Viva Lewes Issue 117 June 2016

117
VIVALEWES
EDITORIAL
I was overtaken by a smug-looking guy in an open-topped sports car the other day. When he
got snagged in the traffic waiting for the lights at the prison, I overtook him back, negotiating
the space between his vehicle and the kerb, and slipping through as green turned amber. And
I thought: “mate… my bicycle is always open-topped.”
It’s easy to feel good about being a cyclist in the summer, when it’s a breeze to commute
between Brighton and Lewes over the South Downs Way. The truth is I never learnt to
drive, so I haven’t got much choice, when it comes to getting around, apart from using public
transport, or my trusty hybrid Marin, or sometimes (when Southern don’t impose their
irritating peak-hour bike ban) a combination of both.
This used to make me feel stupid, and it still does sometimes, because there are occasions
when it would be bloody useful to be able to drive, not just for my benefit, but for that of
others around me, too. But at least now I can claim that - hey - there’s a political element to
the huge gap in my skill set.
Without wanting to sound self-righteous, it’s pretty clear that it would be all-round beneficial
if people with cars drove less than they do, on average, now. This month’s issue is dedicated to
‘getting around’; if you want to get tips on how to most efficiently travel around this area in a
sustainable manner, check out the details on page 85. Enjoy the month…
THE TEAM
.....................
EDITOR: Alex Leith alex@vivamagazines.com
SUB-EDITOR: David Jarman
STAFF WRITERS: Rebecca Cunningham rebecca@vivamagazines.com, Steve Ramsey steve@vivamagazines.com
ART DIRECTOR: Katie Moorman katie@vivamagazines.com
ADVERTISING: Sarah Hunnisett, Amanda Meynell advertising@vivalewes.com
EDITORIAL/ADMIN ASSISTANT: Isabella McCarthy Sommerville admin@vivamagazines.com
PUBLISHER: Lizzie Lower, lizzie@vivamagazines.com
DIRECTORS: Alex Leith, Lizzie Lower, Becky Ramsden, Nick Williams
CONTRIBUTORS: Jacky Adams, Michael Blencowe, Sarah Boughton, Mark Bridge, Emma Chaplin,
Moya Crockett, Mark Greco, Anita Hall, John Henty, Mat Homewood, Paul Austin Kelly,
Chloë King, Carlotta Luke, Marcus Taylor
Viva Lewes is based at Pipe Passage, 151b High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XU, 01273 488882. Accounts: 01273 480131

THE TRANSPORT ISSUE
CONTENTS
Bits and bobs.
8-25. This month’s cover artist, Jack
Davey, of Studio Bolt, this month’s
My Lewes Tony Parker, and the usual
suspects including a far-flung Spread
the Word, an Eastport Lane Ghost
Pub and the Lewes Living Wage
group.
45
Columns.
27-31. David Jarman is on theme
(for once), Chloë King is on a bookcooking
high, and Mark Bridge is on
the buses.
In Town this Month.
33. Jonathan Brown’s on-tour play A
Good Jew comes home.
35. The Pells Pool’s resident (longhand)
writer, Tanya Shadrick.
37-41. Classical music. Beatrice
Philips, founding director of the
Lewes Chamber Music Festival,
Glyndebourne singer Christopher
Purves (on A Cunning Little Vixen
and time away from home) and Paul
Austin Kelly’s round-up.
43-49. Art. Lucinka Soucek’s Passing
Trains, and what’s on in and around
town including Rachael Plummer,
Melanie Manchot, Willem Sandberg
and Prunella Clough.
51-57. Diary Dates. What’s what and
what’s on, including, June being June,
a whole lot of fêtes.
59-60. Gig guide. John Crampton’s
Lewes Railway Station p. 97 (photo courtesy of Edward Reeves)

THE TRANSPORT ISSUE
back in town, as are the fabulous Meow
Meows.
63-67. Free Time. Lewes life for the
U16s with teenage opera singer Louise
Moseley, loadsa listings and a fine photo
by Lulu Freeman.
Food.
69-75. An evening trip to the Sussex Ox,
some unconventional veggie recipes,
pizza from a van and other foodie news.
The Way we Work.
77-83. David Stacey snaps five
commuters and asks them what train
they’re catching and how they pass their
time en route.
Features.
85-97. Travel Man Chris Smith, an EU
debate between Conservative MP Maria
Caulfield and Green MEP Keith Taylor,
Bentley Motor Museum, John Henty’s
Lewes Out Loud, Michael Blencowe
on reed and sedge warblers, and Lewes’
three attempts at getting its railway
station right.
71
Business.
99-101. Our directory spotlight is on
RDH Commercials.
Inside Left.
114. Emile Duval, an amazing
Frenchman in his flying machine who
went up-uppity-up... and then crashlanded
in Lewes.
VIVA DEADLINES
We plan each magazine six weeks ahead, with a midmonth
advertising/copy deadline.
Please send details of planned events to events@vivalewes.
com, and for any advertising queries:
advertising@vivalewes.com, or call 01273 434567.
Don’t forget to recycle your Viva.
Every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of our content.
Viva Lewes magazine cannot be held responsible for any omissions,
errors or alterations. The views expressed by columnists do not
necessarily represent the view of Viva Lewes.
Love me or recycle me. Illustration by Chloë King

THIS MONTH’S COVER ARTIST: JACK DAVEY

“This one was my favourite,” says Jack Davey,
showing me one of the four designs he’s come up
with in just two days. “…but then I showed it to
my girlfriend. She’s an art teacher so she’s very
good at marking work.”
Jack runs Studio Bolt, a design and branding
agency which has recently moved to Lewes. “I
launched the studio earlier this year,” he says. “It
kind of came off the back of my and my partner
Nicole’s (very late) gap year. We took a route
through Asia over several months, then arrived in
Sydney, where I quickly realised I hadn’t saved up
enough for the second half of the trip. I ended up
hunting for some work in Sydney and did a few
freelance gigs before ending up at a great little design
practice for a few months.”
“It gave me the freelance bug, but also showed me
what you can do with a small agency if you choose
the right work to do. When I got back to the UK
I looked around for similar practices, but couldn’t
find any big enough to hire me, or small enough
that I felt I could make a difference, so decided to
start up by myself.”
Studio Bolt is an unusual studio in that Jack is the
only full-time employee. He works with a network
of experienced freelancers, who he brings in on
a project-by-project basis. “I decided to run the
studio that way because usually when you work
for an agency, you’ll have one week of really exciting
work and then three weeks working on less
exciting projects. As a freelancer you can pick and
choose what to work on, so it keeps things fresher.”
His first idea for this month’s cover was “a take
on classic Swiss design, using letters as graphic
objects and attempting to portray the movementbased
theme of the issue through the slanted type.”
To achieve the papery texture Jack says he printed
the lettering out, and then scanned it back onto
the computer.
The next concept was “a kind of take on repeatpattern
pop art, playing with the idea of turning
an everyday object into a wallpaper.” And the third
– his original favourite – was “kind of weird,” he
says, “but I like it. It shows the bicycle as this hero
object, in a kind of glossy packaging, with the diagonal
stripe in the background creating a sense of
forward motion.”
The Viva office voted unanimously for his final
idea, which Jack describes as “a simplified-down,
graphic take on an arrivals board.” We loved the
retro split-flap display and the pattern it created
across the page, with the icons at the bottom subtly
referencing some of the issue’s features.
“Studio Bolt is still super young,” he says, “so
we’re on the hunt for local businesses that we can
work with, from simple logo design jobs to larger
re-brands. We’re a small business that wants to do
‘big’ work.”
Rebecca Cunningham
studiobolt.co.uk
9

Challenge your taste buds and
explore our wild landscape with
family and friends
2 – 3 July
Open all year-round
On B2028 between Turners Hill and Ardingly
For details visit: kew.org/wildfood
In association with Fantastic British Food Festivals

Photo by Rowena Easton
MY LEWES: TONY PARKER
Are you local? I was born in Buckinghamshire, but
moved to the area in 1976 to study engineering at
Sussex University. I have Sussex roots though… I
can trace my family in Ditchling back 500 years. I
love it around here: there’s the town, and the countryside
and the sea… what more could you ask?
Did you immediately live in Lewes? No, I lived
in Brighton, and Hove, then when I got married
aged 34 we moved to Uckfield. I moved to Lewes
11 years ago. I love history, interesting architecture,
and the natural environment, and Lewes has all that
in spades. Walking from my home in Sun Street to
the pub most days after work is an utter pleasure.
Which pub? Normally The Brewers, but I’ll go
anywhere they serve good real ale. We are lucky
having the best in the world here – Harveys. Every
beer they produce is very well balanced. I was delighted
when Dark Star Original came out because
at last there was a beer that could compete!
You work in Shoreham Harbour… I’m the Chief
Engineer there. It’s a Trust Port which means profits
don’t go to shareholders, they are ploughed back
into the port, and into the local community. The
port used to be run down but now it’s buzzing,
and it’s a great asset for Sussex. I’m really proud of
what’s been done there.
How do you get there and back? The port is four
miles long so I need to go by car because I need
it throughout the day. You can easily get there by
train though.
What’s your favourite Lewes view? Looking
down School Hill over Cliffe and up Old Lady’s
Bottom. Or up at the castle from the Paddock.
Recommend a good restaurant. Outside Lewes
I often go to the Middle House in Mayfield… all
the food is local; even the bread is made on the
premises. In Lewes the best restaurant – thoughtful
menus with good ingredients – is Pelham House.
Are you a foodie? Very much so. I grow all my
own vegetables on my allotment in Haredean, I
buy all my meat from a friend who rears cattle and
sheep organically, and all my pies and sausages from
Richards. With so much wonderful local produce
around, why use a supermarket? They’re for buying
cleaning products and the like.
Are you Bonfire? I’m a member of Commercial
Square. I think the Bonfire societies are brilliant for
the community spirit, and really hold the town together.
I’m useful because I can get a lot of palettes
from the port for the bonfire. I feel privileged to be
part of it all.
If you didn’t live in Lewes, where would you
live? If a majority of people decided to leave Europe
– for basically fearful reasons – I would seriously
consider leaving the country. I’d like to live in
Italy, or India, or Canada, perhaps. AL
11

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COMMUNITY BITS AND BOBS
CHARITY BOX #3: CTLA
What’s CTLA stand for? Community
Transport for the Lewes Area.
Who is the service for? Anyone
who is unable to access other forms
of transport. There’s a common misconception
that this only applies to
disabled people or the elderly, but
lots of areas around Lewes don’t run
bus services, or services don’t operate at certain
times of day.
How many vehicles do you have? 18.
And how many members? Around 3,850.
Where do you take people? We operate in four
main strands: our dial-a-ride service, group hire
for other not-for-profit organisations, a limited
number of scheduled bus services, including the
Lewes Town Sunday Service which is supported
with funding from Lewes Town Council, and
Lewes Travel Club, which takes our
members on trips out. You have to
pay but it’s effectively subsidised
when you compare the cost with
other door-to-door services.
What kinds of trips out? All sorts
– short days, long days. We might
go for afternoon tea somewhere,
or to a garden centre. But the most popular trip
is the ‘mystery tour’ where the passengers don’t
know where they’re going.
How can people get involved? We’re running an
initiative called ‘Working Together’, reaching out
to local community groups, parishes and district
councils to find out how we can help meet their
transport needs. Anybody interested is welcome to
come along to our next meeting on July 1st, just
contact us for details. RC ctla.org.uk
LEWES FOR A LIVING WAGE
What is the Living Wage? First it’s important to
understand what the government ‘living wage’ is.
That’s what they’re calling the minimum wage now,
and it’s £7.20, but only if you’re over 25. Which, of
course, has led to lots of companies hiring staff who
are younger than 25 and paying them lower rates.
So how much should people be paid? The real Living
Wage – reflecting the basic cost of living in the
UK – is calculated annually for the Living Wage Foundation. Their latest figure (outside London) is
£8.25, starting at age 18.
So who are you and what do you do? We are a group of locals outraged to find four food banks in
Lewes, and over 20% of children living in poverty. We decided to persuade more companies in the town
to pledge to pay the real living wage. We think this is also good for employers – because it helps instil
loyalty and increases stability, good for the local economy – because workers will have more money to
spend around town, and good for the workers - because they will be able to afford a decent life.
How many companies have signed up? At the moment it’s around 20, and counting. We’ve put on a
couple of events that spread the word, and we’re planning more, as well as a ten-minute film we should
have ready by next Living Wage Week in November.
Great! How can you sign up? All the information you need is at leweslivingwage.blogspot.co.uk – or
phone 01273 470940. You can join the national organisation at livingwage.org.uk or Brighton (a Living
Wage city) at livingwagebrighton.co.uk. AL
13

PHOTO OF THE MONTH
SHOAL MATES
Every year a shoal of around 1,000 thin-lipped
mullet swim from their winter home in the
Channel up the Ouse to feed in the river between
Hamsey and Southease. Steve Homewood has
been tracking them for years, first to fish and
eat them, later, as he grew to understand the
precarious nature of their existence, to protect
them. Every year, in March, the whole shoal stops
off in a spring-water pool, where the Winterbourne
meets the Ouse in the Railway Land, to
heal any wounds or other physical damage they
have incurred over the winter or en route. Steve
calls this their ‘health spa’, and this year he took
the GoPro camera he bought for his partner for
Xmas, put it on a window-cleaning pole, and
photographed the fish from within the pool.
The results are stupendous, and Steve was proud
to put them on his Twitter feed. “The BBC got
interested,” he said, “and asked to come down
and interview me about the mullet.” The result
will be an appearance on Springwatch, which will
be screened either just before this mag hits the
streets (last weekend of May) or just after (the
first weekend of June). Furthermore Steve, who
has given up his job in dentistry to take up his
passion as a naturalist full time, is giving a series
of illustrated talks about his adventures with the
mullet (at 30 Friars Walk, check window display
and posters in the town for date and time). We’ll
give this subject more attention in a future magazine;
in the meantime congratulations to Steve
for winning this month’s prize.
Please send your pictures, taken in and around
Lewes, to photos@vivalewes.com, or tweet them to
@VivaLewes. We’ll choose our favourite for this
page, which wins £20. Unless previously arranged
we reserve the right to use all pictures in future
issues of Viva magazines and online.
15

BITS AND BOBS
TOWN PLAQUES #15: FORMER BURIAL GROUND, CLIFFE
By the late 1970s, traffic problems in Lewes had improved considerably
with the building of Phoenix Causeway and the by-pass in the previous
decade – no longer was a two-way Cliffe Bridge the only way to cross
the Ouse! However, for those living in South Street (effectively the link
road to the A27) the relentless noisy traffic past their doors was unbearable.
Plans were prepared for what was at that time to be the longest
road tunnel in the UK not passing under water. Several cottages on the
south side of Malling Street were cleared, as was the burial ground belonging to the church of St Thomas a
Becket in Cliffe High Street, to make way for the new roundabout at the tunnel mouth. A stone plaque on
the retaining wall records this loss. The 420-metre tunnel opened in December, 1980 preceded by a “walkthrough
Sunday” when Lewesians could stroll through to admire this feat of engineering. Marcus Taylor
LEWES WORTHY
“I think in the early days it was considered all a bit of a joke. Nobody really expected the Bluebell Railway
to last more than six months,” says Bill Brophy, chairman of the Bluebell Railway Trust. “Nobody’d done
it before, the odds were horrendous, and of course, the small membership didn’t have any money.” But,
luckily, Bernard Holden (1908-2012) was an optimist.
During the Blitz, he’d helped plan train routes around bomb-damaged lines. Later in the war, he’d run
trains in India, having to contend with Japanese troops, wild animals and monsoons. “You’ve got to be a bit
of an optimist to deal with that, haven’t you?” says Brophy. By the late 1950s, when four students knocked
on his door asking for help reopening the Bluebell Line, Holden was already a long-serving railwayman.
Around this time “British Railways had an image problem”, which they partly blamed on steam trains,
Brophy says. “There’d become a time when it was frowned upon if you put up a picture of a steam train
in the office.” So Holden, as a British Rail employee taking a lead role in the Bluebell project, was taking
quite a risk.
‘His support, expertise and connections were vital’, his obituary in Bluebell News noted. He went on ‘to
lead the project for half a century.’ An astute man, an enemy of wastefulness who even reused envelopes,
Holden was also an energetic, good-humoured figure. In 1991, by which time the Bluebell was getting
200,000 visitors a year, he was interviewed by The Times. ‘Friends used to think I was a nutter,’ he said. ‘But
they don’t anymore.’ Steve Ramsey

