New Website Masters

UPDATE:

As of 1st November 2023, Kevin Moore is the Webmaster for the ROSA Website. He can be contacted via email saintkev1957@outlook.com Phone: 07935 130206

Following the very sad and sudden passing of our former webmaster Tim Rothwell in December . A training session was held today (Feb 15th 2023) with our Website creator Oliver Campion who has now spent time with our new trio of “webbies” Judith Blincow, Kevin Moore and Richard Moore whose contact details are within the web pages .They will now be adjusting, amending and creating news and words on this very special site. Tim will be a hard act to follow so please bear with us in the early days of taking over.

Maureen Getley

Lois Benton has sent Richard Moore the very sad news that Maureen Getley, who taught history at RGS and then the Thomas Peacocke School for so many years, was a wonderful friend to ROSA, and a regular attendee at our annual lunches, passed away on 13 March 2022 in Castlemaine Care Home in St Leonards, following a fall.

A Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Maureen Getley will be held at Rye Baptist Church, Cinque Ports Street, Rye, TN31 7AN at 12.30p.m. on Friday 22 April.

Ray Fooks, MBE

Very sad news to report I’m afraid that Ray Fooks MBE died last Tuesday (25 May) at the Lady Nuffield Home in Oxford. Mr Fooks was headteacher of Thomas Peacocke School for many years. He was his normal active and happy self until almost the end, seeing family and taking part in a drawing class within a few days of his death. He was 89. His ashes will be buried in Dorset alongside his beloved wife Marjorie.

This news has come from his son in law Nick who requested it should be circulated.

A suitable tribute will be included at a later date in the ROSA Bulletin and on the ROSA website.

In the meantime, a Memorial Page has been set up for tributes, messages and stories.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/841291443143944

Best Wishes

Richard Moore, Chair, ROSA

ROSA AGM AND ANNUAL LUNCH: SUNDAY 17 MAY 2020

With great regret and much sadness, in view of the coronavirus pandemic the ROSA Committee have decided to postpone the AGM and Lunch scheduled for Sunday 17 May 2020. We hope you understand.

We may be able to rearrange for later in the year. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you in better times next May.

If you have already paid and would like a refund, please email Judith Blincow at mermaidinnn@btconnect.com

Legacy left to ROSA

Richard Moore reports

‘I received a letter today 21 November 2019 which contained the following:

In line with the wishes of Peter Derek Webb who sadly passed away in March, we are very happy to enclose a cheque for £1,000.00 to be used for the benefit of the Old Scholars.

Peter was very proud to be an “Old Scholar” and whenever possible attended the annual reunions. This legacy was amongst his last wishes so please use this as you see fit.

I know he would want me to say thank you for the great work you carry out to ensure that all “Old Scholars” are kept up to date with things and hopefully the members will enjoy this legacy.’

Any ideas as to how ROSA might best use this very generous gift?

Leasam House for Sale – November 2019

Leasam House is for sale.

(Thanks to Sam Lambourne for letting us know)

Details are here – looks as if it’s changed a bit from the days it was part of RGS!

https://countrylife.onthemarket.com/details/7879153/

George Hotel, Rye – Fire 20 July 2018

Roof of the George Hotel, Rye, badly damaged by fire on Saturday 20 July.

ROSA Bulletin 2018

With thanks as always to Richard Moore for his hard work, the ROSA Bulletin 2018 is now available here

School Magazines -RX and RYA

We are pleased to have available some editions of RX, the magazine of Rye County Secondary Modern School and RYA, the magazine of Rye Grammar School. We have probably exhausted the supply of RXs, but there are several more editions of RYA available in the archive, which we hope to upload over time.

If anyone has any editions that they are prepared to lend us to upload, please email Tim Rothwell at timrothwell9@gmail.com

We have created a new page – School Magazines: RX and RYA – here

ROSA 1960s reunion

A report and photos of the 1960s reunion held on 22 September 2018 are available here

ROSA email list

In circulating emails for the ROSA 60s reunion, it is clear that not all ROSA members are receiving the regular website update emails.

If you have found this website, but do not receive email updates, please send you email address to Tim Rothwell – timrothwell9@gmail.com and he will add you to the list.

News about Saltcote

On 18 August 2018, ROSA President Richard Moore received the following update about Saltcote, following last year’s fire:

Saltcote Place has probably never looked so good. Following the fire of April 2017 we have been working with the insurance company and a great team of builders to restore Saltcote to its original condition.

We have now moved into what the Saltcote Girls will refer to as Bodiam and have planning permission to install double bifold doors from the old dining room directly out under the Loggia.

The fire destroyed the former conservatory as well as the adjoining room and the balustrade above. Extensive smoke damage meant the vast majority of the building needed to be painted both inside and out. Some of the damage and newly refurbished rooms can be seen on Instagram – for those without an account you can still view the content without an accounthttps://www.instagram.com/saltcoteplace/

We are extremely grateful to Rye Fire Brigade who are simply amazing, having dialled 999 at 4pm the fire was actually under control 8 and a half minutes later with two appliances in attendance. Both Rye conservation society and Rother Planning department have been extremely responsive and very supportive making the recovery process a lot easier than it could otherwise have been.

