THERE WILL BE NO GAZETTE NEXT WEEK; NO. 95 COMES OUT ON 15 AUGUST.
It is officially announced that the League of Friends of Rye and Winchelsea Memorial Hospital has made a donation of £1,000 to the Eye Laser Appeal (GAZETTE no. 90), a truly handsome contribution. With luck and fine weather, the Appeal will benefit by fully the same again as a result of Saturday's Carnival, since Round Table are pledging at least half the proceeds of this event to the same cause - and they made well over £2,000 last year.
As a result of the Mayoress's coffee morning at the Town Hall to launch the Appeal in Rye, a local committee has been set up under the chairmanship of Mrs. Pauline Tomich; secretary is Mrs. Theresa Hodgson of South Undercliff, and as well as the Mayoress the committee includes Mrs. Betty Cramp, Mrs. Florence Horner and Mrs. Erica Strong of Playden.
Programmes for Rye Carnival are being sold all round the town this week. There is, as usual, a "lucky number" prize of a winter weekend for two adults at a Butlins Holiday Hotel. With an introduction by this year's chairman John Luck, the programme contains an enviable number of advertisements, representing a lot of hard work from Tablers long before the general public grew Carnival-conscious. The main attraction this year is the Adams Lumberjack Show - "spectator participation is welcomed providing the volunteer is sober and does so at his or her own risk". The Fair has already arrived, and other entertainments include donkey rides, punch and Judy, a fun castle and a Grand Dog Show, plus stalls, sideshows and of course refreshments.
Floats assemble at Tilling Green by 12.15 when the judging takes place; prizes are presented at 1, and at 1.30 the procession moves off towards the Salts. It is due to reach them at 2, when the Rye Carnival queen (Melanie Dunster) will open the Carnival officially.
This year there is just a single class for floats, with the Playford Memorial Cup plus a very useful £50 going to the winners; runners-up get £25, and there is a third prize of £10. In addition, the best float entered by a youth organisation will win £10 as well as the Rye Town Council Trophy; and, of course, there is the children's fancy dress competition, judged at 12.30 also at Tilling Green.
We are very sorry to hear that the Rye Swimming Club has ceased to function. There was plenty of support from children, but - says Tony Thompson, the Club's chairman little or none from their parents. He and Mrs. Brenda Warner found themselves running the Club entirely on their own, and both had their own holiday commitments to think of.
It is a great pity that the pool will be closed to local children throughout the summer holidays, but unless some offers of help turn up at the very last minute this does seem to be the case. The pool will, of course, still be used by the campers on the site which adjoins it, who come equipped with their own adult supervisors.
... To Rye Majorettes, who came second in their class at Hastings Carnival and won a £10 prize. Rosemary Wilkinson tells us that the Majorettes are making the lifeboat shed their charity for 1984.
2.
£117 was raised for equipment at the coffee morning in the Town Hall on Saturday to launch the Sports Hall appeal. Rother's Treasurer, Mr. Albert Willis, was kind enough to come over on a Saturday to talk about the project from the financial angle, and the news he brought was very much some-and-some: the money is there, but they can't spend it!
Readers will know that the idea is for ESCC and Rother jointly to build the hall, with a grant of up to £50,000 from the Sports Council topping-up their contributions. The centre would be built on Thomas Peacocke land and used by the pupils during school hours and by the community in general the rest of the time, thus making the very best use of the facilities provided. The local community would be expected to provide the equipment - hence one reason for the coffee morning.
Mrs. Yates was very much touched by a letter from one of the town's older residents, enclosing a cheque towards the fund and saying that although he himself felt it was unlikely he would ever use the hall, he was convinced that it was much needed by the local young and he wanted to help.
In his talk Mr. Willis referred to a sports hall at the Cavendish School at Eastbourne, which was of a type felt to be suitable for Rye; it had cost £90,000 and there would ultimately be more money than this available for the Rye building.
On Monday, he said, a full Council meeting at Bexhill would be considering the question of providing sports facilities in the Rother District (and after that meeting, George Shackleton told us that it was agreed to go ahead with a survey in detail). Mr. Willis went on to say that Rother has the capital put by to provide what are technically known as dry sports halls (this means they don't have a swimming pool attached, not that they can't have a bar!) in Rye and in Battle, and a similar hall with a swimming pool in Bexhill; this would, it was felt, provide fair coverage of the whole area. BUT...
BUT, in this case, means that they have been told yet again by the Government that they must make savings on capital projects as well as not overspending on the revenue account (and sports halls do not normally run at a profit). This latest clamp-down, only just announced, was also due to come before the Monday Council meeting; but he felt it was clear that any spending on sports halls would have to be postponed for at least two years. He added that ESCC is under the same restrictions. However, Rye's sports hall plans are a good deal more advanced than those for Battle and Bexhill, so we have a head start when work can begin; in the meantime, decisions can be taken and plans made, but nothing concrete (in any sense!) can be done at present.
