On 22 Aug 2010 at 11:24am Southover Girl wrote:
People who move to Lewes often wonder how long it takes before they are accepted as Lewes residents, rather than DFLs. Does it take a generation or two? Is a decade enough? Do you have to join bonfire? Paddle a raft down the river? Be photographed wearing a funny hat in VivaLewes?
Can some well established, long-timers shed light on the mystery of what it takes to be a Lewesian.
And how does it feel when you know you are? 
On 22 Aug 2010 at 11:51am Dave wrote:
All of the above plus, drink only Harveys, join a skittles team, flunk a dwyle, hole a toad, burn a pope, moan about DFLs, detest the parking scheme, drink coffee at home etc. and of course at least 90% of your facebook friends need to live in Lewes too
And of course if you are a Lewesian it feels normal!
On 22 Aug 2010 at 1:27pm The Tooth Fairy wrote:
'Be photographed wearing a funny hat in VivaLewes?' Yes dear, that will really ingratiate into the hearts of Lewesians.
That fact that you bother reading a lifestyle rag aimed at fellow dfls answers your question.
On 22 Aug 2010 at 1:29pm l.f.f wrote:
you have to be born in lewes to a lewesians .
On 22 Aug 2010 at 2:11pm Pedant wrote:
When your brain has shrunk to the size of a pea you will have become a true Lewesian. Most are born that way. Some aspire to it.
On 22 Aug 2010 at 2:14pm jrsussex wrote:
Whether you are Lewesian or not is immaterial, don't fall for that one. I have lived in a number of places, in the UK and abroad. The important thing is having moved into the area be involved in local life, go out of your way to know as many people as you can. Use the facilities of the area and always try to be nice to those near to you and those you get to know. Do that and you will feel local because when you go out there is always some one that will say hello to you and pass the time of day.
Welcome to Lewes.
On 22 Aug 2010 at 3:01pm Matt Kent wrote:
JR, you couldn't be more right. It's always good to get involved with the community and continue to preserve what makes this town special. There's plenty to get involved with in Lewes. Welcome Southover Girl, and enjoy the emotional rollercoaster that is the Lewes Forum. Cheers - Matt 
On 22 Aug 2010 at 3:02pm Newmania wrote:
Yes but which Lewesians
I had never heard of DFL's ( although we are DFL's ) until I read the recent article by David James Smith. He seemed to think that DFLs were the only people living in Lewes who were not refugees from Deliverance with banjos and bad attitudes. Can't say I had noticed , everyone has been very nice to us and we are a mixed race family with kids at local schools.
On the other hand when I went to the Tom Paine debate a while ago Lewes was out in all its parochial bourgeois glory . Somehow Paine , whose heir is Hayek not Bevan , had metamorphosised into a queasily left of centre arty crafty Liberal . Fancy
So it seems to me there are at least two ways to be a Lewesian , probably more who is to say who owns the word Lewesian. I think I shall apply it to me , so there
On 22 Aug 2010 at 3:12pm harold wrote:
You are all fools, True lewes people class themselves as 'Rooks' not Lewesians.
But don't worry there are three classes of 'Rook'
Number one , born and bred and lived here all your life,
Number two , not born here but lived here all your life,
Number three, lived here for a great amount of time, (this is the one most ppl fit into and the most awkward to put time periods to)
The rest of you are DFL's
,But dont worry you can become a 'Rook' too 
On 22 Aug 2010 at 3:36pm stan wrote:
Why do you care? Has somebody implied you are in some way inferior because you weren't born here? The only people I have met who seem to resent so called DFLs are less than stellar company. Have a bit of self respect!!
On 22 Aug 2010 at 4:25pm harold wrote:
I was not born here as i come from that era when your went to bton for your birth, but just 1 week out of my full life classes me as a number 2
@stan you really should read things , where does it say im a dfl or that im worried about not being born or bred here , Im quite happy with the rather good mix we have always had here 
On 22 Aug 2010 at 4:43pm stan wrote:
It was addressed to southover girls thread you solipsistic wally
On 22 Aug 2010 at 4:47pm Peter and Boon-Nam wrote:
Home is where the heart is folks, and for now my heart is in Lewes, yesterday it was was in my mouth, in utter fear. Best, Peter and Boon-Nam aka Jenson Button - she aint. :|
On 22 Aug 2010 at 4:48pm Newmania wrote:
You know Stan , you could use a bit more gsoh and a bit less self sodomising complaisance
I mean this kindly
On 22 Aug 2010 at 4:50pm stan wrote:
sorry, thats a bit rude, I was only joking harold. But I had read the whole thread.
