Catsfield

Craft Fair: Helen and Janet will once again be holding their Craft Fair in Catsfield Village Hall on Saturday 27 October from 10.00 am until 2.30 pm. All proceeds from the Craft Fair this year will go to the National Deaf Children’s Society. There will be a vast array of crafts from local makers - an early opportunity to purchase original presents for Christmas. Refreshments will also be available. Entry is free and there is plenty of free parking.

Catsfield Remembers: On Saturday 10th November in the Village Hall at 7pm there will be an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of WWl. This will include an Act of Commemoration, a ‘Trench-style Meal’ and a period entertainment. Tickets cost £12 each and are available now from Sandra on 0142477708. She has already sold quite a few and places are limited, so book yours soon if you’re interested.

This will be followed the next day by a special Remembrance Sunday Service, held in the evening this year at 6.15pm as part of the Nation’s Tribute entitled ‘Battle’s Over’. This will include the Last Post being played in the churchyard, the lighting of a memorial beacon at 7pm and followed by the joyful sound of the church bells ringing out for peace. The ceramic poppies currently being made will be on display too, especially those named and dedicated to the fallen servicemen of Catsfield.

Eric Bates: The village community as a whole is so very sad to hear that Eric Bates has died. Eric and Vera moved to Sussex in 1966 and since 1970 have lived at Allenswood, a house and garden that has meant so much to them both and their family ever since. Eric was a highly qualified electrical engineer and became the managing director of an internationally famous Tele-Communications company. He was churchwarden at St Laurence church for several years and later became Treasurer to the Parochial Church Council. He and Vera shared a great love of long-distance walking, they completed the coast to coast walk across the country and once gave a fascinating talk in the Village Hall about their trekking experiences in Nepal. Ann Davey writes: In the 1990’s the Village Hall Committee began the long, fraught campaign to take over management of the Hall, register with the Charity Commission, raise considerable sums of money and run the building project, Eric was a professional, calming influence on us all as he brought his financial and managerial expertise to this and other interests in the village. Eric and Vera have two sons, a daughter and three grandchildren. The Committee, all friends at the church and in the village send love and sincere condolences to the family in their sadness.

Tim’s Epic Cycle Ride: We received the good news over the weekend that Catsfield vet, Tim Pitman reached his goal by cycling to Sicily from Catsfield, which he left on 8th September. Hopefully, he will have raised money for his charities through “just giving”. Congratulations on such a great achievement.

Sport: Talking of achieving goals, our football team beat AFC Hollington 0 - 4 away in a cup match. Tomorrow we play at home against Robertsbridge Seconds who are bottom of the table. Where was the groundsman on his wedding anniversary? Well, the day unfolded as follows - found a reduced price bunch of roses, early morning ‘phone call to say a vandal had bashed in a wooden door at the playing field so had to spend nearly all morning fixing it, watched football in the afternoon and then went to the Quiz Night in the Village Hall (wife providing food and ticket price). Rather like his wedding day actually, got married in the morning, played half a game of football in the afternoon, with wife making the tea!

Quiz Night: Due to people’s other commitments, the Quiz Night was not quite as well attended as usual with thirty-five people present, but the teams enjoyed their evening. Table sizes ranged from 2 to 7, but all the participants found John Overall’s questions equally stimulating. Categories ranged from sports personalities, actresses, musicals, national anthems, classic film lines and the artists on various children’s favourites. No questions about Arsenal John? Jane did the scoring and told us about the village events planned to celebrate the end of the first world war. A total of £310 was raised by this event towards church funds. Church Treasurer James was there with the stained-glass window colouring chart, £1 a go to raise money to repair this crumbling treasure.