No. 39. Saturday 7 October 2006. Your free local newsletter - anything and everything to do with Bohemia

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Bohemia V illage V oice

Mr Masood Iqbal has askedBohemia Village Voice to supportand publicise his application for aPost Office. He is keen to providea post office counter in part of hisnew ‘Bohemia Foodmarket’- to beopened later this year on the site ofLullabuys Pram Shop at 68/70Bohemia Road. Mr Iqbal is pre-pared to spend the £20,000 neces-sary to install the necessary specialsecurity counter, screen and safe. Until a couple of years ago, there

was a post office in BohemiaRoad, which runs through the cen-tre of our area. Since it closed, ithas been sorely missed. Otherlocal post offices are situated atquite some distance from Bohemiawhich involves great inconven-ience for even the simplest oftransactions. The closure of thepost office has also meant a reduc-

tion of trade for other local stores.We have lost the heart of our com-munity.

There is now a chance that itcould be re-opened as a counterinside a mini-supermarket. Localbusinessman, Mr Masood Iqbal,

will be opening 'BohemiaFoodmarket' - a double-fronted,1300 sq ft store - before the end ofthe year, and wishes to includewithin it a post office counter. Apost office would be very warmlywelcomed by the residents andtraders of Bohemia. But what are the realistic chances

of success for Mr Iqbal’s applica-tion? Bohemia Village Voice spoketo the manager (Steve) of the‘Human Resources’division ofPost Office Ltd for clarification.He said “The Post Office hasrecently closed about 3,000branches all over the country aspart of our ‘Network Reinvention’plan. We know it isn’t popularwith our customers, but we are nota charity and are trying to run our

Mr Masood Iqbal - wants to openpost office counter

Masood Iqbal: “I want to open aPost Office in my Foodmarket”

BOHEMIA FOODMARKET

HORNTYE PARK

Horntye Park Sports Complex hasa new supremo - ex-transport andshipping manKevin Miller.

For the last25years, Kevin’sbackground hasbeen mainly trans-port and shipping,especially infreight ferries, inDover, Ramsgate,Dartford andSouthampton. So,what's he doingrunning a sportscentre? “Well, it'sa complete changeof career for me, of course. Butmost of my experience is that ofmanaging business. I take the atti-tude that if you can manage onebusiness, you can manage another.

It might seem quite different fromwhat I've been doing, but Horntye

is a businessafter all.”

How manystaff doesKevin have tohelp him?“We've gotabout a dozenfull-time staffand about thesame again ascasuals, whowe have in forfunctions andthat kind ofthing. There’s a

new finance man, Keith, whostarted this month. Keith will beresponsible for finance and devel-opment of the finance system.”What’s Kevin keen to develop?

“There's excellent facilities herefor cricket, football and other ballsports. We've also got excellentbanqueting facilities, with a barand restaurant. I think the centrecan be developed further, withmaybe new sports, with possiblymore six-a-side football on thegrass to the side of the cricketpitch (NOTon the cricket square!)We're certainly interested in devel-oping corporate business to thecentre, sales meetings, businessbreakfasts and so on.” Is he a local man? “I was born in

Hastings, and today I live just out-side the town. I've lived in the areamost of my life. I've been marriedfor 30-odd years, got grown upkids and one grandchild. That's mereally.”� Horntye Park Sports Complex.01424 716666.

Kevin Miller - new head at Horntye‘if you can manage one business,

you can manage another’

Continued on page 2

From Freight to Football - new boss settles in

For those with a love of numbers,here are Bohemia Village Voicestats for the period May toSeptember, this year. First editionpublished: May 18. Total numberof editions published: 38. Total

pages: 85. Total stories or itemscovered: 240. Total pictures used:143. Total readers’letters pub-lished: 25. Total words used:65,938. Circulation figures haverisen over the 4 month period from

just 8 in May to over 1,000 by theend of September. A survey car-ried out last month showed thenumber of Bohemia businessesand organisations is 113, employ-ing an estimated 643 people.

Village V oice’ s vit al st atistics

COMPANION DOG SHOW

Sophie’ sshowA dog show in aid of SophieMunro who suffers from the rareAngleman syndrome, is being heldthis month at the YMCA in StPaul’s Road. Ann Adams ofHassan Pet Supplies organises theshow each year to raise funds forher grand-daughter who was sevenyears old yesterday. “Anglemansyndrome is a rare genetic disor-der; about one in 25,000 childrenare born with it,” said Ann. Sophienow has a wheelchair and attendsGlyne Gap special needs school.

