I too have been away, up in the North of Norway where I have family. The landscape is stark, snowy and mountainous, though there hasn’t been as much snow as often is the case at this time of year and during my trip we has rain, snow, sleet and a brief bit of sunshine. I don’t like the winter dark of Britain but in North Norway there is even less daylight at this time of year and after the 26th of November people in Tromso won’t see the sun again until 15th January. Even so you do get beautiful pre-dawn and dusk skies. On a clear snowy day everything sparkles and there are still the moon, stars and northern lights to enjoy. The scenery is more akin to Scotland than our gentle rolling landscape of Sussex so very different, and of course as is appropriate for this time of year if you get out of the city you may well see reindeer – which we did! My return trip was delayed by the bomb alert at Gatwick and then storm Bert caused problems, so it was good to arrive back safe and sound in Rodmell.
Sadly because of my travel shenanigans I missed the Christmas party in the Village Hall, but Jill Goldman tells me it was a great success. Children made baubles for the Christmas tree and decorated cupcakes, while adults enjoyed mulled wine and mince pies to kick off the season. Thank you to all organisers and contributors.
There was a Parish Council meeting on the 19th November and Neville Harrison wrote this report about the Egrets Way to update people:
“Let’s start from our village Rodmell.
You may have noticed the bridleway to the river has been resurfaced, its drainage improved, and new user-friendly gates installed. This is a direct result of completing the Egrets Way section from the river [at Rodmell] to Ham Lane in Lewes (3.6km).
There were quite a number of setbacks which had to be overcome on the way, mostly weather related, but the construction and drainage improvements are now completed, and the path is open and well used.
I know from personal experience it’s fine for mobility scooters – I have an All-terrain Tramper, but it should be fine for less robust scooter. It is really good to know that several Rodmell Residents are now regularly cycling the EW to shop in Lewes.
If we now turn our attention south to Newhaven where the Egrets Way starts on its way to Lewes, that’s at Riverside Park, by the Jolly Boatman; it is now possible to cycle to the from Newhaven to Piddinghoe, via the Sailing Club and through the village to its Northern entrance on the C7.
It’s the section between here and to Dean’s Farm that we are now working on with the help of Sustrans and the National Park. Unfortunately, there is no alternative to the path running alongside the road which is inevitably more is more complex involving adjacent property owners, engineering design, Highways and funding.
There is common ground here with the Safer C7 project as we intend to deliver not only the cycle path but also much needed traffic speed restrictions.
The EW Project started in 2011 and after 13 years is so nearly complete. Once completed, we will have achieved a 5 km safe cycle route between Lewes and Newhaven with connections to most of the seven Ouse valley communities.
That’s less than half-a-kilometer a year – back to Councillors.”
So other news from Rodmell and Southease. The exhibition local Southease photographer Kathryn Martin featured in at the Marine Workshops in Newhaven earlier in November as part of the Photo Fringe 2024 event, won the Emerging Curators' choice for exhibition curation. The exhibition (A Land Within) was a real treat and was curated by Jane & Jeremy, the exhibition brings together the work of artists who explore mankind’s physical, emotional, and cultural connection to the land. If you missed it and have internet access, you can still see details and photograph on the Photo Fringe 2024 website https://2024.photofringe.org/exhibitions/a-land-within
On 1st December 4pm to start Advent we have our lovely Service of Light at St. Peter’s. The church will no doubt look beautiful all lit up with candles so do come along if you can. Monday 16th December there will be Carol singing in the lower village, meet at Bankside (opposite the pub) at 6pm.Wednesday 18th December 11am-12.00 it is Coffee Club in the pub and also at 6pm (meet at Smugglers in the Paddocks) more carol singing for the upper village. Collections will be, as always, for Demelza the local Children’s Hospice.
22nd December 4pm there will be a Carol Service at St Peters, and the church will have up its Christmas Charitree where from 16th December you can donate items (food, delights and toys for children, and toiletries) for the Newhaven Foodbank. The church wardens would like to thank the management of The Lewes Plant and Nurseries on the Kingston Road for their generous donation of the tree and to Gerry Ashplant for helping to erect it and set up the lights.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s edition of Parish Pump and would like to thank Pauline for all her hard work in writing it each week – it isn’t as easy as it looks, and I know with her busy schedule and eyesight problems she is finding it harder and harder to do – so hats off to our lovely Pauline Cherry. Also, a big thank you to Tim Rabjohns who typed up Parish Pump last week for Pauline while I was away enjoying, aurora, sea eagles, eider ducks and the other delights of North Norway.