Ashdown Forest Living April Issue

April 2017

© Steve Alton

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S U P P O R T I N G LO C A L B U S I N E S S

Dear Residents, Whats inside this month Welcome to the April issue.

As this goes to print our fingers are crossed for wonderful Spring weather coupled with a sea of beautiful bluebells in the woods to delight the senses.

This month a Conan Doyle themed magazine seems to have come to fruition as the prelude to the all new Crowborough Community Festival which takes place next month. We hope you enjoy the articles.

Recipe

Dame Vera Lynn

We are very proud to be able to bring you a feature about Dame Vera Lynn for which we interviewed her daughter. As well as being a national treasure we all know and love, she also lives in Sussex close to the Ashdown Forest area. We hope you enjoy it.

We must give our huge congratulations to Forest Row man Daryl Farmer who completed his solo row across the Atlantic! See the photos of his arrival in Antigua.

A New Play, Murder by Proxy, “by” Conan Doyle

Puppet Passion

Solo Row Across the Atlantic: DONE!

Conan the Great

Thank you for supporting our many local businesses, please do mention us when you call.

Please drop us a line with any local news that would be of interest, especially if you are a local charity or community group.

All the best, Tally & Chris Ashdown Forest Living To advertise call 01342 300152 info@ashdownforestliving.co.uk www.ashdownforestliving.co.uk FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

Keep this directory handy for when you need it

Although this publication does not vet advertisers, a number of complaints will mean that businesses will be barred from further advertising.

Lorrie Brown - A Salute to Vera Lynn

Exploring our Lost World

Sincerely Yours: The Vera Lynn Story

Ashdown Forest Living Notice: Ashdown Forest Living prints various articles, features, and advertisements. Although these appear in Ashdown Forest Living, any opinions expressed are the opinion of the author, these are not necessarily the opinion of the publisher. © Copyright Ashdown Forest Living 2017. The contents of this publication are written specifically for our readers, no part may be reproduced elsewhere without express and prior permission.

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T IM E S G O N E B Y

F O R E S T R O W - C .1 9 2 0

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11/01/2017 09:32

Chocolate Scones Makes 14 scones

By Pete Howes, Pastry Chef at Ashdown Park Hotel & Country Club

Ashdown Park Hotel is serving a real treat for chocaholics this Easter, with a special chocolate afternoon tea available on Monday 17th April. Featuring on the menu will be a whole host of tempting chocolate treats, including these delicious chocolate scones, which pastry chef Pete Howes has shared the recipe for.

Ingredients • • • • • • •

390g plain flour 55g cocoa powder 30g baking powder 85g butter 85g icing sugar 285ml (½ pint) milk 55g white chocolate chips

Method

4. Place the rounds on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 10-12 minutes, or until well-risen.

1. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and baking powder and rub in the butter with your fingertips, until it forms a breadcrumblike consistency.

5. Leave to cool until warm, but not completely cold, then serve with clotted cream and your favourite preserves.

2. Pour in the milk and the white chocolate chips and stir until the mixture comes together into a dough, then rest for 5 minutes.

HOTEL AND COUNTRY CLUB

3. Lightly roll out the dough to roughly 1” thick – be careful not to over-roll or knead the dough or it will become too tough – then cut out 2-3” round portions. Repeat until all the dough has been portioned out.

Ashdown Park Hotel & Country Club Wych Cross, RH18 5JR Telephone: 01342 824988 www.ashdownpark.com

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Quick Quiz

Sudoku

Answers on page 38 1. What colour is Coventry Street on a UK Monopoly board?

2. Where is Sir Isaac Newton buried?

3. In which year was the first ever Academy Awards ceremony?

4. Which Hindu God is the first of the triumvirate (trinity) and is responsible for creation of the world and all its creatures?

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5. What is the capital of Cyprus?

6. Which artist painted the most expensive painting ever sold at action to date?

7. Which evil mythological creature was part woman and part bird, having a human face and a bird’s wings and claws?

8. After whom was the Teddy Bear named?

9. How many players are there on an American football team?

10. What is the official language of Andorra?

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CONAN THE GREAT A man whose gift to the world has produced hours of riveting TV and treasured movies!

Former Crowborough resident, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a name recognised the world over but for decades he was overshadowed by his creation, Sherlock Holmes, one of literature's most enduring characters.

Conan Doyle himself was a man of many contradictions: romantic, energetic, idealistic and upstanding, he could also be selfish and foolhardy. His life is perfect fodder for a book of its own.

And with that in mind writer Andrew Lycett produced a groundbreaking biography about Conan Doyle: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes.

Better still, Andrew will be speaking at the Crowborough Community Festival next month about him.

