To advertise 01227 768181 Newsdesic 07227475985 I 9.9. Q. Z(3\Q..W‘VW-1‘e““°'3]i11e-0°-“k _s heavy rainfall and strong Winds lashed Canter- bury, flooding continued to hit ' Z the surrounding villages hard. S The military was brought in on Saturday to help families and distribute sandbags to -those, worst affected; S - - The Environment ‘Agency says river _-levels in the Nail- bourne and Stour peaked over the weekend, but are now gradu- ally dropping. .But the decline will continue at “a very slow rate” because the ground remains waterlogged, meaning low-lying "villages ‘ could still suffer. A flood Warning remains -"in ‘place for villages" along the Nailbourne and "Little. Stour‘, including Barham, Bridge, Lit-. - tlebourne, Patrixbourne and lckham. - The Nailbourne reached its highest’ levels so far this winter - after Fridays heavy rain, peak- ing at 1.89m'in School Lane, Bekesbourne. -Elsewhere, a flood warning- , S61/i0~ :2, .'9~.ol4-‘S Capt Michael Rivington, of Scots,_w'as among a dozen soldiers in Bishopsbourne for the Lower River Stour -run- ning through Fordwich, Sturry, ‘Canterbury and Chartham was downgraded to a less serious flood alert on Monday. - But houses are still at risk in villages including Barham, Kingston, Bridge, Bekesbourne, '_ Patrixbourne, Wickhambreaux. ‘and Littlebourne. _ Captain Michael Rivington, from the 5 Scots regiment, was among the dozen soldiers help- ing to build flood defences in Bishopsbourne on Saturday. . - He said: “We have a total of 100 soldiers from Howe Barracks ' working in the villages and on ' ' stand-by. _ S “The river bank here has _ broken and is thr_eateni_ng the houses nearby. We’ve already created a- barrier and were hop- ing to build channels to redis- tribute the water, ' T “Were just the -hands that push the sandbags. We’re pro- viding reassurance to‘ residents, . and hopefully preventing more flooding before-it can occur.” Canterbury City Council said. i the Army had -been drafted in as ' . a precautionary measure. Spokesman Rob Davies said: ‘-‘We are aware -people may be concerned at seeing soldiers on 7 - the streets but we wantto reas- sure residents that the weather forecast has improved and the danger of further flooding is manageable by the 'measures_ _ put in place and the resources ' '- available.” ' ‘ — ' ‘In very severe r a weather, we ask the Army to help. It was felt they could offer a bit of muscle’ Flooding in Bridge was par- . ticularly had over the week- end, with water creeping up to homes lined with sandbags in Brewery Lane and the High Street. Water was pumped from homes and a sandbag channel was built to take it across the High Street from Brewery Lane and into the Nailbourne. Laurie Wakeharn runs a butchers in the High Street. He , managed to keep his shop open despite the 2ft of water outside by building‘ a path of sandbags leading to the entrance. , ‘He said: “We haven’t seen-it _ this bad since 2000. The water levels just shot up overnight on _ Friday. ' . — “Luckily, the sandbags are doing their job so we can stay open.” Police presence was also increased in the most vulner- able villages. ‘ Detective superintendent Mar- tin Very said: “We’_ve been work- ing with a number of different agencies to respond to issues that have arisen because of the severe weather. i “Even when the rain stops, the groundwater runs off the fields ‘ “The worst affected areas are probably Bish-opsbourne and - Littlebourne, which were rn'0ni- ' toring closely. . “In very severe weather, we- ask various ag'encies'inc1u_ding the Army to help; It was felt they . could offer a bit of 1nuscle-.’-’- ' More showers are forecast for % today (Thursday) but things should improve by Friday. _ " Betcher Laurie Wake!-ram ‘managed to7.st'a_'v open WWW-kentonline-coévk ' 3.9. .:L -g.0\1-l— To adl/ertise: 01227 768181 _ LEFT' Saint Mary the Virgin graveyard in Fordwich; Sainsbury's car park in Cant rbury; A flooded road in G we Ferry. ABOVE- Water rises through a manhole cover in Riverside; A car battles through the water near Petham, Sandbaqs and pumps in Patrixbourne. RIGHT: The swollen Nailbourne through Bridge _ _ utyytdirectorpof .q ways.'David Hall, said: i i'o1—9.2.Z0i7__l_l Driver’s lucky escape as tree falls on crashed car Gale force winds on Friday and Saturday blew down trees and caused road closures and chaos on the rails. In Chartham, driver Robert Harden had a lucky escape when he crashed into an uprooted tree blocking Shalmsford Street in the early hours of Saturday morning. As he was sitting in an off-duty police officer’s car waiting for help, a second tree came crash- ing down onto his Volkswagen Golf, narrowly missing the car he was in. Mr Harden explained: “A tree had fallen blocking the road. Due to the unlit road and heavy rain, I just didn’t see it and went straight into it at around 50mph. “I had to climb out the back of the car as the front doors wou1dn’t open. The car was a complete write-off. ’ “An off-duty police officer then found me, and let me sit in her car until the police came. “Just as they arrived, a second Robert Harden had a lucky escape when a tree fell on his car tree fell onto the back of my car i and just clipped the bonnet of the o£f—duty police officer’s car.” Police and fire crews were called to the freak accident at 1am, but luckily Mr Harden was unhurt. Then at 10.30am