No-one was hurt at Bannister's Corner on Thursday just after 5pm, when a car driven by a Lydd man went straight through the big window of the Ferryman Cafe. The police say that no other vehicle was involved. Fortunately the cafe was closed - indeed, Mr. and Mrs. Penney were out of Rye, and must have had a terrible shock when they came home. However, Tolletts were able to carry out temporary repairs before dark. Startled spectators included three ladies taking part in the ESCC traffic survey which was being held in the town from 7 am to 7 pm; they were sitting on the ledge outside Bannisters and had already, earlier in the day, witnessed a minor shunt on the corner and seen a lad come off his motorbike by the traffic island.
On Sunday, 43 members of Stan and Ida Bourne's family met at a luncheon at the George Hotel to celebrate the couple's Golden Wedding. Mrs. Bourne was a Winchelsea girl, and they were married there on Easter Monday, 1938, with just one bridesmaid - who came over from Lydd to join Sunday's party. Stan Bourne is, of course, the Bourne of Bournes - T. Bourne & Son, removal contractors, of Rock Channel - and he and his wife are still involved in the day-to-day work of the firm. All six of their children were at the party: Margaret, Janet (Webb), Graham, Eric, Roy and Christine (Tree). All the grandchildren were there too, except for Janet's daughter Sally, now in New Zealand and about to leave for Australia. The actual wedding anniversary was on Monday, and we asked Janet if her parents were spending the day quietly, recovering from the party. Not a bit of it, she said - they were out in the car, on the company's business!
The new British Rail timetable will come into force on 16 May. As they promised Ken Warren some time ago (GAZETTE no. 254), BR have re-timetabled the "shopper's train", the 8.35 from Rye, so that it will arrive in London at 10.14 instead of 10.40 as at present (though even now it often does get the earlier connection). Clifford Foster points out how ingeniously BR has managed this alteration, by sending off the first half of what is now the 9.00 from Ashford a little earlier than before and making it a stopping train all the way to Tonbridge; and then Sending off the second half as a fast to Tonbridge at 9.06 (thus allowing the Rye passengers to get it). The two halves then join at Tonbridge instead of at Ashford; simple! But BR have not done so well over Rye's other gripe, the abysmal connection for Canterbury; despite what they said to Ken Warren about improving this too, Clifford says it seems to be just as bad as before - unless the last-minute supplement offers an improvement.
At its February meeting (GAZETTE no. 261) the Hastings Health Authority decided to investigate the possibility of closing the casualty service at Rye Hospital, to cut costs. Tomorrow's meeting of the HHA (St. Anne's House, 10) considers a report which offers two options: to save £6,000 by closing the service from 9pm to 9am, or to save £20,000 by closing it entirely. If the second option is chosen, "appropriate bodies" will have to be consulted before closure takes place in October. Whether the Education Authority is one of these bodies, we don't know; but local schools won't be pleased, since if a child is damaged beyond the resources of the medical room, a teacher has to go to hospital with him/her and wait in casualty unless or until a parent can be contacted. This could take a teacher out of service for the best part of a day - and staffing levels are too tight to stand much of it. Perhaps ESCC may think about providing trained medical staff at one of the local schools - it might be cheaper in the long run!
2.
Mr. Cecil Williams, of the Old Brickyard, died in St. Helen's Hospital on 13 April after being taken suddenly ill the previous day. He was 79. A Londoner who had served in the Special Branch during the war, Mr. Williams already had a shop in London when he and his wife decided to expand the business in 1957; they came to look at a gift shop in the High Street with living quarters over it, and chose to settle here. Under their ownership the shop stocked a wide range of leather goods, and specialised in saddlery and sports requirements; and when they retired some ten years ago, its loss was much felt in the town. Mr. Williams was a Freemason, and a member of Rotary; he was also an Inspector in the Special Constabulary. He and his wife moved to the Old Brickyard when they gave up the shop, but he still played his part in the affairs of the community. There are five sons and 13 grandchildren. The funeral takes place today (Wednesday) at Hastings Crematorium at 12.30; family flowers only, but donations in memory of Mr. Williams may be sent to the British Heart Foundation c/o Ellis Bros in Cinque Ports Street.
