Where does the time go?

It’s a funny old world.  When I left school I worked for Warner Brothers record company in Soho, and used to walk round at lunchtime to EMI Films in Golden Square where my best mate Michael worked, then we’d go off for a sandwich.

So it felt a little strange last week when I drove up to Soho again, parked in the Beak Street NCP and walked round to Golden Square to the London offices of M & C Saatchi where we would launch Kent’s “Faces and Places” campaign.

Following on the success of the Kent Contemporary campaign, where award-winning photographer Jean-Luc Benard has challenged our perception of Kent as a tourist destination by filming a stunning set of photos of our beautiful county, I had the idea of asking the residents and visitors to Kent and Medway to tell their story – their favourite corner of the county, their most interesting story, their most fascinating personality.

And so it was that I found myself introduced by Tim Duffy, M&C Saatchi’s UK Group Chairman before an audience of London and Kent media.  I was determined not to use notes – I wanted to tell a simple story of passion and pride in my county.  I talked about the petrol station owner who bought a rural garage in an idyllic location because he fell in love with the sunrises.  I talked about my thrill when I piloted a light aircraft through the wispy cotton-wool clouds and caught sight of the patchwork of Kent fields in every shade of green.

And I made the point that everyone has their own story – their own unique and fascinating insight into the place they call home.  And we launched the new website – www.mykent.co.uk – to enable people to upload their own special pictures and stories.

It was a balmy summer’s evening and a successful launch.  M&C Saatchi were very kind to let us use their premises to showcase the posters and launch the website.  But it made me wonder where the years went between being a seventeen year old working in a record company, to being a fifty year old local politician launching a tourism initiative.  Where does the time go?

Chislehurst Caves – mysterious and fascinating

I took the girls to Chislehurst Caves this afternoon.  I’d taken them before, but some years ago, and I was so pleased we went again.  Although the caves are still in the same ownership – surprisingly a Kent-based mushroom grower! – the guides have changed a lot since I was shown around as a young boy with my Mum.  Then, we all had to keep together, the guide held a lantern, and there were no photos allowed.

Today, the kids were given Hurricane lamps which added hugely to the atmosphere; the guide was relaxed about us taking photos; and he knew all the stories behind every twist and turn of the caves.  He told us the history of the three areas of these incredible man-made caves, through the Druids, the Romans and the Saxons, dating back around three thousand years.  During World War II the Caves became the largest air raid shelter in the UK, with thousand enjoying its protection from German bombers every night.  Indeed, our guide told us of one woman who, whilst others stayed at night but went to work during the day, she stayed night and day for over two and a half years!

Chislehurst Caves are a mysterious and fascinating place to visit, and if you haven’t been, or if you have but not for years, why not make a visit?  Go to http://www.chislehurstcaves.co.uk and find out when they’re open.

Come and stay in your garden

It looks like the Kent Contemporary campaign is really going to work.  The 48-sheet posters were installed this week, at London railway stations and on Underground stations across the network.  M & C Saatchi’s chosen photographe Jean Luc Benard has really excelled himself, creating stunning images of Kent locations.  The image you see in the picture above, although taken at Botany Bay in Broadstairs, could easily be the Algarve.  The image of Hever Castle conjures up a dawn breaking across a misty lake in India.

My hope is that people will think of Kent in a different light; that they will think of the Garden of England as their own garden, and come and spend time playing and enjoying everything that the garden has to offer.

(to go to the Visit Kent website, click on this link)

Kent – blessed with stunning scenery

Having spent a great deal of my time recently working alongside the Visit Kent team on the ‘Kent Contemporary’ campaign, I’ve become much more aware of just how blessed we are in our county with stunning scenery.

And so I found myself driving through Aylesford when this scene appeared.  I just had to pull over and take a photo.

It’s certainly not Jean Luc Benard, the award-winning photographe appointed by M & C Saatchi for the Kent campaign, but it certainly struck me as a memorable image.  And that’s the point isn’t it? There’s something for everyone in our county.

Dover – why not rediscover its magic?

