Winchelsea

Cindi Cogswell, 31 Highfords, Icklesham

This evening (Friday) A Hint of Syn will be held at the Literary Society’s meeting at 7 for 7.30pm. The talk focuses on actor and writer Russell Thorndike and his Doctor Syn Novels and will be given by his granddaughter Nina Thorndike. Light refreshments are available and non-members are welcome to attend.

The fortnightly Church Market will be in progress tomorrow between 10.30am and 12 noon. Come along and bring your friends. There you will find coffee, tea and good company and a comfortable place to sit in historic surrounds. In addition there will be stalls selling home-made and home-grown produce and plants as well as hardback books and monies raised will go towards church funds. Hardback books on many interesting subjects are also currently on sale at the back of the church at very reasonable prices.

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Winchelsea Archaeological Society has organised an Under Winchelsea Cellar Tour this Saturday beginning at 2pm meeting in Castle Street. This popular guided event is £5 p.p. and to book tickets please contact 01797 224446. The funds raised from the event will go towards archaeology in Winchelsea.

Also on Saturday from 2pm, the Autumn Show by the Garden Society will take place in the New Hall. Entry cost is 50p and you are welcome to look around at the displays, enjoy a cup of tea and purchase raffle tickets and plants.

If you are a member of New Hall Management Committee this is a reminder that the Annual General Meeting is on Sunday September 8th. The venue will be the New Hall beginning at 9.45 am.

Icklesham Parish Council will be in the Court Hall on Monday September 9th for its next council meeting. The meeting will begin at 7.15pm and local residents are welcome to attend and may participate. If you would like to discuss health activities the Sports and Recreation Working Group of Icklesham Parish Council has begun looking into keep fit services for the wards. Councillors Charles Bronsden, Jim Horsman, Peter Turner, Steve Turner and Nick Warren make up the Working Group and would be pleased to hear from you. For Winchelsea residents who are interested in both play facilities and adult fitness provision you can speak to members of the Working Group or contact the Clerk to the council at email: [email protected] .

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The Last Voyage of the Queen Mary is the talk given by David Clark at the Second Wednesday Society’s next meeting. The Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed mainly in the North Atlantic from 1936 to 1967. This event will be on Wednesday September 11th at 2.30pm in the New Hall. A home-made tea follows the talk and the cost is £1 or £4 for non-members which includes the tea.

The Winchelsea branch of the National Gardens Scheme is opening six gardens on Saturday September 14th from 1pm to 5.30pm. This is the second opening of the year for the NGS, raising money for a selection of national charities mostly in the area of cancer care. One of the gardens (Strand House) will be open for the first time. Admission is £5, a map will be provided and teas will be available at Strand House, in aid of NGS charities and at the Lower Court Hall, in aid of St Thomas’ Church. During the main opening in June £6,000 was raised which was greatly appreciated by the NGS charities.

Heritage Open Days is the National celebration of our Heritage held over four days each year in September; now in its 19th Year! Winchelsea’s contribution involves putting on events at five sites, but only on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th September (other places such as Hastings will be opening places on Thursday & Friday 12th & 13th). All events have free admission on those four days. In Winchelsea, on Saturday 14th there are two tours of Blackfriars Barn Cellar (National Trust) at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. which will be led by the Friends of the Ancient Monuments. Please meet at the Cellar 15 minutes early. Opposite to the Cellar, Wesley’s Methodist Memorial Chapel is open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on the 14th, with light refreshments. This is also the Sussex Historic Churches Trust ‘Ride and Stride’ Day and the Friends of the Methodist Chapel look forward to welcoming visitors throughout the day. There is also a QR Code tour of the Town arranged by Winchelsea Archaeological Society who will display a code and a map on prominent buildings in the town. If you have ‘smart-phone’ or a pad computer, with the appropriate app which allows you to read a QR code, you will be able to go from place to place! On Sunday 15th, the Archaeological Society is repeating that Tour and leading three tours of the Blackfriars Barn Cellar at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Please meet at the Cellar (opposite the Wesley Chapel - which will not be open on Sunday) St.Thomas’ Church will be open to visitors from 1 p.m. till 5 p.m. with light refreshments and a Talk about Strachan’s Stained Glass windows to be held at 3 p.m. The Museum and Lower Court Hall will be open from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. with special exhibits and light refreshments. There is plenty to do and see over the Heritage Open Days and all are invited to turn up and take the opportunity.

The Friends of the Ancient Monuments & Museum are holding Cellar Tours in connection with the Rye Festival and must be booked via the Festival Booking Office (01797 224442). These Cellar Tours are at 11am on the 16th, 18th, 20th 22nd, 25th and 27th September, meeting at the Town Well in Castle Street. The cost per person is £5 which includes a booklet and all proceeds are used to help maintain the ancient monuments of the town.

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A Rye Festival event held in Winchelsea is The Marian Consort which is an internationally-renowned early music vocal ensemble, directed by Rory McCleery. The performance title is ‘Singing in Secret’ – Music from Recusant Renaissance England and the music is that of William Byrd, known to be England’s greatest Renaissance composer. This special event is held at St Thomas’ Church on Wednesday September 25th at 7.30 pm and tickets are £15 p.p. from the Box Office (01797 224442).

St Thomas’ Church has welcomed the new organist David Birchenough who took up the post last Sunday. David is well qualified in this role as he is also the organist at Hastings Crematorium. Now that the church has a regular organist this will alleviate the work load of Marion, David, Ben and Peter who kindly stepped in to help keep the music going over the last few months. Their assistance was greatly appreciated! The choir practices with Marion have now resumed and take place on Mondays, with the Juniors at 5.45pm and the Seniors at 7pm in the church.

The Winchelsea Millennium Artefacts Society staged another successful art exhibition over the August Holiday. Thirty eight exhibits were sold including three paintings by pupils of St Thomas’ Primary School, to the total value of £3,210. Following the payment to artists plus expenses the net proceeds amounted to £1,206. As a result of this grand effort the committee wishes to thank all who assisted with the exhibition, not least the artists and residents who continue to support the annual event which enables the Society to maintain the Town’s Millennium artefacts. In addition to make an annual donation to St Thomas’ Primary School of £250 to encourage the development of budding artists.

Last month there were two expressions of interest for the position of Rector for Winchelsea, Winchelsea Beach and Icklesham Parish Churches, however only one of these turned into an actual application. On August 29th the Selection Panel of the Parochial Church Council which included two members from Winchelsea, the Archdeacon, the Secretary of the Guild and two members from Icklesham, met with the candidate. The outcome was positive but it is too early to say whether he will be appointed as the results of the meeting now have to be considered by the Diocese who should be responding soon. If no agreement is reached, after nine months a candidate can be imposed by the Diocese but members of the church are optimistic that the vacancy will be filled in the time allotted.

Winchelsea Beach

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There will be a morning communion service led by Revd Howard Norton at St Richard’s Church on Sunday September 8th. These services are for one hour beginning at 9.15am.

An evening of Cash Bingo is held every other Wednesday at 7.15pm in the Community Hall. The next session is this Wednesday September 11th.

The next Fellowship Lunch is on Friday September 27th at 12 for 12.30pm in the Community Hall. With only three weeks to go booking is essential soon and the number to contact is 01797 227168.

The Sports and Recreation Working Group of Icklesham Parish Council has begun looking into keep fit services for the wards. Councillors Charles Bronsden, Jim Horsman, Peter Turner, Steve Turner and Nick Warren make up the Working Group and would be pleased to hear from you. For residents of Winchelsea Beach who are interested in both play facilities and adult fitness provision you can also contact the Clerk to the council at email: [email protected] .

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