T9[ A&H Furnishings Ltd

produce players for Sussex Women, Southern Vipers and Brave and England Women.

Premier League teams will compete in both a 40-over and T20 competition, with Division 2 sides playing in a 30-over format. Hannah Phelps, Horsham Cricket Club Women’s Captain, said: ‘The league has the potential to grow more in the next five to ten years and we are excited to be part of the journey from the start.

For sponsorship opportunities, email gary.wallis-tayler@sussexcricket.co.uk

Handmade Curtains & Soft Furnishings

We specialise in the creation of high quality hand-made soft furnishings including curtains, pelmets, blinds, cushions and re-upholstery.

In addition we supply roller, vertical and venetian blinds as well as all types of curtain tracks, poles and accessories. We offer a complete service from free quotations and advice through to installation.

Unit 7, Church Lane Estate, Plummers Plain, RH13 6LU (01403) 891122 ahfurnishings.co.uk

The Centre for Horsham Energy Recovery (CHER) is an energy recovery facility that will process around 230,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste every year. It will generate up to 23MW of low carbon electricity and steam, enough energy to power the equivalent of approximately 47,000 homes. Come and meet the CHER team:

Public Exhibition

Saturday 22 April, 10.30am to 3.30pm

Tanbridge House School

Farthings Hill, Guildford Road

Horsham RH12 1SR

Drop in any time during the event to 昀nd out more about the facility. The exhibition will provide a range of information about the project, as well as offer an opportunity to ask questions.

For more information please visit: www.cher.energy

Why wait any longer!

Over the last couple of years, we have all found it difficult to hear and communicate while wearing masks. Anyone with a hearing loss has found it even more of a struggle. Now that we are free of masks, many people are realising that their hearing is not as good as it was. Amazing new technology is now available to enhance hearing like never before. Come in and find out more about Arc AI.

Rechargeable bluetooth technology

Living in isolation can be bad for your health and wellbeing. For many people, poor hearing can lead to isolation and withdrawal. A growing body of evidence points to a connection between hearing health and overall health. People who treat their hearing loss not only hear better, but may lower their risk for serious health issues such as cognitive decline and dementia. Come in and find out about new rechargeable bluetooth hearing technology!

All hearing aids amplify sounds, but ours improve clarity

l Change volume, switch memories and much more with ease from your smartphone.

l Monitor your body and brain health and set daily goals.

l Answer phone calls with the touch of a button and stream conversations directly to your hearing aids.

l New “In-the-canal” hearing aids now available - rechargeable batteries, Bluetooth connectivity and best-ever sound quality. Easy to wear with masks.

Call and book a complimentary initial consultation

At the Horsham Hearing Centre we continue to offer a safe service in a safe environment. If you have struggled to hear over the last couple of years, why not book a priority appointment with one of our Audiologists and try some of the latest hearing aids?

Experience a new normal with better hearing. Interest-free credit available over 24 months. Hear now, pay later!

Following the success of its first Charmat method white sparkling wine, House Coren has released a rosé version.

Boco Rosé is 100% Pinot Noir and made from grapes around West Sussex. The sparkling wine, like House Coren’s debut white version, is made using Charmat method, a winemaking process that creates carbon dioxide when pressurised in large steel tanks to give it a natural fizz. Boco Rosé is packed with raspberry and strawberry flavours with a touch of peach and a fresh, floral finish. Recent years have seen English sparkling wine grow in popularity, with the majority made using the traditional method, where the secondary fermentation is done in the bottle, like how Champagne is created. Boco by House Coren is one of the first Charmat method wines to be made in the UK using English grown grapes. William Coren runs House Coren vineyard in The Haven with his family. They planted 30,000 vines in May 2020 and have used a negociant to create Boco whilst they wait for their grapes to be ready to harvest. The name for the wine was inspired by old Sussex regional dialect, ‘boco’ derived from the French ‘beaucoup’ meaning ‘lots of/more.’ Boco Rosé costs £26 from housecoren.co.uk

Kissingate Brewery at Pole Barn, Church Lane Farm Estate, Lower Beeding, RH13 6LU, hosts a Spring Festival on Saturday 13 May, 11am –8pm. There will be 14 beers as well as cider, rum, gin, Pimm’s, wine and soft drinks, with plenty of food and a BBQ. No tickets required. kissingate.co.uk

Several gardens will open for The National Garden Scheme (NGS) in April and May. They include Fittleworth House and Bignore Park in Pulborough. Warnham Park (pictured) in Robin Hood Lane, Horsham, is open on Saturday 22 April, 11am – 5pm. Admission £6. ngs.org.uk horshamhorticulturalsociety.co.uk

Several trees have been planted as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy, a national initiative that formed part of Her Late Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee commemorations. The project aims to create a living legacy, with over a million trees planted. A common walnut tree has been planted at Warnham Local Nature Reserve (seen above), while pupils at Ashington CE School have planted an oak tree. The Council provided funds to enable 25 trees to be planted across the District in a project organised by its Parks and Countryside team. In addition, a common lime tree has been planted in Horsham Park to mark the Coronation of King Charles III.

Volunteers from Horsham and Crawley Samaritans have collaborated with Friends of Horsham Park and Horsham District Council on community projects.

Last autumn, they helped plant 13,000 crocus and daffodils in Horsham Park, representing the number of lives lost to suicide every year in the UK. On 1 April, volunteers were due to install two ‘Reflection’ benches, as well as three silver birch trees, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the local branch.

