The Press Book shows a horrifying number of road accidents this week. A motor-cyclist is in RESH with a broken leg after a collision at East Guldeford on Sunday (17th); on the 18th, Michael Haffenden of the Globe Inn was in collision with a Peasmarsh driver, though only the vehicles were damaged; there were also no serious injuries when two Kent drivers collided on the Camber Road on Saturday. There was, alas, a major accident at Rye Foreign on Saturday which sent Mrs. Dorothy Heritage of Playden to hospital - see page 3.
On Friday afternoon, just outside Devonport House, the ambulance apparently went out of control for reasons which are being investigated, and ran into the brick garden wall, taking the concrete lamp standard with it. Luckily the wall is a stout one and preserved Mrs. Margaret Owen's ground-floor flat. The badly bent front wing stopped inches short of the corner of Terry's DIY shop next door. The ambulance was not on an emergency call; driver Keith Boreham of Udimore Road was unhurt, and the one passenger, Mrs. McDougall from Icklesham, was treated for a cut leg.
A car stolen from Ferry Road car park late on the night of 16 June was later found badly damaged in Wish Ward (we hear that it ran into the wall of David Sharp's pottery), but there is no indication in the press book of the make of car nor of the name of the unfortunate owner. Damage is estimated at £600.
This week is Mental Handicap Week, and it was marked in Rye by a very successful meeting called by Mrs. Vickie Piper to discuss the setting-up of a group to help mentally handicapped people, adults and children alike, in the area. About 20 people met at the FE Centre on Friday evening. As well as parents and foster-parents and in some cases their children, those present included County Councillor Mrs. Joan Yates, Neil Weatherall from Social Services' Rye office, the chairman of the similar and long-established Hastings and Bexhill society, and the Regional Officer of Mencap who came over from Pembury. It was agreed that the new Rye society should affiliate to Mencap, and its aims were set out as follows: to create a sympathetic climate of public opinion towards mentally handicapped people, to increase public awareness and understanding of their problems, and to secure the provisions which they need.
The group's first task, it was agreed, will be to provide a play scheme in the school holidays, and Mrs. Piper hopes - though this is by no means certain yet - that they may be allowed to use the Hill House School building, and possibly the Hill House pool too (though the school is controlled by the Education Authority and the rest of the premises including the pool by the Health Authority).
"This summer?" we asked. Mrs. Piper said rather wistfully that she doubted it, but just possibly a couple of weeks at the end of August for starters...
Although the Mayor and Mayoress were unable to be present, since they were across the road at the Town Hall, the Mayor has agreed to be President of the new Society, and he is lending the Town Hall on 25 August for a coffee morning and bring-and-buy to raise the £50 fee for affiliation to Mencap. For this, they will get information, help and advice from the Regional Office; as for local help, Mrs. Piper will let us know when she needs it, so that we can let you know. We wish her the very best of luck and all the support she will need in this venture.
Mrs. Piper can be reached on Rye 22XXXX, for those who were not able to go to the meeting but would like to keep in touch with the plans.
2.
Mr. Victor Rootes of Ashenden Avenue died on 13 June aged 84.
Mr. Alan Tiltman of Lea Avenue died on 15 June aged 42.
Mr. Arthur Ball of Mason Road died very suddenly on 24 June; the funeral will be tomorrow, Thursday, at noon at Hastings Crematorium.
We would like to include in next week's issue proper obituary notices, if the families or friends would be kind enough to get in touch with the Editor before next Monday.
Frank Williams at Rother tells us that there is no firm information yet about just what this scheme (GAZETTE no. 87) will mean, though the Council expects a letter from the Development Commission at any time now.
There has been no publicity on our side of the county boundary about which of the parishes on the Kent side are involved, so we have done a bit of research. In the Ashford District Council's area, they include Wittersham, Warehorne, Stone-cum-Ebony, Ruckinge, Orlestone, Kenardington, Bilsington and Appledore. Shepway District Council has Lydd, New Romney, Brenzett, Brookland, Newchurch, Ivychurch, Old Romney, Snargate and St.-Mary-in-the-Marsh. (Neither Council admits to Snave, but since it is in the middle it is difficult to believe that it is excluded!) The whole area involved, Mr. Williams tells us, is roughly the same size as the Isle of Wight.
