 | |
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | KM Group |
| Publisher | KM Group |
| Editor | Robert Barman |
| Founded | 1855 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Ashford, Kent |
| Circulation | 3,209(as of 2022) [1] |
| Website | |
The Kentish Express is a weekly newspaper serving southern Kent. It is published in four editions - Ashford, Folkestone, Hythe and the Romney Marsh, and Tenterden. It is owned by the KM Group and is published on Thursdays.
The Kentish Express was founded in 1855 as the Ashford and Alfred News by Henry Igglesden. The first edition was published on 14 July 1855. [2] [3] The paper was Kent's first penny paper after the abolition of stamp duty on newspapers in 1854. [4] Three years later, the paper was renamed the Kentish Express & Ashford News. [5]
Henry's son Charles Igglesden (1861-1949) took over as editor at 23 years of age, after attending the Paris Conservatoire and a period as a reporter. He remained in post for a further 64 years and was knighted in 1928. [2] [6]
Charles Igglesden represented Kent at lawn tennis; Ashford at rugby and cricket; beat Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at billiards, and was a lifelong friend of W G Grace. [2]
His “A Saunter through Kent with Pen and Pencil” newspaper articles, describing 242 Kent villages, were republished as 34 books. [2]
In January 1916, Igglesden was one of the first journalists invited to report from the World War I trenches by Lord Kitchener. [7]
The KM Group bought the Express in 1971. [8] It also purchased the Folkestone Express, which was renamed the Kentish Express (Folkestone) in 2008.
Along with the rest of the KM-owned papers, the Express was given a design overhaul in May 2005. [9]
All four editions of the Kentish Express are based at the KM Group's Ashford offices. The Folkestone and Hythe editions were based at the Folkestone offices until April 2009, when the offices were closed. [10]
The combined circulation of the four papers in the first half of 2009 was 18,664, [11] a drop of 12.4% against the same period in 2008.
Folkestone is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal resort for most of the 19th and mid-20th centuries.
The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It follows on from the A20 at Swanley, meeting the M25, and continuing on to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is 50.6 miles (81.4 km) long. Although not signposted in England, this road is part of the European route E15. It is also used as a holding area for goods traffic when traffic across the English Channel is disrupted, such as Operation Stack and Operation Brock.
New Romney is a market town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to silt up. New Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports, was once a sea port, with the harbour adjacent to the church, but is now more than a mile from the sea. It is the headquarters of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.
Ashford United F.C. are an English football club based in Ashford, Kent. The 'new' United was formed in 2011, resurrecting the name used by the town's football club between 1891 and 1907. Following the demise of the original Ashford United club in 1907 and through to 1928 Ashford was represented by Ashford Railway Works FC and after that between 1930 and 2010 by Ashford Town F.C. The current club is effectively a 'phoenix club' having risen from the ashes of the financial ruin of its predecessor. Although not a supporter owned club, like most non-league clubs, it relies on contributions of volunteers and supporters.
Challock is a mostly wooded, large village and civil parish in the Borough of Ashford, Kent, England. The village name derives from the old English 'Cealfloca' - calf enclosure. A clear nucleus of the village is centred 8 miles (13 km) south of the port of Faversham and 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Ashford. It dates from around AD823.
Pedlinge is an English hamlet in the Kent parish of Saltwood. It comprises a chapel of ease, house and two cottages beside a gatehouse to Sandling Park estate. As of 2007, the gatehouse is derelict.
The Kent Messenger is a weekly newspaper serving the mid-Kent area. It is published in three editions - Maidstone, Malling, and the Weald. It is owned by the KM Group and is published on Thursdays.
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The Kent and Sussex Courier is an English regional newspaper, published in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The paper was the result of an amalgamation of a number of Kent and East Sussex local newspapers, and hence has always been published in at least two editions, one of which covered the western parts of Kent while the other covered the eastern part of East Sussex.
KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations, TV and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquired KM Media Group in April 2017.
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Northcliffe Media was a large regional newspaper publisher in the UK and Central and Eastern Europe. In 2012 the company was sold by Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) to a newly formed company, Local World, which also bought Iliffe News and Media from the Yattendon Group. In October 2015, Trinity Mirror, later Reach plc, bought Local World.
Wye Racecourse was a British horse racing venue at Wye, Kent. By 1878 it was about 600 yards (550 m) south of Wye railway station.
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The 1987–88 Kent Football League season was the twenty-second in the history of the Kent Football League, a football competition featuring teams based in and around the county of Kent in England.
The 1986–87 Kent Football League season was the twenty-first in the history of the Kent Football League, a football competition featuring teams based in and around the county of Kent in England.
The 1980–81 Kent Football League season was the fifteenth in the history of the Kent Football League, a football competition featuring teams based in and around the county of Kent in England.