Fairlight

Keith Pollard, Brookfield, Broadway

One service in each of our two churches this Sunday… There is a 10.30 am Parish Communion service at St Andrew’s and an Evening Prayer service at 4 pm down the hill at St Peter’s.

When is the Activate Quiz…? Is it tomorrow? No, I’m sorry, that answer is incorrect. The answer is tonight, in the village hall at 7.30 pm. There’s a bar and a raffle in addition to the puzzling bit and the supper. Adult tickets are £6 and those for children £4. There will be time to have a rattling good evening and still get back home to see what’s left of Children in Need! Give Wendy a call right now if you decide you’d like to go. She’s on 812297.

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Take a hand… at the Bowls Club’s series of fortnightly Whist Drives. The latest one is tonight, Friday, November 15. It’s in the village hall small hall, at 6.30 for a 7 pm start.

At MOPPs today… the lucky members will be able to partake of Fish Pie with Syrup Sponge pudding to follow, while the entertainment is Celia King with her chair based exercises. For a bit more warning, next Friday, November 22, they’ll be having Chicken and Ham Pie, and Fruit Jelly and Cream for afters. Entertainment on that day is entitled Christmas crafts.

Coming up at the Cove… is the next quiz in their series, on Wednesday, November 20 at 8 pm. As usual, Linda Eades will be running the show. On the following Wednesday, November 27, it’s one of their ever-popular acoustic nights. So remember to take your little grey cells to both events, but you’ll only need your guitar at the second one.

The Players’ November production… has come and gone. The play – Prescription for Murder – was highly appreciated by those who went along, although there were not quite as many as usual due, no doubt, to the appalling weather that hit the run of the show, peaking with floods and general unpleasantness for the Saturday matinee, when water was even discovered inside the village hall.

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Roland Garrad had directed this tight and twisty piece with plenty of atmosphere and good scene ending cliff-hangers, and Bex Prior was very convincing in her first major lead for the group. Her Barbara was the young, second wife of the older village doctor, Richard Forth, who was, as the author intended, short-tempered and under pressure in the person of Keith Miller. The aloof and determined Julia Moore was neatly captured by brand newcomer April Kitney, and another first-time-anywhere player, Emily Belfield, gave a good account of Dorothy, the lady-wot-does. Tom Miller was a smooth talking computer salesman with a back story he made seem plausible, and the comic relief came from Greg Slaughter and new-to-Fairlight Pauleen McLaughlin as neighbours Allan and Mary Haigh, him a boring bowls fanatic and her a bossy Scot.

The north Devon country cottage setting was up to the Players’ usual high standard, as were props, set dressing, lighting and sound.

Time now for the Players to catch their collective breaths before they embark in the New Year on what will become their April 2014 production, the very funny high comedy ‘Holiday Snap’ by those masters of the genre John Chapman and Michael Pertwee. Keith Pollard will be directing. The read-through is at 7.30 pm on Monday, January 20, and the auditions follow at 7.30 pm on Thursday, January 23, both evenings in the village hall. The group prides itself on the number of newcomers they are able to introduce, and they are always seeking even more. Give it some thought and have a go, or just get involved in one of the countless ways possible in the world of am dram. We are not restricted to Fairlight residents! The play will run from Thursday 24th to Saturday 26th April, 2014

Tuesday next is the Tuesday Ladies Club… yes, November 19 in the village hall at 2.15 pm, Allan from ‘Feathers’ will be along to talk about Garden Birds. Many of you will know already that Allan is the boss at Feathers Wild Bird Care, which is based at Parsonage Farm in Salehurst, near Robertsbridge. What Allan doesn’t know about his subject could probably be engraved on a nyjer seed by an artistic goldfinch (with a specially sharpened beak.)

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In eight days time… which is Saturday, November 23, it’s the RSPCA Annual Christmas Fayre in the village hall from 10 am to 1 pm. Those organising the event will still welcome attractive donations they can re-sell, so if you’ve got anything suitable, please give Ann Craske a call on 813434, and she could well be able to collect from you. Of course, it would make Ann’s job a lot easier if you were to drop your stuff in to Brigadoon, which is 12 Lower Waites Lane.

Fairfest in a fortnight… on Saturday, November 30 at 7.30 pm with their winter extravaganza a Barn Dance, with dancing to the ‘Flat Caps’ Barn Dance Band. I know we’ve mentioned this before, but do collect your £7.50 tickets from the Post Office or make your bookings through Jennifer Annetts on 812476; Margaret Pulfer on 814866 or Terry Mosley on 812144. There’s a choice of pate or cheese in your ploughman’s supper, and there’s a bar and a raffle.

