Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Plummer - Penny and Jamie - of White Cottage, Playden who celebrated their Golden Wedding on Sunday."Seeing it's your anniversary, why not come and have lunch?" said their daughter Barbara McKenzie misleadingly - because when the Plummers arrived at Little Saltcote, they found thirty relatives and friends from all over the country waiting for them, secretly assembled by Barbara and her sister Susan Pope to wish them well. The four grandchildren were there, of course (Susan's two children, still young enough to give the game away, were sent out of the room whenever party plans were being discussed!) and so was Jamie's twin brother who had been his best man at their wedding in London fifty years ago.
The party was to have been in the Little Saltcote garden, but the only thing Auring the day which refused to be golden was the sun; the food, chosen to suit ee occasion with Claude Auberson's gold-and-white cake as centrepiece, had to be served indoors.
Though now retired, both Mr. and Mrs. Plummer are well known in the area; he used to be the milk recorder for local dairy farms, and she was an auxiliary at Rye Hospital.They have lived in Playden for some thirty years.
The Mint is to be closed to through traffic for three weeks from Monday, 9 September, to enable work to be done on the roof and frontage of nos. 73 and 74, opposite the Copper Kettle. An earlier attempt to work from scaffolding had led to a passing lorry damaging other property, and ESCC Highways staff decided that it was better to close the road entirely so that the builder could get the work done as quickly as possible, unhampered by traffic trying to squeeze past.
There must, of course, still be access for vehicles with business at premises in The Mint. But they will have to decide whether to back up the street and front down it (the one-way system will be suspended for the duration) or vice versa: not an easy choice, particularly downhill from the scaffolding with the very narrow road twisting and turning between its minuscule pavements.
The work will mean that all traffic leaving the High Street will either have to take the sharp corner into Market Road or negotiate West Street and Mermaid Street. If just one big lorry turns awkwardly and catches Doodle's window, the entire High Street could seize up right back to the Landgate; the old emergency exit down Conduit Hill is now blocked by bollards, and the only other way out is round the three sides of Church Square.
Two Rye households are "top of the pops" for the local Moncap group, Mrs. G. Bligh, of The Mint, was presented with a bouquet and a very big thank-you for allowing the committee to use her ground floor for their two-week charity shop; her generous action has meant that the group is better off by E834 for the fortnight. Vickie Piper is also most grateful to all those who gave them items for sale - some of which fetched extremely useful prices - and to those who came and bought.
On Sunday, Mr. and Mrs. Pearce of the Ypres Castle Inn lent the Mencap team the pub garden for an afternoon barbecue. The timing was excellent, since the rain had cleared by then and both stalls and food could be set out on the grass; the event raised £160, and the Pearces' hospitality was very greatly appreciated.
Mr. Maurice Hickman of Marley Road died peacefully at his home on 15 August, after a long illness. He leaves a widow, a son and daughter and three grand children. The funeral has taken place. Mr. Hickman, who was 74, was one of a family of ten children born in Lydd and brought up in the (then) wilds of Camber; three of his sisters live in Eagle Road. Until his retirement in 1976 he was a driver with the East Kent Bus Company, for whom he worked for 40 years; during the war he served in India with the Royal Artillery, and remained a keen member of the British Legion. He and his wife Joan would have celebrated their Ruby Wedding next year; the Marley Road house has been their home ever since it was built, 35 years ago, and Mr. Hickman took great pride in its garden beside the footpath and made many friends while working in it. He was a member of Rye Sea Angling Club (and Philip Martin's recent success in the TVS contest gave him immense pleasure), and also played for the East Kent Bus Company billiards team. His loss will be much felt by his family and many friends in the town.
Mrs. Lily Montague of Sea View Terrace died in hospital on 15 August; she was 89, and had lived in Rye for more than 40 years. The funeral took place at Playden Church on 23 August.
Mrs. Phoebe Merricks, who died peacefully at her home, Broad Street in Icklesham on 30 August after a long illness, was the wife of Mr. Dick Merricks, and together they gave many years of service to the Rye Art Gallery. Mrs. Merricks was chairman of the Friends in the founding days of the Easton Rooms, and her influence, contacts and advice were greatly valued both by the Friends and by the Trustees, of which her husband was at one time the chairman. As the chairman of the Friends, she had beened able to help the Trustees even before she was appointed as one of their number, and Mr. Kenneth Herbertson, the Trustees' present chairman, speaks of the warm gratitude, admiration and affection with which he and his colleagues regarded her. Both the Rye Art Gallery and the Easton Rooms owe Mrs. Merricks an unforget table debt of gratitude for her success as a fund-raiser; but more than that, she will be remembered and missed for her quiet but immensely effective support in so many ways for the arts in Rye - taking the town, as Mr. Herbertson put it, into a wider world. The funeral takes place at Icklesham Church on Friday (30th) at 3.15; donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to Rye Art Gallery or the Cancer Relief Macmillan Fund.
