Good news for evening travellers from Charing Cross: the 19.55 is back. It does not appear in the main timetable, nor in the handy printed leaflet now at the station; but BR's passenger business manager Cedric Nott assures us that it is back, though the 20.55 (hitherto the last train down) is not. There will, he said, be posters; but at Rye Station on Monday morning there were none, and the booking clerk knew nothing about the restoration of the fast down train which will not mean a wait of 25 minutes at Ashford for the Rye connection. However...
Transport Users Group secretary Michael Dearing is still working to get the 20.55 restored too, and would be glad to hear from people who have been using it until now (Holmhurst Lane, St. Leonards - Hastings).
The new BR timetable which began on Monday means that the crossing-gates now go down a few minutes later than they used to; trains leave Rye in both directions at eight minutes past each hour.
Congratulations to three St. John Nursing Cadets from the Rye Division who on Friday received their Grand Prior certificates from the Area Commissioner for West Sussex, Mr. V. Langley. Sgt. Jane Clark (16), nursing cadet Sally Mitchell (14) and nursing cadet Marie Magrath (16) have worked for three years to gain this award, the top one available to cadets; they had to study 12 different subjects, which included home nursing, knowledge of the Order of St. John, child care, toymaking, cookery, games, athletics and even brass-rubbing - as well as keeping up their usual efficiency in First Aid throughout the whole period.
The County President (Mrs. Stewart Roberts), Clunty Vice-President Josepha Aubrey-Smith, the Mayor of Rye, other senior officers and Councillors were present at the ceremony, when 30 nursing cadets paraded at the St. John HQ on Conduit Hill, and there was an opportunity for the guests to inspect the work of the girls - who won the Town Council's Youth Award in 1985.
Sally Mitchell and Nadine Mitchell (not related) shared the Attendance Cup, each attending all but one of the 42 drills last year. The Junior Cup went to Natasha Mitchell, and the trophy for the cadet making the most progress was shared by Stella Crisford and Denise Thomson. Eight nursing cadets were enrolled into the Division: Suzanne Howard, Amanda Ockenden, Sarah Douch, Sara Crisford, Jacqueline Downs, Angela Robus, Samantha Hollister and Michelle Cutting.
Miss Aubrey-Smith tells us that both Mr. Langley and Mrs. Roberts were most complimentary to the group, which is among the largest Nursing Cadets Division in the county, and to Marilyn Mitchell and her officers who contribute so much to its success.
Strand Quay was an amazing sight on Friday and Saturday. 28 French yachts from the Club Nautique Valerician, St. Valery-sur-Fomme, and the Club Nautique Baie de Somme, Le Crotoy, came cross-Channel to visit their friends at Rye Harbour Sailing Club - the crews totalled some 120 people, and there were boats tied up six abreast at the Quay. It would have been possible to walk from deck to deck right across, dryshod. On Friday many of the visitors went on a coach trip to Leeds Castle; Saturday's midday race in the bay was cancelled owing to the weather; but everyone enjoyed the evening reception at the Sailing Club, with 140 people crammed into the club-house. The wiser visitors then went below for a few hours' sleep before most of the fleet left at 2 am. A French television crew was on board one of the boats, Dream II; the Rye club will see a video of the programme when they pay a return visit over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of this month.
We recorded last week the death of Miss Greta Walter of Mermaid Street, whose funeral took place on Monday. Miss Walter's friend Mrs. Shepherd writes: "Greta Walter had her art training at Goldsmiths College, and later took a four-year diploma course in the History of Art at London University. She taught art for several years at Sydenham High School for Girls; and after retiring early owing to ill-health she came to live in Rye, where she was able to work at her own painting. Her other great love was for music, and when living in London she was for many years a member of the Bach Choir. When she came to live in Rye she settled down to improve her piano playing, but being a perfectionist she was never satisfied with it. She had a great love for Italy, and spent many happy hours there, not only visiting the famous picture galleries, but roaming about in the small villages, getting to know the people and interesting herself if their way of life. Greta loved Rye, and took her share in its activities. Being a selfless person, she was always ready to help others. She had no close relatives, but many friends who will miss her greatly."
