St. Peter's Village Tour

MATTERS OF INTEREST...

Official visit from the High Sheriff of Kent

The High Sheriff of Kent, Mr Richard Oldfield was greeted by many costumed characters when he joined the St Peter's Village tour for an official visit on the morning of July 3 2008.
The office of High Sheriff dates back more than 1000 years and originally held many of the powers now vested in Lord Lieutenants, High Court Judges and Magistrates.
Mr Oldfield was accompanied on his tour of the village by the Mayor of Broadstairs & St. Peters, Councillor David Lawson, the deputy Mayor, Councillor Mave Saunders and Laura Sandys the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for South Thanet.

Village Tour welcome their 16,000th visitor

On the evening of June 26 2008, Mr Perry (left), who had travelled from Bexhill was surprised and delighted to be presented with a certificate and other mementos by duty tour manager Gordon Warner (right), to mark the occasion of becoming our 16,000th visitor to St. Peter's Village Tour. Colin Hancock (centre) adds his congratulations.

The village sign

In 1920 the Duke of York ( later King George VI ) made a speech at the Royal Academy on the revival of Village Signs.
Following this the Daily Mail organised a competition and exhibition offering a total of £2200 in prizes for the design of the best signs. Ten awards were made, the design for the Village Sign for St Peter's being chosen as the winner out of 525 entries.
The first prize of £1000 was awarded to the designer Mr Percy H Matthews of Ramsgate. This significant sum allowed Percy to purchase his first house in Woodford Green, East London.
The village takes its name from the 11th century Parish Church of St Peter-in- Thanet, and the Saint is shown on the Sign.
When the Sign was first constructed it was erected in Vicarage Street, by the Church yard wall, outside the Baptist Church.It was removed during the Second World War so as not to assist identification by invading troops, then erected on the other side of the road on the wider pavement by the Red Lion. It was moved to its present position when the Village Green was laid out in the 1970s.

Visit by Prof Norton from Australia

In 1848 the Overseers of the Poor decided that, from the local rates which they collected, they would provide £100 to enable John Norton of St Peter's Parish to emigrate to Australia with his wife and their 10 children. John was a labourer.
Prof Kevin Norton is a direct descendent, and is Head of a Department at the University of South Australia. He visited our Tour on 18th July 2002, and was joined by the Chairman of Thanet District Council (who are todays rating authority here).

Unveiling the Air Crash Memorial

On Sunday 27th April 1952 an American Thunder Jet F84 based at Manston crashed in St Peter's at 12.14pm following an engine fire. The tragedy occured at the junction of St Peter's High Street and Ranelagh Grove. As a result the pilot Capt Clifford Fogarty and three local people died.

On that Sunday the Vicar had preached a longer sermon than usual, which saved many lives as people were later coming out of Church. In the 50th Anniversary year the Tour have arranged, in conjunction with others, for a York stone Memorial to be erected on the site as a permanent reminder of this tragic accident.

On Tuesday 8th April 2003 it was unveiled by the Mayor of Broadstairs and St Peter's Cllr Hazel Pinder-White and Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Bernal, Marine Attaché at the United States Embassy in London. He brought with him a personal message from the Ambassador. The Memorial was dedicated by a former Vicar of St Peter's Canon John de Sausmarez.

The event was shown on Meridian and BBC television the same night. Two children from St Peter's School, Jennifer and Luke, placed a floral tribute.