Congratulations to Mrs Sheila Barton on her eightieth birthday - not just from the GAZETTE, but from all her WRVS members, whose guest of honour she was at a buffet supper at the Saltings Hotel on Monday last week. Fifty members and other friends were there to wish her many happy returns of the day - and to celebrate not only her birthday but also nearly twenty years of service to the WRVS in Rye. There is no other WRVS quite like the Rye one, a Head Office visitor once told the AGM - but then, there is no other WRVS organiser quite like Sheila Barton!
Portuguese by birth, French by adoption and grace, a large and comfortably workaday lady paid a visit to Rye at the weekend. We came across her moored at Strand quay on Saturday, making the first stop in a cruise which was to take her to Folkestone, Dover and Ramsgate in the course of the coming week. Paul Kennard, who knows about big boats, introduced the GAZETTE - and somewhat nervously we accepted the captain's invitation to come on down (and it was a long way down, at low tide!) and have a look.
"Albarquel" is a stoutly-built two-masted vessel, originally used in the salt trade from the Tagus round to the Channel. Her registration port of Setubal is carved into her timber, along with her number (S 158 TL); but that was when she was built in 1957. Twenty years later, two French merchant-navy officers bought her, restored her, and took her to Norway and in 1982 across the Atlantic to Brazil and up the Amazon. Back in France, they continued to work on her in their spare time - and this year have lent her to the Association Dundee Aimee. (At this point the language difficulty became almost insuperable, but we think the Association is trying to raise funds to salvage an old sailing-trawler, presumably of that name?) Anyway, the Boulogne-based Association is chartering out "Albarquel" on a commercial basis; the current trip is on behalf of the Pas-de-Calais tourist authority, and most of the ten-strong "crew" were in fact not there to sail her but were from the tourist office - there is a link already between the Pas de Calais and East Kent.
This spectacular visitor is 19.5m long, nearly 6m wide, and has a sail area of 240 sq.m. Her southern origins are recalled by the vivid blue and yellow paint on her bows; but there is nothing fancy about her - a good working boat, strong and seaworthy and earning money. What is more, she offers to take paying passengers. To hire her for a day costs 1,560fr, but single bookings cost 150fr a day for under-18s, rising to 250fr for over-25s, with a reduction for couples. The current exchange rate is just over lOfr to the - what a day out for £25! The leaflet seems to indicate that she may be back in Rye again before long, since among the suggestions are further Rye-to-Ramsgate cruises, as well as longer voyages to the Isle of Wight and Guernsey (presumably starting from Boulogne) and participation in tall-ships events. The address to write to is Association Dundee Aimee, 107 Rue de la Paix, Boulogne-sur-Mer.
On Sunday she departed, with half-a-dozen delighted temporary crew members from Rye. They had earned their trip by warping her out of Strand Quay just before the mid-day tide - an operation hampered by the appalling bad manners of a French cabin cruiser which was moored three-deep just downstream and which declined to move into the vacant berth next door (we just longed to see it crushed to match-wood, but Albarquel resisted the temptation!) They turned her with inches to spare just above the slipway, then the Harbour launch towed her down Rock Channel, her engine took over in the river - and once out in the Bay she hoisted full sail and headed east. Did anyone at the Harbour get a photograph?
2.
The Rye and District Victim Support Scheme was first discussed many months ago. The 18 volunteers, from Rye and the villages of the old Rye Police Sub-Division, attended training sessions and lectures during the winter and are now - doubtless a little nervously - open for business to help people in need of support (both moral and practical), particularly those who have been the victims of burglary, fraud, assault or similar crimes, but also households where there has been a sudden death or a serious accident. Inspector Northern told us that the police often worry about leaving someone, perhaps elderly and distressed, alone in the house when a near relative has been taken to hospital (or worse); with the new Support Scheme, the officer dealing with the matter will make sure that someone knows about the situation and can offer help.
Chairman is Colin Stutely, and co-ordinator Jean Bull-Marshall. Every day, Det.Sgt. Catt will give Jean the details of any problems, and she will pass them on to the volunteer nearest the household concerned, who will then call round and ask if help is needed. The householder will have been told by the officer dealing with the crime or accident that someone will call (and the caller will produce an identification card, which of course should be checked before he or she is invited into the house). Help can vary from simply offering a shoulder to cry on, to arranging a lift to the hospital, sorting out the insurance position, liaising with Social Services or perhaps getting in touch with faraway family members - or calling in the Crime Prevention Officer to advise on new locks! Until they have started, the Scheme's panel can't really be sure what they will be asked to do; but whatever it may be, we do wish them the very best of luck.
