The Otford Society AGM will take place at 7pm on Tuesday 30th April in the Players Hall at the Otford Village Memorial Hall. The meeting will include refreshments and an exciting talk by Kevin Froming of Otford & District Archaeological Group entitled “A Villa Full of Secrets” about the Roman Villa Excavations in Church Field.
Come and have your say about the issues that concern you and hear our plans for the year ahead!
The Otford Society is refreshing the manner in which it operates. No big changes but more a tidying up on what we do and how we do it. As we have grown over recent years, it has become apparent that our current Constitution may not fully capture the essence of our present focus and activities. In light of this, we hope you will agree that these updates to the Constitution better reflect our values and goals.
Please take the time to review the revised Constitution and forward any comments or suggestions to chairman@otfordsociety.org.uk by 10th February 2024. This will allow us to address your input and make any necessary revisions ahead of the scheduled meeting.
We really value your commitment to The Otford Society. Your contributions to this constitutional update process are important to us. If you are unable to attend the Extraordinary General Meeting, you can consider appointing a proxy to represent your views. Just let the Secretary know by email at secretary@otfordsociety.org.uk.
A Happy New Year.
As we begin 2024, here are a few photograps of our work at the station from November and December. As always, a massive thank you to James and the team !
The big news is that we have created a brand new feature around the North Downs Way sign.
We are not quite finished yet, but we have made excellent progress transforming this patch of waste ground to the left of the station building into an interesting little garden.
The creation of a garden here was actually the original suggestion of one of our friends at Southeastern, and we have been happy to turn the idea into reality.
We have also been refreshing some of the bulbs on Platform 2, ready for Spring.
The planter on Platform 1 has been given a new winter look….
And, all the window boxes have been renewed as well….
The other big news is that we have just been nominated in the “It’s Your Station” – Silver Category at the Community Rail Network Awards. The results will be announced at a ceremony in Cardiff in March.
To help celebrate, we have had these lovely badges made for all our volunteers !
And finally, for all our steam fans, locomotive 34046 “Braunton” passed through the station again on Saturday 16th December with a Christmas rail tour from Gloucester to Canterbury. Here she is on the approach to Otford.
As summer 2023 draws to a close, here are a few photographs taken at the station over the last few months. All of the fabulous floral displays are made possible by the hard work of James and his team of wonderful volunteers.
Our beautiful planter on Platform 1 in full bloom….
Our lovely window boxes and hanging baskets….
Our new garden around the North Downs Way sign….
The unveiling of our “History of Otford Station” posters on both Plaforms in late June….
The visit of steam locomotive “Bahamas” on 9th August…..
On four consecutive Saturdays from November 18th Santa and his elves will be once again welcoming families in the atmospheric ruins of Otford Palace. With food, drink and gifts on sale nearby, and a free present for every child, it’s not to be missed. Tickets cost £10 per child with accompanying adults, and can be bought online HERE. Full details, along with everything you need to know about our second Otford Christmas Fayre on November 18th, is being published on our Christmas page. See you there!
A warm summer’s evening, stunning surroundings, fabulous canapes and delicious wine: the eighty Otford residents who came to our third annual Garden Party at Troutbeck all had a wonderful time. Exploring the lovely gardens or just sitting and chatting to old friends, it was the perfect way to spend a couple of hours. And thanks to their generosity and some great prizes, the raffle raised £200 for Phab, a charity devoted to inspiring and supporting disabled and non-disabled children, young people and adults to make more of life together. The money raised was used to buy jigsaws, and you can see their lovely thank you note below.
We’re back at Otford Station from 10 to 12 on Saturday, July 8th. Two local craft businesses will be displaying and selling their wares. Rhi Love It produces stylish, hand-painted upcycled furniture, unique pieces to adorn any home. And there will be a range of wonderful handmade crafts for children from Kellys Cre8tions. Whether you’re taking the train or not, do be sure to ‘pop’ down and support these wonderful local crafters.
Last night at our Annual General Meeting we were delighted to present our latest community superstar award to Mr Shafi, our local pharmacist. The first person to nominate him summed up his invaluable contribution to our village: “The Otford pharmacy stayed open all through Covid, and Mr Shafi was aways happy and available to give advice. This is now still the case as people sometimes find it difficult to get a quick appointment with their GP surgery. As a village we are very lucky to have a local chemist with a truly caring man.” He was presented with a certificate by our chairman, Rod Shelton, ‘in recognition of the considerate and unselfish work you do for our whole community’, and a lovely plant.
The well-attended AGM heard full reports on the year’s activities from the Chairman, Vice-Chairman Simon Featherstone and Treasurer Chris Sutton, as well as a look ahead to events planned for the rest of 2023. The evening concluded with a fascinating talk from Dr Chris Gardner, Head of Science and Partnerships at the South East Rivers Trust. He outlined the challenges facing the Darent River, one of only 250 chalk streams worldwide; and the encouraging long-term plans to protect it and restore biodiversity in the river catchment of the Darent Valley.