ST CLEMENT & ALL SAINTS PARISH NEWS

28th March Palm Sunday

29th March Holy Monday

30th March Holy Tuesday

31st March Holy Wednesday

1st April Maunday Thursday

nd 2 April March Good Friday

28 1 2021 3rd April Holy Saturday

PARISH OF ST CLEMENT and ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH DIRECTORY

OLD TOWN COUNTRY MARKET

Priest-in-Charge (part-time) The Reverend Paul Hunt 07818 273282 CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER Diocesan Reader: Pat Lock, 4 Ore Place, Hastings, TN34 2LR 754264 NOTICE Assisted by: The Caring Place Gift Vouchers for that All Saints’ Church Hall Canon Keith Pound, 1 Sinnock Square unique CARING GIFT to (at the top of All Saints’ High Street, Hastings, TN34 3HQ 428330 family members or friends. A bespoke Street) Brother Aelred Partridge, O.C., Herb Cottage, package can be tailored to suit you from 29 All Saints Street, Hastings TN34 3BJ 715219 Reflexology Body Scans, Detox . . . . High quality home Lay Ministers: Sandra Bentall 721874 Registered Qualified Christian Therapist produce, reasonable Natalie Broomfield-Hill 715693 Marguerite MacLean tel: 07708-038037 prices. Keith Leech 716576 COME EARLY and try us! Churchwardens: Ann Wing, 2 Priory Close, Hastings, TN34 1UJ 420499 Judy Cubison, 7 Laton Rd, Hastings, TN34 2ET 457194 Pat Lock, 4 Ore Place, Hastings, TN34 2LR 754264 Gareth Bendon, 9 High Street, Hastings, TN34 3EY 436934 Parish (PCC) Secretary: Sue Phillips Pottery View, Chitcombe Road, Broad Oak, Brede 882342 Parish Treasurer: Simon Scott, 52 Ashburnham Road, Hastings, TN35 5JL 437554 Parish Administrator & Electoral Roll Officer: Jean Donaldson, (Tues/Wed/Thur. 09.30-12.00) 422242 Parish Office: Lower Hall, All Saints Hall, The Bourne, Hastings, TN34 3BD. email: [email protected] Director of Music: Malcolm Lock, 4 Ore Place, Hastings TN34 2LR 07801-068156 Sunday School (3-11 yrs) & Young People's Group (11+): c/o The Parish Office 422242 Safeguarding Officer: Pat Lock, 4 Ore Place, TN34 2LR 754264 Pastoral Care Link: Catherine Bendon, 9 High Street, TN34 3EY 436934 Bell Captain: Rosemary Smith, 15 Halton Terrace, TN34 3NY 718736 Church / Hall Bookings: OLD HASTINGS HOUSE St Clement’s Church: Apply to Parish Office (see above) 422242 132 High Street All Saints Hall: Jayne White 719072 or 07791 759257 TN34 3ET or by letter to the Parish Office (address above). Coffee mornings have been Advertising contact: Ken Bentall email [email protected] 721874 cancelled until further notice. We are Magazine Distribution: Joy Meech 426462 sorry, and look forward to seeing you again Two Towers Trust: Ken Bentall, 11 Bourne Court, when circumstances permit. Hastings TN34 3UZ 721874

2 27

Old Hastings House HOLY WEEK SERVICES 2021

Residential Care Home

(part of the Magdalen and Lasher Charity) All Services will be held at St Clement’s

Are you looking for a comfortable, safe and warm family environment for Palm Sunday, 28th March: 10 a.m. Parish Eucharist and blessing of palm yourself or a loved one? A home offering excellent food, an in-house laundry service, a high standard of cleanliness, and personal care tailored to the crosses. needs and wishes of the individual? A friendly place, where activities and th entertainments are fun, but optional? A unique and historic house, part of Holy Monday, 29 March: 7 p.m. Compline and Address the fabric of Old Town of Hastings, where visitors are always welcome? th Holy Tuesday, 30 March: 7 p.m. Holy Communion (Book of Common We offer accommodation in the Main House for men and women of retirement age and above, and in the adjoining Magdalen Suite for those with higher care Prayer) and Address needs (not nursing). Holy Wednesday, 31st March: 7 p.m. Compline and Address For an informal chat with our Manager, Jason Denny, or a senior member of the care team, please call 01424 452642. We would be happy to st arrange a time for you to look around and discuss your requirements, Maundy Thursday, 1 April: 7.30 p.m. Eucharist and Address followed even if you are not yet ready to make the move. by the Watch

