Ewhurst Green, Cripps Corner and Staplecross village voice

This year coffee (as well as tea) will be served and there will be stalls for cakes, bring and buy and a raffle. Any donations for the stalls from perhaps those not able to attend will be gratefully received either this morning or to Pauline Scowen (01580-830570). For cash donations, cheques to be made out to Macmillan Cancer Support and should you be a taxpayer, by making your donation Gift Aided every £1 will have 20p donated by the Chancellor!

The second jumble sale this month in the village hall is being held by Staplecross MCP School PTA tomorrow (Saturday) at 2pm in aid of the school. The charge for entry is 25p; there will be refreshments, cake stall and a raffle.

Looking forward to next month, which is only a few days away, the October meeting of the Garden Society takes place next Thursday (October 4) at Staplecross village hall at 7.30pm. The guest speaker and also a member of the Society is Mike Falcon, who will be telling members about his expeditions to the Himalayas entitled, “The Himalayas and Beyond”. Always a feature of October is the competition of an apple dessert when members are invited to make a delicious pudding featuring the most favourite of English fruits, the apple.

On Monday morning at Battle Memorial Hall beginning at 10.30am, members of Battle and District U3A, meet. The October guest speaker is Peter Maggs whose talk “Henry’s Trials” is an extraordinary story of Henry John Haten, the first chaplain of Wandsworth Prison. A reminder that it is subscription time of the year when the membership secretary asks for a cheque of £13 (£9.50 should you belong to another U3A group).

The school is having its Harvest Festival in St Mark’s Church at 2.30pm for a 2.45pm start on Friday October 12. The school would be very pleased to see all of the senior citizens in the village at the service as well as the annual Harvest Tea which will be served immediately after the service in the church room. Should you wish to take up this invitation, would you please ring the school 830256 beforehand.

Also keeping on the harvest theme, there will be a Harvest Supper starting at 6.30pm followed by a Barn Dance at 8pm. This event to be held in the village hall with tickets available from the church wardens (Lizzie Stern/John Barnes).

Members of the Staplecross and Ewhurst Green Women’s Institute meet on Tuesday (October 2) at 2.30pm in St Mark’s Church Room in Staplecross. There is always room for more newcomers who will be welcome. Tuesday’s talk from Mr R Hale “An English Country Lane”, with the competition entitled Hedgerow Harvest, will be followed by the famed WI tea.

Hilary Ganly is holding a One Day Workshop tomorrow (Saturday) at the Church Room (at the rear of St Mark’s church) Northiam Road, Staplecross. The theme this time is Flower Painting and Hilary is taking bookings at £40. The time is 10.00am-4pm. Should you be interested at this late stage to find out whether there are vacancies, you should contact Hilary on 01580-830704, or email [email protected].

Already there are plans for Christmas! Ewhurst Parochial Church Council will again he be holding a Christmas Tree Festival at St James Church and would be so pleased if your business/organisation/club is able to participate. Should you wish to decorate a tree (it must be maximum height 1 metre 3’3” in “old money”!) the Council is planning a discount for bulk purchases for those ordered through the PCC (not Parish Council, that’s a different organisation). To state your interest/intent please contact [email protected] or [email protected].

This year the trees will need to be in place by 6pm on Friday, December 14 so that the church will be open for the evening for mulled wine. The church will then hold a Christmas Market the following morning with hot drinks and mince pies on offer. On both these occasions voting will take place for the favourite tree, with the result being announced at that evening’s Carol Service at 6pm.

Mary Reeve, Wodens Wood, Cripps Corner