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
The East Grinstead Lions May Fair was a huge success, filled with crowds in the High Street from end to end for the whole day.
The performance stage in the Market Square saw a wide variety of acts greeted with applause from an enthusiastic audience.
A great deal of hard work goes into this annual event so a big vote of thanks to all those who give their time so generously.
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TOWN Mayor Nick Hodges called at the Dementia Friendly Mid Sussex stand at the May Fair yesterday to lend his support to the campaign to make people more aware of dementia, and more supportive of those suffering from it.
The volunteers gave out stickers, balloons and pens while talking to the public about the effects of Dementia on patients and their families, and encouraged them to sign up to Dementia Friends sessions on 18 May at Glen Vue.
Sessions last an hour and can be booked at https://www.dementiafriends.org.uk/WEBSession.
Sessions start at are at 1.30pm, 3.30pm and 5.30pm: the link is the booking for the 1.30pm session, but the others can be reached from the site.
THE national two minutes Silence which will commemorate the 70th anniversary of V E Day, will be marked at the East Court War Memorial on Friday, 8 May, at 3pm, where a wreath will be laid.
IN a regular feature on the Town Council website, we will be remembering, on the anniversary of their deaths, the East Grinstead soldiers who died during WWI, and who are named on the High Street War Memorial.
This month we recall (as recorded on The Roll of Honour website):
Harry V. COOPER
Rifleman 5325 2nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade. 8th Division. Died of wounds 23. 5.15. Born and enlisted in East Grinstead. Next of kin, residents of East Grinstead. Buried Laventie Military Cemetery, La Gorgue F. 1887
Aylmer Richard Sancton MARTIN
Lieutenant Colonel The Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment.
Killed in action near Ypres 9. 5.15.
Aged 44 Husband of Mary Beatrice Martin of 3, St. Albans Mansions Kensington Court Place, London. W.8.
Served in the South African War. Commemorated on The Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium MR.29.
Edward Godfrey MARTIN
Private L.8272 2nd Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment. 1st Division.
Killed in action at Richebourg L’Avoue 9. 5.15. Regular.
Born and enlisted in East Grinstead.
Commemorated on The Le Touret Memorial MR.22.
Kenneth Edward MONRO
Lieutenant 1st Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment. 1st Division.
Died of wounds in the base hospital at Boulogne 14. 5.15.
Son of Henry Theodore and Constance Monro of “Templecrone” East Grinstead. Born in Chislehurst, Kent.
Buried Boulogne Eastern Cemetery F.102
Clarence Ernest PEARSON
Private 1764 15th Battalion, The London Regiment. (The Civil Service Rifles) 47th London Division.
Died of wounds 23. 5.15. Aged 27.
Son of John and Christiana Pearson of 12, London Road, East Grinstead.
Born in Manningtree, Essex and enlisted in Somerset House, London. Resident of Streatham.Buried Hinges Military Cemetery F410
George Alexander WYATT
Sapper 30851 Royal Engineers Base Supply Depot. Att. 1st H.C. Signals Coy.
Killed in action near Ypres 8. 5.15. Aged 21.
Son of George Alexander and Ellen Agnes Wyatt of 111, Haslemere Road, Southsea.
Born and enlisted in Portsmouth Resident of East Grinstead, formerly with the Royal Sussex. Commemorated on The Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium MR. 29
Photo credit B. Hamill
The town tourism team, Simon Kerr and Dawn Spalding, were at the May Fair yesterday spreading the word about the three free concerts which will be taking place this summer.
Photo © East Grinstead Online
TOWN Mayor Nick Hodges did the honours yesterday morning when he declared the May Fair officially open.
A cold wet weekend had shown little promise of good weather, but in the event the sun shone and the crowds packed the High Street.
Photo © East Grinstead Online
IN the last fundraiser of his mayoral year Nick Hodges wowed the audience at Chequer Mead when he took to the stage backed by the ConChord Big Band last night.
His chosen charities for his year in office were the Town Museum and CRY, Cardiac Risk in the Young.
Photo © John O’Brien
TOWN Clerk Julie Holden caught all the excitement of the off at the Mid Sussex Marathon today as the runners set off on a ten mile run around the local countryside.
The Marshalls check that everything is in order before the off
The ten milers set off at a brisk pace
The line up for the one mile run
First dogs across the line
THE cherry blossom in the High Street has been so abundant this year, that it’s almost hiding the blue and white bunting which is now decorating the town centre in readiness for Monday’s May Fair, thanks to the efforts of the Council’s outdoor staff.
A casual enquiry at the library’s visitor information desk nine years ago culminated in a glass of Champagne at the High Street Book shop today, when Simon Kerr and John Pye toasted the latest work by Australian author Liz Byrski.
Liz first came to Simon’s attention in 2006 when someone asked him if he had heard of an earlier book she had written called The Gang of Four, which was a novel featuring “an East Grinstead tea shop”.
Simon contacted Liz via her publishers to find out more, and discovered she was not only a local girl, but that the cafe she had written about was actually John Pye’s Book Shop.
So when Liz wanted to research her latest book, which tells the story of the nurses who cared for McIndoe’s Guinea Pigs, she turned to Simon for help and he was able to introduce her to many people who contributed to In Love and War: Nursing Heroes, her account of the women who cared for McIndoe’s patients.
“I had very much hoped to be with Liz when it was eventually published in Fremantle yesterday, but it didn’t work out,” said Simon. “So instead John and I are raising a glass to her success here in the Book Shop where our association began.”
“This book has been six years in preparation so I am delighted it has finally been published – and very touched that I am included, with town historian Michael Leppard and Bob Marchant, the secretary of the Guinea Pig Club, in the acknowledgements.
* In Love and War: Nursing Heroes by Liz Byrski is published by Fremantle Press, and is available in the UK on Kindle.
Back where it all began – John Pye and Simon Kerr toast Liz © East Grinstead Online