I knew a bent cop once. His name was Derek Ridgewell who was a British Transport Police (BTP) Detective Sergeant. He seemed to have a haughty arrogance about him and certainly looked down on me, a mere uniform PC. Ridgewell was the head of the ‘Dip Squad’ responsible for arresting travelling pickpockets, particularly on the underground….
Month: January 2025
Damaris, the Lost Love.
Damaris is an unusual name. It is thought to derive from ‘little calf’ an old Greek term of endearment. The name is mentioned in the bible and indeed the Greek Orthodox Church recognise Damaris as a saint. Damaris Richardson was born in Brede, East Sussex in 1834 and baptised at St George’s Church, Brede on 27th April that…
Sussex Photographic Rambles 1924
My grandmother Bessie Roberts lived at Taddington Road, Eastbourne. She was interested in photography and owned a ‘Box-Brownie’ Camera. She was the secretary of the Eastbourne Brownie Photographic Club which met at the Technical Institute (Eastbourne Library is now on the site) and in 1924 kept a record of the club’s ‘photographic rambles’. All the photographs…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 