To Patricia Magrath of Pottingfield Road and Daniel Scott of Santa Paula, California, who were married in Hastings on 8 June. Pat, born in Rye, is a director of Bateman & Maxfield in Landgate; Dan spends half of each year in Rye, and is the European buyer for a California book and antique store. Pat's witness on Wednesday was her daughter Marie, and Dan's was his brother-in-law Peter Gregory. Among close friends and relatives at the ceremony - for which the bride wore an elegant aquamarine and white pleated dress - was her mother Phyl. The reception was held at the Top o' the Hill, and the honeymoon is in London. Pat and Dan will be living in Rye.
To Helen and David Giles of Tillingham Avenue, whose son Edward William was born on 7 June, a week early. He is the first grandchild for Bill and Margaret ...Paige of Udimore Road - and perhaps a future recruit for Rye Fire Brigade, with firemen on both sides of his family?
To Debbie Peatfield, of South Undercliff, chosen from a dozen or so contestants at the Oasis Club on Saturday as the new Miss Rye. Last year Debbie was one of the maids of honour to Caroline Davies; this year, her maids of honour are Louisa Wall of Winchelsea Beach, and Arlene Winter of Nutley Close. Debbie, who is a hairdresser in Cooden, will take part in her first official duty at Hastings Carnival; she will, of course, later lead the Rye procession on 6 August. How very nice to have three really local girls this year!
To Ralph Popple, aged 23, who is now wearing a white apron and a straw boater behind the counter of his very own shop - Danny's Deli & Wines, at 39 Leith Hill, St. Paul's Cray. Any St. Paul's Cray readers (and we never know where the GAZETTES end up) may like to drop in and say hullo to Ralph, as well as doing their shopping at his general store, delicatessen and off-licence. Ex-Thomas Peacocke School, the son of Richard Popple of Geering & Colyer and Linda Popple of Pedlar's Pitch, Ralph is the second younger-generation shopkeeper in the family: his sister Tina is the proprietor of Young Ideas, where she sells children's clothes as well as spare copies of the GAZETTE.
To the 4th Rye Brownies, who have been able to send £122 to the Great Ormond Street Hospital appeal as a result of their sponsored clean-up down on the Salts one cold and blowy day some time ago. It took some time to get all the sponsor money in - but it was worth it! The little girls also entered in the recent Telethon event held by Hastings Police, and came home with three runners-up shields (and one very-near-miss win, says Brown Owl Mrs. Brann rather sadly).
Finally, to the Editor's youngest son Daniel Owen, who has just been awarded a First Class Honours degree in Zoology at Oxford, and also the Field Studies Prize for his degree project (a bulky and impressive piece of research into land crabs, which included a rather horrid account of how to get them to quit their shells when they didn't really want to!). After a distinction in Prelims in his first year, Daniel was awarded a college scholarship at Brasenose; and many Rye individuals and businesses were kind enough to sponsor the expedition which he led last summer to the bat caves of Sulawesi in Indonesia (we do trust that by now all sponsors have had their copy of the expedition report?).
Daniel's is the second Oxbridge "First" for Thomas Peacocke recently - Ian Turner of Winchelsea Beach did equally well at Cambridge three years ago. He went on to read for a D.Phil.,in Malaysia, spending much of his time at the University of Penang though he was officially Oxford-based. Daniel has a place at Newcastle to study for a one-year M.Sc. degree in tropical coastal management, probably followed by a D.Phil. and eventually, he hopes, a career as a consultant. Well done, boy!
2.
Mr. Martyn Gasson of Camber, younger son of Mr. Ken Gasson of Church Square and his late wife Morwen, died suddenly at Playden on Tuesday. Martyn was 26, and a former pupil of Thomas Peacocke School. In November 1984 he and his wife Fiona (nee Thompson) organised a charity benefit night which raised over £700 for Ethiopian famine relief, with a similar event a couple of years later. Martyn's sudden death has caused great sorrow in the town, and there is deep sympathy for his bereaved family. The funeral takes place today (Wednesday) at 11.30 in St. Mary's.