(photo courtesy of Dover Pride website)

As Chairman of the Dover Pride regeneration partnership, a year or so ago I was shown around the proposed Dover Sea Sports Centre by Bill Fawcus of Dover Harbour Board.  I wore a hard hat then, as the project was in its early stages and consisted largely of a concrete shell with lots of seawater puddles.  Largely due to the energy and passion of Bill and colleagues, the Sea Sports Centre on the Esplanade is now a reality, and has its official opening ceremony on 14th April.

So we were lucky last Wednesday to be able to use this impressive new venue for a meeting of Dover Pride.  It was difficult at times to concentrate on the business at hand, with plate glass walls giving a panoramic view across the sea and around the coast.

But with colleagues from KCC, Dover District Council, SEEDA, GOSE, Dover Harbour Board, SouthEast Rail, Dover Town Council, Dover Chamber of Commerce and others, we were able to reaffirm our commitment to the regeneration of Dover.  Our website, http://www.doverpride.org.uk details the exciting projects we’re bringing to reality – why not visit Dover yourself and rediscover its magic?

Visit Kent – maximising Kent’s natural assets

I travel all over the county to attend and speak at various events, but rarely seem to get the chance to speak in my home town of Tunbridge Wells.  Last week was the exception, as I drove across the Borough to speak at a Visit Kent investors meeting kindly hosted by Viscount and Viscountess de L’Isle at the magical Penshurst Place.

Visit Kent is the county’s tourism agency, working hard to promote Kent’s unique legacy to visitors from both home and overseas.  Funding for Visit Kent’s activities is derived from a huge number of ‘investors’ – tourism and hospitality-based businesses who can see the sense in making a financial contribution to a collective fund which enables advertising and publicity for the ‘Kent brand’.

My early morning drive through slightly misty, sunny countryside to Penshurst Place was truly idyllic, and made me realise just how lucky we are in Kent to have such beautiful surroundings.  There are few benefits to this recession, but with a reduced uptake in foreign holidays, more and more people are choosing “staycations” – staying at home and exploring the heritage, architecture, countryside and activities on our own doorstep.

In addition,  the current value of the pound against other European currencies means that the UK, and notably Kent, is better value than ever for overseas tourists.  I said at the event that tourism represents an unusual stream of income for the county by simply making the most of what we already have in our county without a hole being dug or a brick being laid.  Visit Kent is doing a great job of maximising those natural assets.

to go to the Visit Kent website, click this link

to go to the Penshurst Place website, click this link

The London Campaign 2009

Against the current backdrop of recession, figures from tourism organisation Visit England show that 63% of Britons will be taking their holidays in this country this year.  So whilst in Canterbury yesterday, I met up with Amanda Cottrell, Chairman of Visit Kent, to launch the 2009 London Campaign.

With central London just one hour away from Kent, it’s a great time to promote the close proximity of London to our county, as well as the quality of our tourism venues.  And since I launched KCC’s “Backing Kent Business” campaign, it’s also really important that we support those venues as far as we can.

If you travel on SouthEastern trains, you will probably have seen the posters for last year’s campaign – they were hugely successful, bringing a return on investment for last year’s advertising spend of 33:1.

The campaign will also include high impact posters at mainline London stations, on the Underground, and adverts on London radio.  But with some of Kent’s finest tourist attractions offering two for one entry, why not take advantage of the London Campaign yourself?

Tourism – a key plank in our recovery

On Monday evening I attended my first meeting of the board of Visit Kent, the company which promotes Kent and its tourism attractions and destination through collective marketing.  Visit Kent is significantly funded by Kent County Council, and is the winner of a Tourism South East “Tourism Exsellence Award 2008.

On Tuesday, after a morning spent in a facilitated workshop with other board members, I attended a lunch for Visit Kent investor companies, and was asked to speak.

I was very honest – I didn’t know what to make of Visit Kent when I took over my cabinet role with responsibility for tourism in Kent.  But what I found this week was a group of people – including Chief Executive Sandra Matthews-Marsh and Chairman Amanda Cotterill, a previous High Sheriff of Kent – who are dedicated and passionate.

