January 2005
As I write these jottings in the middle of January I ponder over the change in the weather that we have experienced over the past few years. The world of nature is going mad around me. Spring should arrive in April but these days we hear reports on television of strange things happening. Like the brood of Thrushes hatched in Brighton near the Pavilion around Christmas. I reported last month of the family of Blackbirds living in my garden.
It’s fine to have mild winters but we do need a few hard frosts to put things in their places. It is fine if spring comes early as long as it is warm enough for the insects that feed the birds to survive. The food chain of nature depends on things coming together at the right time otherwise disaster will be the result. I myself believe that mother nature will keep things in order. If my guess is correct
we can expect a really cold snap at the beginning of February that will put an end to the premature spring this year. If I am wrong and the winters remain mild then perhaps the Global Warming advocates are on the right lines and we must act now or see our planet change for the worse over the next thirty years.
On a lighter note, Easter is early this year but I have not seen a chocolate egg in the shops yet, perhaps there is a shortage of chocolate. No doubt by the time you read this the shelves will be packed with Easter Bunnies and other little expensive boxes, weight watchers beware!
Am I the only one to notice the things that are slowly vanishing from the town of Rye? Where have all the coal chutes gone that once littered the pavements? These chutes led to the cellars under the houses and the coal-man just lifted the chute lid and tipped the required number of bags down the hole. What has happened to the large Brass Bell from Rye County Secondary School (now the Freda Gardham) when did it vanish and who has it now? I remember Mr. Piggot polishing it every Monday morning. He was proud of that bell with it’s inscription “HAIG” standing
out in raised letters. Schools were run on discipline in those days, now sadly lacking, no fault of the staff, they have their hands tied by new laws of the land. In my days you could hear a butterfly flap across a classroom. We kids were fearful of upsetting our teachers but at the same time we respected them. I believe my generation are so much better for it and thank all the teachers that taught me and
my contemporaries Maths and Manners.
Jimper
From the January 2005 Issue of “Rye’s Own”
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