Thomas Peacocke School readers are asked to collect their GAZETTE from Squirrels during the holidays (next week until 29 August inclusive; this is because of the difficulty of penetrating the Lower School defences out of school hours!)
Seven heavy boxes arrived at Rye Police Station last week - containing the last 2,500 Neighbourhood Watch stickers and leaflets from the Home Office's supply, cornered with commendable opportunism by Inspector Max Judge for Rye's benefit. Readers will know that the original paper window-stickers for our Crime Alert scheme were not satisfactory, looking coy to begin with and tatty after a very short time; after deep psychological deliberation, the Home Office decided that Neighbourhood Watch was the best name for such schemes, and since their stickers and literature come free it seemed a good idea to go along with their choice.
Chief Inspector Dyson is receiving enquiries about the working of the Rye scheme not only from Sussex but from police forces in other parts of the country.
Help from the community for the police is certainly much needed. Inspector Judge tells us that the crime rate in one local town has risen from about 650 a year in the 1950s to over 4,000 now; the number of policemen, needless to say, has not risen to anything like the same extent.
David Manktelow is the community co-ordinator for the Cadborough and Udimore Road area, and he and his team of local residents plus Specials spent a very busy two hours on Friday evening. Between them they visited every household (except for Ashenden Avenue and the Old Brickyard, covered later) to distribute the stickers and other literature. Surprisingly, everyone was in, and he tells us that the support for the scheme was overwhelming - only one person disapproved of the idea. This is, of course, that a potential burglar is less keen to try a house with a sticker than one next without; not only is access probably more difficult, but items of value are likely to be postcoded with one of the "invisible" pens. (In this context we would mention an ingenious gadget on sale for under £2 from the Tandy dealer in Queen's Road in Hastings: a small battery-powered engraving tool for use on metal, plastic or wood. - perhaps someone in Rye also stocks it?)
Have you an old push-bike you don't really want any more? One that needs attention but wouldn't justify you in spending money on it? If so, Thomas Peacocke School would be very pleased to collect it from you and put it to good use, as part of a City & Guilds course planned for fifth-year pupils during the next school year.
Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Turner, whose earlier City. & Guilds course we wrote about in the GAZETTE some time ago, are starting this pilot scheme for eight pupils and hope that, if it is a success, it can be expanded in subsequent years.
The scheme uses a Basic Abilities Profile, in which the pupils' progress can be charted for potential employers, and as part of the course the students have suggested that doing up and (they hope) selling discarded bikes would give them useful experience in a variety of skills. Ideally, they would like eight bikes - adults' or larger children's models - so Mr. Wiseman will be very glad indeed to hear from anyone who can help with offers; just phone the school.
2.
Mr. Frank Wood, of Elwin Farm, Rye Foreign, died in hospital on Thursday, a week before his 80th birthday. As a young Northerner, he had emigrated to Australia and cleared bush land there; but he returned to England when the slump hit farming and ran a milk business in York until war service took him into the RAF. After the war Mr. Wood and his wife Winifred had a farm in Yorkshire; but they both suffered from arthritis and decided in the early 1950s to come south for the sake of the milder climate. The Elwin Farmland came on the market the very day they called at Vidlers; Daisy Wood (not then their daughter-in-law) remembers walking over it with the late George Mills while Mr. Wood considered whether it was the farm he wanted. Later his RAF training came in useful when Hill House was in desperate need of a cook - accustomed to large-scale catering, he went there for a fortnight to help out and stayed for twelve years, until his retirement! Mrs. Wood is well known in our community as Sister Wood of Rye Hospital; and Ian, one of their two children, has mended most of the agricultural machinery in the area for many years now. Mr. and Mrs. Wood celebrated their golden wedding some eighteen months ago. Mr. Wood suffered a stroke soon afterwards, and the family would like to thank the local community nurses and the Rye Hospital staff for their unfailing help and kindness to him since. When they first came to live here, the Woods were instrumental in founding the Rye Quaker group, and the funeral, at Hastings Crematorium, was a Quaker one.
