Mountfield

We read in the paper about “Fleet”, the fox whose search for a new territory took it on a remarkable 195 mile journey from Brighton to Rye via Uckfield and Cranbrook. What we had not realised until alerted by our Television Correspondent, Mr Jim Ray, was that as a result of Fleet’s odyssey, Mountfield had appeared on the BBC’s Winterwatch programme. Apparently there was footage of some shrubbery on the A21 at Vinehall. Surely one of our finest views.

Monday, February 3 is the next Lunch Club so, as usual, if you can make it, give Ruby a call. Talking of whom… we mentioned last week that Ruby had a nasty tumble a couple of weeks ago (as a result of a pothole — of which more, if that’s the right word, below). Mercifully, nothing was broken but she still has a horrid collection of bruises and swellings. Pete spent a pleasant hour with her on Sunday and, aside from lumps and bumps, she was in fine form. Get even better soon, Ruby.

As a result of his rant at the Head of Highways at a recent meeting, Pete got a call from our new Highway Steward, Mr John Copp. He had just returned from a survey of Kent Lane (I think this is our third survey in twelve months) and had provided notes and photos to The Asset Management Team (remember them?). He agreed that the state of the road is acute. Pete asked him to do more than simply pass his data across but make sure that those Asset bods understood that we aren’t just looking at another unclassified road since, in addition to all the homes on the “wrong side” of the Church, there are also the village hall, the Club, the depot for all four of the BACT buses, plus Photonic and British Gypsum with over a hundred employees between them. In the case of Photonic, they have no choice: all their employees, visitors, suppliers, etc have to run the gauntlet past the church.

To his credit, he said he would certainly fight our corner since, as the lane is on his patch, he feels a certain responsibility. But he then said that certain areas were too big and too bad to be regarded as “potholes” and assessed by the AMT. Areas greater than 3 sq.m. needed to be dealt with by another department! Yes, I know: it’s either too small or too bad. He has promised to keep our clerk, Irene Marchant, posted and she, heaven help him, has said she will chase him.

Caroline has sent us the minutes of last week’s village fête meeting from which it looks as though things are slowly coming together. Currently, the preferred date is Saturday, June 21 with the following Saturday as backup and will almost certainly be held on the KGV Field. A good number of people have stepped up and agreed to be lead volunteers with responsibility for particular areas such as stall booking, insurance, advertising, etc. And other have already volunteered to run particular stalls such as cakes, books, and plants. (We note, with no surprise whatsoever, that Sue O’Sullivan has apparently volunteered to run a Pimms tent.) However, it was felt that more support and offers of help were still needed. There was no doubt that there would be extra helpers on the day but so much of the success of an event like this depends on efforts prior to the event. It was noted that most of those who have already volunteered to put in the time ahead of the event are working folk with limits on the time they can give. If you think you could help in any way, please contact Caroline Hollamby on 880056 or [email protected]. Next meeting will be Tuesday, March 18 in the village hall.

With so many new faces in the village over the last twelve months, here is a reminder about the Mountfield Club. It’s a small friendly village club, located at the back of the Village Hall, which is entirely run by elected committee members who give up their spare time to run the place.

Inside the club you will find a licensed bar, with very attractive prices, a full size snooker table, 2 darts boards, shove board and a flat screen TV with a seated sofa area.

The club organises its own annual tournaments, for snooker, darts, shove and table tennis. The Club enters a snooker team in the Hurst Green & District summer and winter leagues and also has a shove team and two darts teams which play in the Robertsbridge Darts League.

The Club holds quiz nights, fund raising events, live music, BBQ and much more and has even recently invested in a Table tennis table.

The Mountfield Club can also offer a licensed bar for wedding receptions, birthday parties and other events. The Club offers two forms of membership: adult membership which is only £5.00 per annum with a £10 joining fee and a junior membership (age 16-18) for just £2.50 per annum with a joining fee of £5.00.

The club is currently open Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings. New and old faces are always welcome into the club whether you just fancy a cheap drink, a game of snooker or darts, or just want to socialise with other local people.

The Snooker teams good recent run came to a sudden end last week with a 4-1 defeat at Burwash Common. Steve Smith won the only frame for Mountfield with the help of a 22 break. The Club tournaments will be starting soon and if you would like to take part in any of them please contact Steve Smith on 07720-298971.

We are still getting notifications from the local police about telephone scams. This is not the place to go into detail but we do urge you to make sure that any vulnerable people are forewarned about about the problem and have the dos and don’t driven home. Some of the police reports are very distressing.

By the time you read this, Southern Water should have submitted their formal planning application for the sewerage and treatment plant scheme to ESCC. It will probably take some time to process, distribute and publish but we should soon know exactly what is proposed. Our personal view is that one lesson has been learned already in advance of the planning application: whatever the final outcome, it will concern everyone in the village, not just those being offered connection. Watch this space.

As ever, you know where we are: 880614 (evenings) or [email protected].