The team departed finally last week after, we gather, a satisfactory second bite at the cherry, filming the summer part of the story. The tiger-skins and the false teeth were duly flung down Mrs. Chetham-Strode's front steps, Miss Mapp captured her Major, Lucia and Georgie stepped cautiously into matrimony, and the rest of Benson's splendid creations all played their part in the preposterous story. Flowers and thank-yous all round (the Editor was quite overwhelmed at the beautiful bouquet which arrived at the GAZETTE office - now, that's the way to treat the press!); and there was said to be talk of the next series, which would seem to imply that they are pleased with what they have got "in the can" for this one. We will give as long notice as we possibly can of the transmission dates in the autumn - November, we understand at present.
We have received the following press release from Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Thurston, who run the monthly Thrift Shop at the Red Cross Centre for the benefit of the whole community.
"There seems to be a rumour currently circulating in Rye that the BRCS Thrift Shop will be closing in September, and the organisers fear that this may dis-courage clients from bringing in goods for sale. This rumour is completely false, as the Thrift Shop will be functioning as usual throughout 1984 and, hopefully, beyond."
So please keep on bringing in clothes for sale (the queue is much less formidable in the middle of the morning than it is at the beginning); as Mr. Thurston says, what doesn't come in they can't sell - and the shop has made £7,500 profit for the Centre since it reopened just over two years ago.
Lifeboat Day this year is on 14 July (house-to-house collecting starts on 9th). A delighted Joan Parkes tells us that the RNLI has made a very special concession to the Rye Branch by allowing all the local contributions to go direct into the fund for the new lifeboat shed instead of being merged in the national funds; so, what you put in the High Street tin will be spent just down the Rye Harbour Road. Perhaps, therefore, a little extra in the tin this year?
7 THE RYE GAZETTE, 27.6.1984
SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOW DUE from those whose copies are not ticked beside their name on page 1, please, to 94 Udimore Road. This is the third reminder, and subscriptions received after 1 July will be disregarded for the first three weeks thereafter while the Editor moves house; those who have paid by 1 July will, we hope, get their copies as usual.
Mrs. Dorothy Heritage, whose home is just by the Scots Float depot along Military Road, is in the Surgical Admissions Unit of RESH after her Ford Cortina was in collision on Saturday with a Sierra driven by a 20-year-old from Kent. We are sorry to report that Mrs. Heritage has very serious back and neck injuries as well as a broken leg, and her husband tells us that she is not able to cope with visitors at present. We hope for better news soon. Police are asking for witnesses to the accident, which took place near the Pioneer Nurseries in Rye Foreign - ring Rye 222112.
Many readers will already know that on Thursday Mrs. Margaret Eddie, of Rose-Anne in the High Street, suffered a stroke; she is now in the Sussex Clinic, and although the doctor is pleased with her progress, she is still very seriously ill. Her daughter tells us, however, that she has been able to appreciate the kind thoughts expressed in cards and letters from her many friends in the area.
Mrs. Gina Ciccone, of Cinque Ports Street, is in RESH (Ward 2) - now, we are sorry to hear, with a broken hip, the result of an accident in the hospital where she had been admitted for treatment for something quite different.
Chris Masters, the Peasmarsh lad injured in the New Winchelsea Road tragedy, is making good progress in Ward 4 at RESH after an operation on his foot. Though his leg is in plaster and in traction for six weeks, we are glad to report that he is cheerful!
1st Rye Guides Joanne Breeds, Amanda Miller and Rebekah Smith received Queen's Guide Badges last Monday, presented by the Division Commissioner Miss M. Bryson. The three are the last girls in Rye to gain the Queen's Guide Badge while they are still Guides; Doris Henley tells us that the award has been transferred to the Ranger section and will be replaced for Guides by the Baden-Powell Trefoil Badge. The presentation was followed by a buffet supper for parents and friends, which included a large cake iced to resemble the Queen's Guide Badge, cut with much ceremony by the three award-winners. Between them, Joanne, Amanda and Rebekah have gained 64 badges: Cook, Homemaker, Hostess, Knitter, Needlewoman, Rambler, Birdwatcher, Camper, First Aid, Fire-Fighter, Emergency Helper and Home Nurse among them!
The 2nd Rye Guides, the Thomas Peacocke School company, distinguished themselves at Sevenoaks on Saturday, Lois Benton tells us with justifiable pride, by coming 2nd in the Regional round of the national Guides' song competition. Representing Sussex (East) they were competing against 13 other area winners from all over the south-east, and they are waiting now to hear whether they will be chosen to perform at national (non-competitive) level at Manchester in October.