Mr. Harold Hatcher of Pottingfield Road died on 4 June. At one time he worked on the roads for Mears, and for many years lived at Bide Cottage in Rock Channel. For more than 20 years Mr. Hatcher was the much-valued caretaker for the Sea Cadets HQ, in Rock Channel, TS Rye. He leaves no family.
On Sunday a Rye man returned home from the States on a sad mission. Some thirty years ago, Fred Bourne and his wife Kay (Ivy Kathleen, nee Southerden) emigrated to join his brother Tom in America, taking with them their young son Roy and adding another son and daughter to the family in due course. They settled in Newark, New Jersey, and from time to time Mr. and Mrs. Bourne return to Rye to see friends and relatives. Particularly relatives, perhaps, since Mrs. Bourne was one of eight Southerden children and Mr. Bourne is one of 13, while Mrs. Bourne's sister-in-law Evelyn Southerden was a Pilcher by birth.
Mrs. Fred Bourne was only 62 when she died of cancer in America in March, and she had expressed a wish that her ashes should be taken back to Camber. So Mr. Bourne and Roy have come to Rye so that the ashes can be interred in the little Garden of Remembrance at Camber Church. Roy has to return to the States when this melancholy task is done, but his father is staying here for a month. He will be living with the Southerdens in Ferry Road, handy for his brother Alec in Cyprus Place - and their sister has come up from Wales for the reunion, too. We hope that Mr. Bourne will very much enjoy the rest of his visit, and will approve of anyway some of the changes he will undoubtedly notice in the town.
Condolences to Charlie Morfey of Iden, and his business partner Madeleine Huggett, whose van was stolen from outside Charlie's house in Iden last Friday night between 10.30 and midnight. A white Ford Transit luton with a blue bonnet (HVR 558 V), it is clearly labelled on four sides "C. Morfey, removals and house clearances, Iden 222". It is the firm's only van, so on Monday Charlie was in hot pursuit of a replacement; they are continuing in business whatever happens. But the replacement won't have the lettering on it, anyway at first; and one theory is that the van was stolen by someone intending to use it for a burglary - who, after all, would be suspicious if they saw a local van removing furniture from a local house? "Stuff going into Vidlers" they would think, even if they knew the neighbours weren't actually moving away.
So, if you see Charlie's van, either on the road or apparently going about legitimate loading-up, please ring the police (Rye 222112) at once; not only might you get Charlie back his van, but you could also save someone from being burgled: (On second thoughts, you would do even better to dial 999.)
The current list includes alterations at the Postern Gate surgery (see page 5); wooden multi-pane windows and a bay window at the back of Mint Court Cottage; a kitchen extension at Rye Goldsmiths in the High Street (we hope to call on the new owners, Mr. and Mrs. Powell of Iden, for next week's issue); a new shop-front for 52 Cinque Ports Street (Care's Clothing) and alterations to the flat above; lastly, two non-illuminated signs and one projecting sign at Spin Off next to the Landgate Arch.
3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 15 June 1988
Not long after Father David arrived in Rye, he noticed a crack in the back wall of his church; sometimes he must wish he hadn't: The crack was an ominous sign that the wall between the church garden and the property next door was slipping, and indeed the wall at the foot of the garden leading down the cliff was also in a bad state. While they were still thinking about this, the storm damaged one of the ten windows under the church roof; and builders repairing that found that all ten were in rotting wooden frames, and all needed replacement. The bell-tower had to be largely rebuilt, and all the tiles came off the lantern over the sanctuary so that the plaster inside was ruined.
