Just when it seemed like the Great Lewes Race Row had blown over, a curious article appeared in the Guardian, by acerbic diarist Hugh Muir, commenting on the story in the Sunday Times which sparked it all off. For those who missed the furore, last month Lewes resident David James Smith wrote a rather provocative six-page cover piece in the ST’s glossy magazine expressing the alienation his mixed-race family felt, living in a largely mono-ethnic town. It didn’t bathe Lewes residents in a particularly flattering light. People who read the piece reacted in different ways: the subsequent letters page in the Sunday Times was dominated by lrgely negative responses to the piece.
Few articles can have sparked so much debate in Lewes: some were more balanced than others. The fact that the piece was unavailable, for free, online (barricaded as it was behind Murdoch’s pay-wall) means that there were many who reacted strongly to the piece without having read it, hardly a good base for a equilibrious view of matters. The Sussex Express didn’t help any by claiming that Smith had dubbed Lewes ‘a hotbed of racism’, which, frankly, he hadn’t.
Muir’s piece, which you can read for free online, and which appeared under the standfirst ‘When one journalist decided to be honest about cultural difficulties in his Sussex hometown, he didn't expect to be called a racist’ was a robust defence of Smith. It included quotes from the ST journalist, reinforcing his points of view, and commenting on the public reaction to his piece.
It was a curious article in that reading it was a virtually valueless exercise to anyone who hadn’t already digested Smith’s piece, which it offered no link to. Nobody who hadn’t read the original article could have understood exactly why Smith was on the defensive, so offering the journalist the forum to defend himself was hardly the stuff of balanced journalism.
Was Muir assuming that Guardian readers would be familiar with a piece from the Sunday Times, that had been published almost a month before? Or was he just offering a fellow journalist a cross-publication free-header right-of-reply to all the criticism he’s been subject to? If the latter were the case, it would be strange behaviour for a writer who loves, in his daily ‘Diary’, to expose those who abuse their positions of power to benefit themselves or their friends.
Lewes OctoberFeast
Lewes' inaugural food and drink festival is fast approaching, and the organisers are looking for advertisers for their brochure, and volunteers to help out during the first ten days of October. Check out the festival website here; if you need more information mail us here. It's shaping up to be a fantastic festival... and it's all in the best possible taste.
The weather
Some sort of glitch in the jet stream, apparently, has caused a band of high pressure to sit over England influencing warmer and sunnier weather than had been expected. It’ll be bright and sunny into the weekend, then, Michael Fish has promised, with temperatures into the twenties in the day (though possibly down to single figures at night). Flip-flops in the afternoon, then, but take a jacket for after nightfall. This week's cover comes courtesy of Graham Parks, and comes from this week's 'Photo of the Week' column (see left).
(till Sept 11th): Art – Seymour Jennings
It’s worth a trip to Seaford, according to one valued source, just to see this exhibition of a talented artist. The source in question is fellow artist John Holloway, who tells us he used to teach at Brighton Poly with Seymour (aka Jim). ‘Since his early retirement many years ago he has continued to draw and paint virtually every day on work which is completely original and unique in approach, sometimes large, sometimes small, always highly complex in minute detail, beautifully executed, often surreal, poetic, and at times disturbing, familiar things in dreamlike contexts. Some are up to about four feet across, others about four inches.’ Sounds intriguing.
Crypt Gallery, Seaford.
Fri 3rd: Lewes Food Market
There are a couple of new stalls at our new Friday morning market, originally set up by Transition Town, but now a completely independent concern. Mrs York’s jams will be on sale from today, and Egypt Farm will start up their cooking of meat samples in the yard. Watch this space for any new developments in the Market Tower, purpose-built in the 18th century.
Market Tower, 9am-1pm
Sat 4th: Lewes Farmers’ Market
It’s the first Saturday of the month, so, of course, the Farmers’ Market is up and running in what is officially called, we’ve just found out, the ‘Eastgate Precinct’. So there you go. The organisers, Common Cause, promise ‘fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, cheeses and eggs direct from local farmers, together with bread, pickles and cakes all made with local ingredients by local businesses.’ There’s also information about next month’s ‘Pickled’ event, which will be part of the OctoberFeast celebrations.