“The money we raise helps buyequipment made specially for herneeds,” said Ann. The ‘CompanionDog Show’is being held on Sun15th October. Doors open at noon.Entry is £3 plus £1 for each dogentered in each class. “Last yearwe had about 180 entrants.”

This year at school, Sophiewalked one mile with her walkingframe for Sports Relief and raisedover £100. “She was last in but theothers were in wheelchairs. Shealso won an award for the bestachiever of her year in her class.To her parents and us, her grand-parents, we are so proud to havesuch a lovely grand-daughter whonever gives up,” said Ann. � Ann & Terry, tel. 421358.

HISTORY OF BOHEMIA

BohemiaRememberedWell-known local resident andsage Vic Chalcraft has written hismemoirs - of Bohemia that is.Bohemia Remembered, to be pub-lished later this year by BohemiaVillage Voice, is a collection ofVic's memories of the area aug-mented with about 20 photographsfrom his private collection. Vicwas born in Bohemia - in SalisburyRoad in 1926. At one time he livedin Tower Road and in the 50smoved to Aldborough Road wherehe’s been ever since. He spentmost of his working life at theParsons Observer building work-ing as a flatplate letterpressmachine minder. Serialisation ofBohemia Rememberedstarts in ournext issue.

Bohemia Village Voice No. 39. Saturday 7 October 2006. Page 2 Page 2

Rodolphe said “Proceed,then, proceed,”. “Well,then” - Mouton marked the

rhythm of his phrases by knockinghis fist on the table so that themugs and glasses quivered - “well,then, I fall eagerly upon the news-papers, don't I? And what do Ifind? One says white, the othersays black, and round and roundthe mulberry bush ... What does itall mean to me? I’m a decentfather of a family, who comes hereto - ”

“To play dominoes,” saidRodolphe. “Every evening,”agreed M. Mouton. “Well, just toillustrate my meaning, you under-stand ...”

“All too well,” said Rodolphe. “I read an article with which I

don’t agree. It annoys me and I getall upset - because you see, mon-sieur Rodolphe, the newspapersare all lies. Yes, lies!” he pro-claimed this in his shrillest falset-to. “The journalists are allswindlers, hired hacks.”

“All the same, M. Mouton ...”“Swindlers,” the Town Hall clerk

continued. “They’re responsiblefor the revolution, and for thepaper money. Take Murat, for

example ...”“Excuse me, I think you mean

Marat.”“No, no, Murat - I know, because

I saw his funeral when I was a lit-tle boy.”

“I assure you ...”“There was even a play at the

Cirqueabout it.”“Quite so,” said Rodolphe. “You

mean Marat.”“But what have I been telling

you for the last hour? Murat, theman who worked in a cellar. Well,just to illustrate my meaning:weren’t the Bourbons right to guil-lotine him, for being a traitor?”

“Guillotine? A traitor? Who?”Rodolphe in his turn seized M.Mouton by a button of his frock-

coat. “Why, Marat!”“No, no, monsieur Mouton,

Murat. Let’s get this settled, forgoodness’sake!”

“Exactly: Marat, a rabble-rouser.He betrayed the Emperor in 1815.That’s why I say that all the news-papers are just the same.,” said M.Mouton, returning to his maintheme for what he regarded as anexplanation. “Do you know what Iwould like to see, monsieurRodolphe? Well, just to illustratemy meaning ... I’d like to see agoodnewspaper - oh, not a big one- a goodone, that wouldn’t use anyphrases ... You see!”“ That’s a tall order - a newspaper

without any phrases!”“Quite so. Now, following my

reasoning ...”“I’m trying to.”

How the Bohemian Club was formed SERIAL - VIE DE BOHEME

(Part 17 of 24) The story so far ... homeless artist and musician Alexandre Schaunard has been traipsing the streets ofParis, searching for anyone from whom he can borrow a few francs. He meets a philosopher, Gustave Colline, they share

a meal and have just entered a café in search of alcohol and coffee. They meet two gentlemen, M. Mouton and M.Rodolphe, in the middle of an argument. Read on ...

