As demand for the beer grew, hops, being the crucial ingredient meant of more workers were required.  In addition to domestic supply, some beer went to Chatham dockyard for the navy and some was exported.

In 1844 the first section of the Medway Valley railway line, running between Paddock Wood and Maidstone was completed.  Its main purpose was to transport hops and fruit.

At harvest time, trains specifically ran to bring hop pickers down from London’s East End.  Not that the visitors were always particularly welcomed by the local population.  In anticipation of their arrival, iron grills would be set up in the windows of some local shops. Pubs would sometimes segregate them.

Growing hops is not without its challenges. Amongst other things, mildews and red spider mites were blights that hop growers had to contend with.

Families of pickers regarded this as their holiday in the countryside. It created happy memories so that later, many who had worked in the hop gardens as children moved to Kent as adults. Many pickers, particularly those coming in their own vehicles, brought furniture and cooking utensils with them.  Accommodation was in primitive wooden or brick hopper huts which skirted the hop gardens. There were often outside brick ovens and spits to cook on. Picking could go on from dawn to dusk. The boredom was counter balanced by the camaraderie.

The hop bines grew up strings attached to high poles held taut by wirework. Men on stilts would hook the bines down.  The pickers would work seated around hop bins which were made of canvass and supported with wooden frames.

Oasts were used for drying hops which was something of an art form given that overdrying could ruin a day’s crop. The freshly picked hops would be laid and raked onto a drying floor with a furnace stoked below.  Once the drying was successfully completed the hops were cooled on a platform below the cowls which aerated them. Once cooled they were then swept into an enormous sack or hop pocket with the grower’s name on it and pressed in often by a manually operated press.

Eventually the whole process became largely mechanised with machines stripping the bines. Most of the workforce was reduced to picking out any chaff and odd leaves which had eluded the machine’s path into the rubbish pile.

By the late 20^th century many small growers had been squeezed out by a quota system which meant the amount of hops they could sell became fewer and fewer each year.   It was the larger enterprises that survived.

 Written by Peregrine

The situation was not helped by the arrival of Storm Eunice in the middle of February, which caused considerable damage. Mostly it was only relatively minor trees that came down and we were able to re-open the great majority of footpaths within a couple of days. As ever, it was predominantly Birch trees that were affected but we did lose a few major trees as well, the most prominent being the large, triple stemmed Oak that came down by Brighton Lake and partially blocked the A26 for a while. Nothing had been visible above ground but after the storm, it was clear that the root system of the tree had been infected with a rotting fungus for some time. The road was quickly re-opened and we made the rest of the tree safe in the ensuing days but the wreckage of the tree had to stay there until contractors were able to chip the branches and remove the trunks, which we will use to reinforce the Commons verges in vulnerable areas. Hopefully that will be the last of the storms for this year but that is by no means certain.

The Volunteers have also now finished cutting and clearing but the litter group will continue under Gemma’s guidance. The final conservation task was the clearance of a few footpaths restricted by fallen branches and the removal of self-sown seedlings from the grassland near the Tarry Path Pond. It was nice to see quite a bit of frog spawn in the pond already. As I write this, Fir Tree Pond, Cabbage Stalk Lane Pond and the new Marlpit ponds also have frog spawn in them and Toads are gathering in Brighton Lake; I have not seen any newts yet but they will surely not be far behind.

As the seasons change again, our focus moves to the renovation of our infrastructure, such as benches, bins and surfaced paths. Within the next couple of weeks, we will of course also be starting to cut the amenity grass areas and so the whole cycle of work starts again.

Although there is always plenty to do, the next few months are traditionally my quietest time of the year and the time that I get to watch the Common re-awaken. This year will of course be my last as Warden, so I intend to absolutely enjoy it to the full and savour every minute of it. My successor has now been appointed and will take up the post of Commons Ranger at the start of June. I will retire as Warden at the end of June after a month’s handover period. I am not entirely sure why the title of my post is changing from Warden to Ranger but it would seem to mean that I will remain the first and only Warden of the Commons, which is rather a fun thought!

Steve Budden – Commons Warden

In the first half of the twentieth century Amelia Scott would have been a familiar name to many, and not just locally, as she was an activist and campaigner for women’s suffrage. She was one of the first women elected to the local council. As a councillor she championed municipal services which rather fittingly included a museum and library.

The £21million Amelia Scott project, was developed by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council with Kent County Council (KCC). Funded by both councils and the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England, the project brings together a range of services and cultural offerings under one roof. Inside you’ll find museum spaces, new galleries, and a new adult library and a children’s library all alongside the tourism information and council services that were provided by the Tunbridge Wells Gateway. The building now seamlessly incorporates KCC’s adult education service where anything from arts and crafts to languages and IT can be studied.

