People are complaining about (last week) the smell, and (this week) the conditions underfoot at the Thursday market. The section worst affected by what is all too clearly evidence of a successful sheep sale the previous day is the section the Rope Walk side of the Market Hall, with the trimmings and fabrics stalls having their stock put at risk and their customers put off. Fred and Christine Taylor have been coming to Rye Market from Sittingbourne for 14 years, and John Millar from Maidstone for the past six. They say that although things were bad last year, conditions did improve until just recently; but last week Mr. Millar had to sprinkle two bottles of disinfectant around his stall to kill the smell ("and even then, it did no good" he says). The difficulty is not, of course, the cleaning up after the Thursday market, for which Platts Markets employs its own staff. The trouble very obviously arises from the Wednesday sheep market. The GAZETTE is told that the cleaning up used to be done on Wednesday evening after the sheep were cleared, and certainly the Market Hall has floodlights presumably for this purpose. Whatever the present arrangements are, the work is not finished by the time the traders arrive around 7.0 a.m. on Thursday, and manure still lies in the concrete pens. The heavy rain this week washed this from the pens down on to the roadway where the stalls are situated, and both shoppers and stallholders found themselves standing in pools of slurry - doubtless nutritious for fields, but not for footwear. Since there are food stalls at this end of the market, this seems particularly undesirable, and the Public Health Department of Rother Council has been asked to look into the matter.
Vidlers, who run the cattle market on Wednesdays, were not inclined to comment on the complaints. However, Mr. Billy Cooke, Chairman of the Cattle Market Company who own the site, pointed out that over the past few weeks particularly large numbers of sheep have been through Rye Market. The pens to the east of the Market Hall are not used for most of the year, but when the market is full to capacity they are occupied, though the staff try to leave a row clear at the back of the stalls. After a particularly large market, Mr. Cooke says it is really not possible for the man responsible for the cleaning to get round the whole area in the course of the evening. He points out that these very large sheep sales are only likely to continue for a few more weeks, after which matters should improve. He adds, very f'orcefuly, that if there is a real problem here, they will hope to think of a way of solving it before the 1983 sales take place. We await developments.
The Harbour of Rye Advisory Committee consists mainly of local people appointed to advise the SWA on Harbour affairs. Once a year it meets in public in the Town Hall, and the GAZETTE was there, since - as Councillor Breeds pointed out - matters affecting the harbour ultimately affect the well-being of Rye generally. Much of the agenda was technical primarily concerning yachtsmen and other shipping interests, and the large number of local faces round the table was reassuring evidence that these matters are in good hands. Moorings, lights, pilotage, and of course the perennial problem of siltation - all these came up. (Planning matters were also discussed, and we hope to have a fuller report on this in our next issue.)
The Harbourmaster's annual report showed that from April 1981 to March of this year, 36 fishing vessels were based at Rye, plus 9 visitors; 340 yachts were locally based and a further 910 visited us; and 193 commercial trading vessels used the port, nearly 25% up on the previous year's 152 - actual cargo tonnage was up by 30%, because more of the traders were carrying stone. 82 boats are waiting for moorings.
Just the one this week - an antique pistol worth £110 disappeared from Appledore Antiques in the High Street.
Mrs. Betty Pennington has waited longer than most to get her son home from the Falklands, but Keith finally flew into Brize Norton last week and came to see his mother at the weekend. Baby daughter Kara (now eight months old) had to delay her christening till Dad came home - five-year-old Daniel will of course also enjoy the family party in Hampshire next weekend - but Keith will now be home for some time, since he is resuming his Yeoman's course to become a Petty Officer, which was interrupted when he was sent to the South Atlantic with HMS Sir Bedivere.
It is four years since the East Sussex Fire Brigade held a Drill Competition for Retained Firefighters, so competition was keen at Maresfield on Saturday, with three cups and a tug-of-war event to be fought for. Rye came a very close second in the Dumbrell Cup (4-man portable pump drill), with a time of 24.2 seconds, but the station was really covered with glory when its representative Graham Cole won the Egerton Cup (hydrant dressing drill). Graham dressed, set up his hydrant and laid out his hose in 59.1 seconds - seven of the other eight competitors took more than twice as long for the same task.