FREE
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ASSESSMENT
Spectrum Eyecare Ltd
24/25 Cliffe High Street, Lewes,
East Sussex, BN7 2AH.
01273 480303
spectrumeyecare.co.uk

Mint Velvet, the home of ‘relaxed
glamour’, has been shaking up
women’s wardrobes across
the UK with its effortlessly chic
handwriting and flattering cuts
since its launch in 2009. With its
beautiful prints, buttery leathers,
super soft knits and classic denim,
as well as a gorgeous footwear
and accessories collection, Mint
Velvet has grown to be a badly
kept secret for women who want
a nod to the trends and effortless
pieces that they will love forever.
Mint Velvet’s Lewes
boutique invites you to
celebrate the JOY Festival
in style on Saturday 25th
June and Sunday 26th
June. Head into store to
indulge in sweet treats, a
glass or two of Pimms and
a gorgeous gift with every
purchase. Plus, browse
our latest looks and
styles and discover your
#relaxedglamour style.
Mint Velvet
197 High Street,
Lewes BN7 2NS
01273 472730
www.mintvelvet.co.uk

BITS AND BOBS
SPREAD THE WORD
We have two far-flung entries this month, the
first from Linda Long. “We recently visited
our young grandchildren in New Zealand,” she
writes. “And we thought you might like to see
this picture of them reading Viva from nearly
15,000 miles away.” On the right is Anna Crabtree,
enjoying Viva in San Francisco, with the
Golden Gate Bridge behind her. Taking a trip?
Take Viva with you and send us the picture
[photos@vivalewes.com]. We love them!
LEWES TRAIN STATION IN NUMBERS
The railway arrived in Lewes from Brighton in 1846 and was quickly
extended to Hastings. The line towards London was opened in 1847, and
3 platforms were used in quick succession before the first station on the
existing site was built in 1857.
Lewes station now has 5 platforms serving 4 directions, and typical offpeak
services of 13 trains an hour. Passenger usage has grown by 10% in
Ben Brooksbank bit.ly/23ULuYn
the past decade, to 2.664 million passengers by 2014/15 – that is 7,340 per day on average.
Work continues to improve the station, with current roof refurbishment, last year’s £1.5 million bridge
strengthening and a new Cycle Hub providing storage for 100 bicycles. Sarah Boughton
WIN JOY FESTIVAL TICKETS
Treat yourself to a day out at the Joy Festival, coming to the Convent
Fields on the 25th and the 26th of June. A summer celebration of food,
drink, vintage fashion, music and living well, with a collection of exhibitors
rarely found together in Sussex. Artisan food and drink stalls, street
food and pop-up bars alongside a diverse range of outdoors, homeware and
country lifestyle stands.
There’ll be a Union Music stage with headliners Mountain Firework
Company, Harry’s Tricks and Noble Jacks and you can visit the tepee village,
drink wild cocktails, try out a chocolate workshop or ride the steampowered
funfair. It promises to be a glorious celebration of all that’s good
about living in our green and pleasant land – in case you needed reminding.
Better still, we’ve got four pairs of tickets to give away. Just tweet us
@VivaLewes and @JoyFestivals using the hashtag #VivaJoy (or email, or
post us your name and address with Viva Joy in the subject line/title) by midday on Friday 17th June to
enter the draw. Winners will receive their tickets by email from the event organisers.
10am to 5.30pm. £5 adults, children under 10 free, firleandcountry.co.uk. See our website for T&Cs.
19

䔀 堀 䌀 䤀 吀 䤀 一 䜀 一 䔀 圀 匀
匀 吀 䨀 唀 一 䔀 ℀
圀 䔀 䄀 刀 䔀 刀 䔀 䰀 伀 䌀 䄀 吀 䤀 一 䜀
吀 伀 伀 唀 刀 一 䔀 圀
䈀 䤀 䜀 䜀 䔀 刀 匀 䠀 伀 倀 䄀 吀 㨀
圀 䔀 ᤠ 刀 䔀 伀 一
吀 䠀 䔀 䴀 伀 嘀 䔀 ℀
㈀ 匀 吀 䄀 吀 䤀 伀 一 匀 吀 刀 䔀 䔀 吀
䰀 䔀 圀 䔀 匀
䈀 一 㜀 ㈀ 䐀 䄀
㈀ 㜀 アパート 㐀 㠀 㠀 㠀 ㈀
䌀 䰀 䄀 刀 䔀 䀀 刀 䤀 嘀 䔀 刀 匀 䤀 䐀 䔀 䘀 䰀 伀 圀 䔀 刀 匀 䰀 䔀 圀 䔀 匀 ⸀ 䌀 伀 ⸀ 唀 䬀

PHOTOGRAPHY
CARLOTTA LUKE
ALL ABOARD
Carlotta Luke hit two different railway stations
for this month’s ‘getting around’ round-up. She
took four of these shots at Sheffield Park Station,
on the Bluebell Line, as the 1.30pm to East Grinstead
prepared itself for its flamboyant departure,
one of them inside the very Agatha Christie corridor
of the train. The fifth picture, at first glance,
looks similarly retro (the chap, if you ignore his
headphones, looks almost as Victorian as the pillar
behind him) but was in fact taken before the
arrival of the 6.27am from Lewes to Ashford.
carlottaluke.com
21

YOUR
PET’S NAME
isn’t the only thing we know
Our caring, family vets are at the heart of their communities, but being local doesn’t limit the care they offer.
Our private group of surgeries allows access to the best 21st Century care available including:
non-invasive laparoscopic surgeries, hydrotherapy, acupuncture and more.
Visit coastwayvets.co.uk for more information.
Your local surgery is at
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Lewes.
Tel: 01273 478100

BITS AND BOBS
VOX POP: SUSSEX DOWNS STUDENTS MEGAN RUDD AND CLAR-
ISSA LOUGHRIDGE ASK: HOW DO YOU GET TO THE SUPERMARKET?
“I can either get the bus
which takes 30 minutes or
walk which takes around
five minutes.” Josh Henly
“Normally I drive there,
because it’s easier to put the
shopping in the back once
I have finished. It takes
around 15 minutes.”
Emily Brewer
“I walk, which normally
takes around 40 minutes.
I can’t drive yet.”
Emily Finch
23

BITS AND BOBS
GHOST PUBS: #20 THE BELL INN, EASTPORT LANE
Everybody I’ve met who knew the Bell Inn has commented
on how small it was, tucked away at 13-14 Eastport
Lane. Unlike its unruly neighbour the Welcome
Stranger, the Bell appears to have kept a low profile during
the 1800s. This may have been largely due to George
Kemp, who was landlord for around 30 years. He took a
no-nonsense approach to bad behaviour, which was aptly
displayed in 1877 when he dragged out Frances Herriot
who ‘had frequently, by her disgusting language and conduct,
driven his customers away.’ Another notable landlord
was John Forsey who had lost a leg as a result of a collision in a Lewes League football match. The
Sussex County FA raised £500, which John used to set himself up at the Bell. However, he was only there
a year when he moved on to the Rainbow at Cooksbridge. Despite the size restrictions, in 1954 the new licensees,
Mr and Mrs Jeffreys, threw a Christmas party for around 50 children of their customers, and gave
them pony rides up and down Eastport Lane. The Bell finally closed its doors in 1970. This wonderful
photo shows a group of smartly-dressed gentlemen posing outside the Bell. Judging by the buttonholes,
they were no doubt off to a wedding. Many thanks to John Davey for allowing me to use it. Mat Homewood
25

JEWELLERY
VALUATIONS
Tuesday 28 June
10am to 4pm
APPOINTMENTS
AND ENQUIRIES
01273 220000
hove@bonhams.com
VENUE
The Courtlands Hotel
19-27 The Drive
Hove, BN3 3JE
ARE YOU WEARING YOUR JEWELLERY
OR JUST INSURING IT?
Demand for jewellery at auction has never been stronger.
Throughout June Bonhams gives access to our national
network of experienced specialists who can provide free
up to date valuations for items you may wish to sell.
#whatsinthebox
bonhams.com/jinj
Because every life is unique
…we are here to help you make your
farewell as personal and individual as possible,
and to support you in every way we can.
Inc. Cooper & Son
42 High Street, Lewes
01273 475 557
Also at: Uckfield • Seaford • Cross in Hand
www.cpjfield.co.uk

COLUMN
David Jarman
Poetry in Motion
Whenever I travel
from Paddington, I
make time to walk
along Platform One
to see a particular
statue. Not the statue
of a certain much loved
bear, but the one by
Charles Sargeant Jagger
of a soldier reading
a letter. It was erected
in honour of those who
served in the world wars, specifically the ‘3,312
men and women of the Great Western Railway
who gave their lives for King and Country’. As a
war memorial, it’s second only, in my opinion, to
the same artist’s magnificent and moving Royal
Artillery Monument at Hyde Park Corner.
That’s also the favourite monument of the sculptor,
Michael Sandle. Unfortunately for him, the
Royal Artillery memorial is bang next to his least
favourite - the Australia War Memorial of 2003.
In a recent interview, Sandle described the latter
as resembling ‘a pissoir in an upmarket hotel, designed
by a thirteen year old, on a computer’. In
the same interview he recalled how ‘my mother
once knifed my father and he took her to court.
The magistrate was impressed with her… and
all he said was: “Don’t do it again, Mrs Sandle.”’
I’m not sure loopy Helen in The Archers is going
the right way about attracting a similar leniency.
Asked whether he was a glass-half-full or glasshalf-empty
sort of guy, Sandle endeared himself
to me by replying that he was ‘an absolutely-andutterly-empty-glass
sort of guy’.
The Meeting Place at St Pancras International is
my least favourite railway terminus sculpture. It
seems to get larger and more unspeakably vulgar
every time I see it. Fortunately, a rather good
statue of John Betjeman is close by. Better than
the one of Philip Larkin
at Hull Station,
recently described by
fellow Hull poet, Sean
O’Brien, as looking
like Himmler.
Contemporary poets
seem to me to have
such a jaundiced
view of train travel
that Larkin may well
be the last poet to
be honoured with a similar statue. As I write,
George Szirtes is tweeting: ‘In Cheltenham for
the poetry festival after a nightmare journey…
original train was delayed… 1 vanished train, 2
missed connections…’
In his poem A Station, Dennis O’Driscoll writes
of: ‘An official announcement crackling like
deep-fried fat/that our branch-line train would
be three hours delayed…’ Eventually, ‘…like
switching tracks, I start to pray that my train/
might never arrive, that my journey be indefinitely
delayed,/my forward connections missed,
that my cup might pass from me’.
Such involuntary stoicism reminds me of
Edward Gorey’s Alphabet: ‘The Tourist huddles
in the station,/While slowly night gives way to
dawn;/He finds a certain fascination/In knowing
all the trains are gone’.
Changing is a problem. Patrick McGuinness
writes of ‘Correspondances/is what they call
connecting trains, even when/they don’t connect.
Even when they don’t exist’
Finally, Hugo Williams, in Day Return, writes
of: ‘…a mockery of a train/…keeps slipping
backwards into wartime obscurity-/blackouts
and unexplained halts’.
It finishes: ‘Someone asks if there is a buffet car
on the train/and is told he must be joking’.
27

COLUMN
Chloë King
Cooks the books
I was going to write
‘my humour muscle
always seizes up when
things go unexpectedly
well’ but Google
informs me that a
humour muscle is not
a real thing. (Muscle
humour is, however,
surprisingly real, but I
digress.)
The unexpectedly
good thing I refer to
is the launch of my
event Cook the Books,
which I hosted above
the Lewes Arms at the
end of April; the next one is on 7th June.
A friend in attendance asked whether it would provide
fodder for my next Viva column. I shrugged
her off, embarrassed. I can’t write about the book
club because if it goes well, I’ll appear self-satisfied
and desperately self-promoting. And if it goes
badly, I will be forced to a) publicly broadcast my
ineptitude or b) cover up my sense of failure with
subtle ridicule of my guests, therefore outing
myself as an absolute arse.
Having left my column submission to the very last
minute, however, I am forced to write about what
turned out to be a smug achievement. Against
my expectation: I was not left waiting alone for
an inordinate amount of time, and when guests
arrived they filled a large portion of the room
with good humour, and an even greater spread of
delicious food.
My anxiety about being left alone to consume a
packet of crackers and three tins of dressed lobster
partly stemmed from the time I organised a food
blogging event at the Lewes Arms. I discovered
that, although I was not the only food blogger to
hear about it, I was the
only food blogger to care
about it bar a lovely couple
pen-named Rosemary
& Pork Belly. (And a kind
man called Robin, who
doesn’t blog, but who
presumably prophesised
the event would be poorly
attended, and so came to
offer his support.)
Cook the Books is essentially
a (mostly) savoury
version of Clandestine
Cake Club. Everyone
brings a cookbook that
they enjoy, along with
a dish from it or inspired by it, to share with the
group. We go round informally introducing what
we have brought and then we sit down to spend the
rest of the evening tucking into each other’s food
and chatting about our mutual interest in cooking.
Turns out, everyone settled into the format
naturally, and it was only me that got into a bit
of a tongue-tie trying to explain the intellectual
impetus behind my decision to bring a copy of
David Foster Wallace’s essay Consider the Lobster
and some crackers smeared with coral-coloured
pap prepared by John West.
So there it is, a perfectly ace evening followed by
an encouraging chorus from those who attended…
What am I going to write about this month? And
then I get a DM on Twitter from the ‘Underground
Restaurateur’ and food writer Kerstin
Rodgers who launched the UK supper club scene
and of whom I’m a stupidly big fan. She saw my
tweet about Cook the Books and wants to work
with me on a cookbook festival this September
- can I cook you lunch? My smugness just got
crushing. cookthebooks.club
Illustration by Chloë King
29

COLUMN
East of Earwig
Mark Bridge has mallets aforethought
Photo by Mark Bridge
Tradition is a strange thing. Sometimes it leaves
us with events that seem ill-suited to the modern
age, such as torch-wielding Zulu warriors marching
through the streets of Lewes. And sometimes
it makes us wonder why circumstances ever
changed. The Busy Bee garage in Ringmer falls
into the latter category: a place where you can
fill up with petrol, get your car fixed and even
buy a new one. It seems strange that anybody
would want to disconnect those three activities
into separate sites, particularly when there’s
the opportunity of picking up a packet of fruit
pastilles at the same time. Yet this type of all-inone
establishment is almost an anachronism in a
world where vehicles are now sold in megastores,
petrol comes from a supermarket and you’re
not allowed to open the bonnet of your own car
without signing a disclaimer.
Opposite the garage is the Cheyney Field, home
to another tradition. It’s where Cheyney Croquet
Club plays a game that can trace its roots back
around 400 years. I really can’t see why a malletbased
pastime isn’t more popular. It sounds
like the kind of sport that should be an integral
part of every macho stag weekend, alongside
quad-bike racing in Estonia and an impromptu
session of British Bulldog at the airport. Anyway,
if you’re interested in learning more, there’s an
open day at the club on Sunday 5th June, which
just happens to be National Croquet Day.
These two venues on the B2192 have been on
my mind recently because I’ve sailed past them
on the number 28 bus. I’m a big fan of public
transport, even though it seems a little incongruous
when double-deckers squeeze through the
bottleneck outside Tom Paine’s house. One of the
reasons for my fondness is the cost: a £3.40 return
from Ringmer to Lewes is less than a couple
of hours’ parking on the High Street. It’s more
relaxing than the precision-timing required when
trying not to exceed the limits of free supermarket
parking. And I can claim a complimentary
newspaper as part of my bus trip. You may be
surprised how long you can sit in Caffè Nero
if your empty coffee cup is hidden behind the
Metro showbiz section.
But my main reason for not driving into Lewes
is self-preservation. Tradition has gifted the
town with attractive narrow streets of terraced
cottages. Here in Ringmer, we’re blessed with
new-fangled architectural features, including
driveways for almost every house and roads that
are wide enough for two vans to pass without
snapping off their door mirrors like a pair of
rutting stags. What Ringmerite would choose to
venture into a place where every car bumper is as
scuffed as a child’s football boot? Not without a
warning sign on their vehicle, anyway. I’d recommend
something along the lines of ‘Watch out - I
play croquet’.
31

