Fairlight

And over at Pett Methodist Chapel, the 10.45 am service will be lead by Drina Hampson, who is not to be confused with David Hanson. Who, in the fullness of time (i.e. next Sunday), will be leading the service, that’s April 22. Neither is David Hanson to be confused with Drina Hampson. Clear as mud?

A short notice reminder that the Chapel is host today at 11 am to Messy Church, with craft, games, activities, lunch, worship and fun. Don’t suppose you can have forgotten this!

MOPPs today and next Friday: Today, Friday, April 13, singer Sharon Sellens will be entertaining the membership. There’s gammon and cauliflower cheese for lunch, with apple crumble for sweet. On Friday, April 20, the entertainment will be by Chloe Kenny-Dent, who is a belly dancer. Also present will be Sandra Stunt, demonstrating greetings cards. Sandra is not appearing at the same time as Sharon, mistakenly claimed last week. Next Friday’s lunch will be a mild chicken and vegetable curry, with panna cotta to follow.

There was a pleasant surprise awaiting readers of April’s MOPP’s newsletter, as it was penned by Carolyn Smith, the group’s excellent and popular co-ordinator until late last July. Though the monthly works of Jim and Robert have been appreciated, the fact that Carolyn is once more part of things is a special bonus. On behalf of everybody – welcome back, Carolyn!

Bowls opening: The Bowls Club Green opens for the season from tomorrow. Summer must be coming, then.

Fairlight Players: Don’t forget that the Players’ latest production will be up and running by this time next week. It’s The Edge of Darkness by Brian Clemens, directed by Charlie Miller. Tickets, at a mere £6 each, are available from the Post Office, or by calling 814178 if you are unable easily to get to the PO.

The John Lutman Award: It’s that time of the year once again, when nominations are sought for someone to be the recipient of the John Lutman Award, made annually to whoever the judges consider has done the most in the service of the community. The award carries a charitable donation of £150 which goes to the charity of the winner’s choice. Forms are available to the Post offie for your considered nomination, or you can enter online. The Award will be presented at the Parish Assembly on Friday, May 18, starting at 6 pm.

The Gardening Club: Don’t forget that the Club’s May meeting, on the Bank Holiday Monday May 7, will be a visit to Butler’s Farmhouse near Herstmonceux, home of National Garden Scheme Organiser Irene Elltringham-Wilson. The cost will be £10 person to include a tour of the gardens, plus tea and cakes. Club members would like to go along should call Karen Draper on 814154. The closing date for names is Wednesday, May 2.

So Long, and Thanks for all the … books: What is claimed to be important information about the Mobile Library Service comes out to us all in a pithy, minimalist note, which reads ‘following changes to the Library and Information Service, the Mobile Library Service will close on

Saturday May 5 2018.’ Perhaps it would be a good idea to wave an optimistic ‘au revoir’, with fingers crossed, rather than an abruptly final ‘good bye’ as our ship, sorry, the sun sinks slowly in the west. After all, book learning tells us there are more things in heaven and earth … Wiv’ a little bit o’ luck …

The Playgroup Jumble Sale: As strongly hinted at following the success of the autumn fixture, the group is having a second hopefully money-spinning event on Saturday, May 12 in the village hall from 10 am to 12.30 pm. No, take your coat off, Mother – queuing usually starts about half past eight on the day… Of course, if the Playgroup is going to make a hugely deserved profit, they need some really good items to sell, so watch this space for details on how to donate what you no longer need, that others may appreciate and enjoy. Entry to the sale is £1, but as this counts as a raffle ticket in its own right, that’s the first bargain of the day! As usual tea, coffee, and cakes will be in plentiful supply, to sustain you as you rummage through the jumble of the bargains in the main hall.

Restoring Heathland on the Firehills: That’s the title of a poster telling of the installation of ‘underground fencing’ on the Firehills for the visually unobtrusive control of cattle, which will be grazing the area for a coupe of weeks or so in the autumn. The system will transmit a radio signal to a collar worn by each animal, and they soon learn to keep within the bounds of their enclosure. The system has been used in Epping and Ashdown forests with success. It is particularly noted that dogs should be under control when the cattle are grazing, though this is not a bad dictum even when there is no grazing. Any animals seen jigging about may have been surreptitiously tuned to Radio 1, in the hopes they will deliver butter instead of milk.

Battle Ladies Luncheon Club: Sedlescombe’s Brickwall Hotel is the usual venue of the Battle Ladies Luncheon Club who were celebrating, on Wednesday of this week, April 11, their 50th Anniversary, the club having started on April 18, 1968. Due to be present were Wendy Carter, who has been a club member since 1972 and still attends, and Maxine Peel-Yates, from Cancer Research UK Ltd, to whom the club has sent, over the fifty years, the sum of £65,540! The number in membership is just 36 and the charitable monies have come from coffee mornings, afternoon teas, outings, raffles, penny pails and a lot of hard work! Few are the members now who come from Battle, and the current Chairman is Fairlight’s Margaret Pulfer, while several more are Fairlight based. Many congratulations, ladies!

Parkhurst Cricket Club: The Club, which has made Wood Field Rec. its home base, has a full fixture list for the imminent summer, with a home match vs. Cambridge Assessment CC on May 19, starting at 2 pm. They’ll be having a BBQ at this event as the visitors, a touring club, have requested a match because as some of their players remember playing at Fairlight some time ago.

This information has been posted by Russell Dicker, the club’s Fixture Secretary, and it is hoped that we shall be able to keep abreast of both fixtures and results in this column.

Dementia Action Alliance: A recent note about the forthcoming AGM of the Rye and District Dementia Action Alliance contained an error, in that the venue for this meeting was correct at the time of going to press, but has since been changed due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control. So, you may recall that the date and time of this important and worthwhile group meeting is to be Wednesday, April 18 from 6 until 8 pm, and the venue is now confirmed as being at Tilling Green Community Centre, Rye, TN31 7BE. As before, if you would like to register your intention to attend, please either call 0773 735 0896 or email [email protected]. This is an initiative that deserves to be fully supported. Dementia is not a pass-by-on-the-other-side affair.

Would you like fries with that?: Many years ago, when I discovered pubs and beer, hunger would often join thirst on the agenda. A bite to eat was a packet of Smith’s Crisps, but watch out for the blue ones. They’re incredibly salty. Not long after this, you got a choice – ready salted or cheese and onion. Soon you could enjoy proper hot food, as long as it came in a basket, like chicken and chips or everybody’s favourite, scampi and chips, where a dollop of sauce tartare made the paper napkin lining the basket sufficiently soggy to be readily digestible. Food then moved on in leaps and bounds, with excellent choices and brilliant chefs, with mostly very substantial portions, not looking at all like an artistically dirty plate. Now comes a local hostelry with an innovation to help everyone. At least one menu item on the comprehensive specials board lists item, price and – Weight Watchers points! Eat well for less weight? Could catch on, if you resist the second bottle of Prosecco.

Road up. Still: The job, and a lot of heavy equipment, were hung over. It all looks better, apart from a few low drains and street furniture. Their turn will come later, I expect, as the massive holes round kerbside drains on Battery Hill and Pett Level Road are not encouraging signs of any priority. As is also still the case on the top road. Why can’t they put this right before the accidents occurs, instead of waiting for a wake-up call?