Eastgate Precinct, 9am-1pm
Sat 4th: Football - Lewes v Hampton and Richmond
The home games are coming in thick and fast, but this one should be a bit special. England are playing this weekend (against Bulgaria on Friday night) which means that there’s no Premiership and Championship fixtures, and Brighton’s game against Plymouth has been postponed. A QPR fan, Joe Doe, came up with a brilliant idea: why not encourage fans with no game to go to, to visit their local non-league club, instead? As the nearest club in question to Lewes is Crystal Palace, we’ll wait and see how many fans this boils down to, but there should be an extra hundred or two on the gate, in addition to the 600-odd Lewes are averaging this season.
Hampton and Richmond are the opposition, a team Lewes beat on the last day of the season, in Middlesex, to ensure Conference South status. Managed by former West Ham legend Alan Devonshire, they’ve had a mixed start to the season, and Lewes will be hoping to put in a performance worthy of the full three points. A warm welcome to former Rooks midfielder Karl Beckford. Lewes will be hoping to field a few new on-loan faces as they are in the midst of an unprecedented injury crisis.
Dripping Pan, 3pm, £10/£5/kids go free
Sat 4th: Glyndestock
It’s autumn, now, so here’s to the Autumn of Love. The inaugural Glyndstock Beer and Music Festival, a fundraising event for a number of local causes, is taking place at the Trevor Arms on Saturday 4th September, from 1pm-11pm. There’s an 11.30pm train from the nearby railway station, so our advice is to walk over there, and get the train back.
There’s music on all day, with the Fold headlining, supported by five other local bands: Sam Chara, Big Wheels, Robert Brown, Ahabe & the Wailer and Porchlight Smoker. The Fold are usually billed as a ‘Folk Rock’ band, and while this is an accurate description of a number of their set-piece belters, there’s a lot more to their sound, with elements of Americana, electronica and even funk to their sound. They’re famed for getting their audiences up and dancing.
Help is at hand for the reluctant: the Trevor is a Harveys pub, and there will be five ales on sale from our local brewery, as well as ten guest ales, including Dark Star, Hogs Back, 1648 Skinners, Arundel, Robinsons, Whites and Titanic. There’s wine and cider, and, of course, soft drinks, too.
This is a day/night event, and the first part is very much geared to the whole family with face-painting and kids’ stalls to keep the littl’uns occupied. There are also arts and crafts on sale, food stalls, and, inevitably enough, a hog roast. Beneficiaries are the Glynde and Beddingham Play Group, Glynde Cricket Club, Sprouts and Lewes FC.
Tickets from The Trevor (479611) Harveys Shop and Octave Records.
Sat 4th Cruise on the Ouse Duck Race
If you thought rubber ducks were just for bathtubs, think again. St Peter and St James Hospice are planning to throw hundreds of little ducks into the river to see which floats the fastest. It promises to be a surreal and splendid scene at this family fun day at the Anchor Inn. Ducks cost a £1 each, there will be food and drink, a tombola, face-painting, and popular trio The Desperate Hirstwives will sing songs from the fifties through to the ‘teens. Above all, this is a great opportunity to thank St Peter and St James Hospice for the care and comfort their team provides to families across Sussex.
Fun for all the family, hunting dressed-up model rooks in shop windows all over town. Over 50 shopkeepers have agreed to place a Rook in their displays. You and your kids will have hours of fun trying to find them all, with the aid of a rook-hunting map. There’s a quiz, tea and cakes, and plenty of prizes, up for grabs.
Tickets and Maps cost £1 each (£5 for a family ticket) and are available on the day from Baltica in the bottleneck and the Buttercup café in Malling St.
They will also be available in advance from the Vintage Shirt Company on Mount Place, as well as the Farmer’s Market and at the Lewes FC match against Hampton on Saturday.