We are pleased to have a taster Q&A with Andrew about this unique individual: in its infancy - Scotland Yard had only recently set up a detective division. But he liked the pioneering work of the American Edgar Allan Poe and the Frenchman Emile Goboriau and decided to try his hand at an English version.

Conan Doyle had an alcoholic father with no stability at home as a child.

How did this affect his adult years?

It made for a difficult childhood, with little money to spare. Luckily his wider family paid for him to go to an English Catholic public school, Stonyhurst - with the intention that he would later be able to look after his mother and siblings. As a result of this, he grew up with a very mature sense of himself and his responsibilities.

Why is Holmes such a popular figure, so many years later?

First, because he is the central figure in an extraordinarily enduring set of stories. But also because he is such an intriguing character in his own right - the great rationalist who likes to relax by playing his violin, smoking and taking cocaine. And he makes such a good partnership with his sidekick Dr Watson, who provides a human dimension to the stories and establishes the prototype of the double act which has endured at the heart of detective fiction.

What strikes you as the defining experience, which brought Sherlock Holmes to life in Conan-Doyle’s consciousness?

Working as a doctor in Southsea in Hampshire in the 1880s, Conan Doyle dabbled in writing a variety of adventure stories for magazines. At one stage he decided he wanted his name on the back of a book. Detective fiction was then

Continues over the page.

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A NATIONAL PROFILE FOR LOCAL RDA CONTINUED As a keen golfer, he served as captain of Crowborough Beacon golf club in 1910, and his wife was Ladies Captain the following year.

An amateur palaeontologist, he became interested in searching for local evidence of dinosaurs - to the extent that he was wrongly thought to be involved in the Piltdown Man hoax. Windlesham was where he converted fully to spiritualism during the First World War. He wrote about the vicinity, notably in his 1915 novel The Valley of Fear where the scene of the murder Birlstone Manor was closely based on Groombridge Place a few miles away.

In Conan Doyle’s later life he turned to spiritualism? How did this affect his life and was it complimentary or in conflict with Holme’s logically views?

Back in the 1880s Conan Doyle, as a trained doctor, took a scientific approach to investigating paranormal phenomena - as was fashionable at the time. During the First World War his scientific reserve weakened and, wanting to get in touch with friends and members of his family who had died, he became a committed spiritualist. But he always argued - unconvincingly - that his approach to spiritualism was scientific.

Find out more about this fascinating writer when Andrew Lycett visits Crowborough on Thursday 18th May to present an illustrated talk on his book Conan Doyle: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes. Part of the month-long Crowborough Community Festival, which starts on Monday 1st May with the Conan Doyle Lost World Fun day.

How did Conan Doyle’s time spent in Crowborough influence him and what was his impression of the town and area?

The venue is Crowborough’s Community Centre and start time is 3pm. The presentation will end with a Q&A session.

Ticket price of £5 includes afternoon tea.

Recommend pre-booking in advance at www. crowboroughcommunityfestival.org or direct from Crowborough Community Centre 01892 458026.

He came to live at Windlesham in Crowborough in 1907 shortly after his first wife Louise died and he married a younger woman Jean. He loved the area and brought up a new family there (two boys and a girl). It became the centre for much of his activities.

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Puppet Passion Hartfield man Colin Burnett-Dick found himself in the national papers last month having spent 25 thousand pounds perfectly restoring his recently acquired original Lady Penelope puppet.

Here he shares just how he came to have to this most peculiar of passions:

Phobia, what Phobia?

The Phobia in my case was Automatonophobia. The fear of puppets, mannequins, ventriloquist dolls and clowns.

Why clowns I have never been too sure.

I was a very nervous child. I seemed to be scared of just about everything but in particular the irrational fear of inanimate objects coming to life. I would lie in bed at night and imagine my toy soldiers creeping across the cold lino floor to get me. I was not allowed to have a light on and I would lay awake, terrified, until my need for sleep overtook my fear.

So, how does a kid with this level of psychoses grow up to be a collector of puppets? Good question, and the answer is, I really don’t know! As I grew my fear slowly became a fascination: maybe I had been cursed by a Chucky type character... By the age of ten I was

holding puppet shows in my father’s garage and charging the local kids threepence a show. I loved my puppets, they were my friends. I talked to them and they talked back. My parents were getting increasingly worried about the overheard conversations when there was no one else in my room but at least, and probably for the first time in my life, I was sleeping at night.

Sunday night at the London Palladium. As a special treat I was allowed to stay up and watch the show providing I was all scrubbed up and in my dressing gown ready for bed the minute the show ended.

