Mermaid Street looked a very damp version of Old Portsmouth when the rain poured endlessly down on Monday and the film crew stood about in depressed huddles assuringeach other that it was bound to clear up soon. Some of the residents felt that their human rights (e.g. to have their dustbins emptied and their laundry delivered) were being eroded by the demands of the filmmakers; but presumably the County Council (the highway authority) and the police were satisfied with the arrangements. Rother Council made room elsewhere for 'regulars' at the closed Strand Quay car park.
At least the influx of actors, administrators and supporting technicians (we heard there were nearly 200) is likely to bring a welcome surge of trade to the town - particularly if they are all standing about waiting for the rain to stop... Six boys and four girls are on standby at Freda Gardham as extras, but there was disappointment locally when the Hastings Jobcentre sent along a large number of Hastings and Bexhill people to the adult auditions, while few Rye people had heard about them. Among the stars due in the town later in the week are John Cleese, Michael Hordern, Marty Feldman (where has he been lately, we wonder?) and Peter Cook, as well as other faces familiar to Monty Python enthusiasts. "Yellowbeard", the end product of all this upheaval, is apparently a sort of pirate yarn, and on Monday night part of Church Square was in use as a red-light district - though for film purposes only, of course.
How many people who watch British Gypsum lorries negotiating Bannisters' corner, or gasp as a Mountsfield Roadstone giant judders to a halt at the temporary traffic lights on Udimore Road (that excavation, incidentally, is to go all the way to the top) realise that there is a fifty-fifty chance that they are in fact part of the J. & J. Jempson empire? The company, with a total fleet of some 60 vehicles, is now among the top 900 road haulage concerns in Britain-(out of a total of about 124,000); and while the late John Jempson was still alive to pass on his memories, the firm commissioned Professor Theo Barker of London University to write its story. The book has just been published, and Joan Parkes reviews it here.
The book contains well-researched factual accounts of trading balances, employment figures, and profits, interspersed with excellent photographs and interesting anecdotes.
Nationalisation in 1945 brought gloom but generous compensation from the government. John's mother was taken aback at this "strange occurrence in your business career". She advised her son to "wait upon God" and she was right.
The Rye depot was returned to private ownership in 1954 and it became obvious that state control had done John Jempson a good turn.
The bowling green has now closed for the winter, the final event being a spoon drive staged by the Bowls Club and won by Frank Clark from Mrs. E.M. Bennett. At a recent Club meeting, runners-up in the competitions received their trophies and future plans were discussed. Sunday was agreed to be the best day for weekend fixtures, with possible Wednesday afternoon matches as well; the Club has already had enquiries from touring sides. More spoon drives are planned for next season, and the Club will hold a dinner at the Queen's Head on 5 November. The Captain spoke of the improvement in playing standards during the season, and a tribute was paid to Mr. Colin Hudson, of Rother Council staff, for all his help. There is room for new members, both novices and more experienced players, who should write to the Secretary, Mr. Harold Law, 22 Pottingfield Road, Rye.
Very quietly and with no opening ceremony, the Udimore Road television relay station began transmitting on 21 September. The authorities were reminded of the existence of this booster station (originally used for 405-line reception) by the Rye Conservation Society, and subsequently prodded by Maurice Ellwood, and they finally agreed to refit the station for modern reception "sometime in the autumn". Normally with public bodies this means "next year if you're lucky", but a BBC van with telescopic aerial was parked in Udimore Road last week, testing reception, and the GAZETTE took the opportunity to make enquiries. The position is as follows:
Those in Rye who now get good reception from Dover can continue to do so with no change at all to their aerials. The new station is intended for those whose reception is bad at present, notably on the Tilling Green Estate and in the Strand quay area. Here, new aerials (what the BBC calls Group E, with the rods vertical and directed towards the top of Udimore Road) do make a remarkable difference, as those who have already changed over can testify; and a new aerial costs less than replacing a faulty amplifier, which would no longer be required. (The enterprising might just try realigning their present aerial, in case that does the trick - though officially it won't.)
