Whatlington village voice - March 23

Both the rubbish in Riccards Lane and the very obscene graffiti on Riccards Lane road have been cleared. Our litter bin by the bus shelter has been replaced; unfortunately there has been a delay in the replacing of the Whatlington name sign, just above the church entrance, but the council is hopeful this will not take too much longer.

A suggestion of having planters on the A21 verge by the garage has been made and the council are writing to the Highways Agency for their advice and comments.

The council have been given a Sussex Flag to be flown on Sussex Day 16th June.

The non-running of the village spring is still being investigated

The following grants were given: - The Good Companions £80 to help with speakers and hall rental costs. – The village Newsletter £70 to help with printing costs – St Mary Magdalene Parochial Church Council £400 towards repairs for the bells and Whatlington Village Hall £400 towards costs for a ramp for the disabled at the halls side door.

The next parish council meeting is on 17th May and this will be the Annual meeting.

At the Parish Assembly our council Chairman, District Councillor, local groups and Mountfield & Whatlington School gave their reports. These were followed by a talk from Stephen Hardy on the Role and Work of the organisation “Campaign for the Protection of Rural England” which was very interesting and provoked questions.

Thank you Valerie for this report. I attended this meeting and found the talk by Stephen Hardy very interesting as were the reports from the various committees.

May I take this opportunity of thanking the Parish Council for the grant to The Good Companions which will be used as suggested and also for the grant to the Parish Church which is designated “Bells”. The church also received a very generous grant from the Parish Council last year which also was designated “bells” and both amounts will be used to repair the bells this year, when the time is suitable.

19 members of the Good companions visited West Station, Bexhill on Sea for lunch last Wednesday and a report will be in next week’s village voice.

Last week the Parish Church celebrated Mothering Sunday and many people enjoyed the family service. The P.C.C. and members of the congregation would like to thank Jempson`s funeral directors (Battle) for the lovely bunches of daffodils they so kindly gave to the church to hand out to everyone at this service. They were so beautiful and a sure sign that Spring is here!

The services for Easter and Palm Sunday have now been planned and are as follows….

April 1st, Palm Sunday 08.30 Holy Communion

April 6th, Good Friday 6pm service of hymns and readings for Good Friday

April 8th, Easter Sunday 09.00 Parish Holy Communion service and as this is the second Sunday of the month, the service will also be a family service.

Our new minister the Rev`d Kevin Mepham will take all these services.

Parish Eucharist this Sunday will be at the usual time of 8.30am in the village hall. All are most welcome.

Hilda Aplin, Lismoyne, Oakhurst Road