The public consultation exhibition for the bypass, booked into the Community Centre for 10-12 October, has now been postponed for the second time (the original booking was for June). It seems perfectly possible that it may not now happen until next year, though we have not yet been able to extract any information from the D o T about this. Since so much of the town's future development depends on the route chosen, this postponement is going to delay a great many public and private pro jects; the car parking problem springs to mind at once, since Rother are hesita ting to develop the land north of the railway for this purpose in case all their efforts are then brought to naught by the bypass. The Winchelsea route, whose public consultation was in November 1983, has not yet been announced - and that was, after all, a much simpler set of options, or so one would think. Will the Rye decision also drag on for two years?
The town's Assistant Macebearer Les Paine and his wife Marjorie celebrated their Aden Wedding on Saturday - with presents, exactly fifty cards, and more flowers than Mrs. Paine had vases for. Their son David had promised them a surprise for their anniversary - and on Saturday evening they were very surprised indeed to find twenty relatives and friends waiting for them at the Old Forge, their favourite restaurant, invited to dinner by David and his wife Doris to share the happy occasion. Absent from the table was their two-year-old granddaughter, tucked up in bed in her South Undercliff home.
Mr. and Mrs. Paine were married in the now vanished Methodist Church in Winchelsea where Marjorie lived (she was a Miss Turner). They moved into their present home in Bridge Place where Les had lived since he was six (and he was born further along the same road) - and anyone who looks over their back fence can see the result of fifty years' keen gardening! Les had started work as an apprentice at l½d for the grandfather of our present Mayor. He worked for several local builders before the war, and was building defence blockhouses in 1939 when, as an RAF reservist, he volunteered for the Air Force. However, he was directed into an aircraft factory at Northfleet where he built Stirling bombers and Tempests; Marjorie joined him and found herself a very pleasant job at a bakehouse nearby. When they came back to Rye after the war, Les joined the building staff of Rye Borough Council and worked for it for 16 years, plus a further two for Rother before he retired ten years ago. His appointment as Assistant Macebearer (originally to Fred Parris, with whom he walked in the Lord Mayor's Show in 1973) arose from his Borough Council job, but he liked it so much that he has now been shouldering the heavy mace for 13 years, assisting three Town Sergeants. Between Mayoral occasions, Les keeps fit with a game of bowls; he plays for both the Rye and Winchelsea Clubs.
Mr. and Mrs. Paine would like to thank David and Doris for arranging such a lovely anniversary party - and for being such a super son and daughter-in-law. Their thanks go, too, to Derek and Jenny Bayntun and the staff at the Old Forge for all they did to make Saturday evening so memorable.
A fringe event for Rye Festival which has received little publicity so far is an unusual exhibition in the Upper Room at St. Mary's: the collection of Ethiopian crosses, some dating from the 13th century with others made less than 100 years ago. Some are intended for processional use, some to be held in the hand, and some worn round the neck, so sizes and detail vary; they have been assembled from various sources and arranged by Mrs. Eine Moore, who also wrote the scholarly and informative catalogue. These crosses represent an art form quite unlike anything we normally see round here, and the exhibition ought not to be missed – though it may be on show in London later in the year. A small admission fee goes to church funds, and there is a bowl for donations to the Famine Appeal. The room is open from 11 to 5 for the rest of the Festival.
2.
A double tragedy has befallen the Oliver family of Lea Avenue. On 20 August Mr. Timothy Oliver, who was 70, died suddenly at his home, leaving a widow and family. Three days later, on 23 August, his son Philip, who lived with his parents, also died at home as the result of an accident; he was 36. Both funerals have taken place. There will be great sympathy for Mrs. Louisa Oliver in her grief at the loss of both husband and son.
Mr. Bruce Martin, whose home was in Udimore Road although he spent much of his time in Lyndon in recent years, died on 20 August after a long illness. Mr. Martin, who was 60 and unmarried, had been a pupil at Rye Grammar School. His father had been one of the Rye postmen, and he himself started work in the Post Office here during the war, but later went to London for a successful career in insurance in the City. The cremation has taken place.
Mrs. Patricia Chetwood, of Winchelsea, who died on 31 August, was (as Patricia Orr, before her remarriage) the Curator of Rye Art Gallery for several years and had many friends in the town.
Two new businesses have recently opened in one of the most unusual suites of offices in Rye - over the railway station. The big rooms overlooking the signal box house Paul Niddery, of insurance agents Niddery Associates, and Ray Osborne of RYD Designs Ltd., and people arriving too early for an appointment can sit on the sunny windowsill in the corridor and enjoy a fascinating new view of the Station Approach!
