We had promised ourselves to give the A259 proposals a rest this week, and in general we shall. But it was a pity that the planners weren't here on Sunday! According to the police, the queue of crawling Camber traffic stretched back to the Peace & Plenty; according to some of those caught in it, problems started at the Hare & Hounds. A couple intending to go to Iden at 11 had to wait for a long time to cross the main stream of traffic at the Peace & Plenty - doubtless holding up the traffic behind them, and passing the time in sardonic encouragement to drivers in the Camber queue. We heard of people who took two hours over the journey from Rye to Camber, and of a taxi taking equally long over the return trip; streetwise locals used all sorts of dodges to avoid the A268, saving time if not mileage. The police put up their "Camber full" sign at the top of Rye Hill at noon, an indication that all the parking spaces including verges were occupied - "but it doesn't stop them coming, all the same" said a policeman who had been on duty at the time. A couple heading for Chislehurst left Rye at 9am and met continuous traffic almost all the way; and one dog-walker complained to us that it took her ten minutes to cross from the Town to the Cricket Salts.
All this, of course (nothing unusual for a fine summer Sunday) was with the help of the bridge over the railway. If the bridge is replaced with two sets of lights (rail and road), is the DoT quite sure that six stacking spaces at the foot of Rye Hill will be sufficient?
Elsie Birchall (of Spar) and her husband Bert, who live on Cadborough Cliff, were married just 40 years ago on Sunday - on 5 July 1947, which was a lovely sunny day too. Their daughter Susan is practice manager for a firm of doctors at Seaford, and she suggested that her parents might like to drive over for a small celebration lunch - "Don't arrive before 12" she said, "we like to have a lie-in." Oh, the deceitful girl! When Elsie and Bert reached the house, their elder grandson Mark (11) met them at the gate and sent them straight round to the garden. They turned the corner of the house - and were met by some 45 welcoming smiles from friends and relatives grouped on the lawn. Susan and her police inspector husband Alan had contrived to assemble a great many of the guests at that 1947 wedding; the large Rye contingent had all been told to arrive well before 12, and to keep quiet about it. After they got over the surprise, Elsie and Bert had a marvellous day, all recorded on video for the family archives, and came home laden with flowers and cards and presents; they would very much like to thank all their friends and relatives for their kindness. Mrs. Birchall was born a Hickmott, and her husband comes from Iden; he used to be a keen footballer, though golf is his game now. As well as Mark they have a younger grand- son Adam (9), and it is clear that they are very proud indeed of their family who certainly did them proud too.
• The Gas Works car park is OPEN again, at last. Newly surfaced in stone chippings and with a very high-tech ticket machine, it should relieve the town's parking problems considerably. The proposed car park in the Coal Yard is not open yet (though there do seem to be cars parked in it); it has to be resurfaced first, say Corralls, and this won't be finished until the end of July.
• Despite BR's latest efforts, it is possible to get up to London before 10.40 on a day-return ticket - if you go via Hastings. The 7.55 to Hastings arrives there at 8.17, and the 8.33 on the newly-electrified line reaches Charing Cross at 10.07, just after the 10.00 deadline for day-return travellers. The ticket costs the same, journey time is 8 minutes longer but a great improvement on the new Ashford timing for those who can start that early.
2.
Mrs. Clara Oyler, who used to live in Udimore Road, died on 26 June at a Bexhill nursing-home. She was the widow of Mr. Arthur (Sam) Oyler, and was 93.
Mrs. Evelyn Bourn, of Cooper Road, died at her home on 1 July, very suddenly; she had not been in the best of health for some time. Mrs. Bourn was 64, the wife of Mr. Frederick Bourn, and leaves two sons. The funeral has taken place.
