pupils of St Michaels Primary School were given a practical lesson in the dos and don’ts of time capsule burying
- The Rotary Club of Tenterden thanks residents for their support during the Christmas collections, when £1,891 was raised
- A Homewood School reunion for former pupils and teachers between 1958 and 1961 is to be held in September
- A shortage of volunteers has forced the Tenterden Youth Club to cancel its weekly meetings and in future it will meet just once a month
- The only direct Sunday bus service running between Tenterden and Maidstone is to be axed in February
Jack Gillett
January 2025