Paul Niddery offers advice and quotations for insurance needs of all kinds - life, pensions, mortgages, etc., as well as the more mundane car and house-hold policies. He is agent for some of the largest British and international insurance firms, tried and trusted names, and it is with one of these that he is trying to negotiate a better deal for local fishermen - who at present pay unreasonably high rates determined by the much greater risks in other areas. Mr. and Mrs. Niddery are also thinking of setting up a book-keeping and secretarial service, something not available at present in the town, if they think the demand is there. The office is open from 9.30 to 5 on working days, and until 7.30 pm on Thursdays and from 9.30 to 12 on Saturday mornings for the benefit of those at work during the week.
Ray Osborne runs the design department of his micro-electronics company here - the production side, at present sub-contracted, is likely to be set up in Kent where, he tells us, the grants are better. Ray moved to Rye because after four years the business was outgrowing his Wittersham home; but he does not expect to find business at a purely local level. He has, for instance, recently produced a piece of equipment for Kent County Council's Social Services Department (he does a good deal of work for KCC): an alarm which, if a room becomes too cold for the good of the elderly person in it, will not only. make a noise so irritating that it cannot be ignored but can also turn on the heating or alert the warden. (Nor are all electronic lifesavers pricey; these will sell at under £10, or only each if bought by the thousand.)
RYD Design Ltd specialises in the use of micro-electronics in controls of all kinds for production lines, heating and cooling systems, aids for disabled people, etc. and as well as large-scale production, the company can assemble a package of standard parts to meet a one-off request. The firm also runs a computer consul- tancy service, though it does not sell computers, and being registered with MAPCON can advise on grants for feasibility studies for industry. It also deals in computer programming, but your reporter was so confused by this that she cannot attempt to go into accurate detail. However, what was clear was that the company is creating jobs for four or five people in the town.
We shall soon have news of another new service which will be very welcome here (no, not a heel-bar), and it is very encouraging for Rye's future that these young men are bringing their businesses into the town for the benefit of us all.
3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 4 September 1985
Congratulations to Diane Haffenden of Pottingfield Road and Ted Evans of Lydd, who were married in St. Mary's on Saturday. Diane, who wore a white taffeta and lace dress and a full-length veil, was attended by her sister Lindsey and Ted's sister Juliet, in rink tulle with flower head-dresses; Ted's best man was his brother William. The reception was held at the Saltings Hotel, and the honeymoon is being spent in Jersey, where Diane celebrated her 21st birthday on Monday.
Congratulations, too, to David van Puyenbroec of The Mint and Catriona Eccles of Hanworth, Middlesex, who were also married at St. Mary's on Saturday.
Another office in the High Street?
Another High Street shop is in danger of being turned into an office though not, this time, a building society. Mr. A. Bridgland of Udimore is applying for change of use for 103a High Street (at present an antique shop, closed for some time owing to the illness of the proprietor, and formerly Bunty's sweet shop) to an insurance office. An earlier application from Mr. Bridgland for office use for the rooms above Farbrothers with their entrance at the foot of East Street comes before Rother's planning committee tomorrow. We were astonished to learn that on Monday night the Town Council planning committee voted to approve the proposal - are we likely to see a High Street packed with offices after all, just when it looked as if ur remaining she2s were safe once Anglia promised to return its present premises to retail use? There are rumours that in fact the antique shop is likely to reopen, so the matter may not arise - this time; but the principle remains. (When the Town Council suggested banning parking in the town centre, just about the time of the Anglia commotion, someone pointed out cynically that if all the High Street shops turned into offices there would be no need for people to park there; perhaps this is what the Council has in mind!)
An unusual fringe activity for Thomas Peacocke School took place on Saturday, when nine pupils went over to Hickstead to take part in the Schools Team Jumping. One team (Cary Gibbs from Northiam, Michelle Hanson from Idea and Helen Menzies-Sacher from Playden) competed in the Junior (under-14) competition, and two teams in the Senior one. Nicholas Stevenson from Three Oaks and Sally Webb and Hannah Courtenay-Bennett from Playden, the TPS A Team, had a total of 11 faults; the B Team (Lucy Scrutton and Claire Hanwell from Iden and Fiona Ramus from Playden) had only 7, and came in the first 8 of the 71 teams competing. This made them eligible to ride in the final event in the huge main arena, a slightly scary experience of which all three are justly proud. Mrs. Julia Ramus tells us that :ry few State schools were represented in the competition; she lost track of who won (though it was not the TPS team) when a thunderstorm sent the spectators scurrying for shelter. However, all nine children had the fun of competing, finally joining the entire body of competitors (around 300 in all) in the big ring to collect rosettes; win or lose, it was a very good day out as well as bringing credit to the school.
