Painting kindly supplied by the Ian and Christine Jamieson of the "Plough and Harrow," Tilmanstone, showing the Ravens, date and artist unknown.

From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday 22 July, 1966.

FILLING THE CUP

Where else for Tilmanstone Ravens to celebrate last week's great K.O. Cricket Cup win over Rangers "A" than at their own local. The Ravens Licensee Mrs. Doreen Adams fills the cup aided by skipper Stuart Hammond while the rest of the team were impatiently to sample the victory cup. For the record it was Raven's first attempt at winning the trophy. They automatically go into the "A" section now.

Information below taken from Dover Express 31 December 1998.

A ROW is brewing in Tilmanstone over plans to close the centuries-old Ravens pub which owner Peter Higgins says is no longer viable and is partly financed out of his private income.

Mr Higgins is seeking planning consent to change the use of the pub - running as such since at least 1740 when it was known as The "Blue Anchor".

When the planning application is debated by district councillors next week they will be advised by officials to resist the change.

But many will sympathise with Mr Higgins who with his wife, took over the pub in 1992.

"Sentiment does not pay to keep a business trading and the simple truth is that The Ravens is not viable.

"When we took over in 1992 the pub faced closure and since then we have kept it open with constant back-up from our private income. We too have been reluctant to call it a day," said Mr Higgins.

He blames the drink-driving law which limits the number of customers driving to the pub from outside the village and claims "less than 10 village residents use The Ravens one or more times a week."

He said the new Whitfield-Eastry road bypassed the villages.

The other village pub, the Plough and Harrow, is only a short walk away for those villagers who want a drink, he said.

Tilmanstone Parish Council is opposing the change of use and so is the Campaign for Real Ale, along with one or two villagers who have written to the district council objecting.

"Problems regarding viability are capable of being resolved through different management," writes one objector.

But Mr Higgins wants to know who else would work six and a half years for nothing, without any holiday.

"This is truly a labour of love," he told the council.

Agents have advised Mr Higgins it would be better to sell The Ravens as a private property or as another commercial venture rather than a pub.

From the Dover Express 29 July 1999.

Landlord told he CAN call time and turn village' pub into home

LANDLORD Peter Higgins has won a planning appeal to allow the Ravens Inn, Tilmanstone, to be turned into a private house.

But Mr Higgins told the Dover Express he has no immediate plans to call time permanently.

An appeal inquiry inspector overturned Dover district councillors' decision not to allow conversion of the 300-year-old pub.

The inn could now be sold at any time as a business, or as a home within five years, after which permission expires.

Tilmanstone councillors and some residents objected to the application for change of use.

They claimed closure of the pub would be a blow to village life and mean the loss of a historic building to the public.

Mr Higgins, who has run the pub with his wife Jan for seven years, blamed crippling business rates for squeezing profits.

High excise duty on pub drinks had encouraged people to go abroad and bring back booze.

Lack of public transport in the evening and the A256 bypass had also cut trade, he said.

But former parish council chairman Clive Tidmarsh said extra effort was needed to make the business thrive. He said: "When the pub has run special nights like Wine and Wisdom, it's been packed."

Taken from the Dover Express 28 September 2000

Ravens pub calls last orders

THE RAVENS at Tilmanstone, a pub since the 1600s, called a final "Time Gentlemen, please" on Sunday. The ancient pub has been sold and will now become residential accommodation.

The departing landlord and landlady, Peter and Jan Higgins, are retiring and are off to live in Suffolk.

The impending closure caused controversy with local people opposing the granting of planning consent to change the property from a pub to a house.

But Mr Higgins said lack of support, from nearby towns and villages, was forcing closure.

Mr Higgins said "Much of the lack of support for the pub came from those who were objecting to its closure."