Mr. Frank Pilcher, of East Guldeford, who died on 5 July, was born into a farming family at Midley in Kent in 1897. Four years later the family moved across the border to Collyers Farm, East Guldeford and, in due course, Frank started work with his father and brothers on the farm. During WWI he served with the Royal Artillery, and was in France for the last two years of the war. After the death of their father, Frank and his brother Charlie farmed Collyers Farm until 1964, when his sons Jim and Joe joined him, though he retained an interest in the farm until his death. Mr. Pilcher was for many years well known at Rye Market, and a keen member of Rye NFU, whose Chairman he was in 1951/2; he also acted as Toastmaster at the Annual NFU Dinners for 25 years. He was a long-standing member of the British Legion, and for a long time was Clerk at East Guldeford Church and also Chairman of the PCC. A widower for many years, Mr. Pilcher leaves his two sons and daughter Evelyn, five grandchildren and three great- grandchildren. The funeral took place at Playden Church.
Mrs. Margaret Eddie, whose death on 9 July we recorded briefly last week, had her first dress shop - "Jenny Lind" at Gerrards Cross - when she was 21; her next business venture was the Harborough Nurseries at Guestling, which she and her husband ran during the war until the first of the doodlebugs wrecked seven of their greenhouses. Mrs. Griffiths, as she then was, opened "Rose-Anne" (once a hairdressers, and at that time empty) as a dress-shop in 1950, and continued to take an active part in Rye's business life for the next 35 years. She was Chairman of the Chamber of Trade, and also did a great deal for the cancer charities - her dress shows were much looked forward to and long remembered. She married for the second time in 1970; her husband Joseph had himself been in business in Hastings. Rye will never be quite the same without the immaculately elegant lady who greeted her customers and friends and catered with such skill for their requirements; but her daughter Rosemary assures us that the shop will continue in business as it is now, and she intends to keep up the high standards set by her mother.
Mrs. Madeline (Madge) Ditcher, who died at her home in Pottingfield Road last Sunday after months of illness, came to Rye from Folkestone as a girl of 14, half a century ago. She leaves her husband Sonny and their two children and six >grandchildren. As a young woman, Mrs. Ditcher used to work in Webbs' bakery shop (then also a tea-room, and now the Spar grocery store); much later, she was manageress of the shop at Maddiesons in Camber. Mr. Ditcher, who has worked on the construction of both the Dungeness power stations, used to serve with Rye Fire Brigade. The couple lived in Cyprus Place for over 30 years, until the Council's renovation of the terrace meant a move to Tilling Green.
- 3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 18.7.1984
Mrs. Yates is holding a coffee morning at the Town Hall on Saturday week, 28 July, with two objectives. She hopes to raise money towards the cost of equipment for the proposed Sports Hall; but also, and perhaps more important at this stage, she wants to bring together people interested in the project who have not so far been involved in its planning. At present, of course, the problems are mainly financial ones, and for this reason Mrs. Yates has been able to persuade Rother District Council's Treasurer, Mr. Willis, to come over to Rye and talk about the money side of the project. Cards are going to those likely to be interested, but please, don't stay away if you don't get one: it is impossible to think of everybody, and everybody is definitely invited.
We wondered what was happening about the proposed car park on land between the Lower School playground and the railway, top of the list in Rother's current estimates for major expenditure in the town. The answer is - nothing. British Rail has not yet agreed to sell the land.
Rother would dearly like to get a move on with this park, the plans for which included provision for some coaches and HGVs; the money was moved forward from last year's estimates, and the intention was to get the work done as soon as possible - perhaps even for the tail-end of this summer's traffic. However, says Chief Technical Services Officer Robert Clarke, dealing with British Rail takes a very long time indeed. Obviously.
In the meantime, BR have the only coach park in town. Charges went up in May from £2 for four hours to £3.50 for the whole day (originally £5, but the Chamber of Trade persuaded them to lower it). This is not excessive for all day parking - Canterbury is £4, and Rother are proposing to charge £4 at Camber soon. The cost may well deter coaches which would have been spending only an hour or so in the town, in the course of a long day out; but how much trade do they bring anyway? Robert Bromley, Chairman of the Hotels and Caterers Association, says that in his view coaches which stay the longest should pay the least - and he is by no means entirely joking.
