Four hundred people, from all over the town and from the villages, came to the protest meeting on Thursdays See pages 4 and 5. - bisection.
• Stand above the Brede where Harbour Road crosses it. Take your time. Admire the pretty upstream view, white with hawthorn and cow-parsley, grey-green with willows dipping into the water from the gardens along the northern bank. Turn, and look downstream where the yachts are moored - the Strand Quay warehouses are just visible (so are the backsides of the Bournes lorries), and the Ypres Tower ends the panorama of the town, its great walls seen at their best from this level.
And why have you not been flattened like a hedgehog by this time? Because THE RDA FOOTBRIDGE IS OPEN: They finally tidied up the approaches last week, and now the bridge - hastily dropped into place just before the state visit of the chairman of the Development Commission in April 1986 - provides a safe and pleasant way to cross the river for pedestrians using Harbour Road. Care is still needed on the final straight stretch beside the garage, where provision of a footpath awaits the possibility of redevelopment there; but it is ever so much better than it was. Now we have the Sports Centre (with Sports Council money pushed in its direction by the Development Commission) and the new foot-bridge. Even the optimistic ESCC press office can't seriously claim that this will unlock those mythical 500 jobs in Harbour Road which we were hearing so much about last spring, but it is a most welcome start.
• Three weeks ago we heard rumours about a report in the Hastings Observer that Rye Harbour was to lose its bus service as from 15 June. We asked their parish councillor, Michael Alford, about this, and it was news to him. "Can't be true, then" we thought comfortably. In fact it is true, though not yet as bad as it sounds; a complicated document covering various threatened routes went out to affected Parish Councils last week.
What happened is this. Back in October when the bus bust-up took effect, H & D registered the Rye Harbour route as one they wanted to run commercially. A month ago, they exercised their right to withdraw it after six weeks' notice (along with other routes), and this was the report which appeared in the Observer. It would have been helpful, at that point, if ESCC had put out a press release making soothing noises - since in fact they have arranged for H & D to continue the service until mid-September, so Harbour people have no immediate problem. But what happens then? No-one seems to know. It seems that the children are taken to school by contract coach anyway; but it bodes ill for industry in Harbour Road if there is no public transport, let alone for the people in the village who work in Rye or beyond.
Ken Warren has been keeping up the pressure on English Heritage to open Camber Castle to the public. He heard recently from the chairman, Lord Montague of Beaulieu, that some limited opening may be possible from July; this will need further safety work, in particular in the south bastion, plus various grilles and gates. It is likely to be another two years before full opening will be possible.
Perhaps this is just as well. When it is finally open, Camber Castle will be a very considerable tourist attraction. At present the only approach is on foot across fields, either from the shag bend in Sea Road, Winchelsea, or from just over the Harbour Road bridge. In neither spot is there any appreciabl space for car parking. So what is suggested? "Rother is proposing a short- term use of one in Rye, with the longer-term plans for a special one closer at hand." The longer-term plans had better get going hastily, then, because just what Rother could have in mind for use as a short-term one is a bit of a puzzle!
2.
Mr. Arthur Hackman died peacefully in a nursing home in Crawley on 24 May, after a long illness. As manager of Boots from 1939 to 1968 he became a well-known figure-in Rye, taking an active part in the Chamber of Commerce, the Winchelsea Choral Society and Ryesingers. He was also very much involved with the Baptist Church, of which he was a lifelong member and treasurer for many years. Mr. Hackman is survived by his widow Adelaide and their son and grand-daughter; he will be greatly missed by their many friends in the Udimore Road area. The funeral has taken place, at Crawley; donations in his memory may be sent to Rye Memorial Hospital.
Mrs. Nancy Gibbs of Ferry Road, who died in a nursing home on 24 May aged 76, was surely Rye's senior shopkeeper. Until a few months ago she took pleasure in serving her friends and customers in the unique drapery shop opposite the Goods Yard, where the stock was chosen to reflect the requirements of the town's older ladies but often found customers among the younger set as well. Mrs. Gibbs was the youngest of six children; her family came to Rye in the 1920s, first to a shop in the Landgate and then to the town-side half of the Ferry Road premises (they incorporated the next-door shop later). When Mrs. Gibbs left school, she helped with the family business, and indeed ran the shop all through the war on her own, holding whist drives in the evenings for those left in the town; later she ran a dancing school in the Guide hut in Ailswort_ Lane, giving displays in the Ferry Road school with help, for Christmas pantomimes, from the Speedway Cycling Club. In 1979 her elder sister Jeanne, Miss Mills, became too frail to continue with the business (she is now bedridden, in a nursing home), and Mrs. Gibbs took over the management until, earlier this year, she went into Greyfriars for a rest; neither she nor her family realised quite how ill she was until a couple of days before she died. Mrs. Gibbs and her late husband Bill, who died 11 years ago, had no children, but she is mourned by nieces and nephews of several generations, as well as by many people in the town. The funeral takes place at St. Mary's on Friday (5th) at 1, followed by private cremation.
