Bodiam

Village smell: The National Trust is proposing to improve the sewage works to stop the unpleasant smell that the village has had to put up with. The head of sewage treatment plants Mr Wiliam Past has told me work will start in March 2015.

Book search: Bodiam Castle needs second-hand books. Income from this project will be used to fund the project at the castle. The bookshop can be found in the Exhibition Room. Call 01580 830436 for more details.

Refuse: The rubbish and recycling collection for Bodiam are on January 2 for green bins and January 8 for black bins. Please ensure that all containers are but out by 7am on the day of collection. All festive wrapping paper and cards can be placed in the recycling bin and you can hand in your real Chrsitmas tree for recycling for a minimum donation of £5 to St Michael’s Hospice. Call them on 01424 728728.

School Nativity: I went to the Bodiam Church of England Primary School Christmas Service and Nativity performance at St Giles Church. It was different from other years telling the story of Christmas and of World War 1. It all went down very well with me and I am sure it did with all the others that turned up. There was a retiring collection in aid of Surviving Christmas.

Church: The Christmas Services at St Giles are carols at 6pm on December 21 where there might be mince pies. Midnight Communion takes place on December 24 at 11.30pm and the Christmas Day Holy Communion Service is 11.15am. Please support all the services at St Giles. Perhaps with all the planning and excitement of Christmas we do sometimes forget what Christmas is for.

Family time: As happened last year I will have Christmas with my family and twelve of us will be around the table but I can look forward to Channel 4 racing on Boxing Day. A big thank you to my family and friends for all their support in 2014.

Geoffrey Goodsell

13 Levetts Lane