Cover - Viva Lewes

i s s u e 5

V I VA ...
the visual arts open house festival
for lewes district
august 25 to
september 23
www.artwavefestival.org
info 01273 483448
SAY CHEESE
2007

E d i t o r i a l
a r t w a v e 2 0 0 7
viva
LEWES
In Roman times they used to take the whole of
August off – the feriae agosti – and celebrate wildly.
Affairs are less Bacchanalian nowadays, but the
spirit still applies in Latin Europe, where cities are
deemed too hot to work in, so the locals head off to
the mountains or the seaside to cool off and relax.
For the whole month. You’ve got to envy them.
Here, of course, unless you’re a child, or a student,
or a teacher, or a politician, you have to make do
with what time you can scrounge off your company,
and most of us spend much of the month still
working, with the windows open, to let a bit of air
in. Our holiday patterns have changed over the last
twenty years – instead of taking long single breaks in
one place in England, we are tending to take more
numerous shorter breaks abroad – typically ten
days in August, a week at Christmas and a couple
of long city breaks during the year, to ‘recharge the
batteries’.
This is good for employers, and it’s good for the
tourist industry, but it isn’t very good for the
environment (think of all those carbon-burning air
miles). And, importantly, it isn’t very good for us
either, as we tend to reproduce the same frenetic
pace we have become accustomed to in our daily
lives, on holiday too. When in Rome, in short, we
don’t do as the Romans do. So much to pack in, you
see, and such little time to do it.
Still, after the rainiest early summer in recorded
memory, you can forgive anybody for heading off
to a blue-sky holiday. For those who are sticking
around, the good news is that there’s plenty going
on in and around town, and we’ve cherry-picked
some of the best local events in this magazine.
August is the balmiest month: enjoy it, wherever
you end up.
The Viva Lewes Handbook is now printed on
100% sustainable, 55% recycled paper.
CONTENTS
Artwave Festival: Peter Cheek (4)
Art: Gallery round-up (7-9)
Art: Roger Dean (10)
Art: Peter Messer (13)
Gigs: Tongue and Groove (15)
Theatre: Open air Shakespeare (17)
Cinema: The Simpsons Movie (19)
Commemoration: Dieppe (21)
Crafts: Michelham Priory (23)
sport: Football (27)
Food: Jeremy’s (29)
Bill’s (30)
We Try Out: Sea Fishing (33)
Day Out: Pallant House (34)
Bricks and Mortar: The Roundhouse (37)
Kids (39)
Lewes Districts: Castle Banks (40)
Columns (43)
Literary Lewes (47)
Trade secrets: Hugh Rae (49)
My Lewes: Raphaella Sapir (62)
Cover image by Peter Cheek
Graphics by Neil Gower, to whom we are, as
ever, enormously grateful
Editor: Alex Leith alex@vivalewes.com Deputy Editor: Emma Robertson emma@vivalewes.com Sub-editor: David Jarman
Designer: Katie Moorman katie@vivalewes.com Food Editor: Emma Chaplin emmachaplin@vivalewes.com Marketing: Scott Chowen
scott@vivalewes.com Publisher: Nick Williams nick@vivalewes.com.
Viva Lewes is based at Pipe Passage, 151b High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XU
For advertising information or information about events you would like to see publicised, call 01273 488882 or e-mail
info@vivalewes.com Every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of our content. The Viva Lewes Handbook cannot be held responsible
for any omissions, errors or alterations.

a r t W a V E
Open art surgery
Cover artist Peter Cheek lets in a nosey public as Artwave hits town
From left to right: Iraq Boy by Peter Cheek, Untitled by Raymond Brownell and Surf by Carole Skinner
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
The first time I saw Peter Cheek’s work it
struck me that there was something of the
saucy picture postcard about it. The sort of
thing that would make a great summer cover.
So this month, to coincide with the launch
of the annual Artwave Festival, (for which
he is exhibiting) we asked Peter to produce
an original piece especially for the August
issue. Of course, the weather we’ve been
having recently hasn’t exactly been typical
of summer, but then, appropriately, neither
is Peter’s work actually so straightforwardly
picture-postcard. Whilst there is a
playfulness about his work, and many of his
figures have a sort of Beryl Cook-ish charm,
there is also something ambiguous about it
all, so that when you look again you’re not
sure what’s really going on.
And some of his recent work deals with
unequivocally darker themes. Such as Iraq
Boy (pictured left) inspired by the story of
Ali Ismaeel Abbas who lost both his arms and
suffered 100% burns after his house was hit
in the US bombing of Baghdad (see webmag
issue 72). As the style which we requested
Peter emulate for the cover belongs to an
older collection entitled ‘Whimsy’, I asked
him (slightly concerned for his well-being)
whether this lighter work is something he
has left behind and if so why. “No, I wouldn’t
say that. I’ve always been interested in social
comment”, he tells me. “It’s not a new
thing. And I’ve always made topical pieces
inspired by things I’ve read in the papers, so
it depends what’s happening in the news at
the time.”
Peter’s main inspiration is a love of people,
he tells me. “I like the way that relationships
can be suggested in subtle ways like the way
that people stand or appear to interact with
each other.” Several of his paintings include
strategically placed mirrors and reflections

(including the cover image). I ask him why. “It
allows you to represent something ambiguously,”
I am told. “It’s not always obvious that it is there,
so it gives a kind of double image once you know
it is, which can change the meaning.” Looking
again I see what he means. At one glance the man
appears to look away from the woman, at another
they are looking at each other.
Peter’s work hangs full-time on almost every wall
of his house so later this month when he throws
open his doors for the Artwave festival, I suggest
that he won’t need to do much to prepare. Peter
agrees. “Yes, I’m lucky in that I have the space
to have a lot of my work on display all the time.
Apart from moving about a couple of bits of
furniture, it’s ready to go.” Peter is passionate
about the festival and his gallery-in-waiting-setup
seems proof of that. He also thinks of novel
ways to direct art lovers into the house during
the festival, such as boards with cartoonish faces
on them with speech bubbles urging people to
‘come in’. “I’ve noticed that there are some
punters who seem a bit reticent to go into
people’s houses”, he tells me, “so I want to give
them a bit of reassurance. And hopefully they
will be interesting for people to look at during
the festival.” Though there are others who come
in purely to look round the house, apparently. “I
had a woman one year who said straight away
that she hadn’t come to look at the art at all, she
just wanted to see the house. It turns out she used
to live here.” Did you mind? “I’m delighted to
welcome people in”, he says. “And if they end up
liking one of my pictures then all the better.” V
emma Robertson
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
The Artwave festival runs until the rd of september
in various venues throughout the Lewes district
including open houses, galleries, shops and cafés.
see the official brochure for more information
www.artwavefestival.org
a r t W a V E
5

Painting classes every Tue, Wed & Thurs
morning £80 for 6 wk course.
Untutored Life drawing Thursday evening
WALK’N CHALK: AUG 11
MND WALL OF ART 2007 SEPTEMBER 1 st
Young (11+) & Little Artists (8+)
meet alternate Sunday am,
Summer Schools throughout August.
Dairy Studio, Old Malling Farm, Lewes,
Tel: Susie on 01273 858438
www.dairystudio-artcourses.co.uk
Arti-Parties for arti kids! Etch printing,
felt making, mosaics….
DAIRY
STUDIO
WALL OF ART 2007
IN AID OF MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE
This disease is devastating for all those
involved; MND is a progressive, fatal condition
that causes muscle wastage: It is fairly rare
and unfortunately there is currently no cure,
and most people with MND die from it within a
few years.
If you didn’t make it to Dairy Studio’s WALL of
ART post card size art sale last September,
then make sure you donate a card and come
to the event this September 1 st
Its fun, lively and all proceeds go to MND
families in Lewes.
Please start thinking about donating a post
card size piece of art again this year: Contact
Susie Monnington on
01273 858438 or 07790556420.
Details are on the newsletter page at:
www.dairystudio-artcourses.co.uk

art & ABOUT
Clashing patterns and semi-abstract landscapes at HQ Gallery
Kate Montgomery’s colourful paintings (see right) have something
of a Medieval look about them. Within her frames are
slightly stylised narrative slices, often containing young girls,
hanging screens, and animals. They are very colourful, and
rather beautiful, and make you want to look and wonder at
them. The Medieval look is achieved by the contrasting patterns
in them, on the curtains, on the floors, on the characters’
clothes. “They are carefully pitched so they resonate rather
than clash,” she says. “The paintings field quite a complicated
relationship in colour and tone.” Kate is one of three artists
in HQ Gallery’s Artwave Festival exhibition. Beth Wintgens
is a landscape artist who describes, in her own words, ‘the
elements and the physical encounters they create, the tug of
the brushstrokes becoming currents and waves, the fall of the
paint reflecting the weight and history of the land beneath
us.’ There is a Rothko-esque nature to her recent work; the
predominant colours are shades of grey. Chris McHugh
completes the triangle. His richly coloured landscapes and
still-lifes defy perspective; there is a primitive look to them.
Often they verge on the abstract. (Aug 18-Sept 9).
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
a r t