Captain Herbert Mark Booth, whose death we also recorded last week, was born in Peasmarsh; he was always known to his friends in Rye as Bert. He joined the Army as a boy and rose from the ranks to become an officer. Before and during -, WW2 he saw service in India and the Middle East, and when he retired in 1948 he and his wife Kitty came to live in South Undercliff. For some time after he left the Army, Mr. Booth was employed by the County Council - but not in a responsible job: he used to say that he had had all the responsibility he wanted: At home, his hobby was his garden and allotment, on which he spent a great deal of time and care. Mrs. Booth died about five years ago; they had no children. One of his neighbours for the past 38 years recalls Mr. Booth as "the loveliest, dearest man, who never once raised his voice in anger to anyone" - and who could ask fairer than that for an epitaph?
Because of the likelihood of bad weather (and how right they were!), Rye Council of Churches decided against a January date for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and opted instead for the alternative in May. But they hadn't foreseen the confusion this would cause with Christian Aid Week, also in May, and we do pope that we have attributed the following events accurately.
On Thursday, the Baptist Church has a coffee morning for Christian Aid Week the first of a series of regular Thursday coffee mornings in the new foyer.
On Saturday, the main fund-raising event for Christian Aid Week takes place in the Town Hall foyer, where the Scouts are to erect a Third World shack. Coffee and tea will be served from 10 to 4 in the normal way; but from 12.30 till 2.0, 50p will buy the sort of mid-day meal that the people who live in such accommodation in the real world would be glad to get, would indeed regard as the height of luxury - and the change from the 50p will go to help them. There will also be a bring-and-buy stall, and a simple begging-bowl outside the shack.
On Whit Sunday, 18th, there will once again be a Pentecost Birthday Party for the Church - the whole Christian Church, and believers from all denominations and non-believers alike are invited, families and the unattached. There will be lots of things to do, and a party tea (tea and squash provided, but please bring party food to share). It all takes place at St. Mary's from 3 to 5, and ends with a short service of celebration.
Today week (21st) sees a Study Evening organised by the Council of Churches, led by Canon Michael Butler (Chichester Diocesan Board of Social Responsibility) and Ian Seir of the Hastings branch of Shelter. The subject is the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent report "Faith in the City", and we are told that the problems are not as remote from our corner of Sussex as might be supposed (copies are on sale at River Books). This takes place in the Baptist Hall; there is a shared meal at 7, and the discussion begins at 7.30.
Finally, on Trinity Sunday (25th) the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity ends with a United Service in the Baptist Church at 6.30 (no evensong at St. Mary's).
- 3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 14 May 1986
Reporting Jane Double's wedding at the Baptist Church last October, we said it was the last to take place there using the old entrance steps. On Saturday, the new foyer saw its first wedding, that of Lorraine Pulford to Gary Liddon, a Dungeness fisherman whose family come from Muswell Hill. Lorraine is the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Pulford of Pottingfield Road, and popular
with all the customers of Martins in the High Street where she works. Her attendants were her elder sister Lynda (Mrs. Barnes) and Gary's two small nieces, Jessica (5) and Georgina (3); best man was Eric Henday. Lorraine looked char- ming in a white lace crinoline dress trimmed with ribbons, and a diamante tiara to anchor her veil in the brisk wind; her bridesmaids' dresses were in buttermilk yellow satin, the overskirts caught up with ribbons over flouncing, and they had posies and headdresses to match. The reception was held at the Camber Castle, and the honeymoon will be spent in Cornwall.
