The question of Sunday trading is not an easy one; there are those who think it is morally wrong and who would neither buy nor sell on a Sunday nor want others to. There are those who feel that the choice should lie with each individual; and, too, those who consider that a special case should be made out for areas such as ours which are so heavily dependent on weekend and holiday visitors for our economic viability.
Readers will remember the controversy about the Sunday Market last year. It turned out to have a perfect right to exist, for 17 Sundays during the season, because of a half-forgotten Order brought in by Rye Borough Council on 12 June 1939, under the Shops Act of 1936. This allowed shops in the Borough to open on those 17 Sundays (plus Easter Day) for the sale of "any article required for the purpose of bathing or fishing; photographic requisites; toys, souvenirs and fancy goods; books, stationery, photographs, reproductions and postcards" - but not food. (We understand that the Sunday Market is not returning this year because it is not worth while without the food stalls.)
However, the Market was not, last summer, the only place where shopping could be done in the town on a Sunday. Let us not pretend that the only goods sold were those listed above. But let us not pretend, either, that all over England (and not only in holiday areas, either) smaller shops did not peacefully open every Sunday all the year round, to the benefit of those in the community who needed them and without causing undue offence to the godly. Certainly, this was the case in Rye last year; the GAZETTE is not so unwise as to state publicly what the position may or may not be at present!
Last week Rother Council popped a bomb through the letterboxes of some (but, oddly, not all) traders in the town. It appears that, having received "several representations in connection with Sunday trading", the Chief Technical and Environmental Services Officer has been instructed to ascertain the views of all local traders in Rother District about the possibility of making a Holiday Resort Exemption Order - in effect, just like ours of 1939, but including food and for some reason excluding fishing kit. If at least two-thirds of the shops affected agree to this, an Order may be made - and enforced, as far as the exclusions from it are concerned.
It is by no means certain that Rother will get this two-thirds majority - though obviously they must improve their distribution system, or they won't know whether they have or not! If they don't, they could bring in a very minor alternative Order enabling some food shops to open until 10 am (big deal, on a Sunday), but most other opening would be illegal - except in Rye, which has its own Order, see above.
Some Rother officials have denied all knowledge of the Rye Order; but this seems implausible, since it was the basis on which the Sunday Market gained permission to trade. Perhaps there is lack of liaison between Planning and Environmental Services? As Monday was a Bank Holiday, the GAZETTE was unable to contact the writer of the Rother letter, and since there are obviously questions to be asked, we shall report again on this next week. Whatever the outcome of the referendum, most of the Rye shops which open in the summer would appear to be within the law under our own Order (rather depending on what that useful phrase "fancy goods" covers). But our holiday visitors come in the spring and autumn as well - at present. They come for weekend visits and enjoy our attractive shops; they also support our hotels and pubs and restaurants, the Museum, the Town Model, the Art Gallery. If they don't come because there is nothing to do on a Sunday, we may gain parking space in the High Street - but whom may we lose, among our smaller shops who have hitherto regarded their Sunday profits not just as icing on the cake but as butter on the bread?
2.
Mrs. Jack Mathews died at her home in Leasam Lane on Monday, after months of illness. We hope to have a full obituary notice next week. Funeral arrangements will be found at the foot of page 3.
What could have been a very nasty accident indeed at the mouth of the Rother on Sunday was averted by the timely presence of the Sailing Club rescue boat, with Paul Whiteman of Rye Sea Cadets at the helm and Junior Cadets Wall and Warner as his crew. A very large and expensive (somewhere over £20,000, we heard) speedboat was flashing up the river much too fast, and as it turned eastwards towards Camber it failed to notice that the harbour arm extends some way beyond what is visible at high tide. Crashing into the concrete, the speedboat was very badly damaged, but luckily her crew were not, two of them sustaining minor injuries, the third intact, and a boy of 8 badly shaken but unhurt. There is a speed limit of 6 mph in the river, while this boat, they say, was doing nearer 25 - and, almost unbelievably, Paul Whiteman reports that none of them were wearing lifejackets, not even the child. An additional complication was the presence of a freighter in the river; so, all in all, the foursome from Essex were lucky to be in a position to return to the Club on Monday with a crane in an attempt to retrieve their maltreated toy.
