... to Mrs. Helen Hedgler, of Rye Harbour, who celebrated her ninetieth birthday on Sunday. To Rye Golf Club she will always remain Helen Kirkpatrick; her father Walter was the Club's greenkeeper for 16 years from 1909, and she joined the staff in 1912. 26 years later, just before the war, she left to marry the Rye Harbour postmaster, having been "the mainstay of the house staff" (as well as, for a time, acting Steward) as Denis Vidler testifies in his 1984 history of the Golf Club. Her recollections were a great help to him when he wrote the book, and she still has no trouble at all in producing a fund of good stories. We wish Mrs. Hedgler continued good health and happiness.
Three guide dogs were the stars of an evening presentation by Rye & District Lions at the George Hotel last Wednesday. Lionel, Eamonn and Nero were escorting their owners - Jack Boggis from Bexhill, Fred Sealy from Hastings, and Tony Castleton from Wokingham - who had come to receive a cheque from the Lions for E2,000, the cost of training two more dogs. (For a long time Mr. Castleton had been a member of his local Lions, but pressure of work as puppy-walking manager for the GDBA had forced him to give up other commitments.) The Lions and their wives already knew about one of the dogs, Henry, whose training they were sponsoring - but photographs of the other (Perry) were passed round and admired. The Association doesn't tell donors who "their" dogs are going to - but it was clear from what Mr. Castleton said that each relationship built up between owner and dog is a very personal and trusting one. Most guide dogs are bred by the Association for their temperament, he remarked - and the three "minders" looked smug and flumped their tails on the carpet. Lionel and Eamonn are big soft golden labradors, but Nero is a German shepherd dog and looks like a very convincing wolf - no-one, we felt, would be inclined to risk tangling with Mr. Castleton in a dark alley!
Lions president Peter Chantry, presenting the cheque, explained that Lions had offered to match E for E money raised locally; he listed the various fundraisers, and said that the Lions' contribution had been collected during their very successful pre-Christmas carol-singing in the villages.
As well as the £2,000 handed over on Wednesday, Lions have given almost a further £3,000 to various good causes over the past year. They have made grants to local playgroups and sponsored local young people; they contributed towards the town's Christmas lights, and arranged an outing to Eastbourne for 200 elderly local people; they have helped the Victim Support Scheme and the Hospice appeal, provided equipment for disabled people, and given money to national charities NSPCC, Leukaemia Research, Medic Aid and the Lion Youth Award Scheme. Roars of applause, please!
The current Easton Rooms exhibition shows the work of Fairlight artist Michael B. White - muscular nudes, colourful views, and a visceral bronze in the window. In the cv on the wall, Mr. White's friend and fellow-artist Mick Rooney says it all much better than we can: "...the images may be handled as straight-laced, straight-faced, ironic, quietly mocking or with paradox, but whatever the mood the spectator is always drawn in and perhaps a little seduced by the blazing, chuckling humanity of it all. Michael B. White is an artist of serious intent who prefers to celebrate life in passing, not with the black clouds and thunderous messages but with fanfares of colour and cornucopias of optimism." Fanfares and cornucopias are on view until 16 March.
The striking new "RYE ART" logo adorns the front of the 1987 programme now available from the Easton Rooms. It gives details of the year's exhibitions in both galleries, and there is a great deal to look forward to.
2.
• Dewhursts in the High Street closed in July 1985. In mid-February 1986 a "To Let" board went up, and there was considerable interest - only very rarely is there a shop to let in the High Street. Months later a new sign appeared saying "For Sale"; in due course - to everyone's relief - countermanded by another saying "Sale Agreed". That has now been there for a long time, and still nothing happens. Rye is not accustomed to empty shops at all, let alone in the High Street - as St. Michael's Hospice found to their sorrow - and this one, in a prime position, is a real embarrassment to the town: even the whitewash is gently flaking off the windows, rubbed away from inside in places to reveal the accumulation of free literature on the floor. We wonder if Messrs. Stiles, Horton & Ledger, of Eastbourne, realise just what a dump their board is attached to? - and with what lack of enthusiasm the town in general regards the present situation?
• We do not think that the late Mrs. Dorothea Taylor would be particularly pleased about the appearance of the old Dairy Yard, either. The market stallholders were given notice last autumn, before the planning application to redevelop the site was made. Since then the yard has become increasingly unkempt, the gate permanently open and (once again) newspaper scattered about the place (with, doubtless, worse in the corners if anyone is unwise enough to look). The planning application was deferred in January, and did not come back to the February meeting, and it seems likely that nothing will be happening in the yard for some time; might the present owners consider going down there with a broom and a roll of chestnut fencing, to improve its appearance in the interval?
