Despite strong rumours and unofficial statements to the contrary, the position about the curtailed hours at the Library is still fluid. Mrs. Joan Yates, who is on the County Council Library and Records Committee, has had many letters about the matter but she asks us to point out that she is not answering them individually since there is really nothing she can say at present. The County Librarian, Mr. Peter Allen, is still conducting a series of meetings with the staff of each of the affected libraries, and he will report on the results to the Library and Records Committee on 18 March. During the discussion of his report, Mrs. Yates intends to press very strongly for Rye to be regarded as a special case, stressing what a wide rural area it serves and pointing out the very difficult public transport arrangements which afflict some of the villages. The other County Councillors representing our area will not be able to speak at this meeting, since they are not on the Committee; but they will presumably have an opportunity to put Rye's case when the Committee's own report is put before the full County Council at its May meeting.
Rye had a more or less private snowstorm last week, when what had been nothing out of the ordinary in the way of snow on Tuesday turned into an 8"deep white world on Wednesday morning. By about 9 am most of our main roads were blocked one way or another, and police issued a general warning to motorists not to come into the town - which was probably why the radio reported us as "completely cut off" at 10. In fact, people from the villages were at work in shops and offices, and there were quite a few shoppers about in the town - some with sledges to take the shopping home on! The trains ran faithfully in both directions after a slightly shaky start. Council workmen trying to salt, and grit were hampered by abandoned vehicles, and doubtless every nasty bend will have its own legend. One local bus driver was stuck outside Winchelsea for a couple of hours, waiting for an overworked breakdown truck; an astonishingly good Samaritan saw the problem, turned his car round and gave lifts home to the half-dozen or so passengers who would otherwise have faced an equally long wait or an exhausting trudge through the snow. A beer lorry spent several hours in the ditch along Beckley Flat, also waiting for a breakdown truck which was in its turn stuck behind a little local difficulty on Rye Hill, where a nervous flatbed lorry doubtless had good reasons for chaining itself to a telegraph pole!
All three schools (and the village primaries) shut on Wednesday, Thursday and - eventually - Friday, though one Thomas Peacocke staff member managed to arrive on Wednesday morning from his home in Eastbourne. Court officials from Hastings, uneasy about transport, asked Jo Kirkham to adjourn the Wednesday Magistrates Court for a week. But the Wednesday cattle market took place as usual, with an entry not appreciably lower than usual and plenty of buyers, so that good prices were realised by those who were able to get their sheep in.
It seems remarkable that life in the town did continue so normally - the papers appeared on the mat, the milk and letters were delivered as usual, the dustmen completed their regular rounds, and we are all most grateful to everyone concerned. On Monday, the snow still lay four or five inches deep and unswept pavements were a slippery trap for the unwary; but apart from a few more dents in the familiar local cars, we seem so far to have got off lightly.
What's mum going to say when she sees our clothes?
She won't like it - let's go round by the launderette and put our things through the dryer first.
But that'll be 50p and that's all our pocket-money.
Could be worth it, though, not to get shouted at!
2.
Just in time before the snow fell - one day later and they would have had to call it off - a very distinguished company dined at the Mermaid on Monday (7th) and was entertained by Ryesingers. Mayors and their Mayoresses (or Escorts, when a lady Mayor is accompanied by a man) have a considerable ex-officio social life, and Councillor Simpson on Monday paid back invitations received to civic functions over a wide area.
Those present included, impressively, the High Sheriff, the Chairman of the County Council, the Deputy Chief Constable, and the Mayors and Mayoresses of. Brighton, Eastbourne, Hove, Worthing, Chichester, Arundel, Lewes, Hastings, Winchelsea, New Romney, Canterbury, Lydd, Tenterden, Hythe, Dover, Deal, Folkestone, Sandwich, Margate, Ramsgate and Ashford. Other guests invited but unable to make it were the Mayors of Crawley and Faversham and the Chairman of Rother Council, who all had Council meetings; the Captains of both Dover and Deal Castles, who were abroad; and Sir Martin Gilliatt, who would have been representing the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports if he had not had another official engagement.