That was when I saw for the first time Ray Allen and his vent doll Lord Charles. I was fascinated! From then on I was totally hooked on Ventriloquism.

I followed all the top vents, got pictures of their dummies, read their books, listened to their recordings and studied everything I could find on the subject old and new.

Continues over the page.

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PUPPET PASSION CONTINUED

necessarily in that order! Before I knew it I was in my thirties and married with children. All my puppet friends had long gone and my priorities were paying the mortgage and keeping our business profitable.

Then a surprising twist of fate happened. I heard on the radio that the ventriloquist doll and my hero Archie Andrews was up for sale. I knew I had to try and buy him! With the support of Pauline, my lovely wife, we set about our quest. We went to the West Country to view him at the auction house and then, even more spurred on, we attended the auction several weeks later and bought him. How lucky am I? One of the most iconic ventriloquist dolls of all time and he is sitting in our living room, well when he is not roaming about the house causing mischief.

He really does have an aura about him, which does tend to freak out some of our visitors!

One dummy in particular I was getting more and more fascinated by was a character called Archie Andrews. He was the dummy of Peter Brough and together they dominated the radio scene in the 1950s with a show called “Educating Archie”. It proved to be the starting point for many stars of the future who appeared on the show. Names like Tony Hancock, Julie Andrews and Max Bygraves all appeared as relative new comers. Archie was a cheeky middle class schoolboy and was loved by millions!

As the years went by my fascination with all things puppetry took a bit of a back seat as other interests slowly took over such as girls, pubs and music. Not

Since then I have attempted to buy the original Sooty puppet, Harry Corbett’s little bear. During the televised auction at Charles Hanson’s auction house I was verbally abused by Sooty’s friend Sue and squirted with a water pistol by Sweep every time I outbid Sooty’s franchise owner Richard Cadell so I decided to let him go to Richard.

My latest acquisition is an original Lady Penelope puppet from the TV show “Thunderbirds”. She is probably one of the most recognised puppets of all time and has now been completely restored and looks stunning!

So that’s my story. Is there a moral here anywhere?

Probably not. Phobia? What Phobia?

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A NEW PLAY - MURDER BY PROXY "BY" CONAN DOYLE A Little Taster

BACK FROM THE DEAD TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Be prepared to have your caged rattled. A new work written in the name of Conan Doyle is set to upend any Sherlockian preconceptions you may have.

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was an ardent spiritualist who believed in life after death. Only right then, that he should come back and tell us what he found out.

Holmes & Watson are holed up at 221B Baker St. The drugs aren’t working and Sherlock is on the point of insanity. He’s convinced that Doyle is out to kill him.

At first, the good doctor tries to pacify him, but as the action unfolds he finds that he, reasonable man though he is, as the real writer of the stories, is even more angry than Holmes.

He plots their revenge. As befits the ‘master’, is this the perfect crime it should be? Can the characters kill their creator, and get away with it?

AN APOLOGIA FROM CONAN DOYLE I have written a play, Murder by Proxy, and I would like to tell you something about it by way of an apology.

Sherlock is the man I would like to have been, Watson much more how I saw myself.

Although I didn’t appreciate it at the time, I treated them both pretty shabbily which, as I have learned through divine grace, is what we tend to do down here on earth - at least to anything we think we control.

WE ARE HIS CHILDREN, BUT WE ARE MONSTERS TO HIM NOW. What is the relationship between author and character?

Who owns who, and who has the final say? Are his children purely the fruit of his imagination, or could they be buds of another pod?

So Sherlock I made strong where I was weak, and weak where I fondly imagined I was strong. I made him cold, condescending, and calculating. Solving his many cases through extraordinary powers of observation yoked to ruthless logic. But a loner and a drug addict.

This, I flattered myself, enabled me to present an intellectual omniscience to the world, which I could combine with Watson’s warm and open-hearted clubbability, which I felt was so much closer to my own personality.

Continues over the page.

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A NEW PLAY, MURDER BY PROXY, “BY” CONAN DOYLE CONTINUED

NOTHING SO DECEPTIVE AS AN OBVIOUS FACT But despite the variety that I was able to add to plot or story, to means or method, to status or situation I soon became bored with the predictability that I had invested in my hero and his loyal sidekick. I knew the warning signs. Boredom in the writer, boredom in the reader. I felt like the man who sets the Times crossword. He is aware the problems he contrives give endless pleasure to others.

But knows there is none for him. He already knows all the answers.

destiny and, as much as I resented him, he was the ghost inside of me.

And even though, at the time, I could not see how Sherlock and Watson were central to the meaning of my life, and the message I have to bring you, I know now. That message is: You cannot love what you control and you cannot control what you love.

