In Days Gone By with John Dowling

1911

PREPARATIONS are now being made on the ground between the Marina and the Colonnade for the new entertainment centre which Messrs. Kinsella and Collard are providing for Bexhill this summer, and which is to open next Saturday with a perfect galaxy of talented artistes. It is intended to give two performances daily, one in the morning of a light and popular character which will appeal to children as well as adults who do not wish to be regaled with anything too heavy, while the evening entertainment is to be of a high-class character, and commencing at half past eight, will be specially designed to appeal to Bexhill’s visitors after dinner.

A HORSE belonging to Mr. F. Davis, The Down, had a long run on its own on Tuesday evening. It broke loose from a ground near Wickham-avenue, came along that thoroughfare and passed through Station-road (now London Road) to the Down, where it appears to have been turned back. Returning along Station-road, it paid a visit to Windsor-road, but came to grief near Sackville Arch, where it tripped over a kerb and collided with a fence, sustaining slight injuries.

1961

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MANY delighted residents and visitors who were near the sea front on Monday evening saw the new 47,000-ton luxury P. and O. liner Canberra pass six miles off shore shortly before 8.50. The distinguishing features of the liner were clearly visible to the naked eye, as, shimmering in the late evening sun, she was a beautiful sight as she moved gracefully up Channel.

FOR the past five years rain has marred the Whit-Monday Horse Show in Polegrove but this year more than 4,000 residents and visitors passed through the gates bringing with them not mackintoshes but sunglasses.

1971

ANGRY residents of Little Common will be holding a public meeting on Friday with the aim of forming a protest committee. The target of their wrath is officialdom which they believe is withholding from public view plans for a bypass which could cut the village in two.

THE independent boys’ school Harewood, in Collington Avenue, is to close at the end of the summer term, the Headmaster (Mr. M.J.C. Phillips) told the “Observer” this week.

1981

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THE rain fell and the wind howled as Spring Bank Holiday became the Great Blank Holiday. Saturday dawned wet and miserable, Weekend sport was washed out and Monday’s Polegrove show-piece, the Horse Show, was quickly abandoned.

PLANS by Segas to rid itself of its eyesore site at Glyne Gap have not met with county council approval. The 12 years-vacant former gas works site is earmarked for mixed industrial and recreational use. Segas put in plans for 186,448 sq. ft. of office space. “Too much industry, too little recreation,” said the county environment committee on Tuesday.

1991

THE regional health authority would be unable to fulfil its grand plan for day surgery at Bexhill but for a promised £200,000 hand-out from the hospital’s voluntary organisation, the League of Friends. Without the gift, which will match £200,000 from the Bexhill-based South East Thames Region, the unit, to be the most modern in the country, simply could not be created.

2001

THE LEAGUE of Friends of Bexhill Hospital is poised to spend £890,000 on major improvements to the hospital’s Irvine Unit. Benefits include: Creating two Seadoc out-of-hours minor injury treatment rooms; rearrangements so seriously ill patients are nearer the nurses’ station; building a new mortuary offering greater privacy and dignity for relatives and creating new space to overcome equipment storage problems.

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EXPERT back-up for a new-look council could cost double the present amount as Rother meets government demands to set up a new system. But realistic allowances and flexibility should encourage more people to stand for council, leader Graham Gubby has said. Rother decided on a cabinet-style leadership after consultation showed that it was the public’s preference out of a selection put forward by the government.

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