This particular event in the Mayoral social calendar, bringing together Mayors of Kent and Sussex (who normally foregather within one county or the other, or within the Cinque Ports) was started by Mrs. Kirkham and has proved, as is obvious from the list of guests, a very successful and enjoyable evening. (For those wondering about the bill, the dinner was paid for out of the normal town rate precept allocated to Mayoral expenses generally - though the six members of Rye Town Council who were present paid for themselves.)
The bad weather meant the postponement of several events last week, the WI party, the Natural History Society talk and the Rye Players patrons party among them. The WI will probably hold their party in the spring, and Mrs. Breda Burt assures us that although the Natural History Society's programme is full until the end of this season, John Goodman of the Mallydams Nature Reserve will certainly be giving his talk next winter.
The Lower School speech and dance competition finals have been put off until Friday week (25 February). The Upper School Quiz final and accompanying concert, which was fortunately postponed from Tuesday evening, will now take place on the school's Open Evening, earlier than usual this year on Thursday, 28 April.
In Camber on 8 February and in Rye on 9th, a group of lads were carrying out a survey, asking passing members of the public for their views on holidays. They are thought to have been travelling in two blue minibuses labelled "School Bus", and according to the police press book were aged from 16 to 18. If anyone has any information about who they were or where and what school they came from, Rye Police would like to know.
If this is the same group whose questionnaire we answered, at least three of them were coloured boys and they were wearing vivid pink cagoules; and the one we talked to seemed to be about 12 or 13. Did anyone happen to notice what it said at the top of the form we were asked to complete for them?
There is still no permanent lollipop-person in sight for the Fishmarket Road Crossing on the way to Freda Gardham School. All efforts to fill the post so far have failed, and Rye Town Council is now supporting the school in pressing for a controlled crossing at the foot of the ramp, since with well over 300 children (some of them infants) at the school, PTA and Councillors feel that something must be done. When the school first moved to New Road, the County Council assured worried parents that the children's safety would be a paramount consideration, and there was also originally a lollipop crossing for the Landgate (which was then two-way) as well as for Fishmarket Road which did once have a pedestrian crossing across to the Salts. In the meantime, is there anyone who would take on the (paid) lollipop job? Details from Freda Gardham School (222372).
THE RYE GAZETTE, 16.2.83 - page 3
If you are reading this on Wednesday morning, you still have time to see Rye's latest star - the fifth of Lochin Marine's RNLI Brede Class lifeboats - on the television. She left Rye yesterday for Birmingham, and today she will appear with the Lord Mayor on Pebble Mill at One, together launching an appeal to buy a sister ship. (This one is already named for "The Merchant Navy" where the money to pay for her was raised.) After her TV appearance she goes on to the Birmingham Boat Show, and then back to Rye to complete her trials before being handed over to the RNLI.
Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, of The Old Vicarage in Church Square, who have just heard that the hotel has been included in the 1983 "Which" Good Hotel Guide. Being very new to the business - this will only be their second full season in Rye – the Thompsons had not given much thought to getting themselves into any of the various guides (and "Which" anyway compile theirs on recommendations not applications), so it was a real surprise when a phone call on Tuesday told them the good news. The Old Vicarage is Rye's only representative in this year's "Which" Guide; just as well, then, that the Thompsons have been granted planning permission for a sign in their window!
High Street or not? - an icy wind on Tuesday morning decided the Community Centre committee to opt for comfort rather than tradition for the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race, and even when the afternoon did turn out slightly milder, most of the spectators were grateful.
Competitors ran almost three lengths of the hall, tossing their pancakes twice on each lap, urged on by supporters lining the course and watching from the platform. Rather unexpectedly almost of the tossers - and all the winners - were men, who managed their pancakes with surprising efficiency as well as running faster than the girls. The Saltings and the Old Forge were both represented by the guv'nor - Ian Gilder and an enviably tanned Derek Bayntun - in separate races; both were dead-heats the first time, but seniority paid off on the re-run in each case. An SAS-style Ferryboat representative, Timmy Phillips, heavily outclassed (or perhaps intimidated?) his feminine competition, and Edward Hannan also did a good job for the Elizabethan. Running for the Hope Anchor in a fine set of tails, Mark Brennan not only won his own race but also the championship final, taking home a handsome copper-bottomed frying-pan presented by Jif Lemon. The Open Race was won by Ian Kinnis for Lloyds Dank, despite an impressive Dawes Son & Prentice-double entry in own-brand T-shirts.
