Telscombe

YOGA: With Natalie Heath every Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm in the Civic Centre. This class is back after the summer break on Tuesday September 4. Contact Natalie Heath email: [email protected] phone: 07738538094.

LIVING LIGHT PILATES: Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning in the Civic Centre. £6.50 per class or class pass for £44 (eight classes plus one free session). Contact Nicola Murray-Smith email: [email protected] phone: 07776 457752.

FITNESS PILATES: Every Monday morning and Thursday evening in the Civic Centre. Get fit, tone up, prevent back pain, improve flexibility and posture. Equipment provided, just bring some water. Only £6 per class or £40 for eight weeks. Contact Jennie Palmer email: [email protected] phone: 07825 702775.

CITIZENS ADVICE: Drop in advice surgery on the last Tuesday of each month from 10.30am to 12.30pm in the Civic Centre. Advice can also be gained via their website www.citizensadvice.org.uk. Adviceline 03444 111 444.

YOGA: Every Monday from 7.15pm to 8.15pm in the Civic Centre. Contact Jane email: [email protected] phone: 07703 167895.

DANCE CLASS: Little Stars Pre-School Dance Class for pre-school children aged 2 to 4 years, every Tuesday 9am to 9.30am at the Civic Centre. £3.50 per session. Contact Anneli Smith 07930 490058.

YOUTH THEATRE: Peacehaven and Newhaven Youth Theatre meet every Monday, 4pm to 5pm for ages 5 to 7 year, 5pm to 6pm for ages 8 years and over, at the Civic Centre. Your local, friendly drama club with a professional touch. Contact Zoe Giles email: [email protected] phone: 07729 583 264.

BINGO EVENING: Today, Friday, 6.45pm for 7pm start in the Civic Centre. Eight games played for £4, plus an additional Snowball (50p per single ticket) and Flyer game (£1 a sheet). Free cup of tea/coffee at half-time break. Proceeds to Mayor of Telscombe’s charity fund.

HALLOWEEN PARTY: Tomorrow, Saturday, 7pm to 9pm in the Civic Centre. Come along and enjoy the fun at our kids party. Ticket price £3 per person (adult and child) to include a hot dog and soft drink. Party games and entertainment provided by Unique Kids Parties. Contact email: [email protected] phone: 01273 589777.

COUNCIL MEETING: The Planning and Highways Committee meet on Monday at 7.30pm. If there is insufficient business, meetings may be cancelled. Please therefore telephone the Civic Centre on 01273 589777 to ensure that a meeting is being held (an Agenda will be placed on the website). Meetings are open to members of the public who are able to ask questions for a 15 minute period at the start of each meeting. Meetings are held in Telscombe Civic Centre unless otherwise stated.

FOOTNOTES: Driving past the new residential home on the corner of Sutton Avenue and the A259, I was relieved to see it was at least pleasing to the eye. Well to my eye anyway. As a regular critic of the collection of identical shoe boxes that modern builders erect at the drop of a hat. I sometimes despair at the way architects cannot design a building with an arch or curve in it to break the dreary monotony of straight edges. Are rulers the only design tool they have these days? As for the size of the interiors, designers seem to think we have all gone back to the 16th century, when the average height was five foot. At the end of the last war, I had several friends who lived in prefabs, quite spacious for their day. Ours in Streatham were visited by the new Prince Philip, who was shown proudly around them. ‘Good heavens,’ he said, ’Do people actually live in these?’, as he peered through a window. God knows what he would say about the size of the homes being built now. Now, I am not a total Luddite. I have seen some very pleasant and well designed properties. The new small cul-de-sac opposite the old Peacehaven Motel site is easy on the eye and painted in attractive colours appropriate to a coastal location. It is the apparent desire amongst planners to have all buildings uniform in appearance and design. In the late Fifties, I remember, with a shudder, a local councillor in Croydon, boasting how he wanted to turn that once elegant town into a ‘second Manhattan’. Well, I have lived and worked in Manhattan and Croydon is but a tawdry cardboard attempt at copying it. In the Sixties, I made my first journey to Spain, and was immediately struck by the way that buildings in Madrid and Valencia had been left to grow old gracefully. Dusty, patched and converted for modern living trends, they stood as reminders of the country’s past history. I was so impressed, I bought a villa there and only gave it up when work stopped me from using it as often as I wanted to. North Africa, India and Pakistan, also treasured their old buildings, or at least they did when I last visited. Times have changed since then I know and I have no doubt the ‘planners’ are having their way. But at least the occupants of the Peacehaven residential home will have somewhere pleasant to live in. Have a lovely week and go safely where ever your journeys take you.