From this afternoon, the Editor is minding two very small granddaughters and will therefore be unable to get around the town as much as usual for the next few days. To make sure that your "bit" does not pass unnoticed by next week's paper, please ring Rye 222303 after 7 (bedtime!), or on Monday afternoon as usual. They are due to depart on Sunday, so if your GAZETTE does not appear next Wednesday it will mean that something has gone wrong...
Chief Inspector Philip Dyson of Rye Police has extracted, from the 1984 crime figures for his Sub-Division, those which apply to Rye's Neighbourhood Watch area and he is very pleased with them. The number of burglaries overall, and thefts from vehicles, have been held down at a time when there is a sharp rise in both crimes elsewhere. We give the full details below.
The Chief Inspector adds: "I feel sure we could do more to combat burglary in d”elling-houses if everyone made a point of displaying the window stickers we distributed - they do work. Also if everyone, as a matter of course, informed us immediately of any suspicious incident, particularly suspicious callers.
Our message to all residents is plain - be alert, be suspicious, but above all tell us or your local co-ordinator. We will not be upset or annoyed by false calls - just give us a chance.
"Together we can make the town most unattractive to criminals, if not downright dangerous for them to operate here. Everyone will benefit if we all play our part. Help us to help you in 1985.
"Finally, let me thank all of you who assisted in any way in the co-ordinators. I appreciate all you have done and hope 1984, that especially together we make a real impact in 1985."
| Crime Type | 1982 (254) | 1983 (290) | 1984 (235) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All burglaries | 52 | 31 | 32 |
| Burglary dwelling | 21 | 8 | 15 |
| Burglary not a dwelling | 31 | 23 | 17 |
| All thefts | 132 | 165 | 127 |
| Robbery | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Assaults | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Thefts from vehicles | 20 | 18 | 19 |
| Taking vehicles | 9 | 15 | 7 |
| Handling stolen property | 6 | 12 | 2 |
| Deception | 14 | 10 | 5 |
The Week of Prayer events on Friday and Saturday were much better attended than the weather had led the organisers to expect. Neither of the bishops (Cormac and Peter) could make it; Bishop Peter just couldn't get his car out of the garage, but we are sure to be seeing him before long, and Bishop Cormac has promised to come later in the year. However, Father Richard did travel all the way down from Liverpool, and spoke to more than 80 people in St. Mary's on Friday evening as well as giving his scheduled talk in the Baptist Church on Saturday. Canon Yarker came to the rescue on Saturday and talked about unity and the history of the ecumenical movement, and Saturday's third speaker was a Baptist minister - an American - from Eastbourne. We shall hope to have a report next week on Monday evening's open meeting after the Council of Churches AGM.
2.
• Handed into one of the Rye surgeries last week was an anonymous gift of £50 - with a request that it should be used for the good of the old and cold. The money was promptly handed over to the district nurses, who went shopping for such things as tins of creamed rice, soup, citrus fruit - and hot-water-bottles. The latter, with suitable covers, cost up to £5, and were apparently most gratefully received by three or four elderly people who didn't have them; the nurses could find appreciative homes for more if they had the money...?
Our informant, who is connected with the surgery, says "This seemed such a very practical gesture at a time of hardship for many, and it went straight to those in the field who were most aware and willing to cope".
• Neil Weatherall tells us that Social Services are most grateful to all those people who have spent so much time recently helping the frail and elderly - the Home Helps, of course, but also shopkeepers, milkmen and others who have done things in their own time for people not best able to cope. He also gave us a message to be passed on if the freeze continued; but on reflection, despite the thaw, we are going to pass it on anyway, since there's still a lot of winter ahead.
Most of us, says Neil, know about hypothermia, the condition brought on mainly in small children and the elderly by cold, which can eventually kill; this can be prevented by warmth, both in the house generally and in bed at night. Please, he says, drop in on your less mobile neighbours and check that they have heating, food in the house and enough blankets; if you are worried but can't cope with the situation yourself, Social Services would be very glad to hear from you (Rye 226922, office hours). They are prepared to risk a few false alarms in a good cause.