Guest of honour was the Mayor, supported by a representative of the Sussex Express who had put up some of the prize-money - each winner took home £3 in cash, plus an inscribed Scroll to hang on-the firm's wall. After the races, those committee members who had not been visible out front came into their own back-stage, providing pancakes and tea for contestants and supporters alike. Winners and losers posed for photographs; the Bayntun family dog toyed unenthusiastically with the somewhat weary Bayntun family pancake; and we all went home after a very enjoyable afternoon. We hope to report later on a handsome sum raised for Centre funds.
Le Fevre, Wood & Royle are applying for permission to drive mooring piles for three boats on SWA land on the west bank of the Tillingham near the laundry, plus oar parking and a workshop, for a Londoner moving here who wants to mess about with boats in comfort - John Royle assures us it is not the thin end of some enormous commercial wedge!
Coast to Coast made amends for muddling their watch towers last week, by giving good coverage to Winchelsea Beach's water problems, showing the Sutton brothers and Ralph Popple taking round a private supply to those unable to reach the SWA bowsers - now padlocked to stop the intrepid team from towing them house-to-house round the lanes after the strikers had gone home to tea!
THE RYE GAZETTE, 16.2.83 - page 4
(So many people have kindly offered information and comments arising from brief historical notes in recent GAZETTES that we thought it was time to recycle some of it. This is only a beginning; further instalments will appear when there isn't much currently happening in the town. Please do let the Editor have your comments, additions, contradictions or whatever.)
Last week’s Sussex Express shows a picture, lent by Mrs. Amy Breeds, of the opening of the Post Office in the High Street; she asks if anyone knows the exact date? She identifies a small girl in the picture as being her grandmother now aged 86 so, as she says, it must be around the turn of the century.
Rye Library has photocopies of occasional old directories of the town, so we did a bit of research into Post Office history. In 1839 the office was somewhere in the High Street, and the postmistress was Ann Miller. In 1874 (the next directory) it was still in the High Street, and the postmistress was Miss Mary Ann Lindridge; letters were registered between 9 am and 8.45 pm, and the London mails left at 10.05 am, and 1.0, 7.05 and 9.30 pm. By 1882 the Post Office had moved up to Market Street - no.11, the shop still sometimes referred to as the Pump Tea Rooms; it was described as a Post and Money Order and Telegraph Office, Savings Bank, Government Annuity and Insurance Office, and was kept by the Misses Lindridge of whom Miss Elizabeth was the postmistress. In 1887 it was still in Market Street, but the postmaster was Thomas Bushby; ditto in 1890, but the 1899 directory gives the Post Office as being in the High Street, still with Thomas Bushby in charge (he remained in office until the mid-1920s).
It would seem likely, then, that the move to the High Street was in 1898 or 1899 (otherwise Mrs. Leggatt would have been too small to sit safely on a windowsill!). An 1882 numbered street directory lists no.18 as being occupied by a Mr. Kimpton, basket-maker; whether this shop was completely pulled down and replaced by the Post Office and the rooms above is difficult to tell now, since so many Rye buildings are much older inside than they look from the street. Anyway, the Post Office continued there for over 60 years, moving down to its present site in Cinque Ports Street in 1960. The High Street premises were then taken over by the Home & Colonial Stores (now Liptons), who moved there from the much smaller shop next door (now Rye Fashions).
Since Thomas Bushby took over as postmaster in the Market Street shop hitherto occupied by the Misses Lindridge, one wonders if perhaps he married into the business? No Lindridge appears as either a 'private resident" or "commercial" in subsequent directories. Anyway, Mr. Bushby does appear as the Secretary of the Rye Literary Society; and we understand that he was the father of two daughters one of whom, Queenie, eventually opened Sussex House School - but that is another story.
It is a pity that the Library's directories don't give street numbers, as the old Deacon's volumes do; it would be interesting to know whereabouts in the High Street the Post Office was in 1839, whether it was in the same place in 1874 - and indeed whether it was returning to its original site some 25 years later when the new office was opened. We wonder if anyone can help here?
