Beckley village voice

Please note that this talk will be held at Beckley Village Hall commencing at 2.30 pm.

The entrance fee of £2 (members) and £3 (non-members) includes refreshments after the talk.

Thursday 22nd March. Our walk this month starts at 10.30 am at the New Inn Winchelsea. A Circular 3.5 or 7 Mile walk. Lunch to be taken in Rye.

If you wish to take part in the walk please confirm at least 24hrs before by email: [email protected] or phone: 01797 260637.

50 copies of the Beckley Jubilee cookbook arrived last week and are going like hotcakes! You can pick up a copy from Beckley Motors, The Rose and Crown, Beckley school office or Donna-jaynes hairdressers for just £9.99. All profits are going to the village clock appeal. They make a great gift for Mother’s day and are a great keepsake to mark the Queens Jubilee. They also feature lots of old photos of the village. All profits go towards the New Jubilee Clock.

Did you know? Beckley Village used to have a clock that hung in Main Street on the village school .It was a clock that was wound using weights and a few of the residents can recall winding it up and even swinging on the weights! Sadly the clock disappeared -probably due to decay sometime after Second World War.

As this year marks the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Beckley resident Alan Batehup come up with the idea of raising funds for a replacement clock as a fitting tribute to mark the Jubilee. There are various events planned to help raise funds for this project coming up in the village.

Do you have a top that’s too tight? Shoes that you no longer take a shine too? A skirt that’s too short or a dress that’s no longer to your taste? If so please donate them to “Sarah’s Closet”. She is looking for good condition / nearly new/designer/good brand items (not jumble) to sell at the Easter Fair and need your help! If everyone donates one item of clothing she will have a stalls worth! The items will then be sold for reasonable rates in order to help raise funds to replace the village clock. The clock will hang on the school to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. If you have an item to donate drop off at The Spinners Main Street or at the school office. Sarah Batehup will be opening “Sarah’s Closet!” at the BSA Easter fair on Sunday 25th March 11-1pm. Now taking men’s, kids & accessories.

THE HISTORY OF BECKLEY VILLAGE SCHOOL A Talk By Bernard Bavistock. Saturday 19th May 7.30pm Talk at the Village Hall (refreshments available & raffle)

All villagers welcome entry is free but we welcome donations towards village clock fund. We hope that you will support this project so that Beckley Village can once more have a village clock.

Lions Aid Westfield Toddlers, Westfield Preschool Playgroup wishes to upgrade the toilets that their children use to encourage them to go! They approached Rye and District Lions for help and they agreed to donate £250 towards the cost of refurbishment of suitable toilet facilities for “small people”. This is the Lions second donation to Westfield Playgroup, as they donated £200 a year ago towards a greenhouse to enable the children to grow tender plants and vegetables.

Over the last two years, Rye Lions have made donations to playgroups and nurseries at Beckley, Northiam and Rye, in addition to Westfield. At their March meeting they also agreed to make donations of £250 to the Lions campaign to prevent blindness, SightFirstII, £50 to sponsor a Lion in the London Marathon and £100 to sponsor a parachute jump in aid of Help for Heroes. Over the last two weekends they raised £703 by serving refreshments at Rye’s Scallop Week.

Simon Barr is responsible for the management of the deer and boar in the 3 Beckley Forestry Commission owned blocks (Beckley, Bixley, Blackland). By means of introduction, I am trained, certificated, insured and very experienced in wildlife management in the UK.

As you may well know, poaching is currently a major problem. This activity is not only illegal but animal welfare is never taken into account by these criminals. The methods used often lead to some horrific injuries and unnecessary suffering of wildlife.

In this modern age, deer and boar management is essential ensuring wild populations stay healthy and in balance with habitat. When necessary, this should be done in a humane and responsible manner by trained qualified individuals not by poachers. Long gone are the romanticised days of one-for-the-pot, poaching is big business today and incredibly people are living off the proceeds.

Although poaching has been going on for a long time in Beckley there has been a recent surge which we are trying our hardest to thwart. Ideally we would like to catch someone and get them prosecuted. Easier said than done with the current laws covering wildlife and poaching but we are doing all we can.

What is crucial is that any blatant acts of poaching are reported to the police AND receive a crime number. The more crime numbers that are registered the ‘hotter’ the area becomes enabling the police to offer more resource and patrols in the area. If the poachers realise that there are more police patrols their brazen activities may either slow down or better still - stop.

If you do not wish to call the police, please contact me and I will assist where I can.

My truck is a blue Toyota Hi-Lux with an iforwilliams canopy on the back reg no. KU56BZK. You may well see me in the area or inside the barriers so please say hello if you do. I have spoken to many dog walkers already and have been heartened by the community spirit and desire to do something positive about the problems. Sows are farrowing. This is a little earlier than last year; I guess the mild weather has brought this forward a little. Between now and the end of June the sows will be particularly protective of their stripy piglets so be aware when you are walking your dogs. Boar can be aggressive towards dogs if they think their young are threatened. Nothing to worry about but something to be aware of if you allow your dogs to run free off the lead. Keep them a little closer and within sight or on the rides. Last year there was an incident in Beckley resulting in a large vet bill and a few sleepless nights for the owner? All was OK in the end thankfully but I would hate for anything worse to occur this year. Thanks, Simon

Beckley Preschool, with financial help from Beckley Village Centre, have been working on the front garden at the Village Centre to give the Preschool children an outside play and gardening area. The next stage is to install 2 benches and begin plans for planting - particularly the 3 raised bed areas. The Preschool would like Beckley groups to become involved in the project and would be interested to hear from anyone who would like to make a donation towards these items / ideas /help etc. For instance, each bed could have an item/sculpture that represents their group? We want the area to reflect our village, a community.

