Someone seems to have jumped the gun over the Library closing hours. Discussions have been taking place between County and local staff for months now, as GAZETTE readers know, and there have been well-authenticated rumours leaking under library doors all over East Sussex. But the County Council works on a committee system and decisions about library matters are ultimately in the hands of the Library Committee, subject of course to the approval of the full Council where necessary. The Library Committee met to consider the whole question of revised opening hours on Friday afternoon (18th).
We were therefore surprised to see in both Thursday's and Friday's local papers articles stating definitely what the revised hours were, and quoting Battle's County Councillor Mr. David Amies as having broken them officially to the Battle annual parish assembly on Tuesday. The impression given by both articles was certainly that the new hours were a fait accompli, to be presented to rather than discussed by the Committee on Friday. Moreover, Rother Councillors have all received copies of letter from the County Librarian to Rother's Chief Executive, dated 15 March and stating quite definitely that from 1 April Rye's library hours would be cut from 401 to 241, and Battle's from 32 to 20.
HOWEVER - even County Councils shouldn't count their chickens prematurely. Rye's County Councillor Mrs. Joan Yates happens to be a member of the Library Committee, and after a long Friday at Lewes (with another committee in the morning) she rang the GAZETTE in triumph: the Library Committee had decided that it simply could not accept the staff cuts and hence the shortened hours recommended in the County Librarian's report and had rejected it. The money will have to come, it said, from somewhere else; and Mrs. Yates tells us that the decision now goes back to the Policy and Resources Committee. Whatever may happen in the future, it is quite clear that there can be no question of the hours being cut from the beginning of April. Mrs. Yates has every hope that they will not be cut at all.
Marian Lovell's petition, sent to the Chairman of the County Council with 450 signatures, had not reached the committee on Friday, though its existence was mentioned. Another local suggestion, that volunteers might be able to help out on "closed" days, would not have been acceptable to the unions, says Mrs. Yates.
The Library staff seem a little dazed by this sensational volte-face; they, like many other people, had been privately sure that the cuts would go through. The County Librarian now has a problem on his hands which we do not envy him. The Committee has told him not to touch the book purchase fund, and not to touch staff wages; the County Council has told him to save £61,500 out of his 1983/4 budget. Eight years of cuts have, he says, whittled down expenditure to such an extent that there is precious little left except for bare essentials such as rates, rent and electricity bills. £61,500 is not the sort of money that can be found lying about in odd corners of the administration, and he has to see what he can do to find it, and report back to the Committee in May. In the meantime, he has to try and restore the status quo at the libraries whose staff were due to go elsewhere or work shorter hours from the end of this month.
We can only await developments in May; but even a temporary reprieve is a lot better than an immediate chop.
Three domestic applications (a music room in The Grove, a garage in North Salts, and two self-contained flats between 26 and 28 Fishmarket Road), plus an interesting possibility: John Jempson & Son are applying for permission to use the Farnborough Engineering building as a transport contractor's depot and warehousing. The grape-vine sent us to see Jonathan Jempson about this as early as January, when he had no news for us; he tells us now that the application is just to test the water, so to speak, and there is nothing official yet.
2.
Mr. Michael Pope, of Icklesham, died in hospital last week, having become ill early this year. There will be a service at Icklesham Church on Thursday at 1.15, followed by cremation at Hastings. Mr. Pope, who was 41 and unmarried, was a Rye Grammar School pupil who returned to the school as a laboratory technician soon after he finished his training and was still there as the senior lab. technician at the time of his death. The school knew him as a very conscientious and reliable worker with an inventive turn of mind, always willing to do anything he could to help, out of hours as well as in them. He was a very able man, keenly interested in windmills and a narrow-gauge railway enthusiast in his spare time. He will be very much missed by past and present members of the school who worked with him. Mr. Pope's father died last year, and his mother is at present in Rye Hospital; his sister asks us to say that Mrs. Pope would like to receive letters, though she is not able to answer them.
Mr. Jim Bryant, of King's Avenue, died on 16 March; cremation takes place at Hastings on Thursday at 3. Mr. Bryant was 76, and for much of his working life he was employed at the beach quarry on the Camber road. He was a member of the British Legion. He leaves a widow and two sons.
