Lindfield High Street Road Closure (18th Feb - 1st Mar 2019)

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Where to park when shopping in Lindfield, during the works…

Lindfield businesses are STILL OPEN!

West Sussex County Council needs to carry out road works (Carriageway Resurfacing) on Lindfield High Street - starting on Monday 18th February and due to finish on Friday 1st March 2019. The works will be carried out between Backwoods Lane and Village Northern Gateway (north of Spring Lane).

In order to help Lindfield shops maintain their trade during the two week period, we have created this map to show where its possible to park - but you will have to drive all the way around (via Haywards Heath is the easiest probably) in order to get to the other side of the village. SO DO PLAN YOUR ROUTE.

But, PLEASE DON’T STOP COMING TO SHOP IN LINDFIELD!

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Parking options will be limited (as there will not be access to Lindfield High Street by car) for the duration of the works, but the following are areas for parking in Lindfield which you may not have known about…

1 - Backwoods Lane
There are actually 3 small car parks here, all at the top of the Common

2. West View
Car park at the foot of the Common (by the Tennis Courts), accessible via Lewes Road / West View

3. Chaloner Road
Some spaces are available here, accessible via Lewes Road.

4. The Wilderness
A car park behind The Tiger (next to All Saints Church), access from Dukes Road / The Wilderness

5. Hickmans Lane
Car park at Playing Fields, walk to High Street via Hickmans Lane

6. Tollgate
Car park next to Doctors surgery, accessible via Hickmans Lane / Compton Road

Refurbished All Saints Church opening in Lindfield

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All Saints Church will reopen its doors and celebrate with a special week of events from Sunday 3rd February 2019.

The church building has been closed since April last year, as part of a large refurbishment project which includes relaying the stone floor and making it one level throughout and installing underfloor heating beneath it.

Services will return to the church building from Sunday 27th January, after the congregation has been temporarily using Lindfield Primary Academy school hall during the building works.

‘Come and See’ is a week of events (right) that are being held in the church to celebrate its reopening and to give villagers a chance to see the new space at the top of the High Street. Included as part of the week are a Blackthorns Primary Academy Choir concert, a history talk by Richard Bryant and ‘Comedy & Canapes’ with Paul Kerensa.

Vicar James Clarke commented: “After so many years of planning and preparation for this project I am thrilled to be able to finally reveal the revitalised building, and we look forward to it being used by the whole village community.”

Lindfield's Got Talent - LAF Bursary Fund

Our amazing LAF £1,000 bursary is once again up for grabs!

Applications are now open and we’re calling all villagers aged seven to 100 to apply via our website www.2019.lindfieldartsfestival.com. Judges will be looking for the applicant that demonstrates a clear desire to start or continue an arts discipline. The bursary was set up in 2018 to inspire creativity and give something back to the community.

Last year’s winner, Tom Mackewn, impressed judges with his passion to pursue a career in children’s book illustration. The 37-year-old Lindfield resident said: “It was a really lovely feeling to win and be validated for my craft. I’ve used some of the funds to further my illustrating skills at Chelsea College of Arts. I particularly enjoy character design and look forward to showcasing my work at the next Lindfield Arts Festival.”

Charity Car Wash in Scaynes Hill - 13th Feb 2019

The team at Scaynes Hill service station are once again opening their car wash in order to raise money for a great cause.

Owner brothers Jay and Gunvant Patel have held the event since 2009 – which is always on 13th February. They will remove the price tag from the car wash and leave it open to donations for the day’s trade. All money raised will be going direct to Cancer Research UK. This year’s event is particularly poignant as Jay is currently undergoing treatment for cancer himself.

Since they started, customers have raised nearly £8,000 for the charity. This year the team are hoping to fundraise £3,000 on the day.

The garage is open between 6am and 11pm on Wednesday 13th February 2019.

Hopes to reduce dangerous traffic at Lewes Road, Lindfield

A group of concerned residents are campaigning to make a key junction in Lindfield safer.

Lindfield Traffic Group is made up of a number of people who are concerned about the safety of pedestrians and cyclists using Lewes Road at the junction to the High Street, as well as the impact which large trucks are having on the village in general.

