Viva Lewes Issue #156 September 2019

Image: Painted collage by Shadric Toop
No Ordinary Opera
DONIZETTI L’elisir d’amore
HANDEL Rinaldo
VERDI Rigoletto LIMITED AVAILABILITY
Chorus Christmas Concert
Book now
October – December
Glyndebourne (NEAR LEWES)
Tickets £20 – £72

156
VIVALEWES
EDITORIAL
I love the Downs. Am always up there stomping in my boots. This is one kind of
footprint, of course – and there’re plenty in this issue – from ‘The way we walk’, to
the Eastbourne and Lewes ‘Walk Fest’ to John Worth’s daily, meditative loop around
Mt Caburn, to ‘wildlife detective’ Michael Blencowe’s excellent research in the field.
(This is Michael’s one hundredth piece for Viva, and we’re endlessly grateful.)
For those preferring town trails, there’s Reeves’ new lightbox exhibition, or the Heritage
Open Days (a number of Heritage Walks too, that weekend). While Gerry Bennett does
a bit of both – over recent months, watching and photographing nesting peregrines.
Then there’s the other sort (of footprint), where we’re all encouraged to tread more
lightly. The excellent Lewes Repair Café sets the pace. If you’re into building from
either side of the skip, DIYgogo sets out to make freecycling simple.
We visit eco paint shop Marchand Son. Lewes hosts its second Electric Car Show. And
Moixa is appealing to anyone with solar panels. The South Downs National Park shares its
campaign to replenish the bees. We ask the council how those recycling wheelie bins work –
now we’re chucking everything in together. And the new Leader of our District Council, and
first Green to hold the role, Zoe Nicholson shares her hopes (and fears).
By the way, I wonder who put that old piano in the Market Tower in August? An ingenious
bit of recycling? (Though it disappeared rather quickly.) Still I enjoyed its brief sojourn.
Every time I walked by (at least two, often four times a day) someone had stopped to play.
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: Kelly Mechen admin@vivamagazines.com
DISTRIBUTION: David Pardue distribution@vivamagazines.com
CONTRIBUTORS: Michael Blencowe, Mark Bridge, Julie Bull, Emma Chaplin, Rebecca Cunningham, Hasia Curtis,
Lulah Ellender, Daniel Etherington, Mark Greco, Anita Hall, John Henty, Robin Houghton, Kid Squid, Eleanor Knight,
Dexter Lee, Alex Leith, Lizzie Lower, Carlotta Luke, Anna Morgan and Galia Pike.
PUBLISHER: Becky Ramsden becky@vivamagazines.com
Viva Lewes is based at Lewes House, 32 High St, Lewes, BN7 2LX, all enquiries 01273 488882

THE ‘FOOTPRINT’ ISSUE
CONTENTS
Bits and bobs.
8-28. Cover artist Kid Squid enjoys
Inktober; John Worth on health and
walking and art; new Green leader
of our District Council shares her
thoughts (and footprint); the word is
spread; our pet’s called Ted; Community
Kitchen starts Man with a Pan; walkers
and cyclists across the South Downs
National Park; Lewes Repair Café;
new series ‘Five minutes with...’ kicks
off with a local teacher; Carlotta Luke
at the edges of the Beach Life Festival;
Craig goes Green; and the second
Lewes Electric Car Show.
Columns.
31-35. David Jarman visits an old friend;
Eleanor Knight can’t walk in Kim
Kardashian’s shoes; and John Henty
takes a walk on the wild side.
On this month.
37-51. Eastbourne & Lewes Walking
Festival; Mad Hatters in Polegate; a
‘joyous romp’ with Bernard Shaw;
Constable Twitten at Shoreham
Wordfest; Polly Wiseman in Femme
Fatale; Women Over Fifty Film Festival
returns to the Depot; plus Dexter Lee’s
69
round-up; and Heritage Open Days
through the arched window of Trinity
House.
Art.
53-63. Three interesting exhibitions at
Pallant House; Hong Kong Sunrise by
Jessica Zoob; Art and about includes the
Summer Selfie, Samantha Stas, Star Life
and many others. Marchand Son talks
shop: fancy doing your house out like
The Shining?
104 88
Listings and Free time.
65-89. Herstmonceux Astronomy
Festival, West Dean Dovecote Heritage
Weekend, Extinction Rebellion and
many more dates for your diary; Reeves
lightboxes map; tons of gigs to choose
from, including Chill Down Sundays
at The Lamb, The Reform Club, Zion
62
Illustration by Hasia Curtis
5

THE ‘FOOTPRINT’ ISSUE
Train and Femme Brûlée; music in a
town-wide Ripple; Classical round-up
pick is Pippa Dames-Longworth and
the Singing Salon; opera bringing
elderly and young together; for the
family, Gangsta Granny, or a Medieval
Weekend at Michelham Priory, Sooty
and Friends in Eastbourne, Bentley
Wood Fair, and Family Raceday at
Plumpton; Bags of Books reviews
A Planet full of Plastic; Into the
Trees festival, the smaller sibling of
Elderflower Fields.
Food.
93-97. Côte lunch review; a recipe
from Hunter Gather Cook; and Lewes
Patisserie Macaroons.
The way we walk.
98-101. Photographer Aiste Saulyte
meets some local hikers.
89
Features.
103-117. Bee Lines campaign; Gerry
Bennett shares his stunning peregrines;
Wildlife and the nature detective;
Thomas Broad explains our wheelie
bins; Alexander Thomson explains
DIYgogo; and Anita Hall talks to
98
Moixa; Business news from around the
town; and Lewes FC women’s captain.
Inside left.
130. Did you know Russell & Bromley
shoe store (sort of) started in Lewes?
Photo by Aiste Saulyte
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

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THIS MONTH’S COVER ARTIST
“I really like drawing dead things,” says Kid
Squid, the illustrator of this month’s
cover. “Natural history, bones
and animals and stuff like
that. Scientific illustrations
and Victorian botanical
drawings are my
favourite. Most
of my work has
a bit of a dark
side to it, but it’s
not macabre; it
can be a little
bit gothic,
in a kind of
delicate way.
But then I like doing things which are a little
bit weird and quirky as well...” Her sketchbooks
demonstrate exactly what she means. On one
page lies a dead sparrow, intricately drawn in
black ink with only its red breast highlighted
in watercolour; on the next, an elegant swan,
equally intricate, but it’s puking. The swan is
puking a rainbow.
“It’s a niche style that I’m trying out,” she
explains. “Every October I do this thing called
Inktober, which is where you do an ink drawing
every single day for the whole month and
post each one on Instagram. It’s really good for
developing a style and there are prompts for
every day. For some of the prompts, I had no
idea what to draw and a friend said, ‘you know
8

KID SQUID
what you should do? A puking animal.’ So I
decided that for every day I didn’t know what
to draw I would draw a puking animal. It either
makes people really uncomfortable or they love
it.” The full set of puking animals (including a
puking Godzilla and a puking Alien) are being
exhibited in all their rainbow-coloured glory
at Brighton’s new Conclave Gallery on Queens
Road until October 2nd.
This design for our ‘Footprint’ cover is a
stride away from her normal style. It’s far more
colourful, for a start. “I used to be terrified
of using colour,” she says. “It felt like such
a commitment, which is why I often just
work with little pops of colour. But recently
someone introduced me to watercolour and
showed me the basics, and since then I’ve
been playing around with it. It’s a weird medium
to work with – it can be quite unpredictable
at times – but I’m a lot more confident
with it now!” The vibrant oranges and yellows
are meant to show the seasonal transition, from
summer’s gladioli to the autumnal leaves, but
the fiery colours have a deeper message as well.
“I’ve been really noticing the Extinction Rebellion
artwork that’s appearing all over the town
at the moment,” she says, “and what I wanted
to create was not only the idea of summer turning
into autumn, but the vibrant flowers and
nature heading towards the dark autumn of the
climate crisis that we’re in.” The heavy, punchy
footprints represent her more rebellious side.
“It’s really incredible what ER are doing. I
think they get a bit of a bad rep for being quite
‘extreme’ – but it isn’t that they are extreme, it’s
that the situation is extreme. It’s a really difficult
thing for everyone to come to terms with,
but someone needs to say ‘hey everyone, we
need to wake up now’.”
Rebecca Cunningham
See more of Kid Squid’s work on her website
kidsquidillustration.com or on Instagram:
@kidsquidillustration
She also creates fabulous pet portraits; see more
examples on her website or contact her at kidsquidillustration@gmail.com
to discuss
a commission.
9

Photo by Charlotte Gann
MY LEWES: JOHN WORTH
What brought you to Lewes, and when?
I grew up in Lindfield and went to school in
Haywards Heath. I worked in the Australian
Outback in my twenties, which had a big
impact, and later in London. We moved to
Lewes in 1996 with a young family and started
a business. We lived in St Swithun’s Terrace,
then Kingston. I’ve been in the High Street for
about five years.
What business? We used to run one of
the first digital agencies – Worth Digital in
Brighton – working primarily with the NHS
and Department of Health. In 2010 we started
working with founding members of the Expert
Patient Programme on a new enterprise,
Know Your Own Health. We focus specifically
on supporting people who are struggling to
manage with one or more long term health
conditions. In those circumstances, it can be
easy to feel ‘disempowered’ and dependent
on health services. The health coaching is a
personalised one-to-one intervention that
supports the individual to take back control.
As one person said, “the coaching helped me
to realise I still had choice(s) and power over
my life – I thought I’d lost that”. It’s still a very
new approach, although based on many years’
research and a growing body of evidence of
improved outcomes. It was great being able
to run such a ground-breaking project locally,
working with GPs across Lewes and the
Havens. Hopefully it will be continued here.
You also paint. Is your art a way of managing
your own health? Definitely. It’s my way of
reaching out to myself, identifying what’s going
on for me. I only started painting a year or
two ago – I’d never painted before or thought
about it really – but it’s central to me now.
I’ve stumbled on a new side of myself: a whole
world I didn’t know was there. My pictures
are inspired by the landscape – particularly
the Downs – though they’re abstract. Some
are based on maps, which I see as kind of
musical scores. I paint from my heart not my
head – and rarely with a paintbrush. Mostly
my work is about applying layers – both paint,
but also materials, like calico, or egg shell, for
instance, then scraping back to reveal colours
and textures. The work’s highly tactile. We can
make up any stories we want in our heads; our
hearts are where the truth is.
You walk most days. Why? Where? I’ve
always walked. But it’s never been more
important to me than now. It’s completely tied
up in the art. For the last year or so I have,
almost religiously, done the same five-mile walk
nearly every morning – up Chapel Hill, round
Mt Caburn, towards Glynde, and back into
Lewes. It’s absolutely glorious – every season –
and I sketch every day too, as I go. This walk is
my meditation.
Interview by Charlotte Gann
John’s exhibition of his paintings titled ‘Rhythms
of the Land and Heart’ is in the Blue Room,
Watercourt (the old Post Office) 65 High Street
between 6th and 29th September.
11

LAURIE ANDERSON
& HSIN-CHIEN HUANG:
TO THE MOON
30 SEPTEMBER
– 4 OCTOBER
CATERINA BARBIERI
& RUBEN SPINI
MYRIAM BLEAU:
BALLISTICS
10 OCTOBER
PLANNINGTOROCK
11 OCTOBER
TIM HECKER
PRESENTS ANOYO
SUGAI KEN
15 OCTOBER
HOLLY HERNDON
PRESENTS PROTO
17 OCTOBER
BRIGHTON
DIGITAL
FESTIVAL
2019
ELECTRONIC MUSIC & AUDIOVISUAL ART
01273 678 822
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BITS AND BOBS
BEST FOOT FORWARD
We thought our Footprint
issue was the perfect
moment to ask a few
questions of the Lewes
District Council new and
first Green leader Zoe
Nicholson, who heads the
cooperative alliance.
Zoe, you’re leading
a council made up of
an alliance of Greens,
Lib Dems, Labour and
independents. This has recently taken over
after eight years of a Conservative District
Council. How long is your term? Four years.
We’re rotating leadership between Greens and
the Lib Dems, so my personal term as leader
is 12 months and then my Lib Dem colleague,
James MacCleary (also pictured), who’s currently
Deputy becomes Leader.
What are your three top hopes for that
time? Can I have four please? Making sure our
Council takes every action it can to address the
impact on our communities of climate change;
it’s real, it’s happening now.
Building truly affordable and high quality
sustainable homes that bring work, services and
things we need to our communities.
Being creative with the resources we have to
deliver meaningful sustainable prosperity for our
communities, especially those hit hard by the
economic times and by planning policies of the
past, like Newhaven.
That politics can be done differently, fairly and
justly. That by working together we can create
solutions that are better than those we could
dream up on our own.
What are the biggest challenges?
The biggest challenge is the context in which
our Council operates, where we have a national
government that is hell bent on taking us off a
Photo by Carlotta Luke
Brexit cliff, national policies
of austerity that have meant
that Councils like ours have
to deliver essential services
with very little support
from government and on
top of that a set of national
planning policies that do not
make it essential that all new
developments have net zero
carbon emissions. Despite
all that, the challenge is to
deliver what matters to local people first time,
and create a sustainable, vibrant community and
places to live and work.
These are interesting times. How do you
remain motivated when central, indeed
international, government can seem to
be moving in such different directions? I
suppose finding the motivation doesn’t feel like
a choice, it’s an intrinsic sense of opportunity
and doing the right thing. I have a strong
sense of purpose and being in service to others.
Greens come with a deep sense of community
and purpose and I guess I’m built in that way.
These are unprecedented times, with people
waking up to the realities of climate change,
the years of austerity. It’s time to be creative,
courageous. To put our best selves to work for
the common good.
What do you personally prioritise to
minimise your footprint? Every spare waking
moment, after being a mum, partner, councillor,
chief executive, leader of a council, I spend
getting more Greens elected. I’m all about the
policies. Whilst I can and do do my part, any
amount of recycling, flight reduction, travelling
by train pales into insignificance compared
to the impact of the policies of national, local
government and big business.
Interview by Charlotte Gann
13

THE BEAUTIFUL EVERYDAY

TRIPS AND BOBS
SPREAD THE WORD
Wendy Vince of Horsted
Keynes finds a cool spot in the
mountains of southern Corsica
to spread the word. That said,
‘with 30 degree heat at the
coast’, wrote Peter, who took
this picture, ‘everyone is on the
beach – so it’s not all that easy
Spreading the Word in the
mountains’.
And Felicity Jackson took the
June issue of Viva on her recent
trip to Mongolia and Tibet.
‘This pic was taken at Everest
Base Camp, Tibet,’ she wrote,
‘as the morning sun reached
Everest. Unfortunately, I forgot
to take the mag with me when
I went down to the viewpoint;
then, clouds hid the peak. Trust
me: it looked awesome!’
Meanwhile, Callum Mechen
spread his Viva on the roof
terrace of Gloria Palace Hotel,
San Agustin, Gran Canaria.
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.
chrismas
ogden
solicitors
Wills + Estate
Administration
Residential
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Commercial
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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
15

BITS AND BOW-WOWS
PETS OF LEWES
This is Ted, a 10 year old Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen. He
was rescued two years ago after his owners returned him to
his breeder. He was overweight and rather sad, but his new
owners have helped him to tone up and regain his puppyish
lust for life using Davina McCall fitness DVDs and a balanced
Mediterranean diet.
Loves: Roland Rivron, maths, open plan living, angels.
Dislikes: isolation and despair, Mike Leigh films, cognitive
dissonance, faint praise, all Snapchat filters.
Niche dog tongue trivia: some dogs have blue tongues.
There is no clear genetic explanation, but I haven’t seen those raspberry Chupa Chups for a while
and I left them right here.
A commonly held belief is that dogs have cleaner mouths than humans, but it’s nonsense – both
contain more than 600 types of bacteria and are absolutely disgusting.
Dogs can’t sweat through their skin to cool off. Instead, they rely on panting. When dogs pant, the
air moves quickly over their tongue, mouth and lungs and allows moisture to evaporate and cool
them down. The process is known as thermoregulation. Your dog will be delighted if you use this
technical term. @dogs of lewes
MAN WITH A PAN
A great new initiative is starting at the Community
Kitchen on North Street this month. Man with a Pan is
being organised by Community Chef Robin Van Creveld.
“It’s a programme of five week cookery courses for
older men who are carers, bereaved or in other ways
vulnerable”, he says. That’s the first wave, but there’s more to the project than that.
After completing the course, there’ll be ongoing support – and the opportunity to turn newfound
skills to great use. “We’ll be hosting regular reunions”, Robin says, “and community activities where
graduates cook for homeless people and other vulnerable groups. The aim is to enable peer support,
community and positive action.”
Robin’s been running this programme elsewhere across the South East for the last three years, and he’s
seen it work. It supports everyone who gets involved, and has also received lots of interest and encouragement
– including national media coverage. Now he’s secured funding to provide it in Sussex.
It clearly is a formula that works. But finding the right recruits needs managing. “Reaching the target
audience of older men is actually quite difficult”, says Robin – which is why he’s keen to feature
in Viva. “The courses are free to the men in need.” Are you one? Do you know any? The Community
Chef would love to hear from you. Charlotte Gann
Thurs 19 Sep-24 Oct. Call 0766 526217, or email office@communitychef.org.uk. communitychef.org.uk
Photo by Gani Naylor
16

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character that help them be who they want to be.
WHO THEY WILL BE STARTS HERE
Visit our open mornings on 11 and 12 October 2019
Book your place today
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APPOINTMENTS
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01273 220000
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A DIAMOND AND SAPPHIRE
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BIKES AND BOBS
RIDERS OF LEWES #11: SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY
The South Downs Way is the best known element of our
wonderful National Park. Alister Linton-Crook , Cycling
Project Officer at the South Downs National Park Authority
(SDNPA), says, “We estimate that around 20 million
visits take place on the South Downs Way every year.” He
says their data shows a breakdown of “approximately 65
to 70 per cent pedestrians or runners, 25 to 30 per cent
cyclists and 1 to 2 per cent horse riders.”
So while the majority are those leaving footprints, a good chunk are leaving tyre tracks. And cyclists
are not just using the South Downs Way. Alister says, “the cornucopia of quiet roads and lanes attract
many leisure cyclists and cycle clubs, while off-road cyclists have over 1,350km of bridleways and
byways to explore.” And there are even the surfaced, off-highway tracks, some on nice level former
railway lines, totalling around 35km. These include the burgeoning Egret’s Way and the Downs Link.
The Authority also has around 35 Cycle Ambassadors, “who encourage individuals and communities
to enjoy the National Park through cycling. Their role is to demonstrate best cycling practice, lead
by example and, where appropriate, share knowledge about the special qualities of the National Park
such as the biodiversity, landscape and cultural heritage.” All in all, the National Park is a joy for
cycling. Daniel Etherington
Focusing
on you
Sacha Allistone MBACP
Counselling, Psychotherapy
and Psychological services
in central Lewes
01273 921355
www.brightonandhovepsychotherapy.com
admin@brightonandhovepsychotherapy.com
‘A burden once lifted is lighter than air.’
— Ioannis Georgiadis
sachaallistone.com | 07909986812

