Frank and Doris Clark, of Winchelsea Road, celebrated their Golden Wedding on Saturday (11 September) with a party for 30 people, almost entirely members of their large family circle. They were married in St. Mary's, Rye, in 1932 and have a son and daughter and two grandchildren. The Clark family have been in business in Rye for several hundred years, primarily as bakers and confectioners - indeed, Mr. Clark says they are probably one of Rye's oldest families – but his father was one of ten children, and left the town to learn men's hairdressing in London. He returned to set up in the High Street, and his son followed him into the business, retiring in 1968; the GAZETTE will not reveal his age because it doesn't seem possible, but it would be fair to say that several generations of male heads have been short-back-and-sided by his expert hands. Mrs. Clark – nee Paty - was brought up in France where her father managed the Hennessey estates in then Cognac region, and she and her husband returned there for a holiday last year as guests of the Hennessey family. Mr. Clark keeps busy nowadays with his interest in bowls and cricket - he is Chairman of Rye Bowls Club and was in charge of the proceedings at the Salts on Sunday.
Friends of local photographer Alan Jones will be pleased to know that he and his wife Linda now have a second son, Daniel (8 lbs. 4 ozs. a fortnight ago) - the name was chosen by four-year-old "big brother" David.
Chris Ashbee, of Military Road, came 12th ("but it was only out of 1,000 this time" said his wife) in the North Kent Marathon on Sunday, with a time of 2 hours 50 minutes for the 26-mile course. Sponsoring was arranged through Rye Lions, and we hope to report the final figure in due course. This marks the end of the season for Chris, though there is talk of a half-marathon in November; but his next major objective is the 1983 London Marathon, and he very much hopes to be accepted for it this time.
The GAZETTE is delighted to be able to confirm the rumours about the future of Leonard Stocks's shop in the High Street. New owners are Stephen and Janet Denny, proprietors of Penny Royal in The Mint and Tower Forge on Hilder's Cliff. Apart from repainting (seaweed green and gold, like Tower Forge), the Dennys will not alter the outside at all, and they have bought all the interior fittings and mean to incorporate them wherever possible. Their intention is to "move up" Penny Royal in time for Christmas, closing the shop in The Mint. The High Street shop will bear the Penny Royal name and sell an enlarged range of handicraft and needlework materials, as well as some of the finished British craft goods at present sold at Tower Forge. (Tower Forge itself will continue normal business.)
In view of the imminent closure of Frank Golden's drapery shop, a new and welcome line will be haberdashery - ribbons, elastic, thread, all the usual necessities for seamstresses. Home dressmakers will, however, not only miss Frank Golden's range of fabrics but will also find that Rye Fashions is going over entirely to clothes and ceasing to sell fabrics by the yard. Since Debenhams' fabric department seems to be shrinking away to invisibility, prospects would be bleak were it not for the really excellent selection provided every Thursday by one of Rye Market's longest-established stallholders.
Rye's Sunday Market opened for the last time in 1982 on 11 September. Some of the traders, and many local shoppers, felt that it had not been entirely a worthwhile enterprise as compared with the regular Thursday market, and there seems some doubt whether it will reappear in 1983. John Ciccone, whose Spar shop in Cinque Ports Street has opened during Sunday market hours, says that from Sunday week, 26 September, the shop will be open on Sundays from 9.30 to 1.30, for a trial period. If he gets support from shoppers, the Sunday morning opening will become permanent; he hopes so, and points out that the Sunday staff are extra to his regular employees. Mr. and Mrs. Laurent at Cadborough Stores have now ended their summer Sunday morning opening.
2.
Commander Frank Brodrick, RN (retd.) died last week at The Hooks, Playden, aged 75. He made his career in the Navy, going to Dartmouth at 13 and navigating destroyers on hazardous escort duties during the war. He left the Service in 1955 and for 12 years taught Maths at Brickwall School. He will be remembered by many Rye people as a devoted and popular driver for the Hospital Car Service, of which he was one of the earliest local members. Frankie was a quiet man, but with a talent, for magic and conjuring and a taste for amusing toys much appreciated by his three children and in due course his seven grand-daughters and one grandson. His widow Betty survives him. A member of the Dormy Club and Rye Golf Club, his tall figure was a familiar one in Rye until his final illness confined him to his home during to summer. He was buried at Playden Church on Friday.