art & ABOUT
Dark woods, blurry dogs and a trip into the unknown
Dawn Stacey, who used to run the rather wonderful Art Room
Gallery in the Old Needlemakers, is again using the Thebes Gallery
(25th – Sept 9th) as a showcase for the work of her group of
associates. Dawn herself, who paints still-lifes and landscapes, has
a unique style which bends perspective, playing with our notions
of foreground and background, recalling a childseye view of the
world. Among the artists on display is Irene Marot, who in a
former life played Deedee in Brookside. Her preferred subject is
animals, particularly dogs, which inhabit unexpected areas of her
colourful, blurry canvases.
Meanwhile the featured artist for much of the month at the Chalk
Gallery (6th-24th) is Sue Barnes, who we have regularly featured
in our weekly website. Sue paints landscapes of local areas. There
is nothing twee or chocolate-boxy about her work: quite the
opposite. She paints dark woods, and empty quarries, and has us
looking over our shoulders at who might be standing behind us.
Finally a mention for Andrew Fitchett, who designed our popular
April cover (a cartoon of a man falling down a cliff-face). As part
of Artwave, he is exhibiting in his house his picture book ‘What
if’, a mixture of oil paintings and cartoons; a dark tale of a man
following a raven into the wilderness and an uncertain destiny.
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
a r t
Tangled up in black and white: A scene from Andrew Fitchett’s ‘What If’

a r t a n d a r C h i t E C t u r E
Photograph: Alex Leith
surreality
Bites
Roger Dean turns his endlessly inventive imagination towards th
The phantasmagorical album cover designs for Yes
albums such as Close to the Edge and Tales from
Topographic Oceans were among the most iconic
symbols of the 1970s. Their creator, Roger Dean,
lives in Lewes, where he continues to work as an
artist, designer, and, more recently, architect. There
will be an exhibition of his remarkable designs in
the Old Market Lane Garage this month, which will
show that his fertile, otherworldly imagination has
remained productive in the intervening years.
I visit Roger, and his enormous German Shepherd,
Calvin, one warm July morning, to find out more
about his idiosyncratic work. He makes me a cup of
tea, settles down, and starts from the beginning. “I
entered art college at the age of 17, and was thrown
straight into a life drawing class,” he says. “We had
to paint a naked woman. It was rather an unsettling
experience for me, even more so when the principal
walked into the class, asked ‘which one’s Dean?’ and
hauled me out, telling me I shouldn’t be in there.
‘You studied Maths and Physics, you shouldn’t be
doing this course’. I was assigned to an industrial
design course, and ended up designing furniture.”
This was a lucky break, he soon found out, because
the fine art students soon stopped being taught
draftsmanship skills, which had become deeply
unfashionable. “Fortunately for me, designers
continued to be taught how to draw and paint. This
destructive trend has continued to this day, where the
crafts of art have largely disappeared. Art, as taught
in this country, is now based more on ideas and
the execution is increasingly irrelevant. I find this
disappointing, because conceptual art was invented
90 years ago. It was a limited but interesting idea,
then. Now, despite being such old hat, it has become
the dominant force in the art world, so much so that
there are very few Art Colleges which teach you to
draw any more.”
This might sound strange coming from a man whose
work looks so surreal, but he insists that his work is
based on reality more than one might think. “Most of
my images are ‘portraits’ of natural phenomena such
as rocks and trees, I might distort them a little, of
course, but they are based on real things I have seen.”

e living spaces of the future
He draws his inspiration, he says, from landscapes he
has visited, both near and far: the Scottish Highlands,
the Lake District and amazing rock formations in
Utah. “As a child I lived for a while in Hong Kong,
and I was deeply influenced by Chinese landscape
art, which was everywhere you looked: on prints,
scrolls, screens, postage stamps and books.”
From the beginning he was interested in architecture.
As a boy he ‘wanted to design the cities of the future’.
For the last three decades he has been designing
curvilinear buildings, psychologically comforting
spaces, satisfying the ‘real needs’ of their inhabitants.
The exhibition, that is part of the Art Wave Festival,
will be focusing mostly on this aspect of his work.
“I interviewed hundreds of people, trying to find
out what would make their perfect living space
as tranquil as possible. Children’s answers were
particularly useful.” From this research he designed
a ‘house for the new millennium’ that was built, first
exhibited in the International Ideal Home Exhibition
in Birmingham in 1982, and over several exhibitions,
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
including the first International Green Show, visited
by over 250,000 people.
Throughout the nineties he continued painting
landscapes and designing and he has recently helped
form a company that is attempting to turn some of
his organic architectural designs into built reality.
There are plans afoot to build holiday villages, hotels
and university campuses. “People say my designs
resemble those of Gaudi, an architect I admire.
There are though, fundamental differences. I expect
that in his day Gaudi had problems with his work
being considered a fantasy. To some degree, all design
and all works of the imagination are predictions and
dreams of possible futures. For the more fantastic
and radical of these to exist, to be built, they not only
have to be in tune with other people’s dreams and
aspirations but they also need a lot of patience, focus
and hard work. After all today’s fantasy often turn
out to be tomorrow’s reality.” V
Alex Leith
Old Market Lane Garage, Aug 5 - sept 16.
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Photograph: Katie Moorman
Peter Messer
Painting’s alive and well at the leafier end of Paddock Road
“Painting has been proclaimed dead more
times than I can remember, even in my lifetime,”
says Peter Messer, who makes his living
from crafting eery, slightly offbeat representational
canvases, virtually always set in Lewes,
from a studio at the leafier end of Paddock
Road. “But it never has died. It’s funny, I’ve
realised that nothing ever replaces anything:
TV didn’t replace radio, digital photography
hasn’t replaced film photography. Once a medium
exists, it carries on existing, alongside all
the others.” Peter is looking forward to a third
- and, he says final - annual exhibition of his
year’s work in the Star Gallery.
His stuff is pretty popular among the art-buying
public in Lewes, and well beyond, too.
And rightly so. There’s nothing twee about
his tempera representations of town, usually
set in a small triangle of territory between
his studio, his allotment in the Paddock, and
the Lewes Arms, where until recently he used
to be a regular. In fact, strangely for an artist
who is getting better every year at capturing
the nuances of light, there is always something
rather dark lurking in his pictures.
A look round his studio, a tidy and suitably
quirky space full of the idiosyncratic tools of
his trade, at his body of work since last summer
reveals this. A ghostly Edwardian figure
skips down Castle Lane. An angel with brightly-coloured
wings, dressed in a work suit,
eats a sandwich from a plastic container on
the bench at the top of the path. A primitivelooking
mask of a face, formed of mud, rises
out of the soil of an allotment patch. “In my
troublesome teenage years, I was diagnosed as
being ‘eidetic’. They said that I had difficulty
distinguishing between what I thought I saw,
and what I actually saw. Sometimes, I realise,
there’s still a bit of that about me, and I use it
in my work.”
Peter has pretty much sold all the paintings
he has exhibited at the Star Gallery, and hopes
that this body of work will be as popular.
“Sometimes it feels like you’re Tarzan doing
this job,” he says. “You swing on one vine,
and you have to assume that there’s another
one waiting for you afterwards.” He should
be pretty confident that that vine is waiting,
because in his paintings he continues to capture
the indefinable mystique that lurks in the
mortar of this historic town. And his paintings
look nice on the wall, too. V Alex Leith
Aug 15th - 18th at star Gallery
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
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Photograph: Alex Leith
Making a splash
Tongue and Groove headline the long awaited Pells pool party
Shortly before the magazine goes to press, we get the
call, ‘the Pells party’s back on’. It’s news worth holding
the pages for – not least because it’s headline act
Tongue and Grooves long anticipated ‘only public performance
of the year’ (last month’s original date was
spectacularly rained off). I’ve heard them described as
a 60s, 70s, 80s psychedelic pop band but speaking to
lead-singer I find Phil that description doesn’t quite do
them justice. “We’re more than just a band, we’re an
experience” he tells me live from the back of an AA
truck, as it turns out. He’s on his way to Womad but
things have gone a bit awry. He’s spent the night on
the forecourt of a petrol station ‘somewhere on the
interchange between the M27 and the M3’ (though
thankfully not on the tarmac). He’s surprisingly chirpy
though, presumably buoyed up by all this talk of the
Pells party. He’s still on his description. “We dance,
sing and do silly things”, he continues. “We’ve got
good looks, bad clothes and a hypnotising riffology”.
Riffology? “It’s a word we’ve made up” Oh? ‘As in guitar
riffs’. They sound extraordinary. They’ve got a huge
repertoire which runs from the sixties to the present
day and costumes to match. The exact line-up of which
is determined by ‘how far the audience want to take
us”. Last year Phil finished the show by diving into
the pool and swimming a length whilst singing the
final song (wearing only a pair of Superman underpants)
before rejoining the band at the other end. He
wasn’t wearing a mic, though, so there was no danger
of electrocution. “I’m planning another water and
music based finale’ he tells me, although he won’t tell
me what. Just that it involves a ‘radio mic’ which is
wireless and thus less of a health hazard. I’m curious
as to what stroke he’ll be swimming whilst singing.
Backstroke would seem to be the most practical. “All
strokes’, he assures me. The fundraiser promises to be
a very ‘family friendly’ occasion with a BBQ, a bar and
support acts from a choice of Starfish bands (of which
Phil is co-founder). Tongue and Groove are even auctioning
the chance for a lucky someone to get up and
sing with them (a song of their choice from the ‘ninetystrong
arsenal’) and they will even dress them in suitable
retro attire. Whatever happens, ‘prepare to get
wet’ says Phil, although hopefully not from the rain.
V emma Robertson
The Pells party runs from . 0pm to 10. 0pm on Friday
Aug 10th. Tickets available from The swan, the King’s
Head or on the door. (£5/£ /£1)
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
M u S i C
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ConTeMPorAry
CrAfT Show
Michelham Priory
Thursday, 9th–Sunday 12th August, 10:30-5:30
Four days of displays from professional crafts people selling their work,
with demonstrations and activities for the family
in the beautiful grounds of the Priory.
Work of the highest quality will be on display
and for sale. This includes blown and kilnformed
glass, woven fabrics, knitwear, quilts,
embroidered pictures, leather bags and belts,
felt garments and accessories, together with
ceramics for the home and garden. There will
also be gold and silver jewellery, pewter ware
and a working blacksmith.
The exciting aspect of Crafts in Action is
seeing crafts people at work while learning a
little of the skills involved. During the event visitors
can buy or commission an individual piece
from one of the designer-makers present.
Children’s workshops includes; claywork,
“sheep making” with real wool, weaving, beadwork
and painting. In between artistic activities
the entertaining Dave Arthur will be telling
stories on the lawn.
Adult £6, Child £3.00, Senior/Student £5.00, family (2+2) £15.20 & Disabled £3.00
Michelham Priory, Upper Dicker, hailsham Bn27 3QS
www.thesussexguild.co.uk www.sussexpast.co.uk
01323 833239 01323 844224