At the end of this term, St. Michael's School at Playden will be saying goodbye to its Headmaster. The Rev. John Bannister will have been in charge of the school, which serves Playder and Iden, for just 30 years, the past 14 as an ordained Minister of the Church of England. When he first came to the school as an assistant teacher there were around 40 children, but with a dwindling village population, numbers fell until there were less than 30. But the little Church school had an extremely high reputation locally, and when the Collegiate finally closed, Playden's numbers shot up and now there are around 70 children each summer term. (There is a splendid tale, too long to tell here, of how the Managers built a "games room" for the school and eventually wangled a third teacher to go with it!) Mr. Bannister, who will continue to live in Iden, has no firm plans as yet for his retirement, but he hopes to be able to give more time to helping with parish work for the Rye team ministry.
The Speaker at Rye Cricket Club's annual dinner was Dr. David Rice, the Chairman of Sussex County Cricket Club, who brought along with him the John Player League Trophy - but, alas, took it home again! The Club's new Chairman is Pat Payton, replacing Stan Jones who has stood down after many years as player, Captain and Club Chairman; Mr. Jones has been elected a life member. Mike Balcomb is 1st XI Captain for Saturdays and mid-week, and Peter Mathews for Sundays; 2nd XI Captain is Stephen Tagg. Rye's 2nd XI has won its League 3 years out of six, and the 1st XI is hoping to match this success. Indoor cricket flourishes under the Captaincy of Chummy Barden, and Rye did well in the Winter League, with a particularly convincing win over a strong Bexhill team.
The Club's present very experienced players are seeking able youngsters to join and eventually to replace them; Club Secretary Mike Thomas says they are already looking to Gary Bourn, Ian Harris, Simon Bourne and Neil Cloute to fulfil their early promise. David Dee has taken another 60 1st XI wickets and was to play in Monday's rained-off match against League champions Tenterden. As well as new playing members, the Club is looking for umpires and scorers. Any youngster who would like a job scoring on Saturdays (free tea and transport) should contact Mr. Thomas at Peasmarsh 345 - and girls, he says, are every bit as good as boys at this job, and often better.
The Club always welcomes spectators and supporters at the Salts. It is one of the oldest in England, dating from 1754, and the Committee (via Mike Thomas, as above) would be glad to receive, or to borrow, photos or newspaper cuttings about its history in any era - to be displayed if possible in the pavilion.
THE RYE GAZETTE, 4.5.83 - page 3
Among the new Deputy Lieutenants just announced for East Sussex is Mr. Philip Armitage, of Rye. Mr. Armitage is perhaps better known as "of Brede", where he and his wife have lived for very many years, and where he was a Churchwarden; they moved to Fair Meadow in November, primarily in search of less garden! He has been an engineer by profession, working for Arthur Guinness and responsible for their hop farm machinery in Sussex, Kent and Worcestershire, travelling worldwide to inspect new products. Guinness are well-known for their "good neighbour" attitude to the areas where they farm, and Mr. Armitage was given time off to take part in local affairs. He was on Battle RDC in the early Sixties, and for ten
years was a County Councillor; he was Chairman of the Battle Magistrates' Bench, and is now Deputy Chairman of the joint Rye and Battle Bench. He served on the Kent River Board, and in hospital management; and he is one of the five East Sussex magistrates on the Sussex Police Authority (covering East and West Sussex).
In view of all this, it seems fortunate that, as he tells us, a Deputy Lieutenant's duties are not unduly onerous. Although he is appointed - one of quite a number of Deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of the County - under the Militia Act of 1882, he will normally only be called upon to represent Lord Abergavenny when there are important visitors to the area - or, as a Deputy Lieutenant of longer standing warned him, to attend the funerals of other Deputies! We do hope he will have plenty of the former occasions and few of the latter, and that he and Mrs. Armitage will enjoy life in Rye as much as the rest of us do.
There was nothing sinister about the strong police presence which emerged from the Town Hall on Friday morning. In fact, there had been a short but pleasant ceremony in which the Mayor (himself an ex-policeman, as it happens) presented a long-service medal to Section Officer Rae Bark of the Rye Special Constabulary. Section Officer Bark has been a familiar figure patrolling in Rye for the past nine years, though she lives in Northiam and originally joined the "Specials" at Battle. Because of her local knowledge, she was able to assist the teams dealing with the Iden shooting incident and was also on duty at Camber during the February floods. She is one of a team of nine attached to Rye, assisting the regular officers in a wide variety of duties - "we want a lot more", says Chief Inspector Dyson, who would be glad to hear from volunteers. It is obviously a job worth doing - and enjoyable; Gordon Stanbridge, who was among those present, has been a "Special" for 23 years and is well on the way to a second silver ten-year rosette on his own medal ribbon.
