The Rye Bisection: see pages 4 and 5 for an account of last week's exhibition - and don't forget tomorrow night's protest meeting.
All Rye will be happy for Paul Kennard, whose beautiful "Mascotte" made her first cross-Channel voyage on Saturday. Her first outing under sail was the previous Sunday, when she left Rye very early in the morning and came purring home just after lunch; everything went very smoothly, Mrs. Kennard told us on Wednesday (except for herself personally, smitten by sea-sickness), and their only regret was that they had no photograph of her under sail. We offered, of course, to ask if any reader had taken one (and if you did, please let Mrs. Kennard, at the fish shop in Rope Walk, see it). However, fate took pity; Richard Horner was given a Boulogne local paper on Wednesday by one of his bus passengers who knew he lived here - and it contained a lovely picture of "an English sailing boat from Rye, seen in the Channel on Sunday". Yes, Mascotte!
Paul had to take her over on Saturday, almost without fail, because he was due to pick up a French couple who had won a week's cruise in her as a prize given by French local radio - her very first paying passengers and, we hope, the first of a great many, since she has to earn her keep.
Congratulations to Presto, both the local manager and his Essex-based supervisor, who have been persuaded by the Conservation Society that Rye people would much rather be able to see into the newly-refurbished shop than reel back from the outsize posters which used to block the windows. Ours is the only Presto branch in the whole country which is no longer plastered with posters! After a site meeting with Peter Howlett and Peter Smith of the Conservation Society, the Presto management appreciated the fact that a display of the company's standard type was out of character with the High Street - and within 48 hours the shop looked very different.
Seeboard's windows in Market Road are also pleasantly open to view since their painters finished - display boards blocking the windows have been removed, and the shop looks much bigger and very much more attractive.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society's sponsorship/draw for George Cumming's London Marathon run raised the astonishing sum of £1,067. First prize in the draw (ticket no. 454) went to a Hollington man; other winning tickets were 839, 13, 103, 876, 174, 478, 725, 545, 882, 364, and 778. Mrs. Marjorie Twine, the organiser, and the rest of the committee are most grateful to everyone who helped to make this such an excellent result.
The town was a-jingle with Morris dancers on Sunday when the East Surrey Morris Men and several other linked groups gave great pleasure to onlookers as they danced at five different places in the town during the afternoon, and continued to wear their fantastic costumes while they did their shopping or pushed the baby round or had a cup of tea. This was their 29th annual tour of Kent and Sussex - many of them would have been babes in arms themselves when the series started, though some danced like youngsters despite very grey heads. We watched sitting on the grass or the low walls and enjoying the sunshine - perhaps the most memorable moment was when the Bedford team, wearing flower-bouquet hats, danced in a long file under the Museum gateway and out of sight.
In the Mermaid courtyard, the Sussex Brass also delighted their audience, under their jovial conductor. We hope Rye will see them again before too long. This coming Sunday the Mermaid hosts the Cranbrook Town Band.
2.
Mrs. Monica Oliver was installed for a second term as Mayor of Rye on Monday - in a pleasantly "family" atmosphere graced by the Chairman of Rother and his wife, the Chairman of ESCC, the Mayor of Hastings and her husband, and the Mayors and Mayoresses of Winchelsea, New Romney - and Battle. Everyone was particularly glad to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Emeleus from Battle, since this was almost their first public appearance after Battle decided that the Chairman of their Town Council should be known as the Town Mayor and elected Mr. Emeleus to that office last week. He tells us that he hopes to see a better liaison between Rye and Battle, who have many problems in common. All our Town Councillors were present except Jo Kirkham (on holiday during her husband's brief leave), Joan Camier (in Dunkirk by longstanding invitation to lay a wreath on behalf of Rye British Legion), and Eric LeFevre who was not well; also County Councillors Joan Yates and Robert Bromley, and Frank Dowdeswell, the only one of our three Rother Councillors who is not also on the Town Council.
