Viva Lewes Issue #155 August 2019

155 

VIVALEWES 

EDITORIAL 

August is, of course, the month for Artwave. I love our citrus and slate cover, created by Andy 

Pointon – just one of the many excellent artists whose work you can enjoy in open houses 

across Lewes, Newhaven and Seaford. See artwavefestival.org for full details. 

It’s also a month, traditionally, perhaps, for road trips – whatever one of those might look like 

in 2019. (For me, this year, it’s an overnight sleeper to Inverness.) For Tim Locke, ex Viva 

contributor, and author of Slow Sussex, it’s often meant (meticulously-researched) walking all 

over the country. For Steve Olsen, Designed to Ride the South Downs, it’s definitely cycling. 

And for David Jarman? A trip round rich associations on his days up to London. 

So-called ‘staycations’ seem all the rage in the current climate. We picture some golden 

options in ‘The way we work’. And, if you are staying put this August, there’s a wealth of closeto-home, 

out-of-town adventures that might take your fancy – including a range of festivals. 

Byline and Curious take place simultaneously in Nutley; Newhaven enjoys its second year, 

and is growing; while Lapwing fills the magical setting of those Cuckmere Haven Coastguard 

Cottages. Where could be more evocative? 

Well, perhaps one close second might be a walk to Rathfinny Wine Estate 

near Alfriston – which Lizzie Lower and I enjoyed one glorious July 

lunchtime. Also, for those with small people, the Bluebell Railway 

has two excellent weekends coming up. Bluebell will provide 

the steam and magic; you just bring the teddies. 

THE TEAM 

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

EDITOR: Charlotte Gann charlotte@vivamagazines.com 

SUB-EDITOR: David Jarman 

PRODUCTION EDITOR: Joe Fuller joe@vivamagazines.com 

ART DIRECTOR: Katie Moorman katie@vivamagazines.com 

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

EDITORIAL / ADMIN ASSISTANT / HAND MODEL: Kelly Mechen admin@vivamagazines.com 

DISTRIBUTION: David Pardue distribution@vivamagazines.com 

CONTRIBUTORS: Ben Bailey, Michael Blencowe, Mark Bridge, Emma Chaplin, Hasia Curtis, 

Daniel Etherington, Mark Greco, Anita Hall, John Henty, Robin Houghton, Eleanor Knight, Dexter Lee, 

Alex Leith, Lizzie Lower, Carlotta Luke, Nione Meakin, Anna Morgan, Galia Pike and Andy Pointon. 

PUBLISHER: Becky Ramsden becky@vivamagazines.com 

Viva Lewes is based at Lewes House, 32 High St, Lewes, BN7 2LX, all enquiries 01273 488882

Artists & makers trails across 

Lewes, Newhaven, Seaford 

and the surrounding villages 

Pick up a free guide, 

or plan your visit online 

17 August - 1 September 

artwavefestival.org 

@artwavefestival

THE ‘ROAD TRIP’ ISSUE 

CONTENTS 

Bits and bobs. 

8-25. Cover artist Andy Pointon 

on loving a road trip; Tim Locke 

on writing travel guides; Photo of 

the month by a town visitor; Steve 

Olsen modifies bikes for the Downs; 

Romanian Alf; Carlotta Luke’s street 

party; Glyndebourne Open Gardens; 

Spread the word to far-flung corners; 

Craig goes… nowhere. 

69 

8813 

Columns. 

27-31. John Henty boards a 

Greyhound; David Jarman disembarks 

at Clapham Junction; and Eleanor 

Knight reclaims our narrow streets for 

peacocks. 

On this month. 

32-43. Think, have fun and be 

curious – Byline faces Curious, 

including Philippa Perry on responsive 

parenting; The Treason Show meets 

The Merchant of Venice; Dexter 

Lee’s Film 19; Grace Carter at 

LoveBN1 Fest; Lapwing at Cuckmere 

Coastguard Cottages; and the 

community arts at Newhaven Festival. 

Art. 

45-53. Art and about all about Artwave, 

plus; Alex Leith tries pottery with Louise 

Bell; Charlie Schaffer on winning the BP 

Portrait Award – and its toll. 

Listings and Free time. 

55-69. Diary dates from Proms in the 

Paddock, to Wuthering Heights, to 

Surrealist Picnic, plus much else; Classical 

round-up featuring St Michael’s Recitals 

with Nicholas Houghton, Glyndebourne 

Festival, Fauré’s Requiem and more; 

Oxfest is Gig of the Month, plus 

many more including Femme Brûlée, 

Illustration by Hasia Curtis 

5

THE ‘ROAD TRIP’ ISSUE 

Suspiciously Elvis, and The Hatman; 

Free time listings for the long 

holidays – from Digging for Treasure 

at the Castle, to Intro to rugby for 

Lewes Girls; Bags of Books Anna 

returns to Wonderland; Bluebell 

Railway on family fests in August. 

Food. 

71-75. Rathfinny Tasting Room food 

review; MasterChef’s Peter Bayless 

on a dish he’ll be making for Firle 

Vintage Fair; Emma Chaplin sinks a 

glass of gin in Symposium. 

The way we work. 

76-79. Staying near home in style. 

Photographer Tracey Robinson 

shoots staycation sites and asks 

What’s your favourite road trip? 

71 

Features. 

81-85. Michael Blencowe on the 

moths that travelled; the Turkish 

Baths and their new future; Alex Leith 

brings us Business news. 

Inside left. 

98. How the High Street’s changed – 

and how it’s stayed the same – since 

circa 1955. 

76 

VIVA DEADLINES 

We plan each magazine six weeks ahead, with a mid-month 

advertising/copy deadline. Please send details of planned events 

to admin@vivamagazines.com, and for any advertising queries: 

advertising@vivamagazines.com, or call 01273 488882. 

Remember to recycle your Viva. 

Every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of our content. 

Viva Lewes magazine cannot be held responsible for any omissions, errors 

or alterations. The views expressed by columnists do not necessarily 

represent the view of Viva Magazines. Viva retains copyright for any 

artwork we create. 

Love me or recycle me. Illustration by Chloë King 

6

A Brocante style Vintage Festival 

“Step back in time, in style’’ 

Country living & brocante market | Hand painted & antique furniture 

Vintage finds & decorative antiques | Gardenalia | Fashion & french haberdashery 

Artisan food emporium | Cookery demonstration by Peter Bayless 

The Chap Olympiad games hosted by The Chap Magazine 

Words Pavillion hosted by Much Ado Books | Talks on bees | Makers workshops 

Charleston & Lindy Hop shows | Jazz bands & music performance 

Traditional fair rides | Classic & vintage car display 

Tinkers steam town & miniature train | Bugs museum & mouse town 

FIRLE PARK, NR. LEWES, BN8 6LP 

Pre-booked discounted tickets on website | Entrance £15 on the door | 10.00am - 5.30pm 

www.firlevintagefair.co.uk firlevintagefair firleandcountry firlevintage

Moixa is a renewable energy technology 

Unlock the full potential 

company with a history of making energy 

more intelligent and efficient for homes, 

of your solar panels with 

because we believe that everyone 

a deserves Moixa to live in Smart a renewable Battery 

energy 

powered future. We’ve been developing 

Store smart battery the unused products solar since energy 2006 and are 

you committed generate to supporting during the move day, so away you 

can from use fossil your fuels clean, by optimising free energy the way after 

the people sun generate, sets. distribute and consume 

renewable energy. 

Be part 

of the future 

of energy 

£200 off your Smart Battery 

That is why we developed the Moixa 

Smart Battery. An energy storage device 

when you sign up that stores the spare energy generated 

GridShare 

from solar panels 

membership 

so you can use that 

energy when you need it. It gives you the 

Over opportunity 1000 UK to homes power are your already home maximising from the 

value the sun, of their even solar at night. panels with a British invented 

Moixa Smart Battery. Lower your energy bills, 

reduce your carbon footprint and take charge 

of your energy use with Moixa. 

The advantages of smart solar energy storage 

For a limited time only, get a £200 discount on 

your By Smart allowing Battery you to purchase use more when of your free sign up solar energy, the battery saves you 

for money GridShare on your membership. energy bills, By signing as you don’t up you need to buy as much from the grid. 

can The enjoy battery a free also extended helps you warranty reduce whilst your carbon footprint by maximising the 

supporting amount your of clean local energy energy you network. use. 

Offer Finally, valid until if you 30/09/19 are signed and only up to for GridShare eligible membership, you can reduce the strain 

homeowners placed on in the energy Lewes-Newhaven grid at peak area. times. This works by the grid requesting 

support from Moixa, which alerts our intelligent software called GridShare to 

deliver support from the fleet of batteries. This could be as simple as ensuring 

you use energy at home from your Need solar and solar Smart panels? Battery instead of pulling 

it from the grid when the grid is overwhelmed. Talk to us about By signing our Smart up to Battery GridShare and solar packages. 

membership, you are rewarded £50 a year for three years for your participation, 

as well as receiving an extended warranty for as long as you are a member. 

To receive your £200 discount quote “Viva Lewes”. 

Moixa has always been focused on delivering on value for the end user, 

and we believe a sustainable future is one that brings benefits to all involved. 

Call our team on 0161 883 2374 or email enquiries@moixa.com 

For more information visit www.moixa.com/lewes

Save up to 50% on your energy 

bills with solar and storage 

Unlock the full potential 

of your solar panels with 

a Moixa Smart Battery 

Generate and store your own renewable energy! 

Store With the solar unused panels solar and energy a Moixa Smart Battery, you can 

you power generate your home during from the day, sun so at both you day and night. 

can use your clean, free energy after 

the sun sets. 

£200 off your Smart Battery when you 

£200 sign off up to your GridShare Smart membership Battery 

when you sign up to 

GridShare membership 

Over 1000 UK homes are already 

maximising the value of their solar 

panels with a British invented 

Over 1000 UK homes are already maximising the 

value of their solar panels with a British invented 

Moixa 

Moixa 

Smart 

Smart 

Battery. 

Battery. 

Lower your 

Lower 

energy bills, 

your 

reduce energy your carbon bills, reduce footprint and your take carbon charge 

of your energy use with Moixa. 

footprint and take charge of your 

energy use with Moixa. 

For a limited time only, get a £200 discount on 

your Smart Battery purchase when you sign up 

for GridShare membership. By signing up you 

can Offer enjoy valid a free until extended 30/09/19 and warranty only for whilst eligible 

supporting homeowners your in local the Lewes-Newhaven energy network. area. 

Offer valid until 30/09/19 and only for eligible 

homeowners in the Lewes-Newhaven area. 

Already own solar panels? 

Be part 

of the future 

of energy 

Be part 

of the future 

of energy 

Add a Moixa Smart Battery to your system today. 

Need solar panels? 

Talk to us about our Smart Battery and solar packages. 

To receive your £200 discount quote 

To “Summer receive your @ Viva £200 Lewes”. discount quote “Viva Lewes”. 

Call our our team on on 0161 883 2374 or or email enquiries@moixa.com 

For For more information visit www.moixa.com/lewes

N 

THIS MONTH’S COVER ARTIST 

s 

“I love a road trip,” says Andy Pointon, over 

a glass of orange squash in his colourfully 

appointed, retro-furnished living room in the 

Nevill. “I’m a bit of a naturalist, and we’ve got 

a camper van, so I’m out there whenever I can: 

behind the wheel, by bike, on foot… We’re 

so lucky to be in the middle of such lovely 

landscape.” 

The cover he’s created for us, like much of his 

work, has been indirectly inspired by Alfred 

Hitchcock’s 1954 movie Rear Window. “I like to 

imagine I’m looking through a window onto the 

world,” he says. “I like to create a narrative, so 

people can read my work.” 

In this case, we can imagine the wow-filled conversation 

of the Vespa-riding couple, dwarfed 

by the countryside around them, and the grumbling 

of the passengers in the cars stuck behind 

the VW camper van. “That’s a memory of childhood 

holidays,” he says, “on a country road in 

Cornwall, behind a camper for an hour.” 

The cars in question are a Mini and a Citroen 

DS, both introduced to the roads in the 50s, and 

the muted colour palette is inspired by the same 

decade. “You might call it a ‘Festival of Britain’ 

10

ANDY POINTON 

palette,” he says. “I find blues, oranges, yellows 

and greys inescapable.” But he also likes to add 

a contemporary twist, to anchor his work into 

the current millennium, hence, for example, 

the computer-graphic road sign, into which he 

has incorporated the magazine title, and issue 

details. 

He screen-prints most of his work at the Ink 

Spot Press in Brighton (“I like to get my hands 

dirty”), but for this cover he’s used a different 

process, mixing analogue and digital methods. 

“All the patterns were hand drawn or painted in 

water-colour,” he says, “and then cut into shapes 

on Illustrator. The silhouetted figures were 

culled from sewing patterns.” 

As well as landscapes, Andy also likes to depict 

detail-rich townscapes, and 1950s-inspired 

abstract images, as art prints, tea-towels and 

cards. He’s a state-school English teacher four 

days a week, dedicating a fifth to his artwork, 

examples of which adorn the walls of the room 

we’re chatting in. “It looks a bit vain, but I just 

haven’t taken them down after the last Artwave, 

for which, like the year before, I opened up my 

house,” he says. 

He’s found the whole Artwave experience invigorating, 

and he was surprised how many people 

trudged up the hill to visit his house. “One couple 

stayed an hour,” he remembers, “enjoying 

tea and cake in the garden. They even sent us a 

card afterwards. It was a lovely gesture.” 

This year he’s decided to get together with 

a group of Nevill-based artists, and exhibit – 

over the August Bank Holiday weekend – at St 

Mary’s Church Hall, in Highdown Road. If you 

fancy a time-trip back to the atomic era – with a 

sly contemporary twist – I’d advise a visit. 

Alex Leith 

Artwave 17th Aug-1st Sept, artwavefestival.org 

11

With us, your Porsche is in safe hands... 

At Precision Porsche Specialists we service and maintain all Porsche models, using 

genuine Porsche parts to protect your manufacturer’s warranty. Along with our 

Porsche trained technicians and the latest diagnostic equipment, your Porsche is in 

safe hands. 

What we can do for you. 

• Modern Workshop 

• Servicing, Repairs & MOTs 

• Collection & Delivery Service 

• Insurance Approved Bodywork Repairs 

• Tyres & Wheel Alignment 

• Vehicle Detailing 

Address: Unit B1, Bluebell Business Estate, Sheffield Park, Uckfield, East Sussex, TN22 3HQ 

Phone: +44 (0) 1825 721 205 | Fax: +44 (0) 1825 723 807 

Email: info@precisionporsche.co.uk | Web: www.precisionporsche.co.uk 

Precision Porsche Ltd | Registered in England no. 09301456 | VAT No. 983 5181 90

Photo by Charlotte Gann 

MY LEWES: TIM LOCKE 

How long have you lived in Lewes, and what 

brought you here? My wife Anne and I moved 

here in 1995. We loved the geography – how 

you can see the Downs wherever you are. I did 

persuade my parents to visit once before – when 

I was 14, after I read about the town in the Shell 

Guide to Britain… 

So, you were reading travel guides even back 

then? Yes. My first and only school prize was 

for my ‘Baltic Holiday’ diary, when I was 10. 

As a student I helped a publisher research their 

Drinker’s Guide to Walking. That was my first 

of many travel books. After I graduated, I went 

to Japan to teach English: this was 1981 (when 

hardly any travel guides to Japan existed). When 

I got home, after a short spell at Saga Holidays, 

I literally got on my bike and found and wrote 

up walks in east Kent, which I then sold in 

local bookshops. It was the start of a long, 

mainly freelance career – with Which?, Reader’s 

Digest, AA, Rough Guides and others. 

For Which? I travelled all over Britain, on 

public transport or hitching (I couldn’t then 

drive), ten days at a time, researching some 400 

walks. Then I’d come back and write them up, 

including drawing the maps, before starting out 

for another burst. 

My heart is especially in the Bradt Slow Travel 

series. It was nice to edit guidebooks that 

release the shackles. Here we allowed space 

for the author’s voice, including humour, and 

freedom to go off at complete tangents. And 

I’ve written my own one, on Sussex. 

Since your mother Ruth died, in 2012, 

you’ve been researching her history, as a 

German Jew who emigrated alone with 

her brother in 1939. What has this journey 

meant to you? I felt a duty to do it. I’m the last 

in the line, and the record is so complete: all 

these diaries and letters. An incredible archive. 

The Imperial War Museum in London is taking 

over the whole lot – they’ll include my family’s 

story in the remodelled Holocaust Gallery. 

My mother didn’t talk about it much, and 

rarely expressed emotion – her younger brother 

Raimund was the opposite – but there was 

always a trunk at home full of all this material 

from the 1930s and 40s. When we came to 

empty her house I kept everything that related 

to that time. 

Reading your grandmother Vera’s last letter 

feels an incredible privilege… Yes. Ruth and 

Raimund came by Kindertransport to England 

when Ruth was 15. Both their parents died in 

camps. Their father, Hans Neumeyer, a blind 

composer and music teacher, survived for a 

couple of years. Their mother Vera wrote home 

from the train deporting her to her death, we 

now believe at Auschwitz. Miraculously this 

letter, thrown out of the train window, found 

its way back to her family – and eventually into 

Ruth’s trunk. Indeed the very first letter I pulled 

out was the last Vera wrote. 

Interview by Charlotte Gann 

Tim shares extracts from his extraordinary family 

archive at ephraimneumeyer.wordpress.com 

13

AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND 

23 - 25 AUGUST 

Friday Fireworks & Family Festivities

PHOTO OF THE MONTH 

ALICE IN FISHER ST. 