No fewer than five bridesmaids were grouped outside St. Mary's on Saturday to escort Bridget Beeching to her wedding to Simon Spencer of Bexhill. Bridget, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Beeching of Lea Avenue, wore a white full-skirted dress with a scalloped overskirt and lace trimming; beneath her veil her hair was done in an Edwardian style which she carried off with great dignity. Her bridesmaids wore pink - the little girls bearing flower baskets and very proud of their new pink sandals! These two had come all the way from Yorkshire for the wedding - Tracey and Maxine Manktelow, former neighbours of the Beechings. The older bridesmaids were Bridget's sisters Susan and Karen, and her friend Julie from Bexhill. Best man was also from Bexhill, a friend of the groom.
The party walked down from the church to the reception at the George Hotel, which is always a pretty sight and this time was enhanced by the elegant appearance of the bride's mother in a striking white outfit. The honeymoon is being spent touring Wales, and the couple will have a flat in Bexhill, where Simon manages his mother's shop, Dennycraft, and Bridget works at a private nursing home.
An innocent request last week for helpers for the ARC house-to-house collection caused consternation to the local RNIB branch members: they had also arranged to have a house-to-house that week (2-7 June!)
Both sides (in the nicest possible way, of course) appealed to Rother. It seems that although Francis Barrett of ARC had booked in his house-to-house (to coincide with ARC Week nationally) as far back as last July, the RNIB is one of the groups which have automatic priority for certain dates at national level, and this week is one of them. Mrs. Nelson-Barrett has had all the literature printed and can hardly alter her week now (she too would like more helpers, who should contact her at North Salts as soon as possible).
Mr. Barrett asked Rother whether they could, instead, have a house-to-house to coincide with the flag-day allocated to them in September. But the weeks before and after this are already booked, he was told, though Mr. Joy at Rother assures us that he hopes to find a date for ARC. At least, says Mr. Barrett, ARC have been allowed a flag-day this year (though they would have preferred to have it during the national ARC Week with its media coverage). RNIB haven't been given a flag-day in Rye - though Guide Dogs for the Blind (an entirely separate charity) has. If ARC ends up with no house-to-house, Mr. Barrett hopes to arrange extra events to compensate.
If Branch secretaries will let us know at once, we will print next week a list of all the house-to-house dates planned for the rest of the year, so that if there are any more clashes of this kind coming up they can be hastily sorted out.
But is this not something that Rother should do? Readers will recall that when the flag-days were announced by Rother in March, and both the RAFA and Mencap were left out of the Rye list for the second year running, we complained bitterly about the unsatisfactory allocation system. It looks as if the house-to-house booking system is no better. Presumably this is a national problem; shouldn't the Home Office sort it out once and for all?
4.
There is absolutely no mention of Rye Hospital in a report which goes before today's meeting of the Hastings Health Authority and which lists the changes proposed when various hospital services are transferred to the District General Hospital due to open on The Ridge in 1992. Phase I involves the closure of RESH, all surgical, elderly mentally ill and children's services at St. Helen's, all surgical services at Bexhill and all adult psychiatric services temporarily at Queen Charlotte's House, Eversfield Hospital. "Eventually it is intended that the majority of acute care should be provided at the new DGH, where the supporting services will also be concentrated"; but construction is to be on a phased basis, and the next stage will be the transfer of services from the Buchanan (gynaecology, obstetrics and special care babies), none of which is very likely to affect Rye Hospital's future. It sounds as if we are safe until 1995, anyway; keep hoping...
This year the Mayoring Service was held on its traditional Sunday after Mayoring Day, and was attended by the Mayor and most of the Councillors. Also present were the Mayoress Mrs. Burgess (who is theatre sister at RESH, not theatre nurse - apologies) and her delightful small daughters, Claire (9) and Anna (5). The old form of morning prayer was used, and it was pleasant to thin'...; of the generations of worshippers who used much the same words at Mayoring Services over the past three hundred years or so (though why is the Venite omitted and the Te Deum truncated these days?). The first lesson was read by the Mayor, the second by the Town Clerk, and Canon Maundrell preached on the role of the Mayor as both chief citizen and servant of the community.