Receiving Channel 4 - starting early next month and already sending out test transmissions - will mean adjusting your TV set in accordance with instructions in a leaflet available from TV dealers. This applies to those taking Dover or Udimore Road transmissions. Those who receive the Heathfield signal will find that Channel 4 is not available from there until the end of 1983, so they might prefer to alter their aerials in order to get it now from Udimore Road.
The BBC also points out that the new station will be directed towards the town (on a bearing of 55 degrees east of true north, for the technically-minded). There is no point in anyone along New Winchelsea Road, or on the Udimore side of the new transmitter, trying to receive it; they can't.
To sum up, the message seems to be: don't order an expensive aerial unless you are quite sure it will improve your reception. Contrary to the impression given by a widely circulated advertising leaflet, most people don't need to do anything at all.
Despite the drizzle, 22 members of the Community Centre's Junior Club plus half-a-dozen leaders turned up for a two-hour stint on Saturday afternoon picking up litter along the river bank below Monkbretton Bridge. Since they collected around 40 bags full of every kind of junk, the job was obviously a very worth-while contribution to Maritime Year. Another gesture made by the Centre towards the Year is to give the use of the hall free to two sea-based organisations for functions during the autumn: the Sea Cadets held their Michaelmas Fair there on Saturday (and made £190), and the RNLI plan a coffee morning later this month. The Scouts also have the hall free for their event in November. (Further details of both in a later GAZETTE.)
Lovers of E.F. Benson's books about the formidable Lucia, Miss Mapp and their social circle, written between the wars and so very clearly set in and near the Rye of that period, will remember Diva's tea-room at which all the neighbourhood met for refreshment and gossip. It is perhaps too much to hope that such a tradition should be revived fifty years later. But at The Old Vicarage, only half a street away from Diva's fictional establishment, the Thompsons are planning something very similar. Feeling that, particularly in the summer, the tourist invasion of Rye leaves little room for the locals, they are proposing to close their own tea-room to the general public on Wednesdays and open it instead to those who would like to entertain their friends in the town without the hassle of making cakes and tidying up the house. There will be three sittings, at 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0, to allow for people's other commit- ments; prior booking is essential - on Rye 2119. The first "local Wednesday" will be next week, on 13 October.
The GAZETTE thinks this is a splendid idea, and hopes that, like Diva's tea-room in "Trouble for Lucia", the Old Vicarage Wednesdays will be "flourishing, all so pleasant and chatty". Incidentally, the Library has all the Lucia books, and anyone who enjoys light social comedy and has not yet come across them has a real pleasure ahead.
3.
The current exhibition at the commercial sister of the Rye Art Gallery (till 26 October) displays a most interesting selection of highly professional craft work from the Society of Designer-Craftsmen. Almost all the exhibitors are new names to the gallery, and the overall effect is fresh and stimulating. Your reviewer would most like to steal one of the strokable animal sculptures, but there are other extremely desirable objects on view, often presenting interesting contrasts in technique. Four artists have their own variations of tapestry, glass is engraved in two very different ways, delicate porcelain structures are shown among unusual pottery. There are jigsaws and relief carvings to hang on the wall, and the most delicious assortment of hats available to anyone with the nerve and the money to wear one. Runaway success on the first morning went to a Welshman whose fragile wooden bowls were sold out within an hour; the gallery is hoping to obtain a further supply.
The GAZETTE thought it might be of interest to assemble notes on the various river-bank planning applications under way at the moment - there may well be more we don't know about. At the recent Harbour of Rye Advisory Committee meeting, considerable time was spent in discussion of a plan which apparently received outline permission eighteen months ago: a complicated proposal from Cornus Properties Ltd. to build a new wharf beside Alsfords' present one at Rye Harbour and warehousing in connection with it, also moorings upstream from the wharf site plus 55 chalet-type houses for those using the moorings. We understand that the original permission was given subject to the river-bank work being completed before the ancillary building began; the matter came up last week because Cornus now wants to be allowed to build the warehouses without a wharf at all. Icklesham Parish-Council (which covers Rye Harbour) is unhappy about this, since its view is that any development allowed in the area should relate primarily to the river; but the cargo shipping interests represented seemed to be in favour of the proposal. No recommendation back was made.