Charlotte Souch sent us this picture, taken while she was making one enormous ‘road 

trip’ – all the way from Nelson, NZ, to visit her sister Katherine, in Chailey. It’s of Fisher 

Street, of course. 

Charlotte wrote: ‘I love the architecture and how the buildings seem to bend inwards 

overhead – a little bit Alice in Wonderland. One of my favourite things about Lewes is 

the contrast between some of the narrow and winding streets and spaces, and the wideopen 

feel of the Downs just off the High Street. 

The photo is a favourite of mine from my visit. I used a simple filter to warm up the 

colours and reds of the brick and deepen the sky contrast. The original is pretty cool too 

– just a little more noir.’ 

Please send your pictures, taken in and around Lewes, to photos@vivamagazines.com, or 

tweet @VivaLewes. We’ll choose one, which wins the photographer £20, to be picked up 

from our office after publication. Unless previously arranged, we reserve the right to use all 

pictures in future issues of Viva magazines or online. 

15

BIKES AND BOBS 

RIDERS OF LEWES #10 OLSEN BICYCLES 

Did you know there was a custom bike brand 

based here in Lewes? Olsen Bicycles are ‘Designed 

to Ride the South Downs Way’ – so a 

slight variation on this issue’s road trip theme. 

Steve Olsen is a New Zealander and product 

designer who got into drawing bikes when 

mountain bikes arrived in his teens. 

His bikes are all about being reliable in the 

worst weather and, even after hammering along 

the South Downs Way in winter rain, requiring 

only minimal maintenance. How? With frames 

designed to accommodate sealed pinion gearboxes, 

combined with oil-free carbon belt drives. 

While living in Eastbourne, Steve commuted 

over the Downs to his day job in Newhaven 

by bike, and experienced a series of breakages, 

which “put me on to belt drives”, he says. “I 

wanted to do something innovative” to solve 

the challenges that come with exposed and oily 

chains and derailleurs gears. Cost and weight 

issues brought him to carbon frames and he now 

offers two – made by Carbon Wasp of Sheffield 

from a tool (or mold) of his own design – thanks 

to startup grant money from the EU and ESCC. 

His bikes are “tailored to the rider”, with various 

options for not just the gears, but the headset 

and forks. It’s exciting to see this innovation 

happening right here. Daniel Etherington 

olsenbicycles.com 

Cooper & Son 

Funeral Directors 

42 High Street, Lewes 01273 475 557 

Also at Seaford, Uckfield & Heathfield 

www.cpjfield.co.uk 

Because every life is unique

JOIN 

THE PACK 

LEWES RUGBY CLUB FOR 

MEN, WOMEN, GIRLS & BOYS 

Have fun, get fit & make friends 

Whatever your age, gender, size or skill 

LRFC, Stanley Turner Ground, Lewes 

Email: info@lewesrugby.com | Website: lewesrugby.com 

facebook.com/LewesRugby 

PETS OF LEWES 

Name: Alf (short for Alfonzo), about 10 months 

Breed: your guess is as good as mine. 

Alf was found wandering the streets of a Romanian town near the 

Hungarian border when he was still a puppy. Rescued through 

the Romanian Rescue Appeal (romanianrescueappeal.uk), he was 

brought over to the UK in the back of a lorry with nine other dogs. 

It was a 2,000 mile journey and he was terrified when he arrived, 

having never been in a house or on a lead. Despite such early hardship, 

his new owners say that Alf has a heart of gold and is gentle, 

bright and utterly lovely. They would say that, but he really is. 

Loves: egg slicers, maypoles, groundsheets, Scott Walker. 

Dislikes: perimenopause, peri peri chicken, periscopes, perfunctory greetings, levitation. 

Stray dog goss: according to UK authorities, the numbers of stray dogs here are at their lowest level 

in 21 years, and are 15% down on last year. It’s impossible to be precise about numbers of rescue 

dogs arriving, from Romania or elsewhere, as figures on imported dogs include commercially bred 

puppies. We do know it’s rising. If you’re thinking of adopting a dog from overseas, then do consider 

that behavioural problems and disease are both very possible. Street dogs will have been entirely 

autonomous and a domestic environment can increase their stress levels. @dogsoflewes 

17

BUSINESS@RATHFINNY 

Inspiring Business 

CORPORATE 

ENTERTAINING 

UNIQUE OFF-SITE 

FACILITIES 

DAY VISITS & 

ACCOMMODATION 

WINE TOURS 

& TASTINGS 

Rathfinny Wine Estate, Alfriston, Sussex, BN26 5TU 

01323 874 030 

rathfinnyestate.com 

For our corporate brochure email us at 

business@rathfinnyestate.com

CARLOTTA LUKE 

FOCUS ON: ST JAMES STREET PARTY 

This is St James Street, off Southover High 

Street, where I live. We have regular street 

parties, always relaxed events with current 

and past residents bringing food and drink. 

We don’t need the council’s permission to 

close, because it’s a cul de sac. One winter, 

we had a New Year’s party in Southover 

Church Hall, decorated with fairy lights 

and candles in a dozen brass candlesticks: it 

felt nothing like a church hall at all. 

carlottaluke.com 

19

J M Furniture Ltd 

TRADING IN LEWES SINCE SEPT 1999 

Bespoke custom made furniture and kitchens. 

We welcome commissions of all sizes and budgets. 

01273 472924 | sales@jmfurniture.co.uk 

www.jmfurniture.co.uk 

THE SUSSEX GUILD SHOW 

“There are two opportunities to see the work of members this 

month”, Sussex Guild Publicity Officer Helen Warren tells me. 

“Throughout Artwave, in our shop, there’ll be an exhibition 

called Celebrating Sussex. And, at the beginning of August, we’ll 

be hosting the Guild’s show, in the beautiful Michelham Priory.” 

This annual event passed its fiftieth anniversary last summer, 

and has since, sadly, lost its founder Sam Fanaroff – who was 

awarded a British Empire Medal last year, and died in February. 

“Yes, Sam will be greatly missed, but we’re looking forward as always to welcoming all visitors. More 

than half our exhibitors will also be doing demos,” Helen says. “And admission to the show also 

admits you to the house and garden.” 

She tells me about one potter from Worthing, John Evans (pictured), who brings along raku pots 

which are just clay. “He adds feathers and suchlike, burns their surfaces – to create patterns – then 

puts the pots in a bed of sand and sets fire to them. Within a few minutes, the pots emerge, with 

lovely effects.” She also mentions one new Brighton-based guest this year: embroiderer Julie French. 

“Her work’s so fine it looks like intricate wood engravings.” Sounds wonderful. Charlotte Gann 

Guild show is 2nd-4th August, Michelham Priory. Throughout Artwave, the exhibition Celebrating 

Sussex will show at the Guild Shop in The Grange. thesussexguild.co.uk 

20

BITS AND BORDERS 

GLYNDEBOURNE OPEN GARDENS DAY 

Usually open only to opera goers, Glyndebourne’s 

Open Gardens Day gives visitors a chance to 

picnic, admire the manicured lawns, formal rose 

garden, and lake, see inside the auditorium, follow 

the sculpture trail and ask questions of the gardening 

team. 

Head Gardener Kevin Martin will be one of the 

team there on the day, having worked at Glyndebourne 

for 26 years. He tells me that their rarest 

plant is possibly the tall ‘persicaria orientalis’. 

Kevin is proud of the wildlife in Glyndebourne. “I always joke that there’s as much drama and death 

and love that goes on in the gardens as on the stage. Birds, snakes, slow-worms, and bats that live in 

the building and sometimes fly on set. A wide range of birds, we recently had red kites flying around, 

buzzards, fire crest, gold crest, tree creepers, nuthatches, woodpeckers. 

“We don’t use any insecticides so we can get a balance of wildlife within the garden: it seems to look 

after itself. We encourage birds into the garden, we leave areas at the back of borders, leave some cuttings 

and stuff like that so they’ve got somewhere to hide.” Joe Fuller 

Sat 31 Aug, 11am-4pm, £10, tickets via glyndebourne.com & 01273 812321 

Photo by Sam Stephenson 

chrismas 

ogden 

solicitors 

Lasting Powers of Attorney 

A Lasting Power of Attorney enables you to give someone you 

trust the power to act on your behalf in situations which you 

have identified. The person to whom you give this power is called 

your Attorney. Choosing to appoint someone else to manage 

your money or property are big decisions which need careful 

consideration and guidance. 

Contact us for information on how we can assist you... 

Chrismas Ogden Solicitors Limited, Howard Cottage, Broomans Lane, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2LT. 

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-5pm 

W: www.chrismasogden.co.uk T: 01273 474159 E: enquiries@chrismasogden.co.uk

Valuation Day 

Fine Art and Jewellery 

Charleston House, Lewes, BN8 6LL | 7 August, 11am to 3pm 

APPOINTMENTS 

AND ENQUIRIES 

01273 220000 

hove@bonhams.com 

bonhams.com/hove 

ERIC GILL A.R.A. 

(BRITISH, 1882-1940) 

Girl with a Comb in her Hair 

41.5 cm. (16 3/8 in.) 

high Carved in 1928 

Sold for £ 262,562 

* Prices shown include buyer’s premium. Details can be found at bonhams.com

TRIPS AND BOBS 

SPREAD THE WORD 

Debby Matthews is pictured here by husband 

John with June’s Viva, in their favourite bar 

in the town of Trinidad in Cuba. They spent 

an intensive week there, living with a family 

and learning Spanish. ‘It really is the best way 

to get to know the language and way of life’, 

Debby wrote to us. ‘But be warned, June in 

Cuba is very hot! 

Cuandro yo ha llegrado en Cuba yo ne ha 

hablado espanol nade, hoy yo se mucho mas que 

antes. (trans) When I got to Cuba I knew no 

Spanish, now I know much more than before. 

Viva Cuba!’ 

And Simon Dale sent in this lovely, somewhat 

chillier picture. 

‘Here I am in Oslo in front of the iceberg-like 

Opera house, designed by Snøhetta’, he wrote. 

‘First trip for us to this wonderfully quiet city 

where there is little traffic and so many cars are 

hybrid or electric.’ 

Finally, ‘Howdy’ wrote Pamela Lewis. ‘So here 

I am in the Black Hills of Wyoming, south of 

Rapid City, living life as a cowgirl, Western 

style. This is my third ranch holiday in the US 

where I work with the wranglers all day with 

their Black Angus cattle and calves. 

Spring here is stunning, lush pastures and pine 

forests on the top hills. Great place to escape 

with 10,000 acres of 

outstanding natural 

beauty.’ 

Keep taking us with you 

and keep spreading the 

word. Send your photos 

and a few words about 

you and your trip to 

hello@vivamagazines. 

com. 

Artwave Exhibition 

17th Aug - 15th Sept (Open daily) 

John Worth, Janine Shute, Marco Crivello, 

Jacob Crivello, Kate Osborne 

15 Malling Street Lewes BN7 2RA | 01273 471647 

www.keizerframes.com 

John Worth

Domestic Pet, Farm Animal and Equine Services 

Your local 

Veterinary 

Practice 

since 1865 

LEWES MAIN SURGERY 

21 Cliffe High Street 

01273 473 232 

WOODINGDEAN SURGERY 

01273 302 609 

RINGMER SURGERY 

01273 814 590 

EQUINE CLINIC LAUGHTON 

01323 815120 

www.cliffevets.co.uk | www.cliffeequine.co.uk

CARTOON 

25

COLUMN 

Lewes Out Loud 

Plenty more Henty 

Those Viva readers with long memories may 

recall when my monthly meanderings on these 

pages were solely devoted to the eclectic world 

of collecting. Under the title Henty’s Twenty, I 

went in search of collectable items in the town 

and on one occasion, seven years ago, even 

suggested we should organise our own version 

of TV’s Bargain Hunt format to be provisionally 

titled That’s Your Lot. 

Sadly, no one liked the idea and anyway, the 

Bargain Hunt programme continues to flourish 

to this day alongside the other long-running 

series Celebrity Antiques Road Trip. 

Talking of the latter, it never ceases to amaze 

me how the various celebrities in their vintage 

vehicles always seem to travel to locations the 

length and breadth of the United Kingdom 

along idyllic, traffic-free country lanes. 

Where are these rural routes I would love to ask 

the programme makers and, also, how is it that 

when the teams eventually arrive at the relevant 

auction house or antiques emporium, parking is 

achieved immediately outside with not a traffic 

warden in sight? 

Let’s face it, road trips today are just not like 

that anymore in this country and for me, the 

only place still to achieve wide open spaces and 

motorway freedom is America. 

My journey across the States from coast to 

coast, albeit aboard a Greyhound bus in 1960, 

was momentous enough. Then there was the 

exhilaration of heading north on Highway 101 

out of Los Angeles one balmy May evening 

when a herd of wild horses dashed across the 

road in front of us. 

More recently, as a family, we drove from 

Denver, Colorado to San Francisco in a Ford 

Pinto station wagon via the Rocky Mountains 

and Las Vegas. No wonder one of my favourite 

road movies, with its rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack 

from 1969 was Easy Rider starring Peter Fonda 

and Dennis Hopper on motorcycles. 

Today, even the M27 alarms me with its 

volume of traffic, frequent delays and jumbo 

juggernauts. A trip to Eastbourne recently then, 

for another British Music Hall Society ‘Day 

by the Sea’, was achieved in twenty minutes 

by train and in the company of fellow variety 

enthusiasts including Miles Jenner, Richard 

from the Needlemakers and husband and wife 

team, Peter and Ann. 

Other brief encounters this month – Zoey and 

her aunty Jane in their aptly named High Street 

shop ‘Luggage Etc.’ and newcomer, Matthew 

from Peacehaven who had a stall at the Tuesday 

market in the town hall selling crystals and 

other geological goodies. 

I was intrigued by his fascinating display and 

we were joined at one point by enthusiast, Ian 

from Ringmer, who was equally knowledgeable 

about the sparkling minerals. Matthew told 

me of the healing qualities of certain pieces 

and I came home with a most appealing ball of 

translucent selenite complete with miniature 

stand and black bag. It cost me a modest fiver 

and sits atop my desk as I calmly conclude these 

words. No road rage for me! John Henty 

27

COLUMN 

David Jarman 

alighting at Waterloo 

In four decades of going to London from 

Lewes, once a week on average, I’ve built up 

an extensive, albeit pretty random, store of 

associations with those places in the capital in 

which I’m most likely to find myself. Arriving 

at Victoria I, like so many passengers, take 

advantage of the washrooms in the Grosvenor 

Hotel, above the station. It was in this hotel 

that Emile Zola took refuge, fleeing France 

after publication of J’accuse. Or, if I’m changing 

at Clapham Junction, I give a thought to Oscar 

Wilde’s public humiliation, waiting for the 

train that would take him to Reading Gaol. At 

Waterloo, I pop into Prêt à Manger, drop in 

at the BFI, walk over the bridge, en route to 

the National Gallery, and eat my sandwich at 

Charing Cross Station. It was here, I reflect, 

that Mervyn Peake saw a man in a telephone 

box whom he used as the inspiration for his 

portrayal of the Mad Hatter in his ‘Alice’ 

illustrations. If it’s fine, I lunch sitting on 

Maggi Hambling’s statue of Oscar Wilde, 

opposite Charing Cross. And if I’m meeting 

my friend Yana Staynov in Battersea, I walk 

through the park and think of the day when 

the film director, Robert Hamer, knew that the 

years of heavy boozing had caught up with him. 

He became convinced that, all the way home 

to Tite Street, Chelsea (where Wilde lived, 

at No. 16, for ten years from January, 1885) 

he was being followed by a lobster. Next day, 

the crustaceans had increased their numbers 

outside the flat. The men in white coats were 

summoned. 

Hamer’s masterpiece, Ealing comedy Kind 

Hearts and Coronets, is one of my favourite 

films. Hamer’s own screenplay has, dare I 

say it, a very Wildean wit. It has just been 

re-released. Dennis Price plays Louis 

Mazzini, determined to avenge his mother’s 

unsuccessful attempt to have her spectacularly 

moustachioed, but of humble origins, opera 

singer hubby immured in her aristocractic 

family’s vaults. Louis intends to obtain the title 

by progressively murdering his way through 

the whole D’Ascoyne clan (all played by Alec 

Guinness). General Rufus D’Ascoyne receives 

an unsolicited gift at his club. It’s caviar. “Saw 

a lot of this stuff in the Crimea – one of the 

things the Russkies do very well”, he informs 

his guest. He digs into it, triggering a fatal 

explosion. How does Price preface this, in 

his delightful voiceover? “By the post, I sent 

caviar to the general.” Delicious! (By the way, 

according to D.J. Enright, Dennis Price was 

once identified, in a Seychelles newspaper, as 

‘Dennis Prick’. A correction, in the next issue, 

amending this to ‘Penis Price’, didn’t help.) 

Louis is torn between sultry, silky-tongued 

Sibella (Joan Greenwood) and upright widow 

Edith D’Ascoyne, played by Valerie Hobson, 

wife of John Profumo. 

As is well known, Profumo did 30 years’ 

noble penitence in the East End. Not least of 

his travails was having to award the annual 

Lloyd’s of London 

insurance market 

‘Miriam 

Djanogly 

Prizes’. I 

know. In 

1978 I was 

recipient of 

the second 

prize. 

Poor man. 