Milk bottles left outside, papers in the door, curtains closed during the day, water dripping where it shouldn't, can all be signs of trouble. And because someone is all right on Monday, it doesn't follow that they will still be all right on Friday; keep on dropping in. (And please, older readers who are in fact coping very nicely under your own steam, don't be offended by enquiries!)
Might we add two further suggestions? Instead of frequent outdoor trips to the dustbin, what about a plastic sack inside the back door? Really smelly things can be wrapped in plenty of newspaper, and the dustmen will take bag and all.
And finally, old or not, there is a lot to be said for making sure a neighbour has the telephone number of a relative who could be contacted in an emergency. Just suppose you and your family were all taken to hospital after an accident, would someone close at hand know who to get in touch with? Just suppose you and your family were all taken to hospital after an accident, would someone close at hand know who to get in touch with? Suppose you were always and there was a fire...? (And one stay-put lady we know sometimes finds herself minding up to half-a-dozen keys for various neighbours, for one reason or another.)
• Betty Townsend - encountered in the course of last Wednesday's icy delivery round - expressed approval of the walking-stick which the Editor was using. Mrs. Townsend was similarly equipped. She told us that she was horrified to see how many people were too proud to resort to help of this kind in the snow, fearing it would make them look old. They will, she said, look a lot older after six weeks in hospital with a broken leg, let alone the nuisance they are being to their families and the NHS! As most readers are aware, Mrs. Townsend is a doctor's wife and knows what she is talking about, so we are very glad to pass on her remarks.
• Some time ago we appealed for knitters to turn out their cupboards for the benefit of the old ladies in Greyfriars. Nan Quinton at The Wool Shop does her best to keep them supplied with odds and ends of knitting wool, to give them something to do, and she says our request was very productive. Her customers do their best to help out regularly, but there is bound to come a time when their resources are exhausted, and that time has come now. The oddments bag is almost empty, but there are still hungry knitting-needles at Greyfriars eager for sustenance. Can anyone help with odd balls of wool of any kind - symthetics included, of course? All contributions will be most gratefully accepted at The Wool Shop at Banisters Corner during shop hours, and sent straight on to Greyfriars.
-3 THE RYE GAZETTE, 23.1.1985
It does help to have friends. Someone put through the GAZETTE letterbox on Thursday two A4 photocopies, both relating to the Rye bypass. Taken from a longercdocument, they have no key or explanation, and the background map is not always easy to make out; but the main point is quite clear. Each sheet suggests the same six ways for the bypass to go round, or through, Rye.
Wondering if the whole thing could possibly be a spoof, we asked the D o T's press office if the documents had originally come from the Department. The Press Officer made enquiries and said that, to judge from our description, they were part of a consultation document put out by the Department for study and comment by various local groups. She pointed out that at this stage the routes were no more than suggestions, and certainly not formal proposals; before matters even got to the public consultation stage, some would have been withdrawn and perhaps others put forward instead. Would we, she wondered, be putting a planning blight on parts of the town by publishing them now?
We think not. There has for a year been a planning blight, arising from the still unresolved Winchelsea proposals, on much of the town, particularly along the rail¬way and in the Winchelsea Road area; the new plans by their very variety spread the load a little. And anyway, as we all know, in a place like Rye news of this kind spreads fast - and often inaccurately - so it seems better to scotch rumours by setting out these suggestions so that everyone concerned can be aware of the possibilities.
The routes are drawn very thick on a smallish-scale map, so it would be misleading for us to go into great detail about what does and what does not appear to be at risk. We therefore give only a rough idea of the routes to be discussed. You will find the report a lot easier to follow if you can have a map beside you.
