Medway Mortal Musings - Twydall Tea

Tonight the Curator ushers a fresh face into the Medway Music Museum. The man known as Twydall Tea has burst out of the UFK Dollshouse and is here tonight to give his unexpurgated views on the Medway Towns. Watch out for Twydall in a pub near you in 2010...he's quite an act. Twydall provided support to Unlucky Fried Kitten at the recent Time For Change roadshow in Maidstone....but the shadowlands of Twydall(Medway) are his roots. Ladies and gents...here...in completely unedited flow...is Twydall Tea.

1) Please tell us a little about yourself and about how long you've been associated with the Medway Towns?
ello ello ello, my name's Peter, A.K.A Twydall, i'm a punk/performance poet based in medway and maidstone, most of my family live in twydall and i'm a medway lad through and through.

2) What's your favorite memory of Medway?
getting banned from camping international on the top road for playing cricket down the aisles and for hiding in the sleeping bags.

3) What's your favourite Medway building?
my nans house, bacon sandwich and a cup of tea at any time of the day

4) Where's your parish? Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham? Elsewhere?
Twydall!

5) Have you some favourite bands or solo acts from past and/or present? (Medway Acts)
Pete Molinari at the barge, classic

6) Any great memories of wild nights out to share?
how fucking long we got?

7) What's your favorite pub? (clubs and bars do count)
Flowerpot in maidstone

8) If you were to show a visitor around Medway for a day...where would you take them?
to the hospital

9) Is there a landmark that you instantly think of for the towns?
great lines, many a night have i ended up asleep on those fields.

10) If you could live in any building in Medway where would you choose?
i'd live in the theatre.

11) Any particular shops that you think are worth a mention?
Dark times in the inn shops, rizla, bongs, roach.... you get the idea.

12) Which famous people...real or fictional...do you immediately associate with Medway?
billy fucking childish and tracy fucking emin

13) What's your very earliest memory of being here in these towns?
probably a fireworks display on the great lines.

14) Any sad memories of Medway?
too many

15) What's your favourite local music venue...past or present?
maybe the beacon court or the billabong in rochester.

16) Do you enjoy the current Medway Music Scene?
most of it is all good. i'm not too sure about those unlucky fried kitten geezers though, they seem a little crazy.

17) Do you think the towns will change drastically...on the entertainment front...over the next 20 years?
Medway never changes.

18) What would you change about Medway if you had the chance?
i would make the pigeons wear hats.

19) If you were asked to design a snappy logo for the Medway Towns....perhaps for an ultra-modern coat of arms...what items or items would you have on it?
a flick knife and some burberry

20) Lastly...on the tail of the last question...what would be a great SLOGAN for The Medway Towns?

Medway - because there's nothing else to do.

Medway Mortal Musings - Alex Turner

Alex Turner is a much-respected lensman of the Medway Towns...a fellow with a fine eye for detail and for observation and capture of the ironic side of culture. His photographic work can be seen on Flickr under the moniker of MONAXLE.
Today he shares some of his wonderful thoughts with us:


1) Please tell us a little about yourself and about how long you've been associated with the Medway Towns?
My roots are in Faversham and Canterbury. 15 years in and around London. I've lived in Medway since 2001.

2) What's your favorite memory of Medway?
My three youngest being born at Medway Hospital. Amazing stuff.

3) What's your favourite Medway building?
I like that old warehouse in Gillingham, near the railway line, where they sell the mobility aids and such like.

4) Where's your parish? Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham? Elsewhere?
Chatham

5) Have you some favourite bands or solo acts from past and/or present? (Medway Acts)
Archie Wah Wahs, Lupen Crook, The Singing Loins. The Deccas.

6) Any great memories of wild nights out to share?
It got a bit loopy in The General at Sea a little while ago. Lucky to get out unscathed I was!

7) What's your favorite pub? (clubs and bars do count)
The Brittania

8) If you were to show a visitor around Medway for a day...where would you take them?
Out to Cliffe on a bike. Out on the river in a canoe.

9) Is there a landmark that you instantly think of for the towns?
Rochester railway bridge as seen and heard from the inside of a train carrige.

10) If you could live in any building in Medway where would you choose?
The Command House

11) Any particular shops that you think are worth a mention?
Nah.

12) Which famous people...real or fictional...do you immediately associate with Medway?
Zandra Rhodes

13) What's your very earliest memory of being here in these towns?
Driving past Rod Hulls old house in Rochester back in the seventies. Queueing up in traffic for Chatham Navy Day. Again back in the seventees.

