Viva Lewes Issue 111 December 2015

DEC 2015 

ISSUE No.111

VALUATION DAY 

Pictures 

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111 

VIVALEWES 

Editorial 

A few years ago, in Lewes Waitrose, with a handful of items in my basket, I realised with 

some glee that I could fast-track my way through to the till for customers with ‘fewer than 

eight items’. Most of that glee came from the fact I’d noticed a similar sign in Tescos a few 

days earlier for shoppers with ‘less than ten’. These are national chains: some committee at 

head office Waitrose must have decided to be strictly grammatical, their equivalent at Tesco 

to go with the vernacular flow. As a former English teacher and sub-editor (once a sub, 

always a sub) I’d agree more with the Waitrose policy, but strangely, when a similar matter 

arose about this month’s Viva theme, I went the other way. In order to honour the strong 

tradition of jewellery-making in Lewes, and make a reference to the refulgent nature of 

Yuletide, it was decided that this should be the ‘all that glisters’ issue. Or should that be ‘all 

that glitters’? Should we be true to Shakespeare’s actual words in The Merchant of Venice, or 

the modern interpretation most widely used today? I voted for the latter, but we never really 

all agreed, so we ended up leaving it open. Let’s finish by remembering the unequivocal end 

of the sentence, ‘…is not gold’, a fine reminder that the seasonal period is all about being 

with friends and family and having a laugh - but only if you can, and you feel like it. That’s far 

enough bah-humbug worthiness for the moment, but do remember there’s only one way to 

say the word ‘more’, so be careful if you’re of a self-indulgent bent. Enjoy the issue… 

The Team 

..................... 

EDITOR: Alex Leith alex@vivamagazines.com 

SUB-EDITOR: David Jarman 

STAFF WRITERS: Rebecca Cunningham rebecca@vivamagazines.com, Steve Ramsey rambo@vivalewes.com 

ART DIRECTOR: Katie Moorman katie@vivalewes.com 

ADVERTISING: Sarah Hunnisett, Amanda Meynell advertising@vivalewes.com 

EDITORIAL/ADMIN ASSISTANT: Isabella McCarthy Sommerville admin@vivamagazines.com 

PUBLISHER: Lizzie Lower, lizzie@vivalewes.com 

directors: Alex Leith, Lizzie Lower, Becky Ramsden, Nick Williams 

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Jacky Adams, Michael Blencowe, Sarah Boughton, Mark Bridge, Emma Chaplin, Moya 

Crockett, Mark Greco, John Henty, Mat Homewood, Paul Austin Kelly, Chloë King, Ian Seccombe, Marcus Taylor 

Viva Lewes is based at Pipe Passage, 151b High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XU, 01273 488882 

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.

the ‘all that glitters’ issue 

Contents 

Bits and bobs. 

10-31. Emma Carlow’s cover art, 

Chelsea Renton’s Lewes, Daisy 

Ashford, Carlotta Luke’s Phoenix 

industries, chappy advice on boozing, 

and plenty more. 

Columns. 

33-37. David Jarman on holidays (or 

the lack of them), Chloë King on 

Christmas cards and Mark Bridge on 

a takeaway coffee cup (literally, as it 

happens). 

In Town this Month. 

39-41. Lewes Speakers Winter 

Festival. We meet Charles Clarke and 

Melvyn Bragg. 

43. Ray Brooks, the voice of Mr Benn. 

45 

27 

45. Enchanted Lewes light up 

Southover Grange. 

46-47. John Napier, theatre 

designer, at Towner in Eastbourne. 

49. We visit Ditchling Museum. 

51-53. Art and About. Tom 

Homewood’s skyscapes at Flint, 

Little Wonders at St Anne’s and 

what’s what further afield. 

55-56. ’Tis the season to let loose 

with the vocal chords. Classical and 

Christmas carol round-up. 

57. Cinema. Life of Brian… in a 

deconsecrated church. 

59-65. Diary dates. What’s on, 

where, when. 

67-68. Gig guide. Rock, pop and 

jazz dates. And gypsy swing, too. 

71-77. Free time. What’s what for 

the under 16s, this month with 

festive antlers.

Christmas 

at Middle Farm 

Aromatic English-grown Christmas 

trees, locally-made hedgerow 

wreaths. Original gift ideas and 

delightful decorations. 

Middle Farm, Firle, Lewes, East Sussex BN8 6LJ 

Christmas order line 01323 811411 

info@middlefarm.com www.middlefarm.com

the ‘all that glisters’ issue 

79 

Food and drink. 

79-87. Mulled cider at the Black 

Horse, scallops and duck at the 

Griffin, stuffing at Pelham House, and 

the low-down on bubbly. 

Shopping special. 

89-101. Gifts made in Lewes, Carlotta 

Luke checks out the way Farmers’ 

Market stallholders at work. 

85 

Late Night 

Shopping Guide. 

103-110. We host a mag within a mag 

for you to carry round on the 3rd 

December, courtesy of the Chamber 

of Commerce. 

All that glitters. 

110-111. Lewes jewellery gift ideas. 

115 

Regular features. 

113-121. Lewes Out Loud, Michael 

Blencowe’s blackcap, Lewes manager 

Darren Freeman, The Foundry 

Gallery and Bluauto’s trade secrets. 

138. Inside Left. Royal Horse Artillery 

conscripts, on their way to the 

Western Front, 1915. 

VIVA DEADLINES 

We plan the contents of each magazine six weeks ahead of any given month, with a mid-month advertising/ 

copy deadline. Please send details of planned events to events@vivalewes.com, and for any advertising 

queries, contact advertising@vivalewes.com, or call 01273 434567.

10

this month’s cover artist: Emma carlow 

This month’s cover was designed by Emma Carlow, 

a graphic designer and illustrator who works from a 

buzzing creative space tucked away in St Anne’s Galleries. 

“I’ve been a textile designer for years,” she explains, 

“mainly working on children’s designs, but recently 

I’ve started working on adults’ textiles.” About 

a year ago, she set out to design a ‘colouring-in tablecloth’ 

- an idea sparked by a Clothkits one she had as 

a child. “I thought a colouring-in tablecloth would be 

brilliant! But it was easier to start by getting the design 

printed onto paper.” The result was a huge colouringin 

poster measuring 61cm by 84cm, enough to keep 

big and little colourers busy for hours. “It would be 

a great thing to have in the office, for when you’re 

standing waiting for the photocopier.” 

The poster brings back memories of school maths 

books with squared paper, the grids filled with 

tiny doodles and shapes. “I really like graphics for 

text books and sketchbooks,” Emma says, “and the 

colours – the sort of pinks and beiges.” From her 

original poster, with a white background, she experimented 

with different colours to give us a festive 

Viva special. She uses mainly primary colours in 

her work, but does like to throw in ‘the odd clash 

here and there’. And for this month’s festive edition, 

she’s added some Christmassy shapes too: a Father 

Christmas, and a Christmas pudding. 

In the New Year, Emma will be launching a line of 

wallpapers called ‘Wallplayper’, all inspired by children’s 

craft activities. “I always have origami paper 

near me,” she says, and this helped inspire one of the 

wallpaper designs. “It’s based on Tangrams, an old 

Chinese game: you have 

a square box with wooden 

DEC 2015 

shapes inside and you 

ISSUE No.111 

rearrange the shapes to 

make up different animals 

or people.” 

Another design is created 

using a ‘sunprint’ which 

is usually done on photographic 

paper, by laying 

flat objects like leaves on top of the paper and leaving 

it in the sun to expose. “Depending on the brightness 

it can take ten minutes, or on a dull day, half an hour.” 

The sheet can then be developed to leave an exact 

silhouette of the object. Emma has come up with a 

method of sunprinting onto fabric, by laying on a 

photosensitive solution. This Cyanotype process 

means that the background of the print comes out in 

‘a beautiful blue’. “Because I’m quite a neat person, I 

like to throw in a process that will mess things up a 

bit!” Rebecca Cunningham 

Visit Emma’s Etsy shop StuffbyEmmaCarlow or contact 

her be e-mail at emma@emmacarlow.com 

VIVA LEWES DECEMBER 2015 ISSUE No. 111 

11

Photo bny Alex Leith 

my lewes 

Chelsea Renton, Artist, Phoenix Rising activist 

Are you local? I was brought up just outside 

Offham. As a young adult I went to London and 

off abroad, and got married and got divorced and 

then I came back to this area – to Firle to be precise 

- with two tiny children, ‘just for a while’. 

That was 17 years ago. 

What do you remember of Lewes when you 

were a kid? We used to come here shopping, 

and for treats. I only remember two restaurants: 

La Cucina (where we used to eat squid) and the 

Kwong Ming, which is now the Panda Garden. 

My mum used to run a lot of 50-50 shops, with 

benefits going to the homeless. And there was 

Clothkits, of course. 

What was living in Firle as a single mum like? 

Wonderful. After a while I knew I could turn up 

at any door between Beddingham and Alciston in 

my pyjamas at any time of day or night and be 

welcomed in for a glass of wine and a chat. 

So you stayed on… At first I felt like a failure, 

but I came to realise that there’s a lot to be said 

for moving back to where you’re from. Because 

there’s still a really wide circle of people from all 

walks of life – whether it’s the person who fitted 

your shoes in Clark’s when you were four or the 

parents of someone you went to primary school 

with – that you know. It’s like returning to a nest 

and it’s rather wonderful. 

And now you live in Lewes… I moved back two 

years ago when all the driving to and from Priory 

got too much. I’m an artist, and I got a studio in 

the Phoenix Estate. That’s when I found out about 

all the incredible industrious and creative stuff 

that was going on in all the other warehouses. You 

know when you walk through Lewes and you feel 

there’s an edge to it? The Phoenix area is the engine 

room of that feeling, and it all wafts up from 

there. On December 10th we’ll hear whether the 

South Downs National Park and the Council have 

accepted Santon’s redevelopment plan, which will 

put an end to it all. 

What’s your gut feeling as to how the decision 

will go? I think we’ve turned a foregone conclusion 

into a highly contentious issue. This is the 

biggest development plan in a generation and it 

doesn’t deliver the sort of affordable housing and 

workspaces that will enable people of all different 

incomes to work and live in the town, which 

means, if it gets through, the social cleansing of 

Lewes will continue. 

Which is your favourite bit of the estate? The 

far end of the Foundry Workshop. There are 

some remarkable people there who can make you 

anything you want. A 50-metre fire-breathing animatronic 

rabbit by Saturday? No problem… 

Where would you live if not in Lewes? On the 

island of Tiree in the Hebrides. My mother’s family 

have had a home there for 150 years, and I’ve 

spent 95% of my holidays there. 

Interview by Alex Leith 

13

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its and bobs 

vox pop tamara taylor from sussex downs college asks: 

What will you put on top of your christmas tree? 

“For Christmas I’m getting 

a green artificial tree and on 

top will be an angel I made 

when I was 5.” Dana Burring 

“Our family doesn’t celebrate 

Christmas so we get 

some nice time off instead!” 

Kiera McGee 

“We’re getting a black 

artificial tree, decorated with 

sparkly skulls! On top we’ll 

probably put a Wookiee!” 

Bianca, Alan, & Alice Davis-Venss 

“We’re getting a fresh tree - 

the real deal! On top we will 

put just a simple star.” 

Monika Barden 

“We’re getting a real 

tree and I’ll put a 

fairy on top!” 

Silvia Wilkins 

“We’re getting a white and 

silver artificial tree and a 

silver star will fit on the top” 

Steve & Riley White 

15

its and bobs 

ian seccombe’s point of view 

Ian’s latest photograph is, as ever, bang on theme, and for the second time running, comes with a salient 

Shakespeare quote. “‘All that glisters is not gold’ (The Merchant of Venice, II, vii),” he writes. “At this 

time of year golden bracken can look wonderful in the sunlight but in the summer it’s a real menace, 

swamping other plants and choking the pathways. Lane End Common, North Chailey.” 

town plaques #9: greyfriars gateway 

On the curve of Friars Walk, just before All Saints church, is a gateway 

that looks like it might be a back gate to the churchyard. When unlocked, 

you can get in that way, but the stone arch was ‘transplanted’ in 

the 19th century from the old Greyfriars a couple of hundred metres 

away, a monastic site which stood where Fitzroy House and the Magistrate’s 

Court car park (surely soon to be renamed…) once stood. Excavations 

in the 1980s showed extensive foundations, going under the old 

Uckfield railway line viaduct over Cliffe High Street. The Greyfriars, 

a mission-centred, socially-concerned Franciscan order, came to Lewes 

in the early thirteenth century and this was one of the last Friaries to 

be closed, late in 1538. The narrow strip of land behind the archway is 

manorial waste – of disputed ownership from ancient times - which is 

now tended by volunteers. Marcus Taylor 

16

㈀㜀アパート㤀㘀㘀㐀㠀

its and pubs 

ghost pubs: #14 the tanners arms/brewery tap 

This long-closed establishment was named after Baxter’s Tanyards, 

which lay opposite the pub, and had employed many 

of Malling Street’s residents. However, being situated next 

to the Elmsley’s South Malling Steam Brewery, the Tanners 

Arms was also known as the ‘Brewery Tap’. In 1856 it was 

described as having ‘a coach house, stables, cart lodge, and 

spacious yard’, with the pub itself being ‘roomy, convenient, 

and well calculated for casual lodgers.’ The Tanners Arms was 

one of the victims of the great Lewes pub cull of 1907. There 

were eight pubs in Malling Street at that time, and three were 

deemed superfluous. Alfred Burgess was the then landlord, and despite a relatively good trade, selling an 

average of 98 barrels of beer each year, he was forced out of his business. Fortunately, this wonderful building 

still survives. I was lucky enough to be shown round the property by its current owner, Andy Holyer. 

The old snug is now his living room, and much of the bar area still exists and has been incorporated into 

the modern layout. Many thanks to Andy for this photograph as well. Mat Homewood 

Lewes Theatre Club in numbers 

‘All that glisters’ is a quote from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Lewes 

Theatre Club was founded in 1939 and celebrated its 75th anniversary 

in 2014. 546 productions have been staged since 1941, averaging 

6 to 8 each year. Of these, 25 have been plays by Shakespeare and the 

Merchant of Venice has been staged once, in 1969. Lewes Little Theatre 

seats 154 people at its premises in Lancaster Street. 

patina lanterns 

Deck the halls with bells 

and holly… and the windows 

with Christmas lanterns. 

Once again Patina is 

coming to the rescue when 

it comes to Lewes High 

Street’s paucity of Christmas 

lights: they are hiring 

out Christmas lanterns to 

shops and houses, with all the proceeds going to the kids’ parade 

in July. Lanterns with LED lights are on sale for a three-week 

period for affordable prices between £20 (for a 50cm diameter 

‘Shining Star Lantern’) and £35 (for a large 8ocm ‘Christmas 

Tree Lantern’). Please contact patinalewes@gmail.com to order. 

Photos by Peter Whyte Miles Jenner as Richard III by Adrian Bowd 

19

photo of the month 

CLEAN SWEEP 

This month’s photo was taken by Mat Homewood, who the eagle eyed among you will recognise as 

our ‘Ghost pubs’ correspondent. “I often go for a run from Lewes to Kingston via the Jugg’s Road 

track, which is a beautiful route,” he writes. “By the time I was approaching Ashcombe Mill on this 

particular evening, the sun was just setting and the sky looked amazing. I should have kept going on 

my training run, but just couldn’t resist getting my phone out and taking a few pics.” What particularly 

struck him was that the windmill, which for three years has had just a couple of sails, had acquired 

its full set of six… making it the exact replica of the original, which was built in 1828 and blown down 

in a gale in 1916. “The final two sweeps had recently been added to the mill, and I really wanted to get 

all six in somehow, so I ended up tramping around in the field in my running gear in the semi-darkness, 

trying to find the best angle before the sun disappeared below the horizon. You can just about see 

all six sweeps in the photo.” We featured the windmill in issue 73, in which its creator James Tasker 

promised the remaining sails would go up eventually. It’s been a long haul, but he’s finally been true to 

his word, and should be congratulated on completing a remarkable project. 

Please send your pictures, taken in and around Lewes, to photos@vivalewes.com. We’ll choose our favourite 

for this page, which wins the photographer £20. Unless otherwise arranged we reserve the right to use all 

pictures in future issues of Viva magazines and online. 

21

its and bobs 

lewes worthy: daisy ashford 

The Young Visiters was ‘the book over 

which half London is laughing, the 

other half having to wait while more 

copies are being printed,’ the Daily 

Mail noted in spring 1919. Daisy 

Ashford, then aged 38, had written it 

when she was nine years old and living 

in Southdown House, St Anne’s 

Crescent. The Ashford family spent 15 years 

here, and fostered, in the Dictionary of National 

Biography’s words, ‘a cheerful and affectionate 

family atmosphere in which all the children 

were encouraged to write’. 