[To be continued ...Vie de Bohèmeby Henry Mürger, avivid portrait of the ‘Bohemian’life ofthe artistic quarter of Paris in the nine-teenth century was originally published(by Michel Lévy) in 1851. The extractabove is taken from a translation byNorman Cameron, published byHamish Hamilton. The illustration isby Dodi Masterman.

business at a profit. Last year welost £120 million, which was agreat improvement on the previ-ous year. Anyone wanting to opena post office must apply to us tobecome a sub-postmaster.”

What are the hurdles which any-one must overcome in order tobecome a sub-postmaster?“If youwant to open a post office, youmust apply to us. We will thenlook at the proposal, taking intoaccount the distances from otherlocal post offices, whether thecatchment area is sufficientlylarge, whether any new housingdevelopment has taken place, andso on. You must put your proposalin writing and send it to our Leedsoffice. Within fourteen days youwill be contacted and a site visit

will be arranged with one of ourlocal team.”

Is it worthwhile opening a postoffice? “The postmasters receive aremuneration based on the ‘traffic’(the number of transactions)which take place within his or herpost office, for example, each tele-phone bill paid over the counter isworth about 7p to the postmaster.Against this you have to bear inmind that we’ve lost a lot of busi-ness recently: for example, we’velost the right to sell televisionlicences and pension payments arenow paid directly into people’sbank accounts. On the other hand,we now sell a lot of foreign cur-rency in our branches.” What ifsomeone just wants to sell stamps? “If anyone just wants to sellstamps, that’s no problem - youcan buy them at a discount from

Royal Mail.” � In April 2004, Labour council-lors Ron Rushbrook and AndrewCartwright wrote to all local resi-dents and traders urging them tocontact the Post Office objectingto the proposed closure ofBohemia Place Post Office. Thisvaliant attempt, backed also byMP Michael Foster, failed. Maybe Mr Iqbal will also fail, but

if you wish to support him andmake your voice heard, write assoon as possible, saying why youthink Bohemia needs its postoffice, to:

David Southall, Post Office Limited,

Upper Floors, Market Branch Office,

6 to 16, New York Street, Leeds, LS2 7DZ.

Masood Iqbal (from page 1)

BADMINTONAnyone wishing to play bad-minton mid-week should considerjoining the Horntye Badminton

Club. The dozen or so membersmeet at Horntye Park on Tuesdaysfrom 9:00 to 10:00am. There’s nojoining fee, the only cost being

£1.20 for the court. Beginners arevery welcome. Please contact JohnRussell on 440820 or DavidPhillips on 422497.

HORNTYE PARK

Why is gatekept closed?

HORNTYE PARK

John’ s charityplans

“Why is the gate (at HorntyeRoad) to Horntye Park keptclosed?” asks a local lady resident.Bohemia Village Voice addressedher query to John Ball at the sportscentre.

“It used to be kept open for par-ents to come in via Horntye Park todrop off their kids for St Paul'sSchool. It became a total night-mare - a melee of all the parentsdriving at speed all the way roundthe cricket pitch, creating a blockat the Sports Centre, dropping thechildren and going off again. So,early morning and mid-afternoon,we'd have a total melee up here,until some child got knocked, by acar. And then we realised it wentdown on our insurance, not theirinsurance. So I had to put an end toit. And that's why the gate hasremained locked after that. But thegates are open for functions.”

What about people who live inHorntye Road say, and who wantto pop into Horntye Park to use thefacilities or just have a drink at thebar in the evenings? “Just give theduty manager a ring and he'll openthe gate.”

So if you live in Horntye Roadand fancy a gin and tonic at thesports centre bar, just phone up foran appointment!� Horntye Park 01424 71666

As new boss Kevin Miller beginsto take over the running of HorntyePark sports centre, former actingmanager John Ball announces his‘charity plans’. “I want to developthe 'charity side' of Horntye'sactivities.” What charity is this?“We've been a charity since 1864”said John, but it's never, ever beendeveloped. Now I’ve a bit moretime to do these sort of things, andwhat I want to do is to contactsome of the gift aid trusts to see ifthere's any mileage in promotingany community development foryouth. I'd like to see them spon-sored by some of the gift aid char-ities or some of the larger compa-nies. I'd like to see 'Sport forYouth' and 'Sport for Seniors'develop.” � Horntye Park. 01424 716666.