All the profits are going to Lewes FC and South St Bonfire
Sun 5th: Night Train to Laredo Cabaret
Alan Rudge is living in fear of redundancy, adultery and the antics of his wayward teenage daughter. For ten years his life’s work, a Western, has lain unfinished while he too has been in limbo, travelling back and forth on a repetitive commute. But one day he disembarks this train into the land of his own invention, and is confronted by a cast of familiar faces who demand from him, a resolution…
We know the latest film from Lewes-based production company Play It Forward stars Lewes Operatics Society members’ Neil Horstcraft and Andy Freeman, but we wont find out the ending until they raise more cash. That’s why we’ll be having a bourbon or two at their fundraising event at the All Saints Centre on Sunday 4th. With a wild-west themed cabaret, a raffle, Smokestack and The Sweet Nothing performing live; it’ll beat getting the 7.22 to London Victoria. Starts 7pm, £10 on the door, advance tickets from Laportes, Elephant and Castle or John Harvey Tavern. 474637
Sun 5th: Zocalo in Hanover
‘Zocalo’ is the idea of Lewes-based David Burke, who is the head of the ‘White Dot’ anti-TV campaign. In the summer of 2006 he encouraged scores of residents in the hillside Brighton community to turn off their televisions for the night, and instead sit on chairs outside their houses. The event was a great success; Grace Perry filmed it as part of a Channel 4 documentary, and everyone had a fairly wild time. That was that, for a while, until Brighton Fringe performer David Bramwell used the concept of ‘zocalo’ in his act this summer, and then asked his namesake to help him organise a re-run for 2010. It’s taking place after 5pm; if you’ve got any Hanover friends, it might be an idea to join them. Otherwise, just wait a year: plans are in the offing for a Lewes ‘zocalo’ next year.
Mon 6th – 26th: Sept Lewes Lewes Cycle Challenge
The Lewes Cycle Challenge is a ‘free, fun competition to encourage people to remember the joys and benefits of riding a bike.’ To take part, all you need to do is ride a bike for ten minutes or more and log each journey on the Cycle Challenge website. Prizes include Odeon Cinema tickets, High Street vouchers, bicycle computers, a tea for two, and if you’re really lucky, a 2011 Trek 7300 hybrid bike donated by Lewes Cycle Shack. There are also a range of activities to help get more people cycling, including Dr Bike maintenance sessions and cycle skills training. Register at www.lewescyclechallenge.org.uk
Wed 8th: Lewes Blood Donor Session
Save lives, give blood. If you are generally in good health, age 17 to 65 and weigh at least 7st 12lb you can donate blood every 16 weeks. Remember to have something to eat and drink before you do, the donation shouldn’t take over an hour, but be prepared to take things easy for the rest of the day.
You can drop in or make an appointment via the website. 2.00pm - 4.30pm & 5.30pm to 8.00pm at the Corn Exchange, 01403 341631.
Wed 8th - 9th: Sale Days at Gorringes Auction Rooms
If you’re looking to grab yourself a first edition of Ian Fleming You Only Live Twice, a gold fox-head broach or a 17th Century Ethiopian Tryptich Icon this is the place. More than 2000 wonderful fine art and antique items, including furniture, paintings and ceramics are being sold at what the organisers expect to be a particularly exciting auction. www.gorringes.co.uk 472503
Fri 10th (and Sat 11th): Cinema - Inception (12A)
Critically acclaimed action science fiction, written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Dark Night). Leonardo DiCaprio has supplanted this introduction with the idea that I should go and see the film.
Lewes Cinema, All Saints, 8pm on Fri and 8.30pm on Sat.
Fri 10th Sep - 31st Oct: Quentin Bell - Illustrator
Quentin Bell, the multitalented younger son of Vanessa and Clive Bell, was a notable ceramicist, writer, educator and artist. This exhibition marks the centenary of Bell’s birth, and presents a selection of his lesser-known illustrative works. The images depict personal narratives that Bell imagined and bound in his leisure time as handmade books and cards for his loved ones. Curator Sophie Shaw explains that through colourful fairytales, pageants, maps and landscapes, Bell’s “humour and irreverence reveals his left-leaning politics and mistrust of received wisdom.”
Friday 10th Historical talk ‘East Sussex County of Distinction’
Christopher Whittick is Senior Archivist at the East Sussex County Record office, and a veritable treasure trove when it comes to local knowledge and history, as we have found to our great advantage on many occasions at Viva Lewes. This talk explores the many differences between East and West Sussex, positing the idea that the West of the 'county' has more to do with Hampshire, and the East, with Kent. That the underlying geology has led to different agricultural and industrial practices and ultimately to different characteristics and attitudes of the people. "An alternative title," says Christopher, "would be 'why is there no Bonfire Night in Chichester?' There will be a licensed bar, and the event is a fundraiser for Anne of Cleves House.
Anne of Cleves House, 7.30pm. Tickets £5 in advance from Jane Vokins 01273 472527 or on the door.