Mr. Mick Simmons, landlord of the Crown Inn, died suddenly at home on 13 April. Mr. Simmons, who had been a pub landlord throughout his working life, was 39, and came to the Crown four years ago. He will be much missed by his customers and friends, and in particular by the group of young people who had lodgings at the Crown; he regarded them as members of his family, and they looked on him the same way and are now mourning the loss of a very good friend. The funeral takes place on Friday (22nd) at Hastings Crematorium at 3.0.
Mrs. Ivy Bourne, of New York, died on 27 March. She was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Harry Southerden of Camber, and the wife of Mr. Fred Bourne; they lived at 66 Ferry Road before emigrating to America 30 years ago. Mrs. Bourne was 62; she will be sadly missed by her sisters, Mrs. Violet Stoodley of Udimore Road and Mrs. Betty Osborne living in Canada, and by her brothers Bill (Ferry Road), Fred (Camber), Albert (Cleethorpes) and Joe (Canada), and all their families. She and her husband used to return to England for holidays, and her friends in Rye will be sad to learn of her death.
The sum of £1,500 has been raised recently for cot death research by a local family (with help from the landlord and staff of the Granville Hotel in Hastings, who hosted a sponsored 12-hour pool game on Easter Saturday with many Rye people going over to support the event). The fund was started by Lesley (nee Fairhall) and Nigel Carter in memory of their baby son Ryan; Lesley's parents, from Idea. and her grandmother Mrs. Benge of Rye have also been busy, knitting toys and children's clothes (many sold in the WI Market). Mrs. Benge intends to continue knitting; anyone who would like to help, or to held an event in aid of the fund, might like to get in touch with her at Devonport House. Although no amount of fund-raising can bring back Ryan, the family feel that their efforts may help to save other babies.
Last Wednesday morning, people walking to work through the railway car-park were perhaps a little amused to see that BR had actually carried out its threat to wheel-clamp illicit parkers. A large red Rover left on the double-yellow-lines edging the car-park entrance from the Station Approach was very noticeably under vivid yellow lock and key.
Hearing about this later, we rushed down to the station, all agog: who was the victim? How long was the car stuck there? But this time it was just an exercise; Area Manager Harry Holt had come to Rye on a tour of inspection, and the car belonged to the (Ashford-based) station manager who had set up the whole thing for his boss's edification. It is the station manager who has to come and release an offender, and if he is elsewhere this could take time; last Wednesday, of course, he wasn't elsewhere. But the episode shows that BR is serious about enforcing its parking regulations, and has the equipment. So beware!
- 3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 20 April 1988
Rye WI Group's Craft Show was, as always, a feast for the eye and a challenge to the imagination: "Could I make one like that?" Probably not, is the answer, since the standard is nowadays exceedingly high! Many different skills and crafts were represented - not only knitting and embroidery, but painting, collage, wood-carving, pressed-flower work, patchwork in various forms, soft toys, dress-making, bead pictures, pottery... the list is endless. Gold stars (20 points out of 20) were handed out sparingly, and silver ones were not common (19 points).
One of the chief attractions of this annual show is the co-operative class, when marks are awarded for the staging as well as for the six craft items made by at least four members of each competing Institute. Peasmarsh had a close but very well-deserved win this year: the class theme was "A shop window", and their baker's display contained a ceramic christening cake, a knitted swiss roll with tiny glass beads glittering like sugar on top, a crochet jam tart, stitched gingerbread men, felt meringues, and some amazing fancy cakes in what was described as paper work but which looked absolutely edible. This brought Peasmarsh 128 points; joint runners-up, with 127, were Rye's "Pandora's Box", obviously a rather classy shop whose proprietor had a nice eye for colour, and Beckley's card shop, where five of the crafts were incorporated in cards for sale and the sixth was a lifelike spray of forsythia. Rye Harbour's "Baby Parlour" in apricot and white tied with Landgate's "Clowning Around" toy shop (123 points), and Playden's gift shop gained 115 points.
