AAH October 2012

October 2012

Coming on leaps and bounds How Horsham is producing top twirlers

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AAH: Now printing in excess of 12,000 copies

Taking to the stand Often, people tell me how much they enjoy AAH, and it is typical for them to praise the magazine’s photography.

When I explain to them, with a look of sadness and perhaps a small tear rolling down my cheek, that the photographs are the only thing in the magazine that I don’t do, people tend to feign interest in my articles too.

‘How do you find out about these things?’ they ask, trying not to switch off. The truth is, I say, is that we stumble across most of our feature ideas through meeting new people all of the time.

This month was no exception - we met Diana Holman, whose brother witnessed the fatal Nazi air attack at West Grinstead station in 1942, whilst meeting people objecting to a Crematorium in the area.

We came across Alison Milner-Gulland, focus of our art feature, thanks to an article we put together on Contemporary Art with Nicholas Toovey a few months ago.

There is certainly no shortage of fascinating individuals and businesses for us to feature in the future!

At Booker’s Vineyard: Ben Morris (All AAH Editorial & Advertising) and Toby Phillips (All AAH Photography)

of stands in Horsham town centre.

They are very fancy - colourful and springloaded so they always look full up until they are actually empty.

These stands can be found at Artisan Patisserie in Market Square (next to the Old Town Hall) and Sakakini Jeweller’s in The Carfax. You can also pick up copies from Horsham Museum as well.

You may see from the oh-so-subtle banner above that we now print over 12,000 copies of AAH each month - far in excess of any other Horsham magazine.

In addition to our door-to-door delivery rounds, for the first time we have a couple

Finally, I must say a big thank you to Karen Taylor and Cydney Magnus, two of our delivery team in the Horsham area. Both have delivered the magazine since we started in May 2011, but have now taken on work which doesn’t involve carrying a fluorescent bag!

We wish you all the very best for the future!

Ben, Editor

Cover Story

AAH

September 2012

October 2012

ALL ABOUT HORSHAM MAGAZINE

Coming on leaps and bounds How Horsham is producing top twirlers

It took about ninety minutes for Toby and I (with input from Toby’s wife Maria) to settle on an image for the front cover.

Our last few covers followed a green and blue, rural theme and I wanted to get away from that as I like to think of AAH as being diverse. So that meant shots from the West Grinstead Rail Station and Bookers Vineyard were out of contention.

We liked this image of 16-year-old Katie Green of Horsham Bluebelles, although it wasn’t perfect. In the full shot, the impact

of Katie was lost between the bars, but when we enlarged the image we lost the floor, which showed how high she was jumping.

The image was set up in the corner of a hall at Forest School, where Toby had set up his studio lights. Katie and Toby discussed a few ideas for jumping shots and this was the best of the bunch.

Toby needed to produce some magic to get rid of the yellow light in the room, and to place the baton over the AAH logo!

Big Bang Theories The rules on fireworks have been tightened in recent years, but Dave Ashdown of The Horsham Hearing Centre explains how important it is to follow the guidelines Guy Fawkes Night is fast approaching, which gives us an opportunity to discuss the impact that loud fireworks can have on your ears.

Last month we raised the issue of high decibel levels at sporting events, following reports that crowd noise reached an incredible 140 decibels at the Olympic velodrome.

Fireworks can produce similar levels.

If the rules and regulations are followed and you maintain a safe distance, then there should not be cause for concern, but fireworks can affect our hearing.

Here in the UK, we have strict guidelines on the use of fireworks. Most of the fireworks members of the public can buy are Category 2 fireworks. The law states that these fireworks must be safely viewable from five metres away, and must scatter no debris beyond a 3 metre range.

The Category 3 fireworks are display fireworks must be safely viewable from 25 metres away, and must scatter no debris beyond a 20 metre range. Members of the public can legally purchase these, but they tend to be suited to larger gardens or parks.

The ‘big bang’ fireworks that produce higher sound levels are Category 4 professional fireworks which are for sale only to industry specialists, such as Aurora who will provide the display at Horsham Sports Club on October 27th.

Dave Ashdown of The Horsham Hearing Centre, at 22 Worthing Road, Horsham, says that steps have been taken in recent years to restrict the noise levels of fireworks on general sale. “The government reduced the maximum permitted pressure levels from fireworks from

When the rules are not followed fireworks can have an impact on our hearing 120dBAI at 15 metres to 97dBAI at 15 metres.

This applies to category 3 fireworks, so you can no longer buy loud ‘bangers’ from shops.

But you can still go to big displays such as the one in Lewes and experience very high sound levels. “It’s important that you stay a safe distance from the fireworks. Obviously, the closer you get to the fireworks the higher the impact on your ears. Hopefully we will all enjoy a safe Guy Fawkes Night, but should you experience any hearing problems after a display then do get in touch. “At our Hearing Centre in Horsham, we offer a free hearing test. Your ears are just as

important as your eyes and I would recommend everyone to have a hearing check every couple of years.�

There are three Hearing Aid Audiologists based at the Horsham practice with a combined total of over sixty years’ experience between them.

The centre also offers a clinical ear care service (wax removal).

Dave added: “We offer a complimentary initial consultation, our customer service is second-to-none and the results can be life changing.�

Horsham Hearing Centre is located opposite Horsham Library at 22 Worthing Road, Horsham, RH12 1SL or call 01403 218700.

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horsham@hearcentres.com

If you would like to discuss advertising in AAH, please contact Ben on 01403 878026.

Eighth Page £50; Quarter page: £100; Half Page: £175; Full Page £300

CONTENTS 6 News Round-Up

34 Music

What’s making headlines, including more recognition for The Pass

Horsham Borough Band prepares for a concert based on its early years

10 My Story So Far

41 Bookers Vineyard

Dr David Skipp on how personal tragedy has impacted his work

Discover how English wines are now competing with the world’s best

14 Ones to Watch

49 Group Discussion

A group of graduates hope to make waves with their own drama series

Horsham Bluebelles have become one of the top baton twirling teams

20 My Father’s Son

56 George & Dragon

A Horsham man has completed a book influenced by his father’s articles

The Dragons Green pub has been saved by two residents of the village

62 Art Feature

22 Crematorium

How travelling inspires the work of versatile artist Alison Milner-Gulland

West Grinstead residents are fighting a plan for a new crematorium

29 Historic Station

66 How Interesting

The story of West Grinstead Station from Nazi raids to Downs Link days

The stage and screen legend who bellowed at cows in Ashurst

The AAH Team Editor: Ben Morris editor@aahorsham.co.uk 01403 878026 / 01903 892899

Additional thanks to...

Cara Hewitt at Montague Street Media, Herbie Whitmore, Stuart Barford, Chris Wassell

Accounts Manager: Kelly Morris advertising@aahorsham.co.uk 01403 878026 / 01903 892899

Door-to-Door Delivery team The Paterson family, Geoff Valentine, Cydney Magnus, Andrew Price, Trish Fuller, Sarah Guile, Amy Rogers, (all Horsham rounds), Anna Laker and Alex Besson (Billingshurst), Jamie Towes, Laura Harding, Shaun Bacon and Karen Taylor (Southwater), Jack Barnett (Monks Gate/Mannings Heath), Karen Parnell (Warnham), Will Smith (Ashington), Roger Clark (Partridge Green and Cowfold), The Morris Family (Slinfold, Horsham, Tower Hill, Nuthurst, Crabtree), Reece Elvin (Slinfold), Toby Phillips (Town Centre), Herbie Whitmore (West Grinstead),

Photography: Toby Phillips tobyphillipsphotography.co.uk info@tobyphillipsphotography.co.uk 07968 795625 Contributors Jeremy Knight (Historic images and informations for articles on Horsham Borough Band and Laurence Olivier)

Ben’s Grandma (Wisborough Green) AAH is also available to pick up for free in stands at Sakakini (Carfax ), Artisan Patisserie (Market Square) and Horsham Museum, The Causeway.

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 (except July/ September 2011 and January 2012 - sold out) are available for £3 each (this includes postage).

Please send a cheque (payable to AA Publishing Ltd) of £3 for each copy to: AA Publishing Ltd, 2 Viney Close, Ashington, West Sussex, RH20 3PT.

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12 1: Brooklands Studio, a Horsham-based singing and dance company, present Indelible - a dynamic mix of song and dance at The Hawth in Crawley on Sunday, 14th October. They will perform numbers from musicals including Sweeney Todd, Wizard of Oz, Kiss Me Kate and We Will Rock You. There will be a special guest appearance from Horsham comedian John O'Sullivan, known as the Newsagent Provocateur.

2: An exhibition called ‘Art in Nature’ at Horsham Museum and Art Gallery provides an opportunity to see the range and talent of Warnham artist Alison Ingram. Alison is exhibiting about 25 paintings spanning some 15 years of creativity. If you are captivated by swooping swallows, mesmerised by slinking wolves, or entranced by gliding swans or the cuteness of puffins, then you won’t want to miss this colourful exhibition. It’s on now until 10th November.

3: Southwater racer Jolyon Palmer’s second GP2 campaign came to a disappointing end in Singapore. A gearbox failure in Race 1 and

a reckless move by Johnny Cecotto Jnr left him with two retirements. Jolyon finished 11th in the drivers’ standings, with the season’s highlight being a maiden win at Monaco. At Singapore he told BBC F1’s Jake Humphrey: “Everyone in GP2 is itching to get into F1 and I really want to have my chance!

This year has been a good one for me but we’ve probably not done quite enough to get into F1 just yet, so maybe we’ll spend another year in GP2.”

4: The Pass restaurant at South Lodge Hotel has been awarded four AA rosettes. Head chef Matt Gillan said: “I am tremendously proud of the team who continue to work hard year after year. To have our hard work recognised is fantastic.” The restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star in October 2011.

5: To celebrate Christ’s Hospital’s 460th anniversary of its founding in the City of London, the entire school of 850 pupils attended a St Matthew’s Day service at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, 21st September.

The school then marched to Guildhall, led by the Band, captained by 17-year-old Francis Scarr of Wisborough Green.

6: The Fox Inn in Rudgwick has been refurbished and now has a new Landlord, Dave Jenkins. Dave, who has had a wealth of experience running pubs, said: “We have developed a new menu which will enable more people to visit the Fox Inn on a regular basis because of the range of food we offer and the competitive pricing.”

7: Parham House and Gardens hosts its final event in 2012 - an autumn foraging and countryside day - on Sunday, 14th October at 11am-5pm. There will be food and drink exhibitors, traditional woodland crafts and guided deer spotting walks into Parham Park.

For details call 01903 742021 or visit www.parhaminsussex.co.uk 8: Gary Holder presents an acoustic showcase at the Capitol in Horsham on Monday, 15th October at 7.30pm. Gary welcomes the Maypole Band, The Other Band, Airs and

AAH News Round-up 4

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Disgraces, Blueszoo, The Occasions and Yonder. Tickets cost £7.50 from 01403 750220 or www.thecapitolhorsham.com 9: Lenny Henry will be at the Capitol in Horsham as part of a 38-date national tour of his brand new, one-man show, Pop Life. The show on Wednesday, 24th October, will feature Lenny playing the piano in front of an audience for the first time, having recently passed his grade 4 piano exam.

10: Many thanks to all of you that bid in our silent auction for a limited edition print of two de Havilland Mosquito F.P VI by aviation artist Trevor Ley. The print commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Mosquito entering service. The print, hand-signed by Bill Lucas (featured in September’s AAH) as well as nine other war veterans, has been won by Andrew Harris. Many thanks also to Mr Adcock and Mrs Lloyd for their bids and contributions. All proceeds will be donated to the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.

11: The Greets Inn at Warnham will be staging a Firewalk to help raise funds for The

Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy. The event will take place on Sunday, November 4th. It will be organised

by Cliff Mann of Time 4 Change, the most experienced firewalking instructor in the UK. For full details visit www.thegreetsinn.co.uk or www.dvltrust.org.uk 12: West Sussex Library Service is being given a grant of almost £90,000 to launch a project charting the impact of the First World War on residents. The grant comes from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and coincides with the approaching centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. The Library Service will be working with the County Record Office plus volunteers, teachers, schoolchildren and students to create a vivid picture of life during 1914-1918.