The café looks out to the new Courtyard Garden and is one of several large-scale artworks specially commissioned for The Amelia Scott. Like the garden all seven artworks have been inspired by the people and history of Tunbridge Wells.

Around 450,000 people will visit the centre annually and they will be able to view many of the artefacts and artworks which have been in storage for years due to lack of space in the old museum.

A new gallery space means more opportunities for temporary exhibitions, starting with Henry Moore’s Threads of Influence which is on until 3 July. Then just in time for the school summer holidays is Cabaret Mechanical Marvels, an exhibition featuring modern automata with intricate mechanisms and humorous scenes. Containing hands-on interactives, this is fun for the whole family.

The Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival for readers and writers will celebrate the opening of The Amelia Scott over four days from 29 April to 2 May. Headlining the programme for this exciting new festival are David Baddiel and Jo Brand, both well known as presenters, comedians and writers. The creative space and the new libraries in The Amelia Scott make it the perfect place for this new festival to establish its roots. As well as established names the festival will showcase new talent and local writers across the four-day extravaganza of words, workshops, readings, panel discussions, poetry and much more.

Other venues will also host events as part of the festival including the Assembly Hall Theatre, Trinity Theatre, The Forum and The Tunbridge Wells Hotel.

The Amelia After Dark promises a late-night programme which will let visitors experience The Amelia Scott outside its usual opening hours, with talk of the events including stand-up comedy, art workshops and master classes and some family activities too. The Amelia After Dark’s first event is Hearts, Arts and Drag Queens on 6 May, which organisers say is an exciting, vibrant and unconventional celebration of popular and flamboyant culture.

The Amelia Scott is open seven days a week. For further information go to theamelia.co.uk.

As April is probably the peak plant buying and planting month for many gardeners, I thought that I would give a shout out for a category of garden-worthy plants sometimes overlooked in our quest for flower power – evergreen shrubs.  That label certainly sounds more ‘worthy’ than exciting but, of course, evergreen does not have to mean green. There are many shrubs that retain their leaves and provide colour all year round, and quite a few that have flowers as well.  Unless you are creating a purely herbaceous border, shrubs are a great addition to any planting scheme.  They provide height and structure and this is especially valuable in winter and spring when the top growth of many herbaceous plants has died off and been cut back.  And an evergreen shrub gives a real sense of fullness in the sparse months as well as anchoring the planting scheme to the ground.

A common complaint about evergreens is that they are boring.  Well, then you are choosing the wrong ones!  I generally prefer plants that have either flowers or variegated leaves but not both as it is rare to get a really good colour combination.  My personal worst-case scenario is a yellow variegated leaf with pink flowers – but this is just my taste.  Of course, we all know Rhododendrons and Camellias and probably regarded them as ‘flowering shrubs’ rather than evergreens in the first instance, but they still provide that winter bulk and structure that is so valuable.  It is really the coloured-foliage evergreen shrubs that I want to highlight here and some that may be less well known.

As light relief from dark and dull green, look at Griselinia, a medium size shrub very tolerant of wind and coastal areas, has soft green leaves and the variety ‘Variegata’ is edged with cream.  Some evergreens take on a reddish tinge when temperatures drop, livening up a winter border, such as Nandina and especially the dwarf form ‘Firepower’.  Finally I love the almost black, shiny, ruffled leaves of the dwarf Pittosporum ‘Tom Thumb’.   There is plenty of colourful choice in evergreens..

Alison Marsden lives in Southborough providing advice to gardeners onsite and online. She teaches Adult Education gardening courses and gives talks to clubs and societies.  There is no long-term commitment – just all the advice you need an hour at a time.  Find out more at www.gardeningbydesign.co.uk or call 07803 045327

Spring clean your Greenhouse

The start of April is a good time to clean out your greenhouse after it has been shut up all winter.  Many plants can be moved outside permanently and the more tender, still requiring overnight protection, can start hardening off during the day.  The point of cleaning out a greenhouse is to remove plant debris that might have been collecting under the staging to remove sources of fungal infections and also to maximise the light to plants.

Ideally you would take all plants outside before starting, so that they are not at risk of being tipped over or sloshed with a bucket of water.  But if your greenhouse is big enough, then just moving plants around should suffice.  Brush or wipe the surface of staging and shelves to clear up any old leaves and spilled compost – this can all go onto the compost heap.  Wash the glass, inside and out, removing the green algae that tends to develop, especially at the edges of the panes.  There are many products offered for glass cleaning, if you use one, make sure it is suited to greenhouse use and follow the instructions.  Finally, remember to clear leaves from the gutters and your greenhouse will be ready for the new season.

Happy Gardening from Alison