When Daisy’s mother died, in 1917, the family 

found a box of ‘childhood relics’ including stories 

by Daisy and her sister Angela, biographer 

RM Malcolmson writes. These ‘were read amid 

gales of laughter,’ but there were no plans to 

publish The Young Visiters until Daisy 

gave the novel to a friend who had 

flu, to cheer her up, and the friend got 

Chatto and Windus interested. There 

was a chance of both sisters’ books 

being published, but someone at 

Chatto ‘decided that it was impossible 

to publish books by two middle-aged 

prodigies simultaneously without the whole 

world believing that they were fraudulent,’ (the 

Times) and went for The Young Visiters alone. 

Ashford, ‘a shy and unworldly person, was 

touched but astonished by her new-found 

fame,’ the DNB notes. Some of her other childhood 

stories were subsequently published, but 

she didn’t write as an adult, except for part of 

an autobiography, which she later burned. She 

died in January 1972, aged 90. SR 

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its and bobs 

Book Review: The One Pot Cook 

Who needs a book about one-pot cookery? As former 

Lewes resident Hattie Ellis says in her introduction to The 

One Pot Cook (Head of Zeus, 2015), ‘Most of us start out 

as one-pot cooks’. I know I did. The first thing I learnt 

was leek and potato soup; still my simplest, most soulful 

dish, and perfect for sharing. It seems it’s for precisely this 

reason that I need Hattie’s book: to break me out of the 

habit of making the same old stuff day-to-day. The One Pot 

Cook is a manual for honest eaters. Hattie’s recipes are solid, 

approachable and broad – with The One Pot Cook containing 

150, some gathered on faraway travels and others, versions 

of European classics. Also refreshing is the decision to 

package it as a photography-free, hardback edition illustrated 

by Emily Faccini. I’m reminded of those fabulous 

no-nonsense cookbooks my mum had in the eighties, by 

Jane Grigson and Rose Elliot. CK 

10 Week 

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Explore the fundamental elements of play 

construction such as character, motivation, 

conflict, subtext, theme and plot. 

This practical course will help you discover 

the tools needed to craft and shape a play. 

Open to writers of all abilities. 

Visit website for details and booking: 

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25

photography 

phoenix at work 

photos by carlotta luke 

This month we asked our about-town photographer 

Carlotta Luke to round up a handful 

of the extremely diverse activities going on in 

the North Street Industrial Estate, whose fate 

will be decided by the Planning Department of 

the South Downs National Park on December 

10th. And so we have, clockwise from top left: 

Studio Hardie carpentry; Community Chef; 

The Foundry Studios, The Dance Academy; 

The Foundry Gallery. Let’s hope all these 

businesses have a healthy future in town, one 

way or another. 

27

ooks and bobs 

Book Review: Mapping the second world war 

First came Mapping the First World War, a mammoth effort by Lewes-based 

historian, cartographer, artist (etc etc) Peter Chasseaud, telling the story of the 

1914-18 conflict using maps, culled from both the Allied and Central Power 

forces. Now Peter has published a follow-up, Mapping the Second World War, 

published by Collins (£30) in association with Imperial War Museums. The 

book is divided into chapters delineating different fronts, from the German 

invasion of Poland in 1939 to the Allied push in the Pacific in 1945. It makes 

for fascinating reference material, and will be invaluable for historians of that 

period. But it’s of interest to the layman, too; great browsing material for anyone 

interested in that period. It hit me at an emotional as well as intellectual 

level: it’s rather chilling, seeing the plans for fierce and bloody battles like Arnhem, drawn up so clinically 

on paper before the event. Most chilling of all are the German maps for Operation Sealion, the proposed 

invasion of England, showing proposed Nazi troop movements through Kent and East Sussex. AL 

Book Review: True Tales from the Old Hill 

Last year the people behind The Frogmore Papers, that quarterly poetry anthology 

published in Lewes, asked writers who live in and around the town to contribute 

true-life stories to a collection, True Tales from the Old Hill (£10). The 

idea was inspired by a similar collection by the American novelist Paul Auster, 

which resulted in his True Tales of American Life. Participants were asked to limit 

their stories to 750 words, and not to worry where they were set; just as long 

as they were based on fact not fiction. There are some familiar names in there, 

not least a number of Viva writers past and present, including Beth Miller, who 

writes a beautiful story about a game on a train, Alexandra Loske, who explores 

friendship and gifts, and Steve Ramsay [sic], who wonders, in a round-about 

way, about the nature of fact, and fiction. Great stuff. AL 

Book Review: DRINKING FOR CHAPS 

Two prominent Lewesians - Gustav Temple and Olly Smith - have got together 

and written a smart and witty users guide for booze. Gustav, being the 

editor of The Chap Magazine, is an expert on the etiquette of drinking; Olly, 

as wine critic for the Daily Mail, knows a thing or two about the booze itself. 

The book takes you through the wherewithal of different cocktails, spirits, 

wines, beers and ciders, giving hints as to what to wear when you’re drinking 

them, what to stock in your drinks cabinet, and how to cure a hangover. 

Every now and again there’s a chapter devoted to a ‘Legend of Libation’, a 

chap (inevitably) who was particularly dedicated to booze (take a bow Kingsley 

Amis, Oliver Reed etc). Oh, and there are also a series of pictures of the 

two authors looking dandily sombre in various local drinking holes. The drinking man’s Bible? I wouldn’t 

go that far, but a fine Christmas present for the tippler in your life. £14.99. AL 

29

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Spread the Christmas cheer... 

During this festive season, it’s easy to get carried 

away with the gifts and the decorating and the food 

and the parties… so here’s a little reminder of a few 

of the things we can do to spread the Christmas 

spirit around the whole of our community this year. 

Visit the Cards for Good Causes charity Christmas 

card shop at Lewes House on School Hill to buy 

cards, wrapping paper and gift tags, all of which help 

to raise money for charity. The charities include local 

causes like the Raystede animal sanctuary and St. 

Peter and St. James Hospice. The shop will be open 

from Mon – Sat, 10am-4pm until the 16th, and they 

will be open for Late Night Shopping on the 3rd. 

cardsforcharity.co.uk 

Donate a Christmas dinner. Lewes has four food 

banks: Landport, Malling (operating from Kings 

church), Lewes Food Bank (based at Demontfort 

Estate) and Food 4 Seahaven, which are all run by 

volunteers. They need extra support over the Christmas 

period and welcome donations of non-perishable 

foods and toiletries, from local residents as well 

as businesses. lewes.gov.uk 

Join your local food drive. FareShare is a national 

food redistribution project, taking in surplus from supermarkets 

and shops and giving it to local community 

organisations, like lunch clubs, children’s centres, 

women’s refuges and food banks. The Sussex branch 

are always looking for volunteers, particularly van 

drivers. To get involved, e-mail faresharebh@gmail. 

com or donate at justgiving.com/faresharesussex 

From the 3rd – 5th FareShare will be running the 

Big Neighbourhood Food Collection with Tesco, 

the Lewes Tesco being one of the stores involved. 

They encourage customers to purchase an extra item 

or two with their shopping which they can donate to 

Fareshare on their way out. Find out how you can 

help at fareshare.org.uk/food-collection-2015 

On the 5th and 6th The Oyster Project will be presenting 

The Infant King at the Westgate Chapel. The 

project is run by its members: creative people with a 

range of conditions and mental health issues, including 

cerebral palsy, autism, ME and other physical 

and learning disabilities. There will be carol-singing 

during the first half followed by their unique rendition 

of the Nativity. Tickets at oysterproject.org.uk 

Lewes Vox Choir hold their second annual Christmas 

concert at the Royal Oak in Barcombe on Sunday 

13th at 7pm, raising money for the Rockinghorse 

charity and Save the Children. Last year they 

managed to raise £700 for charity and they would 

love your help to do the same again this year! For 

ticket availability, e-mail lewesvox@hotmail.com 

Zest Sussex is a community interest organisation 

which trains young adults with learning disabilities 

or autism, giving them invaluable skills in 

customer service and team work, so that they can 

take steps towards paid employment. Zest are under 

threat of closure from council cuts. They need 

your support: sign their online petition or find 

out more about fundraising at zestsussex.org.uk 

The Rotary Club of Lewes are holding their annual 

fundraiser, ‘The Christmas Tree of Goodwill’ 

between the 8th and the 23rd. Santa and his sleigh 

will be collecting door-to-door donations to provide 

food vouchers to less fortunate families in the community. 

Visit lewes-rotary.org 

If you’re sending cards to loved ones in Lewes, the 

Lewes Post local delivery service will be running 

again, for 20p per card. Leave your cards at one of 

the addresses involved (see our Facebook page for 

details) by 4pm on the 16th. RC 

Photo by Rebecca Cunningham 

31

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column 

David Jarman 

A reluctant traveller 

Not long ago, I was 

trying to identify the 

defining characteristics, 

if any, of the 

book group to which 

I belong. There 

are nine of us; four 

men, five women. 

We’re not all gay or 

feminists (at least, 

I’m not) or widowed. 

My wife says that the 

unifying feature of 

book groups is that 

they’re all unbearably 

smug, but I hope 

that’s not true of us. 

We don’t even all live 

in Lewes, and have second homes in France. But 

one thing that I did notice is that we divide almost 

equally between inveterate travellers and those 

who seldom venture beyond the end of the street. 

I go to London often, but I definitely fall into 

the second category. Some years, the only nights 

I’m away are when I’m staying with my friend, 

Iana, in Battersea, after a late night prom, or in 

Islington, with my friends, Chris and Molly, after 

going to the Almeida Theatre. This year I haven’t 

even managed that, and with December upon us, 

I realise I’ve not spent one night away from King 

Henry’s Road. 

These thoughts are prompted by my book group’s 

choice for December, Anne Tyler’s novel The 

Accidental Tourist. Macon is the author of a series 

of guidebooks for those forced to travel abroad 

on business – The Accidental Tourist in Belgium, for 

example. They are updated regularly – ‘I am happy 

to say that it’s possible now to buy Kentucky Fried 

Chicken in Stockholm’. Published in 1985, did it, I 

wonder, influence the film Withnail and I, released 

the following year? I’m thinking of the scene 

when Withnail, 

languishing in the 

depths of the English 

countryside, solicits 

help from a passing 

farmer with the line: 

“We’ve come on 

holiday by accident.” 

The first sentence of 

The Accidental Tourist 

reads: ‘They were 

supposed to stay at 

the beach a week, 

but neither of them 

had the heart for it 

and they decided to 

come back early.’ It 

reminds me of a story 

told by John Banville. He once saw a postcard 

from the playwright, Brian Friel, who was holidaying 

in the South of France. It read: ‘Here for two 

weeks, one with good behaviour.’ 

Philip Larkin once told an interviewer that he 

would like to go to China, but only if he could 

come back the same day. Will Alsop, paying tribute 

to his fellow architect, Cedric Price (his best 

known buildings were the aviary at London Zoo 

and a café, designed for Blackpool Zoo, but later 

turned into the giraffe house!), remembered that 

Price ‘took no holiday apart from an annual 24- 

hour break which he organised with two friends. 

All I know was that they would meet somewhere 

and return 24 hours later for breakfast at the Ritz. 

Then he would come back to the office, wrecked.’ 

Frank Auerbach, as recorded in Catherine 

Lampert’s recent book on the artist, also took one 

day’s holiday a year, invariably spent on Brighton 

Pier. But eventually he decided that even one day’s 

absence from the easel smacked of levity, and he 

abandoned the practice. So, all in all, perhaps I’m 

in good company. 

33

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column 

Chloë King 

Card times 

The best Christmas I can remember 

was the year that Dad died. It takes 

exceptional circumstances, you see, 

to convince your best friends to 

give up their family Christmases to 

spend the holiday with an orphaned 

friend instead. 

It wasn’t that I didn’t miss my folks. 

It was that the joy of Christmas - the 

booze, the board games - gave me 

pause from sadness. I discovered that 

year, that Christmas has a magical 

ability to punctuate grief with celebration; 

in the same way I had already 

learnt it could underline separation. 

Now my daughter is old enough 

to know salt dough from biscuit, 

I expect my ‘best Christmas’ tally 

to go up rapidly. At the time of 

writing, however, 2007 still marks 

the top spot: with its emergency 

cheeseboard donated by staff at The 

White Hart, and Steve’s charade of 

the opening scene to Sexy Beast. 

It was also the year that marked the 

beginning of a new life stage. I was 

newly responsible for the roast, the 

tree, and the cards. Oh, the cards. 

Ever since I have sent cards to my 

parent’s list, members of which 

will perhaps be surprised to hear 

that I did so in exclusion of my 

own friends. What kind of weird 

psychology is this? 

The first year it was fine. I had 

something to say: a thank you for 

the sympathy, the attendance. But 

with each year that passed, sending these cards made me feel 

more set apart. In some would be a few words about children – 

strangers, now fully grown; perhaps there would be an invite 

that couldn’t be honoured; maybe a hurried ‘how are you?’ 

The ritual of writing these cards started to make me feel 

weighed down. I imagined my own must appear to their 

recipients like spectres of friendship lost. My grief I felt more 

strongly, so I stopped. 

Last year, I didn’t send any. But as the cards dropped through 

the letterbox with the same regularity as they do every Christmas, 

my sense of relief and self-government turned to guilt. I 

looked up at the strings of cards and I thought how nice it is 

to be considered, even in a small way, and even by people with 

whom you have little to do. 

I thought of the rarity of receiving any kind of handwritten communication 

now there is Facebook. I thought of the drawers of 

ephemera that have helped me laugh or learn something on rainy 

afternoons. I thought of Mum’s cousin’s eccentric handmade 

cards that we would baffle at every year until they stopped coming, 

and in a small but significant way, Christmas was never the 

same again. 

This is a very sentimental column, I’m afraid, but it is Christmas. 

I may live to regret this announcement, but this year I’m planning 

to send cards not just to my parents’ friends, but to my own 

mates as well. January’s column is projected to be an overdue 

rant about postal prices. 

Illustration by Chloë King 

35

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column 

East of Earwig 

Mark Bridge is in his cups 

Apparently coffee mega-retailer Starbucks has 

declared war on Christmas. This season’s takeaway 

cups are plain red, which some activists 

say is an attack on Christianity. However, it’s 

not the lack of festive decoration on the cups 

that troubles me. It’s their arrival eight weeks 

before Christmas. 

Honestly, I’m not an anti-Christmas grouch. 

I’m merely an anti-Christmas-in-Octoberand-November 

campaigner, with a little bit of 

there’s-too-much-commercialism-these-days 

thrown in for extra flavour. Humbug flavour, 

of course. 

For example, I love a bit of Nat King Cole; 

I just don’t want to hear about his roasting 

chestnuts when Hallowe’en pumpkins are still 

on sale. I’d like my Christmas to be focussed 

on innocent childhood wishes, 

the annual emergence of tissuewrapped 

tree decorations, frosty 

mornings, sparkling tinsel and 

twinkling candles, not Coca- 

Cola’s illuminated truck and 

ironic retro-styled jumpers. In 

many ways I’m hoping for an 

updated Victorian Christmas, 

packed with plum 

puddings and candlelit 

carols but without the 

cholera and workhouse 

poverty. But what if this 

wasn’t a dream. What if 

it was the law? 

Let me take you back to 

Thursday 12th November, 

when the village of 

Ringmer went to the polls. 

Don’t worry, people of 

Lewes, you didn’t miss out. 

Your polling cards weren’t 

lost in the post. This one 

was just for us. You see, we 

voted in a referendum to 

determine whether we wanted Lewes District 

Council and the South Downs National Park 

Authority to use Ringmer’s own ‘neighbourhood 

plan’ when ruling on planning applications. 

It was all about decentralisation: I’m 

told our ‘yes’ vote means we villagers will have 

more control over local development. Maybe 

we’re now only a small step from a second referendum 

vote that would give us full independence 

from our neighbours. 

And come that day, we could choose to be the 

UK’s first village with legally enforceable rules 

about Christmas. No longer would shops be 

permitted to sell jellied fruits in September or 

install their lustrous point-of-sale displays during 

British Summer Time. Instead, our festive 

preparation would begin 12 days before Christmas 

and would end exactly 12 days 

afterwards. Gifts would be restricted 

to those mentioned in traditional 

texts: toy drums, dolls, kiddie cars, 

gold rings, partridges, that kind of 

thing. Stockings, not pillowcases, 

would hang from fireplaces. 

And sales of cranberry sauce 

would be strictly rationed. 