13: A Horsham kitchen retailer is celebrating after taking sole ownership of the business and managing sales growth of 336% in just 12 months. Bruce Boychuk and wife Rebecca initially shared ownership of Intoto Kitchens, located on Medwin Walk in Horsham, with a retail partner. But after 12 months they are

taking sole ownership. Bruce said: The couple are supported by award-winning designer Peter Ward.

14: The 2012 Dressed for Success campaign, which aims to make Horsham town centre window displays looking festive for Christmas, got underway last week with a launch event that attracted over 60 partners and potential participants. Facebook and Twitter voting options, pavement ‘Vote for Me’ stickers and all manner of public and staff incentives encourage people to get involved. Voting starts on 17th November.

15: Sussex Wildlife Trust has received an influx of phone calls from worried residents who have spotted a snake in their garden.

Jess Price, Wildlife Information Officer, said: “There are three species of snake native to the UK, but we only get two of them in Sussex: the grass snake and the adder.

Grass snakes are harmless but Adders can give a nasty bite. It is more common for them to bite dogs and that can be more serious.”

You can report snake sightings at www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk

Memorable year ends on a high note for Cranfold

Wendyanne (far left) with the rest of the Cranfold team

Leigh Chambers (centre) officially opens the new centre

Perfect Therapy It’s been a memorable year for Cranfold Physical Therapy Centre.

Earlier this year, its Cranleigh centre was extensively upgraded, before physio sessions were introduced at Southwater Surgery.

This summer Cranfold provided services for athletes representing Grenada at the London Olympics, and they were ecstatic to see that one of the athletes they treated - Kirani James - took gold in the 400 metres.

There was further cause for celebration in September, as Cranfold Physical Therapy celebrated a move into new premises in Denne Parade, Horsham.

Cranfold’s services will complement the services run by Sarah Dover McCarthy at Total Therapy Studios at the extensively refurbished premises.

An official opening ceremony was held on 19th September, with ribbon-cutting duties undertaken by Leigh Chambers, Economic Development and Leisure Projects Officer at

Horsham District Council.

Leigh first came across Cranfold Physical Therapy Centre when arranging physiotherapy services for the Grenadian Olympic team during their pre-Games training at Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre.

Cranfold owner Wendyanne Harrison said: “It was a great privilege to be able to work with the Grenada team and everyone was off the sofa by the time Kirani crossed the line!”

Lindsay Pringle, one of the physiotherapists based in Denne Parade, was part of the team who treated the athletes. As well as being a Chartered Physio, she has a degree in Sports and Exercise Science, works with rugby and has a particular interest in sports injuries.

The other resident physio is Karen Love.

Karen is a Spinal Specialist and also has particular interests in shoulder injuries and whiplash, and is a qualified acupuncturist.

Karen’s latest venture is to start Ante Natal Pilates classes which will be run on Saturday

mornings in Denne Parade. Both the physios are APPI (Australian Physiotherapy Pilates Institute) trained.

The team of Clinical Tutors at Total Therapy teach a range of Pilates and clinical exercise classes. The synergy between the two businesses for injury treatment, rehabilitation, fitness and maintenance is ideal for seamless and complete management of patients’ problems under one roof.

For Cranfold, one of the additional benefits of the move is the ability to expand the working hours; they are now able to offer patients in central Horsham, with evening appointments and Saturday mornings.

Amy Barton, another Cranfold Physio, continues to offer sessions at the Southwater Surgery on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

For more details visit the website at www.cranfoldphysio.co.uk or call Cranfold on 0845 025 4000

Cranfold Physical Therapy Centre has moved into new premises in Horsham Advertisement

10

‘I have always approached inquests from a

GP’s perspective’ I was born in Workington in Cumberland.

It was a steel town and my dad was a Baptist minister there. We moved to Liverpool and then to Kent before ending up in Shoreham in 1959, when I was ten.

Doctor David Skipp of Horsham

I went to Medical School in Charing Cross. From the age of 12 or 13 I wanted to be a doctor. I had a GP called Dr Stafford in Shoreham who took an interest in all of his patients. I was always impressed by this man and because of him I thought I would like to go into medicine. He always seemed collected and calm. He was a big influence on my life.

The Medical School was just off The Strand. I did my pre-clinical there and then moved down to Fulham when the new Charing Cross Hospital was completed.

I married Helen in 1974 and we had our first child, Tim, before I moved to Cuckfield for three years and did the rotation whilst I was preparing to do general practice. I spent three months working with four different GPs in Balcombe, Haywards Heath, Newick, and Ditchling.

Back then you did six years of training and a year of house jobs, which I did at Charing Cross. I then did a year’s general practice and two years of medical studies.

Once I had done the training I came to Horsham, in 1978.

I went to Horsham Park and didn’t move until I retired after thirty years. I ended up as a senior partner and whilst I was there we rebuilt the surgery.

I knew Horsham as when we lived at Shoreham we used to hop on the steam train and visit Horsham Park. It was a good day out and if it was really warm you would go swimming in the open air swimming pool that used to be there.

My wife is also a medic. She spent a few weeks as a medical student in Horsham at another practice. I had been up to see her as well.

My belief was that if you’re going to be a general practitioner in a town, then you’ve

got to involve yourself in what is happening in the community. I was never one of those guys that said ‘I want to practice there but live somewhere else.’ I wanted to live and work in the town and get to know the people.

We did the Police Surgeon’s work at Park Surgery. For many years this was carried out by Doctor Gover and when he retired I took on his work. The experience I

gained from that meant that Roger Stone, who was Coroner for West Sussex, asked me to be a Deputy Coroner. I’ve been doing that for about twelve years now.

It’s unusual to have a medic these days performing a Coroner’s role. Most are lawyers and they come at it from the legal position. That’s not to say that they are not interested in the people in the cases they

My Story So Far have. But I have always approached inquests from a GP’s perspective.

If you have a family who have lost a loved one or been through a traumatic episode, the last thing they want at a Coroner’s Court is to be met with legal jargon.

I’ve tried to adapt the way the inquests are run so that the family understand what is happening, get the answers that they want and do not feel intimidated by the system. At an inquest, you want the answers and you want to know that the person conducting the inquest understands the emotions you are feeling.

It is emotional. We’ve had some very emotional inquests in Horsham, such as the schoolboy who was bullied – these are emotional episodes and you have to help people through it. I think the coroner’s inquest is part of the process of helping people deal with bereavement and that’s how I approach it.

‘I’ve been on the receiving end, so I know what it’s like to go to a Coroner’s Court’ also sit on a West Sussex County Council committee which gives me an input into health issues. I act as a liaison with the Chief Executive and his team at East Surrey Hospital and I can discuss the issues we have here in Horsham.

The frustration comes from wondering whether any contribution you make in a debate is actually going to be noted or listened to. In all honesty, you go into a debate knowing you are not going to win anything because it’s already decided. There’s a debate and you can say what you feel, but if it doesn’t accord with what the ruling party believes then it’s not going to make any difference.

A few years ago I really thought we needed a new hospital. Everything went to East Surrey and people didn’t like that. It engendered a lot of angst amongst locals, understandably as there were a lot of problems. When Francis

I represent Roffey North on the council and I

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I’ve been on the receiving end, so I know what it’s like to go to a coroner’s court.

My first child, Tim, died in 1999. He was a medical representative and went out to Australia to meet a couple of friends. He was due to come home a couple of days after the crash happened.

On the night of his 23rd birthday they were in a car at some traffic lights and a huge lorry just ploughed straight into the back of them and wiped them all out.

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That was traumatic. As a parent, you don’t get over that. But it did give me an affinity with the families in the coroner’s court.

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I’ve known (Leader of Horsham Liberal Democrats) David Holmes for a long time as our children went to Heron Way together. One day he said ‘Why don’t you take up council work?’ and I said ‘No way. It’s not my scene. I am not a politician.’ There was a meeting looking at health issues in Horsham and at about that time I was involved in Francis Maude’s campaign to get a hospital. David said ‘You could make a difference’ and in a weak moment I said ‘Oh, all right!’ and that was how I got into politics.

I thought I might make a difference, but I’m not sure if I’ve made any difference at all.

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Maude ran his campaign it was the culmination of people’s frustrations. It was a good campaign and had a lot of merit.

I’ve changed my position slightly. A lot of problems can be treated in the community by your GP. East Surrey has also upped its game in the last few years. My view now is that we have a hospital in Horsham that could do a lot more in terms of outpatient work, minor surgery, and the minor injuries unit could offer more.

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Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m president of Theatre 48 (Horshamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oldest theatre group) and we are flourishing. We are working a lot more with children, particularly those at Kingslea School in Horsham. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not unknown for me to be an extra in HAODS productions. There are two or three of us in a rent-a-mob and we are called upon when they need some people to lounge around in the background not doing very much!

I do a bit of Scottish dancing at the Millennium Hall in Roffey too.

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be surprised how many people there are in the group!

We had four children. Jo is a doctor and lives in Copenhagen. She has given us four grandchildren so we go to Denmark a lot for babysitting! Beth is a nurse at Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford. My youngest son Ben lectures in music at Oxford.

We set up a charity in Timâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s memory as we felt we had to do something positive. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s called The Timios Trust, set up with the express purpose of providing travel bursaries for young people wanting to go abroad and do something positive.

Tim had a strong Christian faith and we tried to set it up according to his beliefs. He went out to Africa and got involved in a number of community projects and we have tried to continue his work. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve supported nearly 300 people doing various projects around the world.

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Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done a couple of marathons to raise money for the Trust. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve also done the Three Peaks Challenge and I cycled from Landâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s End to John Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Groats.

I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how long the charity will go on for but all of the time we have got money and youngsters saying â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;This is what we would like to doâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; we will support them.

14

Film graduates Production team write and film own mini series Your future job prospects - statistically speaking - are not great if you are pursuing a career in film and television.

At any given time between 75% and 90% of all Equity registered actors are out of work.

Yet for many it is still a dream worth chasing. From that first tap dancing show in front of the family at Christmas, or the first rendition of a Spice Girls hit at the school musical showcase, a life-long desire to be a stage and screen star begins.

But it is not a dream easily realised - a fact not lost on a group of recent graduates who have come together to form their own production company.

Montague Street Media is a Horsham based company currently producing its first series called ‘103A’ which is to be broadcast on the internet. The show tells the story of seven friends and University graduates in their early twenties who deal with work, friendships and romantic entanglements set against the back drop of the modern economy.

Several of the scenes have been shot in Horsham town centre including Fleurs in Blackhorse Way and Little Black Olive in the Bishopric, whilst local rock band Tied to the Mast have been involved with creating the soundtrack.

The script is written by a Horsham writer, Jezmae Metcalf. She is backed by a number of friends that she met whilst studying for a degree in documentary film at Newport Film School at the University of Wales.

Several of the cast members auditioned for roles at the Capitol in Horsham,

before filming started in early September. A pilot episode is now ready to be aired towards the end of the year.

Jezmae, 24, said: “I came back from University and was a little bit lost so I started writing some scripts. Then I decided to make them myself.

“I met Dan Watkins at University, and it had been suggested that we should work together as he is a better director than I am and perhaps I’m the stronger writer. We stayed in touch and I showed him the script and he thought it would be fun.

“The show is just based on our normal lives. There is nothing big and dramatic that happens. I couldn’t find a show that I could relate to – there are shows about people at school, or in the case of Fresh Meat at University. But there is nothing about post-University lives.

“People have come out with a degree having spent a lot of money and they can’t get jobs in what they want to do.

They are taking jobs on minimum wage that are similar to the jobs they were taking to support themselves whilst at University.”

The cast involved in 103A – the number of Jazmae’s house at University – will all take a share of any profit made from the production. But the project is primarily an opportunity for everyone to gain experience.

In addition to Dan and Jezmae, Lee Goulding is editor of the series, whilst Cara Hewitt is in charge of marketing and promotion. Actors include Drama School graduates Ryan Lancastle, Megan Affonso and Toby Joyce.

‘People have come out with a degree having spent a lot of money and they can’t get jobs in what they want to do.’

- Jezmae Metcalf

Ones to Watch

knuckle down Ones to Watch Montague Street Media

Brit school trained Hayley Metcalf - Jezmae’s sister – is also a cast member, as is Mark Smedley who has recently been on tour with ‘Lord of the Flies’ and ‘The Wind in the Willows.’