We understand that Rother Council now has a rather fuller appreciation of the position with regard to Mr. Apps's repainting! (See last week's GAZETTE.) Mr. Apps has, he tells us, offered to consult Rother in advance next time he repaints and to paint the shop then any colour the Planning Committee likes; but in view of the support he has received from the town he is retracting his offer to repaint a darker green this time. Mr. Arthur Woodgate has told him that the shop was green in 1924; and Mr. Michael Alford, who was at the Lion Street school just before the war, can remember not only that shop but also Simon the Pieman as being green and cream. Other Lion Street shops and private houses were green or had green fascia boards, he says, and one house at that time had red paintwork.
The whole question of repainting in the conservation area arises because of an Article 4 Direction which was in fact brought in by Rye Borough Council before the responsibility for our planning passed to Rother; and it does seem quite clear that in theory no-one can repaint at all without planning permission. We hope that the Planning Officer will issue a statement clarifying the position for practical purposes, so that people who want to touch up their window-frames before the summer will know how they stand.
It is, we think, some years ago now since anyone living in Rye undertook portrait photography on a commercial basis. Paddy Aiken, who moved from Kent to Rye in the autumn, has now got her dark-room organised and is offering her services as a professional photographer - and not only in the Rye area. Mrs. Aiken came to photography almost by accident more than twenty years ago, but it is no accident that she was made an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society in 1964 for her work on flower photography. From flowers she widened her experience to include, first, children and then portraits generally, landscape, and buildings - particularly churches, which have a special appeal for her. Her work has appeared in national periodicals and a number of books, and she is now working with her husband John on one about the landscape of the south-east.
An unusual form of commission which she finds very interesting is what she calls "memories" - a photographic record of a house, a particular place a job – very suitable for a presentation when someone retires, for instance. As for portraits, she likes to use natural outdoor backgrounds as far as possible rather than a posed studio picture; and, all our local artists may like to know, she will gladly photograph a particularly successful painting before it disappears into a buyer's collection. Mrs. Aiken lives at 49 Ferry Road (Rye 223143).
THE RYE GAZETTE, 23.3.83 - page 3
Talking recently to a member of the Citizens Advice Bureau staff, we heard about new benefit regulations which he thought might not have got through to all those concerned but which need immediate action. Anyone at present on Invalidity Benefit, if they are also receiving rent/rates allowance instead of Supplementary Benefit, may find that it will now pay them to change over to Supplementary Benefit; but it is necessary to act at once to take full advantage of the new scheme. If this could affect you, or a relative or a neighbour, advice can be obtained free from either the Rye CAB, which is based at the Ferry Road offices on Mondays from 10 to 12.30 and on Wednesdays from 2.30 to 4.30 (Rye 223746), or the Hastings CAB, just along the road from Sainsburys and open Monday to Friday, 10 to 1 and 2 to 4.30 (0424 430400). Call or phone to ask for full details.
Staffed from Hastings, the Rye Bureau deals with all sorts of enquiries - and of course Rye people can go to the Hastings or Ashford bureaux if they prefer, or if Rye is closed when they need help. Some enquirers just want pointing in the right direction to find the personor information they want, but CABs give a good deal of advice on social security matters, and will even write letters for people who are not very good at setting out their own problems on paper. They also deal with consumer problems over shops, products and services, and although they do sometimes have to take a complaint to the Trading Standards office, they can often sort troubles out at a much lower and simpler level.
The Hastings Bureau has a visiting solicitor, who can advise on minor legal problems which come within the scope of a ten-minute interview, or they have a list of local solicitors who are in the free legal aid scheme or undertake to charge only £5 for a preliminary half-hour consultation. There is also an accountant, who will advise on tax problems, for instance, or discuss the various aspects of setting up a new business. The Rye Bureau can arrange appointments (in Hastings) with both.
With all this on offer, basically in Rye itself, it should be possible for most problems to get anyway a good shove towards their solution. Just call in (the main door up the steps, not the rates office) and talk to the staff member on duty; if he can't help you himself, he will know who can.
The NSPCC's Centenary Officer, Mr. Ron Hawker - guest speaker at the Rye District's AGM last Wednesday - told the meeting "If every Committee in the country raised as much money as Rye, the Society would have no financial problem whatever!"