Last week's report on the problems at the Magdala House site (in case anyone hadn't realised, this is the old Council office building in Ferry Road) has produced some interesting feedback. Certainly that flat land by the river has given rise to foundation problems over many years; some houses have been built on concrete "rafts", others (including Badger Gate) have required piling to support them. There were dreadful difficulties some years ago when work in Mason Field led to cracking in walls the other side of Udimore Road when the subsoil dried out. In 1974, Le Fevre Wood & Royle were in charge of some new building on the Tilling Green Estate; the foundations were already done when Rother took over, and the new Housing people expressed surprise at what they found - piling going down 100ft. Eric Le Fevre was able to produce evidence that this was necessary, and Rother were convinced (but that of course was twelve years ago, and doubtless the staff have changed since then).
Mr. Clarke tells us that he has not yet heard from the engineers about the foundations; when he does, he will report back to the Housing Committee, which next meets on 1 September. (There are no Rother Committee meetings in August, when the Council goes into recesss, though Planning compensates with an extra session on 4 September as well as the usual one at the end of that month.)
Our reference to the gardens going down to the river prompted Joan Yates to recall a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" there, in the days before the Clinic was built; her daughter Amy played one of the Fairies. This was not a school play, but a town production - Rye Players, perhaps? It played for three nights in Ferry Road among the rose pergolas - and the weather was lovely. Does anyone have any more details of this - a programme or a picture, or just a date?
Wondering about the "To Let" board in the window above the Apothecary House door in East Street, we asked Vidlers if it was a flat. It is not - but it is a very nice suite of three offices (plus kitchen and loo), which was vacated by Wilson Wilson & Hancock when they moved to Cinque Ports Street. In a handsome building in the heart of the Conservation Area, with limited street parking outside wouldn't it be nice to have something really interesting there!
- 3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 9 July 1986
When she is not giving up her spare time to Rye events, the Mayoress - Monica Oliver's daughter Suzanne Burgess - is getting on with her job as theatre sister at RESH. A week ago on Saturday, however, she was on the beach at Glyne Gap with her own family and some friends when one of the party spotted a woman floating face down in the sea. Mrs. Burgess - not a strong swimmer - and another of the group went out to investigate, found that the elderly bather was not only unconscious but apparently dead, and hauled her back to the beach where she and a nursing colleague started to administer artificial resuscitation (both mouth-to-mouth and heart massage). They were so effective that although an ambulance took the victim to RESH, she was allowed home after treatment.
Mrs. Burgess told us that although all nurses are of course instructed in emergency techniques, neither she nor her colleague had ever actually used them before - "we didn't really think it could work", she said. Her younger daughter Anna, 5, was rather frightened - but big sister, 9-year-old Claire, was extremely competent, bringing out her rubber ring to help get the victim to land and then, eyes sparkling, trotting along behind the stretcher carrying the oxygen apparatus! Claire is now determined to follow in the family tradition and train as a nurse, bless her.
Reporting on the recent medical conference at the George, we asked if an earlier meeting here could have led to "the Rye classification" of lymphoma. Answer came there none - until this week, when Dr. Chris Pitcher (of Military Road as from the coming October) wrote from Tring to say that we had the wrong Rye: the Rye classification was formulated in Rye, New York. "By an odd chance" he adds, "there is a further possible confusion because there is a 'Rai staging scheme' for chronic lymphatic leukaemia, another allied disease, which is also pronounced 'Rye' but this time is a doctor!"
• Two members of the Thomas Peacocke School ATC Squadron were startled when they arrived at the Town Hall on Wednesday evening to find a sizeable party of Councillors and their wives, plus Alan Jones's camera, waiting to welcome them; they had been expecting a quiet meeting with just the Mayor. Flt.Sgt. Mark Fairhall, of Northiam, and Cadet Kirstie Brown of Playden stood to attention on the dais while the Mayor explained that the scroll she was handing over to them contained the town's greetings and congratulations to Prince Philip on the 30th anniversary of the start of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme, and best wishes for its future. "Where does it go now?" she asked Mark, who had to admit he wasn't sure - but ATC CO Chris Bell told us that in fact a party from Rye ATC were due to be walking the 13 miles from Bexhill to Hailsham on Sunday to join a gathering of Award candidates from all over the south-east, where the scroll would be handed over for onward transmission to the Duke personally.
