Village Voice

Treasure Island: By the time this paper is on sale, the CADS will have already held two performances of this year’s pantomime extravaganza ‘Treasure Island’ and next week a review will be available to read in this column. It’s probably too late to get tickets now but always worth asking in the Village Shop just in case. There will be performances this evening (Friday) and a matinee plus evening performance on Saturday.

SCHOOL CHRISTMAS FAIR: The Friends of Etchingham School hosted their annual Christmas Fair last Saturday December 1, a perfect start to the Christmas Season.

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Bazaar: Last Friday, the Burwash PTFA held their annual Christmas bazaar at the village primary school. They had an amazing array of stalls, thing to do, try, and buy. The event also had stalls and refreshments in St Bartholomew’s Church. They would like to say a big thank you to everyone who went along, helping them raise a fantastic £1,500. Well done everyone who helped to make this such a successful event.

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Pews News: This Sunday, December 9, there is to be a service of Holy Communion at St Peter’s at 9 am. Then, at 10.30 am, there will be Morning Praise at St Andrew’s. There will be a crèche, but no Junior Church. Then, in a full day’s worship and activity so usual in December, St Andrew’s will be home to the Christingle Service at St Andrew’s at 4 pm, all in aid of the Children’s Society. In the meantime, Pett Methodists will be sharing the 10.30 am service at Pett Parish Church which will be a Toy Service.

Netherfield Breakaway Club: The November meeting took place on Thursday 15th with an excellent attendance of members and guests. Our guest speaker was Alan Marchant, an expert on pyrotechnics, ballistics and firearms and his subject was ‘Gunpowder, Treason and Plot - the re-enactment of the blowing up of the Houses of Parliament by Guy Fawkes and his associates. Alan told us that the explosion would have been the biggest ever known on mainland England and a secret location was chosen for this event with a 35 mile exclusion zone and an exact replica of the original Houses of Parliament being constructed with all the members seated at a meeting, not knowing of the many barrels of gunpowder placed beneath them! The explosion was filmed and shown in slow motion and was a spectacular sight which amazed even the technicians who had planned this event! It was obvious that Guy Fawkes had over calculated the amount of gunpowder needed or was very determined to carry out his deed! There is also the story of the mystery woman who was Guy Fawkes’ mistress who ended up being bricked up behind a wall in a stately house, reputed to also be the mistress of one of the MPs - did she betray Guy Fawkes, sending him and his supporters to their deaths, only to be betrayed herself.....? Alan, also an inventor and author spoke about the different types of weapons used throughout the ages and had brought a selection of bullets and explained their uses and how firearms actually work. There were many trophies on display showing Alan’s prowess throughout his shooting career including teaching at Public Schools and running his own gun shop for over 30 years and Certificates of his inventions and adverts showing some of his products. He spoke of some amusing incidents including the story of a takings - a vast amount of £4,000 then - inside a decoy duck, as there were no banks open at the time, only to find after leaving his stall for a while that all the ducks had been sold ...! Aftr an appeal many ducks were returned but not the special one which has never been found - have you checked your ducks lately?! Alan was thanked for his enlightening and very interesting talk. Refreshments were enjoyed and the raffle drawn. Our December meeting will be a week early and the final social event of the year - the annual Christmas lunch at The Brickwall Hotel, Sedlescombe on Thursday 13 December, 12.30 pm. Members were informed that the January and February meetings will take place at the earllier time of 2.30pm reverting back to 3 pm in March. A varied and exciting programme is planned for 2019 and all meetings take place at the Emmanuel Centre, Marley Lane, Battle on the the third Thursday of each month unless otherwise notified. New members and guests are always welcome. The committee wishes all members a very happy Christmas and peaceful and healthy New Year and looks forward to seeing everyone in 2019. - Juliette Vane.

Services at St Mary’s this week: Sunday December 9th (Advent 2) will be 9am Prayer Book Communion and 11am Family Communion. The children’s Sunday Club will take place during the 11am service.

Services: at the Baptist Church are morning worship on Sunday December 9 at 10.30am, with the Pastor Ken taking the service and an evening meeting at 7pm. The family carol service is on December 16 at 10.30am.

Bonfire Society: Thanks to everyone who braved the appalling weather to make the Bonfire Society’s Christmas Fayre such a success – we had around 200 visitors and a packed hall of wonderful stalls – there are a lot of talented people locally.

GREETINGS: Are you enjoying the increased momentum? Card writing seems to be in people’s minds now. There are some really attractive ones around to suit all tastes. And if you need more, don’t forget the Charity Card Shop on Conduit Hill in Rye. We don’t have white Christmasses any more do we – not in Sussex anyway.