Bohemia Village Voice No. 39. Saturday 7 October 2006. Page 3 Page 3

Q. There are at least three blueplaques on different buildings inBohemia. Can you give the namesof the three people commemorat-ed? There’s a £10 prize, (kindlydonated by Empress Art of TowerRoad), to the sender of the firstcorrect solution opened. Pleaseensure entries reach BohemiaVillage Voice at 33, St Peter’sRoad, St Leonards, TN37 6JQ bySaturday 14 October. Last week’ s puzzleWhere is this anchor and chainlocated? It has been sitting in thecar park at Hastings Museum for “agood five years,” said AlisonHawkins, of the museum staff. “Itsacquisition was suggested by localhistorian Steve Peak, and I believe

it originallycame from theBulverhythearea.” Stevelater con-firmed that itis an exampleof a ‘heavingoff’ anchor,used probablyin the nine-teenth centuryby boats trying to get back afloatafter unloading their cargo onto thebeach. “It would have been buriedin the sand at the low water marklevel,” said Steve, “with a roperunning up the beach. Some of thefishing boats in the Old Town stillused such a device as late as a fewyears ago. Nowadays, they all havebulldozers to push themselves offback into the sea.”

Puzzle Corner - £10 prize

? ? ?

Last week’s mys-tery anchor

The only Bohemian?Dear Sir,Firstly, may I compliment you onBohemia Village Voice - it is rarenow to receive anything written ingood, error-free English. I also likethe new format of a folded A3sheet, and that it is well printed onquality paper.

In a previous issue, somebodymentioned the original Bohemia(and knew where it was!) andasked if the real Bohemians werelike their namesakes. I understandthat the term Bohemian, meaningcreative, free-spirited or unconven-tional - is French, because theywrongly thought that gypsies, whoexhibited that type of behaviour,originally came from Bohemia.However, the term stuck.

I am probably one of the few - orthe only - resident of Bohemia in

Sussex with a link to the originalBohemia, and from my experienceBohemians are much like the restof us, although through their longhistory they have not had muchreason to be happy. My ex-wifecame originally from Prague, andwe were married in 1966 inKarlstejn Castle (seehttp://www.discoverczech.com/prague/karlstejn.php4).

Bohemia is, however, rightlyfamous for its excellent beer, beingthe location of Pilsen (hencePilsner) and Budweis (henceBudweiser). The most famous kingof the old kingdom of Bohemiawas, of course, Good KingWenceslas (looked out, on the feastof Stephen).Best regardsRichard SlaterSt Peters Road

Letters ++

Ex-St Paul’s teacher and passion-ate local historian Ken Brooks isinterviewed for ‘Bohemia VillageVoice’. Part 3 of Ken’s story - hislove of geology, his hatred of BigBrother and his anger at ‘flashy’films:

How did Ken get into geol-ogy? “When I was teach-ing at St Paul’s school, a

child would occasionally bring arock or a fossil to school and ask‘Mr Brooks, what’s this?’ and Irealised I’d have to do a bit ofstudying to answer their questions.So I enrolled on a three year sci-ence degree course at the OpenUniversity.”That led to his being asked by the

University of Sussex if he wouldtutor geology courses for adults,one evening a week. “So, I wasteaching full time at St Paul's and

teaching geology one evening aweek. This continued until about1992, when at the end of onecourse, we all went to a pub andthe students said ‘we’ve all reallyenjoyed this course, is there ageology society we can join?’Isaid, ‘I’m afraid there isn’t, thenearest one is in West Sussex’.And they said ‘Well, why don’tyou start one?’And that’s how itcame about. We formed a commit-tee, and that was the foundation ofthe Hastings & District GeologicalSociety, of which I’m chairman.It’s still running, and we’ve gotabout 60 members, and we meetonce a month at the OreCommunity Centre. I arrange fieldtrips, in fact, there was a trip toFolkestone in September thisyear..”

FOSSILS Has Ken written any geologybooks? “Yes, one, and it arosefrom my interest in the subject.It’s called Geology and Fossils ofthe Hastings area. It was printedin 2001 and was my first book andit really came about from a requestfrom the Hastings Country Park.By this time, I’d been leading fos-sil hunting walks in the summer,which I still do now, for the public.I do one in June, one in July andone in August. And there’s nobook on geology for the public.There are rather academic publica-tions on geology and fossils, but

there’s nothing at all on this area.So, the Hastings Country Parkranger asked me if there was anychance that I could produce a littlebooklet. And that ‘little book’gaveme the confidence to start on theHastings Then & Nowbooks.”

