Fairlight

10.30 am, there is to be a service of Morning Praise at St Andrew’s. The Crèche and Junior Church will both be available at this service. At Pett Methodist Chapel, the 10.45 am service will be Holy Communion, led by the Rev Helen Patten

MOPPs today: Today, Friday, March 8, the entertainment will be by the Hastings Circle Dancers,

and Nicola’s Age UK toenail cutting service will be here too. Today’s lunch will be pork casserole, with rhubarb and apple crumble for pud. Next Friday, March 15, singer Tim Gibson will be here to entertain you, and the lunch that follows Tim will be fish and chips, and then gateau.

Tickets, please: There’s a ‘Saturday Night at the Movies’ Quiz, in support of MOPPs, being organised by past-masters Bob and Dec, with Jim Saphin singing during the evening as well. It’s at the village hall on Saturday, March 30, and it will only cost you £6 a head, including a light supper. Graeme and Leonie have the tickets at their Post Office and General Stores.

Speakers corner: Last week, Speakers Corner enjoyed an most interesting talk by Ray Hale on Charles Darwin, subtitled The Man who Changed the World. Ray is an extremely good speaker and had the audience enthralled by telling us the true facts about Darwin. Firstly, he did not discover evolution, he tried to explain it. Transmutation was a well known theory and Darwin’s voyage on The Beagle had very little to do with evolution as he had been invited to travel with the Captain (Fitzroy) as a companion who was interested in bugs and nature. It was a great injustice to the man who really discovered and put forward the theory of evolution, who was Alfred Russell Wallace. He and Darwin did in fact know each other and their theories were put forward to the Linnean Society at the same time. Darwin’s dissertation was about two hours long and Wallace’s a mere 20 minutes so the glory went to Darwin. However, the men remained good friends and Wallace was a pall bearer at Darwin’s funeral. With hindsight, this unfairness has now been put to rights.

The next meeting features Fairlight’s own Haydon Luke who will be talking about the wreck of the Amsterdam, which can be found at Bulverhythe at very low Spring tides. This talk will be at the village hall on March 13 at 2.30 pm and visitors are most welcome for a mere £2 admission.

Community Library: Make sure when you next visit your Community Library, between 2 and 4 pm each Tuesday and Thursday, that you complete the questionnaire that awaits you. It’s pretty short, and is aimed at getting your feedback on the Library. Opening days and times, the books they stock, your general feelings about what is a rather special service for us all. Please do your bit and fill in a form…Of course, if you are not using the new library, it’s maybe time that you did!

Royal British Legion secretary: Margaret Pulfer, the current post holder, is close to tearing out her hair. Having secured a replacement as Secretary, her plans have been thwarted as the gent who proposed to take over has had a change of circumstances, and so will be unable to undertake the duties. Hoping that lightning might strike again, Margaret would like to hear from anyone who would care to have a go at the job. It is not overly onerous, but it is, nevertheless, absolutely vital for the survival and further growth of the local branch of the Legion. Margaret is on 814866.

Lower Waites Lane pothole: Questions were raised in the Parish Council meeting’s Open Forum about the state of Lower Waites Lane where the access way to the new house build meets the road. There is already a large hole at that spot, which has been caused by the eventual failure of a solid infill placed by the Maintenance Association, after much thumping by large vans and even heavier vehicles. The other oddity at this site is a beautifully installed water meter, complete with sculpted tarmac, which actually sits some four or five inches below the natural road level, a perfectly formed pristine pothole All the heavy goods vehicles are already breaking up the tarmac in the most cultured pothole in the district. Parts of the surrounding works have been significantly improved recently, in keeping with what the planners must have expected.

Fairlight Road and Battery Hill: One gets to wondering just when East Sussex Highways will recognise that the state of these two roads is absolutely appalling. There was a lengthy delay for the speed limit on Battery Hill, which was denied for a long time with the rumour saying it would take a couple of deaths to get the limit implemented. However, it was finally achieved thanks largely to the persistence of Cllr Roger Bird. It seems more probable now that multiple deaths or serious injuries are imminent along this stretch, and the only the good Lord knows how those who have not progressed improvements will feel when their collective consciences are smitten with guilt and responsibility.

Is no news good news?: It is understood that resolution of the question of the possible development of Wakehams East Field will not be known in March, as had been anticipated. The earliest it could now be made public is April 18, but officers have yet to make any recommendation.