Hamstreet, Kent - An Objective View


Hamstreet, Kent Smugglers, stamps and the Saxon Shore "Hamstreet is 'interesting' and retains the characteristics of a traditional and proud working village, something that is increasingly rare" - Kent Life Magazine
		Links PHOTOS OF HAMSTREET 2 pages of great pictures! WALKING/CYCLING 5-pub walking guide Cycling guide ROAD JOURNEYS A 2070 – the official website. B2067 - the official website LOCAL BOOKS The Kent-erbury Tales (Surreal and psychological stories set in local towns and villages including Ashford, Tenterden, Hamstreet and Dungeness) Mud, Sweat and Beers (Hamstreet to Ham Street walk - Greensand Way hiking adventure) England and Wales in a Flash / Bordering on Lunacy (lighthouse challenge travelogues) THE VILLAGE Get the latest news on the parish council's official site here Check out Hamstreet's original village site here Hamstreet, Villagenet BBC - two panoramas TRAIN TIMES Ham Street Train Times LOCAL MUSIC Sample folk duo's own songs here! (as played on BBC Radio Kent) BLOG Includes travel jottings and a free surreal short story here


	NEWSFLASH - The Olympic Torch will be stopping in Hamstreet on route from Rye to Ashford on July 18th 2012 - the only village stop in the Ashford area!! Introduction to the Village The Kentish village of Hamstreet is affectionately known as ‘the gateway to the marsh’, being located six miles south of Ashford where the ridge of clay hills meets the flat expanses of Romney Marsh, an area once awash with smuggling. The village was bypassed in 1994, but remains an important junction and is *twinned with the little town of Therouanne* (link here) in France. Therouanne was once a city with a cathedral which was sacked by the troops of Henry V. The stone canonball near the flagpole in Hamstreet was a gift from the mayor of the twin town, presented with the words 'You can have your cannonball back!' More local history can be perused on the Forge Gardens noticeboard and at the station. Traditional weather-board buildings and a generally unspoilt appearance make the place well worth a detour from the beaten track. Three long distance footpaths pass through the village; one follows the peaceful banks of the Royal Military Canal - *the UK's third longest defensive structure, and two pass through the expansive deciduous woodland that is Hamstreet Woods. A walk incorporating both the canal and the woods was featured in the 'Top 50 best summer walks in* *Britain'* in the Independent newspaper. A second area of public woodland is located northeast of the village at Orlestone Forest. To get a reasonably accurate population for the village, add together the populations of Orlestone and Warehorne, for the ancient boundary runs through Hamstreet itself. This amounts to almost 2,000 people. Orlestone is the original location of the village - now just a hamlet a mile to the north centred around the eleventh century parish church of St Mary. The Church of the Good Shepherd is a more modern place of worship in the village's High Street and the ancient church of St Augustine's in Snave also comes under Hamstreet and holds one service annually at harvest festival. The church in Warehorne is dedicated to St Matthew. Hamstreet's Claims to Fame H E Bates who wrote the *Darling buds of May* would have known the village well, and both Noel Coward and the writer Joseph Conrad resided at nearby Aldington. Within a five mile radius of the village, we have seen the likes of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, Paul O'Grady, Julian Clary, the actress Jan Francis and international golfer, Peter Mitchell. Hamstreet has also been featured in futuristic writings by Sir Peter Hall and David Boyle. But what of the village itself? Mountain Farm in Hamstreet once featured in *Blue Peter* as a base camp for an expedition up the 'Marsh Mountain’. Romney Marsh is of course completely flat, so this humorous concept involved presenters turning a map of the area upside down and crawling along the road! Hamstreet had its real moment of fame in the early 1990's, with maps of the village appearing on postage stamps all over the UK. *John Craven* even did a 'Countryfile' special on the village. This was to mark 200 years of the Ordnance Survey. Hamstreet was chosen because the area was the first to be mapped and the changes to the village over the years showed up very well on a series of stamps. The village is also on the route of the *Tour of Britain* cycle race which passed through in September 2006. The village was also filmed in 2007 as a case study of a community undergoing change for a DVD to be studdied by geography students countrywide. Facilities Visitors enjoying the huge potential for walking and cycling around Hamstreet will find that villagers enjoy a good range of amenities: The Post Office/supermarket remains open until 10pm daily and includes meat and fresh vegetables in its range. There is a paper shop, a garage, a dog grooming centre, a DIY/joinery store, a hardware and cycle shop, a garden centre including a cafe, school and a doctor’s surgery which the Government declared the *best surgery in Britain* for customer care in 2005. In Warehorne Road you will find a hairdresser, estate agent, dentist and antiques dealership. For leisure there is the Old Schoolhouse Indian restaurant (which also provides a takeaway service) as well as the Duke’s Head pub and restaurant which serves take-away fish 'n' chips 6pm-8pm Tues-Sat. There are a further four places to eat and drink within two and a half miles of the village cross; these are the Woolpack Inn, World’s Wonder Restaurant, Blue Anchor and White Horse. The village also has a dancing school, beauty therapy centre, tennis courts/games area, a bowling green and a hot-air-ballooning company which regularly launches from the football field. A fish and chip van visits on Saturday evenings and there is a full range of Scout and Guide associations (shared with Ruckinge). Other local organisations include the Royal British Legion, village history society, mountain biking club (Weds), children's football coaching (Sats - Pound Leas), bowls club (Fri in summer), short mat bowls (Tues & Fri - Hall), mother and toddler group (Weds - Hall), Margaret Morris exercise (Mons - Hall), Zumba fitness (Mons - School), Jo Jingles children's classes (Mons - Hall), dog training (Thurs - Hall), coffee mornings (Fri - Church), lunch club (Weds - Church),manic dance (Wed - Hall), line dancing (Wed - Hall), table tennis (winter Fridays - Hall), over 60s (Fri - Hall), cell groups (church), coffee mornings (Fri- church), WI (Mons - Hall) and much more. Events and festivals There is a local *farmers' market* for Hamstreet and the surrounding villages - in Warehorne village hall on the fourth Sunday each month. The Victory Hall committee and ‘sports and leisure association’ run many local events. A new pavilion augments the flood-lit 'multi-use games area' and football field as the result of many years of fundraising. Particularly good is the *Country Show and Festival of Transport* weekend. This takes place every June and includes an evening dance to live bands. 