A Hurstpierpoint initiative has recently been featured on ITV's Meridian local news.
Cycling without Age is scheme which has come over the water from Denmark, and is now spreading worldwide.
Hurst resident and campaigner Bridget Hamilton is trying to raise the £7,000 necessary to buy a bike for the local area.
The crowdfunding campaign page can be see here.
By Bob Mitchell
If you regularly visit the recreation ground in South Avenue, you will not have failed to notice the building work taking place on the eastern side of the clubhouse, if only because of the huge scaffold ‘tent’ erected to avoid work being delayed because of bad weather! As a consequence work is ahead of schedule and, by the time you read this, the scaffolding should be down and the external building work close to completion.
The Club has very much appreciated the forbearance of its neighbours in South Avenue and other Hurst residents using the footpath across the recreation ground. The good news is that by early spring, the Club, and its building contractor Closewall Ltd, aim to have things back to normal.
Hurstpierpoint High Street will be the home to a new retail outlet later this month when RetroSpective opens at number 89 – in the former Jam Pot shop.
The business is the brainchild of Lindsay Thompson and Tony Walsh who have had a stall in My Vintage, Hassocks for the last four years. Now the pair are going it alone, and are inviting like-minded potential stallholders to get in touch. “If you know someone who has a penchant for antiques and vintage items, or local high quality arts and crafts, then we’d love to talk to them,” Lindsay commented.
The shop will stock various types of products including upcycled furniture and accessories for every room in the house. But there will also be other items such as organic lavender products and pre-loved clothing for sale too.
Lindsay, who grew up in nearby Hassocks, says that Hurst is the perfect place to set up in business. “Hurstpierpoint is a lovely, historic and growing village (and one I very much enjoyed in my misspent youth!). We believe that the residents are keen to support their local high street, and we are keen to be part of that community and ensuring that it continues to thrive.”
At the time of going to print, the shop is currently undergoing a refit and it looks likely that RetroSpective will open its doors during February. Its hours will be 9.30am-5.30pm Monday to Saturday and Sunday’s 10am-4pm.
For more information call Lindsay on 07789 397284.
Paul has carried out this service for the last two years, and, in doing so, has raised over £7,000 for charity. He is hoping to beat the 2016 total of £4,050 this year, as he collects trees in exchange for any donation. The charities Paul will be supporting this year are both Hurstpierpoint-based – Cancervive and Hope.
“This village has served me very well over the years,” Paul explains, “both in work and life in general. So being able to give something back is very important to me.”
Once your tree has served its useful purpose you can either text or call Paul on 07879 897241 and arrange the collection. There is no fixed amount for your donation and 100% of it will go directly to the two chosen charities. Paul adds: “Even if people don’t have a real Christmas tree I will happily collect any donations that people would like to give.”
Wrapping paper by Willis & Co, Cuckfield. Ribbon by Waitrose. Decorated Christmas Tree supplied by Harvester in Haywards Heath. Print by Swan Press. Chief present-wrapper: Emily Billson. Chocolate-eater: David Tingley.
Happy Christmas one and all...
By Mike Thatcher
Here’s a tip for you: if you want to travel incognito do not carry a huge silver cup around with you. This is what David Saitch learned after being awarded the prestigious Roebuck Cup at the Film Society of the Year Awards at Sheffield last month. ‘Go on my son, champion’ shouted one taxi driver out of his window. Others honked their horns. Conversations were struck on up the train home and even on a London escalator at the sight of this huge trophy.
The evening before, we were in our seats at the Sheffield Showrooms having been awarded a distinction for marketing earlier in the ceremony. I was very pleased and David looked pleased, although underneath I could tell he was chuntering about what more he had to do to win the darn thing.
“The Roebuck Cup is awarded to those remarkable individuals…” continued Deborah Parker, the chief exec of Cinema for All. My mind was wandering and David was texting Manon, asking what more he had to win the darn marketing award. “…names have been engraved upon the Roebuck Cup since 1979 - men and women who have given that extra something to the film society sector…”
At least we get our photo taken with Danny Leigh and Derek Malcolm for our marketing award, I thought.
It then occurred to me that I was wearing the same dark top I had been at the last two awards. Oh well, no one will notice.