We are relieved to see that last Thursday's East Sussex News reports BR area manager Harry Holt as saying that the proposed alterations to the Goods Yard car park, including the closure of the access from Ferry Road, would not after all take place. "Because the development of a supermarket on the site was more imminent than thought," he told their reporter "there would not have been time to recoup initial outlay" on pay-and-display machines.
The previous Friday, Mr. Holt had been quoted in the Sussex Express as saying that "no decision could be made until further information was available on when the Rye supermarket might start". Anxious to be helpful, we had at once sent Mr. Holt copies of all the recent GAZETTE articles on the subject, including the one giving the latest timetable for the supermarket. Could his change of heart, we wonder, possibly have come about as he read his Monday morning's mail?
4.
Peacocke Wurlitzer at Upper School at 2.30, when the programme will consist of popular music with a WW2 flavour - and it is a long time since most of us have heard WW2 tunes played on a cinema organ! Admission, for the Wings Appeal, is £1 for adults and 50p for pensioners and children, and tea will be available in the interval.
• The Saltcote Place fete on Sunday afternoon means that a cheque for £500 will be going to the Rye Memorial Hospital League of Friends, and we would like to con gratulate the organisers on this splendid result, achieved at comparatively short notice in only moderate weather. Lucky programme number was 056, and a soft toy awaits the holder if he or she will ring Mr. Barker would like to thank his wife, staff and helpers for all the effort which they put into this very successful event - and so, we feel sure, would the League of Friends.
The Rye Branch of Mencap is most grateful to Rye and Rother Valley Round Table, who recently presented the committee with a cheque for £1,500 from the Carnival proceeds; this means that the minibus is now paid for entirely (Mencap and Hill House School had each contributed 0750 earlier in the summer towards the Variety Club of Great Britain's generous gift) and it is a load off everyone's mind!
• The coffee morning for Action Research for the Crippled Child raised well over £100, including an anonymous donation of £5 put through Mrs. Mayer's letterbox. She is delighted to learn that Inner Wheel has adopted the charity for the coming year. Action Research for the Crippled Child (a pity it is such a cumbersone title) raises money for medical research leading to the prevention of disability and the alleviation of existing physical handicap in children, and grants for work in this field are given to researchers in hospitals and university departments all over the country.
• Bonfire Night is early this year - Saturday, 5 October. The fireworks are bought and paid for, but all the money collected during the procession goes to charity and there are still expenses to be met, so the Bonfire Boys are holding a Bonfire Bonanza at the Town Hall on Saturday, 21 September, to fill up the kitty. The attractions will include the chance to be photographed Sitting in the Rye Fawkes chair, complete with the Rye Fawkes hat and cloak - there's something for posterity! Mary Lestocq and her camera will be on hand in the morning, or there will be a chance to use your own camera (for a small fee) in the afternoon. The event opens at 10 and continues until 4, and coffee and tea will be available throughout the day; there will be a bring-and-buy-stall, a raffle and tombola, and a display of bonfire photographs and other memorabilia throughout the years. These are being arranged by Mrs. Booth of 28 New Road, and she would be very grateful for offers of photos, etc. - on loan, of course. She has some of her own, but would, for instance, be glad of one showing the Dragon, or the Burning Boat, or the Rye Royale boat with its decorations. If anyone can help her over this, please ring. Also on view will be the banner, not often seen in Rye, which Mrs. Phyllis Smith made for the Rye Bonfire Boys to carry when they take part in "foreign" bonfire processions. What might be called fringe events include a sponsored walk by Francis Rowe, and the Town Crier will be doing his stuff around the town in the morning. This year's Bonfire Secretary, County Councillor Joan Yates, promises a day full of interest and hopes for plenty of visitors with generous purses.
5.
The arrival on the doormat of the annual Register of Electors form always heralds the approach of autumn, but it seems to be earlier than usual this year. Bother can save a great deal of ratepayers' money if householders will return these forms at once instead of waiting for the qualifying date of 10 October, so that the work on the Register can be done over a longer period instead of in a last-minute rush.