Winners in the other classes were Landgate, with the most marks overall in the Craft section (591) and Rye, who had the highest average marks in both the Art (20) and Craft (18) sections, as well as the Gold Star award (one for every 2.6 entries). Beckley had the highest number of Gold Stars (14) and over 40 were awarded. The Udimore Cup for "the most perfect and original item in the show" went to Phyllis Smith of Rye for the skirt which she called "Fallen Leaves" - with machine embroidery and applique'd leaf shapes on linen.
On show, but not in competition, were three entries in a national WI contest for a village map. Peasmarsh's was mainly done in collage, and Beckley's was an illustrated map; Rye's used a variety of skills, and is now on show in the EMBS window in the High Street. Based on the town walk which visiting Institutes follow, the various landmarks are depicted in unusual ways - a knitted Landgate Arch, for instance, a woven water-tower, and other buildings in crochet, collage or cross-stitch. The crooked chimney is delicately worked in black thread on white linen, and there is an impressionist version of the Great Warehouse in felt. Do see it!
Francis Sinden, of the Warden's Flat at Badger Gate, was much interested to read about the planning application for the garden downhill from 45 The Mint. As we said, there had been cottages there before the war, and when he was a boy his family lived in the one adjoining no. 45, his grandparents lived next door, and the third house was occupied by the Police Inspector of the day as his official residence. (The 1940 Directory gives the Inspector's name as Arthur Wickens, and the house was known as Montford House).
Mr. Sindea well remembers the night, in 1940, when the Mint bombs fell. He and at least four other members of his family were huddled under his grandparents' stairs, in the middle cottage. One bomb fell between the cottages and the Town Wall, and the other in the street. , No-one was hurt, but it was not a nice experience. The three cottages and another terrace across the road all had to be demolished, and the Sindens moved in with an uncle. The official police residence moved to what is now the Swiss Patisserie in Cinque Ports Street.
Doubtless the pretty garden wasn't planted for several years after the bombing, since people had other things to do in the early 1940s; but the big pink camellia bush which has given such pleasure this spring to people walking down Wish Ward has been there some time - it is sad to think this might be its last flowering.
4.
(The GAZETTE has been reporting on road proposals ever since those for Winchelsea went public somewhat unexpectedly in November 1983. What follows will probably be the last of our reports, since nothing more seems likely to happen before the end of June - unless, of course, the DoT announces its "preferred route" by then. Even the Winchelsea public enquiry is not expected to take place before the autumn.
We have done our best with a subject we were ill-equipped to write about, and certainly it boosted our circulation quite remarkably. But it is now up to you, our readers, to keep an eye on things, and go to meetings, and above all state your views to the DoT at every opportunity!)
Last Thursday, as those who were in the town will have noticed, ESCC staff were conducting a traffic survey; there is to be a follow-up concerned with parking shortly. This is part of a much wider survey, more domestic in tone than the DoT versions; rubber "counting strips" are already in place across some roads, junction counts and video surveys will also be used. There will be a repeat performance of the whole thing later in the summer; although the DoT will not design a road for the August situation alone, ESCC is nonetheless anxious to know just what the August situation can amount to.
When this is complete, ESCC will be issuing the results to interested bodies including Rye Town Council. It was clear, at the Town Hall last week when the Council's A259 Sub-Committee met, that the result of this survey would probably be what finally decided the Town Council's "preferred route" for the A259 - and until the survey was complete, the Mayor said, the Council was keeping its options open.