Christingle: St Thomas’ Primary School children will be gathering in the church at 2.15pm today December 7th for the School Christingle Service led by the Rector Jonathan Meyer. Christingle or ‘Christ Light’ is symbolized by a lighted candle held by a child in the service and celebrates Jesus Christ as the Light of the World. This illuminating tradition originated in a Moravian Church in 1747 and a decade earlier it was Moravian missionaries that had a great influence on John Wesley which led to his conversion experience.

COMMUNITY NEWS & REVIEWS: EWHURST PARISH COUNCIL - “GET WELL SOON” - Richard Farhall - Our well known Ewhurst Parish Clerk,- much admired for his vast knowledge on most subjects, his dedicated role -often over and above his Parish Clerk’s duties and always ‘on-hand’ for advice, guidance and opinion - is taking a bit of a back seat at the moment ! Following a recent operation on his hand, his work load has lightened ‘slightly’ due to an enforced ‘rest period’. Due to the nature of the operation, this has been imposed upon him as he often appears to have his P.C. permanently glued to him and never appears to have need of sleep ! All your Ewhurst Parish Councillors and fellow working colleagues of both Ewhurst Parish, Rye Town Council, as well as R.D.C. and E.S.C.C. wish you a full and speedy recovery and trust that all will be well at the end. Get Well Soon Richard - and kindest regards from all the residents of Ewhurst Parish Community.

OH! CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE: For a whole year, evergreen trees tend to stay in the background like poor old Cinderella sweeping the hearth, but Christmas time is their time to shine. Other trees have shed their leaves and become bleak, moss-covered spindles, so God forbid, someone in the tree family has to step forward, and the evergreens do it with aplomb. Lush, dark green pines, spruce, cedar and holly become the things of Hollywood movies, the poor, forgotten little shop-girl suddenly makes good and becomes feted at Christmas time. We don’t bother covering oak or ash with baubles and a fairy now do we? The evergreens reign may be short-lived, before deciduous trees come into their own again with their sweet new buds of spring, but my goodness, conifers are winter’s rock stars, and yet they are so personable. They stand still and don’t fidget as we pile them up with a loft- full of decorations, they smell nice [their personal hygiene is second to none] I even reckon that if they were mobile they would fetch the hoover and sweep up their own dropped needles ‘Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree how lovely are your branches’ is a fitting carol for a tree so valued and pampered, albeit once a year.

ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CHRISTMAS FAIR: This is a busy weekend for our parish church, first their CHRISTMAS FAIR this, Saturday December 8 in Sedlescombe village hall, open from 12noon onwards. There will be lots of stalls featuring a puzzle corner and toyshop, lovely gifts, cakes and pickles and more. Tickets for the Christmas Draw are now on sale from church members and also in the village shop giving you the chance to win £100 plus lots of other great prizes. Throughout the afternoon light lunches and afternoon tea will be served by the willing volunteers. Make it a date to support this fundraising event for our historic ancient village church and bag some Christmas presents too.

JESSIE CORKE: Many congratulations to Jessie on the great occasion of her hundredth birthday this last Wednesday, to be celebrated in a family party tomorrow. As alert and sprightly as she has remained these last few years, she was always very likely to pass this distinctive milestone: we wish her much continuing happiness in the years ahead. The Parish Council arranged for her to be presented with a specially fragrant bouquet on behalf of us all. Many of us remember with affection that other Udimore centenarian, Liz Warrender. She was born in Lancashire; and Ethel Goldsmith, whose son Bert died recently, didn’t quite make the full hundred. So it seems Jessie Corke is distinctive as a locally- born hundred-year-old unique in Udimore’s history - unless anyone has ever heard of another?

The Countdown begins..!: And really, with only a fortnight to go, I should be far more organised than I actually am! Christmas I mean; there’s a distinct lack of enthusiasm this year for some reason, possibly because Xmas Day is a Tuesday which creates a sort of ‘festive hiccup’ in the working week rather than a nice, sparkly semi-holiday when the big day coincides with a weekend. Of course, for some, working over Xmas is just the norm, no matter where it falls; and for others, well, there’ll be the creative extended extension of the 27th and 28th taking the festivities right up to the next weekend, which in turn will need Monday 31st to recover and regroup, in order for the New Years Party to be fully enjoyed- and then the 2nd will have to be added for detoxification and the start of the new year’s resolutions: and really, why then do the 3rd and 4th, when it’s probably far easier to start the new working year on Monday 7th...?!! I wish...! Anyway, as far as this column is concerned, there are less items now to report; most of the events have been advertised already and the Church services are in the diaries. I’ll repeat things for this weekend’s edition, but will curtail a little for the following two up to 22nd December; and, rather than spend part of Christmas Eve at the computer, there’ll just be a Seasonal Good Wish for the 28th edition, with service returning to semi-normal a week later, on the 5th January 2019!! Is that ok with you!?! I hope so! Now, onwards...

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