In charge of the restoration work were John Goodman & Partners of Tonbridge (Mr. Goodman is a parishioner). Perhaps a little unexpectedly, the builders were Town & Country Kitchens of Northiam, who resorted to specialist sub-contractors for jobs like the leaded windows but who have done a superb job overall, including redecoration of the outside and much of the inside. The centrepiece of the restoration work must be the lantern, where the plaster has been replaced with timberwork which is both beautiful and functional; the sunset glass windows were not damaged and are back in place. While this part of the work was done, the entire (and very elaborate) marble altar was protected by a wooden "box".
On Monday, St. Anthony's Day, a Thanksgiving Mass was followed by a party in the Town Hall. But the parish still has £10,000 to find, and the back garden wall still needs rebuilding. How about a very small miracle, St. Anthony?
In 1938 the then President of the British Legion Club, Major Hacking, founded a darts league to raise money for the East Sussex Hospital (it wasn't Royal then, nor NHS, and was much less well-endowed than Rye Hospital which had been generously funded by Lady Mcllwraith). Major Hacking presented the Hacking Shield for the inter-club competition; and it would be interesting to know how much money was raised for RESH over the years which followed. Certainly various pieces of equipment at RESH commemorate the success of the competition.
In 1981 John Hacking and his wife Anne agreed with the committee which ran the League that in future the profits should go to the League of Friends of Rye Hospital, since the financial position of the two hospitals had been largely reversed over the years. The competition now has two leagues, and last year's proceeds were banked, so that a really handsome sum could be handed over to the Friends to celebrate the half-century in 1988. Last week the 1988 Finals were played at the Oasis, and Mrs. Hacking (supported by her eldest grandson '—Paul) was very pleased to present the League of Friends with a cheque for £1,500.
'A' League winners were Long Bros Social Club; 'B' League, the Crown Social Club.
Preparations for Rye's Armada Day celebrations are well in hand. Jimper Sutton has undertaken to be responsible for the iron brazier on a 15' pole, which is being erected in a field at the top of Udimore Road and will be lit at 10.19 precisely on the evening of 19 July. Also on the 19th, there is to be a mediaeval banquet (arranged by a firm which specialises in them) in the Community Centre; Ron Dellar is in charge of this, and tickets will cost around £10. Freda Gardham pupils are learning morris-dancing from an expert, Heather Agar of Daisy Roots and Bexhill High School (where the organiser of this whole affair, Sylvia Silver, teaches) and will be taking part in the street procession on the 19th. Rother is being asked for permission to close Lion Street and the Town Hall end of Market Street for an hour from 11.30 on that morning (we mention this now as advance warning to those affected, though it still has to be advertised). And on 21 and 22 July, "The Merry Wives of Rye" will be produced at the Community Centre; tickets (£2) from Landgate Stores. We may have an update on all this in our final issue; failing that, look out for the posters nearer the time.
4.
There are only two more GAZETTES after this one. The final issue will appear on 28 (not 29) June, and will be largely taken up with a fact-sheet about how to find out what from whom - ie. summarising our own experience gleaned over the past 5i years - which we think will be useful to readers from time to time. From now on, therefore, reports may have to be curtailed in order to get as much as possible into the remaining space.
We are therefore not attempting to report in detail on two matters which have been concerning ESCC's Highways & Transportation Committee recently: Waste Disposal, and Transport Policies for 1989/90. The former is an increasingly serious problem for the county, and a long report to the committee sets out the facts and is well worth reading for anyone at all interested. What immediately concerns Rye is that ESCC is intending to set up a tip to serve the Rye area. This means that our rubbish would no longer have to go over to Mountfield as at present; but, on the very small-scale map, the tip site appears to cover the whole of Rye! This is certainly not the intention, but the matter is one on which both Rother and Rye Town Councils will need to keep an eye, though there is a long consultation period, etc., ahead before a final plan for the whole county is due to be submitted to the DoE in February 1989.