Mr. Keith Fuller, of Lewes, is trying to find out about the holder of a group of medals which he has recently added to his collection of militaria. They included the Military Medal, and belonged to Fred Masters of Udimore - whose next-of-kin around the turn of the century was first his mother Kate at Court Lodge and later his wife Hannah at Billingham. Mr. Masters was a carter by trade but served with the militia in the South African war. Mr. Fuller has contacted all the local Masters phone-book entries, but none are connected with, his Fred.It seems very possible that descendants, perhaps in the female line and therefore with a different surname, may be living in Rye; if anyone can help Mr. Fuller, please write to him.
Rye Festival Committee is sorry to say that "Advice and How Not to Take It", the Sunday night show at the Community Centre with Jill Bennett and Edward Hardwicke, has been cancelled; over-exuberant booking by the artistes would have meant that they were giving the same show in the same area twice within a matter of weeks, which the Committee felt was simply not acceptable. Since it is too late to find and publicise a replacement show, the Community Centre will stay dark on Sunday.
We are sorry that we left out Rye Model Laundry from the list of Festival sponsors in GAZETTE no. 142; they are sponsoring the Taskin Trio at Playden Church on the Wednesday evening.
3. THE RYE GAZETTE, 28 August 1985
Three members of Rye Harbour Sailing Club took part in this year's Fastnet Race: John Barwell, owner and skipper of "April Magic", John Royle (navigator) and Adrian Townsend (ship's doctor and spinnaker expert); the crew of eight included one brave girl. Within 24 hours of leaving Cowes on 10 August they had split two headsails in the Force 10 gale - the spray, John Royle says, was like sailing through driving snow. As sea conditions worsened they decided to take a few hours off in the shelter of Dartmouth Harbour without actually retiring from the race, and next day set out again to round Land's End - losing a third headsail in the process. That, and a really disastrous weather forecast, settled it; this time they did retire, and headed for Falmouth - where they found not only Simon Le Bon's unfortunate "Drum" and a dismasted French yacht which had spent three nights in mid-Channel with a couple and two children aboard, but also "Poppy II" whose all-girl crew included Candida Watson of Radio Sussex, as Lunch date listeners will know.
But this wasn't John Royle's only over-exciting voyage of the season, or indeed of that week. On 27 July he and his wife Liz, son Mark and a friend set out in "Expression" for a cruise along the North Brittany coast. They got as far as Cherbourg, but had to spend so much time both there and en route in Poole and Alderney sheltering from the gales that it was obvious that they needed to come straight home again if John was to be back for the Fastnet on the 10th.This was on 7 August, and three hours out of Cherbourg "we seemed to be in for a record passage until we came off a wave and Mark said 'The rudder's gone" - and they were right in the middle of the shipping lane!
There is no room here for the terrifying technical details of their very slow progress in ever-worsening conditions with a makeshift rudder, but Sailing Club members will be able to enjoy the full horror in the Club's autumn newsletter. Finally, with another dreadful forecast coming up and the dangerous Needles Channel in the offing, the Coastguard suggested that the Yarmouth lifeboat should tow them in - an offer which, despite John's misgivings about the effect of a high-speed tow on his deck fittings, the rest of the crew insisted should be accepted!Within forty minutes the big Arun Class boat circled them with a roar of engines and blazing searchlights; John had already organised a tow-line at his end, and within minutes they were on their way. All the other yachts in Yarmouth, it turned out later, had been up listening fascinated to the radio exchanges from the moment the maroons went off.
("Expression"'s old rudder was made of fibreglass filled with polystyrene foam. Her new one, says John, is made of solid laminated iroko, reinforced with two steel angles in cruciform section. He is taking no chances!)
Delighted winner of the big prize in the Lions draw, made at the Beckley Fete on Monday, was David Manktelow of Udirnore Road - £250 to the good as the result of a ticket bought at the very last moment! A stereo hi-fi went to Mr. Dazeley of Northiam, a stereo radio-cassette player to Mr. Collison from London, and half a gallon of whisky to Freight Express-Seacon in Market Street.
