Reform takes first Medway Council seats
Plus Chinese New Year, Gillingham's transfer window, Minimus at Analogue Music, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more
Medway politics took a new turn last night, with Reform winning two seats in by-elections. We’ll have the full story in our Tuesday edition, but we have the key details below. Beyond that, our usual arts and culture briefing includes a look at Chatham’s Chinese New Year celebrations, the ins and outs of Gillingham’s transfer window, a review of experimental music event Minimus at Analogue Music, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more.
Reform takes first Medway Council seats
Reform won two of three Medway council seats holding by-elections last night, taking both seats in Rochester East & Warren Wood from Labour.
David Finch and John Vye managed to top the ballot in the ward, giving Reform their first elected councillors in Medway.
As a result of their two seat losses, Labour has technically lost overall control of Medway Council, now holding 29 of 59 seats. They remain the largest party by some margin, and two suspended Labour councillors mean their voting power in reality is closer to 31.
Labour held on to its seat in Gillingham South despite a surging Reform vote, with Liubov Nestorova’s victory providing the administration with the one bright bit of news.
The two new Reform councillors won’t be the only ones representing the party on the council. Formerly independent councillor Chris Spalding confirmed to Local Authority that he has also joined the party. Spalding has represented All Saints ward on the Hoo Peninsula since 2023.
We’ll have a more detailed analysis of the new political reality for Medway Council in our Tuesday edition. Paid supporters can access our live coverage of the election count here.
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In brief
🚫 Kent and Medway were not included in the government’s Devolution Priority Programme, meaning we won’t get an elected mayor and the powers and money that come with that next year. Medway Council Leader Vince Maple called the news “bitterly disappointing.” We’ll have more on the devolution debacle in our Tuesday edition…
🏥 Medway Hospital are proposing extending visiting hours from 8am to 8pm each day. They are holding a survey to obtain feedback on the idea.
💸 Medway African and Caribbean Association have been awarded a landmark grant of over £282,000 for its work with young people.
🏗️ Ground has finally been broken on the proposed Docking Station building at Chatham Dockyard. If you want to make your mark on it, you can name a brick for £100.
🌳 3,500 new trees are being planted on green space at Deangate in Hoo. The planting is part of a scheme to add 1.5m new trees across Kent.
Chatham celebrates the Year of the Snake
This weekend is the Chinese New Year celebration in Chatham. The event is an opportunity to celebrate Medway’s long history with the Chinese people. David Stokes of Chatham Town Centre Forum tells us, “I believe, officially, I will put quote marks around it, ‘the largest Chinese parade outside of London.’” Medway is twinned with Foshan, and the parade is supported by their representatives in the Kato Society.
A traditional Chinese parade will take place at midday. It will start with the ‘dotting of the eyes ceremony’, where the dragon is woken. This will be followed by the main parade, featuring Chinese acrobats and entertainers, including troops from China. The parade organisers from the Kato Society work with the organisers of London’s celebrations, leading to performers extending their stays to perform in Chatham.
The parade is free to attend and is one of the biggest events on Chatham’s calendar. Local organisations will also contribute, including Nucleus Arts’ snake puppet and the Rotary Club’s dragon boat. Community and dance groups will join them as they march down the High Street. After the parade, there will be a performance of Chinese dance inside and outside the Pentagon. “We're going to spread the love”, says David.
Dozens of community groups are expected to take part throughout the day, highlighting the centuries old connection of the Chinese community to the area via Chatham Docks. The festival returned with a bang last year after ending during the covid pandemic. David, in his dual role with Chatham Town Centre Forum and Nucleus Arts, secured UK Shared Prosperity Fund money last year to bring the event back.
Its return was even mentioned in parliament as an example of good practice in using such funding. They reapplied and received funding again this year, with additional financial support from the Town Centre Forum.
The organisers are hopeful that, having successfully brought the festival back, there is now enough momentum for it to become a mainstay of the Medway festival events calendar again. “The difficulty with any events at the moment is funding. It's always a struggle to get funding for events.”
Medway Council used to be able to fund a number of festivals. We recently covered the Medway Japan Association, which was previously showcased through the now-defunct Will Adams Festival. There is less funding for events, and events themselves are more expensive to run. Cost increases have come partly from an increased focus on security and safety, with road closures, all-day ambulance and welfare stations all driving up costs. David is adamant that they will continue supporting the festival and fundraise for it as long as possible.