• Twelve Rangers and three Leaders from the Mapleway Girl Guide Association, of Waterloo, Ontario, have been staying in Rye and around as guests of local Guide families, at the start of a holiday which will end up in London to coincide with the Royal Wedding. A group of Guides from the Thomas Peacocke Company visited Canada in 1980, and this is the second return visit - the first group presented the Town Hall with a Canadian flag which is flown each year on Canada Day, and was also flown on Sunday when the party was entertained in the Town Hall by the Mayor and Mayoress. The girls brought with them greetings from the Mayor of Waterloo, Marjorie Carroll, a medallion as a present for Mrs. Oliver, and an Ontario flag for the Town Hall - which may give Gus Gale problems next Canada Day, since it is also Princess Diana's birthday so the Union Jack flies on the Landgate Arch...
JUST ROOM TO REMIND HOLIDAYMAKERS who collect their GAZETTE from pick-up points that if they will let us know when they are away, we will gladly keep their copies safely here and deliver the lot the week they return.
4.
• Ken Warren, MP, writes: "I am delighted to hear from the County Education Officer at Lewes that a project architect has been appointed to look after the longterm development of Thomas Peacocke School, and that discussions have already taken place on site with Mr. Fooks. We must all pull together to get improvements and redevelopment going." Indeed we must - before ESCC redesigns the priorities list again!
• Next week Thomas Peacocke offers two consecutive evenings of entertainment, both open to the public (admission free, retiring collection, refreshments available). On Monday the Sixth Form drama group, who have been coached by Nina Thorndike, present "Find Me", a play by Olwen Wymark based on a true story. There is a cast of 42 characters, played by seven actors: Leila Jamieson, Julia Smith, Eliza Gilchrist, Zoe Metcalf, Mark Curry, Marcus Gould and Matthew Briggs. People who enjoyed the March production of "Pygmalion" will recognise some of the names and perhaps turn up at Upper School at 7.30 to see what they are doing this time? Tuesday sees a mixed evening of drama, dance and music by pupils and staff - the first-fruits, we hear unofficially, of the end of the staff industrial action which had blighted such events for so long.
Seeboard are really very sorry about the power failure on Saturday afternoon which meant that around 2,000 households lost their electricity supply just as people settled down to watch the Ladies' Finals at Wimbledon. It was not the increased demand from 2,000 television sets being switched on that caused the trouble - there was a fault on the overhead line somewhere out on the marsh, and the area affected included Rye Harbour and Winchelsea as well as parts of Rye. In this sort of situation, the engineers restore the supply bit by bit if they can't do it all immediately, and though some people were lucky soon after 4.0 and most by 5.0, there were a few homes which were without electricity until 7.0. The Wimbledon match was shown again later that night, so perhaps the biggest loser was the Rye Town Model which regretfully had to shut its doors to the tourists flocking into the town to escape from the unseasonable beach weather!
The Rye Branch of Mencap have been given £500 from the BBC's "Children in Need"' Appeal proceeds - and are going to spend the lot on softwear for Hill House School to use with its BBC computer, Vickie Piper tells us. It is to be ordered at once, and should be in use early next term. A computer at a school where most of the 26 pupils are aged under 7 and are mentally handicapped seems a little unexpected; but the school's headmaster, Mr. Samuels, tells us that it is a most valuable teaching aid. They have had it for about two years, and use some equipment specially designed for children with special needs. (For a small child who can't speak at all, it is a real stimulus simply to learn to push a knob and find that a response comes back!) He is most grateful to the Mencap Branch and, of course, ultimately to the BBC's donors - for this generous offer.
What has happened to your nice hotel, we asked Ronald Lampon of Durrant House on Monday? What has always looked like a rendered brick frontage was suddenly revealed as timber battens with a cement facing - and about a third of the cement wasn't there! (The hotel, we are glad to say, is open for business as usual.) It seems that the Gas Board have been laying a new supply in the Sea View Terrace lane beside the hotel, with a good deal of drilling and bumping and thumping; the Lampons have been on holiday, and small cracks which were noticeable on their return became rapidly larger. By the time the scaffolding went up on Friday, about the only thing holding the front skin to the wall proper was the Durrant House shield, firmly fastened right through! The builder is due to finish by the end of the week, and then an expanded metal mesh will be holding the new cement skin very firmly in place; the building's appearance will be as before, Mr. Lampon assures us. (The mediaeval cellar below it is another story, all part of Rye's heritage.)
5.
