A community website for the residents of Dallington in East Sussex
Come and Celebrate
Equipment will be available to use on the day.
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.
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:
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
[Apologies that Christmas Eve Service previously omitted – here is the corrected list]
December 2024
January 2025
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.
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.
Jane Camilloni will perform pieces by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin and Debussy. Born in Oxford, Jane began piano studies at five and held her first concert at eight, winning second prize at the Muzio Clementi national Piano Competition. By ten, she had won the Alfred Cortot International Piano Competition in Milan. She studied at the Royal College of Music in the UK and earned her piano Diploma from the Florence Conservatoire in 1981, guided by Clive Britton. Jane has performed widely in Italy and internationally, including in London, Paris, and India. After a long hiatus, she resumed her piano career under Clive Britton’s mentorship, giving her first concert in Florence in 2017.
Donations in aid of the Friends of St Giles, Tea will be served in the Barn after the concert. RSVP by Wednesday 8th Nov 2024 to [email protected]
(Posted on behalf of Roy Iremonger)
On Sunday 31st August 2025 all are welcome to attend an afternoon of personal memories, family anecdotes and historical details regarding how Dallington was affected by World War Two. The event will be held in the afternoon in St Giles Church – where on 3rd September 1939, villagers gathered to hear the radio broadcast announcement that Britain was now at war – and will be followed by a cream tea.
The reason for the early advertising is to give us plenty of time to gather as much information as possible. We would love to hear of any war-time stories covering such subjects as evacuees, school life, farming changes, the war in the skies, troops billeted in the parish, the Home Guard, rationing, local entertainment and any other wartime topic that will be of interest to the residents of Dallington.
If you think you might be able to help please give Roy Iremonger a call on 01323 832627 or email [email protected].
As previously announced, Dallington is participating in this year’s High Weald Wild about Dark Skies Festival. Running from Saturday 28 October to Sunday 10 November 2024, the Festival promises a fortnight of stargazing, workshops, talks, walks and fun family activities. Find out more at https://highweald.org/get-involved/dark-skies/wild-about-dark-skies-festival/
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.
Dallington School is also joining in with the festival. Paul Cox, Head Teacher, reports that the older children are currently working on a project based around the Dallington Village Dark Skies Festival. They have been visited by the amazing Rachel Bennington, who works for the High Weald. They have done lots of wonderful work around the stars and light pollution. They will also be writing some poems around the night sky – to be entered for the Messenger Magazine Childrens Writing Competition on the Dark Skies theme.
We hope to arrange some additional events later in the month, including a star gazing event and a bat walk (details tbc).
Dallington Parish Council supports the Dark Skies Festival and when commenting on planning applications, takes account of the High Weald Dark Skies Planning Advice Note which aims to reduce light pollution.