An extra Christmas pleasure in the town this year was a wedding which united two well-known local families. Nick, son of John and Pat Ciccone of Love Lane and Spar, was married to Anne, third daughter of Alan and the late Pam Catt of Doleham and grand-daughter of Maud and Bert Catt of East Guldeford. The service was at St. Antony's, beautifully decorated for Christmas; Father Edmund, replacing Father Maurice who is abroad, officiated; and the singers were Madrigalia. The bride wore a ballet-length dress of lilac-blue shot silk, with a short cream net veil; she carried a bouquet made by Rachel Sarriedine (and since Covent Garden Market was closed over Christmas, Maison Fleur made a silk-flower bouquet as well - just in case the real flowers didn't last!). And this was not all the local involvement. The wedding rings were made to the couple's own design by Peter Farrow, using the gold from John's grandfather's watch-chain, and Alan Webb iced the wedding-cake to match the silk of the bride's dress - silk which Nick got specially from Courtaulds, his employers. Anne was given away by her father (they were only a minute late at the church despite the breakdown of the bridal car and an emergency lift from a passing friend), and Nick's best man was Adam Hargreaves, a friend from his Brighton Tech days. Pat Ciccone looked marvellous in a plum and grey outfit. The reception, which went on into the small hours, was at the Hope Anchor, so near the church that despite the chilly wind the party was fable to walk to it; Pat is not really sure quite how many guests turned up in the end, but certainly the walls of St. Antony's began bulging almost visibly as more and more cars dropped their passengers in Watchbell Street. A complete surprise was:the arrival on the previous day (Boxing Day) of Anne's eldest sister Jane, who lives with her family in Canada; she had said she couldn't make it, so near Christmas - but nonetheless she was there, with middle sister Jkdith and their brother Ian, as well as Nick's sister Jo looking elegant in naval uniform. Since both Nick and Anne have jobs in London, the honeymoon was necessarily short - and in fact they decided to spend it near Rye. They will be living in Balham.
At the wedding reception, an announcement was made which will give great pleasure locally: Alan Catt and Frances Avery (nee Brodrick, Sister Avery of the Postern Gate surgery) are to be married. We are delighted to wish both couples every happiness.
In February 1984 Dr. Bill Townsend of Playden retired as head of the Postern Gate practice, after 37 years of service to medicine in Rye and the villages. He has continued to work part-time for the practice, for what should have been the best part of another three years until his retirement last month; but he suffered a stroke in the late summer of last year, and although everyone has been very glad to see him about in the town, he is still not completely fit. To mark Dr. Townsend's official retirement, the practice has commissioned a very personal leaving present: a half-length drawing by Peter MacNiven (who has since, we are told, been working on a portrait of Margaret Thatcher). The portrait was presented to its sitter at a small ceremony at the surgery just before Christmas, and doubtless now hangs in a place of honour at Cherries.
Sister Annette Bruce of Rye Hospital is someone else to whom Rye's sick people owe a great deal. Sister Bruce retired in November, after nearly 14 years at Rye, and a picture in the News some weeks ago shows her with a rather remarkable collection of souvenirs presented to her at the time. She started nursing, says an article in the HHA journal last month, at the age of 14, and worked at Wimborne in Dorset before moving to London and a 16-year job as a residential child-care officer. Sister Bruce's many friends will not allow her to sit about idly for long, once she gets back to her home in Udimore Road from a well-earned holiday abroad!
2.
Mrs. Dorothy Addy, of Pottingfield Road, who died on Boxing Day at the age of 73, had a tragic end to her life; she died of cancer, after being ill since August, but had never really recovered from the dreadful shock of her husband Frederick's death in a road accident two years ago, which was followed by the death of her daughter Jane in October of this year. Mrs. Addy, nee Blackhall, was the sister of Mrs. Teresa Hodgson and Mrs. Florence Horner; her surviving daughter, Mrs. Smith, lives in Iden. The funeral took place at the Methodist Church, where Mr. and Mrs. Addy and both their daughters had been married. She will be much mourned, not only by her family but also by her friends in the WI and Over-60s Club, those with whom she worked at the Ferry Road school for more than 20 years, and many elderly people in the town to whom she was a very good neighbour.