The form states clearly who should be entered on it, but in effect it is the usual adult members of the household plus those who are basically resident but not actually there on 10 October (eg. students). So only people with unusually fluid domestic arrangements need really wait six weeks before completing the form. In fact, the Register is produced in draft towards the end of November and voters are annually implored by Bother to go and check their entries then - giving plenty of opportunity for alterations to be made before the definitive version appears the following February.
Rother says sadly that householders sometimes return their forms as late as Easter and then complain indignantly that they are not on the Register - and therefore, of course, have no vote in either parliamentary or local government elections. So if you want to be sure - and before you lose the forms - please fill it in and return it (to the Cinque Ports Street Council office will do) NOW.
The first meeting of the new club for 16-to-19-year-olds at the Community Centre takes place from 7.30 to 10.30 on Monday, 16 September, and those who were at the inaugural meeting are busy recruiting their friends; they hope for a really good turn-out. What is needed now is a small number of adult volunteers who would like to be around on a Monday evening, making tea and coffee, providing some informal supervision and generally chatting with the members; the steering com mittee which has got the group off the ground are all too involved in other things to take on the job as a regular commitment. If you are willing to help, hail Ringo on his dustcart, see Joyce Clark at 1 agle Road, or ring Neil Weatherall - they will be delighted to hear from you.
Going along the High Street on Saturday morning was rather like one of those television films which start off with old black-and-white clips and then blaze into colour. At the Easton Rooms "The Black and the White" (until 24 September) is a mixed show of prints and drawings "with the emphasis on the potency of black and white". To those who, especially in Festival week, were feeling like a nice bit of colour, the effect was sometimes gather more funereal than potent, and abstracts in monochrome are not always easy to understand; but tastes differ, and there was undoubtedly some very skilful work on view - notably Susan Jameson's four pencil studies of the sea. Upstairs in the Crafts Gallery, Eric Mellon was showing hand-decorated ceramics and drawings which pursued themes from classical mythology.
Along the road at the George Hotel, Winchelsea and District Floral Group were celebrating their 21st birthday. Here there was colour to satisfy anyone, and this year's show was ingeniously contrived to include one arrangement illustrating each of the themes for the Group's shows over the years, right back to "Neptune's Kingdom" in 1967. (Four had had a Christmas theme, and since August is a little early for holly they had been condensed into a single arrangement plus a round about of mini-decorations) Most of the club's 40 members had offered a personal congratulation in the form of a tiny vaseful of flowers combined in the joint exhibit "Let's Celebrate", and 16 arrangers had produced the charming and carefully-thought-out displays recalling previous shows. The prop alone are always fascinating, bits and pieces salvaged from the beach or even the bin, jumble-sale treasures and shining pebbles serving as background to masses of carefully chosen flowers arranged with enviable expertise. They enhanced the charm of the George Hotel ballroom with an atmosphere of summer which has been sadly lacking out of doors this year! Raffle proceeds of £150 were presented to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Appeal.
6.
• Enrolment for this winter's Adult Education classes takes place on Monday, 9 September, at the FE Centre between 7 and 9 pm (there is a form in the brochure, obtainable from the FEC and Library, for those who cannot come at that time). Fees vary considerably and are set out in the brochure; most classes are held at the FEC or Thomas Peacocke Upper School. As usual, there is an excellent range, though some will fall by the wayside if less than 15 pupils sign on. The usual titles include Art (4 classes), Car Maintenance (basic and follow-up, two terms runi?ing), two Computer Studies classes, two Yoga groups, and various levels of French, Spanish and English. For the energetic there is Ladies' Keep Fit, Scottish Dancing and Slim and Trim; serious slimmers and trimmers may also be interested in Beauty Care. Someone looking for a hobby can chose from bridge, dressmaking and tailoring, flower arranging, gardening, jewellery, photography, typing, upholstery, creative writing or pottery (this last at Brookland). The year of the comet sees a three-week course about Halley and the astronomy of his era; and a new venture is a two-term course on natural history viewed from a local standpoint, which sounds particularly interesting.
Saturday 5pecials include one-day courses in lacemaking, cake icing, first aid, pot-pourri making and something called broomstick crochet, plus a June day spent studying the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve.
• Workers' Educational Association classes are differently organised from the Adult Education classes, though they also take place in the FE Centre, and information about them can be obtained from Miss Win Allen, Udimore Road. This year there are two single-term courses: "France in the Eighties" (JB Wright) - "see how little modern France resembles the usual beret/frog-eating stereotype" starting on 30 September (Monday), and "The Common Man, 1700-1914" (Susan McGrath) on Wednesday evenings from 15 January. On Thursday afternoons for 20 weeks from 3 October Martin Ryle gives a course entitled "Drama: from Shakespeare to Shaw". A brochure on the classes is obtainable from the Library.
