Please note that Blackwell Hollow will be closed between 9.30am and 3.00pm on Monday 11th May to allow urgent treeworks to be carried out. Diversions will be put in place
MERIDIAN FM, East Grinstead’s community radio station, will be playing host to a Picnic in the Park from noon until 4pm on Sunday, 11 September.
The popular event will take place, weather permitting, on the Rolley Terrace behind East Court.
So pack a picnic and enjoy an afternoon of live music, hosted by MFM’s Pru Oliver and Terry Sumner.
Also available, will be paella from the Paella Fella, a champagne bar and refreshments.
SIAN Taylor O’Hanlon, who has appeared in several Chequer Mead shows produced by the Company of Friends, will be absent from their panto this year because she has been cast in the London production of Shrek the musical.
Sian has also toured recently in The Sound of Music.
Her stage success follows that of Alex Watts, another panto regular, who will be appearing over Christmas in a tour of Oliver! with Brian Connelly.
But Jake Tuesley, who regularly provides the panto’s “aaah!” factor will be back in time to appear in Snow White after his own autumn run in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
“A lot of local young people who have worked both on stage and back stage with us are now professionals,” said CoF’s spokesman Lesley Lowy. “Perhaps it is time we opened an agency.”
*Chequer Mead is offering “early bird” discounts on all panto tickets booked before 1 October.
The latest in our series of biographies introducing the council members elected last May features Cllr Jackie Beckford.
JACKIE has lived in East Grinstead for more than eight years having moved here from Canada.
Originally from London, Jackie is a post-graduate of the city’s South Bank University and a qualified sports practitioner. She has played and coached netball at a very high standard and is an ex-athlete and very keen sportswoman.
She has many years’ experience as a volunteer at the Queen Victoria Hospital, the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group, the East Grinstead & District Credit Union and various other local organisations.
Previously, Jackie worked for the Civil Service and then moved into the legal profession for 17 years, covering all aspects of law.
Renowned for being very active in her local community, Jackie has a passion for seeing lives transformed. She always has a positive outlook on life, has led many motivational seminars and is a trained personal coach.
Jackie has sound knowledge and expertise within the voluntary sector having worked for West Sussex Council for Voluntary Youth Service, during which time she successfully organised three youth events. She also led a hugely successful young people’s event at Chequer Mead theatre.
Jackie strongly believes that we all have a responsibility to create an environment conducive to integration, respect and friendship within our communities.
THE CVS has now moved from the Old Court House to a newly refurbished office on the ground floor at East Court Mansion.
To contact them ring 01342 328080, fax 01342 324664 or email them at mail@egcvs.fsnet.co.uk
THE permanent new public toilets planned to replace temporary facilities in the Kings Street car park should be open by May next year.
A revised scheme which will go before the Public Services committee in September provides for an attractive and modern design with disabled access and baby-changing facilities said Council Leader Norman Webster.
It will also answer councillors’ concerns that there should be separate entrances for men and women, said committee chairman Cllr Heidi Brunsdon.
The “innovative use” of tubular skylights means natural light will be used to minimize the daytime need for electric lighting, which in turn will reduce both carbon emissions and running costs, she said.
THE Town Council has asked residents to consider signing an online petition asking the Home Office to introduce legislation which will make it illegal to offer cash for scrap metal.
Metal which is stolen from churches, homes and war memorials often causes thousands of pounds in damages, but thieves who receive cash for it usually remain untraceable.
So a new online petition is asking the public to back a move to make the Scrap Metal trade make its payments into bank accounts or by cheque.
“Thieves who damage public buildings cost everyone money. East Court mansion has already been targeted for the lead on its roof, so I would urge people to support this petition, which should reduce similar incidents of theft from public and private property,” said Town Clerk Julie Holden.
Cashless Scrap Metal Trade – Amendment to Scrap Metal Merchants Act 1964
Due to a significant rise in value, metal has become a much sought-after commodity. This increased demand has resulted in a sharp rise in metal theft nationally. Metal fencing, gates, manhole covers and other metallic items are stolen on a regular basis. Property is raided for lead, copper and cabling. War memorials and statues have been taken. Overhead power lines are stolen at serious risk to personal safety with huge costs for replacement and major inconvenience to the public. Historically the scrap metal trade has been a cash-in-hand industry. This creates difficulties as there is no audit trail, making identification of individuals who may be trading stolen metal or who may be committing tax or benefits fraud, a difficult proposition. An amendment to the Scrap Metal Merchants Act 1964 to prohibit cash transactions would make payment by cheque or directly into a bank account mandatory and would be a significant component in reducing metal theft.
