The Remembrance Sunday commemoration is something which Rye does supremely well, and this year's was no exception. The start of the parade had been moved down to Hilder's Cliff, which gave more impact to the long line marching up to the church; we traced the unexpected martial music to Michael Bourn's young son Philip, who had a vast and efficient cassette player slung round his neck. Strong contingents from the Sea Cadets and the ATC gave a military flavour to the parade, led of course by the British Legion and RAF Association and followed by the various civilian groups, both voluntary and professional. The Mayor joined them, attended by some of the Town Councillors, the Town Clerk end the Macebearers, to take their seats in the packed church before the standards were borne up the aisle to the altar.
As President of the Women's Section of the Legion, Lady Jones read the familiar passage from Ecclesiasticus. "There be of them, that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported. And some there be, which have no memorial; who are perished as though they had never been; and are become ascthough they had never been born, and their children after them. But these werecmerciful men, whose righteousness bath not been forgotten." Not forgotten in Rye, certainly, where long memories still recall the 145 men whose names are inscribed on the upper, WWI, section of the War Memorial.
From the pulpit, the Rev. Stephen Ingham spoke about WW2 - a war which is now only history to the two generations which have become adult since it ended. He too was anxious that something should not be forgotten: the evil which led to the prison camps and massacres in both Europe and the Far East. "It is crucial to the future of our civilisation" he said " that these things should be remembered." Many of those present will have agreed with him, though it is an unfashionable view in some circles; we felt like clapping.
Right at the back of the church, a third generation was held up to see the pretty flags come down the aisle: young Stuart, whose behaviour had been exemplary throughout the service, watched them wide-eyed. What of Remembrance Sunday, we wondered, when he is old enough to march with the Scouts in ten years' time - or, perhaps, with the police or firemen in 2010?
Out in the sunshine and the bitter cold wind, the Act of Remembrance took place; Ale bugle was on tape, but the traditional words were spoken by General Sir Charles Jones, formerly President of the national Royal British Legion and now President of the Rye Branch. Prayers were read by the ministers of the other Rye churches, and 22 poppy wreaths lay at the foot of the War Memorial. They included tributes from the Mayor and Town Council, the Royal British Legion and its Women's Section, the RBL Club, the RAF Association, the ATC, the Sea Cadets; the Rye Police, St. John Ambulance Brigade and the Fire Brigade; the Red Cross and the WRVS, the Scouts and Guides, Thomas Peacocke School, Rotary, Round Table, Lions, the Chamber of Trade, the Bonfire Society and the Bowls Club. The RAF Association wreath was laid by Mr. Alistair Summerfelt of Northiam, now in his 90s; he was a member of the Royal Flying Corps in WWI, and a civilian prisoner of the Japanese in WW2, as was his wife. We are also proud to record that one of the people who took the collection (for the Poppy Appeal) during the service was a holder of the Dutch equivalent of the VC, won at Arnhem.
It was unfortunate that just at the moment when the standards were lowered during the two minutes' silence between the bugle calls, a car came bumping down the cobbles from Market Street. Doubtless the driver had forgotten but he must have seen, and it would have been sensitive to stop. Would it be possible, next year, to have someone standing at the corners for those few minutes, to remind drivers of what is happening beside the War Memorial?
2.
Mrs. Annie Barden died in Rye Hospital on 6 November. She was 88, and her health and sight had been failing for some time. Mrs. Barden was the widow of Frederick Barden, one of Rye's postmen and a fisherman in his spare time; she brought up a family of 16 children and stepchildren, and leaves a multitude of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Barden set up their first home in Winchel- sea Road, in the days when there was only a gravel track across the Marsh fields; later they moved to Military Road, where her family were brought up, and she eventually gave up her home in Pottingfield Road, living with her daughter in Broad Oak in recent years. Mrs. Barden was a member of the Blind Club which meets so successfully in Winchelsea, and also attended the Wednesday Day Centre in Rye. Her family would particularly like to express their appreciation of the loving care which she received from the staff of Rye Hospital, where she was a patient on several occasions; she never minded going there, says her daughter, and enjoyed meeting old friends among both staff and patients. The funeral takes place at St. Mary's today (Wednesday) at 2, followed by burial in Rye Cemetery.
The funeral of Mr. Heinrich Gramann, whose death was announced last week, takes glace at St. Nary's at 11.45 tomorrow (Thursday).
