Netherfield

All Day Tea and Cakes Event '“ Netherfield Village Post Office: Well I never, what a success it turned out to be on Saturday 11 August 2018 at the 'All Day Tea & Cakes' event at the Netherfield Village Stores and Cafe. Organised by Janette and her team in aid of 'St Michael's Hospice' and the 'MacMillan Cancer Support', and besides a hot cup of Cha and a smidge of Chocolate cake, there was a barbecue, ably mastered by Nicola, Janette's daughter. Some of us even managed a glass or two of wine in the fun atmosphere that was clearly evident as you walked through either of the doors into this hive of activity. A raffle, tombola and a 'guess the number of marshmallows in a jar', were just some of the ways you could support the charities. Well done Janette. Oh, and I even met a reader of this column, which now makes the total five. What could be better?

Netherfield Village Fete: Remember all you pleasure hunters, the annual Netherfield Village fete, which will be held on the Village Hall Playing Fields, takes place on Saturday 18th August 2018. The attractions on offer will be a bouncy castle known as the “assault course”, a local Fire Engine, a Police Car, a Dog Show, care of Pam Taylor Professional Dog Show organiser, face painting for the children, a golden bucket lucky dip, spin the bottle, hook a duck, name the Teddy as well as a host of other attractions such as a Tug of War for the Ron White Trophy. There will be Hot dogs and burgers on sale as well as a Raffle. Music through the day will be provided by the Village Hall Sound System and there will be live music in the evening from 7.00pm. It all starts at 2.00pm. See you there.

Netherfield Breakaway Club: he Summer lunch took place on Thursday 19 July when members, family and friends once again returned to The Conquerors March on The Ridge, Hastings. A very enjoyable social occasion with excellent food and company took place and everyone had the opportunity to chat and catch up before the August break, the next meeting taking place on September 20th at the Emmanuel Centre, Battle. The speaker will be Christopher Woodcock on ‘Deep Space’. The October meeting will be on Thursday 18th when Mrs Sian Trevellion will be speaking on ‘The Life of Catherine Cookson. Our November speaker will be Alan Marchant with the fascinating subject of ‘Gunpowder, Treason & Plot’! Our final social event will be the annual Christmas lunch at The Brickwall Hotel, Sedlescombe. Meetings take place on the third Thursday of each month (except August) at the Emmanuel Centre, Battle unless an outing or lunch is planned, and there is always a very interesting speaker. Guests are always welcome. Juliette.

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Netherfield Village Hall Library Service: The library will begin its service on Wednesday 29th August not Thursday 23rd August as originally anticipated. It will also start at 2 o’clock or 14.00 hours, for approximately 2 hours. Whilst we have a diverse range of books to read, it might be limited to begin with if one was to make comparisons. We are hoping that you will come along and browse and if nothing else, make yourself known and tell us what books you would like to see. Your original library ticket will be valid from the outset until we get organised. There might also be tea and coffee. We are still looking for more bookcases and books and would welcome any offers which we are happy to collect. We hope to offer a larger range of topics and genres as we progress and get more offers, so please bear with us. Details at the end of the column as to how to get in touch if you have some donations. Please take two minutes to inform us.

Natherfield Jumble Sale: Remember, Saturday 1st September is the allotted time for the sale of the century, well a jumble extravaganza anyway. Bric-a-brac and the odd antique will once again be on offer for those who like a good rummage. Entrance is only 50p and will begin in the afternoon I believe at 2.00pm. More details next week.

The Messenger: The Parish Magazine is on sale each month, costing 50p. It is full of articles on local villages including Netherfield and has a wealth of information on businesses within the local area. If you wish to order a copy call Gillian Slack. 01424 838825.

Netherfield and Battle Radio: Come on everyone, help me out here. Tell me what you think by contacting me at [email protected] or any of the alternatives highlighted at the end of the column.

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Claverham Monday Badminton Club: People think that running about a hall, in between some white painted lines formed into a rectangle, wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, some tiny white socks and a pair of pumps with reversed commas plastered all over them, is somewhat weird, especially when the temperature is as high as it has been over the last couple of months. Well I can tell you, my reader, that smashing a piece of cork with feathers stuck into it, with a piece of carbon surrounding some extremely tightly strung filament, is exactly that. What it does do though, is put you in touch with other people of a similar persuasion, under the proviso that you are getting yourself fit and healthy which prevents others from questioning your motives.

With ten of us arriving for this weekly travel into the unknown we have that perennial problem of having members sitting out through games. Four, eight, twelve and sixteen are the magic combinations and these ensure that we are all active at the same time. I guess it does give you a rest, especially after a hard match, but the body does lose some of its heat and believe it or not, keeping warm is what keeps the blood flowing and allows you to maintain that level of expertise that you are renowned for. I will leave it there playmates.

More next week......

Reflections on a garden: My good lady and her friends went for a coffee and some retail therapy this last week and one of the friend’s husbands, who is also a mate of mine, came around to help me trim some branches off a tree. As an ex-fireman, he is adept at climbing ladders and cutting away unwanted material in an effort to make things safe. He also likes calling out “timber”. I jest of course. I had mentioned to him a couple of beers ago, at another one of these “lady trips”, that the pond was being covered by a canopy of green. This was shutting out the light and causing some of the plants, around the edge of the water, to be growing at odd angles in their search for the sun. “No problem”, he said, “I’ll bring up my chainsaw and we can have a Texas Massacre of the offending boughs”. That wasn’t quite how he put it but close enough. I have to make this interesting for my reader.

Ladders were erected and ropes secured by pulleys to higher boughs, mainly to protect me as the ladder support and the person underneath the culling procedure, Actually, some of the branches were very heavy and required a joint approach in removal. Ten minutes of cutting and the job was done. Not the two minutes that everyone thinks that men can do their jobs in.

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It was at this point, with his head under the cumulus nimbus, that my friend espied the red lilies that frequent our pond. He, unfortunately, only has white ones blossoming year on year. How could I refuse a request for a cutting? The trouble is, how do you remove a small portion of a pond “pad” at this time of year? The pond is 4-5 feet deep and is right in the middle of the flowering season. We managed it.

More next week........

Contact: If you have any stories or articles of interest that will give our readership a reason to buy the paper please contact me on email at [email protected]. Call 01424838410 and ask for Maurice or text 07957588172