Completing the cast is Emma Chase of Southwater. Emma said: “I have known Jez-

mae since we were very little. We used to tap dance together in Horsham and our dads knew each other too, so we had no choice but to be friends!

“We’ve always done this sort of thing together – making little films. We were the kids in class that would find a way to get

16 ‘I hope people will relate to the series in a good way as it is funny. It is quite satirical’ - Emma Chase out of giving presentations by just showing films instead. So doing what we are doing now is a way of getting out of anything real!

“I hope people will relate to the series in a good way as it is funny.

It’s quite satirical. There’s a great dynamic in the cast – this isn’t like One Tree Hill where you have people in their thirties pretending that they’ve just finished University. It feels real.”

There is one more experienced member of the team on hand to give guidance whenever he can – Jezmae’s father Mark, who has been given the title of Executive Producer. Mark remarked on how exciting it had been to see the young team evolve and use their initiative.

He said: “We formed Montague

Street Media just to make ‘103A’ and hopefully a few other things will come out of it too. I’m helping as I believe Jezmae is a good writer and I know how hard it is to break into that world.

“I provide some financial and moral support. What I have seen demonstrates that when you do provide something positive for young people they will show great enthusiasm.

“They’ve embraced this project whole-heartedly and the momentum has grown with each day. Hopefully they will be able to continue and shoot all six episodes for the first season.”

The pilot episode will be shown at www.103ashow.tumblr.com and on YouTube later this month.

Jazmae Metcalf has written the six part series,103A

info@strandshairsalon.co.uk

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Helen is a fully qualified stylist with over 10 years of experience in all aspects of hairdressing. Nicole joins as an apprentice at the start of her career as a stylist.

They join the exciting team at Strands, with stylists forming part of the Official Hair Team at the Miss World Competition

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19

Leave it to the Pros You can spend a fortune on the biggest rockets you can find, but a fireworks extravaganza in your own back garden rarely meets expectation.

A pack of four Mega 2000s, an Apollo Blast and a Catherine Wheel will not constitute a display that will live long in the memory!

Your best bet is to leave it to the professionals - as they are the only people allowed to use the big ‘Category 4’ fireworks.

In Horsham, the biggest display is held at Horsham Sports Club in Cricketfield Road.

The display - provided by renowned fireworks specialists Aurora – was so popular in its first year in 2010 that the number of people attending rocketed in 2011.

This year’s event – at 7.30pm on Saturday, October 27th - should go off with a bang too.

The club has vowed to improve the family experience by introducing entertainment for children and provided a wider range of food and refreshments including a Hog Roast.

A club spokesman said: “Last year we became victims of our own success in that numbers almost trebled from our inaugural year which slightly caught us out as we found it difficult to

keep up with demand for refreshments.

“This year we are bringing a much larger outside bar and local brewery Hepworth’s have offered their Beer Tent. We also have a good number of food companies and some pre-display entertainment for children.

“They can contribute to the Halloween theme by having their faces painted and entering the fancy dress competition which will be judged by Jane Deane, star of the CBeebies show ‘Justin's House’ and this year’s pantomime at The Capitol.

“There will also be a live band in the clubhouse after the fireworks.”

Horsham Sports Club is open to all - members and non-members alike - who are invited to use the social and sporting facilities.

Acting Chairman, Chris Wassell, said: “The club’s much-missed Chairman David Swain, who sadly passed away earlier this year, had a vision for the club to become the centre of the community and continue to provide an unrivalled local amenity, entirely self-funded.

“The continued viability of the club depends on the support of the Horsham community.

We are also very fortunate to have been generously supported by Lifestyle Ford, Specsavers Horsham, Strutt & Parker and

Strategic Internet Consulting.”

Tickets prices have been kept to 2011 prices £5 each, with under 5's free and a family ticket costs £15 (four for the price of three) only until 15th October. They are now available at the Horsham Sports Club office in Cricketfield Road, Horsham, The Capitol and M&J News in East Street, Horsham.

Gates open at 5.30pm on the night, with the display starting at 7.30pm. Numbers will have to be limited so early purchase of tickets is advised to avoid disappointment. Car Parking will not be available on the night at the sports club but a park and ride service will operate from Sainsbury’s.

For details visit www.horshamsportsclub.com or call 01403 254628.

Further displays will be held this year at Jubilee Fields in Billingshurst on Saturday, 20th Oct (www.billingshurstfireworks.co.uk), The Red Lyon in Slinfold at 6pm on Friday, 2nd Nov, Horsham Rugby Club on Saturday, 3rd Nov (www.horshamrufc.com), Wickhurst Lane in Broadbridge Heath (www.broadbridgeheath.co.uk) on Saturday, 3rd Nov and Southwater Junior School hosts a quiet display (6.45pm) and a main display (7.45pm) on Friday, 26th October.

The ‘Was it really a year ago? Doesn’t time fly?’ section Our meal review came from Random Hall Hotel in Slinfold.

It’s been a busy year at the hotel, with a new extension being built.

Work on the new meeting and conference facilities is coming to an end with a relaunch planned for November. Many of the bedrooms have been refurbished. and a new menu was introduced in the summer.

Television presenter Steve Backshall was in Horsham with his ‘Live ‘n’ Deadly’ tour.

Thousands of people turned up to the free event but many were angry about having to queue for several hours. Backshall spent over an hour signing autographs for fans at the end of the day. This year the show has not toured.

AAH visited the Southwater home of motor racing brothers Jolyon and William Palmer.

Jolyon has had mixed fortunes in the GP2 series this year - the high points being victory at Monaco and finishing on the podium at Silverstone and Monza. William has raced in the Ginetta Junior Great Britain Championship but has yet to finish on the podium.

Alice Ella, who impressed at the 2011 Horsham Festival of Sound, was featured in the music section.

Alice has had a busy year since, travelling to the States for recording sessions. In the summer she asked to support her idol Jessie J in Wales. However, after they had soundchecked, the gig was cancelled due to the pop star not being well.

20

Royal Heir Force Richard Edwards talks about a new book inspired by his late father’s stories of British aviation heroes My father, Peter Edwards, wrote his first book, The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Imperial Naval Air Service in the late 1980s, but passed away in 1992 before he was able to see his book in print. He loved the writing side of things but like many writers he didn’t know how to market a book. He wasn’t a book salesman.

He would send it off to various companies and it would come back in the post. You could see the look of disappointment in his face every time.

Nobody was interested in the book at that time.

My dad served with the Royal Air Force from 1945 and later became a school teacher. He would drag us – I was the youngest of eight children – off to places such as the Imperial war Museum at Duxford, Shoreham Airfield, the Military Aviation Museum in Tangmere Museum and Shuttleworth. You begin to share that passion for aviation as it’s a fascinating subject.

About five years ago my mother said ‘I will give you all of his written materials’.

We thought we should give it another go. So we took dad’s old manuscripts, typed them up on to the computer, proof read it, did a little bit of re-writing and researched some pictures for the book. We took a much more structured and professional approach when marketing the book. Pen and Sword, a military and history publisher based in Barnsley, were interested and the Commissioning Editor decided to give it a go.

It’s not the kind of book that J K Rowling is going to be worried about, but we hope it’ll sell fairly consistently.

After the first book was published, I said to Pen and Sword that I had an idea for a second book and so put together a proposal. I found a few articles that my father had written and thought I could combine his stories with what I had

Richard shares the writing credits of new book with his father Peter Edwards

Aviation Author researched.

Peter Edwards at Bramber Castle

‘Heroes and Landmarks of British Aviation’ celebrates pioneering men and women who devoted their lives to the skies. We are both credited as authors and it just so happens that the book has been published 20 years after he died. Many famous names and aircraft are documented, including Amy Johnson and her around-the-world-flight, Geoffrey de Havilland and the Mosquito, RJ Mitchell and the Spitfire, Frederick Handley Page and the birth of Imperial Airways and Frank Whittle, the inventor of the jet engine.

There are other pioneers such as Alliott Verdon Roe, the first Englishman to fly an all-British machine.

He would design aircrafts and see them fail, but he would just rebuild them and try again.

It was the perseverance of such people that pulled them through and they started to achieve things.

How can you not

be inspired by these fascinating human stories? Alan Geoffrey Page was shot down in 1940 in a Spitfire over the English Channel.

Burning fuel covered him from head to foot.

He landed in the sea was recovered and had pioneering reconstructive surgery at The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead. A year later he was back in the air, and flying with Squadron Leader James MacLachlan who had lost an arm in a previous encounter - the two of them shot down six aircraft in ten minutes over Northern France.

I think my dad would be pleased with the book. I’m sure he’s up there somewhere looking down thinking ‘That looks all right.

Where’s my royalty cheque?’

‘Heroes and Landmarks of British Aviation From Airships to the Jet Age’ by Richard Edwards and Peter J. Edwards is available through Pen & Swords Books Ltd (ISBN 9781848846456).

Visit www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

Shaws has been part of the business landscape in West Sussex for over 15 years and is now firmly established as the region’s independent choice for all things glass.

With their showroom in Horsham and factory site in nearby Faygate Shaws are a full service glazing firm

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Patrick Gallagher at the spot where the crematorium could be built.

The white board in the tree marks the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highest point

33 23

Can campaigners bury plans for

new crematorium?

You’re talking about the plans for a new crematorium in West Grinstead?

Yes, a planning application has been made and although no date has been set as yet, it is likely that the planning committee at Horsham District Council will debate the proposal in October.

Who is behind the application?

The application has been made by Peacebound Ltd, which is fronted by Patrick Gallagher from family-run funeral directors P & S Gallagher. They have offices in Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill.

So where does he plan to build the crematorium?

There’s a small patch of land just alongside The Orchard restaurant on the A272 between Cowfold and the Buck Barn crossroads. It may help if I tell you that The Orchard used to be a Little Chef. You will see that there are banners opposing the crematorium idea on neighbouring land.

The area is primarily woodland but there are several disused buildings At the moment local people go to Surrey and Sussex Crematorium in Pound Hill, Crawley, or the Worthing Crematorium near the village of Findon. Patrick says: “I’ve been in West Sussex since 1974 and I have carried out many funerals, and we’ve got to a stage now where another crematorium is required to fill the need for people locally.

The two crematoriums on offer were built 40 years ago to accommodate the needs of people at that time. But we’ve moved on.”

Whilst Patrick Gallagher and Peacebound Ltd front the bid, behind the bid is the London Cremation Company, the oldest cremation company in the country. They own five crematoriums around the country.

Patrick said: “I’m a funeral director, not a crematorium builder, which is why I approached them. But I would also be a client of the crematorium. LCC have agreed to take on and build the project (if it is approved).”

I guess Mr Gallagher has a different view?

He does indeed. He accuses the objectors to being a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) brigade. “I do understand their concerns”, he said. “Whilst I sympathise, they still have to be founded on planning issues.”

The objectors disagree?

They point out that the Crawley and Worthing crematoriums are nowhere near capacity. They also say that a new crematorium recently given the green light in Havant could draw people away from the Findon crematorium, meaning it’ll serve the area for longer. Gerry Martin, who lives directly across the road from the site in question, said: “It was never established that there is a need for a new crematorium. All the figures (Peacebound Ltd) have produced is a load of bunkum.”

And the land has development potential?

Three years ago planning permission was actually granted to the previous landowner for an eco-holiday village. But as campaigners point out, that’s more in keeping with the rural surroundings than a crematorium.

Shaping up to be a fiery debate then! So do we all need a new crematorium?

So would this be the first crematorium

by Peacebound Ltd?

It’s an unpopular plan then?

There are a large number of local residents who are opposed to it. They have been organised and vocal in their objections and their views have not fallen upon deaf ears; West Grinstead Parish Council debated the application and has sent the District Council a ‘very strong objection’.

What do they not like about it?

There are many things they do not like, including the impact a crematorium would have on the area and a lack of need for a new facility. But the major reasons for objection revolve around traffic and congestion.

So why has the applicant picked West Grinstead?

It’s all about location. Patrick said: “We looked at lots of other sites. This fitted in as it’s a good quiet location, as it sits away from many residents. We have to satisfy planning law, and we cannot build a

‘You could be there for the cremation and hear guns being fired’

24 crematorium within 200 yards of a dwelling. The crematorium would serve Horsham, Southwater, Billingshurst, Partridge Green, Henfield, as well as parts of Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill. It’s a wooded site, well screened, away from lots of residents, easily accessible and has good transport links in every direction. It’s a good site.”