Mrs. Rowena Varley, Thomas Peacocke PTA chairman, spoke of the benefits that a sports hall would bring to people of all ages in the area - entertainment for the young, health facilities for older people, and a new social centre for both. (She told us later that she felt sure many people had no idea what a sports centre really was, and it is hoped to arrange some event later on to provide an insight into this.). Mrs. Varley thanked all those who had contributed so much time and effort to the project so far and hoped that there would continue to be real support to back it.
After the Monday Council meeting, Mr. Shackleton told us that among the capital projects which had been approved but would now have to be recon-sidered were the resurfacing of the Town Wall car park, and the creation of the new car/coach park to which we referred in GAZETTE no. 92 – so perhaps the fact that BR won't release the land doesn't now matter as much as it did. So, in his view, the sports hall is some way back in the queue for cash which is not yet available anyhow.
Good news of Mrs. Dorothy Heritage of Playden, seriously injured in a car crash in Rye Foreign some weeks ago: her sister Rosemary Wilkinson tells us that Mrs. Heritage now no longer has her neck in traction though she does have a collar; the operation on her leg was successful; and although she is still on her back, with special glasses to enable her to read lying down, a very worrying period for her and her family is now, thank goodness, over.
3 THE RYE GAZETTE, 1.8.1984
A traffic order recently issued by ESCC, to be published in Friday's Sussex Express, has caused some confusion, and David Wallis of ESCC's Bexhill staff has kindly sorted it out for us. We do hope that we have accurately reported what he told us!
Readers will be aware that considerable alterations are in hand at the Freeman Hardy & Willis shoe-shop in the High Street; not only is a new frontage planned, but there is a great deal of work to be done at the back, with a new stockroom in the yard behind the shop. This yard has no back entrance, so except through the shop itself the only access to the building work is via the narrow side passage emerging onto the High Street from the door beside the shop.
Llewellyns, the contractors for the British Shoe Corporation who own FHW, came to ESCC pointing this out and asking for permission to have a skip for rubble and a place to park building materials in the High Street. This is, of course, not that easy, and they were rather shaken to discover that the preliminaries could take six weeks. BSC are anxious to have the shop ready in good time for the Christmas trade, and the contractors were therefore under pressure to get a move on.
Normally, the north (FHW) side of the High Street has a loading ban from 10 to 6, for obvious reasons: we all know what happens when something does unload there while the loading bay, the other side of the road, is occupied! The new order, which is likely to take effect on 10 August, rescinds that loading ban. This >means that Llewellyns can load on that side of the road during the day - and so can anyone else, if there is room; the permission is not specific to the FHW contractors.
In order to allow for this, the south side of the road is to have no-parking double yellow lines down for the period of the building operations, over a 40-metre stretch from the George's garage entrance to the present double yellow lines which protect the turn into Market Road. This includes, Mr. Wallis tells us, three normal parking spaces; the rest is at present a loading bay for the shops in that part of the High Street.
The effect of this, as we understand it, will be that there will indeed be no parking at all, 24 hours a day, on the south side of this stretch of the High Street. However, it seems clear that the skip and building materials will not be there all the time (BSC's chief architect tells us that the work is likely to be done in two waves, the back parts first and then, once that is tidied up, the shop-front); and when the loading space is vacant, lorries will merely unload on the north side of the road instead of the south. The High Street does certainly lose the three car parking spaces on the south side, both during the day and at night; but at night cars can park on the north side instead, since the south side will be clear.
Once the order takes effect, Llewellyns will be able to load and unload during the day, which at present they cannot legally do, so hopefully there may be less to-ing and fro-ing early in the morning and in the evening (their attempts to start work at 5.30 am were firmly stamped on by BSC when complaints reached Head Office).
The order gave the duration of the whole proceedings as 22 weeks - up to the middle of February; local people read this to mean that there would be problems in the High Street over the Christmas period. However, we are happy to say that both Mr. Wallis and BSC assure us that the contractors are due to be out well before Christmas, and the February date was merely a safeguard against something going very wrong indeed (making a new order without prior notice comes expensive).
ESCC add that arrangements of this kind would be made for any premises needing them (we had made a sour remark about concessions to big business) if the owners were willing to pay the costs involved. And, we are glad to say, the chief architect at BSC is aware of the local problems, and intends to be present at the next site meeting to see for himself.
4.