Illustration by Charlotte Gann 

29

Focusing 

on you 

HAIR MECHANICS 

offering a full range of barber 

services to suit every need and age 

MONDAY: 9-5 

TUESDAY: 9-5 

WEDNESDAY: 9-5 

THURSDAY: 9-6 

FRIDAY: 9-5 

SATURDAY: 8.30-3 

1 STATION RD, LEWES BN7 2YY 

PHONE: 01273 470448 

HAIR MECHANICS LEWES 

HAIRMECHANICS_ 

Counselling, Psychotherapy 

and Psychological services 

in central Lewes 

01273 921355 

www.brightonandhovepsychotherapy.com 

admin@brightonandhovepsychotherapy.com 

Illustration by Hasia Curtis

COLUMN 

Eleanor Knight 

Keyboard worrier 

From Hindu deities to hell’s angels, our mode 

of transport says a lot about who we are. The 

beautiful Saraswati, goddess of art and culture, 

rides about on a peacock or swan, symbolising 

wisdom and purity. A middle-aged, heavily 

tattooed tubster in rotting leathers and with 

the beard of an Old Testament patriarch rides 

about on an oversized lawnmower with hockey 

sticks for handlebars. For that is his vahana – the 

Sanksrit word meaning that which pulls (in his 

dreams). In English, we’d say tractor. 

People who study these things say that in order 

to understand a town you need to look at how 

people move about in it. So let’s visit Lewes 

during the long afternoon snooze that is August. 

The quaint and wobbly streets are full of visitors 

exploring the shops and cafés, holidaymakers 

head out under knotted hankies and knapsacks 

to the South Downs Way, and pensioners from 

Cleethorpes are throwing up politely in paper 

bags outside the castle because it was a very long 

way on the coach and they hadn’t bargained for 

the heat. 

Lewes in the holidays is a pedestrian’s paradise, 

a walker’s wonderland, a bustling market town 

where everyone stops to say hello and where the 

air is sweetened with the hops of Harveys as it 

rolls in over clovered downland and wafts up the 

nostrils of our healthy infants like naturopathic 

Bisto. 

But it’s a dream. When we wake up come 

term-time, our narrow streets once 

more fill up with those vahanas 

most readily associated 

with family life. Cars. 

At the risk of spoiling your sunny day, I will 

just mention that the average exhaust pipe emits 

carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen 

dioxide, benzene, formaldehyde, polycyclic 

hydrocarbons and particulate matter (soot), 

every one and combination of which cause 

pulmonary and respiratory distress, damage to 

lung tissue and cancer. 

For every minute your engine is turning over at 

the traffic lights, or outside school, you can fill 

150 balloons with this noxious cocktail. Think 

of those balloons strung out over the Bottleneck 

at teatime, or bobbing about the length of 

Mountfield Road in the mornings and that’s a 

party nobody wants to go to. 

While I personally would look forward very 

much to seeing the streets reclaimed by 

peacocks, swans, mice, bulls, lions or serpents, 

a more practical and, I daresay, manageable 

approach to transport would be to consider not 

only what symbolises the most appealing aspect 

of being human – daydreaming – but what 

humans most need. Air. For breathing. 

August is that breathing space, a woozy summer 

sigh. So while you and yours are feeling dreamy 

and the air is clear, put your healthy lungs to 

work and blow up a few balloons. With a bit of 

neighbourhood cooperation and the requisite 

YouTube Tutorial you should be able to inflate 

a colourful raft of balloon animals, a perfect 

transport of delight for any flight of fancy. Keep 

one or two by the front door ready to blow up in 

September, just as a reminder. 

Illustration by Hasia Curtis

ON THIS MONTH: FESTIVAL 

Photo by Raphael Moran 

Byline Festival 

Think, and have fun 

‘Dance, Discuss, Laugh and Change the World’ 

is Byline’s byline. This month sees the festival’s 

third year. Last year 4,000 people came – to 

the site in Pippingford Park, Nutley; this year 

they expect 5,000. “We started it just after the 

Referendum and Trump’s Election”, Stephen 

Colegrave, who founded the festival alongside 

writer Peter Jukes, tells me. “We wanted to do 

something a bit different – not just a music festival 

– though also that. But something that inspired 

people, and made them think as well as laugh and 

have fun. 

“So, we do have a great music line-up – this year 

includes Lowkey, The Feeling, Pussy Riot (again) 

and 80s legends like Suggs from Madness – and 

comedy too, but also three talk tents. We’ve got 

Extinction Rebellion coming – because we think 

the climate crisis is the biggest issue today. This 

year, we hope to encourage people to actually go 

out and change the world.” 

It’s all about hope and change, he tells me. “And 

getting a lot of people together. We never meant 

it to be a political festival with a capital P, but 

politics are important. “We’ve also always been 

massively exercised by ‘fake news’ – and pro 

rigorous, investigative journalism. We’ve recently 

launched our own newspaper, Byline News. And we 

always run a Bad Press Awards – bit like the Bad 

Sex Award – though the winners never turn up to 

collect their gongs! 

“What we’re really interested in is inspiring 

people to think about the future. At the same 

time as having fun.” 

This year Byline is partnering with the Curious 

Arts Festival (see opposite), which will run on 

the same site – a ticket to either will get you into 

both – and the Frontline Club. “Lewes Women’s 

FC will also be there,” says Stephen, “running a 

chanting workshop, and 5-a-side football.” 

There are loads of workshops to choose from 

– “learn how to write a punk song; or make a 

podcast in your bedroom” – as well as “immersive 

experiences”: a human library, where you can 

borrow a ‘book’ – ie person – and hear their story 

for fifteen minutes; or the empathy museum, 

where you literally walk in someone else’s shoes – 

through the forest, listening to their story through 

headphones. 

Or what about the embodiment cloakroom? 

“Leave your emotional baggage to one side for 

the weekend, by writing it on a paper jacket, and 

hanging it in the cloakroom.” Then, why not (re) 

visit the Wag Club? The iconic Soho club will be 

recreated onsite for the weekend by its original 

co-founder, Chris Sullivan – plus, a vintage 80s 

clothing store for any who wish to dress the part. 

“The opening event this year is a big Samba 

party, with five bands, no less. Plus, the Refugee 

Choir, which had me in tears last year. Also there 

are lots of family activities. 

“What I love about festivals is how people arrive 

on Friday, in their weekend gear – that’s actually 

quite grown-up – and leave on Sunday looking 

completely crazy – face painted, and dressed in 

togs they’ve picked up on site. Job done, from our 

perspective.” Charlotte Gann 

23rd-26th August. bylinefestival.com. Byline News 

at bylinetimes.com 

32


Curious Arts 

Philippa Perry 

While the prevailing 

attitude of most parenting 

manuals seems to be the 

necessity of getting things 

‘right’ when bringing up 

children, Philippa Perry’s 

new book takes the opposite 

tack; that, in fact, it’s okay 

to get things wrong. What 

matters is how you handle 

those mistakes. In The Book 

You Wish Your Parents Had 

Read (And Your Children 

Will be Glad That You Did) the pragmatic 

psychotherapist, author and agony aunt 

describes the process as ‘rupture and repair’: 

recognising where things might be going awry 

and then putting them right, without any need 

for hand-wringing. 

‘WE NEED TO DROP THIS IDEA OF 

GUILT AND REGRET!’ she writes over email 

(she has replied to all my questions in capital 

letters). ‘Parental guilt does not help parents nor 

their children. It is much more useful to notice 

when a way we have been going about things 

is not working and then to change it, than to 

continue to do it and think it is somehow okay 

because you are punishing yourself by feeling 

guilty about it.’ 

Instead of the rigid rules championed by certain 

parenting experts, Perry’s book emphasises 

the value of trying to relate to our children 

as people rather than seeing them as projects. 

Obvious, perhaps. But she points to the popular 

use of words such as ‘training’ in parenting 

advice, which brings with it connotations of 

manipulating children to do things the way 

adults want. ‘Babies are born with an innate 

capacity for turn taking – the foundation 

for dialogue – but when we just do things to 

babies, we interfere with 

the natural process of 

relating.’ As a therapist, 

Perry has seen first-hand 

the way clients value ‘being 

listened to and understood’, 

as well as ‘how validating 

it is when someone can see 

things from your point 

of view as well as their 

own; how important it is 

to matter to other people; 

how frustrating it can 

be when you cannot impact upon, or make a 

difference to, someone you care about… All this 

knowledge from therapy can be relevant to the 

parent-child relationship too.’ 

Just as the aim of therapy isn’t to ‘fix’ someone, 

the goal of parenting shouldn’t be to raise a 

perfectly happy child. Instead, she says, we 

should aim to raise someone who feels that 

all of their emotions are valid. Perry’s own 

parents were ‘well-meaning’ but unable to 

understand how their daughter could see the 

world differently. ‘In order to facilitate a child’s 

capacity for happiness, they need all of their 

feelings seen; if we were only to see them when 

they were acting happy, we wouldn’t know them, 

or be available’. 

Her one piece of advice? ‘If you think you have 

a problem with a child, don’t solely concentrate 

on the child; look at your relationship with 

that child… that’s where you will find your 

answer. I’d also say [here, again, the caps seem 

intentional] READ THE BOOK!’ 

Philippa Perry joins a line up of award-winning 

authors, comedians and singer songwriters at 

the Curious Arts Festival. Nione Meakin 

23rd to 26th August, Pippingford Park. 

curiousartsfestival.com 

33

JO O’SULLIVAN 

MEDITATION & MEDIATION 

How to focus on 

what’s important 

I like to start my morning with a dip in the 

sea. (Being a risk averse sort, I don’t go 

in when it’s dangerous.) I completely love 

everything about it. 

Just bobbing about in the sea for 10 minutes 

has the following effects for me: 

1. It cools down my body so I can burn up fat 

(I am on the lardy side) 

2. I find it meditative 

3. It’s like a ‘kick start’ or a ‘reboot’. It cheers 

and energises me. 

I refer to writer Anne Lammott’s 2017 TED 

talk called, ’12 Truths I learned from life and 

writing’, in particular when she says: 

‘Almost everything will work again if you 

unplug it for a few minutes... including you’. 

[Second Truth]. 

And yet many of us find it hard do this. To 

stop. To just be. To unplug. Of course, when 

I’m in the sea there are no distractions and 

no phone. A chance to appreciate the sea, the 

sky and my life. 

When my clients go through a break up they 

are stressed almost to breaking point. I 

encourage them to look after themselves by 

seeking help from counsellors. But they need 

to take time for themselves to quieten and try 

and see things in perspective. 

I start my mediation sessions (where 

possible) with a short meditation. For all of us 

to just breathe. To leave behind the tension 

and rush of the day and just be in the room. 

To help us focus on what’s important: the 

future; the children; sorting things out. 

Sensible disclaimer: I am not a doctor so I am 

not prescribing a sea swim for everyone given 

the low temperatures! 

Please call to discuss what might be the best process for you 

on 07780676212 or email jo@osullivanfamilylaw.com 

For more details about how I work visit 

www.osullivanfamilylaw.com

ON THIS MONTH: THEATRE 

The Merchant of Venice 

Fit for treasons 

Spare a thought for 

Mark Brailsford who, 

for most of the year, 

runs The Treason Show, 

a satirical sketch night 

poking fun at the 

politicians who are 

making such a mess of 

running our affairs. 

It’s not been an easy 

job, recently. “Truth has transcended satire,” he 

tells me, sitting on the top terrace of Brighton 

Open Air Theatre, on Dyke Road. “I mean you 

couldn’t make up Trump or Johnson, could you? 

Doing the Shakespeare is escapism for me. I 

love it.” 

‘The Shakespeare’ is shorthand for his other 

regular project, The Brighton Shakespeare 

Company, a professional troupe with whom, 

every summer, he stages one of the playwright’s 

dramas in the theatre we’re sitting in, and 

beyond. 

This year it’s The Merchant of Venice, and it’s 

coming to Lewes – the Castle’s Gun Garden – 

this month. But, Mark being Mark, not as you 

have ever seen it before. “The role of Shylock is 

being played by a female actor – Jules Craig – 

which adds another layer to an already complex 

play,” he says. 

“A lot of companies neglect the play because 

the theme of anti-Semitism is so thorny. But 

it’s so very topical, unfortunately, and I feel it’s 

important to confront it. Elizabethan England 

was an anti-Semitic place, but that doesn’t 

mean Shakespeare was anti-Semitic himself. 

He approaches the subject from a very human 

angle, and we end up feeling pity and empathy 

for Shylock, especially in his ‘If you prick us, do 

we not bleed?’ speech.” 

Or her speech, to be more 

accurate. “By making 

Shylock a woman, you 

can double down on the 

impact of her persecution,” 

he says. “It also becomes a 

play about the vulnerability 

of women.” 

There are serious themes 

to be explored, then, but it’s far from being a 

heavy production. “The Merchant of Venice is a 

tragi-comedy, and there are a lot of laughs in 

it, which suits us very well. I have a mission to 

make Shakespeare understandable, and to make 

the audience laugh, too, as the original audience 

would have done.” 

Expect the actors to interact with the crowd, 

then; expect improvised asides; expect the odd 

topical allusion. Oh, and expect ‘Croydon’ to be 

mentioned, as it is in every one of the Brighton 

Shakespeare Company’s performances. “It’s 

a bit of an in-joke: our regulars have come to 

expect it.” 

We’re talking an hour before the second 

performance of the show, and the actors are 

walking around the open-air theatre, practising 

their lines, humming, finding their voices. Soon 

the audience will start arriving, with picnic 

hampers, and bottles of prosecco. Mark needs to 

go, to get into his costume, and into character. 

He’s cast himself as Lancelot Gobbo, known in 

the trade, he tells me, as ‘the unplayable clown.’ 

“It sounds challenging,” I say, as he hurries 

off. He smiles back at me, and, I realise, that’s 

exactly the point. Alex Leith 

Lewes Castle, 9th, 10th August, 7pm. 

brightonshakespearecompany.co.uk 

35

AWARD-WINNING EYE CARE 

Lewes . Uckfield . Seaford . Polegate 

Eastbourne . St. Leonards . Bexhill . Battle 

www.barracloughs.net 

Barracloughs the Opticians Lewes are proud to incorporate 

FIND YOUR FEET PODIATRY & CHIROPODY 

52 Cliffe High Street . Lewes . 01273 471893 . www.fyfpc.co.uk 

- Nail Cutting 

- Corn & Callus removal 

- In-growing Toenails 

- Verrucae 

- Fungal Nail advice 

- Diabetic Foot 

- Rheumatology 

- Wound care 

- Nail Surgery 

- Biomechanics

ON THIS MONTH: FILM 

Rosemary’s Baby, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Lost in Paris 

Film ’19 

Dexter Lee’s cinema round-up 

A lot of young couples find the process of 

moving to a new flat fraught with difficulty 

and stress, but none more so than John Cassavetes 

and Mia Farrow, in Roman Polanski’s 

chilling horror film Rosemary’s Baby (Horror 

Night, 3rd). The Farrow character gets pregnant, 

but soon starts losing weight and craving 

raw meat. Meanwhile friends and neighbours 

around her die mysterious deaths. Then the 

(Satanic) plot thickens… 

This month’s Dementia-friendly screening, to 

which everyone’s welcome, particularly if they 

want to sing along to the soundtrack, is Grease 

(6th), another film about a young woman 

(Olivia Newton John) undergoing a transformation. 

John Travolta, of course, co-stars; 

look out for a fine performance from Stockard 

Channing, as Rizzo. 

From one on-screen Travolta love interest to 

another: Uma Thurman stars in the third of 

Depot’s Quentin Tarantino trilogy Kill Bill 

Vol. 1 (6th), the hip US director’s eulogy to 

the ‘grindhouse’ martial arts genre, and a bit 

of a gorefest. The trilogy has been scheduled 

as a taster for the latest Tarantino offering, 

opening on the 15th, Once Upon a Time 

in Hollywood, hailed by many Cannes critics as 

his best movie for years. Leonardo DiCaprio, 

Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie star. 

This month’s supper club offering on the 14th 

is Children of the Snow Land, directed by Zara 

Balfour. It’s a 2017 documentary charting the 

progress of three children who trek back home 

over the Himalayas, from their Buddhist 

school in Kathmandu, having not seen their 

parents for ten years. The film is preceded by 

a Nepalese-style meal. 

Depot are, as usual, involved in Artwave, 

offering four films loosely based around the 

theme ‘Play’. Playmobil is a computer animated 

adventure comedy, for kids, based on the German 

Lego-like building toy (beginning 9th). 

The 1967 comedy Playtime (18th and 20th) 

is often considered to be French director/actor 

Jacques Tati’s masterpiece: he reprises his 

much-loved M. Hulot character, careering 

around one of the most elaborate stage sets 

ever made. Penny Slinger: Out of the Shadows 

(19th, 21st and 22nd) is a documentary about 

the eponymous British surrealist. And Lost in 

Paris (24th, 27th) is a (playful) French-Belgian 

comedy, about an unlikely couple who meet in 

the French capital. 

Finally, at Depot, the latest decade to be 

featured in the Alfred Hitchcock season is the 

50s, with screenings of Notorious (25th), Rope 

(Sept 2nd) and Strangers on a Train (Sept 9th). 

Some sobering food for thought, to finish: 

Pells Pool are putting on a series of al fresco 

screenings, all with an ecological theme. The 

Age of Stupid (3rd) is a dystopian computeranimated 

movie, set in 2055, starring Pete 

Postlethwaite as an archivist wondering why 

we didn’t halt climate change before it was too 

late; Sonic Sea (8th) looks at the damage noise 

pollution is doing to marine life; The Islands 

and the Whales (15th) examines the whalehunting 

community in the Faroe Islands; and 

Sea of Life (22nd) looks at the importance of 

the ocean to the planet. They all start at 9pm. 

37

ON THIS MONTH: PRIDE 

Grace Carter 

A breath of fresh air 

Grace Carter grew up in Brighton with her 

mum, listening to singers like Lauryn Hill and 

Nina Simone. Now, at 23, having caused a stir 

with her strikingly honest and emotive R&B, 

she’s performing at Pride alongside the likes of 

Jessie J, Grace Jones and Kylie. 

Pride has always been a big part of my life. 