The Chatham Chinese New Year Festival takes place tomorrow (Sat 8 Feb). You can find more details here.
The Ins and Outs of the Gillingham transfer window
by Ben Hopkins
After Gillingham’s season sunk into extreme disappointment and is now in danger of much worse, the transfer window offered manager John Coleman the chance to shake things up. Ben Hopkins looks at the ins and outs and tries to say something more in-depth than just “meh.”
What was Gillingham’s transfer window plan? From the outside, the strategy appears to have three core strands: bring in as many new players as possible to try to revert the mood amongst the squad and provide fresh team options; focus on loans to avert committing to expenditure that runs into next season; and to begin to clear out the dead wood. In chronological order, these are in the ins and outs.
George Lapslie to Bradford
George Lapslie joined with great expectations at the start of the Galinson era. The midfielder weighed in with a few goals, a little industry and flashes of ability, but all too often seemed to be as anonymous as the floods of Valentine’s cards we’re anticipating to arrive at Local Authority Towers next week. After two years of fans thinking, “maybe he’s finally finding some elusive form”, one of the club’s better paid players departed the bleak house of Priestfield for the bright lights of, erm, Bradford. Oh well.
Asher Agbinone from Crystal Palace (loan)
Asher Agbinone is highly rated enough at Palace to have been given some Premier League minutes this season, and Gills have already had a taste of the attacking midfielder’s love of a rambling, mazy run. Unfortunately, going two down so early at home to Notts County meant Priestfield was given just a brimful of Asher - he was off after 45. First impressions are overall promising. He looks like he has the unpredictable flair that has been so predictably missing from the Gills team this season.
Nelson Khumbeni from Bolton
Defensive midfield is a pretty thankless task. If you’re pegging it around the pitch, putting in reducers, taking some tactical yellow cards, scoring the odd screamer and succeeding in some adventurous passes, you’ll be a crowd favourite. Unfortunately, if you can do all that, you probably won’t be at Gills to begin with. The one permanent signing of the window, Nelson Khumbeni so far hasn’t made much of an impression either way, so the jury is out. The one thing I can say with confidence is this: if you want to welcome him by taking a Malawi flag into the ground, make sure you have a fire safety certificate for it.
Jimmy-Jay Morgan From Chelsea
Chelsea spent several million on striker Jimmy-Jay Morgan when he was just 17, and two years later, he has been despatched to ME7 for his first taste of first-team experience. His positioning pressured Tranmere into conceding an own goal on his debut, but his first home game versus Notts County saw him mostly shunted out to the wing. He must have the raw talent, but the lack of service could be his downfall - the club’s top scoring strikers, Nevitt, Gbode and Wakeling, have just one league goal each this season.
Tim Dieng to Cheltenham (loan)
Tim Dieng was arguably the most important of the highly paid recruits who helped avoid relegation when the Galinsons took charge. This season, however, he has started just eight league games. At the age of 32, with his contract expiring in the summer, it makes sense for everyone for him to have the opportunity to earn a contract elsewhere by spending the rest of the season on loan at Cheltenham. Adieu, mon ami.
Andy Smith from Hull (loan)
Central defence is traditionally a strength of Gillingham teams. This year, however? After 430 appearances, I suspect beleaguered club captain Max Ehmer will have a tough final few months to his Gills career. Conor Masterson has gone from being a player you build a team around to one you wouldn’t mind leaving on the bench, and Shad Ogie has been shunted to left-back to replace the out-of-favour Max Clark with mediocre results. The one upside has been the emergence of homegrown youngster Sam Gale. So, where does Andy Smith fit in here? To be honest, I dunno, but given the defence’s multiple lapses of concentration, another option can only be beneficial.
Dominic Corness from Liverpool (loan)
Liverpool youngster Dominic Corness has been nicknamed The Wand, hopefully in tribute to his passing ability rather than having the mobility of The Great Soprendo. Gills desperately need a bit of creative magic to feed the strikers and to make space going forward, but will this year be too soon in his development to make an impact? His first team experience so far has been a season on the fringes of the Yverdon Sport squad in the Swiss Super League. Let’s hope he’s more abracadabra than… What rhymes with abracadabra? Nothing? FFS.