An old Grammar School scholar with an exciting career behind him presented the prizes at Lower School last Wednesday. Since Stephen Pern (Meryon House) left in 1968, he has travelled extensively and adventurously in the far parts of the earth, writing books about his journeys.
Progress Prizes went to Susanna Luck, Sarah Trueman, Sarah Estcourt and Keith Williams in the first year, and to Christie Gordge, Victoria Godbold, Onya McCausland, Mark Chapman, Stephen Tollett, Michael Turner and Geoffrey Hale in the second. Prizes for drama, music and dance went to Fiona Ramus, Becket McGrath, Angharad Bowman and Victoria Whiddett; for games to Claire Glazier and Matthew Heskett; for classical studies (John Corbett Memorial) to Ruby Cole; for maths to Darren Douch and for chess to Simon Collins. It so happened that the prizes were widely distributed among pupils from the various feeder primary schools: five went to Freda Gardham, two each to Guestling, Icklesham, Playden, Brede and Northiam, one to Winchelsea, and the remaining four to pupils from away.
Rye WI is to revive its Drama Group under the direction of its two WI-trained producers, Mrs, Monica Oliver and Mrs. Jeanne Freeman; inspiration for this came from a talk "Acting is Fun" by Mrs. Hunter at the July meeting (when Mrs. Clarke won the General Knowledge quiz). WI funds have benefited by £33 from the coffee morning at Mrs. Bennett's, and by £37 from a sponsored walk by Mrs. Dee and Mrs. Clarke. Mrs. Hodgson and Mrs. Freeman, Rye's scrabble champions, are through to the finals of the Group competition. And we hear that the Group's visit to the WI exhibition at Olympia was truly memorable.
4.
Shell have always been patrons of the arts, both for their posters and for the Shell books; the company's success in this respect is obvious from an exhibition of Shell advertising art which opened recently at the Rye Art Gallery in Ockman's Lane. The pictures, mainly original work, are a selection made for reasons of space from the full exhibition which has been toured by the Arts Council over the past year. Margaret Casson has chosen over 100 exhibits which are quite certain to please visitors from now until 9 September it is a happy coincidence that the show will still be running over Rye Festival Week.
The catalogue costs £2, which we couldn't afford, but it is clear that Shell don't hesitate to go to the top for what they want; the majority of the artists featured are now household names. The range is enormous; the earliest picture we could find was a patriotic classical pastiche from 1923, the most recent - 60 years on - were two gouaches of Brent Charlie by Brian Sweet and a science-fiction concept by John Harris. In many visitors the show will arouse nostalgia for the posters and newspaper ads of pre-war days, particularly a group of "press pulls" of cartoons by Rex Whistler and John Reynolds which carry a strong tang of summer.
The "That's Shell - that was!" roadman beckons us in, and later we meet his relative, the Knock-Less Monster of 1933. The period feel is lovely, particularly the clothes. By modern standards, Richard Guyatt's 1939 "Racing Motorist" does look a bit - well, odd; but by modern standards, doubtless Frank Dobson would not have encouraged a passing cloud to trail its shadow so delicately over the. anatomy of his Cerne Abbas Giant! Paul Nash's oddly concrete vision of the Rye marshes (1932) is here, and an enjoyable 1938 Ardizzone painting of round yellow lifeboatmen. There are lots of lovely pictures to see; and perhaps the catalogue would have explained why Shell had commissioned Edward Bawden's cartoon of - of all places for a petrol company - Wormwood Scrubs?
At the Easton Rooms, Graham Clarke shows his usual cheerful and witty pictures; an innovation this year is a small Nativity triptych of prints, handsomely framed by Desmond Ryan. Dougal Bricknell's astonishing teapots accompany the pictures - also, this year, some equally astonishing figures and a series of chimneypots in miniature, complete with smoke. Upstairs, two of Dougal's neighbours show off their work: Tony Foard has a group of platters whose simple shapes show off the beautiful glazes; and Tricia Gill displays square dishes in the style of miniature garden urns, each one with a different appeal.