Many West Grinstead residents have voiced concerns about the crematorium plan

That sounds great. What are people complaining about?

There are several reasons behind the objections. One reason is that this land runs right alongside the Downs Link, where it meets what was - until 1966 West Grinstead Rail Station. It remains one of the most popular stop-off points for walkers, riders and cyclists.

Not a natural spot for a crematorium, perhaps...

David Green, a local Parish councillor, says: “This is on the edge of the countryside with no public transport worth mentioning. We feel this is not the place for it.”

But it is easily reached by car?

It is, but that can have its own problems. Local people talk of long waits – sometimes up to 15 minutes – to join

the carriageway from some of the small roads off the A272. There are car parking concerns too. Gerry said: “There is not enough spaces provided in the proposal. It’s okay for one service but you are going to have this overlap where people arrive for one cremation and may still be here from the previous cremation, having tea or coffee or sat in The Orchard for

lunch. If people have come from a distance and don’t know the area they are going to either come into our driveways or they are going to be on the side of the A272 where you have 18,000 cars a day going by.”

So how many car park spaces are outlined in the proposal?

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West Grinstead Crematorium There would be 63 car park spaces in an area that would essentially be an extension of the current car park in place at The Orchard.

Abandoned structures on the site

And how many cremations would take place?

Patrick said: “We’ve put down the worst case scenario. The highest number of funerals that could take place would be nine a day, but that is a number that we do not anticipate. The national average of vehicles attending a funeral is seventeen.”

Would that block up the A272?

Patrick said that the cremations will take place mostly at 11am-4pm so will not impact rush hour traffic. There is already a filter lane in place when travelling west, so no dramatic alterations will need to be made to the road layout. But objectors claim that queues of cars (particularly slow moving cars) will create congestion and make it even harder to access the A272 from Kennel Lane and other small roads.

What of the building plan itself. Is that causing much of an issue?

In all it’s a 12 acre site, with the building (only one chapel and there would be catering facilities) sitting back some 350 yards from the main road. Only a small number of trees would need to be removed, so you will not be able to see the building from either the road or from the Downs Link. Patrick added: “There is not one home owner that could look out of their window and see the crematorium.”

Is that a large site then?

Whilst Patrick Gallagher called it ‘quite a large site’, claiming that most crematoriums are between seven to ten acres, some objectors say it is lacking important features. Objector Charlie New said: “If it was approved, it would be the only crematorium that we know of in the country that wouldn’t have a Garden of Remembrance. When family members choose where they would like to go for a cremation, then surely having somewhere they can go back to would be important?” There is also an issue about dogs barking and possible gunfire.

Sorry – did you say gunfire?

Yes. Michael Bartlett, another objector, told us that a local farmer (whose land is immediately west of the land) hosts a syndicated shoot. “You could be there for the crematorium and hear guns being fired’, he said. I can sit here trying to get out of here in the morning for twenty minutes. You also have the kennels for the Horsham and Crawley Hunt nearby.

Do the dogs make a lot of noise?

Who do we have here?

This is Pipe and Tabor, a folk duo comprised of Carly Stubbs of Washington and Dean Morris of Horsham, by an abandoned watermill in Lower Beeding.

What’s a Pipe and Tabor?

It’s a small drum and a three-hole pipe often used in folk music. The band doesn’t actually use them, but it has meaning.

What meaning?

Carly said: “We wanted to call ourselves ‘Elephant in the Room’ as that was our first

song. But the name had been taken by another band. We were close to calling ourselves ‘Joanie Loves Chachi’ too, but we were reading about Morris dancers as we share the surname (Carly’s maiden name is Morris) and we have a folk sound. We found folk bands use a pipe and tabor so we went with that.”

So have I heard anything they’ve done?

That’s doubtful, as they’ve only written eight songs, of which only four have been recorded to demo and only one has been mastered. There has been no EP, let alone an

26 Charlie told us that when they get fed and exercised ‘the dogs make a lot of noise.’

How does The Orchard feel about the application?

They are very supportive of Patrick’s plan. It’s a stance that has not gone down well with local objectors. The owner, David Chadburn, said: “We’ve had people in here that have been against it because of the banners, and have read our information board and changed their mind. It’s a matter of getting the truth out there and not just what is being banded about by the opposition. It’ll be good for the area and it’ll also mean that an un-kept wood – and it is a mess – will be kept nice.”

Is it a mess down there then?

This is not a dog walker’s paradise. When AAH visited, we had to fight through stinging nettles six foot high and derelict buildings.

But it is still greenfield land.

So what are the chances of the crematorium being approved?

West Grinstead Parish Council will certainly be hoping that Horsham District Council takes note of their strong objection, and campaigners feel there is not too much difference from the first application. That was rejected in September 2011.

Patrick Gallagher is confident that his second application will be successful The plan has been rejected already?

Yes. Since then Peacebound Ltd have only made small amendments. Patrick argues: “It was very similar, but we have taken away a residence for a manager’s home which we thought we should have for security. That was not a reason for it being rejected. We have to prove a need for a crematorium on this site. I’m more confident this time. We’ve not found any other suitable sites and I’ve been looking for ten years. Wherever we put it somebody is going to object to it. It’s a case of ‘not in my back yard’ basically.”

Do the objectors feel they can fend off this latest challenge?

David Green says: “There is capacity at Worthing, and there is capacity at Worth. At Worthing, they could easily put in another chapel as they have loads of space. I think (the applicant) has retreated from the ‘need’ argument and now is saying that people require ‘more choice’. Ask yourself if you would want a crematorium on your doorstep?”

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In the Line of fire The dramatic history of West Grinstead Station As a nation, we look back at 1966 with fondness and pride.

Nostalgia serves the era well, thanks to Bobby Moore lifting the Jules Rimet trophy and The Beatles topping the pop charts on three occasions.

But for many it was a time of great hardship, and for those working on the railways it was the end of the line. West Grinstead was a victim of The Beeching Axe – a huge restructuring of Britain’s railways, as laid out by the chairman of British Rail, Richard Beeching. The last train to use the line was the 9.28pm train from Brighton to Horsham on Sunday, 6th March 1966.

These days, the South Downs Link follows much of the old rail line. Walkers and cyclists navigating the Link can still see the old platform and the tunnel that passes under the A272 Cowfold Road.

Whilst the sign on the platform may appear to be authentic it is in fact an attractive if not entirely accurate re-creation. The carriage used as an information point may be painted in post-war British Rail Buckingham Green, but it arrived from Wales with a white and red livery and bears little resemblance to the steam engines and horse boxes that frequented the station in its heyday.

Most who pass by would not know that there

are still tracks from the old cattle sidings just behind the information point and herb gardens, or that the station master still lives

Ken Bartlett on his last day as Station Master in 1966

just a few yards away.

West Grinstead was on the Steyning line, which ran from Horsham to Shoreham-bySea via Christ’s Hospital, Southwater, West Grinstead, Partridge Green, Steyning and Bramber.

Ken Bartlett was the station master on the last day, and 46 years since his last day at the station, he remains a local resident and is one of a team of volunteers running the information point.

Ken looks back at great fondness at his days on the Steyning line. He said: “I came here in February 1958. I started off as a messenger at Portsmouth and Southsea station in 1950 when I was 16 and I ended up spending fifty years on the railway.

“When I came here it was my first job as a station master. West Grinstead was on the Steyning line on the Horsham to Brighton line. I looked after Southwater and Partridge Green stations as well and when in 1964 the station master at Steyning left I took over the whole line with Steyning, Henfield and Bramber stations too.

“I wouldn’t say it was a hard day’s work. It was a pleasant day’s work. Train travel was more comfortable and leisurely back then.

“The steam days were my favourite. You worked with railwaymen and you learned

30

Former Station Master Ken Bartlett is now a volunteer at the information point at the station on the South Downs Link

West Grinstead Station from them all the time, but health and safety has quashed all of that. When I think of some of the things we used to do! On my first day here at West Grinstead, the hounds from the hunt were chasing a fox down the line here. If the drivers stopped for the hunt they would usually slip half a crown to the driver.

“Here at West Grinstead, we dealt with horses from the National Stud and various stables in the area. There were more horses than people and in Southwater the line mainly served the brickworks.

“The Tabby Cat (now The Orchard restaurant) was a great place for horse transactions. I was often in the office and Mr Tommy Grantham would call the office and say ‘come over the pub. I want you to arrange transport for horses from here to Holland! So much business revolved around the station.

“The days on this line were my best working days. Everyone was friendly. Les Tyrrell was the porter signalman, Jim Lucas was a porter and he did the signal lamps. Ray Avis was a porter signalman.

“I remember the last day of the line – there were plenty of people about, more than we had seen for years. The last train was at about 9.30pm from Horsham, and I was here travelling up and down the line and finished in Steyning as the last train from Brighton terminated there. There were a lot of people there.

Len Lower (far right), with rail workers including Fred Danton (station inspector at Horsham - third left) and driver Ike King (second right) “It was a celebratory day and I recall a trumpeter sounding the last post. We felt sad, but that was one of the things of the day. We were not the only ones affected. Small branch lines were closed all over the country.

“It started off with eliminating the goods yards in 1962-63, except for a few serving the cement works. Signal boxes went next, so it was a gradual deterioration of facilities. We were aware of what was happening.”

Perhaps the most dramatic day in the 101 year working life of West Grinstead station came on 30th November 1942, when train

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driver 67 year-old George Henry Ansbridge was killed in a German air attack. When two fighter planes appeared from the south, George stopped his engine about a hundred yards from the signal box and tried to take refuge.

The pilots spotted the steam engine, swooped down and fired on George, who lost his life. Signalman Mr G. Court was in the signal box with the door open at the time and he crouched in the corner to take cover.

The stoker, Eileen Colget (booking office clerk) and men working in the good yard all

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West Grinstead Station in 1966

dived for cover and survived the attack.

West Grinstead resident John Raymond Grantham recorded the event in his sketch book and visitors to the Downs Link can view this image at the information point. John served as a rear gunner was killed two years later in an RAF raid on Chambly railway in 1944.

John’s sister, Diana Holman, 92, still lives in Kennel Lane. Diana said: “I went to London when I was 21 so was not here when the attack happened. The fighters came across our home – all the

The information point has a scale model of the old station

bullets fell in our garden.

“When John was at Steyning Grammar School he was in the Air Training Corps, and he then flew gliders where Gatwick is now. He was always keen to be a pilot. He joined the RAF a couple of years after (the West Grinstead attack).

“He wanted to be a bomber pilot but his maths was not good enough and so he became a rear gunner, which was awful. It was the worst thing you could be.

“It wasn’t such a strange thing for the Germans to attack a village rail station. There were lots of bombs dropped around here. I

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‘I was shot at myself coming back from my father’s stables’ was shot at myself coming back from my father’s stables one time whilst crossing the field. I had to dive into a ditch. I don’t think they were aiming for me – they were probably dropping bombs left over from a raid in the city. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

John’s sketch is one of a number of fascinating features of the information point, which in itself comes with an intriguing story.

The carriage arrived from South Wales via the Bluebell railway on a low loader.

Staff from British Telecom on a Management Training exercise repainted the carriage and also helped to restore the pond and herb garden nearby in a project masterminded by Jean Rolfe, a West Sussex Countryside Ranger.

The carriage was gutted and volunteers including Angus Macintosh turned it into an

interesting feature of the Downs Link. It was Angus who recreated the scale model of the station, as it would have been between the two World Wars. A number of pictures have been given to ken and the volunteers over the years by railway enthusiasts such as John Scrase, a prolific railway photographer from Horsham.

Ken said: “The coach itself has been a popular feature. On a wet day you might get half a dozen people but on a good day there may be 50 visitors.

“The Downs Link is very popular.

I was just speaking to two gentlemen who set off from Guildford and were going to do the whole route down to Shoreham and catch a train home.

“We try and open when we can but it’s open on most Sundays, and hopefully we can keep doing that for a long time to come.”

The markets are always fluctuating, but now is the perfect time to sell your gold.

The last time the price of gold was this high was three years ago, and that was when the ‘cash for gold’ companies were starting to set up. However, after hitting a peak the price dipped for a while. Now it’s hitting those heights again and some speculators predict it could hit US$2,000 an ounce.

