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A look back at 2008 - December

KentOnline reporter
multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk
09:52, 24 December 2008
2008 may have seen the demise of Woolworths, but for Valerie Beaney (left) and her sister, Elaine Woodcock, the memory of the High Street favourite will live on. Back in 1943 their mother, Dorothy Allen, bought a lightbulb from the shop - and 65 years later it still works! Mrs Beaney said: "It still has blue specks of the paint Dad put on during the war.A snazzy Maidstone clothes shop had some surprise customers when a couple of friars called in. Frs Brendan Grady and David Fox, of Aylesford's 800-year-old Carmelite Order, popped into Raffles in the Royal Star Arcade. However, rather than shopping for designer togs the friars were on the lookout for a new seamstress because their habits were falling apart. Fr Gray, pictured, has had to resort to safety pins to hold his together. Picture: David Antony HuntCranbrook parish councillor Francis Rook is pictured with a letter from Winston Churchill which disappeared then mysteriously re-appeared. The parishioners of Cranbrook discovered that a letter sent to them in 1910 from the former PM thanking them for their condolences on the death of King Edward VII had gone missing. However, following a front page story in The Kent Messenger, the letter mysteriously appeared propped up against a wall outside the council chamber. Picture: Trisha Fermor

While December 2008 may well be remembered for economic gloom, we had a story that was a beam of light.

As Woolworths in Maidstone became one of the first in the country to close, one family showed us a lightbulb bought in the store 65 years ago, and is still going strong.

Take a look back at the month with the help of our reporters and photographers.

That concludes our review of the year - but in case you missed any of it here are quick links to the rest of the year:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

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