THE OBSERVATION OF TRIFLES So, I began to pose myself questions to which there is no answer,“Where have we come from?” and “Why are we here?” What I did not know then, as I do now, is that we cannot control our destiny. The Sherlock stories, which I dismissed as trifles, were to be my life’s work. The things I considered important, overlooked. I may have felt shackled to Sherlock but whenever I tried to break free of him, I was hauled back, the public’s appetite for Sherlock was too strong. He was my

You can see this new play “Murder by Proxy” at All Saints Church Halls, Chapel Green, Crowborough,TN6 1ED on 16th, 17th & 19th May. Bar Opens 7:30pm. Tickets £5 on the Door or from TicketSource.co.uk.

Find out more at www.murderbyproxy.co.uk.

Rangers Report My name is Glen Poland and I have been employed as the Deer Programme Coordinator for Ashdown Forest.car This is an exciting programme, From Linton’s Linton’s car park park cross cross the theroad road (with (withcare) care)funded into intoRidge Ridge Countryside Stewardship car park parkthrough (summer (summerthe only). only).

Walk Walkout outofof the therear rearpast pastaScheme, a seat seat onto onto a grass grass path path and and in inabout about 50m turn turnleft left onto onto aaride. ride.

Remain Remain and is the first of50m its kind in the country.

I am onon this gently gently descending descending ride, ride, ignoring ignoringanother another that bears bears offoffof employed by the conservators, withthat the support right, for right, for about about 400m.

400m.

Natural England, the Forestry Commission and the Deer Initiative. Our main objectives for managing On both left and right are linear quarries, deer onscrub Ashdown ForestSuch are to ensure the deer now filled with and trees. quarriespopulation dot the Forest landscape and is kept healthy by controlling numbers; providedthis stonewill for reduce roads. Typical heathland grazing and browsing competitive birds such as nightjar, stonechat, tree pipit allowing natural plant communities to flourish and

will lessen the risk of undernourishment in the deer population. With plant communities beginning to respond to the effect that deer culling has had in some areas, we hope to see a diverse array of bird and mammal species that rely on the under-storey start to make more of an appearance in the future.

1.75 miles/3km miles/3km

and woodlark usually breed in this area and the ride edges in particular are one of the best places on the Forest (indeed in Sussex) to see, in May, the yellow flowers of the small spiny shrub, petty whin.

It is hoped that venison will be on offer here at the Forest Centre from November 2017; the money will be put back into maintaining the forest. For more details please phone James or Glen on 01342 823583.

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On the hill-top in the distance is Gills Lap Clump, the Galleons Lap of the Winnie-the-Pooh books. One old nameor forSmall the Clump The Large jobs was undertaken with the same enthusiasm Camel’s Hump, from the shape formed by the silhouettes of its pine No High Pressure Sales - No Minimum Order Charge trees. In the 1920s, when the picture (left) was taken, there were Day Time Plan & Design Service very few trees on the surrounding FREE slopes,Evening just openorheathland.

of cricket the above be supplied and/or fitted Cross the drive and walk to the rightAny of the pitch.can Where the ride divides, bear right, leaving the pitch, and bear right within 3-5 weeks if required. at the next divide after 300m . The ride descends more steeply and swings right and downhill into woodland and to a bridge over a stream .

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© Liz Mills

DAME VERA LYNN Last month the nation’s sweetheart and fondest national treasure Dame Vera Lynn reached her milestone 100th birthday. We all witnessed the many celebrations, from TV programmes about her life, to a London Palladium tribute show attended by Her Majesty the Queen and a newly released album, toping it off was a 350-foot image of her projected onto the White Cliffs of Dover! Accolades and congratulations have flooded in from around the world. lands as distant as Uzbekistan and Hawaii. And from children as young as 8, whose grandparents’ records of Dame Vera’s music strike a deep chord with them, with a subsequent embracing of fanhood! Even 19/20 year-olds from Germany write in; and Dame Vera chooses to answer them all, insisting on personally signing each letter.

Dame Vera lives here in Sussex, in Ditchling, not half an hour from the Ashdown Forest. We are truly honoured to have been able to talk to her daughter, Virginia, to get a glimmer of insight into the life of an icon.

With a stellar musical career that has spanned nearly a century, Dame Vera Lynn’s crossgenerational appeal, even to a 21st century audience, knows no match. The words of her songs, perhaps because they are sung with such pure, timeless emotion, seem to tug on the heartstrings of the young and old alike. This is best demonstrated by the continuous flow of fan mail, which Virginia tells me is daily received from

How, I asked Virginia, can she get around to giving such individualised attention to her fans at an age when movement and energy are elusive. ‘She’s just grateful that people are still listening to her music.

