Winchelsea

Icklesham Parish Council is meeting on Monday July 28th at 6.15pm in the Court Hall. Items on the agenda will include an update on the letter of support sent to Rye Harbour Nature for its bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund concerning a development grant for a new visitor centre. Also to review the response from Rother District Council regarding safety concerns for pedestrian access at Tanyard Lane via Strand Gate and Ferry Hill and the condition of Spring Steps.

The next Garden Talk in the summer series is: ‘The pleasures of a new conservatory’ held at King’s Leap in Castle Street. Philip Kent will be offering useful garden tips in his talk which starts at 3pm on Wednesday July 30th.

A piano recital by Tom Harris will take place on Friday August 8th at 7.30pm in St Thomas’ Church. Tom’s piano will arrive on Friday and stay in the church over the weekend and many will remember his exciting performance last year. On this occasion he will be playing Beethoven’s Piano Sonata no. 30 in E Major as well as Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit. The tickets are £10 each which includes a glass of wine on arrival and can be purchased from Winchelsea Farm Kitchen or on the door. After the recital there will be a cash bar. Tom is very kindly donating the proceeds from his recital to Church Funds so come along with your friends and support the show.

During last weekend’s dramatic ‘tropical’ storm some very noticeable damage was done to the trees around the town resulting in branches being torn off and strewn across the roads. There were also power cuts in parts of the town and Winchelsea Farmhouse Kitchen lost all of its frozen foods due to the freezers going down over night. However the temperature in the shop was extremely high over night which also contributed to the freezers shutting down. It is often the case that some freezers will cease to function in a warm environment. Fortunately the shop was able to claim on insurance for its loss of stock.

Winchelsea Beach

Beginners’ Bird Watching is a two mile walk around Rye Harbour Nature Reserve to identify the variety of resident and migrant birds. You will need to meet at Rye Harbour car park at 10am till 12 noon on Sunday July 27th and donations would be appreciated. Also there’s no need to book and binoculars and field guides will be available on the day.

The next parish council meeting is on Monday July 28th at 6.15pm in the Court Hall, Winchelsea and residents can attend. Icklesham Parish Council is considering having a village gate at the start of Sea Road which would help to deter speeding motorists through the village. This may well be discussed at the meeting and an alternative which local residents might like to pursue is setting up a Community Speed Watch which would need to be arranged through the police. Under this system drivers who have their registration number recorded for speeding up to five times are very likely to get their cars confiscated. At the beginning of the meeting there is as usual a question answer session where issues relating to the village can be raised.

A Table Sale will be held on Saturday August 2nd at 11am in the Community Hall and if you would like to book a table please contact 01797 224820. Entrance is 40p which includes tea and biscuits and there will be a tombola with good prizes and plenty of bargains.

Cindi Cogswell

31 Highfords, Icklesham