Message from David Gasson:
On Friday 20th December, the Brightling Carol Singers will once again sing their way round the village.
If you would like to join us, please meet outside the Village Hall at 6.30 pm.
As usual, the collection will be for the Children of Chailey Heritage. If you will be away on that night, but would still like to make a donation, please ring me on 01424 838 481.
David Gasson
Residents of affected streets will have received consultation letters from Rother District Council. The map below shows all the affected roads.
The letters that have gone out say “There is the potential for Royal Mail to change postcodes if the street name changes”. While this is technically true (the Post Office can change anyone’s postcode anytime they feel like it), I have to say that I think it is incredibly unlikely to happen. In practice the Post Office only change postcodes when there is a major change in the organization of the postal rounds (eg if a lot of new houses get built, or if one property gets so much post that they need their own postcode and so on).
I do hope that this doesn’t put anyone off.
This should also not cause any change in anyone’s official (Post Office) house address; addresses (on the affected roads) do not in fact include the road name at all. See the sample below (from www.royalmail.com/find-a-postcode ).
Another slight problem is that (due to an error by Rother District Council) all the people in Hollingrove Hill got Hollingrove Lane letters, and vice versa. Corrected (version 2) letters have now been sent out to those affected.
Finally I’ll just mention that the roads variously known as Cackle Street and/or Battle Road are not affected at all.
What’s the point? some people have asked. Speaking personally, two reasons: first to preserve a little bit of local history, and secondly so that when they put up signs saying “such and such a road is closed” that everyone knows which road they mean.
If anyone has any queries about this, feel free to contact me by email at 
An appeal from the vicar
I am sure that many of you regularly donate to food banks but at this time of year wouldn’t it be kind to include festive treats as well as basic foodstuffs?
Feel free to hand me some tins, packets, jars etc and I’ll add them to the food parcel being put together for delivery in December. Just one or two items will cost you just a couple of pounds, but will be someone’s only hot meal for the day.
Donations are being delivered to the Trussel Trust foodbank on Tuesday (8th December) so please hand your donations to the vicar on Sunday or bring them to the Rectory on Monday.
Two new planning applications affecting Brightling have been received recently. Details can be seen on the planning page of this website.
I have received the following message via neighbourhood alert.
Monday 25th November 2019: Volunteering doesn’t come more rewarding than this!
We are now recruiting Special Constables. If this is the volunteering opportunity you’ve been looking for, click here to apply [NB There is no upper age limit]
You already have a career you love – now you want a different challenge in your spare time.
As a special constable officer you’ll have the same uniform and powers as regular officers.
From being first on the scene and taking knives off the streets to educating young people, you’ll be working alongside regular police officers and PCSOs to make Sussex safer.
Our ‘Specials’, as the special constables are known, come from all walks of life. Specials are men and women of all races and faiths. They’re teachers, taxi drivers, chefs, accountants and secretaries and they all volunteer a minimum of 16 hours a month. When you join Sussex Police, you become part of our policing family – we are with you each step of the way.
Are you an honest, respectful and selfless person who wants to do something important in your spare time? Could you be there in a stranger’s time of need? Are you prepared to protect others on or off duty? And are you prepared for how time-consuming this volunteer role will be? If so, we want to hear from you.
What does your spare time look like? Do something Special, apply today here.
Message Sent By
Jeremy Glew-Deval (Police, Prevention Support and Engagement Officer, Eastbourne, Lewes and Wealden)
This has been mentioned before, but it is perhaps timely to remind people that you can get extra help during power cuts if anyone in your household meets one of the following conditions:
provided you pre-register with the power company (details below)
The extra help available
In the event of a longer power cut you could receive
Those who rely on power to run medical equipment, such as dialysis or breathing apparatus, would also receive additional help.
They even say…”In certain scenarios we may also offer a free hotel overnight and transport to the hotel”
You only need one qualifying person in your household.
If you know someone who could benefit from this service but who is not likely to register for themselves (eg not good on-line), you can do it for them (with their permission).
To get more information, visit
https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut/priority-services-register
At the bottom of that page there is a button which takes you through to the page where you can register. The way I read it, they want you to register in advance, so you would probably struggle to get the help if you do nothing now and wait until a power cut actually happens. It doesn’t matter who your “supplier” is (ie who you pay your bills to) – this is the place to register.
I’d be interested to hear if anyone ever manages to get that overnight hotel room.
There have been four recent planning applications in Brightling parish. Details can be seen here: brightling.community/planning .
These planning applications will be discussed at the meeting of Brightling Parish Council on Monday 18th November 2019 (Village Hall, 7:30 pm).
Please note that Brightling Parish Council does not decide the outcome of these applications. All decisions are made by Rother District Council, although Brightling Parish Council may make comments. Individual members of the public are also free to make comments direct to Rother District Council – see the above planning page which has links to the Rother pages where you can input any comments.
A website called “The Long Long Trail” documents many investigations into aspects of the First World War; of which not the least melancholy is their investigation into how many sets of brothers served in the British Army (including the Commonwealth forces) and who are known to have died on the same day. Currently their answer is 336 (that is 336 sets of brothers), and they are individually documented at https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/brothers-died-in-the-great-war/
There are many sad stories here: sons who died on the same day while serving in separate units ; twins who died on the same day; even several sets of three brothers who died on the same day.
One particularly took my eye: on 30 June 1916, SD/2706 Pte Cecil Honeysett and his brother SD/2707 Pte James George Honeysett of the 13th Royal Sussex, born in Brightling, Sussex; enlisted Bexhill, Sussex; killed in action during the assault on The Boar’s Head. No doubt these were related to the same Honeysett family who moved from Ashburnham to Brightling in the late 1930s and lived at Hunters Farm until 2009.
The Battle of Boar’s Head took place on the day before the battle of the Somme and was intended as a diversionary tactic. Consequently it has been largely forgotten. So many men died from the 11th, 12th and 13th Southdown battalions of the county’s Royal Sussex Regiment that 30th June 1916 has been described as “The Day Sussex Died”. A book by John Baines with this title has been well-reviewed and is available from Rother Books in Battle.
Message from Jean Wood, Flower Show secretary
Dear all,
A reminder that the annual general meeting of the Brightling flower show is to be held in the village hall on Thursday 14 November at 7pm.
The meeting is open to all members of the public.
As the Chairman,Secretary and Treasurer are stepping down, the Committee is looking for volunteers to take on these vital roles to enable this fine tradition to continue. Would you be interested, do you know anyone who might be interested? The new appointees will be fully supported in 2020.
The future of the flower show and barn dance will be discussed at the meeting so please show your support and come along.
Email brightlingflowershow@gmail.com for further details of what the roles entail.
To all readers: of the Messenger magazine
Please come along to Brightling Village Hall on Thursday 7th November 2019, at 7.00 pm. As well as having a drink and a chat, it is an opportunity for everyone to pitch in with ideas and contribute to some of the decisions we need to make.
We look forward to seeing you there (non-readers also welcome!)
The Messenger Committee
