Fairlight

At Pett Methodist Chapel, the 10.45 am service on Sunday will be led by Mrs. Christine Thacker.

MOPPs today and next Friday: Today, Friday, September 14, is the date for the group’s AGM, which will start at 11 am. This is an important occasion, as they are but a few short weeks shy of their incredible and praiseworthy tenth birthday. Today’s lunch will be cottage pie and vegetables, along with bananas and custard for afters. Next Friday, September 21, you will be entertained by Rattlebag. There will be hearing aid maintenance, brought forward a week from September 28. This facility, which runs from 10.30 am until 12 noon, is available for members of the public whose hearing aids need attention – you do not have to be a MOPP’s member! Lunch next week will be fish with a herb crumb, and then panna cotta.

A Forthcoming Concert at St Andrew’s: I bet some of you have still not made sure of your tickets yet for the very special concert at St Andrew’s on Sunday, October 14 at 2.30 pm, with the Three Valleys Male Voice Choir. The tickets are £8 each, and they are available from the Post Office, or from the Rectory. So, what are you waiting for?

Who’s for Tea at the Waldorf?: The Royal British Legion is having a fund-raising event entitled Tea at the Waldorf (although the function is actually at the Fairlight Lodge Hotel!) It’s from 3 until 5 pm on Saturday, September 22, and if you’d like to go along, why not dress up for the occasion and you might well win a prize! If you’d like more details, or to reserve your ticket(s), please give Margaret Pulfer a call on 814866.

A special Art Show: Fairlight’s prolific and much admired artists will be hosting an Art Exhibition and sale of work at St. Andrews Church on Saturday, September 29 in aid of the church. This coincides with the last weekend of the tower being open. Light refreshments will be available in church during the day. The show will be open from 10 am until 4 pm. Admittance to the art show is free.

Our celebrant celebrates: Our Rector, the Rev Richard Barron, is about to attain the fortieth anniversary of his ordination and ensuing work in the ministry, and the final weekend of this month will see a number of happy events organised to celebrate the occasion. On the Saturday, September 29 in the daytime, in addition to the Art Show, mentioned in the paragraph above, the Church Tower is open for the last two days this summer, here from 10 am until 4 pm.

In the evening, starting at 7.30 pm, there’ll be a Country / Barn Dance in Pett village hall. All to the music of the Sugar Loaf Band. Entry is free, but only by ticket, which must be obtained in advance. This will enable the organisers to know the numbers attending for insurance and safety purposes. Tickets can be picked up at Fairlight and Pett churches. Soft drinks will be available, but if you prefer something stronger, please take your own with you.

Then, on Sunday, September 30, there will be a service of celebration at St Andrew’s at 10.30 am,

with the Bishop of Lewes, Richard Jackson. From 12.30 to 3pm approximately, the action shifts to Pett village hall for a Celebration Bring and Share Lunch and a brief review of the past 40 years.

Please let Linda Willard or Gill Plank know if you plan to attend this event. Family and friends of the Barrons will be joining in for whatever the weekend has to offer, and staying in local accommodation. Richard and Kath hope many local parishioners will be joining in, too!

The only Quiz in Town?: It’s the Residents Association’s annual question-fest, which will be in the village hall on Saturday, October 13, with doors open at 7 pm for a 7.30 pm start. It will be presented by the well-known Bob and Dec, as is their wont. Tickets are on sale at the Post Office for a mere £6 each, and the maximum team size is 6. Your ticket gets you in for the quiz, and also what is going to be a superb ploughman’s supper. There’s no bar at this event, but you’re welcome to take your own drinks and glasses. Tickets are likely to be sold out pretty quite early, so get your self organised.

The Tuesday Ladies Club: The Club’s speaker at their September 18 meeting – at 2.15 pm in the village hall next Tuesday – will be Ray Bloomfield, and his subject is Alzheimer’s. Don’t be put off by your thoughts of this daunting subject. The more we are all able to understand it, and to know what help is available, the better we shall be equipped when medical science at last overtakes this terrible disease.

Advance notice of this year’s panto auditions: The Panto Group has already announced the title of the 2019 production, and its Director. They are Rumpelstiltskin and Wendy Hatch, strictly in that order. Now they tell us that the auditions for the piece will be held in the village hall on Friday, October 12, starting, for the younger participants, at 7 pm. Oh, yes it is!

Social media warnings about the anti-social: A recent local tale made the rounds about a lady who gave a stranger a lift back to Fairlight, only to find that her handbag had been removed when her passenger alighted. This was reported and followed up in several relevant posts about anti-social behaviour locally, and how unsettling this can be, especially for some of the older and more lonely among us. In addition to the incident quoted above, there are frequent mentions of people who ask for help, usually financial help, often stopping cars to make the request. These are personal and local, and are added to by the scamming phone calls purporting to be police or fraud departments, often mentioning bank cards. Quite why my phone service (sic!) provider is so abysmal at controlling these nuisances is beyond me. It is certainly beyond them, isn’t it, BT? The common warning given out is to take especial care in dealing with people who are not known to you. To this fine advice, I would add ‘be aware’ – of the effect these running sores may be having on people around you who could be less well equipped to deal with them.

It may be an illusion, but it appears that more and more people in the village are installing CCTV at their homes, no doubt because they sense an increase in tension about the place. One only hopes that, in this modern world, those responsible for increasing the tension are not receiving commission on security cameras.

Apple Day is coming: Don’t forget this forthcoming event, planned to be here on Saturday, October 6, when Stonelynk Organics will be in the village hall from 10 am until 4.30 pm for the pressing of apples (and pears), and it doesn’t matter whether you turn up with a few or a heck of a lot. It is believed to be a Fairlight first, and likely there’ll be some juice to spare, which you will be able to purchase even if you haven’t any of your own apples to be pressed. Those bringing the press-ready fruit will be allowed a discount on the finished liquor.

Plus ça change: From Hysted to Pineridge on the top road, the old holes are re-opening. Perhaps they think it’s spring. Meanwhile, coming up Battered Hill must rank as the premier boneshaker in the district. Unless you know something different. In which case I would only want to know so I can avoid it. On the south side of Fairlight Road, and nearer to the Martineau Lane turn-off, the stretch that was sinking is sinking once more. Anyone can see that several sections of this road require digging right out and re-laying – not just the addition of a bucket of black stuff. When, oh when?