Mike Warren of Oliver's in the High Street is now Mace-Mender by Appointment to Rye Town Council! When one of the maces had its accident on Bank Holiday Monday, Gus Gale rushed it down to the shop, which was open, and Mr. Warren cleaned out all the old glue and soldered the orb back on in plenty of time for Sunday's service. He has also attended recently to the Mayor's chain, so he is quite accustomed to the responsibilities of the Rye regalia.
Crimes recorded in the Press Book this week include the theft of £85 in cash from a house in South Undercliff over the Bank Holiday weekend, and various thefts and burglaries from cars, caravans and chalets at Camber and Winchelsea Beach. And one item which doesn't appear in the press book: recently a police officer was asked to speak severely to some French students fooling around with spray-cans in the High Street. He did, and confiscated the cans; and went back with them to the coach to speak to the adult in charge of the party. She heard him out, and then asked if he could identify the culprits. He looked around - "That one, anyway", he said, pointing; and to his surprise the teacher fetched the girl a very satisfactory clout round the ear! It was her daughter...
The absurd anonymous letter about which we wrote in the GAZETTE in July 1985 - the one making huge profits for the Post Office and the photocopying industry - is still finding its weary way round the neighbourhood. It doesn't ask for money, but hints darkly at what might happen to those who don't pass on 20 copies. Anyone getting one of these little charmers is most welcome to pass it on (x 20, if they really feel they must) to Rye Police; "we shall be delighted" says Chief Inspector Dyson, "to add it to our collection of anonymous rubbish!" (And, as the desk duty officer said, if people have really been sending out 20 copies a time ever since 1953, why haven't we all had about a million letters apiece by now?)
Has anyone picked up, somewhere in or near St. Mary's, a mid-blue single-breasted cotton coat with a fleecy lining belonging to a 3/4-year-old? This was left behind at a wedding on 26 April, and when the little bridesmaid's father went back to collect it it was gone. Linsey Hatter would be so pleased to have it back; it can be left for her father Larry at Rye Police Station.
STOP PRESS: a display in the Freight Express Seacon windows will interest readers, we are told - details next week.
5.
A GAZETTE report several weeks ago said that "no-one here" believed the Transport Minister's assurance - repeated by Ken Warren - that the Winchelsea bypass route would not affect Rye's freedom of choice. Mr. Warren complains that our statement "is demonstrably inaccurate - I know many people in Rye who do believe what has been said." Many? "However many that may be it is a substration from your 'no-one' which invalidates your claim" he says firmly.
Our dictionary doesn't gjve "substration", but we take Mr. Warren to mean that he could if he liked name anyway several people who do believe the Minister. Unfortunately he doesn't name them, but perhaps just one of these anonymous disciples will now be brave enough to come forward'and explain how a road due to end at Strand Quay can then be made to bypass Rye either to the north or to the south (which is what the majority of Rye people want) as opposed to going through the middle of the town (which is what the majority of Rye people fear). Any offers? The GAZETTE, the Town Council, the Conservation Society, the Ratepayers Association and our Rother Councillors would all very much like to know.
However, Mr. Warren has also written to Peter Bottomley, now the Minister concerned, asking him to say when the public consultation will start. Lynda Chalker was asked the same question by Mr. Warren in November, and said "spring at the earliest"; it would be nice if Mr. Bottomley were able to put the matter in hand before the August holiday break.
Thomas Peacocke School PTA is again holding a Car Boot Sale - by very kind permission of Vidler & Co and the Cattle Market Company - on the Market site on Sunday. Pitches can be booked in advance, at a saving of £2, by phoning PTA secretary Mrs. Janet Sheppard, and they already have quite a few £5 bookings including two vans selling refreshments. For those who prefer to leave it to chance on the day, a pitch will cost £7. Last year's sale was very successful, with 40 cars and over £200 going to PTA funds; they hope for equally good luck this year.
