On 28 Jun 2009 at 2:19pm Castle fan wrote:
Yeah, I hear the castle is back up and running.
Has anyone yet visited to see the improvements and is everyone as excited about this as me? 
On 28 Jun 2009 at 3:01pm Tax Payer wrote:
IMPROVEMENTS - my @rse - its now blighted with an oversized, unsightly, innappropriate asy-access-vandal-platform
it no longer has a lovely garden rather a forecourt for a B@Q shed
and the garage orange giant handrails that now dwarf the steps can be seen from all over East Sussex
how many disabled visitors have complained in the past AND WHY ARE MY TAXES WASTED ON SUCH SH1T BY "MY" COUNCIL?
answer me that
(not that I feel strongly about it)
On 28 Jun 2009 at 3:59pm DDAcompliant wrote:
It's all about not restricting access. I've not seen the handrails but they're no doubt there so that less-ambulant people are not excluded from the Castle and their colour is such that they can be visible by those with impaied visibility.
It's not about responding to complaints, it's about complying with the current rules and guidelines so that the 70% of the UK population who have some sort of disability (ranging from short sightedness to quadraplegia) are not discriminated against.
Tax, borrow a wheelchair and have a quick tootle around Lewes - you'll struggle to get into many shops and that doorbell on the step idea is taking the proverbial.
And there's no such thing as a disabled toilet - it's not disabled, it's accessible!
On 28 Jun 2009 at 4:11pm For Goodness Sake wrote:
Careful, someone will be suggesting that we get a fleet of bulldozers to flatten School Hill (and the rest of Lewes) to make it comply with current legislation (ie no more than a 1:20 ramp)?
On 28 Jun 2009 at 4:25pm Dave wrote:
The project has not had any council money. It's the SAS and lottery funding.
On 28 Jun 2009 at 4:58pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Surely the answer is not a bulldozer, FGS, but the biggest Stannah stairlift installation known to man?
I've often thought Keere Street and Watergate Lane would benefit from a stairlift.
As far as public toilets go, they're so vile and smelly they're only usuable by people with no sense of smell, so aren't truly accessible to all even if they're adapted iykwim. I wish LDC's bog supremo would go on a fact-finding mission to Wealden and find out how they manage to provide decent public lavs.
On 29 Jun 2009 at 6:57pm Rozzer wrote:
Annette - LDc contracted out the running of the public lavs to a not very efficient and not all that highly regarded private contractor some time ago. That's why they don't take any interest in what goes on.
On 29 Jun 2009 at 10:34pm Spinster Of This Parish wrote:
I think the new features are inappropriate and insensitive to the age and architecture of the Castle and the conservation area. It has been carelessly planned and executed thus a feature of Lewes has been "uglyfied"
On 29 Jun 2009 at 10:40pm Angry of Lewes (Retd) wrote:
start another thread about toilets by all means those too are a DISGRACE in this town - but who are the SAS - why don't they stick to storming embassy's? and if the lotterry funded the carbuncle that dis-graces the castle grounds then they should JUST STOP handing out money that isn't properly controlled and justified and just up the prize money
On 29 Jun 2009 at 10:47pm Tax Payer wrote:
DDACompliant are you some homosexual (of either "gender") Social Worker or what? people in wheel chairs don't want to come to Lewes - it makes their arms ache - they would be better advised visiting East Anglia and the Norfolk Broads - you have heard of Fell Walkers not Fell Wheelers I hope? so too in the South Downs - never heard so much twaddle in my life - my Mum has had chronic varicose veins for 40 years and she is grossly overweight - when I say "lets go to a castle Mum" she doesn't say "ooh i want to visit a castle with a huge hill and tight windy stairs - so why don't the govenment fit stair lifts and make the little passages wider" - she actually says "I am a fat cow with bad legs don't be such a t0sser go on yor own or have a w@nk" QED
On 29 Jun 2009 at 10:56pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Pmsl.
Valid points, TP. Those steep hills don't half use up the batteries on the electric wheelchairs too, I'm told. Doesn't bode well for local use of electric cars really, does it?
On 30 Jun 2009 at 8:29am bonfirek wrote:
Possibly the best reply to any thread ever from Tax Payer there, genius!
On 30 Jun 2009 at 9:07am catherine wheel wrote:
Totally agree with bonfirek, Tax Payer has said it all. Good man.
On 30 Jun 2009 at 10:04am Dave wrote:
SAS is Sussex Archeaological Society, same lot who want to sell Bull House and run (badly) Anne of Cleves House
On 30 Jun 2009 at 2:34pm Tired of the complaints wrote:
Actually I totally disagree with the majority of comments above. The Sussex Archaeological Society have done a fanatastic job with the renovation of the castle, keeping all important areas authentic and making sure those dreadful old steps are safe. I would presume from the comments that the bulk of you haven't even bothered to pay a visit and as such how can your opinion be valid? Once you have gone in and seen the work for yourself rather than looking from a distance then kindly continue your moaning.