This time last year we complained at some length about the blackberry bushes growing from the parapet of the Old Grammar School; we also spoke to Mr. Clive Bennett of Flackley Ash, its owner. He told us then that he had had difficulty contacting his top-floor tenant to gain access to the parapet, and that he was anxious to kill off the brambles properly after an unsuccessful attempt a few years earlier; and on 19 March we were delighted to report that Mr. Bennett's builder - poised intrepidly at the top of a very long ladder - had removed them. But the weedkiller was obviously not strong enough. The blackberries were in full growth again at the end of last summer, and now wave provocatively from the parapet once more. They must surely be rooting deep into the fabric of the listed building - one of half-a-dozen which are particularly important to Rye. Perhaps a more radical approach to the problem this year might bring more permanent results? A brick which is dislodged onto someone's head is still painful, whether or not it falls off a Grade One Listed building:
The ITV children's television programme "No. 73", on Saturday morning at 9.35 (check your paper in case they've retimed it) comes live from Camber this week. It includes a recorded visit to Rye Foundry - one of the oldest industries still operating in Rye. The recording is being done today, and manager Tom Lucas will be showing them how a fireback is made - he doesn't, of course, know what will actually go out on Saturday, but it should be interesting anyhow.
Mr. Lucas has promised that the GAZETTE can visit the Foundry too; they do a lot of things there besides making cannon for the Queen Mother's birthday.
The primary school PTA is anxious for parents to become more involved with the way the school runs, and on Wednesday, 18 March, at 7.30 at the school, there will be an Open Forum. The Headmaster and other staff members, plus Clive King of the TPS computer department, will welcome questions from parents and others interested in the school, or deal with those sent in beforehand. Invitations are going out to FGS parents, and also those with children at Tilling Green and Rye Playgroup - but notes don't always get home, so we are asked to mention the event here too. There will be no fund-raising - even the coffee will be free! Mr. King's presence is connected with the PTA's intention to give the school a second computer - £312 was raised for this at the Christmas Fair.
- 3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 4 March 1987
Monday's warmer weather was not entirely welcome at one Rye office - the BRCS HQ in the High Street, where 300 lbs of butter were due to be delivered, kept overnight, and handed out on Tuesday to an army of helpers for onward distribution in Rye and the villages. The Red Cross do have a fridge, but not quite on that scale!
We have rather lost track of the earlier stages of this story, but those who have seen on telly the Salvation Army handing out packets of butter to elderly people will know that it comes with the compliments of the Common Market. In Rye the distribution is being handled by the WRVS Meals-on-Wheels service for their customers, and by the Red Cross for everyone else - and not only in Rye, but throughout their very large area (Icklesham to Camber, and inland almostto Burwash). Hilary Bolton went on holiday before this was even a whisper, and came back to find that her deputy Mrs. Jo Gannon of Staplecross had been faced with the problem: at 8ozs a time, how much butter did the Rye Centre want so that everyone either elderly or on social security would get some?
Of course there was no way the Red Cross could find out who is and who is not on social security - nor, indeed, collect the names of all the over-65s in the area. They have ended up with a list of 600 names and addresses; but Mrs. Bolton is well aware that some of those included as elderly would not regard themselves as needy, and many to whom any help would be welcome will have been left off. One village postmaster offered to make sure that everyone who drew a pension or social security from his shop would get their packet; from another village, they have hardly any names at all. However, they have done their best with what information they had, and most of Rye's butter hillock will have been distributed by today.
Since the shop price of 8ozs of butter is less than 50p, it seems a lot of organisation for a small result; but at least a system - of a kind - has been set up, so that if further EEC benefactions (beef, cheese, even fish?) come our way, the Red Cross will be prepared. We hope to hear, next week, how the operation went. (How about distributing the Wine Lake next?)
The exact date for the work on the Nagdala House site to start is uncertain, but it will be in the second half of March. The Council are anxious to be good neighbours while the building is going up, and they have started well by negotiating with the contractors not to begin piling until 8am and to finish by 6pm (8 to 1 on Saturdays) - the legal limit is 7 to 7, so householders have two hours' peace to be grateful for. Rother staff will be monitoring the condition of adjoining buildings before, during and after the work; playgroup mums, Mr. Bird assures us, have nothing to worry about.
