Notes from Meetings: in March Kevin Gordon spoke about the Cuckmere River and described some of the historical sites along its banks from Michelham Priory down through Alfriston, Littlington, Exeat to the coast at Cuckmere Haven. Kevin is a lively and informative speaker and we hope to get him back in the future to talk about other topics. At our AGM in April we enjoyed a talk on the history of marriage since the time of Henry VIII by Carol Holland. A highly enjoyable evening, Carol explained some of the pitfalls and complexities of being a Registrar.

Changes to the committee: Martin and Jan Wood (Treasurer and Secretary) have both stood down. They have done a great job since our group was set up in 2010 so many thanks to them for all their hard work. The new Treasurer is Anthony Gibbons and Jackie Cheshire is taking on the role of Secretary.

Forthcoming meetings: 7.30pm in the Methodist Hall

May 17th                Heritage Crime by Daryl Holter of Sussex Police

June 21st               A History of Ashburnham Place by John Cheshire

July 19th                Lewes Priory: the Site and its People by Helen Poole

August                   No meeting

September 20th     Colonel Fred – Bravest Man in All England by Brigadier Huw Willing

October 18th         Tony Harris as Henry VIII

November 15th     Transport of the Masses by Ian Gledhill

December              No meeting

2019

January 17th          Newhaven Fort – Then and Now by Ian Everest

February 21st        Eastbourne Police & Eastbourne Murders by Kevin Gordon

March 21st            A Farmer Moving South a film show by John Bishop

Every Monday from 10 to 12 in the Pavilion

Come and look through our collection of photos, maps and documents. We often run a slideshow of pictures that have been donated to us. If there is a particular theme you would like to see let us know in advance. If you have items of interest which show village life in days gone by please bring them along. We can scan them while you wait. Free tea and coffee available.

Church Wood: there was a very interesting talk by David Brown of the Small Woods Association at the Village Society AGM in March. David is an expert at reading the history of woodlands by looking at the visible traces of the effects of farming, coppicing and charcoal burning. He showed slides of maps dating back to the 1700s where Church Wood could be seen (slightly larger than it is today). It was previously called House Wood because of its close proximity to Moor Hall and the wood formed part of the estate until it was donated to the community. Looking at the topography and features on the fringes of the wood, David thinks our lovely woods may date back as far as the Roman era or even earlier. It would be great if someone could do some research into the wood for us.

From the Archives

During the oral history project several people who had grown up in the village mentioned the allotments that were used by the school children. We have a lovely photo showing the children at work amid some impressive broad beans. Do you have any memories of this aspect of school life? One gentleman at a Monday slideshow could remember cutting the turf and doing the initial digging with his class mates to create the allotment. Was it only the boys who had the chance to learn horticulture or did the girls get a chance too?

Group Contacts:

Rod Ffoulkes (Chair) ken.ffoulkes@which.net  Tel: 893635, Anthony Gibbons (Treasurer) anthonygibbons999@gmail.com, Jackie Cheshire (Secretary) cheshirejm33@gmail.com  Corinne Gibbons (Membership)  corinnemgibbons@gmail.com Tel: 892612, Jan Cooper (Archivist)   idj1066c@yahoo.com  Tel: 893381, Janet Savage janet.savage@btinternet.com Tel: 892749, John Cheshire (Newsletter) jkc.djs@btinternet.com  Tel: 892248, Jane Dommersen Tel 892428 janedommersen@outlook.com      

Don’t forget to check out our website:       http://ninfieldhistorygroup.org