AAH May 2013

AAH ALL ABOUT HORSHAM MAGAZINE

May 2013

March 2013

April 2013

AAH AAH M MAGAZINE ALL ABOUT HORSHA

M MAGAZINE ALL ABOUT HORSHA

Now delivering to 13,300 Homes and Businesses in the District

Challenge the Status Quo This edition marks the second anniversary of AAH Magazine.

I’ve only just been reminded of this, and to celebrate I’m going to blow up a balloon and maybe, if it gets wild, tie it to another balloon and tape it to a door.

When I launched AAH, I believed it would be a resounding success from the word ‘go’.

I could only foresee a scenario in which everybody who received a copy would instantly talk about it, spread the word, and phone lines would crumble under the subsequent demand from businesses all over the world wanting to advertise with us.

Needless to say, it didn’t quite pan out that way!

Gradually, I began to understand that the old business cliché about ‘losing in the first year, breaking even in the second and making a profit in the third’ might have some merit.

There are some businesses that hit the ground running, without a doubt. But they tend to be providing something that people have been waiting for and previously did not have.

Sugar and Snow, the new ice-cream parlour in Horsham, is perhaps a good example of this.

But Horsham was certainly not lacking in local magazines or newspapers in May 2011. People were not wandering

around town thinking ‘only five publications to choose from? If only there was another one that took on a slightly different slant!’

Gradually though, I believe we have carved out a unique identity. It’s been a fun, if exhausting, two years for us, but now AAH has become something that people were, perhaps, waiting for after all.

Hopefully this doesn’t read like one of those moral monologues that He-Man used to give after he had killed a skeleton, but if you are running your own business and it’s taking a while, do stick at it if you believe in the project. It does take time, even when you’re ramming the message through 13,500 doors every month...

We have a little army of delivery people across the district, but Roger Clark, who has so reliably been carrying out the Partridge Green and Cowfold rounds, has left us to take up a new role in local politics. I filled in the round last month, and really don’t want to do it again! So if you would be willing to take it on please contact me on 01403 878026. We also need somebody to step into the Ashington delivery round as our man there has taken on a full time job...

Ben, Editor

Ben Morris (AAH Editorial & Advertising) and Toby Phillips (All AAH Photography)

Cover Story

AAH ALL ABOUT HORSHAM MAGAZINE

AAH

April 2013

April 2013

ALL ABOUT HORSHAM MAGAZINE

Come on, like we would put a Quo tribute band on the cover!

Although if we had, I could have at least pretended that we took the shot in that particular location because the plants in the background look like matchstick men...

Instead, we chose the image of Gary Best at Coffee Real next to his new roaster.

There is a similar photo inside in which Gary is stood by his old roasting machine, but it looks like an advert for Coffee Real with the branding in the background,

which put it out of the cover reckoning.

For this shot, I was actually stood up a step-ladder holding up a large reflector sheet to keep the sun out of Gary’s eyes, whilst Damian at Coffee Real made sure I didn’t fall. Toby had armed Gary with a ‘coffee scoop‘ but abandoned the idea as it just didn’t look natural, so instead Gary is holding an empty cup! Toby had intended for the image to show more of the roasting machine, but it left a little too much ‘dead’ wall space so we zoomed in a touch.

Why visit our website at www.aahorsham.co.uk when you could go for a walk up Chanctonbury Ring instead?

To discuss advertising in AAH call Ben on 01403 878026. View our advertising rates on Page 36...

CONTENTS 6 News Round-Up What’s making headlines, including a revamp of the Millennium Maze

10 Cricket Festival Sussex will take on Somerset before the Sharks face Kent at the festival

12 My Story So Far Paul Bellringer on changing the gambling industry for the better

19 Art The incredible three dimensional creations of Warnham’s Lesley Tayor

24 Coffee Real Meet the roaster who believes most of the coffee we drink is dreadful!

31 Housing Plans We look at the new developments being built around the district

AAH Editor: Ben Morris editor@aahorsham.co.uk 01403 878026 / 01903 892899 Advertising: Kelly Morris advertising@aahorsham.co.uk 01403 878026 / 01903 892899 Photography: Toby Phillips tobyphillipsphotography.co.uk info@tobyphillipsphotography.co.uk 07968 795625 Contributors Jeremy Knight (Historic text for articles on Bainbridge Copnall and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) Additional thanks to...

Jill Neff for Bainbridge Copnall images, Paul

40 Meal Review The Plough and Attic Rooms in Rusper has an abundance of character

46 One to Watch Tom Hayward only started playing golf properly in 2010. He’s now a pro...

51 History Part two of our fascinating look at Bainbridge Copnall’s career in art

58 Music Meet Quo-caine ahead of their biggest gig yet at the Capitol

62 Group Discussion After 30 years, Sunbeam Swimming Club is still offering a vital service

66 How Interesting Horsham has featured in two books by the creator of Sherlock Holmes

AAH ALL ABOUT HORSHAM MAGAZINE April 2013

This month we will be introducing a new delivery round in the Queensway and Chesworth Lane area of Horsham Bellringer, Quo-caine for lending us their Telecasters, Fishers Farm Park, Berkeley Homes, Countryside Properties, Crest Nicholson, Gary at Coffee Real, Mannings Heath Golf Club

(Slinfold), Ben Morris (Tower Hill, Rookwood, Dial Post, Crabtree), Toby Phillips (Town Centre), Herbie Whitmore (West Grinstead), Ben’s Grandma (Wisborough Green)

Absolutely No Thanks to...

Ben’s mum who couldn’t proof read as she was ‘helping with the show’.

AAH is available to pick up at Sakakini (Carfax), Artisan Patisserie (Market Square), Pavilions in the Park, CoCo’s salons (Lintot Square in Southwater and High Street, Billingshurst), West Chiltington and Horsham Museum

Door-to-Door Delivery team The Paterson family, Geoff Valentine, Andrew Price, Trish Fuller, Sarah Guile, Amy Rogers, Laura Harding, Alex Bland and Cara Cocoracchio (all Horsham rounds), Anna Laker and Alex Besson (Billingshurst), Jamie Towes, Shaun Bacon and Eddie Robinson (Southwater), Jack Barnett (Monks Gate/Mannings Heath), Karen Parnell (Warnham), Will Smith (Ashington), Roger Clark (Partridge Green and Cowfold), Reece Elvin

Website Run by Mi-Store of Brighton. Read all of our editions at www.aahorsham.co.uk AAH Magazine is an independent publication owned by B. Morris and is based in Ashington Copies of past editions of AAH are available for £3 each (this includes postage).

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If you liked Piazza Italia...

1: ...then you’ll simply love the Broadwood Morris Day of Dance in Horsham on 11th May. They’re more or less the same thing, except instead of fast cars, fine food and opera you have bearded men wearing bells and braces, skipping around waving hankies in the air.

Sometimes they trade the hankies for sticks, and gently bang them together. Warning, this event may contain accordions...

2: You want more Morris dancing? The Tanners Arms in Brighton Road, Horsham, plays host to the Magog Morris Dancers on Tuesday, 21st May, at 6pm. The Magog will be performing a variety of traditional dances accompanied by live folk music. If we’re making this a Morris Dancing special, we’d best not forget that one of the Broadwood Morris Men stalwarts, Old Harry, passed away recently. Horsham Museum and Art Gallery will be displaying one of his costumes, kindly donated by his daughter.

3: Two therapists have organised a Health and Beauty show to be held at The Holbrook Club in support of the CoCo’s Foundation. Hilary Collis of Wellbrook Therapies and Pat Ungless of Hakalau Life host the event on Wednesday, 22nd May from 3.30 - 9.30pm. There will be numerous professionals present to offer help and advice on many subjects linked to the Health and Beauty industry. CoCo’s is a wonderful charity, and one we’ve featured on

several occasions in AAH, so please support it if you can. Tickets must be purchased in advance to enable you to book your free taster session. They cost £10 which includes tea or coffee, a goodie bag and prize draw entry. www.zesthealthandbeauty.biz/show or www.cocosfoundation.co.uk

Flute‘ plus movements from John Rutter’s ‘Suite Antique.‘ There will also be readings by members of the local and Quaker community together with patron the Earl of Lytton (Lord Byron’s great grandson) and Lucy West.

Tickets cost £28 from www.blueidol.org or www.BMGlive.com

4: Belles Events will be hosting a Vintage and Retro Fair on 26th May at 12-5pm. At AAH, we’re not entirely sure what falls under ‘retro’ and ‘vintage’. But we think ‘retro’ mainly relates to the early 1970s, preferably items in red, yellow and brown, or things associated to Space Invaders. Whilst ‘vintage’ is anything that’s either light pink or blue with a striped background. Well, it’s not a precise description! Anyway, you’ll find fashion, accessories, furniture, retro home wares and toys at The Drill Hall in Denne Road. You can also grab a cupcake and a drink in the Pop-Up Vintage Tea Room run by Splendid Occasions. www.bellesevents.co.uk.

6: Many of the artists you’ve read about in this magazine over the last two years will be involved in Horsham Artists’ Open Studios in June. The event sees local artists open their houses, studios or group venues to the public, showcasing and demonstrating their work. This year will be a little different as the opening weekend will be held at Sedgwick Park. It’s held on 15–16th June and 22–23rd June. www.horshamartistsopenstudios.co.uk

5: As part of the Shipley Arts Festival, the Bernardi Chamber Ensemble are playing ‘Music from the time of William Penn’ at the Blue Idol, Coolham, on Friday, 18th May at 7.30pm. The festival’s international level musicians will be performing Handel’s ‘Water Music,’ ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’ Bach’s ‘Air‘ from suite no.2, and ‘Suite for

7: Airfix fans will enjoy a new book by Pulborough author Arthur Ward. The Other Side of Airfix, published by Pen and Sword Books, is a full account of the rise and fall of one of the leading toy brands of our age. The book includes several pages dedicated to the work of the late Southwater artist Bill Stallion, who was responsible for some of the most memorable Airfix box covers. The book (ISBN 9781848848511) is available at www.pen-and-sword.co.uk 8: Two successful business women have used

AAH News Round-up

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12 their combined experience to write their own book. The Team Formula: A Leadership Tale of a Team who found their Way, by Mandy Flint and Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, is based on a team in the world of international business struggling with conflicts following a company merger. Mandy and Elisabet share their professional secrets of leading teams at global organisations in this ‘mustread’ book for leaders and team members. http://theteamformula.com/ 9: HAODS (Horsham Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society) present Pride and Prejudice at the Capitol on 19th - 22nd June. Tickets cost £13 from 01403 750220.

10: Horsham In Bloom Committee has started work on improving the Millennium Maze in Horsham Park. The maze, based on legends of Horsham, opened in 2001. A bronze sculpture of the St Leonard’s Forest dragon, created by Horsham artist Hannah Stewart, sits in the maze’s centre, whilst other features include giant dragon eggs, a fairy border and a Sussex by the Sea themed corner. Due to the popularity of the maze, a number of the features have been removed due to wear and tear, whilst several plant specimens could not survive a never-ending stream of children’s feet. Realising the maze has been looking tired for a time, In Bloom

has embarked on a project to revitalise the maze. Already, work has begun on pathways, and new benches will be put in place. Notices may be installed to inform visitors about some of the local legends. Plants will add new colour, but there will still be places for children to explore. When the maze was first created, it was well supported by Horsham District Council as well as a number of local businesses. If you can help with this new project, please contact In Bloom on 01403 215491 or visit www.horshaminbloom.org.uk 11: It isn’t an obvious location for a movie about toxic fumes on aeroplanes, but in June a film crew will be rolling into Horsham to shoot scenes for A Dark Reflection. The film, scheduled for release in 2014, will tackle the issue of contaminated air in aircraft. Writer and director Tristan Loraine hopes that the film will play an important role in making air travel safer. Tristan reports that the script is almost complete, and that he is looking for local investors and support to fund the co-operative project. The last feature film by Tristan’s Fact Not Fiction Films, 31 North 62 East, premiered at the Capitol in 2009.

12: Do the next ‘Brownlee brothers’ reside in Horsham? Probably not, as the chances of two siblings with that same rare surname also achieving Olympic triathlon gold is supremely

unlikely. Nonetheless, Horsham’s first Youth Triathlon will hopefully unearth some talent when it’s held in the Pavilions in the Park and Horsham Park on Sunday, 23rd June. The triathlon will comprise a series of eight races based on different age (from 8-18) and experience ranges. For entry details visit www.horshamleisurelink.co.uk or call Ian Ford, Sports Development Officer at Horsham District Council, on 01403 215634.

