Category: Events
Village Hall Events April-May 2025
- Every Monday except Easter Monday 21st):
- Art Club 10am -12pm
- Library Café from 2-4pm
- Tuesday April 15th Parish Assembly
- Saturday May 3rd Library Café 10am – 12 noon, with refreshments and a small display to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, drawn mainly from the library’s collection of local history resources. Please feel free to bring along your own family stories and memorabilia.*
- Monday May 12th Art Club 10-12 Library Café 2-4pm
- Monday May 19th Art Club 10-12 Library Café 2-4pm
- Please note that Monday 5th and Monday 26th are both Bank Holidays so there will be no Art Club or Library Café on those dates.
Lent Lunch This Saturday 29th March
Lent Lunch
TOMORROW, SATURDAY 28TH MARCH 12 -2PM
ST GILES CHURCH, DALLINGTON
Do join us any time between 12 noon and 2pm. We shall be having a simple bread and homemade soup lunch with something for dessert. Vegetarians will be catered for.
We ask that you make a donation for lunch (cash, cheque or BACS transfer). This year we are supporting:
- Family Support Work: a charity which helps Sussex families who are struggling to cope, providing practical and emotional support
- Repairs to the church
National Iyengar Yoga Day 18th Jan
Come and Celebrate
Equipment will be available to use on the day.
No experience needed.
Winter Solstice Event on 21.12.24

Dallington Parish Council will be holding their annual Winter Solstice event on 21.12.24 (the actual date of the Solstice).
All residents are invited to join in at Dallington Recreation Ground. The pavilion will be open at 6.30pm and the beacon lit at 7.0opm.
There will be mulled wine and hot snacks.
We hope you can join us to celebrate the turning of the year.
Extended Deadline for Dark Skies Children’s Writing Competition
In view of the interest generated by the recent High Weald Wild about Dark Skies Festival (28 Oct-10 Nov), the editorial board of The Messenger Magazine have decided to extend the deadline for our Children’s Creative Writing competition (previously announced in the September issue of the Messenger) to 15th November, 2024
The Festival aims to celebrate the High Weald’s dark skies and raise awareness about the negative impacts of light pollution – on wildlife, climate change and our own wellbeing – and how we can help reduce it.
Our writing competition is designed to inspire and celebrate children’s responses to this topic. It is open to all children aged 5-11 living or attending school in the area served by the Messenger. We invite entries of poems, or short stories or articles (maximum 250 words) on any aspect of the theme of Dark Skies. Here are some questions to get them thinking:
-
- What’s special about dark skies and why do they matter?
- What are your own experiences of the dark?
- What can you see in the night sky?
- What do you like about the moon and stars?
- What are the stories behind constellation names?
- Why is darkness important to wildlife?
- What would happen to animals, birds and insects if it stayed light all the time?
The new deadline for entries is 15th November, 2024 and results will be announced in the new year. Prizes will be awarded in the two age categories:
– Young 5-7 years
– Junior 8-11 years.
The winners in each age category will each receive a £20 book token from Rother Books and their entries will be published in The Messenger. Runners up from each of the four villages will receive a £10 token. All entrants will receive a special Dark Skies bookmark. Your school may be taking part in the competition but individual entries are also very welcome.
Competition Rules
- Subject: “Dark Skies”
- Word count: Up to 250 words (excluding title)
- Judging criteria: Originality, engagement with theme, language (entries will not be judged on spelling and grammar)
- Only one entry per child
- Entries must be the original work of the child and should be submitted by a responsible adult (parent/guardian or teacher with parental consent).
- By submitting, the responsible adult grants permission for winning entries to be published in The Messenger. Copyright remains with the author
- Child’s name & age on 15th November 2024 should be included with their entry, along with address and contact details (which will not be published) for notification of results.
- Entries may be handwritten or typed and submitted by email to messenger@gmail.com or by post to
The Messenger Children’s Writing Competition,
Hunters Farm, Kent Lane, Brightling TN32 5HU - Entries must arrive by midnight 15th November 2024; late entries cannot be considered
- The judges’ decisions are final
[Corrected] St Giles Services Nov/Dec
[Apologies that Christmas Eve Service previously omitted – here is the corrected list]
December 2024
- 1st 11am. Service of The Word
- 8th 6.30pm. Evensong
- 15th 11am. Holy Communion
- 22nd 6.30pm. Carol Service
On Saturday Dec 21st the church will be decorated for Christmas. All welcome. After the Carol Service there will be drinks and mince pies. Come along to celebrate the start of Christmas. - 24th. 11.30pm Midnight Holy Communion.
- 29th NO service at Dallington
January 2025
- 5th. 11am. Service of The Word
- 12th. 6.30pm. Evensong
- 19th. 11am. Holy Communion
- 26th. 9.30am. Holy Communion
Film Night at Brightling 22.11.24
Messenger Magazine Annual Get-together This Thursday 7th November
The Messenger Magazine Annual Readers’ get-together will start at 7:00 pm on Thursday (7 November 2024) in Brightling Village Hall
ALL readers of the Messenger Magazine are warmly invited.
There will be FREE DRINKS (alcoholic and soft) and nibbles. This is partly a social occasion – an opportunity to have a relaxing chat with neighbours and others in Brightling, Dallington, Mountfield, and Netherfield. It is also our AGM (Annual General Meeting) so there will be some brief formalities (very brief, we promise!) including electing the committee that runs the magazine between parties (sorry, AGMs).
The committee hopes that as many people as possible will come. It’s an opportunity to show your support for the magazine (if you like it) or tell us what’s wrong (if you don’t like it!) – or just a relaxing evening with a glass of wine or something.
See you on Thursday.
This Saturday 2nd November Dark Skies Talk
Apologies for another reminder but it’s come to my notice that the incorrect time was shown on one of the pages of the Messenger Magazine – so this is the correct information again:
In Dallington, local expert Doug Edworthy (Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society) will be giving a talk about the wonders of the stars and the impact of light pollution on nature, people and the sky . This will take place at Dallington Old School Village Hall on Saturday 2nd November at 7.30. That is the weekend of the new moon, which means it will be particularly dark so we may be able to enjoy the skies on the way to and from the hall.