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IN TOWN THIS MONTH: THEATRE
A Good Jew
A Holocaust tale, by Jonathan Brown
I’ve been interested in the Holocaust since
visiting the Holocaust Museum in Houston,
Texas, in 1988. My wife, Annika, is German,
which has fuelled my interest. In her neighbouring
village in Bavaria, for example, many Jewish
people vanished in the war. I found it striking
that some of their houses are still occupied by
relatives of the locals who took possession of the
buildings.
There’s a Romeo and Juliet element to this
story, which starts in Frankfurt in the late 30s.
Sol is a Jewish concert pianist. Hilda plays in the
same orchestra and is the daughter of an SS officer.
So their love crosses the divide. Sol invents
a new Aryan identity to protect himself, but
becomes drawn into the Nazi machine; Hilda,
thinking he has been taken to Theresienstadt
concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, takes on
a Jewish identity in order to get into the camp
and find him.
Theresienstadt was a strange camp. It was
where the Germans sent many Jewish musicians,
artists, actors and directors. Having first transported
many former inmates to Auschwitz, and
cleaned it up to resemble a model camp, the SS
allowed a Swiss Red Cross inspector access. After
being led along a limited tour route, he gave it
a clean bill of health. Later the famed director
Kurt Gerron, a camp internee, was similarly
forced to create a propaganda film. He and many
of those appearing were subsequently gassed.
There was a lot of subterfuge and identity
shifting going on, including cases of Nazis
trying to pass themselves off as Jewish after the
liberation of the camp. Of course as an actor and
director I’m drawn to all this identity shifting.
We’ve set up a crowdfunding campaign to
help fund this project and tell this story.
Once we cover the £3,000 of costs, the company
can start to make a profit. So we heartily welcome
more pledgers and, moreover, plenty of
ticket sales!
We’re putting it on at the All Saints. We
needed a lot of room as it’s a big story – set all
over Europe – with eight in the cast.
In the last Brighton Fringe I did a completely
improvised show – Je Suis: A Fool’s Guide to
Cliff Edges. It was filled with comic elements,
but it wasn’t comedy. The subject matter depended
on what was brought up on the day. My
mother had been very ill and she died during the
run, which was reflected in the way the shows
turned out. I saw the performance I did the night
she died partly as a poem for her. The audience
that evening became an integral part of what
became an intense, funny and poignant journey
to the very departure gates of life.
As told to Alex Leith
A Good Jew, All Saints, June 4th and 5th.
somethingunderground.co.uk
33

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LITERATURE
Talent Pool
Tanya Shadrick, long-hand writer
Tanya Shadrick does a lot of writing. If you went
to the Pells last year, chances are you saw her
there, on the terrace overlooking the deep end of
the pool, pen in hand. This year she’ll be back,
and in an official capacity: she’s been made the
swimming pool’s Writer in Residence.
“Three years ago I got a terrible pain in my
back,” she tells me, over a coffee in the Lewes
Arms, explaining how her strange lifestyle came
about. “I had to give up my job, at the university,
which I loved.” She couldn’t sit – it was too
painful, “so I had to walk around all the time. By
the summer it got a bit better, so I started going
to the Pells.” She took up swimming lessons, and
when she wasn’t swimming, she started writing.
Though she has to fit this passion within the
strictures of being a mum-of-two, she’s hardly
stopped since.
“I live on Bradford Road and I was upset when
someone vandalised a tree on Baxter’s Field,” she
continues, charting the development of her writing
career. “As a reaction to that, I wrote about it,
mostly sitting in the Grange Gardens. It became
my first published piece.”
She shows me one of her notebooks, filled with
her careful handwriting: half joined up, the small
words sitting neatly on the lines of the notepaper.
But what will she write about all summer? “The
here and now of the pool. Memories, reflections.
I won’t be disturbing anyone’s peace, but I will
invite pool-goers to come talk if what I’m doing
interests them. Most people find the spectacle of
writing in longhand intriguing - it provokes all
sorts of surprising stories. So I’ll be a collector of
tales as much writer of them.”
She will have plenty of paper for all these stories.
Tanya has a 50-yard long Japanese-style scroll
- the length of the pool - as her central project.
“I hope to manage 35 laps by September: a mile
of longhand and a novel-length piece of writing.
It’s title is Wild Patience because I’m wanting to
explore ideas about joy got from routine and
repetition, which writing and swimming share.”
The idea isn’t to publish the final version, but to
display it as an artefact, perhaps on the walls of
the pool. In fact it’s tempting to see the scroll as
much performance art as literary endeavour, and
it’s no surprise that Tanya finds inspiration in the
place-based work of two artists who live locally,
David Nash and Peter Messer. “Can writing in
the open, at this scale, be art too?” she muses. “If
there is genuine absorption and enquiry into what
is being enacted then I think it takes on meanings
wider than just the words, yes.”
Alex Leith
Tanya will be sharing ways for others to get
involved in her residency - by writing and reading
about life in the water and out of doors - on her
Lap/Lines blog at tanyashadrick.com
Photo by Alex Leith
35

Friday 1st July - 6pm
Strings & songs around our shores
Singers from the Royal College of Music, & string group Ensemble Reza
Barber, Holst, Butterworth, Vaughan Williams & Clarke
Saturday 2nd July - 12pm
Despite & still : ecstatic twentieth century songs
Alice Privett, soprano & Chad Vindin, piano
Harbison, Barber, Messiaen & Ravel
Saturday 2nd July - 7.30pm
None but the lonely heart - a Russian recital
Pauls Putnins, baritone & Nancy Cooley, piano
Tchaikovsky, Musorgsky, Rachmaninov, Borodin & Sviridov
Sunday 3rd July - 3pm
A cappella with flowers and birds
The Baroque Collective Singers conducted by John Hancorn
Poulenc, Britten, Madrigals, Hindemith, Janequin, Elgar & Parry
Sunday 3rd July - 6pm
From here to Spain, and across the Atlantic
Mary Plazas, soprano & Nancy Cooley, piano
Obradors, Britten, Copland & De Falla
LEWES
FESTIVAL OF
SONG
2016
a summer
weekend
brimming
over with
song
Venue - St Annes Church, Lewes Tickets - Lewes Tourist Information Centre 01273 483448
lewes.tic@lewes.gov.uk Festival details - Lewes Festival of Song / Facebook
Festival Pass - £50, Sat & Sun eve concerts - £15, other concerts - £12, under 16 half-price

IN TOWN THIS MONTH: CLASSICAL MUSIC
Beatrice Philips
Lewes Chamber Music Festival founder
“Really quite strange
to think that this is the
5th LCMF! Sometimes
when I’m thinking
up the programme
I feel such pressure
– ‘How can I fill eight
concerts with music
as wonderful as it was
last year?’ - but then
I realise how much
great music there is
in the world and it’s
a different pressure;
how to choose what
gets omitted. As funding
for the Arts is being
cut, I feel strongly
about the importance
of producing cultural experiences of the highest
quality possible, as often as possible, and for as
many people as possible. I believe it should be a
part of all of our lives, whether we are musicians
or not.”
The words of Lewes Chamber Music Festival
founder and director Beatrice Philips speak
volumes as to why this festival has been so exciting
and so successful. Her passion for music is
infectious, and the audiences clearly respond to
that as well as to the excellence of the performances
on offer.
Bea again: “What I love best is when audience
members tell me they have discovered a new
composer or a new piece during the Festival that
they absolutely loved. As long as we [musicians]
are discovering new things and inspiring each
other then that will be communicated to audiences,
making everyone a winner.”
This year the festival presents eight concerts
spread over three days with a wide variety of
musicians in two favoured Lewes venues - the
All Saints Centre and St John sub Castro. It’s an
expensive task.
“All our funds are
made up of individual
donations
from supporters,
local businesses and
ticket sales, as well as
through our Friends
and Patrons system.
Although being a
Friend of LCMF
is only £30 a year,
having this regular
assurance makes a
huge difference.”
But of course, most
importantly, there is
the music itself.
On Schoenberg’s
Verklaerte Nacht: “I first discovered it at MusicWorks
chamber music courses when I was
16. I couldn’t believe my ears. Subsequently
it became an incredibly special piece of music
for me, and I have been dying to perform it in
Lewes for years.”
On Bartók: “His music is often performed in
all-Hungarian programmes or treated as a specialist
subject, when I think it is perfect played
alongside Beethoven and many other composers
who Bartók himself would certainly have known
and studied.”
And on French composer, Gabriel Pierné:
“Alasdair Beatson (pianist) discovered Pierné’s
Piano Quintet, Op. 41 and insisted we sight-read
through it one night a couple of years ago. It’s
really bonkers but also incredibly beautiful, and
full of little glimmers of Fauré, Debussy and
others. It’ll be a treat.”
Surely just one of many to look forward to in
this year’s Lewes Chamber Music Festival.
Paul Austin Kelly
Fri 17-Sun 19, leweschambermusicfestival.com
Photo by Anna Patarakina
37

IN TOWN THIS MONTH: OPERA
Addicted to bass
Velvet-voiced Christopher Purves returns to Glyndebourne
“Where’s home?”, I ask baritone Christopher
Purves as we sit in the gardens at Glyndebourne.
He’s taking a break from rehearsals for The Cunning
Little Vixen, an opera that weaves love stories
around a forester and a fox. “Apparently it’s in
Oxford”, he laughs. “I’ll be back home Saturday
afternoon and then back here on Sunday evening,
very late. So I get a day and a half at home, which
is not enough but that’s just the way it goes.
We’re relatively used to it.” These days Christopher
sings his way around the world, staying in
temporary accommodation when performing in
Europe, the United States and Australia. “When
the kids were small I would not go abroad, just
because I thought ‘this is ludicrous, not being
able to see them at all’. I couldn’t think of a good
enough reason to ruin my life so completely.”
It’s now 20 years since Christopher first came to
Glyndebourne as an understudy, before returning
to perform in 2007, 2009 and, in a ‘truly fearsome
and mesmerising performance’, according to Opera
Today, the title role in Handel’s Saul last year.
“It’s a wonderful thing to have your so-called art
appreciated to such an extent”, he admits. “It was
the best fun I’ve ever had.”
Christopher Purves has been singing since
childhood. “I’m the youngest of four boys in the
family. I think I had to fight for attention.” As a
youngster, he was a chorister at King’s College,
Cambridge. In his 20s, he spent several years as
part of doo-wop band Harvey and the Wallbangers
before heading into opera. But where does the
acting come from? “I’ve got no idea”, he tells me.
“If you talk to anyone and ask them what they’re
doing, they’ll try and explain it to you in ways
you can understand. I think opera is precisely
that. We’re given scenarios that are rather weird
and we have to explain them. It’s an extreme version
of talking.”
His role as the Forester in The Cunning Little
Vixen is “quite a soulful man”, Christopher says.
“He’s not sad, he’s not desperately happy, but
he’s normal. I think a lot of people can understand
where his life is going. It’s very touchingly
human.” And the internationally travelled singer
who portrays him is equally down-to-earth. “I
love being at home. It’s an extraordinary thing
but it’s true. I can take my dog for a walk, I can
cook an evening meal, I can spend time talking
to my sons – my daughter is away at the moment
– you know, just normal life that people take for
granted. For me it’s such a blessing. But I still
enjoy the buzz; I still enjoy the excitement of
starting up a new rehearsal period for a new opera.
So, I think while that excitement still exists, I
will carry on.” Mark Bridge
Glyndebourne Festival 2016 runs until late August.
The Cunning Little Vixen opens on Sunday 12th
June. glyndebourne.com
Photo by Bill Cooper
39

LEWES CHAMBER MUSIC
FESTIVAL
17-19 JUNE 2016
Immerse yourself in a weekend of magical music
performed by some of the worldÕs Þnest musicians...
Alina Ibragimova James Boyd Jonathan Cohen Olga Jegunova Lilli Maijala
and many more...
DON’T MISS OUR 5th FESTIVAL OF
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BEATRICE PHILIPS ・ TIM CRAWFORD ・ HÉLÈNE MARÉCHAUX
LILLI MAIJALA ・ JAMES BOYD ・ HANNAH STRIJBOS ・ ROBIN MICHAEL
PIERRE DOUMENGE ・ HANNAH SLOANE ・ JONATHAN COHEN
ALASDAIR BEATSON ・ BENGT FORSBERG ・ OLGA JEGUNOVA ・ MATT HUNT
ADAM Lewes WYNTER・MARTIN Chamber Music Festival OWEN・PETER is a registered WHELAN charity in England ・THE EUSEBIUS & Wales: no.1151928 QUARTET

IN TOWN THIS MONTH: MUSIC
Classical Round-up
Celebrating Shakespeare... and Sussex
June promises to be a powerhouse for music in
Lewes with more than enough for everyone,
including a Shakespearian salute, a poolside
orchestral serenade, and a full three-day chamber
music festival.
The very excellent Kantanti Ensemble starts
things off with Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2,
a huge and important work given a new orchestration
here for Kantanti by Iain Farrington.
Glazunov managed to destroy the premiere of
Rachmaninoff’s (pictured) first symphony by conducting
it while in a drunken stupor, but we expect
a more sober, if no less flamboyant interpretation
from conductor Lee Reynolds. For the uninitiated,
listen out for the themes used in Birdman and also
Eric Carmen’s Never Gonna Fall in Love Again. Sat
4th, 5.30pm, St John sub Castro
Clarinetist Nick Carpenter and pianist Nicholas
Houghton play an all-French recital, featuring
sonatas by Saint-Saens and Poulenc, as well as
Debussy’s Petite Pièce. Sun 5th, 3pm, St Michael’s
Church, free
An evening of Scandinavian works fills the
Corelli Ensemble’s programme, including Grieg’s
Holberg Suite and Elegaic Melody No. 2, a Sibelius
Impromptu, and Swedish composer Dag Wirén’s
Serenade for Strings. Sun 12th, 4pm, Cross Way
Church, Seaford, £10
Musicians of All Saints present two chamber music
concerts this month - a quintet and a quartet, both
comprised of MAS members. The first concert
offers French composer Anton Reicha’s Grand
Quintetto (1826) and also contemporary American
composer Robert G. Patterson’s Bassoon in the Box.
The quartet will play Haydn’s String Quartet No.
1, Frank Bridge’s String Quartet No. 4 and will
give the second ever performance of Sussex-based
composer Guy Richardson’s Houriya.
Sun 12th and 19th, 6pm, Hamsey Old Church, £10
(u18 free)
There are musical delights to be savoured at the
fifth annual Lewes Chamber Music Festival, which
this year serves up eight concerts over a period
of three days. Further details can be found in my
article on p37.
Fri 17th to Sun 19th, various times and venues
A Shakespearian Celebration is the title of East Sussex
Bach Choir’s event this month. On the menu:
extracts from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, Michael
Tippett’s Songs for Ariel, Thomas Linley’s Ode on
the Spirits of Shakespeare and Vaughan Williams’
ethereal Serenade to Music. There will also be appropriate
Shakespearian readings interspersed by
Jonathan Cullen and Niamh Cusack, and a special
cameo appearance by the Wallands Choir. The
conductor is John Hancorn, with pianist Nancy
Cooley and organist Nicholas Houghton.
Sat 18th, 7pm, St Anne’s Church, £12
Finally, the Lewes Concert Orchestra will give an
evening poolside performance at the Pells. The
fare will be light and popular, and will of course
include the crowd pleaser, Sussex by the Sea. Bring a
towel. Fri 24th, 7.30pm, Pells Pool, £8
Paul Austin Kelly
41

Portraits of Glyndebourne
By
21 (twenty-one) Chalk artists
Phantoms of the Operas – Digital Photomontage by Simone Riley
Special Event
Date: 2nd July Time: 12noon-3pm
Place: Chalk Gallery, Lewes
Music, Canapes, Drinks AND Art!
Exhibition runs for six weeks from 27th June - 7th August
showcasing paintings, prints, ceramics and sculptures
inspired by Glyndebourne.
www.chalkgallerylewes.co.uk
Farley Farm House & gallery
Home of the Surrealists
Experience the extraordinary atmosphere of the Sussex home of the
Surrealists Lee Miller and Roland Penrose whose friends and guests
included Picasso, Max Ernst, Man Ray and Miró. We open to visitors on
Sundays offering 50 minute guided tours, inspiring exhibitions in our
gallery and a sculpture garden to explore.
www.farleyfarmhouse.co.uk
Farley Farm House
Muddles Green, Chiddingly
East Sussex, BN8 6HW
Tel: 01825 872 856
Open to visitors every Sunday from April - October 2016 from 10. 00 am - 3.30 pm

