Today, 16 June, is Sussex Day – a day to read out the Sussex Charter, to have a pint of Harvey’s Sussex Day brew and to reflect on the fact that Sussex has only five hop growers left in the county. Perhaps the success of Sussex wines and the extensive planting of vineyards over the past couple of decades might encourage farmers to plant new hop gardens and add to the micro-breweries popping up across the county.
It certainly helps to have a tankard of good Sussex ale to hand when belting out that hymn to our county, “Sussex by the Sea”, asserting that you “wunt be druv” and then hauling up the Sussex flag – six gold martlets on a blue field. To this you might add some joyful Morris dancing, as they will be doing across the county, and perhaps some contemplative prayer to St Richard (our patron saint) at Chichester Cathedral.
But why today? Evidently it’s St Richard’s Day as well (for no apparent reason) as we don’t know when he was born, when the first miracle occurred or why it is not on the anniversary of his death on 3 April. It may be something to do with another Sussex personality, Ian Steedman, who championed the idea of a Sussex Day at the beginning of this century or just that the Church of England decided they wanted a different day to the Roman Catholics.
Much to celebrate about Sussex
So, whatever the reasons for its date, Sussex Day seems the ideal moment for me, an outsider who has only lived here for ten years, to comment on its character, its customs and its countryside. I am aware that as that most despised of creatures, the ‘Down from Londoner’, there might be some readers who think that I am not an appropriate choice but there has been a lot for me to think about and marvel at over the last few years.
Strangely, until we got to Lewes, I had never heard about the Guy Fawkes/5 November traditions that occur throughout Sussex. I didn’t know that there was a whole bonfire season, culminating in the Lewes Bonfire Celebrations, looked forward to and collected for in the form of wood for bonfires and money for effigies which get carried around the town. In my time most prime ministers have been cast into the flames and one American president has been burnt annually.
There are seven Lewes bonfire societies and all raise money for charity and have links with other Sussex bonfire groups, visiting each other’s headquarters to socialise. Cliffe, the oldest, traditionally remembers the 17 Protestant Martyrs from Lewes, burned by Mary and marked now by the dipping of 17 crosses into the River Ouse.
Places of sanctuary
Move on a few hundred years and discover what we always knew – that human nature has not changed and that divisions in communities can be exploited by those with the wrong motives – in Sussex as elsewhere. Along the South Coast refugees and immigrants, instead of being treated kindly, can sometimes be met with suspicion, angry demonstrations and even threatened violence.
Happily, here as in other parts of the country there are differences in attitude, and places which offer welcome and support to frightened displaced people. Brighton has very recently shown how joy and determination can repel thuggery and racism, and as a City of Sanctuary, supports those who cross the Channel in overcrowded, unseaworthy boats. A number of organisations in the city provide support, not only for refugees but the growing numbers of people who are struggling with their mental health, finances, housing and employment.
Hastings has also proved to be a place of welcome, safety and comfort. It is officially a Community of Sanctuary and the town lives up to its description, greeting cold weary people on the beach with blankets, food and hot tea. For those who eventually settle in Hastings there are English lessons available, help with job interviews, and buddy schemes amongst other initiatives. But the seaside towns’ humanity and compassion can also be found deep in the Sussex countryside in the villages of East Hoathly and Halland.
A county of contrasts
Sussex is a place where the past jostles with the present and where contrasts are great. From medieval beautiful Chichester in the west with its stunning Cathedral and modern theatre, to Brighton further east, with its lively nightlife and two universities; from the historic Cinque Ports of Winchelsea and Rye to a newly-trending Worthing, increasingly the choice of younger house-buyers fleeing the high prices of Lewes and Brighton.
Being close to London, Sussex has its fair share of commuter towns like Crawley and Horsham, which also serve Gatwick Airport, as well as ancient villages like Alfriston where development is discreetly hidden.
Beautiful countryside
And then there’s the countryside and despite being so near London it feels rural. No-one can think of Sussex without picturing the South Downs, that iconic landform stretching from Eastbourne to Winchester, a National Park since 2010.
Walking the South Downs Way with the sea and crumbling cliffs of the coastline on one side and the view as far as the North Downs on the other can literally grab your very soul, as it has for so many artists and writers – Eric Ravilious stands out but also his wife Tirzah Garwood. Then there are Roger Fry and Vanessa Bell from Charleston and Paul Nash.
Writers too have loved “our blunt, bow-headed, whale-backed Downs” (Kipling) and Tennyson’s opinion that “The Downs…too much for one pair of eyes, enough to float a whole population in happiness.” This is what it can feel like when stopping to take in the sunset or admire the view along the coast somewhere between Eastbourne and Birling Gap. AA Milne set his stories in the Ashdown Forest – the Hundred Acre Wood where Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet and their friends had their adventures – The enchanted places.
There are threats of all kinds to this lovely county – unsuitable development, depleted nature, polluted beaches and rivers – but there are at the same time forces working to protect, to rewild and to restore.
Sussex can most definitely celebrate a wonderful abundance of enchanted places in its towns, its villages, its landscape and its people.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