It was clear from the accounts what he meant: in 1982 Rye sent to NSPCC HQ the magnificent sum of £6,182. In her Secretary's Report, Mrs. Anne Wood pointed out that in fact £600 of this was from the 1981 Raft Race, presented during 1982 as well as the £580 from the 1982 race; but even so it was a truly remarkable year. In addition to the group's usual events, there were four private-house coffee mornings, a sponsored ride and a sponsored slim, plus nearly £200 from collecting boxes during the year including £72 from Rye Bonfire Night. The total was also helped by anonymous donations, of which £1,000 was from one extremely generous giver who has helped the Society before; the other £100 came, very handsomely, from someone who had been lucky in reselling something bought at an NSPCC stall.
All this money represented enormous efforts on the part of the Committee and its other regular helpers, and so there was a gasp from the hall when Mr. Hawker announced that as part of the Centenary Year effort the Society was aiming to raise an extra £12m in 1984 over and above its regular income of roughly £6 3/4m. This will certainly present the Committee with a new challenge! However, Mr. Hawker pointed out that over its 100-year life the Society has helped nine million children; that only 4% of its income goes on administration costs; and that they are now considering the possibility of training volunteers to help with casework and ease the burden on the professionals - he referred to a recent television programme about the work of one of the Society's field officers. Mr. Hawker was thanked by the Rev. James Gladstone, and there was applause and good wishes for Miss Hannaford who is retiring after 27 years with the Society. The Mayor and Mayoress were among the large number of supporters present at the meeting, who afterwards enjoyed a very good tea (a delightful feature of AGMs, we find!).
THE RYE GAZETTE, 23.3.83 - page 4
We promised an entertaining evening at Thomas Peacocke's performances of "Hotel Paradiso", and we were so right - it was a pity more readers were not lured to The Grove to support this really excellent production. It is a play which needs spot-on timing, both verbal and physical; a complicated second-act set incorporating two corridors, a staircase and two rooms each with a secondary exit and lights going on and off at different times; and a cast whose leading members are able to learn long parts sometimes delivered under extremely difficult conditions. Not possible for a school play one experienced playgoer had told us; but it was in fact a triumph. The audience laughed, not just politely to encourage the actors but with great fat shouts of joy: the Collapsing chair (which was in the script, in case anyone wondered), the ill-timed hot-water-bottle, the affair of the brace-and-bit, the overwhelming attentions of the trio of daughters and their father's whole-hearted struggles with his wet weather stammer - and the timely thunderstorm which saved the whole situation - were some of the moments which will be long remembered.
Michael Townsend interpreted Boniface rather as John Cleese might have; hardly ever off the stage (except when he was up the chimney) he coped magnificently with a very long part, though he simply does not look like a browbeaten little builder. Difficult, too, to imagine Amanda Briggs as an XOS harridan, though she wisely presented Mme. Boniface in terms of Edith Evans rather than Peggy Mount, and somehow managed to carry conviction, with some quite superb moments. Karen Bentley - Marcelle whose seduction went so riotously astray - twittered and clung delightfully, and one felt that Boniface might yet succeed another time; and there was a moment in the second act when her pose was beautifully Pre-Raphaelite. Simon Briggs as the potentially wronged husband was suitably neglectful, pompous and workaholic (though speaking a little too fast for the audience's comfort at the beginning). Daniel Owen played the friend-from-the-country for laughs and certainly got them, and Julia Smith, Rachel Menzies-Sacher and Sarah Whiddett were enchanting as his teenage daughters, screaming a speciality! Sarah Jenkinson as the parlourmaid instructed Edwin Donald as the schoolboy in the facts of life with rather more success than her employer had - it seemed hard that in the finale she lost her job while he gained a totally undeserved cash hand-out. Vernon Blunt and David Payne made up a splendid comedy team as the Italian (and Vernon was very Italian) hotel manager and the gormless but willing hall-porter; and Jason Cohen, excellent as the outraged hotel guest, also managed to cope with the Police Inspector at rather short notice. Peter Kemp, David Ramus and Andrew Stoodley dealt with assorted bit parts.