For the second successive year Gordon Mockett, 18, of Mill Road, was the overall Laser Class winner at Thanet Sailing Week in his boat "Nodrog" (try it backwards!). His sister Joanna (with Jo Newall-Smith, in "Dancer") came second and his father Richard (with Nada Graham-Read, in "Hallowe'en Lady") third in the Fast Handicap, while another Rye Harbour Sailing Club pair, Richard and Chris Hill in "Golden Yum Yum", won that event.
11-year-old Emma Spencer of Military Road, whose parents both teach at Thomas Peacocke, has a £10 book token to spend as second prize in the junior section of a national competition for children's verse run by the Poetry Society. Her poem was among others sent in by Mr. Moses from Freda Gardham School, to join some 15,000 entries for the competition, so Emma was not exactly expecting to be among the winners. But free rail tickets took her and her mother to London la t Thursday for the prize-giving, when Emma and the other five prize-winners, plus some of the runners-up, read their winning entries and received their awards - after which there was the opportunity for squash, biscuits and intellectual conversation before it was time to go home.
Lloyd Huggett, of Playden, is this year's Kent Youth Grass Track Club Champion in the 200cc class. He won the title at Sandling, near Maidstone, on Sunday, and it gave the Club's President particular pleasure to present the award to a local lad - we all know her as Mrs. Joan Camier.
The Monty Python publicity staff have not yet been able to produce the details for which we had hoped about their new production. However, we gather that it will not be strictly speaking a Monty Python film, but one in much the same vein, and that the background will be a maritime one, since at the Harbour of Rye Advisory Committee meeting the Harbourmaster reported on the film company's plans for the Strand Quay area. The decorous (some said boring) Hazlitt television production some years ago involved washing-lines of bloomers disguising the Mermaid Street lamps; what, the GAZETTE speculates, is Monty Python planning for "the loveliest street in England" next month?
Rye Sea Cadet Unit will be on its toes on 4 October, when it undergoes its annual Inspection by the Ministry of Defence, represented this year by Cdr. Duffett, RN. Cdr. Duffett will also be presenting the Efficiency Award won by the Unit for its work during 1981. Two members of the-Unit have done particularly well recently: Able Seaman Johnny Henham, 15, of Peasmarsh, was a competitor in the National Canoeing Regatta at Nottingham and came third in one of his races; P/O David Payne, 17, of Eagle Road, joined the Sea Cadets' training ship "Royalist" at Lisbon and brought her home to Southampton on the second leg of the Tall Ships Race. Three of the cadets and two instructors spent a wet but enjoyable Scottish week at the end of the holidays in camp with other cadets from all over the country.
3.
Thomas Peacocke School is £1,775 nearer its new minibus as a result of Saturday's mammoth Michaelmas Fair. The clouds opened the night before, the weather forecast was dreadful; but in fact, the rain held off and all the outdoor events took place as scheduled. Raffle tickets had been on sale for weeks beforehand, and the lucky winner of the £150 first prize was Mrs. Richardson of Winchelsea Beach, Mother of Dawn who left school last term and Joanne in the first year. Joanne will get a richly-deserved 'cut' of the prize money; she sold an incredible 148 books of raffle tickets to her friends and neighbours at the Beach. The Peacocke Club draw produced a top prize of £100 for Mrs. Pat Baker, Lower School's tuckshop organiser for years who has now taken on the job of PTA refreshment manageress as well.
There was so much to do and to see in the course of the afternoon that very few people can have managed the lot, and the GAZETTE editors, each with a stall, certainly didn't. So we must be forgiven for what we have inadvertently left out. There was every sort of sideshow, and guessing games proliferated – Anne Kemp of Beckley correctly named the doll Hippolyta. Playden Forge put on a display of smithery, the police mounted a crime prevention exhibition, and Rye Firemen, happily not required elsewhere, also gave an instructive display.
