Etchingham

Apparently Christmas is just around the corner, which means that there are seasonal events to attend, we start tomorrow (November 24) when the Friends of Etchingham School Christmas Bazaar will be held in the School, 12pm to 3pm. Lots to see and do, there will be the usual stalls with books, gifts, sweets, cakes, jewellery, hot food and much more, as well as a raffle, pamper room, fun and games and of course Santa’s Grotto.

Following very successful presentations in previous years, on Saturday December 8, ‘Another Etchingham Christmas’ will be staged in the Church at 7pm. You will be treated to Courtney Kenny at the piano with the Etchingham Singers, and featuring “First Yule” - St. Wilfrid brings Christmas to Etchingham. Admission £5, children £1, includes a glass of wine (or soft drink) and mince pie. Tickets are available from village shops and the Bistro, or phone 01580 819434.

Etchingham Church continues to arrange a weekly services, Sunday Services have returned to 11am. Children’s services will continue on the second Sunday. If you have ideas about how the popularity of the Church and services can be improved, contact a Churchwarden.

The Church is now open to visitors every day from 11am to 4pm. If you have any queries regarding the Church contact the Churchwardens Mary Barnes 01580 819142 or Geoffry Lucas 01580 819439.

Etchingham Church Services over the Christmas period will be as follows; Sunday December 16, 4.30pm, Carol Service led by the Reverend Peter Clark. Sunday December 23, 11am, Holy communion led by Reverend Simon Gurd. December 24, 4.30pm, Crib and Christingle Service led by Ruth Waller. December 24, 11.30pm, Midnight Mass led by Reverend Peter Clark. December 25, 10am Morning Service led by Sue Greener.

Please note there is a change to the Christingle Service mentioned in this column last week.

Robertsbridge District Trefoil Guild has not been mentioned for a while, but it continues to meet every month, on the first Thursday, 2pm at the Robertsbridge Guide Hut. They have a very varied programme, and are a very welcoming group, so if you have fond memories of you time in any part of the guiding family, they would love to hear from you. The next meeting is Thursday December 6, when they will be holding their Christmas Party, they do not let any opportunity to celebrate pass them by,, and it’s nice to be one of the first Christmas parties. The programme for 2113 is almost finalised, so if you are interested contact Barbara Thomas on 01580 819330 or email [email protected] for a copy.

For details of Hurst Green School Christmas Fayre, see the Hurst Green column.

The Experimental Traffic Order, with the yellow lines and parking restrictions, have been in place since July, East Sussex Highways will review the scheme in early February and take into account any comments or concerns received from the public, if they do not receive comments they will assume everyone is happy with the scheme and make it permanent in its present form. If you have comments, concerns or suggestions regarding the scheme, please put them in writing to Highways, so that they can be included when the scheme is reviewed. Send your comments to East Sussex County Council, Legal Services Department, County Hall, St. Anne’s Crescent, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1UE, please also send a copy of your comments to the Parish Clerk for the information of Parish Council, send to Bob Hodgson, Etchingham Parish Clerk, c/o 17 Barnfield Close, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 1TS. Remember, if written comments are not received regarding any element of the scheme, it will be assumed that everyone is happy with what has been put in place, so it is up to you to comment if you think something should be altered.

Christmas will be the next big event, so get details of all your Christmas events to me as soon as possible, as December is always a busy time, it would be useful if you could also send me details of all your January events.

Get information for this column to me as soon as possible, if you have a diary of events planned for the year let me have the dates and I will put in a list of village events for the year so that people can put the dates in their diaries. 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. Just a little reminder, I get plenty of information about events that are taking place, but I get very little follow up information, after your event try and remember to send me brief account of how successful your event was, it can be as simple as a thank you to those that attended and how much money was raised etc. You can deliver to 2 Park Farm Close, telephone 01580 819532 or 07941 786244 or email [email protected]