Production was, of course, by Mr. Ken Lewis, veteran of Thomas Peacocke's non-musical presentations. He had had some anxious moments owing to illness among the cast but was well pleased with the final achievement. Mr. Chris Rose and Mr. Paul Martin, assisted by the stage crew under David Webb and Alan Crouch, were responsible for the set, lighting and stage management generally and made a really expert job of it, while costumes, furniture and props were in the hands of Miss Pat Bean, Miss June MacKenzie and the Art Department and other staff members also helped backstage. Business managers were Mr. Peter Jobling and Mr. Brian Atkins.
Although the lead parts were mostly played by members of the Sixth-Form, it was encouraging to see that some of those taking part will obviously be at school for some years yet - a good omen for future productions.
Readers who have wondered about a new scheme for etching car numbers on the glass of the windows may like to know that this can now be done at your home in the area - ring Mr. Harry Henderson, Rye 223484 daytime or 223115 evenings, or call at Pollyanna, Market Road. The idea is that, whereas a thief may alter the numberplate and respray a stolen car, he would have difficulty in accounting for the fact that all the windows bore a quite different number - and even more difficulty in getting a new set, since the manufacturers have an understanding with the police over this and anyway the expense would bite very considerably into his profits. So, unless you are very unlucky, he finds it simpler to pick on someone else instead. Sounds sensible - and not expensive, either.
5.
Members of Rye Museum Association and others will be very sorry to hear that Mr. Laurie Band has broken his foot and feels he may not be up to giving the last of the winter lecture series on 28 March. He has therefore withdrawn for the moment, but with a promise that he will give the talk and slide show, on Rye's maritime hinterland, later in the spring. In the meantime, the Association is very fortunate that Mr. Alan Dickinson is able to step into the breach with his much-praised slide show of old Iden and Playden, first given at Playden in the pre-Christmas rush when many people couldn't go. Everyone is welcome at the FE Centre on Monday, 28th, at 7.30 (members 50p, others 75p). Mr. Dickinson's interest in local history first started when he was still at primary school and found Playden Church records forgotten about for many years. His special interest now lies in buildings, and he has worked a great deal with Mr. David Martin, the Association's February speaker. Alan probably knows (this is our claim, not his!) more about the Iden and Playden area than anyone else except perhaps the very oldest inhabitants, and Monday evening should prove most interesting.
• When we said a couple of weeks ago, that Mr. Godman Irvine would be representing Rye until the next Parliamentary election, we were wrong. Miss Catharine Straker, Secretary of Rye Conservative Association, tells us that Mr. Ken Warren will be our candidate from the beginning of April. His new constituents will have a chance to meet him for the first time at the Conservative Association's AGM at the Town Hall on Friday, 15 April at 7 pm; Miss Straker says that anyone can come, whether or not they are Association members. It is nice that Mr. Warren is coming to see us so soon after his "takeover"; we hope that the other parties will follow suit before too long.
• What lovely names birds have! The latest newsletter of the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve lists unusual species already seen in the reserve this year: green sandpiper, short eared owl, merlin, smew, goosander, brambling, red-breasted merganser, gannet, red-throated diver, velvet scoter, pintail, water rail, scaup, goldeneye and a hen harrier. On Saturday, 30 April, the Friends have a busy day, with a coffee morning at Iden plus the AGM at 7.30 pm at Winchelsea Beach Village Hall followed by a Wildlife Question Time. Work parties are planned for Friday and Saturday, 1 and 2 April, with two more in the autumn: volunteers meet at 10 am in the Martello Tower car park at the Harbour, or later at the Ternery Pool - wellingtons or tough shoes, warm clothes, working gloves and a picnic lunch are recommended, with shovels for island building and small hand forks for island weeding. As well as being useful, these sessions are tremendous fun and helpers of any age are more than welcome, whether or not they are Friends in the official sense.
• The current issue of the Rye and Winchelsea Centre, National Trust, newsletter is mainly of interest to members, but it was interesting to notice that the group now has over 500 members (all of whom have also to be members of the Trust itself), though it only started five years ago. They have had a most successful year financially, figuring seventh out of eighty Centres in the list of sums sent to Head Office. Socially there is an interesting programme planned for the summer, and the majority of next winter's lectures are already arranged. The Centre has even been given its own flag, beautifully embroidered by one of the members who modestly wishes to remain anonymous.