2 132 High Street, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3ET nd Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. 1158933 Good Friday, 2 April: On-line Procession of Witness – Stations will be broadcast at different times during the day on the Parish Facebook Page 9 a.m. Morning Prayer () 2 p.m. At the Foot of the Cross: Good Friday prayers, readings and medita- tions with recorded music Holy Saturday, 3rd April: 9 a.m. Morning Prayer (Book of Common Prayer) 7 p.m. Compline and Address Easter Day, 4th April: 8 a.m. Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer) 10 a.m. Parish Eucharist with incense and the dedication and lighting of the Paschal Candle

26 3

PRAYING ROUND THE PARISH

In March we will be praying especially for all those who live in: Roebuck Street, Sinnock Square, Strongs Passage, Starrs Cottages, Swaines Passage, Swan Terrace and Swan Avenue.

Important information for those attending services

As of & Bishop of Chichester guidelines, social distanc- ing will be strictly followed at all services in St Clements and All Saints churches:

• Service books will be on pew seats so people know where to sit, and these should be left on the pews after each service. • The will wear full facial shields for extra protection for our more vulnerable congregation & all of us. • At time of writing there will be no refreshments following the ser- vice & congregation are asked to leave church as soon as the ser- vice has finished. • Please provide your own face covering if possible. • You will be asked to use the hand sanitizer on entering & exiting the church. • The collection plate will be in position at back of the church, as the plate will not be brought around during the service. • There are now QR posters in both churches and church hall. These look like a huge bar code. If you have a mobile phone you can scan these Bar codes. These are Government posters that combine with DogStar Hub Dog Care the smart phone App to alert you if you have come into contact • Solo / Elite walks with someone who has the Corona virus. These are not mandatory, • Group walks but another way of helping to keep us all as safe as possible. • Home visits for comfort and For latest information, please see the website, achurchnearyou or St companionship Clements facebook page (details on page 6). Find me at: dogstarhub.co.uk Find me on: Facebook Ann Wing, Churchwarden Call me on: 07851 358894

4 25

Parish Magazine : Marcia Woolf (Editor) - please note correct email address [email protected] Tel: 452646

24 5

S P Graves March 2021 Chartered Accountant Dear Friends,

Personal Tax Returns Does anyone remember the Orion Business Accounts Cinema at the bottom of Cambridge Efficient Cost Effective Service th Road? On the 20 August 1968 I was Free Initial Consultation taken to see a Terry Thomas comedy 27 All Saints Street and the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup. Hastings TN34 3BJ It’s an easy date to remember. As we left the cinema, my Auntie Maude 01424 716682 [email protected] pointed to the headline on a newspa- Turn your memories into a per stand: Soviet Tanks in Prague. I book - everyone has their story wasn’t quite yet eleven and my grasp of Soviet geo-politics not yet fully Retired Fleet Street journalist developed but I remember being very can create a superb book from frightened at my aunt’s prediction that your memories, journals, diaries, “there’s going to be another war”. poetry, pictures or drawings for your family to treasure. As few It was a frightening time. And yet or as many copies as you wish. there was a hint of hope that the hu- Brian Moore man spirit would not be crushed by 07868 230 123 tanks or anything else. On the follow- [email protected] ing evening the Soviet State Orchestra was due to perform Dvorak’s great Cello concerto at the Proms. The cellist was none other than Rostropovich and so here was the USSR’s greatest living musi- cian playing the music of the greatest Czech composer. There was some heckling as the music began but those who heard it – and I once met someone who was there - say that the real protest came from Rostropovich and the Soviet State Orchestra who played like men possessed and expressed a sense of a freedom stronger than oppression and of a human spirit that is eternally free. At the end, the heckling had become cheering and Rostropovich held the score aloft as a ges- ture of support for the composer’s homeland. It was an unspoken hint of resur- rection in a dark time and in 1968 we would not have thought that by 1991 the human spirit would have indeed triumphed over Soviet tanks. Continued/..

