The continuing story of the bypass moves into the middle of the paper today. However, we would urge Rye people to try and get to the exhibition this week in Winchelsea New Hall, Rectory Lane, either on Friday (4 to 9 pm) or on Saturday (10 to 3) - not only to look, but also to emphasise to the D o T officials there the real importance to Rye of regarding the two bypasses as one.
For those without cars, buses leave Rye on Friday at 4.15, 5.05 and 7.05, returning from Winchelsea at 5.34, 6.34 and 8.49; on Saturday they leave Rye at five minutes past the hour from 10.05, returning at 34 minutes past the hour - not a very convenient timing, assuming the need to spend more than fifteen minutes studying the D o T proposals. Perhaps people who go over by car might be able to offer lifts home to those who would otherwise have to wait some 45 minutes for a bus?
The closing date for sending in the questionnaire enclosed with the consultation Leaflet has now been extended to 9 January. Rye residents who have received the questionnaire may perhaps wish to return it stressing the fact that Winchelsea's choice must be Rye's choice as well, and those who cannot get hold of a copy of the questionnaire might like to consider writing a letter to the same effect, which should be addressed to:
The Director, Department of Transport,
South East Regional Office,
74 Epsom Road,
GUILDFORD, Surrey, GU1 2BL.
St. Mary's seemed fuller than ever for this year's Remembrance Day service.
Someone remarked that what with the resurgent Women's Section of the Legion, plus the St. John's nursing cadets, the Guides and Brownies, the Red Cross and the WRVS members, women almost seemed to be outnumbering men in the parade! There were, however, some very smart Sea Cadets, and the RAF Association, the Fire Brigade, the Scouts, two Cub packs and the lads of St. John Ambulance Brigade all marched behind the men of the Royal British Legion. The ATC had no choice over their absence; they had been allocated this particular Sunday for one of their very rare flying days at Manston. Not all the Town Councillors were there, either, and everyone was sorry that Les Paine was not well enough to carry his heavy mace, though Arthur Paine continued the proud tradition.
Canon Maundrell preached on the theme of the service - remembrance, thanksgiving and dedication - to a congregation seated beneath memorial plaques to those who had died in both World Wars (Rye lost nearly 200 of its citizens in the two together), as well as to young men killed in skirmishes two centuries old, to a lad who died fighting in the Boer War, to a Meryon submariner drowned in 1913. The traditional Ecclesiasticus lesson was read by Lady Jones.
During the ceremony beside the war memorial, prayers were offered by our visiting Methodist minister; Dr. King is a US citizen, and the courtesy of his reference to "our Queen" was noted and appreciated. Father Maurice gave the Blessing.
A bugle sounded for the two minutes' silence, and then wreaths were laid on behalf of the British Legion and the Women's Section, the RAF Association, the Sea Cadets, the ATC, the police and the fire brigade, Rye Town Council, the Chamber of Trade and the Bonfire Society, Rotary, Round Table and Lions, St. John Ambulance Brigade, the Red Cross and the WRVS, the Scouts and Guides, Thomas Peacocke School and the British Legion Club. Poppies scattered by members of the Legion Women's Section at the foot of the war memorial had been brought from the previous day's ceremony at the Albert Hall. And the weather, though cold, was an enormous improvement on last year's drenching.
2.
Mr. Albert Liminton, of Rope Walk, died in hospital on 7 November; Mr. Liminton was 86.
Mrs. Dorothy Dawson, who died in Rye Hospital on 9 November, had lived on Cadborough Cliff for the past 40 years.
Both funerals have taken place. Our sympathy to Mrs. Liminton and to Mrs. Payne.
There is no doubt that slides of old Rye - or, as on Saturday afternoon, of old Iden and Playden - are a sure way to draw an audience. (Inspector Max Judge took advantage of this when he begged five minutes from the National Trust to talk to a crammed Community Centre on Saturday afternoon about the Crime Alert scheme!) Alan Dickinson had shown these slides, or most of them, in Rye last winter to the Museum Association, but both those to whom they were new and those who had seen them before had a lovely afternoon. Alan showed people as well as places - Lady Maud Warrender and Sir Reginald Blomfield were represented in his portrait gallery and the late Mrs. Evelyn Cooper appeared as a girl in her ATS uniform. Snow scenes were very popular subjects at the turn of the century; Whiteman, the Rye photographer at the time, had a whole series of them. And it is a sad thought that the solitary lump of stonework at Iden Moat is all that remains of a castle a century older than, and said to have been comparable with, Bodiam!