Rye Harbour spinning and weaving school had a demonstration stand, and the school library showed a fascinating collection of old school records. Fords, makers of minibuses, provided a generous supply of free publicity material.
There were stalls of varied colours and every possible type - even the gang selling Mars bars grossed £50. You could have your fortune told and then, if you didn't care for what you heard, go and smash up crockery, throw a wet sponge at the Head, or drown your sorrows in icecream - or you could stick with the present and have David Newham draw your likeness. Other attractions included pony rides, Punch and Judy, a modern dance display, a sponsored welly toss, five-a-side football, and that perennial favourite "It's a Knock-Out", won this time by School House. Music throughout the afternoon was provided by the school orchestra, which goes from strength to strength these days.
New this year was a flower arrangement competition, not as well supported as it should have been, but a pleasure to look at nevertheless, particularly the entries in the decorative hat class. Sharing the room was the RNLI display, brought over specially from Headquarters and manned by stalwarts from the inshore lifeboat crew.
The pet show, judged by Tim Brodrick in his capacity as vet rather than as parent, covered a remarkable range of loved ones, from a llama (yes, that llama) to a dark bush cricket, female. George the red setter was top dog; top cats were Smiler and Boris. George shared the honours as "the pet the judge would most like to take home" with a dwarf rabbit, a polecat ferret, a labrador cross and a very endearing mongrel which has already wagged its way into the judge's affections more than once. Perhaps it is fortunate that the offer implied in this particular class is purely theoretical...
PTA treasurer Tom Collison is very pleased with the result of the Fair, though he points out that £1,775 represents not all that much over £1 per child for the total number (around 1350) in the school. However, he is delighted to reveal that the new minibus is now likely to drive into view by next spring - the exact date depends on complicated financial negotiations with the education authority. It will cost around £7,000, so please don't run into it!
It was announced on Saturday that Andrea Wickenden will be the first holder of this award. Andrea, who at nearly 16 was one of the youngest candidates, lives in Marley Road and is now in her fifth year at Thomas Peacocke. The Committee, after interviewing all the applicants, felt that Andrea most nearly fulfilled the aims of the scheme as originally suggested by the late Canon Williams. She will go on a cruise-in April - with Tracey Lineham of Camber as second choice in case anything should go wrong.
The appeal to raise money for this award is now only a few hundred pounds away from its target of £2,500, and the organisers hope that the concert in St. Mary's on 9 October, when Lesley Brownbill, Leo Halle and Anne Whiteman will perform work by Schubert, will diminish the gap even further.
4.
Since it began in April 1979, Rye Town Lottery has made grants to local groups amounting to almost £6,000. The complete list is given below, and almost all those who applied were given something as long as they fulfilled the required conditions, i.e. that the money should be for a specific costed project, and that, the group benefited those within the bounds of the former Rye Borough.
The largest grant, £750, is to Rye Town Council and goes towards the cost of re-lettering the Mayoral name boards in the Town Hall (the first one is now done, though the whole job will take months if not years). This is a special case.
But of the remainder of the money, just over half has gone to a dozen different youth organisations - and that in this town where we are always hearing complaints that nothing is done for the young.
£50 Rye Stoolball Club
£500 John Williams Sail Training Appeal
£150 Rye Parish Church (for new crockery)
£71 Rye Nursing Cadets
£230 Rye Majorettes (£130 + £100)
£130 SHAA (oil painting for Devonport House common room)
£190 1st Rye Scouts (£100 + £90)
£310 Rye Festival, 1980/81/82 (£100 + £110 + £100)
£750 Rye Town Council (lettering in Town Hall)
£150 Rye Town Council (crockery for Town Hall)
£100 Cinque Ports Majorettes
£200 Chamber of Trade (for floodlighting the Church)
£175 Rye Pre-School Playgroup (£100 + £75)
£100 WRVS
£200 Riding for the Disabled
£200 Rye Boys Club
£250 Thomas Peacocke School (instruments for Military Band)
£140 Thomas Peacocke School
£200 3rd and 1st Brownies
£450 “The Book of Rye" (for eventual resale)
£225 RX75 Youth Club (£150 + £75)
£100 St. John Ambulance
£100 Ryesingers
$100 Tuesday Painters
£250 Rye Sea 'Cadets
£100 Community Centre
£500 Rother Council (equipment for Mason Field playground)
£25 Rye Bowls Club.