It is currently up to about US$1,750. There’s a chance it could hit an all-time high.

But you do not always receive a fair price from companies that advertise on television. I ask people ‘would you send cash to a stranger in the post?’ the answer is of course ‘no’.

So don’t do it with gold. You do not know what Carat of gold you have, so you have no idea of its value. So why send it to strangers? There are 11 jewellers in Horsham. You can walk from one to another and ask them all for their best price and if you’re not happy with the price you do not have to sell it.

We try to give a good and fair price to everybody who comes through the door.

The way it works is that we weigh it, and then give you the gold price.

We take a small percentage of what the gold is worth. Most of the time we will take the jewellery to the refinery, although on

some occasions we have a piece of jewellery that really catches the eye so we decide to put it on sale.

We then use the gold to recreate our own jewellery. We like to use virgin gold to make our own wedding and engagement rings. It means the customer can choose their mount, as well as the stone and the quality of the diamond, so we can suit all budgets.

On our website we offer education and advice to people, so they know what to look out for when buying and selling jewellery.

We tell people about the

things that jewellers do not want you to know about, like Rhodium plating, hallmarking, and Moissonite, which is often mistaken for a genuine diamond.

We’ll be talking more about some of these subjects in the coming months.

‘The Jewellery Doctor’ articles on the website gives people the knowledge they need to buy with confidence. It’s normal to feel like you are being ripped off when buying abroad and more often than not you probably are. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Our website tells you what to look for, what questions to ask, and how to spot a real diamond.

We pride ourselves on giving an honest assessment. You get the quality, you get the service and you get the price. We’ve been here ten years now and it does take a long time to build up that trust with clients.

We find that people appreciate this service and for many in Horsham we have become a trusted jeweller for all the family. If you have any jewellery you are considering selling and would like to know how much it is worth, do visit us at 45 The Carfax in Horsham or visit our website at www.sakgems.com

Brass band Horsham Borough Band concert will Queen Victoria was still the reigning monarch when Horsham Borough Band played for the first time.

The band, which later became the Silver Recreation Band before settling on Horsham Borough band in 1974, made its first public appearance in the town in 1903.

They had though already performed in Cowfold to mark the Coronation of King Edward VII in June 1902, two years after the band was formed at a meeting.

Incredibly, the band still exists today, playing to a high standard in competition and regularly performing concerts.

Later this month, a concert will be held at London Road Methodist Church, with the band performing music that was performed by the band during its early days. The October 13th concert has been organised by the band in association with Horsham Museum to recognise the contribution of William Albery.

Albery was a founder member of the band as well as a keen historian. When he died in 1950 his extensive collection of historic posters was donated to the Museum.

Many of the concerts raised money for good causes both at home and abroad. The band raised funds for those affected by a mining disaster in 1913 which claimed the lives of 429 men in Senghenydd, as well as the Empress of Ireland tragedy of 1914 that saw 1,000 people lose their lives.

A special concert in 1912 for the Titanic Disaster Fund raised £20.

Thanks to Albery, posters from these concerts, as well as many more, survive and many of them will be protected for the future thanks to a Heritage Lottery funded project.

These posters will be projected on to a screen to provide an interesting backdrop to October’s concert.

Geoff Clarke, who has been playing percussion with the band for ten years, said: “We were contacted by the Friends of Horsham Museum who have Albery’s poster collection. Of the 200 posters in his collection, about 60 feature Horsham Borough Band. The Friends asked if we would like to do a concert around the theme of these posters.

“I went through our own archives of material, including programmes of the Coronation and Silver Jubilee concerts.

Within that we found programmes that matched the concerts advertised on the posters and discovered what music was played.

“We thought we would see if we could make a concert around that music. So we will be playing pieces that were played by the band 100 years ago.

“Some of the pieces we still play now – there is a piece called the Punchinello March (William Rimmer) which is well known and

d still shines highlight remarkable Albery posters that was played in the 1920s. There are all sorts of classical pieces such as Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture which are popular too.

“We are also hoping to play a piece called Return to Horsham which was written by the brother of Fred Woods, one of our longestserving members.”

Having featured at many civic events, winning musical awards and playing live concerts on the BBC, the band has an interesting history.

The archives reveal that it was amongst the best brass bands in the country in the 1930s and was the first outside of the north of England to play live on the BBC. For one of these requisitions, they were paid 15 guineas and was asked to play at 2am as the concert was being transmitted live to Canada.

The minutes from an Annual General Meeting during the First World Way suggest that the band had lost some 40 players and five conductors as they had been called up for service.

But they trained local boys to learn the instruments and the band played on throughout The Great War, often raising money for relief funds.

Horsham Borough Band has also performed well in competition, qualifying for the National Finals at Harrogate in 2005, their first appearance for 15 years, earning a creditable 5th place and promotion to the

First Section. They remain in that section of the London and the South East Contest and also play locally in Southern Counties Amateur Bands Association (SCABA) contests. “the highest level is Championship Level, and then comes First, Second and Third Sections.)

Two members - trumpet player Fred Woods and bass tuba player Peter Long have been

William Albery and (on both pages) a number of his concert posters (Images by Horsham Museum/HDC)

36 ‘It’s a much better band now than what it was when I joined’

Peter Long has been with the band since 1960

with the band since 1948 and 1960 respectively.

Peter said: “It’s a much better band now than it was when I joined, but before my time they were playing at a Championship standard at places such as Crystal Palace.

“The band has been through some hard times but I can’t recall any time when it was in danger of dying out. In terms of membership it has always been okay but at the moment it’s very strong.

“To work something up and play it properly is rewarding for me. I’m too old for the socialising! I’m in my eightieth year so soon I’ll want to leave and be replaced by someone younger but someone younger hasn’t come along yet.

“The playing is not tough, but it’s handling the instrument. If I was a better player I’d be playing something smaller! But I like playing bass, I wouldn’t play anything else.”

Whilst some faces are part of the furniture, Horsham Borough Band is bold enough to make changes.

Andy Kershaw has recently been recruited as Musical Director, in the hope that the band can maintain their position in First Section. It has in the past performed at the higher Championship level, but the First Section demands a high standard of musical ability.

Andy said: “The band is in great health. It is conceived that in general bands are not that young and it is a struggle to get young players coming through, but it goes in fits and starts. It’s true that there are not as many young people coming through music systems at school so that is a bit problematic for the future of brass bands.

“At the moment we have a band with members across the age range, which is nice. Most of the chairs are full for rehearsals twice a

Horsham Borough Band

Horsham Borough Band pictured during the early 20th Century (Images by Horsham Museum/HDC) week.

“We have the occasional guest player as it’s a friendly community and players from other bands will help us out and vice versa when needed.

“For competitions, there is a cap on the number of band members, usually around 25. It’s a horrible mix of music and sport, but the competitions were going long before XFactor, probably about 100 years ago.

“All these bands, especially in areas where there are many bands concentrated in a small area, wanted to find out who was best.

So there is now this national and international scene where bands are graded and you move up or down depending on your performances.

“You spend many weeks leading up to the competitions playing one piece and honing your skills and it either goes well or it doesn’t.

“This is a good band and it’s doing well.

There was a realisation that it needed to up its game a bit.

“I work with a Championship Section band in Bedfordshire too, so I’ve got a bit of experience of working with a band playing to a fairly

high standard. I have to say I don’t conduct rehearsals any differently for the two. These guys work really hard. They wanted to move on to the next level.

“The band’s work ethic is high and they were looking for somebody to put in as much as they do. Now we’re getting good results.”

It is common to assume that, as a brass band, Horsham Borough Band is primarily a marching band. But that is only part of its repertoire. They perform a lot of transcriptions of orchestral music, performing classic overtures by the likes of Mozart and

38

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Caring About Care NHG Open Day is a huge success

Nursing Hygiene Group (NHG) Held their first Open Day on Thursday 20th September and would like to thank all who attended and made the day such a huge success.

They opened their doors to the public and estimated well over 100 local residents attended the day.

The main purpose of the open day was to gain awareness in the local community of the new NHG Mobility Showroom based in Oakhurst Business Park in Southwater.

The modern showroom boasts an extensive range of mobility equipment from scooters to rollators and recliners in addition to a wide range of medical supplies.

Customers commented on the event and the staff in a very positive way. One said: “It was lovely to visit. We did not know you existed, but will now spread the word!”

Other comments included: ‘Staff were amazing, so friendly, kind and caring’, ‘This event made our day and what fantastic food’

‘We did not know you existed, but will now spread the word!”

and ‘thank you very much for your warm welcome and hospitality. Your product range is fantastic and we will certainly come again!”

With 20% off all showroom products and a huge stock clearance which saw items such as dining chairs sell for as little as £5 and recliner chairs at 80% off retail prices, customers were very impressed with the products and the care they received from the dedicated members of staff who were on hand to offer help and advice.

The catering was by Ren’s Kitchen of Worthing (01903 213953, www.renskitchen.co.uk) and Scrumptious Cupcakes in Billingshurst (01403 785251).

Nursing Hygiene Group pride themselves on their philosophy ‘Caring About Care’ and the

open day proved this.

Paul Andrews (Showroom Manager) commented: “The Open Day was fantastic in generating awareness that the mobility showroom is here for the local community and we can provide all the support and advice you need in addition to a wide range of mobility products.

“Our customers are very important to us. We offer free parking and free delivery and collection services where needed. We hope to see many more visitors through our doors following the success of the event and plan to have many more events in the future.”

Visit the NHG showroom at Charwood House, Oakhurst Business Park, Southwater, RH13 9RT. Open weekdays from 8am- 4.30pm (4pm on Fridays).

You can call Nursing Hygiene on 01403 825875 or visit www.nursinghygiene.com

41

After 40 years, Booker’s Vineyard is in Sparkling form

The Vintage Veterans In 1972, Rodney Pratt, a city worker with a passion for wine, bought a farm in Bolney.

He had a dream to run his own vineyard.

But the method of producing English wines was, at that time, a long forgotten art.

Peter and his late wife Janet, a keen horticulturist, spent many years toiling in the vineyards to build a reputation, experimenting with various grapes and battling against a general derision of English wines.

But eventually, the effort would be worthwhile. Booker’s Vineyard now grows eleven varieties of grape across more than 40 acres, producing up to 100,000 bottles a year.

It has played an important role in transforming the fortune of English wines, with its 2007 Blanc de Blancs receiving an Outstanding Gold Award in the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC).

Over the last decade or so, Rodney has

taken a step back. It is now his daughter, Sam Linter, who is head wine maker.

Sam said: “We moved to the farm when I was very young and naturally I learned about wine making. I was always out picking and helping to make the wine.

“It was a great life – my brother and I (Mark is now co-owner at the vineyard) ran wild as our parents were very busy and we had the surrounding countryside to explore.

“But it was very difficult for my parents.

When they started out, very little was known about this new style of vineyard.

There was no useful information available which would help them.

“Consultants came over from Germany but they were talking about ideas that worked over there, where there is a different climate. So all the early planting my parents did were Germanic varieties which do not grow well in this country as it is too damp and too humid.

“They had to go through this massive

learning curve of planting wrong varieties, experimenting with different grapes and gaining an uderstanding of how to make good wines. But over the years we’ve learnt so much and it’s been very exciting.”

It wasn’t just a matter of producing a good wine – Booker’s Vineyard needed to change people’s opinion of English wines.

Sam recalls: “It was frustrating. I remember going to country shows and having a stand there. I would say to people ‘Why don’t you try some?’ and they would ignore you because it was English wine. People would not go near it.

“I remember going to the South of England Show at Ardingly and seeing a change in how the wine was received. It would sell out really quickly. But it was a long process to turn around the bad reputation English wines had to where we are now.

“It feels great to have been involved right from the beginning to now, when we and other vineyards in the south are winning

Booker’s Vineyard

International awards and making great wines.”

Rodney and Janet started with just the one field, growing wine on three acres of the farm. Now at Bolney they grow a variety of white wine grapes including Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Bacchus, as well as red grapes including Pinot Noir and Dornfelder.

In addition to the award-winning sparkling wine (using the Chardonnay), Bolney also produces three reds – The Lychgate Red, The Pinot Noir and its Cuvee Noir, which is a unique red sparkling wine.