On 22 Aug 2010 at 4:54pm stan wrote:
newmania ,sorry I don't know what came over me! And can you draw me a diagram for self......
On 22 Aug 2010 at 5:02pm harold wrote:
@stan, ok no probs.
Just a note to ppl to help missunderstandings though, if you add'@ name'
before your comments then we know who is being talked to .
I know this is the strangest forum I have ever used but some of the basic rules other forums use may help here sometimes to stop ppl getting ratty
On 22 Aug 2010 at 6:20pm Penelope wrote:
My background is from immigrants who left the UK for the US and I have returned. I am not sure I am even English but I chose to live here. It does not make me Lewesian but I am proud to live here (most of the time).
It was the ignorant Americans who thought they had Irish blood in them that were rude to us as US residents.
There will always be a group that has to jump on the bandwagon of Us and Them. Try looking at it from another point of view: What can the newcomers bring to the town to improve it? New business ideas, more customers, an extra hand at the fundraiser or a new friend for your child.
On 22 Aug 2010 at 6:26pm Matt Kent wrote:
@ the whole of the forum. Whether you love or hate the fella, Norman Baker, for example, was born Aberdeen, but noone seems to give a tinkers cuss about his birthplace, as long as he gets stuff done, or at least answers a political question using the words 'yes' or 'no'. Cheers - Matt
On 22 Aug 2010 at 6:49pm Webbo wrote:
@Harold strangest in a good or bad way?
On 22 Aug 2010 at 8:36pm u have a nice smile boy! wrote:
Well I was actually born in Lewes nearly 50 years ago and never moved out. Had the urge to once or twice but never found anywhere that remotely matched what Lewes has to offer. Right now I am dating a Brightonian. If and when she decides she likes me enough to move in with me, she will become a Lewesian overnight. Would be the same had she been a DFL. Now, a family of DFL's moving into Lewes will always be DFL's. This is only my opinion of course. You can think what you like!
On 22 Aug 2010 at 9:27pm harold wrote:
@Webbo, strange in the way abuse is allowed really, i know that comes from the fact thare is no registration, and I think the lack of some of the basic ways posters use it , ie the `@` is working already ,it is very common on other sites i use.
btw where did the chat room go ? 
My fav forum is an old style one on` waronline.net`
On 22 Aug 2010 at 9:33pm harold wrote:
Ps I have no problem with ppl having arguments,and there has been some good ones here, but there is no need for some of the abuse ,ppl dont always know how to appologize ,so strange in a slightly bad way im afraid ,
On 22 Aug 2010 at 10:31pm Chuck wrote:
I actually think that to be a DFL is more of an attitude, than a place of origin. Basically, if you love shopping in Wickle, drink coffee in Bills, oppose pound shops, slag off bonfire, look down your nose at people who live in Landport, drink Harveys, you are a probably a DFL.
On 22 Aug 2010 at 11:18pm stevieD wrote:
WTF - to be a DFL you have to 'drink Harveys'??! Does that mean that true Lewisians can't? By Harold's definition I've been a class 2 Rook (a Lewesian born in Brighton maternity hospital!) for 48 years but count me in as a DFL if it means that I can carry on drinking Harveys. I drink it as it's a cracking local pint, not because it fits in with the whole 'Transition Town Lewes' bandwagon...
Have to agree withChuck's other criteria though
On 23 Aug 2010 at 3:04am Goldbar wrote:
Been living here in lewes now for 1yr 5months was in brighton ,,what would you call me come on no abuse lol ,, i do love it here nice and peacefull and good people lick lick jokes aside its not a bad place but could do with a few more better shops etc ,,
regards
Goldbar
On 23 Aug 2010 at 7:58am kevsy wrote:
I call you - extremely lucky that you have had the opportunity to experience living in more than one place, long may it continue.