Mr. George Apps, of Lion Street, died at his home last week; he was 87, and his health had not been good recently. He leaves his widow Marjorie and son Ernest. Both Mr. and Mrs. Apps were born in Rye. A pupil at the Mermaid Street school, Mr. Apps served in the army in WW1, and worked for a time at Colebrooke's, the mineral-water firm on the Strand, before he and his wife (nee Banister) opened the greengrocery shop at the top of Lion Street after their marriage. This must surely mean that Rye has lost one of the very senior members of our business community, since Mr. Apps continued as a shopkeeper until the end of his life. He was a member of the British Legion, and a founder member and sometime Trustee of the British Legion Club. The funeral took place on Tuesday.
Mrs. Margaret (Peg) Smith, of Cadborough Cliff, died very suddenly at her home early on Monday morning, having spent a particularly happy day on Sunday. She was the widow of Mr. Reg Smith, of the High Street wine-merchants Arthur Cooper.-For the past four years Mrs. Smith had worked at Rye Goldsmiths, a valued friend first to Mr. and Mrs. Hodgson and then to Sally Todd, as well as to the shop's customers. There will be much sympathy in the town for Mrs. Smith's son and daughter, and also for Sally; although Mrs. Smith had suffered from asthma for many years, her death at the age of 61 was completely unexpected and has come as a sad shock to her family and friends. The funeral takes place at St. Mary's on Tuesday (14th) at 2, followed by cremation at Hastings.
The excavations beside the Cinque Ports Hotel are resolving themselves into a new entrance for the cattle market area; the pub's use of the land ceased when BR, the owners, took it back. We are assured that there will be lowered curbs so that people with prams can cross from (say) the Baptist Church to the bus stops; but there is still this very narrow strip of pavement at the new bottle-neck. And we hope they haven't forgotten that the gate pillar has to be rebuilt on the pub side, as part of the planning permission?
Leaving aside the question of litter (see page 5) the main problem at present seems to be for the vast quantity of wilting shrubs planted in dry conditions on a sloping bank of new soil. Whose job is it to water them? - because if any are to survive they need it badly! Vidlers tell us that a bill is on its way to Platts Markets for the fence and some longer-established shrubs damaged by the post-market bonfire on Thursday. (And what is growing well - the bounteous crop of fat hen and other weeds - was apparently sown as grass seed!)
There were problems for drivers on Wednesday and Thursday, when the normal entrance to the railway car-park was closed and all users had to go in from Rope Walk (directed by a board at the top of Station Approach which originally read Ferry Road!). This was to allow a start on resurfacing the main part of the road at that corner; tarmac was to have been put down on Monday, but the machine broke down, so we hope it is done by the time you read this or there will be further difficulties for drivers later this week.
The name of Budgens has now replaced that of Gateway on the big notice board.
A visiting Australian girl didn't choose the best place to injure her leg on Saturday! Police and ambulance staff had trouble in reaching her, because she had been walking on a strip of land bordered by two water-filled dykes just beside New Winchelsea Road, and the fields on the far side had standing crops in them. Eventually a police landrover reached her via a footpath from Gateborough, and she aas taken to RESH by the waiting ambulance with a suspected fracture.
- 3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 8 July 1987
It seems clear that the Queen Mother's visit on Friday week (17th) is just to the Sports Centre and not the rest of the town; she will be arriving by helicopter at 3.30, probably on Lower School field out certainly within the school grounds, spending about three-quarters of an hour here before flying away again. Both police and school assure us that the general public will be very welcome, and they are expecting a lot of people to be there; we hope to have details of the arrangements next week, but it seems likely that the way in will be from The Grove. Her Majesty will be particularly pleased to see as many children there as possible - and the timing of her visit doesn't even interfere with the school day for Tilling Green and Freda Gardham, while TPS children have the day off anyway for staff in-service training.
Pauline Tomich, who was chairman of the Centre's management committee until she left the Council in May, tells us that the Queen Mother had been approached back in December about opening the Centre; this had not been possible, but the reply had included words to the effect that Her Majesty hoped to come and see it another time. Naturally enough the committee assumed that she was simply being civil; but not at all - our dear Queen Mum and Lord Warden evidently meant it!
