Staplecross

Christopher Irvine came to Canterbury to be a residentiary canon in January 2007. He was previously the Principal of the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. As Canon Librarian and Director of Education, Canon Christopher has a range of responsibilities from running an annual course for new bishops from around the Anglican Communion, to supporting the professional staff, who care for the cathedral’s historic collections. Christopher is married to Rosie and she works part-time as the Librarian of the St. Augustine’s College of Theology at West Malling. They have two grown up daughters, who are now both married with families. Co-incidentally, both daughters married priests, one is currently in Sidcup and the other is in Hastings. Christopher is hugely looking forward to exercising a pastoral ministry in Ewhurst, Bodiam and Staplecross. His first priority will be to meet the people and to learn more about the challenges and the joys of life in East Sussex. He is passionate about churches being places of prayer and believes that a Christian life that is rooted in prayer is contagious and commends itself to others, to young and old alike. Building community is at the heart of pastoral ministry and Christopher and Rosie very much look forward to making their home in Ewhurst and in sharing in the life of all the villages. PLEASE NOTE: This will be a ‘House for Duty’ post, therefore Christopher will be ‘part-time’. If & when you see him around the parishes, please say ‘Hello’ and make him feel welcome.

STAPLECROSS PRIMARY SCHOOL: “Amazing”, “Brilliant”, Wonderful”, Humorous”, “Clever”, and “Enchanting”, I could fill this column with all the words that would appropriately describe this superb little school’s ‘End -of Term Play’, but most of them wouldn’t do it justice!. Everyone knows the weird but wonderful story of Alice-in-Wonderland by Lewis Carroll with it’s twisty tale of fascinating and bizarre adventures which happened to Alice when she fell down a rabbit hole. On two performances, Thursday pm (13th) and Friday evening (14th) this fast paced story was brilliantly but simply, brought to life by the whole school who enacted all the twist and turns with great gusto and revelry, from the littlest ladybird, -Arthur -who although suffering from a broken wing (- wrist actually) - and had to sit with the teachers for more accident prevention, continued to sing & act with thorough enjoyment throughout, - to the ‘main story characters’, -Alice played by Ayesha, Mad Hatter played by Haydn, March Hare played by Megan, the Dormouse played by Barnaby, White Rabbit played by Warwick, the Cheshire Cat played by Harry, the Knave of Hearts played by Bailey, the Duchess played by Libby, and the King & Queen of Hearts played by Oliver & Millie ~ incidentally, Oliver took over the role of the King of Hearts only two days beforehand, learnt his lines and performed beautifully, - all of whom acted out their roles magnificently. The rest of Kestrels were various animals, playing cards and choir singers. Kingfishers class were also a variety of playing cards, the Robins class were an assortment of animals in the ‘caucus race’ with the Swallows depicting insects, ladybirds & bees, plus creatures in the ‘caterpillar girl song’. All just magical. The songs were bright and catchy, and consequentially are still reeling in my head and even now, I find myself breaking out into some of the words quite randomly, - much to the strange looks of those around me. The game of croquet was ‘played’ with enormous enjoyment, especially by the delightful little hedgehogs! as was the hilarious Tea Party episode, the Trial, in fact ALL OF IT ! From start to finish, the audience were drawn into this odd little children’s story simply because the cast made you do so. The whole cast carried this story through to the end with such enjoyment, pleasure & belief that the audience were swept along with them. The scenery was delightful, the costumes just amazing,~ made more so by all the clever ‘face paintings’ ! and the songs so happy, cheerful and cleverly arranged, which all led to yet another triumphant production from the Staff and Stars (the pupils) of our amazing little village school. I, along with hundreds of other are certainly looking forward to their next creation. ~ Good Luck to all those pupils who are moving up & on to Senior Level, - what an amazing future you have ahead of you to explore ~ to ALL PUPILS, ~ have a great summer holiday, you so deserve it ! ...... Along with almost every school in the country, our much loved village school held their own ‘School Sports Day’ on Monday last (17th) when the whole school turned out to compete in two teams - a RED Team and a BLUE Team, made up of a mixture of all year groups. This year, the BLUE TEAM were the lucky winners as they managed to score a worthy 100 points but very close runners up were the RED team, just scraping behind with 98 points. In the Parents Races and for the 10th year running,- Will’s mum won the Mum’s running race, so well done Sarah, and not to be outdone, - Reggie’s Dad, won the Dad’s race again this year, as well as two years before! - What a lot of fit & sporty parents we have !. Once all the hard and energetic work was over for the afternoon, all the schoolchildren were given a huge ice pop to help cool them down. This as you can imagine, was very well received and very much appreciated. Grateful thanks are sent to the proprietors of our local shop & Post Office Barbara and Sentil for their kind gesture and ongoing thoughtfulness. We are so blessed to have them in our village and to count them amongst our friends. The children were all fantastic and ran their little hearts out for their teams, showing what teamwork can achieve and with the help and support of all the Mums & Dads, Grandma’s & Grandpa’s, siblings and other family and friends this was once again, a really enjoyable community afternoon. However- and so sorry to end of a low note ~ could I respectfully remind all residents that DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED ON THE PLAYING FIELD !. There are lots of nice local walking areas in which to exercise ‘man’s best friend, - but the village playing field isn’t one of them. This amenity is for the benefit of the 2 footed creature variety - NOT the 4 footed, so please, No Dogs Here !

