- 24/04/2025
Catch up on all the latest history news from across Kent with Finn Macdiarmid.
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00:00and welcome to Kent Chronicles where we turn back time on all of Kent's history from the
00:23Mesolithic era to the Industrial Revolution and everything in between I'm Finn McDermid and join
00:28me as we turn back time and discuss all things history but first it's time for our history
00:33roundup now as much history as Kent does have it's time to take a look at what's making the
00:38headlines around the country and what no anniversaries we might have on the day on
00:42today's roundup it's been 239 years since the birth of John Franklin English Arctic Explorer
00:48who was assigned to the last unnavigated parts of the Northwest Passage 136 years have passed since
00:54the birth of Charlie Chaplin and finally on this day in 1912 Harriet Quimby was the first woman to fly
01:00over the channel let's have a look hello and welcome to this week's history roundup first up today marks
01:06239 years since the birth of John Franklin he was an English Arctic Explorer assigned to traverse the
01:13last unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage a sea route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
01:18but the ships became trapped in ice in 1846 and according to a note found on King William Island
01:24years later Franklin died on the ship on the 11th of June 1847 but the location of his grave remains
01:30a mystery next Charlie Chaplin an English-born film actor and director was born today in 1889 he grew
01:37up in a harsh environment in London one of poverty and hardship he had an absent father and was sent
01:42to a workhouse twice before he hit the age of nine he started appearing in films after being scouted to
01:48the Fred Carnot company in the United States after that he began developing his own films and created his
01:53on-screen persona The Tramp by 1918 he was one of the best-paid actors in the entire world the year
01:59after that he co-founded his own distribution company United Artists that gave him complete control over
02:05his films and interestingly enough he refused to move to sound films in the 1930s only relenting for
02:11The Great Dictator in 1940 a satirical film about Hitler and finally on this day in 1912 American
02:17journalist Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel she took off from
02:22Dover en route to Calais France and made the flight in 59 minutes landing about 25 miles from Calais on a
02:29beach although Quimby died at the age of 37 in an airplane accident she had a major influence on
02:34the role of women in aviation well that's all for this week's history roundup now a new Netflix show
02:40has been released based on a failed heist that was planned at a rural farm in Kent the diamond heist
02:46directed by Guy Ritchie follows what would have been one of the most valuable thefts in British history if it
02:51was pulled off in the year 2000 a group of experienced robbers made a plan to break into
02:56the Millennium Dome stealing some of the world's most valuable gems including a 203 carat diamond
03:01named the Millennium Star then escape by boat the police managed to tell their plan however as one
03:07clumsy criminal drew attention to himself as a character of interest the squad of armed police
03:12swarmed the building during their robbery attempt and arrested all the criminals now tributes are being
03:18made to a man dubbed the Fred Dibner of Kent who passed away at the age of 86 bill hooker who was
03:24originally from sandwich was an exceptionally sat talented self-taught mechanic who spent his time
03:30restoring old and broken machines including a wartime truck with a searchlight that he showcased
03:34across the country he was even invited onto a popular 80s TV show called surprise surprise he leaves
03:40behind his wife his wife of 64 years and his five daughters and will be dearly missed now during
03:48World War two and before the invention of the radar acoustic mirrors like this one behind me were designed
03:54to detect the sound of enemy aircraft flying towards you now with the upcoming 80th anniversary of victory
03:59in Europe day and 90 years since the invention of the radar technology one of these acoustic mirrors has
04:05been installed in Dover to raise money and awareness for homeless veterans I went down this morning to find out more
04:10the port of Dover sees ships coming into its waters every day but now it has a new arrival that it
04:16hasn't had built on its seafront for nearly a century an acoustic sound mirror but this one is designed
04:22to make people more aware of the struggles of veterans rather than the sounds of planes back in
04:27World War two these sound mirrors would have lined at the south coast all to detect the noise of incoming
04:32enemy aircraft but this one takes on a different meaning it's all to raise awareness and amplify the
04:38voices of veterans who need support the most it was commissioned by the Royal British Legion
04:42Industries and launched on the anniversary of both victory in Europe day and the invention of radar
04:47so we've been working on it for several months obviously VE day 80 is coming up as a really important
04:53time potentially the last time we'll have a major anniversary with people that were still in combat and
05:00serving during World War two so we've been working on it for quite a long time and as I say Martin's work with us
05:06before and he's come to us with this idea and we've worked to develop it together the RBL I also say that in the last 12
05:12months alone they've seen a 45 percent increase in requests and referrals for emergency veteran accommodation
05:18former chief of the general staff and RBL I patron Lord Danit CBE thinks the timing of the launch is vital because of the
05:25increase of referrals but also with the state of current global affairs and he isn't the only one