“…known to many for his attendance at this event, year after year, his continual support of groups all over the country…” Well, it’s a man this year, I mused. “… he has been running his own group for many years, bringing great cinema to his community in West Sussex”.
In true sitcom fashion David and I exchanged a glance.
“…several years ago he set up the UK Film Societies Facebook page to bring you all together…”.
“Oh flip”, said David, (I may have misheard), as he realised he would have to go on stage and say something. The tributes continued as he gathered his thoughts: Katie Brandwood of Stanley’s Film Club said: “We are indebted to David for enabling us to get back on our feet after losing access to our equipment, along with our long-term venue. In response to a plea for help on the UK Film Societies group in May, David arranged for the spare projector at his own film society, the Hurst Village Cinema, to be given to us on extended loan, going out of his way to handover the projector in a matter of hours.”
David strode to the stage and modestly accepted the award. “All I did was create a Facebook page, it took 20 minutes.”
[Full story in December 2017 Hurst Life magazine]
It’s Pantomime time again! Oh - yes it is!
This year’s show is a traditional panto based on J.M. Barrie’s story of Peter Pan – lots of Pirates, Indians, Lost Boys, Mermaids and a fairy called Tinkerbell. This hilarious version, written by Tracy Rogers, will be a joy for all the family, with a lot of jokes and some great songs. Local singer Sam Nixon will once more be taking on the role of Principal Boy, this time as a thigh-slapping Peter Pan.
There will be evening shows at 7.30pm on 28th & 29th December 2017 and January 5th, with matinées at 1pm on 30th & 31st December, 1st, 6th and 7th January and at 5pm on 30th December, 1st and 6th January.
Tickets from £10 adult, £6 Child (under 12), £28 Family (2 adult + 2 children). Available online at www.hurstplayers.org.uk or from Clifford Dann on Hurstpierpoint High Street.
Hurstpierpoint Co-op store opening ceremony - Weds 29th Nov 2017
The Co-op store on the High Street is finally back, fully open at its original shop - since its closure following a fire in a nearby building back in September 2016.
More on this story in the January issue of Hurst Life magazine...
By Mike Thatcher (Hurst Village Cinema)
At last, a new season upon us and with projector wiped and speakers tuned we present three very different films for October:
Wednesday 11th October 2017 8pm Lady Macbeth
We open with Lady Macbeth, based on a Russian novella, not Shakespeare. Katherine is trapped in an arranged marriage in the North East at the turn of the last century, essentially kept prisoner by her vile father-in-law and dysfunctional son. Bored beyond belief she takes action, but flaunting convention cannot go unpunished. This dark and powerful psychological drama is both riveting and chilling and boasts a standout performance from Florence Pugh.
Friday 27th October 2017 8pm Free Fire
A rare combination in a film; a gripping thriller which is also very funny. It’s the early 70s and a group of IRA operatives meet a South African gunrunner in a Boston warehouse planning to take a cache of M16 rifles back to Ireland. The deal goes spectacularly wrong, and Brighton filmmaker Ben Wheatley treats us to one of the most epic shootouts in recent memory. Everyone has a gun but no one is in control. The story of double-crossing is as old as the hills but Free Fire tells it in a refreshing new way whilst parodying the insanity of gun violence. A good old fashioned hoot!
Sunday 29th October 2017 8pm Hidden Figures
Three unsung heroes of the 1960s space race are given their moment in the sun here. Their story is particularly inspiring because they were African American women who, as well as calculating the angles of re-entry, had to jump through hoops at NASA when racial segregation was still a fact of life. Every day, Math’s whizz Katherine G Johnson must cross the grounds at Langley Research centre to use the ‘colored ladies room’, in a literal running gag, although it not inherently a laughing matter. This film presses all the right buttons for a blast of enlightening, upbeat entertainment.
Chatt Estates, Hurst office
Keen eyed residents will have noticed that there’s a new estate agent on the High Street at number 133.
Chatt Estates was founded by Peter Chatt and Alex Santry when they opened its first office in Ditchling in 2015. Having been born and bred in the area, Peter explained that opening in Hurstpierpoint last month was an ‘obvious step’ for the thriving agency.
“Our team is hungry, proactive and efficient, and has a combined 15 years of local property knowledge. Do drop in and say hello. You’ll feel like you’ve know us forever,” Peter commented.