They also make a Lychgate White, the Bolney Rosé and a Cuvee Rose which has received several accolades.

Stuart Barford, Sales Manager at Booker’s Vineyard, said: “We are predominantly a red wine making vineyard, which is very much against the grain as English vineyards predominantly produce sparkling white wine.

‘After the sparkling wine won Gold Outstanding, people were saying ‘I want that wine!’

“We make two styles of red – our Lychgate red is a blend of Rondo and Dornfelder grapes. The Pinot Noir also grows very well here.

“The sparkling red goes down really well in restaurants – sommeliers love it. It’s more of a hand sell, and sommeliers love something

that is different and quirky yet is still a wellmade product.

“Tamarind (an award-winning London restaurant) and Riddle and Finns in Brighton sell that, as does Trinity Restaurant in Clapham. The Hinds Head in Bray has our Lychgate White.

“As well as restaurants, independent merchants and some local supermarkets sell our wine. Waitrose champion English wines and know and respect the wines we make so they were a good fit for us. The Co-Op push local produce too so we are in local stores.

“When our sparkling white won Gold Outstanding at the IWSC it made headlines in The Daily Telegraph and other national newspapers. People were coming to the vineyard saying ‘I want that wine!’ It really raised the profile.”

“It gave English wines a real boost. Over the last few years English wines have been consistently winning awards. We’ve had

Liz Garrett is the Assistant Wine Maker at Bolney Wine Estate

43

other vineyards such as Ridgeview (in Ditchling Common) and Nyetimber (West Chiltington) all receiving accolades, which has raised the profile for us all.

“People can see that there is consistency and that English wines are good across the board.

For many years we have bought wine in to the country and we’ve been a great market for France, Italy, Spain, America, New Zealand and anyone who wanted to sell their wines.

“Now we are saying that not only are we good at selling wines from overseas, but we are actually very good at making our own.”

It is here in the south of England that many of the best English producers are based. That is not just because of the warmer climate, but also because the soil is ideal.

Many successful vineyards are located near the South Downs, with the earth comprised mainly of sandstone which is good for the maturity of vines.

But still, our climate is not ideal for every type of grape. Those that need a lot of sunlight in order to generate the right level of sweetness will not consistently reach the right level of maturity and therefore result in a poor wine.

At Booker’s Vineyard there is an area where the wine makers can experiment with canopy management, see which grapes mature, and test ways of combating disease. Getting it all right can be a process that takes more than years – it takes generations.

Rodney said: “When you look down the vines you will see that one or two will be doing far better than other vines, and that may be because of a slight mutation.

“They suit the area and soil better so you propagate off those vines so you are gradually improving your stock. It takes a hell

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Booker’s Vineyard

Cellarhand Phoebe Cooper checks the bottling process

A DEFRA grant paid for a state-of-the-art bottling machine

of a long time. It’s like breeding race horses. It may take many, many years, but eventually you end up with the Pinot Noir for this particular vineyard.”

It will soon be picking time at the vineyard, but it is not easy to judge when the grapes are ready.

Stuart said: “Normally, we would have already started picking by (the end of September), but because of the rain we have had it’ll probably be the start of October when we start picking our first grapes.

“We will do two runs through the vineyard, picking the ripest first and then coming back to pick the next batch later in October.

“Wine making isn’t as glamorous as people think. It’s a lot of hard work – youget cold and wet and in the winery there is a lot of chemistry involved.

“There is also more vintage fluctuation, you could say, within an English vineyard than there would be in Southern France and that’s primarily down to the climate. You can have a heat wave in March and there is often frost and even snow in April or May. “We have a ‘frost buster’ that works like a huge hairdryer. It goes on the back of the tractor, pumping out hot

air.

“The weather does affect the harvest. We only made 2,000 bottles of the award-winning 2007 sparkling wine, yet in 2009 we had enough for 10,000 bottles. This year, because of the weather we’ve had, we won’t have grown as much Bacchus. This

‘You propagate off the best vines so you are gradually improving your stock’ year will not be as plentiful as 2009 but there is still plenty of quality.

“We are lucky, in that the weather does not affect us too badly because we have so many different wines.

Some vineyards grow one style of grape and so one bad year. can have a big impact.”

After the picking process, the grapes will go into the winery and on to a sorting table. The wine makers pick

45 out any bad grapes before they are crushed and pressed.

Then, depending on the wine, they are left in tanks or barrels before being bottled.

Because of its expensive bottling, corking and processing machinery, Booker’s Vineyard makes wine for other vineyards. They will bring in their own grapes, and they will do the rest in the winery at Bolney.

Liz Garrett, Assistant Wine Maker, said: “It never stops.

Vintage is the busiest time but once the wine is in tank there are a lot of processes we need to go through before bottling.

“We essentially process wine all year round, through testing and blending trials. There is a lot of filtering too.

“The bottling process begins at the end of the year, but our red wines sit in barrels for six months so we’ll begin bottling in June.

“The bottling for the sparkling wines is done all year round and of course there is the labelling and packaging

process for our wines and other vineyards. It’s certainly a lot more than two busy months per year.”

‘For dad, this is what he set out to achieve’ Booker’s Vineyard is in a healthy place. It has a good reputation for its wines, the new café is attracting business and its tasting tours are growing in popularity.

So, forty years after it all begun, is there anything else left to achieve?

Sam said: “I think for Dad, seeing where we are now, winning Gold Outstanding at the International Wine and Spirits Competition this year, it is the culmination of all the dreams they had and that is great.

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Stuart Barford, Sales Manager at Bolney Wine Estate “For Dad, this is what he set out to achieve. But I’m always thinking about what we can do next and how we can move forward. We’ve planted on 40 acres of the 50 acres we own here so we are looking for areas we can expand into. It has to be the right kind of land but we are looking.

“England is producing less than 2% of the wine that is drunk in this country so we have a huge market to grow into.

“Here at Bolney, we are becoming a Pinot Noir specialist and that’s where my heart really is.

“It grows really well on our site – we have a great micro climate and soil for it. We’ve had

great success with that wine and I want to become known for that. I want people to say ‘Bolney is the place to grow Pinot Noir in the south east’.”

For more details about the wines and tours visit www.bolneywineestate.co.uk

‘Life-changing’ Relief Horsham therapist Keith Atkinson offers a new method of pain relief that has been called ‘a breakthrough for nerve pain relief’. Having featured the Nerve Pain Practice in June’s AAH, editor Ben Morris met Keith again to discuss the Practice’s progress...

Ben: After the feature, did you get a good response?

Keith: Yes, it was really good and let people know that there is a new nerve pain treatment available in Horsham. In addition the idea of a Practice specialising in nerve pain treatment is very unique. In that sense offering a free consultation allows them to discuss the treatment before investing anything.

Ben: Can you explain in simple terms the treatment and whether it works for everyone?

Keith: Firstly on the treatment.

With nerve pain, after a period of about 3 months it changes from acute to chronic. Often the original injury may have healed but a pain cycle can develop. I use the Stimpod NMS machine to send a pulsed current to the nerve pathway and this interrupts the pain transmission.

The removal of pain can be very fast and normally it requires 3 sessions to be completely effective. On the second question, where there is a physical injury or a nerve is severely trapped, then the pain can come back and we have to consider other options. However even if the pain returns such as with a trapped sciatica nerve, then the Stimpod treatment on a regular basis can still be a better route than accepting radical pain and the use of extremely strong pain medications such as morphine.

Ben: Is the treatment safe and is it painful?

Keith: The treatment is now used internationally and the NHS themselves consider the treatment safe and non invasive and use it on a daily basis in certain pain clinics. Finally regarding the treatment itself, I would suggest the feeling of the pulsed current is unusual rather than unpleasant.

There is pulsing feeling through the nerve and that can cause involuntary muscle movement but the feeling is not unpleasantly painful. I’m careful to make sure patients are always comfortable with the level of current.

Ben: Can you give an indication of the type of conditions you have been able to successfully treat?

Keith: Working from the head down, I have treated tension headaches, and have been very successful with a range of nerve related conditions in the neck and shoulders. These have included cervical spondolosis which is curvature of the spine in the neck.

Importantly in all these conditions, the relief is not just pain related but I am seeing greatly improved mobility. In the shoulders I have several successful treatments of the shoulder joint where people have been advised that due to arthritis, their mobility has been restricted. Moving down into the arm both golfer’s and tennis

elbow pain have been removed and then I have also had success with wrist, finger pain and with arthritic pain in the joints generally.

In the back my work has centred on the sciatic nerve and femoral nerves. I’ve had good examples of treating hip pain and pain related to the nerve in the front of the upper leg. Jo Marychurch’s testimony indicates how her knee pain was basically eliminated. Finally moving to the lower leg and feet, I have successfully worked on long term Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis and also gout where the treatment eased the pain and the inflammation in the joint.

Ben: Is the treatment clinically researched and tested?

Keith: Yes, the initial study using NMS machine was at St Thomas’s hospital where in 19 of 35 cases, the hospital reported a 100% improvement with pain reduced to zero. All these patients were suffering from chronic neuropathic pain.

For further details contact Keith Atkinson of Horsham Nerve Pain Practice, 46 Depot Road, Horsham, on 01403 256332 or 07768 537846. You can also visit www.horshampainrelief.co.uk or email katkin0504@gmail.com

Free Review Consultation!

‘I now have my life back on track’ Jo Marychurch of Horsham “I have suffered from pain in the inside of my right knee for the past two years. The original injury was a sprain, and the ligament subsequently tore a year later. I had numerous visits to both the doctors and different physiotherapists who could not understand why there was still such terrible pain after the injury had supposedly healed. I tried a number of different treatments ranging from physio exercises to acupuncture but nothing provided

long term pain relief. I happened to see an article about nerve pain in AAH and decided to give it a try, although I was a little apprehensive. After the first treatment, I noticed a significant reduction in the amount of pain I normally had, and I was actually pain free for the first couple of days afterwards. The following two sessions saw the pain decrease dramatically, and for the first time in two years I could walk to the shops without feeling pain or having to take medication.

I am happy to say that this treatment has meant I now have my life back on track, and I

am able to play basketball and even restart my dance lessons; something which would have been impossible to consider two months ago! “ Named testimonials in articles or on the website are used only with permission from persons involved.

See further video and text testimonials on www.horshampainrelief.co.uk

Feeling Frosty?

-6pm* October Half term Roald Dahl theme Kids Club with days from 8am-6pm* Intensive children’s swimming lessons for a variety of levels January 2013 after school swim lessons open on Thursday 13 December

Not forgetting the Adults – some fantastic courses to get you into shape for the winter

Ski Fit – for those with Christmas/January trips to the slopes – now is the time to start your body acclimatisation.

Pilates Beginners – the ultimate core stability workout.

Nordic Walking – improves posture and strengthens your back and abdominal muscles.

TRX Healthy Back – you can’t see your back but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t train it!

All of our classes and courses are available to both Members and Non Members. To book call reception on 01403 247572. *normal day 9-5 and additional early drop off and late pick up charges apply

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49

Horsham Bluebelles

Belles of the Ball Whilst researching baton twirling on the Internet, I found a question that had been posted on Yahoo, asking why it was not considered an Olympic discipline.

There was a wide range of answers. Some dismissed baton twirling as easy; others claimed it was only used for half time entertainment whilst ‘real sports’ were being played.

“It isn’t a real sport!’ blasted another. ‘Why not add line dancing and burger tossing whilst you’re at it?’

Olympic sport of not, the girls at Horsham Bluebelles will tell you that it certainly requires a great deal of skill, athletic ability, discipline and commitment to reach the top level.

Some of the members at the Horsham club have been very successful. The Bluebelles are members of the International Baton Twirling Association (IBTA) and regularly compete in competitions across the UK and Ireland that attract upwards of 500 athletes.

During that time the club has secured

thousands of trophies and gained a reputation as a winning team, having claimed both Top Team and Top Twirler titles.

The club was set up back in 1984 and nearly three decades on is still thriving with over 40 members aged 4 to 33, ranging from beginners to winners of championship titles. Carol Wray takes on organising duties whilst Dawn Cavanagh leads the coaching.

Baton twirling involves a mix of gymnastics, dance, military marching and baton-twirling, and promotes good sportsmanship, selfdiscipline, team spirit and co-ordination skills. It is also relatively cheap. The Horsham Bluebelles train at Forest School in Horsham on a Friday evening at 68.30pm and the session costs only £4. An advanced baton-twirling class is held on Wednesday evenings at Farlington School, where the ceiling is higher!