05:30we've got to bear in mind this year it's all the more important with that current threat from Russia
05:36on Ukraine I've just come back from Tallinn where of course they're also on the front line of that
05:41threat so it's so important people remember the importance of this but also we reward and look
05:49after veterans who need us and donate to the RBL I and other charities to ensure that veterans are treated
05:56with dignity and listen to which I think this is quite important being a radar which of course assists
06:02with listening for the installation the RBL I commissioned the same artist that designed their
06:07Tommy logo well I've always loved the acoustic mirrors that you can almost see either side of
06:12us here two or three miles away from where we are now these beautiful steadfast sentinel structures
06:18made of concrete they weren't built as artworks but to me they look like artworks I wanted to draw
06:24together the Tommy and the idea of listening the application amplification of ancient voices you
06:31know learning from the echoes of history and by bringing a piece of Dover's past back into the
06:37present Martin and the RBL I hope the structure will raise money and awareness that allows them
06:42to continue to house veterans and their families Finn McDermid for came TV in Dover now a magnet
06:51fishing youtubers captured the moment he discovered a first world war artillery shell in the River
06:56Medway I was calling 999 Raymond Berry watched on us Kent police set up a cordon in Maidstone Town
07:02Center with a bomb squad later attending and safely removing it we interviewed Raymond on the Kent
07:07morning show earlier but first here's the moment he found the shell shocking item and it was all
07:16covered in crud and muck and horrible so I started tapping it off with my hammer like you do and all of
07:25the crud fell off in one go and what we're left with is this it looks to me like some sort of artillery shell
07:42but that's going to be the end of the little birthday mudlocking what we're doing magnet fishing
07:47uh because I'm gonna have to call the police have to call this kind of thing in
07:52recently we've been kind of venturing out a bit more and we just had the idea to come up to uh Maidstone
07:58um to do a bit of magnet fishing in the Medway and um we were there on Sunday we got there quite early
08:05um and we were pulling out the usual stuff you know we pulled out half of an old motorbike and
08:13all kinds of bits and bobs um and then sort of towards the afternoon um I pulled up the uh the shell
08:21um but obviously didn't realize what it was and it was all covered in crust and rust and all the rest
08:28of it so I just kind of threw it on the side um because you know when when stuff comes up like that
08:34um you have to let it dry out and then you kind of tap it off with a hammer to see what's in there
08:39um so and it can be quite tiring magnet fishing because your arms you know your arms hurt a bit so I
08:46went and sat on the side um and started tapping off some of the things that we'd pulled up um and I
08:53tapped that off and I caught because I had my friend Steve with me and I called him over I said
08:58what do you reckon that is and we sort of looked at each other we knew instantly what it was
09:03um but we put a couple of pictures I'm I'm on a group on Facebook and uh that identifies things so
09:10I put a picture on there and everybody was coming back you know mate you've got a bomb that's a bomb
09:16that's so uh I said right we're gonna have to phone the police um because obviously you can't you know
09:24walk around with a life bomb in your pocket too much um so yeah we we 999'd it and um the rest sort of
09:33to be honest you can see um some of those uh images on screen from you finding it from the
09:38police presence um I want to hear a little bit more about um about discovery and about um uh yourself
09:44and your magnet fishing shortly but were you at any point uh and your friend scared um about finding the
09:50bomb um I was once I'd realized what it was because you know I mean when when you do stuff like
10:00you know mud larking metal detecting you pull up all kinds of things I mean it's not all about
10:05coins you know you you find loads of different kinds of stuff and most of the time
10:10ground they've been in a river you know um and lose all their shape um and you you end up kind of
10:21looking at things and you've got no idea what they are most of the time but as soon as we realized
10:27I mean bear in mind I mean I'd literally thrown it on the riverbank um I'd been tapping it with a
10:33hammer you know at any point that could have gone off so yeah once I realized what it was I would I
10:41said to my friend oh my god you know we've we've used up all of our luck here you know let's not
10:47mess about now um yeah I mean because I was I was hitting it with a hammer
10:53beginning you tap things with hammers and I didn't realize you did it to the actual bomb itself
11:00I mean so um tell us a bit more about the one so is it did they have to like sort of disarm it what
11:07what happened to it um I don't actually know because um it the once the police uh got there
11:15they took a few pictures um because obviously I mean that it's not something they deal with every day
11:20they're not experts in in you know world war one bombs no more than I am so they had to send some
11:26pictures off I'm assuming to the uh bomb disposal unit now very quickly it's time for some trivia
11:33where does Kent's famous invictor phrase actually come from and what does it mean
11:43well that's all we have for this half we'll have the answer to that and more after this short break
11:48see you soon
12:18you
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12:49you
18:0240 years might sound like a long time ago, but those behind the exhibition say it's important
18:08to keep these memories alive, especially now more than ever, when we get to see similar
18:13scenes of destruction coming from Ukraine.
