The title of the Newhaven Supergraphics Festival – “Look Again” – has echoes of that more famous exhortation to the soon-to-become Mayor of London as he walked away from the city, “Turn Again, Dick Whittington.”
And if you did turn again to look at the Sussex port of Newhaven from the deck of the cross-channel ferry to Dieppe, what would you see? An undistinguished little town, slightly shabby and down-at-heel, smoke rising from the tall chimneys of the incinerator on the edge of town, and a clutter of industrial estates surrounding the harbour. A town that appears almost out of place, set within the surrounding landscape of the South Downs and the white cliffs of the Seven Sisters. And yet…
Diverse Newhaven offers something to everyone
… and yet it is a town that inspires fierce loyalty in the hearts of its inhabitants, and that’s proud of its history as a working port and gateway to Europe. Unlike the more prosperous county town of Lewes, situated further up the Ouse Valley, Newhaven doesn’t have a picturesque castle or numerous expensive clothes shops and restaurants to attract the tourists. It does have a sturdy fort which for many centuries has guarded the approaches to the River Ouse, a fishing fleet, and an important lifeboat station. There are unexpected hidden gems to be discovered on the industrial estates, like the Sardinian delicatessen L’Isola Buona, and a wonderful Middle Eastern bakery, Mamoosh.
A project to counter years of neglect
Unlike some other Sussex towns Newhaven stubbornly resists gentrification, which may have cost it dear over the years. It has become a dumping ground for many projects successfully fought off by other East Sussex towns and, tragically, a major ring road, built by a car-obsessed County Council in the 1970s, carved out the heart of the community. It’s unsurprising that many Newhaven residents feel that their town has long been a victim of snobbery and deliberate neglect.
Which is where the Look Again Festival comes in. Anthony Peters, one of organisers, describes how the idea for the festival first came about. “Charlotte Parsons, who runs the Artwave Festival, approached me last year to ask if I wanted to pitch to create some murals in the town. After discussions with Charlotte and with Guy McQueen, the Regeneration Officer for Lewes District Council, the idea grew into something much larger and more exciting. I’ve lived in Newhaven for ten years and noticed that there’s a low self-esteem in the town, although it has so much to be proud of. We wanted to give people living in the town a reason to reassess its reputation and to value their community. To look again at Newhaven.”
Peters mentions the astonishing fact that over a million cars a month pass the town via the ring road. The “heavenly trinity” as he jokingly calls Parsons, McQueen and himself, were keen to challenge those commuters to pause on their route to and from work to explore Newhaven and follow an artwork trail around its streets.
Festival events and murals bring town together
Their ambitious plans culminated in the first Look Again Supergraphics Festival in Newhaven this June. As well as the murals that have appeared on gable-ends and public buildings around the town, there are a number of events happening throughout the month, including artist talks, folklore painting, collage workshops, and a makers’ market. The lunchtime launch party on 1 June saw a wonderful melange of resident families, mural painters, artists and visitors enjoying pizzas and Middle Eastern food at two stalls set up within The Sidings, along with beer from the pop-up brewery Abyss. The large numbers of people who turned up to the launch reflected the care that has been taken at every stage of the planning process to involve local people.
“We did get grumbles from a very few people at first”, says Peters, “complaining that the money could be better spent filling potholes, but we explained that financial support for the festival comes from a separate ring-fenced government fund, and from local business sponsorship.” As the murals started going up, they found that people were thrilled with the colour and joy of the images, many reflecting the maritime history of the town.
Two dark underpasses have been brightened with the joyous “Ice Cream Waders” by See Creatures and “The Siren’s Song” by Ellie Fryer, inspired by the wreck of the Brazen. A wonderfully full-on bright yellow graphic, “Sun, Sea, You & Me” by Anthony Burrill covers the large wall of a passageway near the library. Following the full trail takes you on a journey around the town starting at the historic marine workshops building at The Sidings and ending, appropriately enough, at the Jolly Boatman pub on the Lewes Road out of Newhaven.
Restoring pride of place
Peters says that the organisers are now getting lots of people asking if they can do the same to the sides of their houses, and there has been strong interest from other small towns who are looking to regenerate their own communities. “The festival is part of a much bigger initiative,” explains Peters. “Things that are iconic to the town like the time capsule and the town clock are being cleaned up, repaired, and new signs put up on public buildings. It’s the “broken windows” theory – one broken window in a street can start to bring the whole neighbourhood down. If you fix that you can start to reverse the decline. We want to bring back joy and happiness to the community, and real pride of place.” From the first enthusiastic responses to the festival, it looks as though Peters and his fellow organisers are well on the way to doing so.
Full details of the Look Again Festival events programme can be found on their website : https://www.lookagainnewhaven.co.uk/events
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