Gemma Day
Susie Boyt Jacqueline Wilson Ruth Ware
Sathnam Sanghera Fiona Sampson Alexander Masters
pc 19-20_Layout 1 12/08/2019 10:33 Page 2
Great
talks
by
great
writers
2019-2020 Programme
8 October Susie Boyt Novelist, author of Love & Fame and My Judy Garland Life
12 November Jacqueline Wilson Celebrated children’s novelist (limited to over 16s)
21 January Ruth Ware International bestselling thriller writer
11 February Sathnam Sanghera Times journalist, author of The Boy With The Topknot
10 March Fiona Sampson Poet, biographer, author of In Search of Mary Shelley
21 April Alexander Masters Author of Stuart: A Life Backwards and A Life Discarded
All events start at 8pm, All Saints Centre, Friars Walk, Lewes BN7 2LE.
Doors open 7.30pm Season tickets £40, single events £10, under 25s £5
Information & tickets: www.lewesliterarysociety.co.uk
www.facebook.com/lewesliterarysociety @leweslitsoc

BITS AND BOBBINS
LEWES REPAIR CAFÉ
Susanne is using a needle and colour-coordinated
cotton to reattach the paw of a pastel-striped
cuddly sloth. At a table next to her, Fran is ready
with a cocktail of adhesives guaranteed to eliminate
the wobble from the second-hand table
lamp she’s disassembling. On the other side of
the room, Paul’s putting a revitalised vacuum
cleaner back together, while Roy is delivering a
generous squirt of switch-cleaning lubricant to
the innards of a noisy wind-up radio.
This is the monthly Lewes Repair Café at
Landport Community Hub, where a team of
enthusiastic and capable volunteers fix anything
from toasters to trousers, from chairs to china.
Currently, around 30 people are involved or
ready to lend a hand, organiser Tony tells me.
“We’ve got into a sort-of throwaway culture,
because sometimes things are very cheap”, he
explains. “The café seemed a way of subverting
manufacturers’ ways of getting us to buy new
stuff.” Although having an item repaired can
save the price of a new purchase, even the cost
of repairs may be prohibitive. As a result, the
Lewes service is free, although donations towards
the running costs are appreciated. There’s
also a social angle – “getting the community to
come together, interacting with each other”,
says Tony – as well as a hope that some visitors
might learn from the people doing repairs. And
yes, calling the event a ‘café’ is entirely accurate:
you’ll find tea, coffee and an assortment of
home-made cakes on offer while waiting for
your broken items to be fixed.
“It can sometimes be more expensive to repair
things than buy new stuff”, Tony admits. Indeed,
some products seem designed deliberately
to frustrate the non-professional fixer. Take the
iPhone, for example, which requires specialist
tools to disassemble it and has key parts glued in
place. This type of complexity has even become
an election issue in the USA, with politicians
arguing that manufacturers should be obliged
to provide repair manuals and diagnostic tools
rather than forcing customers to rely on authorised
service agents.
But repairs aren’t just about fixing a fault. They
can restore happy memories, as Fran has found.
“I’m usually dealing with people’s sentimental
items. If it’s china, it’s always something from
their family history. It’s so rewarding – and
they’re so grateful.” In some cases, repairs
can even improve the original item. Imogen,
another of the volunteer menders, chats to me
about the Japanese art of kintsugi, where broken
pottery is repaired with precious metal – often
liquid gold or a mixture of lacquer and powdered
gold – to enhance rather than disguise
the joins. The same applies to her dressmaking
skills, she insists. “You grow more in love with
clothes you’ve repaired. You like them better.”
Mark Bridge
The next Lewes Repair Café takes place at the
Landport Community Hub on Landport Road
from 2pm to 5pm on Saturday 21st September,
then again on Saturday 19th October.
facebook.com/lewesrepaircafe
21

BITS AND BOBS
FIVE MINUTES WITH...
Originally from Paisley
in Scotland, Maxine Hunt
moved to Lewes in 1991.
While training to be a
teacher as a mature student
at Brighton University she
met husband Stewart. They
have two teenage sons,
Lewis and Ewan. Today she’s responsible for Outdoor
Learning at South Malling Primary School,
where she also teaches Science – ‘a great subject to
do outdoors!’, she tells us.
WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
Early morning walks on Malling Down with my
dog Tess, spending time with family and friends,
dancing – Disco & Swing, regular trips to the cinema,
especially the Depot, and seeing the smile on
a child’s face when they discover or do something
for the first time!
WHAT ARE YOUR THREE TOP FILM/BOOKS?
Films: Rebecca – Hitchcock, 1940
All about Eve – Mankiewicz, 1950
Shawshank Redemption – Darabont 1994
Books: A Scots Quair – Lewis Grassic Gibbon
The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie
O’Farrell
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE TV/ RADIO
SHOW?
TV: Fawlty Towers. Radio: Desert Island Discs
TOP PLACES TO EAT IN LEWES?
To eat – The Swan, Côte, Erawan
To drink – Symposium, the Depot, The Swan
WHO ARE YOUR HEROES?
Maya Angelou, David Attenborough, and people
who CARE for others.
Do you have Workspace to Let?
Workspace to Let as a Desk,
Office or Studio?
I have a list of clients wanting
workspace in Lewes.
For more info visit:
www.spaceagentlewes.co.uk
22

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CARLOTTA LUKE
FOCUS ON: BEACH LIFE
Carlotta did a spot of people-watching at the
Beach Life Festival Eastbourne this summer.
‘I have a hunch that many people harbour a
dream of driving off into the sunset in a VW
bus – or maybe that’s just me’, she writes. ‘At
the Beach Life Festival in July, I found owners
living that dream. I even found a wedding
bus with windscreens that flipped open, and a
guitar that colour coordinated with its bus.’
beachlifefestival.co.uk
carlottaluke.com
25

CARTOON
27

BITS AND BOBS
LEWES ELECTRIC CAR SHOW
“Already a pure electric car is cheaper to own and run
than a new petrol or diesel car over a period of four years,
despite electric cars costing more”, Transition Town
Lewes’ Julia Waterlow tells me. “Prices are set to fall as
manufacturers produce more cars. For now, the government
helps the purchase with a grant of up to £3,500.”
Julia is preparing for Lewes’ second Electric Car Show – a
free event organised by Transition Town and renewable
energy company Ovesco, and held in the large rear yard
at Harvey’s Brewery on Saturday 7th September. “And the
market in second-hand cars is growing fast”, she adds. “A friend of mine in Lewes has just bought a
second-hand one which he’s thrilled with.”
The show features electric and hybrid cars – from the best-selling Nissan Leaf to high-end Teslas
and BMWs – as well as other electric vehicles such as bikes, scooters and motorbikes. There’ll also
be info on all related issues – local and national charging networks, innovations, running costs – and
savings. And the controversy around mining for lithium. The cars will be there with their proud
owners – “most coming belong to a group called Sussex EVs who are electric car enthusiasts”, says
Julia. “We aim to have around 15 to 20 cars on show.” Charlotte Gann
Sat 7th Sep, 10.30-2.30, Harvey’s Brewery, Rear Yard. transitiontownlewes.org

Jem
Lower Fifth
Media Studies
You are warmly invited to our
Senior School Open Morning
Saturday 14 September 2019
9.30am to noon
HMC – Day, weekly and full boarding
Boys and girls 13 to 18
(Entry at 13 and 16)
To register please contact:
admissions@bedes.org
T 01323 843252
or online at bedes.org
Bede’s Senior School
Upper Dicker
East Sussex BN27 3QH

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Call us on the number below or drop in to our office at Trinity
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LEWES 01273 480616
LONDON 020 7024 3600
www.adamsandremers.com

COLUMN
David Jarman
My back pages
A visit to a Canadian friend, Maggie Delahey
who is now in a nursing home that lies in
the shadow of the Chelsea and Westminster
Hospital, just off the Fulham Road. Now
93, Maggie has definitely reached that age
when the birthday candles cost more than
the cake. She is certainly more likely to be
wearing a dressing gown than the leather
jacket that she carried off with such panache,
well into her eighties. But she seems happy
enough, working her way through a stack of
thrillers and listening to all the jazz on Radio
3, especially Geoffrey Smith. My mother died
at the age of 90, having achieved her ambition
of not ending up in a nursing home. Living
independently as well, the only outside help
being meals-on-wheels deliveries, some
of which she would eat. She didn’t leave
her house for the last two years of her life,
perhaps worried that, once outside her front
door, she would be bundled into the back
of a van and carted off to the nursing home
that she feared so much. Maggie Delahey, by
contrast, seems determined to never leave
her nursing home again. Alas, she finds it’s
not always possible. She’s always been prone
to falls. She once showed me the steps in
Tate Britain where she had suffered one of
her more spectacular upsets. She pointed out
a dullish, red stain that she was convinced
was the residue of blood from her gashed
forehead. Now, every time she has a fall in her
room she has to be checked into the Chelsea
and Westminster for a couple of nights
while x-rays are carried out. She resents this
upheaval bitterly, she tells me, but even so,
there is one consolation. The hospital food is
superior to that of the nursing home.
Adjacent to the hospital is a small garden.
The benches have plaques commemorating
hospital employees. It’s rather charming that
the workers so remembered seem to have
been employed in rather lowly capacities –
assistant porters and the like. One exception
is a bench devoted to the author, Bea Howe.
The name rang a bell, but I was sure I had
never read any of her books. Then, on the
train home, somewhere near Plumpton, it
came to me. She was the dedicatee of Sylvia
Townsend Warner’s delightful first novel,
Lolly Willowes (1926). It’s the story of a
woman who loses her beloved father when
she’s 28, spends twenty years as a maiden aunt
before moving to the country and finding her
vocation. She becomes a witch.
Having reread it – it tails off a bit towards
the end – I’m tempted to suggest it as my
next book group choice. It would allow me
to recall, quite possibly not for the first time,
the following cartoon.
There’s a group of women
seated round a table. One
of them is addressing the
others: “Don’t get me
wrong. I like our
book group very
much. I just
think we
had more
fun when
we were a
coven.”
Illustration by Charlotte Gann
31

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COLUMN
Eleanor Knight
Keyboard worrier
For all that I struggle to understand her
purpose, the reason I can’t judge Kim
Kardashian is that I will never be able to walk
a mile in her shoes. The first hundred yards
would see me limping through the doors of
the Victoria Hospital’s minor injuries unit,
begging for mercy, plasters and a pair of comfy
daps to go home in.
But you only have to look at the feet of our
young in the Priory Prom photos to know you
can’t deny the woman’s influence. Speaking as
one whose Twitter followers might, if they all
turned up at once on a sunny day, create only
a minor queuing event at the Pells Pool, I can
only gape in awe, wonder, and some alarm at
the idea that Kim Kardashian, the names of
whose four children are known to my own,
was (last time I looked) followed on Instagram
by 108 million people*. That’s way more than
Phil and his team could cope with at the Pells.
In fact, it’s the same as the population of the
Philippines.
So it hardly took that august organ of news,
Metro, to spread the word that the mother-offour-and-lawyer-in-the-making
(do keep up)
recently adopted a plant-based diet. When
she’s at home. Well, it’s easier to rely on the
lighting for your avocadoes, I suppose.
To many of us, the phrase ‘plant-based diet’
evokes images of worried herbivores – sheep, if
you like – nibbling away at flaccid greenery and
having to deal with the consequences (and if
Kim Kardashian suffers from flatulence,
she doesn’t share it on Instagram). But
potatoes are plants, too, which means
that – for the time being at least –
the humble bag of chips, locally
sourced (and we have some excellent
local sources in Lewes) can still be
enjoyed as an essential and active part of saving
our planet.
Though he probably wouldn’t describe himself
as a bag-of-chips-man, environmentalist
George Monbiot would certainly approve.
An unlikely ally of Her Serene Kimness,
George has long been encouraging (don’t say
haranguing) us to eat more plants in order
to slow down climate change. He suggests
that just a kilo of grass-fed beef has the same
carbon footprint as a flight to New York.
‘Oh no!’ say the, well, nay-sayers, ‘You’ve got
your facts wrong, George, mate. According
to Science, it’s much more like…. 11 kilos.’
Whichever way you slice it, that’s about five
times a Sunday lunch for up to six, and I don’t
know about you, but when you look at it like
that I’d sooner cross the Atlantic anyway.
So as I see it we can either strap steaks to our
feet and prepare to walk the long way round to
the Big Apple, or do like Kim ’n’ George and
resolve to eat more plants and fewer animals.
That way we might help save the world’s
nation most vulnerable to climate change – the
Philippines.
* I looked last year. This year it’s upwards of
140 million.
Illustration by Hasia Curtis
33

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COLUMN
Lewes Out Loud
Plenty more Henty
Greetings poppickers
out there
– see whether you
can identify this 1972
chart success from
its chorus line which
goes ‘Doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo doo
doo’? Too difficult?
OK then, as you’re
a regular reader of
this page, here’s another line: ‘Doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo doo doo’. Well done, you’re
absolutely right, they come from Lou Reed’s
classic hit Walk on he Wild Side.
I mention the song because it neatly describes
my photograph this month which was taken in
Southover Grange, on the wild side of these
glorious gardens. Let’s face it, the streets of
our town, rather like Nancy Sinatra’s boots in
1966, were made for walking and the recently
published Lewes area place maps are perfect
for planning these.
I’ve always enjoyed the trek across to
Kingston for a pint and vividly recall the time
I encouraged top travel writer, John Carter,
and his wife, to join me across the Downs via
Juggs Road. He admired the views, downed
his beer and called for a taxi back from the
nearby garden centre. Soft lot these travel
journalists!
It’s nice to have a purpose though on such
jaunts and the other favoured hike for us was
across to Glynde to watch the cricket and
enjoy tea in the company of both teams. A real
teapot, complete with cosy, and some delicious
home-made cakes appealed. No longer I’m
afraid. Only the players get the teas now
which is a shame.
Now I don’t want
to get political
here (wise decision
John, Ed) but
politician, Rory
Stewart did impress
me when, away
from Westminster
wrangling, he wrote
in a Sunday Times
article ‘The rhythm
of walking clears your mind in a very unusual
way and you’re moving at a different pace, so
you’re encountering people’. In his case, of
course, the people were in Afghanistan, but
the same is also true of Lewesians.
My philosophy in fact which I celebrate from
time to time here. As I observed four years
ago ‘anyone who is anyone in Lewes has a dog
and sometimes more than one’. Take Terry,
for example, who I met on a journey home not
so long ago.
He was walking, half carrying a young white
terrier (I think it was – not very good on
breeds) called ‘Bumble’. As I approached,
14 week old ‘Bumble’ started growling
ominously. I stopped. “He doesn’t like laces”,
Terry told me apologetically. I tiptoed past.
The growling subsided.
By the way, since the launch of the
aforementioned area map, I have noticed a
sharp fall in the number of visitors, at the foot
of Keere Street, staring desperately around
them for any sign of Anne of Cleves House.
“Straight on, turn right, few hundred yards
on the right” I used to advise. Now perhaps I
should add “Or pop into the Grange gardens
and do do take a walk on the wild side
instead!” John Henty
35

吀 爀 愀 渀 猀 昀 漀 爀 洀 礀 漀 甀 爀 栀 漀 洀 攀 眀 椀 琀 栀 漀 甀 爀 昀 椀 渀 攀 猀 琀 焀 甀 愀 氀 椀 琀 礀
匀 㨀 䌀 刀 䄀 䘀 吀 洀 愀 搀 攀 ⴀ 琀 漀 ⴀ 洀 攀 愀 猀 甀 爀 攀 椀 渀 琀 攀 爀 椀 漀 爀 猀 栀 甀 琀 琀 攀 爀 猀 ⸀
琀 ⸀ ㈀ 㜀 アパート アパート アパート 㠀 㐀 ㈀
攀 ⸀ 挀 漀 渀 琀 愀 挀 琀 䀀 戀 攀 氀 氀 愀 瘀 椀 猀 琀 愀 猀 栀 甀 琀 琀 攀 爀 猀 ⸀ 挀 漀 ⸀ 甀 欀
眀 ⸀ 眀 眀 眀 ⸀ 戀 攀 氀 氀 愀 瘀 椀 猀 琀 愀 猀 栀 甀 琀 琀 攀 爀 猀 ⸀ 挀 漀 ⸀ 甀 欀