Lewes Road measures 4.65m wide at the narrowest point by the old Post Office and only has a single pavement for pedestrians. Yet it doesn’t have any weight or width restrictions (unlike both Denmans Lane and Hickmans Lane).

When West Sussex County Council’s Economy, Planning and Place Directorate was consulted by Mid Sussex District Council regarding large housing developments off Gravelye Lane. it advised that HGV routing should be via A272 and specifically not from the High Street (B2028) and Lewes Road (B2111). However the group has discovered that hauliers of all kinds appear to not be following this recommendation. On this basis, Lindfield Traffic Group is proposing a weight limit of 7.5 tonne on the road is the only way to safeguard both pedestrians and cyclists.

Members of the group are encouraging concerned residents of the village to add their names to an online petition, which will be open until the end of January, after which it will be submitted to WSCC.

The petition can be found here: www.change.org/p/lindfield-village-hgv-weight-restriction

Countdown for Lindfield Arts Festival 2019

By Ayesha Gilani

Happy New Year from Team #LAF 2019. The countdown continues as we work towards the tenth anniversary of Lindfield Arts Festival. This September we are devoting a whole week to creative festivities.

From Monday 16th to Sunday 22nd September 2019 we hope to sizzle your senses with some of the best talent our village has to offer in the name of art and performance. To help make our tenth birthday the best it can be we are inviting local artists, musicians, writers, performers and workshop leaders to register and join in the festival fun. Applications for the festival and LAF Bursary will be open, via our website www.2019.lindfieldartsfestival.com, on 1st January 2019.

“Monday 16th - Sunday 22nd September 2019”

In the meantime, you can help keep our festival vibe alive whilst doing your weekly shop. Lindfield Arts Festival has been chosen as one of the Co-op’s local community charities for 2019. Every time you bag yourself some of the Co-op’s selected own brand goodies LAF (a registered charity) will reap the rewards. Make sure you take your Co-op Membership Card with you.

Lindfield schools great cross country results

By Mark Tugwell

Lindfield and Blackthorns schools entered both a girls and boys team into the district cross-country event at Warden Park Secondary last month. The children had to run in gruelling conditions with many runners slipping on the wet mud as the rain came down. Despite this, both schools did exceptionally well. The Lindfield boys team came 3rd with five runners qualifying for the next round and the Lindfield girls finished 6th with three girls qualifying. The Blackthorns boys team finished 4th with one boy qualifying for the next round and the Blackthorns girls finished 5th with one girl qualifying.

An excellent achievement for both schools. On top of this, both the girls and boys races were won by pupils from our schools. Jacob Rodderick, from Lindfield Primary, ran amongst the front group of runners from early on in the boys’ race. At the three quarter mark, Jacob broke away from the group and stretched out an impressive lead to win the race.

B Crouch, from Blackthorns Primary, took the lead in the girl’s race within the first half of the run. She maintained a steady pace throughout, before accelerating within the last 100 meters to pull further away from the runners behind her. A fantastic run from both pupils.

Thinking on Purpose - Taking Control

NineDot Partnership workshop in Lindfield

By Lindsey Jones

Have you ever found yourself in a fruitless mind spiral? Replaying a scenario that makes you sad or angry? Thinking about doing something but never getting started? Perhaps these thoughts start to spin out of control, leaving you feeling frustrated, angry, paranoid or confused?

When you see it for what it is, doesn’t it feel like a complete and utter waste of time and energy?

This negative ‘hamster wheel’ style of thinking has a massive impact on how you feel and these emotions impact your physiology, behaviour and your performance. This type of thinking produces a classic stress response, a release of cortisol and adrenalin which actually shuts down the frontal cortex of the brain impacting your ability to think logically, to plan and to make rational decisions and perform well when it counts.

Let’s consider just one way of thinking on purpose, let’s change our self-talk. The problem with self-talk is that it is often negative, critical, even harsh, and we aren’t necessarily aware of what we might be saying to ourselves. The one guaranteed thing is that we are always listening and therefore we should be very careful about what we say. Many of my clients used to talk themselves down. They had a negative commentary running in their heads. This became the narrative to their lives and negatively impacted everything they tried to do. Often they didn’t succeed and this reinforced their negative chatter, which further impacted their next attempt. My clients used to say things like ‘I’m rubbish at this’, ‘this is hopeless’, ‘I’ll never get there’… and guess what – they didn’t, until they started thinking on purpose and taking control!