The second report, slightly less bulky, is about future transport policies in East Sussex. Lewes is evidently trying to put a squib under the DoT to get a move on with various bypass schemes plus the Rye New Route (it is nice that at least County scorns the DoT euphemism "improvement"). But there is marked slip- page in the DoT programme, and everyone is getting worried that the Channel Tunnel will not find adequate roads on the English side to cater for what it is expected to swallow and disgorge. (So our personal conviction is that the longer Rye can stall the DoT on a through route, the better the chance must be of a compromise on either a northerly or a southerly route; whic)eer was chosen, there would be some opposition - but at least the town would remain in one piece.) The County Engineer says that a dual carriage-way will be needed everywhere along the A259 route except east of Hastings, and round Pevensey and Westerham, and presumably he is not deliberately intending to construct bottlenecks for the future? This report is essential reading for those concerned with the A259 protest.
From the end of June, ESCC committee papers are to be sent to Rye Library, so that people here can at last find out for themselves what is brewing at Lewes. This should mean fewer nasty shocks in future, since Rye will be able to keep an eye on ESCC developments affecting the town and not learn about them for the first time from something that the Express's Lewes reporter happens to notice! So we are depositing the Waste Disposal and Transport Policies reports with the Library today, for the benefit of those who want to study them properly.
One other report to Highways & Transportation may be of interest. It relates to a map of "preferred strategic locations for new roadside facilities" and marks a "site to be identified" for the Rye area - identified once the A259 route is decided, of course, since roadside facilities mean loos, filling stations, cafes... Rother is reported as saying that if the DoT wants new roads, the DoT ought to be funding the facilities (and quite right too, in our view).
Parents will be delighted to know that there is again to be a Summer Playscheme in the town (from 8 to 19 August). Application forms will go out from Freda Gardham and TPS this week, and are also available from Social Services in Cinque Ports Street; there are only 30 places, first come first served, and the previous scheme was heavily over-subscribed so apply at once if you want your child to take part. The 7-13-year-olds will take part in games and activities at Upper School, minibus trips, canoeing, rock-climbing and swimming...
Social Services are staffing this, but need volunteers too. If you would enjoy taking part, ring Brenda or Graham on Rye 226922. Experience is not necessary, goodwill is.
5.
Earlier than expected, the Health Authority has now produced the consultative document which has to precede the proposed closure of the accident and emergency department at Rye Hospital. Apart from HHA members, 64 copies have gone out to a wide range of people and organisations who might be assumed to have an interest in the subject, starting of course with the Community Health Council and including the MPs, the County and District Councils, the parish councils of Beckley, Brede, Camber, East Guldeford, Icklesham, Iden, Northiam, Peasmarsh, Playden, Rye Foreign and Udimore, Rye Town Council, all the local doctors, seven newspapers, the local libraries, various NHS staff organisations, the League of Friends and Rye Hospital Action Committee - in fairness to the HHA, just about everyone who could possibly be interested. The accompanying letter from the District General Manager stresses that the proposals do not relate to the long-term future of the hospital, and that there is no question of the "dressings service" at the hospital being withdrawn. Comments and alternative proposals are welcome, he says, and should be submitted to him in writing (St. Anne's House, 729 The Ridge, St. Leonards, TN37 7QQ) by Wednesday, 21 September, at the latest. The proposal will then be reconsidered at the HHA's October meeting.
We trust that, over the next three months, all these organisations and individuals will make the effort to reply. Our main defence is, of course, the Community Health Council, and it might perhaps be helpful if copies of all the letters of objection, etc., are sent to them (St. Helen's Hospital, Fredericks Road, Hastings) so that they can see what local feeling is. Rye people should get in touch with the Town Clerk, those in the villages with their Parish Clerks, to make sure their views are passed on; or, of course, they can write to Mr. Martindale direct.
