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The official lists of candidates for Rother and Rye Town Council elections are not being published until midday today, the final moment for withdrawals, so we shall be giving them next week. However, the Returning Officer tells us that there will in fact be no contest for Rye Town Council, since for the 16 vacancies there are 16 valid nominations and one invalid one which arrived too late to count.
There are six candidates for the three Rye seats on Rother Council. Mrs. Yates and Mr. Spencer are not standing again, but Mr. Shackleton is, as an Independent on behalf of the Ratepayers Association. We understand that the newcomers are two Conservatives, two from the Alliance Party and one Labour. Next week we shall include as many as possible of the personal statements which we invited in GAZETTE No. 25. Even though there will be no Town Council election, we think it would still be of interest to readers to know who our new Councillors will be, and something about them.
Following, apparently, a report in one of the Sunday papers that forged 50p coins were flooding the South Coast, rumours were going round the town on Monday that any 50p piece marked "fifty pence" rather than "new pence" was a forgery. Even the banks were confused: one told a customer that yes, they were forgeries, and ten minutes later told another customer that no, they were not. The police, by the time we called in to look at the Press Book, didn't wish to hear the subject mentioned ever again!
It seems that the Mint recently changed the design of the 50p coin, deciding very reasonably that after ten years "pence" were no longer "new". There was some press publicity about this, but obviously not enough. We were told authoritatively that coins reaching the bank straight from the Mint a fortnight ago all said "fifty pence", and there is nothing wrong with them at all.
Rye Police told us that there are 50p forgeries about, but they are very easy to detect by sight and feel; they are made to deceive not people but slot machines, which only insist on the right size, shape and weight and are not fussy about the finer details. We gather that making a really convincing 50p forgery is hardly worth the time needed to make a good job of it.
The Police Station had a very quiet Easter, we are glad to say; apparently all the villains were busy nicking £7m in used notes up in London...
Thomas Peacocke pupils have been lucky over the Easter holidays, with three trips arranged and accompanied by various members of the staff. Mr. Beckwith organised his usual holiday at Aviemore for younger and less experienced skiers, the older ones having been to Innsbruck at half-term. Mr. Hogan and Mrs. Woolard took a very happy middle-school party to Heidelberg; and the Headmaster and Mr. Edwards, giving the new minibus its first long run, had a party of sixth-form geographers working very hard on a most enjoyable field trip to Arran. (This, of course, is why Mr. Fooks was "not available" to comment to the News last week on a parent's complaint about lack of computer science teaching. However, we hear that arrangements had already been made for all 1983/4 third-year pupils to have "taster" sessions for a few weeks on one of the school's computers; and for the first time there are pupils reading for A-level computer science.)
Pupils from Freda Gardham spent the last week of term at Hindleap Warren, in Surrey, and some followed this immediately with a football weekend at Eastbourne.
2.
Many people in the town have been shocked to hear of the death of Mr. Norman Hutchings. Mr. Hutchings died suddenly in his workshop, at the age of 63; there is a service in St. Mary's this morning (Wednesday) at 11.15, followed by cremation at Hastings. Mr. Hutchings, a Cornishman, came to Rye with the Navy during the war, and married his wife Beryl 38 years ago; they have lived in Rye ever since, in Mrs. Hutchings' family home. He was well known in the area as a skilled joiner and cabinet-maker, and a restorer of antique furniture. He will be much missed by their many friends.
Mr. Charles Sherwood, of Ferry Road, died recently aged 75, after a long illness and some months in hospital. He leaves a widow, Violet, and two daughters.
Mrs. Lillias Smith, whose death we reported briefly before Easter, was born in Westgate-on-Sea in 1894 and moved to Peasmarsh with her widowed mother at an early age. In 1908 she went to London to live with an aunt, and learnt the art of dressmaking, but in 1915 she joined the Ministry of Shipping at St. James's Park and did VAD work at the South African Hospital in Richmond. In 1924 she returned to Peasmarsh, and in 1927 married Mr. Alfred Smith - her talents as a dressmaker being much appreciated by the ladies of Peasmarsh. She was widowed in 1960, and with her son Douglas moved to Ashenden Avenue in 1967.
