Catsfield

Charity Craft Fair: Local makers will be holding a Craft Fair in the Village Hall on Saturday 28th March from 10am to 2pm. Refreshments and speciality teas will be available as will a wide variety of goods for sale – jewellery, hand knits, textiles, cards, plants, art and lots more.

Village Hall AGM: The Annual General Meeting of the Catsfield Village Hall was held on 9th March with chairman, Mike Cooper in charge of the proceedings. The usual handful of regular village supporters attended and heard the chairman give an overall report of work undertaken o the hall during the past year. Outgoing treasurer, Thora Webber presented her final financial report, she was thanked for all her hard work and her replacement was welcomed to the committee, as was the new representative from the Horticultural Society, Vanessa Francis. The Catsfield 100 Club was reported to be a most successful fund-raiser for the hall and Victoria was thanked for selling 128 tickets for 2015. John Overall told the meeting that the Parish Council had become 99 year leaseholders of the car park, which would remove the risk of the land adjacent to the Village Hall being used for development during that time. The meeting was closed and drinks and nibbles were handed round.

Spring Concert: Last Friday’s concert at St Laurence’s Church was a triumph of local talent, which entertained a most appreciative audience with beautiful music and singing. Bob Andrew organised a full and varied programme of various types of music, as well as accompanying some of the performers and playing a wonderful Brahms piano solo himself, followed later by very skilful duets with Jonathon Marten playing the organ. Soloist singers Lucy Ashton, Ella Andrew and Hannah Atkins were excellent, as was the Junior Choir and the combined Catsfield and Crowhurst Church Choirs, especially their final piece by Maurice Greene ‘Thou Visiteth the Earth’. Olly March’s performance on the violin of music by Grieg and John Williams was outstanding and held the audience spellbound.

I for one, was uncertain what or who to expect from the previously unknown ‘St Laurence Quartet’ and I think everyone was surprised and delighted to hear Mike and Rosemary Cooper and Linda and James Ireson’s first public performance of some traditional folk songs. Their voices were strong and blended so well together, they captivated the audience who joined in the choruses and appreciated the humour of the specially adapted verses referring to the Rector and Bob Andrew!

The ‘light supper’ included in the price of the ticket was outstanding and trays laden with food kept appearing over and over again. This memorable evening raised over £580 for the parish church of St Laurence.

Sport: Our football team play Wittersham at home tomorrow and with only another four more games to play before this protracted season ends on 18th April, we are sitting perilously close to the bottom. Currently we have only won three games out of eleven played and are 7th in the Second Division of the East Sussex League of nine teams. A couple of teams withdrew during the season as they didn’t have enough players, so we consider ourselves lucky that we field a team at all. There seem to be plenty of junior teams playing, but then for whatever reason, players lose interest and don’t play in their teens and twenties. Could it be that they work on Saturdays, or go to the gym or give up sport altogether? For whatever reason, it is a worrying situation.

Jill Jarrett

Broadview, Bexhill