Etchingham

MUSIC AT THE CLUB: The next music night in Etchingham Club will be the band Cocktail Safari on Saturday November 26 from 9pm. Everyone welcome, you do not need to be a member, but membership is free. Find out about Cocktail Safari and see some videos of them in action go to the website http://www.thecocktailsafari.com

CHRISTMAS EVENTS: If you have special Christmas events or fund-raisers planned now is the time to tell me about it so I can give you some publicity here. There are always a lot of Christmas events in the area so tell everyone about your event as soon as you can.

CHURCH INFORMATION: Services for November - November 20, TBA; November 27, Rev. Jean Manning. All Services from November 20 services start at 11am for the winter months.

Details of what is happening at the Church, and service details, can be found online at www.etchinghamvillage.co.uk/church

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.

CHURCH OPENING: Now that the decoration of the Church is complete, the Church is once again 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.

BONFIRE NIGHT 2016: Sandwiched between two fine, bright autumn days, Saturday November 12 provided a wet and grey backdrop to this year’s Etchingham Fireworks.

But the weather did little to dampen enthusiasm for the event as a large crowd descended upon the new venue at the bottom of Burgh Hill.

The refreshments tent, serving hot dogs and mulled wine and gingerbread men, was busy throughout the evening, and the darkness of the field was broken by luminous colour as many children took advantage of the glow sticks on offer.

As crowds gathered around the bonfire, the first rocket just after 7pm signalled the start of the fireworks and for the next 20 minutes the sky was lit up with a relentless stream of colour and sounds that echoed round the valley.

The impressive finale was met with applause and cheering and many people continued to brave the elements to socialise around the refreshments tent before moving on to enjoy warmth, live music and cocktails at Etchingham Club.

The Etchingham Improvements Committee (EIC) would like to thank Tim Crane for the use of his field, all of the volunteers who have worked very hard over the past few weeks, including many newcomers to the EIC, and everyone who braved the rain to support the event.

If you would like to make a contribution towards any of the events the Improvements Committee hold, please visit the EIC PayPal account. You can access the link from the EIC website www.etchinghamevents.com/history

FIREWORK PHOTOS: I took quite a few photos and video clips during the Bonfire and Fireworks, unfortunately due to a computer breakdown I have lost some of them, those that have survived can be seen online at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ttelyob/albums/72157676482389785 .

If you took photos at the event that you are happy for others to see if you email them to [email protected] I will be happy to add them to the album, you would of course be credited as the photographer.

CHRISTMAS PLAY: The Christmas Concert and Play this year will be in the comfort of the village hall on Saturday December 10, 7pm featuring Dick Etchingham and his Cat, put the date in your diary, tickets and more details to available soon.

SPEEDWATCH: Etchingham Speedwatch is looking for more volunteers for the group, it is not a difficult task and you do not need to devote a lot of time to the task, unless you want to. Being available for an hour a month or just occasionally is as useful as being available every day.

Speedwatch is NOT about catching people, but vehicles recorded over the prescribed limit are reported to Police and will receive a warning letter. The main purpose of Speedwatch is a visible presence to educate drivers to drive slower through speed limit areas, consider sparing a little time to help. There is just a little instruction to start with which is not complicated and is done online from the comfort of your home, once that is completed you are able to take part in as many or as few sessions as you wish. If you are interested, or want to find out more, register on he Speedwatch website www.communityspeedwatch.co.uk or contact the Etchingham Co-ordinator [email protected] . You can get updates on what the Speedwatch group is doing on Facebook www.facebook.com/etchinghamspeedwatch and Twitter @etchspeedwatch

FUTURE EVENTS: Do you have events planned for later in the year? Perhaps you are planning Halloween or Christmas events. 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. Now might be a good time to give readers the date of your Christmas events, even if it is only the date with more details to follow later.

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.

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