Fairlight

Autumn Migration Watch: Just in case you’ve forgotten last week’s note, a reminder that The Friends of Hastings Country Park are having an Autumn Migration Watch walk through the Country Park Nature Reserve tomorrow, Saturday October 11, between 8 and 10 am. Participants will meet at the Country Park Visitor Centre to join local ornithologist, Andrew Grace, ready to walk and watch migrating birds from several observation points in the Country Park.3

Open Wood at RSPCA Mallydams: Tomorrow, Saturday, October 11, is Autumn Open Wood day at Mallydams, from 11.00 am to 3.00 pm. You’ll be able to enjoy a healthy squelch through autumn leaves in your green wellies, and if you take along something to toast on the woodland fire, you can eat it before the rain gets at it and makes it soggy. But have a look outside on the Saturday morning – it may be a lot better than the forecasters are predicting, and at least it will be warmish rather than freezing. The RSPCA gift shop will be open. Entry will cost you £1 per head, with last entries at 2.30 pm. For more details, contact Fiona Cannings at [email protected], or give her a call on 0300 123 0750

Quiz Night: They’ve got the questions. Have you got the answers? You’ll need them for the Residents Association’s quiz night at the village hall on Saturday, October 18 at 7.30 pm. There will be a sandwich buffet, but you have to take your own drinks and glasses. The £6 Tickets are available from the Post Office or you could call Trevor Lewing on 812340.

Royal British Legion: It is hoped that you have made up your mind to help with this year’s Poppy Appeal, and have already volunteered to be a collector for one of the areas still currently ‘situation vacant’. The main period of activity for a volunteer is from October 23 to November 9, and if you’d like to help this very worthwhile cause, give John Pulfer a ring on 814866.

A cheering winter beer or two: On Monday next, October 13, the Wine and Social Club’s meeting, in the village hall with a 7.30 pm start, will feature club member Mike Pinkney presenting a special beer tasting. Cheers! Prosit! But probably no Skol.

The Gardening Club meeting: last Monday, with Tanya Turner and Heather Goodsell giving a second helping of their talk entitled Medieval Life and Woolcraft, was excellent, although the weather didn’t help the occasion and numbers attending were lower than was expected. Their loss…

MOPPs this week and next: Today at MOPPs, there’s the Bonmarché Autumn Collection, and greetings cards by Sandra, together with a visit to the group by the people at East Sussex County Council responsible for much of the club’s funding. After all that excitement, a lunch of roast turkey followed by lemon meringue pie will be most welcome. Next Friday, October 17, the Village Choir will be entertaining the members, with a lunch of liver and bacon with fruit crumble for pud.

Activate Cycling Course: Nine Activate youngsters aged 9 to 11 took part in a cycling and road safety course over two Saturdays in September. The course was led by Mike and Janey, qualified instructors who made it interesting, very worthwhile and fun! The children learnt how to use the ABC check before getting on their bikes and how to use them safely and sensibly on the roads, and then spent most of the time on the roads before ending up out on the main road. The course ended with the youngsters achieving levels 1 and 2 in cycling proficiency and being far more confident on the roads than when we started. Activate’s thanks are due to Mike and Janey, and to all the patient drivers who gave the kids plenty of room.

Village Choir: The concert that was promised at Pett Parish Church at 3 pm on Sunday, October 19 has been put back by one week to October 26. It’s still at 3 pm, and still with their new sea theme programme. Well worth a visit!

Harold Road surgery patients: If, like many in the village, you are a patient at the Harold Road surgery, we would remind you that you have missed the first of this season’s three Influenza Immunisation clinics at the village hall. But there are two more clinics at which you can get your ‘flu jab, and they’re on Thursdays October 16 and 30. They’re in the village hall from 10 to 11 am. The surgery lists 12 categories of patient for whom the jab is strongly recommended, starting with those over 65, and so the majority of villagers would appear to be at risk. Don’t forget to go along! However, if you do forget, there are further clinics at the surgery itself every Saturday in October from 8.30 to 11 am.

Paying for some lovely weather: With apologies to Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, inventor of the Beaufort scale (more properly, the Beaufort wind force scale) last Monday saw the introduction in Fairlight of the locally more relevant Beauport scale. Thus, in one day, we had Force 6, a strong breeze, when empty recycling boxes are blown over and, in gusts, into the road, often losing their lids in the process. Force 7 is a strong wind, when wheelie bins are dumped on their sides or, if still upright, have a wandering life of their own, going from property to property, or crossing the road until they crash. We stopped short of Gale Force 8, when it is not north or south cones that are hoisted, but traffic cones, which are casually lifted and thrown into the hedgerows. Unless they had been tossed there indiscriminately by Highway Maintenance operatives at the end of their shift.

Keith Pollard

Brookfield, Broadway