At the Hamilton Galleries, Patricia Jacobs' landscapes are selling fast, though buyers must have had some difficulty in making a choice from the wide selection of long views and woodland and riverside scenes; as Caroline Glibbery says, there are pictures you could walk into. (And the prices are very attractive, too.)
Perhaps the most eye-catching show of all is at the Anglia Building Society, in whose window Sidney Evans of Croydon displays a number of his unique clock collages. Each of these incorporates a working clock - somewhere; but as part of a three-dimensional picture (an engine, a car, a steamer with the clock set in the paddlewheel) which is "painted" by Mr. Evans from thousands of tiny clock and watch parts to make a glittering and spectacular whole. Mr. Evans buys his materials in bulk as manufacturers discard outmoded parts for scrap; he told us of one lovely occasion when a desperate watch-repairer worked his way through the great heap of bits and pieces until he found the spare he had been looking for for years!
The Red Cross is looking for a delivery-person for its domiciliary library service. This job involves bringing a choice of library books to those who are unable to get up to Lion Street to choose their own; a car is needed, for obvious reasons, and a reasonably strong arm since some of the clients may be in upstairs flats. The vacancy covers four people in Pottingfield Road, and Hilary Bolton of the Red Cross tells us that a monthly visit is adequate - not a very arduous job, but one much appreciated by those it serves. If you can help over this, please get in touch with Brenda Marshall at the Library (Rye 223355), who will be glad to give more information.
5.
When Mary Lestocq heard that Admiral Graham, former Captain of the Ark Royal and now very high up in the RNLI, was visiting the Rye Harbour lifeboat station as part of a South Coast tour, she never suspected a thing - until she glimpsed a picture-frame being smuggled in... It contained the Certificate on Vellum which was awarded posthumously to her husband in recognition of 15 years' dedicated service as Lifeboat Secretary at the Harbour; and it was particularly pleasant that Humph's son was staying with her on Tuesday, so that he could also be there when Admiral Graham made the presentation.
The new lifeboat-shed, Mary adds, is still just four pillars sticking out of the mud; but it is hoped that work will start at the end of the month.
Hearty congratulations to Jane Blackman, winner of the 1985 Sail Training place awarded in memory of Canon John Williams. Jane, nearly 17, is a pupil at Thomas Peacocke School and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Blackman of Landgate Stores. The date of her cruise is not yet fixed, but it will he some time next summer.
In less than a month now, Roy Pierce of King's Avenue will be on the high seas as winner of the 1984 place; Roy leaves on 12 August for a fortnight's cruise.
Kate Davson, the scheme's organiser, tells us that this year's entry still showed no interest from the post-school age-group; surely, with Rye's maritime traditions so strong, there must be those who would relish such an adventure even when they are past their teens? Perhaps for 1986...?
The Sailing Club's Water Sports Regatta gave a lot of pleasure to a lot of people - there were so many entrants for the earlier events that they ran out of time (or rather, out of tide) before the finish of the planned programme. The weather held fine and windy over the middle of the day. The lifeboat crew opened the proceedings with a dramatic mock rescue, just to remind people what they were all there for, since all profits will go to the Lifeboat Shed appeal. The Sailing Club had been making this a rather low-key event this year, since they were not at all sure what the response would be; but they are much encouraged by its success and are likely to make it a regular summer date, with more advertising next year.
A coachload of Rye British Legion members were proud to see their standard-bearer Bert Musselwhite parading the Branch's standard at the Royal Tournament on Saturday night. Mr. Musselwhite was among 150 men and 50 women standard-bearers from the Legion in the arena, and we hear that the military bearing of the contingent was fully up to the standard of the rest of the (very enjoyable) show.
Rye Bowls Club had a busy week. On Thursday all six greens were in use when they entertained three coachloads of players and friends from the Pleasaunce Veterans Club at Eltham; the match resulted in a narrow win for the visitors. Rye lost at home to Fairlight on Saturday, and away on Sunday. to Tenterden - the latter match delayed but happily not cancelled by the sudden very heavy rain.