13: Warnham Mill is soon to re-open as a Veterinary Surgery, and the new owners at Arthur Lodge Veterinary Group are keen to uncover the building’s lost history. Vet Julian Peters said: “The Mill has not been recorded in any known documents or books making it very difficult to track down any information.

Therefore, the general public will be of great help in our project and I would encourage anyone who knows anything to get in touch.”

Email arthurlodge@pmwcom.co.uk if you can help. Everything found will be displayed at the opening of the Warnham Mill Veterinary Surgery on Friday, 7th June. If you’re looking for the picture, its on Page 8...

14: Cancer Research UK will bring its popular Race for Life to Horsham Park on Sunday, 2nd June. http://raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org 15: There is a new man at the helm of The

News Round-up 13

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Candy Box in Horsham’s Carfax. Howard Bayliss has spent over 25 years in banking and finance, but felt the need to do something totally different. Already, Howard has forged partnerships with other local businesses, with all sandwiches, rolls and baguettes in the newsagents now being supplied by Panino’s. He has also expanded the range of specialist tobacco since the closure of Burkitt’s in Middle Street.

16: This is Tiny Bobby, who could just be the

world’s smallest lamb. He was born at Fishers Farm Park in Wisborough Green, weighing only 2.2lbs, and his vital statistics have been sent to the Guinness World Records. Staff are confident he will soon be recognised as the world's smallest lamb. The Daily Mail ran an extensive piece on its website. Readers made helpful comments such as ‘Hi Cutie Pie’, obviously forgetting that not only can Tiny Bobby not read, but he’s unlikely to be interested in cross-species online dating. For now, at least. Silly Daily Mail readers!

17: A Garden and Local Produce Fair, in aid of St Catherine’s Hospice New Horizons Appeal, will be held at Summers Place, Billingshurst, on Thursday, 16th May. Pippa Greenwood will officially open the fair at 10.30am and will be there all day to talk to visitors about growing fruit and vegetables in the garden.

Early birds can enjoy a Bubbly Preview Breakfast (8.30 - 10.30am) with tickets costing £12.50. General admission is £4. Visit www.stch.org.uk/newhorizons

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News Round-up

Festival of Cricket Comes to Town...

In recent times, visitors to the Horsham Festival of Cricket have witnessed some remarkable results.

Perhaps the performance that most springs to mind is that by Sussex in 2010. During their County Championship match against Derbyshire at Horsham, each of the first four batsmen in the line-up scored centuries in Sussex’s first innings.

Ed Joyce (164), Chris Nash (156), Ben Brown (112) and Murray Goodwin (100*) hit the runs as Sussex amassed a mammoth total of 576 for 3 declared as they won by an innings.

Who knows what memories the popular County Cricket Festival will throw up this year? The festival is held at Horsham Cricket Club in Cricketfield Road from Wednesday, 22nd May to Saturday, 25th May. Sussex will play Somerset in Division 1 of the

Liverpool Victoria (LV) County Championship.

This will be followed on Sunday, 26th May by a one-day match against traditional foes, Kent, in a 40 over-a-side game in the Yorkshire Bank YB40 competition.

Sussex CCC first played a championship match at Horsham against Essex in 1908.

Since then, Sussex have played well over 100 first class matches at Cricketfield Road, some 90 of which were in the championship, the remainder being limited over games.

In that time, many Horsham cricketers have played for Sussex.

David Sheppard also played for England before becoming Bishop of Liverpool, whilst others include Charlie and Jack Oakes, Paul Parker and Chris Nash, the current Vice Captain of Sussex.

County cricket was brought to a halt by the

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two World Wars. There was another break that lasted from 1957 until 1983. Although friendly and one day matches were played at Horsham, championship cricket was not held there for 26 years.

Since then, the festival has blossomed to the benefit of both club and county. It requires a great deal of hard work by Horsham CC to provide county class playing facilities, good support by a cricket loving following and a commitment by Sussex to play in the north of the county.

Once again this year it seems likely that Sussex will be challenging for honours.

Somerset and Kent, their opponents, are both strong sides, so the festival promises two high quality competitive matches.

For more details visit www.sussexcricket.co.uk

HORSHAM FESTIVAL OF CRICKET JOIN US FOR THE

HORSHAM FESTIVAL OF CRICKET, FROM WEDNESDAY 22ND MAY TO SUNDAY 26TH MAY INCLUSIVE, IN THE FANTASTIC SURROUNDINGS OF THE HORSHAM CRICKET AND SPORTS CLUB.

SUSSEX CCC VS SOMERSET CCC Wednesday 22nd May - Saturday 25th May. Play begins at 11.00am each day Tickets £15 per day for Adults. £5 for Juniors (18 & under) Gates open at 9.30am each day

SUSSEX SHARKS VS KENT SPITFIRES Sunday 26th May. Play begins at 1.45pm Tickets £15 for Adults. £5 for Juniors (18 & under) Gates open at 12.15pm

FOR FOR TICKETS TICKETS VISIT WWW WWW.SUSSEXCRICKET.CO.UK/TICKETS W.SUSSEX .SUSSE CRICKET T.CO.UK/TICKETS OR CALL CALL 0844 264 0206

12

‘I haven’t beaten my addiction to the social

impact of gambling’ Paul Bellringer OBE of Horsham

I was born in Windsor, Berkshire, in 1943. My father was in the army and finished up in intelligence.

He wasn’t a particularly good father. I was the youngest of three children and it was my mother who was the constant parent.

She brought us up single-handedly for much of the time. I recall my childhood being a happy time and I have memories of going for walks around Windsor Castle.

We moved to Cheltenham as my father moved to the new Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). I didn’t distinguish myself at school, but I did enjoy my time with the sea cadets. My brother had been through the cadets and joined the navy, and I would do the same thing.

With the cadets, I learned how to play the

Bosun’s Call. I was also coxswain of a whaler, a 27-foot boat. Cheltenham didn’t have a river so we used to practice on the lake, but one year we did very well and made it to the area finals held on the Thames. I was told off as my swearing had wafted over to the bank and some of the ladies were not impressed.

I joined the navy a month before my 16th birthday. I didn’t want to follow my father in to the army. I was on HMS Ganges, opposite Harwich harbour, for my shore training and I was there for 18 months. In those days it was said to be tougher than being in a borstal and it toughened me up.

They did a BBC television broadcast and out of 2,000 boys I was the one selected to do it. I went to broadcasting house and my mother was thrilled when it was on

television. When I returned to the ship, the captain called me in and said: ‘Very good, Bellringer, but keep out of the way of the Supply Officer for the next few weeks’. The television crew had asked me a question about the food on the ship and I had told them it wasn’t very nice!

Following that, I was on HMS Hermes for a time and then on a frigate, HMS Plymouth. On the aircraft carrier we went through a typhoon in the South China Sea. A few of us went to the stern of the ship, tied ourselves to the railings and watched waves 40-foot high crash by. It was the first time in my life I had experienced a feeling beyond fear, but we were all overcome with a sort of calmness. It gave me a true appreciation of nature.

In those days you didn’t have cheap package holidays, so joining the navy was

My Story: Paul Bellringer a way of seeing the world. Whilst at HMS Terror, the Singapore Naval Base, I committed a minor infringement. But I was told I could escape punishment if I donated blood, so I did. I donated for the first time and I have now done so 80 times. I’m targeting 100.

However, the navy wasn’t a particularly happy experience for me so I left after nine years in 1968. My career hadn’t progressed. I stayed on the lower deck but I did at least educate myself. I went in with no O’ Level and came out with eight O’ Levels and two A’ Levels. I’m a great believer that you can learn something from every experience you have in life.

I went back to Gloucestershire and for a couple of years I worked for Dowty Rotol, an engineering company, before moving to London in 1970. It was here that I became a Samaritan volunteer at St Stephen in Walbrook.

I met my first wife, Colette, who was half-French. She then took a job with the World Health Organisation in Geneva, and I went along with her for 18 months. If I hadn’t been British I wouldn’t have minded being Swiss!

I returned to England in 1973 and took a job with the probation service.

I became very busy and this led to the breakdown of my first marriage.

My favourite role with the probation service was working for Croydon Crown Court. In those days the probation

service was very much part of the court system and the judges would often call you into their chambers to discuss sentencing.

Anonymous. He said: ‘Paul, you have a real feel for this. Perhaps you should take it further.’ Eventually, I did.

I feel I made a difference to the lives of some individuals. With some offenders though, you do have this revolving door syndrome.

I married for a second time, and my two sons Matthew and Nathan were born in 1980 and 1982, the year we moved to Chichester. I had returned to the probation service in a senior position. I stayed with them for another eight years but all the while my interest in gambling addiction was developing.

Due to circumstances or somebody’s way of thinking, it can be difficult to break out of a criminal mentality, particularly if they are dealing with any form of addiction.

Whilst at the Beckenham office I became a liaison officer for a hostel called Gordon House, which was a specialised place for people with gambling problems. It was named after a great man called Gordon Moody, who helped establish Gamblers

I began to do things with the West Sussex Probation Service to raise awareness of gambling addiction and by 1990 I had decided I was going to leave. I was confident with the skills and attributes I had attained, so I set up a charity with the help of Youth Clubs UK.

14 ‘My attitude to gambling is that I’m not against it.

I’ve gambled myself, although I don’t do it very well’ Together with a Board of Trustees we founded the ‘UK Forum on Young People and Gambling’.

We ran it on a shoestring, but after three years we needed more money. People were not really interested in a national organisation on gambling, so I became a youth worker.

Whilst the UK Forum was no longer a charity, I took it with me into the youth service. I remember one memorable week in Avon Tyrrell in the New Forest, when we ran a week long seminar with young people from 14 different European countries, all based on gambling.

My attitude to gambling is that I’m not against it. I’ve gambled myself, although I don’t do it very well, and it’s a perfectly legitimate activity.

But it has an addictive element, so it’s up to the industry, the government and of course gamblers to treat it responsibly.

In 1996, I was made redundant. I took this little lump of money and reformed the charity and brought the trustees back together. I said: ‘It’s May, I’ve got a young family but I will halve the salary I had at Youth Clubs UK and I’ll give it to the end of the year. If the charity is not viable I’ll have to get a proper job!’

On the 1st December I contacted the probation service and said ‘help!’ as we were running into the sand. But two days later I had a meeting with David Rigg, Communications Director at Camelot. The result was that Camelot put enough money on the table to keep the charity going for another three months.

In 1996, I got a group together that included Nigel Kent-Lemon, who had great knowledge of the gambling industry. We looked at the viability of establishing a national charity across all ages. It was my vision but he helped me tremendously.

Paul was one of the founders of GamCare, which continues to help thousands each year for not being responsible, but I had never condemned gambling and I think that helped us to make progress. We received another Lottery grant and gradually the charity developed. We ran a helpline, counselling services, as well as education and training on responsible gambling.

I had been three weeks away from throwing it all in. But with this new group we applied for Lottery funding and they gave enough for us to fund ourselves for three years. We launched GamCare in April 1997.

The numbers of people we reached built up every year and they continue to rise. We have 74% of the adult population gambling in this country and yet there is still moral ambivalence to it. As human beings we are programmed to take risks and gambling is a stylised form of risk taking. People would do it whether it was legal or not.

I might condemn the gambling industry

We worked with, rather than against, the

gambling industry and began to talk to them about creating voluntary codes of conduct. In 2000, four of us went to see George Howarth, who was the minister responsible for gambling, and pressed for a review. This happened, and I gave lots of evidence, and that resulted in the Gambling Act 2005. I was one of three specialist advisors to a joint parliamentary scrutiny committee.

I was amazed at the profile I suddenly received. I was involved in an awful lot of media work and would speak all around the world. I was in Canada once when I spoke in a live radio broadcast in England. The phone rang when I was in the shower so I actually gave the interview whilst sat on the bed stark

My Story: Paul Bellringer naked. It tickles me to this day!

One of my worst media experiences was on ‘Dispatches’. The journalist wanted to put words into my mouth. I didn’t budge and I ended up being in the programme for three seconds.

Paul working in Chichester

Another time, I was invited by the BBC on to a programme compered by Jeremy Paxman on the issue of gambling but it was totally hijacked by John McCririck. I didn’t say a word!

I wrote a book called ‘Understanding Problem Gamblers’ which sold well. It took me a year to write and is now also printed in Chinese.

I married Anne in 1998 and we moved to Horsham in 2000. That year, I was staggered to receive an OBE from the Queen for my work in the gambling industry. It was recognition for me and my team as well of course.

For me, personally, it meant something else. No matter what I did as a child, in my father’s eyes it was never good enough. In a backward sort of way, that was probably one of the things that drove me on all my life. When I received the OBE, it laid that ghost to rest.

