Do you remember when?

1908

ON Thursday, the first day set apart for attestation, so far as the 6th (Bexhill) Sussex Battery, Third Home Counties Royal Field Artillery is concerned, was made the occasion of an enjoyable smoking concert at the Artillery Drill Hall in the evening. Thirty one men were enrolled under the new conditions by the Adjutant, Captain W. J. Beardsley, R.F.A.. They included five Sergeants, two Corporals and three Bombardiers.

THE Sea Side Camps of the London Working Boys have completed their 19th year of usefulness, and the Committee issues an encouraging report. In the words of the Bishop of London, written from the Bexhill camp last August, "I know of no work which makes a more lasting mark on boys' characters, or gives more lasting pleasure."

1958

THE problem of juvenile delinquency was really "the problem of the unwanted child becoming more and more unwanted," said the Director of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (the Rev. Arthur Morton), speaking at the annual meeting of the local branch of the N.S.P.C.C. in the East Wing of the De La Warr Pavilion.

AN unexpected lunch-time caller at the Sandringham Hotel, De La Warr Parade, on Good Friday was '“ a pheasant. The dining tables had been set ready when suddenly there was the sound of breaking glass. Mr. N. H. Hume told the "Observer": "At first we thought someone had thrown a stone through the window. We rushed into the dining room and there, sitting in a corner, was a hen pheasant..."

1968

THE future of the 175,000 St. Richard's Roman Catholic secondary school is raised in an East Sussex Education Committee report which calls attention to policy difficulties caused by lack of numbers. It suggests the possibility of making St. Mary Magdalene's a school for children aged five to eight years, and to use St. Richard's as a middle school for those of eight to 12.

SPEAKING personally at the civic opening of Museums Week at the De La Warr Pavilion's Elizabeth Room on Monday morning, the Mayor (Alderman J. Baker) expressed a desire to see the Museum moved from its present home in Egerton Park to the 'old barn' in the Manor House grounds.

1978

THE "now-you-see-it-now-you-don't" saga of the planned district general hospital for the Hastings-Bexhill area has unexpectedly entered one of its more optimistic phases. Draft planning guidelines issued by South East Thames Regional Health Authority talk of a possible 25 per cent increase in cash for building projects in the next two or three years.

1988

A "POSITIVE role" in the fight against AIDS/HIV infection must be adopted by Rother says its chief environmental health officer. Mr Bob Clarke asked the health committee on Tuesday to make an immediate decision to ensure Rother's own employees are prepared for the implications of AIDS for the district's 81,000 population.

THE Navy's bomb disposal squad was called in after an unexploded shell was found on the beach below Galley Hill on Sunday. This is the second unexploded device to be found on the beach in recent days. Last Wednesday a 5.5 inch shell was found by a young boy.

1998

THE Rospar frozen chicken factory at Sidley is to close with the loss of around 80 jobs. Rospar Poultry Products of Ninfield Road will close on April 24 and operations will be transferred to Scunthorpe. The management blames the closure on a decline in the market and the strength of the pound.

BEXHILL'S economy is to be given a kick-start with a government grant of nearly 1.5m. The Bexhill Regeneration Partnership was told on Monday that its bid had been successful. Now the partnership will be putting into action a seven-year 14.8m scheme. Schools, job creation and the wider community are set to benefit.