The Northiam & Rye Branch of the RAF Association has a new president, and for the first time in 40 years the job goes to a woman. Our Mayor Mrs. Monica Oliver served in the WAAF during the war, and was one of the speakers at the recent RAFA dinner; and when the Branch committee was considering whom they should ask to fill the vacant presidential seat, the choice was unanimous. Mrs. Oliver tells us she feels very honoured by the request; the Branch tell us they are very honoured by her acceptance.
A chance to see inside the Wright & Pankhurst Repository, about which we were writing in GAZETTE no. 210, comes on 19-21 March, when Simon Burke of Antiques of Tomorrow has offered the ground floor to the St. John Ambulance Brigade for a three-day charity shop. This will open between 10 and 4 on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Brigade will be glad of goods to sell, which can be delivered to the Conduit Hill HQ on a Monday, Thursday or Friday evening between 7 and 9 - or ring Mrs. Farthing.
4.
• The Planning Officer is recommending that Rother should start work on a new Local Plan for Rye. "This follows discussions between the County Planning Officer and myself" his report says. "I am reluctant to add to the workload of my department at the present time but a new plan for Rye is essential, especially since work on the selection of a bypass route is apparently advanced almost to the public comment stage." (This would have been written before the D o T booked the Community Centre for 7 to 9 May, but how right he was!) The timetable attached to the report shows work on the Rye Plan starting this year and continuing beyond the end of 1989.
• At last Thursday's Rother meeting, the following local applications were approved: the extension to Rye Harbour village hall, new signs for the Old Borough Arms and the Top o' the Hill pub, and the renewal of temporary car parking permission at Jempsons' Farnborough premises. Subject to no objections within the time-limit, 3 Sea View Terrace can be converted into two maisonettes. The question of the radio aerial at 63 Ferry Road has been deferred for further information. There were two refusals: for the new fascia treatment at Woolworths, and for the two houses in Saltcote Lane, on land adjoining "Cherries".
All those concerned will get the result in writing in due course; as usual, it could be unwise to start work before the letter arrives, as there are often various conditions attached. Incidentally, people who have occasionally written to Bother's Planning Department to object to or comment on planning applications - and have then heard nothing at all and had to ring up to make sure their letter arrived - will appreciate a sporting try by George Shackleton to get such letters merely acknowledged by Planning. But he was outvoted; so we shall just have to go on ringing up!
• The only Rye planning application this week is one which has been much talked about already. It is the extension to the Rye Art Gallery, or rather the building which would connect the Easton Rooms to the Stormont Studio and provide extra gallery space as well as a lecture hall to seat more than a hundred people. The plan is to fill in the present courtyard immediately outside the back window of the High Street gallery with a large room giving staircase access directly into the Ockman's Lane gallery - a large sliding window would open onto the remaining part of the upper garden, or could be curtained off as appropriate. The work would also include removing the chimney-stack in the Easton Rooms and putting in central steps from the front to the back rooms, with the enquiry desk visible from the street and commanding the whole ground-floor area. (Those who have squeezed past each other on the present steps at crowded priva views will really welcome this!)
If planning permission for this work is given, the gallery Trustees will at last be able to launch the much-heralded major appeal for the money to pay for it.
We quoted last week from a "Rye's Own" reprint of an extract from "The Herald of Rye" in December 1897. This was just when the decision had been taken to centralise the water-supply at the new waterworks below Cadborough Cliff, and to cease using what was known as Willow Spring in Military Road, with its reservoir beneath. The Herald suggests: "Would it not be pleasant, for visitors and residents alike, if the top of the Willow Tree reservoir could be converted into a pleasant little square, with the present floral border, and the cliff and trees around and above? A cheap and charming resting place this, and easily looked after, if the picturesque engine house was converted into a cottage and let at a shilling or so a week reduction, provided the occupants kept care of 'Willow Tree Nook'. A cascade on the Cliff, even a fountain in the square might be cheaply contrived. Everyone could see and enjoy an oasis like that." Leading into the question of electric lighting, the Editor goes on to say that "a whisper has been heard within the circle of the Corporation" that the waterworks building, with its engine, might be used for the supply of electric light. Does anyone know if this was ever done, however briefly?
5.