At the December meeting of the Community Health Council, a report on Rye Memorial Hospital was presented by four of the Council's members, who had visited it to talk with staff and patients and check on conditions generally as they do to all the local hospitals from time to time, as part of the job. It is clear that they were impressed with the general atmosphere of the hospital - "the level of patient care is clearly very high". The kitchen was immaculate, if old-fashioned, and the patients commented on how good the meals were. The report refers to the bright and cheerful Day Room, which serves a total of 25 day patients plus 15 afternoon patients - who come in for weekly visits for dressings, baths, chiropody, etc.
The accident and emergency department is kept busy during the day, but the report suggests that closure from 9pm to 7am would relieve the pressure on night staff. The physiotherapy department is extremely busy, with a waiting list; but the X-ray room is hardly ever used. A new traction bed for the physiotherapy department was requested two years ago, and still hasn't come.
The in-patient wards each have seven beds - one ward for women only, and the other now mixed (which means it is easier to keep all the beds occupied, as they were at the time of the visit). There is also a single-bedded side ward. Volunteers come in to help with the trolley shop, flowers and documentation.
The upstairs rooms are used by staff. They include an office for the community nurses, and also Miss Pembleton's office; nurse tutorials in the staff dining-room are popular and well-attended. What used to be the Matron's flat is occasionally used by a trainee GP.
The visiting team felt that some repair work was necessary (a leaking corridor skylight, paintwork in the ward kitchen, the electrical wiring upstairs); the report also says that for the sake of staff and building, a strategic plan for the future of the hospital should be decided on as soon as possible.
The Health Authority tells us that the leaking skylight is in a flat roof area, all of which needs repair, and when this work is done the skylight will anyway be removed. Maintenance work on the building is done as necessary, it seems, but more serious jobs have to fight for a place in the queue when the estimates for the new financial year are considered. As for the traction bed referred to in the report, this had been news to the chap we spoke to, and he is looking into the request.
The Secretary of the Community Health Council, Anthony Wade, tells us that the HHA is looking into the casualty service at the hospital to ensure that "the resources of the Authority are being used in the most efficient manner". A Regional management trainee, Ms Sue Iskander, has been appointed to carry out what he describes as an information-gathering exercise during this month, though her investigation will no doubt cover the statistics of the service over several years past. The views of the public will be welcomed by the CHC (St. Helen's Hospital, Frederick Road, Hastings TN35 5AR - Hastings 433221).
3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 7 January 1987
Ernie Stevens of New Road, formerly of Udimore and with 55 years of service to the St. John Ambulance Brigade, was a recipient of the Royal Maundy at Chichester at Easter. He has now been awarded the British Empire Medal "for community services in East Sussex", says the New Year Honours list. The Brigade will be proud of this honour bestowed on its long-serving member.
When Mark Osborne, son of Sally and Terry of Military Road, left Thomas Peacocke he joined the staff of Curry's, the electrical suppliers. He worked at the Canterbury and Ashford branches, then moved to Eastbourne where he met his fiancee, Julie Glenister. Julie still works at Eastbourne, but four months ago Mark was transferred as manager to the little Seaford branch - a training branch, with only two full-time and one part-time staff members under Mark, so it is a very minor link in the 530-strong Curry's chain. But it is the first step on the management ladder - a ladder on which Mark has his foot firmly planted!
On Christmas Eve the company announced the 30 top managers in a competition among all its branches, based on beating sales targets and selling own-brand products - really hard selling. Among those 30 was Mark! His prize is a ten- day holiday for himself and Julie, going with the other 29 couples in February to Florida, followed by three days on the beach at Nassau and finishing with a trip to New York.
It is four years since Mark joined Curry's, and he is now 21. By the time he is 23 he intends to be manager of a superstore with a E3m turnover! (And by the time he is 30...?)
This month Rye says farewell to Roy Barnes of the Merrythought. He has sold the business at the top of Lion Street, and is going to live in a sea-view penthouse flat at Hayling Island, where he can enjoy his great love, sailing - a retirement which he and Beryl had planned long before her death last October. Mr. Barnes has played a very considerable part in the business life of the town, and has been a prominent member of the Chamber of Trade; he also has many friends in the sailing community, and will take with him ;plenty of good wishes for fair winds ahead.
• "A good south-westerly, and the Council could have lift-off!" said someone to us as we studied the tent on top of the Town Hall. However, Burnhams' tarpaulins seem to be firmly anchored, and have enabled work on the cupola to proceed in spite of the weather - though they hope to have a fine spell when it comes to the final repainting. The Town Clerk told us the repairs had to be done before the spring; but at least the present shrouding does mean that the Town Hall will be looking its best again for next summer's visitors.