The Centre's Secretary, Miss Barbara Lyle (Rye 226428 - this used to be a Winchelsea number until the new exchange opened, and Miss Lyle still lives at Little Manor) will be glad to hear from anyone interested in buying its GAF Autofocus 35mm slide projector, shortly to be replaced by a more powerful model suitable for use in a full Community Centre - also a 60" x 60" tripod screen: offers in the region of £40 and £13 respectively. Miss Lyle tells us that the Community Centre was so full for Barry Funnell's recent talk on Romney March churches that forty people had to be turned away; she does apologise for this and asks us to say that they are arranging for Mr. Funnell to repeat the talk for the benefit of those who missed it. We shall be glad to give the date as soon as it is fixed.
6.
Thursday, 24th Freda Gardham School Easter Tea, 2 to 3.30, New Road
Tilling Green School jumble sale, 6
RNLI Wine and Cheese party, Community Centre, 7
Friday, 25th Natural History Society AGM, FEC, 7.30
Rye Police Buffet Dance, Pontins, 8 to 1
Saturday, 26th WI Group Craft Show, FEC, 2.30 to 4.30
Monday, 28th WRVS Lunch Club, CC
Rye Bowls Club AGM, Queen's Head, 7
Women's British Legion meeting, Red Cross Centre, 7.30
Rye Museum Association lecture, FEC, 7.30 (SEE p. 5 FOR CHANGE)
Tuesday, 29th Winchelsea singers perform St. Luke's Passion, St. Mary's, 7.30
• Grovelling apologies to those who put their clocks forward on Saturday night at our suggestion; two diaries and Fixtures all agreed with us, but in fact we were all premature and the official moment is 2 am next Sunday, 27th. Incidentally, talking of clocks, it does seem a pity that both the town's public timepieces are ailing simultaneously; the one on the Landgate has been giving trouble for some time, but we wonder if the one on the Church has been over-stimulated by the revivalist meetings going on below all last week?
• Congratulations to Martin Kemp, another of last year's successful stage crew at Thomas Peacocke, who has now got a job as assistant stage manager at the De La Warr Pavilion. We hear, too, that Martin Suker is now credited as Studio Manager on the BBC "Nature" series.
• Recent jumble sale results: £146 was raised (with teas and raffle) for Hill House ten days ago. Last weekend was perhaps a reminder to keep an eye on the Town Diary in the Spar shop, since the Inner Wheel sale at the Community Centre, booked in before Christmas and well postered, raised £135 while the Methodist Church at exactly the same time took less than £30. After Tilling Green tomorrow evening there is, as far as the Diary knows, nothing more until the Rye Art Gallery's "Posh Jumble Sale" on 16 April.
• After recent repairs the launderette is once again open, with four smart new machines (Mary Summerfield tells us that she hopes the wash time will be reduced when a new boiler is installed over Easter). Easter opening hours: Monday (28th), Wednesday and Thursday as usual, plus Good Friday and Saturday, but not Easter Monday - back to normal on Easter Tuesday and open on Tuesdays from then on, for the summer.
• When we ate a final pizza at Papa Joe's on Saturday, we were glad to learn that both the Queen Adelaide and the Oasis Club will be serving his snack-size pizzas in four varieties, as will the Ship Inn at Winchelsea Beach and the Red Lion at Appledore; the Peacocke Wine Bar will have his popular mushroom pizza only, but in two sizes.
• Rye WI held their postponed American Supper party last Wednesday, when 65 members and guests enjoyed a delicious supper, with a quiz, music and a bring-and-buy stall, and a free raffle with prizes donated by the Committee.
• Crime: two break-ins at Thomas Peacocke, one at Lower School when the main proceeds seem to have been a quantity of Monster Munchies, and one at the Rural Studies Department at Leasam when a number of spades and other tools were taken; also £130-worth of wine and spirits stolen from the Mermaid Hotel.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office. It is published by Mrs. Mary Owen at 94 Udimore Road, Rye (Rye 222303) - deadline for news, Monday afternoon. It costs 20p weekly (25p from 13 April) and is delivered to pick-up points and subscribers every Wednesday.
Photocopied by Sussex Secretarial Services, 11 Claremont, Hastings (0424 422633).