Since the Library will have a copy of the document, we need not discuss it in detail here. But the HHA has four main reasons for closing our casualty. Local doctors are paid £22,000 a year for casualty cover: no casualty, no cover. There would be no risk of an error in diagnosis being made when a doctor is not present (nor of legal action from a misdiagnosed patient later). If there was no access for the general public at night, the staff would not be over-stretched nor at risk from attack; we doubt if the latter has ever happened, and anyway this is an argument for closing casualty at night, not during the day as well. Finally, the X-ray equipment is old-fashioned, unreliable and potentially unsafe, and needs to be scrapped anyway: no casualty, no X-rays. Incidentally, the HHA does not expect any increase in the use of the ambulance service. We hope they are right, since on Sunday when the place is swarming with visitors only one is on duty here. And even during the week, it does seem improbable that all the minor accidents will happen to car-drivers with a vehicle in the garage: What is far more likely is that people who think they are minor accidents but can't face going over to Hastings will simply have a lie-down and an aspirin instead of going to hospital at all; mostly this will do the trick - but sometimes it won't, and the result could be nasty, let alone costly in later hospitalisation. (In Shrewsbury, the hospital is a couple of miles outside the town; but there is a minibus every ten minutes from the bus station until gone 9 at night!)
At the AGM of Rye Day Centre on Wednesday, the treasurer, Roy Browning, reported that allowing for food and transport costa, each meal provided cost £1.51 whereas the charge was only Cl. It was therefore agreed that as from 1 October the charge should rise to £1.20 a session (60p for the helpers' lunches) to prevent any further fall in funds, which were down £170 on last year's figure. It was clear that once the new Day Centre at Magdala House opens, matters may be differently arranged, both as regards staffing and costs; it was equally clear that volunteers will still be needed, though the overall responsibility for running the new Centre will be with Social Services. At present the Centre has a turn- over of more than £4,500 a year, with up to 25 members attending each weekly session; the ratio of members to helpers is about 3 to 1, and more helpers would be very welcome so that a rota could be produced, said chairman Barbara Wild.
6.
It begins to look as if what we thought were just optimistic noises about the Heritage Centre being ready for next year's tourist season were much more than that. Since McCarthy & Stone presented to the town the battered warehouse in the corner of their site on Strand Quay, Rother has been fossicking around for funding. The County Council promised £10,000; Rother itself has committed £30,000; the Development Commission and the English Tourist Board will each consider a contribution of about 20% towards the total costs (say £50,000 in all); and Rother had hoped that English Heritage might contribute the rest, since it is expected to exhibit the Camber Castle finds in the first-floor exhibition area. However, that was over-optimistic; English Heritage says it will cost between £10,000 and £20,000 to set up its display, and that will be quite sufficient.
The expected costs - before the preparation of detailed specifications for the work - are £120,000. So there was £30,000 still to find. Rye Town Council has now offered this, since site and building will remain in the Council's ownership and will be of considerably more value than that. George Shackleton tells us that the Council can borrow the money, in a way which is quite usual in this kind of situation, from a public fund which charges the minimum of interest. It may mean extra on the rates to begin with, but takings from the Model, shop, etc., should allow for repayment in a reasonably short time, and the Council already has some money put by for just this, saved from Model profits over the years.
The work will go out to tender by the end of June, once the Council's consultant architects have prepared the specification; McCarthy & Stone, who had expressed interest in tendering for the job, will be among the firms invited to do so. In his report to Policy & Resources, the Planning Officer says "If the price received turns out to be far greater than assessed at the feasibility stage, then it will be necessary to reconsider the whole project, though I shall be very surprised if this proves to be the case." So it all sounds extremely interesting - and with luck we shan't have disappointed tourists seeking the Model in vain next year too.
Two-and-a-half years ago, Francis and Jenny Hadfield bought Jeake's House in Mermaid Street and started doing bed-and-breakfast there. A year later, they added Quakers' House next door - which gave them what must be one of the most unusual breakfast-rooms in Rye, the former Baptist Chapel with its baptistery still there under the floor, part of the gallery which once went round three sides, and a beautiful marble fire surround - which ought to have come with the house but actually didn't, having been discovered by Jenny in a garage miles away and brought back in triumph and a number of small pieces!