To sign the petition go to: https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/406/signature/new
MID Sussex District Council ranger Katie Chatfield will lead her final “healthy walks” of the summer on 1 and 15 September.
The gentle strolls, which are on the first and third Thursdays of September, will last up to an hour.
Katie says she plans routes which will be no longer than 2.5 miles in length and promises no clambering over stiles will be involved.
Departures will be from the East Court car park at 5.30pm.
TOWN Mayor John Saull will be attending the following events in September:
September 4: Cllr Rex Whittaker, the Council’s representative on the East Grinstead Business Association, will stand in for the mayor at a Fashion Show being put on at Sackville College by the shop Wear It Again in aid of College funds.
September 8: The Mayor will open the Forest Garden (Ecotourism) project at Shovelstrode (see below for more details).
September 9: There will be a concert in aid of Help for Heroes by Champagne Supernova at Chequer Mead. Deputy Mayor Liz Bennett will also attend.
September 10: The Mayor will be at Blacklands Farm camp site with the East Grinstead Beaver Scouts celebrating 25 years of Beaver Scouting, when they will plant 25 trees.
September 11: The Mayor and Mayoress will attend the Soroptimists President’s Lunch at Apsley Grange, which this year is promoting Fair Trade.
September 16: The East Grinstead Music & Arts Festival will hold their AGM and Cheese & Wine evening in the Meridian Hall which will be attended by the Mayor in his role as their President for the year.
September 23: He will attend the presentation by the Lord Lieutenant to East Grinstead Museum of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
September 24: The Mayor will be the guest of the new Mayor of Burgess Hill at a bonfire procession and celebrations.
September 26: The Access Group will hold their AGM in the Cranston Suite at East Court when the Mayor will present their annual Burrin Awards to local businesses and other establishments which give good service to those with disabilities.
September 27: Concorde Evening with a talk by the Mayor and his colleague Capt Hutchinson with anecdotes on flying Concorde. There will be a raffle, with some Concorde themed prizes, and guests will be asked to contribute to a collection bucket as they leave for the Mayor’s charities, the Guinea Pig Club and St Catherine’s Hospice.
September 29: The Mayor will present prizes for the EG4KIDZ project which ran throughout the summer holidays at the town library.
September 30: He ends the month at the Meridian Hall where the Ashdown Ramblers will celebrate their 50th anniversary.
THE following councillors will be available at the town library in West Street between 10am and noon, to meet local residents and offer advice.
THE Forest Garden at Shovelstrode, which Town Mayor John Saull will open officially on 8 September, is the brainchild of Lisa Aitken, a keen horticulturalist, and Charles Hooper, an experienced landscape designer, who share a passion for sustainable living.
Charles Hooper appeared last year in the TV series Mastercrafts where he honed his woodland skills learning to work with greenwood.
The Shovelstrode project is an inspirational place for other people to learn about the principles of forest gardening and to learn ancient woodland crafts.
There are also ‘back to nature’ camping facilities available for hire in yurts set in ancient woodland.
The project involves the creation of a Forest Garden on the 0.7acre site of a vacant paddock which will be used to harvest a range of healthy food.
The team have also restored and managed adjacent existing ancient woodland of 3.7acres where a wildlife pond has been created to further increase the local biodiversity.
Situated in the heart of the Sussex High Weald, the site extends in total to approximately 5 acres of which 3.5 acres is ancient woodland.
Once part of John of Gaunt’s hunting park, the woodland was originally part of Anderida Forest and would have consisted mainly of giant oaks with hazel undergrowth which flourished over the damp clays and loams of the valley regions.
Much of the oak has now been replaced by ash which exists today alongside the few remaining oak trees and a neglected hazel coppice understory.
One of the earliest historians of the Weald, William Lambarde, describes the area in his 1576 Perambulation:
“In times past nothing but a desart and waste wildernesse, not planted with towns or peopled with men, but stored with herdes of deere and droves of hogges only.”
Forest gardening, or agroforestry, takes on the principles of permaculture and is undoubtedly the oldest form of land use known to mankind. Permaculture is an ecologically sound system for sustainability by minimising inputs and recycling all potential wastes back into the system.
The Forest Garden is an oasis of edible plant species which takes its vision from nature, and specifically the natural ecology of a young forest. Wildcrafting is the practice of harvesting plants from their natural or "wild" habitat for food, medicine or other purposes. Only the branches or flowers are taken and the living plant is left.
The design of the planting is crucial in order to achieve a successful balance. The aim is to plant utilising the seven different layers: the root layer, ground cover, herb layer, fruiting shrubs, dwarf trees, tree canopy layer and the high canopy or vertical layer.
A well-considered and diverse planting scheme will help insure against the threat of disease or disasters.