Category: East Sussex

The recession has forced a move from a much-loved house and garden. Claire Hill remembers her family growing up there as she prepares to leave.

Sussex is rich in literary heritage, having been home to some of the greats, like Henry James, Virginia Woolf, Rudyard Kipling and A.A.Milne. The pleasures of reading are extolled in Tom Serpell’s latest article, prompted by his grandson’s new love of books. He discusses the importance of libraries and independent bookshops where reading can be encouraged, as well as new online media platforms.

The new exhibition Seafaring, at Hastings Contemporary, features a wide variety of works by mainly British artists from 1820 to the present day. Rick Dillon describes the stunning range of paintings, from 19th-century shipwrecks by Romantic artists such as Géricault to contemporary canvases by Cecily Brown and Maggi Hambling.

In the local elections, there were successes for Labour and Greens. There was a historic win for Labour in Worthing, and Labour also took back charge of Crawley, but the Greens ended Labour control in Hastings. Rick Dillon argues that these wins were as much to do with local issues as with Partygate.

The May local elections are being seen as the chance for voters to give their verdict on prime minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative government’s record of failing the young, the vulnerable and ordinary families. In Sussex there will be several key contests; but while parties go head to head, there have also been signs of greater compromise and partnership.

Newhaven is important in Sussex history and could be in its future. Brexit may be unhelpful but does not prevent travel. Tom Serpell and his wife cherish their local route to France to remind themselves of life beyond these shores and continue to enjoy another culture every bit as civilised and interesting as our own.

Demonstrators from across East Sussex declared the county’s HQ a climate crime scene in a bid to persuade the County Council to divest its pension funds of fossil fuel investments.

Are disused railway bridges liabilities or assets? It’s a question highlighted by plans to infill a bridge in Barcombe with concrete, plans which provoked a vigorous and, so far, successful campaign to halt what local campaigners describe as vandalism.

Over the past few weeks a number of scandals have rocked Westminster and Boris Johnson’s position as prime minister. Vivienne Griffiths examines the fallout of the ongoing furore and its impact on the Conservative government and its leader.

The awesome organisation of Mark Perryman and the Lewes Labour Party has resulted in all records being broken at this year’s Christmas Foodbank Collection.  As usual, there was an all-day rota of collectors outside Tesco, Aldi and Waitrose.  Bonfire societies, sports clubs choirs, political parties, yoga groups, panto casts and hundreds more willing individuals all […]

A Sussex lifeboat crew talks about what it means to face the awesome power of the sea to do their job, at any time of day, saving lives.

It’s far from being the case that most people hate ‘migrants’. In Sussex, Ginny Foster reports on a Sanctuary movement active in offering a welcome so lacking from our political leaders and mainstream press.

Forget Starmer’s speech, McDonald’s resignation and Rayner’s expletives, says Sussex Bylines writer Rick Dillon, who attended much of the Labour Party Conference in Brighton this week. Far more important were the under-reported land laws reform proposals, some put forward by the Hastings & Rye local party and passed enthusiastically by delegates, that would stop the developers’ planning free-for-all and could finally fix our nation’s housing crisis…

Sussex food partnerships are at the forefront of finding long-term solutions to the growing problem of food insecurity. Affordable food projects, community supermarkets and organisations who take surplus fresh produce from local farms and turn it into soups, are all playing their part in relieving the food poverty that exists in all of our communities…

We invited Sussex Bylines readers to share their personal experiences of how the government’s planned Universal Credit cut will affect them. We have already received some courageous responses that make for sobering – and in some cases, heartbreaking – reading…

Government bungling together with Priti Patel’s inhumane Borders Bill and disastrous Home Office response have only served to hinder humanitarian efforts, both with the evacuation in Afghanistan and assisting asylum seekers here in the UK. Traumatised Afghan refugees who have barely escaped with their lives deserve kindness, compassion and support, not more hostility. Writer Vivienne Griffiths examines the horrifying events of recent days and offers practical advice for anyone iwanting to help refugees locally…

Across Sussex, local food partnerships are springing up to address the myriad problems stemming from the UK’s flawed food system that is not only making us ill, but also harming our planet. And our central government is lagging far behind these growing grassroots community groups…

A spate of sewage discharges and spills into our seas and rivers is prompting protests as demands grow across Sussex for Southern Water to clean up its act and stop putting profits ahead of clean water. As a private monopoly it is accountable to its shareholders rather than its customers, but a growing number of campaigners believe it’s time to bring it back into public ownership.

Raw sewage has been flowing into Sussex’s rivers and streams – often discharged straight from Southern Water treatment works. In the second part of Sussex Bylines’ Toxic Shock series we look at the effects of this pollution on our fresh waterways – and speak to some of those demanding it be stopped…

Pete Jones, the Sussex DJ who’s been giving a platform to up-and-coming musicians for 14 years on Brighton’s Radio Reverb reveals why he never gets tired of nurturing & promoting new local talent…

“Pristine countryside lost to concrete cannot be recovered: once gone, it is lost forever. Is that what we really want to see for this beautiful section of the South Downs?” Former Lewes MP and Transport Minister Norman Baker demolishes the persistent proposals to build a new four-lane highway that would decimate the Low Weald countryside, including ancient forests, protected wildlife, working farms and historic villages, and calls on the lead Conservative Councillor to change course NOW, before it’s too late…

Author James Joughin joins a very polite and orderly ‘mass trespass’ on the South Downs – 300 people walking into a valley at Pangdean Bottom. This is not land owned by a caricature evil landlord but Brighton Council-owned and rented out to tenant farmers. The trespassers’ point was that it was totally unavailable for use by Brighton city residents and taxpayers, even though the footprints of walkers would surely do no more harm than the hooves of cattle.

It’s a little-known secret that you don’t have to shell out in excess of £20,000 to be the lucky owner of a Brighton & Hove beach chalet. You do need, however, a bucket-full of patience to wait for your name to rise to the top of the Brighton & Hove beach chalet rental waiting list…

“Being involved in Sussex Bylines since day one has shown me that there is another way; that there are so many of us out there who want to see a different, better world.”

On the first anniversary of Sussex Bylines’ inaugural issue, some of our key contributors have written a short piece on the subject of “What Sussex Means to Me”. From memories of being a student at the newly built Sussex University in 1966 while living in shabby digs in Brighton to the legendary magic of bonfire night in Lewes, this compilation is a wonderfully eclectic mix of short personal essays…

“Here in Sussex, Bonfire Night isn’t just for children – and it never loses its magic” Hastings resident Rick Dillon explains why…

For Scottish-born and bred James Joughin, it wasn’t until he’d been living in Brighton for quite a few years that he began to tune into the intriguing “deeper currents” of life in Sussex…

One of our most prolific contributors, Tom Serpell, takes a break from article writing to give us a succinct breakdown of his relationship with (East) Sussex from the 1950s to present day…

To celebrate the first anniversary of Sussex Bylines’ inaugural issue, we asked some of our key contributors to write a short piece on the subject of “What Sussex Means to Me”. From memories of being a student at the newly built Sussex University in the sixties while living in shabby digs in Brighton, to the […]

Most constituencies in Sussex have Conservative MPs (thanks to our FPTP voting system) but Brighton & Hove is a progressive exception, having elected on Green and two Labour Party MPs