Two I6-year-old Rye boys went to sea this summer, in rather special ways.
Steven whiting has just moved to Camber, since his family's Winchelsea Road home was the bungalow threatened by one of the proposed Winchelsea bypass routes.
He and his twin brother have one more year at Chailey Heritage, and it was Chailey who suggested him as a candidate for a special cruise in the clipper-ship Soren Larsen - a cruise geared to disabled sailors, with one non-handicapped crew member for every handicapped one. Steven went on his own, the only Chailey pupil on the cruise, and his mother tells us that he had the time of his life, enjoying every minute of a marvellous holiday. Until he joined the ship, he didn't know that the sponsors for his trip were the Rye Harbour Sailing Club; and the Sailing Club didn't know, to begin with, that they would be able to sponsor a Rye boy. When Don Cooke died a few years ago, the Club set up a trust fund in his memory to provide sponsorships for such cruises, and Steven is the first beneficiary, and very happy one.
A similar but longer-established scheme is the Canon Williams Memorial Fund, and their second candidate, Roy Pierce of King's Avenue, had an equally enjoyable cruise in the waters at the western end of the Channel. They called at Lundy Island, at Guernsey and Jersey, and ventured out into the Bay of Biscay - all told, they were at sea for a fortnight. Roy was glad to find that he was not >prone to sea-sickness - unlike some of the others; on the whole, though, winds were light and they had to do rather more motoring than sailing. Roy would very much like to go again. He left school in May, and if he has not found a job by the winter he is hoping to be allowed to join the team doing winter work on the ship in preparation for next season's cruising - and perhaps even to sail as a permanent crew member next summer. The Pierce family have been much beset by illness over the past year or so; Roy himself has had an eye operation, his father has also not been well, and his mother is waiting for an electric wheel-chair so that she can get out of the house under her own power once more. So everyone was glad for Roy to have such a welcome and enjoyable experience.
A 19' Seawych sloop slipped into Rye Harbour last Tuesday at the end of a very remarkable voyage. Apar II belongs to Gordon Moorey, of Fairlight and Rye Harbour Sailing Club - ex-Merchant Navy before the war, ex-RN during and after it, and now ex-Fisheries Inspector for an area stretching from Gravesend to Lyme Regis. Mr. Moorey decided to mark his retirement by making a journey he had always wanted to undertake - a circumnavigation of the British Isles (we don't count Ireland).
Leaving Rye on 21 May and travelling in stages varying from 85 miles round the east coast of Scotland to the short hop from Dover to Folkestone on the way home, Mr. Moorey took the opportunity to look up a number of naval friends and colleagues and to visit stretches of coast hitherto unknown to him. We have no space to reproduce his log in detail, but it makes a fascinating yarn which will perhaps appear elsewhere in due course? Anyway, he covered 1881 miles (not counting back¬tracking and some very long tacks); spending 664 hours at sea, he travelled at an average speed of 2.83 knots. He had a lovely time (and some very exciting moments) and was escorted by dolphins off the Scottish coast, and acquired en route a fifth grandchild as well as a most enviable suntan. No, he doesn't intend to do it again; he intends to sell the boat and take his wife to Australia - on a scheduled service!
Footnote: last week's high tides gave no trouble in the Rye Bay area. On Wednesday and Thursday the water came well up at Strand Quay, but no¬where near the wall on the town side, though the gutters were awash near the sluice where water seeped under the wall.
2.
Plenty to do down the Grove
The sun shone on Saturday afternoon for Thomas Peacocke School's Michaelmas Fair, and lots of people made their way to Upper School to sample the wide selection of amusements on offer. The mind blew, too - increasingly as the afternoon wore on, 80 that by the time the promised balloon finally arrived it was unable to do more than show willing by inflating itself into a palpitating green Thin g... and then deflating again, and going home. The microlights, too, failed to appear; we hear that John Pyke had flu.
