Winchelsea village voice

This service will be followed at 10.30 am by the Choral Eucharist which will be led by Revd. Geoffrey Scott.

Just a reminder for all Ellen Terry fans that Ann Rachlin will be featured
at the Rye Arts Festival on Monday the 24th September in her highly praised audio-visual
presentation held in Rye Methodist Church at 3 pm. Lavishly illustrated with hitherto unseen images, this stunning event spotlights Ellen Terry as seen through the eyes of her multi-talented daughter, Edith Craig and appeals to anyone interested in the theatre. Tickets at £10 will be available at the door but it would be wise to phone
the Festival Box Office on 01797 224442 just to be sure of your seat.

The New Inn is holding a Pub Quiz on Thursday 27th September at 8.30 pm. You don’t have to be a Mastermind but it helps to have a good memory.

This year’s Macmillan Coffee morning is to be held in the Lower Court Hall on Friday September 29th as from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm. Here is an open invitation to everyone to come along and join in. Anyone wishing to help should contact Tina Neaves on 01797 226382 and contributions towards the raffle will be gratefully received

It was the Winchelsea Millennium Artefacts Society that staged the Art Exhibition over the August Bank Holiday weekend, not FOAM as written in last week’s Observer and so apologies for the error. The Artefacts Society worked hard to achieve the net proceeds of £1,188 and they thank all who helped with the exhibition. These funds will go towards maintaining the town sign, beacon and tapestry as well as £250 to St Thomas’ School to encourage the young artists.

A big thank you to everyone who contributed towards making last week’s Heritage Weekend a success. Alan McKinna who helped with the organising noted that ‘Everyone played a distinct and special part.’ For his part retired Canon Howard Cocks gave two instructive talks on Strachan’s stained glass windows as the audience accompanied him around the church and Roger Marvin’s organ recitals were a restful change following the guided walk. The visit to Blackfriars Barn cellar was well attended and plenty of interest was shown in the recently discovered ship drawings engraved on one of the walls. Dominic Leahy who led the tour asked if anybody could suggest reasons for the drawings and there was no shortage of theories from the group but still the mystery continues.

Although the Bridge Inn on The Strand still has a website and features in at least one guide book on old Sussex pubs it has been closed for over a year and was recently sold as private accommodation. It is an attractive historical building with low beams and open fires and is due to be refurbished by the new owners. Last week there was a sale of some of its contents that included the old wooden furniture which formed part of its most recent history. In the last thirty years the pub was run by Joe Becket and his partner June and maintained a modest family atmosphere that was regularly interrupted by the arrival of bustling coach parties which liked to stop there due to its proximity to the roadside. Situated below Winchelsea the Bridge Inn began as a popular ale house 500 years ago. At a later date during a battle between local smugglers and revenue men one smuggler was carried into the backyard of the pub where he died. Since then stories have developed that he occasionally makes ghostly appearances in and around the building already steeped in its past memories.

Cindi Cogswell, 31 Highfords, Icklesham