Mr. Albert Bryant, of Mason Road, has died in hospital after some months of illness, aged 77. He leaves a widow and large family. The funeral, at Rye Cemetery, has taken place.
An impressive roofing job has been taking place over the past couple of weeks on the tall pair of houses beside the Fire Station, where the Addys and the Southerdens decided to have both roofs re-tiled at the same time. They also decided to take down the chimney-pots, now no loner required - and found themselves with a wildlife problem: two families of young jackdaws were being reared in the chimney-stack! Since the builders could hardly postpone operations until the young had flown, they removed both nests and put them in a box on Miss Hickman's roof next door, out of the way of the workmen. For a short time the chicks were fed by hand with special food Mrs. Southerden got from the pet shop; but after a while the parents accepted the new home and started to feed their families again - three in one nest, four in the other. There was, says Mrs. Southerden, something of a problem at first about who was going to feed whom, since all seven were in the same box; but now, after quite a lot of squabbling, each pair keeps a respectable distance from the other and they take it in turn to feed their hungry babies.
Eleven French yachts were moored in Strand Quay at the weekend, guests of the Rye Harbour Sailing Club taking part in the annual cross-Channel visit from the clubs at St. Valery and Le Crotoy. Most came over on Thursday night (Ascension Day is a public holiday in France), and the Club entertained 35 French visitors to a buffet supper on Friday. Rye retained the Anglo-French Cup after a race in the Bay on Saturday, and most of the visitors departed that night. Rye boats pay a return visit in mid-June.
- 3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 3 June 1987
It is 25 years since Eric Le Fevre came to Rye to start up in business as an architect, and he could hardly have foreseen the way the practice would develop over that time. Le Fevre Wood & Royle's 1987 Newsletter describes a range of projects on which members of the team are currently engaged or have recently completed, throughout Kent and Sussex - conserving old buildings, designing new ones, or blending the two together. The two offices, in Rye and Hastings, employ 21 people, including a chartered surveyor and eight chartered architects. The death of Peter Shephard last July was a great loss and sadness to the firm. At the beginning of last month, however, Eric Le Fevre ceased to be a partner in much happier circumstances, since he is continuing as a consultant at the Rye office for three days a week and his years of experience are still available to the firm (and indeed to the town).
A reception at the Town Hall on Friday gave an opportunity for Eric's clients and business colleagues to wish him well in his - well, "retirement" is not really the word; anyway, to say they hope he will enjoy having a little more time to himself before long. Just at present everyone is settling down after a reorganisation. Ralph Wood now directs the Hastings office, where he has been based for many years; John Underwood has moved over to Rye, where he will be partner-in-charge. John Royle, the firm's surveyor partner, will still be based in Rye. We look forward to reporting on the next quarter of a century!
One day early last month, Nick Ramus was queueing at Rye station, Access card in hand, to buy a ticket to London. Suddenly, just ahead of him, a message was given to the counter clerk - who said "Sorry, I've got to go and drive a train, get your tickets where you can" and closed the window on a queue stretching out of the door. The ticket collector caught up with Nick on the London train: Rye?" he said sadly and with no surprise. Nick offered his Access card. The chap looked at it thoughtfully: "There is a way to deal with these" he said, "but I'm not really sure what it is". Nick offered cash, but the chap had no change; the flood of ticketless Rye passengers had taken all he had. Nick offered a bank card (something he never normally uses, and in fact it was out of date). Finally the ticket collector said "Well, no-one could say you haven't done your best to pay, sir" - and used the Access card number on the cheque.
But BR sometimes turns up trumps. Last Friday evening a local girl was waiting for the 19.40 to Ashford, due to connect with the train to Canterbury. It ran into Rye late, and she looked piteously at the man on duty; she couldn't possibly get across the line, with a suitcase, in the one minute which would be allowed at Ashford. "Don't you worry" came the answer, "I'll get them to hold it." At Ashford she hurried across, was greeted warmly by the Canterbury guard as "the lady we're waiting for" - and off they went.
