Rodmell & Southease

ARTWAVE: The village was literally buzzing with people due to the fact we had Artwave in the Old Rectory from Saturday to Monday. It was a great place to have it; lovely house, lovely gardens and Eleanor and her husband were the perfect hosts. We thank them for letting us use their lovely house. The art work was of very high quality and was much admired. The WI tea tent was very popular and much appreciated, as was the WI produce stall where people could buy local produce. The book stall did incredibly well, which just goes to show people still love to buy and read proper books. I was down there helping over the three days at various times and loved it. Well done to all those involved in making it such a spectacular occasion.

PARKING: There was a large horse box parked in a very prominent spot in The Street, but I for one was quite happy about that as it made traffic slow down and take care. There was an awful lot of hooting of horns at cars trying to get in or out of the village as traffic really speeds along the C7 and hates to give way to people trying to get into the village, or exit. Parking on the corner at the pub doesn’t help, especially when the pub has a perfectly good car park.

FRUIT: Apples are on the ground everywhere in the orchard and on the front garden, it’s yet another job to do picking them up so the grass can be cut. I’ve been bagging up loads for my friend’s pigs and sorting the better ones out and putting them in a wheelbarrow outside for people to help themselves. There are a lot of blackberries about so it’s a good time to make pies, jams and jellies for free. I’m afraid I’ve neglected a lot of my garden this year as I just can’t keep up with the watering unless it’s near the house.

VISITORS: I had a girl and her mother stay with me over the weekend who are now regulars. The daughter does all the long walks that go on over the country and this time did the Eastbourne to Arundel walk non-stop. She and her mother, who supports her, left at 3am on Saturday morning and she actually made it to Arundel early on Sunday morning. These people are obsessive about their walking and it appears their families are great supporters. It is mainly done to support charities.

SAD NEWS: It was sad news to hear about the number of people who had lost their lives in the sea over the heat-wave and all the volunteers who give their time and risked their lives in saving others are really unselfish, caring people who deserve a lot of thanks.

SWIMMING: I used to love swimming in the sea off Seaford, but haven’t done it for years now. A big group of us used to go there and it was the thing to start swimming in March. I hate sand, it brings me up in a rash and the only way I tolerate it is to find shingle beaches that once you get in have sand underfoot. As a child I was taken to Camber Sands and I remember getting sand everywhere because a breeze used to blow there. Eating gritty egg or banana sandwiches and then walking miles to the sea was not my idea of fun.

CHRISTMAS: The Christmas brochures have been plopping into the letterbox for about a month at least. Far too early. I don’t look forward to Christmas now. Perhaps living with an atheist who dislikes it takes the edge off things, plus the commercial greed of it all.

IN MY YOUTH: Hearing on the radio that in one area the police were told it would be better if they did not have tattoos, made me reminisce with a friend about the days when we started work. They were telling me that the Post Office used to have their postmen line up and be inspected before they went out on their job. They had to be immaculate in their uniforms and would get ‘hauled over the coals’ if they weren’t. When I worked in a drawing office the lady in charge of us used to check us out as well. We had to make sure we were immaculate with clean finger nails and hair tied back. We never used to mind but can you imagine it happening today? Standards were very high in my youth. They’ve slipped somewhat today. Another thing was if you had a car and parked it on the road overnight it had to have a little red lantern on it. If it didn’t the local policeman would knock on your door to tell you. There were two cars in the road we lived in, my father’s and my friend’s fathers and no-one had garages then. The same area is now chock-a-block with cars and it costs a fortune to park.

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