The Simpsons TV series has been on our
screens for 18 years now, making it the longest-running
sitcom in the history of TV. It
has won a total of 23 Emmies, and made its
makers over a billion quid. It has cross-generational,
cross-class, cross-Atlantic appeal,
and has been the subject of countless university
theses. Virtually everybody I know
who has ever watched it, thinks it’s brilliant:
I suspect the taste of anyone who doesn’t.
And yet, as the Simpsons team prepare to
release their first feature-length version of
the cartoon, four years in the making, everybody’s
holding their breath. What, they
are thinking, with an element of dread, if
it’s crap?
The worldwide release date of The
Simpsons movie was on July 27th, after I
write this article, and before you read it.
The plot of the movie has been a well-kept
secret since the outset, despite a number
of rumours spread by Matt Groening and
his team, to keep everybody guessing. All
we know, based on a number of trailers
and a ten-minute preview shown to the
British press on July 5th, is that the movie
confronts two of the big themes of modern
life – religion and environmentalism; that
Homer Simpson has to save the world from
imminent destruction; and that Bart, for a
bet, skateboards naked through the streets
of his town.
Not much to go on, but there again, as executive
producer Al Jean says, ‘when you’re
looking at your TV listings and see the
Simpsons is on, you don’t check out the plot
of that episode to see if you want to watch
it.’ He has a point. You watch the Simpsons
because it’s funny, because it’s clever, because
it tells you a few home truths about
yourself. You watch it because you know
that a family of losers will win out in the
end. You watch it because it’s just about the
best social satire on TV. You watch it because
you trust that the makers have bust a
gut to make it work. And you watch it because,
deep down, there’s a moral in there.
With Homer the undoubted star of the
show, that moral is pretty much the same
every episode. And it looks as if, as far as
the feature film goes, things aren’t going to
change too much. “The message of The
Simpsons Movie is simple,” says Al Jean. “A
man should listen to his wife.”
Dexter Lee
www.lewescinema.co.uk
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
V
C i n E M a
11

SHELLEYS OF LEWES
The county town’s Country House
Hotel and Restaurant
Perfect for Summer Dining
whatever the occasion
The High Street, Lewes, East Sussex
Tel 01273 472361
info@shelleys-hotel-lewes.com

Dieppe Raid
Why did the Allied commanders organise this deadly military debacle?
August 19th marks the 65th anniversary of one of the
most spectacular Allied debacles of the Second World
War, the raid on Dieppe, code-named ‘Jubilee’. On that
date in 1942, 6,086 soldiers, predominantly Canadian,
landed on the beaches in and around the resort town: by
the end of the day 3,623 of them had either been killed,
wounded or taken prisoner. In addition the Royal Navy
lost a destroyer and 29 landing craft, suffering 555 casualties,
and the RAF lost 119 planes. And for what?
In 1942 Russia was fighting the German army on the
Eastern Front, and Stalin was keen for the Allied forces
to open up a Western Front in order to divert German
soldiers from the conflict against his troops. It is likely
that the pressure he put on Churchill and Roosevelt was
the prime motive for the timing of the attack, whose aim
was never more than to raid the coastal town in a ‘hit and
run’ mission to test the water for a future invasion, and
gain intelligence about the German defence system on
the Channel coast.
The attack was planned on three flanks. The initial raid on
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
C o M M E M o r a t i o n
the right, in which a commando unit
disabled a gun emplacement to stop
it firing on the main invasion force,
was an unqualified success. Sadly this
was the only thing in the whole raid,
apart from a few isolated incidents of
heroism, that went right. Bad luck
with the weather, bad planning and
intelligence and a number of misguided
decisions (including sending
the reserves in when the battle was
already lost) meant that many of the
invading forces were mown down by
the Germans as they landed; most of
the raiders were unable even to get
off the beach. Those who did manage
to get any further were held, isolated,
and, if they were lucky, captured.
Estimates as to the number of dead
vary, but at least 1,000 Allied soldiers
lost their lives that day. Apologists
for the attack claim that valuable lessons
were learnt which were vital in
ensuring the success of the D-Day
Landings nearly two years later.
Detractors point out that any lessons
that were learnt did not have to
come at such a terrible cost in lives.
Whatever the case, there is no doubting
the heroism of the men who took
part in the mission.
Newhaven Town Council are holding
a commemoration for those who
lost their lives in Dieppe, at 3pm on
August 12th at the War Memorial
Gardens on South Way. There will
be events in conjunction with the
service (a number of French dignitaries
will be present) at Newhaven Fort
(01273 517622) throughout the day.
V
Alex Leith
1

Take a new look
at two familiar
names.
We are delighted to
announce the merger
of Mayo & Perkins and
Wynne Baxter to
Mayo Wynne Baxter -
a union that creates a firm
with all the expertise to
meet your legal needs.
www.mayowynnebaxter.co.uk
Offices at Brighton, Eastbourne, Lewes,
Tunbridge Wells, Hailsham, Seaford and Lingfield
Mayo Wynne Baxter is a member of and regulated by The Law Society
Dial House, 221 High Street, Lewes BN7 2AE Tel 01273 477071 Fax 01273 478515

Sussex Guild contemporary craft show
Amongst its many other charms, Michelham Priory at Upper Dicker
near Hailsham, boasts England’s longest medieval water-filled
moat and a working watermill. It is one of the properties superbly
maintained and managed by Sussex Past, who also look after Lewes
Castle and Anne of Cleve’s House amongst others. The historic
house hosts several exhibitions throughout the year, and from August
9-12, the Sussex Guild will be holding their Crafts in Action
exhibition at the venue. The Sussex Guild are a collection of highly
skilled local craftspeople, and over the four days over fifty of their
members will be showing their work and demonstrating their skills.
Amongst them will be Sam Fanaroff, an 80 year old ex South African
farmer, who was one of the founder members of the guild when
it was set up back in 1969. The aim then, as indeed it is now, was to
bring together, under one roof, the best craftspeople - artisans able
to showcase excellence of design, innovation, originality and craftsmanship.
So if you’re a fan of high quality hand made products, or
are simply interested in learning more about the skills involved in
spinning, ceramics, jewellery, leather, wood and textiles, then head
along to the Priory. Nick Williams
Thursday th -sunday 1 August 10: 0am – 1 : 0pm daily
More info via www.thesussexguild.co.uk or 01 8
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
C r a f t

Classical/Fireworks
Sat 4th - Proms in the Park
Head to the Paddock from
5pm, to experience the Lewes,
Glynde and Beddingham Brass
Band’s annual proms show.
The finale, as always, will be
accompanied by a magnificent
firework display from the CSBC
bonfire team. £7/£3
Food
Sat 4th - Farmers’ Market
If you’d rather buy meat,
cheese, honey, jams, wine,
cider etc direct from the producer
then head down to the
precinct between 10am - 1pm
Gig
Fri 24th - Starfish
The highly talented Starfish
Youth Music take over the All
Saints Centre again today,
enabling the rest of us to find
out if their multitude of bands
have been using their session
time wisely.
www.starfishlewes.co.uk
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
B E S t o f t h E r E S t
Health & Fitness
Mon 27th - Lewes Leisure
Centre Open Day
It’s fun for all the family at
the leisure centre this Bank
Holiday. From 9am until 9pm
they will be demonstrating the
wide range of sports available
to you. Head down with the
family to try them out, as well
as having a go on the bouncy
castle and the go-karts.
www.waveleisure.co.uk
for more details of these events
and many others look at
www.vivalewes.com, live every
Wednesday night.
5