We spoke to some of the members of Horsham Bluebelles and gained a newfound respect for baton-twirling…

If you would like to know more about the Bluebelles contact Carol on 01403 264662 or email horshambluebelles@hotmail.com

Horsham Bluebelles

“

I’ve been running the Bluebelles for 23 years. My daughter joined when she was seven and then a couple of years later the board of directors backed out so we said ‘do we close the club or carry on?’ Four parents, myself included, said we would carry it on. Of course, gradually they all dropped out as children grew up but I’m still here.

These days I have teachers who take the classes and I do the organising. We compete at the National Championships at Easter, which is a four day competition with about 500 girls there. Baton twirling has not changed too much over the years, although it’s probably more difficult to compete at a high level as there are more gymnastic moves they can do somersaults and all sorts of things. I think what makes baton twirling appealing is that is combines many things. It’s not just dance, or gymnastics, there is great variety.

Hopefully we’re a friendly group too, and the girls do tend to stay. They will join when they are seven and stay on right through. All of my girls socialise and they still all go out together. The big ones look after the little ones too and they help teach which is good for them all.

Carol Wray

Charlotte Aylett (14)

“

A teacher at my primary school (St Robert Southwell in Horsham) did baton twirling and part of a dance performance we did required baton twirling. Because she was a twirler she thought she would incorporate it into the routine. She picked me to do that part and saw I got the hang of it quickly so asked me if I’d like to try out at Horsham Bluebelles. The thing I enjoy most is making new friends and being pushed to improve. I like the commitment it needs to improve.

Some of the moves take a long time to get right and there is always something to work towards. It helps

“

wards improving my routines so I can reach Hannah’s sort of level. At school some people don’t really know what baton twirling is and a few are a little sarcastic about it but I see it as a positive thing and enjoy explaining to people what we do.

“

build you as a person. You feel so good when you achieve something. It’s hard work and there are bruises along the way but it’s worth it in the end. I’ve taken part in quite a few competitions. I do all the solo and team competitions but at the moment I’m working to-

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51 ‘We are very close, and all of my lifetime friends are from twirling’ your outfit, make-up and you have to have your hair neat. It’s like ballroom dancing in that way. I won top twirler at the nationals this year. You have to do all seven solo disciplines and the person who gets the lowest amount of points (one point for first, two for second and so on) is the winner. This year, I won six out of the seven categories.

The competition is all quite friendly as everyone knows one another. I want to go into travel and tourism so I might need to take a break from baton twirling at some point. But it’s always been a part of my life so I’d like to carry it on for as long as I can.

“

“

I’ve done baton twirling all my life. My sister was in the club and I used to come along when I was two and take part in the warm up. I started competing when I was four or five. We do all sorts of dancing sometimes they are jumpy and lively and other times slower and a bit more like ballet. The older you get the more competitive it is and more is expected of you. At the big competitions it is quite nerve-wracking as you’ve been working for so long on all of the routines and it comes down to just that one moment. But it’s a great experience and it feels good to be part of a team.

The costumes are all part of it, so you are marked on

Hannah Cousins, 15

Hannah Munden, 24 ones can progress at a slower rate. For the team events, there are team twirls, pom-pon routines, and some are set to music. Some team events can involve different props, so as well as batons we’ve used ribbons, umbrellas, feather boas and fans. At world level you will see no-drops but at this level it’s quite rare to have a no drop routine when there are 18 girls. I think when we competed at the nationals we had five drops which is pretty good. This is like my family. We are very close, and all of my lifetime friends are from twirling. It’s been a massive part of my life and if this group was not here I genuinely don’t know what I would do with my life!

“

“

My older sister had been baton twirling since she was four and I begged to come and she finally let me when I was 13. She wanted it to be her little thing! Now I come here on a Friday to teach and I’m preparing for my teacher’s exams. The girls here do exams – it starts at pre-bronze and goes up to gold level and at the competitions you progress as well. When you first join you go into ‘First Time Twirl’ and when you win you go up to novice, then intermediate and then advanced. The more you win the higher up you get but you can’t reach advanced level until you are 13. The older you start the quicker you catch up, whereas the younger

Horsham Bluebelles Jessica Flack (9) Madison Flack (7)

“

Madison: I started when I was five or six.

Our mum has been doing it since she was really little and she still helps us sometimes. I like wearing all the costumes and getting ready for the competitions. It feels scary when you do a competition and you shake about but when you get going you know you’re not going to fail. I am very good at doing figure eights. You move the baton by going ‘a scoop for you and a scoop for me’. Hannah taught us how to do that!

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‘You move the baton by going ‘a scoop for you and a scoop for me!’

Jessica: I started baton twirling and the day Madison saw me all dressed up she said ‘Oh, I want to do it too!’ I like baton twirling because it’s a nice hobby and I’ve made lots of friends. I play football as well so it’s a very big difference! I have done a few competitions and I’ve won four of five trophies. We look at the older girls like Katie and we want to be like that one day!

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Hurst Hurstpierpoint College

Pre-Prep | Prep | Senior School | Sixth Form

Achieving your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal bests

â&#x20AC;&#x153; A school which is going from strength to strength under the strong leadership of its

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Extracts from The Good Schools Guide's report on Hurstpierpoint College, June 2012

A stunning campus

A thoughtful, caring ethos

A strong community

A true education

Please phone or visit our website to arrange a personal visit or to join us on one of our Autumn Open Mornings

Â&#x2039; Excellent teaching, outstanding facilities and a strong record of academic achievement Â&#x2039; Innovative and exciting academic curricula; choice of the International Baccalaureate or A levels in the Sixth Form Â&#x2039; Superb extra-curricular facilities and challenging programmes with the highest quality mentoring for all pupils Â&#x2039; &KRLFH RI GD\ Ă&#x;H[L RU ZHHNO\ ERDUGLQJ LQ WKH 6HQLRU 6FKRRO Â&#x2039; A unique co-educational Upper Sixth Form pre-university House Â&#x2039; A school with integrity, warmth and a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;can doâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; attitude Â&#x2039; Fiercely ambitious for each and every child to achieve their personal bests Â&#x2039; Outstanding 2011 Inspection Report - excellent in every category

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A Unique Experience Hurstpierpoint College offers a special ‘all round’ education Hurstpierpoint College offers the academic excellence essential to give students future success in life. Just as importantly, Hurst pupils make the most of their talents, potential and personality, as they experience fresh opportunities and challenges.

With a superb, 140 acre country campus, creative arts, sporting and extra-curricular activities abound. Pupils are able to pursue existing interests and explore new experiences and Hurst's special 'all round education' ensures that our students develop into mature, accomplished individuals.

The College offers all this, and a great deal more, in one of the friendliest and most supportive school communities likely to be found anywhere.

Many parents seeking objective information about schools for their child consider the Good Schools Guide to be by far the most authoritative. This is because its school reports are based upon a rigorous independent appraisal by one of the Guide’s reporting team who has not only inspected the school

but also talked to a range of parents of current pupils.

The Guide’s new report on Hurstpierpoint College has recently been published on its website and will appear in the 2013 print edition of the guide.

‘Going from strength to strength’ Good Schools Guide 2012

Hurstpierpoint College, the Guide concludes, “is now the first choice for many parents who would traditionally have sent their children further afield”. Hurst, reports the guide, is a school that is “going from strength to strength under the strong leadership of its dynamic headmaster”.

The Guide recognises the importance of the

fact that at Hurst each child is tracked and challenged to reach their full potential in all areas of their lives, and where they are encouraged to push themselves beyond their comfort zone. Indeed, the Guide notes that the mantra ‘achieving your personal best’ permeates all aspects of school life, not just academic but also participation in sports and clubs, activities and social relationships.

The Guide’s correspondent also highlights that the College is very parent friendly; the school is particularly commended for its excellent communication with parents through emails, newsletters and meetings.

The College is delighted that the Guide’s Inspector captured much of the true spirit of the whole Hurst community. The full report can be found on our website (www.hppc.co.uk).

Families attracted by the Guide’s assessment the life and ethos of Hurst are warmly invited to arrange a personal visit or join us on an Open Morning to see for themselves what makes the College so special.

A Word about the International Baccalaureate Diploma from Hurst Headmaster, Tim Manly BA, MSc

Change is forever, and forever faster We are now living with constant change.

Change at a rate and on a scale that, only a very few years ago, would have seemed inconceivable.

We are witnessing the difficult birth of a new world order – some might say disorder – in which few of the old constants appear to hold true.

‘Secure’ national and international financial systems have been exposed as inadequate; geopolitical realities are in flux and the nature of nations and states may change abruptly through the ballot box, through ‘popular’ revolution and even armed intervention.

Breath-taking advances in science, technology and engineering are changing the way in which we interact and communicate with each other and the world at large; even our climate, whatever the cause, is clearly changing.

‘It would be crazy and illogical to imagine that the pace of technological change will not continue to increase’

left university are part of the global diaspora.

Major players in commerce, finance and the professions now demand that their employees can make a seamless transition from the UK to other centres of power and influence.

Today, these include Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, the USA, Australia and increasingly India; tomorrow, as shifts in global power continue, that list may include Russia, Brazil, South Korea and quite possibly Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria and, well, who – today – really knows…

Those based in the UK also work in a world where a global perspective and understanding are essential to underpin investment decisions, broker effective relationships with suppliers and customers and enable any assessment of competitive intelligence to have real value.

step. But whether you choose to follow the IB or the A level route to University, one thing is certain. It will not be long before you and your friends are forging your careers in a very rapidly changing and increasingly interconnected world; a world that will be more challenging than that faced by any other generation.

It’s an extraordinary and exciting challenge that I’m sure you will relish.

Tim Manly BA MSc, Headmaster To find out more about what the IB offers and for further information about A Level and Sixth Form opportunities at Hurst , visit our website www.hppc.co.uk

Preparation is key How best, then, should today’s students begin to prepare for their journey into this challenging and ever-shifting world?

For some, although by no means for all, the International Baccalaureate Diploma is an important first

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

The world is becoming more and more interconnected Change is with us and the only certainties are that the pace of change will continue to accelerate and the world will become more and more closely interconnected.

Even now, many of those who have only just

www.hppc.co.uk

Yann Forgeais, the head chef at the George and Dragon

57

Dragon Roars Back The George and Dragon has been saved by two village residents who couldn’t bear to see it close Not so long ago, the George and Dragon looked like a pub whose days were numbered.

With a string of landlords failing to revive its fortunes, the 16th Century pub was put up for sale by the brewery, Hall and Woodhouse. Nobody was interested.

The Grade II listed pub in Dragons Green, was not only out of sight – it was out of mind too.

But a couple of hundred yards down the road in Bakers Road, two villagers with no experience of running a pub were considering taking the brave step to take on their own pub.

A few months on, David Greenwood and Jenny Winter have revamped the pub thanks to the support of many local residents and the George and Dragon is once again leaving a positive impression on visitors.

Jenny said: “I came here 13 years ago and The George and Dragon has been my local pub since. In recent years, different people came in to run it but couldn’t make it pay.

The brewery didn’t spend any money and the pub became run down, cold and damp.

We could see it going downhill.

“The pub had been on the market for about 15 months because the brewery wanted to

sell it.

“I said to Dave one evening ‘why don’t we buy it?’ The next day we rang the agents and put an offer in. We were the first serious offer in over a year.

“We offered quite a lot less than they were originally asking for, but I think they were quite keen to sell. A lot of people were put off as there was an overage clause so if you ended up developing the site for new housing you had to pass on a percentage to the brewery.

“We were not buying the pub to develop we wanted to keep the pub going. We got the keys on 2nd May and came in to find that the brewery had ripped out everything.

It was bare and looked like a derelict building. I sat down and thought ‘what on Earth have we done?’

Dave and Jenny spent the next month revamping the pub before opening in June for the Diamond Jubilee. New flooring was put in and the bar was moved closer to the kitchen, meaning that a room once used as a storage room has become a charming eating area. The character of the pub is retained through the exposed oak beams and the original ledged and braced oak doors (still numbered as the pub was once three cottages).

