Ashburnham

Ashburnham & Penhurst WI are holding a Seasonal Food Market and Gift Fayre at the Village Hall tomorrow, December 1 from 10am. Festive food, local speciality cheese, meat boxes and pies, homemade preserves, Christmas puddings and cakes, stocking fillers, tree decorations and much more. Go along, enjoy coffee and cake and do your Christmas Shopping!

The next Coffee Morning is on Monday December 3 & 17 in the Church Hall, Ashburnham Place 10:30am - 12pm. You are welcome to go along for a good friendly chat. For further information, please contact Tina on 01424 843728.

Ashburnham and Penhurst WI have no meeting in December but will instead be enjoying a Christmas meal at the Ash on December 5. More details from Ann on 01424 893349. Their January meeting will be on Monday January 21 when their speaker will be Tony Smith on ‘Life and Fossils of the Seashore’. The competition will be for the best chocolate brownie. Don’t forget to take items for the sale table (you get 90% of the sale price), and also books, CDs and DVDs for sharing and swapping.

They meet in the Village Hall at 7.30pm – with plenty of time for coffee, cake and chat. They look forward to seeing you!

The East Sussex County Council Mobile Library service will next be in Ashburnham (by the chapel) on Thursday December 6 and 20, 9.50am - 10.10am.

2m@1 (2nd Monday of the month @ 1 O’clock), are meeting on December 10 at Ashburnham Church hall. This month will be a Christmas Social event: a Shared Buffet & a glass of wine. Bring something to add to the table if you can. They next meet on January 14 with “Putting on an Opera” with Freddie Stockdale of Pavilion Opera.

Film Club is on December 14, showing ‘Tea with Mussolini‘. Doors open at 7.45pm and the programme will start at 8.15pm. Seating is limited so it is essential to reserve your place in advance by contacting Brian Holdstock (email [email protected] or phone or text 07836 716723). The film club’s licence means it will operate as a members only closed club so at the first screening you come to you will need to decide to either pay for the one screening as a ‘taster’ or to subscribe for the whole season of five films. The ticket prices are £6. The price does include a glass of wine at every screening! Future films for the remainder of the season are: January 11 2013, ‘The Usual Suspects, February 8 ‘Days of Heaven’ and March 13 ‘The Big Sleep’.

The Ashburnham & Penhurst Book Club is growing! with increasing numbers their discussions are getting even livelier, on a host of issues: social, political, personal, international and very local. All inspired by the themes of the month’s reading matter. During December they will be reading ‘Night Song of the Last Tram’, Robert Douglas’ poignant memoir of growing up in a one-room tenement during and after the Second World War. Their December get together will be at 2pm on Friday December 21. During January they will be reading Catherine Hall’s ‘Days of Grace’, the story of a 12 year old East End girl evacuated to rural Kent during the Second World War, and life with her new ‘family’ there. The January gathering will be at 2pm on Friday January 25. If you would like to read either of these books or would like further information on the group, please call Nicky on 01424 892474.

The Ashburnham and Penhurst Gardening Club are meeting on January 28, 7.30pm at Ashburnham Church Hall. This months topic is ‘Soil types and their cultivation’. For more information Contact Rhod Jones on 01424 892689 or see their website: www.gardeningclub.solidwebhost.com.

Don’t forget that you can look to see what is going on in Ashburnham and Penhurst on the community website: www.ashburnham-penhurst.net.

Church services for St Peter’s, Ashburnham:

December 2, 10.30am A special Family Service for Advent

December 9, 10.30am Morning Praise with children’s activities

December 16, 10.30am Morning Praise with children’s activities

December 23, 6.30pm Carol Service followed by mince pies at Ashburnham Place

December 24, 4pm Christingle Service - a lovely service for all the family

December 25, 10.30am Family Communion Service with Carols

December 30, 10.30am Morning Praise with children’s activities

Church services for St Michael the Archangel, Penhurst:

December 2, 10.30am Morning Praise

December 9, 10.30am Morning Prayer

December 16, 10.30am Holy Communion

December 23, 5pm Carol Service followed by mulled wine and mince pies ar the Retreat Centre

December 25, 9am Christmas Day Service

December 30, 10.30am Morning Prayer

Services for Ashburnham Chapel:

December 2, 3.15pm Afternoon Service

December 9, 6.30pm Carol Service with the St Lawrence Bell Ringers followed by coffee and mince pies.

December 16, 3.15pm Communion Service

December 23, 3.15pm Afternoon Service

December 30, 3.15pm ‘Do It Yourself’ service with all taking part

Prayer and Bible reading meetings on Tuesday at 2.30pm at the Chapel. Contact Fay Ramsden on 07860 113413 for further information.

Anything that you would like included in the Village Voice for Ashburnham and Penhurst, please email the details to me: [email protected].