2009's event has been featured in a *Life TV (Sky) documentary programme. There are also regular 'bikejumble' events on the same field for petrol heads. Also look out for posters for Hamstreet bonfire and fireworks* on Pound Leas each November. Public Transport / Accomodation As well as daytime bus services to Ashford and New Romney (Mon to Sat), Hamstreet has a railway station on the Ashford to Hastings line - *one of only two remaining diesel lines in the provincial Southeast.* You will find the station master to be very helpful and may be surprised at the improvements in information, comfort and reliability. Trains now run direct to Brighton and are half-hourly to Ashford and Rye at peak times. Surprisingly, a return or season ticket from Hamstreet to London doesn't cost a penny more than one from Ashford. Timetable here. Sadly the guest rooms at the Duke's Head are currently not in public use but visitors can find accommodation at The Railway Hotel at Appledore Station - just a five minute train journey away (01233 758253). Those seeking a longer stay will be pleased to know that The Old Stores House in the heart ot Hamstreet is available for holiday letting. Campaigns This is an opportunity for visitors to see the kind of challenges that villages face. In 2008 Pumpkin TV produced a DVD for geography students which used Hamstreet as a case study. The author of this site has actively campaigned for many issues, including the following: Successes A request for staffing of Hamstreet railway station after six months of closure in the late 1990s, suggestions for an annual village bonfire and a regular farmers' market (made with many other villagers), a request for more trains to operate from Hamstreet during a review of the line in 2005, support for the Indian takeaway and increased pub licensing hours (in line with other local rural pubs), the suggestion of a plaque depicting points of interest on the village sign, support for Hamstreet Surgery to expand and promotion of the village locally as a rural tourism destination. Failed Ideas A request for the authorities to act to save Hamstreet's final filling station from closure in 2001, a suggestion for brown 'local services' signs on the bypass to encourage greater use of amenities, a request for Hamstreet to be linked to the national cycle network with an official route to Ashford and along the canal to Ruckinge (currently in limbo), a request for tax discs to be made available at the village Post Office, a suggestion of improved road signage for the village, plus suggestions for a review of parking to reduce opposition to new amenities and a questionaire seeking the views of the whole village about what they would like to see. Call to Action 1) Villagers:** There is a tendency in Hamstreet for individuals and organisations to oppose new and expanded services on grounds such as parking, noise and litter. In truth, the feared situations rarely materialise at all. This site wishes to promote Hamstreet as a living village and not a museum of closed businesses. All villagers who want to see more in Hamstreet should pen their supporting views to Ashford Borough Planning Department, Civic Centre, Tannery Lane, Ashford, Kent whenever they read of applications to provide new, increased or diversified amenities for the village. 2) Councillors / Authorities: Because the 'no' voices always speak up, the authorities are being given an unrepresentative view of what the village wants. We have the houses; now let's have the services! The village will not survive if it doesn't embrace change. This site urges those who represent the village to realise that the objections of a few should not preside over the wishes of the majority. 3) Committees / Businesses: This site also urges amenities to support one another. There is nothing more alienating to new villagers than local 'politics'. We want to support all aspects of village life and see less 'us and them'. To speak out against ticket office closures which could eventually hit Hamstreet, fill out one of the cards at the local station and post it to the FREEPOST address on the back. To campaign for a Sustrans cycle route from Hamstreet to Ashford, avoiding the dangerous A2070 and busy Ashford Road, and for the canal path to become a proper cycle route to Ruckinge email: info@sustrans.org.uk - ** Hamstreet used to appear on roadsigns in Tenterden, New Romney, Lympne, Appledore and (many years ago) all the way from Newenden, but now it receives only the most basic level of signage, in spite of being a local service-hub at a trunk road junction-point. To get us back on the signposts when they next need replacing, write to: Road signing policy, Kent County Council, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent ** To campaign for tax discs to be made available at our Post Office (as is the case in most villages of this size) write to: Post Office Customer Care, FREEPOST, PO Box 740, Barnsley,S73 0ZJ. Conclusion All in all, there is much to be positive about in Hamstreet and it is clear that campaigning CAN work if more villagers speak up. So please BE VOCAL and SHOP LOCAL. And if you don't live here, why not pay us a visit and perhaps try some of the walks and quiet country cycle rides? Original site copyright 2002. Hamco Publishing, Hamstreet, Nr Ashford, Kent. Last updated April 2012.



			Want more from your village shop? If McColl's aren't stocking the items you need, email customerservices@martinmccoll.co.uk stating the missing product and emphasising that it is the only general store in the village. Be prepared to be persistent. This is a far more pro-active approach than taking your custom out of the village.