The Citizens Advice Bureau has a message for people whose retirement pension is normally paid monthly or quarterly. Owing to industrial action by the computer operators, such payments may be overdue. But the pension money can be obtained now either by taking the last tear-off slip to DHSS, Heron House, London Road, St. Leonards - or, if you want it sent to you and cannot go in person, by writing to the same address for a form for each month for which the pension is overdue (phone 0424 430222). Please pass word around about this.
Silver foil is collected locally for Guide Dogs for the Blind; Doris Henley at Freeman Hardy & Willis now has builders in and can't cope with it at the shop, but Maison Fleur will pass it on to Gordon Collett of Love Lane, or the Ferryboat Inn in Ferry Road will have it - all for the same good cause.
4.
The AGM of the Rye Council for Voluntary Service, at the Town Hall on Thursday, was well attended by people from a wide range of organisations in the town, and many matters came under discussion or report. Jo Kirkham was re-elected as chairman; Alex Buchan was elected vice-chairman, and Adrian Ferry agreed to remain as treasurer until a successor can be found. There is a vacancy for the job of secretary owing to Jean Bull-Marshall's resignation, and there was a round of applause for her splendid work in the job since the Council's birth. Thanks, too, went to Ivo Fowle and Eric Le Fevre for their help, particularly with the YOP/YTS scheme; it was reported that almost all the youngsters who had trained with the Rye scheme now had full-time jobs.
At the winter meeting, Elizabeth Goldsworthy had asked for information about the incidence of multiple sclerosis among those who had left the area as well as those living here, since it seemed to be much higher than the national average. Asked on Thursday how her research was going, she said sadly that it had turned out to be impossible since she had received no co-operation at all from local doctors. May this be something we shall all regret one day?
The prospects for the Sports Hall look good, reported Ray Fooks. He said that Rother is definitely interested in providing a hall in Rye as part of a scheme for the whole District to be discussed in September, and the head of steam already generated here over the project should give us a good start. This is borne out by what Pauline Tomich told us recently after a meeting at the school between Sports Council officials and Rother representatives. Mrs. Yates tells us that she is holding a coffee morning on 28 July in the Town Hall as a start towards fund-raising for the provision of equipment.
Mrs. Barbara Wild then spoke about the progress of the Day Centre, which now has an "active list" of around 22 members of whom 8 or 10 usually attend each Wednesday session. They are now thinking about the next stage, which could include handicapped people. There is a suggestion that purpose-built Day Centre accommodation could be included in the new sheltered housing development on the site of the old Council Offices, planned for 1986 - though space on the site is severely limited. Those who want to know more about the Centre are welcome at the coffee morning there on 18 July.
Chief Inspector Dyson reported on the Crime Alert scheme. New and more appropriate window-stickers will soon be available, and he hoped that continued publicity for the scheme in this and other ways would ensure its continuing success - the burglary rate had dropped dramatically since it began in the autumn, and he received enquiries about it from all over the country.
Francis Barrett gave an account of the work of the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council for Research. He told us after the meeting that he wished there had been time to mention the work of ARC in connection with replacement joints. Most of us know people with new hip-joints, and there are many new knees around; finger- and toe-joints can now be improved, and shoulders are the subject of the latest research; terylene is being used for artificial ligaments, as a kind of trellis for the human ones to grow through! A great deal of the money raised by small local branches such as ours goes towards this kind of research, and ARC has pledged £9m this year; we can help them raise it at a coffee morning on 11 July.
We report on the front page on Mrs. Vickie Piper's new project for mentally handicapped people, about which she spoke briefly at Thursday's meeting.
It was stated that work would start on the wheelchair toilet and car park extension at the Community Centre as soon as the builders were ready; there was applause for Brian Chapman, Community Centre chairman, who has done so much to get this particular project off the ground.
The next public meeting of the RCVS will be on 24 January.
This week's list includes an application to erect a 14' flagstaff on the Bowls Green, and one to rebuild a screen wall and two chimney-stacks in West Street.
5.
At last Monday's meeting of the Friends and the Trustees, ways were discussed of raising the very large sum of money (somewhere between £50,000 and £100,000) needed to ensure the financial future of both galleries. Same of the suggestions made were on rather too small a scale; but various people went home with letters to write. The hope is that sponsorship can be extracted from a national or even a multi-national company with money to spend on the arts.