• It was in November 1983 that Rother decided to take enforcement action against the owners of two houses in the Conservation Area where the original wooden sash windows had been replaced (without planning permission) by modern UPVC aluminium-framed ones. At that time, at the request of the Planning Officer, we wrote about this primarily as a warning to other householders considering installing windows of this type in the Conservation Area. GAZETTE no. 106 quotes fully from the Planning Officer's report as to why these "mechanically perfect" windows are all wrong in such a setting - he writes about variety of surface texture, and the effect of different planes of reflected light...
At Cannon House in East Street, the offending windows are on the ground floor; at 31 High Street, at first floor level. In both cases, the owners appealed against the enforcement notices, and on 12 May the Department of the Environment sent an Inspector down to study both buildings. His reports, together with the appeal decisions, reached Rother last month. In both cases, the Secretary of State upholds Rother's view, and both owners are directed to replace the metal windows with traditional wooden ones within four months (though they do have the right to appeal on a point of law to the High Court within 28 days, if they think fit).
Both owners stated that the original windows were in poor condition and had to be replaced. However, the Inspector is not convinced by arguments that the new windows are adequate replacements visually. The character of East Street, he says, relies heavily on window pattern; and his main criticism of the Cannon House windows is that the large central panes are not only too large but are also horizontal rather than vertical in proportion. He also dislikes the lack of mouldings, of deep-set glazing and of the normal opening arrangements of double-hung sliding sashes in staggered planes. The High Street windows, which have a varnished mahogany surround, are subject to the same objections - even more valid, he says, because of the flat sideways view which confronts most passers-by.
Once again, Rother has asked for these two decisions to be given plenty of publicity - not to embarrass the households concerned, but to make the Council's stance quite clear for the benefit of other owners of Conservation Area or listed buildings with window problems. The Planning staff are of course always willing to advise informally, before any expensive harm is done; enforcement action is not something which Rother enjoys taking, since it is both costly and time-consuming for an already over-stretched planning section.
• This week's planning list has a proposal for four non-illuminated shop signs for 15 Market Street, which has just had permission for change-of-use to an antiquarian bookshop. The plans were not available in the Council office when we asked (they may be now), but Eric Le Fevre showed us them: a fascia board over the window nearest the Library, an oval plaque on each side of the door and a small notice immediately above it rather like that of a pub landlord. The lettering in each case is white on black (black on white over the door).
An outline application to build a terrace of three bungalows at the foot of the garden of Hilden on Rye Hill seems likely to cause controversy, not necessarily because of the actual buildings but because the site is immediately uphill of Deadman's Lane - and the access from it is shown emerging almost opposite the Mountsfield drive, further congesting this already difficult escape route from Rye's one-way system...
• An official notice in last week's local papers sent us to see John Royle – was this the start of the Sailing Club's marina plan at last? Alas, no, it was simply a legal formality, being added in for convenience to the more immediate proposal for the Rock Channel development, since both concern the river bank.
• Rother's "No Dogs" notices are now up on the fenced playground area of the Salts. But it seems that vandals can't leave the gates alone, and keep unscrewing the fastenings. Perhaps a simple rope loop might be less alluring?
6.
Rother's Environmental Health Committee last night considered a most interesting, helpful and comprehensive report by Mr. Powell and Mr. Clarke on the whole question of Sunday trading in Rother District.
There are certain "general exemptions" under the 1930 Shops Act - goods which can be legally sold anywhere on a Sunday. The Sports Centre committee may like to know that these include "requisites for any game or sport sold where the activity is played"; but we doubt whether there will be wild excitement in Rye over special arrangements for Jewish communities, or indeed for "fodder for horses, mules, ponies and donkeys sold at any farm, stable, hotel or inn"! The items which more closely concern the town's trade are: intoxicating liquors; meals or refreshments for consumption on or off the premises (but not fish and chips); certain confectionery; flowers, fruit and vegetables; fresh milk and cream (including tinned and/or dried cream); medicines and medical appliances; aircraft, motor and cycle accessories; tobacco and smokers' requisites; newspapers, periodicals and magazines; and photographs for passports. There are more, "both lengthy and specific" - such as the sale of freshly-caught fish by fishermen elsewhere than in a shop - but neither the report nor the GAZETTE has room for the whole list.
These exemptions apply nationally; and nationally, too, a local authority may also issue an Order permitting shops to be open not later than 10 am (big deal!) for the sale of bread (etc.), fish and groceries. There are at present no such orders in the Rother area.