The previous weekend the Lions were running a mini-fete at the Harbour to coincide with the finish of the Raft Race. Mini it may have been, but a donation of £300 will go to the NSPCC and the Rye Ambulance will get two children's resuscitation units from the proceeds. One behalf of the Lions, Trevor Humphreys wants to thank all the local shopkeepers who gave prizes for the tombola - it was a really super one and accounted for a great deal of the takings.
The Lions will hold their Annual Charity Shop in the Community Centre from 10 to 4 on Saturday, 21 September, and Sunday, 22nd.Regular patrons always look forward to this; the Lions will gladly sell large items of furniture, cookers, etc., as well as the usual clothes and bric-a-brac.If you have anything, large or small, which you would like to give them, ring as soon as possible to arrange about collection; they have plenty of storage space.
The reason Rye Station was closed in the course of Monday morning last week was, they told us at Ashford, because they needed to see the man who would normally have been on duty there. It seems a funny way to run a business, but there it is.
In last week's Sussex Express, BR's area manager Harry Holt made rather sinister noises about the future of the station (as opposed to the future of the line, which he said was not under threat). Whether or not BR lose money by having the booking-office and parcels window closed to save paying overtime, only they can tell; but from the customer's point of view, it would be a help if they could not only give firm opening hours but also stick to them! One difficulty likely to arise when the station is closed is the old question of the barriers under the footbridge; how is someone unable to manage the footbridge steps going to get across the line if there is no-one to open the barriers? One cynic suggested that the poor soul would have to wait there until a train carrying mail arrived, when the postman would doubtless be generous in using his key!
A recent planning application for "Wee Nestie" in Fishmarket Road - empty for many years and now half-demolished - uses the word "reinstatement" for what is proposed for the house, and we are glad to tell those who have been sad to see it decay over the years that - assuming the plans are approved - the house will have regained its original appearance when the work is complete.
Other applications include a new end wall to 45 The Mint, and a garage and store for the use of the Coastguard at the corner of the Rye Harbour car park. There is also an interesting plan for 27 Cinque Ports Street to be divided into two shops downstairs, and two flats above with an external staircase; this is the very distinctive Gassons building, now the Decorator's Warehouse, and Tony Meyer assures us that the appearance of the outside 'will be unaltered except for the staircase at the side - even the pretty but very rusted arched windows will be replaced as they were.
There are just four days left to visit the Tuesday Painters Club's 24th annual exhibition at the FE Centre, and it is a visit well worth making. The Tuesday Painters are, it seems fair to say, ordinary people painting for their own pleasure and that of other ordinary people, and there are plenty of pictures of the type which everyone enjoys looking at.
As usual, the flower pieces are outstanding, ranging from nostalgic impressions to work of meticulous delicacy; birds and small creatures also appear, and there are a lot of cats about this season. Some paintings reflect the work of a particular group studying a live model or a still life; some recall a club visit to a favourite spot, some an individual holiday. Rocks rest like windblown foam on a blue Greek sea, spray brings alive the foreground of a holiday bay; a sunset sky silhouettes Tower Bridge. A summer river-bank drowses beneath clouds heavy with thunder, but a charming study of wild flowers recalls a rare fine day.
A threatening owl swoops from one corner, and white seagulls are patterned against shadowed trees. There are lots of local views and some particularly attractive seascapes. The only criticism could be that sometimes the frames are not up to the standard of the pictures, and the occasional oil is rather highly varnished.
More than 100 of the Club's members and associate members have work on show, many with several pictures, plus the work of some two dozen non-members, so there is an enormous range of talent and variety of interests represented. Most of the pictures are of a size to fit into a small house, and a good many of the prices are to match. This really is a show for everyone, buying or not. Do go. It ends at around 6 pm on Saturday.
5.
We are sure Linda King won't mind if we describe her as one of Rye's characters. She is the girl who did such a superb job on rebuilding Paygate Cottage and turning the tangle of weeds beside the Tillingham back into a garden to delight the eye; she is also the girl with the spectacular rainbow hairdos and the Antiquarius wardrobe; she is the only person we know who has ever appeared in a local-paper photograph sitting on the loo; and she has just finished painting a picture 18 feet high by 75 feet wide!