• In GAZETTE no. 209 we told of a reader who arrived at Rye Station 17 minutes early for the 8.02am train, intending to buy a day return; she had to board the train without a ticket and then (under BR's new rules) pay full fare because of the queue at the ticket office. She merely complained to us. But in the Sussex Express of 20 February was a letter from a very angry lady in Lewes who met the same problem and is - quite rightly - complaining all over the place (and the best of luck to her!) As a Network Card holder intending to buy a cut-price Capitalcard for a mid-day journey, she arrived at Lewes Station 12 minutes early, to find a long queue and only one window open out of several, despite there being staff in the office - "no doubt too busy to sell tickets" she comments bitterly. She boarded the train without one, refused to pay the full fare, ended up having a blinding row in the Area Manager's office and now, she says, faces a criminal charge. British Rail say they introduced these rules to catch fare dodgers; but stories like these will put off respectable travellers too - unless they can buy their tickets the day before, to be on the safe side. What is BR going to do about it?
• A local weekender, going back to London on Sunday night, 15 February, arrived at Rye Station for the 20.14 - the last train to Ashford. No train. At half- past eight the station staff announced that Hastings was "getting another one out of the shed"! This one - pushing the delinquent in front of it - arrived here at nine pm. What should have been the 21.05 connection at Ashford was of course long gone by the time they finally got there, and our correspondent spent a fruitful half-hour complaining at Ashford Station until the 22.05 came in and she eventually got home, an hour late.
And why was the 20.14 not able to leave in the first place? Because, unlike the wise virgin in the shed, its tank was empty - and Hastings Station had run out of diesel! The sooner they electrify this line, the better.
• "Be somewhere else ... with a Young Person's Railcard" says one of BR's current ads. Jamie Kirkham decided to do just that, and visit his sister Tracy at college in Liverpool. Both have student railcards, and Tracy's fare on a weekend visit home is £17.15. Believe it or not, Jamie's fare for exactly the same double journey - but starting from this end - was £20.45! Luckily he had enough spare money for the extra £3, but his annoyed mother made further enquiries. It was quite true; if you go to Liverpool from the affluent South, you pay (normally) some £6 more than if you travel south from that city. Mrs. Kirkham says she would probably not have noticed if they hadn't recently been using the new route which bypasses London, so that the whole fare was payable together. But why does the journey cost more if you head north first?
• Finally, a good-news story, but this time on the buses. On Friday last week we practised what we preached in GAZETTE no. 212, and took Hastings & District's cheap-offer trip to Eastbourne. It is really remarkably good value. They pick up at Strand Quay in a small and very comfortable minibus (more friendly and less draughty than a big coach, used when there are a lot of bookings). The route goes round by Winchelsea Beach, past Highland cattle (really!), and herons and swans on the Pett Pools, rising to a marvellous view over Rye Bay and then, looking the other way, out across the Channel (because the bus is higher than a car, you can see over the hedges). We twisted round a huge and unexpected Council estate before running into Hastings ("comfort stop") and then took an unusual route through Bexhill (hands up those who have never seen its Town Hall, Rother's seat of government?). West of Hastings there is also the diversion of studying the way the owners of the endless 1930s houses have enjoyed personalising them! Seven hours in Eastbourne was time to shop, have a meal and go to the cinema (choice of five shows) or the Towner before being picked up just outside the Arndale shopping centre and driven swiftly home, dead on time. We told our driver we would write the trip up, and we have; as a good day out, at the price, it's hard to beat - the maximum fare was just £1.80!
A leaflet about this and other outings from Rye is available at Baldwins.
6.
This year's Thomas Peacocke School play, with three performances at the beginning of April, is a complete departure from the school's successful run of popular Fifties musicals. In April last year the school was one of only 7 in East Sussex chosen to take part in a national experimental project coordinating the teaching of various arts subjects; Chris Rose and Margaret Marshall are the staff representatives in this "Arts in Schools" project, and first-year pupils are now working on a combined creative arts course, linking writing, drama, dance, music and art. The theme of their course is the "Mary Stanford" tragedy, and it will culminate next term in something about which we shall be saying more later.
But the new course is also invoked for the ambitious forthcoming production of "Ulysses" at Upper School. Based on a tongue-in-cheek modern-dress version of the Greek myth which tells of the warrior's return to his wife in Ithaca and his adventures on the way, the TPS version has expanded the original script, with much of the new material coming from the actors. The music, too, should be interesting, with scope for improvisation and instruments which include electric guitars, electric keyboards, flute and drums. The school has had to hire expensive equipment to make sure of balanced sound in the big hall - so they hope very much for good audiences, so that the Drama Fund won't be out of pocket. But some of the local primary schools are also involved in the new project, working on their own interpretations of the myth, so doubtless non-TPS parents will be persuaded along to the Grove by their under-twelves - and it sounds as if they won't regret it.