Verdict
There’s no denying that this hasn’t been a particularly inspiring transfer window - but with nine points, better goal difference and two games in hand on 23rd-placed Morecambe, it should be enough to edge Gills to safety. The club has numerous players out of contract in the summer, plus several more who have little future at the club, so a major rebuild is already being plotted. From those, I’d keep Robbie McKenzie, Conor Masterson if he doesn’t already have other plans, and Glenn Morris if he could turn back the clock five years. That’s it.
Review: Minimus Archive at Analogue Music
by Stephen Morris
Minimus has its origins in the backroom of the much-missed Good Intent pub, that once stood on John Street in Rochester. Between 2016 and 2020, musicians with experimental leanings were invited to join a jam session that was a world away from any other. In the words of a poster inviting today’s onlookers to buy a cassette recording of archived performances, the result was ‘low-volume, high intensity.’
In the wake of The Good Intent’s demise, Minimus’ outings have been… minimal. So today’s event in a Rochester record shop marks a welcome return.
Taking up a space usually reserved for the shop’s hi-fi equipment, you will find a table full of electronic gizmos operated by the event’s organiser, Roy Smith. He is joined by The High Span’s Kevin Younger playing guitar alongside a bass player. There’s a man with another box of electronic gadgets perched on his lap. And there is, most notably, Chris de CB, who has plugged a lone bicycle wheel into an amp and is playing the spokes with a violin bow.
They will all be joined, in due course, by Tracy Affleck, singing short snatches of motifs into a microphone that looks curiously like a baked bean tin. Her contribution is a kind of live recreation of the subtle art of sampling. It’s rather mesmerising.
Put all of this together, and you get a sound that is at once alien and refreshing, strange and compelling. Shorn of the usually pre-requisite commitments to lyrics, melody and rhythm, space is given for these musicians to meander through a selection of sonic textures more likely to be heard amid the landscape of some far-flung distant planet. Gliese 667 Cc, perhaps.
There are patterns of notes, but don’t be fooled into thinking these resemble anything as prosaic and humdrum as a tune. These are underscored by the grainy sounds created by the boxes of electrickery and the ethereal wailing sounds created by bow on bike wheel.
Even the bass guitar is used unconventionally with sounds from a mobile phone held up close to the pick-up to create even more bizarre sounds.
As the afternoon progresses, the volume rises – just a bit – with the incorporation of the sounds of fire alarms and spoken word recordings bringing a more menacing tone to the proceedings.
The overall result is enchanting – a single, long, sprawled out piece of improvised experimentalism with performers coming and going as the mood takes them.
During a short break from twiddling knobs, Roy Smith tells me that today’s event is a one-off – at the moment. There are no concrete plans for another Minimus event – at the moment.
Perhaps we need to set up a petition.
In the meantime, the limited run of cassette recordings of previous Minimus sessions, Minimus Archives #0348c, is available to order on Bandcamp.
If you like your music weird, wonderful and out of this world, I would heartily recommend you get a copy. And a cassette player to play it on.
Events this week
🐦 6 - 17 Feb - Roost // Exhibition showcasing bird-inspired artworks. Halpern Pop, Rochester. Free.
📽️ Tue 11 Feb - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind // One-off screening of Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman’s surrealist sci-fi masterpiece. Odeon, Chatham. Tickets £5.
🪐 11 Feb - 8 Mar - Mars: War & Peace // Giant art installation of the red planet within Rochester Cathedral by Luke Jerram, who previously brought the moon and earth to the venue. Rochester Cathedral. Free.
More Authority
The Rochester Draw offers life drawing classes to artists of all abilities in a relaxed environment. We sent Steven along to take part in one and to find out more about it. You can find out what he thought of it and see his resulting artwork in our midweek read:
Coming up on Sunday, we’ll be talking to the High Sheriff of Kent, Gillian Fargher. The High Sheriff is a ceremonial role with a thousand-year legacy that few people seem to know much about. Our paid supporters can find out all about it in our weekend interview.
Remember that our Medwayish shop contains a wide range of Medway-related gifts and products designed by local creatives. We have books, mugs, t-shirts, prints, and other fun bits and pieces. Check it out!
Footnotes
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Oh, that's not good re the Reform councillors. That hairdo alone...
OMG! Fascism has arrived in Medway. 🤪