ART
FOCUS ON:
Passing Trains,
by Lucinka Soucek
90 x 105cm,
Linocut print on
Japanese paper,
£795 (limited edition of 4)
A lot of people ask me where this
image ‘is’. I actually don’t think it
matters, because it’s more about the
shapes and the lines and the blocks
of colour than about the subject
matter. It’s typical of my recent
work. I’m using linocut a lot more
than woodcut these days, and I’m
trying to simplify my style. I’m also
in a blue and green phase: I used to
use a lot more red and black.
But for the record it’s in India…
I think it was Bangalore Station. I
was on a bridge with my rucksack
in all the chaos of trying to catch
a train and I saw the snaking lines
of the two trains below, and I took
out my camera and took a picture.
Then on the onward journey – I
had plenty of time – I sketched from
memory in my sketch book. Some
people think it’s Lewes though,
and… why not?
I’ve always been drawn to transport
as subject matter. I think it’s
from when I was doing my Masters
and I lived on the opposite side of
London from the art school I was
at. Sometimes I had to take three
different modes of transport – bus,
tube, train – to get there. That’s
where it came from.
I’ve always been inspired by British artists from the 20s and
30s. Cyril Power, and Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious. Plus
the transport posters from that era – I love the graphic images they
came up with. But of course my subject matter is from today, which
brings everything into the modern era.
I’ve only done a series of four of these prints. I only do low
editions, because I hand-print them – I don’t have a press – and I
use expensive Japanese paper, which is more absorbent. And I have
nowhere to store more!
Take you to my favourite gallery? John Piper is exhibiting at
the Jerwood in Hastings at the moment, he’s one of my favourites.
Then there’s the Keizer Frames Gallery, based at Pastorale Antiques,
exhibiting new and exciting work by local artists!
As told to Alex Leith
You can see Passing Trains at the Summer Exhibition in St Anne’s
Gallery (25th June – 10th July) at Artists United at the Foundry Gallery
(14th-17th July) and [if selected, fingers crossed] at the RA Summer
Exhibition (8th June – 16th August).
43

JOY
a boutique
summer festival
25 & 26 JUNE
convent field
lewes
music & dancing lifestyle street food
artisan market vintage catwalk pop-up bars
vintage funfair workshops entertainers
ONLINE
4 for 3 early bird offer
tickets £5 under 10'S free on the gate £7
joyfestival.co.uk

ART
ART & ABOUT
In town this month
Fire Dance (detail) by Susan Lynch
Chalk Gallery features Earth-Fire-Water, the
expressive and abstract work of Susan Lynch
from the 6th to the 26th, with paintings free of
preconceived ideas and big on immediacy and
movement. Meet the artist on Saturday June 11th
between 2pm and 4pm. At the gallery from the
27th is an ode to opera. The 21 ‘Chalkies’ exhibit
images both of, and inspired by, Glyndebourne.
Join them on the 2nd July at noon.
Locus – a collection of paintings exploring
location and the lines between domestic and
wild by Rachael Plummer is at the Hop
Gallery from the 4th to the 14th of June.
That’s followed by Dado Aid from Saturday
18th – culminating in a charity auction on 25th.
Displacement continues at the Foundry Gallery until the 5th with
a series of installations, workshops and performances. Then, from
24th, Artemis Arts mark the impending closure of the gallery with
Industry and Arts - A Story of Lewes. Photos, film, recordings and
artefacts about the ironworks founded on the site in 1832 and an
invitation for anyone who worked at the Phoenix or East Sussex
Engineering to come along and share their stories and pictures.
It’s the Summer Exhibition at St. Anne’s Galleries
from the 25th featuring work by 20 artists – the
usual St Anne’s stable plus eight guest exhibitors -
including two nominees for the prestigious John
Moores painting prize.
Pelham House exhibits Flight - linocuts, woodcuts
and collagraphs exploring migration by Claire
Mumford and Lewes Castle in Light and Time by
Matthew Thomas: photographs (below) inspired
by Cézanne’s paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire and
Hokusai’s views of Mount Fuji.
Falling Blossom by Jack Frame at St. Anne’s Galleries
45

ART
ARTISTS UNITED 2016 IS CALLING
FOR WORKS. Don’t forget to send your
submissions for this year’s community art
extravaganza in aid of Lewes FC to charlie@
lewesfc.com by 17th June. Send images of
up to two pieces, stating whether you’re an
emerging or established artist in the subject
line, with the title, medium and price of the
piece. Proceeds are split 55% to the artists
and 45% to Lewes FC. It will be the last year
for the show at its Foundry Gallery home so
you can’t afford to miss it. It’s the arts equivalent of the Albion’s last game at the Goldstone (sniff).
Just down the road
From 15th of June, at the home of Roland
Penrose and Lee Miller, Farley Farm House
hosts - We’re Alive! - with paintings, textiles
and furniture by Brighton artist Orna
Schneerson Pascal.
See Veronica van Eijk’s cow paintings at
Longleys Studio Barns over-looking the
Pevensey Levels and the dairy herd of Hook
& Sons. First two weekends in June.
vaneijkarts.com
Orna Schneerson Pascal
Ditchling Museum of
Art + Craft has had us
all enthralled with all
things typographic this
summer but perhaps
the pièce de résistance
takes place at the Village
Fair on the 18th
when The Big Steam
Print – which you might remember from our last
cover - trundles in to town. Prints surviving the
pummelling will be exhibited at Phoenix Gallery
in Brighton in August.
At Towner, due to popular demand, the exhibition
Recording Britain - the ambitious record of the
changing landscape of WW2 Britain - has been
extended until the 26th. People Places Propositions,
new and recent work by London-based photographer,
video and installation artist Melanie
Manchot, continues through the month. The
distinctive projects give an insight into her areas
of research and long-standing enquiries – from
portraiture to participation and performance, to
questions of individual and collective identities.
47

!
the players collective presents
SHAKESPEARE
SUMMER
SCHOOL
by the sea
Pro-Am Summer School, lead facilitator, Jack Shepherd
MONDAY 1 - FRIDAY 5
AUGUST 2016
based at
Seaford Little Theatre
4 Steyne Road, Seaford, East Sussex
BN25 1HA
ALL ENQUIRIES: Patricia Pape
E: tricia.pape@gmail.com
M: 07948715876
generously sponsored by
SSS poster A6.indd 1
01-Apr-16 2:10:40 PM
Following the
Thomas Paine Trail?
Advising on US
visas, immigra0on,
and ci0zenship .
Steven D. Heller
Director
CastleWorks,Lewes
Castle Works
Westgate Street
Lewes BN7 1YR
United Kingdom
US Immigration Law Ltd
T: +44 (0)1273 434609
Skype:sdhusimmigration
E: sheller@us-visa.co.uk
www.us-visa.co.uk
01273 965717
www.us-visa.co.uk

ART
Further afield
1936 saw the start of the Spanish Civil War, the world’s first
regular TV broadcast by the BBC and the birth of our very own
John Henty. Meanwhile, at the recently opened De La Warr
Pavilion, a series of cooking demonstrations were presented
by the College of Modern Housekeeping to an auditorium
packed with housewives. From 18th of June join the DWP
as they celebrate The People’s Pavilion: our first 80 years. Also at
DWP is Willem Sandberg: from type to image. An internationally
renowned icon of graphic design and director of the Stedelijk
Museum in Amsterdam from 1945 to 1963, Sandberg developed
one of the most important collections of modern art in
Europe, implemented radical transformations of the museum’s
environment, and personally designed all the museum’s posters.
Jerwood Gallery presents The Painter Behind the Canvas. Two
rooms of artists’ self-portraits collected by the writer Ruth Borchard, who personally commissioned
each work. Also in the gallery, Unknown Countries continues, encapsulating a half century of work by
Prunella Clough who, intrigued by overlooked spaces, found beauty in the mundane and joy in the
industrial landscape, before movnig onto more abstract themes.
Open Eye magazine by Willem Sandberg, 1946. Courtesy Stedeiljk Museum Amsterdam
GRACE JONES • BURT BACHARACH • LIANNE LA HAVAS • CARO EMERALD
MELODY GARDOT • KAMASI WASHINGTON • KELIS • ST GERMAIN
SKYE | ROSS FROM
DINGWALLS SESSION FEATURING PATRICK FORGE &
MORCHEEBA • GILLES PETERSON
ESPERANZA SPALDING • SCOFIELD MEHLDAU GUILIANA • THE STANLEY CLARKE BAND • AVERAGE WHITE BAND
PRESENTS: EMILY’S D+ EVOLUTION
(UK EXCLUSIVE)
GOGO PENGUIN • BERNHOFT • IBRAHIM MAALOUF • GOGO PENGUIN • CECILE MCLORIN SALVANT
JACOB COLLIER • ERIK TRUFFAZ 4TET • THE CORRESPONDENTS • THE MILK • AVERY*SUNSHINE
PLUS MANY MORE ARTISTS, CLUB NIGHTS, KIDS AREA, FOOD VILLAGE, TALKS & FILM SCREENINGS
L
I
V
E
3 DAYS OF JAZZ, FUNK, SOUL AND MORE
IN THE SOUTH DOWNS
GLYNDE PLACE EAST SUSSEX
CAMPING, LOVESUPREMIUM, JUNIOR,
FAMILY & DAY TICKET OPTIONS AVAILABLE
LOVESUPREMEFESTIVAL.COM LOVESUPREMEFEST
2
0
1
6
J A Z Z
F U N K
S O U L
49

Firle Place
Riding School
A27, nr Lewes,
BN8 6LP
1 st - 3 rd July
10.30 - 5
£3.50 entry
Licenced Cafe
Free Parking
Beautiful Parkland
View the House, 2-4.30 Sunday £5
Fine Art, Antiques & Decorative Furnishings, all Vetted for Authenticity.
Appraisals by TV experts (booking essential 01825 744074 / info@penman-fairs.co.uk
www.firleantiquesfair.co.uk. Image: Firle Beacon by Sussex artist Frank Wootton, E. Stacy-Marks Ltd

JUNE listings
WED 1
Storytelling. A monthly inclusive and supportive
evening for people who are at the beginning
of their storytelling journey... or anyone
interested in hearing good tales. First Wednesday
of the month. Lewes Arms, 7.30pm, free.
southdownsstorytellers@gmail.com
‘Night Before’ Extravaganza. Hosted by Waterloo
Bonfire Society before their fête on Sun
5th. BBQ, Harveys Beer Tent, games and live
music. The Paddock, 5-10.30pm, free.
SAT 4 & SUN 5
Talk. Growing Fruit:
in the ground and
in containers. With
retired professional
gardener Paul Templeton.
Cliffe Church
Hall, 7.30pm, £3.
THU 2
Comedy at the Con! ‘Locally sourced’ halfterm
comedy special. Expect a selectively picked
handful of local talent, with a top notch circuit
guest MC and headline act. Con Club, 8pm,
£7.50-£11. Tickets from Union Music, wegottickets.com
or 07582408418
SAT 4
Farmers’ Market. Fresh, local produce. Cliffe
Precinct, 9am-1pm. Also on Sat 18th.
Book Sale. Second-hand books for sale, raising
money for church funds. St Michael’s Church,
10.30am-1pm, 20p entry.
Walk. Follow in the
footsteps of medieval
pilgrims, and walk the
spectacular route across
the South Downs from
Pyecombe to Lewes.
With local history guide
John Freeman. Starts
Pyecombe Church 11am,
ends Lewes Priory 4pm.
£5 entry, covers refreshments, bring packed
lunch. enquiries@lewespriory.org.uk
Open Gardens. Country gardens open to the
public. Swing band, children’s quiz, hog roast,
refreshments, plants for sale. Southease Village,
12.30-5pm, £6, U11s free. dgdemm@gmail.com
Theatre. A Good Jew. Sol and Hilda are in
love, but Hilda’s father is a Nazi Official, and
Sol is Jewish. New play set in WW2 Germany.
Starring, among others, our very own Bella Mc-
Carthy Sommerville, who wrote all these listings,
except this sentence. All Saints, Sat & Sun
8pm, £6-£10.50. somethingunderground.co.uk
SAT 4-SUN 12
Mourning Festival. Week-long festival
enabling conversation about the end of life.
Grief walking, theatre, making shrines, telling
stories, silence, conversation. Meet death doulas,
holistic funeral arrangers, draw up your own
funeral wishes. Linklater Pavilion. Full details
on Mourning Conversations Facebook page.
SUN 5
Summer Fête. Local stall holders, traditional
fair ground, arena events, Harveys Beer Tent
and live music. The Paddock, 12-5pm, free.
amanda@waterloobonfire.co.uk
51

Register online
www.stpeter-stjames.org.uk
starwalk@stpeter-stjames.org.uk
01444 470811

JUNE listings (cont)
MON 6
Talk. Another Europe. Why do Syriza and
Podemos believe it’s possible? Phoenix Centre,
7.30pm, free. gill@leweslabour.org.uk
TUE 7
Lecture. The Truth of Fiction? With Prof
Cedric Watts, Emeritus Professor, University of
Sussex. Town Hall, 2.30pm, free. u3asites.org.uk
The Group. Club for unattached men and
women, aged 50 plus. Not a dating agency. 8pm,
more info at thegroup.org.uk
WED 8
Talk. The Thinker’s Guide to Gardens. Uckfield
Civic Centre, 2.30pm, £7/members free.
uckfielddfas.org.uk
FRI 10
Evening of music. Ballads, Bossa & Blues.
Music from Constance Owen and Charlie
Crabtree. Anne of Cleves House, 7.30pm, £5.
annacrabtree1@hotmail.com
FRI 10 & SUN 12
Film. Joy.
(12A) Based
on the true
story of Joy
Mangano
who invented
a household
cleaning
device and
went on to establish a business dynasty. All
Saints, Fri 5.30pm, Sun 8.30pm, £5-£6.50.
filmatallsaints.com
Film. The Revenant. (15) A frontiersman
is abandoned by his fellow fur-trappers and
left for dead, but survives and sets out to seek
revenge. All Saints, Fri 8pm, Sun 5.30pm, £5-
£6.50. filmatallsaints.com
SAT 11
Queen’s Birthday Celebration.
Stalls, food, games,
dancing & live music. Tea for
all Nevill residents who have
reached 90. Nevill Green,
12-4.30pm. Evening entertainment
to follow, including
fireworks, 6-10pm. njbs.co.uk
Mish Mash Morris Open Morning. Chance
to give Morris Dancing a try, for anyone over
16. Wear loose clothes and trainers. The Goldsborough
Hall (Scout Hut), Ringmer, 10.30am-
12.30pm, free. 01903 814642
SUN 12
Open Gardens.
Village gardens
open to public.
Live band, face
painting, plants,
Pimm’s tent and
teas. Rodmell, 12-
5pm, £5, children
free. Free parking.
01273 473939
Open Gardens. Southover High Street, 2.30-
5pm, £5/£3. Tickets from The King’s Head,
The Swan, St Pancras Stores, Union Music &
Tourist Information Centre.
Film. Youth. (15) Drama about a retired conductor
at a clinic in the Alps with an old friend,
reflecting on their lives and children. All Saints,
3pm, £5-£6.50. filmatallsaints.com
MON 13
Talk. Living in History: Researching your
House. House Historian, Rosalind Chislett
looks at the architectural history and the
development of houses in Sussex. She will also
explore how to investigate the history of your
property. King’s Church Building, 7.30pm,
£3/£2. leweshistory.org.uk/meetings
53

Adopt with confidence
Behind each volunteer and member of staff is a wealth of experience and
expertise which means when you adopt one of our cats, you can feel safe
in the knowledge that he has been given the best possible care.
When he leaves Cats Protection, your cat will have been treated to a topto-tail
medical: he’ll have been vet checked, microchipped, neutered* and
vaccinated. We also provide four weeks’ free insurance** giving invaluable
peace of mind and reassurance as you and your cat embark upon this
lifelong friendship.
All he needs now is a loving home to make his dreams come true –
over to you!
For further information please contact:
T: 01273 814 722 (postcodes BN6-10, BN25-26, TN22)
W: www.cats.org.uk/lewes
: CPLewesCats
Reg Charity
203644 (England and Wales)
SC037711 (Scotland)
* if old enough ** Terms & Conditions apply

JUNE listings (cont)
TUE 14
Film & Discussion. Climate Change - What’s
the Fuss? Film screening of This Changes Everything,
inspired by Naomi Klein’s international
non-fiction bestseller. Followed by Q&A with
expert panellists. Come along with your climate
change questions, or just listen along. All Saints,
7pm, free.
TUE 14 & WED 15
Theatre. Much Ado about Nothing.
Charleston, Tue 7.30pm, Wed 1pm & 7.30pm.
charleston.org.uk
Appellant’s Tale. Part of the LGSRAS Refugee
Week 20th-26th June 2016. Linklater Pavilion,
7.30pm, free. lgsras@gmail.com
FRI 17 & SAT 18
Beer & Cider Festival. 80 real ales, plus ciders
and perries. Hot food and soft drinks too. Town
Hall, 11am-6pm. Prices and tickets at brightoncamra.org.uk
SAT 18
FRI 17
The Refugee Tales. A celebration of the 2015
walk in solidarity with refugees, asylum seekers
and immigration detainees. Contributions
from the participants of the walk, a short film,
music by Lou Glandfield and a reading of The
Village Fête. Stalls, games, exhibitions and
competitions. Raise a glass to celebrate the
Queen’s birthday. Barcombe Village Hall, 12-
4pm, free. 01273 400157
55