Perhaps this is the moment to congratulate the new Chairman of Rother, Roy Pulford, who represents Camber Ward (Camber, East Guldeford, Rye Foreign, Iden and Playden) at Bexhill; his wife is the manager of the Rye EMBS office. Councillor Pulford used to work for Rother until he retired, and has only been on the Council since 1982 - it is pleasing that a member with such strong local links has been elected to the chairmanship so soon.
John Ciccone, seconded by George Shackleton, reflected in his speech the Council's appreciation of the time and hard work which have made the Mayor's first year of office so successful; there were (of course) no other nominations for the office of Mayor and Chairman of the Council, and Mrs. Oliver left the dais to robe in the Parlour - and then returned, as if by magic, through the main doorway: After taking the oath, she received the 1951 pennies, part of the town's regalia, from George Shackleton, who (himself a Rother Councillor) raised a laugh when he recalled the story that went with the casket. Roger Breeds, seconded by Ringo Chapman, nominated Frank Palmer for a second term as Deputy Mayor in an entertaining speech carefully if casually researched in advance. The Town Sergeant took the oath; the Mayor reappointed her daughter, Mrs. Suzanne Burgess, as her Mayoress (four of the Mayoral grandchildren were sitting in a virtuous row near the dais); the second mace-bearer, Les Paine, and the Mayor's Chaplain, Canon Maundrell, were also reappointed.
The Mayor's address was short and to the point; she thanked her proposer and seconder for their kind words, and then welcomed the new Councillors, before turning to the A259 proposals. We had been promised a bypass, she said, and could not accept a route which would cut Rye in half; she hoped that common sense would prevail. She was glad to see a closer working relationship with Rother and ESCC. A home for the Playgroup, and the possibility of a swimming- pool, would undoubtedly need to be discussed - indeed, action seemed to be the operative word for the year ahead. She and her Council would be doing their best to serve the town "as" she emphasised "we have all been democratically elected to do".
By the time the company returned from a short service in St. Mary's, the Town Sergeant had the nice new 1p pieces good and hot, and the copper shovels ready. The crowd waiting in the sunshine below the windows were rewarded in historic if not financial terms until the supply of pennies ran out - and the Mayor's guests walked down to the Mermaid for a very pleasant lunch supervised by her husband, who is in charge of the kitchens there. After lunch toasts were drunk, and Mrs. Oliver thanked her family, her Councillors and her "indispensable" Town Clerk for their support over the past year, announced that her Charity would be the Playgroup, and paid a tribute to Dr. Bill Townsend, who had given such long service to Rye and was now about to move away. Geraldine Bromley proposed the health of the guests, representatives of so many organisations and interests in the town; and before the party dispersed, everyone had signed the Borough of Rye visitors' book, dating back to 1921 and full of fascinating historical backwaters (we could hardly bear to part with it when our turn came!).
3 THE RYE GAZETTE, 27 May 1987
East Sussex Highways warns that Wish Ward is to receive the attention of the Gas Board, in the course of its mains renewal programme, later this summer. Because the road is so narrow, it will have to be closed entirely while the work is going on, some time after 29 June. There will be no parking - and, says the notice, the work will take four to six weeks! (We do wonder if there is a mistake here, and shall be pursuing the matter with the Gas Board after the Bank Holiday; anyway, for the meantime, you have been warned.)
British Telecom's excavation at the top of Rope Walk took a little more than the specified fortnight, but they packed up and went away on Friday, just in time to leave restored parking and a clear road for the Bank Holiday weekend traffic.
Down at the station, the new bus garage has been handed over and is in use - and we were told that demolition work has already begun inside the old one. The new loos have, apparently, been informally christened already - and a window broken - but they may be officially open this week. The pavements and parking areas in the Goods Yard are being worked on, and the bus layby in Station Approach is virtually complete. Belatedly, a plan and sketch of the whole development has appeared in the station waiting-room. The lamp-posts, along Station Approach and in the Goods Yard, are in place - not, thank goodness, "contemporary" ones, but pleasant cast-iron standards with a period flavour to match the station building.