Or perhaps the citizens 

of this newly liberated 

Ringmer wouldn’t be 

too bothered about how 

anyone celebrated the 

season as long as they 

were having fun. Actually, 

despite the occasional 

grumble, that’s definitely 

the choice I’d make. Goodwill 

to all. Fireworks, fairy 

lights, feasting… whatever 

you choose. Mine’s a skinny 

gingerbread latte with cream 

and extra sprinkles. But 

not before 13th December, 

please? 

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in town this month: speakers’ festival 

Charles Clarke 

On Jeremy Corbyn and other Labour leaders 

‘Corbyn is a ludicrous 

vessel for the hopes of the 

disaffected,’ Charles Clarke 

recently claimed. This is the 

outspoken Clarke, who, as 

a Labour MP, was happy to 

criticise Gordon Brown’s 

leadership, publically and 

strongly and repeatedly. 

But when I spoke to the former 

Home Secretary, he was 

Clarke the cautious, reserved 

intellectual, co-editor of the 

book British Labour Leaders. 

In it, he argues that ‘leadership 

is a tough role, and we 

think the leaders deserve the 

respect of being assessed by 

authors who have sympathy 

for their many dilemmas’. He 

still criticised Jeremy Corbyn 

in our interview. Just not so strongly. 

What kind of psychological toll does the 

pressure of leadership, doing such a complex 

job under such high public scrutiny, have on 

people? Well, it’s very substantial. You just have 

to look at the grey hairs on all leaders to see that 

that is a reality. You need stamina, particularly 

in the current climate of 24/7 accountability. I 

think it’s very difficult for leaders to maintain 

a sense of balance, and that’s one of the tests of 

successful leadership. It is a serious problem. 

Why do people still want to become party 

leader? Because, fundamentally, they came into 

politics because they wanted to change the way 

society was operating in some respect, and they 

understand that the party leader is the place 

that gives you the best possibility of doing that. 

Though there are a lot of people who go into 

politics who don’t want to become party leader 

because of the pressures. 

Surely people wouldn’t 

put themselves through 

all that unless they 

also had an element of 

personal ambition? To 

an extent. You asked the 

question the right way 

- you have to have some 

element of personal ambition, 

there’s no question, if 

you’re going to run for the 

leadership of the party. I 

don’t think that’s necessarily 

a bad thing, though it 

can be if taken to extremes. 

How about the question 

of dealing with difficult 

issues at the risk of one’s 

own career? It’s very difficult. 

If you’re a politician 

who is worried about your 

reputation, and therefore decide to duck challenges 

which exist, then I certainly don’t think 

you deserve to be a political leader. 

The book talks about the two key aspects 

of leadership: conscience and cunning. 

Isn’t Jeremy Corbyn a great example of a 

conscience politician, with a kind of moral 

disdain for the other side of leadership - 

cunning? Not in my view. He likes to maintain 

that he is a politician of principle, unlike others. 

And I simply don’t accept that description of 

others, as being politicians without conviction. 

I think it’s very rare, actually, to find politicians 

without principle. And, also, in his own case, I 

don’t think he’s demonstrated that particularly, 

in his own approach on a whole string of policy 

positions over 30 years. Steve Ramsey 

Clarke will discuss British Labour Leaders at the 

White Hart, in the Speakers Festival on the 4th 

Dec. lewesspeakersfestival.com 

39

in town this month: SPEAKERS FESTIVAL 

Melvyn Bragg 

The peasants are revolting 

What’s Melvyn 

Bragg interested in, 

apart from everything? 

His Thursday 

morning Radio 4 

series In Our Time 

has recently covered 

the 1571 Battle 

of Lepanto, the P 

vs NP problem in 

maths, Simone de 

Beauvoir, perpetual 

motion... Sure, he’s a 

polymath. But what’s 

he really keen on? 

Well, I’d seen his reverential documentary about 

William Tyndale - the 16th-century martyr 

whose efforts to translate the Bible into English, 

so normal people could read it, threatened the 

power of the church. And I’d been reading 

Bragg’s new novel, about the 1381 Peasants’ 

Revolt. And I had a theory. Well, a guess. 

Aren’t you particularly interested in how 

power gradually shifted from kings and 

aristocrats towards normal people? Yes, I think 

that’s absolutely true. It’s one of the great strands 

of English history, from the barons onwards. 

The barons took some power from the king, who 

snatched it back again, of course, and then the 

gentry took power from the barons and formed 

parliament. It’s had to be fought for, every step of 

the way. People do not like to give away power. 

That’s one of the rules of life. Whether it’s power 

over the Bible – [the church] wanted to keep it 

in Latin, because it was their preserve. Or power 

over law, or taxation, or armaments. They do not 

want to give away power; it’s had to be pulled 

away from them. 

I’m intrigued by the title of your book, Now 

is the Time. The rebels in 1381 had plenty 

to complain about, but was there also an 

element of opportunism – the king was just a 

boy, and this was 

a good moment 

to make their 

grievances felt? 

No. ‘Now is the 

Time’ comes from 

one of [leading 

rebel] John Ball’s 

sermons. Between 

the years 1300 and 

1400 the population 

of this country 

halved, because 

of the Black 

Death, something 

they could not explain. John Ball, being a Christian, 

and most people, thought this was punishment 

for the wickedness of the way the country 

was behaving, and the wickedness he saw in the 

king’s councillors. They always thought the king 

was sacred and on their side, and they went to 

rescue him from his councillors. 

Was doubting the king too big a step at the 

time, even for these revolutionaries? They 

couldn’t do it. You live inside the circumference 

of knowledge that you inherit. It’s very difficult 

for you to dispute the power of physics, isn’t it? 

The big bang came about because of physics. 

Not much you or I can do about that. Now, these 

things happened in the 14th century because of 

the power of God, and cleverer people than both 

of us lived inside that system and did amazing 

things, but God had anointed this boy when he 

was 10 years old; he was a sacred king. 

How much does this period of British history 

resemble Game of Thrones? It is pretty savage. 

In its savagery, yes, when it gets going. But I 

think for Game of Thrones you’ve got to go back 

to the seventh, eighth centuries, really. SR 

Melvyn Bragg discusses Now is the Time for Lewes 

Winter Speakers Festival, Fri 4th Dec, White Hart, 

1pm, lewesspeakersfestival.com 

41

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in town this month: talk 

Ray Brooks 

The voice of Mr Benn 

How did you come 

to be the voice of 

Mr Benn? I was 

asked to by Dave 

McKee (author/illustrator 

of the books 

and TV series). 

He’d never done 

animation before. 

Festive Road is based 

on Festing Road in 

Putney. Dave lived at 

number 54 and put 

Mr Benn in number 

52. You can see Dave 

sitting in the window 

‘next door’, drawing. 

He lives in Paris 

now, but we stay in 

touch. He’d like to digitalise the series, but it’s 

very costly. 

You were in The Knack…and How to Get 

It in 1965, which won the Palme D’Or at 

Cannes. The 60s were an exciting time. The 

Knack was directed by Dick Lester, who went 

on to direct A Hard Day’s Night afterwards. The 

Beatles were often on set with us, playing cards. 

Lovely lads. But it was terrible working with 

Michael Crawford. He was always pushing to 

win scenes. One morning he fell into Ruislip 

Lido accidentally, pulled behind a boat. He was 

pretending he’s never water-skied, but he’d obviously 

trained. 

What can the audience expect from your 

show at Lewes Little Theatre? I’m calling it 

Me and My Shadow because Mr Benn is my shadow. 

He chases me all the time. There will be clips 

from my films and TV series. I’ll talk about being 

in EastEnders and some of the famous people 

I’ve worked with, such as Maggie Smith, Alec 

Guinness and Felicity Kendal. I’ll mention what 

it was like working on TV shows like Z Cars. 

What are you most proud of? Being in On the 

Razzle, adapted by 

Stoppard at the 

National Theatre. 

You don’t make 

any money working 

there, but it’s 

incredible. The 

atmosphere is like 

being at Anfield. 

Many may remember 

you from 

playing opposite 

‘Pauline’ as Joe 

Macer in East- 

Enders in 2005, 

before you were 

killed off. So many 

young actors in 

the show got upset 

when they read their scripts and found out they’d 

been written out. My son suggested I keep a diary 

when I was in it, but when the producer found 

out, she said, “if you publish anything about the 

show, we’ll sue”. There was a sealed box on every 

floor where you put your script when you were 

finished. But soaps are like bloody great ocean 

liners. You’ve got to keep going forward. 

You were born in Brighton and live there 

some of the time. What do you like about 

it? Watching the cricket, going to the dogs and 

the races. I used to have a season ticket for the 

Albion. Four guineas for the South Stand. 

What do you watch on telly? I’ve been watching 

Cuffs (police drama set in Brighton). The 

trouble is, everyone in the police is involved in 

dubious sexual relations or something similar. 

And they show Brighton as always sunny, which 

it’s not. 

What would you most like in your stocking 

this Christmas? A nightshirt. 

Emma Chaplin 

An Evening with Ray Brooks, Sat 12, Lewes Little 

Theatre, 7.30pm, £10, tickets 01273 474826 

43

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in town this month: christmas MAGIC 

Enchanted Lewes 

Southover Grange’s nocturnal makeover 

Robin Morley is hoping to introduce a new annual 

Lewes tradition. He’s one of the directors 

of Enchanted Places, a company that can trace 

its roots back to the outdoor arts events he produced 

at Zap Productions as part of Brighton’s 

renowned Zap Club. Together with a partnership 

of other creative people, Robin is turning Grange 

Gardens into an ‘enchanted park’ this month. But 

what exactly does that mean? 

“Southover Grange Gardens is one of the jewels 

of Lewes - and we plan to make it really sparkle”, 

he tells me. Ross Ashton, fresh from transforming 

Durham Cathedral as part of the city’s Lumiere 

Festival last month, will produce a projected 

artwork that’ll animate the façade of Southover 

Grange. Sussex-based filmmaker Nick Driftwood 

is creating two new video works. The park’s trees 

and sculptures will be illuminated as well… but 

there’s much more to the show than beautiful 

visuals, as Robin explains. “For example, we’re 

presenting ‘calling birds’, which is a digital mask 

that you put your face in. There’ll be three or 

four of them. You say your wish for the season 

and the bird mimics your voice.” 

Wishes are the overall theme for this first Lewes 

event, Robin says, encouraging people to reflect 

on the previous 12 months and their aspirations 

for the future. Robin’s own wishes are very much 

focussed on his audience. “As always, the challenge 

for a producer is to make it really exciting 

and to have those ‘wow’ moments. That what 

we’re working hard to do.” 

Although this will be the first year that Lewes has 

had an Enchanted Park, the concept has already 

proven successful elsewhere. The Enchanted 

Parks show that Robin developed and produced 

in Gateshead is currently celebrating its tenth 

anniversary, selling all 22,000 tickets in just 24 

hours. It seems the biggest local challenge for 

Robin is spreading the word without giving away 

all his secrets. “We plan for this to be an annual 

event every December”, he says. “The first year is 

always the hardest, we know that. We expect the 

first week to build modestly, and then the second 

week to capture people’s imaginations. You have 

to see it to understand it.” 

Visitor numbers will be monitored carefully to 

ensure everyone can enjoy their visit, with people 

allowed to enter the park in 15-minute time-slots. 

It’s rather like an alternative to a Christmas pantomime, 

Robin tells me, suitable for families, for 

couples and for groups of friends. “If you went to 

the Theatre Royal in Brighton to see a show at 

Christmas, you’d sit in a seat and watch the magic 

unfold on the stage in front of you. If you come 

to Enchanted Park Lewes, you’re on the stage, in 

the show. You’re immersed in it.” 

Mark Bridge 

Tickets from enchantedparklewes.co.uk; open from 

4.30pm Wed 2–Sun 6 and Wed 9–Sun 13. 

45

John Napier 

Set designer par excellence 

John Napier is working on the show of his 

life. That’s not to say it’s the most epic in 

scale of his theatrical designs, or likely to be 

seen by the largest audience, or awarded (another) 

Tony or Olivier. It is literally the show 

of his life. Stages; Beyond the Fourth Wall, on at 

Towner in Eastbourne until 31st January, will 

include costume designs and 3D pieces based 

on his five decades in theatre design, as well 

as the sculpture that he’s created in parallel 

to his career. 

I visit John at his studio in Polegate – a huge 

industrial unit where he’s drawing together 

and meticulously staging this careful edit 

of his life. Not an easy task, as he’s been 

responsible for some of the most memorable 

stage sets and costumes in theatre; among 

them the horses in Equus, the barricades in 

Les Misérables, the helicopter in Miss Saigon, 

the outsized junkyard in Cats, and the high 

velocity wheelie world of Starlight Express. 

The space is full of fascinating objects; 

drawings, models, costumes. Objects in every 

scale, some recognizable and narrative, like 

the exquisite horse head-dresses from Equus, 

others purely abstract and sculptural, like his 

huge bronze castings. I begin to understand 

why – when I ask if he describes himself as 

an artist or a theatre designer – he answers 

‘imagineer’. 

Photo by Peter Prior 

46

out of town this month: art 

Photo by Julian Napier 

John began his career in the 1960s. Profoundly 

dyslexic, he found an outlet for his 

imagination in art and, at the insistence of his 

art teacher Mr Burchall, went on to study fine 

art at Hornsey College of Art and theatre design 

at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, 

under Ralph Koltai. He took his love of sculpture 

into the theatre realizing that ‘scenery 

did not have to be painted backcloths, instead, 

abstract objects that filled the space’ and went 

on to create sets and costumes for some of the 

West End and Broadway’s longest running 

shows as well as for the Royal Shakespeare 

Company, Glyndebourne, and the New 

York Metropolitan Opera. He also designed 

for Disney, created and co-directed the 

spectacular Siegfried & Roy Show in Las Vegas, 

and worked on Steven Spielberg’s film Hook. 

Awards, accolades and fellowships followed. 

All the while, John has been recording his 

productions through fine art, making sculptural 

objects and paintings; some he tells me 

based on plays, others texts but always with 

an interest in the human condition. Model 

boxes of theatre designs are used to give the 

company and players an understanding of 

the environment they will be working in, and 

John has created similar objects for Stages, 

encapsulating his creative process. The show 

promises to be a fascinating insight into the 

marriage of imagination and technical ability, 

of art and theatre. A multi-dimensional scrapbook 

of an imagineer. Lizzie Lower 

Towner, Devonshire Park Road, Eastbourne, 29 

Nov - 31 Jan 2016. £5/£3.50 concession/under 

18s free. johnnapierstages.com 

47

art 

Ditchling Museum 

The Animals of David Jones 

‘We thought that 

the place in England 

that had the 

greatest vitality of 

thought and action 

in craftsmanship 

was probably 

the small village 

of Ditchling’. That 

was the view of 

the Japanese potter 

Shoji Hamada, 

and The Ditchling 

Museum of Art 

and Craft, recently described in the Observer as the 

‘loveliest small gallery we have’, is the monument 

to that vitality. The museum reopened, after a £2.3 

million renovation, just over a couple of years ago, 

in September 2013. But it was 30 years ago that two 

sisters, Hilary and Joanna Bourne, opened the original 

Ditchling Museum in the low-lying building in 

the north-west corner of St Margaret’s church yard 

that had served as the village school since 1838. To 

mark that 30th anniversary, there’s a small display 

of artefacts associated with the sisters, and another, 

looking to the future, of recent acquisitions, many 

of them gifts. 

When the museum reopened I feared that this showcase 

for the ‘nationally important collection of works 

by the artists and craftsmen who lived and worked in 

the village’ was to be devoted too exclusively to those 

‘artists and craftsmen’ associated with the Guild of St 

Joseph and St Dominic, Eric Gill and David Jones 

being the best known of them. This would have sidelined 

other marvellous Ditchling artists like John 

Vernon Lord, Charles Knight and Frank Brangwyn. 

I need not have worried. Three of John Vernon 

Lord’s many illustrations of Aesop’s Fables are apparently 

the first works by the artists to enter Ditching’s 

permanent collection. 

And next to a 

1930s watercolour 

of the Smithy at 

Pyecombe there’s 

a notice that reads: 

‘We hope to do 

an exhibition of 

Charles Knight in 

the coming years 

so would love to 

know of more 

works in private 

collections’. 

Running concurrently with the major David Jones 

exhibition at Pallant House in Chichester, which I 

will review next month, Ditchling has a small show 

entitled The Animals of David Jones (until 6th March). 

He seems to have had a great affinity with animals. 

Nest Cleverdon, meeting the artist in 1942, even said 

‘He looked like the Mole in Wind in the Willows; 

that was the first thing I thought of’. Writing of his 

early commitment to art, Jones said: ‘Animals were 

what I usually drew, and the dancing bear, a drawing 

from the window in 1902 of one of those brown 

bears that used to be brought around the streets and 

roads by keepers seeking to earn a pittance, is still, I 

think, my favourite drawing’. Inscribed ‘David Jones, 

aged 7, 1903’ it starts the Ditchling show and is indeed 

one of the best things he ever did in this line. 