ON THIS MONTH: FESTIVAL
Walk Fest
75 walks to choose from
Photo by Nigel French
Have you got a great walk
burning a hole in your
knapsack? One you’d like to
share with others? Or would
you like to discover new
routes to explore, or groups
to explore them with?
This month the
Eastbourne and Lewes
Walking Festival,
organised by the shared councils, is back for a
third year – and it’s grown a lot since last time.
“There are 75 walks listed this year, up from 47
in 2018,” Jack Brownell, who’s responsible for
organising the 10-day festival, tells me.
“The idea originally was, of course, a push
for health and well being. One very good,
enveloping way to improve things is by
encouraging people out and walking –
including doing so in our beautiful natural
surroundings, and in groups.”
So that’s the inspiration behind the whole
concept. “We want to get people outdoors,
exercising, and we want them to meet people”,
Jack tells me. “The walks vary between about
½ hour and 6 hours long. They’re all graded on
the website: easy, moderate or strenuous. The
vast majority are moderate – between two and
five miles long. And they all take place within
this ten-day timeframe.”
They’re also mostly free, and led by volunteers,
some of whom belong to existing walking
groups – like the ‘Nordic Walking for Health’
group, whose practice is described as ‘a bit like
cross-country skiing without the skis’, and
is apparently fine for anyone ‘who can walk
swinging their arms’.
Such groups are trialling their wares in the
festival and offering sample walks. You might
then choose to sign up for the rest of the year.
A number of the events
in the Festival Walks
Calendar also provide
opportunities to learn.
Highlights include a
Colour in Nature walk
led by Jacky Misson,
where walkers learn about
painting landscape as
they go. Or a Cuckmere
Haven walk where you’ll learn landscape
photography in that most glorious setting,
from Jane De Weck.
Or what about the enticingly-titled Historic
Postbox Walk in Eastbourne? Stepping into
the Past takes a map of the seaside resort from
1631 as its starting point. Or there’s Walking
Football or Netball – if you’d rather go for
something a bit more active.
“The Tingle’s Way Walk, from the Linklater
Pavilion in Lewes up to Landport Bottom, is
definitely worth a mention”, Jack tells me – and
it’s bang on our issue theme of ‘Footprint’.
i.e. you’ll be out walking, and gain a mini
education while you’re at it into the brilliance
and fragility of our eco system – including
looking, for instance, at ‘the beautiful
endangered Adonis blue butterfly’.
The dedicated festival website also provides
a host of information on groups you might
wish to discover, and potentially join, and a
load of walks you can do on your own – under
the banner ‘self-guided walks’. Or you might
be interested in becoming a ‘walk leader’:
it’s too late to sign up for this year now, but
the organisers will be looking at next year’s
proposals in March 2020. Get in touch through
the website. Charlotte Gann
20th-29th September,
eastbourneandleweswalkfest.org
37

Flexible Minds… Flexible Bodies
How can the Feldenkrais Method
help improve Mental Health?
An event to mark World Mental Health Day
Wednesday October 9, 5.30-7pm
Lewes Library, Friars Walk, Lewes BN7 2LZ
Meet local practitioners and at 6pm there will be a
talk about Moshe Feldenkrais and his work with a
presentation of a new collection of books about him
and the Method. Refreshments will be available.
Curious? Find out more:
www.feldenkrais.co.uk
FeldenkraisSussex@gmail.com
CHANTAL NOW AT EXTERIOR
exteriorhairstylist_
16 market street, Bn7 2nb
01273 567 333
8.30am - 6pm Tuesday Wednesday Friday
8.30am - 7pm Thursday | 8am - 4pm Saturday

ON THIS MONTH: FESTIVAL
Mad Hatters’ Affair
How mad are you?
Mad Hatters’ Affair (MHA), a new music
festival coming to Polegate on the weekend of
6th September, ask on their website: ‘Are we all
mad?’ Mad Hatters’ Affair sees ‘MAD’ as an
acronym for ‘Making A Difference’ however:
the festival has been set up to raise funds for
Friends of Chema Kizzi, a charity working
in Sierra Leone that builds schools, protects
wildlife and more (chemakizzi.com).
I spoke to Karen Dodd – founder of both
Friends of Chema Kizzi and MHA – who aims
to grow the festival each year to raise more
funds. “It was a family affair to start with.
My eldest son, my daughter and my niece
have got involved, and then my son has got a
couple of friends who have got involved too.
I’m overseeing it, but now they’ve taken hold.
Between us we have sourced the kind of music
that we want.”
All the food at MHA will be vegan, although
Karen is keen to stress that anyone is welcome:
“There’s a McDonald’s next door!” She explains
that they are aiming to be as plastic free as
possible, and that there are pre-bookable
cardboard tents available, to ensure that
camping detritus is not left behind. (Search
YouTube for ‘KarTent – Carwash Test’ if you
are sceptical). The main stage will be 100 per
cent solar powered, and sustainable lifestyle
products will be available from the stalls on site.
The festival is for over 21s only this year, due to
licensing restrictions, but Karen hopes that this
might change in the future.
Acts include Nubiyan Twist, P.Unity and Natty
& The Rebelship (“He’s amazing… quite a
spiritual chap”). There will be local bands
performing, and “an amazing array of DJs: we’ve
got Mahdi Mu from Lewes’ Zu Studios coming,
DJ Dazwell, and Will Softmore who’s bringing
his didgeridoo, and his more spiritual sound to
the show.”
“There is a Zen zone where people can come
and Zen out. We’re gonna have Reiki masters,
massage, reflexology, tarot cards. You can start
the day with yoga, or meditation, then you
might want to learn salsa or Bollywood dancing,
or go and listen to some music or a talk.”
I ask Karen to tell me more about the notion of
madness at the Mad Hatters’ Affair. “It’s like
wearing different hats. It’s not linked to Alice in
Wonderland going down the rabbit hole, really.
The people who are ruling the world, are they
mad? You think of what’s going on with climate
change, war, poverty. Is that mad? Because
it is mad. Or are we mad trying to make a
difference? You’ll come to the festival and it will
give you something to take away, like a thought:
how you can make a difference. How mad are
you? What hat do you wear?”
Joe Fuller
Bramley Farm, Polegate, 6-8 September
madhattersaffair.com
39

Riverside & Octoberfeast
A series of Wine Tastings of Sussex Wines in
our Pop up Space upstairs at Riverside
Breaky Bottom
Saturday 5 th October
11am to 4pm
Vineyards of the Sussex Weald
Saturday 19 th October
11am to 4pm
Plumpton Estate Wines
Saturday 26 th October
11am to 4pm
An opportunity to taste, compare and buy local
Sussex wine from a cluster of passionate growers
and winemakers … Riverside takes part in
Octoberfeast Lewes to bring you Breaky Bottom,
Plumpton Estate Wines and the Vineyards of the
Sussex Weald, five vineyards - Beacon Down,
Fox & Fox, Hidden Spring, Off The Line and
Tickerage who will be showcasing their wine in
our unique pop up venue.
Find us upstairs at Riverside Lewes
Cliffe High Street, Lewes, BN7 2RE

ON THIS MONTH: THEATRE
Bernard Shaw
Bestriding the world
Actor Paddy O’Keeffe is reviving his ‘joyous
romp’ of a one man show, Bernard Shaw Invites
YOU, in Lewes and Brighton this month. I meet
Paddy in his Brighton home, where he tells me
that the format is similar to stand up comedy,
due to its interconnected vignette storytelling.
O’Keeffe himself certainly makes for eloquent
and jovial company, boding well for an
entertaining evening with his Bernard Shaw.
It starts off as I come on stage and talk
about my fascination with Bernard Shaw,
and how I long to discover the real person
behind the mask of ‘GBS’. I explain how he
bestrode the theatrical and political world like
a colossus. Then black out! I storm on as Shaw,
declaring that the purpose of life is not to
discover yourself, but to create yourself, so that
you can become the person you need to be in
order to do what you’ve come here to do.
When Shaw first came to London, never
mind getting published, he had difficulty
getting a word understood. The first half
of the play is about the public man, his earlier
life in London, his success on the stage, his
politics, his connection with Ireland, his
defence of the 1916 rising. The second half
is with Shaw in a psychiatrist’s chair being
questioned about his childhood, and then there
is an audience Q&A after every performance.
I’m planning to take the show to Spain next
year for the International Shaw Society
conference. We went to Delhi… and there was
one guy staring at me all the way through. His
hand was the first up at the Q&A and I thought
‘oh no!’ He said “I first came across Shaw as a
student 50 years ago and I fell in love with the
Photo by Daniel Lawton
man and his works. And you’ve brought him
to life for me tonight.” Actors like engagement
and interest, but you often assume they’re
engaged because they hate it. But in fact he was
loving it.
Hesketh Pearson, an Englishman who did
a biography of Shaw in the 50s, said that
‘no one since the time of Tom Paine has
had so definite an influence on the social
and political life of his time and country
as Bernard Shaw’. He used to be a staple in
the 60s and 70s. When in doubt, you would
do two stock productions: there would be a
Shakespeare and a Shaw, and they would be
bound to sell out.
The Irish connection is often forgotten.
The English assume that the likes of Shaw
and Wilde are Irish in name only. In fact they
were quintessentially Irish. I love his wit and
I share his politics. He was a socialist, and his
speeches on poverty and inequality are as fresh
and meaningful today as they were when he
delivered them in the 1890s and the 1900s.
As told to Joe Fuller
All Saints Centre, 7th, 3pm & 8pm
Rialto Theatre, Brighton 15th, 3pm & 7pm
irish-theatre.com
41

ON THIS MONTH: TALK
Lynne Truss
Writes books, and plays
“People say ‘I like your book’, and I feel like
saying ‘which book?’, but I don’t want to be
rude. After all, it’s difficult to resent something
that’s been so good to you.”
I’m having a coffee in a Kemp Town café with
Lynne Truss, author of ten novels, countless
radio plays and six non-fiction titles, the
most famous of which – the bestselling 2003
grammar and punctuation bible Eats, Shoots and
Leaves – turned her into a household name.
But we’re not here to talk about that. She’s
appearing at the Shoreham Wordfest in
September to promote the hardback release of
her latest novel, The Man That Got Away, the
second of her ‘Constable Twitten’ series. Both
titles are set in Brighton, in the summer of
1957; both are adaptations of a successful run
of Radio 4 plays.
Lynne describes the books with great relish.
Constable Twitten is a 22-year-old policeman,
a keen rookie in a station run by Inspector
Steine, who believes there is no crime in
Brighton, as he’s already cleared it all up.
Steine is aided by Sergeant Brunswick, a WW2
veteran who enjoys dressing up for undercover
operations, unaware everyone knows exactly
who he is. And then there’s Mrs Groynes:
“She’s the station’s char lady, but actually she’s
a criminal mastermind.”
The first in the series, A Shot in The Dark, was
positively received. “I won an award!”, she
tells me, with evident excitement. “The ‘Best
Humorous Crime Novel’ of 2018. Yes, there
is such a category. And there was some stiff
competition: I’m very, very proud of it.” The
book has just been released in paperback “so
we’ll soon see how well it really does.”
“I’ve been living in 1957,” she tells me, of
the research she’s been doing. This has
involved reading novels, watching movies and
documentaries, and binge-reading copies of
The Evening Argus, from 1955 to 1960.
“It seems a lot of writers set their books in the
decade they were born,” she says. “1957 was
voted the post-war year in which people were
happiest: memories of the war were fading,
rationing and National Service were over, we
were drinking coffee from Pyrex cups. We’d
never had it so good. Also, it’s nice to think
of a period in which my parents were walking
around, still young.”
And the Brighton area, where she’s lived for
25 years, was an ‘obvious’ setting for the
series. “It’s such a great place for getting an
atmosphere,” she says. “I can’t imagine why
anyone sets stuff anywhere else.”
She’s been careful, of course, to get all the
period details correct, including linguistic
conventions of the era. And, I imagine, her
proof-readers won’t have had too much work to
do, correcting her grammar and punctuation.
Though she doesn’t consider herself a
zero tolerance ‘stickler’: “I do put relevant
apostrophes in text messages,” she admits, “but
predictive text often takes them out again.”
Alex Leith
Lynne’s speaking at Shoreham Wordfest,
September 28th. The Festival runs from 7 Sep to
13 Oct. shorehamwordfest.com
43

Family
Raceday
Sunday 22nd September
Gates Open 12noon • First Race 2:15pm • Last Race 5:15pm
Entertainment
Fun Fair, Food and Drink Concessions,
Picnic Area, Hospitality Options,
Restaurants, Betting Facilities.
Free Entertainment
Mascot Race, Derby Horse Hoppers, Face
Painting, Sussex Falconry Static Display,
Rodeo Bull, Farm Yard Softplay.
Plus many more attractions!
Tickets from £14
in advance!
Tel. 01273 890383 | racing@plumptonracecourse.co.uk
www.plumptonracecourse.co.uk
Poppy
& Branch
appearing at
intervals.

ON THIS MONTH: THEATRE
Fame, Feminism and Firearms
Highlighting the bigger issues
When Valerie Solanas shot Andy Warhol in
1968 she couldn’t have known that years later
the incident would be seen as the first #TimesUp
moment. The parallels between what led to
that violent act and how women live today are
the subject of Femme Fatale, a cabaret-play set
in the Pop Art world of the 1960s. The play
poses essential questions about art, agency and
women’s control over their bodies and stories.
Written and performed by Polly Wiseman and
co-starring Sophie Olivia, Femme Fatale is a
sensory collage of dialogue, film and music. It
imagines a meeting between two contrasting
‘outsider’ women: Velvet Underground singer
Nico, and Solanas, author of the SCUM
Manifesto. Wiseman says she “wanted to write
about these two characters because in lots
of ways they’re quite unlikeable… and then
I realised that they’d both been in the same
Warhol movie so I thought ‘Let’s put them in a
room together and see.’”
Coming from very different backgrounds –
Nico was seen as Warhol’s muse while Solanas
believed he was stealing her work and using
it to publicly humiliate her – the two provide
a perfect jumping-off point for exploring the
way women’s lives have been controlled and
damaged by the patriarchy. Beginning with
Nico and Solanas’s experiences as part of the
Arts Factory movement the play encourages
us to zoom out and ask questions about wider
systemic and structural inequalities. Yet despite
the serious subject matter Wiseman is keen to
show the play’s humour, “because once you start
talking about feminism it sounds like it’s going
to be terribly earnest and dour. But really what
attracted me to Solanas and her manifesto was
that it was funny.”
The play transports us back to another time
and place that, with its colour, experimentation
and violence, makes an entertaining backdrop
against which to illuminate bigger issues. The
multimedia format fits with the Pop Art “feast
of the senses” aesthetic, but Wiseman also
wants us to look to the future. She is hosting a
workshop in which she hopes to create a new
feminist manifesto for now – inviting women
(including trans women and non-binary people)
to contribute ideas to help tackle inequality.
The manifesto will travel with the play, with
additional workshops in each town.
Lewes is the perfect place to perform Femme
Fatale, says Wiseman: “It’s a radical town… full
of independent thinkers who question things,
fight for what they believe in; they like a good
time. And it’s my home town.” She went to
Chailey School and studied Drama at college in
Lewes, setting up her own drama group at 19
before going to RADA. When she realised how
hard it was to find good roles for women she set
up the Fireraisers Theatre Company.
The show promises to be thought-provoking,
funny and furious. See you in the front row.
Lulah Ellender
Femme Fatale is at 2pm on 29th September at
the Depot Cinema. The manifesto workshop is
at 10am-1pm on 26th September at the Depot
Cinema. fireraisers.org.uk/news/femme_fatale
45

# HolidayInspirations Show

ON THIS MONTH: FESTIVAL
A Gude Cause Maks A Strong Erm by Martin Laird
WOFFF
Tackling invisibility
With or Without You by Angela Prudenzi
WOFFF – the Women Over 50 Film Festival –
is about to have its fifth outing. It’s running at
Depot from 20th-22nd September. I sat down
with founder Nuala O’Sullivan to hear all her
inspiring reasons why.
“I started WOFFF with a pal in Brighton”, she
says. “I was a writer and producer frustrated at
what wasn’t happening for me and others. I really
felt the invisibility of being a woman over 50.”
So WOFFF “celebrates older women in front
of and behind the camera”. Every film that
shows at the festival either stars or is made –
meaning written, directed or produced – by a
woman over 50.
Nuala is thrilled the festival, for the second time,
is at Depot. “It’s such a fantastic set-up,” she
says. “The Depot screams Festival!” She’s clearly
passionate about WOFFF and the platform
it’s now providing. “If you build it, people will
come.” And come they have.
WOFFF screens mainly short films: that’s its
focus, a medium Nuala herself appreciates and
works in. When I ask, what’s the relation of a
short to a feature film, she says “It’s like a short
story compared with a novel.
“Shorts – which tend to be up to about 20
minutes long – are filled with micro touches – all
films are, of course – but screening these shorts,
we see such gems. And shorts can be exciting too.
Often you get to see people’s work before they
become well known. So one year we showed The
Farmer’s Wife, a short by Francis Lee starring
Geraldine James. That was before his breakout
feature, God’s Own Country. And we see really
astonishing, varied work in shorts from countries
like Afghanistan, Taiwan and Iran” she tells me.
Highlighting and fighting sexism and ageism
is one struggle of older women but of course
younger women face similar but different issues.
“Older women become invisible whereas younger
women can feel horribly scrutinised: we need to
get together, compare notes, and support each
other. Older women are full of resourcefulness
and resilience. They’re often overlooked despite
the richness of their stories.” Nuala, quoting
Ashton Applewhite (from This Chair Rocks: A
Manifesto Against Ageism), says, “Ageism is just
discrimination against your older self.”
So how does the Festival unfold? “From
more than 220 submissions we’ve selected 60
short films to show at Depot over the festival
weekend.”
There is also a host of workshops – such as how
to make a film on your mobile phone and how
to write older female characters. “We want
everyone to feel welcome – that’s why we subtitle
all 60 of the shorts we screen. We want to make
sure deaf and hard of hearing people, who are
often older, feel included at WOFFF.” There are
free events too, including a lecture by Professor
Brenda R Weber from Indiana University. Free
events have been part of WOFFF since it started
in 2015. “Getting older often means dealing with
poverty and isolation,” says Nuala. “Inclusivity is
part of WOFFF’s DNA.”
I loved talking to her. Nuala O’Sullivan is one
inspiring woman. Charlotte Gann
wofff.co.uk
47