Rother last week deferred a decision on the "established use" application for Nook Beach (and see page 5!). Permission was given for a bungalow in New England Lane, subject to improved access; to the Kettle o' Fish sign; to the Strand Snack Bar extension; to a screen wall and chimney stacks in West Street replacing original features which had been removed; to a flagpole on the Bowls Green (which is being paid for by the Bowls Club and not by Rother); to a fence in Hylands Yard; to an extension in New Road; and to change of use of the ex Farnborough canteen premises for printing purposes. The proposals for a third-floor flat at Swan House in Watchbell Street were turned down, as were the plans for repainting the Mariners in the High Street - though here further proposals involving a different window treatment are being invited.
This week's list has just one application, for canopy blinds to two ground-floor windows at the Old Vicarage in East Street.
It is unfortunate that the Open Day at Mallydams Wood, the RSPCA Field Centre and Nature Reserve at Fairlight, clashes with the Rotary Country Fayre in Rye (see page 5); the Mallydams event runs from 10 to 5, also on Sunday 12 August, so it would be quite possible to do both. This is their second Open Day, and last year they welcomed over 600 people.
Too late for its proper place on the back page, we hear that tomorrow (Thursday) the Community Centre has another performance of The Sheep Show by ABC Productions. This is the same team whose Christmas show Joan Parkes reported on for us with great enthusiasm; assuming the summer production is in the same vein, it should be well worth a visit (at 3, for an hour). If there is enough support, they hope to perform each Thursday afternoon throughout the holidays: so, patrons, it's up to you!
Also at short notice, the Cinque Ports Marionettes have a jumble sale at the Community Centre on Saturday, llth, at 2.
A book just published by Jonathan Cape was launched at a party at the Martello Bookshop recently: Richard Ormrod's life of Lady Troubridge - not the one who wrote the etiquette manual, but her sister-in-law, a very different lady who is described in the title of the book as "Una Troubridge, the friend of Radclyffe Hall".
An admirer of Radclyffe Hall's work describes her to us as Rye's unacknowledged author, though we suspect that Rye's unknown author might be nearer the mark for many readers. She wrote a number of novels in the period between the wars, one of which - "The Well of Loneliness" - led to a court case; it was just after this, in 1929, that the two women first came to Rye, and first at the Black Boy in the High Street and later at the Forecastle in Hucksteps Row, they spent a good deal of time here in the next ten years. They were very much part of the literary scene in which E F Benson was a leading figure, and various Rye people and places are mentioned in the book. Miss Mabel Bourne, now of Pottingfield Road, was their housekeeper, and she was a guest at the launch party; others present who had known the couple were Dr. Alec Vidler and Dr. Dingwall of St. Leonards.
The book is dedicated to the town and people of Rye, and Mr. Ormrod acknowledges gratefully the help which the present owner of the Forecastle, Mrs. Barbara Fearon, has given him.
Radclyffe Hall - also known, rather confusingly, as Marguerite on her birth certificate, Peter during her childhood and John to her adult friends - is buried in Highgate Cemetery, and Monica Still (Ham Green Cottage, Wittersham) is running an appeal for funds to restore the vault there - she will gladly send information about this to anyone who would like it.
5.
Rotary holds its Country Fayre every second year, and on Sunday week (12th) they are repeating a previous success with a rally of over 80 vintage, veteran and post-war ears, motorcycles and stationary engines, plus a selection of farm implements and machinery. Also reappearing are the Romney Marsh and East Sussex Foxhounds and the Pevensey Marsh Beagles, and there will be a small group of farm animals. Arena events, starting at 11am, include a parade of old cars, a performance by Henry, a Shire horse, and two periods of motor-cycle trials. Other country pursuits include fly-casting, pottery, spinning and shearing.
Trade and charity stalls and a bar are there to attract the adults, and a selection of sideshows for the children. There is plenty of (free) parking space on the showground, out along New Road between the end of the houses and the Camber Road junction. This event is Rotary's major fund-raising event for charity, and they are grateful to the local organisations and individuals who are helping; we wish them all a very successful day.
People who complain about neighbourhood children in the holidays should have a word with top-of-the-town residents, who are getting fed up with the behaviour of the students at the language school based at the FE Centre. Not only do the discos and film shows spill out into the Centre's yard, but the children charge up and down Lion Street and Market Street in vociferous gangs, giving - as one annoyed hotelier points out - the worst possible impression of Rye to visitors; and they aren't even our children.
Complaints finally took shape at the moment when, fortunately, the evening do were due to end anyway. It is, of course, good news for the hard-pressed FE to have a long let of this kind, but perhaps next year something can be done to consider the neighbours?
