Icklesham

CHURCH NEWS: The service at 10.30am on Sunday will be Morning Prayer for Bible Sunday. The Priest in Charge, Fr Hugh Moseley, will encourage the congregation to use Bible Reading Fellowship notes as an aid to better understanding of scripture. I regret that I was unable to go to the guided tour of the church last Saturday, when Laurie Bowman was pointing out interesting details. I am told by people who went how informative and interesting it was, and entertaining too when Laurie digressed a bit. Sunday October 25 is the date of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Monday October 26 is the anniversary of Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons in 899. Wednesday October 28 is the Feast day of Simon and Jude, Apostles

VILLAGE STORES: Start preparing yourselves for two whole weeks without the cheerful service and excellent variety of goods in Icklesham Stores. The shop will be closed for refurbishment from Saturday October 31 until Monday November 16. Anyone wishing to stock up can go along now for extra supplies.

WEATHER: Cooler would be a fair description of the temperatures this week. Wetter too, although there has been a little sunshine. The soil is in good condition for planting new borders or clearing the veggie patch. Don’t leave the clearing out too long, the ground round here will soon become waterlogged again. My grass still seems to be growing, is yours? Wish it would take a rest.

FSW: Family Support Work does what it says on the tin. For 125 years the organisation has been supporting Sussex Children and Sussex Families. Not problem families, but families with problems. To raise funds for this very important work, there will be a Coffee Morning tomorrow, Saturday, from 10.30 am until midday at the Memorial Hall. There will be a raffle, cards, and bring and buy. Everybody will be very welcome to come. See if you can bring a friend along too. There are always boxes in all three churches in our benefice where food is collected for FSW.

ROBIN HOOD INN: Very exciting news is becoming known about awards to the village pub. First of all, they have been awarded the Country Pub of the Year for 2015. The certificate states that The Robin Hood, Icklesham, D’Arcy, Sue, Lorna and Carly, has been judged the winner in the South East Sussex Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA, Country Pub of the Year Competition. So far, so good. Well done. But also helicopters will be arriving in the field with crew to film staff and customers in the pub. This is a new TV advertising campaign from Greene King to celebrate Great British Pubs and the individual spirit, community and authentic moments that happen to them every day. The Greene King campaign highlights the important social role that pubs play in communities across Britain. By capturing just some of the real, intimate and funny moments that happen in pubs every day, filmed by the people who helped make those moments happen, the campaign invests in bringing the pub and the value it has within the community to the attention of a national audience. 40 pubs will be featured and there will be a dedicated media launch. So, brilliant news for the Robin Hood Inn. I have read the list of shots they wish to take which is very comprehensive. It culminates in a shot of David arriving by helicopter to order his pint of Greene King. And, of course, there is the Bonfire on November 5, gates opening at 6.30pm. Admission is £3 for adults, £2 for children. No fireworks are to be taken in. There will be a roast, bands, fireworks and a huge bonfire. Do you remember that last year the fire was lit by a flaming arrow? I wonder what it will be this year?

HECKERTY: I went to meet Heckerty last Saturday in Rye’s branch of Waterstones’ book shop. There she sat, wearing her witch’s hat of course, telling stories and showing the books to a crowd of very well-behaved children sitting on cushions on the floor. After the story telling, Heckerty signed books and gave out little treats in miniature witch’s cauldrons. The shop will have a supply of all seven story books should you wish to buy some. Thanks to Ann Rachlin who was the original creator of Heckerty, and Jan Ziff, who now has full charge of her. There might be a picture somewhere in the paper for you to see.

ICKLESHAM VILLAGE TRUST: The Parish Council Open Spaces group is in discussions with us re approving a footprint. Hopefully this will soon be resolved and then we will be able to update everybody. As you are aware, our present pavilion is undergoing another refurbishment. Our Trust Chairman, Mrs Merricks, has kindly taken on the role of Project Manager for us, as we are all aware that this asset does hold great sentimental value with the Merricks family, as the original funding was given by the widow of the late Walter Merricks back in 1959. I am confident that Mrs Merricks has our village interests at heart, and will therefore oversee a good job and get the old asset functional again. The total value of this insurance work will be approximately £11,000. This figure has been agreed with the Loss Adjuster. If anybody has any ideas for fund raising, please let one of us know. The Pavilion Lottery still welcomes new members at £12 per year. Thanks to everyone for their continued support to date.

SCHOOL NEWS: WWW - what a winning week. William Cooper won a first place in the year 5 and 6 Cross Country; Sophie Ashby won the girls’ year 3 and 4 Cross Country with Jolie Mintrim second and Amy Ashby finishing third. The final will be in November. The football team showed great skill and talent in the Icklesham Cup tournament which was eventually won by St. Thomas’ School. The children will be taking part in the Mustard Seed Relief Mission - Love in a Box. Essential items, gifts and small toys are packed into a shoebox which will be transported to underprivileged children for Christmas Day. This charity originated in Eastbourne, and is a Christian charity. The Head Teacher awards this week go to: Caterpillars, Harrison; Spiders, Ruby-Jude; Dragonflies, Amelie T; Bees, Ella. A Special award goes to all football team members and Cross Country Runners. The class awards go to; Caterpillars, Woody and Summer; Spiders, Taylor and Xanthe; Dragonflies, Cameron W. and Mary; Bees, Jacob and Billy. Congratulations to everyone.

CONTACT: If you would like any news, dates or reports included in the Village Voice, phone 815247, pop round or use the e-mail. I will do my best for you.

AND FINALLY: Don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour on Saturday night. You will get an extra hour in bed, but the penalty is the darkness by about 5pm. Horrible.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage at www.ryeandbattleobserver.co.uk/

2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RyeandBattleObserver

3) Follow us on Twitter @RyeObs

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

The Rye and Battle Observer - always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.