6 23

We have been living in another dark time and I am conscious that it is a time of anxiety for many. And yet we have a hint of a spring which, unlike the political ‘Prague Spring’ of 1968, will not be crushed. Many of us will have had our first vaccine dose and some will have had their second. We are gradually winning the battle in most of the world. Scientists continue their astonishingly successful work and life beyond lockdown can at last be glimpsed. Battered we may be but the human spirit has not been crushed. It is now Lent and Easter draws closer by the day. Whatever we make of the Easter story, its narrative of self-sacrifice, suffering, injustice, death and bereave- ment speaks to us all by virtue of our shared humanity. Redemption and Resur- rection may seem like an impossible dream when the spirit is oppressed by dark- ness. “These words seemed to them (the Apostles) an idle tale, and they did not believe them (the women).” (Luke 24.11) But the days are growing longing and Spring will soon unfold and I can listen to Kathleen Ferrier singing Bach. Perhaps a hint and a whisper of immortality is all we need.

Your friend and parish ,

Paul Hunt

22 7

The Stables has an important role locally as a community resource, but also, in a town which has no other theatre showing straight plays, as a cen- tre for excellence for a much wider audience. Neil approaches this deli- cate balance with care and sensitivity, but with the hope that it can be WEDDINGS, BAPTISMS moved slightly into its local context. Neil’s aim is that it shall be ‘big and FUNERALS enough to make it worthwhile, but small enough not to frighten people For information about away’. He wants it to be a ‘go to’ sort of place. weddings, baptisms and funerals please contact the Church Warden Ann Wing: details are on We salute Neil and all those who help maintain the Stables. It is a place page 2. which has a highly prized place in the cultural life of the Old Town, with high standards and a loyal following. We all look forward to its being re- stored to its rightful place as one of the leading places to which we look for enjoyment and nourishment.

K.S.P.

8 21

Parish Profile: Neil Sellman

When he was first appointed two years ago to the posi- tion of Chairman of the group of people who run the Stables, Neil Sellman could not possibly have anticipated the changes which would have to take place after less than a year in office. A new Parish Website is currently under construction!

Like every other institution The new site will include information on services, Church news and in the Old Town, the theatre notices, fund-raising and social events, contact details, plus the texts has had to rethink its role, of sermons, those important back-copies of the Parish News, and and how to negotiate the much more. period of time before ‘normality’ is restored.

Neil has had a long connection with theatre locally, beginning as a teenag- er as a student of acting, singing and dance at the Hastings Stage Studio. Since then he has taken part in a large number of productions. He names Camelot as one of the most enjoyable and – for pure fun – The Happiest Days of Your Life. He has a special interest in musicals, and is planning to direct Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, which is at present on hold, together with the other productions planned for this year.

SERVICES AT OLD HASTINGS HOUSE AND THE LAURELS In these difficult days the position of chairman is more demanding than ever. The opportunity has been grasped to carry out maintenance work Services are presently suspended. on the building (you will have seen the scaffolding up outside) and tidying and cleaning inside.

Neil reckons that he spends about 30 to 35 hours a week at the Stables; he is there most days, and fortunately has retired from his job. Neverthe- less, he finds time for his other major interest, which is running. Time is taken up with helping to look after his mother, and also caring for his four god-children, who are obviously very important to him.

20 9

SUSSEX SECRETARIES DO YOU NEED SECRETARIAL HELP FO R YOUR BUSINESS OR YOUR HOME? Call us to discuss ways in which we can help you Tel: 01424 892463 or 07940 886123 or 07985 192059 or visit www.sussexsecretaries.co.uk to see what services we can offer you.

GREEN BEE GARDEN SERVICES

Decking, fencing and screens Steps, ramps and handrails Sleeper walls and raised beds Paths and paving Garden buildings and more… ------Free advice and quotations References and pics available Please call or text Simon 07854 671 734

10 19

Introducing Susan Munroe St Michael’s Hospice new Chairman St Michael’s Hospice says it has been incredibly fortunate in appointing Su- san Munroe as its new Chairman. She brings with her a wealth of experi- ence as a nurse, in palliative care at a national level, and as a senior leader in several charities. Susan first trained as a nurse and worked for a number of years in elderly medicine. She ran a Ma- rie Curie hospice, and subsequently worked for Marie Curie across Scotland, before undertaking a national UK role as Director of Nursing and Patient Ser- vices.