The Rye Hospital Action Group held its fifth meeting on Wednesday. The final date for returning the petition forms is, officially, Friday of this week (15th); they should be addressed to the Group c/o The Post Office, Rye. (But they appreciate that this is rather short notice; if you don't even read this until Saturday, please don't simply throw away your forms but return them to the Post Office as soon as you possibly can.)
The Action Group noted that there had been a magnificent response from all sections of the community to the Group's initiative designed to build up the groundswell of public concern and opinion, seen as a crucial issue in the campaign to fight the threatened closure of Rye and Winchelsea District Memorial Hospital. To date, over 6,000 signatures and well over 100 letters have been received.
This important phase in the campaign has proved to be an outstanding success and Jake Jacobs, Chairman of the Group, would like to extend on behalf of its members its thanks to the many people who have given their support.
The Group is now in the process of compiling a report for submission to the concerned authorities. The petition forms will accompany the report.
We had hoped to combine this press release from the Action Group with some information about the public meeting to be held by the League of Friends of the hospital at Thomas Peacocke Upper School at 7.45 next Wednesday, 20 November. Unfortunately, the arrangements for that meeting will not be decided until today, so we are unable to give any further details - sorry.
If the 16.40 train last Thursday hadn't left Hastings twenty minutes late, we shouldn't have been browsing through the notices on the platform at all. As it was, we were very surprised to see that the printed list of winter departure times (of which there is another copy in the downstairs booking hall) completely omits two of our trains; the 11.40 and 15.40 from Hastings to Ashford simply don't appear. More cuts sneaked in? we thought - and checked with passenger information at Hastings, who assure us that these trains do in fact run; but it makes one wonder about the competence of whoever proof-read the list!
In a blank space on the list on the platform, someone had added a small typed notice, heavily emphasised by a scarlet foil arrow and the word "Important" in red. This was clearly something everyone should read, we assumed - and then found that in the fading afternoon light we couldn't: it had been typed using a rather elderly ribbon on brown cardboard: Surely ER could run to a 6" square of white paper for whatever it was that was so important...?
- 3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 13 November 1985
Joanne Haviland was really thrilled when she got the results of the examination taken recently by some of her Rye Dance Centre's 170 pupils, examinations set by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, in modern dance and tap. The Centre had a 96% pass rate! 75 different examinations were taken (one girl took three), and 72 passes were recorded. Among the 72, one went to the only boy to take an exam (there are 8 boys among the students); and all those in the adult tap class who had chosen to take the exam passed. Six of the Centre's pupils gained top marks.
Among Joanne's students are now 40 "babies", whom she divides into two groups the very tinies, who take life easy, and the slightly older ones who are more ambitious. They always steal the show when it comes to a stage performance; the Centre is not putting one on this year, but next year's, says Joanne a little apprehensively, should be quite something - particularly if she intends to incor porate all her 170 dancers!
Last year Claire Piper brought home a handsome cup for coming second in the Mastermind quiz organised for St. John cadets from all over East Sussex. Last weekend Mrs. Marilyn Mitchell duly returned it to Lewes for this year's Final; but she need hardly have bothered, for Zena Streeton promptly brought it back again! Zena, who is 16 and lives in Pottingfield Road, was one of six finalists at Lewes at the weekend. In the semi-final she had chosen Child Care as her special subject, and at Lewes it was Needlework. She was competing against one other girl and four boys - the winner was again a boy. Congratulations!
We have heard recently from two people who regarded with deep suspicion a funny-looking coin they had received in their change - with a palm-tree on it, and foreign writing round the milled edge. One lady had come by five of them, and phoned to ask us to warn readers against the danger. She was very relieved to discover that what she had were five perfectly good £1 coins: the palm-tree is really a leek, and the mysterious language is Welsh. There is also a Scottish Cl coin, bearing what looks like a vase of flowers but is really a thistle; here the writing round the edge is, disappointingly, not in Erse or Gaelic but in a language both foreign and dead, Latin - as it is on the English version of the coin, which has the Royal Arms on the back.
A small paragraph at the foot of page 3 in Friday's Sussex Express carried big news: Senews (parent company of the Express) has reached agreement, subject to contract, for the acquisition of the Impact News Group (parent company of the East Sussex News). Both groups, of course, also publish other papers elsewhere.
