The Day of Syn is somewhat of a misnomer these days as it has expanded to include the whole weekend. However tide times this year meant that the much enjoyed beach battle was scheduled for the Sunday rather than the Bank Holiday Monday as is more usual. Sadly heavy rain on the Sunday washed this out and meant the Monday programme needed a bit of re-jigging.
Also of note this year was the launch of a Dr Syn themed beer 'Scarecrow' by the Romney Marsh brewing company. Currently for sale on tap at The City Of London pub, let's hope some ends up for sale in bottles.
Anyway, the day kicked off to a good start with the Dead Men Morris group starting their Morris Dancing outside the church before dancing at various times during the day at the local pubs.
The characters were then introduced outside the New Hall and Gaol opposite. This has been the practise for the recent Days Of Syn as the pub across the main road (The Ship Inn) underwent a refurbishment and sadly got rid of it's Dr Syn memorabilia inside and the hut behind, from which the characters used to emerge has seen better days! So this new arrangement works a lot better in my eyes.
In filling up some time before the main procession at 1pm, I picked up an old Bygone Kent magazine in a charity bookshop that featured an article on the Victorian supernatural author, Catherine Crowe, who spent the last years of her life living in Folkestone - bonus! I also bumped into the local artist Terry Anthony, who was selling prints of his Dr Syn themed work in the car park of the Ocean Inn, with the aforementioned Morris Dancers also performing there. He also had on display his latest Dr Syn painting and will soon be exhibiting at Folkestone's The Grand, albeit with a new and totally different more abstract collection of work.
In the 1990s, a time when the Dr Syn books and films were out of print, Terry's Scarecrow artwork was practically the only Dr Syn related items one could buy, and he created quite a reputation.
It seems ironic, that the committee that runs the Day of Syn doesn't do more to encourage more input from Doctor Syn themed artists, or produce more merchandise to help raise money for future Day of Syn events. The programmes are now glossy, but sadly contain less information about the legacy of Russell Thorndike or the history of smuggling than the older ones did. There was a nice badge on sale, but no books were on sale and there were no other souvenirs to buy. What about having a talk on Russell Thorndike and the Dr Syn novels and films? Or a film showing in a local hall as part of the weekend? Or guided walks (on a less busy time than the Monday!)?
It would be great if local collectors could put on a display or temporary exhibition of Dr Syn related items in a future year - especially since there have been a plethora of films, comics, plays, books and even an opera!
Anyway... the day was still enjoyable and the weather held off for the parade and fair on the recreation ground with the postponed battle from the Sunday.
Let's hope the event grows from strength to strength in future years...
Monday 27th August 2018