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Two years later I was invited to St Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for a service related to the Queenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Golden Jubilee. Anne and I went up. My office was in Westminster, so I thought we would get changed there and ring for a taxi. Twenty minutes later, a Cockney taxi driver appeared and said: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re bloody lucky Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m here! The copper told me â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no way youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re getting through the cordon!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; I told him â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;look, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a piece of paper here that says I need to take two bell ringers to St Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and if the Queen doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have her bells rung, on your own head be it!â&#x20AC;&#x2122;They let him through!

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ZZZ WRRYH\V FRP Paul and Anne in April 2010

Do you have a story to tell?

If you think your ‘story so far’ would make an interesting read, please do get in touch with us on 01403 878026. A visit may cost you a cup of tea for Ben and Toby. We consider biscuits to be a welcome bonus.

The OBE is not my top achievement. That would be ensuring that social responsibility was written into the Gambling Act. The industry has expanded a great deal in the last 20 years. This ‘in play’ market throws up new challenges, as does the internet. This hasn’t created a new breed of gambler. It has created a migration of people who are vulnerable to having a problem with gambling from one form of gambling, perhaps fruit machines, to another, such as casino machines.

In my view, it’s rare that you should ban any kind of activity. It’s much better to legalise it, regulate it, enforce regulation and tax it.

I left GamCare in 2004 having achieved what I wanted to. I set up my own business for the first time, as a consultant on social responsibility. I’m still involved in a national strategy board on responsible gambling and I’m a non-executive director of an organisation that settles disputes between gamblers and operators. After 33 years I still haven’t beaten my addiction to the social impact of gambling.

Anne was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006 and battled on until 2011. She remained an elegant dresser to the end and would step out of that door with a smile on her face ready to help other people.

She was the love of my life. I rather hoped we would live long into old age together. But it

Paul in Berlin days before the Wall came down didn’t happen that way.

The idea of turning the old putting green into a landscape garden had already been mooted, but Anne was instrumental in making it happen. They needed £200,000 and she made it. Half of that amount came from a Lottery grant, and Anne and the In Bloom committee matched it.

Sadly, the garden opened one month after she died. But I’m delighted that there is a garden bench with a plaque dedicated to Anne. If there’s nobody around and I’m in town I’ll go and sit down there for a while.

Sausages by David Bell

They put an open stage in the garden and I realised it wasn’t really being utilised. I thought I could make something happen. I wanted to do something with a local focus that brought joy and pleasure to people. I also wanted to prove to myself I wasn’t a one trick pony.

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I put together a committee, and last year we held the first Horsham Garden Music Festival.

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I turned 70 in February, but I haven’t got used to being 60 yet. For as long as I can, I just want to go on making a difference.

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Make-up by Jackie Newman; Photographs by Toby Phillips Photography

19

A splash of colour makes

Everything All White Lesley Taylor has attracted the attention of London galleries with her three dimensional art. She’s now embarking on her most ambitious project yet...

I don’t know if today’s teenagers are into bedroom posters in a big way.

But in my day wall decorations were important to an individual’s social status.

Therefore, there was a time when a day into Horsham town would involve little more than collecting rave flyers from Heartbeat record store and visiting Athena to flip through the poster boards.

I can only recall clearly a handful of the images. There’s the man cradling a baby (even though he didn’t look the ‘dad’ type), the tennis girl with an itchy bottom, and a baby that had been dressed up to look like a Hell’s Angel biker with the heading ‘Born to be Wild’.

Another I remember clearly was ‘Lunchtime atop a Skyscraper’.

It’s a famous and wonderful photograph of New York builders on a girder during construction of the Rockefeller Center in 1932.

So I was excited to see that Lesley Taylor of Warnham will be taking inspiration from this iconic image for her latest series of dramatic three dimensional, humorous artworks.

Lesley is working on her own unique interpretation of the image.

There will be fewer than the eleven men on the original image, and the workmen in the three part series will all be wearing shades.

As well as ‘Shades of New York’, the artist will be creating ‘Shades of London’ and ‘Shades

of Paris.’

She said: “I used a scroll saw to cut my city scenes below the workmen. I initially used just one piece of wood for the whole scene, but it looked flat. You could see it was London but there was no depth.

“So I thought about making the city scene in two or three layers, and eventually I went for four layers.

“My father was very skilled with wood and he encouraged me to watch and learn from him. I know about different types of wood and the problems each brings, so I have a reasonably practical brain and I’m not half bad at DIY. This is a different way of applying that skill.

20 “I like how the piece is coming along now.

It’s not geographically accurate, but it’s a representation of the city and there is enough detail in there for people to know the buildings.

“I took an age researching architectural features and the relative heights of buildings, before ditching scale as it was nonsense. I just made features such as the Empire State Building and Eiffel Tower stand out in the skyline.

“I hope people realise that it is Paris and not Blackpool!”

Thanks to her unusual method of painting in brilliant white and using a splash of colour to introduce a touch of humour to her art, Lesley has come a long way in a short time.

Discouraged from pursuing art as an occupation, a weekly pottery class was her sole creative output as Lesley instead developed a career in consulting on children’s services.

A change of government policy (one Lesley actually agrees was good for children’s services) during the recession saw a reduction in Lesley’s workload.

At the age of 49, Lesley felt it was now or never for her art career.

She said: “I had always worked on the three dimensional art form as a hobby, so I thought I’d go for it.

“I was looking for a way in which I could

produce something that I thought could be quite commercial. I’m not embarrassed by that.

“Humour was always important. I knew I wanted to work white on white as personally I like it as a style and I’m drawn to artwork which is simplistic in its colour spectrum. But I wanted something that I thought would grab people’s attention.

“We were renovating a dilapidated house in

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Suffolk, and everything that could go wrong had gone wrong in that house. Walls came down, people put their feet through stairs; it was a real labour of love.

“Then one day I saw one of the workmen kick a can of paint over, and something clicked in my mind. The idea of the splash of colour came to me. That’s where the original idea for the first ‘Drip’ series came from.”

It was a tough learning process though, and

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Art: Lesley Taylor ‘One day I saw one of the painters kick a can of paint over and it just clicked’ Lesley initially made mistakes on many fronts. She used an acrylic paint which discoloured after a time, leading to 26 canvases being thrown into the bin.

After consulting paint manufacturers, Lesley turned to a matt-based wood paint which can, when primed, be used on other materials as well.

The characters used in Lesley’s artwork were also problematic. Initially, she used clay and thought the process of making and shaping models would be simple.

It wasn’t.

Lesley found the clay was drying out and cracking, and so after speaking to Lydia Sanderson at The Art Academy in Foundry Lane, decided to actually learn how to make moulds and cast figures at the Sussex Sculpture Studios in Partridge Green (now in Billingshurst).

Andrew Brown, a tutor at the Studios, suggested Lesley used Chevant clay, and helped her to develop an understanding of making moulds and cast using resin from moulds.

Lesley said: “The size and scale of the figures has not changed, but you’ll see the early ones do not have much detail. It was the best I could manage and I did not want to overcomplicate the figures as I needed to get them out of the mould.

“As I’ve gone on, I’ve tried new things, and some ideas have worked while others have failed.

“In the ‘Vin Rouge’ series, I made twelve chefs and was happy with four of them.

You don’t know until the little figure pops out of the rubber mould if he’s going to work.”

Lesley suspected she had a good idea with the ‘Drip’ series, but needed the views of other people. So she held a private viewing in order to gauge reaction.

She said: “I finished that Drip series in 2011, using red, blue, green, and yellow as the colours for the paint spillage.

“Some people just came along and thought ‘no, that isn’t for me’ but generally there were two reactions. The first was ‘It’s brilliant’. The other response was ‘I’ve not seen anything like that before.’

“That was a real buzz for me as I hadn’t seen anything like it either. I’ve seen three dimensional artwork in white, but what made it different was the humour and the splash of colour.

The ideas developed from there.

“I was having lunch one day when

22

somebody knocked over a glass of red wine, and I thought that would be a striking image. I saw bungee jumping and I could see how well that would work too.

“I see things happen that make me smile, and it strikes a chord with me.”

Before long, Lesley’s art had attracted the attention of London galleries. Her brother-in-law helped her to exhibit in an empty shop in Suffolk which led to a number of sales.

As a result, Lesley applied to exhibit at the 2011 Reading Contemporary Art Fair and the Untitled Artist Fair in Chelsea Old Town Hall.

Lesley said: “Both of those shows were expensive, just to show for the weekend in a very small space.

“I was nervous too. In my previous life I’ve stood up in front of 400 people at conferences, but standing in front of my work at those shows, I was petrified. I was dreading people hating them.

“It was more emotional than anything I had done before, because it’s your own artwork. I’m pleased to say that, overwhelmingly, the feedback was really positive and as a consequence my work was seen by a couple of London galleries, including The Woolff Gallery, which predominantly represents three dimensional artists.

To create the illusion of a splash is very difficult. It was like a medical accident’

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Art: Lesley Taylor

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“They haven’t sold thousands of my pictures but it is quite a thrill to know that somebody is willing to pay the sort of prices that the gallery is charging.

“An even bigger thrill though was having the Open Studios here last year, with local people coming to my studio at home and buying art. I didn’t expect that.”

Perhaps the key to Lesley’s success is her commitment to detail.

In one of her larger ‘Drip’ canvases she needed 17 attempts to make it look authentic. The effect of the wine spillage was also far more difficult than she had at first envisaged.

“To make the red wine look real was a 10 month challenge,” said Lesley. “Not on a day-by-day basis as to protect my sanity I needed to walk away from it.

“To create the illusion of a splash is very difficult. It kept looking like a medical accident rather than a bottle of wine. Eventually I tipped a bottle of red wine on to a sheet of white paper and saw that it just went everywhere.

“Resin doesn’t splash - it sticks - so you have to fabricate that effect with exactly the right consistency of acrylic paint. It’s so easy to go out of line, or create an air bubble, and there have been a few occasions when I’ve nearly thrown work into a skip in frustration!”

Save for an unexpected disaster, Lesley’s new Shades of London should be coming along nicely by the time Horsham Open Studios is held. The first weekend (15-16 June) will see the local artists involved exhibiting at Sedgwick Park House.

On the second weekend (22-23 June), Lesley will be opening her studio at her Warnham home and will be joined by Denise Bliss, Jo Willis and Steve Gubbins.

She said: “The Shades of London piece is one of the most time consuming pieces that I’ve attempted, in terms of physical hours, but I’m really pleased with how it’s progressing. I hope it’ll be a commercial success as I think it’s a really cool idea!” www.lesleytaylorcontemporaryart.co.uk

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24

Most cafes are

chucking out

COFFEE

for coffee’s sake For a drink that is enjoyed so frequently by so many of us, we know remarkably little about coffee.

Did you know, for example, that the bean is a seed inside a bright red berry that only grows in a ‘bean belt’ between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn? Or that Charles II issued a proclamation in 1965 banning coffee houses?

It is also the case that most of us usually drink poor quality coffee. That is, at least, according to Gary Best at Coffee Real, based

on the Graylands Estate in Horsham.

He said: “There are good cafes around that are as fussy about coffee as we are. But most cafes are not serving coffee correctly.

“Even if they have rubbish coffee anyway, they are not getting the best out of it. There are many attributes to making great coffee, but it’s all to do with education and training.

“You do have the occasional cafe that springs up that is totally engaged with coffee products and know what they are doing, but that’s rare.

“Most are chucking out coffee for coffee’s sake.”

Gary has been on a mission to educate people about the value of good coffee since Coffee Real was formed in 2007.

Along with his wife and business partner, Maarit Lotvonen, he has immersed himself in sourcing the best Arabica coffee beans from all over the world and roasting them to the highest standards.

He said: “My background is in marketing, and I spent 17 years working for an American logistics company, based in the UK but travelling a lot.

“That came to an end, and I thought ‘what am I going to do now?’

“Maarit also wanted a new challenge. We were a little eccentric in that we were roasting coffee at home. We would go out for a meal once a month but it would always be to a good restaurant. Every time

The furnace pond is near Mannings Heath, next to the A281

Coffee Real Gary Best, Maarit Lotvonen and Damian Botting

we would have good food, good wine, then at the end of the meal, there would be dreadful coffee.

“With every single restaurant or hotel we went to, we would find that we were making better coffee at home. I know that sounds arrogant, but it is true.

“We would have people around for dinner, and they would say ‘this is fantastic coffee, where did you buy it from? It was our own.”

After a while, a couple of local businesses asked the couple to provide them with coffee. As a result, Gary and Maarit decided to create a business plan together.

They installed a 12 kilogram roaster in their garage at home, but eventually grew to the extent that they needed to move the business to a barn.