Please contact us call Beckley Preschool on 01797260582. We would love to hear from you.

If you are not already a member of the Beckley Horticultural Society you might be interested in joining. Being an Olympic and diamond jubilee year the society has arranged a full programme of events, holding four shows, plant and produce and coffee mornings.

Member ship can be as little as £3 for the whole year. Please contact Frank Nunneley membership secretary 01797260296. Dates for the shows to put in your diary Spring show Saturday 14th April 2pm, plant produce cake sale and coffee morning Saturday may 12th 10:30, sweet pea and rose show Saturday16th June 2pm, summer show Saturday July 28th 2pm, autumn show Saturday September 22nd 2pm, AGM and social evening Monday November 26th 7:30pm.

Would you like to learn more about how to get the best from your computer? Or are you a terrified person who wants to start from the beginning. We have someone who is very interested in starting up Beckley Computer Club again. They want to put out this idea for Beckley and surrounding villages from the young to the retired, male and female, experienced professionals and terrified new users. If you or know someone who would like to join this club please email [email protected] or call 01797 260 737.

A good many matters came before members of the Parish Council at their monthly evening PC meeting. Two items in particular councillors believed would benefit from villagers help.

Firstly, in this the Queen’s Jubilee year, the Parish Council proposes to plant a number of parkland trees on the Recreation Ground to replace dead and dying trees placed there some thirty years ago. It will of course be sixty to a hundred years before these new trees will reach their maturity and grace this open space in the centre of the parish. The cost of the proposed trees ranges from about £55 to £8 and councillors wondered if local individuals or businesses might like to donate a tree for themselves and future generations to enjoy. See clerk’s details below if you are at all interested.

Secondly, members of the PC thought it was about time they had their own website to communicate to the whole wide world as well as the good parishioners of Beckley. So again, if you have some IT skills or advice that you would be able to offer, the Council members would be most grateful.

Any comments or offers of help concerning either tree donations or IT skills please communicate with our Parish Clerk – Valerie Ades – e-mail [email protected] or telephone during office hours – 01424 751550.

Next PC meeting is on March 14th at 7.30 pm in the Village Centre

Beckley Village Walking group. We meet up on a Sunday morning at the Beckley village centre. Our aim is to build up to a 13 mile sponsored power walk at the end of May/early June. For more information email [email protected] or call 01797 260843

Exciting new website group called Bargains in Beckley. Setup for locals to sell items they no longer need and want to sell, if you are looking for something why not try posting a wanted post. No selling fees like most internet sites. Just go on face book and enter bargains in Beckley and join this free group we have over 70 members now selling all their goodies.

So that residents are aware they can contact our District Councillor Ian Jenkins via e mail. This will help the parish by giving you more immediate responses to questions or concerns. [email protected]

Dog fouling isn’t just unpleasant, it’s illegal. Dog owners have a responsibility to clear up after their pets, those that don’t can face fines of up to £1,000. There have been many reports in the main street right next to the dog fouling bins! If you would like to make a dog fouling complaint please phone 01424 787000 if you don’t make this call they will keep letting their dogs do it.

Beckley Preschool aim to provide activities and equipment in a relaxed and happy atmosphere so that children will progress in all areas of development and become independent in preparation for school. We believe that a child’s first experience in a learning environment should lay a good foundation for their enjoyment of education and discovering new experiences. Beckley Preschool opening times are: Mornings 9.00am - 12.00pm Monday to Friday. Lunch Club 12.00pm - 1.00pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please call Beckley Preschool for further information: 01797 260582 or visit their website www.bpnn.co.uk .

Beckley Village Centre is available to hire. By people hiring and supporting fund raising events put on by the hall committee it will keep the hiring costs down. Why not book a Children’s party, wedding reception or conference. For further information on charges and hall bookings call Margaret Lenton 01797260420

Why not join one of the many groups held in Beckley village centre.

Pilates every Wednesdays 1.30pm contact Sarah Lush 07769651899

Taekwondo every Wednesdays 4.30pm contact Petra Darvill 01233 330128

Beckley Trefoil Guild meets Third Monday of the month in the Small Hall at 7.30 Secretary Julie 252404

[email protected]

Guides Wednesdays 6.30pm contact Pam Colgrave 01797 253177

Brownies Thursday 6.30pm

Table Tennis every Thursday mornings old & new members welcome Carol Cobby 01797 252382

Yoga every Friday mornings contact Evelyn Lamb 260569

Friends of Beckley Church Coffee Morning 1st Tuesday 10.30am

WI 2nd Monday 7.30pm contact Ann Jones 260527

Regular monthly Council Meetings are held in the Village Centre’s Meeting Room. Every 2nd Wednesday at 730.

Village Lunch 2nd Thursday 12.30pm bookings Lila Bryant 260518

History Society Friday evenings contact Dennis Ward 260313

Beckley horticultural society 01797 260232

Beckley players 01797 230572

Beckley bowls club 01797 252129

The post box at furnace lane/ Kings bank cross roads has now been repaired.

Residents of the village may like to also join Beckley village society; it’s been set up to inform villagers of the goings on in Beckley by an email informing you of everything from fetes, fairs, sport events and future housing planning. To join just send your name to [email protected]

Or join our Facebook group Beckley Village Society with over 100 members now.

If you see anything suspicious in the village please call

PC Nigel Collins 07787 685691 or 0845 6070999.

To put everything is this column Please email me by 10am Monday to make Friday’s column at: [email protected]

Mrs Deborah Ongley, Beckley Main Street