On 2 Jul 2012 at 10:53pm John Warburton wrote:
Browsing deeply on a bookshelf in Kent the other day, I found the November 1951 edition of "History Today", a magazine still published, though the copy before me is long out of print.
It contains a long, illustrated article about Lewes and its history, now scanned for pleasure and linked below. I wonder what would be written differently today?
Check it out here »
On 2 Jul 2012 at 11:50pm king cnut wrote:
Excellent. Used Instapaper to read on my Kebo later. Well done!
On 3 Jul 2012 at 12:10am expat two wrote:
Outstanding. Thanks John
On 3 Jul 2012 at 1:02am The 40mph solution wrote:
"Less than six years have passed since a Sub-Committee of the Town Council proposed that several of the Georgian houses in the High Street should be demolished and the road widened, leaving the Church of St. Michael ?? with a round tower and west wall built in the thirteenth century ?? to form an island between streams of passing traffic".
On 3 Jul 2012 at 1:11am Yeah! wrote:
The Rev.T. W. Horsefield in his History and Antiquities of Lewes, published in 1824, considered that ??the face of the country south of the town does not present to the stranger any remarkable features of beauty?, and Sylas Neville some forty years earlier found the Downs to the South East between Brighton and Eastboume ??hilly and unpleasant and fit, the greater part at least, only for sheep-walks?.
On 3 Jul 2012 at 3:13am Fairmeadow wrote:
There was a fascinating committee set up by Lewes Borough Council near the end of World War II to plan for post-war improvements. Creating a traffic island around St Michael's was just one of its ideas. It also planned lots more new housing (the second half of Landport happened; extending Houndean Rise out to where the A27 roundabout is didn't) and other vital new facilities, such as a large new abattoir.
On 3 Jul 2012 at 10:49am Clifford wrote:
This really is fascinating. Thanks for sharing, John.
On 3 Jul 2012 at 11:34am John Warburton wrote:
For the many kind comments: thank you. The article's author, Garth Christian, was active as a writer between the 1950s and the 1970s, and occupied committee positions in the Sussex Archaeological Society and the Sussex Naturalists' Trust, which is the Sussex Wildlife Trust today. He is also related, Wikipedia reports, to Fletcher Christian who led the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789.
Perhaps the author consulted many of the primary sources mentioned in the article (pub. 1940) linked below, which is possibly familiar to many readers, although it would constitute bedtime reading of several nights' duration.
Check it out here »
On 3 Jul 2012 at 6:05pm The Super K wrote:
Awesome, Love 'old Lewes' stuff.... Still looking for old pics of the Race Course when it was in use on a racing day......
But.... First line....??Dined at The White Hart, Lewes...ate the best duck sauce I ever tasted,? - Must have been along time ago!!!!!! White Hart could and should be SO much more than it is!
On 3 Jul 2012 at 9:22pm John Warburton wrote:
On the wall of the front bar in the Lewes Arms, there's a photograph and report of the day Lewes Racecourse held its final meeting. A map dated 1963, which I crudely whipped from the "Old Maps" website, shows its location in relation to landmarks still clearly visible today, and is linked below.
View the picture »
On 3 Jul 2012 at 9:45pm expat two wrote:
Related to Fletcher Christian?
I suppose we've all got embarrassing relatives if we go back far enough.