This is probably just as well, since it was also clear from the meeting that there were two schools of thought among the sub-committee members (not all of whom are Councillors) about which way the road should go; or perhaps three schools of thought, since Tony Wills for the Chamber of Trade put forward the view of the town's shopkeepers that the further any route was from the centre of the town, the more the Chamber of Trade would object to it - which must surely imply that the Chamber would really like to see a throughway! This would certainly not endear the Chamber to the town's residents; but perhaps we misunderstood Mr. Wills, and if so we will be glad to say so.
There was no misunderstanding what Norman Bennett (Hotels & Caterers) said at sone length. The H & C have been getting together with Clive Sangster (the new owner of Watlands, the big house at the Rye end of Udimore) to study a route devised by some Dutch engineers. (This survey had been paid for personally by Mr. Sangster, and Mr. Bennett said that the businessman was not willing to allow the Town Council to see it, though he had sent it to the DoT.) But the general plan seemed to be for a southerly route, passing under the Rother; an "artist's impression" handed round the table showed a car slipping neatly into a car-sized tunnel with the river passing tidily overhead. Several people pointed out that this was fine in Holland, where rivers often do pass tidily overhead/above the level of the surrounding fields - but not here, where the Rother is (mercifully) well below field level most of the time and particularly at low tide. Mr. Sangster's engineers also proposed, apparently, a link road from the A268 at the Peace & Plenty corner down to the southern route, which would involve the construction of a viaduct at some point (presumably over Military Road and the Rother?).
A link from the A268 was also a feature of the northern route favoured by the Conservation Society - and would, indeed, constitute about a quarter of that route. Dark hints were dropped about what would or would not be acceptable to farmers with land north of the town. "I'll tell you privately after the meeting" said Nick Ramus, representing the northern parishes, to one of the Councillors. But it was quite clear he wasn't thinking of telling the expectant press corps.
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John Silver, the A259 Action Group spokesman, said that the Group had looked both north and south in some detail, on site and on paper. It was considering a northern route going up the cliff from Winchelsea Station near Dumbwoman's Lane, then north across the Tillingham Valley to join the A268 and down near Saltbarn before crossing the Rother. A possible southerly route was much the same as that suggested by the Hotel & Caterers.
Mr. Silver had been in touch with British Rail, and had been told that BR envisaged much greater use of the Hastings-Ashford line once it was electrified (which everyone agrees is likely to happen before long); he talked about at least 8 trains an hour and possibly 10 or 12. However, ESCC's Dr. John Rose - on the platform at the meeting on 12 January along with the County Engineer and County Planning Officer (GAZETTE no. 256) - was in the Town Hall again for the Sub-Committee meeting, primarily as an observer. He was given permission to join in the discussion, and said that his information from BR was that use of the line would be nowhere near so intensive. This is something that really does need to be sorted out, since it vitally affects the prospects for creating a workable junction at the bottom of Ferry Road, and even more at the bottom of Rye Hill; from Rye's point of view, we would assume the more trains the better? (The GAZETTE has been invited to a news briefing at Ashford Station early in May; it will be interesting to see what sort of figures are given there.)
Other speakers were Phyllis Smith, saying that the Rye Group of WIs were divided in their opinions; and the Udimore representative, backing Mr. Sangster. Making reassuring noises last week about the Town Council's views on the route, we said that a Sussex Express article had led some people to think the Council was abandoning the struggle. Karen Brodie, grieved, points out that whatever people may have thought, that was not what she said - which is quite true, and we apologise to her.