A Hurstpierpoint resident opened a new shop in the village last month.
Maria Fox is a bridal seamstress and she’s taken the shop at 108 High Street for her business that specialises in bridalwear, bridesmaids, prom dresses and occasion wear – but she also offers general alterations too.
Maria, who has been sewing for 15 years, comments: “I pride myself on being meticulous! I know it has to be just right. All dresses leave my shop fitting perfectly and my brides happy.”
The shop is open between 9am and 3pm during the week and by appointment on Saturdays. If you’d like to know more pop in and say Hi, or find Maria Fox Bridal Seamstress on Facebook.
By Bob Sampson
Hurstpierpoint Players are planning a repeat of the successful Non-stop Shakespeare as a fundraiser to refurbish the Players Theatre in Hurstpierpoint.
As happened in 1999, it is our intention to get all 37 plays read in this 70-hour marathon, and we are inviting our members, friends, schools, professional actors, neighbouring amateur dramatic groups, in fact anyone who is interested, to get involved.
There are also great opportunities for companies to sponsor plays or take advertising space in the souvenir programme. Email shakespeare@hurstplayers.org.uk for details of what’s on offer.
The readings will go on 24 hours a day from 7.30pm on Thursday 12th October until whatever time we finish on Sunday 15th.
If you don’t want to read, please put this in your diary anyway to come along and support those that do!
We contacted the Shakespeare Centre Library looking for advice on how long we might have to allow if we were to read right through. They said: “You deserve a huge amount of money if you’re going to read through all of Shakespeare’s plays! Going on the productions done here by the RSC, and taking at least half an hour off their running time, it would take anywhere between 60 - 80 hours to go through all the plays, depending on your texts and the speed of your readers.”
The Theatre Museum was really helpful too. Word had it that they had done a complete reading of the plays in 1989. However, it turned out they had missed a few! So it was left to the Hurstpierpoint Players to take on the task in 1999. We have done it before, so now the date is set and the mammoth operation is under way once again.
The Players Theatre building was converted to a theatre in 1976 and it has been apparent for a while now that the theatre building is in need of some significant maintenance and refurbishment work. The seats for example were already 30 years old when they were installed and the heating system has become more erratic and noisy as the years have passed. The Theatre is used by Hurstpierpoint Players, Hurst Village Cinema and Centre Stage Children’s theatre as well as many other theatre and musical concerts. The intention of this refurbishment is to make the place more comfortable for the audiences and users of the theatre.
If you want to take part in this thrilling experience, or just find out more details, send an email to shakespeare@hurstplayers.org.uk
Hurst College students in action around Hurstpierpoint
Every year Hurstpierpoint College’s Senior School sends out three year groups, with staff, to do project work in the local vicinity as part of their Community Action Day initiative at the end of the summer term.
This year the college dispatched 470 pupils and 79 staff to 32 locations, to perform manual chores and maintenance work for charities and other worthy organisations. The community-oriented students, accompanied by dedicated members of staff, took up their mops, rakes, spades and trowels to participate in one of the college’s most valued annual traditions.
Projects ranged from tidying public footpaths, clearing back scrub on the South Downs and gardening in organic cooperatives to serving in elderly care centres and washing windows and minibuses. The college also sent a concert party to a care home and a gang show to a school for children with complex needs.
Locations and organisations in the immediate vicinity to benefit included the Millennium Gardens and allotments in the village, Paws and Claws Animal Rescue Service in Sayers Common and Age Concern in Hassocks.
This is one of a number of days in the year when Hurst College and its students gives something back to the local community in a more direct way.
By Michèle Copeland
I was looking forward to meeting Robin Driscoll, one dull Wednesday in mid-July, in the heart of the village.
He lives in what was probably an old yeoman’s cottage, which was added on to in the 1800s and again in the 1970s.
In his own words: “It was better built then, than in the 1970s, where there are still problems with the drains!”
He lives with his wife Deborah, whom he met in 1982. They have a son Sam and a five year old grandson called Dominic. They moved to Hurstpierpoint from Brighton in 1993 when they were looking into secondary schools for Sam.