With the new configuration the focus moving forwards is going to be Family events especially Wedding Anniversaries and Weddings although we will probably not be doing more than 12 Weddings a year.

Not all of the new images are on the website but we hope to have that addressed over the next few weeks.

Kind Regards

Paul and Alan

http://SaltcoteWeddings.co.uk

https://www.instagram.com/saltcoteplace/

Tel 01797 222220

Richard Merricks Room

Rye Cricket Club have named the upstairs room at the Cricket Pavilion on the Salts after Richard Merricks, who died last year. Richard, known as Rick, an RGS old scholar, was a lifelong cricket fan. The report of the opening of the Room on 6 August and the cricket match that accompanied it can be read in Rye News here http://www.ryenews.org.uk/sport/club-honours-richard-merricks

Those attending the 1960s reunion on Saturday 22 September will get a chance to see the Richard Merricks Room as the reunion is being held the year the cricket pavilion.

David Crew – View from the Strand

Local artist David Crew, who attended Rye Primary and then Rye Grammar Schools, has recently had an exhibition of his work shown at the Rye Art Gallery. (Many Ryers will remember David’s father, Sergeant Crew, the much-respected local ‘bobby’.) The exhibition was entitled View from the Strand. The cover of the Gallery programme for January-June 2018 shows David’s painting Driftwood.

David has written about his exhibition in Rye News, and his article, which also contains further examples of his work, can be read here

The article has also been published in the March 2018 edition of Fixtures. In his article, David pays tribute to two ‘inspirational art teachers’ at RGS, Kitty French and Jill Elliot.

Britain At Low Tide

Although not strictly ROSA related, ROSA members might like to know, if they don’t already, that the first episode in the new series of Channel 4’s Britain At Low Tide screened on Saturday 17 February 2018 featured East Sussex. It includes film and discussions about Rye, Smeaton’s Harbour at Winchelsea Beach and the petrified forest at Pett Level, amongst other things.

It is available for the next three weeks on the catch-up channel All Four here

Brian Dennis has sent in the following comment:

‘We saw the programme last week and found the piece about Smeaton’s Harbour at Winchelsea Beach of particular interest. My grandfather, Robert Victor Cooke owned Holfords Farm, which is close to Dogs Hill. Sadly now a caravan park!

ROSA members might find the following book of interest which includes a whole chapter on Smeaton’s Harbour. The book was written by Michael and Ruth Saville. Ruth was a relative of mine on the Cooke side – my mother’s first cousin:

A Changing Shore – An Illustrated Account of Winchelsea Beach. ISBN 0-9548390-2-1‘

ROSA Bulletin – 2017

This has now been distributed and is available here

RYA magazine

May 2017’s edition of Rye’s Own contains an article on RYA, the Rye Grammar School magazine. Rye’s Own have been given a collection of RYA from 1946-1951, and the May issue contains some interesting excerpts from the 1951 edition.

Of interest to ROSA members, the editorial for Spring 1951 says that complaints had been made about the inclusion of Old Scholars’ contribution to RYA. In sticking by its decision to print contributions from Old Scholars, the editorial says the following:

‘In our view Rye Grammar School is more than a place where a number of children are taught together. ..It is a fellowship of staff, pupils, scholars who have left, and scholars who are to come. The rules, privileges and traditions that are ours today have been handed down to us by those who have left and must be handed on to those who come after us.’

Not a bad philosophy in some ways of what ROSA is about today.

Rye’s Own is on sale in outlets in Rye and the surrounding area, and can be bought by subscription. More details can be found on the Rye’s Own Facebook page here

ROSA Bulletins

We have now added copies of the ROSA Bulletins from 2009 until 2017 inclusive on this site. Please go to the ROSA Bulletins heading on the Menu to find the links.

Contributions to the website

We are very grateful for the contributions (and kind words!) we have received since we launched the website in February 2017. We have included the contributions on the website, and have opened up a new category -MEMORIES. But we could do with lots more!

Please email any you have to timrothwell9@gmail.com

ROSA Website Launched!

It has taken some time, to say the least, for the ROSA website to see the light of day, but finally we have one. As you will see, it is very much a work in progress and there’s lots more to be added but we have made a start – only seven years after we first promised members a website!

The website will enable us to tell members about developments, news etc throughout the year, and we promise we will keep it up to date!

We hope that the areas we have included are the right ones, but please let us know if there is anything you would like to see included – or not included!

We want to make this your website, and it will only be interesting and relevant if we add new material regularly. We therefore make a heartfelt plea for you to send us corrections, additions, articles, news items, photos etc – in fact anything you think might be of interest. We would prefer it if you could email your contributions. Please send them to Tim Rothwell at timrothwell9@gmail.com

If you would rather send them by snail mail, please send them to

Tim Rothwell, Breanross, Pett Road, Pett, Hastings, East Sussex, TN35 4HA

We look forward to hearing from you.