Latest news with #Kent
BBC News
2 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Holocaust survivors' families visit former Kent refugee site
Families of Holocaust survivors have visited a Kent army base that helped rescue thousands of Jewish members of the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) visited the Kitchener Camp at Sandwich on Thursday, which had been a haven from the Nazis for their parents and grandparents in group also saw an exhibition at the town's Guildhall Museum which had materials from the Kitchener Camp Project – an online resource bringing together records and family treasures to build a picture of the unlikely website's founder Clare Weissenberg described the day's visit as "profound". "Werner, my father, always kept a suitcase of letters, documents and photographs under the bed at home, all of which never saw the light of day," she said."I was in my early 20s when he died, which is when I found paperwork with the German eagle insignia stamped on it."So I began wondering about his story."Whilst volunteering at The Wiener Holocaust Library in London, Ms Weissenberg met the author Clare Ungerson, who had been chronicling the lives of families just like hers. Hearing tales of some 4,000 others who had similarly fled to Kent to escape Hitler's campaign of ethnic cleansing was like "a cork being taken out of a bottle", she said."Afterwards I set up a Kitchener Camp website and got a great response from all over, with people sending me their own experiences."It really seemed to grab everyone's imagination and I gradually built a picture of this largely forgotten and overlooked piece of history."The Kitchener Camp rescue began in February 1939, seven months before the outbreak of World War Two and shortly after the Nazis coordinated a wave of antisemitic violence known as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken rescue was founded and run by the same, mainly Jewish, aid organisations that funded and coordinated the far better known Kindertransport scheme. Stephen Nelken said his father Lothar had escaped fascism and a lengthy internment at a concentration camp. "I found his diary from when he left Germany and came to Kitchener Camp," said Mr Nelken, adding that the people of Sandwich had been "very welcoming" to his dad - even buying him and his fellow refugees a round of pints at the local pub."It's really important to know what went on and that it is passed onto his grandchildren as well," he Ungerson, whose book Four Thousand Lives is about the Kitchener Camp, said she was "surprised how few of these men's descendants knew anything of what happened to their fathers, grandfathers and uncles"."And, to be so at ease with having a camp of refugees in its midst, Sandwich must have been an extraordinary place," she added.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Urgent hunt for man ‘who performed indecent act in Costa Coffee before moving on to SECOND cafe' as cops release CCTV
POLICE have issued a CCTV appeal to identify a man with information relating to two incident acts. Both incidents took place in coffee shops in Gravesend, Kent. The first took place on Tuesday May 27 when a man approached a girl in a Costa Coffee on the corner of the High Street at around 12:50pm. Another incident is suspected to have happened at the same location. A further report was received that a man had exposed himself in Coffee Republic on New Road at around 1:30pm. Kent Police has now issued a CCTV appeal to identify a man they believe may have important information relating to the linked cases. They said: "Investigators are treating the two reports as linked and are now able to release an image of a man they wish to speak to, since he may have important information. "Anyone who recognises the man is urged to come forward. 01474 366149 quoting 46/88923/25."
BBC News
8 hours ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
Hildenborough cyclist says she does not feel safe riding in Kent
A cyclist from Kent says she does not feel safe riding on the county's roads as a charity says a record number of people are reporting to police being overtaken too safety charity IAM RoadSmart says the numbers of cyclists who submitted video footage of poor driving to police also doubled from 7,249 in 2021 to 15,779 in 2024More than half of motorists admit they do not know how much space to leave when overtaking, the charity Alice Thomas, from Hildenborough, said: "I don't feel safe cycling in Kent, I lived in London for 10 years and I felt safer cycling there than I do here - drivers get so annoyed and overtake very closely." IAM RoadSmart says data shows the number of reports leading to the serving of a notice of intended prosecution rose from 38% in 2021 to 54% in a third of people say they do not cycle because they think it is too dangerous, the charity to the Department for Transport, 87 pedal cyclists were killed in Great Britain in 2023, while 3,942 were reported to be seriously injured and 10,970 slightly injured. Ms Thomas told BBC Radio Kent: "I always see arguments between cyclists and drivers online, comment sections, radio phone-ins, but other countries aren't like that, they all work together, it feels like a real conflict here." 'Cyclists are human beings' The Highway Code, which was updated in 2022, recommends that drivers gave cyclists at least 1.5m (5ft) of space - about the width of a compact car - when overtaking at speeds of up to 30mph (48kmh).Ms Thomas says: "There's a big narrative between cyclists and drivers hating each other, which is crazy because the majority of cyclists are drivers as well."So it's not one or the other, cyclists are human beings. "I'm a mother of two young boys and I always just think, I want to be able to go home safely to my sons."