Elsewhere we find elephants, stags, lambs and lions. 

There are examples of the many drawings of the animals 

at London Zoo that he did between 1928 and 

1932. And, on a more sober note, drawings arising 

out of his time as a soldier in The Great War, especially 

Rats Shot During the Pulling Down of an Old 

Dugout in Ploegsteert Wood. 

Ditchlingmuseumartcraft.org.uk 

David Jarman 

Image: David Jones, Elephant 1928 (National Museum of Wales) 

49

S T ANNE’S GALLERIES 

Christmas 

Show 

Art in small sizes, for under the tree 

28 NOV - 20 DEC 2015 

10AM - 5PM SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS 

111 HIGH STREET, LEWES, 

EAST SUSSEX, BN7 1XY 

www.stannesgalleries.com 

leries.com 

Beautiful art, affordable prices 

Robin Redbreast, a lino print by Katie Whitbread 

We invite you to join 

us on December 5th, 

12-3pm, for our 

“Look Into Chalk” 

special Christmas event. 

Chalk Gallery 

4 North Street 

Lewes, BN7 2PA 

t: 01273 474477 

w: chalkgallerylewes.co.uk

in town this month: ART 

art & about 

In town this month 

Following his London Show, Tom 

Homewood exhibits new works in 

Part 2 at Flint (47 High Street) from 

5th December. So adept at capturing 

the local landscape, Tom has recently 

thrown his gaze skyward, so expect 

delicately painted skies above deeply 

atmospheric fields and shorelines. 

Tom Homewood 

Bec Garland 

Simon Tozer 

Elsewhere our local galleries and 

artists are turning their attention to 

Christmas, decking their halls with 

art, unique gifts and decorations. 

The Christmas Show continues 

at Keizer Frames throughout the 

month and Chalk Gallery’s window 

will exhibit a whole host of their 

artists from the 14th. Join them 

at noon on 5th for mulled wine, 

Norfolk punch and truffles. At 

the Town Hall there’s Christmas 

Creative on Late Night Shopping 

(3rd Dec, 5-8.30), followed by 

Artists & Makers on Saturday 

5th (10-5). Lewes Women in 

Business hold their first Christmas 

Emporium at Pelham House on 

13th (11-5), Baubles and Bells continues at Hop Gallery 

and St Anne’s Galleries has Little Wonders, art in small 

sizes for under the tree. Both until 20th. 

Janine Shute 

Linsey Smith 

Final call for works for Pelham House’s second Open Art Exhibition. Submissions invited from artists in 

Lewes and the surrounding area. Close date Monday 14 Dec (noon) 

51

The Tom Paine Press 

& Gallery 

wishes you a 

Very Merry Christmas 

& 

Happy New Year 

in its new 

(here reduced) fount of 

John Baskerville 

(1706-1775) 

four line pica 

(48 point) italic

out of town: art 

Just down the road... 

The festive theme 

continues in 

Brighton where 

47 artists and 

makers, working 

in a huge variety 

of media, open 

their studios in 

New England 

House from 

10th to 12th. 

Expect art, gifts 

and an opportunity to nose around this high-rise 

hive of creativity (free entry, 12-8pm). There’s 

Christmas Artists Open Houses on 5th-6th 

and 12th-13th. We’ll be heading to 25 Stanley 

Road, home of Viva Brighton favourites Lost & 

Foundry lights and much more besides (aoh.org. 

uk, top right). Burning the Clocks on 21st will 

see paper and willow lanterns process through 

the city to a blaze of glory on Brighton Beach, 

marking the year’s end. 

Theatre designer John Napier’s Stages; Beyond 

the Fourth Wall (pg 46) continues at Towner. 

Hear John in conversation with David Dimbleby 

on 12th. Also in Eastbourne, the Little Chelsea 

Gallery in Hyde Road presents Beautiful 

Moments from 5th-20th. An exhibition by four 

photographers - Michael Thorn, Lee Roberts, 

PWP images and Tim Bosworth – exploring the 

human figure though beautiful and evocative 

images (thelittlechelseagallery.co.uk). Eastbourne 

artists join in the festive fun with Christmas 

Open Houses on 5th-6th (eastbourneartists. 

co.uk). One the Square, in the heart of Forest 

Row, has work by more than 30 artisans, makers 

and crafts people from the region as well as an 

exhibition of Polish poster art (above). Visit their 

festive open evening on 4th December from 6.30 

(onethesquare.co.uk). 

Further afield... 

At Pallant House, opportunities to see works 

by David Jones, David Remfry and Edmund 

de Waal continue. From the 1st to the 13th 

winning works from the 2015 National Open 

Art Competition; the UK and Ireland’s 

premiere open show for young and emerging 

visual artists, are on display. 

At the Jerwood the excellent touring exhibition 

of works from Kettle’s Yard is still on, alongside 

work by artists who have either been shortlisted 

for, or have won the prestigious Jerwood 

Painting Prize which ran from 1994 to 2003. 

Finally, Viva wishes the De la Warr Pavilion 

(below, in 1935) a very happy 80th birthday! 

As well as an invitation to their free birthday 

celebrations on 12th, see In the Realm of 

Others and the monumental Cy Twombly 

paintings, Quattro 

Stagioni. Each 

of these seasonal 

representations, 

by one of the great 

US painters of the 

latter half of the 

20th century, stand 

three metres high. 

53

LEWES CHAMBER MUSIC 

FESTIVAL 

CHRISTMAS 

CONCERT 

12th December 7pm 

St John Sub Castro Church, Lewes 

Featuring the Eusebius Quartet 

music by Beethoven, Haydn and Debussy 

Charity No 1151928 

TICKETS: £14 || FREE for U26 

www.leweschambermusicfestival.com 

01273 479865 and at Lewes Travel

in town this month: classical 

Classical Round-up 

Bach, Beethoven and Barry Mills 

Few other classical pieces 

present the case for Christmas 

so beautifully or deeply as 

Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. First 

performed in its entirety in 

1734, it is one of JS Bach’s later 

works. Its six parts were originally 

intended to be performed 

on each of the church calendar 

feast days of Christmas, but 

now it is usually offered as a 

single concert work. Its story 

begins with the birth of Jesus 

and ends with the adoration of 

the Magi. 

Under the baton of John 

Hancorn, the outstanding East 

Sussex Bach Choir and the Baroque 

Collective will perform 

the work with four solo singers. 

No matter your religious orientation, 

come and let JS Bach 

work his magic on your spirit. 

Sat 5, 7:30pm, St John sub 

Castro, £20 & £15 (under 16s 

free), 07759 878562 

Violinist Maeve Jenkinson 

and pianist Rachel Fryer will 

be playing a recital of works 

by Schubert, Mozart and 

Beethoven. Maeve studied at 

the Royal College of Music, is 

Musical Director of the Corelli 

Ensemble here in Lewes, and 

also plays regularly with the 

London Philharmonic. Rachel 

Fryer is Concert Director for 

Music and Wine at St. Luke’s, 

a Brighton concert series and 

is a champion of contemporary 

classical music, having 

premiered works by Barry Mills 

and Samuel Becker. 

Sun 6, 3pm, St Michael’s 

Church, retiring collection 

A bit further afield, Pro Musica 

will serve up Respighi’s Praise 

to the Nativity, a contemporary 

setting of O Magnum Mysterium 

by American composer Morten 

Lauridsen and then some 

selections from Handel’s Messiah. 

There will also be some 

congregational carol singing. 

Sun 13, 6pm, St Andrew’s 

Church, Alfriston, £12 (under 

14s free) 

Lewes Chamber Music 

Festival’s Christmas offering 

this year will feature the newly 

formed Eusebius Quartet, 

a group made up of LCMF 

players, including violinist 

and festival founder Beatrice 

Phillips, cellist Hannah Sloane, 

violist Hannah Strijbos and 

violinist Venetia Jollands. The 

programme is Haydn Op.20, 

Beethoven Op.95 and Debussy. 

Sat 12, 7pm, St John sub 

Castro, £14 (under 26s free), 

01273 479865 

Loyal fans of the Paddock Singers 

will welcome another smart 

selection of holiday goodies, 

from the very traditional to 

the more contemporary, but 

always with a touch of class, 

interspersed with singalong 

carols for the congregation. 

Ruth Kerr conducts and Carol 

Kelly plays piano. If you’re in 

luck, you’ll get a piano duet of 

something fun. 

Sun 13, 6pm, St Michael’s 

Church, £8 (under 14s free) 

Lewes Concert Orchestra will 

be joined by the Schola Cantorum 

choir for a Christmas 

concert. The programme will 

include some pieces by Sussexbased 

composers as well as 

Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien 

and Vaughan-Williams’s Fantasia 

on Christmas Carols. 

Sun 18, 7:30pm, Town Hall, 

£12 & £10, lewesconcertorchestra.org 

Paul Austin Kelly 

55

classical christmas 

Christmas Carols 

’Tis the season to be merry 

The annual Pestalozzi Carol Concert is always 

an enjoyable, not to mention worthy event. Roger 

Durston will conduct the Pestalozzi Choir, Nick 

Milner-Gulland will accompany on organ and 

Glyndebourne principals Anne Mason and Geoff 

Moses will be guest soloists. Wed 9, 7:30pm, St 

Michael’s Church, £10, 01273 475172 

Brighton Festival Chorus will have the Brighton 

Philharmonic, the Brighton Festival Youth 

Choir and a couple of solo singers with them for 

their Christmas event. Prepare for traditional 

carols aplenty. Sat 12, 6pm, Brighton Dome, 

£12.50, £15, £20, £25, 01273 709709 

There will be plenty of traditional holiday cheer 

with the Baroque Collective Singers, as well as 

a performance of Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit. 

With John Hancorn conducting, Nicholas 

Houghton on the organ and featuring the Wallands 

Primary School Choir, directed by Briony 

Lambert. Sat 12, 6:30pm, St Michael’s Church, 

£10 (under 16s free) 

The Ashdown Singers will host a charity carol 

concert in aid of Homelink with mince pies 

and tea afterwards. Sun 13, 3pm, St Pancras 

Church, free 

Carols and other Christmas 

music will be sung by 

candlelight with the Esterhazy 

Chamber Choir. And 

your minced pies can be accompanied 

by mulled wine. 

Sat 19, 6pm, St John sub 

Castro, free 

In the Bleak Mid- 

Winter 2015 will 

spotlight local artists 

and performers in 

music, readings 

and carols in aid 

of Amnesty International. 

Sun 20, 

7:30pm, St John 

sub Castro, £12, £6 

PAK 

Illustration by Julain Gower 

Christmas Festival 

With Schola Cantorum 

Friday 18th December 7:30pm 

Info, tickets and prices visit: 

www.lewesconcertorchestra.org

cinema 

Film round-up 

Monty Python’s Life of Brian 

Monty Python’s Life of Brian has become so much 

part of our cultural furniture it’s hard to remember 

what an uproar there was when it was first released. 

The film, as 99% of people reading this will know, 

is about Brian Cohen, born in the next stable to 

Jesus Christ, and mistaken for the Messiah by the 

Three Wise Men. Despite protestations of his 

lack of Messianic credentials, he amasses a huge 

following, and is eventually crucified under orders 

from Pontius Pilate. Being an optimist, he manages 

to find the positive in his final situation, which he 

sings about as the credits roll. 

After the film was released the Python cast received 

death threats, 39 local authorities banned it from 

cinemas in their jurisdiction, and cinemas that did 

show it were picketed by religious groups, claiming 

the makers weren’t comic geniuses, they were very 

naughty boys. 

The Film Club have chosen it as their nearest-to- 

Christmas offering (Fri 18th, 8pm) and it looks 

like a fine decision. One imagines, moreover, that 

no objectors will be outside the All Saints heckling 

punters on their way in. 

The LFC’s other choice is the Australian drama 52 

Tuesdays (Fri 4th, 8pm) about a teenage girl coming 

to terms with her mother’s decision to change 

genders over a calendar year while experiencing her 

own sexual awakening; the girl lives with her father 

and only sees her mother on Tuesday afternoons, 

hence the title. There are elements of neo-realism 

and Dogme 95 in its production values: non-professional 

actors were cast, and given their 52 script 

sections one week at a time. DL 

57

DEClistings 

Until Sat 5 

Theatre. The Circle, by Somerset Maugham. 

Period drawing room comedy about love, marriage 

and duty. Lewes Little Theatre, 7.45pm 

(2.45pm matinee 5th), £10/£8. lewestheatre.org 

Tue 1 

Market. Bric-a-brac, jewellery, books, toys, 

fresh produce, clothes and more. Town Hall, 

9am-2pm. 

Wed 2 

Talk. The Greatest Invention: Let’s Talk 

about Tax. With John Christensen of the Tax 

Justice Network, plus questions and discussion. 

Elly, 8pm, £3. annabinger@btinternet.com 

Wed 2-Sun 13 

Enchanted Park: A Christmas Wish. A magical, 

festive tale, brought to life as an after-dark 

trail featuring art, projections, lighting and 

digital media. Grange Gardens, 4.30-8pm. More 

details and tickets on page 45 and at enchantedparklewes.co.uk 

Performance Poetry. Unfurling: poems of life, 

love and faith by Ian Adams. Elly, 7.45pm, £5/£4. 

janeperry@live.co.uk 

Late Night Shopping. Highlights include 

Santa’s Grotto in Lewes House, music, food 

and drink in Harveys Yard, Craft Market in the 

Market Tower, and a Christmas Market in the 

Town Hall. High Street will be closed to traffic 

between 6-8.30pm. See pg 101 for more details. 

Fri 4 

Food Market. Food and produce from local suppliers. 

Market Tower, weekly, 9.30am-1.30pm. 

Film. 52 Tuesdays. (12) Australian drama 

about a teenager (pictured above) dealing with 

her mother’s decision to change her gender. All 

Saints, 8pm, £5.50. lewes-filmclub.com 

Fri 4-Sun 6 

Thu 3 

RISE Living Library. Hiding in Plain Sight. 

Volunteer Living Books will be available to be 

‘borrowed’ by members of the public for open 

conversation about their lives and experiences of 

domestic abuse. Library, 2-5pm, free. madelaine. 

hunter@riseuk.org.uk 

Lewes Winter Speakers Festival. Array of 

speakers including Vince Cable, Melvyn Bragg 

(see page 41), Peter Temple-Morris, Iain 

Overton, Charles Clarke (see page 39), Virginia 

Nicholson, John Pearson, John Julius Norwich, 

Norman Baker and many more. Events taking 

place at All Saints and The White Hart. Full line 

up and ticket details at lewesspeakersfestival.com 

59

DEClistings (cont) 

Sat 5 

Farmers’ Market. Fresh local produce and lots 

of interesting stalls. Cliffe Precinct, 9am-1pm. 

commoncause.org.uk 

Craft Market. Local artists and makers selling 

their wares. Market Tower, 10am-4pm, free 

entry. lewescraftmkt@gmail.com 

Phoenix March. Celebrate the under-threat 

creativity and enterprise of the Phoenix Estate. 

Meet on Phoenix Place, 10am, or join throughout 

the centre of town. 

Dr Bike. Weekly bike repair workshop. Trade 

prices charged for parts. Nutty Wizard, 9.30am- 

12.30pm, free. 

Artists & Makers Fair. Handcrafted jewellery, 

furniture, ceramics, textiles, food and clothing. 

Festive gifts and treats. Lewes Town Hall, 10am- 

5pm. artistsandmakers@yahoo.co.uk 

Christmas Brocante. Antique market, bric-abrac, 

festive gifts. Organised by Artemis Arts, 

with money raised providing creative workshops 

for the community. Foundry Gallery, 9am-2pm. 

artsartemis@gmail.com 

Seaford Christmas Magic. Market stalls, family 

activities, arts and crafts, lantern parade and 

the switch on of the Christmas lights. Activities 

and events throughout venues in Seaford town, 

10am-7pm. Full details at seafordxmasmagic.uk 

Tue 8 

Market. Bric-a-brac, jewellery, books, toys, 

fresh produce, clothes and more. Town Hall, 

9am-2pm. 

Talk. Nature and the English Romantics. 

Terry Hodgson explores the varying attitudes to 

the natural world in the poetry and prose of the 

nineteenth century from Blake to Hardy. Town 

Hall, 2.30pm. u3asites.org.uk 

Talk. The Battle Abbey Archive. Christopher 

Whittick will describe the chequered life of the 

Battle Abbey papers, now in the Huntington 

Library in San Marino, California, and how they 

relate to The Keep’s own Battle Abbey archive. 

