Players could have graced West End
I WENT to a theatre matinee last Saturday. That is not unusual for me as we often drive to London and Chichester to see a play and then drive home late at night.
But this visit was special and I feel empowered to write to you about my experience.
The play was a bedroom farce. It required split-second timing, ingenious props that moved on cue supposedly by themselves.
There was a complicated set with three doors, a wardrobe with a sliding door that gets stuck, a window with a moving radiator, a folding partition that forms part of a bedroom.
Like all good bedroom farces, the actors had to strip down to their underwear, dress in outrageous costumes, carry an assortment of props and make their entrances absolutely on cue.
The dialogue, loaded with different foreign accents, had to be witty, fast and never flag.
Each line had to be delivered with great clarity otherwise the laughs would be lost.
In bedroom farce, the slightest hesitation can throw the entire cast into confusion. Not in this brilliant production.
The audience were in peals of laughter throughout. That alone can be a hazard on stage - but not with this cast.
They knew exactly how to wait for the laughs to die down and pick up their lines on cue.
Behind scenes there must have been a team of stalwart stagehands, dealing with an exploding radiator, a cuckoo clock and a positively daunting set of noises off.
The whole production went smoothly from start to finish. The prompt had an easy job with absolutely nothing to do in this word-perfect performance.
Well, you would expect that, wouldn't you in a slick London production?
But - this performance was not in London. It was given by the Fairlight Players in their village hall.
I come from a theatrical family, am a life member of Equity and prepared to travel miles to catch a great performance.
Last Saturday, like many others from Icklesham and surrounding villages, we only had to drive to the nearby village of Fairlight.
What a thrill it was to find a totally-dedicated team of local actors and well-drilled backstage crew, who must have committed themselves to hours of rehearsal to hone their performance to such a professional high standard.
ANN RACHLIN M.B.E.
Icklesham

System failure!
Mr Verrall indirectly raises some interesting, but unanswered questions in his rather myopic letter of April 15.
Prior to the centralisation of the road maintenance contracts, each division had its own minor works maintenance gangs and the more specialised work, such as resurfacing, was let out to mostly locally-based contractors and logically, local knowledge of the various areas was of a high standard.
It is also apparent that at this time, more road maintenance was carried out under the old system as is at present and that area maintenance accounts were probably open to scrutiny by councillors and interested members of the public, or at least to the county engineers and auditing departments.
The position at present is quite different, in so far as all maintenance work is carried out by a term contractor.
The real twist in the tail is that under the heading of commercial confidentiality, the allocation of income within the contractors accounts for their East Sussex contract are apparently unavailable for examination by councillors or East Sussex County Council engineers or auditors.
J W BORYER
Darvel Down, Netherfield

Inadequate warning
OF course, John Verrall is right when he complains of the poor condition of Battle's North Trade Road (Mailbag, April 18). Unfortunately that isn't the only road in this area requiring sensible attention, albeit for different reasons.
For example, reported in last week's Battle Observer (page 11) was yet another accident in Powder Mill Lane. Not so long ago a motorist was killed there, and last week's driver was lucky to escape unharmed.
Both these accidents and the majority of others that occur on this lane do so at the narrowing and sharply twisting section near the Powdermills Hotel.
The police and the highways representatives blame the motorists for travelling too fast (they may be right) but it is they who encourage them to do so by displaying de-restriction signs at both ends of this lane, and because of the totally inadequate warning of the danger ahead on the approaches from both ends of this chicane.
Some years ago, when I suggested to the police and the Ministry of Transport that speed restriction signs should be installed at the start of all country lanes, they both replied (as in a mantra) 'installing such signs would be too expensive and that motorists will travel at the speed they think appropriate to the area in which they are travelling'. I thought this a stupid reply at the time, and think it even more so now.
JOHN HILL
Glengorse, Battle

Thanks for support
I RECENTLY completed the walk from Calais to Boulogne and would like to thank all the people who kindly sponsored me in aid of St. Michael's Hospice - including friends in Peasmarsh, Rye Ramblers and Northiam Footpath Group. As a result I shall be able to send a cheque for £300 to St. Michael's Hospice. I would also like to thank Martin and Cathy Burke, of Nice Work, for organising the trip so well and making it so enjoyable.
JAN WESTON
School Lane, Peasmarsh

Interesting offer?
AS A resident of Winchelsea Beach, I was interested to hear that our MP Michael Foster was volunteering to stand behind the counter following the unexpected temporary closure of the Rye Post Office.
I wish he had made more effort to save the other Post Office in Rye, in Tilling Green, which it has been so sad to see closed by this Labour Government.
Surely when Mr Foster loses his seat at the next General Election he will return to being a local solicitor, or is he in fact planning a future in the Post Office - behind the counter or clearing up the mess following these sad closures?
Jacqui Stanford
Morlais Place, Winchelsea Beach