Also on Sunday, the Romney Marsh Footsloggers Club races are to be held at Cadborough Farm (at the top of Udimore Road) instead of down at Gateborough. There are six "fun-run" races, starting at 3: for runners aged under 11 on the day; for runners aged under 15, ditto; an adult-and-juvenile race, the younger runner to be under 15; a 3-mile open obstacle race; a dog-and-runner open race (the dog on a lead, to negotiate all the obstacles!); and a relay race for teams of four. All entries will be taken on the day, when teas and refreshments will available and there will be a raffle. Sponsors are Long's Bakery, Brian Todd of Agricare, Vidler & Co., Ogle Clark & Partners, and Martyn Channon, and there are also two challenge cups to be awarded.
Apologies - we were quite wrong when we said last week that the leak at Dungeness referred to in an Observer article was in fact known about locally; that was the February leak, and as everyone both locally and nationally now knows, there were two.
Also, Kitty French writes on behalf of Rye CND to refute Ken Warren's use of the word "mole". The paragraphs to which he referred were included in the monthly newsletter, and were intended for guidance and not for "slavish copying" says Mrs. French. "Our membership is not high" she continues, "and our active membership is probably 12 or so, so it is not surprising that Mr. Warren only received four letters" - particularly as other suggested recipients were the CEGB, the DoE, the Min. of Ag. and Fish., and Rother Council. Mrs. French adds that CND at national level ran a demo at the Department of Energy and the Russian Embassy to protest, not at the Russian accident, but at the Russian secrecy about it.
Having got all this cleared up, we shall keep off the subjects of both nuclear power and CND from now on, and revert to happily scrabbling round in the grassroots for local news, leaving these portentous issues to the national press who understand what they are talking about.
On 29 May the Planning Committee will be considering Rother Housing Department's plans for the interlinked sheltered housing block and Day Centre building in Ferry Road, the one paid for by Rother, the other by ESCC.
The housing block - three floors high, level with the adjoining Magdala Terrace - runs the full width of the site, right up to the present car entrance; the garden, and all the trees except the islanded yew, vanish. Rother says there will be new planting to compensate, but it is difficult to see where. The space behind the Civil Defence hut is marked out on the plan as car parking; and indeed there is nowhere at all for the residents to sit outdoors except on the terraced area outside the Day Centre windows - this is marked as parking on the plans (though only, apparently, for overspill use), and who wants to sit out in a car park? Another puzzle is the provision of two warden's flats for this 14- flatlet block, with a further two warden's flats at Badger Gate just up the road: four wardens for a total (when Badger Gate is refurbished) of 41 flats? The original proposal was for a two-storey block of 12 flatlets, wired into the Badger Gate alarm system and with (surely?) no extra paid help at warden level.
As for the Day Centre, there has been no consultation at any stage between Lewes and Barbara Wild or any other member of the team who actually run it. The plane show a complex consisting of a single-storey "dining/&ctivities room"; a set o. loos; a bathroom; a small kitchen; a "medical/hairdressing room" which is really part of the housing section; and a lobby, leading past the main entrance to the residents' lounge which is to be given over for Day Centre use when it is required. (In the dining area, there are windows on three sides and two outside doors. Do old people like eating in draughts?)
Mrs. Wild feels that the whole matter is being rushed through, for reasons which are not clear. She would like a chance to consult with other groups likely to use the Centre before final decisions are made. She is uneasy, too, about the details of the plans: will the kitchen be big enough for four people to work in?
Why is the bathroom there? - they are not proposing to bath their guests! What about storage, both for the smaller items used by the Centre and for the stout tables and chairs which their guests need but which other users of the room may not? In fact she is not at all happy about the way that this complex, built ostensibly for Day Centre use, will be shared at one end by the residents whose lounge it is, and at the other end by an unlimited number of other local groups with different needs. In fact, she is not at all happy, full stops
At present, thanks to the generosity of the Baptist Church, the Centre has the use of its lower floor free for two days a week (though Mrs. Wild makes quite sure that the church is not out of pocket because of the Centre's activities). There is plenty of room; it is in the centre of the town, handy for shopping for the cooks and also for "droppers-in"; and the only other users are the church members (and occasionally the Bltod Transfusion service). There are disadvantages, of course - helping the guests through the awkward passage to the dining-room is one, but to judge from the plans there would be exactly the same problem at Ferry Road! After an initial grant from RCVS, the Centre now pays all its own expenses out of the El-per-session charge to the guests (the helpers pay 50p for their own meals). Generous cheques from local groups and individuals have been banked, very gratefully, for future use once the team knows what that future holds.