Every summer, me and my friends would go 

along and have the best time ever. Now, after 

being in that audience, going and performing is 

super-exciting. It’s an amazing celebration, and 

I’m very happy to be there. 

I was introduced to songwriting by my 

stepdad. I met him when I was 13, but I was 

very unsure of him. I grew up with a single 

mum and I had a lot of anger and questions 

about why I was in that position. But my 

stepdad was a musician and he saw that anger 

in me, and the potential. He gave me a guitar 

and encouraged me to write my first song about 

what I was feeling at the time, which had a lot 

to do with abandonment and unrequited love. 

The first record is my proudest moment, I 

overcame so much by going through that whole 

process. I can’t wait for it to be released next 

year. It’s about my childhood, relationships that 

I had and ones I didn’t have, celebrating my 

mum and finding out why my dad wasn’t in my 

life. It’s emotional but, hopefully, empowering. 

I get messages every day from young girls, 

young boys, and I meet a lot of people at shows. 

Older parents, as well, saying things like “my 

daughter is in the same position as you and I’m 

so happy that you’ve become this woman and 

you’ve coped with it, I hope my daughter can 

do the same”. I’m able to talk to people and 

hear other people’s stories, so it’s very cool that 

I’m in a place where there’s that platform. 

I probably wouldn’t stop to listen to a 

ballad, if I was at a festival and I was drinking, 

and it was sunny and I was out with my friends. 

But it’s fun to try and keep the set up. I don’t 

necessarily write the most beat-heavy songs, 

but the festivals that I have done have always 

gone well. I guess people see it as a breath of 

fresh air in a way. My songs are emotional at 

points, but also epic, hopefully uplifting, and 

there are some you can dance to. 

You can write a song about a hard 

experience, something you struggled through, 

but the feeling of coming out of that is so 

powerful, people do feel lifted by that. It’s the 

feeling of the light at the end of the tunnel, like 

it’s not always going to be this dark and there’s 

a glimpse of hope. 

Pride is a celebration of love, and strength. 

It’s so important, we all struggle, we all go 

through heartbreak, but it’s nice to know we’re 

not the only ones. I hope I can uplift people 

and make people feel connected. That’s the 

whole point, unity. 

As told to Ben Bailey 

Grace Carter appears at LoveBN1Fest in 

Preston Park on Sunday August 4. 

39

ON THIS MONTH: MUSIC 

Lapwing Festival 

Music in the Coastguard Cottages 

Iconic though they are, the 

picturesque Coastguard 

Cottages at Cuckmere Haven 

seem an unlikely venue for a 

music festival. But five years 

ago the site captured the heart 

of an Australian cellist who 

immediately saw its potential as 

being ‘the most beautiful music 

venue in the world’. 

“My partner was playing at 

Glyndebourne,” explains 

Anthony Albrecht, director 

of the Lapwing Festival, “and 

with a new baby in tow we were 

looking for places to visit, so I googled ‘best 

views in Sussex’. This photo came up, of the 

cottages on the cliff edge and the Seven Sisters 

in the background and it was impossible not to 

be swept away by the beauty of the place.” 

After contacting the owners of the cottages, and 

the Cuckmere Haven SOS group who, he says, 

embraced him warmly, Anthony offered to play 

a recital in one of the cottage’s living rooms. 

The next year he fixed a weekend of music, and 

the Lapwing Festival was born. 

The events now take place in an open marquee 

next to the cottages, but with a maximum 

audience size of sixty the emphasis is still on 

creating an “incredibly intimate” setting in 

which to hear world-class music and celebrate 

the landscape. “The sounds of the sea in the 

background, the whirling of birds, beautiful 

meditative music and a gorgeous view as the sun 

goes down. It’s magical.” 

The Festival presents an eclectic mix of music, 

defying categorisation: classical music from 

the Consone String Quartet; a vibraphone 

recital by world-renowned 

Masayoshi Fujita; and an 

evening with top folk singer 

and naturalist Sam Lee are just 

three of the concerts on offer. 

Anthony’s vision is to bring 

together predominantly young 

performers recently emerged 

on the world stage, to give 

audiences a taste of different 

musical genres and cultural 

backgrounds. 

At the heart of it all is a 

desire not just to help save 

the cottages, but to secure 

access and enjoyment of this landscape for 

the next generation. “Coastal erosion is a big 

issue, and the official policy for the valley is 

‘managed retreat’,” Anthony explains. “There 

are currently no government resources for 

further sea defences, so the Cuckmere Haven 

SOS campaign was set up to gain planning 

permission and crowdfund the necessary 

works. This small festival is trying to help raise 

awareness and hopefully more funds for the 

campaign. We run Lapwing on a voluntary basis 

and offers of help are very welcome.” 

It’s all a long way from New South Wales. 

But for Anthony, “the connection with the 

community in Cuckmere Haven is one of the 

most valuable parts of my experience in the 

UK.” This might be the last festival however, as 

he is relocating with his family to Canada in the 

autumn. Catch it while you can. 

Robin Houghton 

Friday 30th August-Sunday 1st Sept, tickets 

from £30 (under 16 £5). lapwingfestival.com 

cuckmerehavensos.org 

Photo by Katie Eynon 

41

RICHARD GREEN FUNERAL SERVICE 

The only truly independent, family owned and run 

Funeral Directors & Memorial Masons in Lewes & Uckfield 

We don’t just 

do traditional 

170 High Street 

Lewes 

BN7 1YE 

01273 488121 (24hrs) 

lewes@rgreenfs.co.uk 

125 High Street 

Uckfield 

TN22 1RN 

01825 760601 (24hrs) 

uckfield@rgreenfs.co.uk


Newhaven Festival 

Small but aiming high 

Now in its second year, Newhaven Festival is 

part of a growing movement in coastal towns 

to nurture a ‘Creative Cluster’. Supported 

by Artwave in 2018, Susie Mullins, Head of 

Strategic Development at Newhaven Town 

Council started a festival to run alongside the 

Open Houses. Newhaven Festival’s Creative 

Director, Rhoda Funnell, tells us how the 

festival has grown for the 2019 edition. 

This year offers a range of free and 

ticketed events, inviting locals and visitors to 

get together, have fun and explore this unique 

industrial town surrounded by the Downs. 

A Newhaven map, by local illustrator Olivia 

Waller, offers a way to travel through the 

town, visiting some unusual venues such as the 

new Bandstand where the Festival launches. 

Or the RNLI where you can learn to sing 

Shanties (£5 for 4 hours tuition and optional 

performance), or the Hillcrest Centre to see 

the Thrift Fashion Show (£3). 

Any creative event taking place in Newhaven 

during the festival can be included in the 

schedule. The aim is gradually to grow the 

festival in town, as well as joining forces 

with bigger organisations to provide bespoke 

opportunities at discounted rates. The 

Charleston Farmhouse Secret Downland Walk, 

for example, is an all-day walk from Denton 

over the Downs, ending with tea, cake and 

access to gardens and galleries at Charleston. 

Free transport back included, £20/£10 for 

BN9 residents. Glyndebourne, meanwhile, are 

presenting a Make Your Own Opera workshop 

at Newhaven’s Hillcrest Centre, where 9-19 

year olds can learn about group singing, 

instrumental performance, acting and design. 

Many of the tickets offer 50% discount to 

local people and almost all those working 

on the festival or running events live and/or 

work in Newhaven. Creative businesses such 

as Prismaflex, King & McGaw, Vantablack and 

Boutique Modern are all based in Newhaven. 

Locate East Sussex is showing a documentary 

they commissioned about creative Newhaven 

along with a networking opportunity, and 

Newhaven Enterprise Zone is a part sponsor of 

the Open Call taking place at The Ship Hotel. 

We want to show a wider audience all that 

Newhaven has to offer, as well as creating 

opportunities locally. The first port of call 

for anyone we need help from is Newhaven, 

because lots of professional people are working 

here. We are small but aiming high and interest 

from outside funders and organisations is 

already showing we are on track. 

We are a mix of people with diverse creative 

ideas. The festival is a way of drawing all this 

together over time, offering support, building 

Newhaven’s profile and delivering a range of 

high quality events that attract attention. All 

this brings opportunities for our future. We’d 

like to see new work spaces, a gallery. Plus 

loads of chances just to have fun and enjoy this 

amazing town we live in. 

As told to Joe Fuller 

17 Aug-1 Sep, newhavenfestival.co.uk 

Pictured: Glyndebourne Youth Opera. Photo by Sam Stephenson 

43

NF 

19 

NEWHAVEN FESTIVAL 

Over two weeks of arts & 

culture in Newhaven. 

Walks, talks, exhibitions 

& workshops. Plus artwave 

open houses. 

August 17 – September 1 

Award winning venues 

perched on the South Downs 

VISIT SOUTH HEIGHTON 

part of the Newhaven Trail 

Open 11 - 17.00 

August 17/18 - 24/25/26 - 31/01 

Work of over 30 artists & 

makers across 4 walkable venues. 

Gardens, refreshments and workshops. 

53 Lupin Cottage Workshops 

Lupin Cottage, 46 Denton Road, 

Denton, BN9 0QB 

facebook.com/lupincottageworkshops 

54 

Faye’s Emporium 

86 Denton Road, 

Denton, BN9 0QE 

fayesemporium.co.uk 

55 

The Old Forge Open House 

The Old Forge, 

Heighton Road, 

South Heighton BN9 0JH 

www.theoldforgeopenhouse.com 

newhavenfestival.co.uk 

newhavenfestival 

56 

South Heighton Pottery 

Heighton Road, 

South Heighton, BN9 0HL 

chrislewisceramics.com 

newhaven festival 

illustration © Olivia Waller 

www.artwavefestival.org

ART 

ART & ABOUT 

In town this month 

Artwave returns from the 17th of August until the 1st of September with 

140 venues opening their doors this year. Around 70 of those are in Lewes, 

so here’s just a few suggestions to get you started (venue numbers are shown in brackets). 

Pick up a brochure or see artwavefestval.org for the full map and opening times. 

Oyster Project 

At the top of the town there’s an exhibition of work by the late Theyre 

Lee-Elliott (136) in St Anne’s Crescent. Born in Lewes in 1903, his 

designs and paintings captured the spirit of the 1930s, particularly his 

railway posters and his Imperial Airways ‘Speedbird’ 

emblem. Oyster Project: VizAbility Arts (105) presents 

work by talented artists who have disabilities, at 

Westgate Chapel on the 17th-18th, and the following 

weekend at the same venue, Lewes Women in Business 

Creatives (104) join Artwave for the first time, 

showing jewellery, photography, ceramics, textiles, 

paintings and prints by twelve local makers. 

Theyre Lee-Elliott

Liza Mackintosh 

Invites you to her solo art 

exhibition, titled ‘Terrain’ as 

part of Lewes Art Wave. 

Open 11am - 6.30pm 

Saturday 31st August & 

Sunday 1st September 

Location: 

Unit 1 The Old Brewery, 

Thomas Street, Lewes, 

East Sussex, BN7 2FQ 

www.lizamackintosh.co.uk

ART 

In town this month 

Pauline Devaney 

Located in the spectacularly refurbished old Post Office, The Blue 

Room (109) is home to an exhibition of paintings by Adele Gibson 

and Ruthie Martin, and ceramics by Ray Maw, and Lewes House 

is home to Collectivism! (113) – a festival within a festival featuring 

artists and makers from the Sussex Arts Collective. Over the road at 

Lewes House of Friendship, Pauline Devaney (114) exhibits her abstract 

and figurative oil paintings. From the 12th, Chalk Gallery (88) 

have a Summer Selfie-themed exhibition including works by all the artists 

in the collective. Join them for a party on the 17th (5-8pm). Martyrs’ Gallery (94) celebrate 

Pilgrim’s Progress – Hans Feibusch’s mural. 

Liza Mackintosh 

In Cliffe and beyond, you’ll find abstract geometric oil paintings 

by John Hudson (120) in the beautifully crafted showroom of 

Alistair Fleming, and Keizer Frames gallery 

(121) exhibits work by Marco Crivello, 

Kate Osborne, Janine Shute and John 

Worth. Terrain by Liza Mackintosh (122) 

is a solo exhibition of paintings in Thomas 

Street, and Will Nash (123) opens his sculpture studio in Brooks Road, 

showing prints from his archive and recent steel sculptures. 

Will Nash 

Summer 2019 Towner Art Gallery 

TEN 

Towner curates 

the collection 

Phoebe Unwin 

Iris 

Lothar Götz 

Dance Diagonal 

Image: courtesy Lothar Götz 

Dineo Seshee Bopape 

Sedibeng, it comes with the rain 

www.townereastbourne.org.uk @ townergallery 

Devonshire Park, College Road, Eastbourne, BN21 4JJ

The Pilgrim’s Progress Story 

an exhibition celebrating Hans Feibusch’s Holocaust and war 

memorial mural Pilgrim’s Progress and the campaign to save it 

17 August – 1 September (weekends and Bank Holiday Monday only) 12–5pm 

Private View – Friday 16 August from 6pm 

www.martyrs.gallery/progress 

Martyrs’ Gallery, Star Brewery, Lewes BN7 1YJ

ART 

Out of town 

New this year, the Egrets Way Art Trail follows the 

Ouse valley from Lewes to Newhaven, with ten Artwave 

venues within easy distance from the riverside path. Join 

organised cycle rides as well as an art walk and print 

workshop. (See pg24 of the Artwave brochure.) Across the 

river you’ll find The Old Forge at South Heighton: a carefully curated open house in a beautiful 

setting. Continue on down the road to the Newhaven Festival (Aug 17-Sept 1), now in its second 

year, with a programme of events including the Newhaven Open Call art exhibition at the Ship 

Hotel, a shanty singing workshop at the RNLI and Holding the Fort – an exhibition of site-specific 

work in the 19th Century Fort. See page 43. [newhavenfestival.co.uk] 

The Old Forge 

Sam Chivers 

Seaford has more Artwave shows than ever before, with the 

most ambitious of all – The Green Show – taking place 

at South Hill Barn on Seaford Head. Exploring themes of 

nature, landscape and climate change, with an exhibition by 

30 of the UK’s best illustrators and print makers (including 

Sir Quentin Blake) and a programme of talks, workshops and 

events for kids and adults. (See wearescip.co.uk for details.) 

Venture as far as the picturesque Keepers Cottage, in Bopeep 

Lane, Alciston (41), and 

you’ll find the ceramic sculptures and birdbaths of Sarah Walton, set 

throughout her woodland garden, with an exhibition of paintings by 

Nick Bush alongside. Over in Wellingham Lane, near Barcombe, the 

artists of The Cowshed Collective (4) show a wide range of work, 

including Float Glass, who have just completed a large glass installation 

– based on one of the first geologic maps of the UK – for the 

Natural History Museum. 

Sarah Walton 

Colourscape 

Colourscape comes to Charleston for the weekend of 17-18 August, 

offering the chance to explore an extraordinary labyrinth of 

colour, light and music-filled chambers. Fun for all ages. The 10th 

anniversary programme continues at Towner with exhibitions by 

Dineo Seshee Bopape and Phoebe Unwin, 

alongside the striking outdoor work by 

Lothar Götz. Joining them is local artist, 

Helen Turner, whose newly commissioned 

sculptural work – Head – ‘a wrapped ball 

of feelings’, will be on display in the front 

window of the gallery until the end of September. 

From Aug 11 at at Farley’s House and Gallery see Bodyworks: A 

Surrealist Anatomy – an exhibition of images by the celebrated artist and 

zoologist, Desmond Morris. 

Desmond Morris 

49

P A U L I N E 

D E V A N E Y 

www.paulinedevaney.com 

Sundays from 7th April - 27th October 

Experience the extraordinary atmosphere of 

the Sussex home and garden of the Surrealists 

Lee Miller & Roland Penrose. 

50 minute guided house tour tickets available 

online or in the gallery on arrival. 

Muddles Green, Chiddingly 

East Sussex, BN8 6HW 

Tel: 01825 872856 

Last few tickets remain 

Surrealist Picnic 

25th August Book Now 

www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk 

@ FarleysHG

WE TRY... 

Louise Bell 

The art of pottery 

“I love the ‘alchemy’ of my trade…” says Louise 

Bell, showing me round her Blue Door Studio 

space, on Pinwell Lane, where she creates ‘sculptured 

objects’, and teaches people how to make 

their own ceramic items, from scratch. “I love 

how things turn from powder to artefact. It’s all 

about chemistry, and a little bit of magic, too.” 

The shelves in the front room of the studio 

are lined with fascinating ceramic objects that 

beg to be taken in hand and played with. There 

are spinning tops, catapults, paddle dolls, little 

pistols with flags protruding from the barrel, 

reading ‘Bang!’ 

This constitutes Louise’s latest body of work: 

while most of her beginners’ lessons are about 

making functional items, she’s more interested in 

creating conceptual pieces. “I was inspired to start 

on this project after a visit to the Children’s Museum,” 

she tells me. “Many of the objects go back 

to Egyptian times. I have two little grandchildren 

and when I showed them what I’d made: they 

were much more interested in the ancient-style 

toys than the modern plastic things they normally 

play with.” 

It’s time for me to get cracking (if that’s not an 

inappropriate term). Louise removes lumps of 

darkish brown clay off a big hunk of the stuff 

with an implement that looks like a cheese-cutter, 

while she tells me about her teaching methods. 

She has a Masters degree in Ceramics but her 

background is in psychology and mental health, 

and she’s a great believer in the therapeutic benefits 

of art and craft. Learning to make ceramics 

is a positive mental process for anybody, she tells 

me, but particularly for people suffering from 

depression, or anxiety, or people with dementia: 

she caters for all-comers. 