But there was plenty to do at ground level. In one corner of the playing-field, BMX bikes were performing amazing feats; in another, the Auxiliary Coastguard had rigged up a breeches buoy from one of the big willow trees. The Fire Brigade, the Inshore Rescue Boat and St. John Ambulance were all on view. The pet show, organised by Mr. Fiddimore of Idea Kennels and judged by Karen Morris of the local veterinary practice, produced some endearing entries: class winners (or rather, the owners of class winners) were Susan Bolton, Ann Winter, James Cumming, E. Philippidias, Sally Davis, D. O'Shaughnessy, Mary-Ann Taylor, Mark Coodwin, and P. Masters (whose rabbit was "the pet the judge would most like to take home"). A generous supply of rosettes ensured that no entry went entirely ungarnished.
The delicious smell of roasting lamb and fried onions tempted visitors to the barbecue pit, while the Jazz Caverners, perched on a vast trailer kindly lent by John Jempson & Son, set feet tapping. There was a permanent queue for the bouncy "fun castle". School House won the Lower School arena contest. Sixth-formers and staff were in the stocks for the dread Vengeance of the Wet Sponge, with the china-smashing booth making dramatic background noises. The school orchestra played in the course of the afternoon, there was an ATC display, and refreshments in the Sixth Form room. (There were, we suspect, yet more entertainments which we never found; apologies to those we have omitted.)
Indoors, there were stalls galore, too many to list and all enticing. Bob Huxstep was recruiting members for the new Peacock° Club year; £12 a year buys membership, half the proceeds are redistributed in the form of a monthly draw while the rest goes to help with school projects - and new members are really welcome; ring Mr. Huxstep, or leave a message at the school. The winner of the "watch in the safe" competition was Alan Crouch, one of last year's Upper Sixth - the final time was a matter of seconds past 11.41. The cuddly lion-cub turned out to be called Buttercup.
Takings for the afternoon, including the draw, amounted to around £1,500, which will very easily be absorbed by the PTA's various commitments to school activities.
Congratulations to Rowena Varley, PTA chairman, Hilary McDonald, its secretary, and the other members of te committee on a very successful afternoon. Rre as it was: writing it all down More than a dozen enthusiasts sat round the large table in Rye Libary's reading-room on Thursday evening to discuss the formation of a local history research and recording group. It was decided to meet regularly on the last Thursday of the month (but the next meeting will in fact be on 1 November, since half-term week was impractical for some members) - not as a formal society with a secretary and treas¬urer, but as a loosely-knit association for mutual help and support over research projects undertaken by members.
Bryan Purdey of the Hastings Library Service, who runs the equivalent group in Hastings, spoke of its work; he also talked about the Library's local history collection, kept mainly in Hastings but with some material in Rye (we hope to report on this more fully next week). Geoffrey Bagley referred to the problems which lack of space meant for Museum research; Frank Palmer produced some of his collection of Rye memorabilia. The group's founder, Alan Dickinson, threw out some ideas for projects which members might like to undertake, and several useful items of information were exchanged. In a group of this kind everyone has some thing to contribute in the way of contacts, ideas or talents, and people who were unable to come on Thursday will be most welcome at the next meeting (Library, 7.50).
3 - RYE GAZETTE, 3.10.1984
We have been asked to mention a Machine Knitting Seminar organised by the Hastings Machine Knitting Club, which takes place at Claverham Community College, Battle, on Saturday and Sunday, 13 and 14 October. Tickets, which include lunch and refreshments, are £6.50 for one day or £12.00 for both, and the programme (different each day) includes speakers, demonstrations, trade stands and a fashion show.
The main speaker is John Allen, head of the knitwear department of the Royal College of Art; among the others, all well-known in their field, will be the editor of "Machine Knitting Digest". All the leading makes of knitting machine will be demonstrated, every kind of yarn will be on sale, together with "gadgets dear to every machine knitter", and books - and there will be plenty to interest the hand-knitter, too.