The addition of Quakers' meant that the guest-house, now with six double rooms, needed a fire certificate; and a fire certificate means a great deal of work, with ceilings and all inside walls lined (and therefore, of course, needing redecoration afterwards), plus fireproof doors and an alarm system. Jenny now never wants to see a pot of paste again, and Francis had to take a week off work to do the ceilings; but the fire certificate was finally granted a fortnight ago.
But Samuel Jeake's former warehouse offered the Hadfields other problems too: a large section of the roof slid off one day, and there was also storm damage, a bathroom which used to flood with rainwater from the garden, and various other excitements. However, it now looks marvellous, decorated and furnished with taste, imagination and charm. Samuel Jeake was very much a businessman as well as an astrolger, and we don't doubt he would entirely approve of his storehouse earning its keep again after three hundred years. Jeake's House is now AA and RAC listed, with three ETB crowns; the phone number is Rye 222828. (Those interested in Jeake may like to get hold of a book edited by Michael Hunter and Annabel Gregory, "An Astrological Diary of the Seventeenth Century: Samuel Jeake of Rye, 1652-1699"; Jenny lent us her copy, since it costs tko (OUP), but Martello can get it to order.)
7.
As far as we know, there are not a great many Rye actors on the London stage. One of them - maybe the only one? - is Barry Ewart, brother of Peter whose local-history books we have written about from time to time. Barry has a supporting role as the sergeant major in the production of "Journey's End" at the Whitehall Theatre. He has been on the stage since 1981, but until now only in the provinces or on TV (except for a one-man show at The Latchmere in London). His decision to risk all on an acting career came after four years in the Civil Service and eight in a merchant bank. Peter tells us that Barry was a Ken Lewis "product" and appeared in each Secondary Modern School production from 1961 to 1965; the family lived in Marley Road (and their mother was a Rhodes).
Peter and his wife Lynne were guests of the new Mayor at the Town Hall on Bank Holiday Monday. This was the first time Peter had been at the throwing rather than the receiving end of the hot pennies; and, hearing about this, Barry came down specially from London to catch the first penny his elevated brother threw!
On the whole, June is turning out to be a quiet month in diary terms. But there are three out-of-the-ordinary events at the end of next week.
Thursday sees the Annual General Meeting of the Rye A259 Action Group - 23 June, 7.30 at the FE Centre. The hardworking committee would very much like a little support from the general public who have strong views about the A259 route indeed, here is your opportunity to convince the Group that either the northerly or the southerly alternative is the only possible one! We doubt if we shall be able to include a report of the meeting in the final issue of the GAZETTE, so do come along in person. Refreshments will be provided, quite possibly in a glass rather than a cup...
On Friday, 24th, Greenpeace are holding a "see-what-we-do" evening at the Stormont Studio, 8 for 8.30; as well as a 50-minute film "Commandos for Conservation", there will be an opportunity to talk to members, look at the group's literature, and shop at the Greenpeace stall. Admission is free, plus a glass of wine.
On Saturday, 25th, there is just one coffee morning (Bowls Club, Town Hall) in the town itself; so perhaps we might mention the Greyfriars Strawberry Tea with music by the Thomas Peacocke School band (Greyfriars, 2.30 to 4) and the Gala for the Open Door Club for the Disabled (Winchelsea Beach Village Hall, 2).
On Sunday, 26th, two gardens in the town are open to the public under the National Gardens Scheme: 18 Church Square and 11 High Street. £1 covers entry to both (children 20p), and teas will be available. Opening is from 2 to 6. Also on Sunday, Thomas Peacocke School's Rural Studies Department is holding an Open Day at Leasam House, in conjunction with the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. Car parking costs £1 a time, with all proceeds going to the Colin Green Memorial Fund at the Reserve; Bertie Bull is providing the parking area. On show will be pupils' work, a working display of old farm machinery, other activities and displays, and a guided nature trail (including, doubtless, the newly-cleared track in Secrets Wood). Someone may even have discovered what has happened to the Leasam herons; the only feedback we got from GAZETTE no. 273 was that a good many more had been noticed on the Marsh than usual,this spring.