ON THIS MONTH: FILM
The Goldfinch, Stangers on a Train, Stand by Me
Film ’19
Dexter Lee’s cinema round-up
There are two long-awaited blockbusters
hitting the Depot screens in September. The
big-screen version of Downton Abbey – featuring
most of the TV cast and a few new faces,
including Imelda Staunton – starts on the 13th,
and John Crowley’s adaptation of Donna Tartt’s
unputdownable Pulitzer-winning novel The
Goldfinch, starring Ansel ‘Babyface’ Elgort and
Nicole Kidman, starts its run on the 27th.
But this column’s aim is to focus on the oneoffs
that might otherwise pass you by. Included
is Strangers on a Train (2nd), Alfred Hitchcock’s
1951 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s taut
psychological thriller, starring Farley Granger
and Robert Walker, the two ‘strangers’ in
question, who concoct a complicated murder
plot on a long-distance train ride. It was a big
success after four consecutive Hitch-flops, and
has dated well.
On the 3rd is the latest dementia-friendly offering,
which should have the crowd happily
singing along to classics like New York, New
York. Yes, it’s On the Town, that frenetic musical
that sees three sailors – including Frank Sinatra
and Gene Kelly – hit the Big Apple on 24-hour
shore leave, discovering what a wonderful town
it is, when the Bronx is up and the Battery’s
down (and where people ride in a hole in the
ground). Leonard Bernstein, take a bow.
And I’m looking forward to the latest book-tofilm
offering, Stand by Me, the 1986 coming-of
age movie based on Stephen King’s 1982 novella
The Body. Rob Reiner directs; among the
cast is a very young River Phoenix. If you saw it
back then, you’re unlikely to have forgotten the
leach scene… By contrast, Irving Rapper’s Now,
Voyager, starring Bette Davis, is on the 18th.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge originally wrote Fleabag
as a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe
and, after the success of her bawdy dark comedy
on the TV, she’s adapted it again for a brief
West-End run. Depot’s NT Live screening of
the drama (12th) sold out in minutes, hot priest
or no hot priest, and a second as-live screening
(28th) did the same. A third showing has been
added on October 5th: but (if you’re not already
too late) get your skates on if you want a ticket.
This summer’s Supper Club screening of the
Ukrainian film, Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass was
postponed, and will now be showing on the
18th. The film is a high-octane Emir Kusturica-style
black comedy set in the recent war.
The WOFFF is back (27th and 28th), with
two programmes of short films made by, or
prominently featuring, one or more women
over 50, and the welcome return of the Women
at War feature on the Sunday. Sponsors include
Mother’s Ruin Gin. See page 47.
Finally, there’s a mini-series of classic 60s/70s
cop movies taking place. On the 19th Steve
McQueen stars in Bullitt; on the 24th a young
Gene Hackman fronts The French Connection,
and on the 29th it’s Clint Eastwood’s turn in
Dirty Harry. Feel very lucky, punks.
49

ON THIS MONTH: HERITAGE
Heritage Open Days
Sharing our history
Heritage is the specialist subject of Adams
& Remers Partner Suzanne Bowman. “I got
involved in [something called] the Listed Property
Owners Club ten plus years ago”, she tells me.
“Today, I provide advice to their members – on
subjects from ‘I have bats, what should I do?’,
to interfering neighbours, and conservation
officers. It’s a bit like the Citizens Advice Bureau
– I am the lawyer – but for citizens living in or
contemplating buying listed houses.
“Quite often, people take on these properties
without understanding the implications or
having these explained to them. I tend to be
quite stern about it, but if they’re tinkering
without permissions, it’s actually criminal so it’s
important. And it’s not just lay clients who don’t
understand; nor do many professionals.
“We hold conferences, and give talks, to raise
awareness. Our heritage is precious – post-war
so many properties were pulled down and lost.
We have to preserve what’s survived.”
Sue’s role in the club sits alongside her work
as Partner at Adams & Remers. And Adams &
Remers itself is housed in a listed property –
Trinity House, in School Hill. This is one of at
least 18 properties opening their doors to the
public this month, as part of Heritage Open
Days, organised for the last nine years by the
Friends of Lewes.
Trinity House was originally the site of the
Church of the Holy Trinity, owned by the
Priory. From the 14th century, it was known
as Church House for about a century before
reverting, under the ownership of the Trayton
family, to Trinity House.
“The Queen Anne front is deceptive,” Sue
tells me. “The building has layers and layers of
history. The Armoury, in the roof, for instance,
Photo by Charlotte Gann
still has pike staff holders – that’s from the Civil
War. Oh, and we have a ghost. When people
are working here in winter late at night, it’s not
uncommon to hear strange noises and that can
be unsettling!…
“Today, we’re one of the last firms of lawyers
left in the High Street. Adams & Remers has
been in this building for more than 100 years.
We definitely support the idea of Heritage Open
Days – and it’s a great list. I’ve been in quite
a few of the buildings – including the Prison,
where I had to visit Reggie Kray! It’d be great
if even more buildings opened their doors. We
are privileged to be looking after these listed
buildings, and it’s important to share them.”
Trinity House and the other properties will
be open for free tours for the public over the
weekend of 12th to 15th September. The list
includes the Town Hall, the Law Courts, the
Prison, Barbican House, Southover Grange and
Westgate Chapel. Also, some private residences,
including Sussex House, the Round House in
Pipe Passage, and The Croft, beside County
Hall. There are also a number of other events
and Heritage Walks over the weekend.
Charlotte Gann
12th-15th September. Pick up a leaflet at the
Tourist Information Centre.
heritageopendays.org.uk; friends-of-lewes.org.uk
51

INK PAPER + PRINT PRESENTS THE 2019
ILLUSTRATION
+ PRINT FAIR
TOWNER ART GALLERY
COLLEGE RD, EASTBOURNE BN21 4JJ
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
21 ST – 22 ND SEPTEMBER, 2019
FREE ADMISSION
Painted by Lothar Götz, 2019 - Photo by Eva Eastman
OVER 75 EXHIBITORS OF PRINTS, BOOKS + EPHEMERA
Admission from 11am

ON THIS MONTH: ART
Pallant House
Three exhibitions
Two of the three current temporary exhibitions
at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester are
part of Insiders / Outsiders, a nationwide arts
festival running until March 2020, celebrating
the contribution made by refugees from Nazi
Europe to British culture. There are two singleroom
displays, one devoted to Walter Nessler,
the other to Grete Marks. Neither household
names, of course, but regular visitors to Pallant
House will know of Nessler if only because
of his strange, almost apocalyptic vision of
Haverstock Hill (1938) that has been on loan to
the gallery from a Private Collection since 2006.
And before that he featured in Alien Nation:
Immigrant Artists in Britain, an exhibition that
Pallant put on in 2003. Walter Nessler came to
this country in 1937 with his wife Prudence,
daughter of the Arts and Crafts architect CR
Ashbee. The couple had met when Prudence
was studying dance at the Mary Wigman
School in Dresden where Nessler was painting
stage sets. He was briefly interned in Liverpool
before being released in September 1940 on the
intercession of his wife’s parents. He then joined
the Pioneer Corps. His marriage broke down
in 1947, but he apparently remained on the best
of terms with his mother-in-law whom he often
visited in Morecambe. Interestingly, the couple
of studies of Morecambe Bay on show are, to my
mind, of more artistic vitality than his paintings
of Paris and Spain which are pleasant enough
but rather formulaic.
I had never heard of Grete Marks. Born
in Cologne, she studied art there and in
Düsseldorf before gaining entry to the Weimar
Bauhaus. There she studied ceramics, but soon
clashed with her teacher and left the school
after just one year. Together with her first
husband she established Haël Werkstätten,
a modernist ceramics factory near Berlin.
After her husband’s sudden death in 1928 she
took over the running of the factory. She fled
to England in 1936 and found employment
at Mintons pottery in Stoke-on-Trent. She
later set up the Greta Pottery. Some of her
ceramics are on display but the main focus of
the exhibition is a group of portrait drawings
that Pallant House has recently acquired. She
had a very original style and some of them are
beautiful. Cataloguing work is obviously still
going on. One portrait, for example, that is
titled ‘Hebrew Teacher’ when reproduced in
the Pallant House magazine is identified in the
exhibition as the Ukrainian born pianist Leff
Nicolas Pouishnoff.
The main exhibition at Pallant (until 13
October) is devoted to Ivon Hitchens. In his
introduction to the Penguin Modern Painters
volume on Hitchens (1955) Patrick Heron wrote:
‘I should like to express, if it is possible, some
part of the purely pictorial excitement which
the experience of seeing his works has so often
afforded me; and which has prompted me in
the past to make the claim that, all things
considered, Hitchens is the most considerable
English painter of his generation.’
This marvellous show gives us all the
opportunity to experience that pictorial
excitement for ourselves. Not to be missed!
David Jarman
Ivon Hitchens, Flowers, 1942, Pallant House Gallery
© The Estate of Ivon Hitchens
53

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
www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk
@ FarleysHG
JOHN WORTH
Rhythms of land and heart
7 – 29 September 2019
The Blue Room
WaterCourse, 65 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XG
Friday to Sunday 10:00am – 5:00pm (or by appointment)
johnworth.co.uk

ON THIS MONTH: ART
Hong Kong Sunrise by Jessica Zoob
Oil painting on board
For about three years, I’ve been spending
half of my time in Sussex and half in Hong
Kong, where my husband works. Hong Kong
was meant to be a total respite for me but in
the end I couldn’t really do that and I started
working. I’ve created a collection of around
40 works called Inspired by Asia, which are the
result of my travels around Hong Kong and
also across India, Vietnam, Indonesia and
many other countries.
Of all the paintings in the collection, this is
the one that most encapsulates Hong Kong.
It’s also probably one of the most figurative
pieces. Where we live, on Lantau Island, it’s
really mountainous and there are 12-foot
pythons and spiders that I think are the biggest
in the world – it’s an adventure. You have to
take a boat across to the city, and when you
get there it’s so colourful and vibrant, such
a melting pot. There’s every kind of person
wearing every kind of clothing and there’s
always music and dancing.
When the sun comes up in Hong Kong,
you can see it in a way that you never see it
anywhere else. It’s just enormous and it’s so
present – it’s quite extraordinary. And because
the air is so hazy you can really look at it.
So I wanted to give a sense of all of it: the
mountains and the peaks and the sun.
My life in Hong Kong is a really stark
contrast to my life in Sussex and my work
here. The work that I’ve created in this
studio is very meditative, very peaceful, very
landscape-inspired, whereas the work I’ve
done in Asia is much more dense and rough
around the edges. Asia is incredibly beautiful
and incredibly inspiring, but it’s also very
confronting. I think you can see that reflected
in the collection.
It’s nice to be working small again because
recently a lot of my pieces have been huge. I’ve
got amazing loyal people who really love my
work but when it gets too large it becomes
physically out of reach and also financially out
of reach for lots of people, and I don’t want
that. This whole collection is made up of works
that you can pick up and take home on the bus!
As told to Rebecca Cunningham
Inspired by Asia is on at Jessica’s studio in Banff
Farm on the 21st and 22nd. jessicazoob.com
55

CUCKFIELD BOOKFEST
3-6 October 2019
The third Cuckfield Bookfest, to be held in the Queen’s
Hall and the Old School, is packed with interesting
speakers, workshops, children’s events, a literary quiz,
and lots more besides. Authors include Robin Ince,
Penelope Lively, Jenni Murray and Tim Waterstone.
Greta Scacchi will be reading poetry at tea at
Ockenden Manor, Peter Guttridge is running a crime
writing workshop and John Crace will be providing
a fascinating political view.
For all ticket and programme information:
www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk
Buy tickets online with no booking fee:
www.ticketsource.co.uk/cuckfieldbookfest
A Landscape of Love
by Sally-Mae Joseph
A celebration of the life of her daughter
Debby who died of cancer.
September 21st-28th, 10am-5pm
in the Flint Gallery
The Crypt Gallery in Seaford is a contemporary venue
for the arts managed independently by local volunteers.
There are three spaces to hire:
the 13c medieval undercroft, the Flint Gallery and the
Cuckmere Room. Free to visit it is open all year.
Crypt Gallery, 23 Church Street, Seaford, BN25 1HD | www.thecryptgallery.com

ART
ART & ABOUT
In town this month
Claudia Wiegand
The Summer
Selfie exhibition
continues at
Chalk Gallery
until the 23rd,
when the gallery
features the work
of contemporary
kiln-formed glass
artist Claudia Wiegand. Indian Summer is
a vibrant display of fused glass artworks and
sculptures inspired by the cool blues and
warm sunset hues of the summer’s end and
Claudia’s passion for trees. Join her for a
‘meet the artist’ event on Saturday 5th October
from 2 to 4pm.
Lewes artist
Samantha
Stas holds
her first solo
exhibition
at Paddock
Studios this
month. In You
Are Here, Samantha
uses
her distinctive
textile and
embroidery pieces to create an engaging,
humorous and thought-provoking insight
into the menopause. Private view Fri 6th
(6-9pm), 7th-8th (10am-4pm).
The Star Life group of artists was founded over 25 years ago in the Star Brewery
studios, united by their shared interest in working from the human figure.
More recently they meet for untutored life drawing sessions at the All Saints
Centre, and this month 15 of the artists hold a group exhibition at Lewes
House. Celebrating Life features around 50 of their drawings, prints and paintings.
Thursday 26th (2pm-5pm), Friday 27th & Saturday 28th (10am-5pm) and
Sunday 29th (10am-4pm).
Lindy Dunbar
Out of town
Sally-Mae Joseph
Guy Pickford spent 20 years working as a graphic designer and art
director before throwing off the confines of the office job and taking
to the road. Since then he’s been travelling the highways and byways
of England and Europe in his camper van and mobile studio, painting
as he goes. See an exhibition of
his vibrant, impressionistic landscape
paintings at The Yurt Gallery at
Townings Farm Shop, in Chailey.
Over at The Crypt Gallery in Seaford,
local artist Sally-Mae Joseph exhibits her lively and colourful
interpretations of local landscapes: a celebration of her daughter
Debby Van Dyk, who lived locally with her family and who sadly
died of cancer last year, at the age of 43. [thecryptgallery.com]
Guy Pickford
57

A
ROYAL
ROOM RESTORED
Visit the Saloon,
the Royal
Pavilion’s ornate
centrepiece,
restored to
the dazzling
splendour
of 1823.
OPEN DAILY
Open daily (except 25 & 26 Dec)
brightonmuseums.org.uk
03000 290900
Admission payable
Members free
Half price for Brighton
& Hove Residents
(proof required)

ART
‘It is time that the spirit of fun was introduced into
furniture and into fabrics. We have suffered too long
from the dull and the stupidly serious.’ So said Roger
Fry, when he set up the Omega Workshops in 1913 and
invited many of the avant-garde artists of the day to
create bold, colourful and abstract items for the home.
Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant were both co-directors
and designers for the Workshops and brought an array
of Omega objects with them when they moved to
Charleston in October 1916. From the 14th, Charleston
hosts Post-Impressionist Living: The Omega Workshops Exhibition, marking 100 years since the
workshops closed their doors.
Lampstands with geometric decoration, designed and made by the Omega
Workshops, 1913-1919. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
David Nash, Two Ubus,1998, oak and ash. Photo by Noel Brown, courtesy David Nash
Over at Towner Gallery, from the 28th, an ambitious exhibition
of works by sculptor David Nash fills all four of Towner’s
major gallery spaces. 200 Seasons covers Nash’s career from the
late 60s and explores his contribution to the British Sculpture
and International Land Art movement. Towner is running a series
of events alongside the Eastbourne & Lewes Walking Festival
(20-29 September), which explore the relationship between
art, walking and the landscape, including a conversation with
David Nash, an artist-led twilight walk and much more besides.
Morris & Co.
Inspired by Natu re
1 June - 10 November 2019
Discover an exciting exhibition at
Standen House and Garden that
reveals the inspiration behind
Morris & Co's iconic designs
nationaltrust.org.uk/Standen
Supported by Morris & Co.
© National Trust 2019 . The National Trust is an
independent registered charity, number 205846.
'Trellis'. Standen © National Trust. Supplied by Morris & Co.
#nationaltrust

Pottery Classes
for Beginners
Learn hand-building
techniques and decorating
skills in small groups at the
Blue Door Studio behind the
Union Music Store in Lewes
SATURDAYS:
10am - 12.30pm starts Sept 7 th - 4 weeks
TUESDAYS:
10am - 12.30pm starts Sept 10 th - 4 weeks
THURSDAYS:
6pm - 8.30pm starts Sept 12 th - 4 weeks
COST £45 PER CLASS
Children’s workshops (aged 10yrs and up)
during October half term week
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

ART
The Star Life Group
Celebrating Life
an exhibition of
life drawings at
Lewes House
33 High Street
Lewes
Out of town (cont)
Also at Towner, over the weekend of 21st
& 22nd, Mainstone Press return for their
third Ink Paper + Print Fair for local makers,
artists and illustrators. There will be 60 exhibitors
showcasing a range of printmaking,
artists’ books, 20th Century design, ceramics
and contemporary crafts, with a series of
talks and tours accompanying the exhibition.
26 to 29 September
Thursday 26 Sept 2–5pm
Friday 27 Sept 10am–5pm
Saturday 28 Sept 10am–5pm
Sunday 29 Sept 10am–4pm
stargrouplifedrawing
Continuing at Standen House in West Sussex,
Morris & Co. Inspired by Nature explores
the work of William Morris, the leading
figure in the Arts & Crafts Movement in
Britain. He designed some of the most recognisable
textile and wallpaper patterns of the
nineteenth century, exemplifying the popularity
of bringing nature indoors, and was
the creative force behind Morris & Co., who
still produce his designs today. Many of his
patterns were used throughout Standen – the
Arts & Crafts house designed for the Beale
family in the late 19th century – and this
exhibition includes original drawings, tapestries
and wallpaper blocks, and a recreation of
Morris & Co.’s original showroom.
[nationaltrust.org.uk/standen]
(Pic above) Hall with Trellis wallpaper at Standen
©National Trust Images/James Dobson

