St Mildred’s Tenterden

A fine Wealden church viewed in a gap between two old buildings makes for an interesting photo, especially with the bright morning sunshine on the stonework.

This fine church, is huge compared with the size of the town and reflects the wealth of the area when wool was king and some of the fortunes made were expended in creating magnificently large churches.

I was in Tenterden for the annual signalman’s lunch which was held in the Station Buffet. What a grand meal it was. A full Christmas Dinner, probably the best I’ve ever had, served by volunteers who work on our prestigious Wealden Pullman dining trains.

We had all the Pullman china and crockery, Meg’s splendid cream of vegetable soup served from a tureen (as served to diners on the train and to fortunate signalmen at Wittersham Road and Cranbrook Road), the dinner with a host of vegetables and amazing gravy concluded by a choice of Pullman deserts: Christmas pud, tiramisu, baileys cheesecake or cinnamon apple crumble. What a feast. All for £20.

While we were enjoying the food, Maidstone United were creating football history by beating Ipswich Town 1-2 at Ipswich. Maidstone play in the Conference League South, Ipswich in the Championship 6 leagues above Maidstone and over 90 places. It must rank alongside the wins for Hereford against Newcastle in 1970 with that Ronnie Radford screamer or Telford United’s epic cup runs and Shrewsbury Town’s win over Everton when Wayne Rooney was at his height.