She’s very excited at having a new CD, reaching such a milestone while still being productive.’

Continues over the page.

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27

VERA LYNN CONTINUED

And listen they do, her newly released album, produced by Decca, is currently at number 2 in the album chart on Amazon (behind Ed Sheeran).

It makes me wonder if there will ever be another centenarian who can claim such an achievement.

Virginia tells me she came up with the idea, ‘Decca liked it, and they re-orchestrated the songs with

guest vocals from singers such as Aled Jones and Alfie Boe.’ And how does a performer such as Dame Vera continue to retain her relevance in today’s world of celebrity-worship and celebrity here one day, gone the next? Perhaps because she’s never shunned her humble beginnings or pretended to be anyone than who she is. Her genuine, unfiltered voice touches the spirit, transcending class, age and even musical tastes, leading the likes of Paul McCartney to comment, ‘She’s like family! Even though you’ve never met her, there’s a bond with her.’ Virginia confirming this view offers, ‘Mummy has always been very down to earth. Like me, she can’t put up with people who aren’t sincere, she doesn’t likes airs and graces. The world of so-called celebs....one doesn’t always have to be in the news!’

Dame Vera is a working class girl from the East End of London who became the voice of a nation. She started her career at the age of 7 when her mother, noticing her special voice, ‘put her on the stage’...

She was singing in working men’s clubs all over London, leaving school at the age of 11 to become a full time performer. Virginia explains that later she went on tour as a young teenager with Mrs Harris’s Cracker Cabaret Kids, eventually taking over the reins and running the troupe herself at the tender age of 16! ‘Her responsibility and drive was something innate to her. You’re either born with it or you’re not.’ And the great Tim Rice echoes this idea of responsibility for her performance: ‘The key thing is that she understands exactly what the song needs to communicate, she understands exactly what the song has to get over.’

Some years later as a young singer she considered formal training to increase her range. This was slapped down by the singing teacher with a declaration of ‘No, I can’t train that voice, it’s not a natural voice.’ But happily the young Vera’s world didn’t crumble and her career simply went from strength to strength. As Virginia says, ‘She knew what she was good at, what her forte was, and she would not allow anyone else to change it. She knew what people wanted.’

Continues over the page.

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29

VERA LYNN CONTINUED

struggles and eventual triumphs, as embodied by her role in the war, best represents our collective connection to our country and gives her the timeless sentiment we crave. Virginia explains, ‘The military still look to her as part of it. Because of what she did in the war, she was so involved. That’s what resonates with the British public and why she was voted the person who “most represents the spirit of the last century” in 2000.’

The other quality that is undeniable is that Dame Vera has spent her life helping others. She was the voice of an era when entertainment was vital to boost morale and keep the troops’ and their families’ spirits up. Into the present when she continues to help families of young children with cerebral palsy, her efforts for others are neverending.

Of her milestone Dame Vera herself said, ‘To have reached my hundredth year is in itself an achievement – with all the many memories that one collects over the years, the different places and the wonderful people one meets and the many, many fans from across the world who have supported me.

And what is her secret to staying on the ball in her twilight years? ‘She has her own opinions and retains a great interest in subjects she enjoys. If she hadn’t been a singer, she would have been an archaeologist. She watches Time Team, and reads about discoveries. Of course she also would have liked to have been an opera singer too in a parallel life! She also has a real passion for her charity’s work, and has always been very involved with military charities: the British Legion, Gurkhas, etc. (helping the latter to have a retirement fund). Also her children’s charities which particularly assist children with cerebral palsy.’ Most notably in the local area is the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Centre in Cuckfield.

‘I can’t believe everyone went to so much trouble to wish me a happy birthday – I feel incredibly humbled by it all but most of all I am delighted that it is helping to raise vital funds for my charity.’

Her personal celebration highlight? A big family birthday party at home, Virginia explains ‘We have a huge family, but some of them can’t come to the March party, so we’ll be having another celebration later on in the year!’

As her daughter, I ask Virginia to sum up in a few words her mother’s greatest inspiration to her personally: ‘Be yourself, don’t try to be someone else you’re not, say what you think, and be definite, without treading on toes.’ I don’t know about you but I personally feel I should put this advice in a frame and place it on my living room wall!

Indeed on Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show, asked if she had any advice on getting older, Dame Vera offered: ‘Be active to your full capabilities, keep interested, read books, watch television and try and keep in touch with life and what people are doing, seeing and enjoying.’

In typical fashion, on her special birthday, Dame Vera asked for charity donations rather than gifts for herself. For more information about Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity please visit www.dvlcc.org.uk/donations.

The British spirit of World War Two continues to define our country, even into the 21st century.