Photographs: Nick Williams
King of the Pan
Lewes manager Steve King looks forward to the new season
Although we didn’t get into the play-offs we finished
last term on a good run of form, and it was
my aim over the summer to strengthen what, in the
second half of the season, had moulded into a very
good team. The Conference South, or the Blue
Square South as it’s now called, is a very competitive
league, and the quality gets better every season,
so I needed to work hard to get the sort of players
who would fit in and improve the squad.
I was very pleased to re-sign Kirk Watts from
Bromley. He played for us the season before last
and became a firm favourite with the fans for his
ability to operate down both wings. He’s an urgent,
skilful player, and I was pleased, when it didn’t work
out for him at his home club, that he wanted to
come back here.
We’re going to play fast, attacking football this
season, with two wingers. We’ve already got Andy
Drury on the right, and Juke Box proved last season
that he’s a skilful individual who can, on a good day,
make the difference between the two sides. I’ve also
signed Dale Binns, who plays down the left. He’s
played against us in the past, and he’s been a right
handful. He’s skilful and fast, and he proved in the
friendly against Fulham, when he had the better of
a full-back who’d had first team experience last season,
that he’ll be a valuable attacking option.
We also paid out a four-figure sum for Lewes’ biggest-ever
signing, Tom Davis. Tom is a non league
international who can do a bit of everything in
midfield. He can put his foot in, and he can see
a pass; he’s got a lot of energy, and he can either
sit or bomb on. He’s another valuable asset to the
side, and I was impressed with him in the Fulham
game. Then there’s Jay Conroy, a right-back I know
from his days at Crystal Palace. He reminds me of
a young Dean Hooper, with a bit more control: he’s
good in the air, he’s got a lovely touch and he can
tackle anything.
The door’s not shut yet: I’m looking at a few trialists
who are very, very interesting. But we’re just
about there: I feel that I’ve created a squad that can
challenge for promotion. Our first target is to reach
the play-offs. Any title talk is clearly premature, but
I do believe that we are one of seven or eight clubs
who are capable of winning it. V
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
S p o r t

Food, wine, tastings, talks and treasure.
All against the backdrop of the glorious Sussex Downs.
www.glynde.co.uk
Saturday and Sunday 22–23rd September
10.30am – 5.00pm (last entrance 4.00pm)
Purchase one or more advance tickets online and save
£2 per ticket.* On the gate prices: £8 adult or £10 with
Festival wine glass. £5 students and over 65s.
Children 12 and under go free.
*Subject to a £1.50 booking fee
• Amanda Grant’s Kids’
Kitchen
• Butchery demonstrations
• Fish demonstrations
• Picnics in the park
• Access to the house
and gardens

Photograph: Rob Read
Jeremy’s
Emma Chaplin discovers a culinary gem near Haywards Heath
One drawback of going to Jeremy’s restaurant
at Borde Hill is that, although technically possible
to get a taxi from Haywards Heath, you really
need to drive. Unfortunately our car broke
down, so I went to the car rental place near
Tesco, under instructions to hire the cheapest
car they had. I intended to, really I did. But a
fog descended and strangely I ended up driving
home in an open-top sports car. Well, I’d never
driven one, the weather was glorious and it was
a lovely way to get to the restaurant. Borde Hill
benefits from having a beautiful setting, so we
ate on the terrace overlooking the lawns, gardens
and fountain. As we looked through the
menu, sipping gin and tonics and nibbling habas
fritas (Spanish fried broad beans), a chef was
picking nasturtiums and other edible flowers
from the herb and flowerbed next to us. We both
opted for the three-course table d’hôte menu at
£22.50 (à la carte main courses are around the
£20 mark). It’s worth knowing that if you sign
up for the mailing list, they send you a postcard
voucher on your birthday for a bottle of house
wine, the value of which can be deducted from
whatever wine you order. We went for a flinty
Italian white, Falanghina, at £19, which we
sipped as the amuse-gueule arrived; shot glasses
of chilled cucumber and lemon grass soup. A
waiter proffered a basket of warm home-made
walnut or herb bread. ‘Which would we like?’
‘Both’ we replied. My first course was a melting
plate of beef carpaccio with capers and Parmesan.
Rob had grilled mackerel with what he described
as ‘the best potato salad’ he’d ever had.
We both had pan-fried fillet of breaded plaice,
spring onion mash, buttered spinach and zesty
sauce verte for a main course. Each part lovely,
and even better as a whole. Rob finished with
a perfect wobbly panacotta with gooseberry
compote. My apple and raspberry crumble was
an ok, but less exciting, choice. We shared an
espresso and a glass of Calvados as the sun set,
the evening air getting a little cooler. The coffee
came with a plate of home-made fudge and tiny
macaroons. We drove home with the roof still
off but our jackets on. V
01 110
www.homeofgoodfood.co.uk
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
f o o d

Butter Fingers
Whatever has happened to our summer - come rain,
come shine, come more rain - and however cheated
we might feel, it’s wonderful growing weather. Rain
does the worst damage in the spring when the blossom
is setting, but this spring was sunny and dry and
all this summer rain is doing is plumping everything
up nicely and delivering all the right nutrients. Some
crops have suffered, like strawberries and cherries,
though those we have had have been delicious, but
most crops are lying back in their moist beds, enjoying
the sun when it comes out and growing into fine
specimens.
Beans are coming into the stores now, all sorts, and
they love all the rain. So, too, are the first of the
English apples and plums, both supplied by Graham
Love out at Herstmonceux, who managed to keep us
topped up with apples for 44 weeks last year. But top
of the crops for August is sweetcorn - here for only
a short season - but, again, happier for not having to
try to flourish through drought conditions.
So it’s time to get those buttery fingers out. Children
may turn their noses up at many vegetables but one
thing most of them will get stuck into is a fat, sweet,
juicy corn cob. I expect it’s the combination of the
high sugar content, the sensation of the kernels tumbling
into their mouths and of course the fact that
they can just pick the whole thing up and get in there
with nobody shouting ‘Manners!’ across the table.
You can do all sorts with sweetcorn: turn it into fritters,
slice the kernels off before or after cooking and
add to soups, sprinkle cooked kernels into salads and
sandwiches. But the best way to eat it, surely, and
the simplest, is to cook it whole and eat straight off
the cob.
Mark Stroud, who farms sweetcorn in Barcombe,
near Lewes, and who supplies Bill’s with barrel loads
of the stuff while it’s in season, says: “I boil it for
four minutes and then add butter, salt and pepper.
The other good way to cook it is to throw it on the
barbecue with the husk on, then strip the husk off for
the last bit to colour it up.”
A few kernels…
After picking, the sugars in sweetcorn rapidly begin
turning to starch. Most varieties can lose half their
sugar in 10-12 hours. It should be kept cool and
eaten as soon as possible after picking. If keeping for
more than a day, blanch for a minute in boiling water
before refrigerating or freezing.
Choose cobs that are full and plump, husk intact.
The husk should be green and fresh and conceal
fine, silky threads. Kernels should be pale in colour,
tightly packed, plump and smaller at the tips than in
the middle (indicating young cobs).
If you want to break the cobs in two, snap them before
cooking as it’s much easier. V
Picture by Laurie Griffiths
Bill’s Fruit and Veg boxes delivered to your door.
Order in store or call us on 01 6 18
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
B i l l C o l l i S o n
The wet summer isn’t all bad news, says Bill Collison. The rain/sunshine
combo is great for growing, and lots of flavoursome produce is
pouring into the stores as a result. Get stuck in, especially to yellow,
buttery sweetcorn as its season is short and, well, sweet.
1

Photographs: Katie Moorman
Mackerel fishing
Emma Robertson falls hook, line and sinker...
I’m not one to indulge in gender stereotyping
but I’ve always considered angling to be an almost
exclusively male activity. Something to do
with the language I suppose. There’s the phallic
‘rods’ of course, the unfortunate double entendre
of the word ‘tackle’ and then the rather unhealthy
obsession with size. So it is with some
anxiety that I agree to dip my toes
into the waters of this mysterious
pastime. I’m reassured though by
the healthy gender balance of our
party (three men and three women).
The weather is glorious on the
evening of our initiation at Newhaven
- blue skies, sunshine and a
tranquil sea. Our guides, Frank and
Guy, take us out about ten minutes
offshore to the mackerel-filled waters.
Within our two hour taster we
are unlikely to catch more exotic varieties
- usual tour lengths are 8-12
hours. Eventually Frank switches off
the engines and brings the rods out. I’m mildly
disappointed to discover that out weighted lines
are to be simply dropped in and not dramatically
swung out to sea as I’d imagined (probably
best though as the six or so hooks look rather
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
W E t r y o u t . . .
lethal). Next you
press a button on top
of the handle which
releases the line until
it hits the seabed,
then you reel it in
about ten turns and
wait - gently moving
the rod up and down
to reach the different
depths. The first
catch of our party is
almost instantaneous,
another to my right
and then I feel a tug
on my line. I start to
reel it in when, waiting
for it to emerge,
I suddenly have a
flash of what it would
be to chalk up a new
record. My mind
turns to the boat’s slogan. ‘You should have been
here yesterday’. Well, what about today? I think.
But… it’s just a middle sized mackerel - or two
to be precise. I throw them in the bucket and set
to work again, somewhat chastened. When, later,
Frank regales us with stories of catches-old,
the best being
a bream seven
ounces off the
British record
(“And I ate it”), I
look at him with
new understanding.
When the bucket
is full we return
to shore
and on for supper
in Frank’s
new locally
sourced restaurant,
The Bridge. Over our mariner’s pie and
pollack we discover that we’re all surprisingly
hooked, males and females alike. So much for
preconceptions then.
www.carricklee.co.uk
V

