Author: Andrew Taylor

FAMILIES enjoyed a rare glimpse of Spring sunshine for Vintage Bus Day in East Grinstead last weekend.

Shopkeepers who opened for the event reported brisk business as did the many stalls, which included a very popular hog roast, as trippers took free rides to neighbouring villages.

Bill Rolfe (pictured below) who owns the Market Square used the occasion to launch his new Bluebell Steam Beer, Matt Cole oversaw the children’s quiz and Sackville College reported a steady stream of visitors for its first opening of the year.

While Broadley’s, in the High Street, organised a resident pianist who tickled the ivories in a tuxedo while visitors toured the historic building in aid of Bluebell Railway funds.

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WEST Sussex County Council elections and four local by-elections will take place on Thursday 2 May and Mid Sussex residents are being asked to double-check which polling station they will be attending before setting off to vote.

To accommodate an increasing number of voters and to ease congestion at the busiest polling stations, some venues have changed since the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections were held in November 2012.

Poll cards containing details of which polling station voters should visit on Election Day have been sent out to everybody who is registered to vote. The majority of polling stations remain the same but some have changed to make sure polling places are accessible to all voters.

“When you vote at the same polling station for many years it becomes almost routine and it may not occur to you to check your polling card to see where to vote,” said Tom Clark, Deputy County Returning Officer. “We don’t want anybody to have a wasted journey so please make 100% sure your polling station has not changed before leaving the house.”

Polling stations will be open in East Grinstead on Thursday 2 May from 7am to 10pm for residents to cast their votes in the West Sussex County Council Election, and the Town  Council by-election in East Grinstead Town South.

List of East Grinstead Polling Stations in the Mid Sussex District Election  2 May 2013 – West Sussex County Council

County Council Division	Polling District	Polling Station Address
East Grinstead South & Ashurst Wood	AA	Ashurst Wood Village Centre, Maypole Road, Ashurst Wood, RH19 3QN
East Grinstead South & Ashurst Wood	BAC	Chequer Mead Arts Centre, De La Warr Road, East Grinstead, RH19 3BS
East Grinstead South & Ashurst Wood	BCE	St Barnabus Church, Dunnings Road, East Grinstead
East Grinstead South & Ashurst Wood	BCF	Chequer Mead Arts Centre, De La Warr Road, East Grinstead, RH19 3BS
East Grinstead South & Ashurst Wood	BED	Chequer Mead Arts Centre, De La Warr Road, East Grinstead, RH19 3BS
East Grinstead Meridian	BBA	St Luke’s Church Hall, Holtye Avenue, East Grinstead
East Grinstead Meridian	BBB	Blackwell Primary School, Blackwell Farm Road, East Grinstead, RH19 3JL
East Grinstead Meridian	BBC	East Court, College Lane, East Grinstead, RH19 3LT
East Grinstead Meridian	BD	St Marys Church Hall, Windmill Lane, East Grinstead, RH19 2DS
East Grinstead Meridian	BEC	East Court, College Lane, East Grinstead, RH19 3LT
Imberdown	BFA	Halsford Park CP School, Manor Road, East Grinstead, RH19 1LR
Imberdown	BFD	St Peters Primary School. Crossways Avenue, East Grinstead, RH19 1JB
Imberdown	BGA	St Peters Primary School. Crossways Avenue, East Grinstead, RH19 1JB
Imberdown	BGB	Halsford Park CP School, Manor Road, East Grinstead, RH19 1LR
Imberdown	DA	The Haven Centre, Hophurst Lane, Crawley Down, RH10 4LJ

East Grinstead Library and Help Point has a new telephone number – 01342 332900

THE recent Big Clean Up at Ashplatts Wood saw volunteers fill a record 44 bags with assorted rubbish which included discarded office furniture, some pieces of metal fencing and part of an old garden pond.

The 40 or so people who arrived for the event included children and staff from the HSBC bank.

INTRIGUED by Mike’s posters, town promotions officer Simon Kerr did a little digging to see if East Grinstead has ever featured in a tourism campaign previously, and came up with this image courtesy of the London Transport Museum Collection.

“Mike’s work is outstanding both for his images and his witty wordplay, so we are delighted to be able to offer these new posters at the tourist desk in the library,” he said.

FORMER Imberhorne teacher Mike Hopps has designed a series of retro-style posters extolling the wonders of steam rail travel, and featuring East Grinstead and local beauty spots including the Ashdown Forest and Sheffield Park.

The heritage rail posters are printed to order and five pounds goes to the Bluebell Railway for every poster sold.

Mike, who came up with the designs as a way to make use of his photographs, has now seen one used on the cover of The Railway Magazine, and several of the designs are also available on postcards, tea towels and book marks from the Bluebell’s shop at Sheffield Park.

“I don’t know if East Grinstead ever had its own travel poster in the old style,” said Mike, “but it has now and I would be delighted for the town to benefit from it as well as the railway.

“I started my teaching career at Imberhorne School in 1971, met my wife there and have fond memories of the six years I spent running the workshops at Windmill Lane. Little did I think at the time I would be back to East Grinstead every week in retirement working on the railway!”

* To order one of Mike’s stunning posters featuring the Bluebell throughout the seasons check out the website at http://www.heritagerailposters.co.uk.

A selection is also available from the tourism desk at the town library in West Street.

EAST Grinstead Town Council has approved the commissioning of a plaque to name the Sackville School observatory in honour of astronomer Sir Patrick Moore.

The Council will also sponsor an annual student award at the school for contributions to astromony.

Sir Patrick, who died last December, was an amateur astronomer who achieved prominence in the field as a writer, broadcaster and presenter of the long-running late night BBC2 programme The Sky at Night.

The President of the British Astronomical Society and the author of more than 70 books, Sir Patrick spent his childhood in East Grinstead where from the age of 14 he ran a small observatory after his mentor, and predecessor in the post, was killed in a road accident.

Photo: Courtesy of the East Grinstead Observer

The maquette for the Statue to Sir Archibald McIndoe was revealed at a preview on 4th April 2013 at the RAF Club in London and then Formal press Launch on the 5th April at East Court, East Grinstead.

The maquette is a scale model of the finished sculpture that will hopefully be sited in front of Sackville College in East Grinstead. It depicts McIndoe and an anonymous airman (one of his Guinea Pigs) and an inscription referring to his work and the role of the town “that did not stare”. The complete piece includes a bench for visitors to sit and reflect on the work. The area will be landscaped to ensure that the statue fits in with the historic backdrop of the college.

 appeal launched this week is to fund the project, expected to cost in the region of £175,000 and donations are being accepted via a special website set up for the project www.mcindoememorial.com. Details how to make donations in other ways are also on the site.

The Town Council is working alongside the Blond McIndoe Research Centre, East Grinstead Business Association, and members of the McIndoe family to steer the project, although it is to be funded through donations made to the appeal. The chosen sculptor is Martin Jennings whose father was treated by the team at the QVH following burns sustained during the war.

Should the donations be sufficient it is hoped that the statue will be in place Spring 2014.

Photo courtesy of John O’Brien – not to be used without permission