14) Any sad memories of Medway?
No.

15) What's your favourite local music venue...past or present?
The Barge.

16) Do you enjoy the current Medway Music Scene?
Love it. I think Medway musicians and creatives are all brilliant.

17) Do you think the towns will change drastically...on the entertainment front...over the next 20 years?
Yes. For the good and the bad.

18) What would you change about Medway if you had the chance?
Remove the hills. At least the ones that go up.

19) If you were asked to design a snappy logo for the Medway Towns....perhaps for an ultra-modern coat of arms...what items or items would you have on it?
A guitar, a camera, some paintbrushes and a microphone.

20) Lastly...on the tail of the last question...what would be a great SLOGAN for The Medway Towns?
Medway Moves You

Medway Mortal Musings- Phil Dillon

Phil Dillon....photographer/occasional musician/ex-Matador/stylish geezer (one of those is not true) has grasped the biro-baton and crystallized his thoughts on Medway for us.
Phil has been a regular on the local scene playing in bands and organising various events...particularly with the Medway Eyes group. Here..we crack open his mind with a crowbar from B&Q:

1) Please tell us a little about yourself and about how long you've been associated with the Medway Towns? I was born in All Saints Hospital in Chatham and I've lived in Medway all my life.

2) What's your favorite memory of Medway? Man and Boy, a model shop in Chatham High Street. Going to the cinema in Chatham and calling into Pat's for sweets first. Pat looked a bit like Peter Sellers. Haircuts in Long John's. My Nan's shop - Jaydee Newsagents on the corner of Wyles Road and Dale Street.

3) What's your favourite Medway building? Chatham Town Hall, now known as the Brook Theatre. The day the Council threatens that one is the day I raise a people's army.

4) Where's your parish? Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham? Elsewhere? Chatham.

5) Have you some favourite bands or solo acts from past and/or present? (Medway Acts)? Too many. From the past, The Claim, The Dentists, Swinging Time, Men From Memphis. In the present, Didi Bergman, Lupen Crook, The Lovedays and anything Chris Austin does. And the Singing Loins.

6) Any great memories of wild nights out to share? I fell in a ditch at one of Judith Mullarkey's parties once. And there was the night in 1987ish when The Drunken Popes played at the Blue Lagoon and some twats came in and started a fight. The bouncers were crap, but our bass player Sean wasn't. He threw all of them out in seconds flat. The police were called after they smashed the window, and Sean had to go with them to identify the aforementioned twats. The Dentists were there, minus Mick, and played an impromptu covers set until Sean got back and the popes could play. Bob broke most of my strings, but it was a great set.

7) What's your favorite pub? (clubs and bars do count)? The Barge, The Nag's Head and The Britannia. I used to love the Command House too, when it was a pub.

8) If you were to show a visitor around Medway for a day...where would you take them? Casa Lina in Rochester, circa 1997, and then a few architecturally or historically interesting pubs.

9) Is there a landmark that you instantly think of for the towns? Well, you see the castle and cathedral as the train pulls round the bend towards Rochester, so it's them I suppose.

10) If you could live in any building in Medway where would you choose? A renovated Spemco building on Desolation Row.

11) Any particular shops that you think are worth a mention? Sound and Vision (Sounds Perfect) in Chatham is a proper old fashioned record shop, and I enjoy a rummage in Baggins Book Bazaar from time to time. I quite like the Tulip shop in Chatham for pickled things and flatbreads too.

12) Which famous people...real or fictional...do you immediately associate with Medway? Rod Hull.

13) What's your very earliest memory of being here in these towns? Being in my mum's pale green Austin 1100, being taken to play school. I used to sing Gary Glitter songs into a hairbrush there, and I once got into trouble for poking a cake. (Curator's Note: Haven't we all?)

14) Any sad memories of Medway? The day they took the snail thingy out of the Pentagon. The bulldozers destroying the Theatre Royal.

15) What's your favourite local music venue...past or present? The Barge and the Nag's Head. I thought the Underground was a cracking venue, but it didn't last for long.

16) Do you enjoy the current Medway Music Scene? I do, and I always have. Medway has always had more than its fair share of talent. It's the water.

17) Do you think the towns will change drastically...on the entertainment front...over the next 20 years? In terms of the areas I'm involved in, I hope not. Some of us have been doing our thing for over twenty years, and it's still as fulfilling now as it was when we started.