52 Cliffe High St, Lewes, BN7 2AN . 01273 471893
From WILLIAM MORRIS LONDON
FREE SUNGLASSES
WITH ANY WILLIAM MORRIS FRAME
Ask in store for details
Barracloughs the Opticians Lewes are proud to incorporate
FIND YOUR FEET PODIATRY & CHIROPODY
52 Cliffe High Street . Lewes . 01273 471893 . www.fyfpc.co.uk
- Nail Cutting
- Corn & Callus removal
- In-growing Toenails
- Verrucae
- Fungal Nail advice
- Diabetic Foot
- Rheumatology
- Wound care
- Nail Surgery
- Biomechanics

JUNE listings (cont)
Village Fête. Stalls, BBQ, tea, cake, bouncy castle,
tug of war, egg throwing and more. Kingston
Village Green (behind the Juggs pub), 1-5pm,
free. kingstonvillagefete@hotmail.com
SUN 19
Midsummer Madness.
BBQ, bathing,
bar & live music.
Annual fundraiser for
Starfish Music and
Landport & Malling
Summer Playscheme.
Pells Pool,
5-10.30pm, £7/£4.
Tickets from Pells
Pool, 01273 472334,
lewesyouththeatre.
co.uk or Si’s Sounds.
Open Garden. Tea, cake, plant sale. Funds
raised go to the Lewes Saturday Circles Group,
a self-funding group for adults with learning
difficulties. 1 Rose Cottage, Chalvington Road,
Golden Cross, 11am-5pm, £3/children free.
FRI 24 & SUN 26
Film. Eddie
the Eagle. (PG)
The story of
Eddie Edwards,
the underdog
British ski jumper
who charmed
the world at the 1988 Winter Olympics, and
managed not to break anything. All Saints, Fri
5.45pm, Sun 8pm, £5-£6.50. filmatallsaints.com
Film.
Spotlight.
(15) Based
on the true
story of how
the Boston
Globe uncovered
the massive scandal of child molestation
and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese,
shaking the entire Catholic Church to its
core. All Saints, Fri 8pm, Sun 5.15pm, £5-£6.50.
filmatallsaints.com
SAT 25 & SUN 26
Joy Festival. Live music, delicious
food and drink. Convent Fields,
10am-5.30pm, £5, U10s free.
firleandcountry.co.uk
Flower Festival. In aid of St Peter and St James
Hospice and the Beacon Parish Churches.
Refreshments in Westmeston Parish Hall. St
Martin’s Church, Westmeston, 11am-5pm, free,
donations welcome.
SUN 26
Open Gardens. Hidden
historic garden open for
charity. Topiary, mature
trees, pond and perennial
borders with brick
paviour paths. Homemade
teas. Entrance
down steps between
2 & 3 Grange Road,
2-5.30pm, £3.50/children
free. ngs.org.uk
Open Gardens. Visit these internationally
acclaimed, award-winning gardens and help
raise funds for Chestnut Tree House children’s
hospice. Follers Manor, Seaford Road, Alfriston,
11am-4pm, £5, children free follersmanor.co.uk
Film. Hail,
Caesar!
(12A) Coen
Brothers
comedy
about a Hollywood
fixer who
must investigate the kidnapping of a movie star
(George Clooney). All Saints, 3pm, £5-£6.50.
filmatallsaints.com
TUE 28
Death Café. Drinks, snacks and conversation
about dying, death and the life cycle. Trevor
Arms, Glynde 7.30pm, free (voluntary contributions).
No need to book. cafe@livingwelldyingwell.net
57

JUN
4
10
11
17
23
24
25
30
MUSIC NIGHTS
@ The Con Club
MEOW MEOWS
SOUTH COAST SKA ‘N’ SOUL
THE FOLD
+ RUSE ON THE OUSE
HATFUL OF RAIN
A UNION MUSIC STORE PRESENTATION
ALL THINGS MUST PASS
THE MUSIC OF GEORGE HARRISON
CARLENE CARTER
COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND
TAR BABIES
AUTHENTIC TRIP INTO THE 60’s
WILD PONIES
A UNION MUSIC STORE PRESENTATION
MARK CHADWICK
OF THE LEVELLERS
SEE WEBSITE FOR ENTRY AND DETAILS
SKIING
TREKKING
CAMPING
SKIING
HIKING
TRAIL RUNNING
WALKING

GIG GUIDE
GIG OF THE MONTH
If you like your music fast, skanky and of a topical bent,
check out the Meow Meows, Brighton’s best ska/punk
band since The Piranhas, and who are doing a fairly
extensive tour to publicise their third album, Meow Meows
on the Moon. They’re a fantastic live band, their pumped
up brass section adding a whole lot of oomph to their
offbeat dance sound, while singers Anna and Danny tell it
how it is in songs like Friends on Benefits (check out their
vid on meowmeows.com). They’ve played at the Con
Club before, and if it’s anything like last time, the place
will be jumping. Highly recommended.
Sat 4th June, Con Club, 8pm, free.
JUNE LISTINGS
THU 2
Vintage Hot Swing. Gypsy swing. Pelham Arms,
8.30pm, free
FRI 3
Jacuemo. Ska pop. Lamb, 8.30pm, free
SAT 4
Chris TT. Songwriter. Union Music, 3pm, free
Stone Junction. Snowdrop, 9pm, free
The Night before the Fête. Waterloo Bonfire
Society gig, bands tba. Paddock, 6pm, free
Mick Ryan & Paul Downes. English folk. Royal
Oak, 8pm, £7
Cousin Avi. Funk rock. Lamb, 8.30pm, free
Meow Meows (see above). Con Club, 8pm, free
SUN 5
English folk dance tunes session. Bring instruments.
Lamb, 12pm, free
Open mic. Elephant & Castle, 7.30pm, free
Swing time. Swing dancing. Lamb, 5pm, free
MON 6
Greg Heath. Jazz sax. Snowdrop, 8pm, free
TUE 7
English folk dance tunes session. Bring instruments.
John Harvey Tavern, 8pm, free
Ceilidh Crew Session. Folk. Lamb, 8.30pm, free
WED 8
American old-time session. Appalachian. Lamb,
8.30pm, free
FRI 10
‘Ballads, Bossa & Blues’. Music from Constance
Owen and Charlie Crabtree. Anne of Cleves
House, 7.30pm, £5
The Fold. Folk rock. Con Club, 8pm, free
Gin Bowlers. Swing and vulgar beats. Lamb,
8.30pm, free
SAT 11
Marcus Eaton. Americana. Union Music Store,
3pm, free
Hatful of Rain + Lowri Evans. Appalachian folk.
Con Club, 7.30pm, £10
Jerry Jordan. English traditional folk. Elephant &
Castle, 8pm, £6
Supernatural Things. Funk, soul and blues. The
Hearth, 9.30pm, free
Unison Bends. Snowdrop, 9pm, free
MON 13
Graeme Flowers. Jazz trumpet. Snowdrop, 8pm,
free
>>>
59

GIG GUIDE (CONT)
TUES 14
Open Mic. All welcome. Lamb, 8.30pm, free
FRI 17
All Things Must Pass. Music of George Harrison.
Con Club, 8pm, £10
Steve Watts Jazz Trio. Soul jazz from the experienced
muso. Lamb, 8.30pm, free
SAT 18
Georgia Lewis & Friends. English folk. Elephant
& Castle, 8pm, £6
The Contenders. 9pm, free
Town of Cats. Gyp-hop ska. Lamb, 8.30pm, free
MON 20
Peter Fraise. Jazz sax. Snowdrop, 8pm, free
TUES 21
Ceilidh Crew Session. Folk. Lamb, 8.30pm, free
THU 23
Carlene Carter. Country. Con Club, 7.30pm,
from £18
Diane & Steve Nevill. English folk. Elephant &
Castle, 8pm, £6
FRI 24
Tar Babies. 60s trip. Con Club, 8pm, free
The Reform Club. Our former MP Norman
Baker and his Kinks-like merry men. Snowdrop,
8.45pm, free
James Riley. Nashville Bluegrass soul. Lamb,
8.30pm, free
SAT 25
Lowri Evans. Country singer-songwriter. Union
Music Store, 3pm, free
Wild Ponies. Nashville Americana. Con Club,
7.30pm, £10
John Crampton. Highly popular one-man Blues
extravaganza. Snowdrop, 9pm, free
Debbie Bond & Radiator Rick. Alabama roots
blues. Lamb, 8.30pm, free
SAT 25 & SUN 26
Joy. A boutique summer festival, with live music,
entertainment and food. Convent Field, 10am-
5pm, £5 (under-10s go free)
SUN 26
Folk in the Chapel. With music from Derrick
Hughes & Joy Lewis, The Full Shanty, Jack Hogsden
& Tom Evans. Westgate Chapel, 2.30pm, £5
Fleur de Paris. Chansons. Con Club, 3pm, free
Swing time. Swing dancing. Lamb, 8.30pm, free
MON 27
Imogen Ryall and Julian Nicholas. Jazz sax and
vocals. Snowdrop, 8pm, free
TUES 28
Open mic. All welcome. Lamb, 8.30pm, free
THU 30
Mark Chadwick of the Levellers. Con Club,
8pm, £10/£8
Fleur de Paris, Con Club, Mon 27 John Crampton, Snowdrop, Sat 25th
60

Lewes Town & Country
Residential Sales & Lettings
Land & New Homes
T 01273 487444
E lewes@oakleyproperty.com
Property of the Month Lewes - £1,250,000
NEW
INSTRUCTION
A truly unique substantial detached home in one of Lewes's most popular locations. This beautiful house has been carefully maintained and
offers versatile living accommodation opening on to what are in our opinion some of the town's most impressive gardens. 4 double bedrooms
and a useful loft room with excellent storage and far reaching views towards the South Downs. Off street parking and integral garage.
NEW
INSTRUCTION
NEW
INSTRUCTION
Lewes £995,000
Substantial 4 bedroom detached home ideally located
between Lewes & Kingston. Sitting in an elevated position
offering stunning views across The Ouse Valley towards Firle
Beacon. The ground floor offers a large living room, kitchen
breakfast room, shower and playroom/bed 5. Outside are well
kept gardens on several levels with ample off street parking.
Ringmer £565,000
Charming period cottage ideally positioned between Lewes &
Ringmer. The accommodation offers expansive living space with
an open living room, dining room and contemporary kitchen
breakfast room. Upstairs are 3 double bedrooms and a family
bathroom. Outside are two sun terraces on each side of the house
ideal for entertaining, drive way parking and a double garage.
NEW
INSTRUCTION
NEW
INSTRUCTION
Uckfield £450,000
Substantial detached house in popular residential location.
Versatile living accommodation. Ideally set up to suit a range of
buyers. Beautifully presented the ground floor offers a living room,
dining room, kitchen breakfast room, separate W/C and a 5th
bedroom/ office. 4 double bedrooms, en-suite and family bathroom.
Large gardens and double garage with a further parking.
Lewes £369,950
Spacious first floor apartment in imposing Edwardian building.
Beautifully presented, this apartment offers a wealth of period
charm as evidenced by a number of mouldings and fireplaces.
Impressive dual aspect living room with stunning views. 2 Double
bedrooms, contemporary fitted kitchen and period bathroom.
Large shared gardens and parking. Share of freehold.
oakleyproperty.com

The Rude Mechanical Theatre Co
OUTDOOR THEATRE
Macbyrd
“A comedy thriller
Set among the birds”
Ditchling Village Green – Wednesday 29 th June at 7.30pm
The Green, Plumpton Green – Thursday 7 th July at 7.30pm
Barcombe Village Hall field – Thursday 21 st July at 7.30pm
Southover Grange Gardens, Lewes – Saturday 23 rd &
Sunday 24 th July at 7.30pm
Ringmer Village Green – Thursday 28 th July at 7.30pm
TICKETS – £15 + concessions – Online at
www.therudemechanicaltheatre.co.uk
䘀 甀 渀 椀 渀 䄀 挀 琀 椀 漀 渀 昀 漀 爀 䌀 栀 椀 氀 搀 爀 攀 渀
圀 攀 漀 昀 昀 攀 爀 愀 戀 攀 昀 爀 椀 攀 渀 搀 椀 渀 最 猀 攀 爀 瘀 椀 挀 攀 琀 漀
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攀 砀 琀 攀 渀 搀 攀 搀 瀀 攀 爀 椀 漀 搀 ⸀
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攀 砀 瀀 攀 渀 猀 攀 猀 瀀 愀 椀 搀 ⸀
刀 攀 最 ⸀ 搀 䌀 栀 愀 爀 椀 琀 礀 㨀 㜀 㜀 㔀 㤀 㐀
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㈀ 㜀 アパート 㔀 㔀 㤀 㜀 㤀 㐀

UNDER 16
FREETIME êêêê
What’s on
THROUGHOUT JUNE
SAT 28 MAY-SUN 5 JUNE
Badger watching. Loder
Valley, Wakehurst, every
Tuesday 7.30pm, £12/£6.
Minimum age 7 years
old. kew.org
THU 2
Digging for Treasure. Lewes Castle, 10.30am-
12noon, £5. Booking essential. Children to be
accompanied by an adult. 01273 486290
Archaeology afternoon. Digging, recording,
sorting and drawing. Lewes Castle, 2-4pm, £6.
Booking essential. 01273 486290
SAT 18
Midsummer Madness. Food, drink, swimming
and live music from Starfish Youth bands.
Fundraiser for Starfish Music and Landport and
Malling Summer Playscheme. Pells Pool, 5pm
onwards. 01273 472334
Pirate Week. 9 days of pirating fun. Bouncy
Pirate’s Galleon, Walk the Plank, Treasure Quest
and pirate chickens. Spring Barn Farm. Full
details at springbarnfarm.com
Lewes New School Summer Fair. 12-4pm. All
the stalls you’d exepct from face painting to a
coconut shy.

