Lindfield Arts Festival art show - 17th June 2023

Artists from Lindfield will be among the exhibitors at an art exhibition at King Edward Hall on 17th June, between 10am and 4pm. More than 20 professional and amateur artists will be showcasing their work at the exhibition, a stand-alone event for Lindfield Arts Festival (LAF). They include organiser Hilary Kennett, who has run the event for several years, together with Maggie Lloyd. Professional artist Hilary will be showing her abstract seascapes, inspired by her annual visits to Cornwall. Another artist, Wendy Wren, who first exhibited with LAF in 2019, is returning after being inspired by fellow artists and by encouraging feedback from the public.

“I am pleased to be back, showing my new contemporary work of flora and forna, using the colours and contrasts in a contemporary style,” said Wendy, who has recently become chair of Burgess Hill Artists, helping and encouraging local artists to exhibit their work. Some of the Burgess Hill Artists will also be exhibiting in Lindfield. Another exhibitor is Lindfield resident Chris Jarvest who took up plein air painting after he retired and belongs to a small group of artists painting the Kent countryside and coast. “Since moving to Lindfield I have exhibited and sold work in a local gallery and have joined the Brighton Painting Group which meets once a month to paint the wonderful Sussex countryside and villages,” he said. “I have painted views from the South Downs, Brighton, Cuckfield , Balcombe viaduct and the pond in Lindfield and enjoy the challenge of painting plein air with the constantly changing light, weather and tide,” he added. Fellow Lindfield resident Claire Gill moved to the village at the beginning of lockdown and, while social distancing made life difficult, she enjoyed the opportunity to explore the area and discover nature on her daily walks. “Up to this point, my artwork had been largely inspired by the coast, but living here and being surrounded by green has inspired me to explore landscape,” she said. “This is not an easy thing to do with digital photomontage as the process involves cutting out details from many different original photographs and combining them together to create an entirely new scene,” she added. “I am excited by this new direction in my work and look forward to taking part in the Lindfield Arts Festival. I have wanted to be part of the local art scene since moving here and am really chuffed to have the opportunity to exhibit with the LAF this year.” Visitors to the exhibition can meet, Hilary, Wendy, Chris and Claire along with the other artists, and enjoy a chat over a cup of tea and a slice of cake on Saturday 17th June.

Lindfield Village Day planned for June 3rd 2023

Lindfield Village Day returns to the Common on Saturday 3rd June this year, and is set to be bigger than ever. But have you ever wondered how it all comes together?

The day, a sister event with Lindfield Village Run, is organised by a team of volunteers led by co-chairs Katherine Alcock and David Tingley. “Whilst we have both been involved for many years, that’s not the case with a good number of the team,” David said. “When people take on new roles at Village Day, it’s always refreshing as they can bring new ideas and fresh perspectives.” For instance, this year the reinstatement of the much-loved High Street procession is being taken on by Julie Blackstock, Sam Crick has been booking acts to perform on the stage in the Food & Drink Quarter, and Michelle, Claire and Emma are bringing back the Competition Tent. Aside from the core team who meet regularly to make the event happen, there are a number of other specific roles which they are asking residents to help fill. Can you help, or do you know someone who could?

• Social media guru (1 hour per week)
Someone who knows what they are doing with Facebook, to listen to what’s being planned by the team, and drip feed posts online about it.

• Volunteer coordinator (1-2 hours per week)
Super-organised with a spreadsheet and well connected, this person will make sure we have the right people in the right places on Village Day itself.

• Stallholder volunteer (a 1 or 2 hour shift on 3rd June)
Do a stint as crew on a King Edward Hall stall, smiling and helping to raise money for the village hall at the same time.

• Car park marshal (a 1 or 2 hour shift on 3rd June)
Looks great in hi-vis, and can work as part of a team to safely and calmly get cars parked, coming in from Lewes Road. Walkie-talkie provided!

• Procession marshal (11.30-13.30 on 3rdJune)
Available for this specific time on the day, to help manage the safe arrival of the people and vehicles in the procession, onto the Common.

If you are able to help with any of these roles, please get in touch via email to: villageday@kingedwardhall.org.uk. The safety of the public is paramount on the day, and having a large group of willing volunteers to share the load is essential to achieving that goal.

Lindfield Heritage Trail proves popular

Lindfield Heritage Trail – a Lindfield Society 60th anniversary project – is becoming a popular pastime for residents and visitors to the village. The trail, which begins at King Edward Hall where there is an etched map on the wall, can be accessed online via a QR code or participants can use a physical leaflet to aide their walk.

David Macmillan explained: “We are grateful to all participating outlets for having a stock of brochures available for pickup. Our initial print run of 3,000 was exhausted in mid-December, and we expect an average of around 150 brochures to be taken each month going into this year.”

