Netherfield

Mountfield Village Hall: Rockets and Catherine Wheels and a fire that will warm the cockles of your heart let you know it is Bonfire night in Mountfield. Friday 28 October is the date at the Bonfire Field, Solomon’s Lane. Gates open at 6 pm and entry is just £2 per head. There will be soup, a BBQ and refreshments. In case of inclement weather, as you can’t light soggy sticks, please check the Mountfield Village Hall website at www.mountfieldvillagehall.org.uk.

Mountfield Horticulture Society: I am sure they will be playing “Rose Garden” by Lynn Anderson as everyone waits for the AGM of the Mountfield Horticulre Society to start on 5 November at 3pm in the Mountfield Village Hall. Or it could be Ronnie Carroll’s “Roses are Red, Violets are blue”. Might be worth a visit just to see if they play anything.

St John Baptist Church: Hooray, hooray, hooray, I have been informed that a Santa has come forward to help the Church out of its problems. He had moved to Fairlight to tend his reindeer, and the pigeon post takes a while to reach him. He has been busy anyway as he has to wrap presents in the other 364 days of the year. Well there are a lot to wrap. He had hung up his red santa’s outfit, after it had been cleaned by elves, and his white fur edging looks as good as new. He was worried about his footwear, as driving through all that snow had given him white marks on the leather, but after some furious buffing by some goblins he will once again be slipping his feet into a pair of shiny black boots? Santa didn’t let the children down.

East Sussex Hearing Resource Centre: The East Sussex Hearing Resource Centre is a registered charity and is a free service brought to Battle. It works in partnership with Adult Social Care to provide a no charge mobile information and advice service for Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people living in East Sussex. The vehicle is equipped to offer demonstrations of assistive equipment and hearing screening tests. The mobile unit will be visiting Battle on Thursday 3rd November 2016, and will be in Market Square from 10.30am – 3.30pm.

The bus is accessible to wheelchair users and representatives from both the East Sussex Hearing Resource Centre and Adult Social Care will be available to provide individual information and advice on all aspects of hearing loss. For further information please contact: East Sussex Hearing Resource Centre, Tel: 01323 722505 (voice/text/fax) e-mail: [email protected]

Claverham Monday Badminton Club: It is easy to join you know. You just turn up. First week is free. What you get is fun and fit. It starts at 20.00 (or 8.00 pm in old money) and goes on until 22.00 (or 10.00 pm). The normal cost is £5.00. That is £2.50 per hour for a good time. If you are interested ring Maurice 01424 838410, text 07957588172 or email [email protected].

Reflections on a garden: On Tuesday of last week I decided that the white grapes were ready for their annual snipping off the vine. I tested a slightly speckled specimen, looking a greenish yellow in the sunlight, to make sure that the sugars trapped in this orb of nature, met the taste review of my untutored palate. It was heavenly, bursting with flavour and sweet, oh so very sweet. With clippers in hand I surveyed the fence on which they precariously cling on galvanised steel wire. I had to make that momentous decision of; at which end do I start?

In the grand scheme of things it is small beer, or, as in this case wine, but it has its logistical problems of where to put the bucket to hold the removed bunches. Half the length of the vine is about 15 feet and it passes behind a bed of perennials which are still standing tall and green. My choice has to be the other end, which is open and easily accessible, as I do every year when I think about it. The plastic tub is soon receiving the fruits of both my wife’s and my labours. As we finish, they are carefully transported to the garage where the next phase of the operation begins.

This comes in the shape of a wooden post which is used to crush the grapes in a lifting, bang, lifting motion for about 30 minutes. What you are left with is a wet, soggy concoction, which will be convered and left to rest for a week. This allows the yeasts to transfer from the skins to the liquid ready to be put in a drum for fermentation. No sugar or yest is added at anytime. This promises to be our best year for the white harvest

On Saturday we did the red grapes too. Phew, I need to lie down in a darkened room.

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 07957588172 or via email at [email protected]

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage at www.ryeandbattleobserver.co.uk/

2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RyeandBattleObserver

3) Follow us on Twitter @BattleObs

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

The Rye and Battle Observer - always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.