In holiday resorts, the local authority is allowed to issue an Order permitting shops to be open for up to 18 Sundays in the year for the sale of certain things not included in the national list. These include things required for bathing and fishing; photographic requisites; toys, souvenirs and fancy goods; books, stationery, photographs, reproductions and postcards; and any article of food.
Rye has such an Order, dating back to 1939 but with no reference to food. There are also no-food Orders for Battle (1966), Icklesham (which of course includes Winchelsea Beach and the Harbour) and Fairlight - these two dating back to 1937. Camber and Pett have a 1977 Order which consolidated three 1937 Orders and gives the full exemption including food; Bexhill (1979) also has the full exemption. The 18 Sundays vary with the different Orders, but are usually Easter Sunday, either Whit Sunday or the last in May, and the 16 consecutive Sundays in June, July, August and September. (But Battle doesn't get Easter Sunday, and Icklesham and Fairlight don't start their straight run until the last Sunday in June, but they can open on the Sunday before Christmas!)
If Rother were to consolidate what the report aptly refers to as "the existing patchwork of Orders" into one Holiday Resort Exemption (Rother) Order, two-thirds of the traders affected would have to be in favour. When the Council tried this in 1983, less than 50% of the questionnaires were even returned at all! Even with a consolidated Order, enforcement would be difficult - indeed, says the report, impossible with the present Environmental Health staffing. The procedure is a lengthy one, and the report refers to action against Payless in Bexhill, who have been taken to court four times since June 1983, with the most recent fine (May 1985) being £1,000. (The successful prosecution of Webbs of Battle - GAZETTE no. 172 - is reported in last week's News - John Webb was fined £100 plus £75 costs.)
The Association of District Councils is concerned with the problem, particularly with the large retailers who open on Sundays over wide geographical areas; it is in correspondence with the Attorney General about this aspect of enforcement.
The report recommends that the Council should undertake another survey of traders to see whether the statutory two-thirds would now be in favour of a District Exemption Order. With the Sunday trading proposals so recently thrown out by Parliament, it does seem particularly important to do what tidying-up is possible to the present rag-bag system - and traders who can't be bothered even to return a questionnaire are doing no good at all to themselves or the community on which they depend.
7.
Having heard from the commercial bus operators which routes they will continue to run after the new Transport Act comes into effect in October, East Sussex (and Kent) County Councils are now inviting tenders for routes which have slipped through the holes in the network. The one most likely to concern Rye is the present no. 12, to Tenterden via Iden; tenders are being invited for six journeys each way, Monday to Saturday. There are also four extra services on the route from Camber to Rye, the shopping bus on Fridays from Rye to Eastbourne via Bodiam and Battle, and a school-time bus between Rye and the Harbour. It is by no means certain, of course, that all the routes tendered for will be subsidised that decision will be taken when the tenders are in; but it does seem unlikely that Iden will be left with no bus service at all.
Some very satisfactory prices were achieved at Vidler & Co's monthly auction on Friday. Lot 1 made a good start - a pair of cast-iron garden seat ends (not, to be honest, looking their best) fetched £110! Downstairs, more conventional seating did well: six Victorian balloon-back dining chairs went for £650, two mahogany elbow chairs upholstered in buttoned hide for £270 and a matching chaise longue for £240. Seven prettily-carved C19 oak dining chairs sold for £460. Other lots fetching £150 or more were an Edwardian book-case cabinet ( a marriage, said the catalogue) at £340, a religious oil-painting (unsigned) at £150, an antique oak long-case clock (£420), a Victorian silver salver (£160), a revolving 3-tier bookstand (£150) - and right at the end, an old Persian carpet went for £400. In all, the 26 lots which sold at £100 or more added up to over £5,000. And, of course, there were a further 500 rather less pricey items as well...
Seven members of Playden WI decided to "Help Clean-Up East Sussex" on Monday, along a route which took them over the Rope Walk level crossing, through Dead-man's Lane and up the hill to Fairmeadow, crossing the road at the Playden sign and ending up gratefully at a member's home in New England Lane to drain a large pot of tea! They collected two large sacks of rubbish, much of it from round the level crossing - which is used by Upper School pupils several times a day; is the litter less, we wonder, in the holidays?
What is happening at ex-Dewhursts? Looking like a blackened tooth in the trim High Street frontage, it has had a huge "To Let" board from an Eastbourne agent over it for months now - yet we were assured that the lease was taken up almost at once. A spokesman for the agent tells us now that the deal has left their hands for those of the solicitors; he also would like things to move rather faster, but there is nothing they can do. He is not in a position to disclose the name, or even the type of business, of the new occupant.