The "regulars" (in the very best sense) at Rye Magistrates Court just before Easter met with regret to say farewell to their Clerk, Mr. Logan Edgar, OBE, on his retirement. Ten members of the Rye Bench were present to hear their Chairman, Mrs. Mercy Whitehead, express their gratitude to Mr. Edgar for his support and help, and particularly for the excellence of his training courses. There were tributes from the Clerk's staff, and from the police; while Mr. Ivo Fowle, on behalf of the advocates of Rye, referred appreciatively to Mr. Edgar's dignity, open-mindedness and sense of humour.
Mr. Edgar, retiring as Clerk to Hastings, Bexhill and Battle Courts as well as Rye, said it was very embarrassing to listen to so many untruths, particularly four times over! When he had first taken over as Clerk to Rye Court, he had been told that he would have problems; but he had received so much kindness and help from Rye people that his Rye Wednesdays were one of the joys of his week. The amalgamation of the Rye and Battle Courts must have been the smoothest the magisterial world had ever known, he said, thanks to the co-operation of the two Chairman concerned.
Mr. Edgar's first experience of Rye was as a young lawyer at Quarter Sessions in pre-war days (when the Town Hall was lit by gas!). He hands over his job to Mr. Malcolm Read, Clerk to Lewes Magistrates, and intends to join members of his family in running a camellia nursery in Three Oaks.
Rye Ramblers have a most interesting programme for the coming summer. This weekend (16/17 April) they are walking the Saxon Shore Path. On Sunday, 1 May, they spend a day in the Westfield area, and the following fortnight (15th) an afternoon starting at Bodiam Castle. On 5 June they take the train to the Friston Forest area, and on the 19th a 10-mile walk takes them round by Winchelsea to Pett and back by Camber Castle. July 3rd sees them near Northiam, and on the 17th there is a conducted walk in the Hastings Country Park after a tree planting. 7 August means the Icklesham area, 21 August a shorter stroll in and around Playden, while the programme finishes on 4 September with a 6-mile trek around the Marsh in the direction of the Kent Ditch.
The group is affiliated to the Commons, Open Spaces and Footpath Preservation Society, and to the Ramblers' Association. Subscription is £l, or £1.50 for family membership, payable to the Hon. Treasurer, Mrs. W. Simmonds, Comeley House, Harbour Farm Meadows, Winchelsea Beach (Rye 226487). Walks are led by different members each time and are mostly around 6 or 7 miles long, sometimes with a packed lunch, sometimes afternoons only. A lot better than snoozing in front of the telly - and, of course, a lovely excuse not to mow the lawn?
THE RYE GAZETTE, 13.4.83 - page 3
The 1st Rye Brownie Guides are 60 years old this year. Any ladies now aged between 60 and 70 who remember belonging to the 1st Rye Brownie pack, do please get in touch with Mrs. White (Rye 222840) or Mrs. Howard (224933); Mrs. Howard says they would love to have some "old Brownies" to celebrate with them in September. To start off their 60th year, the 1st Rye pack (a recent amalgamation of the 1st and 3rd Rye packs) presented 60 elderly people in Rye with Easter chicks made by the little girls, each with a fresh egg for breakfast - some went to Badger Gate and Devonport House. The pack is also planning to collect 60 bags of rubbish (not difficult in Rye, says Mrs. Howard wryly) in a sponsored clean-up at Whitsun. The 1st Rye pack has a few vacancies, and any interested 7-year-old should contact Mrs. White; they meet on Thursdays from 4 to 5.30 at the FE Centre.
…To Pat and Mary Bonham, of Rye Wholefoods, on the arrival on 8 April of James Francis Bonham, brother for Anna and Clare, 8 lbs 3 oz. and now back home in Winchelsea Road.
…To David Woollett, of Udimore, and Anita Care, of Marley Road, who were married at St. Mary's on Saturday. Both bride and bridegroom work at the Cinque Ports Pottery, and will live in Camber.