Linda went to art school in Plymouth to do a course in graphic design, which led her to an interest in mural painting - the sort which is done straight on to the wall. When she and her mother Jane came to live in Ferry Road, she decided to improve the very ornery bathroom with jungle walls and a serpent climbing up the down-pipe (hence the local-paper photo).One thing led to another: she painted spare bedrooms, a more elaborate bathroom incorporating a real peacock's tail detachable from a painted peacock, a dining room (she says that murals are best in rooms not in constant use, so that the owners don't get bored with them). Then she heard from a friend that the Forum Hotel in the Cromwell Road was having a face-lift and wanted to enliven its loading-bay, which all the guests had to pass to reach the main entrance and which was in full sight of the Gloucester goad coach station. She took along her portfolio and discussed the job, planned out on the way home in the train, and had her sketches accepted with enthusiasm. What they wanted on the walls (fitted in among the doors and cables and ventilator shafts, of course) were views of the other hotels in the chain, linked to make a single picture.
Linda showed us her sketches and photographs, but it is much better to see the real thing. For the actual buildings, she worked from photographs supplied by the management - and it is not just a case of squaring up wall and photograph and then transferring one on to the other, there are all kinds of unexpected problems to do with straight lines and curves and perspectives, some of which were best resolved by the use of blutak and string. A great deal of the work had to be done before she ever laid brush to wall; she had to make sure it would came out right, because if you are working in the full public gaze at the top of an 18' scaffolding, it could be very embarrassing to have to rub it out and start all over again! Her hotels were linked at the base by a shadowed navy foreground with appropriate characters and props - a piper for the Edinburgh hotel, a canal complete with barge and a clump of tulips for the one in Amsterdam, and some splendid ae-abs on camels for Amman. She has framed one (genuine) doorway with ribboned poles which will, when the builders have finished, carry a signboard saying who the artist was and giving her phone number!
The job took 55 working days, and as part of her contract she was put up at the Forum, starting work every morning at 8 and finishing at around 3.30, by which time she had had enough of running up and down scaffolding "like an insane monkey", inhaling diesel fumes and exchanging badinage with the lorry-drivers - who must really have looked forward to delivering to the Forum. She also got acquainted with the regular passers-by, who took a keen interest in the progress of the work.
Of course there were snags. After she had done the preliminary sketches, the chain sold off one of the hotels which was to have been featured. The lorries were not at first accustomed to moving about in the middle of a gestating work of art, and there were a few minor accidents to the painting. And in damp weather, the blutak which held the string guidelines to the concrete walls utterly refused to stick. But Linda clearly enjoyed the experience, and did a marvellous job which is really worth going to see. She hopes that, as with Jane's bathroom, one thing will lead to another and next time she and her brushes might be allowed to work inside a hotel instead of redecorating the garage.
(And since we are writing about Linda King the artist, it seems only fair to point out that she can produce pictures on a much smaller scale, and the view of the Gun Garden under snow, and the rather endearing pink dog, both in the Tuesday Painters show, are also her work.)
6.
For a few years now the Rye Scout Troop (Captain Cory's Own) has failed to flourish, largely for lack of a Leader. Now Frank Dowdeswell, who came with his family to the Wool Shop in Cinque Ports Street a few months ago, is going to take on the job, and so that no-one can possibly forget the date of the first meeting all those interested are asked to turn up at the Scout Hut in The Grove between 7.15 and 9.15 on 13 September - Friday the Thirteenth. Membership is open to boys aged between 10i and 16, and so far Mr. Dowdeswell knows of two who are Scouts already and four more ready to come up from Cubs. He is hoping that there will be others, either new to the neighbourhood or who left Cubs in recent years, who will come and join them. Meetings will not necessarily be on a Fri day; permanent arrangements will depend on what best suits the boys themselves, to say nothing of parents with cars, since Mr. Dowdeswell is looking to families from the villages as well as from the town itself.
Mr. and Mrs. Dowdeswell came to Rye from Dover, where he had already been helping with Scouts and Sea Scouts; her connection with the Guide Movement, however, is a longer one, since she joined as a Brownie in her Kent childhood and became a Guider as soon as she was old enough, and now hopes to find a niche in Guiding in Rye which will take account of her shop hours.
The Raft Race on 18 August drew plenty of spectators and plenty of rafts – some of the latter not as reliable as their builders had hoped!Winners were the 8-strong Bounty crew from the George with a time of 24 minutes, followed by four Rye Young Farmers; the spotty dalmations from Ibex Pumps came third. Fourth was an army unit called RADA (we have no further information about this), fifth was Jempsons' dear little seaborne lorry, and Rye Harbour Social Club came sixth. After this our informant lost count!The wooden spoon for the last raft to finish went to the Romans from the Globe, who also won the fancy dress cup.