Mrs. Cicely Robinson of Winchelsea tells us that this is the Club's third seminar; the first two were one-day events and were booked right up, with anxious waiting lists. This year they have decided to take two days for it; Saturday is booking fast and nearly full (although they had about 400 tickets available for each day), but there should be room on the Sunday. Tickets are available from Essenden Road, St. Leonards (send a s.a.e.), but it might be as well to telephone Mrs. Roberts there (Hastings 431645) first to make sure there is still room, or ring Mrs. Robinson.
Last week's Sussex Express carries a letter from a Mr. Apps of Stoke-on-Trent, passing on a request he has received from a sugar-farmer's wife of the same name in Queensland, Australia, for information about her husband's ancestors - specially Moses and Harriet Apps who are thought to have gone out to Australia from Southern England some time between 1850 and 1875. As the letter-writer says, Apps is a Sussex name; would any local Apps families like to contact his correspondent? She is Mrs. Lurline Apps, Coolum Road, Yandina 4561, 4ueensland, Australia. (If anyone does identify Moses and Harriet for Mrs. Apps, do please tell the GAZETTE. It would be nice to finish off the story.)
It is some time since Rye has seen a fashion show. Thomas Peacocke PTA committee thought it was time we did, and local shops are co-operating to put on a display of clothes for all ages (including children) at The Grove on Friday evening, 23 November. However, they have no models - as yet; auditions (is this the word?) are to be held at Lower School on Monday, 15 October, at 4.15, and the committee deals for brave exhibitionists of both sexes to come forward. They are quite prepared to take on entire families (indeed, it would be easier), and we suspect it may be a case of persuading volunteers rather than fighting off candidates for the catwalk - so, if you feel you would like to sample life as a model, do please come along on the 15th, or anyway contact Julia Thomas at Leasam House.
Mastermind on Conduit Hill
Rye's St. John Ambulance Nursing Cadets played host on Friday to guests from other detachments for the Eastern Area semi-final of a Mastermind-type contest.
Five cadets had two minutes each for questions on their chosen subject, and a further two minutes for questions about home nursing, first aid and the history of the Order; so questions ranged from "What is an artery?" to "Describe the dress of a Knight of St. John when in armour"! (None of the finalists did very well in this section; perhaps it does seem a little remote...) Rye cadets Zena Streeten and Claire Piper were among the contestants, and from a shaky start Claire pulled ahead in the general section to come top with 24 marks, followed by the only male competitor (from Hastings). Both will go on to the final in Hastings on 2 November.
Before the competition started, Grand Prior badges were presented to Ann Newman, Carol Chillingworth and Paula Sams; the fourth winner, Karen Pope, had already received hers. These badges represent four years of hard worl: in twelve subjects; they are the only badges which can be transferred when cadets graduate to the uniform of adult members of the Brigade, and are a very special honour.
4.
Rother took the following decisions at the planning committee meeting on 27 September. The County Council was recommended to grant the Rye Oil application for a wharf at the rear of their Harbour Road site (why the County Council has to dothis rather than Rother, the normal planning authority, we don't know). A similar application, from Rastrum Limited, for a warehouse and wharf on land along the same road was deferred; here the County Council was apparently not involved. Also at the Harbour, Norman Jones was refused permission for a temporary shelter and warden's caravan at Castle Water. A decision on the two Saltcote bungalows was deferred. Permission was granted for an extension to a house in King's Avenue, and to repainting the frontage of the Mariners Hotel; also for a sign at the Grist Mill, conditional on the removal of an existing one. (All these decisions are still in draft minute form and cannot be taken as gospel without Rother's confirmation in writing.)
Rother are to take enforcement action in respect of four planning violations. The antique shop at 54 The Mint is to be required to remove three signs, etc., put up without permission; the Old Vicarage in East Street is to be required to remove its unauthorised ground-floor blinds. Owners of plots of land along Rye Harbour Road (south side) are to be contacted to enforce the "removal of all cara¬vans, tents, moveable structures, fences and other means of enclosure and other ee unauthorised buildings or structures". And at Castle Water the East Sussex Sea Cadets will have to remove the building they put up there without planning consent (this is nothing to do with the at Sea Cadet Corps, who would, we gather, have had more sense than to put up a building without planning permission on this controversial and super-sensitive site:).