TALKING SHOP
Photos by Rebecca Cunningham
62

Marchand Son
Colour and magic
I like shops more than anything. My favourite
shop would probably be Brodie and Middleton
in London, which sells ‘theatrical chandlery’
– all the sort of paraphernalia that you might
need for making a set for somewhere like the
Royal Opera House, or for all the theatres. It
sells things like Dirty Down which is a spray for
making things look old, and string and brushes
and paints. That was always a shop that I was
enamoured of and I wanted to own something a
bit magical like that.
I used to get all my pigments from the
Netherlands so I thought the clogs were a
good way to show the paints. They show the
instability of colour and that it’s never the same,
and there’s something about the Netherlands
and paint; they have a historical connection
because of the 17th-century art world when all
the paint used to be made there. It was the home
of paint-making.
But I’m getting rid of the clogs. The Dutch
theme has sort of worn off because now I get the
pigments from all over the world. Now I pair all
my colours with music. So this one is labelled
‘La Grande Bouffe, La Chanson d’Hélène’. That
tells you the film that I found it in and then the
music that I pair it with. There’s a man in this
film who’s wearing a rollneck that’s that colour.
In this case the music is from the film, but in
other cases, it might be a colour from a Jean-
Luc Godard movie that I’ve paired with a David
Bowie track. I’m going to make it a synaesthetic
experience – the whole place. The jukebox
will be filled with 100 colour cards, so you can
choose a colour and press the button and you’ll
hear the corresponding music.
People give choosing colour this sort of
ersatz logic which is rubbish. People come in
with an interior design book and say ‘I’ve seen
this colour’ – and you think, why would you
want to paint your house like someone else’s?
When I’m in London I’ll invariably go into a
house and they’ll have painted the whole place
in Hague Blue and then say ‘we thought we’d
do something a bit different’. They all look the
same to me. But the weird thing is everyone’s
striving to do something individual. To do
something individual, you have to be impulsive,
because then you don’t give it too much
thought. You don’t step into line.
There’s a perfectly good reason to paint
your room in... this colour, and that’s because
you love The Shining and that’s the colour of the
hallway in the film. So that colour will form part
of my ‘Stanley Kubrick’ collection. And then
you’ll be able to buy the colours of the Stanley
Kubrick collection in a box, called the box set.
It’s going to be really big, I’m telling you!
As told to Rebecca Cunningham by Simon March
30-31 Station Street, marchandson.co.uk
63

September 21st - October 5th 2019
COMEDY: ANDY PARSONS • FOLK: NOBLE JACKS
CLASSICAL: MANUS NOBLE • PLUS LOADS MORE..
A HARVEST
OF THE ARTS
Sat 7 th & Sun 8 th , 10am-4pm
FREE ENTRY & PARKING BY CHURCH
www.chiddinglyfestival.co.uk
Lewes
Little
Theatre
By Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by Juliet Hartnett
Friday 20 – Saturday 28
September 7:45pm excl
Saturday 21 & Sunday 22
September. Matinees Saturdays
21 & 28 September 2:45pm.
www.lewestheatre.org
Box Office: 01273 474826
£12/Members £8
Haunting
Julia

Sept listings
SUNDAY 1
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. An evening
of open-air theatre presented by Chapterhouse
Theatre Company. Wakehurst, 7.30pm,
£16/£11.
SUNDAY 1 – FRIDAY 4 OCT
To the Moon. VR
experience created by
artists Laurie Anderson
and Hsin-Chien Huang
to commemorate the
50th anniversary of the
moon landing. Attenborough
Centre, £5, various times, see: www.
attenboroughcentre.com.
TUESDAY 3
Life Drawing. Regular drop-in
session, bring your own materials.
Lewes Arms, 7.30pm, £5 (also
on Tuesday 17th).
WEDNESDAY 4
U3A Open Day. Opportunity to discover the
many courses, activities and social events open
to retired or semi-retired people. Town Hall
Corn Exchange, 10am to 12noon, u3asites.org.
uk/lewes.
FRIDAY 6
Film: Shoplifters (15). All Saints, 8pm,
£5/£2.50.
FRIDAY 6 – SUNDAY 8
Mad Hatters Affair. Festival with music, talks,
workshops, vegan food and more. Raising funds
for Friends of Chema Kizzi, a charity working
in Sierra Leone to build schools and protect
wildlife. Bramley Farm, Polegate, see madhattersaffair.com
for info and tickets. See page 39.
SATURDAY 7
Storytelling Taster Day. Immerse yourself in
spoken-word storytelling for a day, with listening,
discussion and having a go yourself. Led by
professional storyteller Jamie Crawford. Subud
Centre, 10am-4pm, £60 (incl refreshments),
jamiecrawfordstorytelling.com.
Lewes Electric Car
Show. Featuring a wide
range of pure electric and
hybrid cars, this year the
show will also include
electric bikes and scooters. Harvey’s Brewery
rear yard, 10.30am-2.30pm. See page 28.
Songs of Nature. Musicians
from different backgrounds
share their music
that has been inspired
by nature, with Shirley
Collins & Pip Barnes,
Blue Jambalaya, Lucinda
Houghton, Iain Paxon,
Danny Webb and more
tbc. A benefit concert for the Railway Land
Wildlife Trust. Linklater Pavilion, 7pm, £10.
Bernard Shaw Invites YOU. One-man show
at All Saints, 3pm and 8pm, £13, £15 on the
door. See page 41.
SATURDAY 7 & SUNDAY 8
West Dean Dovecote Heritage Weekend.
‘Live’ WW2 Canadian radio station, dovecote
& 1597 terrace tours, market stalls with produce,
tea & homemade cake. Dovecote Garden,
Seaford, 10am-4pm, free entry and parking.
MONDAY 9
Extinction Rebellion Malling Rec Beach
Picnic. Learn about Extinction Rebellion and
the potential impact of sea level rise. Lewes
Malling Recreational Ground, 12pm-3pm, free.
65

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
www.lewesfoodmarket.co.uk
being-in-unity.com/the-unity-centre-lewes

Sept listings (cont.)
Stories Behind Lewes Town Hall Paintings.
Lewes History Group talk with Sarah Bayliss
and Wenda Bradley, who will reveal much
about the artists, benefactors and recent restoration
of paintings in the Town Hall, as well as
the history of the town with images of subjects.
King’s Church, 7pm for 7.30pm, £3/£1.
years, and what it means to die well. With
displays from local organisations and groups,
and the opportunity to chat to local experts
and seek their advice. The TRINITY Centre,
St John sub Castro, 1pm-4pm, free.
THURSDAY 12
TUESDAY 10
WEDNESDAY 11
Carolyn Trant: Lasting
Impressions. Local
painter and maker of
‘artists books’ discusses
her work, accompanied
by projected images. All
Saints, 7.45pm, £10/£8.
Live Better, Die Better. A safe space to
explore both what it means to live well in later
Photo coutery of Reeves
Brexit: why we need the facts. Talk by
broadcaster Gavin Esler discussing key aspects
of Brexit and its impact on the UK. The talk
will be followed by a chaired Q&A session
with the audience. King’s Church, 8pm, £5.
Lewes High
Street: Retail
Retold. Illustrated
talk by Tom
Reeves. Trinity
Church, Southover,
7.45pm, £3
(free to members of Friends of Lewes).

Sept listings (cont.)
FRIDAY 13
Let’s Get Funked. Funk, soul and reggae party.
All Saints, 7.30pm, £6.
The Ripple presents: Lords and New
Creatures. The poetry of Jim Morrison read
by Unique Voices, with programmed music by
X Piano/Sex Kult. Westgate Chapel, 8pm, £6.
See page 79.
SATURDAY 14
Cherry Soup – True and Not So True Tales
of the South Downs. One-person show
performed with text, music and humour, asking
questions about the past, present and future of
the Park. Depot, 1pm, free.
Pells All Out Swim for Charity. Swim and
raise funds for the charity of your choice. Pells
chosen charity is NSPCC. See pellspool.org.uk
for more info.
SATURDAY 14 & SUNDAY 15
Mrs Dudeney’s Diary. Play reading of Mike
Turner’s dramatisation of the diaries which have
been edited by Diana Crook. Fitzroy House,
7.30pm, £12.50 includes glass of wine (Sat) &
3pm, £7 (Sun). Call 01273 476499 for reservations.
TUESDAY 17
Ian Marchant: One
Fine Day. Talk with
Newhaven-born writer
and counter-cultural
commentator Ian
Marchant. All Saints,
7.45pm, £10/£8.
Celebrating 20 years of loving
care, help us raise £20,000
Support us by setting up a regular gift or attending one of our events
13th September |
Party at Bevern View |
From 12:30pm
29th September |
Thanks Giving Service |
From 10:30am
For more information: www.beverntrust.org
The Bevern Trust ,Bevern View, The Willows,Barcombe, BN8 5FJ, Registered Charity no.1103520
8th November |
Anniversary Dinner |
booking required

£199
REGISTRATION FEE
4-8TH MARCH 2020
Trek through Transylvania for St Peter
& St James Hospice!
Experience a spectacular snowshoe-trek to the frosty forests
and mountains of wild Transylvania, and discover a pristine
Winter Wonderland.
For more information please visit www.stpjhospice.org
or call 01444 470726.

Sept listings (cont.)
FRIDAY 20
Herbal Thymes. A Friends
of Anne of Cleves House
talk by herbalist Kym
Murden. Anne of Cleves’,
7.30 pm, £8 (£5 members)
contact annacrabtree1@hotmail.com.
Film: Leave No Trace (PG). All Saints, 8pm,
£5/£2.50.
FRIDAY 20 - SATURDAY 28
Haunting Julia. Three-hander ghost story by
Alan Ayckbourn. Lewes Little Theatre, see lewestheatre.org
for times and prices.
FRIDAY 20 – SUNDAY 29
Eastbourne and Lewes Walking Festival. See
page 37 and eastbourneandleweswalkfest.org for
calendar of events.
SATURDAY 21
Immersive Rhythm 2019.
Community day drumming
event. All levels welcome, drums
provided. Sixth Lewes Scout Hut,
Ham Lane, 11.30am-5pm, £20
(£15 early bird), contact
thesussexdrum@gmail.com.
SATURDAY 21 & SUNDAY 22
Cats Protection open weekend. National Cat
Centre, Haywards Heath, cats.org.uk/ncac
SUNDAY 22
Baldwins Travel Holiday Inspirations Show. East
Sussex National Hotel, Uckfield, 10am-3pm, free.
TUESDAY 24
Film: Free Solo (15). Documentary about free
soloist climber Alex Honnold. All Saints, 8pm,
£5/£2.50.
SUNDAY 29
Freedom From Torture Annual South Downs
Walk. Three country, coastal walks with different
levels of ease and starting points but ending together
in East Dean Village Hall for a cream tea
in aid of national charity Freedom From Torture.
See freedomfromtorture.org.
Femme Fatale, play at the Depot. 2pm. See pg 45.
LEWES HIGH STREET:
RETAIL RETOLD
Repair Café. Take along damaged clothes, broken
electrical appliances, bicycles, china, jewellery
and more. Tea, coffee and cake will be available.
Landport Community Hub, 2pm-5pm, no charge
is made but donations are welcome. See page 21.
Sausage ‘n’ Cider Festival. Third year of the
festival, with sausage, cider and entertainment.
Lewes Town Hall, 4pm, £8.
Comedy at Chiddingly Festival. Star of Mock
the Week, Q.I. and Live at the Apollo, Andy
Parsons discusses all things Brexit. Chiddingly
Village Hall, 7pm, £25.
Turn overleaf for a map of the latest
Reeves lightbox exhibition, running Thursday
5 to Sunday 29 September.
You can pick up copies of the map at the
participating venues.
71

LEWES HIGH STREET:
RETAIL RETOLD
Market St.
Fisher St.
27
21
26
20
Castle Gate
51,52
36,37
Westgate St.
High St.
St Andrew’s Ln
34,35
43
32,33
38
30,31
28
29
25
24 2322
53
48
46,47
44,45
49,50
77-79
76
74
75
73
71,72
67
68
65,66
69
70
63,64
62
59
60
61
57,58
St Martin’s Ln.
55
56
54
Watergate Ln.
39
Station St.
40,41
St Swithun’s Ter.
Southover Rd.
Keere St.
An exhibition of 80 pictures displayed as lightboxes along the length of
Lewes High Street.
5 September - 29 September 2019
The images come from the archive of Edward Reeves Photography, the
world’s oldest surviving photographic studio, and show pictures of the town
and people of Lewes taken in the High Street from 1860 - 1960. The Lightbox
Project started in 2014, and since then has mounted annual exhibitions placed
in windows up and down the streets of Lewes.
Station Rd.
42
“Retail Retold” focuses on the importance of the High Street, which is central
to the social and economic life of our community. Special emphasis is given to
the more sustainable way in which previous generations traded and shopped,
and highlights ever changing lifestyles.
Priory St.
Mountfield Rd.
Digital technology allows scans of the original glass plates to be enlarged to
reveal previously unnoticed details.

Eastgate St.
Malling St.
15
19
Albion St.
High St.
18
17
16
Friars Walk
14
13
10-12
9
8 7 6
5
Cliffe High St.
4
Foundry Ln.
3
2
Morris Rd.
1
South St.
Lansdown Pl.
1 - Roundabout Dress Agency
2 - Alistair Fleming Design
3 - Louis Potts & Company
4 - The Cliffe Antiques Centre
5 - Goldfinch’s Dry Cleaners
6 - The Outdoor Shop Lewes
7 - Percy’s Fishing Tackle
8 - Browns Hair & Beauty
9 - Cycleshack
10, 11 & 12 - Harvey’s Brewery Shop
13 - Wilson Wilson & Hancock
14 - Waterstones
15 - St Peter & St James Hospice
16 - Lounge of Lewes
17 - Boon Books
18 - Luggage Etc. Lewes
19 - Strutt & Parker
20 - White Stuff
21 - Closet & Botts
22 - Bone Clothing
23 - Twinkle Twinkle
24 - Barbican Carpets
25 - Crew Clothing
26 - SCDA
27 - The Patch
28 - Cooper & Son
29 - H A Baker Ltd
30 & 31 - The Shoe Gallery
32 & 33 - Lewes Town Hall
34 & 35 - Tourist Information Centre
36 & 37 - Stanley & Partners
38 - Flint
39 - Marchand Son
40 & 41 - The Lewes Print Centre
42 - Self Storage Space
43 - The Martlets Hospice Shop
44 & 45 - The White Hart Hotel
46 & 47 - Kings Framers
48 - St Peter & St James Hospice
49 & 50 - Nationwide Building Society
51 & 52 - Paul Clark Womenswear
53 - The Laurels
54 - Rowland Gorringe
55 - Foundation Stage Forum Ltd.
56 - Beckworths
57 & 58 - British Heart Foundation
59 - Paul Clark Menswear
60 - Freight HHG
61 - Bonne Bouche
62 - Balm
63 & 64 - Independent Mortgage Matters
65 & 66 - The Workshop
67 - 160 High Street
68 - Edward Reeves Photography
69 - A & Y Cumming
70 - Brats
71 & 72 - The Guild of Master Craftsmen
73 - The Brewers Arms
74 - Room Interiors
75 - The Tom Paine Printing Press
76 - 96 High Street
77, 78 & 79 - Baltica
Map copyright Isaac Reeves

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42 High Street, Lewes 01273 475 557
Also at Seaford, Uckfield & Heathfield
www.cpjfield.co.uk
Because every life is unique

GIG GUIDE // SEPTEMBER
GIG OF THE MONTH:
JOHN CRAMPTON
Blues and bluegrass powerhouse, John Crampton is a Lewes
favourite, with good reason. His ability to create an orchestra
of sound as a solo artist is phenomenal, and his mastery of his
instruments extraordinary (expect to hear slide guitar, banjo
and harmonica). Crampton’s raw energy and joy in the music
is infectious; a night watching this ‘one-man blues explosion’
(The Spitz) is guaranteed to have you on your feet and
stomping those blues. Lansdown, Saturday 28, 8pm, free
SUNDAY 1
Chill Down Sunday. The Lamb, 2pm-6pm,
every Sunday through the month
MONDAY 2
Terry Seabrook Quintet. Jazz. Snowdrop,
8pm, free
THURSDAY 5
Charlie Parr & JD Wilkes. Country blues. Con
Club, 7.30pm, £13.50
FRIDAY 6
Los Twangueros. Ambient instrumental. Lamb,
8.30pm, free
SATURDAY 7
Tom Lewis. Folk, sea songs, melodeon ukulele.
Elephant & Castle, 8pm, £8
The Reform Club. 60s covers and originals.
The Lamb, 8.30pm, free
SUNDAY 8
Alvin Gibbs & The Disobedient Servants.
Punk. Con Club, 7.30pm, £10
MONDAY 9
Mark Cherrie, Terry Seabrook & Alex
Eberehard. Jazz. Snowdrop, 8pm, free
FRIDAY 13
Zion Train. Dub. Con Club, 7.30pm, £15
Jacquemo. Ska, Soul and a touch of rap. Lamb,
8.30pm, free
SATURDAY 14
The Fish Brothers. Victorian music hall/punk
rock. Lansdown, 8pm, free
Jeff Warner. Folk, US trad songs, banjo, guitar,
concertina. Elephant & Castle, 8pm, £8
MONDAY 16
Adrian York, Paul Whitten & Milo Fell. Jazz.
Snowdrop, 8pm, free
FRIDAY 20
Oysterband. Folk rock at the Sausage ‘n’ Cider
festival. Lewes Town Hall, 6pm, £20
Caburn + The Manatees. Rock, fundraiser for
Southover Bonfire. Con Club, 7pm, £8
Blacklight. Deep funk & soul. Lamb, 8.30pm,
free
The Bus Monkeys. Rock/pop covers. Royal
Oak, 8pm, free
SATURDAY 21
Femme Brûlée. DJ set. Royal Oak, 8pm, free
Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band. Blues.
Con Club, 8pm, £20
>>>
75

GIG GUIDE // SEPTEMBER
The Pelham arms
John Spiers
John Spiers. Folk, English trad, melodeon,
concertina. Elephant & Castle, 8pm, £10
Bongo Brothers. African Latin live percussion
and DJ set. Lansdown, 8pm, free
The Lee Harvey Oswalds. 70s punk and new
wave revival. The Lamb, 8.45pm, free
MONDAY 23
Safehouse Improvised Music Session. Noise
makers, performers and musicians all welcome.
The Lewes Arms, 7.30pm, £2
Jack Kendon, Javier Forero, Nigel Thomas
& Al Scott. Jazz. Snowdrop, 8pm, free
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
FRIDAY 27
The Music of Pink Floyd. All Saints, 7pm, £20
The Curst Sons. Stomping backwoods Americana.
Con Club, 8pm, free
SATURDAY 28
Noble Jacks. Folk. Chiddingly Village Hall,
7pm, £12
John Crampton. Foot stomping blues. Lansdown,
8pm, free
Koils. Lewes’s very own super group. Lamb,
8.30pm, free
SUNDAY 29
Stuart Bligh (of The Big Blue). Sundays in the
Bar. Blues. Con Club, 3.30pm, free
MONDAY 30
Simon Savage, Terry Seabrook, Simon
Thorpe & Spike Wells. Jazz. Snowdrop, 8pm,
free
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