Worried that this might mean the loss of the News, we rang their St. Leonards office - to condole? Certainly not, we were told; a statement in Thursday's paper will be announcing a merger, with the News continuing exactly as it is now, no redundancies among its staff, and fierce competition between the two papers. However, the Sussex Express statement - appearing, oddly, almost a week before the News statement - makes no reference at all to a merger. The word used is "acquisition", and it is the "new subsidiary" which will "continue to be autonomously managed". A conversation which one of our local councillors had with a member of the Express staff at the Lewes office (he had phoned about a quite different report) certainly left him doubtful about the meaning of "autonomous".
Anyway, as things are now we shall continue to receive the News - the free paper, delivered widely in Rye, available in the villages, and dealing primarily with what goes on in Rye and Battle and the surrounding districts. The Sussex Express will (presumably) continue to produce its Rye edition, offering a generous quantity of newsprint for only 15p. And for the GAZETTE's future prospects, see page 7.
4.
Last week's report about the Carshalton lady who complained about behaviour a Rye bus station obviously struck sensitive chords. The school, who had written to her and had a letter back, had thought she was mollified - though this wasn't what she said to us. Several people in the town told us that they entirely agreed with her and that it was something that had needed saying for some time.
However, one person who wouldn't agree with her is bus driver Michael Cosens, who lives in Ore and normally drives the open-top tourist buses in Hastings. Because of a staff shortage he was asked, this summer, to take the 7.30 bus into Rye from Northiam via Broad Oak and Udimore - a service used by Thomas Peacocke children on their way to school; he did this journey from May to October. Back cn his normal duties, he has written to the school, and one of the staff kindly read us his letter, pinned up on the staff-room board.
Mr. Cosens, new to the route, had depended on his passengers to tell him how many children he should be picking up, and where. "The.pupils were most helpful; always polite and well-mannered, and are a real credit both to your school and their parents. There was never any trouble, no arguments, and no damage done to the bus." At the end of his stint, they sent him cards saying thank-you - "better than winning on the pools" he says. Other bus routes, please copy!
In its Battle edition last week, the Sussex Express reported on the trouble which marred Battle Bonfire Night and quoted from a letter by a Battle resident in which she stated that "Battle's reputation is now competing with Rye for violence"! Jimper Sutton saw this, and was extremely indignant. Rye Bonfire Night does not have a reputation for violence - admittedly there was the unfortunate incident of the constable and the burning boat, but that was over a hundred years ago! - and he felt that the reputation of his Bonfire Boys and indeed of the town generally had been muddied.
He rang the writer of the letter, who has also spoken to us. It seems that she wrote hei letter (to the Battle Bonfire Boys) very much in the heat of the moment, ;hen her sister was in hospital with injuries to her face and eye, and other Zriends had also been hurt during the evening. Her incidental remark about Rye was prompted by something she had been told and hadn't checked up on (it happens to all of us!). Anyway, she has written to the Express retracting her statement and presumably they will be printing her letter; and she is very sorry for the unintentional slur on Rye. What still worries her - and doubtless a lot of people in Battle - is what could happen there next year, when they celebrate 300 years of Bonfire Nights.
The current list has an application from Goulds for a panel casting building, to cover in the existing outside casting area at the firm's Harbour Road works; the plan shows a building 60' x 25', 26' high, with the roof in corrugated sheet and the walls in concrete and corrugated to match the existing buildings. Back in Rye, Sheila Brown at Swan Cottage in The Mint applies to use two bedrooms for bed-and-breakfast accommodation, to use the garden (at the back) as a tea-garden, to put up a sign saying "accommodation" and to spotlight her existing projecting sign.
As well as sundry minor thefts in the town, the book this week has three warnings which we pass on, though they do not immediately concern Rye itself. Parents and teachers are asked to remind children that they should never take lifts from stran gers, whatever the explanation given; this arises from an incident in Eastbourne, where the 11-year-old concerned fortunately had the sense not to. Owners of surf- and sail-boards are warned not to leave them unattended, since two have been stolen in the area recently. And finally, a lady working in Northiam lost the contents of her handbag when a man was given permission to use the toilet and subsequently sneaked into her office; he and his driver companion were both in their early twenties, and could well, we imagine, try the same trick again?
5.