Top performers, whether in business, in sports or even on the stage, are able to take control of their thinking; they are able to use their ‘self-talk’ to direct their thoughts. In taking control they own their narrative and therefore own their emotional response and, ultimately, control their performance. They think on purpose, they are positive and powerful in what they say to themselves and they have their phrases and mantras ready to counter any negative thoughts which might creep in.

They use positively framed language so that they constantly focus on what they want and not what they don’t want; for example, they might say ‘make it count’ rather than ‘don’t miss’, or ‘I’m the expert’ rather than ‘the audience must know more than me’ or ‘I’m excited to retain this client’ rather than ‘I’m terrified of losing this business’. To achieve more and to outperform our ‘norm’ we will want to think differently and think on purpose. As Einstein once said: ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result’.

When we practise our pre-performance, positive, self-talk, it creates a sense of control. It puts us in the driver’s seat and it steers us to achieve our desired outcomes. Consistently thinking on purpose and achieving our goals reinforces our self-confidence and motivates us to achieve more. Think on purpose, take control, own your narrative and be your best self.

To learn more techniques join Lindsey on 24th January 2019 in Lindfield Coffee Works for a ‘Thinking On Purpose’ workshop. To book a place contact Lindsey by email on lindsey@ ninedotpartnership.com or call 07704 681332.

New-look Co-op store reopens

After two weeks of closure the people of Lindfield were keen to see the new Co-op store reopen last month.

Featuring more stock (due to deeper shelves), more fresh produce and self-service tills, the Co-operative has spent over £600,000 on the refurbished store.

Parish Councillor Val Upton was delighted to be asked to cut the ribbon marking the official opening of the popular High Street shop.

Finding the village jungle (BBC Gardeners World magazine)

A Lindfield couple who transformed a patch of lawn into an exotic tropical retreat have scooped second prize in a prestigious national competition.

Tim Richardson and Clare Wilson have spent 19 years creating their dream garden, tucked away in the heart of the village, which blew away the judges of this year’s BBC Gardeners World Magazine competition.

Diarmuid Gavin had described the garden as: ‘A tasteful and beautiful explosion of tropicana’, adding ‘the foliage contrast and use of colour is amazing’.

[Read the full story in the December 2018 issue of Lindfield Life]

Village People - Suzanne Medcalf

By Claire Cooper

We’ve all heard of love at first sight, but for native New Yorker turned Lindfield resident Suzanne Medcalf it was a name that caught her eye.

“I was on my third business trip to England when I heard that this new guy, Mark Mulligan, was joining the team,” Suzanne recalled. “I thought it sounded like a great name and I turned to my colleagues and joked ‘If he’s cute - I might marry him!’. Six years later I did!”

After a long distance relationship, with Suzanne spending time between attending conferences all over the US and at the company headquarters in Hove, she joined Mark in Sussex.

The couple moved to Lindfield a year ago after spotting a cottage in Lyoth Lane on the internet.

“I walked into the house with Mark and my best friend Peg, and I knew straight away that this was home,” said Suzanne. “It felt so right.”

And there was a further surprise in store when Suzanne and Mark set off to explore the village. “When I would visit Mark from the US we would go for country drives on the weekend. More than once we ended up driving through Lindfield and I would remark ‘can you imagine if we could live in a village like this one day’. I hadn’t realised that the house we loved was in a village we loved. It felt like it was meant to be!”

[Excerpt from full article in November 2018 issue of Lindfield Life]

40 years of Scaynes Hill Flower Show

By Claire Cooper

Visitors to the 40th anniversary Scaynes Hill Flower Show took a step back in time earlier this month.

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Organisers Dianne Elliott and Angela Hicks had decided to mark the historic occasion by reproducing the original 1978 schedule, which included traditional vegetables flowers, cakes and crafts.

Exhibitors rose to the challenge producing graceful gladioli, mammoth marrows and baking bread and sausage rolls alongside the traditional homemade jam.

Crochet and embroidery made a comeback, including a tablecloth that was originally entered for the show back in 1978. The traditional heaviest marrow category proved popular and was won by Phia Castillo with a 24lb whopper!