…To Rye Karate Club junior team, who covered themselves with glory recently when they came second in the Southern Area Championship at Folkestone, competing against teams from as far away as Portland in Dorset. The team consisted of Jamie and Scott Barden, from Camber, and Darren Hickmott, Martin Bayntun and Simon East, all from Rye. They have entered three competitions in the past three years, and came 2nd, 3rd and 2nd; and the three older boys are due to take their Black Belt test at a camp in Denmark this summer. Trainer is Alan Shorter, of Cranbrook, and the Club's secretary is Mrs. Barden, mother of the twins in the team. Karate, Mrs. Barden explains, differs from judo since it involves kicks rather than throws; but the boys (and a few girls) are taught it as self-defence, and not to hurt each other.
Has anyone lost an over-adventurous sandy Persian cat? If not, a Peasmarsh couple will be delighted, since they have given it a temporary and they hope a permanent home; but they are prepared to relinquish it to a rightful owner if one turns up.
The story began some ten days before Easter, when the Camiers kept hearing miaowing behind the cycle workshop wall. They weren't worried at first, since there is an 18" space between it and the Town Wall, plenty of room for a cat to wander back home again; but by Maundy Thursday the noise had become so plaintive that they felt compelled to do something, and somewhat reluctantly removed bricks from the workshop wall to leave a hole. Nothing happened at first, but when Mrs. Camier put down a saucer of milk and kept watch, she saw a pussy face appear, looking wistfully at the milk but obviously scared to come out. So she put the milk inside the cavity and eventually, with some difficulty, tempted out not the kitten they were expecting but a large, terrified, thin and very dirty Persian cat. It was very, very nervous at first, but finally let Mrs. Camier feed it, pick it up and groom it, and then followed her devotedly, spending much of its time on the office desk - obviously a cat used to windowsills, she says, and also house-trained.
The Camiers spent most of Good Friday enquiring round the Wish Ward area if anyone was short of a cat, without success; wider research proved no better. Obviously it had to belong to someone, but the Camiers didn't want to keep it for ever, so when a customer whose similar cat had died recently offered to take it home, they were very relieved. But, Mrs. Camier tells us, the understanding is that the cat is fostered rather than adopted for the present, and if the owner calls at the cycle shop, she can arrange for it to be returned.
Somewhere along that part of the Town Wall there must be a gap through which the cat got into the cavity (and through which it presumably couldn't return). Perhaps residents round there might like to check and block up any holes? - the next adventurer might not be so lucky.
THE RYE GAZETTE, 13.4.83 - page 4.
• Patrick Osborne tells us that of the three shops in his new terrace bearing 'sold' signs, one will be the office for his motel rooms above, and also the base for his property business in Spain; one will be a gift shop, run by Rye people returning after some years away; and the third board is in the new Council offices at the Landgate end. One more shop is under offer, leaving only one still on the market.
He recently applied for permission not to have the layby required by the original plans, since he felt that it would spoil the look of the terrace; but Rother were adamant, and there will therefore be an arrangement similar to that outside Squirrels, with the pavement making a detour up against the shop window to allow delivery vans, etc., to pull off the road.
• Mr, and Mrs. Tarrant have now cleared the various hurdles for their fish-and-chip shop at Strand Quay, and will be opening on Friday, 22 April, at lunchtimes as well as in the evenings - exact hours will depend on demand, but they will certainly open till late at weekends.
• The Sunday Market a feature of last summer, will not be coming back this year - which is not to say that we shall never see it again.
• Domestic planning applications this week are for a new house in Rock Channel, and for a porch and garage-with-bedroom-above extension in New Road. See also the planning story on page 5.
• At the Planning Committee meeting on 31 March, the following decisions were taken on Rye applications (see recent GAZETTES for fuller details of each):
Approval was given to the workshop and boat moorings next to the laundry; to the change of use of Davies Garage land in Winchelsea Road; to alterations to the front of The Centre in Market Road; to a vegetarian restaurant in the Old Vicarage in East Street; to an East Street bathroom, and a West Street dormer window.
Mr. and Mrs. Collins, of Wish Street, have permission to use Gibbet Mill as a guest house, though details have still to be agreed - a condition is that the white paintwork of the mill shall be cleaned up.
• A decision on change of use of premises at Rye Harbour to a frozen food shop and store was deferred for an inspection. The application from John Jempson & Son for the use of the Farnborough Engineering building was also deferred, this time for comments from the Department of Transport.