I wonder if Dame Vera, as a symbol of our fears,

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31

‘Sincerely Yours: The Vera Lynn Story’ An award-winning Vera Lynn tribute will be coming to Chequer Mead, East Grinstead, this June. Lorrie Birtles has been performing a tribute show to Dame Vera Lynn for over 25 years and in 2013 she was honoured for her achievement by the Agents Association and named UK No.1 Vera Lynn Tribute.

As well as her tribute act, Lorrie has been working with Dame Vera’s charity for the last 2 years and in that time has raised £2,000 from collections at the end of her shows. Lorrie says, ‘It’s a great honour to be working alongside Helen and the rest of the volunteers; the work they do is so important.’

After Dame Vera heard of the award, she invited Lorrie to meet her at her home. Lorrie says, ‘It was both a dream and terrifying. I have been performing the songs of this great lady for over 25 years, I have performed in football stadiums to 33,000 people and

sung in some of the country’s finest theatres, but this was the most nervous I have ever been.

In the end she was a perfect host. As soon as I entered the room she gave me a hug and congratulated me on my award.

She was just so happy that I was keeping her music alive.

We sat and talked for 3 hours about her time entertaining the troops and especially about her time in Burma; she had a very strong connection with the troops there and she was so proud to have been allowed to go out and entertain them.’

Lorrie is now taking the next logical step and this month begins a tour of a show that she has devised with her husband and co-producer Gary Birtles.

As Lorrie explains, ‘2017 is Dame Vera’s 100th birthday and the nation is going to be honouring all her achievements from her life. During my show we talk about the work she did during WW2 so the next logical step was to tell people about her life and what shaped

her into becoming the Forces’ Sweetheart. She started her career singing in the dance bands and that is where we will start. We will be performing on stage with a live band and singing many of the songs she would have sung in her early days, then moving on to her time entertaining the troops and hosting her own radio show Sincerely Yours, which is where the title of the show comes from. Also on the bill will be support by another wartime favourite, George Formby, performed by one of the country’s leading tribute acts.’

‘Sincerely Yours: the Vera Lynn Story’ will appear at The Chequer Mead, East Grinstead, on June 29th at 2:30pm. Tickets are available from the box office on 01342 302000 or via www.chequermead.org.uk.

Lorrie Brown - A Salute to Vera Lynn

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EXPLORING OUR LOST WORLD We are very lucky to live in a truly beautiful area, appropriately named the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; a historic countryside of rolling hills, small irregular fields, abundant woods/hedges, scattered farmsteads and sunken lanes.

To kick it off, a Lost World Fun Day will launch Crowborough’s first ‘On Top of the Weald’ Community Festival for the wider community to participate in the project. This will include street theatre, the ‘Iguanodon Restaurant’; workshops by Dinosaur Roar’s author Paul Stickland, dinosaur-themed videos and a school art exhibition and competition will be just some of the day’s attractions.

Which is it why we take great pleasure in letting you know that Lottery funding has just been secured to enable primary school children in the Crowborough area to participate in earth science workshops, giving the opportunity to handle geological materials including fossils and use a locally abundant material, clay, in art workshops.

The project is coming to fruition through a team effort which includes the Crowborough Festival Association, High Weald AONB Partnership, heritage experts, education providers, performance artists and local primary schools.

Classes will also go on a Lost World Quest, walking to nearby green spaces to discover more about the area’s rocks, fossils, dinosaurs and modern-day reptiles and their habitats.

Festival chairman, Denis Hart said: “The Lost World Quest will be lots of fun with children taking on the roles of characters in the Lost World book - zoologists, botanists, reporters, scientists and adventurers to explore our local countryside. Carrying out the quest will develop skills in role-playing, map-reading and heritage recording."

The project is named the Lost World after Crowborough's most famous resident, Conan Doyle's 1912 novel, wherein a expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America found living prehistoric animals. Doyle himself was a great one for fossil hunting in this area. The project will also raise awareness of the works of lesser-known residents including Charles Leeson, a Victorian meteorologist whose promotion of the area’s climate and topography influenced the town’s development as a Victorian health resort; Gideon Mantell, a local dinosaur hunter; and Richard Jeffries, a nature writer who visited the area to benefit his failing health.

This also sees Crowborough celebrating its location on the highest ridge of the AONB (the Scotland of Sussex). The project is a great opportunity for the community to find out more about what lies beneath the town’s rolling hills and how that geology has created the area’s internationally valuable habitats of heath, sandrock and wooded gills.

An artist’s impression of the Weald during the Cretaceous period

A dinosaur cast Copyright High Weald AONB Partnership.