• Major rebuilding at Tower Forge (planning permission was obtained early last year) means that the shop beside the Landgate Arch will be closed until Easter; urgent enquiries should go to Janet Denny at hom. Ellis Bros are putting up a hoarding to protect passers-by from falling masonry while the end wall of the building is demolished (the letter-box may have to be moved, the seat has already been taken to safety for the time being). The all-too-obvious cracks in the wall are evidence of the need for the reconstruction; the trouble, as usual, is the cliff and the ground at the foot of it - as well as the end wall, the back of the shop and its Salts-level supports are being rebuilt.
• Readers are reminded that work on the Mermaid Street cobbles begins any day now, and the street will be closed to through traffic; those intending to enter it from the bottom should be particularly wary.
• Down at the station, nothing much seems to have happened since before Christmas; the loos are still one big hole, the bus-garage walls are rising, and the bones of the car-park at the Ferry Road end of the site are now visible. The new entrance will be less wide than come people feare-1, worrying about a throughway.
4.
Almost 300 parcels were left at the Fire Station for distribution by Santa on Christmas morning, and there were four Santa clones going round the town doing the job - in two Rye Model Laundry vans, another lent by Burnhams and a fourth by the new landlord of the Ship at Winchelsea Beach. Including Bill Playford's raffle, £330 was raised for the Firemen's National Benevolent Fund.
Apart from this, the firemen had a very quiet Christmas, though a call from the sensitive George Hotel alarm system had two appliances up in the High Street br fly on Christmas Eve mid-day!
As far as crime is concerned, too, the town seems to have had a quiet Christmas. There was a Boxing Day incident in the High Street, when an evil-tempered motorist attacked one of the morris dancers who was blocking his way along the road, and Rye Police would be glad to hear from anyone present who could either identify the driver of the red Ford Sierra car or has a photograph which shows its numberplate - ring Rye 222112. Apart from this, the press book shows a break-in at Upper School on 17/18 December which resulted in the theft of £25-worth of cheese and tinned meat, and a jacket stolen from the Oasis; users of Needles Passage will have already noticed with regret the loss of the splendid scarlet-and-gold (brass, actually) hookah which was such a feature of the little Clock Shop and which was stolen on the Sunday night before Christmas via a broken window-pane.
The press book also records the conviction by Rye Magistrates on 5 January of two men who had been drinking and driving (neither came from Rye); one was fined £100 and disqualified for a year, the other had a similar fine and was disqualified for 18 months. The second driver was also fined £265 for having no insurance, no test certificate and producing altered documents; he had to pay £25 costs too. Both offences were committed before Christmas; we under- stand that other drink-drive cases are still to be heard.
Now to more cheerful topics. Multiple sclerosis sufferers and their friends very much enjoyed a party at the Community Centre just before Christmas, when a short entertainment by members of Rye Dance Centre preceded an excellent tea. We are asked to thank particularly the four Thomas Peacocke girls whose loving help contributed to the success of the afternoon, but the hardworking committee also deserve congratulations.
Playden Church choir raised £85 carol-singing for Hastings 85, the local equivalent of Crisis at Christmas, which last year served a Christmas meal in Hastings to over 200 down-and-outs.
Landgate WI held its Christmas party on 17 December for members and guests, with a minimum of business and plenty of fun and games followed by refreshments and ending with carols.
Some four thousand Christmas cards, to say nothing of other greetings cards, have been recycled locally and sold in aid of the Church of England Children's Society this year - thanks particularly, says Viola Bayley who cuts them down and sticks them on, to Phyllis Apps who does most of the folding and to Ann Hamilton whose River Books shop in Lion Street has provided a regular retail outlet (except when, as just before Christmas, the West Street suppliers had sold out!). Incidentally, River Books is featured largely in the current issue of A & B News, which looks like a trade paper but is in fact the Catholic Diocesan magazine; the article is accompanied by a charming photograph of Ann and her scarlet-feathered friend Alake.
And finally, how pleasantly uninhibited the young have been this Christmas about dressing up! !timbers started it last year and this year repeated the exercise; Boots, as promised, had most of their staff as spacemen or clowns, with Father Christmas in attendance, the Thursday before Christmas; and other establishments followed suit. Even in the street, or singing carols, girls wore tinsel plaited into their hair or topping their colourful anoraks - and very pretty it looked, too. More next year, please…
5.
