by Yvonne Leach April 2021 A Smuggler’s Song If you wake at midnight, and hear a horse’s feet,Don’t go drawing back the blind, or looking in the street,Them that asks no questions isn’t told a lie.Watch the wall, my darling, while the Gentlemen go by! Five-and-twenty ponies, trotting through the dark—With brandy for the Parson and ‘baccy for the Clerk.Laces …
by Jonathan Fenner 22nd December 2020 South East England offers rich pickings for heritage railway enthusiasts. Among them is the Bluebell Railway, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. The Bluebell was Britain’s first preserved standard gauge railway and is among our best known tourist attractions. It runs through 11 miles of lush Sussex countryside linking Sheffield Park to the …
by Robert Sissons 20th October 2020 June 9, 2020 marked the 150th anniversary of the death of England’s most beloved novelist. Although he was born in Portsmouth and spent much of his life in London, Kent is undoubtedly the county most associated with him. The Pickwick Papers, David Copperfield, Great Expectations and The Mystery of Edwin Drood are full of …
by Sue Duckworth 6th July 2020 This year marks 125 years since the National Trust was founded by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley in 1895. As properties closed by the COVID-19 crisis begin to reopen, it is perhaps timely to celebrate the anniversary of this much loved and respected institution and its links to our region. …
By Tania Noddings 16 June 2020 Sussex Day is celebrated on 16 June each year, the feast day of Saint Richard (1197 –1253), the patron saint of Sussex. Richard was Bishop of Chichester and was known for the miracle of the overturned chalice. The story tells that Richard, tired and ill from his labours, was celebrating mass and dropped the …
By Jonathan Fenner 26th May 2020 Encouraged by the British Government, there has recently been a revival of interest in the celebration of County Days by the flying of historic county flags. According to the UK charity The Flag Institute, founded in 1971 to promote interest in flags and flag flying, Kent’s County Flag Day is the 26th May – …
By Maggie Burghuber 2nd May 2020 We’d like to celebrate our county’s 2nd Surrey Day, promoted by Visit Surrey in partnership with Surrey Life and BBC Surrey, marked this year on the 2nd May 2020. Surrey’s beautiful hills, woods, stately homes and gardens, can be seen in many a film, such as the ancient and unspoilt woodland of Bourne Wood …
By Tanya Firth April 2020 Just outside St Margarets Bay near Dover is the often missed memorial to the Dover Patrol erected in 1921. First formed in July of 1914, the Dover Patrol covered the southern part of the North Sea and the eastern end of the English Channel including the Straits of Dover. The Dover Patrol consisted of a …
By Tania Noddings April 2020 Bramber is a picturesque village in Sussex which punches above its weight in terms of attractions and its wealth of history, making it so attractive to visitors. During the Norman Conquest in 1066, arriving with William Duke of Normandy was his trusted kinsman, William de Braose, the future 1st Lord of Bramber. This arrival was the …
5th March 2020. An excellent Continuing Professional Development Day for a group of our member guides (on probably the wettest day ever known) in #Hastings#EastSussex. First a walk revealing the town’s history of smuggling led by local Blue Badge Guide Clive Richardson. This was followed, after a very enjoyable lunch, by a visit to @Hastingsrnli lifeboat station to see the …
