Winchelsea

Garden News: The Garden Society’s Annual General Meeting will be held in the Court Hall this Saturday February 9th at 10am. If you did not renew your Society membership at the January Lecture on the World Garden at Lullingstone Castle, there will be another chance to do so at the AGM and the cost for the year is £5. This year the Society is planning some full-day excursions to the Royal Horticultural Society gardens as well as visits to local gardens, nurseries and other sites of interest. The next event for your diary is on Thursday March 21st when Chris O’Donoghue will be giving a talk on ‘Behind the Scenes at Chelsea’.

Book Signing: On Saturday February 9th non-fiction author Tina Brown will be doing a book signing from 11am at Rye Bookshop and Literary Society members are welcome to attend. Tina created the Hastings Old Town Ghost Walk in 1993 which she retired from in 2015 and has written multiple books on a variety of subjects including the paranormal and a secret history of Hastings and St Leonards.

Knock Out: A talk by Dave Harris called “It’s a Knock-Out” which involves Boxing and its past links to crime will take place at the Second Wednesday Society’s meeting on Wednesday February 3th at 2.30pm in the New Hall. This is free to members but payment might be due in the form of the annual subscription of £10 if you haven’t already paid. Non-members who would like to hear the talk pay £4 on the day and this includes afternoon tea. Dave is the founder and chairman of British Ex-Boxers Hall of Fame which is an award ceremony to honour the past careers of British boxers both living and dead. He is also the founder of Xtrax, the Hastings based charity for young people aged 16-25 which provides advice and information on homelessness.

Literary AGM: On Friday February 15th the Literary Society will be having its Annual General meeting in the Lower Court Hall. Doors open at 7pm with drinks on arrival and the meeting starts promptly at 7.30pm and will be followed by the monthly talk. The AGM is open to all people who have paid their membership for 2019 and please feel welcome to stand for election to the Committee which comprises 10 members. There are four officers, currently Chairman (Lorna Challand) Treasurer (Rob Mortimer) Secretary (Hilary Roome) and Deputy Chairman (Tony Moore) The other members are Ann Driver, Janice Edwards, Howard Norton, Felicity Youlten, Kim Zanes and Bill Doherty. The committee meets about twice each year and its main purpose is to arrange the programme for the following year and to make decisions about income and expenditure. Once the AGM is completed which should not take too long Howard Norton, history and literature enthusiast will be giving his talk which focuses on ‘Three Local Luminaries: Asa Briggs, Malcolm Saville and Brian Batsford.’

Winchelsea Beach

Fellowship Lunch: These popular lunches which consist of a variety of homemade dishes are regularly held on the last Friday of every month. With February being a short month the next Fellowship Lunch will be on Friday February 22nd at the usual time of 12 for 12.30pm in the Community Hall on Sea Road. This is also an opportunity for members of St Richard’s Church and friends to enjoy fellowship together and to donate to a local charity. The number to phone is 01797 227168 to reserve your place as caterers need to know numbers.

Open Prayer: St Richard’s Church is continuing to hold Communion Services for friends and visitors on the second and fourth Sundays of each month and the next dates are February 10th and 24th at 9.30am. In addition, St Richard’s will be open from 9.30 to 10.30am on the intermediate Sundays for Open Prayer which welcomes all to come and enjoy some quiet time with prayers and scriptural readings.