The method for making thumb pots is perhaps 

the most simple, age-old pottery technique, 

which involves sticking your thumb into the 

lump of clay, and gradually shaping it with 

dextrous pinches. She’s a good teacher: I learn 

quickly. Perhaps the skill is so old, it’s intuitive. 

After I’ve made three different-sized pots, she 

tells me how to ‘scrafitti’ them (work it out), 

with metal implements: I do a zig-zag design on 

one, and a fishy theme on another. Then I put 

on a white decorative slip, with a brush. Soon, 

three pots are drying in the warm sun outside, 

in front of the bright blue doors that give the 

studio its name. 

I come back a week later, and the pots are ready, 

having been glazed and fired. They are, Louise 

tells me, safe to put food in, and dishwasherproof. 

While they are not photogenic enough 

to illustrate this page, I’m delighted with them. 

And, in a strange way, with myself, too, for having 

performed that age-old alchemic miracle: turning 

a lump of earth into a decorated pot, which I can 

eat olives from. Alex Leith 

Blue Door Studio, Pinwell Lane, 07840 008065. 

Open Day August 31st, feel free to pop in and 

make a pot [louisebellceramics.com] 

51

Charlie Schaffer 

Portrait of an artist 

“The worst thing was that I was unable to 

paint. That’s ironic, isn’t it? It’s a competition 

about painting, and it stopped me from 

painting.” 

So says Charlie Schaffer, 29, the latest 

winner of the BP Portrait Award, which, as 

well as pushing the winner into the national 

limelight, earns them £35,000, plus a £7,000 

commission for the National Portrait Gallery. 

But the stress of the whole experience sent 

Charlie, who suffers from depression, into a 

downward spiral. 

I’m sitting on a wooden chair in his bare 

studio, on the first floor of a terraced house 

in Brighton’s North Laine. The space is 

dominated by his easel. I can see the back of 

a canvas. 

“I knew I was shortlisted for the award three 

months before I won it,” he tells me. “All 

the pressure took its toll. I suffered from 

deep exhaustion, then reached a new point 

of lowness. After I’d won the prize, people 

were saying ‘you must be so happy’, but I was 

actually the saddest I’ve ever been.” 

A young woman called Imara sat for the 

painting, spending three hours a session on 

the chair I’m sitting on, three times a week, 

for four months. “My sitters like this quiet 

room, separate from the world” says Charlie. 

“They feel safe. They open up. They fill 

the silences with conversation. It’s intense: 

I don’t like small talk. Every mark I make 

on the canvas is influenced by that entire 

experience.” 

52

ART 

He doesn’t like to be called a ‘portrait painter’. 

“That implies that it’s all about trying to catch the 

essence of the person who’s sitting for you. And 

that’s not what it’s about for me. It doesn’t matter 

if it looks like the person. It’s about the experience 

we have together… I steal their life and put it in a 

picture.” 

He never lets his sitters see the painting until 

it’s finished, if it’s ever finished. He often throws 

uncompleted works away, and starts again: “there 

are already enough images in the world”. But having 

earmarked the Imara painting for the BP prize, he 

worked doggedly to complete it before the deadline. 

“Imara didn’t really want to see the painting,” he 

says. “She had a fear of seeing it, because that would 

mean the process was over. We had both come to 

rely on those sessions quite heavily.” 

The painting was “loosely based on a portrait by 

Titian”. Charlie’s avoiding London at the moment, 

but he usually visits the National Gallery once or 

twice a week to study works by the Old Masters: 

their techniques filter ‘unconsciously’ back into his 

own work, as in the example below. 

Charlie’s now painting again, I’m glad to hear: I 

cross paths with a sitter at the front door, and 

he shows me a work in progress of Imara, who’s 

started visiting his studio again. “It’s taken me 

three months, but I’m getting there,” he says. “I’ll 

start enjoying winning the prize when it’s on my 

own terms.” Alex Leith 

charlieschaffer.com 

After Veronese’s The Family of Darius before Alexander, 2017. Imara in her winter coat, 2019. Oil on canvas. 

Head of Thandi, 2016. Oil on canvas. 

53

urford ad - half page.pdf 1 07/06/2019 14:30:14 

C 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

K 

LEWES GIRLS’ RUGBY ACADEMY 

Saturday 10 August 2019 @ Lewes RFC 

10:00 - 11:30 Intro to rugby 

12:00 - 14:00 Existing players session 

Never played rugby but want to try? Intro to rugby is for girls aged 6 to 17. 

No experience or special kit necessary! 

New players can email to book: LewesGirlsRugby@gmail.com 

Lewes Castle 

& Anne of Cleves House 

Storytelling, Dressing Up, Mask 

-Making, Hands-on Crafts, Clay 

Modelling, Spinning & more! 

Anne of Cleves House 

Tuesday Holiday Sessions, 

Drop in. Admission included. 

At Home with the Tudors - 

Sat 27 th & Sun 28 th July 

Lewes Castle* 

Thursday Holiday Sessions, 

Tickets £5per child, 

Adult must accompany. 

For Bookings: 

01273 486290 

For Events: www.sussexpast.co.uk 

Grand Opening 

Friday 6th Sept, from 6pm 

Turkish baths, 35 Friars Walk, Lewes 

Lewes Mayor John Lamb will cut the 

ribbon at 6.30pm – all welcome 

Come and see how we have renovated 

this unique building into our Centre 

for Yoga, Wellbeing and the Arts 

FREE classes all weekend 

being-in-unity.com/the-unity-centre-lewes

Aug listings 

FRIDAY 2 – SUNDAY 4 

opera’s troublesome gender politics. Leading 

British bass Brindley Sherratt stars as Sarastro 

alongside exciting young singers including 

Caroline Wettergreen, Sofia Fomina and Björn 

Bürger. Lewes Depot, 1pm, £20. 

The Group. Club in Lewes for unattached 

people age 50+. A pub in Lewes, 8pm, see 

thegroup.org.uk. 

WEDNESDAY 7 

The Sussex Guild Contemporary Craft 

Show. Over 45 exhibitors in the Elizabethan 

barn and in marquees on the lawns, with craft 

demonstrations from many Sussex Guild 

exhibitors, including creative textiles, patchwork, 

jewellery making and woodworking. 

Michelham Priory and Gardens, Upper Dicker, 

10.30am-5pm, £4.90-£9.80. See page 20. 

SATURDAY 3 

Proms in the Paddock. 

Live music from 

Jumping Jacks, Crimson 

Six and Lewes, 

Glynde & Beddingham 

Brass. Bar, BBQ, stalls 

and fireworks to finish. 

The Paddock, gates 

open 3pm, £8/£10 

(under 16s £3, under fives free). 

Film: Age of Stupid. Part of the ‘Eco Film 

Nights’ series, showing films about the 

environment. Pells Pool, 9pm, ticket info tba, 

pellspool.org.uk. 

TUESDAY 6 

Glyndebourne: The Magic Flute. Encore 

recorded screening of the new production 

by renowned directing/design duo Barbe & 

Douce, taking a fresh and playful look at the 

Edeal business start-up workshop. Free oneday 

workshop run by Edeal on behalf of Lewes 

District Council, learning the fundamentals of 

starting a new business. Booking is essential, see 

yourleap.co.uk. 

THURSDAY 8 

Film: Sonic Sea. Part of the ‘Eco Film 

Nights’ series, showing films about the 

environment. Pells Pool, 9pm, ticket info tba, 

pellspool.org.uk. 

FRIDAY 9 & SATURDAY 10 

The Merchant 

of Venice. 

Presented by 

The Brighton 

Shakespeare 

Company. 

Lewes Castle, 

gates open 6pm 

for picnics, play starts 7pm, £17.50/£15. See 

page 35. 

55

Aug listings (cont.) 


Firle Vintage 

Fair. Stalls 

selling fashion, 

antiques and 

homeware. 

Artisan food, 

bars, live music 

and dancing. 

Firle Place grounds, 10am-5.30pm, see 

firlevintagefair.co.uk. 

TUESDAY 13 

NT Live: The Lehman Trilogy. The story of 

a family and a company that changed the world, 

told in three parts on a single day. Depot, 1pm, 

£20. 

THURSDAY 15 

Film: The Islands and the Whales. Part of 

the ‘Eco Film Nights’ series, showing films 

about the environment. Pells Pool, 9pm, ticket 

info tba, pellspool.org.uk. 

TUESDAY 13 – SATURDAY 17 

Annie. Straight from the West End for one 

week only, starring Lesley Joseph as Miss 

Hanigan. Congress Theatre, Eastbourne, see 

eastbournetheatres.co.uk. 

WEDNESDAY 14 

Britain on Film: Rural Life. Evocative collection 

of films from the BFI archive exploring 

country life in the UK throughout the 20th 

century. Includes footage capturing the life of a 

Scottish shepherd in the 1930s (the first sound 

documentary produced in the UK), a Somerset 

blacksmith demonstrating his craft in the 1940s 

and coverage of ice skating on Lough Neagh in 

the 1960s. The Keep, 2.30pm, £3. 

Lewes Catalyst Club. Three guest speakers 

talk for 15 minutes each on subjects close to 

their hearts. Hosted by David Bramwell. Lewes 

Arms, 7.30pm, £7. 

The Paint Club. Monthly event, this session 

the group will be painting a chameleon in a 

jungle. All materials are provided, no experience 

required. Fuego Lounge, 7pm, from £20. 

SATURDAY 17 & SUNDAY 18 

Colourscape. A labyrinth of colour, light and 

music. Explore countless interlinked rainbow 

chambers with extraordinary light and colour 

experiences. Along the way you can also join 

in with musicians who’ll be playing an array of 

different instruments. Charleston, 11am-4pm, 

£6/£3 (free for children under two). 

SAT 17 – SUN 1 SEPTEMBER 

Newhaven Festival. See newhavenfestival. 

co.uk for full programme of events, and see 

page 43.

Aug listings (cont.) 

Photo by Raphael Moran 

THURSDAY 22 

Film: Sea of Life. Part of the ‘Eco Film 

Nights’ series, showing films about the environment. 

Pells Pool, 9pm, ticket info tba, pellspool. 

org.uk. 

FRIDAY 23 

Lewes Youth Band debut concert. An 

evening of jazz and big band standards and 

the world premiere of a new composition, 

performed by young musicians from all around 

the South East. All Saints, 7pm, free. 

FRIDAY 23RD – MONDAY 26TH 

Byline Festival. Arts 

festival with music, talks, 

workshops, comedy and 

more. Pippingford Park, 

see bylinefestival.com. See 

page 32. 

Curious Arts Festival. Boutique festival with 

line-up of musicians, authors, comedians, filmmakers 

and children’s entertainers. Pippingford 

Park, see curiousartsfestival.com. See page 33. 

SATURDAY 24 

Wuthering Heights. Chapterhouse Theatre 

Company present the wild and tempestuous 

love story. Lewes Castle Gun Garden, gates 

open 6pm for picnics, show starts 7pm, £16/ 

£11. 

SUNDAY 25 

Surrealist Picnic. Annual picnic event with live 

jazz bands and surreal performance. Dressing 

up and creative picnicking encouraged. Farleys 

House and Gallery, 4pm-8pm, £15. 

MONDAY 26 

Safehouse Improvisation Session. Participatory 

improvisation music session. Noise makers, 

performers and musicians all welcome. Upstairs 

at The Lewes Arms, 7.30pm, £2. 

FRIDAY 30 

Film: Jigsaw (PG). 1960s murder mystery set 

in Brighton and Lewes, starring Jack Warner. 

The film will be preceded by a quiz about 

Lewes in 1960; feel free to dress for the times. 

All Saints, 7.30pm, £8, tickets from South Street 

Bonfire Society or Lewes Tourist Information 

Centre. 

Friends of Anne of Cleves’ House present: 

Music from Constance Owen & Friends. Anne 

of Cleves’ House, 7.30pm, £8 non-members (£5 

members). annacrabtree1@hotmail.com. 

FRI 30 – SUN 1 SEPTEMBER 

Herstmonceux Astronomy Festival. Familyfriendly 

opportunity to enjoy science and astronomy 

in a relaxed, informal setting, whether 

for the whole weekend, just for the day or for 

an evening. the-observatory.org 

SATURDAY 31 

Playing with Clay open event. Make a pot 

and celebrate the opening of a new pottery 

teaching studio. Blue Door Studio (behind 

Union Music), 10am-5pm, phone Louise on 

07840008065 to book or drop in. See page 51. 

SAT 31 & SUN 1 SEPTEMBER 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. An evening 

of open-air theatre presented by Chapterhouse 

Theatre Company. Wakehurst, 7.30pm, 

£16/£11.

Going on Holiday? 

Tickets 

Passport 

Currency 

Book 

Playlist 

Will? 

We want you to have a great holiday, 

but accidents do happen. Come and see us and 

we can get your Will done for you in 2 weeks! 

Call us on 0800 84 94 101 

OFFICES ACROSS SUSSEX 

www.mayowynnebaxter.co.uk

MUSIC 

Classical round-up 

SUNDAY 4, 3PM 

St Michael’s Recitals, Nicholas Houghton, organ 

He’s often the accompanist at St Michael’s recitals, but this month 

Nick Houghton takes centre stage with a programme of organ 

music which includes the wonderful JS Bach Prelude & Fugue in 

B Minor, Dubois’s showy Toccata and pieces by César Franck and 

Herbert Howells. The St Michael’s Recitals are currently helping 

raise money for the urgent repairs that the church organ needs. 

Organs are extraordinary instruments but very expensive to maintain. 

As a result they are becoming an endangered species around 

the country. Luckily for Lewes, St Michael’s is proud of its Hunter 

organ. Come and hear what it can do. 

St Michael’s, free with retiring collection stmichaelinlewes.org.uk 

PICK 

OF THE 

MONTH 

Photo by Robin Houghton 

THURSDAY 8, 4PM 

Glyndebourne Festival. In the last opening of 

this year’s festival, Handel’s Rinaldo gets an exuberant 

treatment from director Robert Carsen. 

The conductor is Baroque specialist Maxim 

Emelyanychev. 

Glyndebourne Opera House, £15-£230, 

glyndebourne.com 

SUNDAY 18, 6.30PM 

Fauré Requiem. Members of the Glyndebourne 

Chorus take time out from the festival 

to join the choir of St Mary’s Ringmer in a 

performance of Fauré’s great requiem mass. The 

programme also includes music on the Marian 

theme, to celebrate the church’s Patronal Festival. 

In aid of the charities Family Support Work 

and Home Link. 

Saint Mary the Virgin, Ringmer. £15 (£10 conc) 

on the door. ringmerchurch.org.uk 

THURSDAY 29, 1.10PM 

St Anne’s Lunchtime Concerts. Charlotte 

Rowan, violin. An experienced recitalist and 

orchestral soloist who performs regularly across 

the UK, Charlotte has been described as giving 

‘exhilarating performances combined with 

dazzling technical proficiency’. At St Anne’s this 

month she plays a programme of Mendelssohn, 

JS Bach and Schubert. 

St Anne’s Church, free with retiring collection. 

stannelewes.org.uk 


SEPTEMBER 

Lapwing Festival. The festival at Cuckmere 

Haven returns for what could be its last year. 

Performers include Joseph Tawadros, a virtuoso 

of the oud, and joining him are the Consone 

String Quartet playing Haydn, world music 

string duo Fran & Flora, Sam Lee (folk song), 

Masayoshi Fujita (vibraphone) and cellist and 

Festival Director Anthony Albrecht. Six recitals 

in all, plus lunch on Sunday, in a glorious venue. 

All tickets include drinks and canapés; capacity 

for each concert is only 60, so early booking is 

advised. See page 41. 

Coastguard Cottages, Cuckmere Haven. 

£30, Under 16: £5, Lunch: £35. Discounts 

for 3 concerts and Festival Pass. 

lapwingfestival.com 

Robin Houghton 

59

GIG GUIDE // AUGUST 

GIG OF THE MONTH: 

OXFEST 

Who needs Glasto when we have Oxfest on our doorstep? 

The independent festival returns to the Sussex Ox for 

its fifth year, and is set to be bigger and better than ever. 

With idyllic Sussex countryside as a backdrop, the familyfriendly 

festival focuses on celebrating local fare and talent, 

with something for everybody’s musical and culinary 

taste. Listen to a fantastic line-up of local and non-local 

bands whilst sampling over 30 local beers, ciders and perries 

(the cocktail bar will also be returning) and feasting 

on a variety of local cuisines suitable for vegans and meateaters 

alike. If that isn’t enough to keep you entertained, 

you can partake in yoga, storytelling, workshops and more 

over the course of the weekend. This year there is also a 

weekend camping option at Alfriston Campsite. 

Check out oxfest.org for full line-up and more info. 

FRIDAY 2 

Soul Church. DJ King Mob spins classic soul. 

The Lamb, 9pm, free 

SATURDAY 3 

Underscore Orkestra. Hot jazz, New Orleans 

swing, Balkan and klezmer. Lansdown, 7.30pm, 

free 

Open Night ‘Lost & Found’. Folk, English 

trad & misc. Elephant & Castle, 8pm, £3 

MONDAY 5 

Jim Mullen, Milo Fell & Terry Seabrook. 

Jazz. Snowdrop, 8pm, free 

FRIDAY 9 

The West Street Ramblers. 20s string band 

music. Con Club, 8.30pm, free 

Femme Brûlée. All-female DJ night. The 

Lamb, 9pm, free 

SATURDAY 10 

Oh Mama! Psych rock. Royal Oak, 8pm, free 

Open Night ‘Another Day, Another Crust’. 

Folk, English trad & misc. Elephant & Castle, 

8pm, £3 

Mixmaster Pete Dadswell. DJ night. Lamb, 

9pm, free 

MONDAY 12 

Tony Kofi, Darren Beckett & Nigel Thomas. 