ON THIS MONTH: FESTIVAL
Ripple effect
Steve ‘Snips’ Parsons
What is ‘The Ripple’? Last year I was asked
to help organise a huge-scale town-wide music
festival in Lewes. The idea was that it would
be like Artwave, but for musicians. I knew it
was hopelessly over-ambitious to try and get
something like that up and running in a matter
of months, and, indeed, it crashed. Out of its
ashes myself and another committee member
decided to run a mini-festival in the May Bank
Holiday, which we called ‘The Ripple’.
As in ‘ripple effect’? Indeed. The idea was,
to throw a stone in the water – metaphorically
speaking, of course – and see if anything
would happen.
What did happen? I’d opened up a
conversation with everyone who was involved
in music in Lewes – like Rocket FM, Union
Music Store, Starfish, the Con Club, the
Depot – and we put on a few shows. There was
a Rocket Rave Up, I did a semi-theatrical show
about Sam Cooke, there were bands in the Con
Club and the Royal Oak, there was a Starfish
gig, and we featured a fantastic all-female DJ
team, Femme Brûlée. It hit the mark much
more than I had expected: people turned out
in good numbers. All the performers got paid,
and we ended up making nearly £1,000 for local
charities.
So this will become a regular thing? The
Con Club immediately asked if we’d do it again
next year, and gave us a budget for publicity. A
number of new volunteers – it should be said
that all the organisers are unpaid volunteers
– have come forward. We are registering to
become a CIC, and we will put on another
Ripple mini-festival next May. It won’t be
bigger, necessarily, but it will be fatter.
And there will, I understand, be ‘pop-ups’
throughout the year… Every month or so,
yes. The first, in September, is in tribute to
Jim Morrison. Different performers, including
Peter Owen Jones, will read from Morrison’s
poetry collection The Lords and the New
Creatures, in Westgate Chapel. There will
also be music from Paul Harrison’s X-Piano,
and Sexkult. In October I’m going to perform
soul songs that influenced me, by the likes
of Martha & the Vandellas and Ruby & the
Romantics, in collaboration with the Paddock
Singers, at the Con Club.
I hear you’re involved with The Lamb…
That’s a separate thing entirely. But I’m
delighted that the new owners are turning The
Lamb back into a live music venue, with acts
on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and that
I’m organising the music side of things. There
are going to be local bands and bands from
further afield: it’s going to be very eclectic.
Live music at The Lamb has been a big miss,
and it’s back.
You seem to know everyone in Lewes. How
do you network? I meet people – and have
meetings – at the Depot. And you’ll often find
me standing outside Waitrose. You bump into
everyone there. Interview by Alex Leith
lewesripple.uk
Photo by Thorston Eichhorst
79

Tickets
are
only £5
T R E A T M E N T R O O M S
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Demonstrations of :
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Prize draw | Discounts on Products & Treatments | Amazing savings on facial courses
Goodie bags with treatment vouchers | Drinks and canapes
Browns Treatment Rooms, 8A Cliffe High Street, BN7 2AH
01273 470908 | www.browns-lewes.co.uk

Classical round-up
SUNDAY 1, 3PM
Pippa Dames-Longworth &
the Singing Salon
Opera comes to St Michael’s
this month: we’re promised a
pot pourri of glorious ensemble
pieces from Così fan Tutte and The
Marriage of Figaro through to La
Bohème and Oklahoma. The Singing
Salon regularly wow audiences
at the Royal Pavilion, but in a
special one-off event they’re bringing
their glamour to St Michael’s in aid of the church organ restoration fund. There will be
costumes, drama and excitement. Grab the opportunity to see and hear them perform.
St Michael’s, free with retiring collection. stmichaelinlewes.org.uk
MUSIC
PICK
OF THE
MONTH
Photo by Mona Ali
THURSDAY 26, 1.10PM
St Anne’s Lunchtime Concerts: The Hilser
Trio. Rachel Smith (flute), Rachel Firmager
(cello) and Rachel Fryer (piano) may be known
unofficially as Les Trois Rachels but they
perform together as the Hilser Trio. All three
are prize-winning instrumentalists who play individually
in recital, as well as freelancing with
leading orchestras in the UK and abroad. On
the (mostly French) programme is the Sonatine
en Trio by Maurice Ravel and a 2004 Pavane by
Paul Lewis. This is the final lunchtime concert
at St Anne’s this season, a series which has
become, quite rightly, very popular.
St Anne’s Church, free with retiring collection.
stannelewes.org.uk
SATURDAY 28, 7.45PM
Musicians of All Saints. Lewes-based
chamber orchestra the Musicians of All Saints
open their 2019-2020 season with a concert
at St John sub Castro. This series will feature
at least one item by a living British composer
per concert plus the orchestra’s ‘usual eclectic
mix of traditional favourites.’ Come early and
at 7.10pm you can hear the pre-concert talk
by Peter Copley. This month’s programme
features Mozart Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat
major, Haydn Symphony No.28 in A major,
Robin Milford Concertino for Piano and Strings
and the first performance of the revised version
of Come Spring by Martyn Harry. The
piano soloist is Margaret Fingerhut. Directed
by Andrew Sherwood.
Trinity St John Sub Castro. Tickets on door: £12/
£9 concessions, children free. mas-lewes.co.uk
SATURDAY 28, 7PM
Manus Noble. The acclaimed Irish classical
guitarist gave his debut recital at London’s Cadogan
Hall at the age of 19. Now he performs
across the UK and is Musical Director of the
National Youth Guitar Ensemble in Wales.
Catch one of his characteristically eclectic concerts,
as part of the Chiddingly Festival.
Chiddingly Church, tickets £15.
chiddinglyfestival.co.uk
Robin Houghton
81

JO O’SULLIVAN
PRIDE
Pride Month (worldwide in June) is so important
because it marked the start of huge change
within the LGBT+ community, as well as the
wider societal implications. Although attitudes
and injustice still remain, the LGBT+ community
have come a long way since the Stonewall
riots in New York in 1969 which started
things off. By continuing this long-standing
tradition Prides continue to raise awareness,
improve the attitudes of society and encourage
inclusiveness.
Prides in the UK tend to be later than June
because of the weather (!) but for example Palm
Springs in the US have their Pride in November
as it’s too hot in the summer months.
I attended Brighton Pride this year for the first
time in 12 years. I decided to stop going once it
became such a huge event and the organisers
had to charge entry. I admit that seeing Kylie
Minogue live was a very big draw for me (she is
a Gay icon after all).
My first Pride was in London around 30 years
ago; I remember worrying that I’d be seen
and I’d be ‘outed’. At that time there was
no sponsorship or much approval. The LGB
police were not allowed to march in uniform.
I remember I cried when they were allowed to
do so in 2004. We forget that there have been
so many changes in the 50 years since the
Stonewall Riots. LGBT+ people were not allowed
to serve in the military for fear of court martial;
not allowed to adopt; not allowed to marry. The
list of inequalities is too long to note here.
Change took a long time. Lots of Pride marches
and challenges to the law. Civil Partnerships
came in 2004 and Same Sex marriage in 2014.
It’s been a long road.
I also attended the first Pride in Surrey in my
home town in August 2019! What a difference it
would have made to me, growing up, had Pride
in Surrey existed.
Around the world things are getting better
but there are still places where being gay is
a criminal offence punishable by death or
imprisonment. There is still work to do to
achieve equality here too; with Homophobic and
Transphobic hate crimes surging in England and
Wales since 2014.
Professionally, I am working on a Good Practice
Guide for family law professionals throughout
England and Wales. I hope to ensure that all of
us are allies of the LGBT+ Community. Everyone
deserves to be treated with respect and dignity
when they are going through a break up,
whoever they loved.
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: CLASSICAL
Intergen Opera
Inspiring generations
Charlotte Shaw (left)
and Charlotte Wicks are
two local opera singers
who between them have
covered an impressive
‘most glamorous’ list of
opera houses including
Paris, Monte Carlo and
Glyndebourne. But lately
they’ve been looking to use
their considerable talents in
less fashionable surroundings: care homes for
elderly people and primary schools.
ENO regular soprano soloist Charlotte Shaw
explains that it was while directing a friend’s
dementia choir that she recognised the power
music has to “light up people’s creativity” as she
puts it, and to make vital connections. “A lot
of older people are experiencing loneliness and
depression. They’re quite disconnected from
their families, who might be spread out around
the country so they don’t see them. And they
might not see their grandchildren regularly or
have a chance to interact with that age-group.”
Which is where her friend Charlotte Wicks
comes in. On the staff of a local prep school
when she’s not trotting the globe as a mezzosoprano,
Wicks has worked with children in
various musical environments and, like Shaw,
was inspired by Channel 4’s Old People’s Home
for 4 Year Olds. She wanted to bring music
into the mix. “The opportunity to play and be
creative is where children are at with music in
this specific age group (Key Stage 1). But music
has that emotional connection that play doesn’t.
Music can access emotion, wake up the creative
part of the brain, not just for the care home
residents but for the children as well.”
Together, the two Charlottes have come up
with Intergenerational Opera, an innovative
project linking children
at Key Stage 1 with local
care home residents
in a series of creative
vocal workshops using
operatic repertoire to
explore vocal technique,
music making and
relationship building.
“We’re starting with
Hansel and Gretel,” says
Shaw. “Everyone knows the story, the music’s
lovely and there are some great tunes.”
“And the idea,” says Wicks “is that for the
children certainly it can be part of a wider
educational experience: art, music, creative
writing – all sorts of projects can come out of
it. As well as fostering what we hope will be
lasting relationships across the generations.”
So will they all be singing from the same sheet?
“We’ll be doing everything by ear,” explains
Shaw. “It’s hard, because people with dementia
forget things, but older people also tend to have
poor eyesight too, so looking at music means
looking down, where we want them to look
up. The session is not so much about learning
a piece as about making music together, being
together, making connections.”
Start up funding has been awarded by East
Sussex Music Service, and following the first
trial workshops in Eastbourne this month,
the two Charlottes will be looking for private
funding to deliver the project to mainstream
schools and care homes at low cost. East Sussex
College will also be joining the venture,
sending their own young music students along
on work placements.
Here’s to opera inspiring generations.
Eleanor Knight
intergenopera@gmail.com
83

AWARD-WINNING EYE CARE
Children aren’t able to know
the difference between poor
vision and ‘normal vision’
Eye examinations are free
for under 16’s and under 19’s
in full-time education
?
Some schools offer basic visual
screening to children, but it is
not a full eye examination
20% of school children have
an undiagnosed problem
with their vision
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

FreeTIME êêêê under 16
UNTIL SUNDAY 1
Herstmonceux Astronomy Festival.
Family-friendly opportunity to enjoy science
and astronomy in a relaxed, informal setting.
the-observatory.org.
SUNDAY 1
Gangsta Granny. Heartbreak Productions
present the stage show of the David Walliams
bestseller, adapted for the outdoor stage.
Bring picnics and appropriate outdoor gear.
Michelham Priory, 5pm, £10.50-£16.50. See
sussexpast.co.uk.
SATURDAY 7
The Sooty and
Friends Show.
Join Sooty and
his gang for
fun, mischief
and magic
in their live show for all the family, plus a
chance to meet Sooty and Richard after the
show. Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne,
10.30am, £12.
SATURDAY 7 & SUNDAY 8
Medieval Weekend. Living
history camps, displays,
archery, medieval traders and
entertainment. Michelham
Priory, 10.30am-5pm, see
sussexpast.co.uk.
FRIDAY 13 – SUNDAY 15
Into The Trees Festival, Pippingford Park,
Nutley. Camping fun for all the family
organised by So Sussex. into-the-trees.co.uk.
See page 89.
SUNDAY 15
Story Time. For under fives
and their parents and carers.
Stories and songs will take
place in the gallery spaces,
and will link to a piece on
display in TEN, The Towner’s
anniversary exhibition. Towner
Gallery Eastbourne, 12.30pm,
free (donations welcome).
FRIDAY 20 – SUNDAY 22
Bentley
Wood Fair.
A celebration
of woodlands,
forestry,
nature,
sustainability, woodcraft, artisan skills and
the big outdoors. Attractions for the whole
family, including refreshments, falconry and
shopping. Bentley, see bentleywoodfair.co.uk.
SUNDAY 22
Plumpton Family Raceday. First race 2pm,
fun fair, food and drink, face painting, soft play
and more. See plumptonracecourse.co.uk.
SCHOOL
OPEN DAYS
Chailey School.
Open evening Wednesday 18th 6pm, open
days Monday 23rd to Thursday 26th.
Kings Academy Ringmer.
Open evening Thursday 12th, open
mornings Monday 16th to Friday 20th
Priory School.
Open evening Thursday 19th.

Your support is…
Adventures
in
the
wild
From special days out to the every day at
home, Chestnut Tree House helps children with
life-shortening conditions and their families
make the most of every moment together.
We’re your local children’s hospice and your
support makes this happen.
For making the ordinary extra-ordinary.
For the .
Donate. Fundraise. Get Involved.
01903 871820 / 01323 725095
fundraising@chestnut-tree-house.org.uk
www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk
#ForTheNow
Registered charity no 256789
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

A Planet full of Plastic
by Neal Layton
A timely book on an important topic. As we all become
increasingly aware of human impact on the environment,
A Planet Full of Plastic walks children through the history of
plastic production and introduces the problem with materials
that are not biodegradable. Through photographs, illustrations
and child-friendly diagrams, the author explains
that much of the plastic ends up in the ocean in enormous
garbage patches (the most famous of which is currently
three times the size of France!).
Despite being clearly uncompromising on the facts and clear
about the consequences for wild life, this is actually a picture
book full of hope. The final section explains how scientists
are working on some of the enormous problems caused by plastic pollution and how, as individuals,
we can all play a part in helping to reduce the problem of plastics our planet faces. ‘It’s a big job,’ says
a smiley Planet Earth towards the end of the book, ‘but I reckon we can do it.’
Neal Layton’s trademark collage style, sense of fun, and the informative tone make this picture book
perfect for introducing eco themes to young children without inducing panic. Anna, Bags of Books
Find A Planet Full of Plastic with 20% off at Bags of Books throughout September.
The magical winter lantern trail
Every Thursday to Sunday, 21 November – 22 December
For details visit kew.org/glowwild

Lancing College
Senior School & Sixth Form
Open Morning
Saturday 5 October
10.30am – 1pm
Registered Charity No. 1076483

Into the Trees
Back to the wild
So Sussex was set up ten years ago, with one
question in mind: how do you get families to
spend more time outdoors? In its early days,
Managing Director Nigel Greenwood tells me,
they concentrated on organising days out. “Alex
Leith came on a number of these, and wrote
them up in Viva Lewes…”
Their first adventure in organising a festival
was setting up Elderflower Fields eight years
ago. “Festivals are great”, Nigel says; “a brilliant
way of getting a lot more families out
doing a lot more together – which was always
our aim. They are a real catalyst.”
Into the Trees is the second So Sussex festival;
this month will see its fifth year. “It’s a bit different
again”, Nigel explains. “It’s a lot smaller
and quieter. It’s more around the woods, and is
focused on environment and habitat – a much
more laid back experience than our Elderflower
Fields festival.
“Into the Trees takes place just before the summer
is ended. A last chance for chilled camping
out as a family – or you can just visit on a day
ticket – in a highly-protected, beautiful corner of
the Ashdown Forest. We think it’s really special.”
The weekend is host to a rich range of activities
– from pond dipping, to whittling and fire
lighting to tree climbing. From visiting a
geodesic moth dome, to a ‘Twisting space
marble run’; to sports like kayaking, and disc
golf. Or what about creating mud monsters? Or
‘rambling rhymes’? Something for everyone,
and lots based around noticing nature and the
environment.
“The food’s excellent, too”, says Nigel. “An
amazing range and real quality. We don’t use
chains, but cherry pick small, local vendors.
So, The Grey Earl has been bringing us coffee
from day one. Manjula provides the most amazing
Asian and vegan dishes I defy any carnivore
to turn their nose up at; and Pizza Wagon does
the best traditional stone baked pizzas.”
In the evening, once the day trippers leave,
about 5 or 6pm the site closes for the night.
“Around 1,500 to 2,000 people spend the night”,
Nigel tells me. “We have a central campfire, and
there’s a small stage for singer-songwriters and
storytellers. It’s lovely. We’re back at grass roots,
doing what we love best: creating an atmosphere,
and doing most of that work ourselves –
where Elderflower Fields now is on a scale we’re
more in the background managing. Into the
Trees is very special, for us, then.”
One more highlight. Nigel tells me they have
Arts Council funding for two years to create
and co-create (with visitors) the So Sussex
Schools Without Walls Art Trail – so if your
children fancy being part of that, Into the Trees
should be on your calendar.
Greenwood is just the right name for your job,
I comment. “Yes, we were a family of foresters
once…” Charlotte Gann
13-15 September, Pippingford Park, Nutley.
into-the-trees.co.uk

Organic Wholefoods Since 1971
We are delighted to be opening our second shop
in the great town of Lewes this September.
We Are A Family Owned Health Food Store,
Bringing Zero-Waste Shopping,
Organic & Biodynamic Fruit & Veg,
Organic Skincare, Artisan Breads, Local Produce,
Vegan and Gluten Free Products.
For more info on our Grand Opening and Events,
go to our Social Media pages.
16-17 Cliffe High Street, BN7 2AH
01273 473 470 seasonswholefoods.co.uk

