On 26 Jul 2010 at 9:42pm Matt Kent wrote:
I'd be interested to know whether there are people on this forum that would be willing to help restart the Malling Residents Association in the very near future? I know that it has been dormant for a while now but is there the enthusiasm locally to get it up and running again? Cheers - Matt
On 27 Jul 2010 at 12:26pm TAFKAPS wrote:
To be fair, what would a residents association do? Isn't it just an excuse for curtain twitchers, sin't it just another unelected board for self important people to be nosey?! Anyone else remember 'Ever Decreasing Circles'?!
On 27 Jul 2010 at 1:18pm drone wrote:
Might not be a bad time to try to breathe some life into it with the 10th anniversary of the flood coming up next year. Perhaps some sort of joint event could equally galvanize the almost moribund Cliffe Residents Association too.
On 27 Jul 2010 at 2:17pm Merlin Milner wrote:
Drone, thanks for the kick up the pre-verbal. It has been suggested doing anniversary for the flood this year. I will endeavour to get on with it!
On 27 Jul 2010 at 3:27pm Matt Kent wrote:
Merlin, could you drop me a line as I think the residents in Malling will have plenty of tales and photos of the floods? Were you still thinking of using Cliffe Hall for an exhibition? Can there be an exhibition at the Malling Community Centre too? Cheers - Matt
On 27 Jul 2010 at 5:31pm John Stockdale wrote:
Matt, we spoke about this yesterday and I thought we had agreed to leave this until after the school holidays when there are more people about. It isn't just curtain twitchers, TAFKAPS. There are plenty of things to consider, renovation of the Community Centre being the biggest one. But it needs proper planning to get key players on board to start it off again. Drone, the 10th anniversary of the flood is this October. Artemis Arts are organising an event in Market Lane Garage and Lewes Flood Action have been asked to take part. If you are organising an exhibition, Matt, google "Lewes flood 2000" for many pages of images.
On 27 Jul 2010 at 7:36pm supporter wrote:
never put off untill tomorrow what you can do today.
unless your'e in poltics of course.
On 27 Jul 2010 at 8:10pm drone wrote:
Thank you John. I know the date date of the flood, Thursday October 12th 2000. If anyone is taking notes, it hit Cliffe at 13.20., shortly after high tide & shortly after the EA didn't open the flood gates at Barcombe. Matt, you may still be able to get hold of Andy Thomas's pictorial history of the flood.
On 27 Jul 2010 at 9:15pm Matt Kent wrote:
John, I realise that we discussed it yesterday, all I was doing was gauging local opinion. What you said yesterday evening was right, most people are on their hols now, and we should look into it for September.
That aside, I'm pretty interested about getting recorded anecdotes and snaps from locals and maybe local schools to compile a simple exhibition. I'm sure many kids who went to South Malling and are now perhaps at Priory have great stories about the floods. Maybe some exciting, some sad. And drone is right, its a great opportunity for both Cliffe and Malling to work on a project that affected both communities in similar ways. What do we reckon?
On 28 Jul 2010 at 7:14am drone wrote:
Matt. Andy Thomas' book, although wrong & offensive in parts, provides the pictorial history. I am not convinced about the anecdotal thing. Why do you want to do this? Firstly, you use the word "exciting". yo u have clearly never been in flood water. there is nothing exciting about it. It terrifying, traumatic. But it is not exciting. Secondly, you mention the kids at South Malling school now at Priory havng some great stories. On this issue, you need to be better informed. Most of those kids went to Ringmer, not Priory. I also happen to know more than most about South Malling School. We were the only school in Lewes to open on the morning after the flood - the Friday. This was in spite of having been a rescue centre the night before, manned by the Red Cross, a retired teacher & myself. mr meyer, the then Head opened in order that parents had somewhere safe to leave their kids. I have vivid memories of mums & children standing out on the drive that morning hugging each other & crying. For months after the Ed psyche worked with kids, particularly the infants, now at secondary who became upsetevery time there was heavy rain. And you want to interview these kids. Nice one Matt. If you want to campaign for flood defences for the whole town in your capacity as Green party activist, fine. Go fo it. But please be aware that many flood survivors still carry the baggage of October 2000. I was lucky.I was ill enough to get treatment. Many people who survived that day will not wish to be reminded of those events. I believe that the archiving activity to which refer could be traumatic & intrusive for some people. I trust that sensitivity, if not empathy will prevail.
On 28 Jul 2010 at 7:36am Matt Kent wrote:
Drone. You're points are very valid, but I wasn't intending to be insensitive on the issue of the floods, I'm just merely wanting to organise an exhibition that local people can get involved with. As you suggest, more people were affected greater than others, and some not at all, but I do realise the enormity and trauma that was involved as speak to my neighbours and local residents about it. Cheers - Matt
On 28 Jul 2010 at 12:50pm John Stockdale wrote:
TAFKAPS, is that an anagram (I'm useless at crosswords), an acronym or your surname in, perhaps, Turkish? I tried turning it round (Spak fat) and it almost made sense, but not quite. I'm not suggesting you disclose your identity. But, I'm intrigued by the significance of an apparantly random set of capital letters.
On 28 Jul 2010 at 2:05pm drone wrote:
John, you're getting old. TAFKAP is indeed an anaagram: The Artist Formerly Known As Prince. Young people's music, my Lord.
On 28 Jul 2010 at 2:20pm drone wrote:
or even an acronym
On 29 Jul 2010 at 9:14am John Stockdale wrote:
Aaah! Thanks, drone. Now it's clear why it was all in caps.
On 3 Aug 2010 at 1:33pm Rosalyn wrote:
It is a great idea to revive the resident's association. It needs to have members from all over South Malling and an agenda to attract people to meetings. It started to decline when only a handful of people turned up and always with the same issues. Perhaps we could get the Centre up and running again as a social club too.
(My kids went to South Malling Primary School, but did go to Priory though many went to Ringmer)