• The winter season of talks arranged by the Friends of Rye Art Gallery is opened on 1 October by Dr. Andrew Causey, talking about Edward Burra. Later talks cover the Roman bath-house at Beauport Park, near Battle; Michael Angelo Rooker and early English watercolours; the actress Elizabeth Farren; early woodwind instru ments; Romney Marsh wild flowers; the conservation of British butterflies (post poned from snowbound January); and finally, on 3 June, David Martin on the old houses of Rye and Hastings. The talks take place at 8 on the first Tuesday of each month at the Town Hall; admission costs 80p, non-members are welcome.
The National Trust, Rye and Winchelsea Centre, has also just published its winter programme. Its dates and times are less regularly spaced, and some of the talks are held at the New Hall, Winchelsea; Rye meetings are at the Community Centre. Barry Funneli's talk on the villages of the Brede Valley will be eagerly awaited on 2 November (Saturday afternoon); this was postponed last winter because of the weather. Other subjects are tapestries from the 15th to 18th century, the Pilgrim's Way in Kent, Hastings Country Park, Greece, stained glass up to the 19th century, Herstmonceux Castle and gardens, and an Indian journey. After the AGM on 29 November Alma Fabes promises "A Surprise Package".
• The Museum Association has three lectures, all with slides on Fridays in the FE Centre at 7.30, booked in for the coming autumn; non-members are welcome, and a small entrance charge is made. On 27 September Stella Pigrome will speak on "Gilpin and the Picturesque"; David Martin will discuss local architecture on 18 October; and on 29 November Joan and Sidney Horniblow will describe "An Indian
Journey". The Association's Christmas cheese-and-wine party in the Town Hall will be on Thursday, 5 December.
Museum Association members are particularly asked to note these dates in their diaries, although it is hoped to get a newsletter out in time; FRAG and National Trust members will already have their detailed programmes. All the talks will appear in the GAZETTE back-page diary when the time comes round for each.
- 7 -
• In pyrotechnic terms, Rye Fire Brigade has had a slack time lately. But the firemen are pleased to report that the Open Day at the fire station raised a total of £223 for the National Benevolent Fund, of which £90 came from the Fund's own sales table of souvenirs, etc. More fun and fund-raising is taking place at the Queen Adelaide in Ferry Road on Friday this week (6th) when darts wizards Alec Stec and Alan Head are challenging all comers to take them on at 50p a game. There will be a raffle and other diversions, and the giant bottle on the bar will reveal its contents in small change, collected over the past year in aid of the Benevolent Fund. "It should be a good evening" says Michael Bourn, who has thrown a crafty dart or two in his time and is looking forward to seeing if he has kept his hand in.
• Three local organisations tell us that they are looking for Honorary Secretaries. Mr. and Mrs. Barrett will shortly be giving up as Secretary and Treasurer of the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council, and would very much like to find successors. Mrs. Mayer is at present doubling as Chairman and Secretary of Action Research for the Crippled Child and is anxious for help. Mrs. Houselander has to resign as Rye Museum Association secretary after the AGM early next year owing to pressure from her full-time job, and the Association will be need of a replacement; here, the ability to type is essential, and shorthand is useful at meetings - contact Mrs. Bagley if you are interested.
• It doesn't often happen that an "upstairs lot" at Vidler & Co's monthly auction sale fetches £750 - but this is what happened last month, when a charming old cast-iron fern-pattern garden seat went for that sum, with two more, slightly less attractive, fetching £370 and £375! This month's sale has three similar seats - we note, however, that they have very properly been upgraded to the main saleroom downstairs (lots 415-7). Perhaps those readers with large old gardens should search their shrubberies; what treasures may still lurk beneath the laurels?
• Following the success of Quintet, Ernest Collyer of Winchelsea Station Pottery has now ventured a second time into poetry publishing with "Foursome – New Poetry". Basil Dowling, Mari Brown, C.W. Morris and Ernest Collyer himself are the four, with Margery TAvington and Robin Renwick as guests; again, drawings are by the late Pamela Nash, and proceeds go to the Pamela Nash Dialysis Memorial Fund. The book costs £1.50, and copies are available in the Easton Rooms and elsewhere.
A gross of GAZETTEs please - at least, we hope they please, and have pleased over the past three years, because this issue, no. 144, marks the start of our fourth year of publication.