They then needed to knock through and expand the size of the barn three times as Coffee Real expanded, before they moved to

a larger unit on the Graylands Estate last November.

The company has stuck to its original ethos of roasting high quality coffee, and has so far resisted blending coffee.

“We don’t blend anything,” said Gary. “All of the coffees we have are from top quality farms from around the world.

“At the moment, for example, we are roasting five different beans from Brazil, and if you were to put them all in a cup and try them all you would notice that they are completely different.

“One might be nutty, one sweet, whilst another might have a hint of apple. The flavour range varies wildly in a single country.

“So we focus on single estate coffee and that is what is different about us. Some companies might blend a Colombian, a Guatemalan and a Costa Rican bean to come up with what they think is a good blend.

“We don’t do that.

“We only blend our espressos. You can have a single estate espresso, but usually they are blended as you need a base flavour as well as some kind of fruit and sweetness.

“You won’t get nutty, caramel notes out of a Kenyan bean, so you have to blend and design beans together to get a different taste.”

Originally, Coffee Real bought their coffee beans from a UK wholesaler but now they buy about half of their beans directly from farms. They travel regularly and have recently returned from a 17 day coffee hunting expedition in India.

A crop that has just arrived from the sub-continent has been used in their new Born Free espresso blend, which raises funds for the Horsham-based international wildlife charity. The blend was launched at an Open Day on 17th April, and to celebrate the

26 ‘You can’t sit on your backside in the UK and just buy coffee and roast it.

You will never get the quality’ initiative, Virginia McKenna OBE, founder and trustee of the Born Free Foundation, roasted the first batch.

Gary said: “We’ve been to Central America, South America, all over Africa.

We’re going out to Tanzania at the end of the year as we want to find two good farms there.

“I really like Ethiopian coffee and African coffees are generally stellar.

“You can’t sit on your backside in the UK and just buy coffee and roast it. You will never get the quality. You need to see the farm and understand how the coffee is grown and immerse yourself in absolutely everything to do with what ends up in the customer’s cup.

“If you’ve never seen them pick the cherries, met the farmer, witnessed the fermentation process and everything that goes into selecting coffee beans, then you don’t understand the process.

In my view, any coffee roaster who has not been to a coffee farm is not a proper coffee roaster.

“There is one farm called Tiger Pond in Chikmagalur that we are starting to work with, and they are coming over this year to visit.

“They want to better their coffee and want to export more. We tell them what our customers are looking for, which they don’t know. But they do know about coffee farming. We have to marry our knowledge together.”

The amounts of coffee coming in from Gary Best at Coffee Real’s new unit at the Graylands Estate

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single estates can be very small, perhaps even a single bag if it is a small farm. But the amount of money paid for a pound of coffee can rise considerably if it is from a farm with a good reputation.

Sometimes, the farms will send small samples to coffee roasters such as Coffee Real, and if they like it they can either go straight to the estate to buy coffee, or buy bags at auction on the Coffee Exchange.

Just like wine, quality makes a huge difference. As a commodity, coffee costs about $1.42 per pound, but one recent arrival of Bolivian coffee cost about $20 per pound.

And when it does arrive at Coffee Real, the business works like a laboratory. The coffee is roasted in six different ways to discover which flavour profile best suits the original bean.

These are now roasted in a new £100,000 machine. Gary said: “The first roaster we had is a traditional roaster and people have been roasting coffee like that since the 1800s.

“This new machine still only roasts 36 kilograms, so it’s still a small batch roaster, but it roasts in what is close to being an inert environment, so there is hardly any oxygen in the roast chamber.

“When you are roasting, the one thing that attacks coffee and gets rid of aroma and flavour is oxygen. So if you take that element away you are locking in flavour. It is about

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A fantastic family weekend and special Father’s Day treat Virginia McKenna meets Gary Best at the launch of a new Born Free blend in April

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28 ‘We will work with a Greasy Joe at the Truck Stop if they’re interested in producing a fine cup of coffee’ maintaining the quality.

“It is also environmentally friendly. We bought it because it offers quality, but it is smokeless. In a traditional roaster you get smoke and in the roast chamber it’s hard to get rid of that smoke element so the coffee takes on a hint of smoke.

“We want to keep the individual flavour notes of coffee, and the new roaster helps us to do that.”

Coffee Real has three main sources of income. They sell roasted beans, mainly to farm shops and delicatessens including The Village Larder in Washington, Village Greens in Ockley and New House Farm in Horsham. So far, they have refused to ‘sell their soul’ and target supermarkets.

Secondly, they sell on their website.

People can go online and buy any of the 50 or so different single estate coffees or nine espresso blends.

Maarit Lotvonen founded the company with Gary at home in 2007 Thirdly, Coffee Real has a food service.

Gary said: “We don’t work with anybody. We make sure that, whoever they are, they are going to be brewing the coffee correctly. So we primarily deal with selected hotels, cafes and restaurants. We will work with a Greasy Joe at the Truck Stop if they’re interested in producing a fine cup of coffee.

“Our aim is to continue to get our coffee to hotels and restaurants and show them that

our coffee is so much better than what they have. These eateries should be treating their coffee like they treat their wine.

“The other thing that will happen eventually is that we will open what we would term as a brew bar. It’ll be nothing like a café, it will be purely coffee.”

For more information on the company visit www.coffeereal.co.uk

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I Remember When All This

Was Just Fields New homes are sprouting up all over the place and more developments are likely to be approved soon. What does it all mean for Horsham’s future?

Construction is being carried out at a rapid pace at Berkeley’s Highwood Estate

There is, legend has it, a man who really does have a pound for every time he’s seen a newspaper headline about housing developments in Horsham.

His pile of money is so massive, that it is visible from space, and if each coin was placed one on top of the other, it would reach Jupiter.

This legend may not be true (I’ve never been to space so couldn’t say) but certainly housing development issues dominate the local political landscape.

However, most of us residents tend to scan over the headlines, unless a development directly affects us. After a while every green field housing plan, every government building target, every plea from concerned villagers, every claim of great-crested newts living on an earmarked site, all sort of blend together.

So whilst we know that some housing is being built, we’re not entirely sure where

it’ll be built, when it’ll be built, and who will be building it. And it’s not until we’re sat in traffic for half an hour weaving around diggers churning up the A264 Crawley Road, that we really care!

AAH has visited some of the sites being built to find out how various developments are progressing, and we look at what else we can expect in the future…

Well, let’s start with the A264 site…

This is a site being developed by Crest Nicholson, and it’ll eventually be a whole new neighbourhood to the west of Crawley with some 2,500 homes on a 132 hectare estate. The entire scheme will be delivered in five phases, the first of which will see 291 homes ranging from one bedroom apartments to four bedroom homes.

Is this the one we all called Crawsham?

That was how it was cleverly coined in the

local media, as it is a combination of Crawley and Horsham…

Yeah, I get it…

But it’s actually called Kilnwood Vale, after Kilnwood Copse which stands where the homes will be built. The developer is sticking to that wonderful British tradition of naming an estate after what once stood there. Soon we’ll introduce you to Great Oaks in Horsham and the strangely named ‘All of This Was Just Fields’ development.

So is Kilnwood in the Borough of Crawley or the District of Horsham?

It’s in Horsham (it fills much of the gap between Faygate and Bewbush) but it is right on the boundary of Crawley. The two councils worked closely to make it happen, and Crawley has been allocated more than 100 affordable homes on the site as part of the deal.

32

Above: Homes at the Highwood estate have a ‘Wisteria Lane’ look to them, and are immaculately presented by a specialist ‘finishing’ team How long will the delays last?

It could be a little while yet. They are trying to build a new roundabout which will be the main access point for Kilnwood Vale. The A264 will at least always remain open, but with traffic management schemes and speed restrictions in place. At least this has been the first priority, as oppose to building houses quickly.

When are the houses coming?

They hope to have a show complex built soon, with the first residents moving in perhaps later this year. A long way down the line, Crest Nicholson has committed to build a neighbourhood centre with a library, as well as a care home, primary school, pub, supermarket and a railway station. Stephen Stone, Chief Executive of Crest Nicholson, commented: “We have spent a long time ensuring that we are creating a new and thriving neighbourhood complete with all the supporting lifestyle and leisure facilities necessary for a vibrant and sustainable community.”

Why would they do that?

With any sizeable modern site, developers will usually offer new community facilities, or provide financial support to existing facilities.

Not only does it help encourage a co-operative neighbourhood, but it may also help the developer when it comes to convincing the council to give their scheme the green light.

Berkeley Homes, for example, was fortunate that so many of our district councillors are BMX fanatics; the developer is building a BMX track at the new Highwood estate.

Which one is Highwood?

Highwood is one of the two big new estates being built around Broadbridge Heath to the West of Horsham. At the moment, construction vehicles access the site from the A24 southbound, near the Broadbridge Heath roundabout.

Not the road next to Tesco then?

No, that’s another development. The Highwood estate is being developed by Berkeley Homes and will eventually have 1,044 homes. The site next to the Tesco entrance is called Wickhurst Green, a project being led by Countryside Properties. That’ll have about 1,000 homes too, when it’s all completed. Wickhurst Green and Highwood both fall under the ‘West of Horsham’ development plan, but Highwood is at a more advanced stage at the moment.

How advanced?

They sold all of the initial 32 homes, made up of 2, 3, 4 and 5 bedroom luxury properties, four months after they first revealed the properties to the public in July 2012.

Berkeley Homes is now pressing on with development ahead of schedule. Janine Leadbeater, Head of Marketing, told AAH: “We looked at the schedule and thought 32 would see us through our first year but in reality they have sold so well that we have brought forward our second and third phases. “ Is Highwood where they film ‘Desperate Housewives?’

It’s true that they do have more than a touch of American influence about them . Janine said: “We love the arts and crafts movement of the late Edwardian period, before it became more Art Deco focused. There was a time when there many buildings of this nature being development in the States, particularly in the New England area, and so whilst it was a British-inspired movement it was adopted by America. “ Has it been difficult to sell these American style homes?

Not according to Berkeley, who say they

Countryside Properties have equally gone to town with decorating the showrooms at the Wickhurst Green estate in Broadbridge Heath

Housing in Horsham

Countryside Properties are developing Wickhurst Green with David Wilson Homes and Bovis Homes, offering more traditional-style homes invested a lot into planning, design and layout of the site. Janine said: “The Berkeley style appeals to people. There are also no DIY requirements, but people are able to mark their signature on to a property by selecting from a range of different interior design styles, kitchens, carpeting and flooring.’

So what community facilities will Berkeley provide?

There are focal points at Highwood such as greens, a community centre, allotments and a BMX track. Tanbridge School is greatly impacted by the development, so Berkeley has created a new footpath for pupils and worked with the school to provide sports pitches.

They’re also investing in the Riverside Walk which winds its way through the estate. During the planning process, fears had been raised about water levels on the Arun during heavy rainfall, but Berkeley says this is not a concern.

What about the smell though?

From the Southern Water site nearby?

Not as much of an issue as it was, as Berkeley has invested nearly £3.5million in making the treatment works more efficient. You might have noticed that the smell has gone...

So what’s next up at Highwood then?

That’ll be The Square, which is like a classic London garden area. It’s set to become the most prestigious address at Highwood. Residents in Georgian-style four bedroom town houses can look out

‘Berkeley is building a BMX track at their new Highwood estate’

34

to manicured hedges, feature trees and a sculpture of a mare and foal by Marcus Cornish.

Those won’t be the affordable homes then!

No. To be honest, affordable homes isn’t something that Berkeley really likes to talk about. For the first phase of 196 properties, just 12% will be affordable housing. There is no set rate for the rest of the development, so they will not necessarily up the rate so it averages out to 20%. The rate will be decided at each separate stage of planning. Janine said: “We do have a flexible programme. We are a commercial business so we will build in response to the market place. Likewise, we want to meet the demands of the area.”

So where are these houses?

You can access the Highwood estate from Hills Farm Lane. But the main access point to Highwood will eventually be on the A24, a little further south of where the current construction access point is. It’ll mean major road works as the new roundabout will

include an access point to the Wickhurst Green estate on the other side of the road too.

How long will this all take?

A long time! It’ll be at least ten years, perhaps 15 years, until the whole Highwood estate has been completed. Berkeley has at least been making an effort to tidy up as it goes along, cleaning the A24 regularly.

Tell me about the chaps over the road?

Wickhurst Green is a new development by Countryside Properties. Whilst it’s right next door to Highwood, it’s billed as part of Broadbridge Heath village. Construction traffic uses an entrance next to Newbridge Nurseries, just off the Billingshurst Road. The developer is going to be building a new access point for the nurseries there.