At the Social Services office, Neil Weatherall mentioned possible concessions. There would be wall cupboards to store the smaller equipment, and the bathroom area could perhaps only have the underfloor plumbing installed and then be incorporated in the main room. He is convinced that things will work out. But it is clear from talking to Mrs. Wild that she has no intention of moving her Centre to the new premises in 1988 unless she is quite convinced that such a move would benefit guests and helpers alike. As far as we can make out, the reason that Lewes didn't consult her at an early stage is that she is neither a Councillor nor a paid member of Social Services staff. Because she and her team are generous enough to give their services free, they apparently don't count!
7.
• Louis Turpin, this year's Chairman of the Rye Society of Artists, is to be hung in the National Portrait Gallery! Needless to say, Louis is still very much alive and painting in Udimore Road, but this year for the first time - "before I get too old", he says! - he entered for the Portrait Award 1986 held by the Gallery, and his picture is one of fifty which have been chosen for the Exhibition connected with the Award opening on 5 June. Those who saw Louis' November show at the Easton Rooms will remember the three small studies of reclining models, one of whom was his wife Davida, and it is a large-scale version of this portrait which Louis sent to the competition. Anyone with half-an-hour to spare before a train from Charing Cross can easily look in to admire it, since the Gallery is just off Trafalgar Square.
• School House at Thomas Peacocke raises money every year through various sponsored events for a special charity. Last week Vickie Piper of Mencap - who had spoken to the pupils earlier about mentally handicapped people - was invited to go along to Upper School, and to her great surprise and pleasure was presented with a £150 cheque from the House. How would they like it spent, she asked? On the children, they all said; so it will mean extra summer outings in the Mencap minibus. Many thanks, School House, for this generosity.
• The good news for dressmakers which we foretold last week arrived in two big boxes at the Wool Shop on Monday: a stand containing the "Top 100" of the very popular Style patterns, a range of sizes and including children's clothes. The Dowdeswells have opened up the back room to give space for a starter selection of summer fabrics to go with the patterns (ginghams, plain poplins and Trevira, in the middle price-range), and also iron-on Vilene by the yard in two weights, plus thread and zips. Those who can't find patterns to suit (or fit!) them on on the stand can order from the Style pattern book - which will save a lot of special trips to Hastings. Zeta Dowdeswell had originally thought of stocking Vogue patterns, which aren't obtainable at all in Hastings; but the firm asked for an advance payment of £700! If the fabrics go well, she tells us, she hopes to increase the range, with tweeds in the winter.
• Matthew Wood's mother Anne tells us he is most grateful to the good-Samaritan lady who found him wandering woozily in Rye High Street on Thursday and saw him safely down to the Icklesham bus stop. Matthew had had a dental injection for the first time in his life, and obviously it didn't agree with him; he can't remember much of the next half-hour after leaving the surgery, and he doesn't even know if his rescuer was an old friend or a perfect strangers Anyway, she ght like to know that the effect had worn off by the time the bus arrived, and e reached home quite safely - and will, doubtless, be very wary of proffered injections in future, however yawning the cavity!
• The Sussex Express reporter now covering Rye - temporarily only, we are told is already a member of the staff and worked for the paper in Rye some years ago: Karen Brodie, who still writes under her maiden name but is in fact the wife of the editor, Lee Pateman. Karen has an eighteen-month-old daughter, so will be working mainly from home (Hastings 437356) rather than from the Hastings Observer office whose number we gave last week. We wish Nick Larkin the best of luck in his new job, deputy chief reporter in the newsroom of the Crawley Observer. He says "I'd like to thank all my contacts for being so co-operative when they have had frantic phone calls from me just before deadline. I've enjoyed working in Rye and wish everyone well."