The Keep, Falmer, 5.30pm, free. eventbrite. 

co.uk or 01273 843249 

Talk. Waywardness, Writing, Sussex and 

the South. Writers Iain Sinclair, Lee Rourke, 

Suzanne Joinson and painter/writer Julian Bell 

discuss the inspiration they draw from the South 

of England, and Sussex in particular; its landscapes, 

towns, characters and history. All Saints, 

7.45pm, £10/£8. leweslivelit.co.uk 

61

ook now 

for new year’s eve 

with live music from hazey jane 

http://www.hazeyjane.com 

*from our own organic farm at jevington. 1.5 miles from the pub 

four courses and a glass 

of prosecco for £49.95 

reservations only 

open until late 

milton street, bn265rl 

tel: 01323 870840 www.thesussexox.co.uk mail@thesussexox.co.uk


Fri 11 

Get Festive. Organise some festive fun, and 

show your support for Chestnut Tree House. 

Choose another date if you wish. chestnut-treehouse.org.uk/getfestive 

Fri 11 & Sat 12 

Film. Love & Mercy. (12A) Based on the life 

of musician Brian Wilson, showing two key 

periods in his life, during the 1960s and 1980s. 

All Saints, Fri 5.30pm, Sat 7.45pm, £5-£6.50. 

filmatallsaints.com 

Fri 11 & Sun 13 

Film. Irrational Man. (12A) Woody Allen 

drama about a philosophy professor who has 

reached an emotional and spiritual crisis in his 

life. All Saints, Fri 8pm, Sun 5pm, £5-£6.50. 


international rogue organization committed to 

destroying the IMF. All Saints, Sat 5pm, Sun 

7pm, £5-£6.50. filmatallsaints.com 

Sun 13 

Pop-up Christmas Emporium. One-off retail 

event showcasing Lewes Women in Business 

members’ products and services. Handmade 

items for sale including leather goods, perfumes, 

jewellery, hats, illustrated prints and ceramics. 

Prize draw, sleigh photo booth, mulled wine and 

refreshments available. Pelham House, 11am- 

5pm, free entry. facebook.com/Lewes-Womenin-Business 

Sat 12 

80th Anniversary Party. Pop-up events, vintage 

cars, Punch & Judy shows, floral displays, 1930s 

cocktails and music. Staff will be dressed in 

1930s costume. De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, 

10am-5pm, free. 

Christmas Fair. Craft stalls, jewellery, beauty 

products, handmade cards, fresh produce, 

mulled wine, bric-a-brac, raffles, tombola and 

more. Town Hall, 10am-2pm, 30p. cliffebonfire. 

com/christmas 

Life and Works. An Evening with Ray Brooks 

(see page 43). Film and TV actor Ray Brooks, 

the voice of Mr Benn, will be discussing his life 

and works, with photos and a Q&A. Lewes Little 

Theatre, 7.30pm, £10. 01273 474826 

Sat 12 & Sun 13 

Film. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. 

(12A) Ethan and team take on their most impossible 

mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate, an 

Street Food Festival. Artisan market, festive 

street food, seasonal tipples, face-painting, street 

entertainment, live swing and jazz, free toys 

from Santa’s sack and more. Cliffe Precinct, 

11am-4pm, free entry. 

Mon 14 

Talk. Lewes Street Stories. Two of the Lewes 

Street Stories teams, formed this year, show 

what they have discovered so far about the 

development and history of the residents and 

their homes. The talk will follow the AGM and 

includes free mulled wine & mince pies. King’s 

Church Building, 7.30pm, £3. leweshistory.org. 

uk/meetings 

63

LEWES FARMERS’ MARKET 

Cliffe Precinct 

SATURDAY 9am - 1pm 

7th & 21st NOVEMBER 

5th & 19th DECEMBER 

WWW.COMMONCAUSE.ORG.UK 

THURSDAY 3 RD DECEMBER 2015 

5–8.30PM, LEWES TOWN HALL 

Artists • Perfumier • Bespoke Milliners • Chocolatier 

• Silver & Goldsmiths • Local sparkling wines & spirits • 

Lounge singer • Harveys Ale • Hearth mince pies 

PRESENTED BY CARNIVALE CREATIVE • A LEWES LATE NIGHT SHOPPING EVENT 

leweslatenightshopping.wordpress.com


Wed 16 

Talk. Terry Metheringham discusses the 2013 

opera The Left-Hander by Rodin Shchedrin. 

Based on the humorous tale by Nikolai 

Leskov about competing Russian and English 

craftsmen in the early 19th century. Friends 

Meeting House, 7.15pm, £3. 

Fri 18 

Film. Life of Brian. (15) Classic Monty 

Python religious satire. All Saints, 8pm, £5.50. 

lewes-filmclub.com 

Sat 19 

Farmers’ Market. Fresh local produce and 

lots of interesting stalls. Cliffe Precinct, 9am- 

1pm. commoncause.org.uk 

Fri 25 

Christmas Day Party. Christmas lunch, carol 

singing and festive fun. House of Friendship, 

12-3.30pm. To take part please e-mail Gretel. 

scott@btinternet.com or phone 01273 473904

DEC 

4 

5 

11 

12 

17 

18 

19 

31 

MUSIC NIGHTS 

@ The Con Club 

FULL HOUSE 

ROCK COVERS WITH BLISTERING GUITARS 

VOX BEATLES 

FANTASTIC BEATLES TRIBUTE 

KAST OFF KINKS 

FEATURING EX MEMBERS OF THE KINKS 

FAT BELLY JONES 

TOONS YOU CANT HELP JUMPING TO 

4 CANDLES CABARET 

FIRST TIME AT THE CLUB FOR THIS BRILLIANT CABARET 

KONDOMS 

30TH ANNIVERSARY KRISTMAS PARTY 

OUSE VALLEY COLLECTIVE 

5 PIECE COUNTRY AND FOLK BAND 

CONTENDERS 

NEW YEARS EVE PARTY 

SEE WEBSITE FOR ENTRY AND DETAILS

gig guide 

gig of the month 

A Magical Christmas Evening with Big 

World Blue and Very Special Guests. If 

you put Goldfrapp’s mellowest tracks in 

a blender with Massive Attack’s Teardrop, 

you’d have something close to Big World 

Blue. This month, Martyn Baker and 

Jo Beth Young bring their lush blend of 

dark folk and psychedelia to the Westgate 

Chapel for an atmospheric Christmas 

evening: expect music, opera arias, and 

spoken word from Sussex folk/punk poet 

Charles Antony. Proceeds go to the Oyster 

Project, the Lewes disability charity. 

Fri 11th, Westgate Chapel, 7.30pm, 

£10 

december listings 

tue 1 

English folk dance tunes session. Bring instruments. 

John Harvey Tavern, 8pm, free 

Ceilidh Crew Session. Folk. Lamb, 8.30pm, 

free 

thu 3 

Starfish Review. Various local bands. Lamb, 

4pm, free 

Zoot Zazou. Vintage hot swing. Pelham Arms, 

8.30pm, free 

fri 4 

The Roamin’ Jasmine. New Orleans jazz. 

Lamb, 8.30pm, free 

Smileys Roadshow + Johnny Cash tribute act. 

Motown and rock ‘n’ roll. Volunteer, 9pm, free 

sat 5 

Ethan Johns. In-store. Union Music Store, 3pm, 

free (priority will be given to customers who have 

pre-ordered the album from the Union website 

or shop) 

Lynne Heraud & Pat Turner. Traditional English 

folk. Elephant & Castle, 8pm, £7 

Mr Tea and the Minions. Cheeky gypsy party 

music. Lamb, 8.30pm, free 

Stone Junction. Contemporary folk. Snowdrop, 

9pm, free 

Sun 6 

Open mic. Elephant & Castle, 7.30pm, free 

English folk dance tunes session. Bring instruments. 


mon 7 

Live jazz. Snowdrop, 8pm, free 

tue 8 

Goodtimes Music open mic. All welcome. 


wed 9 

Shepherds Arise! Old Sussex carols, dance tunes 

and Mummers play. St John sub Castro, 8pm, 

free with collection 

Old Time session. Appalachian roots. Lamb, 

8.30pm, free 

67

gig guide (cont) 

fri 11 

The Long Haul. Country & western swing. 


Micky Hart and The Heartbreakers. Rock ‘n’ 

roll. Volunteer, 9pm, free 

sat 12 

The Roselleys. Americana and country. In-store. 

Union Music Store, 3pm, free 

John & Di Cullen & Iris Bishop. Traditional 

and modern folk. Elephant & Castle, 8pm, £6 

Dr Razzu. Annual Christmas reunion of the 

much-loved Lewes lads. Lansdown, 8pm, free 

Cousin Avi. Rock, funk and reggae. Lamb, 

8.30pm, free 

mon 14 

Triversion. Jazz organ trio. Snowdrop, 8pm, free 

tue 15 

Ceilidh Crew session. Folk. Lamb, 8.30pm, free 

wed 16 

So Last Century Stringband. Old time. Snowdrop, 

9pm, free 

Phil Mill. Blues and jazz. Limetree Kitchen, 

waiting for time, free 

Thu 17 

Sam Walker. Bluesy acoustic rock. Lansdown, 

8pm, free 

Kangaroo Moon. Psych-Celtic folk fusion. 


FRI 18 

Porchlight Smoker. Roots, folk and bluegrass. 


The Umbrella Men. Electric blues. Volunteer, 

9pm, free 

SAT 19 

Lewes Saturday Folk Club Christmas party. 

Traditional carols and folk tunes. Elephant & 

Castle, 8pm, £4 

The Contenders. Rhythm and blues. Lamb, 

8.30pm, free 

SUN 20 

Buffo’s Wake. Gypsy punk. Lamb, 8.30pm, free 

MON 21 


thu 24 

Full House. Rock covers. Volunteer, 9pm, free 

sun 27 

Shepherds Arise! Old Sussex carols, dance tunes 

and Mummers play. St Michael in Lewes Church, 

4pm, free with collection 

mon 28 

Christmas Ceilidh Crew session. Folk. Lamb, 

3pm, free 


thu 31 

The Dead Reds + Scott Free. Blues rock. 


Photo of Sam Walker by Matt Elliott 

68

‘Tis the season 

to sell your home 

From Boxing Day there is a huge spike in property 

internet traffic. January shows a 27% increase 

in enquiries over December year on year. 

source Rightmove 

The Forward Thinking Estate Agency 

oakleyproperty.com 01273 487444

Lewes advert 4.qxp_Layout 1 08/09/2015 17:00 Page 1 


Sing, Dance, Act Now! 

Saturday classes (am & pm) 

for children from 4 to 18 years 

At Ringmer Community 

College, BN8 5RB 

Get in touch 

to book a 

trial or to find 

out more 

01273 504380 

lewes@stagecoach.co.uk 

www.stagecoach.co.uk/lewes

interview êêêê 

Reindeer keeper 

Leonie Barber at Washbrooks Farm 

Photos by Rebecca Cunningham 

How many reindeers do you have at Washbrooks? 

We have four; Scoobie and Mary who 

are both 14 and Barney and Wilma who are one 

and a half. We’ve had the older two for quite a 

few years - reindeers only live for 15 years on 

average so they are pretty old now. Barney and 

Wilma were brought over from Finland by the 

farm owners. 

Will they get to help Santa this Christmas? 

Hopefully! He’s coming to visit us on the 5th 

and 6th so if they’re in the right mood they’ll be 

helping him. 

What do they like to do when they’re not 

getting ready for Christmas? They like to eat 

a lot of grass and take naps in their shed. They 

just like watching the world go by and looking at 

the people walking around the farm. Except for 

Barney – he likes to splash in the water trough, 

that’s why the ground is always so wet! 

What do reindeers eat? We feed them reindeer 

pellets every day which are especially for them 

– none of the other animals get to eat them. 

And we buy in big sacks of reindeer moss from 

Finland which they like to graze on. They love 

carrots – especially around Christmas time. 

Is it true that their antlers fall off? Yes, they 

shed their antlers every year, usually around late 

spring, and they malt their fur around the same 

time. They look awful for a little while! They use 

anything they can find to rub their old fur off – 

fences, branches, sometimes each other – but after 

about two months it’s usually all grown back. 

When their antlers first come through they’re all 

velvety, and each year they grow a bit bigger than 

the year before. 

Will you be expecting any new additions to 

the reindeer family in the new year? The age 

that they start having babies is over two years, so 

it’s possible, but their breeding pattern is quite 

unusual. We’re not planning for any babies but if 

it happens, then it happens! 

Can you tell us an interesting fact about 

reindeers? When they walk one of the ligaments 

in their back legs clicks – it sounds like they’ve 

got really bad arthritis – but they make the sound 

so that they don’t lose each other when they’re 

walking through heavy snow. 

Will they be getting any Christmas presents? 

They’ll probably get lots of carrots. RC 

71

Explore... and experience 

our way of learning 

Junior School Open Morning 

12 January 2016 - 9:30am to 12:30pm 

• small classes 

• co-educational 

• emphasis on individuality 

• tailored learning 

• 3 to 18 years 

For more information please contact: The Admissions Secretary 

office@logs.uk.com 01273 472634 www.logs.uk.com

FreeTIME 

What’s on 

shoes on now: 

Roasting chestnuts 

Fri 11, Sat 12 & Sun 13 

WishWorks Puppet Show. King Wenceslas 

and the Three Bears. King Wenceslas travels 

through the forest to find the woodcutter and 

bring him Christmas cheer, with the help of his 

minstrel, the three bears and the Little Good 

Wolf. Mince pies and other seasonal treats on 

offer. Suitable for 3-12 year olds. Linklater 

Pavilion, Fri 4.30pm, Sat 11am, Sun 2.30pm, £5 

each, £15 family. wishworks.co.uk 

Sun 13 

Film. Song of the Sea. (PG) A young Irish boy 

and his little sister, a girl who can turn into a 

seal, go on an adventure to free the faeries and 

save the spirit world. All Saints, 3pm, £5-£6.50. 


Fri 18 & Sun 20 

WishWorks Puppet Pantomime. Goldifox. 

The story teller is interrupted by a naughty 

puppet who wants to be part of the show. Enjoy 

a lantern lit trail around the Heart of Reeds. 

Linklater Pavilion, Fri 4.30pm, Sun 2.30pm, £5 

each, £15 family. wishworks.co.uk 

Mon 21 

Midwinter Craft Workshop. Find out about 

the winter solstice and medieval midwinter 

traditions. Barbican House, 11am-12noon (ages 

4-7), 2-4pm (ages 8-12), £6. 01273 486290 for 

more details or buy your ticket from the castle 

shop. Booking essential. sussexpast.co.uk 

A recent trip up to London saw the children 

captivated by the sight of street vendors 

peddling roasted chestnuts. Served in paper 

bags, these sweet treats are high in carbohydrate, 

low in fat and, more importantly, easy 

to prepare. Inspired by Nat King Cole’s ‘The 

Christmas Song’ – Chestnuts roasting on an 

open fire- I thought this was one tradition we 

could import back down the A23 to Lewes. 

Chestnuts were much beloved by The 

Romans and consequently chestnut trees are 

plentiful throughout Britain. You can buy 

chestnuts bagged up at local supermarkets 

but if you feel like foraging for them yourself, 

then use the heel of your shoe to crack 

open the spikey husk revealing one or two 

chestnuts inside. Chestnuts have high levels 

of tannic acid so it’s best to avoid eating 

them raw. Inspired by our London experience 

we set to roasting our own chestnuts. 

The secret is to cut a cross in the top of 

the chestnut, which stops them exploding 

whilst in the oven. Then simply pop the 

chestnuts flat-side down on a baking tray at 

200C/400F/Gas 6 and roast until the skins 

open and the insides are tender- this takes 

approximately 25 minutes. Serve as they are 

- careful they will be hot! - and make sure 

the children peel away the shell to reveal the 

soft, sweet inner kernel. They may not have 

been quite up to the standard of the London 

street vendors, but our roast chestnuts were 

eagerly scoffed up by the boys. Jacky Adams 

73

Our present 

to you 

DECEMBER FREE * 

UNLIMITED 

Swimming 

Classes 

Gym 

Our 

present 

to you 

Our present 

to you 

Join at any Wave centre in Lewes, Peacehaven, Newhaven and Seaford. 

*Month to month flexible memberships require a joining fee. First direct debit must be met. 

Offer available 1st - 24th December 2015. Terms & Conditions apply. 

www.waveleisure.co.uk 01323 493026 info@waveleisure.co.uk

under 16 

Christmas highlights 

Wed 2-Sun 6/Wed 9 - sun 13 

Enchanted Park: A Christmas Wish. A magical, 

festive tale, brought to life as an after dark trail 

Grange Gardens, 4.30-8pm. More details and 

tickets at enchantedparklewes.co.uk 

Fri 4 

Christmas Magic Eve Party. 