The Rye Harbour Sailing Club is still wrestling with administrative details to do with its proposed wet moorings; a recent development here is that the Southern Water Authority, in return for permission to have the 70-berth marina on its land, has finally ceded to the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve rights over the rest of the ecologically interesting marsh towards the river mouth.
Further upstream, at North Point on the Camber side of the river, there are plans out for water-skiing, canoeing, etc., on the gravel pits. Ultimately, when the gravel extraction is completed, there may well be another wet moorings project here, this time backed by Rye Golf Club, owners of the land.
Upstream again, the Southern Water Authority itself has plans for moorings on the downside riverbank above Monkbretton Bridge, along the back of the cricket salts. Only motor boats, without masts, would be able to use these moorings, and access would be via the Rye Service Station, situated immediately beside the narrow and busy bridge. Many people are not happy about this application.
A fifth project will very soon get going once the final planning applications are cleared. Le Fevre, Wood & Royle are preparing a development for Mr. John Barwell, who lives in Kent and often sails from Rye, along the rather scruffy Rock Channel frontage beyond Bournes' yard and in front of the Sea Cadets' HQ. The area includes a slipway, and the plan is for five light industrial "starter units", one of which will be suitable for a boatbuilder. Second stage of this project is for 15 houses with moorings, downstream from the industrial units - this would, thank goodness, mean the removal of the rusty skeleton of girders which has for so long disfigured the area. Access to the whole development will be via St. Margaret's Terrace (not Shipyard Lane, which will be gated off), and the Terrace roadway will be improved and widened for this purpose. Bournes will also be reorganising their present lorry parking arrangements so that the access road, and the public footpath, will go round their very congested yard instead of through it as at present. The position about the narrow stretch of road beside Strand Coachworks is still not clear and could, it would seem, present problems.
£14-worth of assorted chocolate bars were stolen from Thomas Peacocke Upper School tuckshop store last week.
4.
Even in a recession, small firms are budding in unexpected corners of Rye. 24 Rope Walk is in fact in the back of Winters Dairy Hall, and houses Phillbury's, where Graham Rattenbury - who has worked for the antiques trade in Rye for 15 years – has opened a business as a furniture restorer. Graham, who lives in Trader's Passage, undertakes work of all kinds on antique furniture, including such things as picture and mirror frames and can cope with upholstery and stripping as well as mending and repolishing: There are some jobs he can't tackle, but he has some very useful contacts and can probably pass your insoluble problem on to a suitable problem-solver. Anyway, he is always pleased to look at any antiques needing attention - to be sure of finding him in, ring Rye 3456 (evenings) for an appointment.
Next door, Peter Keall, of Lydd (210666), tunes and services cars. After 18 years in the garage trade in the town, Peter started up on his own last April, offering mobile car servicing. He found plenty of customers who appreciated his very economical prices, which was fine during the summer; but with winter on the way he feels he can do better work (and stave off pneumonia) under cover, and so he now also works from the Dairy Hall.
Robert Patch, based on the other side of the milk floats, specialises in pine. As well as his workshop, he is about to open a small showroom so that he can have finished pieces on view. His sympathies lie with old pine furniture, and although he would not pretend that his own work is antique, he uses only old wood, so that the finished product blends happily with older pieces. He will willingly make furniture to fit a particular space and will also carry out smaller jobs, like replacing a missing drawer or reorganising a set of shelves, in a surprisingly short time. Consultations free - phone in the evening.
Chris O'Donoghue's pottery is hardly a new business, since his delightful pottery shops and cottages and his other ceramics have been part of the local scene for some time now. But his premises - with his own front door on the outside of the Dairy Hall, for a change, complete the quartet which Winters Dairies shelters under its vast roof beside the Rope Walk level crossing.
Since 1981's Poppy Day, the reality of war has come nearer to us all than for very many years. Rye's boys all came home safe from the Falklands, but there were others who did not and who join those of earlier generations who need the help of the British Legion to make the best they can of shattered lives. So Bob Bowler is asking for a special effort on Saturday, 13 November (house-to-house collection the previous week), both from those who can give money and particularly from those who can spare some of their time to help collect it - phone him at Rye.