However, it may be a revelation to some people - as it was to the GAZETTE - that these donations do not represent the total profits of the Lottery by a very long way. We cannot reveal yet the amount which will change hands when the town acquires the land at Freda Gardham (see GAZETTE no. 3), but it is of course a very considerable sum. Nevertheless, there will still be money in the kitty even when the land is paid for, since astonishingly the Lottery has raised around £20,000 for local causes - not, in the main, the obvious charities, which benefit from other fund-raising schemes, but groups whose activities are in some way an advantage to the life of the town. Obviously, the new playing-field will very properly fit into this category. Long live the Rye' Town Lottery!
Is your group here? (If not, we would like to publish your news in a later issue.)
Rye Museum Association could have done with more support for its first-ever outing, to Dover Castle on 19 September; but the 22 members who did go much enjoyed their day, and the Association is encouraged to think about a second attempt next year. The second winter lecture will be of particular interest to Rye people: Alma Fabes is to repeat her very entertaining talk on Rye, first given to the National Trust on a Saturday afternoon when many people were unable to come. Non-Association members are very welcome at the FE Centre on Monday 25 October at 7.30.
The National Trust (Rye and Winchelsea Centre) also had a successful and more ambitious outing recently, when some 35 members plus their coach went by boat to Calais and thence to Le Touquet for lunch and shopping. National Trust members will have just received their new catalogue, and some may not realise that they can avoid postal charges by sending their orders (plus money) to Miss Nancy Lyle, Little Manor, Mill Road, Winchelsea (Winchelsea 428). Miss Lyle will then send in a bulk order, and the goods can be collected from her in due course - perhaps at the National Trust event which she and her sister plan at Little Manor on 10 November from 10 to 4, when as well as coffee, etc., there will be a stall offering some of the Trust's large range of goodies.
(The GAZETTE would be very pleased to publicise any bulk-ordering arrangements of this kind available for other charities with tempting Christmas catalogues.)
The Friends of Rye Art Gallery have so often had to turn people away from their very stimulating winter lectures that they have decided this year to move to the Town Hall where there is more room than in the Gallery's own upper room. Non-members wishing to attend a particular lecture should arrange to come as guest of a Friend - or, better still, join the organisation themselves (details from the Easton Rooms or the East Street gallery). Unfortunately, the change of site means that for the October talk only (Richard Hough on "Lord Mountbatten and other biographies") the meeting will be held on Wednesday, 6 October, instead of the normal first Tuesday, since the Town Hall is booked on the 5th. This, regrettably, clashes with the National Trust lecture at the Community Centre (Ian Rumley-Dawson on "The Wildlife of the Canadian Backwoods"); National Trust lectures are open to non-members on payment of a small fee if there is room.
Rye Natural History Society opens its winter series on Friday, 8 October, with "A Close Look at Butterflies" by P. Bashford (FE Centre, 7.30). Non-members _re welcome to attend the Society's fortnightly lectures for a small payment; those interested in joining should contact Mrs. Breda Burt (Iden 272).
(For details of Adult Education and WEA classes, see GAZETTE no. 2.)
Some weeks ago, Charles and Pat Williams, of Pottingfield Road, bought a Ford Escort from Hollingsworths in Hastings; Charles was so busy getting the price right that he didn't even notice he had a raffle ticket thrown in. So it was a considerable surprise to find that they had won second prize in Hollingsworths' promotion draw, and they leave on Sunday for a week's holiday in a 4-star hotel in Minorca.
Starting last Sunday, there are a few winter alterations to the Rye bus services.