It was a pity that whoever controls the new bus layby in Station Approach didn't feel inspired to remove the roping-off so that the buses could use it, even temporarily, on Thursday morning. As it was, just one bus waiting on the Post Office side meant that the queue for the railway car-park occupied the middle of the road, leaving very little room for a car, let alone a bus, coming the other way. The stationary queue also blocked the exit from the bus garage, so until a couple of parking spaces came empty and the queue could move up, a double-decker bound for Brighton was firmly hemmed in. Moreover...
There are now two sets of loos in Station Approach, the horrible old ones by the bus garage and the smart new ones by the Market. The smart new ones were supposed to open on Tuesday (last week) but there was still work to do, and the doors were firmly closed on Thursday morning. Never mind, we said apologetically to two desperate ladies hammering on them - use the other ones. We all looked across Station Approach - and there, believe it or not, were two more desperate ladies hammering on that closed door. Both lots of loos were locked; we do hope both lots of ladies made it to Rope Walk without undue inconvenience!
4.
Well, Rye certainly showed them! The normal capacity of the Community Centre, we learnt later, is a little over 200; somewhere over 400 people packed into it on Thursday night to testify to their disapproval of the proposed A259 route. We had been expecting perhaps 250, and some people had even doubted whether we'd get the chairs all filled; as it was, only the early birds got seats, and some people simply had to be turned away at the door. We apologise to them, and to those who so nobly stood for two hours in a very warm hall; we apologise to those who couldn't hear (400 bodies absorb a great deal of sound, and if we had known what lay ahead we would have borrowed a loud-hailer). But the very fact that people were prepared to put up with those conditions because they felt so strongly does prove that Rye will not let the Department get away with bisecting the town if Rye can possibly prevent it. We are most grateful to all those who displayed posters, to Joan Parkes, Margaret Owen, Diana Keam, Pat Brady and Kitty French who took the names at the door, and above all to Yvonne Hamilton for her calm, diligent and reliable note-taking, when it was not always easy to hear a speaker. We greatly appreciate the kind letters which reached us afterwards.
This meeting had been intended primarily as a means of identifying the snags in the proposed route, before collecting the names of those who would be interested in forming an action group; we had not envisaged it as a formal meeting with resolutions. However, that was clearly what the audience wanted, and early on James Menhinick proposed "that this meeting rejects the DoT A259 scheme in toto and demands an actual bypass for Rye town". It will be no surprise to readers that this was passed unanimously. A later resolution proposed by Alan Crick, "that the Department be asked to make a further analysis of Routes 1, 7 and 8", was also passed with (as far as we could see) no dissentients. The meeting also registered an objection to the Winchelsea bypass route on the grounds that it interfered with any possibility of a bypass for Rye. All three resolutions have been passed on to the Department and the Town Council.
There was also an early decision to set up an action group to work with and support the Town Council in its efforts to get the proposal turned down. 27 people gave in their names, and the first meeting will be held on Monday of next week (8th) at 7.30 in Room 2 at the FE Centre; anyone who would like to help but did not put their name down on Thursday will be welcome to go along, particularly if they have any specially relevant skills or experience. A secretary is badly needed, as far as we could see from the list; the Editor can't undertake this and run the GAZETTE, but will be glad to act as press liaison officer if required. Has anyone got any national-newspaper contacts?
Various suggestions were made about what the group should do. From the chair we tried to deter speakers from going into too much detail: the exact method of conducting an amateur traffic survey is something for the group to discuss, rather than for the whole meeting. One suggestion which could be put into immediate effect would be a petition to be offered to those going into the polling stations on the 11th; another was the distribution of a leaflet to every household in the town, listing the "top 20" objections and asking people to number them in order of priority and then return the form. The question of a fighting fund was raised, and several people offered generous donations; but the proper time for this is when the action group is more established, with a treasurer to take charge of the fund - perhaps the question should be raised at the Town Council's forthcoming Open Meeting at Upper School on 17 June. The first priority is to elect a chairman - in the meantime, Brian Atkins has agreed to take the chair at the first meeting, and to allow his phone number to be used as a contact.
On Tuesday the Town Council had voted 9-2, with two abstentions (and three absentees) to reject the proposed route and press for a northerly route (a variant of Route 1). Since George Shackleton had proposed this, we invited him to justify this choice of route to the audience.