Two framed pages from a very special book now hang on the wall of the new Lifeboat House at the Harbour. In 1975 the RNLI commissioned Joan Pilsbury, a member of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators, to prepare a memorial book listing the names of all those recorded by the RNLI (whose early records, they admit, are far from complete) as having lost their lives on lifeboat service. Miss Pilsbury was helped by Margaret Alexander, Heather Child, Wendy Gould and Wendy Westover, and between them they contributed more than a hundred miniature paintings and over sixty decorative borders, as well as many coats of arms, to the book, as well as recording in elegant script and alphabetical orCer each station from whit a crew member had been lost, together with E.s name and the date and occasion of the service. This volume was described in The Lifeboat Journal, Winter 1976/6, and Dr. Hale has lent us a copy of the article. The book is at present in the National Library of Scotland, the home country of The Lord Saltoun, MC, who was deeply involved in its preparation. (It was, incidentally, bound by Sydney Cockerell, using oak cut from the "knees" used for the stems of lifeboats.)
1978 marked the 50th anniversary of the Rye Harbour lifeboat tragedy, and Dr. Hale and Humphrey Lestocq at that time arranged for the RNLI to supply copies of the two Rye pages of the book. One set is in Rye Harbour Church; one went to the late Mrs. Stonham, widow of the cox; and another has now been given to the Lifeboat House by Keith Downey and has been framed by Mary Lestocq. It shows the Rye Borough coat of arms at the top and a tiny watercolour of the Landgate Arch at the bottom, with a border probably the work of Wendy Gould who specialised in putting insects among her flowers: the names of the 17 lost crew members are listed on the two pages. This is a little work of art in its own right, despite the sad occasion for it, and it will be a pleasure to see for those who visit the Lifeboat House.
The article in The Lifeboat Journal is illustrated by the first and last pages of the book. On the last page, as it happens, appears Winchelsea, and it records that on 4 November 1882 Edward Robus lost his life during a service to the SS Matin. As far as we know, Winchelsea was the name for the Rye station when there was also a lifeboat stationed at Camber - indeed, the Camber station was the home of the first "Mary Stanford", launched in 1881, which went out 11 times in the next ten years. She was replaced eventually by the "Edward and Lucile", but the station closed in 1901 - probably because of the big new boat at Winchelsea/Rye from 1900, the "John William Dudley". This was the predeces- sor of the second "Mary Stanford", whose loss is commemorated every year at ' 3 time. (See GAZETTE no. 107 for a fuller account of the three "Mary Stanford E .)
On Sunday at 3, Rye Harbour Church will be full again for the annual commem orative service; officials from the RNLI and local lifeboatmen will be joined by people who remember the disaster themselves or whose relatives died in it on that wild night 57 years ago.
Theresa Balcombe of Tillingham Avenue and Paul Harmer of Tilling Green, both now in the fourth year at Freda Gardham School, went up to London recently to a preview of the poems and paintings included in the Cadbury Children's Book of Poetry; both have poems in the new 1985 edition - Theresa's called "The Magical Unicorn" and Paul's "Terra del Fuego". The poems were entered for the competition when both children were 10.
Other young poets from Freda Gardham include Kevin Mallen, who came second in the junior section of the Hastings Poetry Competition (four other pupils gained runner-up cerifficates). Daniel Blumire has had a poem published in the newspaper of the Schools Poetry Association; and Anthony Gray, son of Doug Gray of Thomas Peacocke School and now at Thomas Peacocke himself, had a poem in the magazine of the Red House Book Club.
(It was purely by chance that we heard about all this; please will people tell us when their own children or those of their friends do well? We do like to have good-news stories in the GAZETTE, and there are lots about.)
6.
By the time the Rother flows into the sea at Rye Harbour, two entirely different kinds of people have an interest in it: those concerned with shipping, and those concerned with land drainage. Sometimes their interests have conflicted, when the farmers wanted less (or more) water in the river, while the boat owners wanted more (or possibly less). But in recent times the management of both harbour and drainage was undertaken by the Kent River Board, and both jobs passed to the Southern Water Authority when it took over from the Board in the 1970s. The SWA is, of course, primarily concerned with the supply and disposal of water; Rye is the only harbour it owns, and is said to be the only one in the UK owned by a water authority. Most harbours have a management structure of their own, either public or private as the case may be. Rye has not.
There has been talk for some time about possible privatisation of the Harbour, transferring it from the care of a perhaps rather relieved SWA into other hands. What hands these should be is still under discussion, and exactly what should be transferred, and on what basis, is part of that discussion.