Barrie and Rosemary Wilkinson, of Pottingfield Road, want to say a very special thank-you to their children Barbara, Andrew, Jenny and Heather for a party at the Hope Anchor on Saturday night - a party to mark Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson's silver wedding today. Barbara brought her husband, Andrew his wife, Jenny and Heather their fiance's, and Rosemary's parents were also there to help celebrate. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson were married in Stone-cum-Ehony church, in the village where Rosemary was born and where her parents still live; Barrie, however, is a Ryer born and bred.
Saturday was also the 18th birthday of Nicola Seabrook of Marley Road; Rosemary Wilkinson is her godmother and asks us to congratulate Nicola on this important occasion.
6.
Thursday, 19th Thrift Shop, Red Cross, 10.30 to 4 (4. Friday, Saturday, Monday)
Friday, 20th Term ends
Saturday, 21st Catholic Church coffee morning, FEC, 10.30
Rye Dance Centre Bazaar and jumble sale, CC, 2.15
Wednesday, 25th Over-60s Club, Red Cross, 1.45
... so, if next week's paper is a thin one it won't be entirely on account of the office move. Please remember: 2 Cyprus Place from Friday, 20th, onwards.
• Rye Post Office now opens half-an-hour later on Monday mornings - 9.30 instead of 9. It still closes at 5.30 every day (12.30 on Saturdays).
• Rye Library will be entertaining Monsters on Tuesday week, 31 July! They are now booking (though there is no charge for tickets) for the event, which will include games and craft work and runs from 10.30 to 12 that morning. Those who enjoyed their Ghosts and Ghouls last year will want to make sure of their places in good time.
• We wondered recently why the Blood Donor people were only here for one day instead of two; the answer seems to be that they will be coming more often. The next visit is on Wednesday, 1 August, when the team will be at the Baptist Hall from 2 to 4 and from 5 to 8. Presumably they are not expecting to see again the donors who attended in the middle of June ?
• The RNLI Lifeboat Station at Dungeness has a Grand Fete and Open Day on Sunday, 29 July, from 10 to 6; the lifeboats from Dungeness and Littlestone will be launched, and there will be refreshments and the usual fete amusements as well.
• Fundraising: Over £225 goes to the NSPCC from the recent coffee morning at Lady Devonport's house in Peasmarsh. £138 was raised for the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council for Research at a coffee morning in Fair Meadow last Wednesday. And Cadborough Jubilee Social Club made a profit of £220 at the Summer Fair at the Community Centre on Saturday afternoon.
• The George Hotel is prickly with scaffolding on both facades at the moment, and given over to the painters. Manager Adam Terpenning apologises for the inconvenience to those using the pavement, but it will look really very nice when it is finished. If the weather is kind, the work is likely to take about a fortnight.
• The Press Book this week shows a number of thefts from the beach - "left property in beach-bag and went for a swim" is typical, and resulted in the loss of a camera, driving licence, chequebook and cards - the lot. You have been warned.
• No serious injuries resulted from Saturday morning's traffic accident involving a Robin Reliant and a Mini at the bottom of Landgate.
• A blackbird with very highbrow tastes has reared a brood in one of the window embrasures on the upper floor of the Ypres Tower. The nest is tucked neatly between the inner glass and the metal grille, and the three fledglings were quite undisturbed by Museum visitors going up and down the stairs just below.
• Thomas Peacocke School jumble sale on Saturday raised about £200 for PTA funds; the PTA's next event will be the Michaelmas Fair, this year on Saturday 29 September which is in fact Michaelmas, i.e. the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels which falls obligingly on a Saturday for once!
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office and published by Mrs. Mary Owen. This is the last issue from 94 Udimore Road; from Friday, 20th, the address will be 2 Cyprus Place. The phone number, Rye 222303, remains the same. News items for inclusion are always welcome - deadline Monday after-noon, Tuesday- 9 am for emergencies. The GAZETTE costs 25p weekly, and is delivered to subscribers and pick-up points on Wednesday; extra copies and back numbers can be ordered from 2 Cyprus Place, while a few spares are available from Squirrels, 9-13 Cinque Ports Street, Rye.
(Copyright Mary Owen 1984)