We have now had Laurie Band on Rye, Alan Dickinson on Iden and Playden - and Alan tells us that Joe Pilcher is the specialist in the East Guldeford area, so perhaps he might also be persuaded...?
We hear from Lew Goddard that the Cancer Relief sponsored piano-push went very smoothly - so smoothly, in fact, that he apologises to people along the route who looked out for them only to find that they had gone past well ahead of time; but, as he says, there is no way that a procession of this type can pause at intervals along the road. The police had been very doubtful about the whole project, but in fact all that was required was "an avuncular eye" from behind. The team's safety arrangements were excellent, involving a forward lookout in radio communication with a safety brakeman on the trailer and other team members keeping a watch at each side of the party.
In view of Remembrance Sunday, Mr. Goddard's repertoire - played with gradually freezing fingers as the piano crossed the marsh towards Camber - included WWI favourites; and the only stop they did make was outside Icklesham Church at exactly 11 am when they observed the two minutes' silence by the church clock before moving off again.
An enormous amount of forward planning work was put in by Allan Jones and Cliff Harrison of Camber; Cliff provided the Land Rover which both towed and acted as advance scout car. The trailer was kindly lent by Duncan Grant of the Fish Market.
One surprise, though, was the piano itself. The original one from Rennies was not available after all, at very short notice; so, Marie and Lester Dawson of the Green Owl made magnificent (and secret) efforts to find another which could anyway be pushed so as not to spoil the fun. It turned out to be not so much Victorian as mediaeval, says Mr. Goddard, and it is not intended as part of the permanent furniture of the Green Owl bar!
A final headache for the organisers is to go round collecting the money. They would very much appreciate it if sponsors feel able to send in contributions without being asked (including name and address, please) to L.W. Goddard, Westbourne, Sea Road, Camber - cheques for "National Society for Cancer Relief".
The team did, of course, complete the full route - near enough 18 miles. Though they had left it much too late to get permission for a street collection, they inadvertently collected some £16 which was thrown on to the trailer by passing motorists and bystanders, which will of course be included in the final cheque to be handed over to, the local branch of the Cancer Relief Association very shortly.
3.
THE RYE GAZETTE 16.11.1983
Joan Parkes has written indignantly to the Editor of the Sussex Express about the report in that paper which attributed to her a remark about hairy gorillas in connection with Cliffe Bonfire Society; she would never, she told him, have used such a vulgar expression. Zoology apart, Cliffe are not being invited to take part in Rye procession on Saturday because of aggro with the Battle Society in recent years; this is Joan's first year as Bonfire Society secretary, and she doesn't know the details, but the decision was taken in consultation with Rye Police.
Programmes are now available - the committee had to order a second printing; but they don't mention that the trophies are being presented at the Ship Inn this year, during the short stop on the way to the Salts. That is, of course, if they can all be retrieved in time...
The "hairy gorillas" quote originated from Nick Hart, who is replacing Martin Ellis (resigned owing to ill-health) as the Express's Rye and Battle reporter. Editor Peter Austin tells us that Nick's parents used to live here and he was once at the Grammar School, so we hope that he will be capable of giving Rye rather better coverage in the Express than it has had recently.
After Friday evening's performance at Lower School, it was clear why Ryesingers do so well in competitions; as their conductor, Lesley Brownbill stands no nonsense. Her face when the audience's singing was not up to standard was a picture of dismay and she had them working really hard from the beginning with a compli-
cated intertwining of two familiar songs which left some heads spinning. The choir's own contributions were, as always, a delight - a patchwork of songs to please everyone, and rather less highbrow than some of their recent concerts.
Anne Whiteman and George Eldridge were soloists. Tony Thompson and David Cade joined in a musical version of Excelsior, Longfellow's preposterous poem about the deranged youth who lugged a flag up to the top of a mountain and came to a well-deserved end at the top.
The 35 singers, with Barbara Dickinson and Clifford Foster sharing the accompaniments, gave particular pleasure with the two songs which won the Blackpool trophies proudly displayed on top of the piano - The Riddle Song and You Spotted Snakes. But it was the Gilbert and Sullivan numbers which really set feet tapping. Enthusiasts will be glad to know that Ryesingers are performing HMS Pinafore at the end of January.
The Lower School venue was particularly welcome to those living on the north side of the town, and also, with its level entrance, to several members of the audience who were able to come in wheelchairs.
Footnote: does someone in Lower School know something that the rest of the world doesn't - yet? On the noticeboard in the foyer was an invitation to take part in a school trip next spring to see "the sites of France and Belgium".