There are complaints about the lack of litter-bins in the new railway car park, so visitors have nowhere to clear out the usual holiday debris of lolly-papers, drink cans and other discards. This is not Rother's problem (not their car park) so we pass it on to British Rail - along with a complaint that the loose stones edging the area are a danger to windscreens when children play with them and leave them on the tarmac. Presumably BR are thinking hard about the best way to deal with a habit rapidly becoming established among motorists in The Grove and Rope Walk, who nip into the car-park via the exit and nip out again without paying, while Mr. Catt is busy super7ising the official entrance at the far end - a loophole which should have been obvious as soon as the Rope Walk access was proposed. And a final BR complaint: the train arriving here at 10.28 on Saturday was minus its London travellers, whose train had sat outside Ashford for ten minutes and missed the connection. A party due at a funeral at Playden at 11 had to take a 1,14 taxi to be there on time, and wished they had come by car after all.
We were interested to hear from Mr. W. Henshaw, now of Enfield, Middlesex, in connection with a question asked in the GAZETTE in September about a WW2 crashed plane near Rye. We are passing on his letter to Gordon Stanbridge of the RAFA, since it contains much interesting (not to say gruesome) detail which we can't include here. Mr. Henshaw was the sergeant in charge of the evacuated area of Winchelsea Beach at the time (he is writing about the V1 period) and it was his job to investigate all crashes; he recall that Vic Symonds, the Winchelsea policeman, and Sgt. Henley from Rye were also there.
Mr. Renshaw adds that he was in the local Territorial Association for 27 years, and was a CSM in charge of Rye and Battle Drill Halls until 1952; he sends Rye his best regards and is sorry that his health won't allow him to visit us, much as he loves the place. Ryers will recognise him as Bill Renshaw, younger brother of Alec Renshaw of the coach firm.
We now have another aircraft enquiry. During a thunderstorm on 6 October 1938, two Handley Page Harrows (RAF bombers) were struck by lightning. One (K6971) went into the sea off Dungeness with the loss of all her crew. The other (K6965) was reported crashed in the Rye/Brede area, "crew abandoned in flight". Brian Sealy, Broad Oak, would very much like to hear from anyone with information about this incident, the year before WW2 broke out: time of day, location, the names of the crew and what happened to then.
4.
At the end of last week Rye and the villages flocked to study the elaborate maps, plans, graphs, diagrams and drawings displayed by the D o T at the Community Centre to back the "choice" of a direction route for the A259. Both Department and consultants were represented in force, and they had clearly gone to an enormous amount of trouble to set out the whole complicated problem though some of the diagrams were not easily understood by non-specialists, particularly the traffic-flow one by the canteen door. We are hoping that at tomorrow's meeting someone will be able to explain that, since it held some vital figures.
For the benefit of those who couldn't get to the exhibition, we will try and summarise the proposed route and its side-effects. Starting from the Strand, we encounter first the roundabout, still in Farm Lane rather than on the waste land beside the railway. There is a curious little spur, rather like an appendix, to serve the two unfortunate terraces in Winchelsea Road, before the route cuts back to the railway across the Gas Works car park, through the Hanwells' premises and the sewage pumping station (and moving a sewage pumping station is rather more complicated than it looks at ground level!). At the same time, a bridge (flat, cutting out several moorings) crosses Strand Quay, taking a second road across from the roundabout to join up with Wish Street and the present A259 alongside the quay.
The main road continues past the last house in Cyprus Place as the railway begins to move over nearer the school. Udimore/Ferry Road meets the new road at a T-junction preceded by a level-crossing, so all motorists have to turn either left or right along the trunk road, turning off again into the town further along. The supermarket's new road remains, but will have no direct access from the Udimore Road and Estate area; the town section of Ferry Road is to be cut off at the present level crossing, with an exit only into the supermarket road and (possibly, they weren't sure) into Cyprus Place as now.