Ralph Wood, speaking of the Trust's finances, pointed out that there had been no contribution from the Easton Rooms in respect of rates, etc., in the past two years. It was agreed that this must be rectified, and the Friends offered to pay from their own funds the rates and costs of external repairs in future.
The point was made that with only five Trustees it was sometimes difficult to make urgent decisions, though a suggestion from the floor that the number should be increased to a dozen was not felt to be practicable since it would mean alteration of the Trust Deed. However, changes are proposed to the administrative procedures which will, it is hoped, speed things up when necessary.
The current exhibition at the Easton Rooms has Noel Dyrenforth's large and technically expert batiks dominating the lower gallery and the upper room; also downstairs, two potters new to the gallery are showing their work - John Gooding's raku pots and Brenda Pegrum's porcelain. In the Craft Gallery is an attractively varied display of Davida Smith's small fresh landscapes, many of them showing the fondness for horizontal lines which is so typical of her work; four "flower pieces" - though the phrase is not really an accurate description - complete the show.
The AGM of Rye Conservation Society was held at the Town Hall on Friday, with lots of supporters present. Officers were re-elected, thanks were said, and the meeting discussed and approved the report and accounts. Several members raised matters connected with trees, which the committee will be following up. Sir Brian Batsford reported that the Garden Room rebuilding had now been approved by the National Trust on condition that the money for it was raised entirely in the United States.
This was followed by a discussion about the bypass. The Mayor, referring to a recent remark by Ken Warren, said he hoped we might be able to manage without a bypass at all in view of the difficulties of finding a suitable route; as a result of other work now in hand, the traffic situation could well improve any way. Councillor Bromley, on the other hand, was sure that work would have begun within the next ten years, and he could see no practicable alternative to the railway route, probably along the north side. Most of those present clearly shared the Mayor's view, with the exception of those whose homes overlooked South Undercliff; we didn't see anyone at the meeting who lived alongside it, but their views were put to us forcibly last autumn when we wondered in print whether Rye really needed a bypass.
Last week the town seemed to have an uncommonly large number of artists sitting sketching at street corners; they turned out to be people taking a traffic census at strategic points, and the survey was being done for Cooper Macdonald & Partners of Epsom, the designers of the Rye bypass as well as the Winchelsea one. Hmmm...
Mrs. Monica Oliver had a blackbird's nest in her front porch in Lea Avenue earlier this season. The mother reared five fledglings, and then moved to a new nest in the hedge, but the cat took too great an interest, so she returned to the porch and hatched out four more babies there. They flew last week, having become so tame that they would feed from Mrs. Oliver's hand while mum sat on her shoulder - the Olivers really feel they have lost five friends!
6.
An intriguing point has arisen from the varied press coverage of the tragic accident last weekend (GAZETTE no. 88). What is the road concerned called?
In the press book, it was described as "A259, Royal Military Road". Puzzled, we wrote about "the end of the built-up stretch of New Winchelsea Road". The East Sussex News inadvertently misled some readers by talking about the Royal Military Road, apparently thinking, as did Nick Hard of the Express until he talked to us, that the accident took place somewhere on the way to Scots Float. The Hastings Observer offered a geographically interesting "sharp left-hand bend where New Winchelsea Road becomes the Military Road"!
We took up the point with Rye Police. On their map, the straight road beyond the houses is certainly labelled "Royal Military Road" and Chief Inspector Dyson tells us that this is how the spot would have been described in the accident report, where the reference to the A259 would have been quite clear to HQ.
Last autumn we found the same confusion over the bypass map, which labelled the stretch of road from Winchelsea Bridge to the dogleg as A259 Royal Military Road.
Winchelsea people told us then that they always called it the Rye Road. So last weekend we rang Mr. Douglas Turner, Winchelsea's ex-Mayor, to ask for the background.
Mr. Turner tells us that when he used to cycle from Winchelsea to Rye as a pupil at the Grammar School from 1919 to 1925, the road was just a beach track maintained by the Royal Engineers - and was then known as the Military Road. But at about that time Jack Ashenden, the Rye builder, began to put up the houses alongside it at the Rye end, and the name New Winchelsea Road came into being. The whole road was finally concreted by the County Council in about 1926, he remembers; but the other Military Road - the continuation the other side of the Borough Council boundaries - was still beach until 1930 when it was tarmac'd.
