From the Dover Express. 1861.

Juvenile Pickpockets.

Ellen Goldfinch and Barbara Duff, two girls one nine and the other 10 years of age where charged with picking the pocket of Mary Garlinge wife of William Garlinge, New Street, in the Eagle Gardens, Charlton on Monday. It appeared that “Charlton Fair” was held at the Eagle Gardens on the evening in question.

Complainant went into the gardens and shortly after coming out she missed her purse containing a florin and some other coins together with four or five pawnbroker’s duplicates. She remembered pulling out her purse shortly after getting into the gardens and was positive she replaced it in her pocket.

The prisoner Goldfinch was apprehended by P.C. Terry on Thursday afternoon in Limekiln Street and on being told by the constable of the charge against her she said “Yes Barbara Duff told me to take it.” She first put her hand in but would not take the purse out. I then put my hand in and took the purse.

Mrs. Garlinge was with the constable when this took place and nothing was said to induce the child to make the confession. She was afterwards taken to the Station House and on the charge being read over she again admitted that she had taken the purse out of the complainant’s pocket. Terry afterwards apprehended the prisoner Duff at a house in Church Street. She said she did not take the purse but that she had one duplicate which she had torn up and part of the money. She also repeated this statement on being cautioned in the usual way at the Police Station.

Supt. Coram in reply to the magistrates said the girl Goldfinch was brought before the Bench three years ago charged with pocket picking but she was then only six years old, and in consequence of her tender age the charge was not pressed. In the interim there had been some complaint made against her by her schoolmistress but it was not gone into. The prisoners both pleaded guilty and the Bench in sentencing them to seven days imprisonment censured their mothers who were both present for the want of care they had manifested in the control of their children. The magistrates also said they were of the opinion that Mr. Foord the proprietor of the Eagle Gardens, was much to blame for permitting the “fair” to take place on his premises and intimidated that the circumstances would not be forgotten when he applied for renewal of license.

Information kindly supplied by Joyce Banks.

More reading of Dover at www.DoverHistory.co.uk

From the Dover Express, 6 November 2003. By Nadine Miller.

CLOCK STOP: Eagle landlord Mike Murphy

Clock plans hit a new hurdle.

PLANS for a controversial new clock have stumbled at the last hurdle after The Eagle pub's landlord refused to have it sited on his London Road building.

Although planning permission has been passed, Mike Murphy, 40, does not want any part of the scheme which has stirred up local opinion about the cost implications.

He said: "Since the town council plan was announced I've had people come and stop me in the street and in the supermarket to say they've signed a petition to stop the clock.

"When the councillors approached me about putting it up I said yes straight away as I hoped it would be a focal point, not just for myself but for all the traders in the area.

"Then I thought about the cost and I just could not justify it and I just thought no."

Mr Murphy is a board member of the Dover Partnership Against Crime and would like to see the money set aside by the council spent on more CCTV cameras.

Dover Web's Rick Jones has been organising a campaign to stop the clock since the decision to construct it was announced at a meeting at the beginning of October.

He said: "The response against the idea has been overwhelming and the support for us has just been terrific with probably more than 1,000 signatures already.

"If Mr Murphy's decision stops the clock then this really is a victory for the people of Dover who have made their voices heard over an issue they feel is just sheer folly.

"What we want to do now is follow up the campaign with a poll of seven more suitable projects where the estimated £23,000 should be spent, so the residents have their say."

Mayor George Allt voted for the clock and says he will continue to support it.

He said: "If Mr Murphy does not want to go ahead, then he should tell us but we've received nothing from him.

"I would ask why he has now said no. Maybe it's because of bad press and he has reacted to the pressure. If he is certain, then the clock will have to be renegotiated, but we certainly want to know the real reason why he has changed his mind."

From the Dover Express, Thursday, November 13, 2003.

Is the clock a waste?

AS REVEALED exclusively in last week's Express, a pub landlord has called time on the town council's decision to build a controversial four-sided clock on his premises.

LAURA SMITH took to the streets to ask the people of Dover if the £10,000 expenditure seemed to them like a tick-tock idea...

KAYLEIGH HEATH, 16, a Tower Hamlets resident was adamant the council had made the wrong decision in deciding to build the clock in the first place. She said: "It's pointless, isn't it? We've got the clock tower in town anyway. They could spend the money on something better because there's not much to do in Dover, especially for the kids. All we've got is the skate-park, and that's not very good."

Facilities for the younger residents of Dover was also a strong theme with Dover resident PENNY BOND, 45. She said: "I think the money could be spent on something better to be honest. With all the empty shops around here it could have gone elsewhere. And there's nothing for the kids to do."

TOM MacGAWAN, 36, who campaigns for the rights of asylum seekers, agreed that the money could be useful if directed elsewhere. He said: "I think that there are more important things to spend money on. It's especially difficult to see how money is wasted on asylum seekers when they're spending £10,000 on the aesthetics of Dover. The hospital should also be a priority."

Retired resident LORNA THOMPSON, 68, felt strongly about the matter, and believed the clock was not the only construction money would have been wasted on in the town. She said: "It's ridiculous. The bandstand was a waste of money as well. What do we need a four sided clock for? We're not Westminister!"

BRIAN CLAW, 60, who has lived in Dover for most of his life also questioned how useful and relevant the clock would be to residents. He said: "I think a better idea would be to get the one on the town hall working, then that would be all we need. Most people have got a watch anyway."

Only OLIVER BOULTON, 20, who works at the magistrate's court, thought the clock had the potential to be a good expenditure. He said: "I would be interested to know the reasoning behind the decision to build it, but £10,000 isn't really that much when it comes to expenditure on local issues.

"The council have been put in place, trusted with the money, and I'm sure they probably had a reason behind spending it."