How’s it different to Highwood?

The house sizes are pretty similar, but they are much more traditional in their design.

They’re a little behind Highwood in terms of the number of houses built, as work started at a later date, but they did hold an Open

Day for Great Oaks in February, which the sales team say was a great success, with more than 100 families attending.

Great Oaks?

That’s the name given to the first stage of the development. We’re guessing because that is what stood on the site before the diggers arrived. Much like High Wood. Anyway, Great Oaks will eventually comprise about 100 homes, ranging from two to five bedrooms, with prices starting at £382,995. Already, at least six homes have been sold, and the first completions are likely to be made in June.

The aim is to have 28 units ready by September.

How many units will be built at Wickhurst Green overall?

There will be in the region of 960 homes in total, but they will not all be built by Countryside Properties. David Wilson Homes has already started work on some of the 135 properties they are building, whilst Bovis Homes will be constructing more than 300 of the overall total.

Housing in Horsham The Square will be the most dazzling part of Highwood

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Are they also being stingy on the affordable housing front?

They’ve agreed a 20% affordable housing rate. They’ve also named different types of houses after some of the names on the Broadbridge Heath War Memorial.

A nice touch...

Yes, and relatives of some of those remembered, including members of the Carter family and the Langridge family, have visited Wickhurst Green already.

Will there be community facilities?

There won’t be a BMX track, so any 14-year-olds with a hefty deposit to put down on a house will be more likely to head for Highwood. But there are plans for a new primary school, a village centre, recreation and sports facilities, and there is likely to be a few commercial units too. But most of these facilities will be built four or five years down the line.

What’s next then?

Some of the larger family houses will be built in the next phase and that work will begin towards the end of this year.

They have just started work on the new marketing suite.

Also, in the summer, Countryside Properties are hoping to hold an event to help integrate residents into the community.

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By Jonathan Ormerod of Horsham Hearing Centre National Deaf Awareness Week is held on 6th-10th May and will be marked by events and media coverage across the country.

We normally launch an awareness campaign during the week to inform people about the issues around ‘deafness’. We don’t use the word ‘deaf’ as we feel it does not really accurately describe our customers. If you are ‘deaf’ then by definition you cannot hear anything at all.

As Hearing Aid Specialists, we are in the profession of helping people to hear better by using state of the art hearing aid technology to boost residual hearing levels. Our customers, therefore, are more accurately described as ‘hard of hearing’ or ‘hearing impaired’.

In other words, they have had normal hearing for much of their lives and have gradually lost some hearing clarity through the ageing process or from other causes such as noise damage.

We therefore prefer to change the campaign in May to ‘Hearing Awareness Week’ and we will be displaying the poster seen on the right with the word ‘Deaf’ crossed-out and replaced by ‘Hearing’.

We are also offering hearing awareness information and incentives throughout May, not just for the week of the national campaign.

During the month, we are offering free hearing tests and consultations to anyone who may need one. We use advanced audiometric testing including the latest ‘Phoneme’ test from Swiss hearing aid manufacturer, Phonak.

We use a video otoscope to see inside your ears and we can show you the images on a screen. If you need wax removal, we can offer this service free of charge throughout May. As the first private healthcare company in West Sussex to offer this service, we are pioneers in this field.

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37 So they’re the three main developments locally are they?

Yes. At the moment anyway…

Are there more in the pipeline?

It would appear so. There are plans for a seven acre housing site, incorporating 64 homes, in Mannings Heath. The applicant has declared a desire to engage with the local community, but several villagers (and we suspect they represent the local majority) have voiced strong opposition to the plan. Meanwhile, all sorts of things are going on in Southwater…

Give it to me in small doses!

Firstly, Horsham District Council has sold land between Rascals Close and Shipley Road for £1.7million. The land was sold with planning permission for a development of at least 29 homes, of which 11 will be affordable rented accommodation. A touch further south in the village, Bovis Homes are building about 115 houses close the bypass. Those are not the developments that the village is most worried about though…

My interest is waning despite the big build-up, but do carry on…

Up to 2,750 homes could be built on land to the west of the village, with a host of facilities that would bring benefits to the community.

Currently the land is occupied by the Charman family, who have farmed the land as tenants for four generations. They closed the dairy

New developments provide jobs for hundreds of local people there but now run Southwater Meats.

Berkeley Homes is behind a development plan which would, if given the go-ahead, transform the village. Whether or not it’ll be for the better is a matter of opinion.

Can’t the farmers just say ‘no’?

They do not own the land. The land is owned by the Fletcher Trust. Speaking to AAH in 2012, farmer Barry Charman said: “It’s pretty unspoilt around here. It’s the same as it was 300 years ago. We are the unspoilt centre of Southwater and it would be a shame if the housing came here as once it’s gone, it’s gone. It’ll never come back.”

Is there much opposition in the village?

Yes, mainly led by the Keep Southwater Green campaign. They dispute Berkeley’s claim that its plan for new housing is ‘built around a vision shared with the local community’. In fact, they do more than dispute it. Dr Ian Thwaites, a spokesman for the campaign group, wrote on the group’s website: ‘In the face of overwhelming opposition from the people of Southwater and its Parish Council for the last four years, it is a blatant lie.’

Well, what happens next then?

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38 Marcus Cornish has produced a sculpture for The Square at Highwood

Work has started on the new Kilnwood Vale estate Southwater needs to wait and see if the site is on the Local Plan, which is being prepared

by Horsham District Council. They need to make one, and this plan set out the council’s vision for a 20-year period.

Will Southwater be on this Local Plan?

The bookie certainly wouldn’t be taking bets on it! But whether it’ll be no homes, a smaller development of 500 homes, or an entire new neighbourhood, remains to be seen.

So this ‘plan’ names areas for possible new developments then?

Indeed it does. Horsham District Council is

working with parish and neighbourhood councils and asking them each to prepare their own Neighbourhood Plan too, setting out where any development could go and what that development could look like in a particular area.

finished theirs. And ultimately, the district council still makes the big decisions. They may not be popular, but of course these developments are of huge importance to the local economy and provide hundreds, perhaps thousands, of jobs.

Can’t villages just say ‘no’ to housing in their areas then?

Whilst the Neighbourhood Plan would be led by a parish or neighbourhood council, it would need to be an ‘evidence-based document’ and be in keeping with the overall Local Plan. So they can’t finalise their own plans until Horsham District Council has

Yeah, yeah. When will the District Council finish their Local Plan?

Shouldn’t be too long as some of the parish councils are pressing for them to get on with it. You can be sure though, that when it is released, it’ll make a few more housing related-headlines. Then maybe that pile of pound coins might just reach Neptune…

Barry and Owen Charman could lose their farm to new housing in Southwater

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For more on the Highwood estate visit www.highwoodhorsham.co.uk and for the Wickhurst Green site go to www.great-oaks.co.uk The Kilnwood Vale website is at www.kilnwoodvale.co.uk and you can read about the Southwater campaign at http://keepsouthwatergreen.co.uk/

Undercutting Turns Two Special offers to celebrate salon’s anniversary Undercutting

April’s Nails/Beauty Therapy

Undercutting are celebrating their 2nd anniversary at Brighton Road and send a big thank you to their clients for their trust, loyalty and promoting of the team’s skills.

Tania Flint-Clarke is thrilled: “I regularly write on our Facebook page how I didn’t dare dream for the salon to grow so steadily and to be so busy, popular and well-reputed in just 2 years of trading in Horsham.

“Clients often poke fun at me about how much I love my job and I think it shows, both in my work and our ambience.”

Undercutting, at 41 Brighton Road, believe they have the winning formula: Their team. Their skills. Their attitude. Tania added: “We are friendly, relaxed and very good at what we do. As our name indicates, we are very competitive with our prices. This ethos does not only apply to our services, but our retail range too. OSMO is the best product range I have ever promoted. It is salon exclusive yet supermarket priced.”

The salon is open 5 days a week with late nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 8pm, with free parking surrounding the salon.

To add to the celebrations, Tania’s 2nd year Apprentice, Sophie Anderson, has been nominated for the ‘UK Student of the Year Award’.

“I believe it was a three-pronged approach that made this nomination happen,” said Tania. “Sophie’s natural ability and enthusiasm, my training which has been achieved in both UK and Australia, and thirdly the education provided by Brinsbury College where Sophie has 100% attendance.

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Call or Text April on 07584 356134. *April provides beauty services as a support to our resident Beauty Therapist on Wednesdays, Fridays & occasional Saturdays.

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40

Is Charming

Rural Pub The Real Deal?

Review The Plough and Attic Rooms, Rusper The sign on the front of the pub reads ‘The Plough and Attic Rooms Free House’.

Unfortunately, that isn’t actually the case, as Enterprise Inns bought the pub in the heart of Rusper, before the current landlord Debbie Debansi arrived in April 2009.

That aside, the Plough and Attic Rooms is the very definition of an authentic, charming, historic, traditional English public house.

The 16th Century building has either shrunk over 500 years or it was initially constructed for a very small man.

Consequently, pretty much anybody who hasn’t been an extra in a Peter Jackson film will feel the need to ‘duck’ in order to avoid banging their head on one of the numerous oak beams.

Some beams (presumably those racking up the highest head count) have even been given protective cushioning!

There is a touch of the modern too, most notably with the impressively clean and stylish toilet facilities.

But it is in the Attic Rooms (upstairs, you won’t be surprised to discover) where the pub really goes on the charm offensive. A huge antique clock bears down on diners, although sadly the clock’s mechanism disappeared long ago. An additional room upstairs has been labelled ‘The Throne Room’ due to a

ludicrously grand chair for those deeming themselves worthy of it.

With many traditional English meals on the menu, not to mention Sunday roast, it is easy to see why the pub is popular with international guests staying nearby at Ghyll Manor.

You can almost picture a party of Americans marvelling at the quaintness of it all - inspecting the horse brass as though they were long lost relics, and primitively whooping as they throw a log on to a real open fire – before presumably settling down and remarking on how bad English teeth are.

Whilst it’s nice that overseas visitors enjoy the historical aspects of the pub, many of the locals were pleased that it was Debbie, of all people, who took over running The Plough when the previous landlord left.

Debbie and her partner were regulars, and despite having no experience in running a pub decided to take on the challenge.

Debbie said: “We live in Faygate and came to know (previous landlord) Mark quite well, and he told us he was moving on. He had bought two other pubs and was stretched a little.

“It was early in 2009, when the economy crashed, and we were sitting having dinner thinking ‘wouldn’t it be nice if we

Review: The Plough & Attic Rooms

could run the local pub?’ It was just an idea that snowballed, and here we are.

“I was in a secretarial role for over 20 years and hadn’t experienced anything like this before. So I took a crash course in pub management and a manager who had been here for some time allowed me to shadow him for six months.

“It was exhausting, but it was worth it.

“The Plough carried on as it was for a while, as I learned the job. Slowly, there have been changes. But it was always known as a food lover’s pub and we’ve tried to maintain that standard.

“Running a pub has its ups and downs.

Some days you wake up and think ‘not

Black Pudding Tower

today’ and other times you really look forward to it. But I wouldn’t go back to working nine ‘til five.”

Recently, there was a change in the kitchen.

The chef who was already in place when Debbie arrived, left after two years, and the sous chef she had taken on took over before he too moved on after three years.

Paul Guillame has been in charge in the kitchen for about a month.

Debbie said: “Paul has been very good. It was a worry when it came to replacing the chef, as it’s such a big part of the business.

You can lose a reputation very quickly. But I feel we have managed it well with Paul.”

The Plough and Attic Rooms is amongst

(AAH photographer) Toby Phillips’ favourite pubs. Not only has he always been impressed by the friendliness of the staff, but he also claims that a heavy collision with one of those old oak beams actually cured a niggling neck pain!

But we were visiting at a time when a new chef was in place, and some recent remarks on Trip Advisor suggested a dip in standards (not that the website always provides an accurate or reliable assessment from reviewers).

We settled into a quiet corner of the pub with a pint of Sussex Best, the only local ale available, and studied the menu.

Starters include stuffed Portobello

Pan Fried Duck Breast

42 Smoked Chicken

The Daddy

AAH

ALL ABOUT HORSHAM MAGAZINE

Call Ben Morris on 01403 878026 advertising@aahorsham.co.uk www.aahorsham.co.uk

ABOUT US AAH Magazine is an independently-owned monthly magazine for the Horsham district. AAH has become renowned for its interesting features and beautiful photography by Toby Phillips.

AAH is an A4 publication, printed on high quality, 90gsm gloss paper with a 150gsm gloss cover. We promote the best of the district’s music and arts, review the finest restaurants, bring to life historic tales from Horsham’s past, and highlight the most interesting and unusual businesses.