Rye Bowls Club closed a very successful first season on the Salts on Sunday afternoon, when the finals of three contests were played off, and four trophies were presented - on this occasion, by their donors.
The Brookie Clark Cup was given to the Club by Mrs. Leggatt in memory of her father, a well-known Rye sportsman and the grandfather of Club President Mrs. Joan Yates. Mrs. Leggatt presented the Cup to Bill Nelhams, who defeated George Shipton of Devonport House for the Club Championship.
The Forge Tankard - and a bottle to fill it from - was presented by George Bayntun, on behalf of the Old Forge Restaurant to Arthur Milton, who defeated David Manktelow in the Novices Competition. Mr. Bayntun also handed over a most welcome cheque for £15 for Club funds.
The Jubilee Cup, a relic of the pre-war Bowls Club, was given by a former Mayor and reverted to the Town Council when the Club's green was ploughed up for potatoes in 1939. It was therefore Councillor Mrs. Monica Oliver who presented it to the winners of the Pairs Competition, Albert Atkinson and Frank Mann, who beat Alf Igglesden and Jack Oxenham in the final.
The fourth trophy, the Ladies Plate, was presented by Reg Chubb to Mrs. Barbara Jones of King's Avenue; runner-up was Mrs. Julie Fuggle.
Mrs. Yates told the GAZETTE that Rother Council were quietly confident about the future of the green. Although the turf looked a little tired at the end of a very dry season, the good weather had also meant that the ground was in almost continuous use, both from Club members and other local people who had made new friends there, and from visitors, many of whom were delighted to discover this new facility. Visiting clubs had brought their families and friends to shop in the town, and next year this extra business was likely to increase, particularly if the problem with car parking for away teams could be solved. She thought that-the new Committee had done an excellent job - and that included the ladies, whose preparations for tea were much appreciated by players and friends alike.
There is to be a meeting of the Club on Wednesday, 22 September, at St. John's Ambulance Centre at 7.0 to report on the season and make plans for the future.
A beautiful display of flowers with a maritime theme was on view at the F.E. Centre on Saturday, when Rye and District Flower Club held a competition and exhibition, with donations to RNLI and Sussex Kidney Trust Fund. Competition winners were: (Open Class) Bexhill Floral Group, Hastings & St. Leonards Floral Decoration Society, and Sedlescombe & District Flower Club; (Advanced Class) Mrs. S. Fletcher, Mrs. B. Withers-Green and Mrs. O. Parkes; (Intermediate Class) Mrs. E. Cranston; (Novice Class) Mrs. E. Moore, Mrs. D. Merricks and Mrs. J. Talbot-Smith.
There were 34 other displays in the non-competitive part of the show. The Flower Club meets on the first Monday of th8 month at the F.E. Centre at 2 p.m. and welcomes new members.
The Flower Show planned by the Rye Allotment and Garden Society for Saturday at the Community Centre had to be cancelled at the last minute for lack of support. But flower arrangers of all ages have another chance to shine at Thomas Peacocke School on 25 September - entry forms from the school, Rye Library, etc.
3.
Only a very dedicated (and rich) lover of the arts would have attempted to attend every event in the llth Rye Festival. However, the GAZETTE has done its best to put on record the very wide choice of entertainment offered. Obviously, it is much too soon to talk figures; but on Sunday, organiser Biddy Cole was very happy with the way things had gone. Audiences were spread more evenly throughout the week than in previous years, with really good attendances even in the difficult mid-week period, and she confidently expects a good result in financial as well as artistic terms.
Over the years the emphasis of the Festival has shifted slightly from the rather highbrow musical character of its early days, but it still caters excellently for lovers of classical music - perhaps the Committee should seek bulk rates on flights from Edinburgh, since at least six of this year's artists had come to Rye direct from that other Festival city?
On the first Saturday, the young French pianist Pascal Roge played in St. Mary's and his recital gave great pleasure. His very individual style of playing suited particularly the Debussy Preludes, and his interest obviously lies in impressionist music.
Wednesday offered two treats. In the afternoon, in St. Mary's, the church's own organist Charles Proctor played an unusual programme of French organ music.
The evening recital in Playden Church by the Faber Trio was a very special event, since it included the first performance of a trio for flute, viola and harp by Malcolm Lipkin commissioned specially for Rye Festival, and the young composer was able to come over from his Crowborough home to hear it played. All three players have won major instrumental awards, and Ruth Faber and her harp recently appeared on BBC 2. Those who were present will be pleased to know that the trio remarked afterwards how well the audience listened to the music - not, apparently, like some!
