Winchelsea

31 Highfords, Icklesham

The Gascon Wine Trade of Winchelsea and Rye will take place tomorrow (Saturday) at 3pm in the New Hall. Dr Susan Rose is giving the talk which has been arranged by Winchelsea Archaeological Society. The trading of wine was an important source of wealth for Winchelsea which was one of the ten major wine ports in England in the first half of the 14th Century.

There will be a cellar tour of the 14th century cellars in the town on Sunday July 14 at 2 pm from Castle Street. Most of the cellars were built to service the wine trade with Gascony. These tours last 90 minutes and cost £5 per person with funds going towards archaeology in Winchelsea. The email address is: [email protected] or phone 01797 224446 to book your tickets.

The Friends of Winchelsea Church are holding their Annual General Meeting on Sunday July 14 at 12.15pm in St Thomas’ Church. This is an opportunity for the Annual and Financial Reports to be presented and also a Council for next year to be elected. The fabric of the church has kept reasonably sound over the last few years but work that now requires attention is the south roof which needs retiling plus improvements to the guttering. Nevertheless it is unlikely that the roof work will begin this year. Other emerging work not funded in the original budget includes some surveys, lightning conductor adjustments and electrical developments. These costs will be reviewed at the meeting to which all members are invited and if you are not a member of the Friends of Winchelsea Church but would like to join do come along this Sunday.

The 228th birthday of Winchelsea Methodist Chapel is this Sunday July 14 and begins with hymn singing under the Wesley Tree from 2.30pm. At 3 pm all will adjourn to the chapel for a service led by Rev Rose Westwood of the South East District of the Methodist Church. After the celebration, light refreshments will be served.

Awesome Australia is the topic which the children at St Thomas’ School have worked on this year and there will be displays in the school hall during the day on Tuesday July 16 and Wednesday July 17. Each class has been assigned an area in which to showcase their ideas on the subject. There will be displays on Aboriginal-inspired art; clay models of native wombats, kangaroos and platypus; pastel drawings of Uluru (once called Ayer’s Rock) and Australia-themed creative writing and much more. The doors are open for all to come and look round at the exhibits.

If you are thinking about getting fit for the summer you might like to try Zumba which brings together fitness, dance and exercise to Latin, Asian and African music. This is a fun and effective workout method for all and if you would like to attend classes are held on Fridays from 9am to 9.55am in the New Hall.

Winchelsea Beach

Many sports activities at the Community Hall are focused upon keeping fit and training regularly, as is Andy Murray’s formula. He was known to spend more time on intensive physical conditioning than practising tennis on court and this served to give him the stamina to win for Britain. Fitness is also fun as well as purposeful and the Martial Arts Club in the Community Hall is a competitive sport involving all ages and abilities.The Karate technique is Wado Ryu which combines Shotokan Karate and Jujitsu and is held on Tuesdays, beginning at 5.30 pm for Children’s Karate four to 11 years) and at 6.30 pm for Youth/Adult Karate (12+ yrs). Come along and meet the Sensei, find out more and have a go.

Another fitness session in the Community Hall is Kick Boxing (American Style) which takes place on Mondays at 7.30pm to 9.30pm. This lively activity is for 13 plus years and it is possible to burn up to 800 calories per hour.

On SundayJuly 14 Rye Harbour Nature Reserve has arranged a tour to observe Four Special Flowers. This will involve looking at the reserve’s plants and finding rarities that include Marsh Helleborine, Least Lettuce, Stinking Hawks-beard and Sea Heath as well as the more common flowers. Please meet at Rye Harbour car park at 10.30 am to 12.30 pm and the reserve will be pleased to receive any donations.

Over the summer period from July-August, the popular St Richard’s Fellowship Lunches will not be happening. However as we approach autumn at the end of September these Lunches will resume as usual in the Community Hall.