Readers in the BBC's London and South-East area are reminded that the material filmed here on Bank Holiday Monday is said to be going out on Friday at 8 (BBC2). The programme is called "Weekend"; but Radio Times gave no details of the actual contents, so we rang the BBC. Having convinced the switchboard girl that we were not talking about "Week Ending" or "Weekend World", we were finally put through to Programme Enquiries; but, at 3.30 on Monday afternoon, nobody at Programme Enquiries was answering the phone... Anyway, watch in case!
Mrs. Gibson of Ferry Road suggests that the Goods Yard thoroughfare should be called New Market Way. Seems a good idea, doesn't it - that's what it is.
Thrift Shop, Red Cross, 10 to 4 (and Friday and Saturday)
FRAG folk and blues night, guitar vocals by Paul Buckley Stormont Studio, 8 (L2 at door)
Summer Fair for Great Ormond Street Hospital (organised by Mrs. Kingham and Mrs. Remmer) - plants, cakes, bric-a-brac, raffle, coffee and tea - FEC, 10.30
Scouts jumble sale, Scout Hut, 1.30
Cadborough Jubilee Social Club Summer Fair, CC, 2
"The Literary Countryside of Sheila Kaye-Smith" (illustrated talk with readings by Brian Graebe of the S K-S Society), FEC, 7.30
Norman plus Conquest, live music for the under-18s, CC, 7.30 to 11 (admission £1)
Museum Association outing to Syon Place (GAZETTE no. 274)
Wednesday, 22nd Local History Group, business meeting, Library, 7.30 Trefoil Guild, inaugural meeting, FEC, 7.30 (see below)
• Heather Howard hopes to start a branch of the Trefoil Guild here, and the meeting at the FE Centre on Wednesday is for all ex-Guides, ex-Guiders and former Scout and Cub leaders (the group is basically female, though men wishing to join would not be excluded). Anyone over 18 who has become interested in Guiding but who never actually joined the Movement is also very welcome. If you would like to join but can't be there on the 22nd, ring Mrs. Howard.
• Drivers who use Dumbwoman's Lane are warned that some time during the three months starting on 27 June the road will be closed for repairs; the route is one of a dozen whose forthcoming closure was advertised in the Sussex Express last week, and the affected stretch is from the B2089 junction to the junction with Float Lane. The diversion is via Udimore Road, Cinque Ports Street, New Winchelsea Road and Station Road in Winchelsea.
• The Eye Hospital Summer Fete at the FE Centre on Saturday took £1,118, plus the money from advance raffle ticket sales. There are of course a few expenses, but it is safe to say that the League of Friends funds benefit by over £1,200. This is 50% up on last year's £800, and the committee are most grateful to those who helped in various ways - and also, of course, to those who spent their money at the Fete.
• Badger Gate residents can now be sure of spending Christmas in their present flats. Bob Clarke at Battle tells us that owing mainly to problems with suppliers, the builders at Magdala House have had to plead "slippage" on the 28 October completion date, and this has now been extended to 21 December. So no-one will be moving until the New Year.
• The people in Tillingham Avenue who sent a petition to FSCC about the state of the road surface there may like to know that it is "under consideration and any necessary action will be taken", according to a report to the County Highways Committee.
• On Sunday buses will replace trains between Appledore and Hastings, with delays of up to 35 minutes. BR also apologises for noisy night work on the line "near Rye Station" on Sunday night, and also on Thursday (23rd). Blame the need to lift and level ballast and check rail alignment while the trains are not running.
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. Spare copies are available from Young Ideas (children's wear), 7 Cinque Ports Street, price 45p. (Copyright Mary Owen 1988)