Photograph: Katie Moorman
Pallant House
Emma Robertson finds an effortless blending of the old and the new
At just over an hour from
Lewes, the train journey
to Chichester is a comparable
distance to London
and significantly cheaper.
A short walk from the station
takes you to the grand
Queen Anne building
which now sits adjoined
to the new contemporary
gallery extension. It
opened in this incarnation
last year – transforming
the place from a rather
small regional gallery to
a Gulbenkian award-winning
space of considerable
size and significance.
The judges awarding the
£100,000 prize called it
‘spirit-lifting’ and ‘a jewel
of a gallery’ although,
sadly, the man who
brought it these qualities,
Sir Colin ‘Sandy’ St
John Wilson didn’t live to
hear the praise. He died
two weeks before the announcement.
The new design also
makes it more accessible.
The new street level entrance
is wheelchair and
buggie friendly whilst
the directors are planning
to spend the prize
money on scrapping the
admission charges and
increasing the museum’s
outreach programme,
(which ranges from working
with asylum seekers
in Portsmouth to prisoners
in Ford open prison).
The layout shows this to
be a priority. As you come
in you find yourself at the
resource and education
rooms before you reach
the main gallery. It gives
it all a decidedly unstuffy
feel. It’s a museum to be
actively engaged with, to
be used – and by everyone
not just the usual art
gallery demographic. And
the sheer size of the building
now means that almost
all of their extensive
holdings can be viewed
in the various rooms so
there’s no longer a feeling
of works gathering dust
in the vaults nor the need
for sporadic rehangs.
The main temporary exhibition
is called ‘Eye
Music: Kandinsky, Klee
and all that Jazz’ and focuses
on the (sometimes
tenuous) link between
various pieces of art and
their corresponding music.
On the day that we
visited they were roadtesting
an audio-guide
- an absolute must with
this exhibition otherwise
you only really get half
of the picture. You arrive
at the new gallery, which
flows seamlessly out of
the old, almost without
you realising it. Or you
can travel up in the lift
– something that will be
made more of when the
installation they’ve set
up in there, an interactive
sound sculpture, is up and
running. Sadly it wasn’t
on the day of our visit but
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
there were some excitinglooking
paraphernalia in
evidence in there - floor
pads and flashing lights.
The wonderful collections
of Peter Blakes and
Patrick Caulfields which
come courtesy of the late
Sandy Wilson’s legacy are
a marvellous addition to
the existing holdings of
twentieth century art – almost
certainly the finest
outside the capital. The
highlight for me, though,
was one of the more adventurous
mixing of old
and new: Hundreds of
mussel shells stuffed with
red velvet lining the walls
of the old hall – inspired
by shells found by builders
during the digging of
the foundations for the
new wing.
The gallery beat several
bigger and better-funded
museums to win the Gulbenkian
prize and after
a visit there you can see
why. Sipping my coffee
in the newly landscaped
gardens afterwards, I was
struck by the fact that,
apart from anything else,
it’s such a tranquil place
to be, with none of the
crowds and restricted
views of Tate Modern.
With the rest of the cultural
map of England permanently
skewed towards
London, Pallant House is
a refreshing triumph for
regional resources. V
www.pallant.org.uk
d ay o u t
5

MESSRS
Property professionals in
Lewes for over 150 years
IVOR C.A. WYCHERLEY FRICS IRRV
ANNE E. WYCHERLEY B.Sc (Est Man) FRICS
CHARLES W. WYCHERLEY B.Sc (Est Man) MRICS
CHARTERED SURVEYORS
ESTATE AGENTS
AUCTIONEERS
56 High Street, Lewes
East Sussex BN7 1XE
T: 01273 473329
F: 01273 473373
E: charles@wycherleys.co.uk
www.teamprop.co.uk
EST 1853

The Roundhouse
There are six sides to every storey of this former windmill.
Words by Emma Chaplin, painting by Pearl Bates
It’s ironic perhaps that the current incumbent
of The Round House on Pipe Passage, Annie
Crowther, is a vegetarian, when what used to be on
the site in the late 18th century, was a butcher’s. She
tells me she keeps uncovering animal bones, like
roe deer, when she digs in the pretty gardens that
surround the house, as well as finding pieces of old
pipe that come from the pipe factory that used to
be just down the passage. Annie is kind enough to
show me round the lovely, quirky house, originally
built as a windmill in 1802, and once owned by Vir-
ginia Woolf. Annie, who used to be
a teacher, loves the building and enjoys
talking to people about its fascinating
history. The windmill was
built to provide flour to make bread
to feed the ‘poor mechanics’ of
Lewes as a response to fears about
possible local uprisings in the uncertain
political period of the time.
‘Sixty worthy people’ (fifty-nine
men and one woman) put down the
money to build it as a ‘smock’ mill,
the name referring to its shape,
which resembled a farmer’s smock.
The two-storey hexagonal flint and
brick base would have been topped
by an eight-sided tapering wooden
tower roof and cap, which rotated
to bring the wooden sails into the
wind. The houses that now surround
the building did not exist at
the time, so it was more obviously
a windy spot, “although when the
wind gets up, you can certainly feel
it upstairs” she tells me. Unfortunately,
members of the windmill
committee got involved in embezzlement
of its funds, and the mill in
this location did not thrive. After
seventeen years, the wooden mill
section was somehow transported
to a new site up on the racecourse,
and the remaining building sold as a
house. The Bloomsbury connection
came about after Virginia Woolf saw
the house and fell in love with it. She and Leonard
bought it but never lived there, however, because
he felt there was not enough privacy for Virginia,
given her tendency to depression. What’s interesting
is that it feels much more private inside than it
looks to be from the outside, where you often see
groups of visitors taking pictures at the garden gate.
From the upstairs windows, you get extraordinary
views of Lewes and surrounds from all eight sides
of the building. V
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
B r i C k S a n d M o r t a r

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trust and experience
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solve your problems and meet your individual needs.
Tel: 01273 480616 www.adams-remers.co.uk

v kids
i
va
Summer holiday activities
Get in touch with nature..
One of the attractions to living in Lewes is the
surrounding countryside. We have the rolling
South Downs on one side and miles of
fascinating coastline to the other. Over the
years however human development and activity
has encroached, so we are lucky that there
are conservation groups, including the Sussex
Wildlife Trust, dedicated to preserving and
protecting this unique landscape. They manage
a number of nature reserves within the
county - including Malling Down and the old
Lewes railway land in the heart of the town.
So if you’re looking for things for the kids to
do over the long summer, why not get them
in touch with nature at one of the Trust’s many
reserves?
They also organise events, courses and holiday
clubs throughout August, including the
following:
Tuesday 7 - King Canute - a fun morning exploring
and dipping in many of the rock pools
around the Seven Sisters Country Park (SSCP)
Sunday 26 - The Butterflies of Malling Down -
spend the afternoon exploring Malling Down
in search of the large array of downland butterflies
found there.
The Holiday Clubs are available throughout
August at the SSCP (and also at Stanmer Park
Brighton and Woods Mill, Henfield) and are
basically fun days packed with environmental
activities and games aimed at 6-11 year
olds. For more info or to book an event or
course, go to www.sussexwt.org.uk or call
01273 492630
Kick a Football…
Lewes FC are running a couple of week long
soccer skills course in August to help local
budding Beckhams hone their abilities for the
season ahead. The courses run Monday to
Friday and as well as helping to improve their
technical skills, there is also a major emphasis
placed on the fun aspects of the game. And
even if your kids can’t make the full week, you
can still book them in for any of the individual
days. The courses run over the two weeks from
13th -24th August. Further details via www.
lewesfc.com or call 01273 472100
Or bang a Drum…
For the more musically inclined, there’s always
the option of the World Drumming Summer
Workshops at the All Saints Centre to consider.
So if you want to learn more about
body percussion, stomp and even didgeridoo,
courses run between the 14th and 23rd August.
To book, call Ollie Heath on 07922
3737779 V
Nick Williams
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M

Paintngs by Peter Messer
Castle Banks
Alex Leith explores what has always been one of Lewes’ most distinctive area
The estate agents are starting to call it ‘Castle
Precincts’. Others know it as ‘Castle Banks’. Is
the area, built around the hillside of the Norman
bailey largely out of flints recycled from the castle
walls, a distinct Lewes district?
The artist Peter Messer (see page 13) lives, works
and runs an allotment in the area, and seems the
best man to give me a tour round the place. Almost
all of Peter’s idiosyncratic tempera paintings
are set in the hodgepodge of streets and twittens
around the castle banks, and there are few people
better suited to point out its nuances. We start
our tour – always destined to end in the Lewes
Arms with a pint of Harveys Best – outside Peter’s
workplace, adjoining the Paddock Studio.
“Lovely square napped flints,” he says, pointing
out the façade of the building, which used to be
a coach house for the vehicles travelling to and
from Haywards Heath, and then became a stables.
“The artist Cecil Heathfield turned it into
his studio, and then bequeathed it to the town.
The Council didn’t know what to do with it, so
the LDVAA took it over and ran it as a charity,
hiring out the space for art classes. Developers
would wet themselves to get hold of it, but for the
moment it’s safe.”
We wander down Paddock Road, and at every
other step Peter points out a hidden detail I didn’t
know about. The air raid shelters at the top and
bottom of the street; the stones of the wall made
from the slag from John Every’s Phoenix furnaces;
the plaque on the Paddock Pavilion dedicated to
Every’s grandson in 1933; the fact that the allotments
used to be called ‘Hangman’s Acre’ because
they would grow hemp there to make ropes, some
of which were destined to be used in the gallows
down the hill in the Pells. “A bloke I know who
used to work the allotments told me he remembered
winding and twisting gear at the top of the
road, for making the ropes,” he says.
As befits Lewes’ oldest area, there is history in
every step. The old poorhouse on Castle Rise
which used to be rented out by the novelist Mrs
Henry Dudeney, considered a peer of Thomas
Hardy in her time. “She used to live in Brack
Mount House. She was quite a lady of letters,” he
says. “She had a number of Dalmatians, which she
was very fond of. The bloke who lives there now
dug one up in the garden a few years ago.”
He points out the vast Maltings House, now the
Records Office, with its high flint wall stretching
down the slope to the corner of Castle Ditch
Lane. You can still make out the base of an oast
tower at the end, missing its crooked witch-hat
spire. And Brack Mount, of course, recently
shaved, possibly a pagan site built before the
Normans arrived. “It’s a bit of a mystery,” he says.
“They excavated it recently, and found some sort
of well in the middle. It was a pleasure gardens in
Victorian times, which is why Mount Pleasant is
called Mount Pleasant. They had some sort of tea
house there, and steps up from the Lewes Arms.”
“What I love about Lewes is its amazing light,”
he comments, as we arrive at Castle Lane, overlooking
the Paddock. “It comes from the strange
configuration of the town, built on hills, but with
big open spaces.” He wafts his hand towards the
park below us to make his point. “It changes all
through the year, according to the season. And
nowhere is it as accentuated as round here.”
We stroll into the Magic Circle, adjacent to the
gravelly car park, behind the bowling alley once
frequented by Tom Paine. For once, Peter is unable
to tell me the origins of the place, a shady
spot ideal for secret trysts and underage drinking.
Presumably it wasn’t built for teenagers to
perform their first experiments with cider and
Cinzano. Then we make our way down to the
Arms, for a pint to finish off the tour of an area,
I’ve decided, which is surely distinct enough to be
given district status, at least in the pages of this
magazine. V
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
l E W E S d i S t r i C t S
1