Robin was schooled at Boundstone School, Sompting, between Lancing and Worthing. At 17 he decided to study Creative Arts in Worthing, which is now Northbrook College, finding the more academic path more challenging. He then took a year’s break from the course to work with the Community Arts Workshop in Shoreham. “This setup was specifically geared to help special needs kids, as well as local children of all backgrounds to express themselves via performance arts,” Robin continues, in the comfortable, bright conservatory where we are now sitting over cups of tea.
Hoping to return to college for his second year, he was surprised to find that the Vice Principal was not so keen to allow him to do that, as it was no longer an art college as such. It was now West Sussex College of Design and no longer taught fine arts. So Robin decided to go back to The Barn to work with special needs groups for four years before starting The Cliffhanger Theatre Company in 1978. This company he started with co-workers and friends and ran for some 15 years. Notable names included Peter McCarthy, who became a successful author, Becky Stevens, who is now a kids writer for TV and an author, and Tony Hasse, who now writes for TV and performs, whom he had met at the workshop in the early 1970s.
“We toured the country doing serials, a two hour show, in successive weeks, first based in Brighton and finishing at the Edinburgh Fringe,” he explains.
They were so successful that, after three years, they didn’t need the Arts Council grant anymore.
“During that time I was asked to play the Great Raymondo in Only Fools and Horses, which was quite stressful as one had to remember one’s lines,” he remarks!
“What you have to understand is that the Edinburgh Fringe was a kind of showcase for television and the arts at the time. We were consequently invited to perform in Europe and Australia for two years running.
Unfortunately, to do this nowadays is too pricey, so most comedians have become stand-ups and the awards tend to go to them.
“We were then approached by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones to contribute to their TV sketches on Alas Smith and Jones, a British comedy series on the BBC in the 80s, and then got the opportunity to write for Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean, when Richard Curtis got more involved with Comic Relief and so was less available, right up until the early part of 2000.” Asked about how it was to work in the TV world, Robin says: “I always felt that they were generous spirited and helpful.”
[this is an extract from the full article printed in Hurst Life August 2017 issue]
By Michèle Copeland
Which residents of Hurstpierpoint would not have heard of, or been to, the St Lawrence Fair? Yet how many of us know its history and the role that the Harris family has played over 100 years?
Harris Brothers Family Fun Fair - photo from the 80s
Though the Fair has been around for over 700 hundred years in Hurstpierpoint, it presumably started then to coincide with a cattle market trading day, which would have been very popular, first on Church Green (where the War Memorial now is) - the 1897 OS map has the area around the crossroads as ‘Market Place’. Later it moved a short distance away to the north to Lamb Platt, where London Terrace and North Terrace are now, opposite the entrance to Trinity Road. There are even entries in the school log citing occasions when the cattle spilled over into the road and prevented children going to school!
However, the link to Hurstpierpoint with the Harris brothers started in the 1860s and was made by John Harris, who had five sons and was a timber merchant with a yard in nearby Cuckfield.
He came to the fairground business at the time of horse powered roundabouts and went on, with his sons, to be the first operator of steam roundabouts in Sussex. They first opened at Brighton Racecourse in Victorian times by supplying ‘amusements’ to fairgrounds .
[The full article is featured on the pages of the July 2017 issue of Hurst Life magazine]
Hurstpierpoint Traders organise a successful charity Fashion Show in June.
Last month a group of High Street traders from Hurstpierpoint held a charity event raising £1,200.
The owners of Ashley and Thomas, Le Chic Fashion Exchange and Morley’s Wine Bar worked together to organise the evening of fashion and fun, which was held at Morley’s in June. Clothes were supplied courtesy of Audrey (Le Chic) and the jewellery and scarfs from Gill (Ashley & Thomas). The event was a fundraiser for local charity Dame Vera Lynn’s Children’s Charity in celebration of Dame Vera’s 100th birthday this year.
Thanks must go to: The models (Sarah, Mickey, Sara, Jane, Liz, Susannah, Miriam, Isabella, Sheila); Sharon (hair); Jamie (makeup); Dressers (Sarah & Meriel); Steve and Chris of Gogglebox (comperes for the evening); all traders who donated prizes (Cookshop, Clive Miller, Muddy, JanTon, Hartley’s, Profiles of Hassocks, Le Chic Fashion Exchange, Lustig & Webb, and Louisanna florist.