There is nothing from Rye itself in this week's planning list; in Rye Foreign, Rumpels Inn seeks permission to put up a non-illuminated free-standing sign.
The latest newsletter from the National Trust (Rye and Winchelsea Centre) reveals an astonishing amount of money sent to HQ - £2,400 last year, of which £1,800 was earmarked for the Ightham Mote appeal and the rest for Birling Gap.
The Centre is holding a coffee morning at the George on 22 November, when National Trust goods will be on sale. Miss Nancie Lyle is taking orders for things from the Trust's catalogue, to be ordered in bulk to save postage (The Well House, Winchelsea, Rye 226428).
The group have a varied programme of events, including theatre visits, planned for the 1984/5 season. The Centre's four- and five-day holidays have not been well supported, and the Committee is considering replacing them with shorter breaks involving one night away with historic-house visits on both days - if Centre members show interest. The difficulty with holidays, Miss Barbara Lyle tells us, is primarily the problem of finding good-class hotels with sufficient single rooms; university holidays have plenty of single rooms, but the cuisine is not usually very exciting.
Rye Putting League trophy winners for the 1984 season are as follows: the Prebble Cup, Winter's Dairies; the newman Cup, Iden Putting Club; the Horner Shield, Winter's Dairies; the Rye Putting League Cup, RAF Association; the Chamber of Commerce Cup, Paul Sargent; and the Norman Hutchings Trophy for the most improved junior, Julian Alstin. Jenny Sutton and Paul Sargent had the lowest individual scores in League games, and the Individual Knock-Out winners were Ann Swaine and Alf Ridgers. Top Ten averages ranged from 41.92 to 45.20, and were gained (in order) by Paul Sargent, Chris Waters, Jay Johnson, Julian Alstin, Andy Polley, Ann Swaine, Alf Ridgers, Bill Swaine, Terry Barrow and Cecil French.
In the final League tables, Winter's Dairies headed Division I with 91 points, followed by the Professionals (85), the Veterans (66), RAFA (61) and the Untouch-ables (57); Division II, Iden Putting Club (115), Rye Fire Brigade (111), Crown Inn (100), Queen's Head (88), Rye Boys Club (73) and Royal British Legion Club (53).
5.
Benson addicts who don't take the Radio Times will be delighted to learn that starting today (Wednesday) at 3 pm Aubrey Woods is reading a five-part dramatised version of "Queen Lucia" on Radio 4.
David Cranston at the Rother Council offices says that about two-thirds of Rye-area households have returned their electoral register forms already. Although the nominal date is 5 October, the forms can be completed in advance by most householders, since the names required are those of the regular residents.
Mr. Cranston would be most grateful if the remaining one-third of householders would return their forms as soon as possible, and anyway by the end of next week (Friday, 12 October) as computer time is booked for processing the information and delay involves extra expense (which goes on the rates, of course).
This week Sussex Police open a campaign aimed to reduce road accidents to those who use the roads on two wheels - pedal-cyclists of all ages as well as owners of mopeds and motor-cycles. They will stress, by means of posters and other publi¬city, the need for the public to be aware of how vulnerable two-wheel riders are "Think Bike" and safety leaflets will be distributed to cycle dealers and to 6chools, libraries, etc.
A special approach is being made to newsagents asking them to check the arrange¬ments for their delivery boys and girls, now that the mornings will be getting darker.
Police school liaison officers (ours is PC Elliott) will be visiting comprehens schools, checking up on bike maintenance - mechanical safety is one of the things the police are particularly concerned about. Another is the wearing of reflective gear, with the onset of the shorter days and the end of Summer Time. "Conspicuity is essential" says the handout (though this is not a word which the office dictionary admits to:).
