Fairlight

Keith Pollard, Brookfield, Broadway

In one of our churches this Sunday, August 18… there will be a Parish Communion service at 10.30 am at St Andrew’s. Later in the day, not at St Peter’s ‘as advertised’, but it’s all to Guestling for a grand get-together 6 pm Songs of Praise service.

You have been warned… tomorrow, Saturday, August 17, it’s the Fairlight Playgroup and Nursery Coffee Morning, in the village hall from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm. The playgroup is highly thought of, and deserves our support. Please pop in and give them a few minutes of your time, plus a few coins of the realm. Though it may not attract the vast numbers that have gathered for their last two Jumble Sales, many queuing until the doors opened, it is hoped that many will nonetheless support what is a valued facility within the village. A nice cuppa will warm you up, or cool you down, whatever the weather may be playing at tomorrow week. There will be coffees, too, plus cakes and cream teas, and all proceeds go the support of the nursery.

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News from MOPPs for this week and next… Today, there is to be roast turkey, followed by fruit jelly, and there will also be chair-based exercises with Celia King, a session that always goes down well. Next week, on August 23, lunch will be quiche, salad and cheesy mash with steamed pudding and custard to follow. For the entertainment, there will be natural history slides with Felicity.

At the Ellen Terry Barn Theatre, Smallhythe Place… tomorrow, Saturday August 17, Ann Rachlin, will be presenting ‘Ellen Terry – Star of the Silver Screen’. This is a unique chance to see these historical excerpts of silent films made between 1916 and 1922, of both Ellen Terry and her daughter Edith Craig, screened on the stage of the theatre which Edith had dedicated to Ellen’s memory. Tickets, which are £7.50, are available from Smallhythe Place on 01580 762334. It’s an early evening engagement, which commences at 5.30 pm.

Fairlight Players commence their new season on Monday next, August 19, when they be having a read-through of what will become their November production. The venue is the village hall at 7.30 pm, and all will be welcome, whether they wish to act, help backstage or front-of-house – or just show an interest in what is a friendly local group presenting varied drama at a substantial and commendable standard. The play is to be Recipe for Murder by Norman Robbins, and it will be directed by old hand and Fairlight favourite Roland Garrad. If your appetite is whetted by Monday evening, the auditions for the casting of the show will be on Thursday, August 22. In the village hall at 7.30 pm, again.

Pett Level Rescue Boat… is often featured in our village news – there is a great deal of interest and support within the village for this excellent independent and invaluable facility. And a good example of this support comes this Sunday, August 18, when the Fairlight Art Group, another strong local organisation, will be having a Pop Up Art Exhibition in the New Boat House from 11 am to 3.30 pm. A wide range of affordable art & ceramics will be on sale, and there will also be a raffle.

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And if you miss the Art Group this weekend (though you’d better have a good excuse if you do!), next weekend sees the Boat’s Open Day (sounds a bit like Captain Bligh) at the their facilities from 12 noon until 4.30 pm. That’s on Sunday, August 25 if you have your diary handy.

The Floral Club… meets this month on Thursday, August 22, in the village hall at 2.15 pm, when the demonstrator will be Stephanie Laing, whose arrangements have been much appreciated when they have graced the village hall in the past.

The Tuesday Ladies Club Forewarned… The Tuesday Ladies Club’s next meeting will be their Members’ Summer Lunch, which will take place in the village hall on August 20 (yes, of course it’s a Tuesday), and to allow plenty of time for a leisurely luncheon, the meeting is timed at 12.30 for 1 pm.

The Fairlight branch of the Trefoil Guild… (which is Guiding for Adults) will be welcoming Mrs. Maria Reardon, the County Dark Horse and Discovery Co-ordinator. She will be helping those at the meeting to understand what Dark Horse is all about and how to get involved. In fact the Dark Horse Venture has been established some 20 years, and is the largest award scheme for older people in the UK. There are two criteria for membership – you must be over 50, and alive! It aims to encourage the somewhat older among us to take up new interests, hobbies, activities, studies and pastimes and put their life and work skills to practical and creative good use. Three years ago, Dark Horse joined forces with Small Wonders, which lets people use those personal skills, plus imagination, ideas and aspirations, to practical and creative good use. They will then be able to help people of all ages to participate in a variety of activities and projects that are therapeutic and educational, though some, on the other hand, will have more of a social and recreational purpose, which can be just as important for the recipients.

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Everyone is welcome to join the Guild’s meeting, and a cup of tea or coffee and biscuit will await your arrival. You need not have been in the Guide Movement to become a member of the Trefoil Guild as you can always become a member of Guiding UK once you are enrolled as a Guild member. Do go along and join in; there are new friends to meet, and new ideas for crafts, cooking, outings, history and so on. It will all be happening at St Peter’s Church, on Broadway, on Wednesday, August 28 from 10 am to 12 noon. For further information, give the Chairman, Betty Snow, a call on 812694.

Pothole…? No, pothead more like. While driving along Fairlight Road towards Ore, I met, in a very brief encounter, a lad coming the other way. Desirable as Fairlight undoubtedly is, there is really no need to approach it at 70+ miles an hour. It is not, Brigadoon-like, going to disappear. Self-preservation made me cling to the nearside, and I didn’t observe his number plate. Nor was there any way of activating a phone-cam in the time available. I will know him in future – he’ll be upside down in a tree on Battery Hill. He would do well to take a slice of advice from the driver of the massive Warburton’s lorry, who waits in one of the wider bits of road until oncoming vehicles have passed with their near-side paintwork intact. Copy that, lad – use your loaf.