The Bonfire Season started a month ago with the Uckfield Bonfire Society hosting its parade and displays on 7th September. Tonight (5th October) it is the turn of the Eastbourne Bonfire Society. I have marched with the bonfire boys and belles on many occasions and wish them all luck and favourable weather! My great-grandfather Ebenezer…
The Long Man & Bluebell the Cow
I have always had an affinity for the Long Man of Wilmington. It has been a constant part of my life, and I know that my family, particularly my grandmother, Bessie adored it too. The Long Man was even on my school badge. (Willingdon County Secondary School as it was then) The Wilmington Giant stands tall…
Centenary of a Sussex Tragedy
It is always good to visit Bexhill’s splendid museum but this weekend there are two particularly good reasons, both in connection with the fire-brigade. Firstly this week Bexhill Museum is proud to have on display, for the very first time, a newly restored Merryweather Fire Engine dating from 1895. Secondly this weekend marks the centenary of the…
The Big Bang Theory that Failed
For hundreds of years, the shifting shingle within it’s bay has caused problems for the town of Seaford. Even today we try to tame this movement with a convoy of massive bulldozers which try to put the beach in its place. The Ouse once entered the sea in Seaford Bay but the shingle constantly blocked…
27,000 MILES TO SUSSEX
In my family archive I have a small cutting titled “27,000 MILES TO VISIT FATHER’S GRAVE” This is just the thing that piques my interest and encourages me to find out more. Well here is the story! Ernest Alfred Berry was born on 10th December 1870 in Taunton, Somerset , the son of an umbrella-maker Alfred…
A Royal Embarkation at Brighton.
Many years ago I was given a copy of this 1819 cartoon by the satirical engraver George Cruikshank (1792-1878). Sadly it is not an original but I like it because it has lots of detail to be interpreted. It is entitled “Royal Embarkation or bearing Brittannia’s Hope from a Bathing Machine to a Royal Barge” The…
Honour your eyes and visit West Dean!
Every year tens of thousands of visitors get off the bus at Exceat and head along the river to view Cuckmere Haven and the magnificent Seven Sisters. However if those visitors went in the opposite direction, a short walk up a hill and then down into a fold of the South Downs they would find…
The world’s top policeman lived in Sussex and everyone knew where!
The 1950s editions of the Kelly’s Directory for Eastbourne show the occupant of 50, St John’s Road, Meads as “SILLITOE. Sir Percy K.B.E.” This is remarkable considering that Sir Percy was the head of MI5 and was a noted opponent of violent street gangs. Percy Joseph Sillitoe was born in London on 22nd May 1888 and was educated…
Strange Numbers on Sussex Homes
As you leave Seaford heading east towards Eastbourne, the cottage on your right seems to have a very high number – 151 – surely there are not that many houses in narrow Chyngton Lane? In nearby Bishopstone, the old Post Office is now divided into three cottages numbered 133, 134 and 135 ! I recently…
PC White and the Stolen Safe
I thought you may like to hear about one of the long standing characters of the Sussex Police, Charles White who served in Seaford as both constable and detective for 37 years. (and – after his retirement served a further eight years as a civilian.) Luckily he wrote a brief memoire of his service which…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 