Conscious that Devonport House residents must have been muttering darkly about the noise of the Youth Club at the Community Centre during the year, the members offered compensation just before Christmas - an entertainment, complete with food and drink. Also invited were Badger Gate residents; not everyone could come, but there were 19 guests in all, and more than 20 of the Youth Club members made themselves available on 22 December to make sure everyone had a good time. The Youth Club adult helpers brought along their own friends, too, and leader Stewart Russell wants to thank his wife Dorothy and other Peasmarsh ladies, Alan Webb of the Tuck Shoppe, and Ringo's mum, Mrs. Violet Stoodley. Mrs. Stoodley, who has sung on the radio, didn't worry about not having an accompanist but entertained her audience with songs old and new. Music also came from two of the boys, and the four girl dancers gave a lively display; Father Christmas turned up, too, with the compliments of the season.
Mr. Russell tells us that the Youth Club is very badly in need of adult help; anyone who gets on with the young (13 upwards, both sexes) and can spare time in the evening might like to get in touch with him.
Something completely different in appeals will be arriving in next week's mail for some Rye businesses and individuals. "Appeal", indeed, is too strong a word; the letter which comes with the Projet Kelelawar prospectus is a politely optimistic request for sponsorship in the cause of conservation.
Daniel Owen, now in his second year at Brasenose College, has been a keen naturalist since he discovered the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve at the age of ten. At Oxford, he found his interest turning to bats, and he joined organised mist-netting excursions last summer; for the 1986 Long Vac he decided to cast his net wider, and spent three months in Indonesia investigating the possibilities of taking a formal expedition there in 1987.
Now the four young Oxford biologists (one a girl) are hoping to raise a total of £7,000 in sponsorship money to finance travel, living expenses and equipment in the Togian Islands (part of what used to be called Celebes and is now Sulawesi) for just over three months spent studying the bat and invertebrate population of caves there, some of which Daniel has already inspected.
Why this particular project now? Because, as so often in as yet undeveloped countries, the pressures of development are threatening the wildlife (as well as the local culture). The team hopes that the new data they will contribute will be important in rekindling the interest that the Indonesian Government has expressed in declaring one or more of the Togian Islands as a nature reserve.
Daniel's experience last summer proved that the Indonesian people are more than willing to be friendly and helpful - the group even hope to interest the villagers with whom they will be staying in the welfare of their local bats! The team will have with them, if all goes well, an Indonesian student (whose living expenses are included in the £7,000); but to judge from Daniel's report to the college on his 1986 travels, which makes fascinating reading, they have chosen a place which is good to strangers from the other side of the world, even without an oriental face among them.
We should perhaps add that there is no question of raising all this money in Rye! The group are applying to various official sources as well as to the personal contacts of all four members. Locally, they will be glad of any help. Next winter they will produce a report on the expedition, which will list the names of all sponsors - who will of course receive a copy, to show where their money went. If anyone who has not had a copy of the fully-explanatory prospectus would like to see one, we will gladly arrange for this. Finally, we emphasis® that this is not some madcap scheme, but a proper University-approved scientific expedition; Daniel is this year's chairman of the University Exploration Club, and seems to be spending more time on the preparatory work for the trip than perhaps his tutor would altogether approve!
6.
The Harbourmaster's report to the Harbour of Rye Advisory Committee, on the six summer months in the Harbour, makes clear that ten times as many pleasure craft as fishing boats use the moorings in the area. There ar 46 fishing- boats here, 29 local and 17 visitors from Hastings, and a further 20 vessels are engaged in part-time fishing and angling parties. 445 yachts and pleasure craft moor here, and there were a further 948 visitors. Just under half of these were trailed in at weekends, but 490 sailed into the river under their own power. Last year the equivalent figure was 388, and most of the 1986 increase is in foreign-registered boats (172 came directly from the Continent). 14 fishing-boats and 13 others are on the waiting-list for moorings.
But the commercial trading position, sad to say, is not very good. The number and size of vessels using the harbour for trading purposes dropped by half from the same period last year, and the cargo tonnage was almost 26,500 compared with nearly 64,000 in 1985. The main fall is in imports of stone and asbestos products, though grain and seed exports have risen this year.