on Sat- urday, another tree fell in the same area and blocked the road. In Bridge, the windscreen of a silver Mercedes was shattered by . a roof tile that was dislodged by the Wind in the High Street. _ The London-bound stretch of the M2 was shut for several hours between junction 7 for Brenley Corner and junction 5 for Sitting- bourne on Saturday after a series of trees fell onto the road. a The closure had a knock-on effect on other routes, with tail- backs stretching along the A2 from Canterbury and the A299 Thanet Way. Southeastern also cancelled all its services before 10am on Sat- urday, with disruption continu- ing due to fallen trees on the rail- way line. in Shalmsford Street, Chartham, on Saturday morning A tree on the line near Canterbury West station Residents join a council worker to help clear a fallen tree in Cockerinq Road, Chartham Ne wsdesk: 01227 475985 _ . WWW-kelltm ‘N 0 one has been charged for sandbags’ The city council has dished out a total of 16,000 sandbags to cre- ate defences and prevent homes from being flooded. The authority is also advising residents iiving in vulnerable areas to keep their own supply of sandbags, which can be bought from Serco for up to £38.70 for a pack of 10. Some have criticised the coun- cil for apparently charging for sandbags, particularly‘ after. Prime Minister David Cameron told them not to last week. But spokesman Rob Davies said: “We’ve now used around 16,000 sandbags in the flood effort and they have all been given out free of charge. “Nobody has been charged for a Sandbag provided by the council, and this was the case even before the Prime Minister’s comment. “A number of outlets, such as Serco, DIY stores and builders’ merchants, sell sandbags and this information is on our Web- site for anyone who Wishes to buy their own private supply now or in the 18 who SUNDAY EXPRESS September 23, 2014 ' The eccentic Insplr him’ Chitty y S THE CAR zoomed past, its engine making an almighty racket, the schoolboy stood transfixed. It was the M early years of the 1920s and motor racing was a new and - exciting sport. T . Many years later, that little boy, now a man, would recall the colourful driver when he began to write a book about a Very special car. That car’s name was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the author was Ian Fleming. The driver he had seen at Brooklands, Surrey, was the very eccentric, and very wealthy playboy, Count Louis Zborowski. Now, some newly discovered footage dating from around 1924 shows the young Count in two 30-minute films that have echoes of early Hollywood with chases, a kidnap, a railway line and general high jinx. _. A The unique films of Zborowski emerged after Tim Jones, senior lecturer in media, art and design at Canterbury Christ Church University, appealed for footage of . ' thelocal area and received work by the filmmaker Sydney Bligh’s family. Starring Zborowski’s wife, Violet, a girlfriend Pixie, his two dogs and engineer Clive Gallop, the film is . particularly precious as it provides F the only image of the famous "Higham Park estate railway line, a mile—long narrow gauge steam which Zborowski had built around his estate near Canterbury, Kent, for the sheer hell of it. i The story of the count, his madcap life and tragic death aged 29 will be Newly found film footage reveals Count Louis, t Zborowski, the A inspiration behind Chifll!‘ Chitty Bang Bang, at play. JANE CLINTON" hears about his wild life and‘ early death» in the spotlight and re-establish him as the motor racing pioneer that he most certainly was. “You had to be mad or extremely brave to drive those cars, which were designed by rule of thumb, at such speedff says David Paine who researched the family for 40 years for his book, The Zborowski Inheritance. “He was a bit of a playboy and married a chorus girl called Violet and they lived at Higham Park. He had no notion of the value of money and would spend it like it was going out of fashion..The film shows him with his slicked—back black hair, a moustache and with a cigarette. It is basically. them having fun on his estate.” _ — ; According to Tim Jones, the films are very “sophisticated” and a “spine-tingling” find. Zborowski was born in 1895. The son of the racing driver William Eliot Morris Zborowski and Margaret, a wealthy American heiress. She was i the granddaughter of William A _ Backhouse Astor Sr and Margaret before dying of cancer in 1911 when SUNDAY EXPRESS September 28, 2014 19 and entered the Italian Grand Prix t Monza. Sadly on the 44th lap he ost control of his car and was killed; His widow went on to marry the ‘ ewing machine millionaire Paris inger and eventually the Higham ark estate railway was dismantled. As well as his childhood‘ Brooklands memory, Fleming encountered a restored car from A.Zborowski’s fleet when he was g driving near Sandwich in Kent. He waved down’ the driver, Peter Harris Mayes, for a chat and it is said that after Mayes revealed the \ history of the car Fleming found the inspiration for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which he wrote when he was recovering from a heart attack aged Zhorowski at the endof a race, Note 52,. It was published in October 1964, his shredded E’ two months after his death, and went rear tyre. on to be adapted into the 1968 film. Inset, the There is a line in