Fairlight village voice

In church this Sunday, May 20… there will be Parish Communion at St Andrew’s Church at 10.30 am, with the service being led by Rev Kay Burnett.

‘CreArt’ is on for tomorrow… on Saturday, May 19, from 10 am to 12 noon. Just to remind you, this is an art group for people of any age, where you will be able to enjoy 2 hours of creativity at Pett Methodist Chapel, doing paintings, papier-mache, clay work and more. The costs is only £2, and there is meeting each month. Contact Wendy 812297 for more information!

For boys of all ages… and girls, too. On the afternoon of Saturday, June 2, we will be having two fire appliances visiting the village hall at 2.30 pm. The visit will, of course, be governed by operational conditions. In attendance will be the latest addition to the fleet of aerial fire fighting appliances in the form of an Aerial Ladder Platform (which is going to be elevated on the day) together with a Pump Ladder from the Ridge Fire Station. Both appliances will open for inspection and for you to ask questions, etc., of their respective crews. Fire safety leaflets and items will be on display and Fire-fighters will be there for you to ask questions about how to avoid house fires, and what to do if you find yourself in the dreadful position of having to call the Fire Brigade.

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The village hall car park will have to be closed off because of the sheer size of the visiting appliances, and we have been requested that we ensure that the Broadway entrance is kept clear just in case they are called away to a fire.

Fairlight Gardens presentation… last Thursday, Gem Select, the owners of the Fairlight Gardens site, gave a display of the ground plans of their scheme to erect 22 dwellings on their site. This was held in the Cove public house, a pleasant venue, but not actually suitable for the dozens of people who attended, having to climb, and later descend, stairs to what soon became a very crowded space. The display itself lacked the computer simulation I and many others had expected, and the attentive representatives were, fairly naturally, not able to answer questions about waste water and access, which they said were the province of Southern Water and Rother Council. One hopes the exercise may be repeated to better effect later, and possibly in a larger space. After all, we can always retire to the Cove afterwards for a pint and a chat about what we’ve seen!

That Garden Club outing… to the Ardingly Show on Thursday, June 7 is going ahead. As previously announced, entrance to the show, your coach trip and a tip for the driver are all included in the £20 trip price. The only thing that has changed is that the closing date had been given as Monday, May 7, butb there are still a few seats available. If you had been intending to book, but thought you’d missed the boat (or coach), please give Betty Snow a call on 812694. She’ll be delighted to hear from you!

Reviewing the situation… The Art Club’s annual exhibition of their work, plus cheese, wine and nibbles, was held on Saturday last, and the village hall was healthily full with people coming and going throughout the three hour period of the show. As usual, I’m first to praise the members for the very wide selection of pictures and ceramics on view, which struck me as being of a very high standard indeed. Congratulations to all concerned and a mention for their sponsors, Just Property.

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Making the village tick… on Tuesday next, May 22, it’s the monthly meeting of the Parish Council, in the village hall at 7 pm. Give them a look and see and, with a little luck, hear what is going on.

Cameras, action… Tomorrow, Saturday, May 19, the Friends of Hastings Country Park are organising a Photographic Walk in the Park with local professional photographer Nigel Green. The walk is scheduled to last from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm, and if you’d like to attend, you’d better ring either Janet on 715556 or Jill on 815256 as soon as you can.

Don’t believe everything you read… two weeks ago I claimed that the road through to Ore would be re-opened. It wasn’t and, though it was later that week, it was itself equipped with lights, a wait, and a difficult passage if you were behind an HGV or bus. Still, it has been good to get an unobstructed path through Martineau Lane, especially as towards the end of the traffic light regime, they appeared out-of-sync. If you were impatiently quick off the mark on the green, you’d find three or four more vehicles coming the other way. I don’t believe they were light jumpers, either.

Now we shall see how good County are at repairing the damage (and inadvertent road widening) caused by such an increase in traffic for over a month, both in terms of numbers and sheer weight. Potholes abound aplenty. Let’s hope they are very soon dealt with, even if it’s only to place a couple of signs at each one, marked ‘Deep End, Shallow End’!

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Going towards Hatings on the Fairlight Road, there remains one enormous scar on the left, just before Martineau Lane, and just after the horse and rider sign. If they’re not quick, an actual hoirse and rider are likely to disappear down this hole, let alone a mere sign!

Memory joggers… Monday, June 4, is the Fairlight Street Tea Party from 4 until 7 pm in Broadway. 50p a ticket.

And in the evening, starting at 7.30 pm it’s the Barn Dance in the village hall. Your £7.50 gains you admittance, a dance or more and a Ploughman’s Supper.

Break off, if you will, to see the lighting of the beacon at the top of Battery Hill, at the viewpoint near the junction with Peter James Lane. This will be happening at 10.15 pm

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Meanwhile, on Friday next, May 25, the Pett Level Rescue Boat Boathouse Extension appeal will be running their auction. It’s at 7.30 pm in the village hall.

Last mentioned three months ago… and still with another three months to go, don’t forget to keep snapping with your ‘Four Seasons’ Photo competition, which is tied in with the Fairfest extravaganza coming up in August, by which time we shall have fully recovered from the Jubilee and Olympics exhaustion. We’ll all be ready for a hot dog or two, a drink and a listen to music and poetry, and a wander round the excellent stalls. Photo entries to Norman Dengate, 1 Heather Way or Wendy Hatch, Tamarisk Cottage, Shepherds Way, by August 18, please. You’ve just about got two seasons left to shoot, unless in typical English fashion, we get all four seasons in a day!

Keith Pollard, Brookfield, Broadway.