Fletching

YOUTH CLUB: meets tonight at 7pm

KOBUDO MARTIAL ARTS: Thursday at 5.00 pm

FORGET-ME NOTS: meet Thursday at 2.30pm

SCHOOL NATIVITY: Thursday 15th 2pm and 7pm in the Church

THE CHROMATICS COMMUNITY CHOIR: invites you for a Christmas Sing Along on Saturday December 17th 2016 in Fletching Village Hall at 3.30pm. £5 on the door. Tea and Festive Cakes included. Raising Funds For Dementia UK

SUNDAY CLUB: There is no actual meeting of the Sunday Club in December, however we hope to see the children specifically at these special events during the festive season:

Church Christmas Tree: We will be decorating the church Christmas Tree at 10.30am on December 17th, all families welcome!

Christingle Service: Our Christingle service will take place on 11th December at 5pm. The service involves the lighting of beautiful Christingles that will have been made by the children of the Parish.

Crib Service: The Crib Service will take place on 24th December at 4pm, a perfect way for the children to start their Christmas celebrations.

Sunday Club Meeting: Our next Sunday Club meeting will be on 15th January at 9.45am at the Village Hall. We hope to see you, and wish you and your families all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

CHRISTMAS CARDS: A selection of Christmas cards is for sale in aid of Fletching Church. You may already be familiar with the large one featuring a splendid photograph of the church, which cost £4 for a pack of 5; there are two new designs from drawings by Holly Williams-Thomas, 16 year-old granddaughter of Piltdown residents Nigel and Maggie Kay. All the cards are available to view and buy in the church. In addition, Holly’s cards are for sale in various locations, including Mr T’s shop. They cost £2.50 for a pack of 5. Please telephone the Kays 01825 722008 if you require more information.

100 YEARS AGO: Sussex Express 15th December 1916. FIGHTING SONS OF SUSSEX, Photographs of William John Weston, Canadian Contingent, Edward H. Weston, London Regiment, and Sydney M. Weston, Royal Fusiliers. Sons of Mr. Shem Weston, of Fletching.

Searching on the web reveals Shem Weston was baptised in Fletching on 16 April 1854, son of John and Maria Weston who kept the Rose and Crown Beer House. John Weston fathered a large family including sons Abednego and Noah. His youngest daughter Eve was aged 2 in the 1861 census when John was 73 and Maria, his second wife, was 44. Shem was a footman in Newick in 1871 and later appears as a butler in a variety of households. In 1901 he was employed by the Earl of Sheffield and his adopted daughter, Mabel Attenborough, at 129 Marine Parade Brighton. He married Mary Money in Ewerby, Lincolnsire on 4 May 1882. The three sons were all born in Newick. Shem died in 1928.

NOVEMBER RAINFALL IN PILTDOWN: After a very wet June, followed by four months of below average rainfall, I recorded 118mm in November, slightly above the long term average of 105mm. Much of this can be attributed to Storm Angus which precipitated 65mm on Piltdown between 20th and 22nd of the month. It is informative to follow the Uckfield Mill Upstream level on Twitter,@riverlevel_1081. At noon on the 19th it recorded 0.3m, at 5 am on the 20th, 0.6m, and by 8.30 am 0.79m. It then declined without reaching flood level.

The total rainfall for the three autumn months was 173 mm, well below the average of 268 mm. The driest autumn I have recorded was in 2011 with just 124 mm. The wettest was in 2000 when we had 662 mm, and widespread flooding.

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