Two caring lads
I WOULD like to thank very much the two lads, Henry White and Laurance Hearn. These two saw my black cat Moggie knocked down by a speeding car near Potmans Lane, Catsfield, on Friday, April 18, at about 6pm/6.30pm.
The car which hit Moggie failed to stop so these two caring lads stopped, picked Moggie up and took him to an emergency vet. They then returned to Catsfield to find me, Moggie's owner.
Moggie suffered terrible injuries and died that night but these lads saved my cat from being left suffering in the road and possibly being hit again by another car.
It is so nice to know that there are some nice, decent young people out there who care.
Once again many thanks for what you both did that night. If anyone reads this and uses the lanes, please think before putting your foot down, my cat could have been a child.
V. BAILEY-MARTIN
Church Road, Catsfield

Location not ideal
I HAVE noted with interest and alarm the articles and correspondence in the Battle Observer over the past two weeks regarding the future of Battle's Tourist Information Centre.
I find it ironic Rother District Council should be questioning the value and usefulness of this service when it was they who took it away from the very successful and award-winning operation run by Battle Promotions and persuaded English Heritage to run it from the Abbey Gatehouse shop.
While I do not question the dedication of the staff (I always find them friendly and helpful), their present location is not ideal and at times there are not enough staff to cover both the ticket desk and the TIC.
When I visit tourist towns in other parts of the country, I usually find a very visible TIC eager to promote its own town and the surrounding area.
Battle is a major tourist attraction and definitely needs its own TIC, regardless of whether more use is made of computerisation and the internet.
Furthermore, we owe it to the memory of Stuart Gray, Battle's 'Mr Tourism', to keep a TIC fit for the 21st century in Battle.
If Rother District Council think that the TIC is worth only what it was when the grant was fixed at £30,000, then our Council Tax ought to revert to what it was then!
JOHN HARMER
North Trade Road
Battle

Answering to public
THE letters of self-righteous anguish from the two Rye town councillors in response to my letter in the Observer (April 25) indicate I hit the nail on the head with my comments on the so-called annual town meeting.
The meeting is the one time in the year when the public can give the council plaudits or brickbats for its activities. Applause would be most satisfactory. Questions should be called for, recorded and answered in public.
The half dozen questions I asked required one of three simple answers. 'Yes' or 'No' or 'I will put this before the council for consideration'.
I did not receive an answer to any of my questions. I did not hear questions from anyone else.
As for the town clerk's comments, I believe that, as an employee of the council, he should not be entering the political arena. If there needs to be a response on behalf of the council, it should be by the Mayor.
GEORGE SHACKLETON
Udimore Road
Rye

Why the silence?
A FEW years ago the, then, proprietor of the Rye and New Romney Post Offices disappeared, overnight. At the same time, very large dollops of Post Office cash disappeared.
Press and radio and television media must have been banned from reporting the episode: the coincidence between the disappearance of all that money and the disappearance of the, then, proprietor.
To this day, I have never learned the name of that proprietor, nor the scale of sums of money missing from two post offices.
Why the censorship? Why the anonymity of the, then, proprietor? Has that person vanished to the far side of the moon?
Or have they been quietly extradited from abroad, arrested, charged, indicted, convicted, imprisoned? If so, why no media coverage?
Why the silence? Some special privilege? Licensed larceny?
At the time, the Rye and new Romney Post Offices needed to be shut for a few days until the, er, problem was sorted out.
Fortunately for Rye residents, there was a branch of the Post Office service available at Tilling Green....
Meanwhile, what is going on with regard to that earlier episode of Rye and New Romney being deprived of Post Office services?
At that time, and ever since, there has never been an explanation about this.
Perhaps any prospective proprietor of a Post Office in Rye needs to be warned in advance that they are liable to be kidnapped and to have the contents of the safe bagged at the same time.
CLIVE CHIZLETT
North Salts
Rye