(continued...)
(...continued)
Councillor Shackleton explained that, assuming it was not possible to shake the consultants' figures, the southern route was simply not viable financially, however desirable it might seem to the layman looking at the map. A northern route, however, would pick up traffic from the Battle road and the A268; and a Department official had told him that this was the only other route they might be willing to consider. A show of hands indicated a majority of the audience in favour of a northerly route (we saw no way of attempting to take a formal vote); the third alternative, that things should be left as they are, got few supporters. Incidentally, two of the Town Councillors who voted against Councillor Shackleton's proposition did so because they were doubtful about a northern route, not because they wanted the proposed one; we were unable to ascertain the views of Councillors Wiseman and Starkey - and Councillors Le Fevre, Kirkham and Camier were not at the Council meeting.
At least one of the speakers on Thursday had failed to study the brochure properly. Routes 1 to 8, as shown on the upper map, are all rejects - and this includes Route 4. The difference between Route 4 and the proposed route is that Route 4 (Z7.1m) runs along the south side of the existing railway (see blurb), while the proposed route means moving the railway over 26 metres to the north - and no-one is saying whether the £6.9m cost includes what BR would want for doing this!
Route 1 is described in the Department's blurb as being mainly within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This is a less forceful argument against it than would at first appear, since the route they propose is also, from Winchelsea to Rye, within the same Area, and indeed all the routes leave Rye through an Area of Special Scientific Interest. Moreover, the proposed route splits a Conservation Area (Military Road as far as the Globe, and not North Salts as we wrongly said last week).
Many readers will already have sent their forms back to the Department. Those who are still wondering exactly what to include may like to wait until after next week's GAZETTE, when we hope to give a detailed list of objections to the proposed route. It is also important for Rye people to otject formally, as individuals, to that section of the Winchelsea route which lands us with a throughway; this should be on a separate sheet of paper, clearly headed as a separate subject, though it can be sent to the same address - which is, for those who have lost their envelopes:
Department of Transport (Room 411)
South East Regional Office,
Federated House,
London Road,
DORKING, Surrey, RH4 1BR.
The Town Council is holding a formal and properly advertised meeting to hear speakers from both sides (if they can find any in favour, naturally) on WEDNESDAY EVENING, 17 JUNE, AT UPPER SCHOOL HALL - a fortnight from today. There will be seats for everyone then, so please keep the date and try to come. This is a serious matter for us all, and it will help the Council if there is another really decisive turnout. The town will expect its newly-elected MP to be present.
Talking of MPs, it was regrettable that, despite a clear direction from the chair that politics should not enter into the discussion, the Labour candidate was trying to push her petition at the door, one speaker saw fit to preface his otherwise useful remarks with a statement of his political views, three people from the opposite side were then childish enough to walk out, and the Liberal agent was noticed canvassing at the back of the hall. (In consequence, we are not going to report any of their meetings in the GAZETTE; we think readers have had quite enough of elections!) But we were amused by an account in The Independent of a day spent canvassing with a no-hoper: the Labour candidate for Bexhill & Battle had hoped to stand for Hastings & Rye, he told the reporter, "but a feminist faction had wanted a woman candidate". Rye feminists, this is your year!
6.
James Kimber, owner of The Apothecary's Shop building, is putting in hand repairs to the hole in its side which has been there for some time, ever since the mathematical tiles which clad the building received some kind of a bash which damaged a small section of them. But there is a potentially much worse problem there, which is causing concern to local conservationists and planners. Mathematical tiles are, like other tiles, suspended from nails; unlike other tiles, the nails are much more susceptible to damage from water and then from rust - which eventually swells the nail, which splits the tile, and since these tiles are hung vertically and not on a roof slope it is all too easy for the whole lot to come straight down. Indeed, Ralph Wood is currently advising on a building in Hastings where the entire wall-cladding has come down in this way!
One way to protect the nails is to paint the tiles, and keep them painted - and this was done at The Apothecary's Shop 11 years ago. Now, however, the paint is beginning to need renewing, as a protective rather than simply a cosmetic measure. We trust that Mr. Kimber as owner (the present occupants are all tenants) will look seriously at the problem, before something disastrous happens to this building which is such an important feature of the High Street.