AAH has brought you great features on places such as Knepp Castle

DISTRIBUTION AAH Magazine is delivered directly to homes free of charge on a monthly basis. Our print run is currently 13,200 and our year-on-year circulation has increased by 25%.

A team of about 30 people deliver AAH each and every month to 11,149 homes in the district. These include 5,437 homes in Horsham, 2,003 in Southwater, 1,114 in Billingshurst, and 865 in Partridge Green and Cowfold.

AAH provides features for young readers too, including features on sports clubs

We also deliver to the surrounding villages including Ashington (600), Warnham (275), Slinfold (284), Mannings Heath (326) as well as the smaller villages of Monks Gate, Dial Post, West Grinstead and Tower Hill. Businesses in Horsham, Billingshurst and Southwater receive the magazine whilst our spring-loaded, stylish stands with lids are extremely popular in Horsham town, Southwater and Billingshurst.

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mushrooms with pine nuts and brie (£5.75), smoked salmon topped with dill and beetroot with a vodka crème fresh and homemade melba toast (£6).

However, we chose the smoked chicken served with poached orange segments and balsamic dressing (£5.85) and from the specials board a black pudding tower with creamed leak and bacon with onion sauce (£5.75).

The poached chicken was light and moist and went nicely with the orange, but the sunshine presentation could do nothing to cloud over the fact that it was a fairly simple, uninspiring dish.

The three tier black pudding tower was more flavoursome, with a generous dousing of a thick, creamy sauce with tiny segments of bacon and leek. It was a hearty, fulfilling starter, but again perhaps guilty of lacking a little flair.

For main course, Toby and I were both tempted by the springbok on the specials board (zebra was another

Review: The Plough & Attic Rooms Rich Chocolate Torte

‘The Throne Room includes a ludicrously grand chair at one end’ recent and unexpected offering) but in the end I plumped for the pan fried duck breast served with a Tuscany mash and damson jus served with vegetables (£16.25).

Whether it was down to an over-order, or simply an ethos of never doing things by halves, the kitchen clearly had plenty of the small, plum-like fruit at its disposal! The dish was dominated by the damson jus, both in terms of taste and presentation.

Damson carries a distinctly rich, sweet flavour, and whilst the duck (thickly cut, served cooked through) just about had enough flavour to soak it up, the potato lost out in a titanic clash of flavours.

The deep moat of damson jus surrounding castle duck meant that all of the vegetables turned a striking shade of purple when they were introduced to the plate from a side dish.

It was an intriguing main course with all the

right elements, but you could argue in the wrong ratios.

Toby opted for ‘The Daddy’, a popular burger with cheddar cheese, bacon, onion rings and barbeque sauce (£10.50). The burger, with meat from a Chipstead butcher, served with chips and salad, was made with good quality beef and just about worthy of its title.

Other main courses include classics such as scampi and chips (£9), the famous Plough

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44 Banoffee Pie

‘The menu serves up plenty of twists and interesting combinations’ cottage pie (£11.50), pork medallions in a stilton sauce (£15.65) and seared tuna on wasabi mash (£16.75).

The Plough also offers a selection of burgers, as well as jacket potatoes and ciabatta with fillings. Sunday roast is served with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables and costs £13.50.

There is a range of puddings too, with the home-made banoffee pie with ice cream (£5.25) and the rich chocolate torte (£5.35) being perhaps the pick of the current menu.

A selection of cheese, with Applewood cheddar, Somerset brie and stilton, served with carrot and celery relish, grapes, apple and fig chutney and biscuits, costs £7.

Debbie singles out the food and the staff as strong points for The Plough.

Certainly, the staff were friendly and welcoming, but there is perhaps a little room for improvement on the food side.

Paul has only been at The Plough for a month, and naturally it will take a little time to settle down.

The menu serves up plenty of twists with interesting (even daring) combinations. But some of this invention is being lost in presentation.

It’s a long, long way from being poor or disappointing, but it just isn’t as exciting as the enchanting venue itself.

The Plough will be a pub I return too, not least because I want to experience the ‘Throne Room’.

But next time, I hope to see a little style to go with the substance.

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46

In a short time, golfer has

Come a Fairway When his hopes for a career in rugby faded, Tom Hayward decided to try golf. Nine months later, he was a professional player with big ambitions...

Most of the world’s top golfing professionals developed their talent at an early age.

Tiger Woods putted against Bob Hope on an American television show when he was three, whilst Rory McIlroy was only seven when he became the youngest member at Holywood Golf Club.

They have a bit of a head start on Tom Hayward from Maplehurst…

Tom was always a talented sportsman. He went to Brighton College on a full sports scholarship, and as a schoolboy played rugby, football and cricket at County level.

He later graduated with a First Class Honors Degree from The University of Exeter studying Exercise and Sports Science. There he played a great deal of rugby, and had half envisaged this to develop into a playing career.

But it didn’t work out.

Instead, Tom turned to golf. On his few ventures out on to a golf course he had shown natural ability, so he went along to Mannings Heath Golf Club to meet the club professional Carl Watts. Carl saw enough potential in Tom’s game to suggest that he could have a career in the sport.

Tom said: “I came up here in October 2010 and Carl watched me hit a few balls, and it

went from there.

“I live nearby, so when I was six or seven I would come up here with my dad three or four times a year and play golf. I was good but it was just a hobby, as the other sports I was playing took up so much time. When I was at University I didn’t even hit a ball.

“I always loved golf but I never got a chance to play properly. I knew I was a good player but the opportunity to take it up never presented itself and I was never a member anywhere and never had an official handicap.

“After University, I had a job lined up in London but it wasn’t ideal as it only covered

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“I was talking to Carl and he said ‘I can train you for nine months, twice a week, and after that time we’ll have a review and see where your game is.’

“Carl said ‘go away and think about it’. It was a big decision to do something that meant earning nothing. I talked about it with my family, but my gut instinct was that I had to give it a go.

“I jumped into it, spent nine months learning about the game - how you grip the club, stance, posture, ball position, things like that.

Before hand, I had just walked up to the ball and hit it. It was a basic but integral training.”

Tom played as much golf as possible, usually playing members at Mannings Heath during the week. His handicap came down from four to scratch over nine months, and he played in just two amateur events before becoming a professional.

But it was not an easy transition.

“I was on a high as I was doing well at Mannings Heath, but my first tournaments on the Jemega Pro Golf Tour didn’t go very well. They were very supportive, and liked my story, but I had a lot to learn.

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48 Mannings Heath where everybody perceives you as the man to beat, to stepping into a competition with former European tour players and people who have been part of the England set-up since they were young.

“It was a harsh reality and it meant I trained hard over that winter and played more events in 2012.

“Last year went better, and I played in 25 events with six top 25 and three top five finishes.

“You have to pay for every tournament you enter, but everything you do is focused on gaining a place on the European tour. It’s a huge amount of money to spend and there’s very little financial reward at this level, but it’s all about the experience and making the step up to the next level.

“The whole season is geared towards the European Tour Qualifying School.

“Anyone who is a pro or amateur can apply.

There are six venues across Europe, with about 1,000 golfers able to compete in three play-off stages. The top 25 will earn a place on the European tour. That is what everybody is playing for.

“Last year I didn’t enter Qualifying School as my game wasn’t where it needed to be. I needed to do some restructuring over the winter so I can prepare properly for this season.”

As well as being a member at Mannings Heath, Tom is also now a member at Wildwood

Golf and Country Club in Alfold, where he is working on his swing with European Tour Coach Clive Tucker.

Tom has also launched his own business, aimed at attracting individuals and companies to fund his development into a touring professional. Tom admits it is, on the face of it, a high risk investment, but he is confident he can reach the top.

He said: “Technically, you can go from where I am now, travelling the UK in my parents’ car, to qualifying for the European tour at the end of the season.

“I’m trying to build up a financial package to

allow me to break onto the European Tour in three years. Your golfing prime is meant to be from 28-38, so despite me coming into the game quite late, if I can make it by the time I am 27, then I can still have a big career in the sport.

“I believe I can make it this season. I’m still on the upward curve and I’ve got big ambitions.

“I watch lots of golf on television, and I’ve just watched the Masters, and every time it’s a kick up the backside. I want to be there.”

To contact Tom about supporting his progress call him on 07766 147753 or email Tomhaywardgolf@gmail.com

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Bainbridge Copnall eventually found commercial success through sculpture as well as portrait paintings (Picture courtesy of Horsham Museum and Art Gallery/Horsham District Council)

In the first part of our feature on Bainbridge Copnall, in April’s edition of AAH, we looked at his early career as a painter.

Gradually, Bainbridge would move away from portraits to focus more on his growing passion and talent for sculpture.

We pick up the story in 1925, shortly after Bainbridge had exhibited a portrait of Mrs Pomroy Sainsbury, the wife of a well-known West End dentist who lived in Horsham.

A couple of months later, Bainbridge married Muriel, who would go on to become an art teacher, and after their honeymoon they moved in to a flat above an auctioneer’s business in the Carfax.

As he recalls in his memoirs, over the next two years Bainbridge “became obsessed with the idea that my work should carry some sort of message to the world”.

A host of religious pictures, including ‘The Forgotten Christ’, ‘The Awakening’, ‘The Rending of the Tomb’, ‘Destruction and Salvation’ and ‘The Lamentation’, followed.

He wrote: ‘My method was to make a black chalk drawing in the form of a cartoon, then

trace this onto the canvas; after making a colour sketch I would start painting from the left hand corner and work across the canvas, finally pulling the whole work together.

‘During those days I was visited a lot by Philip Padwick, sometimes Glyn Philpot and often by young aesthetics who had heard of me somehow and came into my studio through curiosity.

‘My cousin, Dudley, who was still at the Academy Schools, quite often came down for weekends, and we would talk and talk. One

day, Lady Leitrim came in with a sweet little old lady, who, I was told, was the original Alice of Alice in Wonderland.’

Bainbridge continued to paint many more portraits, large and small, trying different media and methods, before stumbling upon sculpting.

A friend called Blair Hughes Stanton, the son of the painter Sir Hughes Stanton, visited Bainbridge whilst on his way to Storrington.

Blair was to become one of the leading figures in English wood engraving (engraving the tailpieces to T E Lawrence’s The Seven Pillars of Wisdom was among his celebrated work.)

Bainbridge was invited to work with Blair in London on a mural decoration for the Paris exhibition, and whilst on a visit to London he called on painter and sculptor Eric Kennington, a friend of Blair.

It was through this meeting that Bainbridge took up sculpture.

He wrote: ‘I had never been the slightest bit interested in sculpture before. I had, of course, appreciated the well-known pieces such as Michelangelo’s ‘David’, the Belvedere Torso and

52

other Greek statues, but really only because of the movements of form to which these works had opened my eyes.’

‘During that first visit, Eric Kennington told me many things about sculpture, stressing particularly purity of approach.

‘Whenever I could, I visited him both in his studio and his house on the mall. One afternoon I went to have tea with him and met a very quiet man with what seemed to me a dynamic personality who was wearing the uniform of a private in the Air Force. Imagine my surprise when he turned out to be none other than Laurence of Arabia. How I wish I had met him when I was in a more loquacious frame of mind.’

Bainbridge returned to Horsham and took up sculpting, though the first two attempts ended in disaster.

Fortunately, Philip Padwick walked in to the studio just after the second disaster turned round, and offered to pay for a bigger piece of stone and pay Bainbridge to carve it.

In his autobiography, Bainbridge describes his thoughts on carving: ‘I felt that it should

This oil painting by Bainbridge Copnall depicts life on Horsham Market.

Presumably, the cupcake stand is just to the right...

be treated in what I thought to be a more pure manner; stone should look like stone and nothing else. After a while, I evolved a shape growing out of the rugged ripples of stone which formed a base; the shape grew up and passing through a fish like form developed into

a stony man, which, whilst growing upwards, twisted sideways from the elements.

‘The name given was ‘Evolution’ and as it was my very first carving the name I thought was apt.’

Whilst taking up sculpting, Bainbridge had

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444 &/%)"$ ) , 2( +#,/12+ 1")6 *&01 ("0 !, % --"+ 4&1% -,1"+1& ))6 !"3 01 1&+$ ,+0".2"+ "0 1%"0" + &+ )2!"