Dr Karen Clarke, Chief Executive said “I look forward to our new partnership and continuing the work started with our former Chairman Irene Dibben. The Hospice, like everyone, has had a diffi- cult year but we continue to support patients and their families and work closely with our NHS partners. Every- one in health and social care is working tirelessly, going above and beyond time and again, desperately hoping the devas- tation and distress caused by corona- virus will ease. As part of the Hospice's Leadership Team the Board, and particularly the Chairman, play a pivotal role in supporting and guiding the organisation through this challenging period. I have valued and appreciated the Board's concern, commitment and unwavering support throughout the pandemic and with Susan, look forward to starting a new chapter in St Michael's Hospice story: to reach more people in different ways, just as soon as we can.” Susan added “I am absolutely delighted to become part of this great organisation which is so well loved and respected by the local community. As I take over we are in the midst of COVID-19 restrictions but can see some hope for the end of it. I want to pay tribute to the staff and volunteers of St Michael’s Hospice who have worked tirelessly to con- tinue providing a service during such a difficult time and I look forward to being part of an exciting future for the Hospice as we come out of it.”

18 11

The History House 21 Courthouse Street Hastings

A small family firm TN34 3AU 01424-424744 email: [email protected] in Hastings Old Town free entry - donations appreciated Solutions and advice tailored to your needs Resolving civil & commercial disputes The History House and Fishermen's Museum are currently closed.

• Property Disputes We have managed to retain all our staff and hope to do so until we can • Landlord & Tenant return to normal or new normal. In the meantime, please keep an eye on • Contract Disputes our website www.ohps.org.uk for updates. • Inheritance • Boundary Issues We very much look forward to welcoming visitors to our displays • Debt recovery again, as soon as restrictions permit.

For specialist expertise Keep well. without the cost of a large city firm Anne Scott and the Trustees call 01424 712545 [email protected] Both our premises have had a Covid 19 risk assessment and appropriate measures con- tinue in place. When open, will be operating track and trace to record visitors, with de- tails to be kept for 21 days. We would appreciate visitors wearing face masks and using the hand sanitiser provided for their safety and that of our staff and volunteers. Numbers have to be restricted and social distancing kept, but please do come and visit both venues as we really appreciate your support. All exhibitions and opening hours may be subject to revised Covid restrictions.

12 17

Need help with the catering? Local private chef and caterer based Brede. Daisy Fresh Beautiful hand-made food, bespoke menus and exceptional service. Dinner parties, Cleaning Services canapés, a special occasion buffet or family A newly established meal, I’d love to cook for you. domestic cleaning business, Call me on 07590 621015 or based in Hastings, using email [email protected] bleach free products.

Services include Basic clean Deep clean and Ironing.

Fully Insured Pet Friendly References Supplied For details contact Sam 07731 369292 [email protected]

16 13

In 1648 the Marquis of Ormonde escaped from Hastings to Dieppe. “He in The History House 21 Courthouse Street Hastings disguise, and without being attended by more than one servant, rode into TN34 3AU 01424-424744 email: [email protected] Sussex and in an obscure and unguarded port or harbour put himself on free entry - donations appreciated board a shallop which safely transported him to Normandy”. This obscurity resulted in a ‘Clerk of the passage’ being appointed at Hastings’. Parliament had “information that dangerous persons pass that way into foreign parts.”

I am very glad to have found a subject to write about this month that may Certainly John Ashburnham's service to King Charles is well documented. I interest many Old Town residents. understand the relics that used to be in Ashburnham Church are now in Hastings Museum. At last it is possible to get a date by comparing tree rings from a master chronology with samples from the Old Town. Dr Graeme Davis is re- In ‘A Survivor of Storms, Hastings Old Town; An Architectural History’, the searching 121 All Saints Street and commissioned a dendrochronological authors record the number of carpenters resident in the town 1642-3 was 8 survey which has come up with the date of c1648. It was said that Old rising to 13 in 1656-7, whereas the number of masons and bricklayers fell Town houses were difficult to date but the development of master chro- from 9 to 4 over the same period. Does this indicate a building boom? nologies progresses and now this can be done.

More dendro dates would be useful, so if you have a16th or 17th century It was in 1643 that Col. Morley house, how about it? and his troops chased the of All Saints, Mr Hinson (a Roy- alist) from the church. Anne Scott

G Thomas-Stanford’s book ‘Sussex in the Great Civil War 1642-1660’, records after the Kings confinement at Caris- brooke Castle in 1646, John Ashburnham “kept a barque in readiness off Hastings for some weeks”. “Hastings appears at this time to have offered ad- vantages to refugees”.

14 15