Ken Warren has recently been brought up to date on the position by the Chairman of the SWA; we hesitate to paraphrase Mr. Courtney's letter, so quote direct:
"The Authority are looking at the value of assets which may be appropriate for transfer in the event of privatisation of the Harbour. Subsequent discussi_is have proceeded on the basis that those properties directly associated with the operation of the Harbour should transfer in the event of privatisation at a peppercorn rent. Any new Harbour Authority would then be responsible for future maintenance and replacement of such areas as Strand Quay, Admiralty Jetty and the Chain Moorings. In addition to these areas, there are a number of properties in the general vicinity of the Harbour, the income from which has been taken into account and has helped to balance the Harbour's books. The historical reason for the Authority's ownership of these properties is more properly attributable to land drainage rather than harbour reasons and it is likely that the Authority would be required to transfer these at current market value. Lawyers are, of course, looking at the situation and the present Advisory Committee will be kept fully informed as to the progress of the negotiations... As regards the question of who a successor body might be, it has been made clear in the discussions that have taken place to date that the Water Authority would wish to be involved in the future running of the Harbour in view of their continuing land drainage interest and I understand current thinking on the part of the proponents of privatisation is that some form of Port Trust should be established, the Trustees being those most interested in the future operation of the Harbour. The rights of other users would, therefore, be protected."
Obviously this is not something that is going to happen next week, or even next year; but we shall hope to report developments as they come about.
At the meeting of Rother Council on 4 November, it was decided to explore further the appointment of a Museum Curator for Bexhill and the other museums in the district. George Shackleton, who was pushing for this three years ago, has been very firm in insisting that this should not be an appointment for the benefit of the Bexhill Museum only, but that the others should have the use of the curator's services if they need them, and this was agreed by Council. A job description for the post was produced with surprising rapidity afterwards, in time for the Recreation and Tourism meeting last night, and when Councillor Shackleton read it he felt that it did not really reflect the intentions of the Council. It was, therefore, suggested to last night's committee that before the job description was finally approved, representatives of all the museums in the District should meet to discuss what their future requirements were likely to be. As well as Bexhill Museum (not very large, and specialising in natural history) and our own, there is the Costume Museum at Bexhill and museums at Battle and Winchelsea, and it certainly does seem sensible that they should all be consulted before anything fundamental is done. Here again, we shall be reporting on future developments.
7.
• In GAZETTE no. 148 we wrote about the plan to set up a Rye branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, whose local activities have until now been under the auspices of the Hastings branch. On Tuesday, 26 November at 7.30 a public meeting will be held at Ma Beeton's in Cinque Ports Street, with the object of forming the new branch. Mrs. Margaret Bown from the Society's national HQ will attend, and it is hoped that a steering committee will be formed from volunteers present. All those with friends or relatives suffering from this still mysterious disease, or who are simply looking for a cause in need of help, will be cordially welcomed.
• Gil Wright, of the English Department at Thomas Peacocke School, was very disappointed that owing to confusion about the time, he missed a programme which went out on Channel 4 at 8 on Saturday evening: "Lions Led by Donkeys", about the Battle of the Somme. He had been anxious to record this so that he could use it with'a class studying the work of WWI poet Wilfred Owen. If anyone has a recording of this programme which Mr. Wright could borrow, he would be extremely grateful; a message left for him at the school will produce a swift reply.
• The EF Benson Society committee would very much like to buy a copy of a booklet prepared by the Rye Hospital League of Friends before the war, called "A Cargo of Recipes". This was sold in aid of hospital funds, and Benson contributed two recipes - though not the kind to be taken seriously! Someone with a copy of the book has sent the Society photocopies of the Benson entries, but they would really like the entire book to add to their collection. If anyone has a copy tucked away which they do not want, please contact the Society at 26 Oldfield Road, Bath, BA2 511F.
Last week's problem with our photocopier (and we are most grateful to Geerings, who put themselves out considerably to get it going again first thing on Wednesday) made us think that the ageing machine was trying to tell us something. The fact that all copies were distributed by early afternoon on Wednesday was entirely due to Cinque Ports Stationers, who did a third of them for us at no notice. So this week sees the start of a change in the system, and Cinque Ports Stationers will be printing the whole run from now until Christmas as an experiment. Wel-lope that they will then continue to do so on a regular basis. This means, of course, that each copy will cost more to produce - because in effect,we are taking on part-time help. To offset this and other rising costs, we give ong notice that from January, copies sold casually will cost 30p, and quarterly subscribers who have not paid by the end of the year will also be charged at the 50p rate (details later). We are reluctant to put all subscribers' copies up to 50p in April, but this may be necessary; the last price rise was in April 1983.
