Jun 9: Visit
to Romney Marsh and its churches - another excellent outing with
a full coach and good weather. In the morning, visits to Brookland
and New Romney - the first with its extraordinary external shingled
bell tower and the second sunk well below road level; then a ploughman’s
and in the afternoon Fairfield and Ivychurch - the first tiny and
the second vast. Ending with a Women’s Institute tea - also
vast. The day was made by our guides - one full of information
and the other of atmosphere.
Jun
14: Brion
Purdey: Sussex Cures and Customs
"Speak
up, as the agnostics in this Church are something terrible!", said
the Verger to the Bishop of Chichester.
With this piece of Sussex humour, Brion introduced us to a huge
variety of customs and folk-lore,
often enlivening his points with a Sussex accent and pinpointing
specific towns. Customs: marriage
was all that women had to look forward to, so fertility rites played
a large part in their attitude
to life. Cures: for example, pass a child under the belly
of a piebald horse to cure whooping
cough. He told of sometimes horrifying cures for ailments like
ague, rheumatism, warts, whitlows,
cramp and toothache. Religion and the Devil: these played
a big part in
seasonal observances. It was
dangerous to go nutting on a Sunday, as the Devil could hold the
branches down. Ladies spoke to the moon about a husband on New
Year's Day; birds started courting on February 14th;
Ash Wednesday was called ‘Pinch bum’ day; games with clay marbles
were played during Lent until 12.00
on Good Friday. Food & Drink: Sussex Pond Pudding was
eaten on Palm Sunday; lamb with bitter herbs on Easter Day; and
veal with gooseberries on Whit Sunday. Forfeits were paid
in the form of drinking ale from
a wooden bowl or hat brim; one man was heard to say that "he
was glad his old horse knew the
way home"!! Brion's
fascinating and comprehensive talk was rounded off with examples
of Sussex toasts:
A pretty wife
- and a thousand a year
Mary Hope
Future Outings
and Events
BARBECUE Our
fourth annual barbecue is on Sunday 29th July
at The Colleens, Cousley Wood Road at the kind invitation of Celia
and Martin Turner. Tickets from Rachel Ring - offers
of help most welcome - workers, produce for the stall etc
- also to Rachel [783 455].
Directions for
The Colleens
The Colleens is
on the B2100 Wadhurst to Lamberhurst Road and is half a mile on
the Lamberhurst side of Cousley Wood on the left hand (north) side. After
leaving Cousley Wood there are some large barns on the left after
700 yards with a sign by the road saying NIKWAX. The Colleens
is the next house on the left after 200 yards. Enter by the
first gate, marked with a union jack, pass by the left hand
side of the house and through a gate into the field for parking
and unloading.
QUIZ NIGHT Saturday
29th September at
the Commemoration Hall. We are holding our first quiz night on
the above date - join forces with family/friends/other
WHS members to make up a table of 6 people. A ploughman’s
supper is included in the price and will be supplied by the local
Sandwich Shop. The cost per table is £48 - (£8 per person). There
will be a cash bar.
This will be a
fun, light-hearted evening with the questions devised by our
own in-house team of David James, John Breeze and Mike Bleese,
who remind us that yesterday
is history so the questions will
cover any aspect of life and not be limited just to facts from
history books!
With the summer
recess looming, book your table as soon as possible since the meeting
in September will be only two weeks away from the evening.
Contact Rachel
Ring on 783 455 or write
to
Chestnuts, Stone
Cross Road, Wadhurst, TN5 6LR. Queries also may be sent
to Heather Woodward on 783 212.
HOUSES OF
PARLIAMENT AND ELTHAM PALACE
This outing is
now set for Tuesday 16th October
and tickets are virtually sold out. We will depart from
Wadhurst at 07:45 and our first tour commences at 10:20 with
the other two following at four minute intervals. After
the 1½ hour tour we will be met by Charles Hendry, our MP, and
taken to a Committee Room for around thirty minutes to one hour
with him. As we are on a tight schedule this day,
there will only be a thirty minute lunch stop in the Jubilee
Café situated in Westminster Hall. The coach will collect
us at 13:30 for Eltham Palace. Our tours there start around
14:30 and there should be enough time for a cup of tea or
a wander in the grounds before we depart at 17:00. The cost is
£20.50 for non English Heritage members and £15.50 for members.
Contact Rachel Ring 01892 783 455.
AGM December 13th. After the business element
perhaps some imported entertainment to set the scene for the
festive season. Rachel
Ring