Catsfield

Macmillan Coffee Morning: Gwen’s coffee morning was the usual convivial occasion when guests came and went enjoying snatches of diverse conversations among the meringues and coffee and the house was full of people for the entire time. The very generous raffle seemed to go on for ages and Gwen says that at least £280 was made for Macmillan Nurses. This event has become an annual village tradition and Gwen would like to thank all the people who come for coffee and especially all her wonderful helpers, she thinks that this was probably at least the tenth year that she’s hosted it. Another coffee morning was held in Chequers Mews, which also looked very lively.

Village Hall: Repairs to the ladies toilet in the Village Hall are now underway. Although it hasn’t rained for weeks, we trust that the flat roof is watertight and the Hall can begin its usual busy pre-pantomime season with no further disruption.

Catsfield WI: The WI held the October meeting on Thursday 2nd October in the Village Hall. There were apologies from many members for their absence owing to ill-health, late holidays etc, but there was still quite a gathering to welcome new members and visitors to the meeting. The competition for ‘An Autumnal Arrangement’ was well supported, with several very attractive and colourful entries of flowers, berries and foliage filling the table and the overall winner was Nicky Block. A vote was taken to choose a new motto for next year’s programme and the winner was ‘When you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours’! The Ramble will be on 20th October to Darwell Reservoir, when the autumn colours should be starting to show. Our speaker this month, making a welcome return visit following his talk in February last year, was the very amusing Mel Rees and once again everyone was soon in fits of laughter at the tales that he told, tongue in cheek, this time mainly about his parents and his mother in particular. He grew up as an only child in Clapham Junction, with his cousin Jeremy thrust before him as an example of what his rather snobbish mother wished that he had become. He told many amusing tales about his parents and how their later move to a ‘semi’ in Wallington, living amidst ‘wonderful people who read ‘The Telegraph’, had made them even worse snobs and he confessed that now, in his later years, he had become exactly like both of them! He had brought several of his books and CD’s for sale and some members bought them for Christmas presents and Mel dedicated them to their recipients.

Harvest Supper: Last Saturday’s ‘Harvest Supper’ hosted by the WI saw the Village Hall set with three long tables, attractively laid to welcome about fifty-five adults and children to a very enjoyable meal. A welcome drink greeted everyone and to the delight of us all, the sale of raffle tickets topped the £100 target needed to make our donation to Demelza Hospice Care over one thousand pounds. Many thanks go to everyone for coming and to all the people who prepared the delicious food and worked so hard to make the evening such a success.

Harvest Festival: The Harvest Festival Thanksgiving Service the following day was a joyful occasion held on the first cold, frosty but bright and sunny morning of the autumn, which encouraged everyone to ‘Plough the Fields and Scatter the Good Seed on the Land’ with great gusto. The colourful decorations around the church looked splendid with the sun streaming through the windows and harvest gifts were carried to the altar by the children. Many adults and children took part in the service with added musical accompaniment and lovely singing from the choir. Father Michael showed us the items from his breakfast table and told us from which part of the world they had originally come, pointing out that everything had been harvested somewhere in the world, even his newspaper had been made from trees. Refreshments were served after the service.

Sports News: Catsfield won on Saturday and there were no bookings, so things are looking up on the football field. We beat Horsham Crusaders 4 - 2, so will go through to the next round of the Sussex Junior Cup. There is a scheduled match at home tomorrow against Punnetts Town, an old rival team from the days when no-one had cars and we all travelled to football in a Killick and Vincent coach or even a horse box. Great fun for all the family and watching your Dad play football was the only outing of the week. Mike Davey and Keith Cook spent Saturday morning just before the rain set in mowing and scarifying the cricket wicket getting it ready for next season. Earlier in the week Peter Ellin had cut all the hedges and the whole Playing Field had been mown, so it is really looking good.

Farming News: Sowing the field beans has been slightly delayed by the threat of rain, but that remains the last crop to go in before the winter and then we await what the weather decides to dish up. Not as much rain as last winter would be nice, regular gentle stuff is what we need.

Jill Jarrett

Broadview, Bexhill