Photograph: Katie Moorman
Norman Baker
No flooding is ever welcome, as anyone in
Lewes can readily testify, but for the latest bout
to coincide with Gordon Brown’s arrival at No
10 did at least mean it was quickly on the new
PM’s agenda.
The result was a pledge of an extra £200m, a
very welcome development, particularly in
the light of the cuts to the flood budget that
DEFRA has sustained over the last couple of
years. We have not yet, however, seen the small
print, which may sound churlish of me, but is a
reaction borne of sad experience of successive
budgets from Gordon Brown.
The consequences of the terrible floods that hit
parts of Yorkshire, particularly Hull, were the
trigger for the announcement and subsequent
debate in Parliament. Now, I am pleased that
the issue is once again on the government’s radar,
and while having real sympathy for those
flooded out, I had to point out to the Minister
that the last time such floods occurred in 2000,
there was a similar, no doubt genuine, response
from the government, but that 7 years
on, many towns and villages flooded then, including
Lewes, are still awaiting the improved
defences we thought we had been promised.
I know Charles Hendry, my parliamentary
neighbour who represents Wealden, feels the
same way about the position in Uckfield.
The problems are twofold. First, with so much
going on at any time, the attention of a government
tends to be on immediately urgent
matters, and even with good intentions, there
is not always the follow through there needs
to be. This has been a matter of some exasperation
for the MPs who form the All-Party
Flood Defence group, which I chair.
Second, while this government has rightly,
if belatedly, recognised the need to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions (or at least those
which are carbon based) and hence the causes
of climate change, it has been rather slower in
identifying the need for a proactive policy on
adaptation to climate change. In other words
the need to deal with those changes which are
now inevitable, the most obvious of which is an
increase in both the frequency and severity of
flooding incidents.
As far as Lewes is concerned, we do of course
now have a scheme in place to better protect
Malling, and I am hopeful that one to protect
the Cliffe area will, thanks to the regional
flood defence committee, not be too far off.
That will however still leave other areas unprotected,
including parts of Landport and the
new Malling estate.
As you may expect, I am pressing for some of
that extra £200m to come our way. Watch this
space. V
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
C o l u M n

Tel. 01323 490085 | Design and Print
sales@zetacolour.co.uk
www.zetacolour.co.uk

Marina Pepper
Nature’s red in buck teeth and claw
Such is the power of his personality Elliott’s
call to the revolution was inevitable - he was
after all, wasted in the sole role of children’s
pet.
Huge and white with long floppy ears and pink
eyes, Elliott is an impressive enough bunny.
But time spent in his presence leads many to
ask: “Is there a human being trapped inside
that rabbit exterior?” Or words to that effect.
When it became obvious the revolution required
a leader (people constantly demand
one, despite the revolution being more about
people pulling together to make and demand
the changes needed to avoid global and local
social and economic meltdown), Elliott’s fate
was sealed. Everyone seems to trust a rabbit
more than a politician.
Like all good leaders, Elliott likes to set the
agenda. It’s pretty much a single-issue based
agenda: food. He bunny hops round the allotment
like he owns the place, nibbling whatever
takes his fancy.
Developing a taste for power Elliott recently
started invading allotments a fair distance from
our own and declaring them “lunch”.
Last Sunday another inhabitant of the hill had
other ideas. I know Tom Paine said: “Lead,
follow or get out of the way.” But this was ridiculous.
Elliott came whizzing past the shed
where I was enjoying a well-earned lie in, with
a fox hot on his tail.
I grabbed the first thing to hand and was out
the door before realising a tea towel was never
going to work and this was a life and death
situation. Down past the onions went Elliott,
followed by the fox, followed by the boyfriend,
followed by me. The fox opted to get out of the
way and was gone.
Which is how I came to greet Andi, Secretary
to Transition Town Lewes, as nature intended.
“For the record,” I said,” I do NOT do naked
gardening.” Immediately I broke my personal
taboo. Well it was impossible to resist bending
to weed out a dandelion for Elliott and pick up
a snail. “Stamp on that for me please,” I asked,
as I wasn’t wearing shoes.
“You couldn’t make it up,” said Andi as she
poured the tea. “I don’t need to,” I said, soothing
the rabbit.
I was so proud of him, running home and involving
the team. He knew he couldn’t do it
alone. Nor can any of us. Nature is bloodier
and more powerful than us all and is increasingly
incompatible with human activity. This is
no time for fluffy bunny leadership. We need
hard-core action to make huge changes. For
those who would lead because their ego won’t
let them follow, a message from the revolutionary
rabbit that beat the fox: get out of the
way. V
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
C o l u M n
Photograph: Katie Moorman
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ElEgant tarts
ClassiC Croissants &
traditional frEnCh brEad
high quality
frEnCh patissEriE
wedding cakes and
celebration tarts to order
5 station st, lEwEs
telephone: 07967 648678
open Tue-fri 7am-6pm Sat 9am-6pm Sun 9am-12pm

Along the line to Lewes
David Jarman maps out just a few of the railway’s literary associations
In Henry Green’s 1939 novel, ‘Party Going’,
a bunch of not overly bright young
things are marooned at a London railway
terminus when their boat train is delayed
by fog. Green’s biographer, Jeremy Treglown,
identifies the mise-en-scene as
Victoria. This is a reasonable supposition
but Green is fastidiously careful never to
name the station. No such coyness inhibits
Harold Pinter. His 1982 play entitled
‘Victoria Station’ concerns a controller’s
unavailing attempts to persuade a taxi
driver to pick up a fare from the 10.22
Boulogne train and take them to Cuckfield.
At Clapham Junction between two o’
clock and half past two on the rainy afternoon
of November 13th, 1895, Oscar
Wilde, handcuffed and in prison dress,
suffered the laughter and jeers of the
crowd as he awaited the train that would
effect his transfer to Reading Gaol. In
‘De Profundis’ he wrote, ‘For a year after
that was done to me I wept every day at
the same hour and for the same space of
time.’
In the same year the now wonderfully
dim literary figure of George Burgin
took up his duties as sub-editor of ‘The
Idler’ magazine. His output of over ninety
novels suggests that this was a peculiarly
incongruous appointment. Burgin
was born in Croydon, our next stop, as
was that wittiest of detective story writers,
Colin Watson.
Let us ignore the airport and recall ‘earlier,
happier sights’. In ‘The Inimitable
Jeeves’ a character muses, ‘say I have a
tenner on ‘Heppenstall’ and cop; that’ll
give me a bit in hand to back ‘Pink Pill’
with in the two o’ clock at Gatwick the
week after next. Cop on that, put the pile
on ‘Muskrat’ for the one thirty at Lewes
and there I am with a nice little sum to
take to Alexandra Park’.
Recounting a lengthy affair with Harold
Pinter in her autobiography, ‘The Centre
of the Bed’ (2003), Joan Bakewell
gives details of various trysts, ‘we even
met at Haywards Heath, arriving by train
from different directions to meander for
half an hour round its suburban villas before
each heading back the way we had
come’
Like Oscar Wilde before him, Pinter was
living in Worthing.
The ghost of John Wells, co-author of
Private Eye’s ‘Mrs Wilson’s Diary’ and
the ‘Dear Bill’ letters, might be seen
alighting at Plumpton. Those trains
stopping at Cooksbridge would have
best served John Cowper Powys when
he was living at Offham.
Patrick O’Brian noted in his diary, three
days after VE day, ‘In the Lewes train I
read Congreve’s ‘Old Bachelor’ - amusing
farce but what an incredibly savage
inhuman set of lechers’.
More appropriate reading for the journey
might be ‘The Country Wife’ - equally
savage, equally lecherous, but, penned
by William Wycherley, a forbear of the
Lewes estate agents. V
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M
l i t E r a r y l E W E S