During the second half of October police will be making roadside checks on all forms of two-wheel transport. They will also be keeping an eye open for some thing which gives rise to a good deal of public complaint - cycling on the pavements. Inspector Northern at Rye Police Station said that this was, strictly speaking, always illegal; though no-one would in practice object to a six-year-old learner keeping safely off the road, there was every objection to older riders mooing so, to the detriment of pedestrians; and even for little kids, there are places which are just not suitable for pavement biking - like the High Street.
One further point: in Sussex last year, 2,500 cycles were stolen (with BMOCs outstandingly at risk). In parts of the county, the two-wheel campaign will include die-stamping sessions to postcode cycles; if something of that kind is on offer from the police in Rye, we will let you know, but anyway Camiers will do the job for a small fee.
Talking about this campaign to a Freda Gardham parent, we discovered that the regular cycling tests and training which used to be held at the school seemed to have gone into abeyance recently. We asked the Headmaster, Mr. le Lacheur, what had happened. The answer, of course, was cuts: not in school staff this
time, but in the staff of the Road Safety Committee which used to administer the scheme and which now has two officers to do what was once the work of eight. Parents may be willing to help, but training is necessary; is there anyone in the town with Road Safety experience who would be able to help the school over this? If so, Mr. le Lacheur would be delighted to hear from him or her (Rye 222372) so that something can be arranged for this year's new crop of cyclists on Rye's roads.
... is that it is definitely On, said Jimper Sutton in the High Street last week. He sounded really quite sure, good luck to him!
6.
From the middle of this month, we shall all have to get used to new bus numbers. Both the route numbers and the timetable undergo a change, starting on 14 October, and Mr. Atkins of Hastings & District Transport has kindly sent us a detailed list which we are attempting to summarise. Leaflets should be available from the Council Offices in about a week's time.
There is no change in the Rye-Beckley-Northiam services, formerly 405, 406 and 408 - though they now become 41, 42 and 48. The old 410 service (Rye-Udimore- Hastings) will become 40, and the only timetable change on this route is that the 17.00 Rye-Broad Oak which returns to Rye at 17.25 will run on Mondays to Fridays only.
The 413 service to Ashford becomes the 43, with its timetable unchanges; the 417 Rye-Brenzett-New Romney becomes the 47, and has minor timing changes to allow for shopping in Rye and New Romney.
The two services to Hastings via Winchelsea Beach, now 414 and 415, become 44 and 45. The Sunday services here have already ceased for the winter, and both routes have minor timing changes on weekdays, and in Hastings go via Milward Road and not the Old Town.
The Tenterden bus (service 12) is run not by Hastings & District but from Maidstc and we understand that there is no change, either to the numbering or the timetable, for this route.
This leaves the main (at present) 550 route, and the new 799. Here the changes are slightly more complicated on paper, but quite logical in practice. The 550 Hastings-Dover service will become the 50; the 799 keeps its existing number. When the winter timetable starts on 14 October, service 50 will run from Monday to Saturday only, and two-hourly at that. But the 799 (which will start from Rye and not Camber during the winter), instead of running limited-stop to Brighton, will now call at all bus-stops between Rye and Bexhill, and thence right on (limited- stop) to Worthing. So, from 14 October, either a 799 or a 50 will depart from Rye on weekdays for Hastings at 7.05, 8.00,777 10.05 and then at five minutes past the hour until 15.05, followed by departures at 16.15, 17.05, 18.25 and 19.05.
On Sundays, the 50 will not run, but the 799 leaves Rye for Worthing at 10.05, 12.05, 14.05 and 16.30, with extra services to Hastings only at 17.50 and 20.00.
Going out the other way, there is no Sunday service to Dover (via Camber) from Rye, but on weekdays service 50 leaves at 6.45, 8.42, 10.47 and then two-hourly until 18.47 with a late night extra at 21.12; there is also a journey from Rye to Camber at 16.20 which does not make a scheduled return trip, and one at 17.47 which does.
To encourage more people to use the buses, Hastings & District is cutting some off-peak day-return fares. From 14 October, it will cost only El return for journeys between Rye and either Beckley, Erode, Fairlight, Guestling, Icklesham, Northiam, Pett Level or Udimeire; £1.40 return between Rye and Hastings, Camber-Hastings £1.50 return.
