Waldron

RUDE MECHANICALS: Order your tickets now for next week’s outdoor performance of MacByrd by the wonderful Rude Mechanicals. They will be performing this new play in the village (in the field behind the pub) on Thursday starting at 7.30pm. Set in 1940 it’s a comedy thriller with a twist. George is doing his wartime bit by growing vegetables in his garden while Lil, his wife, keeps him supplied with tea and cake. Above them bombers are setting out across the Channel while clouds are massing over the Downs and a clatter of magpies cackle threateningly at a visiting raven. A dark and menacing intrigue simmers and a power struggle breaks out amongst the big birds. Sounds terrific. Buy your tickets online at www.therudemechancialtheatre.co.uk or at the central box office 01323 501260. The performance will be outside, so bring a folding chair, dress warmly and a torch can be handy too.

ROAD RESURFACING: It’s a pity East Sussex Highways couldn’t have given us more notice of road resurfacing on Tanyard Hill this week. We only heard on Tuesday that the road would be closed on Wednesday for three days from Whitehouse Lane in the centre of the village to Dern Lane at Lion’s Green. That takes in the centre of the village including the pub. While it’s absolutely true that the road is in dire need of proper resurfacing (and we all hope it’s not just a patching job) more notice would have been helpful for everyone living in or visiting the village.

VILLAGE DAY: Cross in Hand will be holding its Village Day tomorrow, Saturday, on the Hardy Roberts playing fields from 1pm to 5pm. More details on the website www.crossinhandvillageday.com or ring 01435 866462 for information and an entry for the Village Bake Off.

INJUSTICE PUT RIGHT: If you look very carefully at our war memorial in the centre of Waldron you may notice a new name only recently added. The story begins when our research for the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War turned up a mystery. Missing from our memorial’s list of the dead was the name of Lieut.Col Robert de Bray Hassell, son of Benden Sharvell Hassell who owned and lived at Great Tanners, one of the manors of Waldron. Robert had a distinguished military career, receiving his commission in the East Kent Royal Garrison Artillery in 1889, serving in the South African War and then on the outbreak of war in 1914, being recalled to form a British Remount Commission with fourteen other officers at a time when horses were still the transport of choice. In recognition of his service he was made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George and died on 27 February 1920, as a result of the war. He was buried in the churchyard at All Saints’ with full military honours and his grave is recognised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as a war grave. His brother Reginald gave the village its cricket pavilion and pitch in Robert’s memory, but there was no mention of him on the memorial. In our publication Waldron and the Great War 1914-1918 we told his full story and set about putting right this injustice. It has taken eighteen months winding through the machinations of local authority planning permissions and committees but finally, last month, Lieut Col Robert de Bray Hassell’s name was added to the list of our honoured dead. (For more information copies of Waldron and the Great War 1914-1918 by Valerie Chidson and Irene Flynn are available price £5 from Hassalls, Waldron TN21 0QX with a cheque made out to the Friends of Waldron Church and a stamped self-addressed A5 envelope).

SERVICES: This Sunday is Lammas. Holy Communion will be held as usual at 8am at All Saints’, but the Parish Eucharist service will be at 10am in the barn at Heronsdale Manor, Moat Lane, when we will share a loaf of Communion bread made from the first fruits of the harvest. Our preacher will be the Dean of Chichester Cathedral, the Very Reverend Stephen Waine.

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