“We discovered that nobody makes wine any more but we were pleased to see plenty of bread and jam” said organiser Dianne. “It was good fun but we’ll revert to our usual schedule next year.”

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Trophies

Conservation Shield – Cat Newington

Flower Show Trophy – Nick Hawes

The 40th Anniversary Cup – Brenda Holdforth (a new exhibitor)

Eileen and Peter Pratt Trophy – Phia Castillo (awarded this year only for best exhibit in vegetable class)

Betty Hayter Memorial Salver – Jos Kingston

Artists Cup – Jos Kingston (awarded this year only for best artistic exhibit in Floral Art)

WI Cookery Award – Barry Rapley (a new exhibitor)

Helga Race Trophy – Bobby Whittome

Hawes Handicraft Cup – Liz Townsend (new exhibitor)

Juniors

Conservation Group Cup – Mollie Hainge

Scaynes Hill Cricket Club Trophy - Mollie Hainge

Lindfield History - Great War: After the fighting ended

By Richard Bryant,
Lindfield History Project Group

Today we have grown used to receiving news as it happens 24 hours a day, whereas one hundred years ago newspapers were the almost universal means for the public to receive news.

News of the Armistice on 11th November 1918 bringing to an end the fighting took time to spread and was not widely received until the following day. People needed to read it to believe it was true. There was a joyous but muted reaction in Lindfield and across Mid Sussex, with no organised public celebratory events.

The Mid Sussex Times reported that ‘During the past week the inhabitants of Mid Sussex have been in high spirits because of the cessation of hostilities. Joyous peals have been rung upon the church bells. Cottagers have displayed from their humble homes such flags as they could get hold of, bonfires have been lighted, and rich and poor have mingled together in the Services of Thanksgiving.’

Some took high spirits further than others. Ellen Baxter, from Horsted Keynes whose husband was serving in France, was brought before Haywards Heath magistrates. She had been celebrating with friends in Lindfield, and was found drunk and incapable beside the road at Town Hill, Lindfield on 12th November.

Police enquiries failed to find out where in Lindfield she had been served her drinks. Mrs Baxter was fined five shillings.

Within weeks of the Armistice, thought was being given to a memorial for the fallen and welcome celebrations for the returning service men. Lindfield received praise from the Mid Sussex Times for being first to start planning a welcome home event. Following a well-attended meeting in the Reading Room, a committee of twenty was formed and a fund for donations opened in early January 1919; this received a generous response. The date set for the Welcome Home Day was 28th May 1919, as it had been expected most servicemen would have returned by then. However, many were still to be demobilised which continued into 1920.

Shops and houses were decorated with flags, bunting and banners in readiness for the celebrations. These started at 5pm with a Service of Thanksgiving in All Saints Church. Afterwards, the men formed up behind the Ardingly Band and to the tune ‘Sons of the Brave’ marched down the High Street accompanied by their families and watched by a large crowd. Outside King Edward Hall, the crowd cheered the men into the Hall.

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Peace Day parade in Lindfield High Street

Cosy store pops up in The Stand Up, Lindfield

The Danish concept ‘Hygge’ will be arriving in Lindfield this month giving shoppers a chance to stock up on cosy autumnal themed products at a one day pop-up shop.

From rugs and scarves to candles, body lotions and even chocolates, shoppers will be spoilt for choice at the Pop Up Hygge Shop at The Stand Up on Thursday 4th October, from 9am to midday.

The idea behind #popuplindfield is to support local businesses and raise funds for charities. The event will be hosted by Andi Frost (owner of The Stand Up) who will be selling Usbourne children’s books, and Lindfield resident Anna Ashley, from Tropic Skincare.

Refreshments (baked and bought by the local stall holders) will be available, with donations going to the Princess Royal Hospital Special Care Baby Unit.

The event follows the success of a Pop-Up Summer Shop in May which raised £100 for the Baby Unit.

Other businesses taking part are: South with Karen Chesson, Florie with Sophie, Tracy’s Little Gift Shop, A Trifle Arty, Concrete & Paper with Emma Sowden-Mabbott, Little Hippo with Emma, Swedish Wooden Horse with Cecilia Poulsen, Anna Swan Candles, Norma Leppard, Rowdy and Fancy’s Chocolate and Little People Photography.