The Community Health Council is very worried about a decision by Hastings & District to alter one of the Hastings town services, which will affect many people from the outlying districts: the route serving St. Helen's Hospital. As the Council's secretary Mr. Wade says in a letter to the bus company, " great number of elderly folk attend St. Helen's Hospital, and a great number of elderly visitors make the journey here from all over the district". Hospital staff also use the buses. Mr. Wade would like more public consultation before the Frederick Road service is diverted. Those who feel strongly might like to write direct to the bus company at Beaufort Road, SilverYill, St. Leonards?
Burglaries in the villages, but the only Rye entry in the police press book records the theft of a total of 50 road lamps (worth £350) from Tillingham Avenue between 29 August and 19 September - taken, we gather, in dribs and drabs rather than all at once, but still a considerable loss to the gas board who were trying to protect
7.
• Harbour Master Colin Marsh's official promotion to Commander took effect on Monday; it was purely a coincidence that he celebrated it in a memorable way by taking some ko Sussex Mayors and Mayoresses on the river! The Association of Sussex Mayors (past and present) had chosen Rye as the place for one of their regular gatherings, and after lunch for 60 at the George, Mrs. Yates and Mrs. DePree conducted the non-sailors round the town while the more intrepid visitors enjoyed the river trip on a fishing-boat. And the weather was just right.
• A regular user of the Gibbet Marsh footpath, Miss Catherine Straker of Udimore Road was irritated by the pile of rubbish at the foot of the litter-bin by the railway gate - irritated, but not surprised, since there had been no liner to the bin for weeks. She finally pointed this out to Pother. They are apparently short of liners, but one appeared very promptly and is in enthusiastic use - so much so that there is still a pile of litter round the base where it is always overflowing!
• The delightful wedding-dress which adorned Rose-Anne's High Street window last week was a product of "Fairy Tales", a name adopted by a recent Rye bride for her burgeoning business in wedding-day couture. We reported at the end of hay on Penny Briggs's exceptionally pretty wedding (the one with the carriage) - Penny id herself designed and made her pure silk dress, trimmed with rosebuds and
crystals. Now, as Penny Ramsey and living in Sevenoaks, she is offering a full bridal outfitting service, including attending in person to make sure that everything fits just right. Penny is happy to come over to Rye to talk to prospective customers; leave a message with her mother Veronica at Squirrels (Rye 225742).
• St. Mary's recently marked the retirement of the church's cleaner Mrs. Jones, widow of its much-loved verger Joe Jones, who has finally given up her job after more than 16 years. Latterly Mrs. Jones has had. the help of her daughter, Mrs. Meldrum, with the work, and she is now handing the job over to Mrs. Meldrum entirely. Canon Maundrell tells us how very grateful he and the PCC are to Mrs. Jones for her loving labour over so many years.
• The town was very crafty on Saturday. It was the final day of the Guild of Sussex Craftsmen exhibition at St. Mary's; the Craft Market held its monthly opening at the FE Centre; and the Easton Rooms saw the opening of "Artist Craftsmen", one of the gallery's regular exhibitions of highly professional craft work in all kinds of media. Most but not all the exhibitors had already shown in Rye, and it was pleasant to see again the work of familiar potters and jewellers, weavers of rugs and cushions, a most talented silversmith, a blacksmith with an interesting and 'expensive range of door furniture made to order, a maker of rustic garden furniture, workers in both blown and leaded glass, and many others. It is a most varied and enjoyable show, not too early for those with Christmas presents in mind, and continues until 23 October.
• Danon Maundrell has had a letter from the Folklore Society in connection with a national research project into Fire Festivals. They ask for information about the Bonfire Society - at least, he thinks they mean the Bonfire Society; but a Fire Festival can mean something very different... Does anyone, he asks, know something he doesn't? (And if they do, can the GAZETTE decently print it?)
