If you live in Kent’s second smallest village, you can’t nip around the corner for a loaf of bread. There are no shops, so to buy your groceries you have to have a car or be fit enough to walk a fair distance. The local pub is so popular that some march for nearly an hour across fields to get to it – but that too is now at risk of closure. Ripple, near Deal, has no bus service – or even main drains or a sewer. It is home to just 154 properties – including thatched cottages dating back centuries – and has a population of 350 people, which is not set to increase any time soon. There was large op…