However, there were no major incidents in the harbour during the six months; and one of its wrecks, the "Leading Star", has been taken away by the Mayor of Hastings for restoration. The "Vivid" has been burnt, and other wrecks will be removed shortly; several beacons have been replaced or repaired, and all navigation aids are in a satisfactory condition. Timber to complete the ladders and other work at Strand Quay will be brought from the old Scots Float sluice.
In GAZETTE no. 204, writing about the prospects for a marina here, we quoted John Royle on the subject, including a throwaway reference to high mooring charges at Newhaven and Ramsgate. Some weeks later Colin Marsh, now Harbourmaster at Ramsgate, read this and has written to us reproachfully to say that prices at his harbour are not high; a recent survey by Mecca showed that they were very competitive and the service there was excellent, with various amenities included in the charge as well as cheap car parking. (The extras, we notice, don't include a ballroom - could this be why Mecca was doing a survey?) We haven't heard anything from Newhaven - yet...
The new owner of the Mermaiden, the wine shop at the top of Mermaid Street, is Roy Palmer, whose father was in the wine trade before him. Sensitively refitted, the shop sells French, German and English wines, and will be making use of the large cellar for storage, so that wine can be taken straight from one cool environment to another when a cellar-owner places an order. Mr. Palmer specialises in serving the growing number of people who have cellars and like to keep them well-stocked. Because he is independent of any particular wholesaler, he can deal with a whole range of different suppliers, and sometimes buys small parcel; of wine direct from the French vineyards - which means he can offer a really interesting list; but he is also happy to advise the off-the-shelf buyer who merely wants a couple of bottles to go with dinner. (Mr. Palmer's other interest is local family history, but that's another story.) The shop phone number is Rye 222107.
The winter issue of Trust House Forte's magazine contains a delightful article by Iain Finlayson (ex-Church Square) about Rye and the country round. It is illustrated with photographs by Paddy Aiken and Fay Godwin and, naturally enough, includes a nice write-up for the George Hotel (though the picture of it is tiny!) This seems the place to mention the newly-redecorated and plushly-carpeted downstairs lounge there, enhanced by some idiosyncratic local views by Chad Coleman, so much more interesting than the coaching prints which might have been expected. (Those who wondered what on earth was going on in the lounge the Thursday before Christmas may like to know that it was a better-supported meeting of the Local History Group than the organisers had expected; apologies, Mr. Fearmain! Normally, there is plenty of room to sit down.)
The Swiss Patisserie will be closed from Monday next week for a month, reopening on Monday, 9 February.
7.
Lovers of Rye Harbour Church may like to know that there is an appeal running in the village to raise some £500 to renovate the lychgate. This was erected in 1920 to the memory of the 14 local men killed in WW1. Four of those who did come home were among the 17 drowned in the Mary Stanford in 1928; within 15 years, death came untimely to more than 30 men in this tiny fishing community.
The PCC will take the opportunity to place in the church a list of those from the Harbour who died during WW2 - more women than men, mostly civilians; there will also be a list of those who contribute to the restoration work on the lychgate. Work is likely to begin in the early spring, and there will be a service of rededication when it is completed. Donations may be sent to Mrs. Bull, The Old School, Rye Harbour, or given to any of the Rye Group clergy.
The cheerful orange leaflet which comes with this issue gives details of three new adult education courses, some Saturday Specials, and four existing courses which still have vacancies - all at the FE Centre, starting on Monday. (Anne Swaine says that since the leaflet was printed, the Specials on machine embroidery and stained glass have been fully booked up.) If you pass on your GAZETTE locally, please leave the leaflet inside; if your copy is without one, Mrs. Swaine is at Rye between 2 and 5 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
Commuters are reminded that they must collect and pay for their new season tickets on Saturday this week if they are to get the benefit of the old rates before fares go up on Sunday. However, Rye seems to have got off lightly as far as fare increases generally are concerned. A day return to London remains at £9.20, and to Brighton at £6.00; the day return fare to Hastings rises by just 10p to £1.80. A single fare to Brighton is still £5.60, a single to London goes up 10p to £8.70, and the only major rise in the list we gave Hastings passenger information was the Saver return to London, up £l to £14.
Also staying low at present is the charge for the new railway car park. Although the Area Manager told us they would be charging £1 for non-rail-travellers, at present the rate is still 40p - but make the most of it, because the station staff don't know how long it will last!
