News from around the clubs - July 10

Bexhill and Battle Constituency Labour Party Women's Section

AT the recent AGM the following were elected:

n Chairman '“ Margaret Attree

n Vice chairs '“ Ada Jones and Sally Piper

n Secretary '“ Philipa Coughlan

n Treasurer '“ Margaret Tippin

Plans were discussed for more campaigning both locally and in neighbouring Hastings and Rye towards the next General Election. We also agreed to continue supporting local charities '“ St Jude's Women's refuge and Guide Dogs for the Blind as we have done for some time.

We also discussed the development of the local Fairtrade initiative '“ with Bexhill achieving Fairtrade status and to continue to raise awareness about both trading, economic and development issues abroad at this time of global recession.

Discussions are both varied and enjoyable and we are a friendly but campaigning group that meets on the third Friday of each month at 10 Magdalen Road. For more information contact the secretary on 220337.

Little Common Morning Club

OUR chairman Mrs Margaret Kirk opened the meeting and welcomed 59 members and nine visitors '“ this was party day!

The morning began with an excellent rendition by the drama group '“ June Mantle had us rolling in the aisles with her numerous humorous jokes which she relates so well.

The group entertained us with an excellent sketch which they had won great praise for at the Federation Social Studies Day in early June '“ they were truly excellent, well done drama group!

After such royal entertainment we all settled down to club business for a while '“ the minutes were read by the secretary and the various sub-sections gave their reports. The charity for next year has been decided by unanimous vote to be the Little Common Community Centre.

As this was our birthday celebration we were then served with large slices of delicious cream gateaux to accompany our coffee and the raffle, which had been regaled with ribbons and bows to mark the occasion, was drawn to complete a rather special meeting.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday, July 23 at Little Common Community Centre at 9.45am '“ visitors are welcome.

Bexhill Senior Citizens Club For The Over 55s

CHRISTMAS came early for the club on June 29! The evening party celebrated the occasion with seasonal entertainment, carols, games and, of course, traditional food and drink '“ not forgetting the mince pies '“ and was in full swing when Santa arrived (bearing a remarkable resemblance to Richard Eager) carrying a sack containing a little something for everyone.

Members were very appreciative of Richard and his wife Irene's efforts in organising such a happy evening.

The next social evening will take place on Friday, July 31 at 6.30pm and the theme is a "Red, White and Blue Garden Party".

The choir concert, conducted by Janet Szajer, choirmistress and club chairman, took place on Thursday, July 2 on a lovely sunny afternoon, and was much enjoyed by the audience, many exclaiming that "it gets better and better".

The programme consisted of much-loved and well-remembered songs such as Lullaby of Broadway, Lazybones, Half a Sixpence, and many other favourite tunes.

June English soon had the audience joining her in the rousing chorus of her solo Oh What a Beautiful Morning, followed at intervals by three other soloists, Joan Chambers with Bali Ha'i, Sheila Woollett's If You Love Me and June Urquhart's With These Hands. There were also amusing recitations from Elizabeth Allday with Therapy and Maria Mockler with Satellite. Chris Dyer read his touching romantic poem entitled Waiting For You.

The next concert will be at Christmas with a December date to be announced later in the year.

In the meantime the club offers a very full programme of a wide variety of group activities and social events, as well as outings and a holiday.

For more details please call in at the office, 45 Eversley Road, Monday to Friday from 10am till noon, or phone 212911, new members are always made warmly welcome.

Little Common Ladies Club

AT OUR meeting held on Wednesday, June 24 at The Little Common Community Centre, we had the pleasure of making two presentations. Mrs Patricia Grayling our chairman made the first presentation of 300 to Mrs Jenny Private on behalf of Home Call.

Home Call is our club's chosen charity for the past year. Jenny thanked Mrs Grayling and all the members for the generous donation She then spoke to us about the work that Home Call does and how badly in need it is of finance to carry on.

The second cheque for 200 was presented to Mrs Mary Berriman toward the repair of the roof at The Community Centre. Mrs Berriman thanked Mrs Grayling and the members, for this much appreciated gift.

This year our club's chosen charity will be St Michael's Hospice.