Chairman Gil Kennedy said: “We are delighted that the trail, developed in cooperation with the Lindfield History Project Group, has proved a popular new resource for the village – including schools. We encourage all readers to make use of this opportunity to learn more about our historic village.”

Did you know, for instance, that Lindfield’s own former fire station still exists on Lewes Road, which was opened in 1899? And, on the opposite side of the road, one of the oldest medieval houses in the village, dating back to the 1300s? As the weather begins to improve (we hope!), perhaps now is the time to learn more about the place where you live? Get started via www.lindfieldsociety.org.uk or scan the QR code here.

Lindfield Horticultural Society’s Seed Swap and coffee morning

Lindfield Horticultural Society’s Seed Swap and coffee morning will take place at King Edward Hall on Saturday 4th February. Visitors and society members are invited to drop into the Jubilee Room from 10am, for a coffee and bring along any seeds they have collected over the autumn to swap for something new.

There’s also a chance to buy ‘Just Julia’ Sweet Pea seeds for growing and entering into the Society’s two special Sweet Pea classes in the July Summer Show (one for adults, one for children). The seeds cost £2 for 10 seeds. There will be another chance to buy Sweet Pea seeds at the February talk on Wednesday 8th at King Edward Hall at 8pm, when expert Darren Everest will share his knowledge and experience of growing and showing Sweet Peas.

Lindfield’s ceremonial boat hook has a new harbour master

By Jocelyn Care

Last month, the official handover of Lindfield’s ceremonial boat hook took place and marked the day of a new Harbour Master in the village. Will Blunden proudly handed over the role to David Riddle after holding the title for an outstanding 42 years. Will said: “I thought it was time to step aside and let someone new takeover.”

The Harbour Master role was instigated by Lindfield Bonfire Society in 1956. A fundraising initiative would then take place and whichever candidate gained the most votes and raised the highest amount of money would have been crowned the official Harbour Master. Typically, the Harbour Master is a celebratory role whose main duties are leading processions for Bonfire Night and also for Lindfield Village Day. William Mighall, the first incumbent, ran a local greengrocers on the High Street, used to keep the hook at the shop – becoming useful when he needed to hook objects (and children!) out of the pond.

Will Blunden, who is chair of Lindfield Parish Council and the King Edward Hall Management Committee, gained the role in 1978 when he was appointed by the Bonfire Society. Will explained: “Leading the early Village Day processions was very special, and the Bonfire Night processions used to be a good deal more dangerous than they are today. But, I have to say Bonfire Night celebrations have just got better and better with last year’s being an amazing event. It was a high to go out on.”

David Riddle has been a Life Member of Lindfield Bonfire Society since 2009, having moved to the area with his wife in 1986. David, who is a recently retired accountant, ‘welcomes any excuse to dress up’ and belongs to a number of living history groups portraying figures from Tudor, Regency and Victorian times. He has even commissioned a special naval commander uniform to be tailored for his new role. David is hoping to show off his new suit as he leads this year’s procession on 5th November.

Funny That King Edward Hall hosts comedy night

Funny That comedy is the brainchild of award-winning Brighton comedian Stephen Grant, the host of the Komedia Brighton for the last 23 years. His business came to prominence putting on A-list comedians – including Romesh Ranganathan and Sara Pascoe - in the garden of a Hassocks pub during Covid times.

Using decades of contacts during his long time in the world of comedy, Stephen has put together special, small scale, high-profile comedy nights that have been selling out across Sussex since mid 2020. Back in February, Stephen’s night was the first public show at the recently converted Hub Theatre at Haywards Heath College, selling out instantly, and excitingly, on Friday 15th July they will be at King Edward Hall in Lindfield.

With its intimate capacity, Stephen told Lindfield Life it’s sure to be busy: “Our plans were to stick in Haywards Heath, but with the college closing for most of the summer and the new Haywards Heath Arts Festival desperate to find a space for our comedy night, we were so excited to find King Edward Hall and the support of the people of Lindfield has been overwhelming. I was born in Sussex and Lindfield was somewhere my parents used to bring me for summer days by the pond, while they sat in the pub! Also, as a Stand Up comedian, I’m very aware it’s the only place in Sussex that has a pub called ‘The Stand Up’. Expect many of our visiting performers to have their selfies taken in front of that sign!”

The lineup for the first show includes Ivo Graham, star of Live at the Apollo, Jessica Fostekew, well-known from Motherland, and hosting the hugely successful Guilty Feminist podcast, Mark Simmons, the expert gagsmith and gag-improvisor from Mock The Week, and Thomas Green, an award-winning Australian comedian.

Lindfield Comedy Club will be on Friday 15th July, starting at 8pm. Tickets available at: www.funnythat.co.uk