Fairlight

MOPPs: Today Friday, February 12, the belly dancer Chloe Dent will be along to entertain the members. The free toe-nail cutting will be on hand, or rather foot, today as well. Lunch is roast pork, followed by cheesecake.

Don’t forget that MOPPs would love to see some more volunteers each Friday, helping look after the members. The good news says they may well have discovered a new Treasurer, though they are unable to say yet who it is. If you fancy volunteering as a helper, Chairman Jim Saphin is the man to contact. The people who are already there each Friday make up a hard-working but very happy team.

Tuesday Ladies Club: The Club’s February meeting is on Tuesday next, when the always amusing Jackie Aviolet will be saying ‘I am a tulip – what are you?’ As usual the meeting will commence at 2.15 pm, and a cuppa awaits you. Gentlemen are welcome to go along as guests, as are any ladies who are not yet members, and the fee payable is small!

Activate Youth Club: There’s a Bingo session tonight at the village hall at 7.30 pm. Your £6 admission gets you bingo cards and food, and a pleasant evening is in prospect. There’s a bar and a raffle, too. Sorry it’s a late notification, but give it a go, have some fun, and support a very good cause.

The play’s the thing: The Players are up and running in preparation for their April 21 to 23 production, The Time of My Life, Alan Ayckbourn’s play from April 21, 24 years ago. Since then it was revived by the author in 2013, and then again last year. This show will be popular local actress Charlotte Eastes’ Fairlight directorial debut, and will feature Keith Miller as north country dad Gerry, Clare Murray as his wife Laura, Tom Miller as his older son Glyn with Aisling Tigwell as Tom’s wife Stephanie. The younger son Adam is Tom Edie, fresh from his excellent showing in the recent panto, with Charlotte Miller as his girlfriend Maureen. These two are making their main debuts for the Players, though Charlotte was memorable with a ‘spit and a cough’ in The Vicar of Dibley, and Tom was a pop star in a murder mystery! Clare was in the summer production of Caramba’s Revenge five years ago. David Burchell is playing the owner of an Italian restaurant, employing Peter Spencer as his waiter(s).

Wine and Social Club: Last Monday the Wine and Social Club were entertained by Hastings resident Terry Kane, who recalled loads of Radio Nostalgia from the wartime to the 1950’s. This was, particularly for listeners of a certain age (of which the Wine Club can boast several), as evocative an evening as could be imagined. Instant recall was prompted by 50, 60 and seventy year old signature tunes, and every voice an easily recognised blast from the past. Terry had organised the memories in broad bands of comedy, big bands and so on, and audience response from the fifty or so present was either very quick or, on occasion, even anticipated. He highlighted the bizarrely English fact that Educating Archie starred ventriloquist Peter Brough with his dummy Archie Andrews all on the wireless, with no visuals (essential for a good vent act!) If you are reading this from other than Fairlight and hear that Terry Kane will be speaking – do not miss him!

As for the Wine Club, there are some vacancies for those who would like to join the future fun, and those interested should have a word with Christine Jones, the Membership Secretary. She’s on 813538.

Highly recommended!: The Neighbourhood Planning Team will be hosting an Open Day drop-in session at the village hall on Saturday, February 20 from 10.30 am to 1.00 pm. You’ll be able to examine which sites are being proposed for the up to 40 new properties which Rother District Council’s Local Plan needs to see built in Fairlight over the next 15 years. Not just where, but what – houses, flats, and to what design. Will there be new facilities and open spaces? Consultation about the Neighbourhood Plan is continuing, and this session is part of that process. You’ll can also study the results of the recent survey, and see what your fellow Fairlight residents think should be prioritised. Free refreshments will be available. As the flier says – ‘Planning our future; preserving our heritage.’ Don’t miss the chance to be an active part of it all!

Our First Responders: Having recently held pop up refreshers sessions for CPR at Hairbase, they will be having a similar session at the Coastguard Tearoom, thanks to the agreement of Zoe Darroch. It will be on Saturday, February 20, which is next week, from 10 until 11 am. This is an opportunity to meet your local community responders, and ask any questions you may have about cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Go along any time in the hour and have a go at CPR – or just come and watch. If you’ve any questions, call Liz Brooker on 813149.

Disco night: The Residents Association is having a 60’s and 70’s Disco Night in the village hall on Saturday, February 27, starting at 7.30 pm. It’s only £5, and there’s a bar and a raffle. And you’re welcome to take along your own food. The tickets are at the Post Office, and all proceeds are going to the Cliffs Preservation appeal fund.

The Big One is coming: The event that always sees a queue forming before the doors open is the Fairlight Playgroup and Nursery Jumble Sale. This year’s is just a fortnight away on Saturday, February 27, from 10 am to 12.30 pm in the village hall. Admission is 50p, so go along for tea, cakes, bargains – and more bargains! All proceeds will go towards the running of the nursery.

Prior to the event itself, the group is seeking donations, so an early spring clear-out could lead to your having spare clothes, toys or books, or small household items, you no longer need. No electrical items, of course – that’s probably the law, and no video or audio cassettes, which is the law of supply (massive) and demand (in 2016, minimal!) Anything else you would like to donate can be left at the village hall from Monday 22 to Thursday 25 February, between 9.30 am to 12.30 pm each day.

Tempting fate: I hope I won’t regret saying this, but Southern Water appear to be doing very well with the early stages of the water main replacement down Battery Hill. A long swathe of trench has been cut and refilled, and provided you allow two or three minutes for the lights, you’ll not be held up unduly.

Getting a good return: After I’d written in good faith about the missing Tequila, Keith and Glynis Miller’s tortoiseshell cat, it was really pleasing when the animal reappeared before the article came out! Happy endings all round this time, but there are sure to be more missing moggies unwittingly locked into sheds and garages in the weeks to come. So you’ll be able to help find them instead.

Who remembers the Flying Bedstead?: You do? It was way back in 1954, when Rolls Royce developed a powered rudimentary test frame capable of vertical take-off and landing. And now, 62 years later, history repeats itself as Fairlight welcomes the flying trampoline, which landed in Stockdale during Monday’s high winds. Seriously, though, these relatively large area structures can be extremely dangerous when the wind gets under them. Please make sure they’re well anchored or, better still, remove the rubber bouncing sheet, which is the bit that acts as a sail when the storms arrive!

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