Winchelsea

Even though spring has only recently commenced this is a reminder that British Summer Time (BST) also called, Spring Forward and Daylight Savings Time, starts on Sunday March 30th. On this day as from 1am the clocks go forward 1 hour and we lose an hour of sleep in the morning. With the commemoration of the First World War this year here are some facts about BST linked to the War. Now in its 98th year BST was first proposed in 1907 by William Willett who had a building business and was exasperated at the ‘waste’ of useful daylight first thing in the morning during the summer. For years the British Government had refused to introduce Daylight Saving Time. However in 1916 Britain did adopt BST in order to be on the same time as the Germans who had taken on the idea a few weeks earlier. At the time Britain and Germany were fighting each other (1914-18) and any system that could save money and fuel was worth trying.

The fortnightly visit from the Mobile Library to Castle Street takes place this Wednesday April 2nd. As usual it will be available from 1.40 to 2.10pm.

The Winchelsea Singers are holding their annual Spring Concert on Saturday April 12th at 7pm in St Thomas’ Church. Included in the programme will be Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’, Works by Purcell and the premiere of an Anthem to commemorate the First World War by Hermione Roff. The tickets for the Concert are £10 per person at the door and a bar will be on hand.

We’re still no nearer to solving the mystery of the missing Malaysian aeroplane despite the many contradictory assumptions. However a mystery closer at hand is who will be the next Mayor of Winchelsea? The Mayoring Ceremony takes place every year on Easter Monday April 21st at 11am in the Upper Court Hall and will be attended by the Mayors of the Cinque Ports. All will be revealed in due course.

There is yet another scam currently doing the rounds. It involves your email system being hacked into and your email address copied but very slightly altered. This new email address, so similar to your own that no one can tell the difference, is then used to send messages to all your friends whose addresses are also on your email system. The message on the email states that ‘you’ are on holiday in France but your money and phone have been stolen from your hotel room. The idea is you need money quickly and so you are appealing to your friends to transfer a sum of money to ‘your’ account. Thinking that it is you that sent the email your friends may well decide to send the funds to help you out. However the funds will not go to you but instead to the person who has managed to counterfeit you.

The Wall of Sound concert at St Thomas’ Church last Saturday was a great success and raised £233 for Church Funds. Thank you to the performers and all who supported this first musical event of the year. All fund raising efforts for the church will help towards the present cost of repairs for the weather vane, clock face and some stone and gutter work on the roof. Also, if you enjoy singing and would like to join the Wall of Sound who perform a wide range of music from Gospel to Muse and Mozart please contact 07533 207003 to share your enthusiasm.

Winchelsea Beach

For Mothering Sunday on March 30th there will be a Communion Service at St Richards Church. The service which will be led by Canon Whitehead will begin at 9.15am.

The Mobile Library will be stationed in Sea Road on Wednesday March 2nd. This will be from 11.55 am to 12.30pm for information and exchange of books.

On Wednesday April 2nd at 7.30pm Winchelsea Beach Community Association are holding their Annual General Meeting in the Community Hall. All are very welcome to come along and tea, coffee and wine will be provided. If you would like to join the committee please leave your name on 01797 226614.

Cindi Cogswell, 31 Highfords, Icklesham