The Brandis Quartet, whose concert wound up the Festival, was superb. They, too, had just played in Edinburgh, and the national press reviews on the Saturday morning whetted the appetite of the 500 or so people who filled St. Mary's.
Their expectations were amply justified, and many people said that they had heard from the Brandis quartet the best music ever played at a Rye Festival.
We mentioned last week the much-enjoyed Betteshanger Colliery Band concert (and the Pavement Artist Competition, also in the Gungarden).
Folk and jazz fans were well looked after during the week. There was jazz at Papa Joe's on Sunday; Jake Thackray and the Telham Tinkers predictably delighted Community Centre audience on Tuesday; and on the final Saturday at the Mermaid a happy crowd ate, drank and applauded the Rio Grande Hot Tango Orchestra, whose stunning and extremely visual act incorporated - among other non-orchestral trimmings - a tin teapot, a pair of Hitler masks and a plastic chicken, and set three generations of feet tapping with abandon.
The final Saturday was musical at the Town Hall as well. In the morning, Chris Cummings, a professional and very versatile troubadour, sang and recited to an ever-shifting audience of shoppers, while Ryesingers gave one of their usual polished performances in the afternoon - they had also sung at Sunday's Festival service.
A new departure for the Festival was Jazz College Workshop's sessions at Thomas Peacocke School on Wednesday. Head of Music Lois Benton had accepted on principle the offer of "an instrumental workshop", rather expecting an expert on the 'cello or the clarinet, so she and her pupils were surprised and delighted to meet Digby Fairweather and Stan Barker. Both sides enjoyed themselves so much that another session is likely soon.
And the cinema came back to Rye. Alec Guinness personally selected for the Festival the three films in which he starred in widely different roles ("Tunes of Glory"-"Oliver Twist" and "The Horse's Mouth"), and wrote afterwards to the Committee saying how sorry-he was that he had not been able to visit the Festival himself. Anyway, his fans enjoyed themselves enormously. "The Amazing Mr. Blunden" (Community Centre) and “The Exorcist” (Papa Joe's) also entertained their respective young-in-heart or iron-nerved audiences.
4.
A cynical and witty quartet beguiled Sunday evening's audience at the Community Centre with a selection of readings and music under the umbrella of "The Monstrous Regiment of Women" - though there was absolutely nothing monstrous about Barbara Leigh-Hunt and Jill Nott-Bower. Their sources ranged from John Knox to Ogden Nash. Robert Spencer sang and played the lute, and Richard Pasco gave a particularly enjoyable account of assorted "older men" bedevilled by their womenfolk.
John Clegg's two-hour impersonation of Rudyard Kipling chatting about his life in India was not only a magnificent tour-de-force, but a compilation of Kipling's Indian writing giving great insight into the place and period;- Reminiscent murmurs from the audience betrayed the presence of hearers who knew just what he was talking about, but even those who .had never been nearer India than Broadstairs came away stimulated and admiring.
On-Thursday, Alex Clifton-Taylor spoke - appropriately, in the Town Hall - about "The Smaller Georgian House". A packed audience, some living in Rye's own very small Georgian houses, listened with great interest to this acknowledged expert on English architecture, who talked around a well-chosen series of slides.
Friday was one night where there was unfortunately a clash of events. At the Community Centre were Fritz Spiegler's Laughtersingers - six men in dark suits looking like bank managers, but the songs they sang were not at all the songs of bank managers and an almost capacity audience enjoyed an evening of musical joking, unexpectedly helped at one point b: Andrew Musset from Lamb Cottage on the tuba.
Also on Friday ten professional London actors making up the Fall-Out Theatre Group presented "Galaxy Guide to Survival" - an entertainment with an anti-nuclear theme - to an approving audience at the Mermaid, and were themselves presented with an inscribed plate to mark the occasion by Mike Crosby-Jones of Gopsall Pottery.
The visual arts were, of course, not forgotten. "Ships at Sea" has now closed after a final successful week in East Street, but the Kurrein Gallery currently shows a mixed exhibition of paintings and prints, some by artists already popular with the Gallery's regular clientele and some bearing new names. Long known for its interesting range of quality craft work, the Gallery now finds that patrons are becoming more interested in pictures, which increasingly dominate sales.