The Jobcentre at Hastings is always very conscious of the problems which people in Rye and the villages have in finding out about the latest jobs on offer. They have just started a new venture which should help. Twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Fridays, a yellow News Sheet is available in Adams and Thunders which lists all the jobs in the Rye area (and by Rye they mean the villages round as well) which have come in since the last issue, plus occasional repeats if something remains unfilled (which isn't often). Some jobs in Hastings are included, but they are all within daily reach of Rye. One of last week's sheets had over 20 jobs, ranging from an office junior at Camber at £1 an hour to a service engineer at £120 a week plus car, and a wood machinist in Icklesham at much the same wage. Obviously some jobs will have gone while the sheet is being prepared and posted; but it does seem a very good idea, and should make life a lot easier for job-hunters. As well as in the two Rye shops, copies are being made available in the villages.
The Civil Service Retirement Fellowship will be holding a coffee morning at the Community Centre on Tuesday, 10 May, from 10.30 to 12.
When all expenses are paid, the Cadborough Jubilee Social Club hope for a profit of around £250 from their May Fair at the Community Centre on Monday.
(We regret that the funeral arrangements for the late Mrs. Mathews were not available in time for inclusion in this week's paper.)
THE RYE GAZETTE, 4.5.83 - page 4
• Rye Young Enterprise (see GAZETTE no.13) is nearing the end of its existence, and the accountant is anxious to collect the £135 still owing to the firm before the accounts are due to be presented at the AGM. If anybody not a member of the school has not yet paid for a magazine rack, car accessory kit or teapot stand, RYE would be glad to receive the money at the school as soon as possible. There are only 9 left of the pleasantly designed magazine racks in kit form, and these can be bought at Terrys DIY in Cinque Ports Street.
• The Tricolore will be flying at Strand Quay during the weekend of May 21/22, when some 25 yachts (with perhaps 100 crew members) from the Club Nautique de la Baie de la Somme are paying a Whitsun visit to Rye as guests of the Rye Harbour Sailing Club. A reciprocal visit takes place the following weekend, when RHSC cruisers cross the Channel to the Club Nautique's base at Le Crotoy. Fine weather two weekends running is perhaps too much to ask for; of the two, Rye would prefer it for the Spring Bank Holiday, and so would the Sailing Club!
• On 24 April, Paul Chillingworth of Lea Avenue was among over 1,000 Queen's Scouts and Scout Gallantry Award holders reviewed by the Queen Mother at Windsor Castle. Paul started Scouting with the 1st Rye Troop, and then moved to the Probe Venture Unit (14th Hastings); now he takes time off from his A-level work to act as an instructor to the Wednesday Cub pack in Rye.
• East Sussex County Council is currently advertising a job with interesting implications for our area among others. They want a "rural transport broker" to co-ordinate all the various services requiring day-to-day transport, such as social services, education, health, as well as the ordinary public transport. This is a new job, and they say that applicants must be able to "communicate well, think clearly and take action without delay". One would think that an incredible amount of tact would also be required; but anyway, it sounds as if it could just lead to something really useful for the rural areas.
• 200 people left Hastings on Monday for a rather wet walk to Rye Baptist Hall and back, a distance of 25 miles, to raise sponsor money for the Tear Fund (The Evangelical Alliance Relief Fund). To cheer them up at Rye was a poster with a personal message from Cliff Richard, a strong supporter of the Fund, beginning "May all your blisters be big and profitable!"
• The weekend of May 21/22 will be particularly enjoyable for music-loving churchgoers. Rev. Stuart Davison tells us that on the Saturday there will be a "Celebration Evening", open to all, with music and a team from Ashburnham bringing dance and drama; and on the Sunday evening at 6.30, the preacher at a Youth Service will be the Rev. Steve Chalke of Tonbridge Baptist Church, who will be bringing over his Youth Choir. Also on the Saturday, unless plans have changed, the Choir of St. Bartholomew the Great, London, will be singing evensong in St. Mary's.