• Permission was refused for a new house in West Undercliff.
• Two earlier applications for industrial development along Rye Harbour Road were also discussed in the light of the Planning Officer's recently accepted report (GAZETTE no.27), and the complicated legal machinery necessary to alter the Structure Plan for the area is, we gather, now being put in motion.
Footnote: the Editor has been to London three times recently. Twice, coming back, the London train missed the Rye connection. Is this just bad luck, or are other people finding the same thing? If so, why is it? Any suggestions?
On Sunday, 1 May, the Community Centre will hold the first of its new sales, from 10 to 1. Buyers are of course cordially invited, and so are sellers, who should get in touch with Peter on Rye 223917 (tables from £2.50). The principle is that you pay rent to the Centre for your table (two sizes) and then sell your own second-hand goods off it and keep the proceeds. (The term "boot sale refers to car boots and not, we would like to make clear, to footwear - there is no need at all to sell shoes!)
Has anyone got a small caravan which they would be willing to let the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve have (preferably free, or anyway cheap)? The Little Terns would be extremely grateful, since the caravan is needed to shelter the volunteers who guard their breeding colony on the Reserve during the summer. The Reserve also needs a small van such as a Ford Escort, and there is money available for this. Offers of either, to the Warden, Richard Knight, at Rye 223862.
5.
Conservationists are horrified at a new threat to the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. Adjoining the Reserve, and inside the area designated as of Special Scientific Interest, are what are known as the Long and the Narrow Pits, mature water-filled gravel pits with secluded islands and, at present, relatively undisturbed margins. They are, says Warden Richard Knight, a very valuable wetland habitat for breeding and wintering water-birds, and provide a safe refuge; there are also some extremely rare plants.
Messrs. Simpson (Rye Harbour) Ltd., based at Fordingbridge in Hampshire, are applying for planning permission to develop the whole area for recreational activities, and it has already been in use for windsurfing with its attendant cars and people, as well as for coarse fishing and duck shooting. The application rather oddly proposes various activities including wildfowling and "biological and botanical studies" - which would seem hardly compatible, unless there are to be facilities for dissecting dead duck? Also proposed are two car parks, and of course access via the public footpath from Rye Harbour Village to Winchelsea Beach.
The planning application is no. RR.83 0631, and objections to the proposals must reach the Planning Officer at Bexhill Town Hall as soon as possible, since the application comes before the Planning Committee on 21 April. Richard Knight points out that there are plenty of opportunities for recreation on the beaches, the river, and at the existing development on Castle Water and the proposed one at North Point Pit, whereas the Reserve and the whole area round it is of outstanding wildlife interest which the proposed scheme would seriously damage.
Mrs. Beryl Wenham, of Hastings, who runs Rye Weightwatchers, tells us that they have been so successful that the Club now has more "life members" (those who have achieved their goal weight and now only come in once a month) than regular weekly members still trying to shed a bit more f-l-a-b. The group - now with about 18 "losing" members - meets every Tuesday at the Community Centre, at 7.30 for a lecture at 8, all over by 9. The emphasis is on a sensible way of eating, and no-one is expected to do violent exercises or take off all their clothes - though, says Mrs. Wenham, some like to wear the same dress each week to help with weighing, and it is always nice to see it getting looser and looser as there is less and less inside it. There are always more women than men on the course - one well-known local man fell by the wayside recently after a very promising start! - and some people are sent by their doctors. "Our worst enemy at this time of year" declares Mrs. Wenham, "is a Cadbury's Cream Egg!"
For anyone who has been putting off joining, this is a good moment, since there is a reduced offer for the next two weeks; normal joining fee is £4.65, and meetings cost £2.15 thereafter, though OAPs and teenagers only pay £1.50. (And if anyone thinks that the Editor might usefully practice what she preaches, Tuesday nights are just not possible for her if you want your GAZETTES on Wednesday morning!)
The Goat House at Brede will be open to the public on Sunday 17th (garden only), from 2 to 6 in aid of the National Gardens Scheme. The house was once owned by the artist Clare Sheridan, who originally laid out the 4 1/2-acre garden - now being lovingly restored by the owners, Mr. and Mrs. D.F. Harding. This is open for the first time this year, and includes woodland and a wild dell garden, with spring bulbs, fine trees and magnificent views over the Brede Valley. Dogs are not invited; but as compensation there are goats and pet sheep. Teas are available; entrance 30p.