• A rumour heard in the town on Monday that the St. Michael's Hospice appeal had found a charity shop in Rye is, alas, not true. Linda Hodgson at Hastings tells us that they did look at one at the bottom of the Landgate, but it was not suitable. Of course it is not always public knowledge that a lease is for sale (they can't afford to buy freehold), but the only empty shops in the town at the moment are at the top of the Mint (being extensively organised by Ellis Bros), ex- Dewhursts, Rye Havana, Quarter Bell, ex-Farmer's Feast in the Landgate, and the former undertaker's premises in Wish Street - and it is clear that anyway most of these are already bespoken. It seems hopeless! (Any ideas?)
Plant and Pantry Sale for BRCS, Red Cross, 10 to 1 Coffee morning for Christian Aid, Baptist Hall
Women's British Legion coffee morning and bring-and-buy (for Branch funds), Red Cross, 10
Christian Aid event, TH, 10 to 4 (see page 2)
Coffee morning for Multiple Sclerosis Society (lots of stalls), 67 Pottingfield Road, 10.30
ATC jumble sale, Upper School, 2
Rye Society of Artists jumble sale, FEC, 2.30 (plants from 11.0 if fine) - jumble collected.
Miss Rye dance, Oasis Club - time unspecified, but late!
Boot Sale (TPS PTA), Market, 10 (see page 5)
Pentecost Party, St. Mary's, 3 to 5 (see page 2)
Footsloggers' Club cross-country fun-run races, Cadborough Farm (not Gateborough this year), 3 (see page 5)
Rye Town Council (for times see Town Hall board) Scouts AGM, Scout Hut, 7.30
Thrift Shop (handing-in only), Red Cross, 10.30 to 12.30
Landgate WI (WI resolutions and quiz), CC, 10.30
Community lunch group, Clinic, 1
Council of Churches Study Evening, Baptist Hall, 7 for 7.30 (see page 2)
• Congratulations - sorry they're late! - to Linda and Graham Neilson of Camber on the birth of their daughter Jemma on 5 April. Jemma is the ninth grand-child for Mrs. Bennett of Military Road, who is also a great-grandmother.
• Anne Swaine reports with great pleasure and gratitude that the coffee morning for FE Centre funds on Saturday :roduced £300! She would like to thank all who contributed to this splendid total, and to the committee members and the students who helped with the stalls and refreshments.
• Tony and Pauline Meyer ask us to apologise again on their behalf for the mess and occasional disruption on the pavement outside the Decorator's Warehouse, due to the building operations above and behind the shop.
• The Town Clerk is most grateful to Rother's Parks and Gardens Department, who took pity on the immature flower-borders outside the Town Hall just before Mayoring Day and sent over a lot of polyanthuses in flower - which Gus Gale planted to give a bit of colour until the tulips feel encouraged to appear.
• Rye Bowls Club made a good start to the new season, with a score of 85 against 52 for Old Hastings at home on 7 May. The coffee morning last week took £66, and there were several enquiries from new members. The jack money for last season, £3.81, has been given to Mencap.
• The Blood Transfusion Service visits Rye tomorrow week (Thursday, 22 May) the Baptist Hall in Cinque Ports Street, 2 to 4 and 5 to 7.45.
• Work started on Monday on the pavement outside the Post Office, to raise the level so that it slopes up towards the door and eliminates the step. The position about the inner door is very unsatisfactory, and we shall be reporting on this in more detail soon.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 2 Cyprus Place, Rye, TN31 7DR (0797 222303), and printed by Cinque Ports Stationers of Rye. News items for inclusion are always welcome – deadline Monday afternoon (Tuesday 9 am at latest and only for real emergencies). The GAZETTE costs 30p 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 1986)