An "amended application" in the current planning list appears, as far as we could tell, to be amended only in the sense that it is for full planning permission instead of the earlier (deferred) outline. This is the vast building which Ralph Wood of Le Fevre Wood & Royle's Hastings office wants to erect in and behind the Dairy Yard in Cinque Ports Street. The original planning application was submitted last December (GAZETTE no. 204), and this one seems to be virtually the same - for seven flats in the form of a T-shaped block facing towards the sale-rooms. At ground level in Cinque Ports Street there is parking for eight cars, four in a courtyard and four in a garage through which steps rise as the only entrance to the block and a cottage beyond. Above this are two floors, each with two flats. The remaining three flats, also reached via the garage stairs, are in the leg of the T - also a three-storey building but (being inside the Town Wall) starting at first-floor level seen from Cinque Ports Street and therefore the equivalent of four storeys in all. The front roof level is higher than that of the adjoining shop terrace; the back level dominates the skyline to the detriment of the old Gassons warehouse next door, the only building of any real merit at that end of the street. The total height is 10m from ground level; but which ground level?
The plan marks "lane from The Mint" as if it were relevant; but we understand that there is no right of way to the site from that side. So the only access to dwellings which could be occupied by 23 people is up stairs through a garage in Cinque Ports Street; as well as to the flats, this entrance is the only access to a new two-bedroomed cottage on an adjoining site, for which planning permission was given some years ago - with the question of access apparently unresolved at the time. If Rother is spending so much money on fire precautions in The Link, can it really consider allowing this development, much less accessible to emergency services, to be built?
Quite apart from the visual effect, and the safety aspect, this scheme puts in jeopardy part of the Town Wall - a section which was apparently not listed when the rest was. (The developers argue that therefore it is not historic, and can be knocked down with impunity.) Also, there is the question whether this land should not be used for shops; with Cinque Ports Street taking a major place in the town's commercial life, and a total shortage of shop premises both there and in the High Street, the proper use of the Dairy Yard is for a shop terrace with first-floor flats, and not to squeeze in more housing priced out of the reach of local people. We hope that objectors will write to Rother at Bexhill promptly.
Incidentally, the tiles with which the Grist Mill wants to replace its slate roof are not clay, but something called Cambrian asbestos. The list also has two applications for roof windows, at the rear of 14 Rope Walk and in the west slope of 25 Watchbell Street.
4.
• Excalibur, the company formed by Lower-VIth-formers at Thomas Peacocke School under the Young Enterprise Scheme, put Rye on the map at Lewes on Friday. These short-lived companies (Rotary sponsors the TFS ones) start up and close down within a school year, to give senior pupils experience of business management; Excalibur made notepads and teapot-stands, and in May we wrote about their excursion to a Young Enterprise trade fair. At the end of the company year, each of the 14 groups in this Area sent in their annual reports for consideration by the five judges, who then short-listed four from those working outside school hours. On Friday, in the Council Chamber at Lewes, each was asked to put on a 12-minute presentation, with at least two speakers and including a visual display. Excalibur's speakers were Mark Curry (on the problems of being a managing director!), Rebekah Smith (sales and publicity) and Tim Willett (production). Their main rival was Roedean - Coast to Coast viewers may have seen a recent piece about the company set up by the young ladies there to produce boxer shorts but having taken everything into account the judges decided that the £100 prize should go to Excalibur.
This win of course reflects great credit on the twelve sixth-formers concerned, and also on the school and the Rotarians who have helped the young company. Not counting the £100, Excalibur made a final profit of £112 and paid a 20% dividend to its shareholders. Rebekah a member of the National Youth Choir, is aiming for a career in music; Mark, actor as well as businessman, intends to read Natural Sciences at university with possible a management qualification to follow. But from now on all 12 will be putting business interests aside for a year while they get on with their As - and we wish them the very best of luck.
