A tiny place with a big landmark: A massive ‘V’ on the Downs made from beech, fir and lime trees which was planted in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The ‘V’ stretches almost from the bottom of the escarpment to the top and is visible for many miles. It makes a nice variation…

Telling the bees’ is an ancient custom. Bees were notified of all births, marriages and deaths in a family because folk believed that unless this was done the bees would either fly away or die. Because of the widespread belief of a kinship between men and bees, you can also talk over your problems with…

The church echoed on three Sundays a month to the fifth century liturgy of St John Chrysostom spoken in English, Slavonic and occasionally Greek. Because this hamlet in the leafy lane north of Barcombe was the scene of a unique experiment in inter-church co-operation. Spithurst had one of three Anglican churches in the area administered…

Haunting and exorcism in a downland hamlet. It happened in the early years of the 20th century when the tenant of a farmhouse ignored local warnings of a curse on his home by cutting down a line of ancient ilex evergreens which ran down from the churchyard and made his rooms too dark. The deed…

Long, dry summers used to create a curious effect on the landscape in these parts. The cement works on the east banks of the Ouse produced (besides cement) a fine, chalky dust which would cake everything in the area. A lengthy spell without any rain to wash it off caused something approaching a snowscape. The…

Albert Turner hit on an ingenious idea of using water power to run a saw mill on the river Ouse, but it was to prove an expensive flop. He came to Sheffield Park in 1898, probably influenced by the proximity of the railway as a ready-made means of transport for his timber, dug a long…

The everyday gossip and anecdotes of ordinary folk in this village must have formed the backbone of A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect, the definitive record of the county’s peculiarities of speech. It was compiled by the Reverend William Douglas Parish, vicar of Simpson as it was pronounced in the 19th century, who captured the…

Unusual things happen in the giant fireplace that dominates the beamed interior of The Queen’s Head, an old coaching inn. When landlord John Cook closes for the night he always makes sure that all is well with the fire. The next morning, as often as not, he will come downstairs to the bar and find…