18:16There isn't a day goes by I don't think about that day, and you think about a guilt
18:22complex really hits you and says, why did I survive, where someone in a compartment 20
18:27feet away off to my right, nobody in there survived, where the bomb went off.
18:31And some have said to me, what do you think when people call it the Forgotten War?
18:35Well, it's not a forgotten war to us veterans, it never will be.
18:40Tommaso Di Middio for KMTV in Chatham.
18:45Now residents of Stansted Village near Sevenoaks were shocked when they were told they'd be
18:49without a broadband provider by December.
18:52Many of the locals' work were worried about how the change would affect their work, hobbies
18:56and education, with one resident fearing that three years of transferring his local history
19:00society's physical archives online could go to waste.
19:03I went down to Stansted to find out more.
19:06It would make my life unbearable, to be frank.
19:09Last month, residents of Stansted got an email from their broadband provider Truly, that because
19:13of OpenReach stopping their wholesale line rental product, they would stop their service
19:17to the area by December 2025.
19:21Stansted is a village deep in the Kent countryside, so for locals, connection to the rest of the
19:25county and the country is vital.
19:27And without a good Wi-Fi network set up, it could affect people's work, how often they
19:31check in on family and friends, or even their businesses.
19:34Steve Bassie was so worried for the potential lack of broadband that he wrote to his local
19:38MP, Tom Tugenhart, who ended up speaking to Truly.
19:41To be frank, I don't know what I expected.
19:44I was just a desperate person trying to cling on to my broadband.
19:50We live in the country, we're very remote, our telephone signals are pooling, and the
19:55loss of broadband would, especially after losing the pub, would probably be the final straw.
20:00Now, if you're like me, you might just think of Wi-Fi as being something intangible, but
20:04it's actually a utility like water or energy that requires cables to be laid and maintained.
20:09Now most of the houses here in Stansted use Truly, which means that they have an internet
20:14speed of 80 megabytes per second.
20:16But if it gets to December and no changes are made, then instead they'll have to rely
20:20on ASDL, which will only give them an internet speed of 5 megabytes per second.
20:25Being without broadband wouldn't just impact the present, but Stansted's past as well.
20:29Well, I'm the chair of the local history society, and we've just spent four, maybe five years
20:36turning the paper archive into a digital one, and it's all stored online on Google Drive.
20:43So we accessed the historical society archive via Wi-Fi.
20:49And the previous service via BT Openreach was one megabit per second, if on a good day,
20:56which is barely broadband.
20:57So one of the ways it would affect us is not being able to do our historical society work
21:04at all unless we go somewhere else.
21:06Truly say, we have been in touch with a small number of customers whose broadband service is
21:10at threat from Openreach's wholesale line rental switch-off.
21:13Whilst we have had no part in Openreach's decision to switch off wholesale line rental,
21:18if it goes ahead as planned, it will no longer be possible for us to provide these properties
21:22with a broadband connection.
21:23While truly doesn't serve all the houses and buildings in the area, there are enough
21:27that locals are severely worried, not just for the impact on their lives, but for the
21:30entire village as a whole.
21:32Finn McDermid for Kame TV in Stansted.