FRIDAY 16 

The Koils & Sumerian Kyngs. Rock classics 

and psychedelic. Con Club, 8:30pm, free 

SATURDAY 17 

Suspiciously Elvis. Fundraising evening supporting 

local charities. Con Club, 7.30pm £15 

Open Night ‘Trouble & Strife’. Folk, English 

60 

>>>

Lewes Town & Country 

Residential Sales & Lettings 

Land & New Homes 

T 01273 487444 

E lewes@oakleyproperty.com 

Property of the Month Shortgate Lane, Laughton - £999,950 

A truly stunning detached contemporary conversion in a village location. Finished with the highest attention to detail and spanning over 

2,800sq.ft. this unique home offers a feature double height open plan living space with designer kitchen opening onto south facing sun 

terrace. Separate sitting room, upstairs are five bedrooms all with views over the adjoining countryside, two en-suites and a luxury family 

bathroom. Outside are beautiful gardens with a mixture of lawned areas, mature trees and paved terrace ideal for entertaining. EPC – TBC 

Burgh Barn- Alciston Guide Price £1,395,000 

Stunning early 19th Century Sussex Barn sympathetically restored to 

create a most spectacular residence, ideally positioned in a semirural 

village location. This imposing brick, flint and oak structure 

offers open and expansive living space with tall vaulted ceilings 

and stunning views across the South Downs National Park. EPC – 20 

Streat Hill Farm House Guide Price £1,250,000 

Totally unique opportunity set in arguably the most impressive 

residential site in the South East. Thought to be the highest residential 

location in Sussex at 670ft above sea level sitting proudly on the top of 

The South Downs National Park with stunning views across open 

countryside. Located between Ditchling and Lewes. EPC - N/A 

Westdown Heights, Seaford From £695,000 

SHOW HOME OPEN EVERY SATURDAY & SUNDAY 10AM – 3PM 

A selection of 4 detached 5 bedroom houses in Seaford within 

walking distance of the beach and train station. These substantial 

new homes are finished to the highest standard offering generous 

gardens, garages and 10 year new homes warranty. EPC – TBC 

The Coachworks - Blackboys From £185,000 

SHOW HOME NOW AVAILABLE TO VIEW! Call now to book your 

appointment! A luxury development of six 3 & 4 bedroom family 

homes from £375,000 and four 1 bedroom apartments from 

£185,000. Finished to the highest standard throughout and 

registered for Help To Buy. Call now for further details. EPC – TBC 

oakleyproperty.com

The Pelham arms 

LEWES’S FIRST 

SMOKEHOUSE IN A PUB! 

Best Burgers 

for Miles 

Home of 

ABYSS Brewing 

Award Winning 

Sunday Roasts 

VEGETARIAN, VEGAN & 

GLUTEN FREE OPTIONS 

Great Venue for 

Celebrations 

Children and 

Dog Friendly 

re-farmed 

+ The Sumerian Kyngs 

FRIDAY 16th AUGUST 

LEWES CON CLUB - DOORS 8:00pm - FREE ENTRY 

www.lewesconclub.com 

OPENING TIMES 

MONDAY BAR 4-11PM 

TUESDAY TO THURSDAY 

BAR 12 NOON TO 11PM 

FOOD 12 NOON TO 2.30PM & 6 TO 9.30PM 

FRIDAY & SATURDAY 

BAR 12 NOON TO 11PM 

FOOD 12 NOON TO 2.30PM & 6 TO 9.30PM 

SUNDAY 

BAR 12 NOON TO 10.30PM 

FOOD 12 NOON TO 8PM 

HIGH STREET LEWES BN7 1XL 

T 01273 476149 E MANAGER@THEPELHAMARMS.CO.UK 

BOOK ONLINE @ WWW.THEPELHAMARMS.CO.UK

GIG GUIDE // AUGUST 

trad & misc. Elephant & Castle, 8pm, £3 

MONDAY 19 

Sara Oschlag, Darren Beckett, Terry Seabrook 

& Terry Pack. Jazz. Snowdrop, 8pm, free 

SATURDAY 24 

Open Night ‘All Dressed Up’. Folk, English trad 

& misc. Elephant & Castle, 8pm, £3 

SUNDAY 25 

Roni Size. Exclusive influences set with all-day 

beach & side terrace party. De La Warr, 2pm- 

11pm, £18-£26. 

MONDAY 26 

Lawrence Jones, Darren Beckett & Terry Seabrook. 


FRIDAY 30 

The Kondoms. Local band’s summer bash. Con 

Club, 8.30pm, free 

Concept of Thought. Hip hop. Lansdown, 

7.30pm, free 

Stevie Watts Trio. Organ grooves. The Lamb, 

9pm, free 

SATURDAY 31 

Jesse Lége, Joel Savoy, Kelli Jones. Cajun 

French. Con Club, 7.30pm, £12 

The Hatman. Variety of tunes from Beyoncé to 

Chas and Dave with a hat or wig to fit each number. 

Lansdown, 7.30pm, free 

Open Night ‘High or Low?’. Folk, English trad 

& misc. Elephant & Castle, 8pm, £3 

The American Connection. Americana with a 

swing. The Lamb, 9pm, free 

Wednesday - Karaoke 

Thursday - Open Mic 

Friday - Live Bands 

Saturday - Live Band / DJ 

Sunday - Afternoon Jazz (12-5pm)

Welcome to CHAILEY SCHOOL 

‘Everyone the best they can be’ 

Chailey School is a thriving 

secondary school of 

approximately 760 

students from 11 to 16 

years of age. Our vision 

is ‘everyone in our school 

achieving more than they 

ever thought possible’. 

We believe in traditional 

values - and these 

underpin life in our 

school. We have high 

expectations of students in 

both their work and 

behaviour. We know our 

students as individuals, 

their characters and 

personalities. 

Our pastoral care for 

students is widely 

recognised as outstanding 

from transition and 

throughout their time at 

Chailey. 

‘Pupils are encouraged to have 

high expectations’– Ofsted 2017 

If you would like to see the school in action, 

please do call to arrange a visit: 

01273 890407 

www.chaileyschool.org 

Open Evening 

6pm Wednesday 18th September 2019 

Open Mornings 

Monday 23rd to Thursday 26th September 2019 

9am-10.30am 

*SEN parents/carers to arrive at 9am* 

*All other parents/carers to arrive at 9.30am* 

No appointment is necessary. The students, 

staff and governors look forward to 

welcoming you. 

Results are how we tend to be measured – and our 

record over many years for the attainment and 

progress of our students is excellent. Regardless of 

their ability, students all leave Chailey School 

having achieved the level of results which allow 

them to move on to a wide range of post-16 courses 

and apprenticeships. The standards achieved in 

English and Mathematics are high and form the 

bedrock for all other learning. 

In Science, Technology, Foreign Languages, the 

Arts and Humanities, our students excel as a result 

of high quality teaching and students’ own 

commitment to their learning. 

We are passionate about the 

whole child and the progress they 

make in all aspects of their school 

life, regardless of their academic 

ability. Whatever a student’s 

talents or abilities, our reputation 

as an inclusive school ensures that 

all needs are met – for those who 

are gifted and talented and for 

those who need additional 

support. 

A rounded school life is not just 

about the classroom and students 

benefit hugely from a wide range 

of extra-curricular activities. 

Whilst we are naturally proud of 

our achievements, the true 

measure of our success is seeing a 

school full of happy, confident, 

independent young people, fully 

engaged in their education. Our 

students are proud of their school 

and enjoy telling people about life 

at Chailey.

FreeTIME 

THURSDAY 1 

Digging for Treasure. Have a go at being 

an archaeologist. Try some digging, handle 

some artefacts, do a drawing and then make 

your own treasure. Holiday 

workshop for children aged 

between four and eight. 

Lewes Castle, 10.30am & 

2pm, £5, booking essential. 

MONDAY 5 

Morning Explorer: Flowers & Fleece. 

Morning Explorer is a special time for families 

with additional needs; open between 10am 

& 11am exclusively for them. This session is 

linked to the current exhibition of botanical 

illustrations, and includes special tactile 

objects to feel, garden games and audiodescribed 

tours. Lewes Castle, 10am, regular 

admission applies. 

TUESDAY 6 

Summer Flowers. 

Drop into the house this 

afternoon and explore 

the Tudor garden, 

design and paint your 

own floral creations 

and try spinning wool. 

All ages welcome. Anne of Cleves, 1pm-4pm, 

price included with admission. 

WEDNESDAY 7 

Pirate and Princess Day. Treasure hunts, 

children’s crafts, face painting and Crazee 

Hazee with his pirate 

show. Michelham 

Priory, 10.30am-5pm, 

see sussexpast.co.uk. 

êêêê under 16 

THURSDAY 8 

Botanicals. Try 

drawing, painting 

and printing your 

own images of your 

favourite flowers. A 

holiday workshop 

for children aged 

four to eight, linked to the current exhibition 

of Victorian botanical illustrations. Lewes 

Castle, 10.30am, £5, booking advised. 

SATURDAY 10 

Lewes Girls’ Rugby Academy. Intro to 

rugby (10am-11.30am) and existing players’ 

session (12pm-2pm). Intro to rugby is for 

girls aged 6-17, no experience or special kit 

necessary. Email to book: lewesgirlsrugby@ 

gmail.com. 

TUESDAY 13 

Kitchen Tales. Drop in to hear some kitchen 

stories and tell your own, handle kitchen 

artefacts and explore the herbs in the garden. 

All ages welcome. Anne of Cleves, 1pm-6pm, 

price included in admission. 

WEDNESDAY 14 

Wildlife Wednesday. Nature trails, bird 

watching, bug hunting and wildlife-themed 

craft activities. RepTylers will also be in 

attendance with creatures to meet. Michelham 

Priory, 10.30am-5pm, see sussexpast.co.uk. 

65

FreeTIME (cont.) 

THURSDAY 15 

Dragons & Dinosaurs. Handle a real 

dinosaur bone and make clay dinosaur 

footprints or scary dragons 

to take home. Help tell a 

dragon story. Creative holiday 

workshop for children aged four to 

eight. Lewes Castle, 10.30am & 

12pm, £5, booking essential. 

TUESDAY 20 

Plants & Potions. Explore the plants in the 

garden and find out how they have been used 

in the past. Hands-on activities, textiles and 

quizzes. Anne of Cleves, 1pm-4pm, price 

included in admission. 

THURSDAY 22 

Attack a Castle. Summer fun for four to 

eight-year-olds: try on some armour and make 

model castles and mangonels to take away. 

Lewes Castle, 10.30am & 2pm, £5. 

Open Evening Thursday 12 September 2019 

School Open Mornings 16 - 20 September 

Alternatively please call for a tour at any 

time and arrange to meet the Principal 

FRIDAY 23 

Play: Animation workshop. Two workshops 

run by Catfish Collective, one for age 8-12 

years and one for 13-18 years. The Depot, 

10am & 12.30pm, see lewesdepot.org for more 

information. 

TUESDAY 27 

Spinning Yarns. Drop in and listen to the 

tale of Rumpelstiltskin, 

tell your own fairy tales 

and have a go at spinning 

wool and stitching fabric. 

All ages welcome. Anne of 

Cleves, 1pm-4pm, price 

included in admission.

Return to Wonderland 

Stories inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice 

More than 150 years since the publication of Alice in Wonderland, 

its delightful cast of memorable, zany characters are 

back to delight a new generation in a completely new collection 

of stories. Return to Wonderland is both a tribute to, 

and a celebration of, Lewis Carroll’s original story, including 

eleven new adventures by favourite contemporary children’s 

authors, each of whom has been inspired by Alice. 

With such an extraordinary set of characters and scenes to 

take as starting points, the stories are wonderfully varied. I 

think they’ll be equally enjoyable to readers new to them, as 

to those who knew and loved the original. Pamela Butchart 

chooses to write about the Queen of Hearts in a follow up 

story, while Swapna Haddow picks the Mock Turtle. There’s 

an environmental message in Lauren St John’s lively story 

Plum Cakes at Dawn, while Robin Stevens tells the story of 

the real-life Alice. Together they make for a sparkling collection, 

one well worth tumbling back down the rabbit hole 

to enjoy! Anna, Bags of Books 

Find Return to Wonderland with 20% off at Bags of Books throughout August. 

Open Morning 

With its excellent and imaginative 

approach, the Steiner Waldorf 

curriculum has gained ever-widening 

recognition as a creative and 

compassionate alternative to 

traditional avenues of education. 

But just how does it feel to be a child 

in this environment, soaking up this 

stimulating and rewarding teaching? 

Wednesday 9th October 

from 08:30 - 13:00 

Alternatively, book in for a Private Tour 

email: contact@michaelhall.co.uk 

www.michaelhall.co.uk/school-open-days 

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

Tel: 01342 822275 - Registered Charity Number 307006

"It is amazing what goes on at the 

Dripping Pan. And it is amazing 

what happens when companies 

commit to gender equality. [...] 

If you want to support Lewes’ fine 

commitment to women’s sports, 

you can easily join them online 

for a very small fee." 

John Authers, 

Senior Editor, Bloomberg, June 2019 

Lewes FC is the only football club in the world to pay 

its women's team the same as its men's team. 

Endorse us, support us and help us do more: 

www.lewesfc.com/owners

The 

Bluebell 

Railway 

Going back in time 

The Bluebell Railway, which opened in 1960, is 

still going strong. There are two exciting family 

weekends happening in August – as the Marketing 

& Events Coordinator Charlotte Archer 

tells me. 

The first is Steam Through the Ages – which 

runs over the weekend of 10th to 11th. As well as 

their museum, interactive ‘SteamWorks!’ exhibit 

and play areas, this weekend of “live music acts, 

and children’s entertainment – like Punch and 

Judy shows – will also feature the arrival, by 

steam, at Sheffield Park Station of a re-enactment 

group, including Queen Victoria.” 

A chance to see with your own two eyes Queen 

Victoria climb down from the train onto the 

platform – or will she be lifted? 

“There’ll also be role playing activities – including 

an Air Raid siren going off at Horsted 

Keynes Station, when everyone will rush to 

shelter in our subway”, Charlotte says. 

“It’s all about going back in time.” 

The other weekend to clock is geared for 

younger children. The Teddy Bears’ Picnic 

runs from 24th to 26th. “Any child who brings 

a teddy bear will ride our trains for free for the 

day”, says Charlotte. “You can also pre-order 

picnics, and there’ll be picnic spots set up at 

three of our stations – Sheffield Park, Horsted 

Keynes and Kingscote – so picnic at whichever 

best suits your timing.” 

Charlotte says the best way to approach a visit to 

the Bluebell Railway is to set aside the best part 

of a day and travel the line from one end to the 

other, stopping off at each station along the way, 

to explore what’s on display on the platforms and 

in the museums. 

Photo by Peter Edwards 

Perhaps the real magic lies in riding on the 

steam trains themselves. 

“There’s the nostalgia,” she says, “and the magical 

atmosphere from the steam. We have an 

array of carriages and engines from the golden 

age of steam – very popular with film-makers; 

you may have seen us featured in the 2018 film, 

Christopher Robin.” 

She recommends the Withyham Signal Box at 

Sheffield Park Station where you can try out operating 

the signals for yourself. And, if you really 

want to get your hands sooty, footplate taster 

days involve riding on the footplate, shovelling 

coal into the engine etc – “really fun, but mucky 

work” – while real enthusiasts can even enrol 

to drive the trains – “which is very exciting”, 

Charlotte tells me. 

So, the railway is 60 next year – 2020? “Yes! A 

big year for The Bluebell Railway.” I’m sure 

they’ll have loads of exciting events up their 

sleeves to celebrate this anniversary… 

Charlotte Gann 

Steam Through the Ages 10-11 August; Teddy 

Bears’ Picnic 24-26 August. bluebell-railway.com

Organic Wholefoods Since 1971 

Coming to Lewes this September 

seasonsforestrow.co.uk 

Country Pub & 

Carvery 

2 courses for 

£12.50 

All day Mondays & 

Tuesdays 

12pm-2.30pm & 6pm-9pm 

Children’s 

Menu 

Available

FOOD REVIEW 

Rathfinny 

Lunch in the Tasting Room 

Ye gods, THAT gazpacho! 

Lizzie and I had just walked an 

hour from Bo-peep carpark to 

our table in Rathfinny’s Tasting 

Room booked for 2pm. The 

walk was beautiful, along the 

top, then left and down through 

the vineyard valley: Eric Ravillious 

meets Umbria. We were 

talking a lot, short on time and 

short of breath, and the day 

warm. Inevitably, the starter we 

could neither resist, when we 

settled in our window table, was 

the ‘Iced English tomato gazpacho 

with Manchego croquettes’. 

My, was it good. 

Everything about the dish 

made us smile – including the 

Instagramable “watermelon 

red”, as Lizzie put it, of the 

soup, against the small perfectly 

(ill-)formed white bowl, against the grey brushed 

metal tabletop. The fresh tomato flavour, and the 

island of cucumber submerged at its centre, with 

other chopped flavourings – mint, garlic?, further 

cucumber? It was deelish. A perfect dish. Such 

a delicate blend of refreshing flavour, punctuated 

immaculately by intermittent mouthfuls of 

the lovely, rather more decadent, crispy, cheesy 

croquette served on the side. Oh, yes. 

But… I’m getting ahead of myself. First we 

enjoyed drinks and bread. Lizzie ordered the 

incredibly rhubarby, light and refreshing Rhubarb 

Crush (£3) – “bright”, she called it – while 

I sampled the very fine house white: Rathfinny 

Cradle Valley 2017 (£6.50/ glass). We ate bread 

– I especially enjoyed the grape and rosemary 

focaccia with butter (served on 

a stone and studded with salt): 

yum. 