Robert Bromley, who wears two transport hats as a member of the Hastings and Rother Public Transport Committee and of the area's Transport Liaison Committee - he is also on the ESCC Highways Committee - has just received British Rail's proposals for Monday-to-Friday trains on our line from next May. We shall still have a train each way every hour during the main part of the day but marginally earlier, from 10.06 (up) and 10.03 (down) onwards. The first up train of the day will leave a few ghastly minutes earlier than at present, at 5.52 am; the last trains will leave at 21.06 (up) and 22.25 (down) which means that the present final one in each direction is scrapped entirely. The 8.35, so useful for Awayday travellers, becomes the 8.45, but the equally useful 9.11 disappears altogether so if you miss the 8.45 there will be nothing more connecting for London until 10.06 (the 9.33 to Hastings also disappears). Proposals for weekend trains follow - at least, we hope so most sincerely.
4.
We would like to offer our congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. John Wickersham of New Winchelsea Road, who were married in St. Mary's, Rye, fifty years ago on Friday. John is now 79 and Bessie 75. Golden wedding celebrations lasted over the weekend, with a luncheon for more than thirty guests at the Mermaid on Satur-day and a small family reunion on Sunday, and among those present were three of Bessie's four bridesmaids (the fourth lives up north, too far to travel) and John's best man. Miss Olive Wickersham tells us that her brother still has a receipt from the 1933 wedding reception, held on the ground floor of the Monastery on Conduit Hill (now of course the Cinque Ports Pottery) - a sit-down meal for 52 guests worked out at about 5/- a head. When the Wickershams bought their house, which was among the first built along New Winchelsea Road, it cost less than £500.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Wickersham are members of long-established Rye families; Mrs. Wickersham was Miss Watson and was brought up at Longley's Corner as part of a family which included 8 brothers. The Wickershams have four grandchildren and a great-grandchild. We look forward to reporting on their diamond wedding in ten years' time.
We do not propose to publish in the GAZETTE the stories that are already reaching us about people whose family lives, businesses or career prospects are in jeopardy because of the Winchelsea proposals and the Rye implications - not at the moment anyway. But Rother Council has now a perfectly public problem: is it justified in spending £40,000 this year plus a further £25,000 next year and £15,000 in 1985/6 on turning into car/coach/lorry parks some of the vacant land which lies alongside the railway? These plans have been drawn up with an eye to the situation which would arise if the supermarket were to be built and the only coach park in the town disappear beneath it, and the first piece of land to be converted is, we understand, the stretch from the station to what was once a coal-yard next to the Agricultural Hall (Winters' Dairy)...
The Rye Conservation Society has written to the Department of Transport and to Ken Warren urging that the Rye and Winchelsea bypasses should be considered as one. The Society's Secretary, Mr. Peter Smith (who insists that we print his compliment to the GAZETTE on last week's bypass article!) sends us an extract from the letter to the D o T's South Eastern Regional Office:
"We have read with interest the information about the proposed Winchelsea bypass, and shall be discussing it at our next Committee meeting, but there is one point that seems immediately clear: all the suggested routes for the Winchelsea bypass lead into the centre of Rye, which will do nothing to ease the traffic problems in the latter town and will result in the chosen route, whichever it is, having to be realigned at its eastern end when the Rye bypass is made. There is, we suggest, a strong case for accepting that piece- meal development of this kind should be avoided, and that the planning and construction of the Rye and Winchelsea bypasses should proceed concurrently."
This does by now seem to be the universally held view, official or otherwise, of the whole town, and it is clearly finding its way to the D o T along a whole series of alternative routes.
There is perhaps one silver lining to this cloud. Because of the publication of the Winchelsea plans, Rye has been alerted to the threat of a throughway well in advance of the time when - under present arrangements - our own fate will be decided. In view of the current hubbub, it will hardly be plausible for the D o T to produce, in two years' time, a route running through the middle of the town and then say we have left it too late to object. We suspect they will be heartily sick of Rye's views long before they have officially begun to think about us at all!
(continued on page 5...)
5.
When the Rye bypass went on the active list in May, the announcement was oddly specific about its length: 1.3 miles, it said, and to cost £5m. It now appears that the various Winchelsea routes all work out at not much over £1m a mile. Why, if Rye still has the freedom of choice referred to by our D o T contact (see last week's GAZETTE) are they able to predict so far in advance not only the precise length of our route but also the fact that it is going to be so particularly expensive?