All are invited to enjoy the flower displays at Horsham Horticultural Society’s Spring Show at North Heath Hall, St Mark’s Lane, Horsham, RH12 5PU on Sunday 2 April. Public viewing of the displays is from 2.30 – 3.45pm and there will be plants for sale, refreshments and a grand raffle. Entry by donation.

Here are some of the latest volunteering opportunities available in the Horsham District. Age UK are looking for volunteers to help out at an informal event each month which welcomes older people in ‘a cuppa and a chat’.

Love to Move Steyning, a community group which runs seated exercises to 1950s and 1960s music for those living with long-term conditions or poor mobility, require people to help at sessions.

Guild Care needs volunteers to help in their charity shop in Horsham.

For details of these, or others in the District, contact the Voluntary Sector Support team on (01403) 215191 or email volunteering@horshamdistrict.gov.uk or visit volunteerhorshamdistrict.co.uk

The Horsham Branch of Parkinson’s UK now hosts Dance to Live Well, a weekly ballet-based exercise class. The class is taught by Michael Kopinski, who enjoyed a successful career as a soloist with Birmingham Royal Ballet before turning to teaching after suffering an injury. He now runs his own ballet school in Maplehurst. Dance can enhance fluidity of movement, develop postural stability and improve balance, which helps people living with Parkinson’s. localsupport.parkinsons.org.uk/provider/ horsham-and-district-branch

The Arts Society

Horsham has announced more Wednesday lectures at the Capitol. Lois

Oliver’s lecture

'Berthe Morisot:

'Une Finesse

Fragonardienne', is on Wednesday 10 May. Caroline Rayman’s talk on 14 June is entitled ‘Three Great Families and Their Gardens: A History of the Astors, the Rothschilds and the Sackville Wests', before Harry Venning lectures on 'The Art of the Cartoonist' on 12 July. Non- members welcome to attend, £8. Lectures commence at 10.45am. theartssociety.org/horsham

Horsham-based Freemasons of the Aviation and Combined Services Lodge has donated £1600 to the Horsham Matters Connecting Café. The cafe is held at St Andrew’s Church, Roffey, every Tuesday from 11.30am – 1.30pm, providing a warm space, hot meals and advice services to the community. Members of the Lodge, which has met in Denne Road, Horsham for many years, are drawn mainly, but not exclusively, from the aviation industry.

The Loxwood Joust returns on 5 – 6 and 12 – 13 August. In the magical Kingdom of Loxwood, you will be transported back in time to Medieval England. Highlights of the event include jousting and battle re-enactments, the Living History Village and falconry displays. New activities include tablet weaving, illumination and archery academy workshops, alongside old favourites like blacksmithing, sword school, copper bowl making and singing workshops with the Mediaeval Baebes. Experiences and banqueting places must be booked in advance. loxwoodjoust.co.uk

Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens in Lower Beeding hosts model boats on the lake on 15 – 16 April, 10am – 3pm. There will be a range of model boats, yachts, steamboats and warships as the Schooner Radio Control Group visit the famous gardens. Further visits are planned once a month until September. Membership or garden entry required. Other events scheduled for April include a half-day Spring photography workshop with landscape photographer Matt Goddard. leonardsleegardens.co.uk

J.S Bach

St John Passion

Conductor – Sean Bui

The Orpheus Sinfonia & Soloists

St. Mary’s Parish Church, Horsham

Saturday 22 April 2023

7.30pm

TICKETS £18 online from www.westsussexphilharmonicchoir.org.uk or on the door www.westsussexphilharmonicchoir.org.uk

West Sussex Philharmonic Choir holds its spring concert at St Mary's Parish Church, Horsham on 22 April, 7.30pm. Accompanied by the Orpheus Sinfonia and soloists, the choir will be performing the St John Passion, J.S. Bach's dramatic setting of the Passion story, composed in the 18th century. Tickets on the door or from westsussexphilharmonicchoir.org.uk

(See advert on facing page)

As well as hosting a Summer Festival, the Petworth Festival will this year host three events in an earlier ‘June Edition’. Ben Waters, the renowned rhythm and blues musician, will be joined by his band as he performs renditions of classic songs at Midhurst Rother College, on Friday 2 June, 7.30pm. Gyles Brandreth, who has previously appeared at Petworth Literary Week, relates stories about the late Queen at Midhurst Rother College on Saturday 3 June, 11.30am. French pianist Bernard d’Ascoli (pictured above), who at the age of only 19 won the prestigious Barcelona International Piano Competition, performs at the same venue on 3 June, 7.30pm. petworthfestival.org.uk

Separate Star Productions presents a staged reading of the play Red Heaven at St John’s Church, Church Road, Broadbridge Heath, on 29 April, 7.30pm. It tells the funny but uplifting story of two ‘Red Vicars’ who attempt to bring revolution to the conservative Essex town of Thaxted using Morris Dancing. The performance is dedicated to the memory of campaigning journalist Robert Blatchford, who lived in Horsham (see Final Word, page 66). Bar opens at 7pm with interval drinks. Tickets £12 from redheaventickets.eventbrite.com

Billingshurst

Dramatic Society presents Beck & Calling at the Women’s Hall, Billingshurst on 13 – 15 May, 7.45pm (matinee on 15 May, 2.30pm). This year marks the centenary year of The Women's Hall, which was donated to the village by sisters Edith and Ellen Beck in 1923. Beck and Calling is a homage to the Beck sisters, who were proactive in the cause of women’s suffrage. Ted Gooda’s one-act play focuses on the night of the 1911 Census. billingshurstdramaticsociety.com