For mains, Lizzie went for the 

‘Risotto of courgette & mint, 

courgette flower tempura, 

buffalo ricotta’ which she 

described as “unusually good, 

perfect rice texture, lemony”. 

She enjoyed the young courgette 

with flower still attached 

in a crispy batter. 

I, meanwhile, plumped for the 

‘Short rib of Belted Galloway 

cooked over coals, cep ketchup, 

beetroot, fennel’. The beef, with 

a beef jus with soya and mirin 

was full of flavour and texture, 

complemented beautifully by 

the sides of delicate pink and 

golden beetroot (my fav), fennel 

and sauces. The small green 

salad on the side also went excellently. 

We opted not to try the puddings this time 

– tempting though Lemon posset and Brillat- 

Savarin cheesecake sounded. But we were sated. 

While we sat eating and chatting – about far 

away adventures, train travel, and India – a 

kestrel hovered overhead. The tables are all set 

along a gallery-shaped space with floor to ceiling 

windows onto the beautiful sweeping view. 

Eating with a view, a bit like living with a view, 

brings its own special flavours. You cannot forget 

you’ve escaped town for the duration. 

Charlotte Gann 

Rathfinny Wine Estate, Alfriston, BN26 5TU 

Lunch Menu 12-3.00 £30 for two courses; £35 for 

three. rathfinnyestate.com 

Photos by Lizzie Lower 

71

Photo by Mark Bridge 

72

RECIPE 

Tagliatelle con salsa di 

pomodoro e spinachi 

Peter Bayless, BBC MasterChef 2006 

It was my wife who suggested that I enter 

MasterChef. After 39 years of working in 

advertising, I was getting tired of it – and I rather 

fancy that advertising was getting tired of me. 

“You should cook”, she said. “Everyone loves 

your food. You need to get on one of those TV 

programmes.” 

I was born in north London immediately after 

the Second World War. Half of the street was a 

bomb site, so I wasn’t allowed out to play. Instead 

I’d be in the kitchen with my mother, standing on 

a chair to stir puddings, roll pastry and even cut 

vegetables. This love of cooking was reinforced at 

the age of 12 when we went on a family holiday 

to the south of France. I’d never seen such exotic 

food. I applied to study catering at school but 

the headmaster convinced me to focus on art and 

design. 

Winning MasterChef isn’t a passport to instant 

success. It opened a few doors – I worked for 

Michel Roux, Raymond Blanc, John Williams at 

the Ritz – but realised I had to come back down 

to earth. I took a job as a chef, wrote a book and 

magazine articles, did some radio and TV, then 

started teaching and doing private parties. And 

from August I’m going to be helping friends who 

run a Greek restaurant in Heathfield. 

I’m very keen for people to learn how easy it is 

to create simple, nutritious, inexpensive food for 

themselves. That’s what I’ll be demonstrating at 

Firle Vintage Fair on 9th, 10th and 11th August, 

including this recipe. 

Serves four people. 

For the pasta: 

200g ‘tipo 00’ pasta flour 

2 whole eggs, beaten 

Large saucepan of boiling water 

Generous amount of salt 

For the sauce: 

2 large handfuls of baby plum tomatoes, halved 

2 large cloves of garlic, crushed with sea salt 

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra 

for drizzle 

2-3 handfuls of fresh spinach 

Salt & freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for 

finishing 

Bowl of grated parmesan (more or less to taste) 

Bowl of chopped parsley 

Half a glass of dry white wine 

Method for the pasta: place the flour into a 

food processor and, with the motor running, add 

the beaten egg in a stream until the dough begins 

to come together. (Italian nonnas – grandmas – 

do this all by hand.) Remove, knead to a smooth 

ball and wrap in film. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, 

then use a pasta machine to roll out the dough 

and cut it into wide tagliatelle strips. Dust with 

flour and set aside. 

For the dish: heat the oil in a large pan and add 

the tomatoes, followed by the crushed garlic. Add 

salt, pepper and the wine. Simmer gently while 

you cook the pasta in well-salted water for just 2 

minutes. Lift the pasta from the water and add it 

to the sauce, along with a couple of spoons of the 

cooking water, then toss well together. Gently 

stir in the spinach. Serve in warmed bowls with 

a generous amount of grated parmesan, chopped 

parsley and a final flourish of extra virgin olive 

oil. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste. 

As told to Mark Bridge 

peterbayless.com 

firlevintagefair.co.uk 

73

Now open under new management 

En-suite boutique rooms – two of 

which have views of the castle. 

Wedding packages – including two 

rooms with four poster beds. 

Perfect for Glyndebourne visitors & 

tourists – very close to the station. 

Rooms available for bonfire night – to 

be auctioned for charity. 

We serve food every day, 12pm-10pm. 

Garden with stunning castle views, 

perfect for sitting with a cocktail. 

Dramatic view of Lewes castle lit up. 

We welcome families & are dog friendly. 

Opening night Fri 26 July, 7pm-midnight, 

including disco & canapés 

9 Southover High St, Lewes, BN7 1HS | 01273 474628

LEWES SLURPS 

Gin treat at Symposium 

Like all good people, I like gin, but I also know my Hogarth. So 

I raise a quizzical eyebrow at microdistillery mark-ups. Unlike 

malt whisky, gin isn’t aged. It takes a couple of weeks to make 

and bottle. We’re being seduced by clever branding and a desire 

to give meaning to liquid that momentarily numbs the pain of 

Brexit and Trump. That being said, I’ve always loved Genever gin 

(ceramic bottle, aromatics that slap you round the face) and am 

always delighted to be given something fancy (Bristol Psychopomp 

– beautiful). So gin as amusement? Fine. Blue gin that turns 

a fabulous Parma violet hue when you add tonic? Fabulous. I’m 

happy to be entertained by a chemistry experiment. The gin in 

question is made in Seaford – Harley House Sussex Blue Gin 

– and apparently inspired by the beautiful, rare, Sussex Adonis 

blue butterfly, found on Malling Down. The changing colour bit 

comes from an Orchid called butterfly peaflower (Clitoria ternatea), a natural PH indicator. You can 

buy a glass at Symposium, and I’d heartily recommend it for cheering yourself up. Served with Fever 

Tree Mediterranean tonic, it comes with a curl of lemon peel in a goldfish bowl-shaped glass, £6.50. 

Cheers. @LewesNibbler 

enjoy a 

complimentary 

mimosa 

When dining with us for breakfast 

To redeem, simply present this advert 

Côte Brasserie Lewes 

82 HIGH STREET, LEWES, BN7 1XW 

01273 311 344 | www.cote.co.uk/lewes 

Valid from 01/08/19 until 31/08/19 at Côte Lewes only. One 

complimentary glass of Mimosa per person 18 years and over ordering a 

main course from the breakfast menu. Not valid in conjunction 

with any other offer. 

Master_VivaLewes_August2019.indd 1 10/07/2019 13:43:15 75

THE WAY WE WORK 

Photographer Tracey Robinson visited a range of staycation 

options locally and asked each subject: 

What is your favourite road trip destination? 

facebook.com/traceymartinphotography 

Lucy Gribble, Cobbe Place Farm 

‘A friend’s thatched Mill house in deepest Devon right on the river Taw, stunningly 

beautiful and very remote. It is where my husband and I fell in love!’


May Robinson, Swanborough Lakes Luxury Holiday Lodges 

‘Sayulita, Mexico to Motezuma, Costa Rica. The adventure of a lifetime, 

make sure to brush up on your Spanish and to take a 4x4!’


Jon Wood, Brighton Camper Vans 

‘Haytor in Devon – a beautiful drive through the wilderness!’


Adam Collier-Woods, The Big Green Bus 

‘Probably my Barn in France... it’s a very very long restoration project in the 

Limousin region... every time I drive there I know it’s inching towards completion. Slowly!’

BIG 

SUMMER 

SALE 

END OF SEASON 

CLEARANCE 

HUGE REDUCTIONS 

ACROSS ALL RANGES 

UP 

R 

R 

TO 

50% 

OFF P 

IN STORE NOW 

Offers valid while stocks last. 

Portmeirion 

12 piece 

Dinner Set 

RRP £124 

our price 

£24 

Reclining 

Swing Seat 

with Gazebo 

our price 

£399 

Grillstream 

3 Burner Stainless 

Steel Barbecue 

RRP £399 

our price 

£199 

8 Seat 

Rattan Suite 

RRP £1799 

our price 

£1299 

6 Seat FSC 

Teak Suite 

RRP £2542 

our price 

£1499 

Extendable table - Stainless steel hardware - Reclining chairs 

Aluminium frame - Height adjustable table - All season cushions 

Images for illustration purposes only and may vary. 

HURRY, SALE MUST END 31 AUGUST 

GARDEN CENTRE 

Avis Road, NEWHAVEN 

BN9 0DH 01273 512123 

tatesofsussex.co.uk

WILDLIFE 

Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner 

Charging into battle on a Fiat Punto 

Collage by Michael Blencowe 

Far, far away in the south-east corner of Europe 

the Balkan Mountains tower over the landscape. 

Their valleys were once home to the fearsome 

Thracian tribes who made empires tremble when 

they rode screaming into battle on their wild 

horses. But even more ancient battles were being 

fought deep in these majestic mountains. 

Here in the Balkans there grew a strange and 

mighty tree. Its huge seeds were encased in spiky 

armour and its leaves were like giant hands which 

cast shade all around. But this tree had been cursed. 

Each year a plague of tiny, tiny moths would attack 

the tree, their caterpillars would burrow inside every 

leaf. Green turned to brown, leaving the tree apparently 

lifeless and defeated. Yet each year the tree 

would return with renewed green vigour and each 

year the moths would attack with the same resolve. 

And so for centuries the tree and the moth remained 

trapped in the Balkan Mountains, locked in their 

epic, age-old battle. 

Then one day men came from the west, discovered 

this magnificent tree, gathered its seeds and 

planted them in their world. The branches and 

the empire of the Horse Chestnut spread across 

Europe’s parks and gardens. People admired it 

and reclined in the shade of its broad palmate 

leaves. Schoolboys used its seeds to fight their 

own playground battles. The conker tree had 

conquered the continent. Here in this new 

world the curse of the moth had been lifted and 

the Horse Chestnut flourished. Meanwhile the 

tree’s nemesis, not a particularly strong flyer, 

remained imprisoned in the remote valleys of the 

Balkan Mountains for centuries, more myth than 

moth. Then, one day, the modern world arrived. 

Construction workers building roads through the 

mountains were unwittingly building the perfect 

means for the moth to escape and spread. An 

ancient evil had been loosed on the world. Now 

all it needed was a lift. So the moth stuck out its 

six thumbs and hitched a ride. 

Incredibly the moth, just 5mm long, was able to 

disperse by grabbing on to passing vehicles. And 

so, like the ferocious Thracian tribes, the moth 

rode into battle. Screaming along highways, motorways, 

and autobahns on Volvos, Citroens, Fiats 

and Fords. The ancient battle spilled out from the 

Balkans as the moth was chauffeur-driven to every 

Horse Chestnut tree in Europe. 

The Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner moth was first 

discovered, identified and named in Greece in 

1984. Twenty years later, in 2004, an innocent 

motorist pulled off the A27 in to the University 

of Sussex car park unaware they held a sinister 

stowaway. In the following few years every Horse 

Chestnut in Sussex was moth-eaten. Look to the 

leaves this summer and you’ll see the great Balkan 

battle raging right on your doorstep. 

Michael Blencowe, Senior Learning & Engagement 

Officer, Sussex Wildlife Trust 

81

OUR SPACE 

The Turkish Baths 

Introducing the Unity Centre 

It’s with anticipation that I approach the Old 

Turkish Baths. After several years of neglect and 

disuse, the distinctive old building is undergoing 

the final stages of redevelopment, ready to 

reopen next month as The Unity Centre. 

It first opened in June 1862, when Burwood 

Godlee realised his dream of a Lewes Turkish 

baths. Boasting ‘hot air and hot and cold water 

baths’, it proved a hit with Victorian Lewesians, 

with some 1,500 bathers visiting in the first 

three months. But attendance started to decline 

when a larger rival opened in Brighton in 1868, 

and it eventually closed in 1882. 

Its most recent incarnation was as a print works, 

but the property has lain empty for some time, 

so it’s a pleasure to find it full of activity as I 

head inside to meet Sevanti, founder of Unity 

and the driving force behind the project. Her 

passion is obvious as she talks about her plans 

for a ‘centre for yoga, health, wellbeing and the 

arts’, and stresses the importance of community. 

“I put my heart and soul into the tender,” she 

says. “It was a really rigorous process, with the 

Council wanting to know how inclusive we 

were and how we would be working with the 

disadvantaged. It was also important that we 

were offering a wide range of things. It’s not just 

about yoga, but everything we do is based on 

the values of yoga – of keeping people happy, 

healthy, connected and living in harmony. It’s all 

about wellbeing.” 

Activities available at the Centre, she continues, 

will include art, music, theatre, dance, martial 

arts, and a range of alternative therapies, as well 

as different styles of yoga. “The Silver Birch 

Room is our small studio, which will be used for 

smaller groups, such as meditation circles, music 

therapy and one-to-ones. The Sycamore Room 

82

OUR SPACE 

is our larger studio, which will be for bigger 

groups, as well as evening events.” 

There will also be an infra-red sauna, a two-person 

flotation tank, a vegan/vegetarian café, and 

a small retail space selling local products, while 

the hallway will double as a gallery. In addition, 

there will be two treatment rooms (one inside 

and one in an external, purpose-built cabin). 

In keeping with Unity’s ethos, everything is 

designed to be as inclusive and accessible as 

possible, with disabled access at the rear of the 

building, along with a spacious disabled bathroom, 

complete with adult changing table. 

The decor throughout nods to the building’s 

past life, with beautiful Turkish lights and mirrors, 

sourced by Sevanti on one of her regular 

teaching trips to the country. She also plans to 

hold Turkish pop-up nights, with Turkish food 

and music. 

“We want to be approachable and welcoming,” 

she says, “so that anyone can come in to 

eat, have a treatment or do a class, and just be 

themselves. It’s about creating community, and 

offering something for everyone.” Anita Hall 

The Unity Centre opens on 6 September 2019, 

with free classes all weekend. being-in-unity.com 

83

ADVERTORIAL 

Use It or Lose It! 

Free Support to Help 

You Save the Planet 

Everyone wants to do their bit to stop climate 

change but it can be difficult to know where 

to start. That’s why, when the Sustainable 

Business Partnership CIC developed the Utilise 

Plus programme, we wanted to offer various 

services that help businesses to save energy 

no matter where they are on their sustainability 

journeys. Whether you’re keen to learn more at 

one of our free events, want to identify smart 

solutions for your organisation with a fullyfunded 

energy audit, or want to take action 

with a grant-funded energy-saving installation, 

the Utilise Plus programme has something for 

everyone. 

greenhouse gas emissions each year. What’s 

more, their annual energy bills will decrease, 

on average, by 27%, saving them money year 

after year. 

Utilise Plus will run until the end of September 

2019 so make the most of this funding while 

it lasts – use it or lose it! Whichever stage 

your organisation is at, get in touch with the 

Sustainable Business Partnership CIC and 

see how the Utilise Plus programme can help 

you. Saving energy is not only good for your 

organisation’s cash flow but also good for the 

environment – win-win! Just make sure you act 

fast while this free support is still available! 

Visit: www.sustainablebusiness.org.uk 

Call: 01273 964239 

Email: info@sustainablebusiness.org.uk 

Tweet: @SustBusNetwork 

Funded by the European Regional 

Development Fund, Utilise Plus has already 

supported hundreds of small and medium 

sized enterprises throughout Sussex since 

launching in late 2017. So far, we’ve helped 

these organisations make an estimated, 

combined saving of over 750 tonnes of

BUSINESS NEWS 

Elizabeth, from Wickle, is dipping her toe in 

the commercial water, with an addition to her 

School Hill shop – which will continue business 

as usual – at 90 High Street (until recently Tina’s 

Kitchen). I pop in a few days before it’s due 

to open, and she tells me of her plans: to sell 

sustainable clothing – a mixture of upcycled and 

vintage gear, for both women and men – to see 

if there’s a market for it in Lewes. It’ll be open 

Thursday to Saturday: the space will be used as a 

workshop and pop-up studio on the other days. 

That old adage about buses comes to my mind 

as far as self-dispensing wholefood stores are 

concerned. As we announced last month, James 

from Backyard Café is opening a healthy 

sustainable food outlet in the space next to his 

eatery in the Needlemakers. Meanwhile, The 

Seasons, who run an organic store in Forest 

Row, are planning to set up in the Cliffe, in September. 

Their outlet will be ‘geared to a Zero 

Waste lifestyle and will include refill stations for 

dried goods, household cleaning products, shampoos 

and conditioners, and herbs and spices, 

along with fresh organic produce, local dairy, 

and artisan breads’. More on this next month. 

There’s been a bit of a merry-go-round on 

the pub front. The Kings Head, we hear, is 

being taken over by the owners of The Ark, 

in Newhaven, who are planning to serve tapas 

and fresh fish. The previous manager of that 

establishment – who also runs the Rainbow in 

Cooksbridge – has moved to The Lamb, and – 

hurrah – he’s turning it back into a music venue, 

directed by Steve ‘Snips’ Parsons, of Sharks 

fame, with live bands on weekend nights, and 

‘lazy jazz’ on a Sunday afternoon. Finally, The 

Jolly Sportsman, that fine gastro pub in East 

Chiltington, is up for sale, as the owners Bruce 

and Gwyneth Wass are set to retire. 

