Whatlington

Progress continues at the Church, Jeffrey has provides up with this update:

The Bishop of Chichester visited Whatlington church as part of his week spent in the Deanery on Tuesday 22nd and pronounced himself very impressed with the restoration work and also with the continuity of church services in the village hall whilst the church building has been under restoration. Bishop Martin has also indicated that, subject to arranging a suitable date he would like to come for the formal re-opening service in the early part of 2014.

The PCC have commissioned some tea towels to mark the completion of the restoration and these will hopefully be available for sale in time for Christmas.

This week should see the installation of the glass frontage for the church Gallery, this is another piece by Mel Howse and will be engraved with a design complimentary to the new West window. The church will be a splendid blend of old and new craftsmanship, all of the highest quality. The items of furniture recently returned from store are now in the process of being refinished and repaired as necessary by a local cabinet maker, the items had been cleaned by the conservators but the effects of the fire have left joints lose and some charring to be attended to.

Hilda sends news regarding the Good Companions:

Thank you Jeffrey for giving such an interesting talk on The Railways last week to members of The Good Companions. Unfortunately I was unable to attend this meeting but I know from others that they really enjoyed your talk. Maybe we can ask you back again next year to give a further talk on The Railways and your experiences. Thank you to those who provided raffle prizes and baked cakes for refreshments.

The next meeting of The Good Companions is our Christmas Lunch which this year is being held on Wednesday 27th November at The Abbey Hotel, Battle, 12 o`clock for 12.30pm. By now all members should have received details and a menu to choose from. If anyone else would like to join us please do get in touch with Hilda on 01424 777358. We welcome new members.

Whilst October can often be a quieter month as we recover from the summer and start getting ready for Christmas, our regular events at The Royal Oak continue to be popular. The Thursday quiz begins at 8pm each week for teams of up to six and last week “Harmony” won the jackpot and donated half the winnings to St Michael’s Hospice, so very well done to them. Wednesday is curry and cards night, and our homemade curry and a pint for just £7 is still going - an absolute bargain!

Last Friday was our regular monthly Irish Music night which was excellent as usual, thanks as always to Jo and Paul for organising such a great evening. The next one will be on Friday 29th November from 8pm.

The Film Club will be showing the award winning Les Miserables on Friday 8th November in The Barn at The Royal Oak, so if you missed it at the cinema this is the chance to see what everyone was going on about!

The next Psychic Night at The Royal Oak hosted by Master Palmist Robin Lown and his guest tarot card reader and clairvoyant Avril Price will be on Saturday 23rd November at 7.30pm. Tickets are just £10 each and these nights are always absolutely sold out, so if you would like a ticket, get in early and call 01424 870492 to reserve your place.

If you would like any event or news to be included in this column, please email me [email protected]