Sep 10th: Tour & Tasting at Ridgeview Estate
The chalk and clay soil of the Downs, say Ditchling-based vintners Ridgeview, is much like the combination found in the Champagne region. Lucky for us then, that we can support local business, save carbon and make like Edina and Patsy all at once. Tours of the award-winning Ridgeview estate are offered on a flexible basis – see their website for details www.ridgeview.co.uk - and this month Harveys Wine Club have organised a special private tour. The cover price includes a glass of Ridgeview followed by a two-course meal at the White Horse Inn, another glass of plonk, and coffee. Meet at Ridgeview at 7pm.
This grand townhouse has set stage to more art, and entertainment, than the average Council building. You can read all about it in this months Viva Bricks and Mortar column or even better, you can go and have a look around yourself. Council employees Anne Spike and Phillip Pople are hosting guided tours as part of Heritage Open Days, the nationwide event that provides free access to properties of architectural or historical interest. Visitors have open access to the exhibition, ground floor rooms and garden, the upper floors and ‘Thebes’ the stable block can be viewed by guided tour only. From 10.30- 4.00pm.
Other Lewes-area buildings opening their doors to the public this weekend include:
Lamb House
Check out the recently restored Chinese Coromandel laquer panels in this small townhouse on Chapel Hill. Sunday 10am-5pm.
Town Hall. Pre-booking required (from TH or 471469) for an inside tour of what used to be the Star Inn. Tours are on Sunday at 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm.
Monks House, Rodmell
Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s country residence, featuring, in a lovely garden, Virginia’s writing room. Sat 2-5.30pm. Pre-booking required for groups of 10 or more on 01323 870001.
St John-sub-castro
Check out the Saxon details within the walls of the imposing 19th-century church, and the memorial to the Finnish prisoners. Sat 9am-5pm.
Friend’s Meeting House
Nose around inside the Quakers’ place on Friar’s Walk, built in 1784. Sat 10am-4pm.
Ashcombe Toll House
Falsely rumoured to be Nan Kemp’s residence, the funny little roundhouse at the end of Ashcombe Lane (just outside Kingston) was actually a toll house on what was once a turnpike. Open Sat and Sun, 10am-5pm.
Check out all the historic open houses in East Sussex here.
Sat 11th: Aprons to Tail-coats – Costume Sale
Lewes Theatre Club is having a clear-out of spare and unwanted costumes and cloth from the wardrobe department to raise funds for the theatre. In the past the club has sold unwanted furs, men’s dress-shirts, Clothkits items, glitzy pieces and masses of fun clothing with personality and history. They can't promise what will be there on the day, but there are bound to be items to brighten up this season's wardrobe, and others to raise a grin.
Lewes Little Theatre, Lancaster Street from 10am–12.30pm, entrance 50p. Trade welcome.
Sat 11th & Sun 12th: Laughton Country Show
A traditional country fair with all the ingredients for a curiously fun day out: meat and two veg, ale, crafts and lots of machinery. Expect displays of classic cars, vintage motorcycles, military, commercial and fire fighting vehicles, steam engines and tractors. Ten acres of trade and craft stalls selling a wide variety of goods plus new food court and ‘The Inn in the Field’ licensed bar. On Saturday Woodys One man Band and Status Quo Tribute Band, Statin Quo. Many working areas included haymaking, woodchopping, sawing. A fireworks display concludes the festivities at 10:30pm.
Sat 9-10.30pm, Sun 9-5pm. Adults £8, kids £3, family £19 (2 adults, 2 kids), OAPS £7, under fives go free. B2124 nr Lewes. www.heritagefield.co.uk 01323 811264
Sat 11th: Lewes 'Our Past & Our Present' Graveyard Tours
Archaeologist Sue Crooks uncovers layers of history on this free guided-tour of the All Saints churchyard. The tour offers visitors the chance to learn about prominent Lewes residents, their ancestors and society as a whole. For those interested in tracing family trees a memorial record and transcription of the Burial Register of the former church will be available. Visitors can enjoy a cuppa in the Lewes’ Oyster Project café, and peruse the ‘What's On’ showcase, for information about the range of activities scheduled at the centre in coming months.
Free entry. All Saints Centre, Friars Walk from 9.30am-3.00pm, tours start at 10am, 12.30pm and 2.30, pre-booking recommended, email asc.lewes@btconnect.com or call 486391.
Sat 11th and Sun 12th. Cinema: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (PG)
Don’t expect Mickey Mouse, but a magical and masterful Nicolas Cage trying to defend Manhattan from the forces of darkness, with the help of a (more) normal bloke played by Jay Baruchel.
Lewes Cinema, All Saints, 6pm, Sat and 5pm, Sun.
