Horam & Vines Cross

OPERATION BLITZ: A report came in from Heathfield of three individuals drinking and making a noise near the High Street. It was too late in the evening for the Blitz team to deal with as they were at the other end of the district by that point. Advice was provided to the informant to contact the police via the normal route if the problem persisted. No disturbances were reported by the Sheepsetting Lane Neighbourhood watch scheme over the weekend.

WEALDEN DISTRICT COUNCIL: Improvements to Wealden District Council’s online services: Wealden District Council has launched MyWealden, a personalised online portal to improve the way residents can access its services. There were more transactions made last year via the Wealden website than by residents phoning. This is a quicker, more convenient and simpler way for residents to contact us. You can register your account at http://my.wealden.gov.uk You can report that your bin was missed alongside other waste enquiries, request removal of graffiti, report pollution, property name change, register an address and more. For a video guide showing a step-by-step guide of how to register for MyWealden search for Registering for MyWealden on Youtube.

CROSS IN HAND: Cross in Hand Village Day tomorrow, Saturday, Hardy Roberts Ground. (Heathfield RC) 1pm to 5pm. Plans are well underway for this year’s annual Cross in Hand Village Day. It is well worth a visit. The event has many new attractions this year together with some of your favourites. The Village Bake Off returns, this year prizes will be awarded for the Best Signature Bake and the best cupcake baked and/or decorated by Juniors. The Fun Dog Show returns with nine new classes, bring your four legged friends along on the day and have some fun. Judging will commence at approximately 1.15pm. A new attraction this year is the Flower and Craft Show, please email [email protected] for more details on classes etc. Entertainment, includes the children of Cross in Hand School Choir; performances by AB Stage School, Diamond Dance and Warbleton Brass Band. By popular demand, Mr Bumble will also be returning. There will also be demonstrations from local craftsmen. Whilst the children are busy you can head over to Hurstwood Cider’s tent for cider tasting or you may prefer to join Hidden Spring Vineyard for some wine tasting. Heathfield Rugby Club will also be opening the bar. There will be a variety of side stalls, photo booth, pony rides, archery, 45ft assault course, raffle, tea garden, candy floss and lots, lots more. Something for everyone.

BRIDGE CLUB: Cross in Hand Bridge Club. Punnetts Town Village Hall is our home now. The club started life in 1985 with a small group of enthusiastic players enjoying their game at the Bridge Inn, Stonegate and we called ourselves the Bridge Inn Club. Sadly the landlord changed and we were asked to move and then began a succession of homes, the Conservative Club in Burwash, The Crown at Blackboys and the Cross in Hand Inn.We put our roots down when we moved to the Waldron Church Hall in Cross in Hand and changed our name to Cross in Hand Bridge Club.  The club grew and developed into a well respected club where games were competitive but friendships were forged. When the building was sold for re-development in 2010 we had the good fortune to be able to move to the lovely new village hall in Punnetts Town but we are still the Cross in Hand Bridge Club.

CROSS IN HAND TENNIS CLUB: Is a very busy and successful Tennismark tennis club with a very attractive location just to the west of Heathfield. The club’s members are aged from under 4yrs to over 80 and have abilities from complete beginner to coaches and ex-coaches of county standard. Coaching is offered by our resident coaches throughout the week. For details of the coaching programme, please refer to the Coaching page on their website, where there is a link to the excellent South Coast Tennis website. The club offers six floodlit tennis courts, two artificial clay and four artificial grass, as well as a special mini tennis court for our rising young tennis stars. There are opportunities to play with like-minded tennis enthusiasts either through self arrangement or organised turn up and play day time, evening and weekend social tennis sessions. These are Monday and Wednesday 10am to noon, Tuesday and Friday 6pm to 10pm and Sunday 2pm to 5pm. Should you wish to be involved in match tennis the club has 20 plus senior and junior teams that compete regularly against other Sussex Clubs throughout the year. The excellent clubhouse provides changing facilities including a shower, as well as a fully fitted kitchen, licensed bar and a facilities room where the club arranges a diverse social programme for all ages. Facilities for the disabled are provided.

CROSS IN HAND RC: Announce the death of Paul Wilson, a founding member and twice a former President of the Club. Paul passed away at home following a battle with cancer. Paul has been at Heathfield and Waldron RFC since its formation in 1979 and is largely responsible for Heathfield and Waldron RFC being the Club that it is today. Without Paul, his enthusiasm and also his money we would not have our ground at Cross-in-Hand as, along with Pat Russell (former landlord at the Black Boys Inn) and Peter Mercer, he put in the time and money to get us the ground and clubhouse. We will greatly miss Paul in the bar, his commanding presence, wit and overall passion for the Club. In many ways it could be said that Paul was Heathfield and Waldron RFC and the Club will feel very empty without him. Our thoughts go to Jean , Simon, Mickila and the other family members and we all offer our extended rugby family support to them in these sad times.

HORAM: Hidden Spring Vinyard. We are now surrounded by wine growers. An invitation last week to visit the newly re-established Hidden Spring Vineyard in Horam. Two enterprising young owners have given up their day jobs in the City and realised their dream, re-planting 25,000 new vines and completing the highly respected viticulture course at Plumpton College. The project is near realisation with planning consent for their new winery. We were invited to sample their wines and also take a look at their tasting room in the depths of the countryside a mile or so outside the village. Unusually, they are opening the tasting room as a mini wine bar - you can go along in the evening or at weekends and enjoy a glass, not only of their wine but others grown and produced within a short distance. It was a pleasure to sample a Hidden Spring wine made from the Bacchus grape, flinty but with the lightest overtones of stone fruit (sorry about the pretentious wine talk, but that’s really how it tasted to me). Nice too to have somewhere to go that isn’t simply a pub with a bar, I would imagine lots of women would feel extremely comfortable in this sophisticated atmosphere. They also offer vineyard tours and all kinds of visits, with tasting notes to take away. Website www.HiddenSpring.co.uk or phone 01435 813078 to find out more.

BLACKBOYS: Two schools (Framfield and Blackboys) joined forces to say farewell to their Executive Headteacher. Special farewells were said this week to Mrs Jonquil King, executive headteacher of Blackboys and Framfield Primary Schools. Mrs King is moving on to take up a new appointment, working for the local authority, with the diocese, supporting education generally within East Sussex and further afield. Blackboys and Framfield schools each held their own tea parties in honour of Mrs King and the children came together in a farewell service at Framfield Church, led by the Rev Chris Lawrence. Blackboys held its tea party and the whole school took part in events which included a rendition of Mrs King’s favourite David Bowie songs, with the children accompanied by music teacher Mrs Bayman on the piano.

FIVE ASHES: Argos Hill Windmill is a Grade 2* listed building dating from 1835. It is located on top of Argos Hill, near Mayfield, Sussex, and is one of only 50 post mills remaining in England. It is a fine example of the Sussex tradition in millwrighting and is a landmark for miles around.

The mill ceased working commercially in 1923 and in recent years had been left to deteriorate. Argos Hill Windmill Trust Ltd was formed in 2010 and took responsibility for the mill by leasing it from Wealden District Council. A high-profile fundraising campaign was launched in 2011 to raise funds for the mill’s restoration. The first two phases of the restoration project were successfully completed in 2016 when the mill’s sweeps turned in the windfor the first time in over 80 years. Phase 3 of the restoration project is now underway. Next Open Day Wednesday, 2pm to 5pm.

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