It is simplest to start with routes B and C. Route B runs immediately alongside the railway on the north, probably to the East Guldeford level crossing which is off the map. Route C runs beside the railway on the south until the tip of the Kings Avenue triangle, when it veers eastwards into New Road just beyond the houses (with a dotted variant continuing along the railway).
Route A is a loop off route B, apparently cutting through Gibbet Marsh car park, crossing Udimore Road and running over Mason Field behind Badger Gate, then crossing the Tillingham into the field opposite the Estate, cutting across Tillingham Avenue where the road ends and then slap across the Thomas Peacocke playing-fields between Upper and Lower School to rejoin route B just before the Grove level-crossing.
Route D diverges from the present A259 just past the Strand Quay warehouse area, running near St. Margaret's Terrace into the allotment ground behind South Undercliff. At the Rother Ironworks end there are two variations: a dotted line crossing the Salts and rejoining the A259 at Monkbretton Bridge, and a solid line crossing both Rock Channel and the Rother before rejoining the A259 beyond the New Road houses.
Routes E and F both run south of Rock Channel. Crossing the Brede beside the Harbour Road sluice, route E spans the Rother below its confluence with Rock Channel, joining a route-D variant before it enters the A259. Route F runs beside the Harbour Road for a short distance and then pulls away across the fields to cross the Rother just upstream of the sewage works. It joins the A259 off the map, probably at the Camber corner.
The only place where the two maps differ is at the western (Winchelsea) end of all this. Let's call them "Railway" and "NWR" for convenience, since one appears to be the consequence of Winchelsea getting the railway route, and the other of the A259 along New Winchelsea Road being chosen.
The "Railway" map shows routes A and B crossing the railway by Gateborough Farm, with route C continuing along the railway and the other three branching off just to the town side of the farmhouse. Route D then runs down Farm Lane and appears to cross the river at Strand Quay downstream of the present sluice before briefly joining the A259 (then see above). Routes E and F run behind the old Farnborough buildings, cross Winchelsea Road on the town side of the Martello Tower, and then continue as we have described.
(continued...)
4.
The "NWR" map shows all six routes coming into the town along New Winchelsea Road until just past the Martello Tower, at which point routes E and F turn right, and A-D turn left behind Farnborough, in due course splitting off as before. The map also shows dotted variants:. route F could leave New Winchelsea Road much earlier (off the map and probably before the houses begin), while routes A-D could veer jointly round behind the Martello Tower before they diverge at Gateborough.
We venture to make a few comments.
First, there seems to be no question so far of bypassing the town to the north.
Secondly, the reason for route A is obscure. The intention could be to save both the Mill and the land between the school and the railway (see page 5), both of which would be lost by route B - but at the expense of Gibbet Marsh and Mason Field and the link between Upper and Lower Schools which is in continuous use be children and staff during school hours.
Routes B and C speak for themselves. Both are agreed to be disastrous to the social structure of the town. And C would interfere with the supermarket and the station as well as the houses in Eagle Road and a lot of existing/proposed parking space.
Route D was talked about some twenty years ago, but has been considerably built over since then - and anyway would merely move the main road from the front of the South Undercliff houses to the back of them. One of its variants would seem to mean an enormous bridge over both Rock Channel and the Rother.
Which brings us to routes E and F. It is not clear from the map exactly what these would mean to Winchelsea Road, but once clear of it they cross open ground. Both, however, have to cross the main stream of the Rother somehow. A bridge? Presumably - but someone with the right sort of experience suggests a tunnel; after all, he said, if they can do it under the Thames they can certainly do it under the Rother. Or what about a swing-bridge, which they apparently have at Newhaven?