Rye Conservation Society has provided a replacement for the tree outside Devonport House which had to be felled recently owing to disease. The new tree was planted two days before Christmas. It is a strawberry tree (arbutus unedo) which should reach a height of 10ft from its present aft in about seven years. The white bell-shaped flowers appear in autumn, Conservation Society secretary Peter Howlett tells us, while the red strawberry-like fruits from the previous year's flowers are still ripening. Accepting the gift on behalf of SHAA Devonport House warden Margaret Hubbard said it would give much pleasure both to her tenants and to Rye residents.
The Thomas Peacocke School Sixth Form Concert is put on just before the end of each Christmas term by a Lower Sixth cast, for the amusement of the fourth and fifth-year pupils (and as many assorted staff members as can manage to sneak in at the back between classes). The standard and content varies enormously from year to year; once, even the tolerant TPS staff drew the line, and it was cancelled entirely. This year's show was a particularly good one. The jokes were really funny and not TV spin-offs, the sketches were slick and ingenious, and there was never a moment when the audience wriggled with embarrassment for the performers. This relaxed and cheerful team are to be congratulated!
(This is not the same thing as the Carol Concert, on which we shall be reporting, along with other TPS musical successes, in next week's issue.)
Thursday, 8th Conservative Association coffee morning, George Hotel, 10.30
Sale of second-hand children's clothes, 67 Udimore Road, 9.30-3
Friday, 9th CSRF coffee morning, Mrs. Goldie on wartime life in Malaga, FEC, 11Movie Society party night, FEC, 7.30
Natural History Society, "Wildlife of the Seashore and Rye
Harbour Nature Reserve" (Colin Page), FEC, 7.30
Monday, 12th Camera Club, "Photography as a hobby" (Colin Page), FEC, 7.30
• Congratulations to Andrew Paine, of Vidlers, and his wife Isobel (nee Conner) whose daughter Laura Jayne was born on Friday evening, weighing 61b l0oz "and looking just like Andrew" said proud grandmother Mrs. Betty Paine of New Winchelsea Road. Laura is a second Christmas treat for Mr. and Mrs. Paine; last year's was Trevor's daughter Richelle, born in Canada in December 1985.
• Congratulations, too, to Richard and Pam Knight, ex-Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, on the birth on 25 November of their 71b 15oz daughter Elizabeth "the absolute delight of her parents", says Richard, who adds "I wish I could take Rye to be my local town wherever I am living"! In fact he and his family move to his new nature reserve in Wales some time this month.
• Ken Warren, MP, will be holding a "surgery" at the Council Offices in Cinque Ports Street on Friday week, 16 January, in the afternoon. As usual, appointments should be booked through the Hastings Conservative Association office, Hastings 423110.
• “A local OAP" in Watchbell Street was kind enough to take up our suggestion of calculating the total amount of money raised in Rye during the past year. Since our reports are not always specific about the exact amounts, he couldn't be entirely specific either; but he reckons that some g':38,000 was raised here in 1986, 75% of it for charities and the rest for good causes such as the Sports Centre.
• Mrs. Joan Dobson, warden of Greyfriars, is most grateful to Rye & District Rotary for the magnificent 251b turkey which provided Christmas meals not only for the residents and staff, but to 15 or more people for whom the home normally prepares meals-on-wheels Plus a further 12 elderly people who would otherwise have spent Christmas reluctantly on their own.
• A largely unheralded but very charming exhibition at the Easton Rooms, until next Tuesday only, is entitled "First Steps" and displays paintings and ()the-artwork by children of Freda Gardham and Winchelsea primary schools (and fre. Tilling Green, if the work has appeared by now) - well worth a look, not only for proud parents.
• Local planning applications include one for an 8' x 2' sign reading "The Old Borough Arms, Accommodation" in gold lettering on black with the Borough Arms in red, gold and blue - above the two first-floor windows of the hotel on the wall facing Strand Quay. The reopening of the "Top o' the Hill" pub comes nearer with an application for new signs there; and Michael Saunders is applying for permission for a retractable radio aerial mast at 63 Ferry Road.