However, there is always the possibility of taking advertising; not in the body of the paper, which is too complicated, but in the form of slipped-in leaflet (in the trade this is inelegantly called "stuffing"!). It has snags - the chief one being the weight of the delivery bag - but the advantages for the advertiser would be that leaflets would be mentioned briefly in the body of the paper and, we would hope, passed on from household to household as the paper itself is; the handing-in deadline would be Tuesday lunch-time for Wednesday's delivery; and the target area comprises a wide cross-section of the local community, all keenly inter ested in what goes on in Rye.
Our policy of a free write-up for any new business, etc., in the town will of course continue, since this is news; but the service could be useful for established firms with something special to say, or to organisations who have left it too late to get an event into Fixtures. As for cost, we are thinking in terms of SAO a time, which is expensive for 450-plus copies - but then the GAZETTE readership is very specialised.
Anyone interested might like to get in touch with the Editor?
Rye Coin Club, "Pattern Coins of the UK" (E. Wheeler), FEC, 7.30
Ken Warren, MP, holds a surgery at the Council Offices from 3.30 (appointments from Hastings 423110, mornings)
Coffee morning, Friends of St. Jude's Women's Refuge, Red Cross,
Catholic Church Christmas Fair, FEC, 2.30 /10.0 Rye Art Gallery Trustees "At Home" and Subscribers' Meeting, Ockman's Lane, 5.30 to 7.30
Lifeboat Memorial Service, Rye Harbour Church, 3 (see page 5)
Thrift Shop, handing-in only, Red Cross Centre, 10.30 to 12.30 Formation meeting of new Landgate (Rye) Women's Institute, CC, 10.30 (come along and be a founder member!)
Public meeting, Rye Hospital League of Friends, Thomas Peacocke Upper School, 7.4
• Belated congratulations to Brian and Anne Moses, of Winchelsea Beach and Freda Gardham School, whose daughter Karen was born on 1 October.
• The Playden Church Autumn Fair at the FEC on Saturday raised £360 for church funds.
• The Peasmarsh bonfire, postponed from last Saturday because of the weather, will be lit this Saturday (16th) instead. Other arrangements unchanged: Glebe Field, Peasmarsh; 6.30 pm; admission 70p for Peasmarsh PTA funds.
• We got our Tans in a twist on this page last week: it was Ian Deans who spoke on "Wildlife Around Us" to the Natural History Society on Friday - not Ian Rumley-Dawson, whose talk on "Wildlife of the Canadian Backwoods" is not due until 13 December.
• Andrew Heather, on whose plans for his year-off at a mission station in Zaire we reported a fortnight ago, will be talking about them on Radio Sussex's Lunchdate programme today, some time between 1.10 and 1.40. Andrew will be speaking from the new Town Hall studio.
• Canon Maundrell would like to express his apologies for the poor state of health of the St. Mary's clock, which has temporarily given up striking (though the Quarter Boys are still at work). The trouble is only a small spring, but replacing it is not entirely straightforward and may take a few weeks.
• 80 knitted "tops" for children have gone to Ethiopia from the group which knits in the Upper Room at St. Mary's on Friday afternoons - and they are still knitting. Oddments of double-knitting wool in any colour (except white, which is the colour of mourning for the Ethiopians) can be left with Joyce Clark at Eagle Road for Anne Hamilton next door. Newcomers to the group are very welcome.
• At a meeting of interested parties on 6 November, the Rye Riverwatch Scheme was officially set up, covering our 4½ miles of waterways; it has, we hear, already proved its value, and we shall have a fuller account next week.
• Because weekend engineering work is taking place between London Bridge and Waterloo East, there will be alterations to services involving those stations and Charing Cross; "passengers making journeys involving connections at other London termini are in particular advised to allow plenty of extra time" says BR. You have been warned: There will be no trains between Ashford and Charing at the weekend either, because of work on a new bridge: buses, and delays, take their place.
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; a few spare copies (fewer than before now that we are having our printing done commercially) are available from Squirrels, 9-13 Cinque Forts Street, and back numbers from Cyprus Place. (Copyright Mary Owen 1985)