Winchelsea

Mobile Library: Plan to change your book before the Christmas festivities begin when the Mobile Library makes its fortnightly visit to Castle Street. This will be on Wednesday December 21st at the usual time of 11 till 11.30am.

Nine Lessons: The candlelit Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols will be held on Wednesday December 21st at 6pm in St Thomas’ Church. This peaceful intimate service celebrates the birth of Jesus and involves nine Bible readings prophesying redemption, interspersed with Christmas Carols.

Crib Service: On Christmas Eve, December 24th, at 4pm the Crib Service will take place in St Thomas’ Church for all families, children, friends and residents. Any children who are coming to the service are invited to dress up as angels or shepherds and take part as the action develops. There are no words to learn but knowledge of ‘Away in the Manger’ would be useful and if possible bring your own costumes.

Rain or Shine: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will be performed by the Rain or Shine theatre company on Thursday December 29th at 5pm in St Thomas’ Church. Rain or Shine have been performing outdoors in the summer and in the Church at Christmas for almost 5 years in the town and are back once more, by popular demand. To purchase tickets please contact the Bonfire Boyes on 01797 224446 or visit Grammar School Records in Rye and the cost is £10 adults and £6 under 16s. The Hound of the Baskervilles features the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and a mysterious and spine-tingling production can be expected for this dark and chilling time of the year.

All we like sheep: The Christmas season has a way of bringing the lost sheep back into the fold after they have strayed over hills and valleys throughout the year. In the cosy atmosphere of the Wesley Chapel last Saturday morning Keith Miller on the keyboard and the Worship Leaders welcomed the flock who had travelled between Bexhill and Rye for another year to be there. These popular entertainers Keith and Co cheerfully shepherded the Christmas Celebration with their inspiring repertoire of words and music. The theme was indeed ‘shepherds’ and there was no shortage of carols to choose from on those hardy protectors of the flock. Keith had written one of his own called ‘Praise to the King’ which everyone enjoyed singing and a list of his songs can be found on the Pett Methodist Chapel website. Other songs that featured were ‘Old Molly Metcalfe’ by Jake Thackeray which is a song about counting sheep in the traditional way using stones, also ‘A tender child’ by Val Gibbs and ‘For God so loved the world’ by Carman. The Bible reading was from Luke 2:8-20 where the angel said ‘fear not’ as he brought the shepherds good news of the baby in the manger. In John 10: 3-4 it is written that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The sheep know his voice and he knows their names which makes for a wonderful relationship between Jesus Christ and his people. During the event a collection was taken in aid of Action for Children and the morning concluded with coffee, tea, an assortment of biscuits and mince pies.

Winchelsea Beach

Mobile Library: The Christmas holiday is always an opportunity to get into a good book, finish the book you are reading or start a new one during those dark quiet evenings with just the dog for company. As usual the Mobile Library will brave the elements and be at your service on Wednesday December 21st at 11.40am till 12.15pm in Sea Road.

Update on flooding: Representatives from Southern Water attended the parish council meeting in the Community Hall on Monday December 12th. They updated the council and members of the community on their plans to tackle the problem of flooding in the village. During periods of heavy rain, the public sewer network is filled to capacity with large amounts of surface water and groundwater pouring into the pipes which were not designed for this surplus. Southern Water aims to stop the excess water from getting in and already they have spent £70,000 on sealing the pipes this year. The local caravan sites have been improving their drainage systems and helping to unblock ditches as measures for clearing the surface water before it seeps into the sewer network and thus causes flooding. Their strategy is to repair and maintain the current system but they are not intending to replace it with a new system as this would cost millions. Nevertheless, the cost of using the emergency tankers in the village to pump away the excess water is in itself an expensive operation. Southern Water are continuing their investigations with CCTV and electro-scanning survey work at Morlais Ridge Wastewater Pumping Station to ascertain exactly why the station is getting increased flows and once analysed will be promptly making repairs. They are also working together with: Rother District Council, Local caravan parks, Romney Marshes Internal Drainage Board, Environment Agency, East Sussex County Council and Icklesham Parish Council. The advice and expertise of the group has been useful to Southern Water although there is still more to do before this matter is resolved.

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