1" /"#"// )0 1, 0-" & )&010 &0!& $+,0&0 &)2/" 1, /" "&3" --/,-/& 1" 1/" 1*"+1 + "51/"*" 0"0 -/"* 12/" !" 1% &+ " -/&) 1%" % 0 /2+ -/, "00 4%& % % 0 14, 01 $"0 Even as Bainbridge took to sculpture, he would paint portraits to pay the bills (Picture courtesy of Horsham Museum and Art Gallery/Horsham District Council)

to earn money to keep the wolf from the door, so he continued painting portraits and subject pictures. To make extra money, he sometimes painted displays for a shop window advertising films showing at the Capital Cinema.

Eventually, the stone arrived from Portland Stone Quarries and it took four men armed with crow bars to move the block of stone off the lorry and into the soft earth.

Bainbridge wrote: ‘The earth really was soft, there having been rain recently, and the stone was a quarter buried in it.

The lorry left and there was I wondering what the hell to do next, and how to begin!’

‘After a while I decided to go off to a local stonemason’s yard, where they were shaping tombstones. There I found a mason named Matthews who said he would help me.’

Padwick nobly paid the mason’s wages as he helped Bainbridge cut the stone until the main block for the figure stood free on the base.

In the meantime, Bainbridge moved out of the flat into a charming cottage at the back of the Carfax. He also collected a large number of portraits together and held an Exhibition at Worthing Museum, selling several paintings to private buyers including Lord Winterton, Lady Leconsfield and the Egyptologist Flinders Petrie.

He wasn’t in the Carfax long though, and in 1930 he left the

Carfax and moved to The Cottage in Slinfold, where there was no gas, electricity, or mains water.

It was here that John Copnall was born on February 16th 1928.

He would have his own artistic career, becoming one of the leading abstract painters in the country (see sidebar on Page 58) Bainbridge wrote: ‘Two days later I painted a portrait of Mother and Child in a completely new style; it was, I think, better than a lot of my recent work.

‘I was very pleased indeed when it sold at an exhibition. I painted several more pictures of them and made numbers of drawings of John bathing; sleeping, crawling whenever I could find an opportunity to do so.’

Other portrait commissions around this time included Horsham’s vicar, Canon Bebbington, and the Lucas Family of Warnham Court.

Bainbridge also began exhibiting at many art galleries in Liverpool, Bradford, Hull, Brighton, Worthing and Bristol, as well as the New English Art Club, the Royal Society of British Artists and several others.

When this didn’t bring in many commissions he advertised, and attracted four or five young girls who visited for tuition twice a week.

Gradually, his art changed to reflect a more austere period. He wrote: ‘My paintings now became

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54 Bainbridge Copnall’s statue of Christ on the Crucifix was removed from St John’s Church in broadbridge Heath and is now on display at Horsham Museum

Frank Thomas Copnall was a major influence on his nephew Bainbridge, and perhaps encouraged his development more than anyone.

Frank remains perhaps the most collectable of all of the artists in the Copnall family.

He exhibited over 50 pictures, mainly portraits, at the Royal Academy, and 20 at the Royal Society of Arts, during a long and distinguished career.

Born in the Isle of Wight, he settled in Hoylake in Cheshire and established a successful studio in Liverpool, rising to become President of both

the Liver Sketching Club and the Liverpool Art Club.

Copnall’s portraits were faithful and accurate but could also be impressionistic, with bold dashes of colour.

His work can be found in a variety of museums, galleries and institutions, from the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester to the Royal College of Surgeons and the Docks Museum.

This image to the right has been loaned to Horsham Museum and Art Gallery for an exhibition on the Copnall family...

harder and more decorative. I painted on plywood and stippled the forms, rather than painting with the usual flowing brush strokes.’

‘My work through this became stranger and seemed to be a modern approach to the Old Masters; for a little while I was most successful in the current exhibitions.

‘Large works were placed and well publicised, and indeed they were invited all over England.’

But times were hard in Britain. In 1928, the year of the Great Slump, Bainbridge and his family began to run up a bill at the Grocer’s shop next door and on one occasion they hid from a Carrier who supplied them with meat, as Bainbridge had no money to pay him.

Fortunately, Bainbridge was to receive a well paid commission to paint a portrait of Sir Robert Newman, which helped a great deal.

Muriel fell pregnant, but the Copnalls could not afford another child, as this frank account reveals: ‘Muriel went so far as to ask our foxhunting Doctor if there was anything that could be done. (This was Dr Sparrow, featured previously in AAH Magazine, who Bainbridge remembers as ‘a very likeable fellow and was an amateur artist himself, painting chiefly hunting pictures.’) ‘He assured her that there was no way out and that she must do her best to accept it with fortitude for the baby’s sake.

‘It was winter now and during a hard frost, Muriel and I used to go to Warnham pond to skate. Day after day, she told me later, she used to hope and pray that she would have a heavy fall and so start a miscarriage which would help us out of the spot we were in.’

It was not to be, and Glyn Michael was born.

They had no money to pay the nurse so Bainbridge painted her instead.

Meanwhile, Bainbridge had sculpted three large pieces from the block of stone he had received, and used the smaller fragments of stone to carve a number of sculptures.

These were then photographed and eventually found their way into the Architectural Review.

Bainbridge was hailed as a new British sculptor, and his love of sculpture was

Bainbridge Copnall

Above: Bainbridge moved from portraits into sculpture, creating many dramatic pieces (pictures courtesy of Horsham Museum/Horsham District Council)

further enhanced by praise from Jacob Epstein.

The world was. however, still suffering from the depression and there was hardly a thing to be made out of art; no one had money for luxuries, least of all for buying paintings or sculpture.

Bainbridge was desperate, so he applied for a job as a full-time Master of Drawing for the Liverpool School of Art. Sponsored

by Professor Charles Reilly, Eric Gill, Eric Kennington and Glyn Philpot and with the aid of his Uncle Frank, he was given the job.

Bainbridge, in his autobiography, recalls in very affectionate terms leaving Slinfold: ‘We had made many friends in that typical sleepy old English village with its amusing character living round about; retired Doctors and Naval Captains, the local Squire the Farmers and their Labourers and the Publican, not to mention the little old lady whose portrait I painted sitting at the door of her cottage by the Cemetery.’

After leaving the village, Bainbridge went to Liverpool as a teacher, picking up some sculpting work in wood for local churches. Whilst in Liverpool he was asked to work with Grey Wornum in London.

He wrote: ‘The Northern papers gave me quite a boost when I left for London. I suppose it was an honour for the city that a Liverpool sculpture (as they called me) had been chosen to work at the Royal Institute of British Architects, which was one of the most important buildings of the century.

‘Through this publicity, when I arrived in London I was not entirely unknown.’

One day, Grey Wornum visited Bainbridge’s studio and brought with him a famous American architect who was entrusted with all the interior decoration for the new Cunard cruise

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John Copnall, Bainbridge’s son, was born in Slinfold in February 1928.

He studied at the Architectural Association in the early 1940s before carrying out his National Service.

On returning from the Army, Copnall briefly studied painting with his father at the Sir John Cass College, before enrolling at the Royal Academy in 1949 under the tutorage of Henry Rushbury.

Copnall's early work was in the figurative style of his father and his Uncle Frank, but he began to become aware of the exciting developments happening within the American art scene.

ship, the Queen Mary.

This new liner was to be the largest in the world, and the most luxurious ship that had ever been built.

From this visit, Bainbridge was commissioned to carve a set of decorations in the First Class dining saloon.

And the work kept coming. Shortly after the death of their second son, Bainbridge was commissioned to paint the murals for the Odeon cinema in Horsham.

At the start of World War Two, Bainbridge decided that he should move his young family (now boosted by a daughter) out of London to Horsham to stay with his parents.

He wrote: ‘I took Muriel and wee Jilly down to Horsham by car, where they were to live for a while with my father and stepmother, as everyone thought that London would at once become the centre of bombing raids. ;John was all right, as he was to be evacuated with his school.

‘I shall never forget the feeling we had in those long streams of traffic, as we motored down to Horsham. It was not panic exactly, but a sense of foreboding, as if there was an oppressive black cloud hovering over us all, just awaiting to burst.

‘I am sure that the whole of London felt the same.’

Bainbridge worked as a camouflage officer during the War, training and demonstrating the importance of camouflage. He was subsequently awarded an MBE. He wrote: ‘I was most honoured and moved by the letters of thanks from high ranking officers, such as General

This coincided with a trip John made to Spain with fellow student Bert Flugelman.The plan was to stay for a month, but the Spanish landscape had such a profound effect on Copnall that he ended up staying until 1968.

Inspired by Abstract Expressionism and the dramatic Spanish landscape, he began a series of abstract paintings.

The subtle multi-layering and strength of application give these paintings an organic form all of their own and even though most of the pieces are now more than 40 years old they are as fresh and vital as the day they were painted.

Alexander, letters which made me think that all the monotony and efforts of the last two years were appreciated by someone.’

Having left Horsham for the city, Bainbridge’s career as a sculptor was also picking up and he received a number of prestigious commissions as well as taking on a number of assistants.

After the War, he was given a studio at the British School of Rome, where he painted portraits of senior officers.

He later created a 10-foot-tall sculpture of the Crucifixion of Jesus, made of coal dust and resin, which was placed on the outside of St John's Church in Broadbridge Heath in 1964.

It was removed in 2008 as it reportedly scared children! The decision made national headlines, but you can still see it for yourself at Horsham Museum.

But perhaps Bainbridge’s most famous work is his statue in the gardens of St. Paul’s Cathedral, in which he froze in time the death of the cleric St. Thomas á Becket, murdered by royal command in 1170.

Bainbridge spent his later life living near Canterbury, where he had his studio, and died after a short illness in 1973.

Many thanks to Jeremy Knight and all at Horsham Museum and Art Gallery/Horsham District Council for their assistance with this article, which features extracts from the History of Horsham Volumes.

Bainbridge would go on to create a bold sculpture at the Royal Institute of British Architects (Picture courtesy of Horsham Museum/Horsham District Council)

58

The ultimate tribute to the

Three Chord Kings They may never be cool, but Horsham-based band Quo-caine are hoping to delight die-hard Status Quo fans at their biggest show yet at the Capitol...

Soon after forming in 2004, members of Quo-caine went to Brighton to see rock giants Status Quo perform live.

Before the gig, they met Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt at a book signing, and Quo-caine’s lead singer Robbie Holder plucked up the courage to ask the rock stalwarts a question.

Robbie recalls: “I said ‘hello Rick, hello Francis.

Can we go to the sound check at the Brighton Centre this evening, as we’ve just started a Status Quo tribute band? We’ve done three rehearsals already.’

“Rick piped up ‘Three? You only need two!’”

Status Quo might be happy to play up to one of the great musical myths – that they can only play three chords – but the members of Quo-caine know better.

James Batchelar, who plays keyboard and sings backing vocals, said: “When I was in my teens I would get a bit of stick for liking Status

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Quo, but I had seen them live a few times and been amazed as they were such a tight band and so on it.

“They’ve continued to be a loud, tight rock ‘n’ roll band. People see the cabaret side of Quo and make up their minds, but they’re a fantastic live band, and I believe we are too.”

On Thursday, 9th May, Quo-caine will be demonstrating what a good live band they are when they perform for the second time at the Capitol in Horsham.

James said: “We played the Capitol a couple of years ago and that was a big deal for us. We never thought it would happen, but it went better than we ever expected.

“Everybody was up for it, it’s a lovely venue and we put on a blinding show.

“We feel we need to raise our game again for this show. The set list is different and we’re a tighter band too.

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“Most of our set list is made up of the Quo’s early material, up until about 1984. You have the big hits including Down Down, Whatever You Want, Rockin’ All Over the World, and In the Army Now, but there are some tracks for the fans too.

“We usually open with Caroline and follow it up with similar songs so people, hopefully, get straight into a party feeling.

“If you are lucky, you’ll have people in the crowd who have had a couple of drinks and let loose down the front. If that happens, a big percentage of the crowd will dance and join in. Once people start to stand up, then that’s it.

It’s about breaking that British stiff upper lip!

“People go on about the three chord jibe and the Quo’s music being easy to play. Certainly the format of some of the songs does make them easy to play, but you have to deliver the same passion in the performance. That’s the hardest part.”

Band members have slightly differing versions of the origins of Quo-caine, but what is certain is that lead guitarist Andy Hosegood discussed the idea with singer/ rhythm guitarist Robbie Holder and drummer Colin Sigward soon after seeing another Quo tribute band at the Green Dragon in Horsham.

The three Quo fans, who have all played in a variety of covers and original bands in Horsham over the years, thought they could do it better.

By chance they bumped into another musician and old friend, keyboard player James, who also expressed an interest in joining.

At the first rehearsal, the band clicked so well that they quickly realised it was going to happen.

