Staplecross

COMMUNITY NEWS & REVIEWS: You may recall that our super little village school, Staplecross MC Primary School, held a wonderful Harvest Festival Service at St Mark’s Church in Staplecross recently and cordially invited residents of the parish, together with families and friends of the school to join them in this service and to then share ‘an afternoon tea’ with them, directly after the service. I’m very pleased to say that very many of you did just that and a very enjoyable time was certainly had by all. The school had also decided to have a slight change of plan this year, in that they decided to join with the Battle Food Bank collection and they were able to provide 60 Lunches, as a result of this. Also the school via the PTFA, recently held a cake sale, after school, where a gorgeous array of delicious and delectable offerings were able to be purchased, some just in time for tea and as a result of this little fund raising event, the fantastic amount of £82.49 was able to be added to the PTFA funds. Monies raised at events such as this, will be used for the benefit of the pupils of this amazing school, so a win - win situation all round. The school would like to thank everyone who very kindly baked, brought and bought all the yummy goodies for this cake stall. Their generosity and continued support, is as always, so very much appreciated.
By Anne Reed
Published 23rd Oct 2015, 00:00 BST

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LUNCHEON CLUB APPEAL: Just a little reminder of the appeal made recently, on behalf of this little dining group. I have often told you of the delicious two course meals that are provided every month at the village hall in Staplecross and where for a very small cost of £6 per person, a small group of happy, and very friendly diners meet up to enjoy them in comfortable surroundings. Well, sadly for any number of reasons, the numbers of those attending these lunches, are declining and the hard working organisers now find themselves in a bit of a quandary and are now looking into the economic and validity of continuing to provide these lunches. The Luncheon Club has a superb group of people In Charge, so to speak, who do all the hard and messy work involved, including selecting the menu’s, who prepare, cook and serve, clear and clean up, who lay out the hall and tables and tidy it all away after we’ve gone home. These lovely people really enjoy doing it, but there does come a time when the costs going out outweigh the diners coming in. Hence this appeal. This super little dining group is looking for more bums on seats. Yes, we need you. Additional members are urgently needed and would be so very welcome. The meals, as I’ve said many times, are always delicious, freshly cooked with the provisions often locally sourced, and of great variety. Rules are few and far between and you don’t even have to live within the parish boundary as several of our diners travel from outside, which just shows you how great the meals are! Please come along and join this lovely club group and help prevent another local social club from being lost to the community. We meet every third Wednesday of each month at 12.30pm in Staplecross Village Hall. Please contact Sally on 01580 830000 or Dennis on 01580 830816 for all further information. We really do look forward to welcoming you to our dining table.

EWHURST PARISH COUNCIL: Appeal. It has been almost five years since the last Ewhurst Parish Local Action Plan came into being and the EPC will be shortly be refreshing the successful 2010-2015 Ewhurst Parish Local Action Plan. The parish council will be consulting with residents, businesses and community groups, in order to determine the Parish’s priorities for the next five years. Many of you attend the EPC Annual Parish Assembly which suggests that you are interested in what is happening in and around our community. Do you know what is planned for the future within the parish? Do you care? What do you feel our community now needs, or does not? The EPC are now asking residents the all-important question: Are You Interested In Helping To Identify Your Community’s Needs? If so please consider putting yourself forward to join the Ewhurst Parish Council Local Action Plan Steering Group. This invitation is open to all residents, male or female, young or not-so-young, and whether you live in Cripps Corner, Staplecross or Ewhurst Green. To register your interest in joining the Steering Group, or to obtain further information, please contact Richard Farhall, Ewhurst Parish Clerk, either at 2 Banks Cottages, Mountfield, East Sussex TN32 5JZ, by telephone 07775 333096 or by email: [email protected] This is a very interesting, exciting and worthwhile project to become involved in, so do please get in touch as soon as you can.

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ROTHER RAMBLERS: Still enjoying the brisk fresh air as they stroll around our area are the members of the Rother Ramblers and they have two more walks lined up for us to enjoy with them. Walk No 1 is planned for Sunday and is an 8 to 9 mile circular walk west from Stonegate. To join in on this walk, please meet at Stonegate station OS EXP 136. TQ658272 (SatNav TN5 7EU) at 10.30am. Unfortunately parking charges will apply at Stonegate station and if travelling by train the 9.50am train from Hastings will arrive at 10.23am. But please previously check for any scheduled engineering works. As usual a picnic lunch is suggested. Your walk leader for this outing is Janet and you may contact her on 01424 420570 for all further information. Walk No 2 is again just a short(ish) one of just 7.5 miles and is a circular stroll of Rolvenden railway route. Arranged to take place on Wednesday. All those interested are to meet at 10am in Rolvenden High Street, near to the church OS EXP 125. TQ844313 (SatNav TN17 4LN). Roadside parking is available and this circular route should have great views of steam engines. Once more, a picnic lunch is suggested and for today, Frances will be your walk leader on this occasion and you may contact her on 01424 754548 for any further details.