With special thanks to Toby and his team at Morley’s, and Steve at Trident Leisure for the supply of the marquee and chairs at no cost.
What an amazing night – it just proves what can be achieved when a community pulls together.
By Prue Heron
This lovely sociable afternoon will be held on Sunday, 11th June from 1-5.30pm.
The nine gardens that will be opening cover a spectrum from magnificent lawns, views to work-in progress, vegetables and, this year, one with children in mind.
Gardens opening their gates are:-
• 35c Cuckfield Road, BN6 9RW
• 13 Western Road, BN6 9SU
• 17 Western Road, BN6 9SU
• 162 Western Road, BN6 9TD
• South Lodge, South Avenue, BN6 9QB
• 15 Orchard Way, BN6 9UB
• 25 Orchard Way, BN6 9UB
• 26 Orchard Way, BN6 9UB
• 28 Orchard Way, BN6 9UB
There will be balloons at each entrance and the fee is only £6 for the whole day (free for 14s and under). There will be a hop-on, hop-off bus service running throughout starting at Trinity Road at 1pm. Trinity Road car park is free on a Sunday.
More information available on the website: www.hurstpierpointopengardens.org.uk or phone Prue Heron on 01273 835064.
Three Hurstpierpoint residents have all completed marathons this year, and they’ve helped each other along the way.
Fiona Bates, Gary Cole and Sarah Elsmore all live on South Avenue and became each other’s support network earlier this year when it became apparent they were working towards the same goal.
The full story is on page 19 of June's Hurst Life magazine. But you can support each of them with the following donation pages:
Fiona: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fibates
Sarah: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/sarahs-fundraising-page-2090
By Andrew Hair, coach
Hurstpierpoint Gymnastics Club had another tremendous success at their 18th Annual Arts Competition. Over a hundred gymnasts competed for trophies and medals in Ball Pairs, Beam Pairs, Rope Solos and Sports Acrobatic Sixes. Some of the competitors only joined the Club in the spring term, while some of the Seniors have attended the Club for over ten years.
(Full story in May issue of Hurst Life magazine}
The more eagle-eyed residents of the village may have spotted a subtle change to number 56 High Street in the last month or so.
Audrey’s has become Le Chic Fashion Exchange as it seeks to make it more obvious what the shop stocks.
Hurst resident Audrey Wright, along with her partner Graham Towler, is still very much running the store which opened in August last year.
Le Chic Fashion Exchange stocks a mix of new and quality secondhand clothes, shoes and handbags, including such brands as Aquascutum, Jaeger and Coast. “We seek to be a place where local folk can find all sorts of bargains,” Graham explained, pointing to a ladies jacket that had never been worn, on the rail at just £35 (it was bought for over £500 originally!).
The exchange agreement with owners of clothes means that if something hasn’t sold in six weeks, it simply gets returned to them. This creates a natural turnover of stock and surely means that fashion bargain hunters really do have to pop in every week!
The shop also now boasts a new alterations and repairs service in store. Nataliya Avery works from the premises three days a week, has her own fashion range as well as being prepared to make to measure.
Le Chic Fashion Exchange is at 56 High Street, Hurspierpoint and is open Tuesday – Saturday.
A chance opportunity led Matt and Sophie White to not only buy a property on the edge of the South Downs National Park but also build their dream house for their family too. Whilst the build was certainly a Grand Design it was actually the sense of community in Hurstpierpoint that sold it to them.
By David Tingley
Matt and Sophie White set up Matt Architecture in 2011, following a two-year stint living and working in Abu Dhabi. The plan was to return to London, set up a family home and build the new business together. As part of this, the pair set about developing the site of their house in London; making it into the home they wanted.
During the building work they moved the whole family to Cuckfield, where they rented a property for a year. But they never moved back to the city.
Whilst living in Cuckfield the pair got a taste for family life in ‘the country’ and they saw just how smaller communities could work for them. An old friend of Matt’s lived in Hurstpierpoint and they had been to see him and liked what they saw. A coincidental loading of a new property app while Matt was in the area, led him to learn that Danny Lodge was for sale – which got them both thinking.
[extract from full article in May 2017's issue of Hurst Life magazine]
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