It seems incredible that there should be around two dozen local professional potters, but the Easton Rooms have a Festival exhibition to prove it. This is the first time that an attempt has been made to show at one time the wide range of work being produced in the Rye area, with a nod or two in-the direction of Hastings, and it makes a most impressive collection, with something for everyone and prices starting well under - £10. Several potteries are showing examples of their regular production ranges, as well as studio pieces by-individual potters; and with the co-operation of Rye Pottery, several of the painter members of the Rye Society of Artists have produced plates, decorated in their own characteristic styles. Exhibiting for once under their own names are two Rye women who are regular production painters, June Woolley at Rye Pottery (where she has worked since she left school quite a few years ago) and Connie Hutchings who was lured from her native Finland in the early 1970s by Rye Tiles. Upstairs in the Craft Gallery Polly Binns shows interesting combinations of porcelain and textiles, intricate in detail and delightful in clear paintbox colours.
Finally, there were three charity coffee mornings during the week, two of them under the aegis of Rye Festival. At the Old Custom House, £88 was raised towards the John Williams Organ Fund, at 32 Church Square, £92 helped NSPCC funds; and on Cadborough Cliff, Phil and Rusty Ellis somehow achieved the remarkable total of £187 for the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council for Research.
Geoff Bagley's long-awaited "The Book of Rye" (Barracuda Books, £12.95) has in theory nothing to do with the Festival, but it is such a feather in Rye's cap that it seems only proper to mention it here. Almost half the limited edition of 1,000 was subscribed for before publication day on 12 August, and it will surely become a collector's piece of the future, following in the footsteps of Holloway and Vidler. Using quotes and illustrations culled from many sources, not least the archives of Rye Museum which of course he knows better than anyone, Geoff has produced a most readable and entertaining book, its scholarly centre skilfully sugared with funny stories and fascinating pictures.
5.
There are three new faces in the staffroom at Thomas Peacocke Upper School.
Mr. G. Thompson replaces Mr. Brian Sealy, who retired in July, as Head of Modern Languages. Mr. F. Laferton takes Mr. Keyte's place teaching Computer Studies, and Mr. Spooner is teaching Chemistry following a reshuffle in the Science Department after Mr. George Smith retired at Easter. The school has not been allowed replacements for the late Mr. Corbett nor for Mrs. Peter who has also retired, so timetabling for the new academic year - with Upper School numbers much the same as last year, and a particularly large Vlth form - has not been easy.
Lower School has no new staff, though some teachers formerly based on Upper are now more often to be found at Lower, and of course vice versa. The drop in numbers for the 1982 entry (around 200 instead of the usual 220) has meant that there are now enough lockers for every Lower School pupil to share one between two, each with his or her own key. The hope is that this will reduce the perennial lost property problem, though the office keyboard is something quite remarkable! The lockers have been bought over the past three years with money from the PTA, most of it raised in Lower School itself.
Thomas Peacocke's Michaelmas Fair takes place at Upper School (The Grove) on Saturday, 25 September, when there will be numerous stalls and other attractions, including another of the popular "It's a Knock-Out" contests, a pet show, and for the first time a flower-arranging competition, with three open classes for normal arrangements plus four "constructional" classes for the enterprising young, and a giant potato competition. (See foot of page 2.)
At Freda Gardham School the new Headmaster, Mr. Norman le Lacheur, seemed happily settled in when the GAZETTE called on him last week. A Guernseyman by birth, he comes to Rye from Hailsham, though he is keeping his home in Sedlescombe - he and his wife have two children at Claverham and a Vlth-former at Bexhill. Mrs. le Lacheur comes from East Sussex, and her husband has long-standing contacts in Rye. He played football for the town for three or four years - indeed, he played football for the County - but he says it was all a long time ago: However, he does play cricket for Battle, so his appointment spells good luck for Freda Gardham's energetic youngsters.
Also new this term is the school secretary, Mrs. Shan Tennant; but like the Headmaster, she is not new to the County's educational system, having been secretary at Peasmarsh School for four years. Miss Davenport, fresh from training college, replaces Mrs. Parker (who has moved from the area) with the first-year juniors.
Freda Gardham numbers are down this year, to around 330 children, but another bulge is on its way soon. And a lot of small people in Rye saw themselves on the telly last Wednesday evening, when Coast to Coast used a visit to the school to illustrate an item about East Sussex County Council's new "School Meals are Great" campaign. The school only had 24 hours' notice and was not able to tell parents in advance, but they were able to make a video recording of the programme to be shown later for the benefit of those who missed it on Wednesday.