We looked to see what Leopold Vidler has to say. In 1924, he says, there was a traffic survey in connection with a County Council proposal to take over the road; he refers to it as Winchelsea Road and says that it "belonged to the War Office as part of Mr. Pitt's defences in 1807". The survey showed that in six days 2,735 motor vehicles and 396 horse-drawn vehicles used it. The income from the tollgates was not enough to keep the road in proper repair, and it is clear that the County proposal was accepted and the concreting done two years later, as Mr. Turner recalls.
It seems, then, to be agreed that the road concerned was indeed a military road in every sense until 1926. But is the name still used for practical purposes?
We would be interested to hear from older readers about this. Perhaps there is a difference between Royal Military Road and the less blue-blooded Military Road, though it seems unlikely since they were both under the same management until the middle or late Twenties. We can only conclude that perhaps Henry VIII still exerts his royal influence from Camber Castle on the Winchelsea stretch, while the Scots Float stretch is beyond his reach!
We have had lots of information about the Udimore isolation hospital - which was much more recent than we had realised, closing finally about 1950. We hope to use the story next week, so it is not too late for further contributions, from those who were patients, or perhaps those who worked there?
Three of the six doodlebugs have been, so to speak, pinned down for us. Mr. Donald Southerden repeals the one which killed Major Hacking and destroyed Cadborough Farm. Mr. David Catt was told when he came to South Undercliff that the state of his ceilings was due to one which fell on the allotments there.
And John Clark writes about one "hit by a Spitfire over E. Guldeford, and as it was headed straight for the town he gave it another burst, upsetting its gyro; so it veered off, turning on its back, and crashed on Miss Dive's house at The Mount, Military Road, killing her". There should be three more somewhere?
7.
• Several readers have remarked to us on the charming sentiments expressed in a poster displayed in the window of Chez Dominique, the Tower Street restaurant. We suspect that there is a story behind it, but Mme. Chapuis has not yet been available to tell us it. Anyway, she says "Thank you to all the Allies who fought to liberate my country so we could live in peace. May God bless you all! Happy Anniversary, D-Day, 6 June 1944." And very nice too, Madame.
• The sponsored 24-hour Music Marathon which was held at Thomas Peacocke School recently raised an astonishing £350-plus for Music Department funds. The Department is anxious to have a set of the new 20-volume hardback edition of that definitive work, Grove's Dictionary of Music. The list price is more than £1,100, but they are hoping, once they have nearly enough money, to negotiate a discount; any outside contributions will, we feel sure, be welcomed by Miss Benton at the school.
• The two gardens at the top of the town - Lamb House and 18 Church Square - which were open on Sunday afternoon attracted a total of 278 visitors, and 120 teas were sold; arithmetic reveals that well over £150 will be distributed to the several causes concerned. The weather could perhaps have been kinder - but then, when it is really hot people often prefer to sit in their own gardens or go to the beach, so perhaps the clouds did no harm. Anyway, both gardens looked ravishing in their very different ways and gave their visitors a great deal of pleasure.
• There was a very happy ceremony at The Ice Box in Cinque Ports Street recently when Stephen Pearse of Leasam House was presented with £1,000 - won on the draw run by the local football clubs (the instant rub-off tickets widely available in the town). Stephen, who leaves Thomas Peacocke School this term after A-levels, is thinking of taking a holiday in Canada with his winnings - which are increased by another £10 won the previous week! Colin Sayell of The Ice Box is also very pleased for his own sake - as agent for the winning ticket, he was presented with a further £100 by the draw's Hastings-based organiser.
• Readers with cars might like to know that on Sunday three gardens in Udimore are open in aid of the National Gardens Scheme (with a share to the Red Cross Centre): Wick Farm, The Hamnonds and White Fox Lodge. (Leslie Stutely tells us that White Fox Lodge stands on the site of the isolation hospital about which we hope to be writing next week.) Admission fee of 70p (l0p for children) covers all three gardens, and teas are available.
• The Arthritis and Rheumatism Council for Research has a coffee morning at Fair Oak, Fair Meadow (first bungalow on the left, under the oak tree) by kind invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Barrett, on Wednesday, 11 July, from 10.30 to 12. There will be a raffle, sundry competitions and a variety of stalls including a bring-and-buy.