Name: Allan Griffiths.
Business Name: Hugh Rae Ltd, at 74-75 High St,
Lewes (opposite the Castle).
What does your shop sell? We are a Menswear
retail shop selling a full range of classic men’s clothing
from socks to suits. We also have a range of
accessories, including military badges.
How long have you been running the business?
I’ve been here for 28 years, but the business itself
was established in 1926.
How is business at the moment? We’re usually
very consistent, and the first half of 2007 has virtually
matched last year.
Who shops at Hugh Rae? We’ve got a large loyal
customer base who range in age from 30 upwards.
What was on the premises before? It was another
menswear shop, and prior to that, a bakers. The
building itself dates back to 1330 and clothing was
first sold by the Slop Sellers in the mid 1550s.
Where do you get your stock from? We mainly
stock high-quality British brands, such as Van
Heusen, Viyella, Hodgsons of Scotland, Barbour
and Brook Taverner.
What’s the most expensive thing you sell? A suit
for £195.
And the cheapest? A snuff hank for £1.95
And the most unusual? Our military accessories,
ties and badges, or our range of wildlife ties.
is there anyhting that irritates you about the
business?The seasonal booking delay - we have to
buy things so far in advance, it’s often difficult to
judge exactly what stock we’ll actually need months
in advance.
What is your favourite shop in Lewes? Bright
Ideas on School Hill.
Recommend somewhere to eat out? I recently
had a great meal in Lazzati’s, and I sometimes pop
in to Caffe Nero for a coffee.
What sort of business do you think Lewes
needs to attract? The town has a great independent
feel to it, so any shops, which are new and
original, will be welcome.
Would a redeveloped Phoenix area be good for
the town? Firstly, I don’t think the town can cope
with much more traffic. Also, unfortunately, previous
“affordable housing” schemes in Lewes have
not managed to provide the promised long term
housing solutions for local people.
What do you think about the idea of pedestrianising
the centre of Lewes? It’s not practical, as
lorries and the general traffic still needs to move
through the town. Lewes needs to resolve its traffic
and parking problems before it starts on more
pedestrianisation.
Could you do anything to make your business
greener? I’m trying to source biodegradable plastic
bags and am becoming increasingly aware of recycling
issues. Hopefully our suppliers will start to use
less packaging - but in reality things will only really
change when the supermarkets take the lead.
Any expansion plans? We hope to launch on the
web in the near future.
is there anything you always get asked?
Q1 - Did Hugh Rae ever exist?
A1 - He certainly did, he was my grandfather
share a top tip with our readers - To protect
your head from the sun (when it’s out), buy a good
quality Panama hat. V
Nick Williams
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
T R A D E S E C R E T S
Photograph: Katie Moorman

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The Lewes Directory
Local tradespeople for your business, home and garden
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
d i r E C t o r y
Welcome to the Lewes Directory, your essential guide to many of the businesses and services on offer in the
Lewes District. Every month the directory gets bigger, and this month, as well as expanding the health and
wellbeing pages, we have also started to include a number of business to business and car service companies.
It is vitally important to us that the services advertised in the Viva Lewes Handbook are offering good value
and great service. To make sure this is the case, we will be publishing regular reviews of the various services
on offer. So if you have any feedback, positive or negative, let us know via feedback@vivalewes.com.
Also, if you are a local business which is currently not represented in the directory, and would like the
opportunity to advertise from as little as £5 plus VAT per month, then call 01273 488882, or email
advertising@vivalewes.com.
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 reponsibility or liability for any issues arising.
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Acupuncture
Richard Mudie
Roger Murray 01273 473912
Hanna Evans 07799 417924
Alexander Technique
Adele Gibson 01273 473168
Allergy Testing
Robin Ravenhill 01273 470955
Aromatherapy
Marianna Lampard
01273 483471
Baby Massage
Dafna Bartle 01273 470955
Beauty & Massage Therapist
Melanie Verity 01273 470908
Bowen Therapist
Rita Eccles 01273 488009
Chiropractor
Dr. Trevor Mains .01273 473473
COUNSELLOR
Ruth M. Sheen
(M.B.A.C.P)
01273 486338
07748082278
Cranio sacral Therapy
Natalie Mineau 01273 470955
Counselling
Maggie Turner 07944481858
Lewes Counselling Services
01273 390331
Tanya Smart 07790 979571
Counsellor & integrative Arts
Camilla Clark 01273 483025
Cosmetic Treatment
Simonne Carvin 01273 474428
DYNAMiC HeALiNG VOiCe
working with chakra energy
regular classes and workshops
Adrienne 0 81 6 568
www.thevoiceproject.co.uk
electrolysis and Beauty
Kim Cook 01273 476375
emotional Freedom Technique
Kathy Johnson 01273 487464
eurythmy
Harmonizing Body, Mind &
spirit. Kishu Wong
01 66
Facial Rejuvenation Massage
Angie Asplin 01273 470955
Homeopathy
DuNCAN FReWeN Bsc, Lic.
For CHIROPRACTIC or
HOMEOPATHY
At the Equilibrium Clinic
Tel: 01273 470955
Nicki Hutchinson 01273 470955
Amanda Saurin 01273 479383
Pat Eynon 01273 4883
Hannah Scarlett 01273 480083
Sarah Worne 01273 480089
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
Hypnotherapist
Mary O’Keefe 07774 050466
Richard Morley 01273 470955
Richard Slade 01273 470955
Michael Lank 01273 479397
Life Coaching
Butterfly 0800 2983798
Benna Madan 01273 470842
Zara Tippey 0845 4569816
Massage Therapist
Helen Willis 01273 242969
Pam Hewitt 01273 403930
Medical Herbalist
Sherie Gabrielle 01273 473256
Myo-Reflex Therapist (Physio)
Birgitt Auer 07966 936390
Nutrition
Claire Hicks 01273 470955
Annie McRae 01273 470543
Pilates
Silvia Laurenti 01273 470955
Bridgette Lee 01273 470955
Osteopathy
Lin Peters 01273 476371
Simon Murray 01273 403930
Physiotherapy & sports injury
Physiotherapy and
sports injury Clinic
Nigel Baker
(BSc, MCSP, SRP)
Southdown Sports Club
01 806 0
Psychotherapy and supervision
Rosalind Field 01273 40116
Podiatrists
Clive Jones 01273 475000
spritual & Crystal
Healing
Helen Piniger
01 1 5
sports Massage Therapist
Bill Jeffries 01273 471965
Tai Chi
Paul Tucker 01273 470955
Yoga
Anita 07764 580767
Lesley Rowe 07791 521736

Health and Wellbeing
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Dr Simonne Carvin
BSc(Med) MBBS MA
Minimally Invasive
Cosmetic Medical Treatments
at the Lewes Clinic - Fullers Passage - 19b High St - Lewes
01273 474 428 www.cosmeticmedicineclinic.co.uk
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
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Painting classes every Tue, Wed & Thurs
morning £80 for 6 wk course.
Untutored Life drawing Thursday evening
WALK’N CHALK: AUG 11
MND WALL OF ART 2007 SEPTEMBER 1 st
Young (11+) & Little Artists (8+)
meet alternate Sunday am,
Summer Schools throughout August.
Dairy Studio, Old Malling Farm, Lewes,
Tel: Susie on 01273 858438
www.dairystudio-artcourses.co.uk
Arti-Parties for arti kids! Etch printing,
felt making, mosaics….
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
DAIRY
STUDIO
WALL OF ART 2007
IN AID OF MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE
This disease is devastating for all those
involved; MND is a progressive, fatal condition
that causes muscle wastage: It is fairly rare
and unfortunately there is currently no cure,
and most people with MND die from it within a
few years.
If you didn’t make it to Dairy Studio’s WALL of
ART post card size art sale last September,
then make sure you donate a card and come
to the event this September 1 st
Its fun, lively and all proceeds go to MND
families in Lewes.
Please start thinking about donating a post
card size piece of art again this year: Contact
Susie Monnington on
01273 858438 or 07790556420.
Details are on the newsletter page at:
www.dairystudio-artcourses.co.uk

Health and Wellbeing
LIFESTORY WORKSHOP
Our life is richly woven of events and meetings,
joys and crises, relationships and turning points.
Through artistic exercises, talks and sharing in
small groups we set out to see the larger destiny
picture and to unravel some of our own mystery.
Tracing the red thread of meaning and purpose
in our lives illumines the “NOW” and enables
choices in our next steps.
If you are standing before a crossroad, or a life
decision or wish to better understand your path,
this workshop is for you.
7 Sessions: beginning Tuesday
25th September ~ 7.30 to 9.30pm
Or Thursday 27th September 2.00 to 4.00pm
Cost £85.00
For further information telephone 01273 474596
Mobile 0777 5755012
Course leader: Hazel Collinson
(biographical counsellor and biography groupworker)
Venue location: Pelham Terrace.
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
ZAREBAS
PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT
GROUPS
LIVING MINDFULlY
Zarebas Groups offers an eight
part course over 19 weeks, based
on Buddhist principles.
A straightforward, easy to follow
introduction to genuine stress
reduction, using insight into our
limiting beliefs.
September 9th to December 16th 2007
Equilibrium Complementary Health Centre
16 Station Street Lewes East Sussex
01273 470955
www.equilibrium-clinic.com
info@equilibrium-clinic.com
d i r E C t o r y
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Bespoke Kitchens
Hartley Quinn Wislon
01273 401648
Peter Rogan 01273 513478
Building and Landscaping
Steve Holford 01273 475485
Building and Decorating
Marc Cable 0773 9127901
Building Maintenance
Ray Shaw 01273 477636
Building services
Corey Pegler 01273 486776
Business services
Carpentry
Carpenter, Decorator
Sash Windows Repairs
Paul Furnell
Tel: 07717 862940
Goodman-Burrows 01273 483339
Phil Day 07813 326130
Ceramic Restorer
Sarah Burgess 01273 479099
Chimney sweep
Mark Owen 01273 514349
Corgi Gas Boiler servicing
Dereck Wills 01273 472886
electrical Contractor
Robin Shoebridge 01273 515169
Gardening
sally Holder
Professional Gardener
Specialising in high quality
renovation and maintenance
tel 01 1 86
Glazier
Castle Glazing
Dave Dryburgh 01273 472697
i T / Computer support
Geeks on Wheels
0800 107 4111
David Kemp 01273 475727
sol Hoch (Apple Mac support)
01 0155
Joinery services
Parsons Joinery 01273 814870
Landscape Gardening / Design
Woodruffs 01273 4708431
Phil Downham 01273 488261
Alex Hart 01273 401962
Languages
Spanish Lessons
Call Adriana Blair
41A St. Anne’s Crescent, Lewes
01273 476982
Email: napb@fsmail.net
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
Business, Home & Garden
Painter & Decorator
Steve Dartnell 01273 478469
P. Moult 01825 714738
DRuM AND
PiANO LessONs
Beginners to Intermediate
Call Luke on 01273 479184
0782 8298507
Plumbing & Heating
Plumbcare 0845 6421799
Keri Lindsay & Berty Richer
01273 476570
TREE SURGERY
& GARDENING
Martin Ashby
T: 01273 476539
Mobile: 07754 041827
Removals & House Clearance
Benjamin Light 07904 453825
Roofing services
Richard Soan 01273 486110
Guitar/Songwriting lessons
Beginners - Intermediate
Many styles covered
Call Darius on 07980743830

