Fairlight

In our churches this week… at 10.30 am at St Andrew’s, there’s an All Age Service, followed by an Informal Communion service at St Peter’s, which will commence at 6.00 pm once again now that British Summer Time and the warm, bright evenings are with us. Ha! Ha!!

Remember the Second World War…? When it often seemed as if a good sense of humour was all that stood between us and Hitler. Oh, and countless brave men and women giving their all in our defence. The Players will be recalling those days in song and sketch, with humour and pathos, in Ken Lee’s renowned revue of the period ‘Happy as a Sandbag’. Tickets are only £6 and the show runs from Wednesday to Saturday next week, nightly at 7.30 pm, and with a 2.30 pm Saturday matinee. There’s a licensed bar at the Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening performances. Why not take advantage of the extra night on the run – i.e. Wednesday – so that if you love the show, you can go again?

Trefoiled again… This month’s meeting was entitled ‘Getting to know you’, which entailed members bringing along three items that would tell us something about their owner. Each member gave a short talk on their items, which led to various questions. A very welcome visitor was the Rev. Richard Barron, Rector of Fairlight, and those present were able to learn more about him from his chat about his three items. Also present were two new members, bringing the numbers up this month to nine. Gentlemen are as welcome as the ladies to join the Trefoil Guild. Those present were given a programme of events for this year. The Guild has now been registered with Trefoil Headquarters in London and transfer forms for those members who transferred from another guild are to be sent off to headquarters.

Next month’s meeting will be on the April 24, entitled ‘Greetings’, which will entail card making with Judy from the Hastings afternoon Trefoil Guild. For those making cards, there will be a small extra cost of £1.50.

Anyone who would like to go along as a visitor to any of the meetings will be made very welcome -and maybe will enjoy themselves enough to become a member!

Don’t forget the Guild meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month from 10 am to 12 noon in St Peters Church on the corner of Broadway and Waites Lane (next door to Fairlight Village Hall). If you require any further information, please call Betty Snow on 01424 812694.

A little gem… of an evening is the Acoustic Night at the Cove. Every other Wednesday at about 8.30 to 8.45, a disparate group of musicians from a wide range of ages, instruments, abilities and genres foregather to make music in a warm, cosy setting. The next one is on Wednesday 10. Several of those who go ‘tried it once’, and now keep going. Why not join them?

Storage radiators… Paul Capps has two such radiators that need a good home rather than to be taken to the tip. If you’re interested call Paul on 812107, or email him at [email protected]

A white Birman cat has gone missing… which is most unusual, as he never roams far from home. Please check in and under sheds and outbuildings, and call Sue and Peter Norris on 814328, if you have any result. Thanks.

Keep your eyes peeled… people are concerned about possible theft in the village, as an axe and a maul disappeared from Woodland Way and, on a separate occasion, people have been spotted casing a property in search of scrap, it is assumed. Do be aware of strangers in the village, especially scrap merchants removing scrap and other items from skips or gardens.

Last week’s item… about the Residents’ Association’s Spring Dance and Supper on Saturday, April 20 in the village hall from 7.30 pm was correct in nearly every respect, except for Joyce Grant’s phone number, which should have read 814742. Hopefully, potential customers were not lost by the wrong number error as the second number given, Lyn Mosley on 812144, was correct, and the tickets, at £5 each, are even now available from the Post Office. P.S. You take your own drinks and glasses to this ‘do’. Book by April 14 please.

At the Tuesday Ladies Club March meeting… the speaker was Mr. G. Albon, a very popular and much travelled lecturer from Eastbourne. His talk this time was about Finland, naturally accompanied by stirring music from Sibelius. Finland looked a beautiful country, but the fact that eight ice breakers are permanently in the port at Helsinki tells us what the weather is like. Despite temperatures well below -40c, the trains always run on time, reindeer wander anywhere they like and there is water everywhere. Mr. Albon illustrated his talk with slides showing the lovely churches and architecture plus their one hilly road (nothing compared with Smuggler’s Way!).

On April 16 the club will welcome back Patrick Coulcher, and this time he will be talking about The Burren of Western Ireland. Burren is Irish for ‘great rock’, as any fule kno. Visitors (and that’s men as well as women!) are very welcome at the meetings for only £2 admission. Starting time is 2.15 pm.

