Steve Boyle West Sussex Policeman 1914..........6/8

I was amazed at this statement because, to me, a distorted view of reality is often far more interesting than a factual image. It can be imaginative, creative and thought provoking. Photographers have been manipulating their images for many years even in the days of film development and darkroom printing. These days, the most commonly used camera is a smart phone which offers many in built filters to alter your image before or after taking. They are a matter of taste but their presence shows that many people are interested in manipulating their pictures. Although almost all of my images go through a little post processing, I prefer to seek out ways to enhance my photographs by finding situations that lend themselves to a creative approach. I often photograph through glass or into shop windows to create reflections or to diffuse the scene to add a little twist to the reality. The image here was taken from the i360 through that curved pod glass which adds reflections and positioning my camera to enhance the distortion which transforms the straight boards on the ground into a pleasing wavy pattern. The incomplete circle of the seating and the small girl appear unaffected by this process. The darkened tint of the glass pod also has an effect on the colours but the image works well in monochrome as well as in colour.

You can see more of my photographs on www. instagram.com/shoreham_steve

In 1912, Captain Arthur Stuart Williams MVO, OBE was appointed from Brecon in Wales to be the Chief Constable of the West Sussex Constabulary, which had been established 1857.

Williams established his reputation for parade ground drill. The wooden top helmet was replaced with the flat cap, as he believed it to be more suitable. The wooden truncheon was replaced with a vulcanised rubber cosh. Williams believed the truncheon, when pocketed, spoiled the cut of a policeman’s trousers. He himself dressed in an army uniform from the Royal Sussex Regiment that made him stand out on the police parade ground. In 1913, to improve the smartness of his constables, Williams declared that many of them looked physically unfit and this became an obstacle to their promotion. One constable seeking his sergeant’s stripes under Williams’ command was said to have abandoned his bicycle to walk a beat consisting of a round trip of 20 miles, over a 10-hour shift. Off duty constables took to jogging on the Sussex Downs. Seeing many officers limping on duty because of blisters also irked Williams and so special socks became an addition to their uniform. In 1914 Williams caused resentment when he issued an order that no member of his force of any rank in uniform or in plain clothes was to drink in a pub, even when off duty. Every time an officer entered licensed premises he had to note the fact in his journal in red ink, giving the name of the pub, the time and his reason for going there. In February 1914, Superintendent Fowler, with 23 years unblemished service to his credit, was reduced to the rank of sergeant and posted to Horsham. He had been seen playing cards in the guardroom at Worthing police station while off duty. The London Evening Standard reported on Wednesday the 25th of February 1914 that numerous petitions were being signed in Sussex calling for the re-instatement of Superintendent Rubber Cosh of 1914

Fowler. The West Sussex County Times on Saturday the 28th of February 1914 reported that Williams reduced Inspector Slade to the rank of sergeant and posted him to Fernhurst. The John Bull Newspaper added that it was because Slade had bought in a meal in a pub in Littlehampton, after having spent 14 hours on duty. Williams also ordered that all officers must on their day off be indoors by 10pm. At Sussex cinemas the following notice was displayed on screen at five minutes to ten at night, If there are any policemen in this hall, they are solemnly warned that they have only minutes in which to get indoors.’ According to the newspaper ‘The Weekly Dispatch’ on Sunday the 1st of March 1914, there was talk of a strike throughout the Sussex police force. The West Sussex Standing Joint Committee supported Williams at Horsham Sessions on Friday the 6th of March 1914. A letter was sent to the Mayor of Worthing, where protest meetings had been held concerning the reduction in rank of officers. Mr Thornley clerk to the committee, wrote, ‘It is one of a policeman’s most important duties to see that public houses are

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properly conducted and to report all breaches of the law regulating them. This duty would not be properly carried out if the police were on the terms they would be with licenceholders and frequenters of public houses if they drank in such places themselves. This has led to the order in this force that police officers are not to enter public houses except when their duty necessitates a visit.’

Williams was such a stickler for discipline that he reported himself to magistrates and pleaded guilty to having an unclean chimney at his home that had caught fire. This integrity won him the begrudging admiration of his officers. Williams stayed in post until 1935.

Judy Upton

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