And the cast? Chris Rose says there are no "leads" in the normal sense, and if we listed everyone it would be a very long list; but we did extract from him that Mark Curry (of last year's "Pygmalion" and this year's Young Enterprise Scheme) will be playing Ulysses.
Tickets are likely to be on sale in a couple of weeks' time; we will give details then. But keep the night of 2, 3 or 4 April.
We all appreciate the charm of the old photographs which appear at regular intervals in books about turn-of-the-century life - particularly interesting when they show people going about their daily work, and best of all if the names are recorded. But in a hundred, or even fifty years' time, will the same records be available for the second half of the nineteenth century?
The GAZETTE would like to start a collection, eventually destined for the Library, of photographs showing Rye at work - now, or anyway since the war. Timber ships unloading at Strand Quay are already only a memory, but they are busy at Alsfords wharf (even the Wish Ward workshops will not be there much longer, will they?) The milkmen setting out early on a summer morning, the scene inside the laundry, a feed truck unloading at Foreman's, the petrol pumps at Skinners, the fishing-boats unloading, the Foundry... all are commonplace now, but they won't be one day. The bus depot at 3.30 on a school-day, the Thursday market (and of course the Wednesday one), the everyday shops (including perhaps specially The Mint Stores and Mills, Drapers); there are plenty of pictures of boats at Strand Quay, but what about inside Derek Phillips' workshop? (Rye at play, too; has anyone got a good shot of the Oasis on a Saturday night, or even one taken outside the Standard, ditto?)
And of course if anyone is turning out a drawer full of old snapshots of Rye, we will be very glad to take over any you don't want - particularly if you can label the backs before you part with them. The motto of a local archivist has to be: Never Throw Anything Away!
We have been lent a fascinating notebook about Rye before the turn of the century, written by a man in his 80s just before he died in 1963. (When he was at the Grammar School, Jeake's aeroplane was still up in the roof!) Extracts will doubtless filter into these columns as and when there is room.
• There is no need for Barry and Jill Stevens from Fairlight to be a two-car family; only the thickness of a wall divides their respective shops in Cinque Ports Street! Jill, of course, is the owner of Rye Wholefoods - and on Monday Barry took over The Decorator's Warehouse next door, from Tony and Pauline Meyer. He does not intend to alter the shop's full range of Dulux paints, or the mixing machines for both Berger and Dulux, and he will certainly keep the 24-hour ordering service for matching wallpaper and curtains, as well as all the other decorating materials at present stocked. He hopes to add a good selection of ceramic tiles, though, and in about a month's time there is to be a really exciting development. Barry has worked in interior design and graphics, and he will be offering a home advisory service, starting with a visit to the customer's house, helping with the choice of designs and colour schemes, and (if required) finding a competent decorator to carry out the work. He hopes that this service will also prove useful to hotels and guest-houses, where the owners have other things to do than worry about the decorations. Things are likely to get busy once Spring is sprung, so those thinking about redecorating might like to come in now and talk about it - the shop is open 9 to 5 (no lunch-hour), Tuesdays until 12.
• Jane Edgar at the Peacock Wine Bar in Lion Street would like to make it absolutely clear that (a) she is still open, (b) the restaurant is not for sale, and (c) that it is not going to be! Much to her surprise, some of her custo- mers have assured her recently that she was closing, and she doesn't know where the rumour originated. Anyway, the Peacock is open for lunch six days a week (not Tuesdays) and on Friday and Saturday evenings in the winter - every evening, of course, once the season begins.
Three Rye shopkeepers have installed new shop-fronts recently. The Swiss Patisserie now has a handsome wrap-round window, draught- and condensation-proof (the old one was very prone to steaming up, with the warm bakery inside) - and a new door that is a pleasure to open and shut. Joyce Hayes at what is now Bow Antiques at the top of the Mint also has a big new window and a glass-paned door - and is very impressed by the speed with which her builder did the work (she hopes to be open again today, though Monday was a bit over-optimistic!) Opposite the Town Hall the Tuck Shoppe, too, has a new window (not that you would know it unless you saw it going in, since it is a perfect copy of its predecessor - the difference being that the new one doesn't let the wet in...)
Some months ago we mentioned a scheme for "family supporters" to sit with sufferers from Alzheimer's disease (normally, elderly people too confused to be left alone) to give their families a break. The scheme was then looking for prospective carers, but MSC had strict rules about who was eligible, and it was only before Christmas that someone local was able to be appointed.