When the new road reaches the present station, it runs behind it, where the railway is now; the railway, in turn, is in the allotment ground, with a new station dividing the two tracks. The only access to this station from either side is via a footbridge, which starts beside the present station and crosses both road and railway in one, with steps down to the new station part-way along. This footbridge is to be 20' high - and we all know what the level-crossing is like even at ground-level in a wet south-westerly! It also means that baggage, bikes, babies and even wheelchairs will all have to be hauled up 20', even if a ramp is provided.
"Who pays for moving the railway?" we asked. It was, we were told, subject to negotiation. In that case, was the cost included in the £6.9m? Lack of a positive answer led us to think that it was probably "no".
We despair of describing properly the roundabout beyond the station. It will take a bite out of the new railway car park, and provide a way for Station Approach traffic to get onto the new road; it turns the present cattle-market entrance into a proper road - and this was confusing, because the artist's impression of Station Approach showed so wide a gap between the Post Office and the pub that it was difficult to believe he had ever actually been there. The roundabout also gives an entrance into the remaining railway car park - and the nice new loos end up on an island site again!
The road then passes the end of Rope Walk, with the railway still on its northern side by now heading into the Mountsfield swamp. The Grove becomes a cul-de-sac, losing its level crossing; Deadman's Lane is to be widened to allow two-way traffic. It will lose its present A268 escape status into the town, but will carry all the vehicles serving the school, sports centre, farm and some 35 houses. (The Department swears this will be 600 vehicles a day instead of the present 1600.) Rope Walk gets a very raw deal; they were at least losing their escape-route traffic, they thought - but instead, as well as having a trunk road at the end, they become a spur road off it.
(continued...)
5.
But all this is as nothing to the complications at the foot of Rye Hill. Traffic coming down it (all the Hill traffic, of course, including what now escapes down Deadman's Lane) meets first the railway, with a level crossing, and immediately afterwards the trunk road, with traffic lights. The road crossing (with frilly bits round the edge so that it looks on the map like a roundabout but isn't) bites into the bottom of the Bridge Place terrace but leaves the sewage pumping station unscathed. It also has to allow for traffic from Military Road (the present awful junction remains), what's left of Bridge Place, the start of Fishmarket Road, the Landgate, and some kind of access for Pump Square.
At this point the new road commits a grievous fault in planning terms; it cuts through the Conservation Area. This was extended some years ago to include North Salts - and Conservation Areas are supposed to be sacrosanct. Perhaps the planners didn't know about North Salts - certainly it wasn't marked as part of the Conservation Area on their map. By now the railway is almost brushing the back windows of the houses at the end of North Salts, pulling back onto its own bridge to cross the Rother, with the road crossing by a second bridge just downstream and almost brushing the back windows of the houses at the end of King's Avenue. Road and rail run side by side slap across the Walland Marsh Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the road pulls away just before the Star crossing and does not concern us further, in any immediate sense.
So that's it - Rye's "choice". We have tried to give a fair summary this week; tomorrow's protest meeting will provide material for more detailed criticism next week. As for pedestrians, they get a pelican crossing at Ferry Road, another at the foot of Rye Hill (exact positions unspecified), plus the formidable station footbridge. There will be a path from The Grove to Ferry Road beside the railway but (unless BR provides a flat crossing) nothing but the foot-bridge to get to the trains. There will also be a pavement in Deadman's Lane widening it further, with even greater risk to the big trees.
We have used the present tense throughout this account as a matter of convenience only. Nothing is even remotely certain, so don't worry about it yet. Come to tomorrow's meeting (be prepared to stand if you arrive late) and hear what other people think about it; we expect some surprises.
