April 2019 Parish news

(Posted on behalf of Bobbie Steel)
St Giles Church
Services in April

  • Sunday  7th April        11 am.       Service of The Word
  • Sunday 14th              6.30 pm.      Evensong
  • Sunday 21st.              11 am.           Easter Sunday Holy Communion
  • Sunday 28th.            9.30am.       Holy Communion

The World Day of Prayer service was held at Dallington on Friday March 1st. As well as members of the congregations in our benefice we were joined by friends from Heathfield. The service, which had been prepared by the women of Slovenia, was very thought-provoking, and the title, “Come, everything is ready”, welcomed and included all present.

History Group: the last two meetings of this Spring will be:
Wednesday April 10th  Jenny Stiles will talk about Dallington after 1066.
Wednesday April 24th Douglas Sewell (postponed from March) on Dallington’s war graves
Both meetings in the Old School from 7 for 7.30pm

Flower Club Angela has written a note about the Flower Club:
I am very sorry to say that, reluctantly, it has been decided to finish the monthly meetings. This is mainly due to the lack of support and interest. Looking back, we have learned a great deal and had many happy afternoons. I think it began some 8 or 9 years ago when Dorothy Messer approached Pam Fuller with the idea of starting a flower-arranging group locally. We have made large and miniature arrangements, used a kitchen utensil and a dustpan, made Harvest and Christmas wreaths, joined in with a couple of Flower-Festivals and learned to make Christmas arrangements to use at home. I also remember trying to make crepe-paper poppies, daffodils and anemones. How hopeless we were. Pam used to tell us that the Brownies she taught were much less awkward than us! Many thanks to Pam for all her help and enthusiasm over many happy Thursday afternoons.  Angela.

Dallington WI. At our February meeting we had the pleasure of listening to our neighbour, Robin Taylor, talking about the life and work of Elizabeth Bishop, a poet of whom he is very knowledgeable. We very much enjoyed hearing Robin share his interest.
In April we look forward to a return visit from Chris McCooey, with his talk entitled, ‘News from the Home Front’. The April meeting will be in the Old School Village Hall at 7.30pm on April 18th.
Please note the summer evening time and do not get caught out by arriving in the afternoon. Visitors are always very welcome.
Bobbie

Library Cafe As usual the Library Cafe is open in the Old School village hall every Monday (except Easter Monday) from 2-4. The monthly Saturday morning openings are April 6th and May 4th 10-12. We will be including a sales table for plants and produce in all Saturday sessions throughout the season – please bring along any spare plants, seeds and garden produce to swap or sell

Tree Warden advice about Ash Dieback

(Message posted on behalf of Doug Edworthy, Tree warden for Dallington and Brightling)

In February 2019 the Tree Council published an Action Plan Toolkit concerning Chalara (Ash Dieback disease) primarily aimed at authorities and big landowners.

While the Action Plan Toolkit might not be directly applicable to all parishioners of Brightling and Dallington, there are landholdings in the parishes containing a great number of Ash trees some of which are near to public roads, bridleways and footpaths and may pose a risk when they become infected.

The document also outlines the responsibilities and actions expected of local authorities and so it will provide a useful checklist against which our own local authorities’ performance can be monitored.

Please click on this link to access a summary of information from the ‘Toolkit’ that is relevant or of interest to people of our two parishes. Summary of Tree Council Toolkit

You can also download the full Toolkit here: https://www.treecouncil.org.uk/Ash-Dieback

Useful guide to tree pests and diseases

We’ve heard a lot about Ash Dieback Disease, but it’s not the only threat to our trees.

The Observatree project is designed to help us all to look out for and report signs of trouble. They explain:

“Working with the UK Plant Health Risk Group (the group that maintains the UK Plant Health Risk Register), Observatree has identified those pests and diseases which are of the highest concern at the moment. They are the ones:

  • most likely to arrive in the UK

• that have already arrived and we are concerned about their spread

  • which have the potential to cause the most serious and widespread impact on commercial forestry, amenity woodland and ecological systems”

You can find out more and download useful resources including spotters guides at their website at https://www.observatree.org.uk/tree-health/pests-and-diseases/ .

Ash Dieback.

(Posted on behalf of Doug Edworthy, Dallington Tree Warden)

The Tree Council has just published an Ash Dieback Action Plan Toolkit, and it makes sobering reading.

Every landowner should have the opportunity to learn about the impending dieback of their Ash woodland and the costs, financial and otherwise, that landowners will face.

It can be downloaded from the Tree Council’s page

https://www.treecouncil.org.uk/Ash-Dieback

History Group Talk 27th February 2019

The first History Group event of 2019 will take place on Wednesday 27th February in the Old School Village Hall at 7.30.

Roy Iremonger will be talking on”Policemen in Dallington”.

Please note that this year, all  talks will be on Wednesdays instead of Tuesdays as previously.

2019 programme
Wednesday  27th February Roy Iremonger:  Policemen in Dallington
Wednesday 13th March David Wilson: Pantons Cottage
Wednesday 27th March Douglas Sewell:  Dallington and the supernatural
Wednesday 10th April Jenny Stiles:  Dallington after 1066

The organisers wish this to be a social event; there is no admission charge but a small contribution towards expenses is welcome.

St Giles Churchyard closed for retiling works Friday 1st February

(Posted on behalf of Diana Day)

This coming Friday 1st February, there will be men in the churchyard replacing tiles on the roof. The churchyard will be closed for about 2 hours around lunchtime. This is to protect both the workmen and the public from any accident or mishap. Diana will be putting up “men at work” signs and will be around to redirect any visitors.

Looking for volunteer tree surveyors

The Woodland Trust is looking for volunteers to take part in the Observatree project which aims to protect the UK’s trees, woods and forests from new pests and diseases.

Volunteers receive training to enable them to correctly identify signs and symptoms of Observatree’s 22 priority pests and diseases as well as carry out effective site surveys

if you are interested, you can find out more at https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer-with-us/opportunities/tree-health-surveyor-various-locations/

Celebrating our Village Hall

Village Halls Week logo

National Village Halls Week takes place from 22nd-28th January 2019

To mark the occasion and to publicise our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 29th January at 7pm, Dallington Old School  Management Committee members have produced a newsletter showing what’s been going on at the hall over the last twelve months thanks to a small team of dedicated volunteers . We hope it will encourage people to come along to some of our events, including the increasingly popular Library Cafe held every Monday afternoon from 2-4pm and perhaps offer support to help enable this vital community asset to flourish for another 150 years.   Copies of the newsletter will be distributed during the week, or you can download it directly by clicking the link below.

Old School News January 2019