A major advantage of a route F running from well along New Winchelsea Road (perhaps even from the sharp bend) to the Camber corner would be that it would take all the heavy Harbour traffic clear of the town; the beach lorries (from North Point as well as the Harbour works) and the very large number of vehicles which use Alsfords Wharf. It would also provide a convenient access to Camber Castle, expected to be a big tourist attraction when it is reopened in perhaps two years' time and at present with no'road access at all. If, as well as all this, route F could have a tunnel instead of a bridge, it seems far and away the best choice for the town as a whole - if, that is, Winchelsea gets the New Winchelsea Road route rather than the railway one.
At least it is a relief to know that our route is being discussed before a final decision has been taken about the Winchelsea one.
Rather grieved, Rother's Peter Bridges rang us about one of last week's burst-pipe reports. The Udimore Road house, he says, had four visits within eight days from Rother's plumber to unfreeze the pipes. The trouble was that they kept freeaing up again - presenting the householder with the difficult choice between no water and unacceptably high heating bills later. Anyway, we are sorry we cast aspersions at Rother's plumber, whose faillt it clearly wasn't.
Although Rother has just one plumber based in Rye, he is part of the staff of the main Battle depot and can call on his colleagues there for help when necessary. The Battle depot plumbers between them dealt with some 170 bursts in a fortnight ¬and that, of course, was just in Council property; it makes one wonder how many there were altogether.
As for the locked public loos, Rother does appreciate the inconvenience caused. The trouble is that one be, one they froze up, with those at the Gun Garden holding out the longest. "We're working on it" we were told on Monday, so probably by the time you read this all will be well again.
5.
On 9 January, writing about the railway allotments, we said it would be interesting to see what eventually came before Planning for the land between the railway and the school - some 42 acres. It is - very interesting. Last week's planning list has an application from British Rail for "residential development served by new road, parking area for cars, coaches and HGVs". Envisaging perhaps ten bungalows, we looked at the plans - and were startled to find that they showed 42 2-storey houses plus 8 2-storey flats, all with garages plus associated parking for another 25 cars - 50 residences in all!
This is all at The Grove end of the ground, where the two privately-owned cottages just over the level crossing of course remain. There is no vehicle access shown from The Grove.
At the Ferry Road end is a car park for 90 cars plus 10 coaches (nothing is shown for HGVs, but perhaps they go in the coach spaces at night). In the corner of this park nearest the Queen Adelaide pub, a space is reserved for a beer garden; the Adelaide's proprietor had been given planning permission for this several years ago, and since part of the land over which the access will have to pass goes with the Adelaide, presumably an amicable arrangement has been reached.
Access to both car park and housing is from Ferry Road. The plan is not very clear about this, and whatever is proposed will obviously have to satisfy the very different needs of the pub's beer lorry and the 400 children at Lower School. At present the school has a right of way over the pub's ground; there is another entrance from Tillingham Avenue, but it is not easy to find and tricky to negotiate.
Even before the new suggestions for Rye's bypass surfaced (see page 3) a route to the north of the railway was always a possibility. Perhaps if BR is encouraged to get on with its housing, and the supermarket goes up quickly, the compensation becoming payable on either railway route would inspire the planners to put the bypass somewhere else! - like south of the town...
The rest of the planning list is much less dramatic: change of use for the ground floor of 10 Ferry Road from betting shop to antique shop (retrospective, presumably); a garage for a house in Ferry Road; and, from an Ipswich man, permission to change the paint colour of Ellwoods in Market Road.
• Quite a few events scheduled for the past week were postponed, for obvious reasons.
• The Local History Group meets tomorrow instead of last Thursday. The Museum Association lecture - Stella Pigrome on "Life in the Middle Ages" - was postponed until Friday 29 March. Dates will be announced later for the ATC's wine-and-cheese party, the ARC Hong Kong lecture, and the National Trust's "Villages of the Brede Valley".
• Chad Coleman's caricatures from the Bedford Arms, about which we wrote last week, are to be auctioned at the Bedford on Saturday, 9 February, at 8, as part of a very pleasant social evening with refreshments and a raffle. Gus Gale hadn't got a complete list of Chad's victims, but he tells us that they were all Bedford regulars of around ten years ago, including a few women. There will be two auctioneers, both coming over from Hastings specially: Colin Stutely of Vidler & Co, and Andy Bennett, to both of whom Rye Racers are very grateful.