Lindfield Dramatic Club aims to thrill

By Rex Cooper

Fans of TV detective shows will recognise the name of Brian Clemens as the man who created The Avengers and who wrote classic series including Dangerman, The Professionals, The Persuaders and Bergerac…

His plays are less well known but no less exciting, and it is his Spain-based thriller Inside Job that Lindfield Dramatic Club brings to the King Edward Hall for their autumn production this month.

Inside Job is a three-hander set in an isolated villa about a mile from Marbella, full of plots, counter plots, bluffs and double bluffs. None of the three characters is what he or she seems on the surface and Clemens cleverly and intricately weaves a web of deceit, deception and dissimulation to the end.

Director Rex Cooper explained: “For the past decade or so we have largely relied on comedy – broad, satire, farce and, last year with Oscar Wilde, trivial – to attract and entertain our audiences. This play will take the smiles off their faces and have them chewing their fingernails.”

Inside Job can be seen at the King Edward Hall, Lindfield, on Thursday 25th October, Friday 26th and Saturday 27th, starting at 8pm. Tickets, priced £10, are available from Tufnells Home, 59 High Street, Lindfield, from 1st October.

Compton House Nursing Home is 'outstanding'

Residents and staff at Compton House Christian Nursing Home are over the moon after being recognised as one of the best in the country.

The home, in Compton Road, has been given an ‘Outstanding’ rating by the Care Quality Commission – putting it among the top 2% in the country.

“We are absolutely delighted,” said manager Paula Craen. “We are always striving to improve our service and the quality of life for our residents, so it’s wonderful that our work has been recognised in this way.” 

The rating followed a rigorous, unannounced inspection back in May. “Two inspectors visited and spent the whole day observing life at Compton House and talking to residents, relatives and staff, before interviewing myself and my deputy Susan Jones,” said Paula. “When they left we were hopeful, but we also knew how difficult it is to get outstanding, so we were delighted to receive the notification from CQC confirming our Outstanding rating several weeks later.”

All care homes are inspected every two years and inspectors follow a strict criteria.

Compton House has been rated overall Outstanding and to achieve that is exceptional. “You have to prove that what you do has an impact on the lives of the people living here,” Paula explained. “The inspectors spent a lot of time talking to residents and staff and observing the interaction between them. Even when they were reading reports and documents, the inspectors sat in communal areas.”

Inspectors commented that residents had an ‘exceptional quality of life’ and that ‘staff went the extra mile to ensure that people’s needs, wishes and aspirations were at the forefront of everything they did’.

New benches on Lindfield Common

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When Lindfield grandmother Carol Rieley asked councillors for a new bench on the Common she didn’t expect her request to be granted several times over!

But to Carol’s delight, visitors to the Common now have a great choice of places to sit and relax.

Carole explained how she met with Will Blunden and some of the parish and district councillors last April. “I asked whether it was possible to have a bench outside the children’s playground as, although there were seats within the play area, there were none outside for Grannies like me to sit with the dog and rest up whilst the youngsters had fun on the swings,” she said.

“Last month, there was not just the one I had suggested but all the extra seats all the way along the boundary of the Common!

“I want to say a huge thank you to both the parish and district councils. The seats are being well utilised and one rather elderly lady commented: ‘I can walk all the way round the Common as there are plenty of places to rest now.’”

Andrew Funnell, Clerk at Lindfield Parish Council, commented: “We welcome the additional benches installed by Mid Sussex District Council on Lindfield Common. The benches were installed following dialogue between representatives of both councils. The newly installed benches benefit from hardstandings and have a higher seat allowing for easier access. The Parish Council understands that S106 funds (contributions from housing developers) were utilised to help fund the project.

“In addition to the benches, work has been undertaken by MSDC on some of the footpaths on the Common. This includes the footpath at the bottom of Old School Court which has been widened. The Parish Council wishes to thank MSDC and Councillor Gary Marsh.”

Lindfield Arts Festival - 21st-23rd Sept 2018

It is bigger and better than ever! The 9th Lindfield Arts Festival showcases both new and upcoming local performing and fine artists whilst encouraging the community to celebrate the unique spirit of Mid Sussex’s culture. On Saturday 22nd September there will be fresh food stalls and plenty of seating in the High Street to watch, listen and meet friends and family whilst enjoying performances by local musicians, dance and drama students and a wealth of entertainment all day long.

