Author: Andrew Taylor

TOWN Council handyman Roger Gwatkin has restored and reinstalled the Vowels Lane finger post after receiving a request from local resident Mr Awty (pictured left).

EAST Grinstead Mayor Steve Barnett (below left) has launched the new edition of the Uckfield and East Grinstead rail line guide with a little help from Uckfield’s Mayor John Garvey.

The guide covers the area served by the two arms of the line and seeks to encourage increased use by residents and visitors of the local rail network. The guides are free and available in East Grinstead from the tourist information office at the West Street library.

THE ever-popular French traders will be back in town for the Mid Summer Market on Sunday 23 July.

The London Road will be closed to traffic between the High Street and King Street for the event which will also play host to a number of other stalls and fairground attractions, as will Queen’s Walk.

Enquiries from prospective stall holders are welcome, says town tourism officer Simon Kerr.

Non-charity stalls cost £40, charity stalls are £25. For more details contact Simon on 01342 410121 or email tourism@eastgrinstead.go.uk

AN exhibition marking 75 years of Art Deco in East Grinstead will be held at the town museum in Cantelupe Road from mid-June. Entry to the museum is free.

A TEAM of volunteers have started work to transform the area of rough land on the corner of the Lewes Road and Blackwell Hollow into a wild flower garden. Working around the bulbs which are a feature of the site during the Spring, the team was able to sow flowers which should bloom throughout the summer and well into autumn.

Town Council spokesman Keith Astley said: "This is a prominent area of land close to the town centre which should become a lovely feature throughout the summer months."

THE third Spring Sunday event, held by High Street traders in mid April to promote local shops, proved a huge hit in Summer-like sun.

"It was extremely well-attended," said town tourism officer Simon Kerr. "It was like having a country fete come to town and the traders who organised it deserve a real hats-off salute for their imagination and initiative.

"It was a great success and everyone obviously enjoyed it very much indeed."

A group of Harley Davidson enthusiasts enjoyed an April run out by following the 0 degrees Greenwich Meridian from the grounds of the Royal Observatory in south London to the Meridian line marker on the East Court estate.

GUIDES, Brownies and Rainbows joined the Council’s outdoor staff and volunteers from the Ashplats Conservation Group to plant 3,000 bluebells along the new woodland walk at East Court last month.

Work on the walk, which runs behind the children’s play area, should be complete in time for the judging of this year’s South and South East in Bloom competition.

RETIRED teacher Jenny Watson has joined the Town Council’s outdoor staff. A keen gardener, Jenny will be working two days a week tending the award-winning flower beds at East Court.

TOWN tourist office staff Dawn Spalding and Simon Kerr have produced The Great Time Machine, a new booklet about East Grinstead.

Available at the library, it features a host of fascinating facts about the town’s history and architecture, as well as forgotten anecdotes about some of the famous people who have lived in or visited the town.

• East Grinstead stands on a sandstone ridge 400 feet above sea level
• The Greenwich Meridian passes through East Grinstead and Danehill, before exiting England at Peacehaven
• In 1955 a charity cricket match of Actors versus Politicians was composed of teams featuring among others Harold MacMillan, John Mills, Richard Attenborough and Rex Harrison
• The last public execution in East Grinstead took place in 1794 of a man found guilty of horse theft