The evening continued with entertainment by the singers and pianist from Quintasia. Helen played with her usual perfection and the singers Julia, Alison, Denise, Carol and Wendy sang songs from many of the musicals '“ Sweet Charity, West Side Story, Mary Poppins, Guys and Dolls and many more. It was truly a memorable evening, enjoyed by all members and their guests.

Our next meeting is on July 22 at The Little Common Community Centre. The talk will be given by Mrs Helen Poole on Michelham Priory Past and Present.

New members will be given a warm welcome why not come along and join us. We meet at 7.45pm.

Hastings and Bexhill Organ and Keyboard Society

OUR June meeting commenced with the 38th Annual General Meeting of the society.

This was followed by a mini concert given by Tony White and Rod Pooly from Bonners Music of Eastbourne, playing and demonstrating the Yamaha Tyros 3 Keyboard.

The organist for our next concert on Thursday, July 30 is Paul Mc Cullock who is visiting us for the first time from his home in Liverpool.

Paul is a 40-year-old musician who has been playing the organ since he was 16 years old, he is currently playing a Yamaha EL90.

He plays a wide variety of music and will be inviting members to request their favourite music for the second half of the concert.

Our society caters for all tastes in organ and keyboard music, and is open to all age groups. Our concerts take place on the last Thursday of each month and are held at The Pebsham CP School, School Place, Hastings Road, Bexhill, at 7.30pm.

For information please ring 01424 214152.

Bexhill and District Gardens and Allotments Society

TWO for the price of one '“ that was Bexhill and District Gardens and Allotments Society's latest trip.

Chairman Dick Lancaster had arranged the visit to the well-known Borde Hill Gardens near Haywards Heath with his usual care.

Dave, our Rambler coach driver, took the direct route and got us there in good time to spend a pleasant afternoon enjoying the mid-summer delights of 200 acres of English Heritage Grade II* Listed historic parkland and woodland.

The grounds surround a magnificent Tudor mansion, built in 1593 by Stephen Borde and extended in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

Colonel Stephenson R Clarke sponsored many expeditions by the great plant-hunters of the late 19th Century. Fine examples of their discoveries prosper to this day at Borde Hill.

The gardens' renowned botanical collection is arranged in distinctive "rooms".

The Bexhill visitors were able to enjoy the heady perfumes of the Rose Garden, view the Victorian glasshouses, roam the White Garden and survey the Mediterranean Garden.

Stone for the mansion was quarried on site. The resultant quarry pits were artfully planted. On the visit day the resultant Long Dell and Round Dell were ablaze with summer colours.

The garden map provided enables visitors to follow a numbered route, ensuring that pleasures such as the Herbaceous Garden, the White Garden, and the Italian Garden are not missed.

Members of the party thought that cream tea in the on-site Jeremy's Restaurant had rounded off their thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

But there was an early-evening additional treat to follow. Dave, our driver, had an extra joy in mind, bringing us home "the pretty way" via a cross-country route across Ashdown Forest that led us through the cool shade of quieter roads completely arched by trees.

From our lofty coach vantage-point, there were stunning views over Sussex countryside in its summer splendour.

Thank you, once again, Dick for a memorable trip. And thank you Dave for the lovely drive.

Crafts 4 U

WE WOULD like to thank Marion and Pat for their patience helping a lot of members with the second stage of the secret cushions. Some members also enjoyed doing other projects of their own, and it was a very pleasant morning.

Don't forget our Craft Day on the July 16. This will be at St Martha's Hall, Little Common, from 11am till 3pm. This is open to members and non members.

Particraft will be there, giving demonstrations during the day and will also have a large selection of craft items to buy.

There will be other demos throughout the day and stalls were you will be able to buy hand-made cards, jewellery and other craft items.

Cost is 2 including refreshments, or 5 inc luding a ploughmans lunch.

Tickets are available from Rosemary on 01424 853847. Our next club meeting is on August 6 when Freda will be demonstrating ribbon-stripping and bow-making.

Society of Bexhill

Museums Limited

ON THURSDAY, June 25, 35 members and friends were picked up by a swish Rambler coach which is usually used to take holidaymakers on tours on the Continent, but this time to take us on an outing to Syon Park, Brentford which is the spectacular London home of the Duke of Northumberland.