FOOD REVIEW
Côte
Lovely Friday lunch
We like Côte. It’s probably our
venue of choice for a family birthday
or other treat. And we like it
especially when we get one of their
booths. (I like the online booking,
which always seems very efficient,
and allows me to express this preference.)
I like the fact too that the
building is the old Lloyds Bank,
which always flashes through my
mind when I walk in. Where I had
my first ‘student’ bank account so
many moons ago…
But I digress. Today, one August
lunchtime, we slid into our booth
seats gratefully and I impetuously
ordered a Pampelle Spritz (£6.95).
Cocktails aren’t my thing, but this
I enjoyed. The waiter alerted me “you have to
like grapefruit…” Well, I do, and the spritz was
refreshing and soothing with a serious grapefruit
kick. Good.
We ordered bread. My companions (family) dug
in enthusiastically, all saying how much they like
the Côte bread. Narrow slices, fresh and crispy,
served with butter on the side, you get all the
satisfaction of bread-while-you-wait without
denting your appetite.
I went with the Lunch Menu (two courses
£11.50, three courses £13.95), starting with the
Zucchini Fritti, which were delicious. Just breadcrumbed
enough to give a crunch and shift of
texture but not too much to obscure the lovely
courgette, and beautiful dipped in Mayonnaise
Verte. “Currently our most popular dish”, our
waiter said. Pete chose the Prestige Menu (two
courses £15.95, three courses £18.95), and opted
for the Moules Marinière to start. He said the
mussels were lovely and fresh and the sauce
“not too creamy, good consistency,
garlicky, just right, finely chopped
onion in it and fresh herbs, and a
generous helping”. He approved
of the “spoon to deal with the
sauce”. One happy customer.
The boys had Calamari, complemented
beautifully (as was my
Zucchini) with lemon to squeeze,
and tartare sauce. They then went
on to the Steak Frites, which is
both of their favourites. It’s just
perfect – good sized steak (not too
enormous), and served with garlic
butter “which makes it”, and excellent
crispy fries.
Pete had Sea Trout for his main,
which he also raved about. Again,
the sauce caught his imagination – “gentle,
mustardy, just the right amount of dill” – but he
also enthused about the “perfectly cooked fish”
and “melt-in-the-mouth new potatoes”. He liked
the presentation – “bright green petit pois”, etc.
My Chicken Salad, meanwhile, was also excellent.
Lots of strong flavours – including Roquefort
cheese, capers, endive and brioche croutons – all
held by the smoother gem salad and crispy grilled
chicken.
We managed two puddings. Again, the boys both
chose Coupe Noire, “chocolate sauce mixing
beautifully with melted ice cream”. Pete loved
his “Crumble Aux Pêches” served beautifully in
what looked (to me) like a mini Le Creuset, it
was “luscious mm mmm”, he said. “Velvety, with
finely chopped peach”.
This, we all agreed, is what lunch in a restaurant
should be like – both food-wise, and the decor…
Charlotte Gann
82 High Street. cote.co.uk/restaurant/lewes/
93

94
Photo by Alex Leith

RECIPE
Dirty Doe Tacos
Nick Weston, Hunter Gather Cook
I started Hunter Gather Cook in 2011,
to help teach other people some of the
know-how I’d acquired growing up in
East Sussex (and beyond), as a gamehunter,
wild-food forager, and chef.
I found a mixed-woodland location not
far from Lewes, and gradually built a
team of likeminded chefs, hunters and
foragers to help on courses, entirely
based around wild food and fire cookery.
We teach people how to skin, pluck and
butcher game, and how to forage for
food in the land around the two-storey
treehouse that we built. This is followed
up by a five-course taster menu from our
woodfired kitchen.
This year we have expanded the
operation, acquiring a former threshing
barn on the Firle Estate, so we can spread
the wild-food word simultaneously in two
different places, all year round. We’ve
equipped the place with a fully fitted
kitchen, though, of course, everything we
cook, we cook on a real fire. We’ve got
space outside with raised beds, so we can
add home-grown produce – if necessary –
to the mix.
Using game, rather than farmed meat, is
an integral part of our ethos. So, when
I was looking for a Mexican-style tacos
recipe, fallow deer was the perfect pairing.
The bed for the meat is a slaw, which is
easy to make: to serve six people, finely
slice half a red cabbage, one large red
onion, ten radishes, a cucumber, one red
chilli, and a bunch of coriander leaves. Just
before serving, add the juice of a lime, a
tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and two
tablespoons of olive oil, and mix.
The secret to guacamole is its simplicity:
with a fork, squish together two large ripe
avocados, the juice of a lime and a pinch
of sea salt. That’s it!
I’ve called this ‘dirty doe’ because the
meat is cooked directly on charcoal, or
wood that has burnt down to form coals
– you can do it on your barbecue. Get the
charcoal burning well, fan off any ash,
then put whole cuts of venison on top: I
favour the back haunch cuts for this dish –
pavé or fat flank, but silverside is perfectly
good, too. Flip the meat, when it’s nicely
browned, onto a fresh patch of coals
behind. We use a digital thermometer to
tell us when it’s medium rare (55c). Then
rest for five minutes wrapped in silver foil.
Lightly toast the corn tortillas – twenty
small ones for our purposes, on a grate
over the charcoal. Carve the meat when
these are ready.
Part of the fun of tacos is putting
everything together, so leave the ‘creative’
side of things to whoever’s lucky enough
to be at the table. Add a hot salsa, pickles
and ferments – which we source from our
ever expanding foraged larder – then…
go wild!
As told to Alex Leith
For more ‘adventures in wild food’ check
out Nick’s latest book, Hunter Gather
Cook. See also huntergathercook.com for
courses, banquets and events
95

utumn A SUNDAYS AT
Enjoy a relaxing retreat at
Wingrove House, surrounded by
the best walking routes in Sussex!
High Street, Alfriston, East Sussex, BN26 5TD
3-course Sunday lunch &
Sunday night stay in one of
our stunning rooms with
breakfast included
£75 per person
(based on 2 people sharing)
Book your relaxed Sunday stay now on 01323 870276 and quote ‘VIVASUNDAY’
T&C’s: Available on Sunday night bookings between 6th October - 24th November 2019.
Bookings only. Subject to availability. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Drinks not included.
www.wingrovehousealfriston.com | 01323 870276 | info@wingrovehousealfriston.com
18 CLIFFE HIGH ST,
LEWES BN7 2AH
01273 483331
HIRE THE ROASTERY
FOR CHRISTMAS
WE ARE NOW TAKING BOOKINGS FOR CORPORATE AND PRIVATE CHRISTMAS PARTIES.
PACKAGES INCLUDING BUFFET AND 3 COURSE MAIN MEAL OPTIONS.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO MAKE A BOOKING PLEASE EMAIL BOOKINGS@TRADINGPOSTCOFFEE.CO.UK.
WWW.TRADINGPOSTCOFFEE.CO.UK

LEWES BITES
Macaroons
So the big news is that Lewes Patisserie has moved –
from the top of Station Street into part of what was
arguably the best, most eccentric shop in Lewes (and
that took some doing) – Hugh Rae – opposite Lewes
Castle. I’ve still got one of Hugh Rae’s zebra-striped
carrier bags as a memento, but I digress.
I shall miss the courtyard garden that felt a little as if
you’re having a secret rendezvous, when what you were
actually doing is writing a shopping list whilst dropping
flakes of almond croissant down your cleavage. But I
shall continue to support them. It is a great institution. A little bit of France.
Choosing my favourite item from this special shop is tricky. The French fruit tarts are elegant and
charming, and I particularly like the sharpness of cassis. The quiche lorraine, especially when warmed, is a
comforting, cheesy delight. But it’s their macaroons that make me smile most.
I’ve no patience for making neat, fiddly things, but am very happy for someone else to do so, and love how
colourful the macaroon palette is. Violet, delicate yellow, hot pink, vivid green. A variety of changing flavours
that include pistachio, coffee, vanilla, blackcurrant and salted caramel. I also like the fact they come
served on a regal, gilt-edged china plate!
I’m very glad Lewes Patisserie is still with us. @LewesNibbler
enjoy a
complimentary
kir royale
When dining with us
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 01/09/19 until 30/09/19 at Côte Lewes only. One
complimentary glass of Kir Royale per person 18 years and over
ordering a main course. Not valid in conjunction with any other offer.
Lewes_VivaLewes_September2019.indd 1 14/08/2019 10:41:46

THE WAY WE WALK
Photographer Aiste Saulyte caught up with four local hikers.
She asked each: what is your favourite spot on the Downs?
aistesaulyte.co.uk
Emma Lacey, Protective Behaviours Practitioner and
Duke of Edinburgh Volunteer for Northease Manor school
‘Devil’s Dyke – the view should be prescribed on the NHS! From a quick walk after work or
a starting point to a day’s ramble I have many fond memories there, whatever the weather.’

THE WAY WE WALK
Peter Williamson, Director & Lead Instructor – Nordic Walking for Health
‘I have several. The best terrain for Nordic walking is along one of the many long, but not
steep, uphill climbs with breathtaking views: Stanmer Woods, Ditchling Beacon, Castle Hill
Nature Reserve, Friston Forest and, of course, Seven Sisters.’ (nordicwalkingforhealth.co.uk)

THE WAY WE WALK
Alan Lehmann, Chairman of Lewes Footpaths Group
‘Malling Down, Caburn and Southerham Reserve.
They have terrific views, lots of wildflowers and many different butterflies.’

THE WAY WE WALK
Brian Davies, Member of the Friends of the South Downs
‘My favourite walk is from Crowlink down to the Seven Sisters, then Birling Gap
and back over the top to Crowlink – the Downs, sea and cliffs all in one.’

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

FEATURE
Bee Lines
Restoring the corridors
If you’ve been walking on the Downs during
the spring and summer, you may well have
admired the rafts of wild flowers that bloom
in the chalk grassland that makes up a familiar
part of the landscape. You may well also be
aware that this part of the National Park has
been in steady decline.
Over the past century, a huge proportion of wildflower
meadow has been lost as a result of human
impact. The main causes are the cultivation of the
land for farming, along with increasingly intensified
farming methods and the effects of climate
change. Once extensive across the National Park,
flower-rich chalk grassland now forms only four
per cent of the total area.
Of course, this matters. With the loss of the
flower-rich grassland comes the loss of habitat for
the pollinating insects on which our whole eco
system depends, including honeybees, bumblebees
and the Adonis Blue butterfly.
Bees pollinate around one third of our food crops,
which in turn feed livestock. As Nick Heasman,
Countryside and Policy Manager for the South
Downs National Park told me, “bees are absolutely
vital to the planet.”
The loss of wildflower meadow is not particular
to the Sussex Downs but part of a much wider
problem. Since the 1930s, over 97 per cent of
all flower rich grassland in England has been
lost. One third of Britain’s bee population has
disappeared over the last decade alone and
a quarter of Europe’s bumblebees are now
threatened with extinction.
The good news is that we can take steps to
reverse this. And a new campaign has been set up
to ensure we do.
The Bee Lines campaign was launched by the
South Downs National Park Trust back in April
and it’s got off to a good start, Nick says. “We’ve
been overwhelmed by the amazing response to
our Bee Lines campaign and would like to say a
big ‘thank you’ to all those who have donated so
far. The fact that our pollinators are in trouble
and need our help has really struck a chord with
the public.”
This is just the start of a longer-term conservation
project.
The campaign aims to raise £75,000 to help
restore wildflower habitats and create a haven
for pollinating insects. It will work with farmers
and other landowners to create new wildflower
corridors which will crisscross the landscape and
build a resilient population of pollinators for the
future. The planting will include a mix of native
wildflowers like birdsfoot trefoil, knapweed and
yellow rattle.
Once the fund-raising target has been met, the
trust will open a bidding process in 2020 for
farmers, landowners and community groups who
wish to plant new wildflower areas. The campaign
will also involve improved roadside verge
management as well as working with schools and
other community organisations.
Julie Bull
Want to learn more, and / or donate?
southdownstrust.org.uk/beelines
Donations to Bee Lines will make a big difference
to the Downs, but there are also things you can
do in your own garden to make them pollinatorfriendly
and the Trust has ideas at
southdowns.gov.uk/make-a-beehouse
Photo by Tim Squires, South Downs National Park ranger
103

The bird man
Photographing peregrines
Gerry Bennett has travelled the world catching
fish and photographing birds. He’s enjoyed
trips to Nepal, India, the States, New Zealand
(“amazing gannet colonies”) and a safari in Tanzania
(“mind-blowing”), and he’s a regular visitor
to Spain, where he has an apartment, and takes
his camper van to tour, and is a keen member of
the Andalucian Birding Society.
“I have photos of flamingos, numerous vultures
and eagles, storks, hoopoes, bee-eaters, red
knobbed coots, ibis, kites…”, he tells me. And
he’s also loved exploring the British Isles,
including this summer a trip round the coast of
Scotland with his adult son. But we’re meeting
just now to talk about an adventure even closer
to home.
All this spring and early summer, Gerry watched,
daily, with growing delight, a pair of peregrines
nesting just by the Cuilfail Tunnel, and the
gradual emergence of their one “snowy” chick.
Gerry stood below and watched through binoculars
and a scope. Quite a crowd was known
104

PHOTO FEATURE
to gather – maybe an opportunity for the
peregrines to do their own bit of peoplewatching
in return – a scenario retired
teacher Gerry (he taught Maths and Physics
for 23 years at what is now East Sussex College,
down Mountfield Road) is more than
comfortable with. “On one evening there
were six Americans, two Australians, as well
as a small crowd of Lewesians”, he laughs.
The peregrines make a marvellous sight,
he tells me, “flying around the chalk cliffs,
often threatening to attack the many jackdaws
and pigeons that share the location.
And each day brought progress. The story
unfolded before our eyes.”
Peregrines nest for the May / June season.
“The original snowy chick turned into a
teenager,” he tells me, “with some adult
markings and a desire to flap those wings.
The male brought food – and temporary
mayhem, as he shredded it for the chick:
watching from below, you can see feathers
flying.”
This season Gerry also spotted – and
photographed – a peregrine family at the
chalkpit along the Offham Road. Two adults
and four chicks this time. Again, amazing
photographs – taken, he tells me, many of
them, less than 20m from the birds.
“I use a Panasonic G9 camera”, he says,
“with a Panasonic Leica 100-400mm lens.
For me, it’s just the best way to spend my
time. It’s a bit like fishing – which I used
to do with my dad. A lot of waiting for the
catch, but all worthwhile.
“I caught a food pass – not the best of photos,
but just to capture it at all, as a single
photo and not from a video/ burst, was
incredibly lucky.”
We loved these stories – and Gerry’s pictures.
And thought you might enjoy them
too. Maybe come next spring, more of us
might even look up and notice the wildlife
nesting in our midst.
Charlotte Gann
105

British Wildlife
An Art Exhibition by Peter Bainbridge
28th September - 20th October
A273 Brighton Road HASSOCKS
BN6 9LY 01273 847707

WILDLIFE
COMMON ANIMAL TRACKS
FOX
DOG BADGER CAT ROE DEER
(Vulpes vulpes) (Canis familiaris watson) (Meles meles) (Felis catus) (Capreolus capreolus)
Illustration by Mark Greco
Animal Footprints
I will not celebrate meaningless milestones
I’m scrambling through the woodland undergrowth,
anxious, sweating and clutching a 2kg
pouch of white powder and a spoon. I may look
like some Colombian cocaine smuggler, but I’ve
got the perfect excuse for the police: “I’m researching
my 100th article for Viva”. Since 2011 I’ve
been sitting down each month to write these wildlife
articles, but for this month’s ‘footprints’ issue I
needed to get out and do some investigating.
When I was a kid, I bought loads of books with
names like ‘the amateur naturalist’ (not to be confused
with ‘the amateur naturist’, a mistake you
only make once). Each book promised to make
you a wildlife detective and was filled with tips on
tracking mammals in the countryside. Most British
mammals are nocturnal and, after centuries
of persecution, all of them are understandably
rather wary of humans. We hardly ever see them.
Yet these invisible animals leave behind tantalising
clues which let us know they really exist:
droppings, nibbled nuts, pellets. But the biggest
giveaway of all are their footprints.
Primitive mammals (such as hedgehogs, stoats,
badgers and you) are plantigrades. We stroll
about on the soles of our feet and have five toes.
When we run – to escape the drug squad for
example – we use our toes and the balls of our
feet. For the mammals who spend a lot of time
running and jumping this basic mammalian
plantigrade foot has evolved and adapted over
time. Some animals have lost a toe (foxes, cats,
dogs, hares) while the real gymnasts, such as deer,
leap around on two toes, and horses race on just
one toe enclosed in a hoof. Like Sherlock Holmes
with a foot fetish, you can examine each footprint’s
formula of toes, claws and pads to deduce
just who has been sneaking around at night.
My books told me that, once you find a footprint,
the best way to capture it is to make a cast –
which explains why I’m crouched here in the
undergrowth excitedly mixing up plaster of Paris
powder and pouring it into a footprint in the
muddy woodland floor. I’ve always wanted to do
this since I was a kid but, well, I guess life got in
the way. Now I have my first footprint cast, sitting
proudly on my desk: a badger (with five toes,
a wide pad and obvious claws). A souvenir of my
100th Viva. And somewhere out there is a badger
completely unaware that what it has created has
been enjoyed by somebody, has inspired them to
learn more about wildlife and do something to
preserve it. Which now I think about it, is all I
have hoped for from these past 100 articles too. I
hope I’ve made an impression.
Michael Blencowe, Senior Learning & Engagement
Officer, Sussex Wildlife Trust
107

“I’m incredibly impressed with how the
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it is an honour to be joining the team.
My ambition is clear – for Lewes FC to be
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from the example we are setting.”
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Lewes FC is the only football club in the world to
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Endorse us, support us and help us do more.
JOIN THE CLUB:
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RECYCLING
How do the wheelie bins work?
Your recycling questions answered
Who sorts my recycling, now I dump it all
in one wheelie bin? Lewes district council
collects it, then East Sussex county council is
responsible for recycling it. Recycling is sorted
and separated at a MRF (Materials Recovery
Facility) run by Viridor in Crayford. Here
the mixed recycling goes through a series of
machines: rotating screens which separate
materials by size; ballistic separators to sort
materials of different weights; optical sorters
for different types of plastics; electromagnets
and eddy currents for separating metals. Finally,
people pick out and separate items which are
hard to sort by machine.
How do I know what plastics can be recycled?
The main plastics which can’t, as part of
your household recycling, are hard plastics (like
buckets), plastic film (cellophane, salad bags,
etc), and black plastic trays (eg meat/ ready
meal trays).
Bottles (from milk, fizzy drinks, or household
products), and pot tubs and
trays (except completely
black ones) are fine.
What happens if I
put something in
the bin that can’t be
recycled? Non-recyclable
items are classed as
contamination, and high
levels can be a serious
issue. Small amounts can
usually be removed during
the sorting process;
when this happens the
contamination is often
incinerated to provide
power. If contamination
levels are extremely high
it can mean an entire load of recycling being
rejected. Fortunately this doesn’t happen too
much in Lewes district because residents are
good at only putting the correct items in the
recycling bin – Lewes district has amongst the
lowest levels of recycling contamination out of
all the local authorities in the UK!
Is the stuff really recycled and if so how
much, how, where etc. It really, really, is. Everything
we collect from recycling bins which
can be recycled gets recycled. Mixed recycling
is sorted at the MRF. They separate the paper,
card, metals, glass and different plastics. Each
material has a separate recycling process and
they are all cleaned and prepared for reuse,
then they get made into all sorts of new packaging
and products.
Is it going well? What can we do to help?
Two years ago Lewes district only recycled
around 25% of household waste. By the start of
2019 that had increased to almost 40%, and it
has continued to increase since. This is brilliant,
but of course we need to keep on improving! A
great way to help is to be conscious of what you
buy – prefer sustainable materials like glass and
metals (which can be easily recycled over and
over), and avoid unnecessary plastics or composite
materials like cartons, which have many
difficult-to-separate layers of polyethylene and
sometimes aluminium.
Lewes and Eastbourne Council Waste & Recycling
Engagement Coordinator, Thomas Broad was
interviewed by Charlotte Gann
For specifics on what is accepted in Lewes
district recycling, food waste, garden waste, or
refuse bins, check lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/
waste. Recycle Now offers a nationwide online
recycling locator which tells you the nearest
place to recycle a specific item, recyclenow.com
109