One feature that was not replaced was the photo of Mrs Budd at the bar. Charlotte Budd once owned the building when it was run as an inn but came into conflict with villagers after her son – an albino who lived with her - committed suicide.

Walter was 24 when he died in February 1893, with his parents believing that he was unjustly accused of a petty crime and this so preyed on his mind that he drowned himself. Parishioners claimed that his mother had treated Walter so badly that he killed himself.

The argument with parishioners and the local vicar led to Mrs Budd Walter removing Walter’s tombstone from Shipley Churchyard to the front of the inn, where it remains and is now listed as a monument of historic interest.

58

The fireplace

Prawn cocktail

‘You could say it was a bit of a local project’ But whilst Mrs Budd was watching over the bar, the rest of the team were not so settled.

Things did not work out with the chef, whilst David and Jenny quickly realised that they could not leave the running of the pub to a manager whilst they carried on with their own jobs. Jenny carried on working in the city, whilst David, a carpenter by trade, adopted a more hands-on role.

They still had a chef problem, however.

David said: “Sometimes it was like a building site as all the local people would be here

painting and cleaning. You could say it was a bit of a local project. People are so pleased that we’ve kept it as a pub.

“When we didn’t have a chef, one of the villagers, Barbara Britton, stepped in. She built up a really good reputation here. Initially she would do a couple of days a week but when we lost our chef she extended to doing seven days a week.

“All the feedback we had was fantastic. But Barbara didn’t want to take it on full time but does still work for us a couple of days a week

and she makes some desserts for us.

“We put out an advert for a chef and Yann Forgeais, formerly head chef at Morden Hall Park in Surrey, came in. We were worried that he would be living in Barbara’s shadow a bit, because she had built up such a good reputation. But he has not let us down.

Nothing is a problem for him.

“We did say to him keep the menu basic with good quality food. People like steak, good quality sausages and nice pies, but on the specials board he tries something a bit

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Review: The George and Dragon Tuna steak

Banoffee Pie

‘We really didn’t want it to end up like a restaurant’ different like Moules-frites. He is gradually bringing in his own influences, but we still have the home-made pies made by Barbara and people love them.

“Yann has put together a cracking Christmas menu and as he comes from a baking background we can now provide cream teas on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons.”

Our visit though was on a Wednesday night. We settled down into one of three small dining areas (the largest of which has five tables) that flank a small area around the bar and fireplace, where a few bikers from a Triumph Owners club enjoy a pint amongst several regulars.

Outside there are many more tables in a large garden, including two in a smoking area that is nicely decorated by vines put in place by gardener Dave Britton. The new owners have also bought bouncy castles which give the children something to do in the summer months.

At this stage, Yann (under advice) has kept the menu simple. Choices are smoked salmon and capers, prawn cocktail, pâté of the day (all £4.95), Italian meat selection (£7.95) and soup of the day (£4.50). We went for the salmon, served with salad and brown bread, as well as the prawn cocktail with Marie Rose sauce and brown bread.

The salmon and prawn dishes were both perfectly fine, fresh, clean and neatly presented, if both lacking a

little in terms of flair; as you would expect from a chef charged with producing simple yet satisfying pub food at a fair price.

Main courses include the 10oz sirloin steak (£14.95), a 10oz gammon steak (£11.95), scampi and chips (£8.95) and sausage and mash (£9.95.

There is also a home-made pie of the day (£9.95) which is very popular with the regulars, and pan fried salmon

steaks (£11.95). Having given some consideration to which dish would provide colourful photographs, Toby went for the seared tuna steak with sweet chilli sauce salad and crushed new potatoes £12.95).

The steak was well cooked with a

Lamb shank

60

Daniella Johnston serves the mains nicely cooked edges and a soft, rare centre developing a good chemistry with the moreish sauce.

Caring little for glamour photos, I went for the slowly cooked lamb shank in honey and cider, served with new potatoes, vegetables and red wine sauce. The meat – from Hutching’s butchers in Partridge Green – was excellent, and plentiful potatoes made it a very fulfilling dish. The one minor complaint is that the honey flavour didn’t really provide much potency.

For dessert, we went for two ‘Barbara

Owners Jenny Winter and David Greenwood Specials’. The Banoffee Pie (£4.95) was delicious, with a firm digestive base, thick toffee and a whopping cream topping that didn’t overwhelm the whole pudding. Toby went for the cheesecake (£4.95) which also provided a hearty home-made finale.

With the George and Dragon providing such a warm and pleasant atmosphere, we stayed on for a pint of Horsham Best, by local brewery W.J King. The pub also has Harvey’s Sussex and Doom Bar as regular ales and Partridge Green-based brewery Dark Star recently featured as the guest ale.

We spoke to David and Jenny about their thoughts on their first few months in business. David said: “It feels like a community pub and the local people didn’t want to see someone who has just bought it to make money.”

“We’ve never run a pub before but we try and provide good beers with good food and a nice atmosphere. We really didn’t want it to end up like a restaurant so we’ve kept a nice mix of eaters and drinkers.

“It is bloody hard work and until you have a pub you don’t realise. You can’t buy an

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Alison Milner-Gulland

‘I start with m It’s difficult to define the work of Alison Milner-Gulland.

We are talking about an artist who uses lava from an Icelandic volcano to create a ceramic fruit bowl, and an old brick mould to frame work at a forthcoming exhibition.

One piece is constructed using small wood blocks taken from a skip in Partridge Green. Once, Alison was told by a friend that she could take her pick of items from a shop he owned which was closing down. She walked out with only small test plates.

On another occasion, having thrown an old door that was blown off a shed on to a bonfire, Alison had a brainwave and retrieved it to use as a canvas for a painting featuring London and Syria writing, and an angel.

It’s what makes Alison one of the area’s most intriguing artists.

Alison works out of a studio on a quaint family farm in Washington where even the animals contribute to the art – Alison uses a goose quill to draw out the images in her ceramics.

It’s an idyllic setting and one that Alison utilises. Chanctonbury Ring

63 ‘I started painting on clay for a bit of fun’ Alison studied art at Birmingham College of Art and Craft and then developed printmaking skills at Brighton and Northbrook. Having left education, Alison taught at a school near Andover teaching many boys that were classed as ‘beyond parental control’.

She recalls: “Some of the pupils were difficult. I was assistant matron, as well as an art teacher and anything else I was asked to do, and on my first night they said ‘one of the boys has just thrown a master out of the third storey window, you’re on big boy’s bed duty’.

“But it was a very rewarding job. I then went to a Convent in Ascot, and I have to say the boys were easier to work with.”

Alison then taught at Cumnor House in Danehill before taking on a freelance assignment, illustrating French and Russian educational books. Throughout that time she has enjoyed travelling and painting, but it is only in recent years that Alison has dipped into pottery. Already, there is much that

mess’ (and its devilish stories) features in several paintings, as does the sand quarry at Rock Common.

She said: “I have a farmer friend with an airstrip on his land and finally I agreed to go up in a micro-light. We went above Chanctonbury Ring, and we could go even higher than normal as I’m so light.

“What I see dictates what I do. I have a whole load of sketch books from travelling and when I come back something appears. I make a mess on a piece of paper and then work into it, but in the back of my mind I have an idea.

“The mess sets me off. I never have a plan!”

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64 ‘I drew these two little boys in Hama, and now you wonder if they are still there?’ catches the eye.

“I don’t know about ceramics but I do know about drawing so I draw on to a piece of clay and put it together,” said Alison. I thought I would start painting on clay for a bit of fun about four years ago. I buy most of the clay but I have taken some from the side of the barn on the farm. Everything is fired at 1,200 degrees but the clay from the barn goes black at that temperature so I have to paint it afterwards.

“There are all sorts of things I use for inspiration. I was sitting at a restaurant in Brighton and the waiter came along with a punk hairstyle, so I drew him on a napkin underneath the table and ended up putting him on ceramic!

“I’ll be displaying at the Annual Open Exhibition of the Society of Graphic Fine Art in October, and I’ll be submitting a ceramic piece. It’ll be the first time they haven’t had anything that wasn’t on paper so they’re in for a bit of a shock!”

As well as being a member of the Society of

Graphic Fine Art, Alison is involved with the Southern Ceramics Group and Sussex

“ “

Alison Milner-Gulland Watercolour Society. She has also exhibited at Workhouse Gallery in Chelsea, Mall Galleries in London, Barn Galleries in Henley-on-Thames and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours.

The range of Alison’s work is quite extraordinary. There are oil and watercolour paintings, collages and prints.

In some images she uses the raw pigments that the Russian Icon painters used, and Russia is one of the countries to have most influenced Alison’s work.

“I’ve been to Russia a lot,” said Alison.

(My husband) Robin was a Professor at the University of Sussex, and he translated work by Yevgeny Yevtushenko so we travelled there often.

“One of my paintings is based on a door that I saw in the Russian city of Astrakhan and the notice above it translates as ‘this way to the old woman’. The piece of paper has an extract from Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment which translates to mean that men are able to adapt to any situation.”

“I went out to Syria at the beginning of the troubles. I do lots of scribbles. I drew these two little boys in Hama, and now you wonder if they are still there? Are they all right?

“Some of these things are nearer home. I saw a boy begging in Oxford and I asked if I could draw him. He agreed and I paid him for sitting and I added newspaper and magazine cuttings about the homeless to the background. He hasn’t seen the portrait as I didn’t do it on the spot.

“I’ve also been to Iran, and everywhere you go you see things. I don’t paint to sell – I do it because I want to say ‘look, I’ve seen this, look at it’. It either sells or it doesn’t. Some will see what I see and if they don’t, well tough!

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Thinking of extending The ‘things you probably ordidn’t know about Horsham that are really your quite interesting’ page...

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" # % ! + % # ! ' ! %%% In 1999, the American Film Institute Horsham Museum and Art Gallery has a

by Peter Mahon who writes of him as direct link to the great actor and director, compiled a list of the greatest actors of all “instrumental in helping me in my writing ! #% having just bought four books from his time. career when he became director of the personal library with inscriptions of In 14th place, just ahead of Buster Keaton, Festival Theatre at Chichester. I found that Builddedication to the great man.

Orson Welles and James Dean, is a man he was always eager to help and encourage who – unknown to many people – spent 16 The four works date to the years he lived at even when very busy. This he continued % and when he moved to the National Theatre to Ashurst, from" 1973 to his death in ,1989, years of his life living in Ashurst, a village #$ reflect#various aspects of his rich life. To # !become its director.” just south of Partridge Green. # # # the ! Mahon % included a poem to Lord Olivier in represent his voice, which could cover Laurence Olivier was one of this country’s # of human # emotion and theatrical most famous and iconic figures. He played a) range the book while the book itself is one of only & performance ! ! $! wide variety of roles on stage and screen from Shakespeare to comedy, 19 published. Christopher Logue’s % #$ # is a work by Rita Volk, a famous voice coach and is regarded by some to be the greatest collection of poems ‘Singles’ was published # ! ! % in America who thanked Olivier for his actor of the 20th century. in December 1973 and given as a present He received twelve Oscar nominations, with inspiration. that Christmas to “Sir Lawrence + Joan” in During the Second World War, Olivier two awards (for Best Actor and Best Picture the year they moved to the hamlet. Olivier for Hamlet in 1948), plus two honorary directed and stared in the classic film ‘Henry had married Joan in 1961 having divorced awards including a statuette and certificate. V,’ inspiring a generation with his rendition Vivian Leigh. of Shakespeare’s classic play. After the war He was known to go to incredible lengths These four books formed part of Lord he was involved with the Royal Air Force to research and develop a role. According Olivier’s library, a collection that was Benevolent Fund, reflected in the history of to one account, in order to get the voice dispersed some 21 years after his death by the organisation with a personal inscription right for playing the Moor in a late the London book dealers Quaritch. production of Shakespeare's Othello he thanking Lord Olivier “with much gratitude.”

The books will be going on display in the Email: info@abmbuilding.co.uk would bellow at cows, most probably in The degree to which Lord Olivier inspired rearranged Visitor Information Centre’s others is evident in the book Dawn till Dusk Ashurst, for hours.

‘Discover the District’ gallery. *

Call 01293 851913

Website: abmbuilding.co.uk

Liston House, Faygate Lane, Faygate, RH12 4SJ

Southwater 01403 738800 Billingshurst 01403 784848 Maidenbower 01293 888558

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