She now has "spare capacity" and could take on a few more clients. The scheme's organiser, Mike Gubbin, has had hardly any names put forward by Social Services, community nurses or local doctors - and he finds it hard to believe that there are no more households here in need of such help. Even if his present carer becomes fully booked, he would be glad to know the true position here and could try to take on another if there was a known demand.
So he needs help from GAZETTE readers. Please show this to anyone you know who is looking after someone with Alzheimer's disease (which used to be called, less kindly, senile dementia). Please ask your friends if they know of anyone, in Rye or the villages. A phone call to Mr. Gubbin could lead to a few hours freedom for someone who desperately needs it. (First come, first served, presumably.)
This particular scheme is only for Alzheimer's disease sufferers. Others desperate for a carer's help should visit Sandie Lazarus at the Council Offices in Cinque Ports Street (sorry about last week's time-slip!) on the morning of 12 or 26 March.
Friday, 6th Vidler & Co's monthly auction sale, 10
Marina Feasibility Study display, Saltings Hotel, 10 to 4
WI Market AGM (speaker Mrs. Stock, "A Washing-up Bowl"), CC,2 Women's World Day of Prayer service (speaker Mrs. Sue Marriott), St. Mary's, 2.30
Conservative Association AGM (with Ken Warren, MP), TH, 7.30 Movie Society, instruction evening on "Sound", FEC, 7.30 Camera Club annual dinner
Saturday, 7th Marina display (see above), Saltings, 10 to 1
WBL "Soup Kitchen" (soup and French bread 50p, filled jacket potato 75p, tea and coffee available), CC, 11 to 2
TPS PTA Barn Dance (Catsfield Steamers), The Grove, 7.30
Monday, 9th Rye Town Council: full Council, Planning Committee
Wednesday, 11th Rye WI:. "Country Houses" (Mrs. Bishop), FEC, 7
Rye Town Council: Leisure & Tourism and Bequests Committees.
• Congratulations to Doris (nee Killick) and Bob Foord, who celebrated their Golden Wedding on 27 February. Mr. and Mrs. Foord were the landlords of the Pipemakers Arms after the war, taking over the pub from Mrs. Foord's parents when Mr. Foord returned from service with the Royal Navy. They later had The Little Shop in Winchelsea, and now live in Willow Lane at Winchelsea Beach.
• Welcome back to Rye to Dr. David Dewhirst, who has taken Dr. Townsend's place on the staff of the Postern Gate practice.
• Leah Mercedes will be talking about her recent trip to the Far East on the Radio Sussex "258 Alternative" programme at 2.30 tomorrow (258 medium wave only).
• Our Mayoress, Mrs. Suzanne Burgess, will be donning her track-suit on Sunday week (15 March) to take part in the Hastings Half-Marathon - starting from the Bathing Pool at 10.30. Mrs. Burgess seeks sponsors jointly for the St. Michael's Hospice Appeal and a fund for hospital equipment at RESH, where she is theatre sister. Those who would like to sponsor her - and this is surely the first time a Mayoress of Rye has done such a thing? - could ring her mother Mrs. Oliver, or call at the Town Clerk's office.
• Julie Rohan-Gates, who made such an impressive Rye debut at the Greenpeace gig on St. Valentine's Day, will be singing with Green for Love at the Ypres Castle pub on Sunday this week, at 8-ish.
• Cinque Ports Stationers are looking for someone to help Bernie in the shop hours and salary by arrangement (Rye 224428, or call in).
• Readers are reminded that the Gas Board starts work in The Mint on Monday, and it will cease to be a through road for three weeks - the Market Road corner will therefore need to be treated with considerable caution by pedestrians!
• People planning holidays abroad are well served as regards brochures by the colourful racks in Baldwins Travel in Cinque Ports Street. But those intending to holiday in this country may not realise that further along the road the Tourist Information office also has brochures, for holiday areas all over the UK; as David Cranston points out, tourism works both ways.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 2 Cyprus Place, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7DR (0797 222303), and printed by Cinque Ports Stationers of Rye. Deadline is Monday afternoon for Wednesday's delivery; the paper costs subscribers 30p a week, and spare copies are sometimes available from Cyprus Place (only). (Copyright Mary Owen 1987)
STOP PRESS: Frenchman's Beach planning enquiry, TH 12/13 March, CANCELLED. Owners have withdrawn their appeal and are preparing a new application.