Get out of Maidstone baby!
"How to stay sane in Maidstone."
Lets make a positive start, the Webb Ellis Trophy, the real thing, the rugby world cup, was on tour and in Maidstone and I went to see it, the only time I have stood in front of the County Council offices and felt proud, read on.
Things to do in Maidstone, 1) Get out! the roads leading away from town are great, 5 minutes in any direction and you are in the Countryside (almost)
2) Write to the council, not the most exciting thing you will ever do but you will want to know why your taxes are spent on decorating the town center with a floral sheep (yes! really)
3) Wondering where it all went, the town that is. Some of our oldest landmarks have been demolished in a bid to attract big buisness and make room for a few executive flats by the river. The brewery has been turned into another mall in a hope to attract shoppers away from Bluewater (one of europe`s biggest shopping centres)....no chance, the Trebor sweetie factory after 100 years of sterling service has been knocked down because some poor homeless yuppies neede some riverside appartments to live in, the sweetie factory!!! cruel isn`t it?
4) You will laugh, you will laugh as you realise that a small, mean spirited bunch of councillors tried to apply for city status for what is in reality a small town with a small village attitude.
5) You will cry, as you try to get home of an evening without the aid of a bus, and where have all the taxis gone! You will have even more grief trying to get home late at night as the clubs empty out and he fighting youth take to the street, this is becoming quite a worry as people from all over the south east come here to get smashed and then slug each other, read all about it in the Kent Messenger, one of Maidstones few sucess stories, oh! and they closed the Royal Albion pub, the last bastion of live music in the County town, bugger it! i`m off to London.



Millie the Kestrel and trainer
Leeds Castle
A great loss to us all.