UNDER 16
êêêê
FREETIME
What’s on (cont)
SAT 18, SUN 19 & SAT 25, SUN 26
Scarecrow Festival. Explore the village, find
the scarecrows and enter competitions. Fun
for all ages. Ringmer Village, 10am-5pm,
£6 per map, available from McColl’s Village
Shop. Organised by Ringmer Primary PTA,
07889082028
K
18
SAT 25
Midsummer Festival. Exhibition of work and
crafts from Kindergarten to A-Level. Sideshows,
lunches, cream teas, pageant and more. Michael
Hall School, 11am-5pm. michaelhall.co.uk
WED 29
Theatre. Macbyrd. It’s
1940 in a sleepy Sussex
village. George, a retired
mechanic, receives a letter
from the War Office. Magpies
gather, hopping on
their twiggy legs. ‘What’s
this?’ they cackle. A brand
new comedy thriller from
The Rude Mechanicals. The Green, Plumpton
Green, 7.30pm, picnic at 6pm, £15 & concessions.
therudemechanicaltheatre.co.uk
School Open Days
Lewes New School, Wed 8th
Eastbourne College, Thu 23rd
Book tickets now!
Kaleidoscope Theatre Summer
Schools. Early bird offer available!
Full details kaleidoscopedrama.uk
SUmMer FAir
SAtuRdAY 18tH jUNe 2016
12:00pM - 4:00pM
ComE alONg aNd JoIn
oUr CelEBraTIonS.
teA & caKEs • muSIc
• woRkShoPs • sTorY
teLlINg • arTs &
cRafT sTalLs • bBq
• FacE PaInTinG •
PhoTOboOTh • RafFlE
• BadGE maKInG •
CocONut ShY • GiAnT
maRbLE ruN & muCh,
muCh MorE!...
LEWES NEW SCHOOL
Talbot Terrace, Lewes, BN7 1DS
www.lewesnewschool.co.uk
N: 50.875553 / E: 0.007946

êêêê
UNDER 16
LOUISE MOSELEY
15-year-old opera singer
Tell us about your next show… It’s a Benjamin
Britten opera called The Turn of the Screw, which
I’ll be performing at La Scala in Milan. Rehearsals
start in August and the show will be on during
September and October.
Who is your character? She’s called Flora and
she’s meant to be ten years old, but she’s usually
played by a young adult. I played the same character
on the Glyndebourne tour in 2014 and it’s
been really interesting starting to get back into
it, because my voice has changed a lot, and
the character will change too.
It’s quite unusual for somebody
your age to be an opera singer…
My friends think it’s quite weird! Lots
of people still don’t really know what I
sing, and they’re usually quite surprised.
What got you interested in opera? I’ve always
loved singing, ever since I was four and I had my
first part in a pantomime – I was a little rabbit in
Aladdin. I had a music teacher when I was seven
or eight who taught in a very classical way, so I
jumped right into opera really. The first piece I
remember learning was Alleluia by Mozart.
How often do you practise? I spend about 20
minutes a day really working on my technique,
but I sing all the time anyway.
How will you keep up with schoolwork
while you’re away? I have to come back to
school for a week in September because
Year 11 is quite a crucial year, but
they’re going to send me my work. I’m
not sure how I’m going to manage it
yet! Rebecca Cunningham
SHOES ON NOW: FREEWHEELING
Cycling in Lewes with children is not always a pleasant affair. Many
of the roads are narrow, the children wobbly and the hills - yes Station
Street I’m talking about you - far too steep. However, if you combine
two modes of transport - car and bike - then cycling as a family becomes
pleasurable once again. This Saturday my middle child and I drove to
Saltdean, about half an hour away. From there we cycled along the beach
front to Rottingdean and further on to Brighton Marina.
The sun shone on our cycling adventure, glistening off the sea on one
side as we trundled along. On our other side we were flanked by huge monolithic cliffs, as if we had stumbled
back into the Jurassic era. An added advantage to this route is that the promenade is wide enough
to encompass walkers, dog owners and cyclists alike, which makes for a much more pleasant experience
for all. The lack of gradient was a plus too, and meant that my son and I were evenly matched in terms of
cycling proficiency and speed.
There were several opportunities to eat en route, always useful when a child’s energy is flagging. As you
come into Brighton Marina there is also an area for fishing and we spent half an hour or so sitting here
watching the fishermen bait their hooks and wait expectantly. Cycling on a little further, we found several
eateries and rewarded ourselves with a large pizza as we looked out at the boats docked along the Marina.
For a fun, relaxed weekend activity, this one got a huge thumbs-up from us and is something we shall
repeat over the coming months. Jack Adams
65

At Ringmer Primary School, our motto is ’Be the best that you can be!’
Ours is a happy, thriving school with 270 children currently on roll.
Following redevelopment of the school over the last year, our nursery
and infant classrooms have been completely rebuilt and the rest of the
school has been refurbished. The result is a beautiful new
learning environment which we and the children love!
WE CAN OFFER:
A purpose-built, on-site nursery school which is
integrated into our Early Years department;
Two small Reception classes (currently fewer than
20 children in each);
A stunning Early Years’ outdoor learning
environment;
Beautiful new and airy classrooms for all children
in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 (2-7);
Refurbished/extended classrooms for all children
in Key Stage 2 (7-11);
A brand new ‘food tech’ room for use in
curriculum time and for clubs (such as the Great
Ringmer Bake Off Club!)
Beautiful grounds in the lee of the South Downs;
A successful, progressive education (both the
Primary School and the Nursery were judged
‘Good’ by Ofsted in 2015);
Extended hours provision (‘Sunrise’ and ‘Sunset’
clubs) to support working families;
A wide range of sporting and creative after school
clubs, to enrich the school experience for the
children;
A holistic approach which values academic
excellence alongside personal development
and creativity. Achievement and effort are highly
valued in our school.
We still have places available in our Reception classes for this September. If you
haven’t found a school for your child yet, why not come and see us and we’ll be
happy to show you around!
Ringmer Primary and Nursery School, Harrisons Lane, Ringmer, East Sussex, BN8 5LL
Achievement
Respect
Commitment
Honesty
Kindness
Ringmer Primary School
Contact: Dave Evans (Headteacher)
Email devans@ringmer-pri.e-sussex.sch.uk
Tel (01273) 812463
www.ringmer-pri.e-sussex.sch.uk
Ringmer Nursery School
Contact: Corina Gamble (Nursery Teacher/Manager)
Email gamblecorina@googlemail.com
Tel (01273) 814154
www.ringmernursery.co.uk

YOUNG PHOTO OF THE MONTH
This month’s picture was sent in by 12-yearold
Lulu Freeman. “I took this picture of a
carousel on Brighton beach,” she writes, in her
accompanying e-mail. “It was such a beautiful
sunny day and the roundabout looked so magical
and vintage it made a perfect picture.” And
then she adds: “I really hope you like it!” We
do, indeed, Lulu. Not just the subject matter,
but the interesting way you’ve framed and
cropped the shot (whether that was in your
mind as you took the picture or on your computer)
leaving plenty of sky and not trying to
get too much carousel in there. Love the bird
too. In fact, we think this would make a great
album cover. Any bands out there agree? Lulu
wins a £10 book token, kindly donated by Bags
of Books bookshop in Cliffe. Under 16? Please e-mail your photos to photos@vivalewes.com, with your
contact details and a sentence or two about where and why you took it.
Midsummer
Festival
Saturday 25 th June 2016 - 11:00 - 17:00
Exhibitions of work and crafts from Kindergarten to A-Level
Pageant ~ Sideshows ~ Estate & Garden Walks ~ Alumni Tours
Lunches ~ Cream Teas ~ Strawberries & Ice-Cream
There will be an evening performance of ‘The Fan’ by Carlo Goldoni
Performed by Class 10 on the Open Air Stage at 20:00 (weather permitting)
Tickets available on the Information Stand (Age 14 upwards)
www.michaelhall.co.uk
Kidbrooke Park, Priory Road, Forest Row. East Sussex, RH18 5JA
Tel: 01342 822275 - Registered Charity Number 307006
67

FOOD
The Sussex Ox
Moo with a view
There’s been a lot of
talk in recent years
about ‘food miles’.
When it comes to the
Sussex Ox, that ohso-very
country pub
in Milton Street, with
its spectacular views
over Firle Beacon,
this could be translated
to ‘food yards’.
The pub is owned by
the people who also
run the farm around
it, and the lamb and beef they sell is from animals
reared organically on the premises.
I pay a visit with my best friend Johnny, and my
fiancée Rowena, and my best friend’s latest flame
Sarah, who I’ve known for 25 years, but not in
that capacity. The girls have met once before,
briefly. So you could say that there’s an interesting
dynamic around the table. It’s a Monday
evening and we’ve rushed to get there before
9pm, when the kitchen closes.
I’ve been to the Ox before, and I’m happy to see
that it hasn’t changed too much since the new
owners took over a couple of years back. There’s
still a bit that looks pubby and another bit that
looks pub-converted-into-restauranty and we
are lead there. It’s a well-lit room with prints on
the walls. Monday being Monday, there’s only
one other set of diners; Monday being Monday
there’s a buzz around the rest of the place – it’s
quiz night.
I know what Rowena is going to want to eat
because we almost always want exactly the same
thing (go figure). In this case it’s salt and pepper
squid (£6.25) as a starter and ‘char-grilled 28-day
aged prime Sussex sirloin steak’ as a main course.
The latter, with all
those mouth-watering
adjectives, is impossible
to look past, even
at top-dollar £18.50.
Johnny has chosen
trout, and he orders
first, and you can see
his dismay as we all
order the steak after
him.
You can tell a lot about
a person from how
they behave after they
trip over, and our waitress’ graceful and selfdeprecatory
reaction having gone arse over tip in
front of us endears her to us no end: luckily this
happens as she’s coming up to take our order, and
not laden with hot food.
And the food? Pretty excellent. The squid has
been cooked and seasoned so perfectly it seems
a shame to dip it in the garlic mayonnaise sauce
it comes with. And the steak is as succulent as
you’d imagine from the meat of an animal you
might have heard mooing on an earlier visit. The
peppercorn sauce is a little waterier than I’d have
made it, but that’s a small moan. We share a bottle
of Sicilian Primitivo, which hits the nail bang
on the head.
Everyone leaves happy, our foursome better
acquainted than before. The company has been
more than agreeable, but next time – perhaps
after walking across from Alfriston on a sunny
evening – I’ll make it a meal for just two, and
we’ll sit in the garden, and try to coincide the arrival
of the food with the sun setting behind Firle
Beacon. We marry in July. Alex Leith
The Sussex Ox, Milton Street, 01323 870840 /
07532 305909
69

70
Photo by Rebecca Cunningham

FOOD
Asian coleslaw and bean curd
vermicelli noodle salad
Chloe Edwards can often be spotted wheeling her vintage pram, filled with
culinary delights, around the streets of Lewes. This is her recipe for a fresh
and crunchy lunchtime favourite to try at home...
I’ve started by toasting peanuts and coconut
chips with turmeric for the dukkah. Dukkah
just means ‘to pound’ in Arabic, as this is the
way they are made, so it doesn’t refer to a specific
recipe. You can make sweet or savoury
dukkahs and sprinkle them on almost anything
– yoghurt, porridge, eggs, salads – they’re a really
handy go-to ingredient to make something
that’s not that tasty on its own really tasty, and
they’re a good way of increasing your protein.
So, to the peanuts and coconut I’m going to
add a bit of fennel, which works really well with
Asian flavours, and I also thought I’d throw in
a bit of hibiscus for the sweetness and colour.
Add a little bit of salt and black pepper, and
then grind the mixture softly in a pestle and
mortar to a mixed consistency – not completely
to a powder – because varying the size of all
the individual components really adds to the
flavour.
Next is the coleslaw. One of the joys of making
coleslaw is that you can basically finely
chop any vegetables you like; I always put in
some mange tout or sugar snap peas, peppers
are good, and you’ve got to have some radish
– whether that’s kohlrabi or the humble English
radish. To dress it you can use a fish sauce,
if you like that, but I’ve discovered coconut
aminos as an alternative, to give it that sour,
savoury flavour.
I bought the bean curd vermicelli at Lansdown
Health Foods, or you can use rice noodles instead
if you prefer. Put the noodles in a pan and
just cover with boiling water, then stick the lid
on and leave for about a minute. Using a fork,
shake the noodles around a bit to make sure
they’re not sticking together. Put the lid back
on and leave for another three minutes, and
then drain. It’s important to refresh them with
cold water straight away, otherwise they will
carry on cooking. If I’m not using the noodles
straight away, I tend to pour in a tablespoon of
sunflower oil and pull it through – as if you’re
putting a hair product on – to stop them from
sticking together.
The dressing I’ve made for the noodles is really
simple. I’ve nutribulleted a handful of cherry
tomatoes, some fresh mint and coriander, lime
juice, garlic, soya sauce and sugar. Asian cooking
often calls for palm sugar or jaggery, but I
tend to use a light muscovado because it’s my
favourite. And you can improvise the ingredients;
if you don’t like tomatoes, leave them out.
Or if you want to make a really quick meal, you
can use a sweet chilli sauce instead.
Mix the dressing through the noodles and top
with a serving of coleslaw, then sprinkle over a
spoonful of dukkah and it’s ready to serve.
As told to Rebecca Cunningham
sevensistersspices.com
71

FOOD
Pizza Oven
La pizza è mobile
A pizza’s home is… a van, it seems, nowadays.
A big green van, with a hatch on one side, a chimney
coming out of the ceiling, and a wood-fired oven inside.
On Thursdays, the van, one of three in the Pizza
Oven caterers’ fleet, comes to Lewes and parks up in
that car park in Cliffe between Harveys and the Dorset, between 5 and 8pm.
“I’ll have the goat’s cheese and sundried tomato,” I say to the friendly woman behind the hatch, who
immediately sets to work running a splodge of dough through a machine to make it pizza shaped, and
passing it to her assistant, who smears it with tomato, adds the ingredients, and slots it in the oven. On
showing my Viva, I also claim a free bit of garlic bread.
The idea’s a great one: these vans travel all over East and West Sussex, mainly to villages, and the villagers
get to know when they’re coming, so whatever night it is they arrive becomes pizza night.
Which is all very well… but do they taste as good as ones made in a more traditional space? I take my
two boxes to that bench under a tree along the path to Tesco, lift a slice of the pizza out of the box
and… wow. It’s a thin crust variety, and it’s perfectly cooked. That old cheese-tomato-basil combo
works a treat, as ever, the 12” garlic bread is a salty delight, and I must look a happy man, to the handful
of people who pass me, as I munch away, a big brown box of grub either side of me. Alex Leith
pizzaoven.co.uk
www.thesussexox.co.uk
@thesussexox
The Sussex Ox
Milton Street
East Sussex
BN26 5RL
01323 870840
73

SATURDAY 25 JUNE
from 11am - 8PM
&
sunday 26 JUNE
from 11aM - 5PM
STADE OPEN SPACE, OLD TOWN, HASTINGS
FREE EVENT
Kick off your summer with tasty fish, food and drink!
The whole family can enjoy the treats on offer with non-stop
live music from the best local talent, demonstrations
by chefs and fishermen and craft activities.
www.hastingsfestivals.com
Except
assist

FOOD
Edible Updates
There is something magical about umami - the irreplaceable
savouriness found in cured, fermented and ocean-grown foods, and
thanks to their new smokehouse, the Pelham Arms are having a bit
of a celebration of the fifth taste.
You’ll find sauerkrauts and home-smoked ingredients popping up
across their menu, including thinly cut brisket, hearty pork belly,
Holmansbridge sausages and turkey breast to send Bernard Matthews
heading for the hills. The Pelham is also continuing to host the monthly Greek Girls Supper
Club that raises money for refugee charities, returning on 27th June (facebook.com/ggsupperclub).
On the pop-up dining theme, Pleasant Stores are hosting guest chefs on Thursdays and Fridays in
June and early July for three-course vegetarian suppers paired with natural wines. Also in service
of our town’s healthy eaters this month, the Community Chef (communitychef.org.uk) is sharing
knowledge of Everyday Superfoods and North Indian Cookery at two workshops, and Laporte’s has
new stock of raw, organic and handmade Pana Chocolate.
The big event to look forward to is Joy (joyfestival.co.uk). The boutique festival of food, drink, music
and lifestyle from the team at Food Rocks will be held at the Convent Fields on 25th and 26th June.
The following week, yours truly is to be held responsible (eek!) for a street food market at the mega
Lewes Raft Race and Regatta on Sunday 3rd July. Beyond that, some of our area’s best producers
will also be found at Alfest, the Alfriston festival of food and music, on 9th July. Chloë King
Illustration by Chloë King
75

A&R. Heritage & Home
Adams & Remers are pleased to work with the Listed Property
Owners Club. We provide advice to their membership and do not
charge for our initial consultation. In this way we have assisted
many Listed Property Owners Club members from Carlisle to
Cornwall.
We have a knowledge and appreciation of Listed Property. Many of our
clients own such properties. We know the special nature of the
properties and are pleased to advise on any aspect of your day to day life
with them.
Whether you are just acquiring a listed property or if you already own
one, navigating your way around the planning and listed building
consent system can seem daunting and we are very happy to assist and
guide you through it.
Suzanne Bowman, Partner, Adams & Remers LLP,
Trinity House, School Hill, Lewes, Sussex, BN7 2NN
+44 (0)1273 403220
Legal advisors to the membership of the
Listed Property Owners Club www.lpoc.co.uk

THE WAY WE WORK
This month we asked regular contributor David Stacey to set his alarm
extra early and take portraits of commuters on their journey to work in
the morning. He asked them: “What time train are you getting, and to
where, and what do you do to pass the time on the journey?”
davidstaceyphoto.com
Matt Kent, heading to Gatwick Airport
“I’m usually on the 7.40 and need a tea from the Runaway Cafe.
Work emails, reading Metro or social media kills the time.”

THE WAY WE WORK
Rebecca Manville heading to her office in Kingston-on-Thames
“I generally take the 7.20. I read trade marketing publications, think, email admin
and generally dream of my next working-from-home day!”

THE WAY WE WORK
Yad Luthra heading to BBC at Portland Place
“I usually get the 8.22 to London Victoria. I try to make the journey a positive and relaxing
experience - so I read a lot, watch downloads, listen to podcasts or just contemplate
the world going by. I also work on the train when things are particularly busy.”

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THE WAY WE WORK
Fiona Abbott heading to Hearst Magazines on Carnaby Street
“I usually get the 6.48. I do my make-up first, then frantic texting as I plan the kids’ movements;
then I work for the rest of the journey. I get a bus from Victoria to Carnaby St, so
listen to the radio, catch up on MailOnline and flick through various social media feeds.”

THE WAY WE WORK
Sarah Chalmers heading to Sarcoma UK near Old Street
“I get the 6.48 to London Bridge. I live in Malling and cycle to
the station, takes about 8 minutes, to save me getting up even earlier.
I then get the Northern Line up to Old Street (the land of beards and brogues).”

