Etchingham Village Voice

East Sussex County Councillor, John Barnes, and Rother District Councillors, Mary Barnes and Robert Elliston, will be present and will be pleased to answer questions on issues affecting the village.

It is hoped that our MP, Gregory Barker, will also be present at the meeting.

n Etchingham Music Festival takes place in the church from Saturday July 7 to Sunday July 15. Concert details will appear here when the details are available.

n Book the date, June 2 2012, for a journey back to the 14th Century and enjoy a Medieval Feast to celebrate the 650th anniversary of Sir William de Etchingham’s Church. Look out for posters in the village and more details here nearer the time.

n Church services, during February Sunday services are at 11am, there will also be an Ash Wednesday Service on Wednesday (February 22), 10am. In March Sunday services will be at the normal time of 11am, the Family Service will be a week later than usual on the third Sunday, March 18, which is Mothering Sunday.

n A reminder that the church is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 11am to 4pm, for visitors and parishioners.

n Etchingham-based writer, William Wood, has just had a new book published, A Little Book of Pleasures, a delightful anecdotal collection about life’s little pleasures.

A little about the book; In these days of 24 hour news many of us may feel smothered under an avalanche of anxiety, despondency or at best choking with rage over national and world events.

Grand passions apart, however, there is still much to enjoy. The small pleasures of life lie all around us.

They might be found in a state of mind, in the touch of a familiar object such as a favourite wooden spoon, or they may be found in fleeting observations: a baby’s smile, the sudden appearance of a stag in your path; or they may be physical pleasures like sucking the wet flesh of a ripe mango or the aroma of coffee spilling out on to the pavement on a cold morning.

In a mad and greedy world it is these small pleasures that keep us sane, and dare we admit it, happy. Told with wry humour and a gentle, sometimes quirky style slightly reminiscent of a bygone era, Wood’s collection contains a mixture of description and observation with a smattering of autobiographical incident.

Wood has lived in many places of the world, is well travelled and well read, with a keen sense of enjoyment in what he sees and experiences, and a talent for bringing that visually to the mind of his reader.

The short, usually self-contained pieces make wonderful cameos both for those who do their reading in snatches, and those who will want to devour his stories in one sitting.

A little about William; William Wood has led a nomadic life and his friends and relatives are far flung. He now lives and writes in Sussex when he is not visiting his children in France, Rutland and Cumbria or his in-laws in Norway and Slovakia.

The diaries he keeps on these visits occasionally give him local colour and ideas for his stories.

His short stories have been read on the BBC World Service and included in a number of magazines and anthologies.

His first published novel, ‘No Time’, was brought out by Babesh/Ryan in 2003 and his next novel, ‘Passing Wind’ has been shortlisted for an Amazon prize.

The new book is available now from the main online booksellers ISBN 9781-1-907984-07-5, more about William and his writing on his website williamwoodswords.wordpress.com

n Etchingham Improvements Committee are planning the Jubilee Wood planting event for Saturday February 25. There are still trees available, so put your request in as soon as possible.

In celebration of the Queen’s Diamond jubilee, the Improvements Committee have been successful in being awarded 450 free trees from the Woodland Trust to enable us to plant our own Etchingham Jubilee Wood.

The idea is that you can plant a tree as a lasting memory of your family, maybe a lost loved one, or even a pet, or just for the enjoyment of planting one of the trees.

The trees are free, but if you want a plaque added to your tree a small donation will be requested. The trees will be on a first come first served basis, so if you are interested in planting a tree, get the form returned as soon as possible after it arrives through your door.

The planting will take place on Saturday February 25, 10am to 2pm, because the trees are alive the planting will go ahead, rain or shine, unless the weather is extreme, tea coffee and cakes will be available on site.

If you have any questions or require more information, it will be in the information you receive, or you can contact Chas French on 01580 819567, Karen Neve on 01580 819579 or [email protected]. More details of the event will appear here nearer the date.

n 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. You can deliver to 2 Park Farm Close, telephone 01580 819532 or 07941 786244 or email [email protected]

COLIN BOYLETT

2 Park Farm Cottages