Winchelsea

FOAM AGM: On Saturday March 23rd The Friends of the Ancient Monuments and Museum of Winchelsea charity will hold their Annual General Meeting. This will be in the Lower Court Hall at 11.30am and members are invited to attend. The agenda includes the 2018 Minutes, reports from the President, Chairman and Treasurer, appointment of Accounts Examiner, election of officers and any other business.

Rye bookshop: This Saturday March 23rd author Judith Thomson will be signing copies of her historical fiction books in store and Literary Society members are welcome to attend. Judith studied art in Leicester before moving to Sussex where she lives. Many of her books are set in 17th century England and France and she has enjoyed much success with her novels: The Distant Hills and The Orange Autumn, so come along and see what her new ‘Designs of a Gentleman’ books involve.

Care for Carers: If you support someone who cannot manage without your help the Care for the Carers charity holds a monthly carers group at Rye Memorial Hospital, Rye Foreign, Peasmarsh Road, Rye TN31 7UD. This monthly group meeting is from 10.30am to 12.30pm on the fourth Thursday of each month and is completely free, facilitated by one of the charity’s carer support workers. You don’t need to register in advance, just turn up if you can make it and if you would like more details please phone Care for the Carers on 01323 738 390. The Care for Carers charity provides support and information to unpaid family and friend carers in East Sussex; other groups are also held at various locations across the county and the website to visit is: https://www.cftc.org.uk/carers-groups .

Flower arrangements: The Rector has planned a time for families and friends in the parish to come and make posies for Mothering Sunday on March 31st which will involve both churches. The date for this gathering is Friday March 29th in St Richard’s Church with tea and cake and if anyone is able to support this venture and bring flowers please let the Rector know.

Carefully planned crisis: What does it take to be a crime writer? First it’s good to have the talent but as a professional crime writer Laura Wilson suggests, in her talk on ‘Murder for fun and Profit’ at the Literary Society’s recent meeting, anyone who enjoys a good homicide mystery could do it fairly comfortably, seated at home in pyjamas with pen and paper. As a member of the Killer Women crime writers group and also a creative writing teacher she was pleased to share some of her dangerous secrets. A fascination for the serial killer John Christie who in the 1950s murdered at least 8 people hiding their bodies in the walls of his house and in his garden. The case was mishandled by the police which enabled Christie to escaped detection and continue his crimes. Christie was also a major witness at the trial which caused an innocent man to be charged with his murders but finally, he was caught and hanged in 1953. Murder cases such as this and unexplained victim disappearances are the lifeblood of her novels. Giving expressive hand gestures that flashed crimson-varnished finger nails Laura talked about her series of Stratton novels which included ‘Stratton’s War’ and ‘An Empty Death’. The novels were set in 1940s London with the central character Detective Inspector Ted Stratton whom she described as a reliable happily married man. It was important that he was of a steady character given the mayhem that surrounded him in the different plots he had to uncover but as Laura noted this did not greatly impress her publishers who would have liked a more complex and tragic Ted. Her dry humour and pleasure in farce enabled her to create a diverse mix of characters and to present the unexpected, like the sudden appearance of a zeppelin during a tea party for example, to keep the reader guessing. A proposal she gave for driving the story forward was, that a crisis in a plot is essential but to get there requires careful, ordered planning. For Laura the more real the crime story, the more the reader can participate in the detective work and the more likely it will sell. As a result, she has enjoyed much success in her writing.

Winchelsea Beach

Annual Spring Clean: The Great British Spring Clean takes place from Friday March 22nd to Tuesday April 23rd and the safe removal of plastic rubbish is high on the list. This year Icklesham Parish Council will be organising litter clearance from the area of land which is its responsibility. If you know of other areas that would benefit please let the Clerk or Councillors know, so that it can be considered. Also, if you are interested in joining in ensure you let IPC know for insurance purposes. IPC points out that they do not normally litter pick the trunk road margins due to the danger of passing traffic.

Bishop’s Visit: During this month the Bishop of Chichester Martin Warner will be in the local area. His visit includes deanery synod on Tuesday March 26th at 7.30pm in St Richard’s Church. This will be an open meeting, so members of local churches are very welcome to join their deanery synod representatives. The deanery synod is a vital link between people in the parishes (the PCC) and the Church of England nationally. It acts as a forum to discuss church matters and to promote the pastoral, evangelistic and social mission of the church. Other practical functions include electing representatives to the synod, organising events and encouraging cooperation between parishes.