The 410 service stays the same. The 414 and 415 services stay the same during the week but will not run at all on Sundays. The 550 service remains hourly to and from Hastings (railway station), but only continues on to Dover every other hour (Sundays, Rye-Hastings only, 2-hourly from 11.08). Thursday users of the 417 service to New Romney should check. Service 12 (Tenterden) is unaltered.
New members will be welcome at the Junior Club, which has a programme of varied activities for children between 7 and 13. The Club meets fortnightly at theCommunity Centre on Saturday afternoons from 3-5, and has around 80 members.
As a contribution towards Maritime Year, they are planning a river-bank clean-up (from Monkbretton Bridge towards the old tip) on Saturday. Preparations are going forward for the Hallowe'en Party on 30 October.
Thursday, 30th Organ Concert (Rye and-District Organ Club), Community Centre, 8.0
Friday, 1st Papa Joe's film: "Private Benjamin", Pizzeria, 9.0
Buffet Dance (Rye United FC), Thomas Peacocke School, 8.30
Saturday, 2nd Easton Rooms, Society of Designer-Craftsmen Exhibition (to 26.10)
Grand Treasure Hunt (see below), Gun Garden, 11.30
Michaelmas Fair (Rye Sea Cadets), Community Centre, 2.30
We said a month ago that we would publish in this issue any 1983 bookings entered in the Town Diary. There has been absolutely no response from Secretaries.
Since there are at least six regular venues for most of the standard events (Town Hall, FE Centre, Community Centre, Methodist Hall, St. John's, Thomas Peacocke) it does seem worth making an effort to avoid clashes. Anyway, please would you bear in mind the following?
Natural History Society (Friday): 14, 28 Jan., 11, 25 Feb., 11, 25 March.
Rye Museum Association (Mondays): 24 Jan., 28 Feb., 28 March.
National Trust: 15 Jan., 3, 26 Feb., 17 March
FRAG (Tuesdays): 4 Jan., 1 Feb., 8 Mar., 5 Apr., 3 May, 7 June
WEA: Monday and Wednesday evenings, Thursday afternoons
Chamber of Trade (private function): Tuesday 25 Jan.
Thomas Peacocke School play: Thursday to Saturday, 17 to 19 March
Easter Sunday: 3 April Bank Holidays: Monday 2 May, Monday 30 May.
• Please clear out your bookshelves. Our troops in Northern Ireland have a hard time when they are on duty, and there is not a great deal they can do in safety when they are off duty. The WRVS feels, therefore, that the paperbacks it sends out are particularly valued. Mrs. Juxon Barton is appealing for a fresh supply, which she can now send via Lydd Camp thus saving postage. Any you can spare should be left at the WRVS office in the FE Centre.• Rye Bonfire Society announces a change in the advertised date of Rye Bonfire Night. This will now be on Saturday, 20 November (instead of 13th). We can confirm that, contrary to rumour, there will be fireworks as well as all the other traditional trimmings.
• Something really unusual is due to take place on Saturday morning, when the Friends of Rye Art Gallery (Margaret Pearce in charge) are arranging a Great Treasure Hunt. Anyone can enter for a fee of £1, which covers both halves of a pair for those who prefer to hunt in couples. The game starts in the Gun Garden at 11.30, when contestants are handed a list of 12 clues, which will ultimately land them back at the Ypres Castle pub about an hour later. A good knowledge of Rye's geography will help, as will a strong pair of legs and low-heeled shoes - the course is set entirely within the town walls.
• The GAZETTE would like to congratulate John and Kathy Redman, of New Road, whose 7 1bs 12oz son Andrew John was born on 22 September - with father in attendance.
• Mrs. Gill Davison sang with the group "Special Offer" in St. Mary's on Saturday; a good audience included many Rye people not usually among "Special Offer’s” regular fans, and some rather surprised tourists drawn in by the music.
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 pm on Monday - in emergency up to 9.30 am on Tuesday on Rye 2303 only).
Photocopied by Sussex Secretarial Services, 11 Claremont, Hastings (9422633).
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