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What’s On in April

If you would like your event on these pages email info@ashdownforestliving.co.uk for information

SATURDAY 8TH APRIL

at the meeting. At 2pm, Crowborough Community Centre, Pine Grove, Crowborough,TN6 1FE.

Crowborough Choral Society 50th Anniversary Concert. The St John Passion by J. S. Bach with two choirs, professional soloists and Sussex Sinfonia, at 7pm at All Saints Church Centre, Chapel Green, Crowborough, TN6 1ED. Tickets £15 from www.crowboroughchoral.com, Tester & Jones, Crowborough Shoe Repairs and choir members. This event is kindly sponsored by Tester & Jones. Email: bev@bjworthington.plus.com. Phone: 01892 664823.

SATURDAY 22ND APRIL Bowls Open Day. Come and play bowls, in the heart of Ashdown Forest. Isle of Thorns open day is a fun event for all. We are right next door to Cats Protection Centre.11am - 1pm & 2pm - 4pm, Isle of Thorns Bowls Club, Lewes Road, Chelwood Gate, RH17 7DE. SUNDAY 23RD APRIL

SATURDAY 8TH APRIL Forest Row, Choral Society Spring Concert. A choral concert featuring Fauré’s Requiem and excerpts from Cherubini’s Requiem. Conducted by Tom Scratchley. Soprano Soloist: Eloise Irving, Bass Soloist: Andrew Jacques. At 7:30pm, Holy Trinity Church, Forest Row RH18 5AF

Nutley Bowling Club We are holding our first open day of the season at Littlemead, High Street, Nutley.

We are a very friendly club and you will be made most welcome. You do not need to have been a bowler as there will be someone to provide tuition.

All we ask is that you bring along a pair of flat shoes.

At 2pm, Littlemead, High Street, Nutley.

WEDNESDAY 12TH APRIL

FRIDAY 28TH APRIL

Lindfield Horticultural Society: “Alstroemeria” - a talk by Ben Cross. A 4th generation grower, based in Walberton, near Arundel, Ben’s family roots started way back in 1936 when his great-grandad worked on the Land Settlement Association down in Sidlesham near Chichester. Ben now grows and harvests over 40 varieties of British Alstroemeria all year round and will tell us all about it. Entry £1 members, £2 visitors. All welcome. 8pm, King Edward Hall, High Street, Lindfield.

Claire Martin & Joe Stilgoe. An intimate evening with the delectable Claire Martin ‘One of the world’s top jazz singers’ (Jazz Times USA) with brilliant piano virtuoso Joe Stilgoe. Claire will be singing beautiful songs from the Great American Songbook. Tickets £20 from www.wegottickets.com. At 8pm (doors open at 7:30pm), Frant Church, High Street, Frant, TN3 9DX. SATURDAY 29TH APRIL Nutley Horticultural Society Bring and Buy Sale.

12pm in the Church Hall, Nutley, to raise funds for the Nutley Horticultural Society. Please bring your potted up plants to the church with species and if possible variety labels stuck in the pots from 9:30am onwards on the day. For further information please ring Claire Sullivan on 01825 712316 or ask any committee member. Plants will be priced by the helpers on the day. Teas and a raffle. 10am to 12pm, Nutley Church Hall.

THURSDAY 13TH APRIL Groombridge History Group. Guest speaker Ian Everest presents a year in the life of a Sussex downland farm in the 1950s. An age when twenty men were employed on the 1,000 acre farm, increasing to forty at harvest time. All welcome - £2.50. Members - £1.50.

8pm, Groombridge Village Hall.

THURSDAY 13TH APRIL Ashdown Forest Decorative and Fine Arts Society: The Elgin Marbles: a History of Meaning. Alan Read outlines how since their removal from the Parthenon the meaning and significance of the Marbles has dramatically changed from being architectural decoration to disputed cultural objects. He examines the response to them during their time in Britain, from the original controversy over their purchase to the debate surrounding their restitution to the new Athens Acropolis Museum. Refreshments. Members free of charge, visitors £6 or free if joining the society

SATURDAY 29TH APRIL HoneyLeaf Creative Writing Workshop - Writing the Body. Our bodies hold so many experiences and memories. Get ready to explore. Whether you are new to writing, returning after a break, or a regular, the workshops will get your ideas and words flowing onto the page. Saturday mornings at the Bookshop in East Grinstead: £20 per workshop. To book, email: hello@honeyleafwriting.com, 10am - 12pm, The Bookshop, 22 High Street, East Grinstead, RH19 3AW.