Family days out all summer
AT NEWHAVEN FORT
01273 517622 Enjoy this amazing heritage site
Try our delicious cream teas in our charming 1940s Tea Room
Take in the spectacular views across the South Coast and
English Channel
Let the kids have fun in our exciting Adventure Park
Participate in our WW2 Bomb Shelter Experience
Bring this advert with you to claim your 15% discount on your entry fee
www.newhavenfort.org.uk
Code 002

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT
Chris Smith
Lewes Travel Log man
Lewes Travel Log is a website and newsletter
which I started to encourage people living in or near
Lewes to use sustainable travel – ie walking, cycling
and getting the bus or train – instead of driving
or flying. I let readers know about how to get the
cheapest tickets on offer, about useful cycle and
walking routes, and about campaigns against bodies
and people that are trying to make sustainable travel
more difficult or expensive.
There were two things that sparked it off. I was
a Green and I was banned from asking questions in
the Christmas quiz about buses – ie what number
bus takes you from Lewes to Haywards Heath – because
no-one knew the answers. And I had friends
in St Swithun’s Terrace who, when I suggested they
might take a bus from the High Street instead of
using their car, asked me how they would go about
doing that. I thought it was time for action. This was
about 10-12 years ago.
I’m not anti-car. My partner and I own one; I realise
that the way things are set up it’s difficult to
travel sustainably all of the time. Try getting to
Hurstpierpoint, for example (where my mother was
in a nursing home). But I realise that East Sussex has
the highest rate of car ownership per capita in the
country, and we need to try to do something about
that because traffic is bad enough as it is, and the
time will come when the whole area is completely
choked up.
I make it my mission to let people know the
cheapest public transport tickets they can buy.
For example, as of last month Lewes is no longer
in the Brighton City zone, as far as the bus companies
are concerned, which means a use-it-all-day
City Saver, bought on the bus, will now set you back
£6.50 instead of £4.70. Unless you buy a scratch-off
ticket in Tourist Information or Martins Newsagent,
that is, in which case it will cost you £4.90.
I’m a keen walker. On my website I have outlined
over 40 walks, all of which start and end in Lewes or
somewhere connected to Lewes by public transport.
Some of them are themed: there’s an Eric Ravilious
one, for example, and another one about paths in
the Firle Estate which have been obscured or even
ploughed over.
Another battle is the Gatwick extension plan.
I’m against it. I believe if it goes ahead it will be
inevitable that the A23 is turned into a motorway
all the way from Beddingham to Polegate. Our MP
Maria Caulfield refuses to come down on one side
or the other, I suspect because she will annoy potential
voters whichever way she goes.
The newsletter allows me to release my inner
nerd, but it has attracted over 300 subscribers, and a
lot of them forward it on as well. You can subscribe
to it for free via travelloglewes.co.uk. As told to AL
85

MY SPACE
Bentley Motor Museum
A century of automobile history
What sorts of cars do you keep at Bentley? We try to
get a really good cross section here, and not only cars –
we also have a collection of motorcycles, a horse-drawn
hearse and a 1937 Dennis fire engine.
Where do they come from? They are all privately
owned. We charge a very modest rent to keep them here
and in return we cover the insurance and security.
Who owns the fire engine? That one belongs to
Crowborough Council – it was found in a field and
restored. Its bell was found being used in a pub on one
of the Scottish islands, where somebody recognised it as
the fire engine’s bell. The publican gave it to him and he
brought it back.
How long has the motor museum been here? We
opened in April 1982 with 25 cars. The very first one
was the 1928 Minerva, which is 17 feet long and weighs
two and a half tonnes, so the rest of the museum was
built up around that! I’ve been in that one once a long
time ago – the wheels are so big that you go over a bump
and don’t even notice.
What’s a typical day at the museum? We open at
10am, and a big part of the job is walking around and
chatting to the visitors, but then there’s always a lot of
running around that you don’t expect! Sometimes an
owner will come in and want to start their car up, or
you’ll see something that needs a bit of a polish. Some
days we have school visits.
What criteria does a car have to meet to be kept
here? It depends on what it is… it has to be in pretty
excellent condition, it has to have an interesting history
and it has to be in some way educational.
Do you own any of them? The pre-war Austin 7
replica belongs to my husband. He came to Bentley to
talk about keeping it here – he didn’t expect to find a fellow
car enthusiast with no wedding ring – so that car is
responsible! We had all sorts of fun and games in that.
Which car in the museum is the most expensive?
We couldn’t say, but there are two cars here which are
insured for over a million. See if you can guess which
ones they are… Rebecca Cunningham spoke to Angela Gould
bentley.org.uk
87

COLUMN
Lewes Out Loud
Plenty more Henty
As a former member
of the British Guild
of Travel Writers,
I happen to know
that several of my
fellow journeymen
and women have
chosen to live in this
area over the years.
I only mention the
fact because it does
suggest that, having
travelled extensively
‘away’ from Sussex as part of their enviable jobs,
they must know a thing or two when it comes to
calling a place ‘home’.
They must also have – as I do – firm views on
what is their preferred form of transport and
for me, today, it has to be feet, or walking! Air
travel used to be fun when I worked for BEA in
the sixties. Airports were less security-conscious
then and aircraft less crowded. The same can be
said for motoring. I find motorways now verging
on the maniacal, and there are just too many cars
constantly on the move 24/7.
Trains? Chocker when and if they do turn up on
time. Fancy a cruise John? What - with 2,000
people aboard and two other mega-boats trailing
closely around the Mediterranean? Not for me.
Thank goodness then for ‘Daisy’. Yes – I know
what people say about geeks who give names to
their cars but with a registration plate offering
‘DSY’ and a bright yellow vehicle, ‘Daisy’ it had
to be and currently, she’s looking very good.
This is largely down to the young people who
work for Zest car valeting in the grounds of
County Hall. Zest is a community interest
company which supports and trains adults with
learning disabilities and autism to deliver a professional
car valet
service.
Meet, as I did
recently, Sophie,
Paul, Sam, Kieran
and Arran together
with their mentors,
Kerry and Martin.
Martin told me
that the work
allowed individual
members of his
team to experience
having a job, engage in banter and relate to customers
in a friendly way. This they do with great
enthusiasm and the end product is sparkling.
The service, supported by East Sussex County
Council, is also available in Eastbourne.
Naturally, I’m now reluctant to venture out in
my dishy ‘Daisy’ and the thought of attempting
Southover Road – or ‘Pothole Passage’ as I call
it – is a daunting one. Then there’s the hazard
of negotiating the ‘Weak Bridge’ at the railway
station. The warning sign is hardly reassuring
and what do the letters ‘MGW’ mean? When I
suggested ‘Might Give Way’ to a local taxi man,
he grinned and said it stood for ‘Maximum Gross
Weight’. Phew!
Bill, from Whitehawk in Brighton, prefers the
bicycle for his transport, he told me when we
chatted at the foot of Keere Street. He’s 75, has a
stent fitted, and relishes the “peace and quiet of
Lewes”. Splendid bloke!
I’d also like to mention Shannon from Seaford
who was busking on Cliffe bridge one morning
and really knocked me out with her powerful
singing and personality. At 20 she has a bright
future ahead. John Henty
zestsussex.org.uk
89

EU REFERENDUM
Should we stay...
Keith Taylor, Green MEP for South East England
The EU referendum is the biggest political decision
of a generation, and it is drawing ever closer. As a
Green, I wholeheartedly support the campaign for
Britain to remain part of the EU.
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of this referendum
for our future, our society and our environment.
Thanks to the EU we now have a Europewide
cap on bankers’ bonuses, vital environmental
safeguards and social protections while EU standards
on air quality, healthy rivers and clean beaches
are also forcing our Government to clean up its act.
The EU is responsible for around 80% of all environmental
laws in the UK and there are many examples
of positive change. For example, protected
wildlife sites were being lost at a rate of 15% a year
before EU action; now the rate is just 1%.
The EU has led the way in pushing for ambitious
targets to tackle climate change and is playing an
important role in promoting the measures needed
to achieve those targets. The switch to renewable
energy and sustainable transport are prime objectives
for our 50-strong group of Green MEPs.
In the South East, the EU has also delivered and
supported thousands of new jobs, improved the performance
of almost 2,000 businesses, allowed another
2,000 to make financial savings from improved
energy efficiency, helped more than 1,000 small
businesses reduce energy and water usage by 10%,
and reduced the region’s overall CO2 emissions by
more than 40,000 tonnes.
Lewes sits proudly in the South Downs, Britain’s
newest National Park, and within it, it is EU funding
that is helping local businesses grow sustainable
tourism, support for local food projects and encouraging
cooperative working with similar projects
across Europe. The EU is also facilitating the work
of the RSPB to protect and improve the wildlife and
habitats that make the South Downs such a wonderfully
vibrant natural treasure.
Despite the beauty that surrounds it, Lewes is a
town, like many others in Sussex, beset by air pollution.
EU laws are helping ensure that the issue is
taken seriously by a UK government reluctant to acknowledge
the problem. Practically, EU funding is
also supporting the Sussex Air Quality Partnership
to raise awareness of air quality issues, and evaluate
and implement measures to improve air quality
across the region.
Whether you live in the town or a small village, the
future of the UK’s relationship with Europe will affect
your daily life. Important funding and vital social
and environmental protections are easy to take
for granted, but, with the referendum looming, we
all need to think carefully about how the EU affects
our lives and our country.
I believe the EU is far from perfect, but I know
that while our Government retains its core values
of austerity and a deregulatory agenda, our rights,
freedoms, and environmental standards are under
constant threat and it is our shared EU laws which
are working to protect our future and our planet for
the next generation. @GreenKeithMEP
90

EU REFERENDUM
...Or should we go?
Maria Caulfield, Conservative MP for Lewes
As I write this, we enter the key period before every
person eligible to vote in British elections will -
thanks to the pledge within this Government’s manifesto
- have the chance to either vote for Britain to
leave or remain within the EU.
After the election, the Prime Minister set about
negotiating with other EU member states in order
to secure reforms to Britain’s membership. Agreements
were reached in March after a lengthy period
of negotiation. They present a welcome step in the
right direction, however, I feel due to the reluctance
of other EU nations, they fail to go far enough.
I have made it my mission to visit as many businesses
as possible, both big and small, to chat about issues
affecting them. It soon became clear that there was
one concern for the majority of those businesses: the
growing wave of bureaucracy, mainly from Brussels.
Whether it be new regulations relating to equipment
used in a Lewes hairdressers, or the failing
Common Agricultural Policy which so negatively
affects our farmers surrounding the town, it soon
became clear that our EU membership was having
a profoundly damaging impact on those putting so
much into the local economy.
We need only look a little further afield within the
constituency, at those fishermen working out of Newhaven,
to see an example of how little the reforms
will benefit the UK. A once-thriving fishing town,
Newhaven has seen its in-shore fishing industry
decimated by the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
Just before Christmas, I had fishermen expressing
their overwhelming concerns, as, overnight, with no
warning, the EU banned Sea Bass fishing in our waters.
Men who had just spent thousands of pounds
on new nets were now letting crew go because their
business had just been closed down. What could I
do about this as the local Member of Parliament?
Nothing. The decision was made in Brussels.
These concerns in most instances would be enough
to convince most to vote ‘Leave’ on the 23rd June.
However, there is another, for some even more
pressing concern, which relates to the clear disengagement
that the EU has with the British electorate.
Very few members of the public are aware of
who represents them within the European Parliament,
and even fewer seem to care.
Of course, this leaves a breeding ground for unaccountability
with an end result of policy that profoundly
impacts upon the lives of those within the
UK being steered in directions completely opposite
to Britain’s interests. Such an activity wouldn’t be acceptable
at any level of Government within the UK,
so why should it be acceptable within the EU?
On the 23rd June, we have a once in a life time
chance to map our future as a country. No one is
saying it will be easy but for the first time in nearly
40 years we will be masters of our own destiny, part
of Europe but not governed by the EU.
@mariacaulfield
91

TRADE SECRETS
Photo by Emma Chaplin
Nick Marks
Joint Managing Director, Baldwins Travel Agency
Tell me about yourself. In 1991, my father (now
chairman) Ron bought Baldwins Travel Agency.
We’re a family business. I’ve been working for the
company for 20 years, my mother is a director and
my brother is joint Managing Director. We’ve won
national awards and been Travel Agency of the Year
for the South-East area for the last nine years and
we’re proud of that.
Lewes Travel on Station Street is now part of
your ‘group’? Richard Powell, the owner of Lewes
Travel, wanted to retire, so we suggested we took
over. We’d like to make his clients as happy as
he did. Lewes had always been on the radar as a
great place for us to expand (Baldwins have eight
branches across the South East).
Will you keep the name? For now. We’d always
want to include something about the locality in the
name though.
What are your plans? We’re going to be redecorating,
getting new furniture and bringing it up-todate.
We’re also creating a new Foreign Exchange
Bureau. We’re the largest local foreign exchange
retailer after Gatwick and our rates are excellent.
Will people be able to use your bureau even if
they didn’t book their holiday through you? Yes,
of course.
What makes you special? We have experience
and knowledge of the locations of the holidays we
offer. Our staff go away for five days a year to visit
places they’ve never been, to find out more about
them. And we listen to our customers. The point of
what we do is to find the right holiday in the right
location for every person who comes to see us.
Isn’t it cheaper to book on the internet? Our
prices are very competitive because we’re part of a
large buying group. Plus we offer support, back-up
and guarantees. There was a huge resurgence in the
use of travel agencies after the Iceland ash cloud crisis.
I got in a minibus and drove to Paris to collect
some of our business clients. We worked through
the night to get our clients home.
Who are your clients? Anyone. We organise trips
for schools, school leavers and retired families. UK
holiday parks to six star cruises.
What do you think of Trip Advisor? I’m not
afraid of it, but remember, 90% of people who post
on it are complaining.
How has the company changed over the years?
Baldwin’s turnover was £3 million a year in 1991,
now it’s £30 million. Our business travel arm has
been very successful.
What locations are popular at the moment?
Egypt has been hit hard, ditto Turkey. Greece is
doing well, and Spain and Portugal, hugely well.
Everyone wants to go to Cuba before it changes.
What’s your favourite holiday? Skiing in the Val
d’Isère.
Top tip for travellers? Always check your passport
expiry date before you book anything. And get
insurance. Only 18% of travellers do.
Emma Chaplin
1 Station St, 01273 472466 baldwinstravel.co.uk
93

SDC
Print &
Design
photo prints business stationery
document copying laminating
finishing poster printing flyers
banner graphics ncr binding
Did you know?
The Reprographics team at Sussex Downs College in
Lewes can now offer you a high quality print and design
service at a highly competitive price.
Services available include:
• Colour and black and white copying
• Business stationery, NCR forms
• Flyers & leaflets
• Large format printing
• Binding & laminating
• Wedding invitations, order of service etc..
We can use your own artwork or create some for you to suit
your requirements (charges may apply).
We offer no obligation quotes, please feel free to give us a
call or email us for further information.
030 300 38550
repro.lewes@sussexdowns.ac.uk
Host an international student.
Earn money by putting your spare
room to use
We require new homestay providers in Lewes
within walking distance of Sussex Downs College
Good rates of pay
Students of various ages and nationalities
Term time and summer placements
Long and short term stays available with or
without meals
Please contact the Accommodation team at
Sussex Downs College:
030 300 39940
accommodation-lewes@sussexdowns.ac.uk

