Winchelsea

An Under Winchelsea Cellar Tour has been arranged by the Archaeological Society for this Sunday September 1st. The guided tour of the town’s ancient cellars starts at 2pm from Castle Street, lasts for 90 minutes and costs £5 p.p. If you would like to book your place the number to contact is 01797 224446 or [email protected] and funds raised will benefit archaeology in Winchelsea.

The Sung Eucharist at St Thomas’s Church is held on Sunday September 1st at 10.30 am. This week Revd Canon Richard Orchard will be leading the service.

A visit from the Mobile Library will take place on Wednesday September 4th to Castle Street. It will stay for 30 minutes as from 1.40 to 2.10 pm.

Too quickly the school summer holiday of six weeks has flown by! In less than a week, Thursday September 5th to be exact, St Thomas’s Primary School will be opening its doors to the children for the start of the Autumn Term. The school has recently updated its website so that it is more child-friendly. Each class has its own secure area on the site and the children can communicate with each other as well as the teacher setting homework and being contactable. The address is: www.st-thomas-winchelsea.e-sussex.sch.uk and it is worth having a browse to find out about newsletters, term dates and forthcoming events.

The by-election for a Winchelsea representative for Icklesham Parish Council takes place on Thursday September 5th and the polling station is the New Hall. Winchelsea residents are all welcome to vote. The previous councillor Richard Comotto is standing for re-election and the new candidate is Anna Hargreaves. At present Anna is a diocese-elected parent governor at St Thomas’ Primary School, has also worked in the health care sector for over 25 years and now runs a small business. She is interested in getting to know local residents and hearing their views as well as improving links with the wider community.

A Hint of Syn which concerns Russell Thorndike and the Doctor Syn Novels written in 1915 will be presented at Winchelsea Literary Society’s next meeting on Friday September 6th. Dr Syn is the swashbuckling anti-hero of a series of adventure stories based in the Romney Marshes where he plays many complex characters which include a pirate, scarecrow, clergyman and leader of a smuggling ring. The talk will be given by Thorndike’s granddaughter Nina Thorndike and is held in the Court Hall at 7 for 7.15 pm.

This year the Garden Society’s Autumn Show will be held on Saturday September 7th in the New Hall from 2pm and all are welcome to attend. If you would like full details of classes and information on how to enter you will find them in the Schedule and it will be delightful to see plenty of flowers and produce on display. Please note that for this event, entries should go to 4 Hiham Green and as usual Thursday is the deadline. Also the horticultural raffle at the last few shows has been very successful and the plan is to have one this time too so there is a need for some attractive prizes. If you are able to donate raffle prizes such as plants, garden produce like honey or elderflower cordial, plus tools, gardening books, gloves, etc. that would be excellent (and a bottle of wine usually goes down well as a prize too!) If you can provide something this will be gratefully received at The Well House (226428) as soon as possible.

Rye Medical Centre and Ferry Road Patient Participation Groups are running their next event on Wednesday September 11th at 6.30pm in Rye Community Primary School. The subject will be ‘Changes to your local Health Services’ and it is your chance to find out how recent changes in the NHS and Developments at the Rye, Winchelsea & District Memorial Hospital affect you. All are invited to come along, refreshments will be provided and car parking is via the school entrance in Love Lane.

The current Mayor of Winchelsea Stephen Turner recently compiled a report for August 2013 of his busy schedule since becoming Mayor in April. The four months of Mayoral duties involved a wide range of engagements not only within Winchelsea but across Kent and Sussex. The Mayoral year began with the launch of Malcolm Pratt’s new book, ‘Winchelsea Poor Laws 1790-1841’. There were also Church concerts and the St Georges Day service held in Winchelsea as well as the splendid talk by Professor Mark Ormerod on Edward III. The Mayor and Mayoress (Stephen and Jo) attended the Mayoring ceremonies at Rye, Hastings and Bexhill which they found very different from the Winchelsea Mayor making but unique in their own way. They were also fortunate to have been guests at the installation of the new Deputy Constable at Dover Castle with the beating of the retreat by the regimental band and at a reception hosted by The Lord Warden at Walmer Castle. As Speaker of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports Stephen was in the chair for the Joint Standing Committee meeting which culminated in the handover of the Speakership to the Rye Mayor for his year of office. Together with the Mayoress, Stephen represented the town at civic services in Rochester Cathedral, Folkestone which was coupled with the blessing of the fisheries and New Romney. Deputy Mayor John & Annie Spencer attended the Bexhill service while Stephen was chairing the Friends of the Church Annual General Meeting in Winchelsea. These and the other events they attended gave them an opportunity to promote Winchelsea in all its attractiveness to a much wider community. They will also be continuing to support the wide variety of events within the town such as the shows by the Garden Society, the Church Market, events at the school and the Summer Fete. A big thank you to Jo and the team who made the Fete such a success this year with all the money raised going back into community projects. His present role has also enabled Stephen to promote the Pipewell Gate Appeal as the Mayor’s charity and support the contributing fundraising activities in the town. A further big thank you to everyone who helped maintain and organise these events to date. The figure given as an estimate for the work on the Pipewell Gate is in excess of £40K but will be clarified following meetings with the Corporation’s architect and English Heritage to agree a schedule of works and arrange bids from specialist contractors. The Heritage Lottery Fund has been approached for assistance and the response is so far encouraging but there is not as yet a commitment to give funding assistance. To date just over £3k has been raised by the Corporation so there is still a long way to go but they have the money to pay some of the upfront costs to get the project started. The Corporation has no civic role or responsibility for local government but Mayor Stephen Turner who is also a Winchelsea Ward Councillor on the Parish Council is pleased to indicate that IPC has just completed walks around all the wards of the parish to note the condition of the areas they have responsibility to maintain. They will shortly be looking at next year’s budgets and Stephen would welcome feedback on any areas where residents feel maintenance or improvements are necessary, for example, providing more help with the grass cutting in the Churchyard.

Winchelsea Beach

St Richard’s Church will be having its Morning Prayer service on Sunday September 1st. This will be at 9.15 am and the church welcomes visitors on holiday at Winchelsea Beach.

The fortnightly visit from the Mobile Library will be on Wednesday September 4th to Sea Road. As usual it will stay for 35 minutes as from 11.55am to 12.30 pm.