• Welcome to Mr. and Mrs. Hayward, from Bromley, who have reopened Swan Cottage Tea Rooms for the season. Mr. Hayward, a production engineer, was a teacher in further education until he and his wife decided to look for a suitable restaurant and chose Swan Cottage in The Mint, converted from a private house by Sheila Brown several years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Hayward intend to run it as a traditional tea room, where customers are not hurried over their meal to make room for the next group; they will be serving light lunches and teas at the usual times, but customers who just want coffee and not a meal in the middle of the day will be very welcome. The restaurant opens at 11, remaining open until 6.30 on Saturdays and Sundays; it will not open every day, but the Haywards are experimenting to find when demand is greatest. Al fresco meals can be taken in the courtyard as soon as the new chairs arrive, and pushchairs can also be catered for there (there is no room for them indoors) - the entrance from Cinque Ports Street will continue in use, and the Haywards have plans to improve its appearance. Bed and-breakfast catering will continue under the new management.
• The National Trust Shop at the back of Serendipity is now open, and sells a charming range of NT goods: books, stationery, sweets in little-house tins and boxes, toiletries, scarves and ties, table linen and crockery, desk furniture, really big umbrellas, and three sizes of lightweight folding stools which can also double as walking-sticks. There are some unusual recipe books - and if you want to build a dry-stone wall or make a barrel, they can sell you a book of instructions for that and other crafts as well! The shop is open whenever Serendipity is.
• Readers may have noticed that we don't normally write about commercial products on sale in the town, except when it is a new business - but this is the exception to prove the rule. For months we have been complaining to all the local grocers that no-one stocked the Findus Lean Cuisine range of one-portion frozen meals for slimmers - and the answer was always that Findus won't deliver to Rye. They still won't; but one of John Ciccone's wholesalers has now started to deal with them direct, and now the Spar freezers contain a starter selection of the dozen or so most popular Lean Cuisine dishes, for his customers to try out; he will be happy to order any others which shoppers recommend. Other Findus lines are also in the freezer, so slim housewives will also be pleased; but larger ladies and gents now no Ionizer need to go to Peasmarsh or Hastings to stock their fridges with really interesting meals. Thanks, John!
5.
An outsize road-sweeper (a Johnstone 600, for the technically-minded) was in Rye first thing on Monday morning at the start of a long day. It was to be driven from Rye to Hove along the county's coastline (sweeping from time to time, but not the whole way) to promote the County Council's 1987 "Help Clean Up East Sussex" week. (The poster for this exercise shows a Sussex martlet dropping litter into a bin; we wish it would instruct Rye's seagulls and crows, who spend a good deal of their time picking litter out!)
20 or so people were present in the Town Wall car park to see the sweeper on its way, festooned with bunches of gas-filled balloons and covered with posters - it was a pity that as it headed off towards Hastings several of the latter fell off into the road... Peter Howlett of the Conservation Society, armed with broom and plastic sack, was representing the Federation of Sussex Amenity Societies; he had got there early and had a quick sweep round the car park, but was happy to lend his broom to the Mayor while photographs were taken. Councillor Harry Hatcher of ESCC Highways presented to Councillor Roy Fulford, chairman of Rother, a scroll thanking Rother for its assistance in the campaign, and suitable words were spoken by all concerned. The ESCC staff were all in snazzy County Care T-shirts, and a large notice temporarily adorns the Town Wall to mark the campaign week. A couple of months ago Thomas Peacocke School was a runner-up in the Edwardes-Jones Cup presented annually by ESCC for conservation projects; part of the school's entry was an anti-litter drive (with, the Head told us, spies arriving from time to time to inspect the premises!). So among Monday's guests were the Head and rural studies teacher Paul Bishop, with a display board showing some of the work done by TPS pupils in the cause of conservation.
Also present was the chairman of Rother's Environmental Health Committee, Michael Bishop, and Peter Bridges of the Battle office. During the formal proceedings, we had voiced a sotto voce complaint about litter-bins not being emptied, and afterwards Councillor Bishop asked what we had meant. This was a chance not to be missed. We mentioned the bin outside the Olde Bell at the top of The Mint, which had been overflowing all over the pavement with obviously overnight litter (fish-and-chip boxes) at 10am on Sunday; we had noticed the same problem there on a recent Monday morning at 9, and there have also been complaints about the state of the ridiculously small bin on Conduit Hill. (Readers will want to add their own contributions to this list; the fact is that all the bins are supposed to be emptied first think every morning, seven days a week at this time of year.) Part of the the difficulty is that most of the town's bins are just not big enough - especially now that takeaway food comes not in newspaper but in rigid plastic boxes; seven or eight of these, and some bins are in effect full.