the novel when . V , 1968 movie the character Commander Pott says i 1 " ‘ version of to his children: “Never say ‘no’ to g t Chitty Chitty adventures. Always say ‘yes’, Bang Bang otherwise you’il lead a very dull life.” Those words could almost certainly have served as the motto by which Count Zborowski lived his life. ’ Pictures: KOBAL; MIKE GUNNILL 0 Two special screenings of the discovered films and Tim Jones’s documentary, Seeicingsydney , about the filmmaker Sydney Bligh, y will take place on October 25 and November 1 at 2pm in the Powell Lecture Theatre at Canterbury Christ Church University’s North Holmes Campus. To buy £5 tickets or to discuss donating any pre—war footage from the Kent area call 01227 782955 or visit canterburyac. uk/shop/archivefilm-screenings engines in them, one car would have sounded like six Harley—Davidson's) but to “recreational” activities. “During the First World War when soldiers left the front they were given a chit and they could either go to Brussels or France or come to England tor a bang,” he said of the rather ‘coarse perk. “Naming the cars after this was a joke, really.” ' Zborowski’s dreamwas to drive for Mercedes. In 1924 he got his wish began racing with the help of his engineer, Captain Clive Gallop, and amassed an impressive fleet of English cars. Two of themwere known as Chitty Bang Bang and Chitty Chitty Bang‘ Bang. Names which would prove more than enough inspiration for Fleming. According to Paine, who interviewed Clive Gallop, the names were not a nod to the noise they , could make (although with aeroplane Park but property in the United States as well. The count was obsessed with motor racing, both driving cars and building them (heeven built a fire engine for the locals and became captain of the fire brigade)‘ He was somewhat wild. He would blow up statuary on the estate, some of which crashed through the roof of his neighbour, and he had houses built only to blow them up for the entertainment of his guests. He Rebecca Armstrong, part of the famous Astor family When Louis was ‘eight in..1903, his father died in g a car racing crash in Nice, France. Margaret- bought the Higham Park Estate which included a farm, 225 acres and 12 houses for Louis. She spent vast amounts of money on it Louis was 16. Overnight he became one of the richest under—21s in the ’ world, inheriting not just Higham 74+ To advertise‘ 01227 768181 ‘ ‘Christ Church lecturer Tim Jones has uncovered this rare film footage showinq Chitty Bang Bang inventor. Count Zborowski, left, with Clive Gallop and aboard a train on the mile- long tracks built around his Hiqham Park estate in Bridge T .~\»i&%W“"" ‘- ~ ' ’ . Rare film of eccentric count’s railway by Lowri Stafford lstafford_@thekmgroup.<:o.uk @LowriStafford Rare footage of an eccentric mil- lionaire who provided the inspi- ration for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has been unearthed. The amateur film features play- boy Count Louis Zborowski, who lived in Bridge and built cars that influenced the magical fly- ing vehicle made famous in Ian Fleming’s children’s book. The old Hollywood-style flick also includes the only known images of a mile-long railway track built around his Higham Park estate. It was _uncovered by Canter- Lecturer Tim Jones matic discovery. Count Zborowski is best known for his exploits as an amateur racing driver, who built his own cars incorporating First World War engines. They included a customised Mercedes called Chitty Bang Bang, which was made at the Count’s workshop in St Radi- gund’s Street. bury Christ Church lecturer It inspired the “fine Tim Jones, who is onamission to 1 .four-fendered frien ” collect and preserve rare films featured in Fleming’s made in the area. - novel and later the pop- The narrowgauge steam ular film adaptation star- railway only existed for a ring Dick Van Dyke. few months before it was The author, who was also the ripped up following the Count’s death in 1924. mind behind the James Bond books, arrived in Bekesbourne No photographs or film near Higham Park a few years were thought to still exist after the Count’s death. of the old track, which has Tim, long fascinated railway who enthusiasts, until ’I‘im’s dra- lectures ‘8.q,,.2,Q"LfL in media, art and design, said: “When I viewed these films for the first time I had a shiver down my spine, especially when I saw shots of the railway track. ‘‘It soon became apparent that this home—made drama had been shot at the Higham Estate in 1924 s and starred Count Zborowski.” The Count was killed aged 29 while driving for Mercedes in the Italian Grand Prix, just a few months after the film was produced. ' To mark the 90th anniversary of his death, Tim is inviting the public to view the 3(Hninute film at screenings in the university’s Powell lecture theatre at 2pm on Saturday, October 25, and Satur- day, November 1. Tickets are £5 and must be booked in advance online at www.canterbury.ac.uk/shop/ archive-film-screenings or by calling Julia Bennett on 01227 782955. Chitty Bang Bang outside Hiqham House, Bridqe A blue plaque marks the workshop where Count Zborowski built two Chitty Bang Bang cars in St Radiqund's Street, Canterbury " ‘I had a shiver down my spine especially when I saw shots of the railway track’ A scene from the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang