The World In Folkestone

‘When you’re in a venue, with the connection of the people around you, and you’ve got some music going on, there’s a pool of positive energy and vibes which you can only find in that set of circumstances…’- Tim Smith

In Episode One, Howell speaks to Tim Smith and Sophia Stutchbury of Seaview Studios in Folkestone. Tim is a music producer and songwriter who works alongside his wife, singer-songwriter Sophia Stutchbury, at their Folkestone-based recording studios Seaview Studios. As part of the Sounds of Solace project, Tim and Sophia join the host to talk about the experience of creating Sophia’s song ‘We’ll Get Through This’, and the impact that it had on their lives throughout the lockdown, as well as the wider importance of music and the community of Folkestone on all that they do.

In Episode Two, Morgan speaks to local historian Eamonn Rooney, who moved to Folkestone from Northern Ireland in the 1960s and is the author of ‘Folkestone and the Belgian Refugees During World War One’. Meeting at the recently restored, bustling Folkestone Harbour station, where so many international travellers arrived and departed in previous centuries, their conversation begins with Eamonn explaining what brought him to this part of the world.

‘Although we gave our full contribution for this country, Gurkhas were not allowed to settle in this country. My aim was: I want to make that happen because Gurkhas are part of this family.’ – Dhan Gurung

In Episode Three, Ann Morgan speaks to Dhan Gurung, chair of the Folkestone Gurkha Memorial Fund and probably the first ex Gurkha to be elected as a UK councillor. A former Gurkha and local councillor, who was instrumental in getting Gurkhas British citizenship rights and crowdfunded for a Gurkha memorial in the Gardens of Remembrance at the heart of the town known to his regiment as ‘the home of the Gurkhas’, he met Morgan there to tell her about what the place means to him. 

In Episode Four, Ann Morgan speaks to Lars Knudsen. or Christopher Dane as his stage name is, a Danish actor who moved to Folkestone during the pandemic after more than twenty years living in the UK. She started by asking him to tell her about the place in which they were meeting.

‘The fact that we think it’s acceptable to put people in this environment makes you start to question what kind of country we are.’ – Sally Hough

In Episode Five, Ann Morgan speaks to Sally Hough, a curator and charity volunteer who championed the celebration of local black-history hero Walter Tull and has been heavily involved in attempts to improve conditions for asylum seekers housed in Folkestone’s notorious Napier Barracks.