Councillor Bishop said Rother could supply bigger bins, but the conservationists didn't like them. What conservationists, we asked? - and hauled Peter Howlett over to join the discussion. He explained that the Conservation Society would like to see, in central Rye, some of the elegant cast-iron bins already in use in other historic towns. These are made by a firm in Manchester; but if an order was big enough to make the price competitive, Rye Foundry would be very interested in producing them, he said - the Foundry already makes iron bollards for ESCC and other local authorities. It is possible that if one of these bins could be installed in the town, so that people could see how handsome they are, sponsors could be found for others. They cost somewhere about f,170 - but so do the better type of teak seats, which are often given in memory of someone. What about giving a really good-looking litter-bin instead?
BR say that the litter-bins for the railway car-park were at Dover on Monday, and should be in place in Rye within a couple of days. Mr. Catt will be pleased; he picked up 20 sacks of litter in his car-park recently. Now we need the Station Approach bus-stop bins back too, please; Miss Cottrell of Badger Gate clambered about among the shrubbery on Monday morning and collected three boxes of litter, mostly drinks cans. The problem with the Station Approach roadway litter, apparently, is that until the road is finished and adopted by ESCC it is nobody's job to keep it swept!
6.
The latest thing in tourist "literature" is the tape, intended either to be enjoyed at home as a holiday memory or to be played through headphones while the visitor walks round. Rye has recently been the subject of two of these. The Radio Sussex version includes Winchelsea, and is on sale at the Tourist Office (£2.99); David Arscott and Battle tourist officer Jim Cleland tour the town together, engaged in conversation. "Rye Royal", by Visitapes of Horsham, is available at £3.99 at several local shops, and has Jim Henty walking round on his own, commenting as he goes. Either would make an enjoyable and informative guide for a casual visitor with not much knowledge of the town - but unfortunately, neither is spot-on accurate!
Visitapes' first attempt ran into real difficulties, and the makers nobly scrapped it and produced a second version, with very much better results. But there are still irritating moments - talk of "a garden pavilion" at Lamb House rather than the Garden Room (and a reference to EF Benson as "Edward" which he has never called, preferring "Fred"). The Methodist Church was not built in 1814, a fact obvious to any visitor; the 1814 edifice was destroyed by a bomb, and the present church is the 1900 Sunday School building. The Town Clerk was very surprised to learn that the Town Plate "may be seen on application to the Tony Sergeant"; nowadays, groups or individuals who want to see the historic plate must apply in advance to her, with a very good reason at that. "Rye Royal" includes a long account of the Camber tram, which has left no traces at all in the town after its short and comparatively recent life; and it goes into great detail about St. Anthony of Padua, whose life-story is presumably known already to Catholics and does not much concern the rest of us.
The Radio Sussex tape has some really rather startling statements (most of them edited out, we were glad to notice, from the version which went out on the 258 Alternative on Monday morning!). For instance, Rye Pottery was not established by "a man called Miles at the turn of the century". It was developed by the Mitchell family, who built the present premises in 1868 and only sold the business (to Mrs. Mills) in 1930 - and before 1868 the Mitchells potted at the Cadborough brickworks and the Museum has a piece marked 1840. Again, the big maces were indeed given to Rye by Rose Fuller; but Rose Fuller (however odd his parents' choice of Christian name) was one of Rye's MPs and a Freeman of the town, and he was not "Mad Jack's" mother - or anyone else's, unless Jim Cleland has uncovered a hitherto unsuspected aspect of Parliamentary history! Moreover, it is just not the case that a dozen or so brass cannon presented to the town by Queen Elizabeth in 1573 were melted down for scrap in WW2. In 1778 Rye had five cannon which may well have been Elizabethan; but London kept messing about with the Gun Garden weaponry, and by 1928 (according to Adams' Guide published in to year) Rye had two field pieces purchased by public subscription and two German guns presented to the town at the end of WW1. Doubtless these, which many readers will remember, were melted down for scrap; but they were not Elizabethan. Among minor lapses: Lamb House is open every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon in summer, not just "occasionally" - and nobody could have looked down Mermaid Street from its Garden Room (think about it!); the house in Watchbell Street used as Mallards in the Benson films is pink, not white, and has been for some years; and according to Leopold Vidler there is no evidence at all of a 1448 sacking of Rye by the French.
