Merchant and Mills

Monthly Archives: March, 2014

Another sound in the wall

Music festivals, medieval churches, pubs. On walks, even. Jazz, pop, classical. Members of Rye's Wall of Sound Singing Ensemble enjoy themselves in all sorts of ways. Their coach is Sandra Scott who believes in a sense of humour more than the ability to read music

Rye cinema: the prequel

The making of a modern two-screen cinema complex, complete with a bar and café, reads more like a Hammer horror. Pip Al-Khafaji reveals some of the hidden nasties that plagued the cast of builders

A towering achievement

The ruined church of Old St Helen’s at Ore lies off the beaten track. It was well-known to the fashionable world of Victorian Hastings, but today it is rarely visited. Kenneth Bird describes how the Sussex Heritage Trust restored this ancient monument that spans a thousand years of history

Ahoy! Losers come up tops

On the day the Ambrette raft race team didn't look as if it had fared too well. The team's raft was rammed by bigger craft and it turned over four times. But the "losers" in Rye's annual race run to raise money by the Rye Lions did surface as the team to raise most money. It collected £700 for its chosen charity - the RNLI

Soudain framed by success

Annie Soudain is one of our most successful contemporary artists and printmakers. Her cards are so popular that many who bought them at her most recent showing at the Rye Art Gallery did so to frame them - as presents or to hang on walls at home

Money – to be given away

Our local communities are full of deserving causes. A fund exists to help them. It is open to voluntary groups and charities within six miles of Rye. Perhaps your group should be applying for the help of Rye Fund

Where’s my British food?

An olde worlde town but where is the traditional food asks one reader from Romney Marsh

A bit too diverting

Signs. Dotted around Rye. Yellow ones. Urging us this way and that. But why? Has someone lost the plot? And how many drivers lost their way

Changes in GP services

While a doctor is no longer based at Rye hospital for weekend cover, the extent of GP support is actually increased, with some now dedicated to home visits

Reel thing is a supporting act

With a new cinema due to open soon in Rye, the local film club is to wind up its operation. But all is not what it seems. The members will go on bringing quality movies to Rye audiences - and the price of tickets will be even more interesting to those who sit in the dark at Rye's community centre

Churches play their cards right

One local charity is, consistently, the choice of hundreds when Rye shoppers come to buying Christmas cards: The Romney Marshes Historic Churches Trust. Who else figures high? Read on to find out

Little Shop closes its doors

A central feature of Winchelsea has closed: the Little Shop general store in the High Street is no more. There is disquiet about the fate of the building which was at one stage bequeathed to the National Trust with the intention it should remain a village shop

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