Fairlight

Then, at St Peter’s, starting at 6 pm it’s time for Churches Together, and Andrew Thomas will be repeating his talk on marriage.

MOPPs today and next Friday: Today, Friday, May 26, singer Ben Howard will be entertaining the group, followed by a slap-up lunch of roast lamb and all the trimmings plus tiramisu and cream for pud. Next Friday, which is June 2 (already!), there will be chair-based exercises with Celia King, and Eye concern will be along as well. Lunch will be ham, egg and chips followed by sticky toffee pudding with cream

Parish Council: The Parish Council will have met after this is written and before it is published, and so we shall all have to wait a week for a round-up of the business at this year’s council AGM. Something to look forward in the next issue, then.

The Fairlight Art Club’s annual Show: This event, in a new departure, spread over both days last weekend, and it was as enjoyable and impressive as ever it has been, with the traditional wine and cheesy eats on the Saturday. It is interesting – especially for someone whose stick men are unrecognisable – to see the way the output of even established names in the local art world changes and develops as the years roll by. I hope, but have not heard, that the free viewing day on the Sunday proved worthwhile, and that the two-day event will be continued next year.

Plant Sale: It has been mentioned before, so don’t forget the Plant Sale taking place tomorrow, Saturday, May 27 from 11 am until 2 pm at 65, Battery Hill, Fairlight. The sale is in aid of both The Cinnamon Trust and Hastings and Rother Disability Forum. The former was founded 32 years ago and became the national charity for the elderly, the terminally ill and their pets. The Disability Forum is a local community group, which is run by disabled people for the benefit of disabled people.

Playgroup and Nursery Grand Quiz Night: Also tomorrow, Saturday, May 27, and starting at 7.30 pm in the village hall, is a Grand Quiz Night, which promises to be fun, and at the same time to raise funds for the Fairlight Playgroup and Nursery. Tables are suitable for up to 8 participants each, each of whom will pay £5 for their ticket. The Post Office has had the tickets on sale, and may still have some, or you could call 0781 412 3343 to make a reservation. There will be a bottle of wine and some nibbles on each table, and a licensed bar for those in need.

Village Hall Summer Fair: Saturday week, June 3, is the date for the Village Hall’s Summer Fair, always a popular and well-supported biannual do. It’s not just the stalls and games, it’s the lunches, which few can resist. The Fair is open from 12 noon until 3 pm.

Walking for Health: Yes, next Monday it’s a fortnight since the last morning walk, but this has been a five-Monday month, and that means the next walk will actually take place on Monday week, on June 5. These walks are scheduled for the first and third Mondays of each month, and so the next after June 5 will be June 19. They start at the village hall at 10.30 am, and last for an hour and a bit.

The Tuesday Ladies Club: The Tuesday Ladies Club enjoyed a brilliant talk by Judith Kinnison Bourke last week. This was just one of her thirteen talks, all of which are true stories – and she always dresses appropriately. Her subject on this occasion was her family’s connection with the Oxford Canal, which was built to carry coal from Coventry to Oxford. It had been intended to continue the canal to London but the North East shipping lines objected so it never came to fruition. 700 Irish ‘navvies’ were employed as well as local carpenters, builders – and a blacksmith! Eventually, of course, the railways put paid to the canals, but latter day enthusiasts have managed to keep them open. Judith as always entranced the audience and you could have heard a pin drop. Next month TLC will feature a return visit from Chris McCooey who always has interesting tales to tell – again all true – this time ‘War, Women, Weather of Kent and Sussex.’ The meeting is on June 20 at the village hall and starts at 2.15pm. Visitors are always welcome.

The Hub at the Club: The Club, formerly known as Fairlight’s Activate Youth Centre, with its HQ on Wood Field, is now going to open for adults one evening a week. The adult activities will be called The Hub, and it will function each Thursday evening from 7 to 9 pm. The intention is to have a friendly social club for the grown-up population of Fairlight, where for a couple of hours a week they can come and just socialise with other residents, chat, play board games, cards and enjoy a drink together, or play darts or pool and if the weather is good play a field game or just sit outside enjoying the view while having a drink. It will all be very informal and friendly, with a cost of just £2 per visit, and donations for drinks. Do go along with your friends and give it a go. After the first couple of weeks the organisers will gladly try and facilitate any ideas for activities that you may wish to do. The first night will be Thursday, June 1. Please call Geoff, on 814108 or 0753 445 2346, or Lisa, on 0777 922 2069, if you would like more information

Roads Scholar: Not your usual pothole moan, this time, more of an objective assessment of the worst spots around for Fairlight residents. Firstly Battery Hill, where the south, ascending carriageway has had some holes infilled. The road surface itself is dire, and does not inspire confidence. Now the north, descending side is playing catch-up, sloughing up to a couple of inches of surface, just like a snake but without any replacement top layer. The hardy perennial complaint of the south side of Fairlight Road between Pineridge and Hysted is in a pitiful state, despite a couple of cosmetic dabs being applied. And further on, before you reach Martineau Lane, there is a deep gully and much bad deterioration at the side of the road. Martineau Lane itself is full of pitfalls and potholes though, again, a bucket or two of blackstuff has been applied. One hopes that motorists in their dozens are suing those responsible for the calamitous state of these roads for the damage inflicted to their vehicles. But it is the cyclists, who get round here in increasingly large numbers in summer, who are likely to be swerved or jerked into the path of a car or bus with possibly unthinkable consequences, and for whom the County Council appears to be ignoring its duty of care.

A word of warning: It appears that opportunistic thieves are operating in the village. Garden furniture has been removed from a front garden in Sea Road. Be vigilant and, if possible, remove the temptation to somewhere out of sight or at least less accessible. If you catch them, possibly walk them up Rockmead Road and prove to them that the notice at the entrance to the village – No Access to the Sea – is a lie.

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