Etchingham

The evening started with another fine performance by the Etchingham singers, accompanied on the piano by Courtney Kenny and ably conducted by Robin Hare. The singers treated us to a range of seasonal songs including Winter Wonderland, The Reindeer Song, Christmas is coming and Let it Snow, to name just a few. After an interval that enabled the audience to migrate to the Parker Hall to indulge in Mince Pies and Mulled Wine everyone returned to their seats for the main event of the evening “Dick Etchingham and his Cat”. As the name suggests, the plot drew some inspiration from a popular pantomime story, along with reference to other seasonal stories, including A Christmas Carol, interwoven with events from the 19th century when Etchingham’s village school was established and more recent events when our nice new school and village hall was built. Of course many references to local places and people, and some inspiration from the works of Thomas Hardy, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Robert Burns. Another fine play written and produced by Phillip Hinde and skillfully performed by some of our talented village residents, including some of the village children.

Many thanks to everyone who worked hard to make it a very successful event again, too many people involved to thank everyone by name, many thanks to all for the hard work needed for such an evening of entertainment.

I took a few photos and video clips during the performance and have uploaded them to an album at Flickr at this location https://www.flickr.com/photos/ttelyob/albums/72157677678766125 . All the images were taken using available light to avoid any distraction from the flash, so in parts some of the image quality is a little low in places.

MUSIC AT THE CLUB: There is live music at the Etchingham Club tomorrow evening, December 17, with “The Blockx” A 5 piece modern rock & pop party band. Playing a wide mix of tracks to satisfy your dance, disco & funk needs!! A great Band returning for the third time, one not to miss. Club open from 7.30, Music from 9pm. New Year’s Eve party & Disco “Hugo’s Classic Disco” December 31 8.30 to 12.30 Classic disco tunes from the 60’s & 70’s through to today. Club open to non-members, no admission fee. Draught beers, Lagers, & Guinness, all at excellent prices. www.theetchingham.club or find The Club on Facebook.

CHURCH SERVICES: Church Services for the rest of December. Sunday December 18, 8.30am with Canon Patrick Sales and 4pm Carol Servive with Reverend Sally Epps; Christmas Eve, 3pm Crib Service with Reverend Sally Epps and 11pm Midnight Service with Reverend Jean Manning; Christmas Day, 10am with Reverend Dick Dengate; Sunday January 1, 11am Canon Patrick Sales; Sunday January 8, 11am with Reverend Jean Manning.

HELP PAINT YOUR CHURCH: The white paintwork on the walls of the Church never really recovered from the flooding in 2000, but work has taken place to repaint the interior. The overall cost is roughly £5 per square foot of internal wall. the good news is that thanks to a couple of generous legacies, most of the money is in hand to cover the work. However this will use up most of the church fabric fund, leaving nothing in reserve for future contingencies in looking after the grade 1 listed building. Parishioners are invited to sponsor as many square feet as they can afford at £5 per square foot, contributions can given to Rev. Sally Epps or one of the Churchwardens, or you can send to the Treasurer at Englefield, High Street, Etchingham TN19 7AG. If you are a tax payer you can gift aid your contribution, there is a form in he current parish magazine or contact the treasurer for a form.

PAVEMENTS: In recent weeks I have been approached by village residents regarding a couple of issues with pavements in the village. One resident has complained about the number of times they have had to negotiate dog mess in the middle of the pavement - please remember if you have a dog it is your responsibility to clear up after it and not leave it for others to walk through. The second concern involves vehicles parked on pavements, forcing pedestrians to take the risky option of walking in the road. It is preferred that vehicles do not park on the pavement at all, but if you do need to park partly on the pavement make sure you have left enough space for someone with a pushchair or buggy, or someone in a wheelchair to get past your vehicle without walking in the road. Roads for cars - pavements for people.

CHURCH OPENING: The Church is open every day for visitors from 11am to 4pm. If you have not already been in, visit on a nice sunny day so that you can see how bright the Church now is with nice white walls. Please be aware that over the Christmas and New Year period the Church may not be open every day.

FUTURE EVENTS: Do you have events planned for coming months? Send me the dates and basic details now, I can then give your event a mention well in advance of the date, people can note the date and I can then put the full details in nearer the date.

SENDING INFORMATION: Get information for this column to me as soon as possible. There are several ways to get your info to me, but email is preferred because there is less chance of errors during copying. I need information by 10pm on Monday to be sure it will be in time for inclusion, I can sometimes add extra items on Tuesday morning, but this cannot be guaranteed. You can deliver to 2 Park Farm Close, telephone 01580 819532 or 07484 635014 or email [email protected] you will also find a form on the village website ( http://www.etchinghamvillage.co.uk/village-voice ) to send your information from there, look for the Village Voice link near the bottom of the column of links on the left-hand side of the website page.

THANK YOU: This is my last column until early January so I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supplied me with information during the year, and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage at www.ryeandbattleobserver.co.uk/

2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RyeandBattleObserver

3) Follow us on Twitter @BattleObs

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

The Rye and Battle Observer - always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.