In last week's News, Budgens had a big ad for staff for the new supermarket (due to open, they tell us, in the last week in July). Application forms can be obtained from Peter Taylor, Budgens Ltd., Stonefield Way, Ruislip, Middlesex (01 422 9511). Alternatively, the recruitment team will be at the George Hotel on Thursday next week (28th) from 9 am to 9 pm, and on Friday (29th) from 9 to 5. They are looking for experienced staff as section heads for the butchery, produce and delicatessen departments, and for the grocery and warehouse; for a dairy supervisor, butchery cutters, branch clerk, checkout supervisor and night-till supervisor. Full- and part-time sales assistants will also be needed, with evening and Saturday jobs for students over 16; preference here goes to applicants with previous experience, but training will be provided before the store opens. There will be an off-licence (assuming the Area Manager is given the one for which he is currently applying), but no in-store bakery, merely a bakery counter.
Since it seems virtually certain that Mills' shop in Ferry Road will very soon become an off-licence and video shop, readers may like to be reminded that some of the traditional drapery lines which used to be stocked by Miss Mills and Mrs. Gibbs are still obtainable in the town. By arrangement with Clements of St. Leonards, the St. Michael's Hospice Shop in Wish Street sells (new) woollen blankets, check dusters, mattress covers, guest- and toilet-towels, white cotton pillow-slips for use under more decorative ones, and so on - even (jam-makers will be glad to know) muslin by the yard. As well as linen, the shop sells nearly-new clothes, bric-a-brac and books, and acts as a reception centre for goods handed in for sale for the Appeal. The shop is now open some afternoons; but Joy Mockett (Rye 223477) would be very glad to hear from anyone who could mind it on Wednesday afternoons, when she has no volunteers; other holes in what she would like to make a fortnightly rota are on Monday, Friday and Saturday afternoons and Friday mornings.
6.
Fewer than thirty people turned up to the Friends of Rye Art Gallery Annual General Meeting at the Stormont Studio on 25 March; so perhaps it was just as well that illness had meant the cancellation of the entertainment from the FRAG Players which would normally have followed it - we hope to see this later, with a larger audience. FRAG chairman Tim Bishop gave a very full report, to be circulated to all members with the next mailing (so we are not going into details here). The new management arrangement for the gallery, he said, was working well, and he thanked the staff and the various people concerned with various FRAG projects. Membership of the Friends had risen by 57 during the past year, the biggest annual increase in the last 11 years (perhaps more), and the wider range of events taking place in the gallery is drawing in people who had never thought of going to it before. The accounts were adopted; there was a deficit of £1,313 for the year, but this was accounted for by two one-off payments to former staff members and the presentation to Mr. Herbertson when he retired as a founder trustee. The chairmen of the Managing Trustees, the Management Committee and the Appeal Committee also reported; the general feeling was one of optimism for a successful and interesting future.
At the Annual Parochial Church Meeting, held at the Town Hall on 12 April, Edwin Gibson and Bob Bowler were re-elected as churchwardens. Elizabeth Goldsworthy, Winnie Warren, Jane Horne, Maurice Ellwood and Ernest Spiers were elected to the PCC; Dennis Breeds, Betty Ellwood and Harold Pearce have retired. The Annual Report for 1987 shows that there were 21 baptisms, 10 candidates for confirmation and 21 weddings during the year. Under treasurer David Waddams, church finances are in a very satisfactory state - admissions to the Tower brought in over £10,000! Fifty of the new kneelers are now in use; and new cassocks have been bought for the adult members of the choir - new choristers would be welcomed, and so would a new Sunday School leader, since Rachel Sarrieddine has announced that she wishes to retire during the coming year. £1,500 has been distributed by the Charities Committee to home and overseas charities. The recently-formed Mothers' Union has 23 full members, with more attending meetings. There is to be a Flower Festival in the church from 27 to 29 August.
Since the new lamp-posts went up in Ferry Road, the condition of the already dodgy pavements has deteriorated further, and several people have fallen over. However, the matter is in hand, and selective repairs will be done shortly, incorporating a firmer foundation for the new slabs. There is also a £5,000 programme of repairs planned for Tilling Green pavements.