18) What would you change about Medway if you had the chance? It would be responsibly and democratically run by people who put the interests of the towns and their populace before their own, and PCSOs would receive adequate training.

19) If you were asked to design a snappy logo for the Medway Towns....perhaps for an ultra-modern coat of arms...what items or items would you have on it? A crack whore in Dickensian costume in a large brown envelope.

20) Lastly...on the tail of the last question...what would be a great SLOGAN for The Medway Towns? Local Towns For Local People.

Medway Mortal Musings...Reavsey

Here comes Reavsey....prolific Urban Punk Folkist...with his musings on the Medway Delta.
Tonight, Reavsey wears a cropped satin Care Bears T-Shirt with Cheesecloth trousers and winkle-pickers....he dreams of World Peace..and would love to work with animals.

1) Please tell us a little about yourself and about how long you've been associated with the Medway Towns?

I have been in the Medway towns since mid 1990’s

2) What's your favourite memory of Medway?

Not one in particular..always look forward to coming back over Rochester bridge when away.

3) What's your favourite Medway building?

Not really a building, Rochester High Street late at night/early hours when all is quiet. I still have the ability to see past the commercialisation which on occasions casts a shadow on the beauty of this area. There are still times when you can appreciate the atmosphere of the old place and sense the ghosts from times past.

4) Where's your parish? Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham? Elsewhere?

Rainham

5) Have you some favourite bands or solo acts from past and/or present? (Medway Acts)

There are many great bands past and present of course but The Singing Loins are my fave

6) Any great memories of wild nights out to share?

Probably a party the night I bit my cousins dog (It was only a playful nip) it’s a long story...that and the many nights watching bands of course.

7) What's your favourite pub? (clubs and bars do count)

The Barge

8) If you were to show a visitor around Medway for a day...where would you take them?

Rochester High Street and then some of the Music Venues in the area. Around the many nice river walks etc

9) Is there a landmark that you instantly think of for the towns?

Rochester Castle/The Naval War Memorial – Chatham/Rochester Bridge

10) If you could live in any building in Medway where would you choose?

Eastgate House - Rochester...or many of the old buildings in the historic area or Rochester or some of the old buildings in Chatham Historic Dockyard.....

11) Any particular shops that you think are worth a mention?

The Candy Bar Rochester High Street..if you like quality sweets etc (curator's note: I hope that's not a dig at my rotundity)

12) Which famous people...real or fictional...do you immediately associate with Medway?

Dickens and his creations

13) What's your very earliest memory of being here in these towns?

Coming from London originally the greenness, the laid back atmosphere and the lovely people ;o)

14) Any sad memories of Medway?

Spending so much time in Medway Maritime hospital due to illness and of course some of the old Medway that has been destroyed to make way for some town planner’s vision.

15) What's your favourite local music venue...past or present?

The Barge

16) Do you enjoy the current Medway Music Scene?

Yes a great deal

17) Do you think the towns will change drastically...on the entertainment front...over the next 20 years?

Yes there will be less individual places/venues/pubs with character which will be replaced by bland multi outlet establishments appealing to the lowest common denominator. I believe...The shopping Mallisation of Medway will then be complete probably full of mass market outlets like the wonderful and interesting "Dockside" we all flock to of course...

18) What would you change about Medway if you had the chance?

Stop adding new white elephants; concentrate on the gems that are here instead of destroying them.

19) If you were asked to design a snappy logo for the Medway Towns....perhaps for an ultra-modern coat of arms...what items or items would you have on it?

The Naval Memorial/The Castle - Rochester/and a Burberry Cap on top of a Silver Cross Buggy


20) Lastly...on the tail of the last question...what would be a great SLOGAN for The Medway Towns?

Medway, it’s the bollocks!

Hope you don’t mind this addition

21) What is your favourite place in Medway?

The marshes in and around Rainham where I walk my dog...especially in bad weather you can walk for ages without seeing another person, the harsher the weather the better...makes you feel alive...LOL


Cheers

Medway Mortal Musings...Simon Bunyan

Simon Bunyan, frontman for 80's bands 'Men From Memphis' and the deliciously named 'Robert Underwater' is our first Medway Mortal to Muse for the Medway Music Museum. Thanks to Simon for helping to keep some of the Medway memories alive:

1) Please tell us a little about yourself and tell us how long you've been associated with the Medway Towns? -
Simon Bunyan, 44, sagitarius, 31 years

2) What's your favorite memory of Medway? - Gillingham's play off win 2000

3) What's your favourite Medway building? - Marconi House

4) Where's your parish? Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham? Elsewhere? - Rochester

5) Have you some favourite bands or solo acts from past and/or present? (Medway Acts) - The Claim, Swinging Time, LP3, Vandebilts, Kris Dollimore

6) Any great memories of wild nights out to share? - ???