On 23 Aug 2010 at 8:46am Simon wrote:
I've now lived here for longer than Tom Paine ever did. By the way @Newmania
his heir looks browny/blonde in that picture in th super new food market. Can I be a Lewesian ? Please ? I hate bills. All of 'em. Honest. I never buy wooden toys from boutiques not even ickle wickle tiny ones. I do own a stripey Jumper. Its a rugby shirt but no-one seems to mind that. I cover the crest with loads of badges. I always drink Harveys (shandy) especially at Badge night at the Gardeners Arms. (Its a shame they don't do food there isn't it ?)
Sometimes I play tool ball with my freinds in Baxters Paddock and then go for a drink at the Arms. Whatever happened to the IPA they used to serve ? Cracking pint.
Is n't Lewes wonderful.
On 23 Aug 2010 at 9:44am 'ere be monsters wrote:
Simon, your sense of humour more than qualifies you, fantastic.
On 23 Aug 2010 at 5:14pm jonas wrote:
when you know an LRA member.
On 23 Aug 2010 at 8:43pm Simon wrote:
Really ? Great. When is the next meeting of the Landport Residents Association. Is it held in the 'pavilion' just off the village green ?
On 23 Aug 2010 at 9:45pm DFLfromHell wrote:
When did Tom Paine become a Lewesian?
Was he a DFL until he died?
Maybe, SouthoverGirl, you have to become vaguely famous, then die, and about two centuries afterwards you will adorn Harveys beer bottles and town landmarks.
On 24 Aug 2010 at 8:35am 'ere be monsters wrote:
He was a Frenchman when he died wasn't he? A BDE
On 24 Aug 2010 at 8:35am 'ere be monsters wrote:
That's BDA they spell England with an A
On 24 Aug 2010 at 9:30am DFLfromHell wrote:
Oh, and to be a Lewesian, you have to adopt a south London accent. 'cos despite hating people who are 'down from London', young Lewesian will sound more like Londoners than their parents. So avoid an old-school Sussex accent at all costs.
On 24 Aug 2010 at 9:49am Down and Out wrote:
Weird old debate, this. I lived in Yorkshire for ten years or so and it never occurred to me to wonder whether I might become a Yorkshireman at any point; I just lived there and that seemed to be all there was to it.
A couple of months ago I overheard a bunch of very Lewesian Malling Mums arranging to meet for coffee in Wickle. I gather they liked it because their kids can run riot whilst they had a bit of a natter. I also know native Lewesians who eat at Bills, don't really care for Bonfire and buy two hundred quid dresses from shops in the High St.
So maybe the question should be what does it take for a Lewesian to become a DFL?
Personally I own a stripey jumper, I often shop in Tescos but I still think that Tim Taylor's Landlord in the Ellie is a better pint than Harveys, so what does that make me?
On 24 Aug 2010 at 11:56am Simon wrote:
Oooh thats tempting DAO !! But I often drink Taylors over Best in the Ele as well. I think a healthy dose of humour is required whenever this topic raises its head. Lets just celebrate our differences eh ?
As for young Lewesians adopting Sarf London accents surely this itself has become an assumed amalgam of Jamaican patois, Hip-hop nangyness and 70's street Jive. Naat a min, bwoy ?
On 25 Aug 2010 at 10:50am fran wrote:
I was born in Lewes and I don't care where anyone was born or where they are from as long as they are nice people who are prepared to be accepting of others, the town will change, that's the way of things, but let's not lose sight of the things that make the town what it is, diverse and interesting because it does attract people from everywhere.
On 25 Aug 2010 at 12:09pm StevieD wrote:
OMG - they sell Landlord in the Ellie£ Much as I worship Harveys I feel a change of allegiance coming on...
On 25 Aug 2010 at 1:19pm Taff wrote:
DFL, UFF or AFW! Who cares as long as you want to change Lewes to what you left behind, overnight.
TTL or Harveys both excellent beers. No Brains in Lewes pubs though and Ive been here 40 years now. Nuff said.
On 25 Aug 2010 at 1:21pm Taff wrote:
sorry that should have read;
DFL, UFF or AFW! Who cares as long as you DO NOT want to change Lewes to what you left behind, overnight.
TTL or Harveys both excellent beers. No Brains in Lewes pubs though and Ive been here 40 years now. Nuff said.