Disco and party games led by 

popular fairy tale characters and 

a visit from Santa. Under 6s to 

be accompanied by a guardian. 

In aid of Teddy Treats Charity. 

Downs Leisure Centre, Seaford, 

6-8pm, £3. Tickets from Toy Town and Seaford 

Tourist Information Centre. 01323 894870 

Sat 5 

Christmas Carousel. Create 

glowing winter lanterns, decorate 

wooden tree ornaments and 

make beautiful clay stars. Sensory 

play dough area. Kingston Village 

Hall, 2-5pm, £8 per child, 

accompanying adults and under 2s free. Incl refreshments. 

In aid of Rockinghorse Charity. Book 

a time slot: lorna@storycarousel or 07905057282 

Seaford Christmas Magic. Market stalls, family 

activities, arts and crafts, lantern parade and the 

switch on of the Christmas lights. Activities and 

events throughout venues in Seaford town, 10am- 

7pm. Full details at seafordxmasmagic.uk 

Sat 5 & Sun 6 

Tudor Christmas. Find out how the Tudors celebrated 

Christmas with food, 

archery, crafts and traditional 

entertainment. Roasted 

chestnuts, mince pies, and 

other seasonal favourites of the time. Michelham 

Priory, 11am-4pm. 

Wed 23 

Christmas Party. With DJ Claire Fuller and Jennie 

Castell appearing as Elsa from Frozen at 5pm. 

Buffet available. The Volunteer, 3-6pm, £2. 

Until Sun 20 

Santa’s Grotto. Wyevale Garden Centre, 

Kingston, every weekend throughout Dec, £7 per 

child, adults free. wyevalegardencentres.co.uk 

Until Thu 24 

Sussex Santa Experience. Meet Santa and his 

elves in Winter Wonderland. Spring Barn Farm. 

Tickets, dates and prices at springbarnfarm.com 

Until Jan 4 

Winter Wonderland Illuminations. Animalthemed 

lightshow with music. Drusillas Park, 

Alfriston, 4.30pm daily. drusillas.co.uk 

Until Jan 17 

Ice Skating. Festive icy fun; skate to music and 

enjoy the rink-side restaurant. Royal Pavilion, 

Brighton. royalpavilionicerink.co.uk 

MON 21 

Midwinter Craft Workshop. Medieval midwinter 

traditions at Barbican House. sussexpast.co.uk 

75

With its excellent and imaginative 

approach, the Steiner Waldorf 

curriculum has gained everwidening 

recognition as a creative 

and compassionate alternative to 

traditional avenues of education. 

But just how does it feel to be a child 

in the classroom, soaking up this 

stimulating and rewarding teaching? 

Find out for yourself... 

Open Day 

Thursday 28 th January 2016 - 08:30 

Thursday 3 rd March 2016 - 08:30 

All welcome, please register at 08:30 

Tours leave at 09:00 - Closes 13:00 

We look forward to meeting you. 

www.michaelhall.co.uk 

Kidbrooke Park, Priory Road, Forest Row. East Sussex, RH18 5JA 

Tel: 01342 822275 - Registered Charity Number 307006 

Midwinter 

at Lewes Castle 

Midwinter Craft Workshop! 

Monday 21st December 

Find out about the winter solstice & 

medieval Midwinter traditions. 

11am to 12pm: ages 4-7, tickets £4 

2pm to 4pm: ages 8-12, tickets £6 

Booking is essential at Lewes Castle 

or on 01273 486290 

Adult to stay, does not include entry to the castle. 

Explore our website for more details 

www.sussexpast.co.uk

under 16 

êêêê 

young artist of the month 

This month we’ve replaced the 

young photographer slot with a 

young artist slot to celebrate the 

Friends of Lewes 2016 calendar, 

produced by Lewes schoolchildren. 

Out of the 13 pictures 

(one for the cover!) our fave is 

this one of Harveys Brewery, 

by Ellie Brown, 11, of Lewes 

Old Grammar. You can buy 

the calendar at Le Bureau and 

at Tourist Info. Keep sending 

your photos in… we’ll return to 

normal service (including a £10 

Bags of Books voucher for the 

chosen snapper) next month! 

77

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drink 

Mulled Cider 

The spice of winter life 

November 17th, deadline day. There’s a half page to last-minute fill in the 

food and drink section, so we decide to do something on mulled cider… 

then we realise that the pubs don’t tend to do it before December. Who 

can we get to make some up from scratch? 

Dec, the guy who’s turned the Black Horse round so much (it’s in the 

2016 Good Pub Guide) comes to mind – he’s famous for the stuff - so I 

ring him up. ‘Where are you mate?’ ‘Waitrose’. ‘That’s handy’. ‘Why?’ 

Turns out he’s one aisle away from the spice counter. Yes, he patiently says, he will make a batch. 

An hour and a half later I’m up there. Dec serves me a half pint, and tells me what’s in it: Biddenden 

Bushels Kentish cider, star anise, cinnamon, vanilla pod, clementine, oranges and apples speared with 

cloves, and a splash of rum. He’s made 10 pints of the stuff, and has already served two glasses to the 

healthy smattering of Tuesday afternoon punters there. 

Calmly taking photos of this heady brew is a tough job, as all I want to do is try it: you know how 

tempting that old mulled smell is. Turns out it’s worth the wait. The sweetness of the fruit and spices 

hit it off beautifully with the dryness of the cider. Needless to say, it goes down a treat. I sip, we chat, I 

thank him and go. 

Five minutes after I arrive in the office, a phone call. I’ve left my gloves there. Dammit, I have to go 

back, with that moreish taste still in my mouth. Was that my subconscious at work? Alex Leith 

KITCHEN.ROOMS.BAR 

saltmarshfarmhouse.co.uk 

Looking for somewhere magical? 

Why not try the best kept secret in the 

South Downs. 

A beautiful 16th Century Grade II listed farmhouse and 

garden on the edge of Friston Forest overlooking the 

Cuckmere Haven. 

We serve traditional English roast lunch every 

Sunday and are open daily from 10am till 4pm serving 

homemade cakes, lunch and tea or coffee. 

For Christmas our Chef’s have created a 2 or 3 course 

menu for only £25 or £29. 

Bookings on 01323 870218 or 

info@saltmarshfarmhouse.co.uk 

79

food 

The Griffin Inn 

Out for a duck... again 

If you’ve been to the 

Griffin, chances are 

you’ve been in the 

daytime, in the summer, 

and had a drink or a meal 

sitting in its two-acre 

garden – nicknamed 

‘The Serengeti’ – with 

its beautiful view of the 

North Weald. That’s my 

last experience of the 

place. This time it’s late 

autumn, and early evening, 

and we’ve booked 

a table for two in the 

restaurant area. Will it 

be worth the 25-minute 

drive? 

This medieval inn has 

been run by the same 

family – the Pullans – since the 70s, and we 

walk through the bit they’ve kept as a pub for 

locals before being shown our table in the bit 

that they long ago turned into a restaurant for 

fine dining. There are some well-animated 

drinkers at the bar in the former space, and a 

smattering of well-dressed clients in the latter. I 

offer Pauline - who’s driven us here – her choice 

of seat, and she goes for the huge throne which 

backs onto the wall, with a view over the establishment. 

I thus get a good view of her, which is 

fine, as she is an animated conversationalist. 

“I’ll go for the scallops and the fillet steak,” 

she announces, after scanning the menu for 

about ten seconds. They are the most expensive 

items on each side of the menu, and the tastiest 

sounding, to boot. I’m tempted – what the hell 

– to follow her example (note to self – if you 

always end up eating with people who like the 

same things as you, get your order in first) but 

in the end opt for a different main choice: duck 

breast. 

The plump scallops 

arrive on thin black 

slates, accompanied 

by little balls of black 

pudding, sat in a base 

of creamy sauce. By 

the time I’ve finished 

photographing mine, 

Pauline has finished 

hers (that was quick) 

and so I enjoy eating 

them ostentatiously 

slowly. These ones have 

been perfectly seared so 

you get an umami aftertaste. 

There are three 

of them. I’ve chosen a 

large glass of Rioja to 

drink, which has gone 

down beautifully. I order another. 

Pauline’s steak looks amazing – the size of a 

large pork pie, with chargrilled stripes on the 

top – but my food envy lessens when my duck 

breast arrives, on a bed of new potatoes. From 

the size of its breast this was quite a duck, and 

its flesh has been cooked to perfection: there’s 

just enough heft to make each mouthful a 

lingering treat. 

We talk about mutual friends, and carbohydrates, 

a common current obsession (she avoids 

them whenever possible; I get her potatoes). 

She also skips pudding, and so I spare her a 

description of the taste sensation achieved from 

my crunchy-creamy crème brûlée, which comes 

with two biscotti, and a physalis (I think). This 

accompanied by a grappa, always a fine way to 

end a meal. The bill comes to 24p over the ton; 

I pay and we head back to the car. Worth the 

journey? You bet. 

Alex Leith 

81

82 

Photo by Alex Leith

food 

Christmas stuffing 

Pelham House head chef Glenn Lester lets us into 

his Christmas Day sausage-meat secret 

I don’t know about your family but in mine the 

stuffing is one of the real stars of the show, and 

not just on the big day. But Christmas Day is 

stressful enough for the cook of the house without 

adding anything else to the mix, so I like to 

keep my recipe simple… and make it a couple of 

days in advance. 

The trick to good stuffing is the same as the trick 

to most of the cooking I do: good ingredients. 

And the most important of these, of course, is 

the sausage meat. I get mine from a quality local 

butcher – in this case Redlands Farm Shop 

in Horam – rather from a supermarket because 

they can tell you where the pig was reared, and 

what breed it was (in this case it was a free-range 

local Plantation Pig). You can also tell them how 

much you want it seasoned, if at all. I’m all for 

shopping locally for all the usual reasons, and 

we’re blessed in Sussex with so many quality 

producers. 

No turkey sandwich is the same without a good 

bit of stuffing in there, and it’s even a treat cold 

out of the fridge… so the first question is, can 

you make too much? In this case I’m using two 

kilos of meat, so scale down accordingly if you’re 

cooking for fewer than 12! 

Basically you need to mix all these ingredients up 

in a big bowl: 2kg of sausage meat; 200g chopped 

chestnuts; 100g breadcrumbs; 3 sprigs lemon 

thyme; 2 sprigs rosemary; 2 tbs mace; the zest 

of a lemon and an orange; 1 diced shallot; half 

a bunch of chopped sage; 250g of chopped fruit 

(dates, figs, cranberries and apricots, which have 

been rehydrated overnight in port). And salt to 

taste. I like to mix it all up with my bare hands: 

you can use a processor but there’s the danger 

of your ingredients getting chopped too fine and 

your ending up with overworked meat patty, as 

opposed to nice stuffing. 

Then there’s the question of how to cook it. You 

can either put it in the bird, or cook it separately. 

The way I do this at Pelham House is to roll it 

into a ballotine – a fancy French word for a big 

sausage – inside a sheet of parchment paper and 

a sheet of tin foil. Roll it tight, pinch the ends 

together and steam it until it’s 75 degrees (if you 

haven’t got a probe, it’s ready when the tip of a 

knife you’ve prodded through is hot when you 

touch it to your lip or chin). You can keep this 

wrapped up in the fridge for two or three days 

and then cut it into slices and pan fry it when 

you need it. 

Another method, which we’ve used for the stuffing 

in the picture, is to make little 200g balls, and 

pan fry them for about 4 minutes in hot oil, only 

turning occasionally, till they’ve caramelised, and 

have what we chefs call ‘bark’. They don’t need 

to cook through, because you’re going to finish 

them off in the oven, at 180-200 degrees, for 12 

minutes or so. 

That’s it basically: don’t be afraid to experiment 

with the ingredients. This stuffing is nice with 

turkey or chicken: if you’re eating game, I’d definitely 

add some chicken liver into the mix. And if 

you’re vegetarian, there are plenty of bread stuffing 

recipes on the internet. Enjoy! 

83

Forty 

FOOD DRINKS WINKS 

Indulge yourself in our 

fine dining and renowned 

tasting menus. 

Drop in for freshly made 

cocktails, wines and craft beer 

in our new cocktail bar. 

Complete the night in our 

boutique double room 

with ensuite. 

C H R I S T M A S M E N U 

3 Courses £30 ~ 5 Courses £35 

2 1 

FOR 

COCKTAILS 

W I T H T H I S A D V E R T * 

starters 

Salmon carpaccio, pickled cucumber, wasabi and yoghurt dressing, salmon roe. 

Chicken liver, white truffle and pistachio parfait, lychee, pea shoots, pancetta and brioche. 

Jerusalem artichoke soup, lemon beurre noisette and hazelnuts. 

mains 

Confit Holmansbridge farm turkey leg, parma ham, fondant potato, glazed carrot and jus. 

Roasted cod fillet, herb crust, kedgeree and parsley sauce. 

Roasted Brussels sprouts and chestnuts, cauliflower purée, butternut squash gnocchi and sage. 

desserts 

Apple and Calvados bread and butter pudding with Christmas pudding ice cream. 

Selection of homemade ice creams and sorbets. 

Selection of local and European cheeses. 

Limetree Kitchen 

14 Station Street, Lewes, East Sussex. BN7 2DA 

Call 01273 478636 to book your table… or room. 

F I N E D I N I N G • C O C K T A I L S • A C C O M M O D A T I O N 

www.limetreekitchen.co.uk 

limetreekitchen 

* Cheapest cocktail free when 2 cocktails are ordered

food 

Edible Updates 

Christmas: how depressing, to only have a 

half-page on which to list all the food news this 

December. For hampers: difficult choices to make, 

as there are fine ones on offer at Laporte’s, Cheese 

Please, Pleasant Stores and through Lewes 

Hamper leweshamper.co.uk. Of course, you might 

also do well to make your own from products on 

offer at the Food Rocks Market on 13 Dec, 11- 

4pm, or the weekly Lewes Food Market – maybe 

with Jane Fairman’s Beech Leaf Noyau or Cherry 

Blossom liqueur? Lewes Food Market will be 

open on Christmas Eve from 9-12, for collection 

of pre-ordered turkeys, Christmas puddings, pies 

and stollen. More choice again when it comes to 

delicious handmade festive bakes. The Hearth has 

brought back their Harveys mince pies and Christmas 

cakes. Made to heirloom recipes and with 

heirloom wheat. Happily the local allergy-friendly 

Steph’s Kitchen is back in operation, to order their 

non-festive treats, email stephpalmer@btinternet. 

com. Pleasant Stores too, are making classic, vegan 

and gluten free cakes to order, and Robin at Lewes 

Community Kitchen will be baking up a storm 

for Stollen Fest on 18 Dec, join for mulled wine and 

nibbles, 3.30-5pm (see breadclub.org.uk/lewes). 

Lewesiana, newly open from 8.30am, now has 

an extended hot menu and Limetree Kitchen, 

a new cocktail bar and b&b room. Before I wish 

you Merry Christmas, it wouldn’t be right not to 

mention that the Soup Kitchen at The Hearth will 

be raising money for Calais on Fridays, noon-2pm, 

and the Oyster Project Christmas Appeal needs 

to top £1,500 this year: donate.oysterproject.org.uk 

Chloë King 

85 

Illustration by Chloë King

Merry Christmas 

Join us for some festive sparkle and enjoy our 

fantastic Christmas menus. 

Seasonal and local favourites. 

Open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Only closed on Christmas Day. 

Real Eating Company 

An independent, local restaurant 

18 Cliffe High Street 

Lewes BN7 2AH 

01273 402650 

lewes@real-eating.co.uk

drink 

Champagne 

Festive fizz 

Photo by Alex Leith 

Asked by Roy Plomley to choose his Desert Island 

Luxury, John Betjeman plumped for a half bottle 

of champagne, every morning after breakfast. 

Most of us, alas, confine our indulgence in what 

Tennyson, Betjeman’s fellow Poet Laureate, called, 

a tad prosaically, ‘the foaming grape of Eastern 

France’, to weddings, funerals and other disasters. 

And, perhaps, Christmas. And this Christmas, 

with the continued weakness of the Euro, prices 

should have fallen. 

Symposium stock 15 champagnes from eight 

producers. Last Christmas I recommended their 

Billecart-Salmon range in Viva Lewes (Ronald 

Searle and his wife, Monica, drank a bottle of 

the B-S rosé every day and lived to 91 and 85 

respectively! £63, though.) This year, Symposium 

owners, Henry and Robert, select Ayala (£30-£35), 

Pierre Gimonnet (£32-£37) and Charles Heidsieck 

(£43). By the way, Charles-Camille Heidsieck was 

the original ‘Champagne Charlie’, immortalised in 

George Leybourne’s music hall song. But too much 

fizz helped hasten Leybourne’s early demise in 

Islington, at only 42. 

