In Days Gone By, with John Dowling

THE question of acceding to the wish of the King, that all children attending public Elementary Schools should have a full week’s holiday in honour of the Coronation, gave rise to an animated discussion at the meeting of Bexhill Education Committee on Thursday evening. The resolution, in the end, was only carried by the Chairman’s vote after an amendment that the extra week be added to the summer holidays had been defeated.

ALTHOUGH the Bexhill Branch of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies has only been in existence since April 21st, 53 names have been placed on the membership roll and, judging by the enthusiastic meeting at the Victoria Hall on Thursday evening, when these Constitutional Suffragists held their first public meeting since the inception of the Branch, their influence is likely to be felt in no uncertain manner in the immediate future.

1961

LIGHTS went out all over Bexhill on Monday evening after a power failure which threw the town – and most of South East England – into complete darkness for some 90 minutes. Like a gradually-spreading blob of ink on virgin blotting paper, the black-out gradually engulfed London and South East England.

HOLIDAY crowds will find a full and varied programme on arrival at Bexhill this weekend. Signalling the start of the Whitsun attractions will be the launching of the Rowing Club’s two new craft.

1971

THE “magnificent effort on the part of the younger community” has been praised by the chairman of the League of Friends of Bexhill Hospital (Dr. D.R. Griffith). The occasion was the presentation of a cheque for £200 by Bexhill Round Table, which raised the money in aid of the geriatric unit to be built in the grounds of Bexhill Hospital.

IF the inaugural concert at the Manor House Barn last Saturday is anything to go by, then in converting the building to its present state the Town Council has rarely done anything better. The occasion was a concert performance of “Iolanthe” by the Stonegate Choral Society, which includes a number of Bexhill members.

1981

MEMBERS of Bexhill’s Royal British Legion Club met behind closed doors last night to decide whether women should be formally barred from joining. The emergency meeting was called after the club turned down an application from a local ex-servicewoman to join the club.

WITH horse-ownership and equestrian competition on the increase throughout the country, entries for Bexhill’s annual horse show at Polegrove on Monday look like establishing a new record.

1991

SIDLEY youngsters say they want the controversial shelter on Sidley Green retained and that in return they will “police” it. A group told youth workers this week that if materials can be found they will repair the shelter themselves. Brian Henley has been leading the Sidley Teenage Outreach Project. He described Monday’s meeting at Bexhill Youth Centre as “encouraging.”

UNEMPLOYMENT figures for April just released by the local Jobcentre show a continuing miserable picture for the area. The number of people out of work last month has almost doubled from the same period last year. Last April there was a total of 2,822 people unemployed in the Hastings “travel to work” area which includes Bexhill. This April the figure was 5,316.

2001

SWORDS and hatchets are believed to have been wielded in a club fight this week. Six police cars descended on the Pebsham estate following a report of a fight involving at least four men at Pebsham Sports and Social Club in Seabourne Road. Two men, reportedly bleeding heavily from wounds to the face and head, had got as far as Claxton Road a quarter of a mile away by Transit van by the time they were intercepted by an ambulance crew.

TRADITIONAL seaside entertainment such as the Pierroters and Punch and Judy have been dropped from the De La Warr Pavilion’s programme. The acts have been thought to be too much associated with the past and did not fit in with the Pavilion’s new, modern, image.