Work is likely to start on improving the camber at Bannister's Corner within a few weeks. The intention is to raise the surface of the road on the inside of the bend (rather than lowering it on the outside, presenting complications for the rest of the junction, says Ralph Olesen). It may also be possible, by taking a half-metre off the pavement opposite, to move the island over, allowing more room for large vehicles entering the town (the corner of Mrs. Hubbard's roof was bashed again last week). Incidentally, she has seen lorries going the wrong (her) side of the island several times recently, on their way out of the town!
Within the next couple of months - and guaranteed to finish by mid-July at the latest - Highways are re-laying the High Street pavement from Market Road to the Old Grammar School, using a new type of slab on a much stouter foundation. These slabs will be 16" square (smaller than the present ones), thicker, and with an exposed aggregate finish - and, says Mr. Olesen, "more resilient to the attentions of heavy vehicles"! (The finish was chosen from a range of samples shown to the Town Council recently.) We all have to live with the fact that in a town with such narrow streets, lorries inevitably do go up on the pavement; the best that can be done is to limit the damage. (Further instalments of this work will be done over the next couple of years, using experience gained in this trial run.)
7.
In the morning, Landgate WI are holding a coffee morning, with stalls, at the Red Cross from 10.30 to 12. In the afternoon, the NSPCC has its Annual Meeting, at the FE Centre at 3; speaker will be Peter Dale, the Society's team leader in East Sussex who is based at the newly-established Hastings centre.
The same evening, from 7.30, the Chamber of Trade holds a wine-and-cheese evening at the Town Hall (admission £2.50, includes one glass of wine). The Chamber is promoting an appeal "to restore for future generations the scene that we knew before the storm" - to replant the trees lost to the town in October. Those who have promised trees will be presenting their cheques in the course of the evening; anyone wishing to give one should contact Clifford Wall at 21 High Street. Other donations for the fund may be sent to the Trees for Rye Account (no. 7088169), Lloyds Bank, High Street, Rye. All money raised will be used locally.
Finally, a little later bat still on the 28th, the local Mencap Branch have arranged a promotion evening at the Ypres Inn, and all who are interested in the problems of mental handicap are invited along. Admission (and refreshments) are free, and the bar will of course be open. Proceedings begin at 8 with a showing of a film (seen recently on TV) of a performance of "Phantom of the Opera" put on by mentally handicapped children. Afterwards branch chairman Mrs. Daphne Hughes and other committee members will be glad to answer questions about all aspects of mental handicap, and the evening will end in general socialising. The Branch urgently needs more members, to support if not actively help it.
• At the end of the Easter term, Talya Bagwell left behind her in the bus yard a bright red Panasonic ghetto-blaster in a carrier bag. When she got home to Camber and realised what she had done, she rushed back to look for it - but no joy. It was a joint present to her and her twin sister from their grandmother in South Africa; and the tapes in the bag with it were ones her mother had made of the children when they were younger. So this is a very sad story. If anyone can provide it with a happy ending - someone who maybe took home the bag thinking it was left behind irretrievably by a tourist? - please ring the Harbour office (Rye 225225) and speak to Carl Bagwell, or leave a message.
• Congratulations to Rye Police on a very successful snooker year in the Rye League. Singles champion was Sgt. Prout, doubles champion Insp. Legg and Sgt. Prout, and the team (captain DC Poulton, with Sgt. Prout, PC Baker, PC Hopkins and Insp. Legg) came third in Division I and were in the finals for the Team Trophy.
• Yet another school has suffered from the attentions of a thief: a £350 video recorder was stolen from Hill House School over the Easter holidays. Other local thefts included £60 taken from the till at the Sports Centre on 7 April, and £85 from the till of the Ypres a week later; and a £40 tool-kit stolen from a boat moored in Tock Channel. Once again police warn householders to be very wary of strangers calling at the house; an elderly lady in Fairlight lost cash and jewellery when two men kept her talking in her garden while two more quietly entered the house...