• At the Easton Rooms this week is a sale of work by fellow-artists given for the Pamela Nash Dialysis Memorial Fund - some 60 pictures, etc., on view until Sunday.
• A publication based at Lydd, the "Marsh Guide", is planning to expand its 1985 edition to cover Rye as well as the area from Camber to Hythe which it serves at present. Published in early April, its varied contents include a "What's On" calendar for the area for the summer and autumn.
If Secretaries of Rye organisations who have planned events with more than a purely local appeal would like to get in touch with Adrian Cirket (Marsh Publications, lb Ness Road, Lydd), giving details of date, place and the type of event, he will put the information in the calendar for free. Printing deadline is the end of February, so don't leave it too late.
Rye Council for Voluntary Service, TH, 7.30 (GAZETTE no. 114) Local history group (postponed from 17th), Library, 7.30
WI Luncheon, Hope Anchor, 12.30 for 1
Nat.His.Soc. "The Julian Alps, Slovenia" (EG and LB Burt and Joan Medlock), FEC, 7.30
NSPCC jumble sale, FEC, 2 to 4
WRVS Lunch Club, CC, 12.30
Hill House League of Friends AGM, TH, 7.30
TPS Parents Evening (2nd year), Lower School
• Congratulations to Mrs. Wendy Woolley, of Henley Close, widow of the late Philip Woolley, on the birth of their son Paul Philip John on 11 January.
• The Rotary Christmas tree in Market Road raised L420; Rotary had promised to double the amount for the Eye Laser Appeal, but in fact they have done more than that and a cheque for £1,000 goes to the Appeal. Rotary are holding their Country Fair again this year, on Sunday, 11 August - a date to be added to last week's long-notice list.
• East Sussex County Council invites applications for grants from people intending to organise holiday play-schemes for the current year. The very last date for applications is 8 February, but anyone thinking of applying should contact the local Social Services office in Cinque Ports Street now. (If anyone is thinking of running a play-scheme in Rye, we will be delighted to give them lots of advance publicity if they let us know.)
• Many readers will be very glad to know that Rother's Housing Committee did in due course meet to discuss the community alarm system proposals (GAZETTE no. 113) and Mrs. Tomich tells us that the officers will be looking into the matter further.
• Elizabeth Goldsworthy at Houghton Green has been feeding a small black cat with white paws and stomach, which she thinks may belong in the Military Road area; as she already has a resident cat who is not very friendly, she would be glad to hear from the visitor's owner. Ring Mrs. Goldsworthy at Iden 312.
• Realising that due to the weather some of Mrs. Moira Chetham-Strode's friends will have found it difficult if not impossible to get to Peasmarsh Church for her funeral on Monday, her grandson Justin asks us to say that there will be a memorial service for her at St. Mary's on a date to be announced later - probab. in April.
• Hamilton Furnishings in the High Street will be closed for annual holidays from Monday, 11 February, to Saturday, 23 February inclusive. Home upholsterers, home curtain-makers, please note.
• The local branch of the Muscular Dystrophy Association holds its AGM at Tower Forge House (just uphill from Landgate Arch), at 4.30 on Thursday, 31 January.
• Readers who collect their GAZETTES from the Tuck Shoppe on a Wednesday or Thurs-
day should go instead to the Library next week. The shop is closing from Monday to Thursday inclusive while a new floor goes down in the bakery, and the Library staff have kindly offered temporary hospitality as a pick-up point. Those not collecting till Friday will find their copies at the Tuck Shoppe as usual.
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; some spare copies of each current issue are available at Squirrels, 9-13 Cinque Ports Street, and back numbers from Cyprus Place.
(Copyright Mary Owen 1985)