Voters' views do matter
RECENT correspondence concerning Britian's membership of the EU has been interesting, particularly in relation to the way the protagonists on each side of the argument present their cases.
In his letter (March 28) Hastings MP, Michael Foster, answering an earlier letter from Barry Jones, makes assertions which, when set against the facts, are clearly absurd.
Thus, he says, 'At any time we want, we, as a sovereign Parliament, can vote to leave the EU'. Who are the 'we' in this statement?
It is what the voters want that matters and their views continue to be ignored by the Labour Government, as evidenced by its refusal to allow even a promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Mr. Foster argues that, in order to avoid 'isolation' we need to be part of the EU so as to remain in the largest trading group in the world, whilst retaining our sovereignty. Really?
Since in the order of 80% of all new laws affecting the UK emanate from Brussels, have primacy over English laws and are little more than rubber stamped by our Parliament, it is gross mendacity to contend we retain our sovereignty.
Equally, it is complete nonsense to suggest isolation would be the inevitable consequence of leaving the EU. Norway has a highly-successful economy trading with EU member states without submitting to its political tentacles.
We, too, can perfectly well trade with Europe (and indeed the rest of the world). We need to rid our industries of the bureaucracy and suffocating over-regulation so beloved by socialists, and produce high-quality goods and services at prices acceptable to markets we deal with.
Nowhere does Mr. Foster attempt to deal with the other serious arguments against membership, such as massive waste and corruption within that organisation and the colossal financial burden it places on the UK.
Then we have Mr. Drew (April 4). He rightly identifies Edward Heath's treachery in getting us into the Common Market on the pretence this was merely a trading relationship when, from the outset, it was in fact intended to be the start of a journey towards a political federation - the brainchild of the French socialist Jean Monnet.
But, sadly, Mr. Drew also resorts to a grubby attempt to suppress views with which he does not agree by impliedly suggesting the Observer should not print letters from Barry Jones.
This tactic is typical of those on the Left, as seen in Labour's enthusiasm for political correctness and its predictable shouts of racism whenever voices are raised over the scandal of the government's immigration policy.
Neither political correctness nor the 'race card' constitute a reasoned argument. They are no more or less than a form of politically-motivated censorship, whereby the Left seeks to deny its opponents freedom of expression.
Contrast the letters from Mr. Foster and Mr. Drew with that from Mr. Dent (April 18). He not only sets out a reasoned argument against the EU, based on indisputable facts, but goes on to invite those in favour of the EU to present their case in a similar manner.
Separately, he also correctly identifies the failure of our MPs to sustain the democratic process.
As self-serving career politicians, when it comes to the really big issues of national importance (eg Europe, immigration) they are more concerned with conforming to party views than representing the views of their constituents.
In all of this, however, one point of fundamental importance, which goes to the heart of the democratic process, is overlooked.
Britain, in relation to the EU, is where it is today not by the expressed will of a majority of our people but by virtue of the lies and deceptions of politicians, at home and abroad, who 'sold' the concept of a Common Market.
We have never been asked (let alone voted on) whether we wanted to hand over national sovereignty to and, so be governed by, a collection of foreigners whom we do not know, have not elected and cannot remove from office.
There may be no grave or headstone to be seen but, for the people of Britain, democracy is dead.
P R BELCHAMBER
Whatlington Road, Battle

'Trust rests on three legs'
STEPHEN Jackson is quite correct in his letter (April 25) to point out not all of our ills are related to the EU. It was for this reason in my letter published April 18 (Any wonder our MPs have such a poor reputation?) that I was (a) specific in identifying and where possible costing those issues which have adverse impact on Britain as a result of EU membership and (b) inviting a protagonist to state the benefits.
I had hoped, but not expected, Mr Foster might accept this invitation for which he is fitted by his professional skills as a solicitor. This he could do with clarity and bereft of political 'puff'. But he knows stating a case in writing and subject to critical analysis is very different from proclaiming benefits from a soapbox at the hustings where sophistry might be convincing.
Mr Jackson's comments takes us to consider, as had I, the trust we might put in our MPs who, more than any others, have led us into the mess he depicts. Set aside the issue of the EU, which has turned from a 'pussy cat' as a benign trading club (the Common Market) approved by the British people to the 'ravening tiger' it has become where politicians dodge and weave to avoid a referendum - but look at the general trustworthiness of our MPs.
Trust rests on three legs: Openness, Integrity and Competence.
Space does not permit an in-depth analysis, but note the Euro MPs are even now fighting to ensure their expense claims are not open to scrutiny.
Why? On integrity the position will vary with each MP, but there have been enough issues of late to put us on enquiry; On the issue of competence we seem to blunder from one foolish error to another eg. The 10p income tax band- which has taken them a year to 'sus'; a couple of years ago, with a world food shortage looming we were paying farmers NOT to produce (it was called set- aside). I cannot score MPs very high on competence.
But the final test of trust is whether MPs trust each other? Patently not, for they will not accord one another the right of a secret ballot. Given a secret ballot MPs would do what we pay them for, namely vote in accordance with their conscience and to the benefit of their electorate.
The three line whip whereby MPs are forced to vote in accordance with the leader's policy may change dramatically from manifesto committments e.g. Referendum on EU Treaty. Given a secret ballot, whipping could become an evil of history discarded along with the closed shop and the block vote so loved by union bosses and described (by them!) as Democratic.
My earlier letter provoked a staggering and unanimously supportive reaction - thanks to those who have written, rung up and stopped me in the street. If these thoughts resonate with you please write to your MP.
ROBIN DENT
Peasmarsh