At a Planning Committee on Tuesday, the Town Council discussed the McCarthy & Stone plans for Strand Quay (the old Hinds yard). The project architect had come to sit in on the meeting, and was invited to clarify several points; his answers satisfied anyway a majority of the councillors, since the application was approved by 7 votes to 4. It will presumably come before Rother at the June planning meeting. An earlier plan which had been shown informally to councillors some time ago had had to be modified, said the architect, because of - guess what? Structural problems with the foundations: Rye's peat strikes again! The new owners completed the acquisition of the site on 17 May.
Councillors were told that the 49 apartments would be advertised only within a ten-mile radius of the town for the first year, to allow local people to have first chance to buy them. Each one is sold on a 99-year lease, which gives the company the opportunity to vet prospective owners - reluctantly refusing, for instance, someone obviously too frail to cope on their own under even such sheltered conditions. Occupants must be aged at least 60 - a spouse could be up to five years younger; in fact, most are likely to be in their middle 70s.
We do wonder about the vehicle access into Wish Ward; the architect said that this was only for residents' cars, and that shop delivery lorries would have to park in the street - but "the street" is either The Deals or the A259. should there be a layby somewhere for deliveries?
The Planning Committee also considered the change-of-use application for ex-Dewhursts into an estate agents' office. It was approved reluctantly, with a note to Rother that yet another shop has gone "to be replaced by yet another dismal office". If that isn't a challenge to Braxtons, the house- agents concerned, we don't know what is!
Segas assure us that their application (GAZETTE no. 226) to close Wish Ward for four to six weeks to lay a new gas main was in fact playing safe. Unless they hit any unexpected snags (not unusual in Rye, they have found!) the work is likely to take two to three weeks, and under present plans they intend to begin on 29 June.
A much worse road closure starts on 13 July and is likely to last ten days. The A259 is to be resurfaced (and locals tell us it needs it very badly) between the far end of New Road and the East Guldeford level crossing. Large machinery is necessary, and as the road is very narrow here it will be closed to through traffic while the work is in progress. The Bakers and the Pilchers, just over the crossing, will have to go the best part of nine miles to get into Rye, via Brookland, Brenzett, Old Romney, Lydd and Camber!
7.
The summer bus timetables are now in operation, and they include an interesting new Sunday service run by Top Line (Eastbourne and Southdown bus companies, who have just moved into Hastings after gaining the school bus contract there). Service 99 runs on Sundays and public holidays, five times a day, between Camber and Eastbourne. In combination with the existing Service 11/12 Sunday buses, this means that you can leave Rye for Camber on a Sunday at 9.29 or 9.30, 11.0, 11.29, 13.29, 14.00, 15.29/15.30, and 18.30; the overlapping times are because the two routes continue differently (Topline turns round, H & D continues on to Folkestone). Buses back leave Camber at 10.00, 11.18, 11.30, 13.18, 14.30, 15.18, 16.30, 17.18, 19.00 and 20.07. This gives a particularly good service home from the beach in the afternoon, but is very handsome provision throughout the day; we understand, however, that return tickets are not interchangeable between the two companies. Both services continue on to Hastings from Rye (Topline to Eastbourne) - add about 20 minutes to the Camber departure times.
Timetables for Topline and H & D services are available from the Council offices - plus that for Fuggles, who run regular Monday-Saturday buses between Rye and Tenterden (Service 312) and also a Thursdays-only market shopping bus from foreign parts beyond Tenterden into Rye via Appledore, returning two hours later (Service 7). Autopoint tell us that ESCC is responsible for producing its County Rider timetable - which doubtless accounts for it not yet being on offers As always, however, Clifford Foster has Fixtures bang up to date, including the latest County Rider alterations.
• Joanna Spencer, ex-TPS and formerly of Iden, has been selected for the British student basketball team to compete in the World Student Games in Zagreb, Jugoslavia, this year - lasting a fortnight from 4 July. Now in the third year of her B.Ed.Hons course (Physical Education with Maths), Jo is a student at Chelsea College of Human Movement, part of Brighton Polytechnic. In order to take up her place in the team, Jo has to find 0250 towards the cost of the event; sponsorship offers will be gratefully received c/o her parents, Peter and Barbara Spencer, Kiln Cottage, Pottery Lane, Brede.
• We are glad to report that the St. John Ambulance Nursing Division Cadets came third out of 8 teams in a Regional contest at the weekend, competing against top teams from Kent, Surrey, Jersey and Guernsey. Congratulations to Sally Mitchell, Kirsty Piggott, Sheila Crisford, Angela Robus and Nadine Mitchell.