One answer might be that it is envisaged as crossing the marsh from the A259 bend, past Camber Castle, over the main channel of the Rother, and rejoining the A259 near the Camber turn-off (for the benefit of the very occasional reader who doesn't know the town, we should perhaps point out that Camber Castle lies in the marsh on the Winchelsea side of the town while Camber village is the far side of the Rother). A bridge across the Rother at this point would have to be very expensive indeed, since it must allow the passage of yachts underneath at high tide, and we have heard the figure of 80' mentioned in this connection - but what a splendid opportunity for an architectural competition! There seems to be a good deal of support for this route in the town; it would relieve the traffic problems of the Rye Harbour Road junction, give access to the reopened Camber Castle, run inland of the nature reserve, and involve no demolition of property. But Rye's view of the marsh would be startlingly altered; and the distance must be more than the mysterious 1.3 miles.
We are not well enough informed to envisage the northerly route in detail, but we are told that the rise and fall of the ground level would create problems, especially at the descent from the Playden ridge to the marsh. Perhaps the rumours of a fly-over across the Cricket Salts are connected with this route? Looking at the map, it would appear to be uneconomic unless a smooth curve embraced Winchelsea as well as Rye.
The Rock Channel route might have been a possibility 20 years ago, but it has been considerably built over since then. Walking round that way, we counted some half-dozen houses and four large industrial premises which would be wholly or partly at risk if the route went that way now. The bridge could, however, be lower, since only fishing boats with their shorter masts need access to the Fishmarket. (We have also heard a remarkable suggestion about a route which would somehow incorporate Love Lane, running north of the railway the whole way from Winchelsea!)
As for the railway route, the feeling in the town seems to be overwhelmingly against it. Even leaving aside the question of property demolition, we don't want a freeway cutting off half the town's population from shops, transport and other services: we have been promised a bypass, not a bisection. And the property at risk is considerable, as five minutes spent looking up and down the line from the bridge at the foot of Rye Hill will show. But the railway route is just about 1.3 miles... and property compensation does come very expensive.
For people who want to measure their back gardens, Town Clerk John Baker, speaking from a background of civil engineering experience, tells us that a road such as we might expect could well be about 100' wide (including verges, etc.).
One of our readers points out a sinister shadow cast by the possibility of a bypass running not alongside but instead of the railway. He hears from a high-level British Rail contact that the loss-making line (apparently £lm a year) is being looked at very thoughtfully indeed. We put this point to our transport consultant Robert Bromley, who was very reassuring; he is consistently told, also at high level, that the line is at present safe. But if the worst happened, and it did close, it could be transformed into a delightful and perhaps even profitable toy for steam-engine enthusiasts - unless, of course, it had been grabbed by the D o T for the "bypass". We would then be losing our railway and gaining a road we did not want. Save Our Railway group, where are you?
The GAZETTE will be reporting next week on the Winchelsea exhibition.
6.
This week's planning list contains a change-of-use application for Saltcote Place. The County Council is applying for permission to use it as a rest home, though we understand that this is in anticipation of a sale rather than for ESCC's own purposes, and we hope to have the name of the purchaser as soon as the sale goes through. Unfortunately, a rest home is not the same as a nursing home, which is what Rye really needs; but there it is. At least there will be jobs at some level.
The other new application this week is for extra toilet accommodation at the Youth Training Scheme premises at the Tollgate Garage.
Incidentally, Rother has changed the format of the weekly planning lists. The date of issue now appears at the foot of the last page: the date at the top of the front page is that which objections, etc., should reach the Planning Officer at Bexhill Town Hall.
The bollards closing off the top of Conduit Hill will finally go up on Friday (18th); they will, we understand, be permanent ones of the same type as those on Strand Quay. The parking restrictions in the cobbled streets will also come into force very shortly (see GAZETTE no. 50).
The timing of the bollard job is, as the Divisional Highways Engineer says, fairly crucial, since the Gas Board is due to start laying a new main in Conduit Hill on 21 November. It is nice to hear for once of diggers-up of roads getting together >over their plans; Mr. Olesen had contacted the Gas Board about the plans for the hand-rail (see below), and they have therefore timed their renewal to fit in both with this and with the need not to dislocate pre-Christmas traffic in the town. The Gas Board starts work on Monday and is due to finish by 12 December.