If you prefer to support local produce – the foaming 

grape of Eastern Sussex rather than Eastern 

France – I still think Breaky Bottom make the 

most interesting sparkling wines. Waitrose stock 

their 100% Seyval Blanc non-vintage (£24.95), 

but again it’s really worth visiting Symposium for 

their stock of vintage Breaky Bottom – 2007, 2008 

(£29.95 each) and 2010 (£34). Harveys stock them 

too. The latest to be released is the 2009 Cuvée 

Gerard Hoffnung (also £34), a complex mix of 

Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. DJ

A Great British 

pub, a warm 

welcome, 

wonderful food 

& ambience 

The Pelham arms 

HigH Street • LeweS 

THERE IS STILL TIME TO BOOK YOUR CHRISTMAS PARTY! 

You can download our menu from our website, send us an email to 

check availability & book a table. 

VINTAGE HOT SWING! WITH ZOOT ZAZOU 

Thursday 3rd December. From 8.30pm. FREE. 

Come and shake your pants! 

We look forward to welcoming you! 

Opening Hours 

Tuesday to Thursday 

Bar 12noon to 11pm & 

Food 12noon to 2.30pm & 6 to 9.30pm 

Friday & Saturday 

Bar 12noon to Midnight & 

Food 12noon to 2.30pm & 6 to 9.30pm 

Sunday 

Bar 12noon to 10.30pm & Food 12noon to 8pm 

Get in touch! 

Tel. 01273 476149 

Email. manager@thepelhamarms.co.uk 

Twitter @PelhamArmsLewes 

Facebook.com/pelhamarmslewes 

Book online @ www.thepelhamarms.co.uk

the way we work 

This month we asked Carlotta Luke to take pictures of stallholders at the Lewes Farmers’ 

Market, posing them the question: what is the favourite ingredient in your Christmas 

dinner? The Markets in December are on the 5th and the 19th: the latter is, all but in 

name, the Xmas Market in which you can get all you need for the big day. It’s also worth 

noting there’s a special ‘Friday’ Market in the Market Tower on Christmas Eve. 

Michael Vine, Ersham Farm 

“Having spent seven months nurturing, feeding and watering turkey chicks 

from four days old, it’s nice to sit down and finally enjoy them with all the trimmings.”


Liz Bur, Ashurst Organics 

“Christmas pudding with brandy butter, washed down with champagne.”

Prepare to Feast! 

...Christmas orders 

now being taken... 

• Local 

Produce, 

Eggs & 

Honey 

• Home-made 

Cakes & Pies 

• Outstanding 

quality & value 

• Tea Room & 

Refreshments 

Discover REAL Flavour... 

For a Splendid, Succulent 

Local Turkey and our 

Tasty, Home-Produced, 

Additive-Free Beef, 

Lamb & Pork, call in to 

our shop today or phone 

01273 478265 

OFFHAM 

FARM SHOP 

Less food miles = more food smiles... 

On the A275 OFFHAM 

near LEWES BN7 3QE 

USUAL HOURS 

Shop Xmas Opening: 17-23 Dec 9am–4.30pm / 24 Dec 7.30am–2.00pm 

25-28 Dec CLOSED / 29-31 Dec Normal hours / New Years Day CLOSED 

8502-OFS_Xmas'15_Dec_VLHP*.indd 1 08/11/2015 21:51


Grassington Farm. Richard Barton (pictured with family) 

“My fave part of Christmas dinner is the people because it is 

so precious to share Christmas dinner with your loved ones!”

JEWELLERS AND SILVERSMITHS OF DISTINCTION 

72/73 High Street · Lewes · East Sussex BN7 1XG 

Telephone: 01273 474150 · Facsimile: 01273 486591 

Email: marstonbarrett@btconnect.com 

Web: www.marstonbarrett.com 

Cooper & Son would like to 

wish all its customers a very 

Merry Christmas 

Inc. Cooper & Son 

Because every life is unique 

42 High Street, Lewes | 01273 475 557 

Also at: Uckfield • Seaford • Cross In Hand 

www.cpjfield.co.uk


Lordington Lavender 

“Marlane Rutledge (standing in for the owner): My favourite part of Christmas dinner 

is the brown meat on the turkey, the white meat does not get eaten in our house!”

MODERN TREASURES 

Opening for Late night Shopping thursday 3rd December 

5-9pm 

and Saturday 5th December 12-5pm 

Star Brewery 1 Castle Ditch Lane, Lewes, BN7 1YJ 

01273 471269 www.abbymosseri.com 

a b b y m o s s e r i 

M O D E R N T R E A S U R E S 

OPENING FOR LATE NIGHT SHOPPING 

THURSDAY 3 RD DECEMBER 5-9PM 

& SATURDAY 5 TH DECEMBER 12-5PM 

STAR BREWERY, 1 CASTLE DITCH LANE, LEWES, BN7 1YJ 01273 965041 WWW.ABBYMOSSERI.COM 

For the tastiest things on your Christmas list, see you down by the Riverside 

Cliffe Bridge, Lewes BN7 2RE 

www.riverside-lewes.co.uk 

RIVERSIDE 

By Cliffe Bridge, Lewes www.riverside-lewes.co.uk


Owena Farm Produce 

“Because of the vegetarians I cook for, I major on the roast vegetables 

on Christmas Day, but the meat-eaters among us do enjoy a bit of hogget.”

Made in 

Lewes... 

There’s a huge variety of locally 

produced and crafted items on sale 

in and around town, perfect for that 

special spot under the tree. 

From top: hand-stitched leather 

bucket bag by Lewesian Leathers, 

available at The Silvery, 

£125. Rose, geranium and pink 

clay soap bar, The Good Times 

Homestore, £5. Jelly mould tea 

light holder, From Victoria, £15.

Rathfinny 2014 Pinot Blanc 

Chardonnay, from The Gun 

Room in Alfriston, £14.95. Lewes 

bow tie, in vintage fabric, £32, 

dinamalkova.com. Screen printed 

tea towel by Mary Fellows, at the 

Needlemakers, £9.50. The Lewes 

Hamper, with stuff from Vrac Tea, 

Lewes Map, Merle’s Kitchen and 

Seven Sisters’ Spices, £40-£80. 

The Tiny Gin Garden, £44.95, 

tinyvineyard.com

www.lewesianleathers.co.uk 

The SilveryR 

www.thesilvery.co.uk 

RThursday 3rd December Lewes Late Night Shopping 

R 

Come and join us for Free Mulled Wine and Mince Pies 

29 Cliffe High Street, next to the church 

R

lewes 

late night 

shopping 

3rd December 2015. 6pm – 8.30pm 

For over 30 years, Late Night Shopping has constituted the 

unofficial start to Christmas in Lewes and this year is no exception, 

with bell ringing, carol singing and all sorts of entertainment 

planned throughout the town. 

Enjoy a traffic-free, festive evening with shops, eateries and 

markets open late with offers and treats to tempt you in and fill you 

with festive spirit. Christmas shopping, in effect, starts here. 

organised by

Thank you for your support 

Each year we hope to raise as much money as possible for local good causes and this 

year we’re thrilled to be raising funds for the Bevern Trust. 

For over 15 years the Trust has been helping young adults with profound disabilities 

live life to the full. Compassionate care is at the centre of their work and their home 

at Bevern View. For people with profound disabilities just getting out of bed, eating 

breakfast and getting dressed to start the day could need the help of at least two 

carers. The charity aspires to a situation whereby every parent with a disabled child has 

a place like Bevern View that they can trust. A place where care, family and love come 

first, every day. Funds raised on the evening will help them to meet this goal and to give 

people with complex needs the care and experiences that many of us take for granted. 

To find out more and to get involved, please visit beverntrust.org

What’s on 

VISIT THE LUXURY CHRISTMAS EVENT AT THE TOWN HALL 

In the Town Hall, you’ll find Christmas Creative, showcasing luxury products 

from Lewes makers. Exhibitors include a perfumier, a chocolatier, a bespoke 

milliner, and silver and goldsmiths. Enjoy the dulcet tones of a lady lounge 

singer, local sparkling wines, Harveys ale, mince pies from the Hearth, 

mulled wine and the launch of the Lewes Hamper. 

SHOP ‘TIL YOU DROP 

It’s the perfect moment to start your Christmas shopping, with the High 

Street closed to traffic, and special offers and festive treats in many shops. 

Tourist Information have a medieval theme with choral music, games and 

storytelling. Buy distinctive Lewes gifts and get them wrapped for free! 

Round the corner you’ll find stalls in the Market Tower. 

THE TOWN TRAIL 

Join in this year’s town trail for the chance to win some fantastic prizes. 

Gather a stamp in each of the 12 shops on the trail as well as a letter to 

complete the festive anagram. Prizes include three family tickets to the 

Enchanted Park at Lewes Grange, a Family Hamper, a meal for two at the 

Pelham Arms, a £25 Stitchery Voucher and a Viva kids’ Christmas stocking! 

SANTA’S GROTTO 

Santa will set up his grotto in Lewes House once again this year, offering 

gifts for children whilst the adults can stop for mulled wine. 

HARVEYS YARD 

There’s loads to do this year at Harveys Brewery Yard with a Hog Roast, the 

Hop Bar, Hearth pizzas & mince pies, waffles and Christmas Ale ice cream. 

We’ve got vintage vehicles and Rockabilly Christmas will be playing in 

between updates from Lewes’ very own Town Crier, John Borthwick. Lewes 

Passion Play present The Christmas Story Unfolded in Harveys Way. 

LEWES ENCHANTED PARK 

Enchanted Park, in the Grange Gardens, will be open from 4.30pm getting 

your evening off to a very festive start. Booking is essential to avoid 

disappointment. enchantedparklewes.co.uk

The Town Trail 

Twelve shops are taking part in this year’s town trail. Collect a stamp from each of 

them as well as a letter to complete a Christmas anagram. Each shop will have an 

item they wouldn’t usually sell. Find the item, jot down the first letter of its name, 

then rearrange the letters to form a festive phrase. Collect all 12 stamps, complete 

the anagram and tear out and hand in your form at any of the participating shops. 

The first five entries drawn out of the hat will win a family ticket to Enchanted Park, 

a Family Hamper, a £25 Stitchery voucher, a meal for two at the Pelham Arms or a 

Viva Christmas stocking. Don’t forget to take your Viva out with you! 

1. 2. 3. 4. 

5. 6. 7. 8. 

9. 10. 11. 12. 

Fill in your anagram here: 

Get all 12 stamps in the baubles above 

««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««« 

Hand this page into one of the participating shops to be entered in the prize draw 

Name ........................................................................................................... 

Email address ........................................................................................... Tel no ...................................................................................

A big thank you to... 

The Chamber of Commerce have organised this event for many years now and 

would like to thank everyone who has volunteered their time and resources to make 

this wonderful evening possible. 

Thanks to Viva Lewes, the twelve shops in the town trail, the businesses that have 

donated prizes, the Town and District Council for their continued support and to 

everyone who helps make Santa’s grotto so special at Lewes House. 

To all the shops and businesses and people out and about on the evening, we would 

like to wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous Christmas and New Year. 

lewes town 

council 

M A G A Z I N E S

Citizen watches 

available at our Lewes 

and Eastbourne 

showrooms. 

View online: 

www.weclarkandson.co.uk 

Citizen Men’s Chrono-Time 

Red Arrows Limited Edition Alarm 

Chronograph Radio Controlled 

Eco-Drive Watch. 

Lewes- 01273 487816 

Eastbourne- 01323 411039 

Open for Late Night Shopping 

Thursday 3rd December

All that 

glitters... 

Lewes is the home to an inordinate 

number of fine jewellers; we spent a 

sparkling afternoon wandering round 

them discovering Christmas gift ideas 

From top: Woven fold studs by 

Jessica Briggs, £79 from The Workshop. 

Curio vintage robin pendant 

in yellow gold vermeil, from £100, 

Alexis Dove. Natural round freshwater 

pearl necklace, £295 from 

David Smith.

Amethyst and pearl art Edwardian 

drop pendant on chain, £375 from 

Marston Barrett. Silver-plated shell 

pendants, £30 each from The Silvery. 

Rose gold-plated hammered disc. 

£70 from W.E. Clark. MenAnTol 

bracelet from Julian Stephens, £145 

for bracelet and one silver bead, then 

£90 per bead. Stackable rings, £146 

per ring, by Abby Mosseri.

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column 

Lewes Out Loud 

Plenty more Henty 

As someone who has 

provided the voice for 

Father Christmas on 

many occasions – I’m 

told I actually sound 

more like the late Denis 

Healey – you can imagine 

my surprise when I 

spotted ‘Santa’ down the 

Sunday car boot recently. 

Well, it wasn’t him in 

reality, it was the modest 

Raymond Briggs who, 

in 1973, wrote and illustrated 

a wonderful book 

entitled Father Christmas 

which has been read and enjoyed by millions of 

children all over the world ever since. 

This year, for the fourth year running, the musical 

version plays at the Lyric in Hammersmith until 

Christmas Eve. Gavin, owner of Bags of Books in 

South Street, tells me that all Raymond’s colourful 

characters, including, of course, The Snowman 

(1978), continue to be popular and not just at 

Christmas. “They sell all year round” Gavin told 

me with a smile. 

Raymond, in boots and a long coat, lives near 

Plumpton and admitted once that he was not a 

fan of Christmas himself. He was cheery enough 

though when I spoke briefly to him but I’m glad I 

resisted the temptation to mention that tune and 

what was on my ‘wish’ list of presents. 

Last year, for example, I was disappointed when 

the die-cast metal Subbuteo bottle opener failed to 

appear in my pillow case. This year I’m thinking 

about a Deer Deterrent (£7.99) which, when fitted 

to a car, emits a sound (not audible to humans) to 

warn the deer. Obviously works. When did you last 

see a deer in the High Street? 

Serious consideration too for a pure Outer-Hebridean 

wool collar 

which, according 

to the advertisement, 

‘gives urban 

dogs just a hint of 

wildness’ for £39. 

Wild? I’d be furious 

at that price. 

Only other problem: 

I don’t have 

a dog and, let’s 

face it, from what 

I’ve seen in recent 

months, anyone 

who is anyone in 

Lewes has a dog 

and sometimes more than one. Why, even busking 

has been superseded in some towns by blokes 

sculpting large dogs out of sand! 

As a temporary solution, I have purchased for myself 

an invisible dog’s lead which allows me to go for 

walks like other owners but without the associated 

hassles. Unlike them, I can take my invisible pal 

into the Grange Gardens, for example, and there’s 

clearly no need to carry a pooper scooper. 

On a more serious note – rather like my brief 

encounter with Raymond, I only met Radio 4 

newsreader, Peter Donaldson – who sadly died last 

month – on one occasion. It was at a Rocket Radio 

party in Lewes and I recognised him immediately 

from his distinctive voice. A voice which I’d last 

heard locally at that years’ Remembrance Day 

ceremony at the War Memorial. A charming, unassuming 

man, Peter valued his many associations 

with our town. 

Finally, a couple of genuine gift ideas. Leslie Norah 

Hills’ calendar for Cancer Research UK is selling 

well, I’m told, and congratulations to Bob Cairns 

for his fascinating new Lewes – the Postcard Collection 

book. John Henty 

Photo by Andrew Henty 

113

TREKKING 

TRAIL RUNNING 

SKIING 

CAMPING 

SKIING 

WALKING 

HIKING 

RICHARD GREEN FUNERAL SERVICE 

The only truly independent, family owned and run 

Funeral Directors & Memorial Masons in Lewes & Uckfield 

We probably don’t have anything you want for Christmas 

but if you need us you can still call 24 hours a day 

170 High Street 


BN7 1YE 

01273 488121 (24hrs) 

lewes@rgreenfs.co.uk 

125 High Street 

Uckfield 

TN22 1RN 

01825 760601 (24hrs) 

uckfield@rgreenfs.co.uk

feature: wildlife 

Blackcap 

Home for Christmas 

Lewes is no place for a warbler in winter. As daylight, 

temperature and their insect food dwindles 

blackcaps, whitethroats, chiffchaffs, reed, sedge and 

willow warblers all leave England. Each September 

their fragile, feathered bodies fly to Spain and 

sub-Saharan Africa on the promise of warmth, food 

and, ultimately, life. So finding a blackcap swinging 

on your birdfeeder in December will be as unlikely 

as seeing Santa at a midsummer barbeque. But at 

Christmas miracles can happen. 