Miss Axell points out, as a matter of interest, that views looking uphill towards the Landgate arch can be roughly dated by the position of the letterbox. At the turn of the century, her mother (then Lilian Bryan) used to post letters in a box set into the actual fabric of the arch, on the left. This was replaced around1910 by a pillar-box in the street outside the art shop. For some reason this was moved across the road in about 1937 to a very unsuitable site just outside a rather smelly "gents" in the angle of the town wall and the first house in Tower Street. The "gents" mercifully departed (when?), but the letterbox remained until fairly recently, when it was removed entirely and replaced with a box at the top of the Hilder's Cliff ramp.
The directories first mention telephone numbers in 1918; and the Cadborough Post Office appears in 1934, though not in 1930. The population was 3715 in 1831; 4366 in 1871; 4220 in 1881; 3900 in 1901; 4299 in 1911; 3918 in 1921; 3947 in 1931; and it is usually quoted today as being around 4,500.
5.
We have all noticed that the amount of dogs' messes on the pavements and in other public places has not decreased with the departure of the summer visitors. The implication is obvious: the depositors may not be our own dogs, but they must be those of our fellow-citizens. This problem was discussed recently by Rye Town Council. It appears that Rother District Council has a bylaw under which offending dog-owners can be taken to court and fined, if the offence can be proved. It was suggested at the Town Council meeting that if a few public-spirited people would carry round instant-picture cameras so that they could photograph both ends of the dog-lead at the crucial moment, this would provide the evidence required; and doubtless it would not take many court cases to make owners think twice about letting their dogs do on other people's land what they are not willing to have them do on their own.
Another long-standing grumble aired at the Council meeting concerns a regular business arrangement whereby Jempsons' lorries transport drums of chemicals to Rye Solvents on the harbour road. Jempsons have a lorry park in Slades Yard, and when their lorries arrive after Rye Solvents have closed, they inevitably park in the yard overnight and sometimes over the weekend. People in the area are worried about this practice, in case of fire or leakage, and the Council feels that Jempsons should be able to arrange with Rye Solvents for the harbour road premises to stay open when a lorry is due in. Mr. Jonathan Jempson tells the GAZETTE that the firm is indeed aware of the problem - in fact his yard foreman lives on the site and therefore has a very personal interest in the matter. The firm is making arrangements which should avoid the necessity for keeping the chemical-loaded lorries in Slades Yard except occasionally in real emergency.
The nearest we get to a local radio station at the moment is Radio Medway, though some of us may not have realised that it was not just another pops programme to be slid over in the search for something more interesting. Anyway, it is offering something more interesting during Lent: a course entitled "Jesus Christ, the Life of the World", beginning on 22 February for five Tuesdays. Each programme starts with a lead-in at 8 pm, followed by the week's theme at 8.10, appropriate music at 8.30 and a phone-in (Medway 811111) from 9.20 to 10; themes are Birth, Ministry, Death, Resurrection and Ascension, each with a different speaker. The programmes can be heard live on 96.7 VHF, or 290m or 1035 hz on medium wave.
For the first time the Rye Council of Churches is arranging for group listening to this course. Groups meet in the afternoon in Rye either at 117 Winchelsea Road (Rev. and Mrs. Pyke, Rye 223551) starting on Wednesday 23 February at 2.30; or at Playden Cottage, Military Road (Mrs. McCaughey, Rye 222234) starting on Tuesday March at 2.30. Evening meetings are at 129 Udimore Road (Mr. and Mrs. Bell, Rye 22238) starting on Tuesday 22 February at 7.30; or at 2 Eagle Road (Miss Hamilton, Rye 223652) starting on Thursday 24 February at 7.30. The Udimore Road group will listen to the programme "live", the others of course will hear recordings. Groups are also being arranged for Iden, Broad Oak, Peasmarsh, Beckley and Winchelsea.
Previous courses in this series have been very much appreciated - Stephen Denny says that last year 100,000 people listened. Radio Medway in general is said to have the largest audience of any local radio station in the country; it sometimes masquerades as Radio 2, but it will be all right on the (Tuesday) night.