At the Community Centre, tempers were beginning to fray by Saturday. Mrs. Ingham extracted an apology from one DoT man who had referred to her son as "a long thin streak of a parson who didn't know what he was talking about". From her description, it was the same DoT man who, on being shown last week's GAZETTE to prove a point about brochure distribution, said "Ah, so this is the latest work of fiction?" (Last time the GAZETTE was accused of making something up, the reference was to the December 1986 story about moving the railway over, a story which was of course absolutely true - even down to the final quip about turning the station building into "that pretty tourist shop at the corner of Supermarket Road" which we certainly had not intended seriously but which could now be possible.)
But most of the officials bore their ordeal bravely and even pleasantly. When faced with persistent criticism, they tended to remark "I hear what you say" and leave it at that, which we were told afterwards is standard Government-department technique. But they really did do their best to explain the graphs and diagrams to people genuinely anxious to understand them; whether they entirely succeeded was another matter - our own careful notes about the wavy-line one make no sense at all! It must have been excessively boring answering the same questions hour after hour for three days, with barely time to grab a cup of tea let alone a proper meal - and hard on the feet, too. However, they were really pleased that so many people came to see the exhibition; what is dispiriting, they said, is to go to great trouble to set something up and then have virtually no-one turn up. (And where did they stay? Rather sportingly, at the "bypassed" Winchelsea Motel - and not in disguise, either!)
6.
The McCarthy & Stone plans for the old Hinds yard, now available for study in the Council Offices, show interesting proposals for the almost-one-acre site. The buildings form two irregular terraces, one facing Strand Quay and one looking largely inwards from The Deals. The roof level of the Strand Quay block rises from two storeys at the sluice end to four storeys beside The Deals (the height of the Great Warehouse across the road), and the facade has a pleasantly random appearance. There is a sitting-out area in the corner nearest the Pipemakers back entrance, and another garden area lies hide the Pipemakers yard; fourteen car spaces must, sad to say, mean the demolition of the two old cottages in the corner (GAZETTE no. 224). Access for vehicles will be from Wish Ward only. The listed warehouse (GAZETTE no. 219) and the space beside it is shown cut off from the main site, with a note that it is the subject of a separate planning application - for the Heritage Centre, we assume. The plans show four shops at the back of this building, with pedestrian access from Strand Quay and The Deals; and there is the possibility of a fifth shop beside the Wish Ward entrance.
Seeking more detailed information, we spoke to the architect in charge of the scheme. A lot of work has gone into this project, he told us, and the company very much hopes it will prove acceptable to the town. There will be 49 apartments plus one for the warden/manager; most will have sitting-room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, but some will have a second bedroom. There is also a guest suite available to all the residents, a DIY laundry, and a residents' lounge with a small kitchen attached, so that refreshments can be served at functions there (as at Devonport House and Badger Gate). All the apartments will be fitted out specifically for older people, with grab-rails and emergency button in the bathroom, waist-level sockets, and a warden-call system. Lifts (manufactured by a McCarthy & Stone subsidiary, so they control the servicing) will serve all flats above ground-floor level. Contrary to rumour, there is to be no communal restaurant - though one of the shops could presumably become a coffee-shop and serve the Heritage Centre trade too? Heating in each apartment will be individually controlled, and paid for, by the owner; this will please those who find that modern buildings are often kept much too hot!
The company is not yet able to say what the apartments will cost - it will be two years or so before the first owners move in, unless planning moves very swiftly. In addition to the purchase price, there will be the usual annual service charge to cover the communal aspects of the development; the company tries to arrange this so that it is not more than half the state retirement pension. It must be obvious, we imagine, that those with just an old-age pension will not be buying these apartments anyhow; they are likely to go to people, mostly local or with families living locally, who decide to sell larger houses in favour of the secure environment offered.