• A recent British Rail press release refers to track and signalling modernisation at Ashford. Improvements costing nearly £2.4m will eventually give a track layout which is much simpler yet will mean that trains can use any platform in either direction; and the line speed through the station will then be increased to >85 mph (which isn't much comfort to those who get on and off there anyway). This month and next will see heavy engineering work in progress, and this will require "platform alterations and retiming of the train service on a daily basis". If this means what it says, it could well be a real ni'htmare for the next six weeks or so for travellers to and from London! (For train buffs, we have a plan of the old and new layouts which anyone is welcome to look at.)
Thursday, 4th Christian Lunch Club - speaker, Fred Hasted from the Mission to Lepers, on "Love, Life and Laughter in Leprosy", CC, 12.30
Friday, 5th Vidler & Co's monthly auction sale, 10
National Trust talk, "Collecting Silver" (Mrs. Helen Glover), CC, 7.30
24-hour snooker marathon for Sports Hall Venture Fund, Granary Club, 8 pm (GAZETTE no. 99)
Saturday, 6th Tilling Society day out (GAZETTE no. 100)
St. John Ambulance coffee morning, Conduit Hill, 10.30
WI Group Home Economics Show, FEC, afternoon (see below)
Sunday, 7th Songs of Praise, Tilling Green School, 4.30
Tuesday, 9th Council of Churches talk, "Unity in Service and the Community" (Jo Farrow), St. Mary's, 7.30
Wednesday, 10th Over-60s Club, Red Cross, 1.45
Rye WI, "Tapestries", FEC, 7
• Congratulations to two couples who were married in St. Mary's last month: on 22 September, Deborah Earl of Cooper Road and Colin Warne of Udimore, who will be living in South Undercliff; and on 29 September, Craig Pattle and Gayner Bull - Gayner works in Butler & Hatch Waterman's Rye office, and the couple will be living in Camber.
• Rye and District Round Table report that the profit from this year's Carnival was much the same as last year's - £2,546 to be exact, though there may still be the odd small sum to go through the accounts. At least half of the total profit will be given to the Eye Laser Appeal.
• Regular visitors will not need telling about the glories of the Home Economics Show (cookery) which the Rye WI Group stages every year at about this time. If you can trust yourself to keep your hands off the delicacies on view, don't fail to pay a visit to the FE Centre on Saturday afternoon - it would make Escoffier drool!
• Tickets for Laurie Band's slide show, "Rye in the Past", are now obtainable from the North Kent Building Society at £1 (75p for OAPs and Community Centre members).
Profits go to the Centre, and the big day is Thursday, 18 October at 7.30. By public request, the show is a repeat of the one Mr. Band gave last year, and obviously it is intended primarily for those who missed it then, but there was a lot to take in, and many people will be glad of a chance to see the slides Lor a second time.
• Mrs. Hilda Nelson-Barrett (5 North Salts, Rye 223408) will welcome gifts for the stalls at the coffee morning on Saturday, 20 October - at the FE Centre from 10 to noon - organised b., the local committee of the East Sussex Fund for the Blind. Stalls will include bring-and-buy, bric-a-brac, plants, books, cakes and produce, and there will be a raffle, so anything except sheer jumble will be welcome; there will also be goods on sale made by local blind people. Hilda's is a tiny committee, and they aim to make a lot of money (and usually succeed) - please help them to do so again this year.
• On three occasions in the past week, people will have missed the chance to see interesting things on display in the town because they didn't know they were there: we refer to the Winchelsea quilt at the Craft Market, the school archives at the Michaelmas Fair, and the Methodist Church's Flower Festival. Please will organisers tell the GAZETTE in advance about things of this sort, so that we can spread the news in good time?
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, and published >by Mrs. Mary Owen, 2 Cyprus Place, Rye (Rye 222303). News items for inclusion are always welcome - deadline Monday afternoon, Tuesday 9 am for emergencies. The GAZETTE costs 25p weekly, and is delivered to subscribers and pick-up points on Wednesday; there are a few spare copies t.t Squirrels, 9-13 Cinque Ports Street. (Copyright Mary Owen 1984)