The Remembrance Sunday Parade Service will be held at St. Mary's on Sunday, 14 November, at 11.0 a.m.
The Women's Section of the British Legion has had a rather spasmodic existence in Rye. First formed in 1936, it folded in the 1960s and again in 1972. But nothing daunted, at a meeting last week at the Red Cross Centre a stalwart if small band of supporters decided to try again. The Section will meet on the fourth Monday of each month at the Centre at 7.30, and the Committee plan for speakers, outings, etc. Secretary Mrs. Betty Spencer (Rye 3648) invites any woman interested to attend the meetings, whether or not she has Forces connections. Chairman Mrs. Joan Camier will gladly give more information (Rye 2289 or call at the cycle shop). The group's first job is the Poppy Day collection on 13 November, but they also plan a coffee morning and Xmas Fayre on Saturday, 4 December, at the Red Cross Centre.
When the Martello Bookshop decided that if they wanted to sell a colour guide to Rye, they would have to publish it themselves, they approached several firms only to be told that there could not possibly be enough demand to justify such a venture. Finally, Jarrolds of Norwich agreed to co-operate, but the print order was to be 15,000, and Martello rather nervously. agreed to take 5,000 a year for three years. Cynthia Reavell is now happy to report that, with the town still full of visitors, they have sold their first 5,000 copies already and have had to reorder - indeed, they have now taken delivery of the entire remaining stock eighteen months early.
5.
The GAZETTE was pleased to receive for publication the following statement about the summer exam results from Mr. Ray Fooks, Headmaster of Thomas Peacocke School. Contrary to our usual practice with press releases, we print it in full.
"1. 410 pupils were entered for A-levels, 0-levels or CSE examinations at Thomas Peacocke School in the summer.
2. Six pupils left school without taking public examinations in any subject. All other members of the Fifth Year of 266 entered examinations.
3. 84 Fifth Year pupils were entered solely for CSE examinations. There were very good results in these examinations. 75 Grade l's were achieved, a very good number of Grade 2's and 3's and a small number of Grade 5's. There were very few U's.
4. 270 members of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Years were entered for GCE O-level in Cambridge, London and AEB examinations.
5. 176 members of the Fifth Year were entered for at least one GCE O-level subject. 153 Fifth Year pupils obtained at least one O-level subject at Grade A, B or C or CSE Grade 1.
6. 59 Fifth Year pupils obtained 5 or more O-level subjects at Grade A, B or C or /CSE l.
75 4
94 3
114 2
This shows a considerable improvement on last year.
The members of the Lower Sixth Form taking GCE had mostly completed one-year courses. Once again the achievements of these pupils was very pleasing. A number who entered the Sixth Form for one year with no high grade passes left with six or seven As, Bs or Cs.
One group of Fourth Year pupils was successfully entered for O-level in Maths.
7. Pupils from the Sixth and Seventh Years were entered for A-level examinations. The results overall show an improvement on last year with a pass rate of 70%.
62 pupils took an average of 2.25 subjects. 4 A-grade, 14 B-grade, 20 C-grade, 26 D-grade and 37 E-grade passes were obtained.
8. 15 pupils or former pupils entered universities, polytechnics, colleges or nursing hospitals
this year, three after one year of experience at work and the rest straight from school. Three pupils have entered degree courses after taking foundation courses in art last year, 15 have gone into careers (banking, etc.) and 11 others are continuing in some form of education.
One pupil will be taking up an Exhibition in Natural Sciences at Churchill College, Cambridge, this year. Two are expected to take Oxford and Cambridge entrance examinations in November.
9. Many pupils who left school from the Fifth Year will be moving to further education, and a number have obtained jobs. Some have already joined the YOP Scheme or are on WEEP courses. There is a notable increase in the number who have failed to obtain jobs which is very worrying.
10. It should be emphasised that it is difficult to make generalisations over such a wide range of ability and achievement. There is always room for improvement, and we will never cease to try to do better. The above results represent good progress in many areas in a year which was not at all easy. Examination achievement is only one of the many ways by which our work may be judged, but these results are ones of which we can be proud. We could not have achieved them without the support of parents and friends."
