Last night, my husband and I had the pleasure of being invited to the official launch of the new extension at Showcase Cinema de Lux Bluewater. This saw four new state-of-the-art screens officially opened. We were really looking forward to it (and not just because it was our first child-free night together in a while!)
Kent & Medway
Meeting Farmer Christmas at Broadditch Farm
On Monday, Autumn, Dave and I went to meet Farmer Christmas at Broadditch Farm. Yes, that’s right. Not “Father Christmas”, FARMER Christmas! I’ve been to Broadditch in Southfleet, Kent (near Gravesend) before for their Halloween and Easter events. They’ve been fantastic and there is also a wonderful farm shop I enjoy visiting. However, I’d never taken part in any of their Christmas activities before.
The best Santa’s Grottos often sell out weeks or even months in advance, so I quickly booked us in at the beginning of November. Funnily enough, it was the first Santa’s grotto I booked into, but the last one we’ll actually visit before Christmas! We saw Santa at a local preloved sale at the beginning of last month and again at Bluestone the following week.
Please excuse the quality of the photos in this post. It was dark and I only had my phone’s camera with me!
Rochester Dickensian Christmas Weekend 2017
A couple of weekends ago, we went to Rochester Christmas Market. We chose that particular weekend, as it was also the Dickensian Christmas Weekend. Charles Dickens lived locally in Higham and many of his novels were inspired by the surrounding area. This is one of two festivals in Rochester throughout the year in which Dickens enthusiasts, re-enactors and many others gather and celebrate Charles Dickens with members of the public.
We arrived just in time for one of the first parades of the day. It’s always such a delight to see so many beautiful outfits and smiley faces. It’s great fun and feels very festive!
Tudor falconry at Dover Castle
On Saturday (9th September), Dave and I decided we’d visit Dover Castle with Autumn. Birds of prey, particularly owls, are one of my many interests. As such, I really wanted to go and watch their historic falconry displays. Whilst I’ve watched several displays before, this one is different as it looks at the historic elements of falconry. In this case, the focus was Tudor falconry.
Medway Council are keeping 13 Children’s Centres open…
I’ve previously written about Medway Council’s closure of Sure Start Children’s Centres. The consultation period is over and there has now been a new proposal, as announced last week.
The new proposal means that 13 of the 19 children’s centres will remain open, but the services offered in some of them will be different.