Amongst the full programme of events there will be an amazing Art Trail, including open studios and an exhibition at Lindfield Primary Academy, a craft show and an extraordinary cake display - being filmed by Channel 4 for their Extreme Cake Makers programme. Come and watch live art on cellograff in the High Street, some meaningful drama productions addressing memory and culinary delights respectively as well as a unique display of magnificent interactive structures on the Common for families to explore.

The vibrant pink Literary Tent will host a programme for young and old – come and meet and listen to the published authors and be inspired to start writing. There will be a Strictly Lindfield Tea Dance, with Ballroom and Latin workshops to give you confidence. The two ‘must go to’ performances at the King Edward Hall on Friday and Saturday evenings are: Rockaoke (you can sing and dance along) and FoxiVox! which will lift your spirits as you relax and enjoy their jazz interpretations.

Visit the Lindfield Arts Festival information point on the High Street for last minute festival details and to collect your Scarecrow Trail marking sheet; you will also be able to buy raffle tickets and enter the Porsche spectacular silent auction. A walking tour of the village will allow you to check out the different art studios, events on the Common and the activities in the King Edward Hall and Tamasha courtyard. Returning to the High Street you can enjoy the buzz of the live performances on the main stage, the classic cars and the brilliant community orchard display by most of Lindfield’s local associations and clubs in the United Reformed Church.

There are many workshops for you and your family to join, many of which are free of charge. Places may be limited, so advance booking is recommended. 

For full programme information and reservations see www.lindfieldartsfestival.com

Oathall Farm wins National School Award

Oathall School Farm win prizes for Innovation and Enterprise at national awards

The Oathall Community College farm team leaders recently attended the ‘School Farms Network Education Alliance Awards’ alongside Head of Farm, John Blackholly. 

The team is thrilled to report that the Oathall School Farm collected the national winners prize for Innovation and Enterprise. Judges were full of praise about how the farm has developed creative ways to generate income, helping to sustain the wonderful and unique resource. 

Judges were greatly impressed with how the farm is run as a commercial business but at the same time has education at its heart.

Seven student farm leaders were also nominated in another category and we are equally delighted to report they received the national runners up award for Student Leadership. A tremendous achievement and one in which we are justifiably very proud, said Mr Blackholly.

“These students have been outstanding this year, contributing so much and working so hard on behalf of the Farm. They are an absolute credit to their parents and the School Community. They fully deserve this National Award and recognition from the Schools Farm Network, very well done team.”

The School Farm Awards 2018 are designed to celebrate and recognise the achievements of school farms, their schools and students from across the country.

For 2018 there were seven award categories and out of an impressive field of submissions, 17 schools were shortlisted and invited to the ceremony to find out if they had won one of the coveted winners’ plaques.

The standard of submissions across all entries was incredibly high, and the judges were delighted to receive submissions from schools across the UK, including primary schools, secondary schools and colleges, special schools and schools with alternative provision.

The judges enjoyed reading such a wide variety of submissions and finding out more about each unique School Farm: from school farms which use their sites to enable young people to develop their interpersonal, communication and sensory learning, to school farms which run extensive commercial activity, schools which run Open Days for the local community and finding new and innovative ways to work together.

Mr Blackholly explained: “We will continue to develop the Oathall Farm resource and look forward to submitting further entries in future years to recognise the work of other students who contribute so much to the farm’s success. Well done to everyone associated with our wonderful school farm.”

Shenstone residents celebrate 50th anniversary

On the scorching Bank Holiday Monday at the beginning of May, residents of Shenstone gathered to hold a street party celebration of the building of their houses, back in 1968. Previously on the site had been a large Edwardian house called Cotmaton, built for one of the local Leslie family, around 1902. This was demolished to make way for the cul de sac of 13 houses, with a further three being added in the 1980s and 90s.

The youngest attendee resident was three year old Katie Kremer, who along with her family, are also the newest to join this happy group of LIndfield residents. 

As the day was so hot many parasols and tents had to be put up in addition to the bunting! Barbecues were rolled out and with a table laden with salads and cakes, beers and soft drinks, the residents set about having lots of fun in the sun.