FEATURE: WILDLIFE
Reed and Sedge Warblers
I bless the rains down in Africa
Illustration by Mark Greco
It’s amazing how a song can transport you
someplace else. I can’t hear ‘Africa’ by American
soft-rockers Toto without drifting back 33 years
to a school disco in Plymouth. Right now I’m sat
by the Ouse listening to two songs simultaneously
pouring from deep in the reeds. These songs also
take me back to my childhood and Saturday mornings
spent birdwatching beside similar reedbeds in
South Devon.
The Ouse singers are two small brown birds; the
reed warbler and the sedge warbler and their songs
make me feel strangely nostalgic for a place I have
never been, Ghana, where these warblers will have
spent the whole winter before returning to Sussex
each spring.
Reed warblers are rather plain, whereas sedge
warblers sport a streaky back and stripy head with a
heavy ‘eyebrow’ that fixes them with a permanently
intense expression. These identification features
aren’t important because you’ll rarely see these secretive
birds. But, boy, will you hear them! Because
when they start singing they just can’t stop.
The reed warbler’s song is a loud, repetitive
stuttering chatter of jumbled phrases that just
just doesn’t just doesn’t seem to just just just just
doesn’t just doesn’t seem to seem to go anywhere.
It sounds like one of those warehouse-sized 1950s
computers churning out data. The sedge warbler’s
song is similar but much more energetic and erratic
with added harsh ‘churrrs’ and whistles giving
the overall impression that it urgently needs a
straightjacket and heavy medication.
These complex songs have a simple message: ‘Hey
ladies, my territory is so rich in insects that I don’t
have to spend much time hunting for my food; I can
waste my time just singing’. It’s the loudest, longest,
craziest song that will seduce a feathered female.
Sedge warblers raise their family in a no-frills nest
low in vegetation but the reed warbler weaves an
incredible deep hammock, lashed together with spider
silk between the stiff stems of the tall reeds. The
whole cradle will rock as the reeds bow in the breeze.
In August, after raising their families, their warbler
thoughts drift back to Africa where drums echo
and wild dogs cry out in the night. The warblers
will gorge themselves with aphids and, with a fat
belly full of fuel, take off from Lewes over Iberia,
North Africa and the wide Sahara to Ghana; a
3,000 mile journey.
I always imagine a Ghanaian naturalist pausing
momentarily each autumn to observe these returning
visitors. Do his thoughts drift to the Sussex
riverside town where they spent the summer?
When the rains return to Africa in the spring they
will summon the insect food that will again power
their tiny warbler wings back to England to add to
my Sussex summer soundtrack.
Michael Blencowe, Sussex Wildlife Trust
Illustration by Mark Greco
sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk
95

BRICKS AND MORTAR
Lewes Railway Station
Third time lucky
“It was the most incomplete and injudicious
station ever erected.” This pretty damning
description of Lewes’ first railway station, built
in 1847 in Friars Walk, was by an executive of
the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway
(LB&SCR), at the 1858 AGM of the company,
trying to persuade shareholders to invest in a
new station. He wasn’t talking about the station
building, a fine classical structure which wasn’t
demolished until the 1960s. He was talking about
the fact that trains going from Brighton to Hastings
had to back out of what was originally built
as a terminus at Lewes, before continuing their
journey east, which was, by all accounts, quite a
palaver, as it had to effect ‘fits and starts with the
assistance of the points’ (Brighton Gazette).
The money was found, and a new station was
built in 1857, very near the current one, on Station
Road. The look of the place – it is usually described
as being ‘Swiss chalet-style’ - was popular
with the press, and presumably the public. And
the service was much more efficient, though
not completely so, as the line coming in from
London curved very sharply before entering the
station, which meant trains had to go extremely
slowly, often causing delays for trains coming in
on other lines. An Act was passed in 1884 giving
powers for a substantial realignment, which
necessitated the building of a third station.
By now the extremely capable Frederick Gale
Banister was Chief Engineer of the LB&SCR,
and he hired the contractors Joseph Firbank
and Crawley building firm Longley’s to build
something that would last a little longer than its
predecessors. The new station was constructed
alongside the extant station, and the first train to
go through it, at 6.15am on March 9th, was the
‘empty from Brighton to Uckfield’, according to
the subsequent Sussex Express, which reports on
workers toiling overnight to adjust the railway:
‘The night was bitterly cold and the hammers rang
sharply upon the steel metals in the clear frosty
air’. ‘After that, ‘all the trains from the Eastgrinstead
[sic] and Tunbridge Wells, Hastings,
Eastbourne and Seaford lines to Brighton ran over
the new roads.’ It seems there was little fanfare,
perhaps as the station wasn’t fully opened for
goods trains until July. The Express reporter
gives a glowing report of the entrance building,
pointing out its ‘lantern roof’, ‘beautifully carved
stone capitals’ and ‘noble booking hall’.
Banister had succeeded where his predecessors
had failed, and Lewes Railway Station became
known as one of the jewels in the crown of the
LB&SCR stations (Banister had a love of Italianate-style
architecture and this was reflected in
many of the station buildings he commissioned,
particularly those designed by his son-in-law
Thomas Myres). The station’s complicated role
as a hub for trains going in three different directions
made it nationally famous; postcards were
made with the pun ‘just a few lines from Lewes’.
Thanks to Reeves for the use of this picture of the
new station under construction, 1889. Alex Leith
97

Meet Our Team
NATASHA CHALLAND
Solicitor
Natasha joined us in September 2013 as a
Conveyancing Executive & was quickly offered
a training contract. She has just qualified as a
solicitor & we are delighted that she plans to
stay with us, specialising in residential property
& Wills.
Before she came to us, Natasha organised
over 100 weddings & events at a popular local
venue & believes customer service is
paramount in every profession & industry.
Natasha is always being delivered flowers,
cards, chocolate & prosecco from her happy
clients!
Natasha enjoys travel, shopping, eating out &
is organising her own wedding for April 2017.
Our clients say
Natasha made the whole process of being a first
time buyer feel seamless and simple. Thank you
very much.
natasha@morgan-kelly.co.uk
Local, specialist,
quality & affordable
solicitors
www.morgan-kelly.co.uk
Castle Works
Westgate Street
Lewes
BN7 1YR
01273 407 970

M A G A Z I N E S
BUSINESS NEWS
You might have seen in the
window of The Laurels
recently, the seriously fun
new Wallplayper collection
designed in Lewes by Emma
Carlow and printed in the
UK. It’s inspired by her own
childhood, old school textbooks
and vintage toys; you
won’t want to draw all over
your walls but you might want
to (ever so neatly) colour them
in. [wallplayper.com]
On the move this month, after 20 years in
Cliffe, Riverside Flowers are relocating to the
top of Station Street and, in the Needlemakers,
the Good Times Home Store has moved into
the space vacated by From Victoria (who, you’ll
remember, recently moved upstairs).
Lewes Women in Business, the group for
professional women with
independent businesses
in the district, recently
celebrated their first birthday
and are now offering
paid membership. They’re
launching a new website
with a members’ directory
later this month and, with
over 220 businesswomen in
their Facebook group, visit
leweswomeninbusiness.
co.uk to find out about the
benefits of joining them.
Finally, the entries for Lewes District Business
Awards are closed and the judging is underway.
Find out the winners at the gala dinner hosted
by former Countryfile presenter Juliet Morris
on 14th July at the Town Hall. Visit lewesdistrictawards.co.uk
to book your seat at the table.
BUY TICKETS
THURSDAY 14 JULY
LEWES TOWN HALL
Around 200 of the District’s leading business
people, sponsors and judges are expected
to attend giving guests the perfect
opportunity to network with peers,
celebrate with colleagues and find
out those all-important results.
Tickets cost £60 and include a drinks
reception, three course meal and wine.
“The ceremony
was a very special
night, where we enjoyed
sharing stories, ideas
and enthusiasm with
likeminded local
businesses…”
G.BURLEY & SONS
GREEN BUSINESS
OF THE YEAR 2015
PURCHASE ONLINE TODAY
www.lewesdistrictbusinessawards.co.uk
99

100

HOME
DIRECTORY
Please note that though we aim to only take advertising from reputable businesses, we cannot guarantee
the quality of any work undertaken, and accept no responsibility or liability for any issues arising.
To advertise in Viva Lewes please call 01273 434567 or email advertising@vivalewes.com
Directory Spotlight:
Martin Wise – Director RDH Commercials
We service the Harveys fleet and
RDH Coaches, as well as other
commercial customers. We usually
maintain vans and buses but there’s
the odd campervan, car and motorbike
in there too. We’ve serviced
a three-wheel tuk-tuk and even a
commercial food mixer that broke
down one Bonfire Night.
We were based on the Phoenix Estate for
eight years, but the decision to develop the site
meant it was time to go, so we moved the workshop
to Harveys Yard two years ago. It feels like
these sorts of businesses are being squeezed out
of Lewes but I think every town needs industry.
We’re very happy here and Harveys are a lovely
company to work with. We look after all their
vehicles. We even service the dray.
Five and a half people work here; the half being
my wife Nicola who does the books. We took
on two apprentices twelve
years ago, thinking only one
would stay, but they’re both
still here. It’s a friendly workshop.
If you call us you’ll get
me on the phone and all of our
customers come in for a chat.
The largest vehicles we
look after are Harveys’ new
42-tonne articulated Mercedes lorries. You
used to have to use an inspection pit to service
vehicles of that size but they were horrible places
– full of oil and rats and sandwiches – so now
we use column lifts. You can attach one to each
wheel you’ve got to lift.
The smallest vehicle we look after is Annie,
Miles Jenner’s Austin Seven. That’s an important
one to get right. As told to Lizzie Lower
Davey’s Lane, Lewes
RDHcommercials.com / 01273 479777
101

HOME

HOME
103

CP Viva Lewes Ad (Qtr Pg)_62 x 94mm 18/02/2011 17:
HOME
Colin Poulter
Plastering
Professional Plasterer
Over 25 years experience
All types of plastering work
and finishes undertaken
FREE estimates
Telephone 01273 472 836
Mobile 07974 752 491
Email cdpoulter@btinternet.com

HOME
105

HOME
Handyman Services for your House and Garden
Lewes based. Free quotes.
Honest, reliable, friendly service.
Reasonable rates
Tel: 07460 828240
Email: ahbservices@outlook.com
AHB ad.indd 1 27/07/2015 17:46
1
Jack Plane Carpenter
Nice work, fair price,
totally reliable.
www.jackplanecarpentry.co.uk
01273 483339 / 07887 993396
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瀀 氀 愀 猀 琀 攀 爀 椀 渀 最 Ⰰ 攀 氀 攀 挀 琀 爀 椀 挀 猀 愀 渀 搀 戀 愀 琀 栀 爀 漀 漀 洀 猀
倀 氀 攀 愀 猀 攀 挀 愀 氀 氀 䨀 愀 礀 漀 渀 㜀 㤀 㜀 㠀 㔀 㔀 㔀 アパート 㠀

GARDENS
Global
Gardens
Design,
Restoration &
Landscaping
come & see us at
the farmers’
market
to lewes and
surrounding areas
info@fromthewood.com www.fromthewood.com
Mobile 07941 057337
Phone 01273 488261
12 Priory Street, Lewes, BN7 1HH
info@ globalgardens.co.uk
www.globalgardens.co.uk
HEALTH & WELL BEING
Stella Dance 5.16 Viva Ad.qxp_66 12/05/2016 16:21 Pa
GGS1.001_QuarterPage_Ad_01.indd 1 12/11/10 18:24:51
alitura
landscape and garden design
01273 401581/ 07900 416679
design@alitura.co.uk
www.alitura.co.uk
Services include
- Garden Design & Project Monitoring
- Redesign of Existing Beds & Borders
- Plant Sourcing
Call us for a free consultation
107

HEALTH AND WELL BEING
neck or back pain?
Lin Peters & Beth Hazelwood
VALENCE ROAD OSTEOPATHS
for the treatment of:
neck or low back pain • sports injuries • rheumatic
arthritic symptoms • pulled muscles • joint pain
stiffness • sciatica - trapped nerves • slipped discs
tension • frozen shoulders • cranial osteopathy
pre and post natal
www.lewesosteopath.co.uk
20 Valence Road Lewes 01273 476371
Viva Lewes 45highx62wide.indd 1 16/11/2010 20:45

HEALTH & WELL-BEING
River Clinic
OSteOpathy
& Cranial
OSteOpathy
Michaela Kullack & Simon Murray
Experienced, Registered Osteopaths
COMpleMentary therapieS
Acupuncture, Alexander Technique,
Bowen Technique, Children’s Clinic,
Counselling, Psychotherapy, Family
Therapy, Herbal Medicine, Homeopathy,
Hypnotherapy, Massage, NLP, Nutritional
Therapy, Life Coaching, Physiotherapy,
Pilates, Reflexology, Shiatsu
Therapy rooms available
To renT
Open Monday to Saturday
01273 475735
River Clinic, Wellers Yard,
Brooks Road, Lewes BN7 2BY
email: info@lewesosteopathy.com
www.lewesriverclinic.co.uk
like us on Facebook

LESSONS AND COURSES
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挀 漀 甀 渀 琀 爀 礀 猀 椀 搀 攀 琀 栀 椀 猀 匀 甀 洀 洀 攀 爀
䘀 甀 氀 氀 愀 渀 搀 栀 愀 氀 昀 搀 愀 礀 猀 攀 猀 猀 椀 漀 渀 猀 猀 欀 攀 琀 挀 栀 椀 渀 最 Ⰰ 眀 爀 椀 椀 渀 最
愀 渀 搀 眀 愀 氀 欀 椀 渀 最 椀 渀 眀 椀 氀 搀 瀀 氀 愀 挀 攀 猀
䴀 漀 爀 攀 搀 攀 琀 愀 椀 氀 猀 愀 渀 搀 甀 瀀 挀 漀 洀 椀 渀 最 搀 愀 琀 攀 猀 愀 琀
眀 眀 眀 ⸀ 愀 渀 渀 椀 攀 欀 攀 爀 爀 ⸀ 挀 漀 ⸀ 甀 欀 漀 爀 瀀 氀 攀 愀 猀 攀 挀 愀 氀 氀 㜀 㠀 㜀 㘀 㔀 㘀 ㈀アパート㈀
䰀 攀 琀 琀 栀 攀 漀 甀 琀 搀 漀 漀 爀 猀 椀 渀
Counselling and
Psychotherapy Training
Part-time courses in
Newick, East Sussex
leading to national
and international
accreditation.
Counselling & Psychotherapy Training
10 weekends a year – from 1 to 4 years
– interviewing now for Oct 2016.
Counselling Skills (Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced)
Saturday & Sunday – 3/4 & 10/11 September.
CPD Courses
● Safeguarding – 25 June
● Couples Counselling – 25/26 June
● Unconscious Bias – 9 July
● Introduction to Transactional Analysis – 24/25 Sept
● Mindfulness (8 weeks) – starts 4 Oct
● Using Transactional Analysis in
Education 19/20 Nov.
www.thelinkcentre.co.uk ● 01892 652487
Singing Lessons
Experienced voice teacher - DBS checked - Wallands area
ewes a5 June 16.indd 1 11/05/2016 14:03
www.HilarySelby.com
07960 893 898

OTHER SERVICES

OTHER SERVICES
CARS
www.andrewwells.co.uk
We can work it out
• BUSINESS ACCOUNTS AND TAX
• MEDIA AND THE ARTS
• CONTRACTORS AND CONSULTANTS
• FRIENDLY AND FLEXIBLE
T: 01273 961334
E: aw@andrewwells.co.uk
FREE
initial
consultation
Andrew M Wells Accountancy
99 Western Road Lewes BN7 1RS
Andrew Wells_Viva Lewes_AW.indd 1 25/06/2012 09:05

INSIDE LEFT
DOWNITY DOWN DOWN
The caption accompanying the negative of this image – another from Reeves - gave us enough clues to
find out quite a bit about this month’s picture. ‘M. Duval’s biplane at Lewes’, it reads. Tom and Tania revealed
it was, from its catalogue number, most likely taken around 1911. Monsieur Duval turns out to be
the celebrated aviator Emile Duval; the picture must have been taken during the 1911 ‘Circuit d’Europe’
race, which took place between June 18th and July 7th, with different legs setting off from Paris, Liège,
Utrecht, Brussels, Roubaix, Calais, London, Calais again, and back to Paris. The ante-penultimate leg,
from Calais to Hendon, included a stopover at Shoreham Airport, though by then Duval, we learn from
contemporary records, had dropped out of the race.
We assume M. Duval flew over the Channel despite his elimination from the race, and landed in Lewes
– such unscheduled stops were common in this period of aviation. Bob Cairns, in his book Lewes Through
Time, pinpoints the location to Rise Farm in Southover. As such flying machines were in their infancy
(the first cross-channel flight had only taken place in 1909) the arrival of such a flamboyant figure in
such a magnificent machine must have been quite an occasion for the locals. By the time the plane managed
to take off again, according to a contemporary newspaper report, its chassis was covered in graffiti.
Further research suggests the model measures 8-metres long and 8-metres high, and has a weight of 207
kilos. Its Paris-born pilot would have been just 24 at the time; pictures of him show he wore a splendidly
waxed moustache. He was the 118th ‘Vieille Tigre’ (old tiger, French term for Flying Pioneer) to be
given his licence, and he generally flew, as in this case, a Caudron biplane. Duval, unsurprisingly, joined
the Armée de L’Aire (French Air Force) during WW1. He was involved in two bad accidents, the second
of which earned him the Croix de Guerre as his courage in the face of adversity saved the life of his passenger
and enabled the plane to be salvaged for re-use. He lived until 1956; we imagine he never forgot
his unexpected stopover in Lewes. AL Thanks, as ever, to Edward Reeves, 159 High St, 01273 473274
114

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