• At the BRCS Over-60s Club last week a presentation was made, by Mrs. Hilary Bolton on behalf of the members, to Mrs. Joyce Payton who is retiring as the Club's organiser after ten years; the cheque will go towards a garden statue. For the moment, Mrs. Bolton is to run the Club - it was as one of its helpers (with Margaret Middleditch and Freda Holmes) that she first joined the Red Cross in 1973, and some of the original members are still part of the Club, and have made her very welcome.
• Anthony Neville, of 15 Market Street (Rye 224552), is arranging a Book Fair at the George Hotel on Saturday week (13 June) from 9 to 5, admission free. 15 Kent and Sussex booksellers will be taking part, and over 5,000 books will be on sale in a wide variety including art, biography, children's books, cookery, English and French literature, exploration and travel, local history and topography, modern first editions, natural history, and Victorian and Edwardian illustrated books. Prices will range from under Cl to over C100, and the oldest book will be one dating from the C17 in a contemporary binding.
• Barbara Fearon (who, to our great regret, has sold her house and will be leaving Rye later this summer for Totnes) tells us that there are a few seats left, at £7, for the FRAG outing to Cookham on Tuesday, 30 June - Stanley Spencer's birthday, when the village he made famous will be en fete. Although Berkshire sounds a long way off, much of the road is motorway and the journey won't seem long, says Barbara; if you want to be sure of a seat, ring her.
Save a Life session, Clinic, 7 to 9 TPS New Parents evening, Lower School
Vidler & Co's monthly auction sale, 10
Ken Warren (Conservative) election meeting, TH, 8
Mencap flag-day
Rye WI Group Fair, FEC, 10 to 12
Semi-Quavers Jazz Band in aid of Hospice Appeal, CC, 8
Pre-election questions and answers, Baptist Hall, 7.30 (below)
Uckfield Industries Band, Mermaid, 3 'Pass the Cat' Band, Ypres, 8
Joy Hurcombe (Labour) election meeting, 1.H, 7.30
Rye WI, "Unusual salads" (Miss J. Cox), FEC, 7
Local History Group (A259 meeting) CANCELLED, see below.
• Congratulations to Shane and Marie Bourne on the birth of their daughter Emma Marie on 14 May - a first grand-daughter for Jim and Kathleen Duffy of Lea Avenue (who already have two grandsons).
• Instead of discussing the A259 route at a special meeting on 10 June, the Local History Group will look at it during the next regular meeting (1 July). However, members are urged to be at the Town Council's Open Meeting at Upper School today fortnight (17 June) to keep an eye on developments.
• Barclays Bank is looking for an audio-typist with some experience, to start as soon as possible at the Rye Branch. This is an interesting and varied permanent job, Monday to Friday with a basic 35-hour week. Starting salary 15,739, plus profit share, plus Christmas bonus. Applications in writing to the Manager, Peter Jeffrey, Barclays Bank, High Street, Rye.
• Sally Todd at Rye Goldsmiths in the High Street is looking for a trainee sales assistant (must be fond of ducks!), aged between 16 and 18 as the job is connected with the YTS. Five-day week includes Tuesdays and Saturdays. Call at the shop, or phone for an appointment.
• New secretary of the Community Health Council is Mrs. Patricia Marston, who started work at the office in St. Helen's Hospital on Monday. She was previously the Manager of the Rehabilitation Development Unit at RESH. We look forward to meeting her over here - perhaps at a Community Lunch Group meeting? - before very long.
• The Royal National Institute for the Blind have their house-to-house collection in the town from Monday to Saturday, 22-27 June; there is a flag-day on the Saturday. Mrs. Hilda Nelson-Barrett, chairman of the small Rye committee, would welcome offers of help for either; ring her (North Salts). She would also be pleased to hear from shops or offices willing to take a collecting tin for the week - or longer, if they like.
• Liberal and Labour candidates will sit together at the Baptist Church Hall on Saturday at 7.30, taking part in a question-and-answer session arranged by the Council of Churches and the Christian Care Group. Subjects discussed will include abortion, obscene publications, morals in education, Sunday trading, marriage and the family, and surrogacy. Admission is free, and coffee will be provided.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 2 Cyprus Place, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7DR (0797 222303), and printed by Cinque Ports Stationers of Rye. Deadline, Monday afternoon for Wednesday's delivery. The paper costs subscribers 30p, payable quarterly or half-yearly in advance; a few spare copies may be available from Cyprus Place. (Copyright Mary Owen 1987)