Finally, in case anyone is worried about the stability of the company, they really need not be. McCarthy & Stone's pre-tax profits jumped 51% to £7.58m in the six months up to the end of February. "There was a modest move up- market last year with the development of the first 'Court' apartments" said The Independent city page last week, writing about the half-yearly results. That is what we are going to have here - and not, thank goodness, another of the company's diversifications, "complete villages of luxury homes for younger retired people ... with specialist leisure facilities for the post-menopausal set"! Readers of the GAZETTE may be more interested in their apartments being built in the south of France - one development at Grasse includes a wine store - and in possible holiday exchange arrangements; but all that, for Rye, is still in the future.
The Town Council were due to be looking at the plans at the Planning Committee meeting yesterday. We found them a little difficult to read, because the lines for the sectional views were not drawn on the main plan. But the materials to be used are stock brick and black weatherboarding, with roofs of tile or slate. This seems to be standard procedure nowadays for traditional-type developments in the town, and ought to blend well with most of the warehouse area on The Strand.
7.
• Wednesday's Annual Town Meeting has, in theory, nothing to do with the A259 route All Town and Parish Councils are legally bound to have one meeting a year when the various chairmen present their reports, and members of the public can raise any matters which they are concerned about. It is a pity that this meeting is not usually very well attended (presumably reflecting the town's satisfaction with the way the Council conducts its business). But this time the A259 route will doubtless come under discussion, and it seems likely that the Council will be announcing the result of its deliberations last night, when the Councillors considered the plan for the first time.
• If anyone is able to turn their mind from the A259 to the forthcoming general election, we have heard from two out of the three candidates about their Rye meetings. David Amies (Alliance) will be at the Town Hall this Saturday, 30th, at 7.30, supported by County Councillor Mrs. Anne Moore. Ken Warren (Conservative) will be at the Town Hall on Friday of next week, 5 June, at 8 (not 6.30 as originally arranged). Arrangements for the meeting for the Labour candidate, Mrs. Joy Hurcombe are not completed as we go to print. Ken Warren visited the A259 exhibition; whether the others did, we have not been able to ascertain but we hope so, because undoubtedly questions on the subject will be raised with all three candidates.
• On Saturday week, 6 June, the Semi-Quavers Jazz Band is performing at the Community Centre from 8pm in aid of St. Michael's Hospice. Tickets (t2.50) are available from the Anglia Building Society in the High Street, or at the door. The recently-formed group consists of eight instrumentalists plus a vocalist, Joy Mockett tells us, and they perform regularly in pubs, hotels and at private parties in Kent - but this is their first appearance over the border. It should be a lively and entertaining evening for all age-groups.
• Martyn Gasson is enlivening Election Night (Thursday, 11 June) and helping a local cause by organising a benefit concert at the Oasis for the new "Living with Cancer" group. Tickets will cost L2, from The Black Sheep or Rye Wholefoods, and the performers will include Green for Love, Pass the Cat, Loose Change, The Electorate, and Bryan Stone (guitar). Concert starts at 8 - polls close at 9.
News in brief
• Rye has lost to a nursing home in Bexhill one of our very long-established residents - Miss Mary Creagh, of Dial Cottage in the High Street. Miss Creagh came to Rye about 35 years ago as the dispenser to the doctors' practice now at Postern Gate (then in the High Street). At the age of 92, she has moved to the Trafalgar House nursing home in Sutherland Avenue, Bexhill, where friends tell us she is happily established. The cat which "adopted" her has also found a new home, and her white poodle is in good hands in Peasmarsh. EMBS, who own Dial Cottage, have no plans to re-let it.
• Latest planning applications (see also page 6) include one from Dr. Akhtar for a two-bedroomed house with integral garage on land described as disused garden, opening onto Fishmarket Road but in fact part of 112 High Street. The house would be built on two levels, with two garages at street level and a further two storeys, with leaded-light windows, reached by steps; construction would be of brick, with tile/slate roof. Change of use,from shop with flat above to private house, is sought for 15 Landgate (the Bridge Place end); and Barclays are applying to put up a fire escape at the back of their High Street premises.