GAZETTE no. 1 appeared on the Wednesday of Rye 57 subscribers, but daringly printed 75 copies (at least there are no spares left). It was only and our news coverage was not very extensive; Festival Week in 1982. We had and apparently sold them all, at a four-page paper, costing 20p, the front-page lead was Rother's successful undercover action to recapture "the apothecary's drawers" and return them to their rightful place in the High Street (remember?). The format was exactly as it is now. But news began to flow in, and from the fourth issue we almost always included a further duplicated two pages - hence a price rise of 5p after the first six months. In July 1983 we bought our own photocopier instead of going over to Hastings, and since then the paper has usually had eight pages except for the period when the Editor moved house. There is never any difficulty in filling them. Thanks to our kind pick-up points and particularly Veronica Briggs at Squirrels, there is never any difficulty, either, in selling the 460 copies which we now print - having, in desperation, expanded the production department into the kitchen on Tuesday afternoons! Thanks, too, to Joan Parkes, without whose support it would never have started - and to all our readers and those who tell us what to write about. Many happy returns to us all!
WI County Office representatives at FEC from 9.30
Muscular Dystrophy Association, cream teas, Red Cross, 2 to 4
Vidler & Co's monthly auction sale, 10
Last day of Rye Festival
Last day of Rye Society of Artists Exhibition, Boys Club
Rye Flower Club's "Symphony in Flowers" (with stalls, refreshments, etc.), FEC, 10 to 5
St. Mary's Church patronal festival
Enrolment for Adult Education classes, FEC, 7 to 9
Wednesday, 11th Rye WI, "Eggcraft" (demonstration by Mrs. M.A. Blackman), FEC, 7
• Congratulations to Richard and Barbara Giles of Cadborough Cliff, whose son Mark James was born on 27 August - a brother for Laura and Caroline, and a grandson for Mrs. Betty Pennington of Lea Avenue and for Mr. and Mrs. R. Giles of Pottingfield Road. We would also like to congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Giles on their recent fortieth wedding anniversary, and are sure that young Mark is the best possible present they could have wished for!
• Simmons Restaurant is looking for an assistant chef - their present one is moving away from Rye for family reasons. Kenneth Simmons tells us that he hoping to find someone (male or female) not necessarily with a great deal of experience but certainly with a real interest in high-quality cuisine. Call at the restaurant in The Mint.
• On Saturday all trains from Hastings to Charing Cross and back will run via Rye and Ashford; this arrangement, already normal on Sundays while work con tinues on the Hastings-Tonbridge electrification, means that the times at Rye may not be the usual ones. CHECK BEFORE YOU TRAVEL, if it matters to you.
• Rye Museum Association is running a coach outing on Sunday, 15 September, to the Thames Barrier at Woolwich followed by a visit to Greenwich, and there areclikely to be some seats available for non-members. The coach leaves Rope Walk at 9; sandwiches will be eaten at Woolwich, and it will be possible to get teacat Greenwich. If you would like to go, contact Mrs. Margaret Houselander at Le Fevre Wood & Royle's office.
• Bowls: Rye lost away to St. Leonards on 28 August, and won at home to Westfield on 1 September; the 31 August game on the Salts against Tenterden was abandoned as the heavens opened. Rachel Sarrieddine tells us with great pleasure that the St. Mary's Sunday School has regained the services of Janice Gill, now that she is back from college and teaching at Guestling.
• The last day for brass-rubbers at St. Mary's is Friday, 13 September.
• Mrs. Playford's coffee morning on Saturday in Pottingfield Road raised £84, which means that from the two events very useful cheques will go to the WRVS and the RNLI.
• Good news, apparently, for the Sports Hall's prospects: a report to Rother says that the Sports Council are offering a grant of £50,000 on condition that work is under way before the end of this financial year, ie. by April 1986.
• The new series of TVS's Country Ways programmes will be going out on Fridays at 6.30 during the autumn, and on 18 October they will show the one they made last winter entitled "Rye in December". "The Valley of the Bride" (Brede?) is scheduled for 6 December.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, and published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 2 Cyprus Place, Rye (Rye 222303). News items for inclusion are always welcome - deadline Monday afternoon, Tuesday 9 am for emergencies. The GAZETTE costs 25p weekly and is delivered to subscribers and pick-up points on Wednesday; a few spare copies are available from Squirrels, 9-13 Cinque Ports Street, and back numbers from Cyprus Place. (Copyright Mary Owen 1985).