Catsfield

Craft Fair: There will be an Easter Craft Fair next Saturday, 19th March in Catsfield Village Hall from 10 am to 2.30 pm. This time we will be raising money for Multiple Sclerosis. We are very grateful for all the support we have received from everyone at our previous craft fairs which have benefited several different charities. There will be a variety of interesting and unusual crafts, created by local makers, for sale on the day and tasty refreshments and drinks will be available. Car parking and entry is free and we hope that people will once again support us and enjoy this friendly fair.

The Spring Show: The Catsfield Horticultural Society will be holding the Spring Show on Saturday 9th April in the Village Hall from 2pm – 4pm. Entrance will be 50p and children free. There will be a Raffle, Teas, Plant and Cake Stalls and of course the added interest of looking at all the lovely entries. It is hoped that the schedules will be available in the Village Store by the end of this week. With the future of the Summer Fete and Flower Show always in the balance, please make the effort to enter the many and varied classes and do also encourage the children to join in, they love it! Also come to the hall on the day to show your support, it would be sad if these Horticultural Shows become a thing of the past.

Sport: The cricket season is almost upon us. If you would like to come along to the nets, they begin on 10 April at 4.30pm at Claverham Sports Hall and newcomers would be most welcome. We heard at the annual cricket club dinner on Saturday at The Squirrel Inn, that the officers will continue with their commitment, the fixture list is almost full and the players are considering oiling their bats and joints. Captain Keith Cook masterminded the evening and as usual The Squirrel did us proud. Chairman Mike Davey presented tea ladies Ann, Jackie, Chris and Margaret with their gifts and scorers Kathryn and Barbara Cook were suitably thanked for always ensuring we have expert scorers. Tim Pitman received the batting cup and Andy Williams the bowling cup. We can’t wait for the season to start, although a lot of work will have to be done to the pitch and especially the wicket, to get rid of the moss and other results of a very wet winter.

The football club couldn’t get a team last week and the previous week lost 1 - 6, they have won only 1 match, drawn 1 and lost 10. Although all the teams in this area have suffered a protracted season, the disruption seems to have affected our team more. Tomorrow we play Northiam away.

Women’s World Day of Prayer: Last Friday the annual service for the Women’s Wold Day of Prayer was held at St Laurence Church, the service this year was prepared by the Christian Women of Cuba and was entitled ‘Receive Children. Receive me.’ Sadly, in spite of all the local publicity and after Jackie’s hard work in planning and leading the service, there were only about eighteen ladies present. However, we sang the hymns with gusto accompanied by Barbara on the piano and all enjoyed this time of unity with women throughout the world. Hopefully next year there will be more ladies of any age who will make the effort to join in with this service of love and hope. United women could make irresistible changes in every nation if we all joined together with a common goal to spread peace throughout our troubled world.

Catsfield WI: At the March meeting of the WI we held the Pom-Pom competition which had fourteen imaginative entries, an elephant, cat, owl, three rabbits, a sheep, three different and novel ways of displaying chicks, a snake, a hat and others. First was new member Diane, with a delightful rabbit upside down in a decorated flowerpot of flowers, a worthy winner. There were reminders of the Jumble Sale on Saturday 16th April in the Village Hall and our 98th birthday party at our meeting on April 7th (which will start at the summertime of 2.30pm) Also news of other events and outings.

Our speaker was Tony Smith talking to us about the ‘Work of the Brownbread Horse Rescue Charity’. He told us how the charity issued its first newsletter in 1972 and that much of their work is rescuing horses abandoned by travellers in extreme distress, which often means long and costly nursing back to health, sometimes with 24-hour care. Apparently the ‘Horse Passport’ scheme has proved to be pretty ineffective as it is open to fraud and can easily be forged. It costs about £1000 per year to keep each horse and castration alone costs about £500, so they are always trying to raise more funds for their work. Tony was hoping to present a slide show of their work but his computer succumbed to the dreaded gremlins and he had to abandon the idea, so instead talked us through one of the charity’s old newsletters. A bit of a disappointment but compensated for by the usual delicious tea and time to chat with friends. As mentioned, the next meeting will be our birthday party on April 7th at 2.30pm, when our speaker will be the return of Peter Willson with ‘The Great British Songbook’.

Mobile Library: Next Friday 18th March, the East Sussex Mobile Library will be in its usual place outside the Village Hall from 11.55am – 12.30 pm.

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