The Radio Sussex tape fails to mention the Town Model at all, while Visitapes recommends it enthusiastically; but Radio Sussex gives both Museum and Art Gallery much better treatment than Visitapes does. Radio Sussex starts at the station, so it can include the Town Wall; Visitapes starts at Strand Quay, and it is pure bad luck that they chose the timber-yard, which moved in April, as a locating point!
Since it is obviously so difficult for outsiders to make accurate tourist tapes - and assuming they do sell here, which remains to be seen - perhaps this is something the Town Council might think about for 1989, using Model funds? It would be a suitable (and, with, luck, reliable) souvenir for the new Heritage Centre - and perhaps a bit of money for the town too.
7.
• Congratulations to Benedict Lovell, of New England Lane, who has been awarded a 2.1 Honours Degree in Geology from Royal Holloway & Bedford College, London University; he now has a place at Leeds to do a one-year MSc course in exploration geophysics. Congratulations, too, to Gorden Mockett of Mill Road, who hae a BSc (Hons.) in Mechanical Engineering from Sunderland Poly, and is now job-hunting.
• Condolences to eight-year-old Philip Catt, of Udimore Road, who spent a week in RESH after falling over something in school and breaking his leg. He came home last Wednesday with an impressive plaster which has to remain in place for three weeks at least - so he is not only off school but also off all the other things an eight-year-old reckons to do in the summer. If any of his friends could find time to come and visit him, he would be very pleased indeed to see them, his father David tells us.
• Rye Hospital had an unexpected compliment in The Times on Monday. Journalist Stephen Pile recently spent a short honeymoon here, it seems - and six hours after they arrived his bride was stung by an iesect to which she had a severe allergic reaction. She was taken up to Rye Hospital - "a gorgeous place to spend your honeymoon" says her husband perhaps a little wryly; "tea is 5p a cup, and I heartily recommend it to other couples"! (HHA, please note.)
• Elizabeth Goldsworthy tells us that the team running the St. Mary's bookstall would be glad of extra help, particularly over the coming holiday period, or, better still, permanently. Helpers work 90-minute shifts (10 to 11.30, 11.30 to 1, 1.30 to 3 and 3 to 4.30) - it is an interesting, and sedentary, job with the chance to talk to visitors from all over the world. If you would like to offer help, ring Mrs. Goldsworthy.
• Close on £300 was raised for the Church of England Children's Society on Saturday, when Mrs. Viola Bayley opened her house and garden to her friends; for the tenth year running, they were lucky with the weather: Those who missed the chance to buy the recycled greetings cards available there may like to be reminded that they are always on sale at River Books, thanks to Anne Hamilton - all proceeds go to the Society.
• Pupils and staff of Hill House School will have a warm welcome for visitors to their open day on Wednesday (15th) from 10 to 12. There are 24 pupils, mainly in the 3-8 age-range, who come from as far afield as Bexhill and Ninfield - plus six teachers and five assistants, since all the pupils have severe learning difficulties. The school, run by ESCC, is just at the top of Rye Hill - get As far as the Hill House main gate, and signs will direct you onwards.