The start was advanced to 2.0 - a disappointment to some spectators who arrived too late, but a necessary decision since the tide would soon have been running out so strongly that there was a risk of rafts being swept out to sea. The lifeboat, though busily running up and down the river in search of waterlogged oarsmen, was not needed, though kind friends with tow-ropes were much appreciated by the less successful crews.
Always good fun, the full impact of this event is not obvious until the sponsor money has been collected; once again this will go to the NSPCC, and we look forward to recording a handsome total in due course.(A report on the Lions' event at the Harbour the same afternoon appears on page 3.)
On Radio London, this Sunday morning at 9.30, Rye is due to feature as part of a programme called "Ticket to Rye"; Ernest Thompson took their reporter for a hour trip round the town's tourist area on 16 August and found time for a visit to the Model. Taking on the job at very short notice, he wasn't expecting to find himself being interviewed "on air" - just as well, he told us, as he didn't have time to be nervous.
The Model also had a useful plug from actress Jane Asher on Breakfast TV recently. Locals who haven't seen the show for some time will notice changes in the commen tary, now cut down to 20 minutes for the half-hour showings: the Ancient Britons at the very start have been cut out, the wolf no longer howls, and there is rather less gruesome detail in the story of the Turkeycock Lane ghost.The Breeds murder has been simplified (surely Grebell died in his own armchair, bleeding from an unsuspected stab wound, rather than emitting traditional dying gargles in the churchyard?).But even in the shortened version it is still far and away the best start for a visit to Rye, with all the buildings mentioned to be found within ten minutes' walk of the door, and the town centre, architecturally speaking, much the same as it was in the mid-C19, the period chosen by Joy Harland for her model.
7.
• At her recent coffee-morning, Mrs. Playford of 67 Pottingfield Road raised £91 for the RNLI and WRVS; however, the weather did not allow her to display all the jumble to full advantage, and she has been offered more cakes, plants and raffle prizes, so she is hoping for better weather on Saturday of this week when she will stage a repeat performance. Unlike most good causes, the WRVS is not allowed to fund-raise on its own behalf, so ventures like Mrs. Playford's are particularly helpful to this group which does so many other things besides the invaluable meals-on-wheels; and the RNLI, of course, is a very favourite cause round here. Mrs. Playford would like to be able to give £100 to each organisation, and hopes that perhaps on Saturday she may see people from the centre of the town as well as her neighbours on the Estate.
• Tom King's Cockney Night at the Community Centre on Saturday raised about £200 for the RNLI; the hall was full, and both cast and audience enjoyed themselves. Mr. King came back to live in Northiam four years ago, having been evacuated to the village as a child; his previous home was in Orpington, where he and his brother regularly organised charity shows, and he has been keeping up the tradi tion down here. On Saturday his cast of 17 came from all over the place - some from Orpington, one from Chelmsford, the dancers from Tenterden brought over by his daughter-in-law, plus members of Beckley Players and other local people; David Cade supervised the lighting, and the extension stage was used. Another show, this time at Upper School, is planned for the New Year for Lions funds; and they hope to perform again for the RNLI next summer, perhaps in Lifeboat Week.
• Miss D. Carter entertained the August meeting of Rye WI with "Songs from the Shows", and the marvels of modern technology allowed her to import a grand piano into the FE Centre to accompany herself - on tapes. Representatives of the WI's County Office will be at the FE Centre from 9.30 to 3.45 on Thursday, 5 September, with information about WI activities and (to judge from last year's visit) a very tempting sales table of WI and other literature and various useful items. On Wednesday, 25 September, there will be a meeting in the upper hall at the Community Centre from 10 to 12 to discuss the possibility of starting a morning WI in Rye; everyone interested will be welcome, and coffee will be available.
• Back in May we wrote about Guy Simpson of Mermaid Street, who was one of a team of young chefs from Brighton Polytechnic which won the "Taste of Britain" cookery competition. Part of their prize was dinner at Langan's Brasserie in London's West End, and an opportunity to meet the restaurant's head chef. As a result of this meeting, Guy was offered a job at Langans to start immediately his course ended, and he is now working there as assistant to the vegetable chef, with the opportunity in due course to understudy the heads of the other departments in this famous kitchen. Congratulations!