• The Community Centre's Junior Club is badly in need of helpers - over-18s, never mind how much over, who could spare two hours on Saturday afternoons would be very welcome. Ideas would be welcome, too, and those interested should contact the Chairman, Mr. Brian (Ringo) Chapman at 106 Udimore Road or c/o the Centre.
• There seemed to be plenty of parents and friends at Thomas Peacocke School on Thursday evening, when both Upper and Lower School were displaying, this year, some of the extra-curricular activities of the school. The only unfair impression came from the weather - the lovely evening gave no hint of what walking from Upper to Lower School in a wet south-westerly gale can be like! At Lower School the Art Room was alive with "people” of all shapes and sizes, mostly classical in origin but not always; and the entries in the Essay Competition sponsored by Rotary were on view - winners were Clair Weller of 2.4, followed by Evelyn Underwood of 1.3 and Tamsin Gilbert of 1.8. People were playing with computers in both Lower and Upper School; and there was a display by the ATC, who are waiting expectantly for the first brave girl to join them. In the final of the Quiz, School House team (led by Clive Cotterell from one side of Udimore Road) firmly trounced Meryon House (led by Daniel Owen from the other side) to win the cup; and there were cash prizes generously given by Rotary who arranged the quiz and set the questions. Altogether a very enjoyable evening, the verdict seems to be.
5.
• Patrick Osborne's new Regent Motel - with an office in and rooms above the new shop terrace in Cinque Ports Street - opened last week and has already put-up visitors from USA and Canada. Manageress Mrs. Jean Clarke showed us surprisingly roomy bedrooms, mainly doubles but two "family rooms" large enough to sleep four if necessary, pleasantly decorated and each with its own TV and tea/coffee-making facilities. Downstairs, outside the office, there is the old time-table board salvaged from the demolished cinema - under the more recent U, A and X certificate ratings, Mr. Osborne has found an earlier list with H for horrific! He also has photographs of the street in the days of the Cinque Ports Hotel and Assembly Rooms and would be very glad to see and perhaps copy any other pictures relating to the area.
• The first of the shops to open is Bunty's, selling fancy goods and owned by Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, who used to live in the bungalow which now houses the vet's surgery.
• Also newly opened is "The Kettle o' Fish" on Strand Quay, where the Tarrant family will be serving fish and chips, etc., both on-the-spot and take-away, on weekday mornings from 11.45 to 1.45. Evening opening hours will be from 4.45 to 10.45 on Monday to Thursday, and from 4.30 to 11.30 on Friday and Saturday. Sunday opening will be from mid-day to 6-ish.
• Denis Townsend's Iden Pottery, which expanded from his village garden shed to the present spacious premises on Strand Quay with a shop on Conduit Hill, has just opened a mini shop at the pottery, where an ingenious arrangement of double doors can be opened up as outside sales space when demand warrants it.
• The monthly Craft Market returned to the FE Centre on Saturday after its winter hibernation. This venture began last summer with mainly local craft workers whose only retail outlet it was. Now it strikes the casual visitor as a little over-whelming, with stallholders coming from considerable distances and perhaps rather too many stalls selling the same type of goods - not all, we thought, really hand-made, either. The standard, both of design and execution, varies tremendously.
Naturally the professionals, who make a living by selling regularly at a series of such markets, outshone some of the local amateurs, though it was interesting to see work from the bookbinder at Camber, and the maker of dolls' houses from Tilling Green. We do hope that the Craft Market will develop as an outlet for local workers, and not become just another commercial "fair" for travelling salespeople.
• Rye's business community was well represented at the reception given in Cinque Ports Street on Friday evening to mark not only the recent modernisation of Messrs Geering & Colyer's offices but also the firm's 65 years in business in the town. The Geering & Colyer name is shared by ten branches, with Ashford as the founder member; the firm opened in Rye towards the end of WW1. Mr. Richard Popple started with the Ashford branch but has himself been in charge at Rye since 1961. Recently the whole firm passed into the hands of the Black Horse Agency, a subsidiary of Lloyds Bank which now owns well over a hundred estate agencies throughout the country; but clearly as far as the actual management is concerned, the very satisfactory status quo continues with no interference at all from the proprietors - it is, as someone put it to us, as if the ground landlord of a block of flats had changed. Many Rye property-owners will have envied the speed with which the face-lift on the offices was basically completed over just one weekend, by Patrick Osborne's workforce; and the new window display of a selection from the properties on the firm's books is just as effective from inside the office as from the street.