Laurence
Turrell & Co.
BUILDING | RENOVATION | BESPOKE
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TRADING IN LEWES SINCE SEPT 1999
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HAIRMECHANICS_

FEATURE
DIYgogo
The virtual skip
Alexander Thomson
had his idea for
DIYgogo when he
spent a year cycling
to China. “I cycled
through Kazakhstan”,
he told me, “and it
lent me so much perspective.
The people
had nothing, but had
so much more than we
do in our Western madness. Everything was so
much more cherished.”
When he got back to the UK, he says, he was
“overwhelmed by the contrast”. And he decided
to set up an enterprise with social purpose – to
contribute some small difference.
This was the birth of DIYgogo, a website
designed to put people in touch with each other
easily, so they can recycle, and access, unwanted,
free building materials.
“I work on a building site,” Alex says, “and the
level of waste is stupendous. So, here’s the idea in
a nutshell: you walk past a skip, and in it are a pile
of bricks, or a bath, and you think that’s just what
I need. Well, DIYgogo is like that virtual skip.”
He’s been beavering way on his project – a notfor-profit
social enterprise – for a couple of years
now. The website had been live for four months
when we spoke.
So, how’s it going, I asked.
One major challenge, Alex reports, is changing
the mindset of building companies – whom he
desperately wants to get onboard. “They all say
it’s a fantastic idea, very needed,” he says. “But
it’s hard to change the nature of the way people
do business: they’re just not minded that way.”
He’ll keep trying and, in the meantime, the site
is live and available to anyone anywhere across
the UK. Whether you’ve building materials to
shift, or you’re looking
to pick some up,
log on and see what’s
happening round
here. The company
has been concentrating
recently on
generating interest
across the South East,
especially in Lewes
and Brighton.
DIYgogo bills itself as an enterprise with both
environmental and social objectives. Environmentally,
it hopes to contribute to a more
sustainable future. Socially, it wants to help the
less fortunate members of our society. “We want
to do this,” Alex tells me, “not just by enabling
access to free materials, but we’d also like, over
time, to grow to provide building-work training
for young people. These skills have been lost.
For so long, we’ve relied in this country on
Eastern Europeans. Now we’re losing that work
force – the pay’s not much better, so it’s no longer
worth people’s while and, of course, Brexit’s
looming. We’d like to help young people learn
the skills they need to end up in employment in
the building trade.”
Currently, working on the project are Alex
and a part-time partner, who does the marketing,
mainly through social media. “We’re also
looking to develop an app,” says Alex. “It’s what
people are asking for today – an app that’s easier
and quicker to use than going through a few
steps on a website.”
It’s the world we live in, we agree, shaking our
heads.
But if it helps enable good ideas, and new ways
of working – like DIYgogo – well, maybe that’s
not all bad… Charlotte Gann
diygogo.co.uk
111

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ENVIRONMENT
Powering up
Smart solar batteries and energy sharing
Lewes is rightly proud of
its Transition Town status
and its commitment
to becoming a more
sustainable community,
yet last year’s UK Solar
Power County Rankings
listed East Sussex as
just 33rd in the country.
So, could we be doing
better?
Simon Daniel thinks so
– and he’s keen to help.
His company Moixa (‘it’s
axiom spelt backwards,
as we like to do things differently’) has developed
a smart solar battery, which is now available in
the Lewes-Newhaven area, following a deal with
energy distributor UK Power Networks.
“The smart battery stores solar energy generated
from roof solar panels and releases it at peak usage
times to save energy,” Simon explains. “Often
people may be out all day, then, when they return
home, the sun is going down. By storing solar energy
generated during daylight hours, the smart
battery enables that green energy to be accessed
when it’s most needed, avoiding reliance on the
Grid at peak times.”
As well as reducing energy bills by up to 50 per
cent, he adds, the smart battery lessens dependence
on fossil fuels, lowering a household or
business’s carbon footprint.
Moixa isn’t just about solar energy storage,
though. The company also acts as ‘a virtual power
plant’ via its GridShare software, which enables
smart battery users to share stored energy to support
the Grid.
“GridShare co-ordinates energy demand and
acts like a pool, collecting excess energy and
distributing it where it is needed,” Simon says.
“In areas where more
people are using electric
vehicles, energy demands
can peak at particular
times. GridShare releases
stored clean solar energy
at these times, to cut
costs and ease demand
on the Grid.
“Having a solar panel
fitted takes a certain
amount off a person’s
energy bill, and having
a smart battery and a
smart tariff takes off even
more. Our software makes the batteries smart,
with an app and user interface that enable users
to see their energy profiles. It allows us to set up
a plan that is co-ordinated centrally for maximum
benefit. With GridShare, we are helping to
manage renewable resources and to reinforce the
Grid at times of congestion, potentially saving the
country £8bn a year on energy costs.”
Those signing up to Moixa’s GridShare membership
also receive a discount on the initial cost of
the smart battery, he continues, as well as a £50
annual ‘thank you’ for the first three years of
participation in the scheme. Additionally, they are
reimbursed for any financial impact caused by using
the battery to support the grid, ensuring that
savings are optimised.
“It’s appropriate that we’re doing this in Lewes,
which is a Transition Town at the very heart of
the sustainability movement. Our goal of reducing
carbon and increasing the usage of renewables
is part of a global initiative, of which Lewes is
representative. So it’s exciting that we are helping
the Lewes area to become even more sustainable.”
Anita Hall
020 7734 1511. moixa.com
113

BUSINESS NEWS
Everybody’s got a strong opinion, it seems, about
the news that McDonald’s have proposed to
open a two-storey take-away restaurant on the
corner between Davey’s Lane and Brooks Road.
Judging by reactions on the internet forums –
and chats down the pub – the prospect seems to
have divided the community along familiar lines.
You can find out more – including maps, artists’
renders, and objections, on the South Downs
National Park website. It looks like there’s a long
way to go until this one’s approved...
Another bit of news that has exercised some
is the County Council’s decision to look into
doubling the price of parking in Lewes, which
would make a two-hour stop on School Hill cost
an eye-watering £7.80 (and a 15-minute stay £1).
We’re awaiting the results of a public consultation
on the matter soon.
Down Cliffe way, there’s a change of owner and
a change of brand at Simon David (12/13 Cliffe
High Street) where Paul and Karen Palmer
are retiring after ten years “to do a much more
difficult job: looking after the grandchildren”.
Moving into the space are mother-and-daughter
team Robyn and Kate Burgess, who will turn the
space into ‘Lumen of Lewes’. Lighting, interiors
and gifts will still be the focus.
Moving across the street, we’ve learnt more
about the chic-looking venture which has been
set up where Le Magasin used to trade. It’s
called belle & co, and it’s run by Yad, formerly
of the BBC, who lovingly restores, buys and sells
mid-century furniture. I bet those fab G-Plan
‘62’ swinging armchairs in the window have
gone by the time you read this.
It’s as you were at 46 High Street, by the War
Memorial. Revive joinery are moving their HQ
back to their workshop in Uckfield for the time
being, but very much carrying on trading, and
might well reappear in a new Lewes venue in the
new year [revivejoinery.co.uk]. We hear that the
place is going to revert to its previous incarnation,
Cheese Please, under new management by Fran.
And there’s more food news: Thai restaurant
Lemongrass are back open for business, and
Lewes Patisserie has moved from its Station
Street location, to the western half of what used
to be Hugh Rae, at the top of town. They’re
mostly serving take-away at the moment, including
delicious patisserie from Julian Plumart: they
might expand if the opportunity arises.
And talking cakes, we enjoyed two recently at
the new Zu Café at the Bus Station – now up
and running.
Congratulations too to Chantal, who’s opened a
new hairdresser’s – Exterior – on Market Street.
And to new Lewes gym studio Body Happy and
of course The Unity Centre, both starting up
in Friars Walk. And if you’re looking for office
space, or have some to spare and are looking for
someone to fill it, Claire Kirtland, from Hive,
has set up Space Agent Lewes (spaceagentlewes.co.uk),
to put you in touch with each other.
Alex Leith

Lewes Town & Country
Residential Sales & Lettings
Land & New Homes
T 01273 487444
E lewes@oakleyproperty.com
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Impressive detached family home in in a tucked-away position on
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Charming period town house in central Lewes close to The Station.
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dining room, utility room,WC and good sized garden. EPC-73

FOOTBALL
Katie McIntyre
Skipper Macca’s crunch season
“Last season was all about the learning curve. This
season is going to be the real test.”
I’m talking to Katie McIntyre, better known to the
Lewes FC family as ‘Macca’, in the stands of the
Dripping Pan, as Roger the groundsman drives
round the pitch in his mowing tractor, applying
Wembley-style stripes to what already looks like an
immaculate surface.
By the time you read this, the Lewes FC women’s
team will be two matches into their second season
in the FA Women’s Championship, the second tier
of competition in the country. Promotion to the
highest level, to join the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea
and Man United, is the target, but – unlike last
season – relegation into the lower leagues awaits
one of the eleven teams. “We’re going to have to
fight every match like there’s a trophy at the end of
it,” she smiles.
No player is better placed to gauge Lewes’ remarkable
improvement over the last decade than Macca,
club captain, who is starting her ninth season in red
and black. “We’ve never been better prepared for a
season than we are now,” she says. “Fran [Spanish
manager Fran Alonso] has us training three times
a week, and the sessions are really intense. It’s all
about pass, pass, pass: our aim is to wear out the
opposition. His attention to detail is incredible:
he gets every session filmed, and before the next
one there’s a presentation in which he plays back,
highlighting where we’ve gone wrong. I’m 32, and
reaching the end of my career. But I’m still learning
something new every day.”
Alonso came in halfway through last season, and
asked McIntyre, who had been playing in central
midfield, to move back into the central defence.
“I’d occasionally played the position before, under
Jacquie [Agnew, former manager] so I know what
I’m doing. In defence you know you simply can’t
lose the ball, so the pressure is on for the whole 90
minutes. It’s a better place to read the game, though,
and, I think, the best place for a captain to play.”
She’s excited by the ‘bump’ in enthusiasm for the
women’s game, after the World Cup in June, of
which she watched “every single game”. And also
about the new signings Lewes have made over the
summer. “Welsh international Emma Jones has
come in up top, and she’s a powerhouse. She’s not
afraid to shoot, and she’ll hit the top corner every
time. With her up front – and Ella Powell, just 19
and so enthusiastic – I don’t think we’ll lack goals
this season.”
She’s hoping the public’s new-found enthusiasm for
the women’s game will lead to even bigger crowds
at the Pan than last season, where many of the attendances
topped those of the men’s team. And she
knows that if the public like what they see, they’ll be
back for more: “I hope 2019/20 is one to remember…”
she concludes, “and for all the right reasons.”
Alex Leith
LCFC fixtures at lewesfc.com
117

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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

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Project1/NEWSIZE_Layout 1 18/01/2012 14:59 Page 1
Jack Plane Carpenter
Nice work, fair price,
totally reliable.
www.jackplanecarpentry.co.uk
01273 483339 / 07887 993396
Handyman Services for your House and Garden
Lewes based. Free quotes.
Honest, reliable, friendly service.
Reasonable rates
Tel: 07460 828240
Email: ahbservices@outlook.com
PAUL FURNELL
Carpenter / General Building
and Renovation works,
Based in Lewes
t. 07717 862940 e. paul.lee.furnell@gmail.com
AHB ad.indd 1 27/07/2015 17:46
LEWES CHIMNEY SWEEP
07796 802588
Jason Eyre Decorating
Professional Painters & Decorators
jasoneyre2@gmail.com | jasoneyredecorating.com
07976 418299 | 07766 118289
01273 488882
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

GARDENS
Global
Gardens
Design,
Restoration &
Landscaping
Gardener Available
Beds, borders, pruning and tidying
01273 814 926
National Diploma Horticulture
Qualified & Experienced gardener
07912 606 557
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
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
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

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
The Cliffe
Osteopathy &
Complementary
Health Clinic
Nuro Weidemann
REMEDIAL
MASSAGE THERAPY
Readings
Healings Workshops
www.maddyelruna.co.uk
neck or back pain?
Lin Peters - OSTEOPATH
VALENCE ROAD OSTEOPATHS
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
HERBALIST
Kym Murden
BA Hons Dip Phyt
Weaving wellness together
whatever your age.
Herb & Health Workshops
Visit:
kymmurden.com
Appointments 07780 252186
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)
REMEDIAL MASSAGE THERAPY (ITEC & MTI)
Nuro Weidemann
01273 480900
23 Cliffe High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2AH
www.lewesosteopath.com
Open Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings

HEALTH
FLU VACCINATIONS
We are expeccng this seasons vaccines to
arrive by end of September. To ensure you
receive your vaccine please make an
appointment. We recommend you get your
vaccine early in the season (September to
November) to ensure you’re covered and
before vaccinaaons run out.
FREE NHS HEALCHECKS
are ssll available, call in or phone to book.
Acupuncture, Alexander Technique, Bowen
Technique, Children’s Clinic, Counselling,
Psychotherapy, Family Therapy,
Herbal Medicine, Massage,
Nutritional Therapy, Life Coaching,
Physiotherapy, Pilates, Shiatsu,
Podiatry/Chiropody
YOU MAY BE CONTACTED
by a 3rd party called “health extras” to book
this on behalf of the NHS.
(Closed between 1-2pm)
Instrinsic Health Viva Advert 7.19 AW.qxp_6 01/08/2019 0 Page 1
Ruth Wharton
BA (Hons) BSc (Hons) Ost Med DO ND MSc Paediatric Ost
Biodynamic Cranial Osteopath
Sally Galloway
BA (Hons) Dip Nat Nut CNM MBANT MNNA CNCH reg
Nutritional Therapist
Art Therapy • Hot Stone Therapy
Massage • Meditation
Psychotherapy - individual & family
Reflexology • Yoga for Autism
32 Cliffe High Street • Lewes BN7 2AN
Healing Hands
Energy Practice
Intuitive Energy Healing: including
Reiki and Reconnection Healing
Additional help can be
accessed from angelic realm
Readings channeled to compliment
and embellish healings
Johnfinlayson3@msn.com
www.healinghandsenergypractice.co.uk

HEALTH AND LESSONS & COURSES
Holistic Treatments
Swedish Body Massage
Indian Head Massage
Reflexology
Intrinsic Health, 32, Cliffe High Street, Lewes
To book an appointment
call Angelica Rossi on 07401 131153
Email: angelicarossi@hotmail.co.uk
www.angelsaromahealing.com
Gift vouchers are available
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
Mathematics Tuition
Experienced Teacher
GSCE and A level
Call 07990076019
Coranne Campbell
Reiki Master Practitioner
Tel 07584 572226
corannecampbellreiki@gmail.com
www.reikiconnect.co.uk
Energy healing complementary therapy
Spanish
GCSE • Beginners • Conversation
Experienced and qualified teacher, central Lewes
Contact Sara on 07598 784579
Viva Lewes
We print 11,500 magazines every month
delivering 7,500 to houses in Lewes and Kingston
with 4,000 in high visibility pick ups
Reach our audience from just £25 a month.

OTHER SERVICES
www.andrewwells.co.uk
We can work it out
• 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
01273 488882
ndrew Wells_Viva Lewes_AW.indd 1 25/06/2012 09:05

CARS
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
SMALL STEPS
This month’s picture from Reeves, taken in
summer 1950, will be included in the photographic
studio’s latest lightbox show (see
page 72), which takes a look at the extensive
shopping facilities available to Lewes residents
in years past. It shows the interior of Russell
& Bromley, located at 187 & 188 High Street,
now home to the Tourist Information Centre.
Albion Russell was the son of a Chiddingly
bootmaker, who moved to Lewes in 1846 to
set up his own business at 37 High Street,
‘Albion Russell & Son’. He opened in bigger,
more classy premises on the corner of the High
Street and Fisher Street in April 1862. Albion
sounds like an interesting chap, a talented artist
and wood engraver, as well as an expert in
floriculture.
He employed an apprentice, George Bromley,
from Hastings, to work in the shop. George
soon fell for Albion’s daughter, Elizabeth, and
she for him. They married in 1873. The young
couple moved to Eastbourne in 1880 to set up
their own shop, the first to bear the name ‘Russell
& Bromley’ above the door.
George died in 1897, but Elizabeth lived on until
1937, thus witnessing the company’s steady
growth, spearheaded by her son Frederick, who
realised that there was more money in the sale
of shoes than their manufacture. He moved
the company HQ to Bromley, in Kent, and
opened 20 more stores, handing the reins over
to his sons, Keith and Michael in 1943. They
expanded further, taking over the parent company
in 1947, so ‘Albion Russell & Son’ became
‘Russell & Bromley’.
The Lewes branch is long gone, of course, but
Russell & Bromley, with flagship stores in Oxford
Street and Knightsbridge, remains a much
respected national chain – and Theresa May’s
favourite shoe shop. It’s still run by the Bromley
family, a dynasty begun when a young Hastings
apprentice took a fancy to his boss’s daughter in
Lewes High Street, nearly 150 years ago.
Alex Leith
130

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