• Those who admired the beautiful knitwear from Pony Knits at Udimore, on view some time ago in the Anglia window, will be glad to know that Frank and Shirley Page are now selling it in the town.They have a corner in the Mint Arcade; minding shop the day we called was Sue Davies, who designs Shades of Shetland.Mr. and Mrs. Page make up designs of their own and also market other hand-made knitwear, mostly from Scotland and the Orkneys. The ranges include jumpers and cardigans for all sizes from small children to hefty men, often with hats, scarves and even socks to match, and they will of course take orders for specific sizes or colours. People who have lived round here for some years will know Mrs. Page better as Shirley Spottiswood - her maiden name, under which she is exhibiting a group of watercolours in the Rye Society of Artists exhibition this year.
• The Press Book shows two crimes which in theory are not connected, but one does wonder: on the night of 19/20 August, in Winchelsea Road, a Wolseley car was stolen - and so (from SeaCruisers) was a £2,000 speedboat on a trailer. Someone who dropped his wallet in the Market on 16 August got it back but minus the various papers and £140 in cash which it had contained.And opportunist thieves entered a Fishmarket Road house on 13 August while the owner was asleep in the lounge, having left the door open; they searched the house and went off with a purse containing £30-odd.
Connoisseurs' evening at Rye Museum, 7 to 8.30 (members free, non-members £1.50)
Last day of Tuesday Painters Club exhibition, FEC (see page 4) Rye Festival opens
Coffee morning and bring-and-buy, for Action Research for the Crippled Child, Red Cross, 10 to 12.30
Winchelsea and District Floral Group show, George Hotel, all day (and Sunday)
Coffee morning, 67 Pottingfield Road, for RNLI and WRVS, 10 (see page 7)
Garden Fete at Saltcote Place in aid of Rye Hospital, 2 (see below)
Term begins
BRCS Hearing Circle, Red Cross, 10.15 to 12
NSPCC coffee morning, 32 Church Square, 10.30 to 12
• Congratulations to Vickie and Les Britton of Iden on the birth of their son Simon Charles - on 16 August, a one-day-late birthday present for his grand father, a brother for Hayley and Daniel, and a fifth grandchild for Charles and Pat Williams of Pottingfield Road.
• Congratulations, too, to Rye vet Nick Mills and his wife Victoria (Victoria Williams of Hastings Museum) whose son was born in Hastings on Sunday.Mr. and Mrs. Mills live in Beckley.
• Anne Lingard of Rope Walk Antiques is looking for a reliable and responsible person to work in the antique shop on Saturdays from 9.30 to 5.30 - this is a permanent job, throughout the yea. Apply by phone or call at the shop in Rope Walk.
• On Sunday the proprietors and staff of Saltcote Place are holding a Garden Fete in the grounds if the weather is reasonable (if not, it will be postponed until later in the year and held at the Community Centre).Proceeds will go to Rye Memorial Hospital, so we must all hope that the weather does stay fine for this opportunity to see the beautiful grounds, enjoy the usual attractions of a fete and support a good cause all at the same time.If you are doubtful about the weather and don't want to walk up on spec, ring first to check; there is, of course, plenty of car parking beside the drive.
• The Friends of Rye Art Gallery are holding a wine and cheese party in the gallery gardens (weather permitting) at the end of 0ckman's Lane on Saturday week, 7th, from 6 to 7.30 - timed not to clash with the final Festival concert at 7.45.Tickets are £1, from the Easton Rooms, and non-members who would like to know more about the work of both galleries are welcome to come.
• Two recent wins for Rye Bowls Club - against Ham Street, away, on 17 August and against Hawkhurst on 21 August; they were beaten away at Staplecross on the 24th.The Club's captain Reg Weeks and all the members would like to send their very best wishes to their treasurer, Reg Chubb, now in St. Helen's Hospi tal, and wish him a speedy recovery.
• Geoffrey Bateman tells us that the St. Mary's visitors' book shows 1,170 signatures from Germany, 885 from USA, 460 from France, 389 from Holland and 377 from Canada over the past eight months; in addition 1,453 visitors from Kent and 1,002 from East Sussex signed their names - so perhaps the town is not entirely taken over by foreigners after all!
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 alway 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; a few spare copies are available from Squirrels, 9-13 Cinque Ports Street, and back numbers from Cyprus Place.(Copyright Mary Owen 1985)