You might think all this activitywould keep him pretty busy, butKen has plans ... “I’ve got acourse, which I’m hoping will bestarting this autumn at the OreCommunity Centre, called FromAncient Egyptians to Aztecs.”

BIG BROTHERDoes Ken have time for music,reading, television, hobbies?“Music is very important to me;whenever I’m working, I alwayshave the radio or CD player on. Ilove the classics; my taste is prettywide, anything from Beethoven,who’s top of the list, toTchaikovsky. Practically all of therecorded music I have is takenfrom live concerts on the radio; Imuch prefer live music.”

Ken gets a number of specialistpublications on subjects such asgeology, local history or evenancient history sent to him, whichhe reads. “But I just don’t get thetime to read ‘ordinary’books. Theonly time for television is whenI’m too tired for anything else. I’musually pretty whacked out by teatime, about 6pm. I’m very selec-tive with the programmes I watch:mainly documentaries.” Is Ken anavid Big Brother fan? “I’m afraidBig Brother is a ‘BTS’ pro-gramme.” BTS? “Brick Through

Set - if that dares to come on whileI’m watching, you never see memove so fast - for the ‘off’switch.” It’s hard to imagine Kenhas any time for hobbies, but hedoes admit to collecting fossils.“My main sports interest is injudo. I’ve only just given up as aninstructor at the Battle Judo Club,which I started and ran up to acouple of years ago."

FILMS.Does Ken have any time forfilms? “I don’t go to the cinemanow, mainly because so many ofthe films made today are verynoisy and they’re also ‘flashy’-instead of letting the camera runand letting the action go on.Within about ten seconds, youmight get a dozen or more differ-ent shots. I get very uptight aboutthis, as I also make films (!). I gotmy first cine camera in the ‘60s,and over the years I’ve made quitea number of films, everythingfrom documentaries to comedyfilms. I belong to the old schoolwhere you don’t wave the cameraaround. You hold the camera still,and you don’t zoom in and out,you change your position. I getangry with these modern filmswhere it’s all flash, flash, flash,flash. I once asked a film directorwhy this was done and he told meit’s to keep young people’s atten-tion.” Next (final) part: Ken’s battle withosteomyelitis, bullying at workand his struggle to get ‘O’levelsand to get qualified to teach.

Local author Ken Brooks

PROFILE - KEN BROOKS (3 OF 4)

The History Man - Ken Brooks

Work has begun in earnest atHastings Police Station inBohemia Road. The front office isundergoing a ‘major new rebuild’,which will last up to 26 weeks.The end result will be ‘a brand

new facility for visitors to thepolice station’. The whole site isringed with 6ft fencing, and visi-tors are directed by signs to a tem-porary office located to the front ofthe building.

Bohemia Village Voice No. 39. Saturday 7 October 2006. Page 4 Page 4

Grapevine

Edited and published by JohnHumphries at 33, St Peter’s Road,Bohemia Village, Sussex, TN37 6JQ. Tel. 01424 446759. E-mail john@johnhumphries.f2s.com Proof readerValentine Torrington. First published May 2006. © JohnHumphries 2006. Printed by Fastprintof St Leonards. Circulation (Sept 16):print version: 849, e-mail: 80, total:924. To receive an e-mail version ofthis newsletter, send your e-mailaddress to John Humphries.

Advertisement ratesSizes in mm, (height by width). Whole page (269 x 189) £80.00. Half page (133x189) £40.00. Quarter page (133x93) £20.00.Eighth page (65x93) £10.00. Sixteenth page (65x45) £5.00. 3cm x single column box £2.50. 2cm x single column box £1.801cm x single column box £1.00. Next issue:No. 40, Sat 21 Oct 2006.

Deadline for advertisements Tues 17October.

Bohemia V illage V oice

CHRISTCHURCH SCHOOLUnnamed lost property has beencausing the school ‘a huge prob-lem’: in just six weeks last term,ten black sacks were accumulated.“We do not have storage for theamount of clothing left behind.” Ifattempts to trace the owners fail,unclaimed clothes will be given tocharity. Parents have been urged tomark all clothes, if necessary withblack permanent markers.

