Chailey

MUM AND TODDLER GROUP: At St Peter’s Church on Chailey Green, takes place every Friday from 9.30am. This is free of charge and coffee, tea and biscuits will be available. If you or anyone you know would be interested in coming along please contact the Parish Office on 01825 722286 for more details.

CHAILEY FREE CHURCH: Has services every Sunday. A Morning Service takes place at 10.30am and an Evening Service at 6.30pm. All welcome to the services, visit www.chaileyfreechurch.com for more details.

CRICKET: Chailey CC needs more players for friendly games on Sundays. Players (young or older than young) are always welcome. The club appreciates that family or other commitments may mean that you cannot turn out for every game. No worries, you would still be very welcome. So if you would like to play cricket regularly or occasionally, even if it is just once, twice or three times a year then call Peter on 07709946880.

PARISH COUNCIL: All Chailey residents are invited to attend the meeting of the Parish Council at 7.30pm on Tuesday at the Reading Room, Chailey Green. The Council will be considering and making decisions on a range of matters relevant to Chailey and its residents. Members of the public will have an opportunity to speak on any issue they wish to raise or draw to the Council’s attention. The full agenda can be found on the Council’s website at chailey.org. They look forward to seeing you.

LUNCH CLUB: Takes place on a Thursday every month (apart from August), at St Peter’s Church, on Chailey Green. The Lunch Club dates for this year are July 19, September 20, October 18, November 15 and December 13. There will be no lunch club in August. Just go along and enjoy a delicious meal at 12.30pm, also meet new people and chat and relax. The food is freshly prepared and home-cooked with a main course, choice of puddings and tea/coffee all for £5 per person. There is easy access and disabled toilet facilities. If you require transport or further information please contact [email protected] or call 
01825 722286.

MUSEUM: Windmill and Rural Life Museum will be open on Sunday July 29 from 3pm to 5pm. Admission is £1 for adults and 50p for children aged between 10 and 16. For more information call John Smith on 01825 723519.

REPAIR CAFE: At the village hall opens on Saturday August 11. It will be open from 10am until 1pm. Repair Cafés are a world-wide movement where volunteer repair experts repair things free of charge. Anyone can take along broken items from home such as toasters, lamps, hair dryers, clothes, bikes, toys, crockery. Anything that is broken can more than likely be repaired. Chailey Repair Café volunteer specialists have the know-how, and you can have a cup of tea or coffee and a cake while you wait. The Repair Café will also be open from 10am to 1pm on Saturdays September 1, October 13 and December 15 and from 2pm to 5pm on Saturday November 24. Our MP Maria Caulfield will be attending the Café on Saturday October 13.

STEAM THROUGH THE AGES: On Saturday and Sunday, August 11 and 12, there will be the chance to travel through 100 years of history in one day at the Bluebell Railway. This new event will bring different eras from history to life with a different decade recreated at each station. The London Brighton & South Coast Railway, from which the Bluebell Railway evolved, began life in the 1840s, and it is the Victorian Era that Sheffield Park will depict. Horsted Keynes Station will give a flavour of life during the 1940s war years, while Kingscote will become Kingscote-on-Sea, recreating the classic seaside holiday. For tickets and more details visit http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/.

COMPETITION: Is being organised by Chailey Bonfire Society. The competition is open to all ages and requires you to design the Bonfire Society’s membership badge for 2018-2019. There is plenty of time for you to get creative and design a badge as entries close on Wednesday August 15. The design needs be a circular and incorporate Chailey Bonfire Society 2018. Please create your design in colour, on A4 sized paper, and bear in mind that the design will be reduced considerably to fit onto a badge, so fine detail may be lost. Send your badge design to Chailey Bonfire Society, 2 South Common Cottages, South Chailey, BN8 4AN. Please ensure you write your name, age if under 18, address and phone number on the back. The winner will be invited to press the ‘red button’ preceding the firework display on Saturday November 10 as well as being presented with a framed copy of the design.

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED: Chailey Heritage Foundation are looking for volunteers to help with four events in the coming months. The first to help the organisers between 10am and 3pm at the Futures Life Skills Centre & Patchwork Farm’s Birthday Bash on Monday August 20. Then assistance is sought on a fundraising stand, between 8.30am and 4pm, at the Bo Peep Hill Climb (www.chf.org.uk/ event-bo-peep.html) on Sunday September 16, to help with bucket collections at the Classics in Town at Burgess Hill (www.chf.org.uk/ event-classics-in-town.html) on Sunday September 23 between 09.30 and 15.30 and September to assist the organisers of the Wolf Run Pippingford (www.chf.org.uk/event- autumn-wolf.html) on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 from 8.30am to 4pm. If you are willing and able to assist with any of these events please email the Foundation at fundraising @chf.org.uk or call on 01825 724752. You will then be invited to a briefing before the event.

ADVERTISING: If you run a local business and would be interested in placing an advert in Chailey Bonfire Society’s programme for their bonfire night celebrations on Saturday November 10 please contact [email protected] for more details.

VOLUNTEERS: Can you offer electrical, bicycle, furniture or any handiwork or craft repair skills? If you would like to help at the Chailey Repair Café or find out more email Bryan McAlley at [email protected].

GOOD ADVICE: From the Horticultural Society. It is essential that those plants that need it get a constant supply of water. Plants prefer tepid water. Water straight from an outside tap or well is too cold and will slow growth and scorch leaves. It is best to fill water butts and then wait for 24hrs to allow the water to warm up. If using buckets stand them in the sun for an hour or two before using. One advantage of the dry weather is the low risk of blight on tomatoes and potatoes. I do fear that when the rain comes blight will rapidly appear. Blight can only infect wet leaves so always water at the roots. There is no chemical control so prevention is vital with wide spacing of plants to allow a good flow of air. As soon as potatoes are infected cut off and burn the foliage to avoid spread to the tubers. Perhaps most importantly try growing blight resistant varieties. Onions will soon be ready as the foliage dies back and bends over. There is always a disagreement as to whether you should bend the foliage to try and speed up ripening or let nature take its course. Personally I don’t think it matters what you do! Loosen the onion in the soil for a week before lifting and then dry preferably outside. Be careful if doing so in a greenhouse as it may get too hot and cook them. Prune gooseberries by shortening new growth by a third, cutting out old and diseased branches and try and form an open cup like structure. Dead head roses to encourage continued flowering. Wisteria is best pruned twice a year. Summer pruning consists of shortening the long whip like new growth back to five leaves. A final bit of advice. If a hosepipe ban is threatened water all plants well and then cover with a layer of well rotted manure, compost or bark clippings. For more details contact Peter Estcourt at pge44@ waitrose.com or on 07803 179708.