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S U P P O R T I N G LO C A L B U S I N E S S

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What’s On in April

If you would like your event on these pages email info@ashdownforestliving.co.uk for information

MONDAY 1ST MAY

SATURDAY 6TH MAY

Mayday Walk in aid of the RNLI. Come and join us for a walk of either 2 or 5 miles from Ashurst Wood. Please get sponsors or make a donation to the RNLI on the day. Light lunch available in the hall afterwards. 10:30am for 11am start, St Dunstan’s Church Hall, Ashurst Wood RH19 3QT.

East Grinstead Beekeepers Association are running their annual Beekeeping Taster Day on at Turners Hill. Spend a day learning about honeybees, beehives and products of the hive. You can even handle some bees - all for £70, lunch and materials provided. Course attendees also get £10 off full membership if they join EGBKA. To book a place or to find out more contact education@egbka. org.uk or 07809 450666.

MONDAY 1ST MAY Groombridge May Fair is a traditional family fun day. Sweetheart Swing duo will be entertaining whilst children can enjoy inflatables, coconut shy, crockery smash, face painting, obstacle course, fun competitions, teacup rides and lots, lots more.

There will also be hog roast, BBQ, vegetarian curries, crepes, ice cream, candy floss, popcorn, beer and Pimm’s, tea and cakes galore. All raised proceeds are for Groombridge Primary School. www.groombridgemayfair.co.uk. 12pm - 4pm, Groombridge Village Hall, Car Park & Recreation Ground, Station Road, TN3 9RB.

Quiz Answers

1: Yellow which sold for $106.5 million in 2010) 2: Westminster Abbey 7: Harpy 3: 1929 8: President Theodore 4: Brahma Roosevelt 5: Nicosia 9: Eleven 6: Pablo Picasso (‘Nude, Green Leaves and Bust’10: Catalan

Solo Row Across the Atlantic: DONE! seen undertaken and completed by a local person and may very well remain so in the years to come.

© Ted Martin

We would like to encourage our readers, if possible, to make even a tiny donation to Daryl's chosen charity, the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue, in acknowledgement of his incredible feat and also because this is a wonderful small charity that carries out life-saving work for our local wildlife. You can also be assured any donation will be well spent on the charity work itself. www.gofundme.com/rowers-ark.

Congratulation Daryl! After 96 days & 13 hours we are happy to announce that at the end of last month, Forest Row man Team Rowers Ark, Daryl Farmer crossed the finish line of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge 2016. Daryl's arrival also marked the finish of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge 2016. © Ted Martin

Daryl has survived this most perilous of journeys both physically and mentally. Besting the worst of old mans sea's trials, all on his lonesome. There were highs and lows but he made it. Over all our years of publishing this is the hardest challenge we have

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Award Winning Care Homes

Care homes for people with learning and/or physical disabilities, neurological conditions, acquired brain injury and autism:

Sussex Healthcare is an award winning group of care homes providing over 30 years of healthcare in Sussex. The Group operates 20 homes, predominantly in the West Sussex area, providing over 600 placements, incorporating specialist care provision as well as care for older people.

Care for older people: Clemsfold House Forest Lodge Horncastle House Kingsmead Care Centre Longfield Manor Rapkyns Care Home Upper Mead

Horsham Nutley Sharpthorne Horsham Billingshurst Horsham Henfield

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Beechcroft Care Centre and Hazel Lodge

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01342 300499

Beech Lodge and Oak Lodge

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The Granary

Horsham

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Horncastle Care Centre

Sharpthorne

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Kingsmead Care Centre

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Kingsmead Lodge

Horsham

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Norfolk Lodge

Horsham

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Orchard Lodge and Boldings Lodge

Horsham

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Rapkyns Care Centre (The Grange)

Horsham

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The Laurels

Horsham

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Rapkyns Care Home

Horsham

01403 265096

Sycamore Lodge

Horsham

01403 240066

White Lodge

Croydon

02087 632586

Wisteria Lodge and Stable Lodge

Nutley

01825 713082

Woodhurst Lodge

Crawley

01444 401228

STOP PRESS: Brand new purpose built facilities now available to view for anyone wishing to arrange a visit. The service provisions include specialist care facilities for people with acquired brain injury, profound learning and physical disabilities and residential services for people with Autism.

Great care starts with great people – are you one of them?

Due to expansion, Sussex Healthcare has fantastic opportunities to become part of a leading healthcare company that provides exemplary care to the service users in a positive and friendly environment.

If you are thinking of a career in care please visit our website www.sussexhealthcare.co.uk and submit your CV to recruit@sussexhealthcare.co.uk stating the position you are interested in working in.

To find out more about our homes and the services we offer, contact: Corrine Wallace Director of Operations

01403 217 338

Visit: w w w.ashdownforestliving.co.uk

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