• ESCC warns against the use of the Rinko Pool Filter, which has been found to be electrically unsafe. These filters are intended for use in garden pools, are made in Japan, and cost about £90; if you have one, disconnect it and contact your supplier.
• Udimore people will be very pleased that a 40-mph speed limit is to be imposed on a mile-long stretch of the B2089 from Tibbs Farm to the King's Head pub.
• Rye Boys Club members enjoyed a Sussex Police sailing course near Chichester recently; this was their second visit, and they are grateful to Inspector Max Judge who arranged the trip. The lucky ten were Adrian Sams, Gary Cutting, Gary Hunter, Gavin Colgan, Jonathan Wall, Teter Ashbee, David Wood, Wayne Ridgers, Martin Doyle and Graham Vincent.
The Club's 1984 Competition winners were Colin Robinson, Graham Vincent, James Ronchetti, David Cloute, Peter Croucher and Darren Douch.
In view of all the recent publicity about the use of Nook Beach for wildfowling, fishing, etc., we were much puzzled by a report in last week's East Sussex News that a new book by a Hastings man gave it a one-star rating for nude bathing. We got in touch with Phil Vallender and asked if he really meant the gravel pit - which is occasionally used by local residents for swimming, but only in the places which they know to be safe. No, he said; he had understood that Nook Beach was the name used for a stretch of foreshore alongside the Nature Reserve at the Harbour end, where big wooden groynes provide some shelter for intrepid naturists. He may well he right, but we thought we should make it clear that nude bathing is not one of the leisure sport activities for which Peter Gould is seeking planning permission!
(We do hear that since the News report appeared, the gravel pit has had some unusual visitors. Down there, this phrase normally refers to birds; but what sort of birds, in this context, we are not sure...)
6.
Thursday, 2nd Coffee morning, Greyfriars League of Friends, Social Servicesoffice, Cinque Ports Street, 10.30 to 12
FRAG-sponsored visit to Camber Castle, 2.45 for 3 at the Castle (GAZETTE no. 93)
Friday, 3rd Vidler & Co's monthly auction sale, 10
Saturday, 4th Rye Carnival (see front page)
Rye Society of Artists' summer exhibition opens, Boys Club, 10.30 to 5.30 (including Sundays) until 1 September
Royal Academy Concert, St. Mary's, 7.3C (GA:3E7TE no. 9:5)
Monday, 6th Monday Club, Clinic,
Tuesday, 7th Hearing Circle coffee morning, Red Cross, 10.30
Wednesday, 8th NO GAZETTE)
Over-60s Club, Red Cross, 1.45
Rye WI, members' meeting, FEC, 7
Friday, 10th Civil Service Retirement Fellowship coffee morning, FEC, 11
Sunday, 12th 3rd Country Fayre and Vintage Car Rally, Salts Farm, New Road arena events from 11, draw at 5 (see page 3)
Wednesday, 15th Thrift Shop, Red Cross, receiving only, 10.30 to 12.30
Coffee morning (for Flower Festival funds), St. Mary's, 10.30
• Congratulations to Martin Blackford of Cooper Road and Shelley Murrell of Beckley, who were married in St. Mary's on Saturday. Shelley works at the Swiss Patisserie, and proprietor Claude Auberson did the catering for the wedding reception at the Community Centre. After a honeymoon in the West of England, the couple will be living in Cinque Ports Street.
• The Rye Festival box office opens to the general public on 13 August at the North Kent Building Society (Rye 222730); we listed the events in GAZETTE no. 85, and programme leaflets are available in the town, for instance at the Easton Rooms.
• Condolences to the Winkworth family, of New Winchelsea Road, whose roof was seriously damaged by fire after a blowlamp had been in use there. We hear of a glowing testimonial (perhaps hardly the phrase?) to Rye Fire Brigade, who put out the fire with a minimum of mess and hardly a mark on the stair carpet!
• Condolences, too, to Mr. and Mrs. Conyers of Tower Street, who were taken to RESH after their Robin Reliant was involved in a collision with another car at Guestling.
• British Rail warns that owing to electrification work now starting on the Hastings to London route, train times on the line will be altered - leaving Hastings 13 minutes earlier than timetabled and arriving from London up to 11 minutes later. A leaflet with the altered times from 6 August is available from local stations.
• So much traffic headed for Camber on Sunday morning that police closed the village by mid-day - "Anywhere else you like", they said to hopeful motorists, "but not here!"
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, and published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 2 Cyprus Place, 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 (but not next Wednesday; issue no. 95 appears on 15 August). Extra copies and back numbers can be ordered from 2 Cyprus Place, while a few spares are available from Squirrels, 9-13 Cinque Ports Street, Rye.
(Copyright Mary Owen 1984)