• "Snowstorms" on television sets using the Udimore Road transmitter spoilt New Year's Eve viewing for households in the town. Mrs. Irene Clark of Pottingfield Road enterprisingly rang the BBC to complain; they had been told by Seeboard that there was a major power problem, but it only seems to have affected the transmitter, since Mrs. Clark drove round the torn on a tour of inspection - and found all the lights very obviously on:
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 2 Cyprus Place, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7DR (0797 222303), and printed by Cinque Ports Stationers of Rye. Deadline is Monday afternoon for Wednesday's delivery to subscribers/pick-up points; the paper costs 30p, and spare copies may be available from Cyprus Place. (Copyright Mary Owen 1986)
DOES THE PROSPECT OF THE LONG WINTER MONTHS AHEAD WORRY YOU? Yes, then why not take up a new interest or revive an old one in friendly company. We are offering these brand new courses starting week beginning 12 January 1987!
RE07 14.1.87 1 term Wednesday Tracey Whitewood Lion Street
(11 weeks) 7 — 9 pm
Have you ever wondered how movie stars and celebrities stay so beautiful? I would like to show you some hints and tricks to make the most of yourself. I will include exercising, make—up techniques, manicure, pedicure and secret ingredients to make you feel better and look your best.
RE19 14.1.87 1 term Wednesday Pam Gell Lion Street
(11 weeks) 7.30 — 9.30 pm
Wanting to renew an interest or needing some German for your next skiing trip? Sample this short, friendly course using selected snippets to attract your interest, practise those vital phrases and rehearse those everyday sketches so you're never at a loss for words. Designed for those with some knowledge and for the quick witted beginner.
REIO 15.1.87 1 term Thursday Clive King The Grove
(11 weeks) 7 -9 pm
This is a practical programming and operating course which should assist students to become reasonably adept at using microcomputers. It will be assumed that students will have either completed an introductory course in computing or will possess an elementary knowledge of microcomputers. It is hoped that students will complete a programming assignment leading to a City and Guild's qualification, in Computer Literacy.
RD39 21.2.87 10 am — 4 pa Suzanne Williams Lion Street
Learn to use your simple domestic sewing machine to create your own original embroidery designs. Using techniques of straight and zigzag stitch on the sewing machine, together with applique and the couching of textured threads discover a new and exciting aspect of embroidery. See the amazing results that can be produced from the most basic sewing; machine and the possibilities for new uses on garments and the translation of traditional .embroidery techniques to modern designs. Students may find it useful to bring along their own machines. Special Fee £5
RD40 14:3.87 10 am - 4 pa Harcourt Lees Lion Street and 21.3.87 Fiona Smith
This is a course for anyone interested in working in stained glass. We will show the basic techniques of designing for glass, cutting and assembling items. The first week we will work in the Tiffany technique and students will be able to make a small terrarium. The second week we will demonstrate traditional leading and students can make a small panel.
Special Fee £5 per day.
An additional charge is made for materials of £5.50 per day
RD41 6.6.87 10 am - 5 pa Ian Rumley-Dawson Lion Street &
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve
A one day course suitable for beginners and more experienced naturalists, giving an introduction to some of the birds, mammals and plants of the area and showing how they survive in this seemingly harsh environment, including some of the many interesting migrants that pass through each year. The organisation, management and problems of the Reserve will also be covered and a brief visit will be made in order to see these aspects in action, especially to the hides from which some of the animals can be easily observed without being disturbed.
Morning - indoor lecture illustrated by original colour slides will be held in the Adult Education Centre, Lion Street. 10 am - 12 noon.
Afternoon - the second part of the course will be spent on the Reserve. 2 - 5 pm.
It will be essential for each student to bring a pair of binoculars and suitable outdoor clothing.
Special Fee £5
RD43 21.3.87 10 am - 4 pm
Joan E Simmons Lion Street A day of modern creative crochet, suitable for the complete beginner or those with some skill. An introduction to the many aspects of the craft covering traditional Broomstick and Tunisian crochet together with a variety of ideas for which a hook and yarn can be used. This is avast subject which can cover such things as clothes for the family, household and - garden items, ' pictures and collage, wallhangings, in fact almost anything which is made with a fibrous material. For those who attended the introductory day in November 86 this may be used to follow up your particular interest. Please bring with you a supply of double knitting yarn.
VACANCIES STILL EXIST FOR THE FOLLOWING COURSES:
RE30 Upholstery Monday evenings
RE08 Bridge for Beginners. Tuesday evenings
RD22 Ladies Keep Fit Thursday mornings
RE 25 Scottish Dancing Thursday evenings
Please ring Ann Swaine during office hours Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday between 2 - 5 00 pm