As for the handrail, ESCC has now had a guarantee of 50% of the cost from the East Sussex Association for the Disabled - though they, we gather, have had absolutely no financial support from any local organisation, which seems quite extraordinary in view of the usual generosity with which Lions, Rotary and Round Table generally react to such appeals. We feel sure that the Association would be glad of individual contributions anyway from those who will welcome the rail - not all of whom are elderly or disabled! It is to be from the Saltings entrance upwards, and the work will go ahead in the New Year; when it is finished, the cobbles will be reinstated both round the bollards and above the Gas Board's trench.
On the subject of the Watchbell Street lookout, Mr. Olesen understands that Mr. Taylor's contractors are about to start work on the repairs to the Bellmount part of the problem, and as soon as they have finished the County Council workforce will get started on the viewing platform. We said, "Ready by the summer, perhaps?", but Mr. Olesen sounded much more hopeful than that; he aims to have the site looking tidy over the Christmas holiday period, and he talked about finishing the job quite early in the New Year - with the platform reinstated, though set back slightly from its present precarious perch!
The County Council is being asked, rather as a formality, for a licence to obstruct the highway at Strand Quay: the obstruction being the anchor which is to deter coaches from parking on the cobbled area there. Mr. Norman Hutchings, the Council's Historic Buildings officer, is preparing drawings of the finished job, and as soon as the paperwork is done the anchor can be moved. Mr. Bloomfield of the SWA tells us that it was reluctantly "caught" by a fishing-boat and dragged up the shore to a point where SWA equipment could remove it; it is, he says, obviously an old one and had presumably belonged to a sailing-ship.
The same phone call to the SWA revealed the reason why the Royal Military Canal had recently gone dry, as train travellers may have noticed. One of the channels under it which carry away the water from the high ground to the north had needed repair, but Mr. Bloomfield says that this work is now finished, and the Canal is filling up again from the Rother.
7.
Rye readers will mostly know by now, but for the benefit of absent friends we record with very great regret that efforts to save Weslakes as a going concern have failed, and the company has been wound up in the High Court with total liabilities of about £500,000. The receivers are quoted as saying that there are no local creditors of any significant size.
Mrs. Kirkham has had an enquiry from Mr. Eric Milam of 27 Church Road, Horsham, in connection with his research into the Sussex Home Guard from 1940 to 1945. He is looking for records, photographs and even material things such as uniform parts which would help him in producing a history of the 22nd Battalion or any other part of the Sussex Home Guard. Can our readers, or their friends, help him?
Congratulations to Mr. Colin Hammond, Postmaster at Rye until the end of last week - Assistant Head Postmaster at Slough from the beginning of this! Mr. Hammond worked in the Slough area before he came to Rye some seven years ago - though he started his career with the Post Office at Hastings. But the Slough office is now a "mechanised letter office" which means that the blue dots now appearing on some of our letters here will be very much a part of his job there; the office serves a large area around an industrial town and means a promotion on which congratulations are definitely in order. Mr. Hammond's successor will be appointed very shortly.
Rye WI members recently enjoyed a talk with slides about the production of their magazine "Home and Country", followed by Mrs. P. Smith's slides of her French holiday. There was also a general knowledge quiz won by Mrs. A. Trill, and a headline competition won by Mrs. Cobbold (several entries were disqualified for scurrility!). The Institute has sent £20 to the Losoto Water Appeal.
Admission will be free this year (though they hope people will buy raffle tickets generously) to the Winchelsea and District Floral Group's annual Christmas Fair in the George Hotel ballroom on Saturday, 26 November. This is an all-day event combined with a competition, a pleasure to see as well as an opportunity for Christmas shopping - particularly if you are shopping for flower-arranging friends. A donation from the proceeds will go to the Sussex Kidney Trust, which is supported by Sussex floral societies, though the Winchelsea group also contributes to other charities. (This event is on the Saturday only, not Friday as advertised.)
Two moans: we wonder why Rother has seen fit to shave the Badger Gate front grass so short that there are large patches of bare earth, quite spoiling the look of the pleasant lawn? And the Goods Shed demolition is still not finished, or rather the clearing-up isn't; a fence does now shut off the steeper end of the drop to the remaining footpath, but there are still piles of earth and rubble lying about and the direct footpath to the station is still shut, a full five months from the day in mid-June when the work began!
Being mugged is not at present one of Rye's greatest risks. But for women who want to be able to take care of themselves in such a situation, there is a weekend course in self-defence at the Squash Club in Military Road on 10 and 11 December - about two hours each day from 3 pm. Instruction is by an expert, but the course is intended for all ages, and you don't need to be particularly fit or extra strong to take part. The cost is just £6. Ring Val at Brede 382714 if you would like to join in.