BBC News
8 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Petition to reinstate Tilbury to Gravesend ferry to be debated
Businesses are backing calls to reinstate the river crossing service between Gravesend in Kent and Tilbury in the operator of the service, announced last year it would not renew its Party member Rebecca Drake started a petition, which collected more than 2,400 signatures, and has been submitted to Kent County Council (KCC) to be debated at a council cabinet meeting on 17 KCC says it remains "committed" to working with other partners to explore "a sustainable, long-term solution for a replacement service, should funding become available". Ms Drake said she started her campaign last year after speaking to residents about how the closure had impacted them. "The service was a lifeline to the communities. Gravesend businesses have reported a noticeable downturn in revenue," she Drake, who ran as a parliamentary candidate in Gravesend last year, added: "Reinstating the ferry means there are more alternative transportation options and less pressure on roads." Glen White, owner of gaming cafe The Mug and Meeple in Gravesend, said the ferry was a "vital service" for businesses and residents in both towns."It was a shame the ferry stopped operating. It was a cost-effective way of travel for work, school and shopping," he Langley, owner of Gravesend Models & Wargames, said he had seen a fall in customer numbers visiting his shop."Many people, especially older people, came to Gravesend for shopping because it was convenient," he than 100,000 passenger journeys were made every year on the ferry service, according to KCC. A spokesperson for KCC said: "We understand the disappointment surrounding the withdrawal of the Tilbury ferry service. "Without joint funding from Thurrock District Council, we are currently unable to support the service independently due to ongoing budget constraints."Thurrock Council has been approached for a comment.
The Independent
17 hours ago
- The Independent
Father accused of murdering his baby daughter lied to police about cannabis use
A father accused of killing his baby daughter has admitted lying to police about his cannabis use the night before causing her 'catastrophic' injuries, a court heard. Thomas Holford, 24, has denied murdering his daughter Everleigh Stroud, who died aged one after 'excessive and severe' shaking led to brain and bone injuries when she was just five weeks old. Everleigh was rushed to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, when her grandmother reported she was 'only just' breathing on the morning of April 20 2021. Along with brain injuries which left her in a vegetative state, she also had bone fractures, bruising to her face, atrophy to her eyes leading to her going blind and injuries to her anus having spent the night before in her father's care, the court heard. Everleigh, who was born on March 13 2021, spent more than a year in a vegetative state before she died at 14 months on May 27 2022. Holford, of Ramsgate, claims he cannot remember what happened to cause Everleigh's injuries, but accepts that it must have been he that caused them and has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter. On Thursday, giving evidence to jurors at Canterbury Crown Court, Holford, wearing a black suit, black shirt and striped tie, said he had at least five joints on April 20 2021 before being left in charge of Everleigh that evening. On that day, he was smoking more than usual because it was '420' which he agreed was a 'big day for cannabis smokers', the court heard. When police arrived at his address in Wallwood Road, Ramsgate, where Holford, then 20, lived with his then 16-year-old girlfriend and her parents, they discovered a cannabis grinder and joint butts next to a milk bottle in his bedroom. He told police that he had not smoked cannabis since 10am the previous morning, which he has now accepted was a lie. Prosecting, Eloise Marshall KC asked: 'When the police asked you what you'd smoked, you lied?' 'Yes,' Holford replied. Asked why, he added: 'I'm trying to project an image of something that is better than reality.' He also suggested that he had done it to 'protect' his girlfriend's family, who were aware of his smoking but believed it was for medicinal purposes, the court heard. The prosecution countered that Holford was only lying because he did not want the police to know he had been smoking when he was alone with Everleigh. 'If you hadn't done something the night before you were worried about, you wouldn't have bothered lying,' said Ms Marshall. Holford told police that he had not smoked since the previous morning, when in fact he had rolled and smoked at least five joints through April 20, into the evening, the court heard. Text messages shown to jurors also suggest that he tried to buy weed from a contact known as 'Milo' because he knew he was looking after his daughter. He sent a text which read: 'Could you strap me anything, as I've got the little one on my own tonight. Going to be f—ing stressful.' Holford also admitted he had 'manipulated' his girlfriend's family into taking care of his cannabis for him and allowing him to smoke it. While in the witness box, he often answered questions to the effect of being unsure or not remembering what had happened. 'When it suits you, you have a memory – and when it doesn't suit you, you pretend you don't have a memory,' said Ms Marshall. Later, she asked about his initial statements to police about the night of the incident: 'Would you be the sort of person who could make up this kind of detailed lie?' 'I don't know, I'm quite imaginative,' Holford replied. He denies murder and also denies actual bodily harm caused around the same time to Everleigh's anus. Cross-examination of Holford will continue on Friday.