There’ll be no excuse… for missing the Parish Council Meeting, which will be on Tuesday week, November 26, at 7.15 pm in the small hall of the village hall. Don’t miss this one, or you’ll get withdrawal symptoms by time the January Meeting comes along, as the Council does not meet in December. We hope next week to let you know of any special items that are to be discussed at the meeting.

Fairlight’s Trefoil Guild… meets on Wednesday, November 27, from 10 am to 12 noon in St Peter’s church. The speaker will be Tony Mann, and his subject ‘No Room at the Inn.’ This is not an early presentation for Christmas, but a glimpse of life at Rye’s Flushing Inn. Going to be interesting, this one.

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Tickets go on sale from Monday next… for Ann Rachlin’s latest fascinating presentation, all about the wonderful works of Irving Berlin, entitled ‘Say It With Music’. Ann gave a Players’ audience a wonderful evening’s entertainment earlier this year, and is now bringing her new show to the Church of St Thomas in Winchelsea. The production will be enhanced by the presence of the Pegasus Choir from London, and they, and Ann, will be accompanied by Iain Kerr, already a firm favourite in the village for his musicianship and his humour during both ‘Maria Marten’ and ‘Happy As A Sandbag’. Iain has, in fact, made the arrangements for all the musical interludes which further illuminate Ann’s presentation.

Tickets for the show will be on sale at Winchelsea Post Office from Monday next, November 18, and they are £10 each. The show itself is scheduled for Sunday, December 8 at 6.30 pm. If a trip to Winchelsea to make a booking could be difficult for you, please contact Iain Kerr direct on 814477, or email him at [email protected]. He will be pleased to make it simple for us to secure our tickets here in the village. No doubt you’ll get a further prompt on this, as it is an event you won’t want to miss.

A message from our Police Commissioner… who, you may remember, is Katy Bourne. When elected, she promised to freeze the police precept, the bit of our Council Tax that pays for policing, in her first year of office, which she did. As a result, residents have paid the same amount for policing in Sussex for the last four years. However, in order to enable investment and ensure Sussex Police is sufficiently resourced to meet future challenges, the Commissioner is now consulting on a possible 3.6% increase on the precept, which would add £4.95 per year per household for a Band D property.

She would like to know if Sussex residents are willing to pay this little extra towards policing in the county for, despite the enormous challenge set, Sussex Police is on track to achieve the savings it is called upon to make by 2015. There is, however, a need to consider the case to secure additional funding next year. It would help her deliberations (and make you feel you’ve had a real input) if you were to spend a few minutes filling out an online survey, which can be accessed at http://www.sussexpolicesurveys.com/ospccbudget/. You have plenty of time - the survey does not close until Friday, January 10. If you are a bit computer shy, you can obtain a hard (they mean paper) copy of the survey by calling the Commissioner’s office on 01273 481561. Your input will be much appreciated.

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Fairlight Parish Council has a modest budget for grants, currently £5,000 per year. The Council is working on its budget for 2014 to 2015. And, reports Councillor Charles Mendleson, it would be very helpful to hear now from any organisation (or possibly individual) wishing to apply for funds this or next year. Talk to one of the Parish Councillors if you would like a copy of Fairlight Parish Council’s grant policy. Important points to remember are that there is a need for any application to demonstrate a local benefit and that accounts have to be made available. Applications have to be considered by the full council, but please contact Councillor Mendleson on 814722 if you would like to explain your organisation’s needs and why a grant is merited. As a matter of interest and for reference, the Parish Council currently gives grants to support the Village Hall, St Andrew’s graveyard maintenance, Activate Youth Club and MOPPs.

The Big Community Switch – Big Deal…? Could very well be, because it involves a possibly large number of consumers getting their gas and electricity cheaper by going ‘mob-handed’ and using the power of numbers to secure a reduction. Provided you register, you don’t have to do anything else. There is a form on-line you can complete by going to [email protected]. If your computer is down, or you’re just not that confident on the modern technology, you can go in person to Hastings Borough Council, Community Contact Centre, Hastings Town Hall, Queens Road, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 1QR. Opening times: Monday to Friday from 4.30 to 6.00 pm (The centre is open all day - but this is the quietest time when staff should be able to help). The bad news is that you only have until November 18 to register, and that you need to know who you are with and what tariff you are on for both utilities.

Invasion of the wax from the sea… Well, not actually here in the village, but certainly in Hastings and several points west. It wouldn’t dare bother us here… which is a pity. Some really large lumps might have settled between the two wings of our berms, and provided extra and much needed cliff protection.