And incidentally Bull House is not being sold and Anne of Cleves House is a fantastic establishment which is being run wonderfully by the Society, when was the last time any of you paid a visit there either?
Why don't you all put your money where your mouths are, join the Society and actually have a say in these matters.
On 30 Jun 2009 at 2:48pm Ed Can Do wrote:
It's not for sale yet but SAS have indicated that they're thinking of selling it:
www.wscountytimes.co.uk/lewes-district-news/Tom-Paine39s-Lewes-home-for.5021812.jp
They actually wrote to all their members saying they were going to sell it!
I don't see why everything always needs to be made safer. Life without a bit of risk is terribly dull.
On 30 Jun 2009 at 3:37pm Tax Payer wrote:
Tired of Complaints you don't need to go in the eyesores are plain to see - watch my lips - the handrails are probably visible from the moon (unlike the Great Wall of China) - and the "shed" is visible from the Medieval pathway under the barbican as it provides a fantatstic climbing entrance for vandals after hours - until the floodlights and razor wire are erected by our caring, sharing council - AoC house is fantastic - Bull House was inhabited by a wife-beating loudmouth excise man who went to the colonies and stirred them up into armed insurrection - great citizen NOT - bl00dy traitor if you ask me - UP THE COMMONWEALTH - BURN HIM!!!
On 30 Jun 2009 at 3:38pm Rozzer wrote:
Tired of the complaints - it would help us decide the value of what you're saying if you told us how long you've been a SAS member.
On 30 Jun 2009 at 4:04pm Tired of complaints wrote:
I have been a member of the SAS for over four years now. The members were asked to vote on a motion regarding the selling of Bull House, the majority voted against and thus it's not being sold.
Tax Payer - watch my lips - if they hadn't of replaced the handrails and steps and someone seriously hurt themsleves then I'm sure you would be first in the queue complaining about the safety aspects of the castle.
On 30 Jun 2009 at 5:03pm Poppycock wrote:
Admittedly I have not been back into the Castle since it reopened, but I do not feel that I need to as the B&Q shed is butted up tight against the road/footpath and I have no option but to stand inches away from it. Tax payer is quite correct with his observations about making the area accessible to vandals... the irony is that vandals will benefit from the works than disabled people. What a waste of money.
On 30 Jun 2009 at 7:45pm Agony Aunt wrote:
Are the new railings made from metal or wire?
On 30 Jun 2009 at 8:51pm bonfirek wrote:
Tax Payer, spot on the money again, the mans a genius. And Tom Paine was a traitor who should've been hung!
On 30 Jun 2009 at 10:43pm Spinster Of This Parish wrote:
I think the new railings are made from "trendy" suspended wire - so I will look forward to hearing about SAS & Co being sued when some child gets their head caught inbetween or when somebody tears the skin on their legs. Not to mention when the yobs climb in over the shed roof and hurt themselves - what about creating a ramp from the roof of the shed down to the Gun Garden to allow equal ops for disabled yobs?
Where will all this madness end?
On 30 Jun 2009 at 10:49pm Tax Payer wrote:
Gun garden is more of a pistol patio now I'm afraid SOTP
one histoiric monument ruined - when will national Park status stop these morons from ruining our town?
On 3 Jul 2009 at 11:18am Frak wrote:
Tax Payer - After wondering up to the castle yesterday, expecting to see a horror show, i was quite surprised to see what looked like perfectly reasonable improvements. Ok, the shed is fairly large, but I'm assuming it is for a purpose and has information etc abut the castle or some such thing like that. The Gun garden isn't like a patio, and actually the position of the gun seems better than where it was before, if I remember correctly (maybe it hasn't actually moved, just looks better). As for the hand rails, as I stood outside I saw about 4 or 5 people walking up the steps using the hand rails - people who may not have ventured up there with out them. As for them being orange, they're not, they're made of wood and are new so will stand out for a while until they get a bit weathered. I find it amazing that people moan about something that is done to try to help keep an important historical monument available for all to use.
On 5 Jul 2009 at 2:38pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
I took a stroll up there yesterday and thought the shed absolutely ruined the lovely view you used to get from the Barbican. I don't care what it's for, it's hideous. I also think it makes it very ueasy for anyone whpo wants to hop over the wall after hours to do just that!
I was pleasantly surprised by the handrails and think they will look of when weahtered in, but appalled that the existing flint wall has been patched with very modern brick. It sticks out like an entire sore fist and is utterly unnecessary, given the plethora of skilled local buildersa who can do good work in flint.
It's laughable that they've got away with this when you're not allowed to change the lock on your front door in some streets.
On 5 Jul 2009 at 10:13pm Frak wrote:
Surely anyone wanting to jump over the wall would do so whether the shed is there or not.