Winchelsea

Flower Display: This weekend St Thomas' Church is holding its Flower Festival and all are invited to come and see the creative arrangements. There will be a variety of colourful designs in store on the theme of Harvest and the Elements, to rival even the stained glass windows. The dates and times are Friday and Saturday October 5th and 6th at 10am till 4pm and Sunday October 7th from 12pm to 4pm. The Flower Festival is in aid of the Church Organ Fundraising Appeal and there will be refreshments on offer, a Raffle, Book and Plant stalls, plus local Arts and Crafts.

Harvest Praise: This Sunday October 7th St Thomas’ Church is holding its Harvest Eucharist celebration beginning at 11am. Friends and visitors are welcome to attend and the Rector Jonathan Meyer will be leading the service. On Wednesday October 10th the children of St Thomas’ Primary School will be having their Harvest Festival in the church for families and friends.

John Steinbeck: The Second Wednesday Society will be meeting for its monthly talk on Wednesday October 10th at 2.30pm in the New Hall. A homemade tea will follow and non-members pay £4 in total. In his talk Philip Laverton will be recalling the life and times of the notable American writer John Steinbeck who wrote, amongst others, East of Eden and The Winter of our Discontent. Steinbeck is also well-known for his novels: Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath which were set in the 1930s in the Great Depression.

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FOAM Cellars: Guided tours of Winchelsea’s 13th century cellars will take place on Saturday and Sunday October 13th and 14th. Please phone 07596 182874 for bookings and the cost is £6 with proceeds in aid of the charity Friends of the Ancient Monuments and Museum. Meeting in Castle Street at 10.50am for an 11am start, the tours are 90 minutes and you will need to wear sensible footwear as access to cellars can be difficult.

Poem and Parable: A Harvest Celebration service followed by an appetising lunch took place at the Methodist Chapel last Saturday morning. The local preacher James Clephane-Cameron from the Battle Methodist Church conducted this service of prayers and readings together with the joyful singing of popular harvest hymns. Clephane-Cameron is a name familiar to Winchelsea Corporation through James’ father, the historian Neil Clephane-Cameron. Neil holds the office of Chamberlain in Winchelsea and appears at formal mayoral events wearing traditional attire. In this role he is master of ceremonial duties and collector of historic rents. Also distinguished and in his own way is Neil’s son James of 33 years whose legendary stories and poems are advertised on Amazon. James has written books of poems which follow a folkloric and mythological theme such as The Green Man (“Jack the Green”) and Tales from the Green-Wood. He suggests that ‘to immerse ourselves in the old stories is to immerse ourselves in history’. His Runesmith adventure books are games of risk between brigands and good people that are both entertaining and lessons for life. During the Harvest service James read the parable of the vineyard (Mark 12:1) which prophesied that Jesus, whom the chief priests rejected and crucified would become the foundation and head of the church consisting of all peoples. This would be a church “producing fruit” where each individual can have a personal and saving relationship with the One and only God of the universe.

Winchelsea Beach

Fellowship Lunch: The next monthly Fellowship Lunch will be held on Friday October 26th in the Community Hall at 12 for 12.30pm. If you haven’t yet been do come along and enjoy the range of homemade dishes and the fellowship. As usual booking is essential as the caterers need to know numbers and the phone number to contact is 01797 227168. During the event there will be an opportunity to donate to a specific charity.

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