Business, Home & Garden
Think Different
Apple Mac IT Support
Telephone: 01273 470155
� Apple Certified Systems Administrator
� Broadband, Wired & WiFi Networks
� Apple & Windows OS integration
� Friendly advice, 7x24x365 Support
� �Outside the Box� solutions
email: sollie103@mac.com
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
d i r E C t o r y
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d i r E C t o r y Business, Home & Garden
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Business, Home & Garden
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Taxis
GM Taxis 01273 473 737
Lewes District Taxis Ltd 01273 483 232
Lewes Hackney Carriages 01273 474 444
Len’s Taxies 01273 488 000
PHOENIX CARS
NOW WITH AN EIGHT SEATER
TO BOOK CALL 01273 475 858
S & G Taxis 01273 476 116
Yellow Cars 01273 472 727
To advertise call
01273 488882 or email
advertising@vivalewes.com
Useful Numbers:
Emergency/Utilities
Electricity and Gas 0800 783 8866
Gas Emergency 0800 111 999
Water Emergency 0845 278 0845
Floodline 0845 988 1188
BT Fault Line 0800 800 151
Lewes Victoria Hospital
01273 474153
Sussex Police (non-emergency)
0845 607 0999
Crimestoppers 0800 555 111
Transport
Gatwick Enq 0870 000 2468
Heathrow Enq 0870 000 0123
National Rail 08457 484950
Public Transport Travel line
0870 608 2608
Other
Childline 0800 1111
Citizens’ Advice 01273 473082
Lewes Chamber of Commerce
01273 488212
Lewes District Council
01273 471600
Lewes Library 01273 474232
Lewes Tourist Info 01273 483448
The Samaritans 08457 90 90 90

Restaurants and Take Aways
Bill’s Produce store
56 Cliffe High Street
01273 476918
Beijing Restaurant
13 Fisher St, Lewes
01273 487 654
Casbah
146 High Street, Lewes
01273 472441
Cheese Please
46 High Street Lewes
01273 481048
Carnival (Chinese T/A)
01273 474221
Circa
Pelham House Lane, Lewes,
01273 471 333
Dilraj
12 Fisher St, Lewes
01273 479 279
LAPORTe’s
Local and Organic Food
1 Lansdown Place
01 881
Lazzati’s (italian)
17, Market St, Lewes
01273 479539
Lewes spice
32 Lansdown Place, Lewes
01273 472 493
Panda Garden Chinese
162 High St, Lewes
01273 473 235
Pizza express plc
15 High St, Lewes
01273 487 524
seasons of Lewes
199 High St, Lewes
01273 473 968
shanaz
Curry House
01 880 8
Spice Merchant
01273 470707
south street Fish Bar
9 South St, Lewes
01273 474 710
spring Barn Farm
Kingston Road, Lewes
01273 488450
The Brasserie
Cliffe High St, Lewes
01273 472 247
The Needlemakers Cafe
West Street Lewes
01273 486258
The Friar
7 Fisher St, Lewes
01273 472 016
Yummy Yummy’s
38 Western Road,Lewes
01273 473366
Pubs
Abergavenny Arms
Rodmell, Lewes
01273 472416
Black Horse inn
55 Western Rd,
Lewes,
01273 473 653
Blacksmiths Arms
Offham, Lewes
01273 472 971
Dorset
22 Mallinsg Street Lewes
01273 474823
elephant & Castle
White Hill, Lewes
01273 473 797
Green Man
Lewes Road Ringmer
01273 812422
John Harvey Tavern
1 Bear Yard t, Lewes
01273 479 880
Lewes Arms
1 Mount Place, Lewes
01273 473 152
Pelham Arms
High St, Lewes
01273 476 149
Royal Oak
3 Station Street, Lewes
01273 474803
snowdrop inn
119 South St, Lewes
01273 471 018
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
Tally Ho
Baxter Rd, Lewes,
01273 474 759
The Anchor
Lewes Road Ringmer
01273 812370
The Brewers Arms
91 High St, Lewes,
01273 475 524
The Cock
Uckfield Road, Ringmer
01273 812040
The Chalk Pit inn
Offham Rd, Offham
01273 471 124
The Juggs
The Street, Kingston, Lewes
01273 472 523
The Lansdown
36 Lansdown Place, Lewes
01273 480623
d i r E C t o r y
The Kings Head
9 Southover High St, Lewes
01273 474 628
The Meridian
109 Western Rd, Lewes
Tel: 01273 473710
The Lamb
10 Fisher St, Lewes
01273 470 950
The Rainbow inn
Resting Oak Hill, Cooksbridge
01273 400 334
The Rainbow Tavern
179 High St, Lewes
01273 472 170
The swan
30a Southover High St, Lewes
01273 480 211
Volunteer inn
12 Eastgate St, Lewes
01273 476357
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M Y L E W E S
6
Name: Raphaella Sapir.
Profession: I’m an arts project manager. I’m the
co-ordinator of the ‘PATINA’ (parents and teachers
in art) ‘Moving On’ parade, which takes place every
beginning of July. I also co-run a small semi-underground
Film and Food club at the Tin Tabernacle
in Barcombe. We screen world films, and serve food
from the country of origin. I used to work making
props and set dressing for TV and cinema.
Are you local? I’ve lived here for a good seven years.
Before that I lived in London and Tel Aviv. When
people ask me where I’m from it gets a bit complicated,
because my mother is Tuscan Italian (of German
and Hungarian parents), and my father’s Israeli
(from Russian and Israeli parents). Often I just say
I’m from Malling.
Are you very aware that you’re a foreigner? I feel
totally at home here, but I’m not speaking my mother
tongue, so I’m always aware that I’m not from here.
Perhaps it’s destiny: my mother was in the same position,
and her mother before that.
Best thing about Lewes? Bumping into friendly
people all the time really makes me feel at home.
What do you dislike about Lewes? I’m worried
about the changes Lewes is bound to go through in
the future. People will be saying ‘remember how it
was in the old days?’ Well we’re living in the ‘old
days’ now. And I am aware of how lovely it is.
Favourite pub? The Lewes Arms after the boycott.
Although I don’t do beer.
What’s your poison? Vodka with whatever.
Waitrose or Tesco (or neither)? Neither. Ashurst
Organic box with extras, Infinity Food bulk order, a
bit of Barefoot Herbs and May’s General Store.
What did you have for breakfast this morning?
Organic fair trade coffee from a percolator (milk no
sugar) and a radish, lettuce, cucumber, lemon and
olive-oil salad.
What do you think about traffic wardens? I think
that they must be really desperate to resort to getting
such a job. A job which makes so many people
unhappy and generates so much hatred. At ‘Something
to Dance About’ (Paddock Productions’ day
of dancing last year) I made props for the Warden
Dance in the Precinct, so I developed some compassion
for the poor souls.
Which newspaper do you read? VivaLewes.com,
when it comes out on Wednesday evening and the
Sussex Express. I occasionally dip into international
news on the web.
Favourite Lewes landmark? I love the view from
where we call ‘Tellytubby Land 2’ above the Chalk
Pit Inn. Otherwise known as ‘Bonnie Scotland’. You
can see the river turning and all of Lewes and the
Castle, and when the train passes with its lights on…
it’s like a picture book.
How would you spend a perfect sunday afternoon?
In my friend Adrienne’s woods, whistling and
making wooden spoons and bows and arrows.
And a restaurant? Moshi Moshi in Brighton. It’s a
sushi bar where the plates move round on a conveyor
belt. In Lewes it’ll be Seasons, Bill’s or Circa.
What’s on your hi-fi? The White Stripes. All the
albums. ‘The Denial Twist’ is my favourite track.
What does Lewes need? More people to car share,
it’s fab. And could the local independent cafés stay
open after 5pm, please?
W W W. V i V a l E W E S . C o M
Photograph: Katie Moorman

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W W W. V i V A L e W e s . C O M
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