Mrs. Gwen Jones, of Hastings (753266), makes a study of oast houses, and gave a very interesting talk to the Museum Association last autumn. She has a puzzle which she wonders if any of our readers can solve. At Leasam Farm in the 1700s, there was a very large oast with 7 roundels, later reduced to 4. Now there is just the one. Does anyone remember the dismantling of the other three roundels? Dr. Jones has heard that they were bombed in the war - but this could be a confusion with another farm. She would be most grateful for any information at all, fact or hearsay.
6.
Wednesday 13th - Rye Allotments and Gardens Society AGM, followed by a talk on
Organic Gardening - St. John's, 7.30
Friday 15th Rye Conservative Association AGM, Town Hall, 7.30
Saturday 16th Friends of Rye Art Gallery "Posh Jumble Sale", FEC, 2.0
Rye Harbour Sailing Club Jumble Sale, Sailing Club, 2.30 (there are also jumble sales in Icklesham, Peasmarsh and Brede!)
Sunday 17th Open garden, The Goat House, Brede, 2 to 6 (see page 5)
Monday 18th Monday Club, Clinic, 2
Wednesday 20th Conservative Association coffee morning, 113 Udimore Road, 10.30
ARC coffee morning, Community Centre, 10 to 12
Red Cross Thrift Shop, open for receiving clothes, 10.30 to 12.30
• On 21 and 22 April at Playden WI Hall, Rye Players are presenting a play and a musical entertainment "Something Old, Something New", with most of the cast of the play making their stage debuts. Tickets are available at Graham's China Shop at £l (50p for senior citizens and those under 14).
• On St. George's Day, Saturday 23 April, Rye Royal British Legion are holding a truly patriotic coffee morning in the Town Hall forecourt from 10 to 1. Patrons will be invited to buy a Rose of England for their buttonholes - proceeds to the Poppy Day appeal.
• Hill House Hospital League of Friends is holding a flag day on Saturday, 28 May, and the Secretary would be very glad indeed to hear from people willing to rattle a tin for an hour or two at a strategic point in the town centre. Please contact Mrs. Glenda Smith, Rose Cottage, Udimore Road (Rye 225846).
• Rye Bonfire Boys raised £72 at their coffee morning on Saturday at the FE Centre. Secretary Joan Parkes hopes this will mark the start of a year of fund-raising, so that the next Bonfire Night will be the best ever.
• Cancer Relief benefits by £160 as a result of the Easter Monday coffee morning.
• Kitty French has recently spent two weeks in Gillingham at the invitation of South East Arts as artist-in-residence at Gillingham Library. Inevitably she was tempted into working with the children of the area and found herself taking seven separate groups learning the art of batik. She also had an exhibition of her own work there.
• Rye and District Movie Society beat their friendly rivals from Hastings last Friday when they won the RX Trophy - named after the joint fishing-boat registration - for their film "Beachcomber". The well attended contest took place at the FE Centre, with Mr. Robert de Ste Croix judging for Rye and Mr. Dennis Neeves for Hastings.
• Mr. Geoffrey Bateman has sent us a fascinating list, too long to print, of a total of 3,502 visitors to St. Mary's since the beginning of December - an average, he works out, of 25 signatures a day in the visitors' book.
• Has anyone got for sale an old-fashioned "guillotine" for paper cutting? The GAZETTE office needs one, and it is apparently not possible to buy them anymore.
• Our photocopiers, Sussex Secretarial Services, have moved from Claremont to more convenient premises at 10 Cambridge Road - two doors down from the Post Office, uphill from WH Smith. They keep their phone number, Hastings 422633.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office. It is published by Mrs. Mary Owen at 94 Udimore Road, Rye (222303), who is always glad of news items for inclusion - deadline Monday afternoon, 9 am on Tuesday for dire emergencies. The GAZETTE costs 25p weekly and is delivered to subscribers and pick-up points on Wednesday morning.
Photocopied by Sussex Secretarial Services, 10 Cambridge Road, Hastings (0424 422633).