Passionate about an industry which is worth upwards of £2,500,000,000 (that’s two and a half billion pounds) a year to the Kent economy.  An industry which employs a staggering fifty thousand people.

As I said at the lunch (but sadly had to leave after the starter to prepare for Wednesday’s “Backing Kent Business” launch!) our county faces some difficult times in the months ahead as this recession begins to bite.  But as the pound weakens against the dollar and the Euro, more and more people will want to explore their own doorstep – and Kent’s tourism will be a key plank of our recovery.

Snowdown Colliery – walking around Kent’s heritage

A few weeks ago one of my Labour colleagues at County Hall, Eileen Rowbotham – Member for Dover North – asked me whether I’d go down to visit her local area.  She particularly wanted me to see the former Snowdown Colliery site and meet some of the local people involved in a scheme to rejuvenate the site and preserve the mining heritage of the area.

I finally managed to set aside a slot in my diary this week, and set off with hard hat and boots.  We met at the Aylesham and District Community Workshop Trust, itself a vibrant hub of community activity, and after a coffee and a bacon sandwich on Eileen, I met a group of her colleagues who briefed me on the history of KC2 – “Kent, Coal and Community” and their efforts to restore the old Snowdown buildings to their former glory.

Then we drove a few yards down the road to the Snowdown site where we met Coal Board representatives and began to walk the site.  Although the pithead equipment is long gone and the shafts themselves have been capped off for twenty years or more, the buildings remain and give a good idea of what the site must have been like in production.

KC2 have ambitious ideas for each and every structure, including an eco-garden, tourist centre, restaurant, cafe and concert hall.  In addition they would like to create a centre of excellence for energy conservation.  There’s still a colliery male voice choir and band, and a rich tradition locally of performing arts, all of whom could make the site their home.

The KC2 group are now refining some costings and preparing a prospectus which should be ready in Spring of 2009.  I’ll be interested to see it.

(to see the Kent, Coal and Community website click here)

English Heritage? We won’t be bothering

After my interview at Radio Kent, I took my daughters down to Dover.  Last week I chaired the meeting of Dover Pride, after which I was shown around Dover’s Western Heights (see my posting “Dover – a hidden Kent treasure” from October 26th).   I wanted to share what I had seen with my children, so I walked them around the fortifications and explained the history as it was told to me last week.

They both said what a great time they’d had walking around this living history, so I suggested that after lunch I’d take them to Dover Castle at the other end of the town.

I wish now that I hadn’t.

The approach to the Castle was a solid traffic jam, and we waited patiently for what seemed like ages until a member of English Heritage staff approached us.  “Our tills have all gone down.  If you give me your credit card I’ll take your payment for you…”.  I made it clear I really wanted to see the Wartime Tunnels, and she told us we could join the 3pm tour.  So now we had a guide book and three tickets, but still didn’t get into the Castle grounds for another ten minutes, by which time there were no parking spaces as they’d let in too many people.

It all seemed a bit ‘self sufficient’ as there were no guides apparent, but eventually we found a chap distributing headsets for a ‘self service’ tour about Hubert de Burgh, Justiciar under Kign John in the 1200’s.  Whilst my youngest’s headset gave her a documentary in French, my own were a little more exotic, telling me about the exhibition in Japanese!

We arrived at the Wartime Tunnels tour area a ten to three, and were told to wait.  At ten past three a guide took the group in.  “Is this the three o’clock tour?” I naievely asked. “No – it’s ten past.  You’ll have to go back to the desk.”  Despite my protestations that we were there well before three, she was having none of it.  Thoroughly dispirited and concerned about getting the kids back, we left.  As we walked to the car park we found a group of people around the entrance to the underground wartime hospital, and stopped with another family to listen to the guide.  “Sorry” said the guide “You can’t listen unless you’ve booked for this tour…”.

It was the final straw.  Disorganised and downright rude, this was a place where takings on the gate seemed more important than customer care.  As family members of the National Trust, I had thought we’d buy membership to English Heritage before we left, as the gate fee was discounted off the price.

But on Friday’s evidence, we won’t be bothering.