MOBILE LIBRARY SERVICE: The image of the Mobile Library van when it arrives in Ewhurst Green is always a welcome sign as it offers the residents all manner of library services to the rural community. The van will be arriving on Thursday morning, October 29, between 10.40am and will depart at 11.10am. Please do continue to make use of this wonderful, much valued, still free, amenity service whilst we are still able to do so. This is such a vital service to our rural communities that we should make as much use of it as we can. The old adage, Use It or Lose It is certainly very true in this case, so please do all you can to help protect and prolong this service.

BONFIRE & TORCHLIGHT PROCESSION: The exciting annual Staplecross Bonfire and Torchlight Extravaganza will take place on Saturday October 31 beginning with the Fancy Dress Competition which will be held in the Staplecross Village Hall, Northiam Road at 5.30pm. The road between Staplecross and Cripps Corner (B2244) which is used for the torchlight procession to travel down and back up again, to the actual Bonfire field, will be closed from 6pm when the various bonfire societies from all over Sussex will gather together to attend this very popular event and to also support this ancient tradition which marks and celebrates such an important date in our history. The procession is made up of the various bonfire societies throughout the region, with their members wearing their fabulous costumes and proudly holding their banners aloft. They will be aided and abetted by a huge amount of the blazing torches, recently made in Staplecross incidentally, lit and held high for all to see. Not surprisingly, there will also be a lot of noise, which only adds to the amazing atmosphere and ambience, by way of drums and various bands from around the area. This promises, as always, to be a magical sparkling night, but very noisy. Sadly there will be some children of various ages, who might not like the unexpected noises coming from whatever source, so parents, guardians, family and friends, please take extra care of these precious wee ones. Also please remember, they are much smaller than adults, so need to be able to see what’s going on around them. Bear in mind that it will be cold and dark, so a torch or two may be useful for walking along the narrow roads, as well as hats, gloves and warmer clothing as the colder winter weather sneaks to settle in. Volunteers are always needed to help make this a great night out, so if you could offer your services as a marshal along the route, or to

rattle a collecting tin, man a road closure or help direct traffic or just help out as and where needed, then please offer your services. Brian is the man to contact (or any society member) and you may contact him via 01580 830570. Your assistance in helping to make this fantastic evening a friendly, well managed and safer place to be, will certainly be so appreciated by all those who attend.

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ACTIVITY REMINDER: Just a gentle reminder that another Guy Fawkes Celebration will be taking place the following week, on Saturday November 7 at our own Staplecross Primary School. The invitation is extended to all residents of all ages and the hosts, the proprietors of The Castle Inn at Bodiam, are hoping to welcome as many as possible to this free creative and friendly treat. This activity will be in the form of making fantastic lanterns of papier mache which, come the following weekendm Friday November 13, will be lit (by battery candles so will be very safe) and will then be carried around Bodiam Castle in the traditional Bodiam Lantern Parade, accompanied by drummers and a fantastic Guy, culminating in the exciting lighting of the huge bonfire and the fabulous firework display in the grounds of the Castle Inn. This is always a noisy and popular event, so make sure you get to join in with all the celebrations. All additional information can be obtained from Wendy at the Castle Inn on 01580 830330 who looks forward to seeing you there.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES: Staplecross WI. Time creeps up on us all as once again the day for our monthly meeting draws near. Tuesday November 3. is the date, the time is 2.30pm and the venue is St Mark’s church room, Northiam Road, Staplecross. The next meeting of the local WI will be their AGM but this is always dealt with very efficiently and then the friendly social time can begin. If you were considering coming along to one of our monthly meetings, please don’t let the notice of the AGM put you off. The paperwork is soon dealt with and the members really are a lovely group of ladies. This group always manage to put a lot into their calendar year so there is bound to be something of interest to you. Why not pop along and say Hello, we all look forward to meeting you and if you’d like further information on what we do and what’s on offer, please telephone Ann on 01580 831944. She’ll be very happy to tell you all about us.

CHURCH SERVICES: Church services for the parish of Ewhurst will commence at St James the Great, Ewhurst Green on Sunday. Trinity 21 at 9.30am. This service will include Holy Communion (BCP). There will be no service at St Giles church, Bodiam today, but a service at St. Mark’s church, Northiam Road, Staplecross will follow directly after at 11.15am. This service will also include Holy Communion. Both services will be conducted by Reverend Gordon Winchester and if there is any church matter in which he can be of service, then please do contact him either at The Rectory, Ewhurst Green, by telephone 01580 830268 or via his email: [email protected] He would love to help in any way he can, so just get in touch.

PLEASE CONTACT ME: If you are arranging an event in the near future, and remember, Christmas is just around the corner and it’s closer than you think, however large or small and you’d like some extra coverage for it, 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 your details and to tell us what you are planning, so 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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