Your letters - September 17, 2010

Rye's rat plague

Please have a look around Rye for our rats (see picture).

The rats have escaped and are appearing in lots of shop windows! They are all grey rats but some of them are in disguise and can be seen wearing hats or berets, sunglasses, coloured hair and some are even carrying paint palettes.

You will get a shock because there are so many. But don't worry because they are not real, they are actually made from papier mache. We, the children at Rye Primary School, have tried our best to impress you with our work and in case you are wondering this is how we made them.

First get some newspaper and scrunch it up into a large ball and use this for the body. Then make a smaller ball with a pointed nose for the rat's head and join the two together using masking tape. When that is done you must use flour and water paste as glue and lots and lots of strips of newspaper to cover the whole rat.

You must put at least three layers everywhere. When this has tried you can paint the rat and then decorate it. All of ours look different. Which one do you like best?

We made them to go with the Rye Art Trail (the initials spell rat!) and we made the bunting for RAT headquarters, the Martello Bookshop, too. We hope they did not scare you too much when you first saw them, but now that you know that they are not real you should feel much better.

Year FOUR

Rye Community Primary school

'Truth' behind the 'crime-free' town

I THINK it could reasonably be said that I write the occasional letter to the Observer, but haven't done so for the last few weeks. The reason being that not only has there been little worth commenting on, but also, and in any case, what is the point, as no one in a position to do something about it, takes any notice?

This sad truth was brought home to me when I read Joan C's letter in last week's Observer, complaining of the yobbish behaviour that frequently blights the Market Square area (and other parts of this supposedly crime-free town), and also the inadequate punishment meted out to the troublemakers, time and time again. In fact they are not punished at all, and they know they won't be punished. We just get more excuses for their inexcusable behaviour - a subject I, and others, have commented on, in vain, many times before. Maybe the police and the courts are frustrated by government rules and regulations. This must be changed.

As Observer readers will know, there are some subjects on which we cannot all agree; modern art at the De La Warr Pavilion for example, but on the sort of yobbish behaviour Joan C refers to, all readers will agree that the punishment must fit the crime, otherwise the minority perpetrators will continue to enjoy both a twisted pleasure in their yobbish behaviour, and cynical smirk at the protests of the law abiding majority.

John Hill

Glengorse, Battle

What is the purpose of Pavilion?

IT WAS a pleasure to see that you gave so much coverage to the De La Warr Pavilion celebrations.

It is a shame that the current management ignores the original purposes of the Pavilion, which was to provide entertainment for the people of Bexhill. The recent pre-occupation with the art gallery and seeking grants from the lottery and other sources has seen Lord De La Warr's good deed wasted.

Whilst on the subject of the Pavilion, why can Rother Council not make it a requirement that their large annual grant be conditional on providing a tourist information booth?

William Ward

De La Warr Road, Bexhill

Losing pounds at Rye Sports Centre

You can lose up to eighty pounds in one visit to gym at Rye Leisure Centre, all you have to do is forget to display a parking ticket.

In a previous edition of the Observer the then Mayor of Rye Sam Souster, stated that the introduction of charges at this centre was not a revenue generating exercise but was designed to benefit the members by freeing parking spaces previously occupied by commuters.

Since I began my one-sided correspondence with Mr Roebuck, the Technical Services Officer, a sign has appeared on the reception desk at the centre reminding members to display a ticket.

Obviously I am not the only member who has "benefited" by receiving a parking fine and I would like to inform everyone that it is all about money.

W.J.Edghill

New Road, Rye

Thanks for help at horse centre day

THROUGH your paper, may I express our thanks to all the trustees, helpers, performers, stall holders, dog show entrants and visitors that made our open day at the Brownbread Horse Rescue Centre, Ashburnham, such a success last Sunday (September 12).

We were fortunate to have the only sunny day sandwiched between the rainy days which contributed to making their efforts both pleasant and worthwhile.

Also a public "thank you" to our new joint patron, Lord Brett McLean of Hastings, who not only opened the event but remained throughout the day chatting and promoting the charity to all the visitors.

Over 5,600 was raised on the day, thanks to everyone involved.

The next open days will be on May 15 and September 11 2011.

Tony Smith

Chairman of trustees,

Brownbread Horse Rescue Centre, Ashburnham

Is it right to pour cash into reserve?

In the current dire financial climate where we are all going to be feeling the effects of deep government financial cost savings, the question needs asking why we need to spend several million pounds,(500,000 in phase one) at the Rye Harbour Farm Nature Reserve in "Habitat Creation".

Whilst, no doubt, this creates employment for a whole team of heavy plant operators is it too much to expect to allow 'nature' to create its own 'habitat' it seems to have managed reasonably well for millions of years. I'm sure there are far more pressing uses that could be made from our hard earn taxes.

Alan Read

Rye Harbour

Thanks to helpers (and dogs)

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the energetic people and dogs who took part in my Sponsored Dog Walk which took place along Bexhill seafront on Sunday 20th June.

We raised a massive sum of 686.00 for Dogs for the Disabled which is absolutely brilliant. It was great that so many people turned up to give their support, and my particular thanks go to Pete who collected 248, and also to Arthur, Mary & Dean who provided the music and dancing along the way which gave us all the incentive to complete the 10K walk! We were lucky with the weather and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Also I held a collection in Devonshire Road on 7th August which raised a further sum of 269.76 for the charity.

The total amount collected at these two events was 955.76 which will help send me on my way to Nepal where I will be trekking in April next year for Dogs for the Disabled. My webpage is www.justgiving.com/janestrickland2.

Thank you so much once again to everyone who donated; I am extremely grateful to you all.

Jane Strickland

Parkhurst Road, Bexhill

Lend a hand at Sue Ryder shop

The Sue Ryder Care shop in Rye High Street is urgently seeking more volunteers. Anything from one hour would be very useful - particularly on Tuesdays and Sundays.

Sue Ryder Care provides care for people with illnesses such as motor neurone, Alzeimers, stroke, cancer, brain injury amongst others.

Without the assistance of valuable volunteers Sue Ryder provision would be very limited.

So please turn your spare time into care time and pop in to see Denise, Manager at the Sue Ryder Care shop, Rye High Street - you'll wonder why you didn't do it before.

Pat Salisbury-Ridley

Rye.

Well done Pavilion for anniversary shows

CONGRATULATIONS to the De La Warr Pavilion on its 75th anniversary on August Bank Holiday Monday.

I'm sure everyone will agree it was a grand show. And the weather was beautiful.

Some of the acts were only assembled in the morning.

We enjoyed the young gymnasts, also the drummers, the choir and the orchestra.

So a wonderful day was had by all and there were enough people making up the anniversary photograph too.

Thank you. My friend and I enjoyed the time we stayed there.

S COWAN

Preston Road

Bexhill-on-Sea