The house was built between 1547 and 1550 on the site of Syon Abbey, and in 1604 the freehold was given to the Percy family in whose hands it has remained ever since. In the 1760s Robert Adam created some of his most impressive interiors and remodelled the house in the grand neo-classical style. Some of our group had a most instructive and amusing guided tour of the ground floor, whilst the others meandered round the house, with an audio guide, at their own pace.

The yearly archaeological dig by students of Birkbeck college was underway, first initiated by Time Team in 2003, and there were guides to explain what was going on, with a permanent exhibition of finds in the Undercroft of the house. The interesting 17th and 18th century gardens and lake border the River Thames opposite Kew Gardens, and include an imposing Great Conservatory.

We left for home at 4pm and were back by Lewes at 6pm, but due to an accident somewhere behind Eastbourne, our driver took a detour through Glynde on the way to Upper Dicker and thereby gave us the opportunity to see a herd of llamas, a camel, and numerous rabbits having their evening meal. Our next outing is to Finchcocks Museum at Goudhurst on Tuesday, August 4 for which we still have a few seats left.

Highwoods Preservation Society

MANY species of butterfly will have had an emergence in June. Recent Junes have been wet and windy, the worst kind of weather for butterflies. This June was much better and we would hope at butterfly numbers will show an increase from last year.

In the open areas of the wood look for common cow wheat which have pairs of yellow flowers. Foxgloves are now showing their gaudy array (known as goblin's thimbles in country lore.) Rosebay and willowherb with its conical pinky-red flowers is putting on a spectacular display. In Victorian times these flowers were prised passions in gardens, as they were quite rare. They need disturbed ground to germinate, and it wasn't until the First World War that they began to spread. With the devastation of the Second World War their numbers exploded. Because they are often the first plants to recolonise a burnt area they have earned the country name of fireweed.

Many birds will now have bred and their fledglings will be finding their way around the woods and learning to fend for themselves. All species of tits, woodpeckers and most species of warblers have only one brood but blackbirds, thrushes, greenfinches and others have two three or in exceptional years four broods. If you hear a commotion in the trees it is likely to be a young family begging their parents to feed their ever open mouths, or it might be a panic call because there is a predator about. There are many such predators '“ magpies, jays, woodpeckers, sparrowhawks, owls, squirrels or maybe stoats or weasels, who are excellent climbers. If the nest is not at the very top of trees, then they may be at risk from adders and grass snakes which are known to feed on young birds or their eggs.

Later in the month look out for deep red leaves of some new shoots of the oak trees This is not a sign of leaves changing colour for autumn, but is part of the process of emerging shoots. These are known as Lammas leaves as they occur around Lammas Day, which is August 1.

Don't forget our summer walk '“ Saturday, August 15 at 10.30am. Given a fine morning, we should see plenty of butterflies and dragonflies

Bexhill Bridge Club

Results for week ending June 13

Tuesday, June 9

N/S First '“ Karen Berger and Patrick Hutley

Second '“ Trevor and Barbara Graham

E/W First '“ Rob and Joan Knights

Second '“ Colin Richards and David Gillespie

Thursday, June 11

N/S First '“ Tom and Maureen Heppell

Second '“ Ralph and Sally Thompson

E/W First '“ David Gillespie and Peter Carbutt

Second '“ Molly Bryant and Richard Slatter

Week ending June 20

Tuesday, June 16

First '“ Nigel Gordon and Brian Gould

Second '“ Inez Richards and Patrick Hutley

Thursday, June 18

First '“ Nigel Gordon and Jim Carroll

Second '“ Joe Prideaux and Joy Fieldman

Wilton Bridge Club

Tuesday June 23:

First '“ P Hutley and I Lawrence

Second '“ I Lee and R Browning

Third '“ P Hawes and B Ducat

Wednesday June 24:

First '“ J Clark and P Cooper

Second '“ B and J Jones

Third '“ joint B Hinnigan and H Norden, and J Cullen and L Alexander

Tuesday June 30:

First '“ K Berger and P Hutley

Second '“ J Sibson and P Hawes

Third '“ M Bryant and M Bunyan

Wednesday July 1:

North/South: First '“ A Cullen and B Ducat

Second '“ H Shirley and J Sheppard

Third '“ A Stone and P Gifford

East/West: First '“ J Clark and A Spencer

Second '“ J and M Parr

Third '“ A and P Preedy