Rodmell and Southease

WI: On April 19, Rodmell and Southease WI have yet another interesting talk, A Stroll Along an English Country Lane by Ray Hale. Interesting to know where this country lane will be. Visitors welcome at 8pm.

EXERCISE: On Wednesday April 20, 11am to noon, a qualified instructor, Emma from Wave Leisure, will give a course of exercises to improve balance and stamina for older residents and for those recovering from injuries. There will be five sessions and will cost £2 per session.

THE QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY: On Thursday April 21 it is the Queen’ 90th Birthday. It has been suggested in our parish magazine that we put out flags to celebrate, (can’t remember where mine is).

PARISH ASSEMBLY: On Friday April 22 the Annual Parish Assembly, 7.30pm in the village hall. As mentioned in our parish magazine, this meeting is always well attended and can be quite lively. For certain the C7 and Broadband will be on the agenda.

COFFEE MORNING: Tuesday, April 26, coffee morning 11am to 12.30pm in the village hall.

SPONSORED BIKE RIDE: Ride and Stride in aid of our historic churches, on Saturday September 10. A volunteer is needed to coordinate this event for Rodmell. Please contact Michael Isitt on 01273 475943 if you can help.

TECHNOLOGY: I have just received details from the Department of Culture, Media and sport, via our MP Maria Caulfield, regarding the effect of technology on the elderly. I quote: It has been established that 12.6 million (23 percent) of the adult population do not have the basic digital skills needed to get online. The government is working with a range of partners from the public, private and voluntary sectors to tackle the barriers that prevent people from getting online; namely a lack of skills, access and trust. I wonder if they also know that many can’t afford a computer, don’t want a computer and as you get older, the brain switches off and can’t cope with more complications. Of course this doesn’t apply to all the older generation, but having talked to many on this subject, it’s quite a lot. When you are younger you have no idea of how getting older affects you. Not having a computer means you cannot get special offers, cheap deals, access to many companies because they are no telephone numbers on brochures etc. The oldies, through no fault of their own, are becoming the lost society and many need to save money on special deals to supplement their long worked for pensions. They should not be penalised because they cannot keep up with technology.

VERY SAD: It was a very sad moment when I heard about the death of comedian Ronnie Corbett. I loved his style of comedy and he did not rely on swearing and did not do lewd gestures, unlike some of the modern day monologue comedians who he said seemed to be showing off. He was a great Little Man who I’m sure will be remembered for years by many.

STRANGE EXPERIENCE: In my life I have had many strange experiences, as I’m sure have many other people. But I was a bit spooked recently when I went to a 50th Wedding Anniversary party in Brighton. The person who opened the door to me seemed familiar, so I thought maybe I had gone to school (junior or infant school) with him in the past. In conversation later it came up that he was a Berkeley, which is a family connection. He and his wife are coming to visit me at some time, to see all the Berkeley history and photographs that I have, going back well over 100 years. I had never seen this person in my life before but somehow felt a connection.

RADIO: Regarding strange experiences, I was listening to Alison Fern’s programme on my car radio and people were phoning in to say what they had seen or heard. In many cases it was about UFO’s which seem not to have been seen of late. Around 40 years ago, I was driving along the straight piece of road just past Mavis Clarke’s farm area towards the junction of the road to Lewes about 5pm on a November night. My mother was with me and she suddenly said, ‘look’ in a shocked voice, looking to my right I saw a red lozenge shape with a white light under it, pulsating and going along about 30ft above the ground keeping up with us. I was curious and decided to stop and watch, whereupon it suddenly went faster than I have ever seen anything go and disappeared. I found out later that a friend (long dead) who lived in Cooksbridge had also seen it. I would be curious to know if anyone else has seen things in this area.

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