Blackcaps return to England in April. Cuckoos 

and chiffchaffs, also early migrants, broadcast their 

arrival with their monotonous two-note tune but 

the blackcap lets loose a rich, full-throated, joyous 

warble; a defiant announcement that he’s cheated 

death for another winter. 

This colourful song comes from a colourless bird, 

yet there’s something stylish and continental about the 

blackcap’s appearance. Their grey suit and black beret 

pulled over dark eyes make them look like some Parisian 

beatnik. You’d expect to catch one sat in a willow 

smoking Gauloises and muttering about Sartre. The 

female bird’s beret is a rich chestnut brown; hardly 

qualifying her to use the name blackcap at all. 

The laws of nature clearly state that all European 

blackcaps must migrate south for the winter. But in 

the sixties a small gang of nonconformist blackcaps 

in Germany started a revolution. They headed 

south-west instead of south, ending up in England. 

Mother Nature is not kind to those who disobey her 

rules and this suicide squad was surely sentenced 

to a frozen death in our frosty winter. But instead 

they found a new England. A land of mild winters, 

ornamental berry bushes and kind people who hung 

balls of fat in their gardens. They didn’t freeze and 

starve. They survived. 

Not only that; the following spring’s short flight 

home to Germany meant they arrived ahead of their 

law-abiding neighbours who were still struggling 

back from their long-haul holiday. The returning 

rebels were able to claim the best territories and 

produce larger families. They raised more revolutionaries 

who returned to England each winter. Now 

a small population of blackcaps make our gardens 

their winter home; exotic apparitions of summer 

amongst the robins and frost. They’ll be gone again 

by the time ‘our’ British blackcaps return, exhausted 

and oblivious, in April. 

Animal migration is amazing. Each year across 

Europe millions of perilous journeys are undertaken 

as birds, bats, butterflies and other wildlife 

flee hostile conditions. This year we have watched 

as our own species has been added to this list. The 

paths of refugees and migrating birds will cross as 

both are forced on dangerous journeys over the same 

treacherous mountains and seas. Let’s hope they all 

find someplace safe this Christmas. 

Michael Blencowe, Sussex Wildlife Trust 

sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk 

Illustration by Mark Greco 

115

Seasons Greetings 

from 

Mayo Wynne Baxter 

Call us on 01273 477071 

3 BELL LANE, LEWES, EAST SUSSEX, BN7 1JU 

www.mayowynnebaxter.co.uk

football 

Darren Freeman 

Lewes FC’s new manager 

From the moment he walked into the interview 

for the Lewes FC’s manager’s job, Darren Freeman 

was under no illusion that he was facing anything 

less than a monumental task. Steve Brown’s 

young side had recorded just one win all season, 

confidence was shot and Rooks fans couldn’t even 

bear to look at the league table. 

A month or so into the job, Freeman’s still (at the 

time of writing) searching for that second league 

win, but the squad has been overhauled, performances 

have been much improved and confidence 

is growing that an 8-1 thrashing of Hailsham in 

the County Cup won’t be the only thing Lewes 

fans have to cheer as the 2015/16 season nears its 

mid-point. 

Freeman’s tenure started with a 4-1 defeat away to 

Grays, a match that Freeman describes as an “eyeopener”. 

“I knew straight away there were players 

who weren’t up to it,” he said. “They were good 

players, but they had got complacent and they 

were the wrong players for the dog fight.” 

Now the squad is barely recognisable to the one 

he inherited, with only two or three players retaining 

their place in the side. “I put down a list of 

players who I knew I could trust, who would give 

110%, who would be proud to put a Lewes shirt 

on.” That list included some former Dripping 

Pan favourites – goalkeeper Chris Winterton, 

full-back Steve Brinkhurst, on-loan midfielder 

Nic Ciardini – as well as some new faces, including 

the combative midfielder Lloyd Cotton, the 

striker Richard Pacquette (who netted four times 

against Hailsham) and the manager’s son, centreback 

Stacey. 

Freeman’s spent most of his managerial career at 

the opposite end of the table, winning promotion 

after promotion with Whitehawk. No manager 

enjoys being mired in the relegation zone, but 

Freeman talks with genuine enthusiasm about the 

task of edging his side up the table. “It’s more of 

a challenging role for me,” he said. “When you’re 

winning week-in week-out, I know it sounds silly, 

but you don’t learn an awful lot. I feel that I’m a 

better manager now. We struggled [with Whitehawk] 

in the Conference South. I learnt that when 

things need changing, you need to change them. 

We haven’t got loads and loads of matches to get 

this right.” 

Even though Lewes are now more than ten points 

from safety, the manager remains absolutely resolute 

that “we will get through it”, and insists he’s 

still able to sell the club to players despite the perilous 

league position. “It’s a fantastic club. I know 

it sounds mad, but I’m so happy to be at Lewes 

because you look at your surroundings, the pitch, 

the professionalism behind the scenes and it’s just 

fantastic. The players, they can see with the [3G] 

training facilities, that it’s a proper club.” 

“We just need to transfer that onto the pitch,” he 

concludes. 

Interview and photo by Barry Collins 

Photo by Barry Collins 

117

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icks and mortar 

Foundry Gallery 

Machine-shop-turned-gallery 

I ask Wenda if I can bring my bike into the Foundry 

Gallery, and she says ‘of course’, and opens 

the door, and all of a sudden I get a flashback of 

the last time I was there, actually riding my bike 

around inside, with all the art on the walls. That’s 

the sort of gallery it is. 

Art gallery is just a part of it. Wenda is Artemis 

Arts’ Wenda Bradley, a former headmistress who, 

together with Christine Hall, has been running 

the space for nearly ten years. Artemis have put on 

all sorts of shows, or rented the space in order to 

raise money to put into educational art projects. 

We sit with a cup of tea, and she tries to recall 

some of the more colourful events. A catwalk… 

experimental music… life drawing classes… film 

sets… youth theatre… Arthur Brown’s helmet 

catching fire. 

Like most all of the Phoenix tenants, Artemis have 

been given notice by developers Santon: they will 

have to vacate the space by March. Wenda is sanguine 

about this eviction order. “We’ve been told 

that we won’t be here next year by everyone who’s 

been in charge of this building since we started,” 

she says. “Let’s just wait and see.” 

One project Artemis arranged, five years ago, 

looked in some detail into the history of the building, 

and the estate around it. “When we took it 

over we were aware of the fact that it had been a 

very successful garage for a while. You bashed your 

car in Morrisons Car Park, and you drove straight 

to Market Lane Garage, and they’d fix it for you.” 

But there were fittings on the wall, huge great 

steel girders and great big winches on rails and 

suchlike, that obviously predated the garage. “It 

was only then we realised that it was part of the 

Phoenix Ironworks. In fact it was the machine 

shop, where a lot of component parts were made.” 

The project called upon locals and former Lewes 

residents to share their memories of a business – 

originally called Everards, and then the Phoenix 

Ironworks - which was founded as far back as 1852 

and which, in its heyday between the 20s and the 

50s, was easily the biggest employer in town. The 

results, included spoken word testimonies and 

photographs, as well as a lot of figures and data 

collected, were remarkable. Now a vivid historical 

record of the business will forever mark its prominent 

place in the history of the town. 

It’s maybe typical of the way Lewes has changed 

that a space where manhole covers and cast-iron 

railings were once made should end up as an arts 

centre; it’s sad to think that in a few months the 

place might well be razed to the ground. I get on 

my bike to leave and Wenda presses the button to 

raise the electrical door so I can ride out. It’s an 

operation she clearly enjoys performing, and as a 

parting gesture I offer: “let’s hope you’ll still be 

pressing that button in a year’s time,” and she says, 

with a rueful little smile, “let’s hope.” Alex Leith 

Christmas Brocante Antique Market/bricabrac, 

Sat 5th December, 9-2pm (sellers 8am, info 

07752557335 / 07762337342) 

119

usiness news 

If you’re a woman looking to 

grow your business in 2016 

then Lewes Women in Business 

is a networking group 

for you. Launched earlier 

this year by Chloe Edwards 

of Seven Sisters Spices, each 

month it brings independent 

business women from Lewes 

and the surrounding area together 

to find work opportunities, 

access business support 

and make other connections. 

Gatherings are designed to 

be uplifting and inspiring and 

they’ve adopted the unofficial 

motto “Lewes Women 

in Business – much more fun 

than it sounds” accordingly. 

Members come from a broad 

spectrum of businesses on 

every scale, reflecting the rich 

seam of talent in the area; 

retailers, designers, communicators, 

therapists, caterers, 

photographers, jewellers, 

upholsterers, architects and 

more. New members are 

always welcome and you can 

meet the existing collective 

at their Pop-Up Christmas 

Emporium on Sunday 13th 

at Pelham House. A festive 

event showcasing some of 

their members’ products and 

services, over 25 business 

owners will be there selling 

leather goods, perfumes, 

jewellery, hats, illustrated 

prints, ceramics and more. 

You’ll also have the chance to 

meet women offering bespoke 

services like website or garden 

design. Join them for a glass 

of mulled wine and enter the 

prize draw. For membership 

enquiries, visit facebook.com/ 

Lewes-Women-in-Business 

and follow them on Twitter @ 

LewesWB . 

Speaking of women in 

business, Cornelia James, 

luxury glove maker to the 

Royal Family, based in Sussex 

since 1947 and now in the 

hands of Cornelia’s daughter 

Genevieve, have launched a 

diffusion range ‘Cornelia by 

Cornelia James’. See their 

gloves, leather accessories, 

pashminas, scarves and wraps 

when you’re on a Christmas 

shopping trip to London at 

House of Fraser on Oxford 

Street, or buy online at corneliajames.com. 

There’s more luxury locally 

too, with a new range of 

Junkers watches available at 

David Smith’s jewellers and 

a showcase of luxe products 

from Lewes makers at the 

Town Hall on Late Night 

Shopping. We’re looking 

forward to seeing you out and 

about on the evening of the 

3rd and we’d like to say a big 

thank you to all the local businesses 

who’ve supported the 

town trail this year; Abigail’s 

Drapery, Rowland Gorringe, 

Harveys, Silverado, 

The Stitchery, Pestle & 

Mortar, Marston Barrett, 

Simon David, Bags of 

Books, The Outdoor Shop, 

Lewes Tourist Information 

Centre and Flint Owl 

Bakery, and to The Pelham 

Arms, Enchanted Parks and 

The Stitchery who donated 

prizes. If you want to brighten 

your shop window, don’t forget 

that the Patina Christmas 

lanterns are available to hire. 

Finally, a warm Viva welcome 

to newcomers to town this 

month. Seasalt, purveyors of 

practical and stylish clothing 

and homeware inspired 

by their beginnings on the 

Cornish coast, will be opening 

their doors very soon on 

School Hill. Within pasty 

rolling distance a few doors 

down, Boon Books open 

their first retail premises with 

a huge and varied selection of 

discounted, remaindered and 

overstock books and CDs. 

hello@vivamagazines.com

trade secrets 

Photo by Lizzie Lower 

Ian Goldsmith 

Director, Bluauto Premium Cars 

We specialise in premium German umbrella 

brands such as Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Mini, 

together with Land Rover and Range Rover too. 

We pride ourselves on stocking cars that are sourced 

with an excellent pedigree and which are carefully 

prepared. We’ve built up a great many contacts 

and are buying cars every day, but we are very fussy 

about what we take, and turn a lot away. 

Myself and my partner, Guy, have originated 

from a main dealer background, where we held 

senior management roles. We have some 45 years’ 

experience in the industry between us. For me, being 

one of just 14,000 employees globally, I became 

a little disillusioned with focus being on ‘compliance’ 

and not the customer, so we decided to set up 

in 2013. With my commute from Newick instead of 

driving into London each day, I certainly don’t miss 

the politics of a big corporation. We’ve now got a 

team of seven, which we intend to grow in 2016 and 

that means we can combine the customer service 

ethos of a main dealership with the highly personalized 

service of an independent. 

We are a local business with local knowledge 

and this allows us to build a relationship with 

our customers. We take the time to talk to the 

buyer (the person who will be driving the car) to determine 

what is right for them. Once we agree that, 

we advise them to choose a car based on its history 

and pedigree, not colour! If we don’t have it in stock, 

we will call the customer to let them know when 

something suitable is coming in. We get around 30- 

35 new cars arriving a month and so it doesn’t usually 

take too long before we make that call. We have 

one family who have purchased six cars from us in 

our first two years and also have many families on 

their second and third cars from us. We think that’s 

a great testament to how we treat our customers. 

It’s true that some used-car dealers get bad press 

but we are hugely experienced and in business 

for the long term. We pride ourselves on customer 

service and delivering a great customer experience. 

We’ve sold more than 600 cars since we’ve been 

open and haven’t had a single one back. That’s down 

to a combination of maturity, experience and taking 

the time to get the right car for the customer. 

I’m no petrolhead - I enjoy the customer service 

and business side of things – but if I could have any 

car for Christmas it would be a Mercedes estate. It’s 

practical as well as being a great car to drive. Premium 

brand cars are screwed together slightly differently 

than your average motor car and when you 

get in the driving seat, you can feel that they are just 

a bit more robust as well as being luxurious. 

As told to Lizzie Lower 

London Road, Ringles Cross, Uckfield 

bluauto.co.uk/01825 761222 

121

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: 

John Foulkes ADI, Driving instructor Sussex Road Academy 

I teach a real mixture of new 

starters, those returning to 

driving and people converting 

from international 

driving licences. Increasingly 

people are learning at all times 

of life so my learners can be any 

age from 17 to their mid-forties. 

I’m never nervous with a 

new learner driver. I’ve got dual controls but I’m 

having to think one step ahead of them. It’s my job 

to allow them to make mistakes in a safe environment. 

That’s how they learn. 

Some new drivers can learn in around a dozen 

lessons and most pass their test at the first or 

second attempt. Everyone has a different learning 

style and so I’m constantly adapting to the individual. 

I used to work for a big training company 

but teaching new skills one-to-one is what I’ve 

always enjoyed most. 

Part of my week is spent 

teaching advanced and further 

driving skills, helping 

people to improve their night 

driving, parking skills or motorway 

driving. I’m a voluntary 

instructor with the Institute of 

Advanced Motorists and we are 

constantly seeking to improve defensive driving 

skills. I’m always asking ‘what if…?’ 

I mainly work between Lewes and Haywards 

Heath but I’ll take drivers all over Sussex as 

they learn. That way they’re prepared to drive in 

all sorts of circumstances and it stops the residents 

of Burgess Hill, where the test centre is, getting 

cheesed off with learner drivers reversing around 

corners. As told to Lizzie Lower 

01273 479159 road-academy.co.uk

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home 

CP Viva Lewes Ad (Qtr Pg)_62 x 94mm 18/02/2011 1 

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inside left 

WAR HORSES 

As we’ve mentioned elsewhere in this issue, December 10th will mark the South Downs National Park 

Committee’s decision as to the future of the North Street industrial estate, so we’ve chosen to mark the 

occasion with this remarkable picture, taken on the site. It was shot, we believe, a century ago, in 1915, as 

part of a series marked in Reeves’ records as ‘before embarkation to France’. 

In that period there were troops billeted all over the region, as thousands of soldiers were waiting to be 

shipped – with their horses, in this case – to the Continent. We have little concrete information as to the 

identity of this unit, but they were certainly cavalrymen: even the standing men are wearing spurs on 

their boots. From the shape of their cap badges, it seem likely that they were in the Royal Horse Artillery. 

Almost all of the cavalry regiments in WW1 fought on the Western Front, so it was likely these men 

went off to get involved in that muddy horror. Cavalry casualties were relatively low, but there were over 

5,000 British cavalrymen killed in the conflict. 

Nor do we have information as to how the Phoenix Ironworks, whose front gates you can see in the 

background – was employed during the war: if anyone out there knows whether or not it contributed to 

the war effort, we’ll certainly pass it on to Artemis Arts, who are still collecting material for the archive 

they have amassed of information pertaining to the industrial past of the county town, and particularly 

the Every/Phoenix Iron Works. 

The building in the background, we’re informed by Artemis’ Wenda, is the main entrance to the Phoenix 

Ironworks, which was turned into an industrial museum in the 30s, and burnt down in 1948. The soldiers 

are posing for the picture in what is now the car park in front of Zu Studios, the façade of which would 

be just out of shot on the right, opposite the structure behind the horses. Looking into those soldiers’ 

proud eyes, we can’t help but wonder how many of them made it back. 

138

AT 

TWO FESTIVE MENUS 

£21.95 and £26.95 

LEWES 

56 Cliffe High Street, Lewes BN7 2AN 

01273 476918 lewes@bills-email.co.uk

Viva Lewes Issue 111 December 2015

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