We look forward to reporting in detail next week on the finals of BP's "Build a Bolt-on Bit" contest, featuring Mark Osborne and the TPS Control Technology room.
Sally Webb, 14, of New England Lane, and Stacey Allum, 13, from Saltcote Place, were the very deserving winners of the lively Great Treasure Hunt on Saturday, streaking past the older competitors to complete the course in a fast 45 minutes.
6.
Wednesday, 6th FRAG lecture, Town Hall, 8.0
- TODAY - National Trust lecture, CC, 7.30 (See GAZETTE 4)
Thursday, 7th Winchelsea Floral Group, open meeting, demonstration, CC, 6.30
Friday, 8th Natural History Society lecture, FEC, 7.30 (GAZETTE no. 4)
Papa Joe's film: "Any Which Way You Can", Pizzeria, 9.0
Saturday, 9th Rye Group of WIs Home Economics Show, FEC, 3.0 (see below) Schubert concert (Sail Training appeal), St. Mary's, 7.30
Barn Dance (Cadborough JSC, members and friends), CC, 8.0
Monday, 11th British Legion AGM, British Legion Club, 8.0
More 1983 bookings: 29 Jan. (NSPCC sale); 4 Feb. (Lower School JS); 19 Feb. (Winchelsea Floral Group JS); 19 Mar. (Inner Wheel JS); 18 June (NSPCC Fair).• An illustrated talk by David Streeter on "The Natural History of Hedgerows" at Langton Memorial Hall, Battle, at 7.30 on Saturday 23 October, is an event arranged by the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, in a bid to widen interest in the group. Local people will of course be most welcome.
• Six of the seven WIs in the Rye Group take part in the Home Economics Show at the FEC on Saturday, open to the public after the judging is over. About 350 entries are expected, including different assortments of garden produce, flower arrangements, and also the well-known and mouth-watering group entries for (this year) a buffet meal; there are also a couple of individual cookery awards. Those less skilled domestically than the WI exhibitors will enjoy a visit.
• Orders for Christmas cards, etc., from the NSPCC catalogue may be sent (with the cash) to Mrs. Amos, Haven Cottage, Rye Hill (Rye 2793), who will send off a bulk order to HQ and save postage; such an order also attracts commission credited to the branch total for the year. The NSPCC is holding its house-to-house collection this week, and there is a related display in the TSB window, High St.
• Mrs. Louise Allchin, of Homestyle in the Landgate, would dearly like to hear from anyone skilled in making up curtains and/or loose covers and who would like part-or full-time work of this kind.
• The GAZETTE is very glad to know that anyway some of the summer school-leavers have managed to find jobs. We would be delighted to mention names in a later issue if parents would like this, so do please let us know of such successes.
• British Rail's winter timetable came into effect on Sunday. Rye services stay the same except on Sundays, when the trains now run two-hourly: from 10.10 a.m. till 8.10 p.m. going to London, and from 11.10 a.m. till 9.05 p.m. to Hastings.
• Though the weather didn't help, Playden Church is better off by £300 as a result of various fund-raising aspects of their Patronal Festival and Harvest celebrations recently. But the main object was indeed to celebrate, and Marian Lovell asks the GAZETTE to pass on the thanks of the PCC to all who helped and particularly to the visiting musicians - Rye Folk Group, Ryesingers and the Thomas Peacocke Symphonic Wind Band.
• (Pleasant footnote: people do win on "foreign" draws sometimes. Last week we mentioned Charles and Pat Williams, and now Marian Lovell has a new television as a result of £1 laid out in the summer with the Friends of the Hastings Youth Symphony Orchestra. Any more lucky winners?)
THE RYE GAZETTE is published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 94 Udimore Road, Rye (Rye 2303),assisted by Mrs. Joan Parkes, Bridge Place, Rye. We are always glad to receive news items for inclusion in this weekly publication (deadline 10 p.m. on Monday – in emergency up to 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday on Rye 2303 only).
Photocopied by Sussex Secretarial Services, 11 Claremont Hastings (942 2633).