And we’ve some more details about the new venture 

in the bus station building, now called Zu 

Café, and run by Martin and Samira, formerly 

of Zu Studios. The downstairs café should be 

up and running by the time you read this, with 

the hatch selling freshly made crêpes and bread 

(including keto bread), as well as croissants and 

cakes. Martin made a discovery while clearing 

out the space: a second hatch on the far side 

of the building, which used to be a news kiosk, 

selling papers and cigarettes, as many readers 

will remember. He’s thinking of making it a 

‘healthy sweet shop’. The upstairs space will be 

open for plant-based salads, soups and hot dishes 

in August, at lunchtime, and in September, for 

evening meals. 

And finally, good news for anyone wanting to 

start up a business in the area: Lewes District 

Council – through the organisation Edeal – are 

offering a one-day business start-up workshop, 

free to residents of the Lewes district, on 7th 

August (in Lewes), 10th October (in Seaford) 

and 5th December (in Peacehaven). Booking is 

essential: 01323 641144, yourleap.co.uk. 

Alex Leith

DIRECTORY 

Please note that though we aim only to 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 488882 or email advertising@vivamagazines.com 

• Digital TV aerial upgrades & service 

• TV, DAB, and FM aerials 

• Extra points 

• Communal systems 

• Aerial repairs 

• Satellite TV installs and service 

• SKY installs 

• Discreet fittings e.g. listed buildings, thatch roofs, flats 

• European systems serviced and installed 

• Gutters cleared • CCTV installed 

WE FIT BIRD DETERRENTS 

WE CAN BEAT ANYONE ON QUALITY AND PRICE 

Free estimate • over 40 years experience • OAP discount 

Open 7 days a week • Fully guaranteed • Same day service 

Freephone: 0800 0323255 

Tel: 01273 617114 Mob: 07920 526703 

We specialise in TV wall mounting 

We can beat anyone else’s price on a like for like basis 

www.1strateaerialsandsatellites.co.uk 

P M Services 

Plumbing. Heating. Gas 

Repairs and installations 

Landlord Safety certificates 

Friendly, local and reliable 

07958 473 622 | 01273 046 039

HOME 

We come to you! 

Looking for new flooring? 

HomeCall Carpets has it all... 

Karndean, Carpets, Vinyl, Laminate, 

Rugs and Mattresses. 

All expertly fitted by our own fitters at 

all-year-round competitive prices 

Ring for a Home Visit from our Mobile 

Showroom or visit our extensive 

Showroom in Ditchling 

HomeCall Carpets 

Unit V21a S M Tidy Industrial Estate 

Ditchling, Hassocks, BN6 8SG 

www.homecallcarpets.com | hello@homecallcarpets.com | 01444 236786 

Don’t get caught out, 

Locked out - put this number 

in your phone NOW! 

• Digital Locks fitted 

• One Key For All Locks. 

• Cylinder Replacement. 

• 24hr / 365 days a year. 

• OAP Discount, No VAT. 

• No Obligation Quote & 

No call Out Charge! 

• Lockout within 30 minutes. 

• uPVC Door & Window Locks problems. 

• Garage Door Locks 

• British Standard Locks. 

• Mobile key cutting service. 

• CRB Checked & Approved.

HOME 

FREE ESTIMATES 

UIS OF EWES 07778987286 

leweshandyman@hotmail.com 

LOCAL HANDYMAN _ PAINTER AND DECORATOR 

Interior and exterior painting 

Plastering 

Flooring & Tiling 

Plasterboard 

QUALITY FINISHES 

All work in the house, big or small: 

Carpentry 

Assembling and fitting furniture 

Curtains/ Door handles and locks/ ... 

FINDING SOLUTIONS 

REFERENCES AVAILABLE 

IF YOU THINK “WHO COULD REPAIR THIS?” CALL LUIS OF LEWES 

Aluminium windows, doors, 

lantern roofs and bi-folding doors. 

Trading in your area for over 30 years 

We guarantee all our products, installation and service 

for the best doors, windows & conservatories 

CLARKS GLASS LTD 

Unit 10, Ringmer Business Centre, 

Chamberlaines Lane, Ringmer, BN8 5NF 

For your FREE no obligation consultation call us now on: 

01273 814077 

www.clarksglass.org.uk

HOME 

Plumbing & Heating 

Design & Installation 

Bathrooms/Kitchens 

Plumbing/Heating 

Boilers/Central heating 

Gas Safe Registered 

Tiling / Woodwork 

Free estimates & Advice 

T: 01273 487 565 M. 07801 784 192 

E. tonywplumbing@icloud.com

HOME 

OVER 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE 

FREE estimates on all types of 

plastering work and finishes. 

TELEPHONE: 01273 472 836 

MOBILE: 07974 752 491 

EMAIL: cdpoulter@btinternet.com 

07784053679 

tom@tbacc.co.uk 

thebuildingandcarpentryco.co.uk 

PROFESSIONAL RELIABLE 

FLAWLESS 

LADY DECORATOR LEWES 

For a no obligation quote call 

07917 067847 

hello@ladydecoratorlewes.co.uk

HOME 

LTD 

We are a building company specialising in residential 

extensions, refurbishments, loft conversions 

and conservation work on listed buildings. 

We pride ourselves on paying attention to detail, 

using bespoke materials and bringing projects 

in on time and on budget. 

Contact us for a free quote and please 

visit the website for more info: 

www.stjamesbuilding.co.uk 

01273 499 641 / 07780 964 608

HOME & GARDEN 

Laurence 

Turrell & Co. 

BUILDING | RENOVATION | BESPOKE 

01444 213499 | 07850 477318 

www.laurenceturrell.com 

Jason Eyre Decorating 

Professional Painters & Decorators 

jasoneyre2@gmail.com | jasoneyredecorating.com 

07976 418299 | 07766 118289 

Handyman Services for your House and Garden 

Lewes based. Free quotes. 

Honest, reliable, friendly service. 

Reasonable rates 

Tel: 07460 828240 

Email: ahbservices@outlook.com 

AHB ad.indd 1 27/07/2015 17:46 

1 

Gardener Available 

Beds, borders, pruning and tidying 

01273 814 926 

National Diploma Horticulture 

Jack Plane Carpenter 

Nice work, fair price, 

totally reliable. 

www.jackplanecarpentry.co.uk 

01273 483339 / 07887 993396 

Qualified & Experienced gardener 

07912 606 557 

PAUL FURNELL 

Carpenter / General Building 

and Renovation works, 

Based in Lewes 

t. 07717 862940 e. paul.lee.furnell@gmail.com 

Hamblin 

Tree Care 

expert arborists 

Tree surgery • Hedges • Lawns 

Nathan Hamblin FdSc (Arb) 

Experienced, professional and insured 

www.hamblintreecare.com 

0777 364 2640 

Lewes 

based

GARDENS, LESSONS & COURSES, OTHER SERVICES 

Global 

Gardens 

Design, 

Restoration & 

Landscaping 

www.andrewwells.co.uk 

We can work it out 

Mobile 07941 057337 

Phone 01273 488261 

12 Priory Street, Lewes, BN7 1HH 

info@ globalgardens.co.uk 

www.globalgardens.co.uk 

RHS 

Gold medal 

GGS1.001_QuarterPage_Ad_01.indd 1 12/11/10 18:24:51 

Winners 

• BUSINESS ACCOUNTS AND TAX 

• MEDIA AND THE ARTS 

• CONTRACTORS AND CONSULTANTS 

• FRIENDLY AND FLEXIBLE 

T: 01273 961334 

E: aw@andrewwells.co.uk 

FREE 

initial 

consultation 

Andrew M Wells Accountancy 

99 Western Road Lewes BN7 1RS 

Real gardeners for all your gardening needs. 

From a one off blitz to regular maintenance. 

07812 028704 | 01273 401962 

brookhartservices@gmail.com 

www.brook-hart.co.uk 

Andrew Wells_Viva Lewes_AW.indd 1 25/06/2012 09:0

OTHER SERVICES 

GREAT 

PRICES 

FLO TYRES 

& ACCESSORIES 

CALL 

TODAY 

O N E S T O P S H O P F O R P R E M I U M , M I D R A N G E A N D B U D G E T T Y R E S 

TYRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS 

PUNCTURE REPAIRS 

WHEEL ALIGNMENT 

WHEEL BALANCING 

TYRES FROM STOCK OR TO ORDER SAME DAY: 

ROADSTONE, HANKOOK, MICHELIN, DUNLOP, AVON 

CONTINENTAL, PIRELLI, BRIDGESTONE, GOODYEAR 

PRICES INCLUSIVE OF BALANCING AND FITTING. 

TYRE CHECKS AND ADVICE FROM FRIENDLY STAFF. 

Flo Tyres And Accessories 

Unit 1 Malling Industrial Estate, Brooks Road, Lewes, BN7 2BY 

Tel: 01273 481000 | Web: flotyres.com | info@flomargarage.com

HEALTH 

Acupuncture, Alexander Technique, Bowen 

Technique, Children’s Clinic, Counselling, 

Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, 

Herbal Medicine, Massage, 

Nutritional Therapy, Life Coaching, 

Physiotherapy, Pilates, Shiatsu, 

Podiatry/Chiropody 

Free NHS Healthchecks 

For eligible paaents. 

Includes Blood Pressure check, 

Cholesterol check & lifestyle quessonnaire. 

You may be contacted by a 3rd party 

called “Healthy Extras” who are 

working in conjunction with the NHS to 

recruit patients into the service. 

So we can provide the service to as many 

people as possible. 

If you haven’t had yours yet contact us to 

book your 30 min appointment. 

(Eligibility Criteria apply) 

(Closed between 1-2pm) 

Ruth Wharton Viva Advert 8.18 AW.qxp_6 03/12/2018 13 

RUTH 

WHARTON 

BA (Hons) BSc (Hons) Ost Med DO 

ND MSc Paediatric Ost 

BIODYNAMIC 

CRANIAL 

OSTEOPATH 

ruthwhartonosteopath.com 

SALLY 

GALLOWAY 

BA (Hons) Dip Nat Nut CNM 

MBANT CNHC reg 

NUTRITIONAL 

THERAPIST 

sallygallowaynutrition.co.uk 

OTHER THERAPIES INCLUDING: 

COUNSELLING • LIFE COACHING 

MASSAGE THERAPY • REFLEXOLOGY 

PSYCHOTHERAPY 

(individual, adolescent and family) 

ROOMS TO RENT AVAILABLE 

INTRINSIC HEALTH • 01273 958403 

32 Cliffe High Street, Lewes BN7 2AN 

www.intrinsichealthlewes.com 

Readings 

Healings Workshops 

www.maddyelruna.co.uk 

Yoga Vocal 

Yoga postures with vocal release

The Cliffe 

Osteopathy & 

Complementary 

Health Clinic 

Julie Padgham 

WESTERN HERBAL 

MEDICINE 

& REFLEXOLOGY 

HEALTH 

Taking a Natural Approach 

at Menopause 

1:1 Appointments at The Cliffe Clinic 

Self-Help Workshop 12th Oct in Lewes 

LYNNE RUSSELL BSc FSDSHom MARH MBIH(FR) 

www.chantryhealth.com 07970 245118 

Angelica Rossi 

HolisticTherapist 

Swedish Body Massage 

& Reflexology 

Gift vouchers are available to purchase at 

Intrinsic Health, 32, Cliffe High Street, Lewes 

To book an appointment call 07401 131153 

Email: angelicarossi@hotmail.co.uk 

www.angelsaromahealing.com 

VALENCE ROAD OSTEOPATHS 

OSTEOPATHY 

Mandy Fischer BSc (Hons) Ost, DO, PG cert (canine) 

Caroline Jack BOst, PG cert (canine) 

Cameron Dowset MOst 

HERBAL MEDICINE & REFLEXOLOGY 

Julie Padgham-Undrell BSc (Hons) MCPP 

PSYCHOTHERAPY 

Julia Rivas BA (Hons), MA Psychotherapy 

Tom Lockyer BA (Hons), Dip Cound MBACP 

ACUPUNCTURE & HYPNOTHERAPY 

Anthea Barbary LicAc MBAcC Dip I Hyp GQHP 

HOMEOPATHY, COACHING, NLP 

& HYPNOTHERAPY 

Lynne Russell BSc FSDSHom MARH MBIH(FR) 

01273 480900 

23 Cliffe High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2AH 

www.lewesosteopath.com 

Open Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings 

neck or back pain? 

Lin Peters - OSTEOPATH 

for the treatment of: 

neck or low back pain • sports injuries • rheumatic 

arthritic symptoms • pulled muscles • joint pain 

stiffness • sciatica - trapped nerves • slipped discs 

tension • frozen shoulders • cranial osteopathy 

pre and post natal 

www.lewesosteopath.co.uk 

20 Valence Road Lewes 01273 476371

HEALTH 

Doctor P. Bermingham 

Retired Consultant Psychiatrist. 

Assoc. Medical Psychotherapy. Formerly SAP. 

Psychotherapy for the psychological core of depression. 

Suicidal ideation. Relapse. Supervision of therapists. 

drpbermingham@gmail.com 

Coranne Campbell 

Reiki Master Practitioner 

Tel 07584 572226 

corannecampbellreiki@gmail.com 

www.reikiconnect.co.uk 

Energy healing complementary therapy 

GARAGES 

EXPERT 

ADVICE 

I N C O R P O R A T I N G F L O T Y R E S 

COURTESY 

CARS 

DIAGNOSTICS & TPMS 

SERVICING AND OIL CHANGE 

COIL SPRINGS/SHOCKS – ALL SUSPENSION 

EXHAUSTS, EGR – ALL EMISSIONS WORK 

CLUTCHES, GEAR LINKAGES, DRIVESHAFTS 

COOLING SYSTEMS INC RADIATORS 

MOT SERVICE AND MOT REPAIRS 

ESTIMATES USING QUALITY PARTS 

SKILLED/QUALIFIED TECHNICIANS 

Units 1-3 Malling Industrial Estate, Brooks Road, Lewes BN7 2BY 

Vehicle Servicing, Repairs and MOT Service: 01273 472691 

www.mechanicinlewes.co.uk | info@flomargarage.com

INSIDE LEFT 

ON THE BUSES 

This picture was undated in the Reeves 

archives but, by checking through Kelly’s Directory 

and examining other photographs, we’ve 

worked out that it was taken around 1955. It’s 

remarkable how little has changed between 

yesteryear’s High Street and today’s, and 

simultaneously, how much is different. 

The punctum of the picture is surely the 

friendly-looking old lady bustling up the street 

on the left, but the second thing that caught my 

eye was the Southdown bus – a number 28 – on 

the right. I contacted Dick Gilbert, from the 

organisation Classic Buses, and he identified 

it immediately as a 1930s-built Leyland TD 

Titan. Its colour scheme will have been apple 

green and cream, the classic livery of Southdown 

double-deckers. Their single-deckers, for 

longer journeys, were a darker shade of green. 

In those days, of course, far fewer people had 

cars (although there are two fine models on the 

right) and the bus service took you to a wider 

variety of destinations, more frequently. In 

fact you can see two bus stops on the left of the 

street, serving no fewer than nine lines, the 

23, 28, 124, 16, 20, 25, 119 and 122. Southdown 

buses, manned by both driver and conductor, 

were designed to maximise passenger comfort; 

once outside town they could be hailed on any 

country lane, stop or no stop. 

The most common destination for all these 

buses was, of course, Lewes itself. Then, as 

now, it was the service town for all the villages 

around, and you can see a wide variety of shops 

on either side of the road. On the left I can 

make out Leroy & Richardson (selling radios, 

TVs and records), Eastman’s Dry-cleaners, 

and the Soda Fountain Snack Bar. On the right 

there’s the Midland Bank, Mac Fisheries, WH 

Smiths, and – still operating from the same site 

today – Rowland Gorringe. Alex Leith 

Thanks to Reeves, 159 High Street, 01273 

473274. Additional research by Lynn Middleton. 

Their new light box exhibition is on in 

September – see next issue. 

98

Spirit of the Rainbow 

Invites you to our meeting in Brighton 

Exploring Oneness 

Oneness means our first loyalty is to our humanity, above any country, religion or 

ideology: humanity both in the sense of all human beings and also of human decency, 

kindness, compassion. Oneness means we recognise we are part of nature and that we 

treat our environment with reverence and respect. Oneness works too at a personal level 

as we grow into a sense of wholeness. Oneness means we recognise that we are children 

of our universe however we experience it. 

OUR AIMS & ACTIVITIES: 

Come and share your ideas so together we can: 

• deepen our experience of oneness 

• spread our message locally and globally 

• build a world based on oneness 

Our next meeting is on Saturday 27th July 

From 2pm for 2.30pm start and ending c.3.30pm 

@ Conference Room 2, Brighton Library, Jubilee St, Brighton BN1 1GE 

ALL WELCOME! 

Future meetings @ Conference Room 2, Brighton Library 

2pm for 2.30pm start and ending c.3.30pm: 

Sat 31st August 

Sat 28th September 

Sat 26th October 

Sat 30th November 

For further information contact spiritoftherainbow@yahoo.co.uk

We are delighted to announce our re-location to The Left Bank, 

173 High Street, Lewes. Herbert Scott was established in 1996 and this 

will be our 5th office in Lewes; the first with our own front door and a 

fantastic space in which to grow our chartered, financial planning 

business. 

We are here to deliver an excellent and meaningful financial planning service 

to the local community. The newly refurbished office has been designed to 

ensure we can provide a professional and friendly service to our clients and a 

fantastic environment for our team. Do please drop in to say hello. We look 

forward to welcoming you soon. 

Herbert Scott Ltd • The Left Bank • 173 High Street • Lewes • East Sussex • BN7 1YE 

Tel: 01273 407 500 Email: enquiries@herbertscott.uk Web: www.herbertscott.uk 

Herbert Scott Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Viva Lewes Issue #155 August 2019

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?