Our club’s summer outing will be to Newnham Court Shopping Centre near Maidstone on June 25. The cost will be £6.50 for the coach which will leave the Circle at 10.30 am and call at Scollays at 10.15 am and Knowle Road at 10.35 am. The return journey will leave Newnham Court at 3.0 pm. If this outing appeals to you, phone Mary Stewart on 813031. Book early as there are but a few seats remaining to be filled.

Only three more days… for you to nominate your candidate for this year’s John Lutman Community Service award, made annually by our Parish Council in memory of John, for 30 years a Parish Councillor, and a District Councillor and Chairman, too. The nomination forms are available at the Post Office, or you can email Council Andrew Mier at [email protected]. Monday next, April 8, is the closing date. Apart from the prestige of winning, the recipient is also given £100 to allocate to whichever good cause he or she espouses. The winner will be announced, and the Award made, at the Parish Assembly at 6.30 pm on Friday April 19 at the Village Hall. All are welcome to attend, and we’ll tell you more about more about the Assembly soon.

Two for your diary… from Fairfest, the highly competent organisers of fun events in the village. On Sunday, June 16, there’ll be a car Boot Sale on Wood Field Recreation Ground from 10 am to 2 pm. Pitches will cost you £15 per car. The number of cars will be limited to 40, so please make sure you book yours early by ringing Jennifer on 812476 or Terry on 812144, or you could email Jennifer at [email protected]. Refreshments will be available in the Activate Headquarters, and you will be allowed to use their facilities.

Then, on Sunday, July 28, it’s the Fairfest Summer Bash from 2 to 10 pm on the Recreation Ground. Entry is free for this event, which is being sponsored by the Residents’ Association. There will be a BBQ, Teas and Cakes, Ice-Creams, Games (including rounders), a bar and dancing to the popular band, the Kytes. There are three more events to bring to your notice before we finally arrive at the 3rd Fairfest Festival in the summer of 2014. Keep watching this space!

A very special event… is coming to the village, when the internationally renowned and acclaimed pianist Valerie Tryon will be playing a recital at St Andrew’s on Saturday, July 6 at 7 pm, in a programme that will include music by Liszt, Chopin, Scarlatti, Chaminade and Chabrier. Valerie will be in this country to record the Rachmaninov No 1 Piano Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and this concert has only been made possible by the pianist making a massive reduction in her usual fee. All profits from the concert will go to the Parochial Church Council in aid of the fabric of St Andrew’s Church. Tickets for this unique occasion are reasonably priced at £16 each, and they are available from the Post Office, or if you would like to pay by cheque, by post to G. Wyatt, 33 Lower Waites Lane, Fairlight, TN35 4AX. Cheques should be payable to Fairlight P.C.C., and a SAE would be appreciated. General advertising will not begin until after the Parish Assembly on Friday, April 19, where they will also be available, which gives those in the parish the first shot at the limited number of tickets on sale.

Fancy an outing to the UK’S greatest classical show…? It’s the Classical Spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall for the 3 pm performance on Sunday, November 24. The offer is for second tier boxes, priced at £43 per seat plus coach, etc. There is an optional lunch available at the Albert Hall before the start of performance, because it has been found in the past to be difficult for the coach when leaving Royal Albert Hall to get to an eating place quickly, and it would be better to come straight home after the show. The possible timetable would be to leave Fairlight Circle at 9.30 am and to leave for home after the performance at about 6pm. If this appeals to you, please contact Fairlight Outings, which you will know by now is Christine Jones on 813538, or email her at [email protected]

The A259, the Road to Hell… may well be paved with good intentions, but it certainly isn’t over-blessed with tarmac, at least as far as the top of the hill in Ore is concerned, all round what was Hillcrest School and is now the Hastings Academy. No doubt the excuse would be that they have been leaving resurfacing while there is still much heavy construction traffic scrubbing away at the road surface on its way in and out of the school grounds. This, together with the double narrowing caused by the never-ending parking on both sides of the road has left a narrow strip in the middle of the carriageway practically unsuitable for any wheeled traffic. It is hoped that the school architects have allowed stacks of space so that teachers’ and staff cars can eventually leave this important coastal highway to through traffic. Meanwhile, the school building goes interminably on and on and is likely, single-handedly, to pull the economy out of quadruple-dip recession. Clearly, these contractors were the ones who built Rome, which famously took them longer than a day.