• First-year pupils at Thomas Peacocke Lower School have, for the past year, been engaged on a Creative Arts project involving dance, drama, music, art and writing TPS is one of five senior schools in East Sussex chosen to take part in this national scheme. Their theme is the Mary Stanford lifeboat disaster, and next Wednesday evening they will be presenting to parents and friends the results of their year's work, undertaken under the guidance of Chris Rose and Margaret • Marshall. Parents will have had an invitation; others interested may like tax contact the Lower School office to see if they can come too.
• A random test carried out in the town recently by Rye Police showed a disturbing change in the number of drivers and front-seat passengers not wearing seat belts. Last time, only 5% were not belted in; this time, 17% were not complying with the law. Chief Inspector Phil Dyson says "We seek the co-operation of motorists, but at the end of the day there is no alternative to enforcement; offenders risk report and summons or the issue of a £12 fixed-penalty ticket on the spot. The latest accident figures do not make happy reading, and the extra summer traffic will make the situation worse" he adds. So belt up - you've been warned!
• Finally, well done the enterprising youngster who found himself a fishing stand last Wednesday - the new surface-water drainage outfall beside the Mill footpath. Complete with folding stool and bottle of fizzy lemonade, he had settled down for a very happy day...
CSRF wine-and-cheese (as arranged, but at 5 Ashenden Avenue instead of FEC)
Blood Transfusion Service, Baptist Hall, 2 to 4 and 5 to 7.45
Freda Gardham PTA Fun Day (to reinstate swimming pool), New Road, 10 to 4
Exhibition of work by Adult Education classes, FEC, 10.30 to 4.30 (see GAZETTE no. 231 for details of both events)
St. John Ambulance Strawberry Fair, Conduit Hill HQ, 2 to 5
Gardens open on Point Hill, teas, 2 to 5 (GAZETTE no. 231) Thomas Peacocke School Band, Mermaid, 3 (admission free, with a collection)
RNLI house-to-house collection this week
Hill House School open day, 10 to 12 (see page 7)
Thrift Shop, Red Cross (handing-in only), 10 to 12
ARC coffee morning POSTPONED, sorry
Landgate WI garden meeting, 45 Fair Meadow, 10.30
Community Lunch Group, Clinic, 12.30 for 1
TP Lower School_ event, 6.30 to 9.30 (see page 7)
Local History Group (Dr. Hipkin on Rye in C17 and C18), Lit 17, 7.30
• John Jempson & Son Ltd. need an HGV mechanic, to start at once - normal hours plus plenty of overtime. Call at Slade's Yard, or ring Rye 222052.
• Rye A259 Action Group is badly in need of someone able to take shorthand and type letters (but not minutes). If you can help, ring Mrs. Zeta Dowdeswell or Kenneth Clark, who will be glad to hear from you.
• If anyone has a large foldable carpet which is no longer suitable for its original purpose, Rye Playgroup would be glad of it to cover the area of rough tarmac in the space beside their hut where the children play in fine weather. Following the TPS Band's date at the Mermaid on Sunday, Sussex Brass will be back next week - but this time on a Friday (17th) starting at 6. This was the first band in the Mermaid's summer season, and James Gunn tells us that their music was borne on the wind even beyond the boundaries of the town! They specially asked to come back - and the collection this time will be for the band's own funds. All are welcome, seating will be available, and the bar will be open.
• David Cranston of the Council Offices is now back from hospital with a couple of weeks' convalescence ahead of him before he returns to the Rye office and just the weather for it, tool
• Rye Police would like to compile a register of people prepared to help at identity parades as and when required; a small fee is paid when a volunteer is called. Please call at the police station, or ring Rye 222112.
• Finally, an apology. We are fully aware that this week's GAZETTE lacks at least three reports which should have appeared in it. Our only excuse is that two were concerned with the A259 proposals, which we have forsworn for just this one week, and the third was set out at a meeting we were unable to attend but which is to be repeated later. It has not been easy writing the paper for the past seven weeks, with the Rye Bisection taking over the centre-page spread - but these things needed to be said. Readers will just have to forgive us, and we shall hope to catch up in a week or two.
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; subscribers pay on the basis of 30p an issue.(Copyright Mary Owen 1987)