EWHURST GREEN VILLAGE BAR-B-Q: The sun certainly shone for all those who attended this great event on Saturday last (15th) Great enjoyment was had by all throughout the evening as not only was there a superb ‘supper’ by way of a succulent hog roast, with a variety of delicious side dishes to accompany it, but there was also a great bar serving local ales. The music, although softer than expected at these occasions, was a delight to listen to and join in. There was a superb raffle which was appreciated by all the lucky winners. Even the children were not forgotten, as they all thoroughly enjoyed the variety of games that was arranged for them. Thanks must certainly go to ALL who so generously gave their time, to not only cook the food, but also provided all the trimmings etc that accompanied it. To those who donated the raffle prizes, & especially those who set it all out, who washed & brushed up, who cleaned up and put away. A very special “Thank You” must be given to brothers Joe & Sam Duggan, for contriving and building the amazing ‘Maze House’. All the children who played, in, round, through and out of this ‘fantastic’ creation had nothing but the highest praises for it, as their smiley faces and oral comments proved!. As the evening unfolded, so did this ‘designer built’ straw house, as it grew bigger and better, as new thoughts just took them and more bales were ‘purloined!. It was such fun, that many -supposedly- grown-ups didn’t want to be left out, and joined in the fun of squirming in & out of this glorious ‘straw house’ themselves ! Thank you to each & everyone of you, for a really great evening.

STAPLECROSS BOWLS CLUB: Back to their busy schedule, as the team have no less than four (4) fixtures to play this week. Luckily for us, three of the four games will be played on their home ground at their Club House, on Northiam Road, Staplecross. Game No: 1 -at ‘home’ - is to be played on Saturday July 22nd and the opposing side will be from Guestling. The following day Sunday July 23rd sees the team play their second ‘home’ match when they face Northiam. This match will also form part of the ‘Rother Tournament’. The club will play Battle on Wednesday July 26th again ‘at home’, for their 3rd match this week, and this will also form part of the ‘Rother Tournament. On Thursday July 27th the club will be ‘away’ when they take part in the “Sellings Cup” event. If you are in the vicinity, please pop along and support our local club as this is always most appreciated. For all further information on how to become more involved in this dedicated but friendly club, please contact Margaret (sec) at [email protected] or Brian on 01580~830570 for all further details.

