Rodmell & Southease Parish Pump

It was sad to read in last week’s Sussex Express that journalist David Arnold had died. I know he had many readers of Country Yarns over the years, me being one of them.

Yet another bit of sad news I received from my cousin Ian Bell who told me that at church last Sunday the congregation were told that long-time villager Marie Littlechild had died. Marie was a well know ‘sparky’ lady full of energy and very strong willed. She loved Rodmell and supported it in many ways over the years. She was one of the mums that helped support the youth club when I started it years ago, and both her sons came to it. She will be greatly missed.

One of the things I keep forgetting to put in Parish Pump is that I have a seat which goes in the bath which I need to find a home for. It’s an Archimedes by Manage at Home and is in very good condition but probably needs a new battery. I don’t want anything for it, but a new home as I can’t use it anymore. Buyer collects and if you are interested please phone evenings after 6pm on 01273 476876. It’s taking up room in my bathroom, and I really want to get rid of it.

As it was a wet day on Saturday and my gardener couldn’t cut the lawns he helped me sort out various small jobs in the home that needed doing, so now all my torches are about to be in working order and a lot of technical stuff that was around the house he is taking to the tip for me plus we recycled a lot of cardboard packaging so it was quite a fruitful wet afternoon’s work.

It seems that quite a lot of people aren’t too pleased with the new layout of Parish Pumps as they find them too cramped and jumbled. A lady named Millie, stopped me in Tesco as she is a reader of Parish Pump and asked me why they had changed the format. I don’t know Millie, but a lot of people have asked me about it. Ali tells me she has also tried to find out by emailing her contacts at Sussex Express but hasn’t had any answer.

Saturday 31st October is a day I can’t forget, as my mother died on 31st and it’s one of my god-daughter’s birthdays and of course Halloween. I hope the children enjoy the Halloween Party at the pub (11am) as Daisy, Chris and crew have been working hard to decorate the pub and organise the party. And don’t forget the next pub quiz is on 4th November – booking essential. Tel 01273 472416

I was so pleased to see that South Farm, Rodmell is one of the best Pumpkin Patches in the UK with free entry, according to research by Outdoor Toys. They deserve recognition as they are a lovely hard-working family.

So many of the villagers in our area do so many things over the year and get good support from their villagers, helping to make each village a good community. With the world in such a mess it’s good to see community spirit rising above all the bad things that are happening.

Having read about so many problems in maternity units all over the place – reminded me of one of my mother’s sayings: ‘If men were to have the babies, we wouldn’t have so many babies in the world!’. Hopefully all the publicity will mean more improvements for pregnant women.

So far, we have been lucky with storm damage in this area, but many have suffered and there are more storms to come. Let’s hope our luck lasts especially as I have scaffolding up at the moment as my chimneys need work on them. More expense as a homeowner!

Why is it that at this time of the year things go wrong? It happens every year for me and I know I’m not the only one. So far this month I’ve had an electricity check, a dental check, an optical check, my car is awaiting a mechanical check, having just had its insurance renewed, the next thing is Christmas then New Year, followed by car tax and MOT, plus I’ve had to buy 2 new electric kettles and have quite a few birthdays coming up. Let’s hope the Budget will be a helpful one!

I heard on the radio recently that people are not driving at night very much now, because they can’t cope with the strong lights from more modern cars and many accidents are being caused by this problem. I haven’t driven at night for many years, and as we don’t have buses at night in this area one gets used to not going out at night but at least it’s good for business for our pub which is the central point of the village.

As people get older so problems to live reasonably get worse. I’ve had to ask people to open tablets for me (in aluminium packaging and bottles). Many can’t get to banks as they are miles away now, money machines are being taken away so you can’t get ready cash, the Post Offices are becoming a joke as is the postage. I went to the Post Office in Lewes recently and the only person available was in the foreign currency kiosk and there was a queue out of the door. What are we paying good money for? ‘If something works don’t change it’ is a saying – well things aren’t working now because of the changes.