7) What's your favorite pub? (clubs and bars do count) - The Nags Head, Rochester

8) If you were to show a visitor around Medway for a day...where would you take them? - The Dockyard

9) Is there a landmark that you instantly think of for the towns? - Rochester Castle

10) If you could live in any building in Medway where would you choose? - Troy (art deco house bottom of City Way)

11) Any particular shops that you think are worth a mention? - 99p land

12) Which famous people...real or fictional...do you immediately associate with Medway? - Lortd Haw Haw, Oz Clarke

13) What's your very earliest memory of being here in these towns? - the Green Sheild Stamps shop on New Road

14) Any sad memories of Medway? - no

15) What's your favourite local music venue...past or present? , The Nags

16) Do you enjoy the current Medway Music Scene? - yes i do

17) Do you think the towns will change drastically...on the entertainment front...over the next 20 years? - No, the sixties will never end here !

18) What would you change about Medway if you had the chance? - the date

19) If you were asked to design a snappy logo for the Medway Towns....perhaps for an ultra-modern coat of arms...what items or items would you have on it? - The Victory,, a traffic light, a high speed train, and Primark

20) Lastly...on the tail of the last question...what would be a great SLOGAN for The Medway Towns? - "wake up"

Medway Mortal Musings

The Medway Music Museum is proud to announce that the Curator's Room...from which the questions are expelled for the Curator's Q&A...has been renovated and is now back in line with 'health and safety' standards. The unfortunate incident with the heavy trunk of reel-to-reel tapes can now be consigned to the past....and the Museum did provide the vinegar and brown paper to treat Phil Dillon's damaged head. Andy Export (The Curator) apologises profusely for that.
Moving forward...Andy has revamped the Q&A structure and will soon be presenting Medway Mortal Musings. This is an exciting new feature...which will see Andy seeking out the views of noted locals. The questions will be the same for each person...but the answers will, no doubt, fluctuate recklessly.

Medway Mortal Musings

The Medway Music Museum is proud to announce that the Curator's Room...from which the questions are expelled for the Curator's Q&A...has been renovated and is now back in line with 'health and safety' standards. The unfortunate incident with the heavy trunk of reel-to-reel tapes can now be consigned to the past....and the Museum did provide the vinegar and brown paper to treat Phil Dillon's damaged head. Andy Export (The Curator) apologises profusely for that.
Moving forward...Andy has revamped the Q&A structure and will soon be presenting Medway Mortal Musings. This is an exciting new feature...which will see Andy seeking out the views of noted locals. The questions will be the same for each person...but the answers will, no doubt, fluctuate recklessly.
Here are the questions. They will be sent out to random Medway Folks.
Watch This Space!!!


MEDWAY MORTAL MUSINGS

1) Please tell us a little about yourself and about how long you've been associated with the Medway Towns?

2) What's your favorite memory of Medway?

3) What's your favourite Medway building?

4) Where's your parish? Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham? Elsewhere?

5) Have you some favourite bands or solo acts from past and/or present? (Medway Acts)

6) Any great memories of wild nights out to share?

7) What's your favorite pub? (clubs and bars do count)

8) If you were to show a visitor around Medway for a day...where would you take them?

9) Is there a landmark that you instantly think of for the towns?

10) If you could live in any building in Medway where would you choose?

11) Any particular shops that you think are worth a mention?

12) Which famous people...real or fictional...do you immediately associate with Medway?

13) What's your very earliest memory of being here in these towns?

14) Any sad memories of Medway?

15) What's your favourite local music venue...past or present?

16) Do you enjoy the current Medway Music Scene?

17) Do you think the towns will change drastically...on the entertainment front...over the next 20 years?

18) What would you change about Medway if you had the chance?

19) If you were asked to design a snappy logo for the Medway Towns....perhaps for an ultra-modern coat of arms...what items or items would you have on it?

20) Lastly...on the tail of the last question...what would be a great SLOGAN for The Medway Towns?