More than 50 of our subscribers will have found refunds in stamps or by cheque in their GAZETTE last week - mostly for overpayment on a full standing order, ie. £4.60 change from a £9.40 payment. Please make sure now that your bank has cancelled the standing order, or they may try and pay us again in September!
If we still owe anyone any money, please let us know as soon as possible; there is still one £9.40 standing-order payment which simply appears on our bank statement as "sundries", which isn't a lot of help.
All who put a £5 note through our letter-box should have found 20p attached to last week's receipt; it was infinitely easier to refund everyone's change than to try and remember who told us to put it in a charity box and who didn't.
Thursday, 21st Thrift Shop, Red Cross, 10 to 4 (and Friday and Saturday)
Friday, 22nd TPS PTA Fun Quiz, Lower School (not Upper as planned), 8 RAG Folk and Blues Night (Ali Farka Toure), tickets £4 in advance, £5 at door, Community Centre, 8
Saturday, 23rd Women's British Legion sell roses for St. George's Day (plus cakes, plants, coffee and a raffle), TH, from 10.30
Winchelsea Singers perform Rossini's Petite Meuse Solennelle, St. Mary's, 7.30 (entrance by programme, £1)
Police Buffet Dance, with two live bands, tombola, late bar (tickets £5 from Rye Police Station), Pontine, 8 to 1
Sunday, 24th The Mayor and Council attend the St. George's Day Service, St. Mary's, 10.30
Monday, 25th WRVS lunch club, CC, 12.30
Victim Support Group AGM (public are welcome - speaker from the Community Programme), Red Cross, 7.30
Town Council meetings (see TH board)
Wednesday, 27th Crime Prevention Panel, Police Station, 7.30
• Sarah Wood and Anna Crouch, friends at Thomas Peacocke, were both expecting babies on April Fool's Day. Of course that didn't work out, and Sarah and Dave Mitchell's first son and third child, Seth, arrived on 9 April; Anna and Jeremy Jury's first child, Thomas, was born two days later. Six of the eight grandparents are well known locally, and both these happy events will give much pleasure in the town. Congratulations!
• Well done, Anthony Conti! Eleven-year-old boys are not exactly famous for their willingness to wash up, but Anthony has been up to his elbows in suds in his father's kitchen at Casa Conti in recent weeks, earning £25.50 for the TVS Telethon Appeal.
• The Ploughman's Lunch held by the Friends of Greyfriars on Thursday last week made a profit of just on £300. The Mencap coffee morning on 9 April made £158.
• Current planning applications include a two-storey extension to 22 New Road, to form a sitting-room and utility room with two bedrooms above; change of use of ground floor shop and first floor of 62 Cinque Porta Street as a restaurant (the shop is Anne Lingard's, the applicant comes from Bromley); and an application to convert Leasam Farm Oast into a house with granny unit attached.
• Rye WI had a splendid 59th birthday party at the FE Centre last week, with supper and wine and a pantomime by Landgate WI (only six of the "cast of hundreds" turned up, but they seem to have managed, since it was much enjoyed).
• Scout funds benefit by £109 as a result of the Attic Sale on Easter Monday; other fund-raising efforts include sponsored slime by John West of Pottingfield Road and Mrs. Harkin of Camber, and a sponsored canoe trip on the Rother - once the canoes have been made watertight!
• Once again, by public request, the RAF Association are taking a coach to the USAAF Air Show at Mildenhall in Suffolk, on Saturday, 28 May. £7 pays for coach and entry, so it's a cheap day out; there are a few seats left.
• Because we still haven't caught up with our holiday break, the Museum Association and Ratepayers Association reports will appear next week. Sorry.
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 through Cinque Ports Stationers of Rye. Deadline is second post on Monday for each Wednesday's delivery to subscribers and pick-up points. Spare copies (45p) are available from Young Ideas, 7 Cinque Porta Street, Rye. (Copyright Mary Owen 1988)