We are glad to report that the burnt-out roof of the former Deans store in Tower Street has now disappeared, taking some tragic memories with it. The handsome new roof is the work of Pope Construction Ltd., of Peasmarsh.
Nearly a month ago there was trouble on the Tillingham with a large number of fish dying in the stretch above the new sluice, and there was talk of possible pollution. But SWA's George Roberts assures the Gazette that the Authority's experts made a thorough investigation, and the cause was simply lack of oxygen, owing to the small amount of water coming down-river in the dry spell - they had the same trouble else-where, and it was not connected with work on the sluice. Mr. Roberts says, by the way, that the sluice had to be renewed because the paint proved to conceal metal parts which had worn very thin indeed (the old sluice was built in the 1930s), and if anything critical had given way, there would have been some very angry people and some extremely wet living-rooms on the Estate, some of which lies 4 ft. below high-water mark.
8.
Thursday to Saturday (but not Monday) Red Cross Thrift Shop, High Street, 10.30-4.0
Thursday, 16th Thomas Peacocke Lower School Harvest Festival, 9.0 Christian Lunch Club, Community Centre, 12.0
St. Mary's Church Harvest Supper
Papa Joe's film: "Stir Crazy", Pizzeria, 9.0
Private View, Stormont Gallery, East Street, 6.0-8.0
(The Committee welcomes all those interested, whether or not they are on the normal mailing list and hope the evening will be a pleasant social event as well as a preview of the Rye Art Gallery's new Autumn Exhibition of pictures from the Royal Academy plus work by Piranesi.)
Saturday, 18th Rye Firemen, Jumble Sale, Fire Station, 1.30
Rye Conservative Association Autumn Fair, FEC, 2.0
Sunday, 19th Battle of Britain Service, St. Mary's, 10.30
Sponsored welly toss, Tilling Green School, 2.0
St. Michael's Church, Playden, Flower Festival runs from 25-28 September - full details next week.
• Enrolment for this winter's evening classes took place at the F.E. Centre on Monday and Tuesday, but there may still be vacancies for some classes; Anne Swain is available at the Centre on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons to help those interested. This year's classes include several "new lines" particularly for needlewomen (or, of course, needlemen). Fees are £12.10 for an 11-week term, but reductions to £8.25 for pensioners and under-18s.
• Three courses are planned for the winter by the Rye Branch of the WEA, all at the F.E. Centre - each offers 20 classes at a standard fee of £18, with some reductions. Dr. Graham Mayhew talks on "Elizabethan Rye" on Mondays from 7.30 to 9.0; Dr. Bob Glaberson gives an "Introduction to Philosophy" on Wednesdays at the same time; and on Thursdays from 2.0 to 4.0 Clifford Gillam studies "Victorian Fiction and Poetry". Courses start the last week in September, with registration at the first class in each course.
• Rye Museum Association welcomes non-members to a series of six winter lectures, at the F.E. Centre on the fourth Monday of each month (not December) at 7.30. Cost is 75p a time. Details from the Museum, or from Rye 2303.
GAZETTE SMALL ADS.
Bob Press still has room for a few more stallholders in his new covered market above the Oasis Club.
Yvonne Beadle hopes that she may yet find homes for her kittens, which will otherwise have to be put down-river.
Tim and Diana Brodrick seek a winter tenant for their New England Lane cottage - 4 bedrooms, central heating.
Mrs. Nabarro (Antiques of Tomorrow, Tower Street) will have 3 whippet lurcher dog puppies available in mid-October.
We aim for 100% accuracy in the GAZETTE. If we fail (and the RAFA Branch standard is being carried at Westminster Abbey on Sunday, not at the Cenotaph as we said last week - sorry!) please don't just grumble but tell us so that we can put matters right in our next issue.
THE RYE GAZETTE is published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 94 Udimore Road, Rye (Rye 2303) assisted by Mrs. Joan Parkes, 5 Bridge Place, Rye (Rye 2717). We are always glad to receive news items for inclusion in this weekly publication (deadline 10.0 p.m. on Monday - in emergency up to 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday on Rye 2303 only).
Photocopied by Sussex Secretarial Services, 11 Claremont, Hastings (9422633).