• Le Fevre Wood & Royle are applying for planning permission for phase 3 of the development of the Old Rock Channel Shipyard. Permission for phases 1 and 2 (outline consent for 15 dwellings, 5-unit workshops, boat moorings and a club house) was given in February 1982 subject to access conditions, and we wrote about this in GAZETTE no.5 in October, when the work was just beginning. Phase 3 will complete the development and is for a 'boatel"- a two-storey building with 14 one-bedroom units overlooking the river, though with a 6-metre clear promenade between the building and the bank to give the SWA access when necessary. The plans show the boatel tucked into a wedge of land between the industrial units and the 15 houses downstream from them. One unit, incidentally, is being built over the existing slipway, and would be suitable for use by a boat-builder.
8.
Thursday, 5th POLLING DAY, Rother District Council election.
Christian Lunch Club, Community Centre, 12 (see below)
Friday, 6th Vidlers' monthly auction sale, Cinque Ports Street, 10
Saturday, 7th Rye Art Gallery's "Nelson" exhibition opens (see GAZETTE no.32)
Save the Children Fund sale, Methodist Church, 10.30 (see below)
Playgroup Spring Fair, FEC, 10 to 12
Scouts jumble sale, Scout Hut, 1.30
Sea Angling Club jumble sale, Community Centre, 2.30
Tuesday, 10th St. Mary's Tuesday Club, Rectory, 7.30: Mr. Shawcross shows slides, "Small is Beautiful"
• Congratulations to Chris Darby of Houghton Green and Anne Haines of Port Talbot, who were married in St. Mary's on Saturday, with a reception at the George. In a fortnight they return to Abu Dhabi, where Chris has a job.
Congratulations, too, to Mrs. Linda Stonely (ex-Thomas Peacocke) and her husband, of Hastings, on the arrival of Matthew Joseph, 8 lbs 8 ozs.
• Regular members of the Christian Lunch Club will remember the talk by two Sisters from the Servants with Jesus about the Jerusalem Hospice at Bexhill. Tomorrow Sister Eileen returns to give a progress report on the Hospice - all those interested are most welcome at the Community Centre at 12 for 12.30.
• Touched by the plight of the Ethiopian refugees, four first-year girls from Thomas Peacocke (Joanna Pyke, Emma Spencer, Frances Bourn and Lynda Brown) are holding a sale of jumble, nearly new, toys, etc., outside the Methodist Church on Saturday at 10.30, in aid of the Save the Children Fund. Please remember them in the course of your Saturday morning shopping.
• Rye Sea Cadets is one of four companies newly affiliated to HMS Illustrious, and they hope this may mean visits to the ship for the cadets. Today the Illustrious passes Dover on her way to the North Sea, and Rye's CO John Whiteman has been invited on board to lunch - transport by helicopter, his first trip.
• Tickets for Ryesingers' Spring Concert at St. Mary's - on Saturday, 14 May, at 7.45 - are now on sale at Terry's DIY in Tower Street, price £l (OAPs 75p). Whether you are buying a ticket or just passing, there will be the chance to admire Ryesingers' latest collection of cups displayed in the shop window.
• A teenager with a career ahead: Sandra Gale, 19, of Town Hall Cottage, is soon to join the WRNS, going to HMS Raleigh at Plymouth.
• Just a reminder that there is still time to sign the no-cuts Library petition.
• Crime - someone stole the emblem from the front of a Jaguar in the Ferry Road car park, early on St. George's Day morning.
• As a result of the darts tournament at the Crown on Thursday, a cheque for £88.65 goes to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, presented to Mrs. Kath Elworthy by the Mayor. Winner of the knock-out contest was Tim Phillips, who beat County player Alec Stec in the final.
• The Friends of the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve raised £159 at their coffee morning at Iden on Saturday.
• Sunday's Attic Sale made a clear profit of £76 for Community Centre funds, and there will be another sale early in July, and probably regular repeats.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office. It is published by Mrs. Mary Owen at 94 Udimore Road, Rye (222303), who is always glad of news items for inclusion - deadline Monday afternoon, 9 am on Tuesday for real emergencies. The GAZETTE costs 25p weekly, and is delivered to subscribers and pick-up points on Wednesday morning.
Photocopied by Sussex Secretarial Services, 10 Cambridge Road, Hastings (0424 422633).