Those who were watching the first of the three programmes with which the BBC marked the anniversary of Dylan Thomas's death may have missed a quick glimpse of one of Rye's senior literary figures. Joan Parkes, however, spotted Patric Dickinson appearing briefly with his fellow-poet on a BBC film clip more than 30 years old.
We would like to put on record the names of Rye young people who have recently joined Her Majesty's Forces or who are about to do so. Sandra Gale has been in the Navy for several months, David Payne for several weeks, and Jo Ciccone will be joining them very shortly. Martin Kemp is in RAF Air Traffic Control; and Barbara Scott is about to achieve a long-standing ambition to join the Army. Congratulations to you all - are there any more we should add to the list?
8.
Thursday, 17th Thrift Shop, Red Cross, 10.30 to 4 (also Friday and Saturday)
"Maria Martin", Thomas Peacocke School Players, The Grove, 7.30 (also Friday and Saturday - see last week's GAZETTE)
Friday, 18th Winchelsea Bypass Exhibition, New Hall, Winchelsea, 4 to 9 (also Saturday, 10 to 3 - see front page) Museum Association, "Raffles Museum, Singapore" by Michael Tweedie, Town Hall, 7.30
Saturday, 19th Coffee morning for missionary work, Baptist Church Hall, 10
Tilling Society meeting (members only), from 12 Pipemakers Football Club sale, CC, 2.30
Catholic Church Christmas Fair, FEC, 2.30
RYE BONFIRE NIGHT - procession leaves Tilling Green at 7.15 (see programme, or GAZETTE no. 56)
Sunday, 20th Lifeboat Service at Rye Harbour, 3
Arthritis and Rheumatism Council,
Tuesday, 22nd Ploughman's Lunch, CC, 12 to 2.
• We are sorry to hear that Miss Constance Smith of Badger Gate is in hospital, and hope that she will soon be home again.
• Mr. David Cranston asks us to say that the Rother Council offices in Cinque Ports Street are always willing to display posters for local events if the organisers will bring them in. We do apologise, by the way, for a lapse in last week's GAZETTE; the Editor knows perfectly well that the Council Offices have moved, but her typewriter had forgotten.
• Appointments are already being made for Ken Warren's "surgery" on 9 December, so people wishing to see him on personal or public topics - and there are certainly plenty of the latter at the moment - should not leave it too long before phoning Hastings 423110 (mornings only) to arrange an interview for the later part of that afternoon.
• Those who remember Clive Wall when he had a shop in Ferry Road will be parti-cularly glad to know that he is now in business from his home in Winchelsea, servicing and repairing all domestic appliances - including various forms of refrigeration equipment. If he can get the spares, says his wife, he can mend it - and he has a wide range of contacts for spares, including some which even he had once thought were obsolete. So, if you have a problem of this kind, ring Mr. Wall on Rye 226634.
• Plenty of notice for a repeat of last year's very-much-enjoyed paper hat making session for under -14s, which Kitty French is again running for Rye Art Gallery funds on Tuesday, 20 December, at the FEC. Details later - just note the date now and your children will be grateful to you.
• A "tourist" standing with movie camera pointed at Rye Church clock at 11 am on Saturday had it explained to her by several kind passers-by that the Quarter Boys remain passive on the hour. Actually, she did know; it was Jeffery Waters, completing her Rye Movie Society record of the Armistice Day wreath-laying by the Women's Section of the British Legion the day before!
• Raft Race proceeds are being presented to the NSPCC this year on Saturday, 3 December, at the New Inn, Winchelsea, at 8.30.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, and published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 94 Udimore Road, Rye (Rye 222303). News items for inclusion are always welcome - deadline is Monday afternoon, 9 am Tuesday for emergencies. The GAZETTE costs 25s weekly and is delivered to subscribers and pick-up points on Wednesday; extra copies and back numbers can be ordered from 94 Udimore Road, while a few spares are available at Squirrels, 9-13 Cinque Ports Street, Rye. (Copyright Mary Owen, 1983)
ANGHARAD REES rang Joan Parkes on Tuesday evening to say, with many apologies, that an unexpected alteration to her filming schedule means that she will not after all be able to come to Rye on Saturday night as Rye Fawkes 1983.
This will undoubtedly be a disappointment to the gentlemen. The ladies, however, will be delighted to hear that Angharad's film-star husband CHRISTOPHER CAS HOVE is able to come in her place, bringing their two young sons who would have been very sorry to miss such a memorable night out.