• The following Wednesday, 18 July, there are two coffee mornings - it seems to be becoming a popular day for them! One is the second in the trio of such events at St. Mary's to provide funds for the Flower Festival; Beryl Rixon was very pleased at the somewhat short-notice response to the first, which produced some £40. This is from 10.30 to 12, out-of-doors if the weather permits.
The same morning, coffee is on offer at the Day Centre in the Baptist Church Hall from 10.45, when Mrs. Barbara Wild, her helpers and the Centre's members are looking forward to welcoming their friends and those interested in the Centre's excellent progress.
• Finally, a belated report for the record on the Fete at Leasam House on 7 May, which raised £500 for House funds; Julia Thomas tells us that they now have a decent camera, and a microwave oven for the benefit of those who need meals at unusual times. There was a decorative sprinkling of people in Edwardian dress, both Upstairs and Downstairs in style, and the afternoon was very much enjoyed by the hosts and hostesses as well as their guests. It was sad, though, that the balloon was unable to take off because of the excessively strong wind.
8.
Saturday, 30th Mayoress's coffee morning for Eye Laser Appeal, TH, 10.30 (see GAZETTE no. 88; Mr. Porter will be speaking c. 11.30)
Craft Market, 11 to 5, FEC
Bible Society Summer Meeting, Playden Cottage, 2.30 (see below) Concert for Pamela Nash Dialysis Appeal, St. Mary's, 8 (see GAZETTE no. 88)
Sunday, 1st Blackheath Opera, "The Gypsy Baron", CC, afternoon
Monday, 2nd Monday Club, Clinic, 2
Tuesday, 3rd Hearing Circle coffee morning, Red Cross, 10.30
Wednesday, 4th Primary Schools Music Festival (infants), Freda Gardham National Trust outing to Firle Place.
• Congratulations to Ann Atkinson of Udimore Road and Lester Human of Tilling Green, who were married at Camber (where the Atkinsons used to live until recently) on Saturday.
• Congratulations, too, to Alison Rowland and Timothy Wilson of Sydney, NSW, who were married on Saturday at St. Mary's where Alison's parents are members of the congregation. The reception was at the Mermaid.
• We are asked to remind readers of two out-of-town events on Saturday: The Strawberry Tea at Greyfriars, Winchelsea (see GAZETTE no. 88), and the Peasmarsh School Fete, at the school, beginning at 2.30.
• Bowls: a success for Rye last Wednesday against the Civil Service, though they lost to Newenden on Saturday and to Sidley Martlets on Sunday.
• The Rye Society of Artists reports proudly a profit of £350 as a result of its bazaar and jumble sale last month.
• The Bible Society's Annual Summer Meeting takes place on Saturday in a very pretty setting - the garden (inside if wet, of course) of Playden Cottage in Military Road by kind invitation of Mrs. McCaughey. The event begins at 2.30 and there will be teas and a bring-and-buy stall. The speaker is the Ven. Theophilus Nalebi, Archdeacon of South Botswana.
• Really well-deserved congratulations to the NSPCC local branch, which made a profit of £840 from Saturday's Summer Fair at the FEC. As usual, the cake stall was amazing, and took over £200. Last year's total was well under £800, so this year's figure represents remarkable generosity from residents and visitors alike - particularly in view of the £700-odd raised by the Memorial Hospital League of Friends' Fete the week before.
• Francis Barrett of ARC told the RCVS meeting that the generosity of our local community never ceased to astonish him, and indeed his friends and family who find it difficult to believe that so much money can be raised in such a small place. A compliment like this, we feel, really should go on record.
• Simon Bowler, of Fairmeadow, is a member of the 1st Rye Scout Troop (Captain Cory's Own), and one would like to think that the spirit of Captain Cory was present on a very special occasion recently. Simon has just gained his Chief Scout's Award (the equivalent of a Queen's Guide Badge), and it was handed to him by the Chief Scout in person at Bushey Wood during an official visit; congratulations, Simon.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, and published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 94 Udimore Road, Rye (Rye 222303). News items for inclusion are always welcome - deadline Monday afternoon, Tuesday 9 am for emergencies. The GAZETTE costs 25p weekly, and is delivered to subscribers and pick-up points on Wednesday; extra. copies and back numbers can be ordered from 94 Udimore Road, while a few spares are available from Squirrels, 9-13 Cinque Ports Street, Rye. (Copyright Mary Owen 1984)