Advance publicity for the Rotary Country Fair out along New Road all day on Sunday, 10 August, promises a real family outing. As usual, there is emphasis on vintage and veteran cars and motorbikes, and a display of period farm machinery. Those who braved the appalling weather last year will not have forgotten the amazing display put on by the Woodwings Flying Circus. They were booked then and there to come back in 1986, and we cannot speak too highly of their show: it really is super, and for all ages - this year's version includes parachuting teddy-bears!
Entries are invited (Terry Osborne, Little Saltcote, Military Road, Rye) for the tug-o-war competition. The Kite Society will be demonstrating the art of kite making and flying; and other attractions will include Ross the cart-horse, music throughout the afternoon from the Battle Town Band, all kinds of stalls, a very good refreshment tent and bar, and a programme of children's events from noon. The only thing Rotary can't arrange beforehand is the weather - and after last year, they really are owed a decent day...
Friday, 11th CSRF wine-and-cheese party, FEC, 2.30 to 4
Saturday, 12th Coffee morning for MSS, 149 Pottingfield Road (nearly-new, raffle, cakes, bric-a-brac), 10 to 12.30
Rye Hospital League of Friends Summer Fair, FEC, 10.30 to 12 ("A galaxy of stalls, side-shows and attractions" - poster)
Monday, 14th Rye Town Council (followed by committees), TH, 6
Play, "Find Me", Thomas Peacocke Upper School, 7.30 (see page 4)
Tuesday, 15th An evening of drama, dance and music (see page 4), also at Thomas Peacocke Upper School at 7.30
Wednesday, 16th Thrift Shop (handing-in only), Red Cross, 10.30 to 12.30 Community Lunch Group (discussing day care in Rye), Clinic, 1 Landgate WI garden meeting, Culpeppers, Love Lane
• David Sheppard of Kings Avenue will be all at sea next year - as the winner of the John Williams Memorial sail-training place for 1987. David, who is 16, is taking an engineering course at Hastings Tech. This is the fifth year that the award has been made - with two more to go.
• Thursday's coffee morning at Norman House in aid of the Church of England Children's Society raised £282 - over £70 from the sale of recycled greetings cards (and Mrs. Bayley still has plenty left).
• Kenneth Clark of Eagle Road would be very glad to hear from any other model railway enthusiasts interested in forming a club in Rye.
• If anyone has found a chair-seat covered in blue brocade, with or without a green dralon cushion cover, the owner would be extremely glad to have it back! She collected it from Hamiltons on Monday morning and put it on top of her car while she stowed away her other shopping - and then drove off... It is probably somewhere between Conduit Hill and Military Road; if you know where, please ring.
• Crimes: two, both unusual for Rye - the contents of a St. Margaret's Terrace washing-line were stolen on 26/27 June (towel, jeans, blouse and socks); and the cash box and contents were stolen from the Fishmarket Road phone box (in the Bedford car park) some time between 9.15 on 27 June and 18.40 on the 30th - which would seem to imply that the box isn't much used?
The Select Committee on the Channel Tunnel Bill spends this week hearing the petitions of the East Sussex and Kent local authorities ("And your petition: will ever pray, etc." - GAZETTE nos. 180 and 181).
• From 17 July there will once more be karate tuition in the town. At Thomas Peacocke School on Thursday evenings, classes will be held for 5-to-15s from 6.45 to 8, and for older students from 8 to 10.
• The St. John fund-raising Strawberry Fair ten days ago raised £113 - and Mrs.vMandy Martin would like to thank not only her helpers but also the customers who braved the Conduit Hill cobbles on a very hot afternoon to come and have tea with the St. John girls. We can testify that it was well worth it for those who did, sitting in the shade of the building with the flower-stall next door!
• Congratulations to Peter Lelliott, ex-Thomas Peacocke School, who went on to art school and has now been accepted to start a two-year course at the Royal College of Art in London.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 2 Cyprus Place, Rye, TN31 7DR (0797 222303), and printed by Cinque Ports Stationers of Rye. News items for inclusion are always welcome – deadline Monday afternoon (Tuesday 9 am at latest and only for real emergencies). The GAZETTE costs 30p weekly and is delivered to subscribers and pick-up points on Wednesday - a few spare copies and back numbers are available from Cyprus Place (best phone first to make sure someone is there). (Copyright Mary Owen 1986)