Rye and District Council of Churches held its AGM on 31 January - a crowded evening in the town, but nevertheless 43 people were present. Miss Kaye Diggle resigned at the end of her term of office as Chairman and is succeeded by Rev. Ian Pidoux, who thanked her for all her work; new Vice-Chairman is Mr. Richard Wright. Mrs. Yve Imm continues as Secretary. After the business of the meeting, Rev. John Weller, the Projects Officer of the Council for Evangelism and Unity, spoke about the ecumenical movement in Edenbridge.
Congratulations to Mr. Peter Bridges of Rother, who has persuaded the bottle-bank contractors that we do need the Tower Street bin. It will be joined by the bin from the Estate, so that plain and coloured glass can be collected separately. There will be a similar twin-bin arrangement at Strand Quay.
6.
Thursday, 17th Red Cross Thrift Shop, 10.30 to 4 (also Friday and Saturday)
Friday, 18th Papa Joe's film "Smokey and the Bandit Ride Again", Pizzeria, 9
Saturday, 19th Jumble Sale, Winchelsea Floral Group, FEC, 9 to 1
National Trust wine-tasting (open to non-members), CC, 7
The Round Table/Rotary event at Camber planned for Saturday has been cancelled.
• A reminder: all our phone numbers and dialling codes changed at 7.30 this morning (for details see last week's GAZETTE); the new exchange is open on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.• Mrs. Betty Spencer of Cooper Road is now back from hospital, and would like to thank everybody who remembered her in their prayers or sent her cards or good wishes for her recovery.
• At their March meeting (9th) Rye WI will be having a bring-and-buy stall in aid of the Pennies for Friendship Fund - a national WI fund to help women overseas.
• Recycling your rubbish - we shall soon be reprinting our October list. In the meantime, does anyone know of a good home for discarded spectacles?
• Mrs. Marion Lovell asks us to remind Library users that there are ten petitions dotted about the town against the proposed cuts in library hours. They will remain open for signature until 28 February.
• Rother Council are looking for a cleaner for the Rye public loos. The pay is £72 for a 36-hour week spread over 6 days to include weekends. Applications should be in by Monday - forms and further information from Bexhill Town Hall (0424 216321, extension 217).
• Rother will also want, for the summer season, an assistant gardener for the Rye area. Here the pay will be £66 for 39 hours worked from Monday to Friday; some experience, and a current driving licence, would be an advantage. Applications to the Parks and Recreation Manager, Cemetery Lodge, Turkey Road, Bexhill.
• Rye Chamber of Trade entertained representatives from Bexhill and Battle Chambers at their recent dinner and dance at the George. Chairman Maurice Blackman toasted "Rye, Trade and our Guests" and the Mayor replied. Dancing, after an excellent meal, was to the music of The Solitaires.
• The Mayor and Town Clerk are taking a morning drive on 1 March at 9.30, when Councillor Simpson will test-drive the new Austin Rover car, still mysteriously referred to as the LM10. Skinners' Sales Manager Mrs. Sheelagh Fox tells us that whoever books the second test drive will get a pleasant surprise, so it is worth remembering this when bookings open at Skinners on 21 February.
• 1983 marks the centenary of the birth of Bishop George Bell, one of the comparatively few English churchmen who made their mark across the Channel. He was Bishop of Chichester from 1929 to 1958 (and Canon Maundrell was his Chaplain in 1949/50) and is well known far beyond Sussex for his work for church unity and for Nazi victims. The Sunday morning service at St. Mary's this week will commemorate Bishop Bell's life and work, with Dr. Alec Vidler speaking about him.
• People who like their letters to be noticed might care to inspect a new range of stationery at Serendipity. Paper and envelopes come in a vivid rainbow of 12 colours and are sold by weight in mixed or matching shades. The shattering pink is now too late for Valentines, but there are half-a-dozen other colours that would certainly brighten a depressing February for postman and recipient!
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. It is published by Mrs. Mary Owen at 94 Udimore Road, Rye (Rye 222303), who is always glad to have news items for inclusion - normal deadline Monday afternoon, emergencies first thing Tuesday morning.
The GAZETTE costs 20p a week and is normally delivered to subscribers and pick-up points on Wednesday.
Photocopied by Sussex Secretarial Services, 11 Claremont, Hastings (0424 422633).