• The Police Station press book shows a really rotten theft - an estimated £50 taken from the RNLI collecting box on the wall of the Lifeboat House at the Harbour on 18 or 19 May. A folding Raleigh bike was stolen from the George garage on 16/17 May, and a Sanyo micro-cassette-recorder from Cinque Ports Stationers on 18 May. The Police remind motorists that wearing a seat-belt is not only required by law but undoubtedly prevents serious injury and indeed saves lives; they notice that some people have been forgetting to put their belts on lately. The Bank Holiday traffic was heavy, with such a fine weekend, but there were no major problems here.
28th A259 route protest meeting, CC, 7.30 (GAZETTE no. 225)
30th Coffee morning, Riding for the Disabled (raffle and stalls), TH, 10 to 12 (GAZETTE no. 225)
Vidler & Co's Boat Auction (including chandlery always worth a browse, even for non-sailors), Cattle Market, 10
St. John Ambulance flag-day
Alliance Party election meeting (David Amies and Anne Moore), TH, 7.30 (see page 7)
Cranbrook Town Band, Mermaid, 3 Slip 'n Slide (band), Ypres, 8
Town Council committees, TH
FRAG talk, "Conservation of Works of Art on paper" (Jane McAusland), Studio, 8
Hearing Circle coffee morning, Red Cross, 10.30
Annual Town Meeting, TH, 7 (see page 7)
Crime Prevention Panel, Police Station, 7.30
• A reminder that the programme about the Nature Reserve goes out on BBC1 on Monday at 12.30 (GAZETTE no. 224); the same day, 1 June, sees the shift of Radio Sussex's "258 Alternative" local programme from 2.30 to 8.30 am.
• Applications are invited for the 1988 sail-training cruise sponsored by the John Williams Memorial Fund; forms are available from Mrs. Dayson at 5 Market Road, and must be returned by 30 June. Interviews will take place on 4 July; all applicants must be between 16 and 24, and live in Rye, Rye Harbour, Playden, Iden, Camber or East Guldeford - the Rye Group of Parishes.
• Last Monday it was reported to ESCC Highways at Bexhill that the wheelchair ramps at the bottom of Market Road had sunk and were giving problems to some pushers. On Tuesday the work was done: Thanks, Mr. Olesen.
• Rye Scouts would be very grateful for the return of the three tent poles stolen when their 8-man tent was vandalised in a field near Winchelsea Station on 8 or 9 May; the ridge-pole on its own, Frank Dowdeswell tells us, is not a lot of use. Information may be laid anonymously with the GAZETTE, if preferred.
• Another Save-a-Life (artificial respiration) session will be held at the Clinic on Thursday, 4 June, from 7 to 9 - forms available at the Clinic, Library and Council Offices (we think). Two more sessions will be held in Rye in Jul at Thomas Peacocke, when instruction will be given as part of the pre-Sixth-Form course for those staying on after O-levels.
• BR announce engineering work again on Sunday, with buses from Rye to Hastings and delays of up to 30 minutes.
• Rye Group of WI's hold their Mammoth Summer Fair at the FE Centre on Saturday week, 6 June, in aid of the WI Denman College near Oxford which needs Elm. 65 members from the seven Institutes were present at the Group's Spring Meeting at the FE Centre; team leaders reported, and then the company was entertained by Janet Canetty-Clark. Rye WI were the supper hostesses.
• The appeal for funds for the extension to Rye Art Gallery is to be launched in the autumn, but a preliminary meeting for local organisations will be held in June. Writing round about this, Tony Wills says that the Trustees hope to have the new building ready for the Charter celebrations in 1989.
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, Monday afternoon for Wednesday's delivery. The paper costs subscribers 30p, payable quarterly or half-yearly in advance; a few spare copies may be available from Cyprus Place. (Copyright Mary Owen 1987)