BAA LOGOIs it true the new logo for theBohemia Area Association is to bea drawing of a sheep saying ‘Baa’?

GODFREYDANIELSCouncillor Godfrey Daniels is get-ting John Humphries confusedwith John Humphries. BohemiaVillage Voice editor was intriguedto be invited for coffee by CllrDaniels last week. It quickly tran-spired that it was ex-Labour coun-cillor John D Humphries, not yourhumble editor who was beingoffered the chance to enjoyGodfrey’s company.

BAA OPEN MEETINGLocal residents are reminded thatthe November meeting of the

Bohemia Area Association will bean openmeeting. All local people,whether traders or residents areinvited to attend the occasionwhich takes place on Thursday2nd November at 6:30pm at theYMCA in St Paul’s Road.

CLOUDESLEYROADThe BAAhas announced its inten-tion to modify its constitution ‘atthe next opportunity’to allowCloudesley Road residents to jointhe association. At present, thearea covered by the Bohemia AreaAssociation does not include thisthoroughfare. Unrestrained joyand spontaneous street dancing tocelebrate this inclusion into thebosom of Bohemia is confidentlyanticipated.

HORNTYE PARKDid you know that you can pro-vide a lasting and useful memorialto a relative or friend by sponsor-ing a bench or tree at HorntyePark? Pine, three-seater benchescost £185, and trees £145. Rowan,aspen, crab apple, willow and sil-ver birch are all avaiable and eachcomes with a memorial plaque.Horntye Park: 716666.

HASTINGS POLICE STATION

Major new rebuild st arts

Hastings Police Station under seige from builders last month. The frontoffice is being completely rebuilt. The work is due to take six months.

CAFE 67

All changeat local caféNew owners took over at the Café67, in Bohemia Road this week.The Voice caught up with Sue andLorraine after closing time onTuesday of this week. “It’s our firstday and it’s been manic - wehaven’t stopped since 7am,” saidSue. “And we ran out of veg,which didn’t help,” said Lorraine,who does the cooking. It’s theirfirst venture together and they arebeing helped out by Sue’s partnerJohn and Sue’s daughter Karen.Previous owner Salvatori (‘Sal’)and wife Helen’s last day wasMonday of this week when theyshowed Sue and Lorraine theropes. “We’ve no plans to changeanything at present - we want tosee how things go for a whilefirst,” said Sue.

BOHEMIA AREA ASSOCIATION

No photos pleaseThe Bohemia Area Associationhas told the Bohemia Village Voice‘No photos please’. Following asuggestion from the Voicethat pic-tures of committee meetings betaken and published, the BAAexplained in a letter that the mem-bers are ‘essentially volunteers ina local association’. Chairman

Peter Holland and vice-chair AndyHolmes said “Were we formallyelected councillors, members orHastings Borough Council offi -cials, we would be happy to do so,and as a result be recognised andlobbied during our private pur-suits.” The letter was counter-signed by nine other members.

FURNITURE CORNER

Gilt clock £145

An impressive gilt cast metal casedclock is on sale for £145 atFurniture Corner in BohemiaRoad. Proprietor John said “It’s aFrench/Belgian twentieth centuryclock which strikes on two bells.”

Gilt metal clock £145

ST PETER’S ROAD

New wall & railings for S t Peter ’s Place

St Peter’s Place - architect’s plan for new walls and railings

Work has started at St Peter’s Place(32/33, St Peter’s Road) on newbrick walls, piers, iron railings andiron gates. Builders DovetailsConstruction expect the project to becompleted in 4 weeks. Other workbeing carried out simultaneously

includes extensive replacement ofpvc windows by traditional woodensash windows (Interbuild, Hastings)and complete external decorations(Ian Hersee, Bexhill). Architects areMaher Paradine Associates of theOld Town, Hastings.

ADVERTISE HERE This 1 cm blockis just £1.00, prepaid. Send paymentwith wording to BVby 17 Oct.

Small Ads ADVERTISE HERE. The cost of this2 cm block is just £1.80. Please sendcash/cheque with wording to reachBohemia Village Voice at 33, St Peter’sRoad, by Tuesday 17 October. Forother rates, see box on right.