21:37Brilliant.
21:38And Dick Hogbin should be joining me now over a remote video link.
21:42Hi, Dick.
21:43How are you doing?
21:44I'm fine.
21:45Thank you, Finn.
21:46Brilliant.
21:47Thank you so much for joining me.
21:48Thank you for having me.
21:49No, no, no, no problem at all.
21:50So I guess I'd like to start with, tell us a bit about where the History Society actually
21:54originated from.
21:56Well, it was a local resident in the 1970s, started collecting artefacts and documents
22:05and storing them in her house.
22:08And in the early 1990s, had a climate controlled room created in the local village hall in Fair
22:17Seat and started storing all the archive in that room.
22:24And it's been there ever since, just sort of there, being added to, but not being accessible.
22:31And we took it over about five years ago.
22:33I see.
22:35And I'm aware that it's not just the village of Stansted, it's some of the surrounding villages
22:39as well.
22:40Is that correct?
22:41Yes.
22:42It's a small parish.
22:45The ecclesiastical parish is Stansted, Fair Seat and Vigo, and the civil parish is Stansted
22:52and Fair Seat.
22:55Stansted and Fair Seat are the older villages.
22:57Vigo is a 1960s and 70s development.
23:03And the older village is about just short of 300 houses and about 500 residents.
23:10I see.
23:11And when did the conversation of converting that physical archive you mentioned to a digital
23:16one actually start?
23:17Oh, that's quite interesting.
23:20We had a project to produce a booklet to commemorate the centenary of the armistice in 2018.
23:29And we basically had a project to record the life and times of all the names that are on
23:38the war memorial.
23:39So having done that, we had a project team and we put it all together and we published
23:44the booklet, we then decided to try and put it online somewhere.
23:48And that's where the local history website originated.
23:54And bringing it back to that broadband issue, when you first heard of this potential for
23:58the broadband to be reduced to five megabits per second, affecting your ability to access
24:04and work on this digital archive, what was your reaction?
24:07Well, it's sort of, it's a little short of disastrous if it happens.
24:12I can't believe in this day and age it will happen.
24:16I just think that somebody is going to come along and say, we're going to end up with fibre
24:21to the premises.
24:24But at the moment, nobody's saying that, not BT Openreach, nor Truly.
24:29And we stand the prospect, I think I said in the interview, that we used to get one megabit
24:35per second.
24:38And really you can't run an online archive on a website on one megabit per second.
24:42I mean, the History Society and the archive is one thing, but, you know, there are people
24:47all over the village who, oh, hang on, we've got a little helper here.
24:52My little granddaughter's just decided to put in an appearance.
24:57Oh, that's all right.
24:57Hi.
24:58Does she like history as well?
24:59Yeah.
25:01Not quite yet.
25:03She might.
25:03But you can't run your life on one megabit per second, let alone a History Society website.
25:10It's ridiculous.
25:11No, absolutely.
25:12And, you know, if worse does come to pass, what will end up happening?
25:16What will you do?
25:19Well, I mean, there is the option of having Starlink, you know, the Elon Musk Starlink.
25:26But as it stands, there's a waiting list.
25:30The satellites are not full for the area.
25:34So there may be a gap, which would, you know, it feels like it will be five years of hard
25:42work down the drain, to be honest.
25:46I see.
25:47And I think that's all we have time for, Dick.
25:50Thank you so much for joining us.
25:53And, yeah, I'm sure we'll touch base with you again if and when we do hear some more
25:57news.
25:59Perfect.
25:59Thank you very much for having me.
26:00Thank you, Tim.
26:02Well, it looks like that was one for the history books.
26:05You've been watching Kent Chronicles live here on KMTV.
26:09But don't forget, there's always history happening around us.
26:12And if you think you have a story you think we should be covering, then please don't hesitate,
26:17sorry, to get in touch.
26:18And if you happen to be more interested in the present than the past, I suppose we do
26:23have some other special programmes you can check out as well.
26:25Invictus Sport, Made in Kent, Kent on Climate, Kent Film Club and, of course, the Kent Politics
26:30Show, which you can all find on our website.
26:33You can watch those throughout the week or catch up with on our website, like I say.
26:37But from me, for now, have a very good evening and we'll see you soon.
26:40Goodbye.
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