ROTHER RAMBLERS: Enjoying our big open skies and our glorious countryside, the members of the friendly local walking group, the Rother Ramblers, have arranged three (3) walks for us to enjoy, all close by and all rather different. Walk No:1 is planned to take place on Sunday July 23rd and is a 10 mile circular walk of Cranbrook and Goudhurst. The meeting place is the free car park adjacent to the Co-op, off Cranbrook High Street. OS EXP.136. TQ775359. (SatNav TN17 3DJ) at 10.0am. A picnic lunch is suggested as usual. David will be your ‘walk leader’ and you may contact him on 01580~852432 for more details. Walk No:2 has been arranged to take place on Tuesday July 25th and will be an 8.5 circular meander from Bodiam. The meeting point is to be Bodiam Castle (car park) near to the toilets at the entrance to the castle car park. OS EXP.136. TQ783253. (SatNav TN32 5UA) at the usual time of 10.00am. Please note: This is a chargeable car park - but is FREE to NT members- but you must show card !. This walk offers several stiles and two hills. A picnic lunch is again suggested + the possibility of tea or ice cream at the end of the walk. Carol (C) is your walk leader for this little jaunt and you may contact her on 01797~690788 for further details. Walk No:3 is a special treat as it’s AN EVENING WALK. What could be nicer than an little stroll amidst beautiful woods, on a beautiful summers evening ? Try it & see !. This trip has been arranged to take place on Wednesday July 26th. The meeting place is to be the EASTERN CAR PARK of Brede High Woods, Cripps Corner. OS EXP124. TQ804205. (SatNav TN31 6EX) at 6.30pm. As this is to be an evening walk, drinks & crisps are suggested midway. Rita & Lionel are to be your ‘walk leaders’ for this excursion and you ma contact them on 01424~752452 for all further information.

STAPLECROSS STOOLBALL CLUB: Only one fixture this week, and as it’s at home, it could be just the opportunity to not only pop along and cheer on our side, but may enable you to find out how to become more involved in this energetic sport. This match will take place on Tuesday July 25th and our opponents will hail from Catsfield. The game will commence at 7.00pm so please do come along and support our local team.

EAST SUSSEX MOBILE LIBRARY SERVICE: Once more, we look forward to welcoming the little Mobile Library Service as the van, carrying all the exciting goodies on board, wends it’s way through our little country lanes on it’s way to our outlying rural communities. This will be the last of it’s two visits for the month of July in this area. The little van will first call to Staplecross, on Thursday July 27th. where it will park in Cricketers Field, between 1.40pm and 2.10pm. Following on from that session, it will then meander down to Cripps Corner, - where it now uses the car park of the ‘Direct Recovery Yard between 2.20pm and 2.45pm. This venue is on the Battle Road, just over the bridge, toward Swailes Green. The residents of this little hamlet can then avail themselves of this vital and much needed service. Please do still make as much use of the facilities on board when the van visits your areas. The Library is about more than just books, so please come along and see for yourself and help keep this service going for the benefit of all who live in our outlying rural areas & perhaps cannot always easily access the Main Branch facilities.

CHURCH SERVICES: Church services for the parish of Ewhurst will commence at St. James the Great, Ewhurst Green on Sunday July 23rd. Trinity 6. at 9.30am. This service will include Holy Communion (BCP). There will be NO SERVICE TODAY at St. Giles church, Bodiam but a church service will follow directly after at St. Mark’s church, Northiam Road, Staplecross at 11.15am. This will also include Holy Communion (BCP). If there is any church matter on which you feel you may need further assistance, especially Baptisms, Weddings and sadly, Funerals, then for the time being, do please get in touch with the appropriate Churchwardens: ~ For all Bodiam matters, please contact Graham Peters - email at [email protected] or telephone number 01580~830203. For all Ewhurst Parish matters please contact Jo Goodwin - email [email protected] or telephone number 01580~830601. Help in some way is always at hand and always so generously given, so do please contact them.

PLEASE CONTACT ME: If you are arranging an event in the foreseeable future- whatever the nature of the event and however large or small, if you’d like some extra coverage for it, - courtesy of the Observer Newspaper - then please get in touch. If it’s of interest to you, - it’s of interest to us. it’s never too early to send in any of the details and to tell us what you are planning. Many of you will be turning your thoughts to other events in the near future - and with the longer, warmer & brighter hours of daylight, many of these may be geared for us all to enjoy in our beautiful great outdoors. Please do contact me, as I’d love to hear from you and to help ‘spread the word’ on your behalf................Thank You.

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