Unlike the real Status Quo, there’s been little change in the line-up, with only

Robbie Holder, James Batchelar and Andy Hosegood with their Fender Telecaster guitars

60 ‘Die-hard Quo fans will also criticise you if the sound is not exactly right’ current bass player Colin Eccles not being an original member.

But none of the group has yet grown tired of playing the same songs.

James said: “We gig regularly but not enough that it becomes irritating. If we were playing every week it might not be so much fun.

“All the real Quo fans keep us on our toes. We have people who come and see us regularly, and they sometimes say ‘you nailed it,’ which is great. The die-hard Quo fans will also criticise you if it’s not exactly right.”

Quo-caine though, are only interested in replicating the Quo sound, and not necessarily the look. Robbie said: “We’ve seen a few Quo tribute bands and I’ve seen a lot of videos on YouTube, and I haven’t seen any that are better than us.

“We try to get the sound right. We do not wear wigs or anything like that. For us it’s more about recreating the live Quo sound, which is different to the studio sound. When you can sing a song and there’s a line the crowd sings

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back, that’s an awesome feeling.

“I think we’ll be even better at the Capitol the second time around!”

They might be better, but will they ever be cool? Guitarist Andy is not so sure…

“The Quo raised their street cred to new heights with the reunion tour with the original members, and there was a brilliant vibe at the gigs. They also played Glastonbury for the first time a few years ago.

“But then they go back to what people call

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‘Karaoke Quo’ and release a terrible film (Bula Quo). So I’m not sure if they will ever be cool, but for many Status Quo will always be a guilty pleasure!”

Tickets to the show at the Capitol cost £12.50 (concessions £11.50) from the Capitol Box Office on 01403 750220 or www.thecapitolhorsham.com You can also visit the band’s website at www.quo-caine.com

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Saturday 11 May 8pm This sensational new show features dynamic choreography and dazzling costumes with a live band and 3 lead vocalists who’ll provide you with a mix of your favourite songs from the 1970s. From Car Wash to Crocodile Rock there is something for everyone!

Saturday 8 June 7.30pm The original British tribute to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr, featuring classics such as My Way, Amore and Mr Bojangles, the cast includes David Alacey (Lovejoy), Des Coleman (Lenny in Eastenders) and Paul Drakel (BBC Musician of the Year).

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Wednesday 15 May 7.30pm Join in this musical journey through the life and times of one of our greatest 60s icons – Gerry Marsden. Hear all Gerry’s greatest hits mixed with stories, jokes and anecdotes from his years at the top.

Wednesday 12 June 7.30pm The UK’s best live cooking show starring Cheryl Baker!

One well known TV celebrity chef and a TV Celebrity will g head to head live on stage in competition to win the day’s best dish.

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Friday 17 May 7.30pm Thundering rhythms on huge taiko drums interweave with percussive soundscapes DQG GHOLFDWH EDPERR ³XWH Mugenkyo have developed a style that is uniquely their own, retaining the traditional spirit of taiko yet creating a contemporary sound.

*8< 35$77 ©7+( 6,'(0$1ª Friday 24 May 8pm In The Studio Grammy Award winner Guy Pratt has been a crucial member of the rhythm section of mega stars such as Pink Floyd, David Gilmour & Roxy Music. In this one man show he celebrates 30 years as the bass player of choice for the heavyweights of rock and pop.

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Join your favourite dinosaur for ninety minutes of song, dance and fun… and when it comes to fun, Barney knows that nothing

Friday 28 June 8pm FLASH have been paying homage to the world’s most theatrical and dramatic rock band, Queen since 1995. Thei attention to detail is truly impressive and extends to their use of the exact same equipment used by Queen on stage in their heyday. For a Queen - live in Concert experience, nobody does it lik FLASH!

Birmingham Stage Company are back! We all want to mee people from history - the trouble is everyone is dead! S it’s time to prepare yourselve for Horrible Histories live on stage! Using actors and groun breaking 3D special effects, th astounding show is guarantee to give you a thrill from the FU\SW DV KLVWRULFDO ²JXUHV DQG events come alive on stage DQG KRYHU DW \RXU ²QJHUWLSV From the fascinating Pharaoh to the power of the pyramids discover the foul facts of deat and decay with the meanest mummies in Egypt.

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62

Sunbeam Club still

A Ray of light Despite taking some knocks, the Sunbeam Club is still going strong after 30 years, helping members develop social and swimming skills at the Pavilions...

The Sunbeam Swimming Club was established in 1982, but has experienced many ups and downs during its 30 years.

It has had to fight to stay in existence due to funding cutbacks, but it remains a vital weekly experience for its members.

Sunbeam is a club for people of all ages who have a learning or physical disability.

However, as time has gone on, it has become predominantly a club for those with additional learning needs,as people with physical disabilities have very different requirements.

Members meet every Friday evening at 8pm for an hour’s swimming at the Pavilions in the Park, where the main pool is divided into two with Sunbeam taking up half of it, and taking advantage of the the spacious

disabled changing facilities.

Most of the members are joined by family members or carers in the pool, and the emphasis is as much on socialising and enjoyment than developing swimming techniques.

There is, however, usually a trained swimming coach at the Friday sessions.

Sarah Burling has been helping several members improve their strokes, and that assistance has helped some scoop individual awards at an annual regional gala.

Ann Grant attends the club sessions with her 37-year-old daughter Becky (above). She says Sunbeam gives people with learning disabilities greater confidence and develops social skills too.

Ann said: “We receive great support, from the

staff at the Pavilions as well as companies and organisations. We have to ask for grants each year, and thanks to the likes of Saxon Weald, Hall and Woodhouse, BAA Gatwick, Waitrose and Horsham District Council we are able to continue. Fundraising events, such as the Lions Club’s annual sponsored swim, also help a great deal.”

The club is affiliated to NASCH (National Association of Swimming Clubs for the Handicapped) which hosts the regional and national galas, and some members even attend the NASCH Summer Camp held in Farnham.

We spoke to several members and carers at Sunbeam, but for more details about the club call Robin Ayres on 01403 253200 or Nicholas Cutler on 01403 372436.

Group Discussion: Sunbeam ‘At the moment we have about 30 members but we would like more’ Robin Ayres

people joined from homes and schools.

We have a national gala in Leamington Spa every November. We used to host a regional gala here in Horsham and we would like to be able to bring it back one day.

Personally, I enjoy swimming and trying to bring in new members. I like helping the others to swim too. At the moment we have about 30 members but we would like more.

The membership was a lot higher once, but some of the former members have gone out of homes and into independent living. Often the carers don’t bring them down to swimming any more. The Friday night time slot may be an issue for more people but it’s always been that way for us We’ve never been able to get another time. But for those of us here, it’s an enjoyable evening.”

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“I was there when the club started in 1982. I started talking about it with Norman Garner and eventually the idea took off.

Initially, we had some people who were interested in joining and then Horsham District Council was willing to support us.

One of our members designed the logo and we called the group Sunbeam. We started off with just four members and soon more

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Sarah Burling “I come here on a voluntary basis. I’m here most weeks but I do provide swim cover for another swim school at Handcross Park.

I enjoy teaching children with additional challenges. I’ve taught children on the autistic spectrum, with Asperger Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and language processing difficulties.

My son has Asperger’s which is why I had an interest in coming down to the Sunbeam Club initially, but he doesn’t swim here yet.

I think for some people with younger children with additional challenges, the difficulty is that club sessions are held at 8pm on a Friday night. Children are tired at that time as they have been at school all week.

My teaching here is not like having a lesson. I don’t say ‘would you like a lesson?’ Stuart clearly wanted my input so I spent the first two weeks concentrating on him and that led to Matthew asking for some help too.

People didn’t seem to think Becky would want my help, as she was set into a routine of her own. But after a while Ann came to me and said ‘Becky’s very jealous, do you think you could spend some time with her?’

When I am around they can see what I am doing and realise it’s not a lesson and there isn’t a standard they have to reach. It’s just about giving tips. They will come to you rather than the other way around.

Swimming has given me so much, and this is a way I can give something back. When you don’t succeed in all sorts of other areas of life, having something you are good at is nice, and these swimming sessions give the members so much confidence and self-esteem.”

Stuart Cutler (above, right) “We saw the information board about the Sunbeam Club in the Pavilions café and joined the club about four years ago. Now my dad Nick is the Chairman.

I play lots of sport. I also like table tennis, football and badminton. I think swimming helps me with my co-ordination and gradually I’m improving.

The first year that I joined I went to the gala. We had to do a timed swim beforehand so they know how fast you can go and decide your starting position for the handicap swim. The slower swimmers then start first and they

handicap the faster swimmers so it ends up like a photo finish.

I’m one of the more confident swimmers now but I couldn’t swim much when I started. When I went to the first gala I went too fast at the start, but last year I knew I had to swim close to my time and I finished first in two races and second in another race.

I’ve had some extra tuition with Sarah and that has helped me a lot. I was swimming quite well already but I didn’t have a good technique. She has helped me on the little things that make a big difference. “

Group Discussion: Sunbeam

Ann Grant (above left) with her daughter Becky in the pool

Ann Grant with daughter Becky “My daughter Becky started swimming when she was sevenyears-old. Back then there was a large membership of about 50 or 60 at Sunbeam.

Most special schools try hard to get people with learning disabilities swimming, even if it’s not swimming as such, it’s more doggy paddling.

The members love being in the pool.

The most important thing for them is being able to get across the pool using their own strokes.

Some members are on the autistic spectrum or have Down Syndrome, so they do want to have a bit of privacy in the pool. So we have half the pool, which is great for us.

At the old Horsham pool we used to have the whole pool but this is a bigger site.

In some ways it’s as much about the social side as learning to swim, but we do attend competitive galas and you’ll be surprised how much they focus on these races.

Horsham District Council was very good to us, so it was a major blow when they cut back their funding.

They used to provide us with a rather large grant, and that became smaller and smaller until we had to look elsewhere. We contacted lots of organisations for donations and found people were very supportive.

We only ask for small amounts to fund the club. The pool fees are the biggest cost, and we know there are similar clubs in the country that do not have to pay these fees ,so we are a bit unfortunate there.

We still receive great support, from the staff at the Pavilions in the Park as well as various companies and organisations.”

66

The ‘things you probably didn’t know about Horsham that are really quite interesting’ page...

Horsham Museum has letters written by Ernest Hornung, Conan Doyle’s brother-in-law, who lived in Partridge Green

How Horsham featured in one of Conan Doyle’s classic

Sherlock adventures Some critics believe that the BBC detective series ‘Sherlock’ is one of the best television shows of modern times.

It may come as a surprise to know that one of the highlights of the first series, ‘The Great Game’, was based on a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story which was partly set in Horsham.

In ’The Great Game’, a mobile phone receives messages with Greenwich Pips, with their numbers decreasing with each message, and Sherlock believes the five pips mean that he will be required to solve five riddles to prevent five bombs from exploding.

This episode was inspired by ‘The Five Orange Pips’, one of 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories by Conan Doyle.

The story was first published in The Strand magazine in November 1891 and the author once ranked the story his seventh favourite.

It was the first time that Conan Doyle would mention Horsham in his stories. However, Horsham would reappear in another tale, The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire.

The Five Orange Pips was set in 1887 and finds a young Sussex gentleman called John Openshaw going to stay with his strange uncle Elias

Openshaw in the Horsham area.

The story goes: “In about 1869 or 1870 he came back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes and his dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to them.

“He was a singular man, fierce and quicktempered, very foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or three fields round his house, and there he would take his exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave his room.”

The short story was the fifth one written by Doyle featuring the famous fictional detective.

There is another connection between Conan Doyle and the Horsham area. In 1893, his sister Connie married Ernest William Hornung, the creator of Raffles, and for a while they lived at West Grinstead Park.

Later Conan Doyle’s mother would live in a cottage almost opposite, which she named Bowshots.

In 1924, Conan Doyle published The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, in which through the voice of Watson and Holmes we can see how much Conan Doyle knew about Sussex and Horsham district history.

In the story a letter is received from Cheeseman Lamberley. The following conversation follows: ‘Cheesman’s Lamberley. Where is Lamberly, Watson?’

‘It is in Sussex, South of Horsham.’

‘Not very far, eh? And Cheeseman’s?’

‘I know that country, Holmes. It is full of old houses which are named after the men who built them centuries ago. You get Odley’s and Harvey’s and Carriton’s – the folk are forgotten but their names live in their houses.’

‘Precisely’, said Holmes coldly.

The comment shows Conan Doyle’s interest in local topography as many local farms are named after their owners, whilst Broadbridge and Binns are both named after people.

This article includes extracts taken from Volume 3 History of Horsham

by Jeremy Knight, available from Horsham District Council’s Horsham Museum

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