Sat 11th: Battle of Britain Ball
Get your nylons out on Saturday for the Newhaven Fort Battle of Britain Ball, featuring a live jazz band playing 1940s tunes, dance demonstrations from Brighton Boogie and a licensed bar.
From 7:30pm-10:30pm, £9. Over 16s only, advance tickets available from the Newhaven Fort Shop.
Sun 12th: Battle of Britain Day
Newhaven fort present ‘a day of nostalgia and remembrance’ to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Expect 1940s themed entertainments from 10.50am, with Britain's Got Talent quarterfinalists the Swing-time Sweethearts and the Seaford Silver Band performing some swinging sibilant showtunes. Enjoy a 1940s dance display from Studio Tempo, a grand array of period military vehicles, and a fantastic finale, as World War II Spitfire & Hurricane unite in a grand memorial flight. There will be fundraising for The Dame Vera Lynn Trust for children with Cerebral Palsy throughout the day. www.newhavenfort.org.uk 517622
Until Sun 12th: Lewes Pells Pool
Despite buying sensible swimmers and planning to plunge in, I’ve left this new hobby to the last minute. If you’re wiser, more fun or fitter than me, you will have long been enjoying the lovely Lewes lido but if not, you’ve still got time to have a dip before the weather turns.
Open from 12noon-7pm daily; adults £4, junior/concessions £2. www.pellspool.org.uk
Sun 12th: Cinema - 'The Twilight Saga - Eclipse' (12A)
‘Eclipse’ is the third in a series of screen adaptations of the superbly popular vampire ‘romance’ novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. I’m told the Twilight Saga is considerably less saucy than vampire stories of old.
Lewes Cinema, All Saints, 7.30pm.
Gig Guide
Thur 2nd
Dunia Duo. Flamenco guitar and violin. Pelham Arms, 8pm, free
Spider John Koerner. Trad American living legend. Royal Oak, 8pm, £7
Fri 3rd
Led Zep Too. No RP et al, but the songs remain the same. Con Club. 8pm, £8/members Free
Road Runners. The Volunteer, 9pm-11pm, free
Sat 4th
Holliday Junction The Snowdrop. 9pm, free
Sun 5th
Ray Owen. Acoustic session with Juicy Lucy front man. Con Club, 3pm, free
Rick Bonner. The Volunteer. 4pm, free
Night Train to Laredo Smokestack, The Sweet Nothing and songs from the West End. All Saints, 7pm, £10 from Laporte’s
Mon 6th
Tim Wade (Trombone) Jazz. Snowdrop. 9pm, free
Thur 9th
Ian Price (Sax) Jazz. Snowdrop. 9pm, free
Diego Parada. Gypsy walzes and polkas. Pelham Arms, 8pm, free
Taffy and Aimee Thomas, Father and daughter stories and songs. Royal Oak, 8pm, £6
Fri 10th
Andrew Ranken & Mysterious Wheels. Pogues drummer sings the blues. Con Club 8pm, £5/members free
Crackling Griffins. Pogues-style Irish. Volunteer. 9pm, free
Sat 11th
Toby Borelli aka King Size Slim. Snowdrop. 9pm, free
Sun 12th
Homecoming. Acoustic duo. Con Club, 3pm, free
Sam Chara. Cabaret-style French jazz. Volunteer, 4pm, free
If you are a Lewes gig regular you might have noticed an increasingly familiar presence just in front of stage. Italian Lewes resident Francesco Andreoli has made it his mission to film many of the bands who play here, and post up the results on his website. The latest highlights come from the latest gig by the god damnfire and hellnation, Arthur Brown.
Just when it seemed like the Great Lewes Race Row had blown over, a curious article appeared in 
It’s worth a trip to Seaford, according to one valued source, just to see this exhibition of a talented artist. The source in question is fellow artist John Holloway, who tells us he used to teach at Brighton Poly with Seymour (aka Jim). ‘Since his early retirement many years ago he has continued to draw and paint virtually every day on work which is completely original and unique in approach, sometimes large, sometimes small, always highly complex in minute detail, beautifully executed, often surreal, poetic, and at times disturbing, familiar things in dreamlike contexts. Some are up to about four feet across, others about four inches.’ Sounds intriguing.
There are a couple of new stalls at our new Friday morning market, originally set up by Transition Town, but now a completely independent concern. Mrs York’s jams will be on sale from today, and Egypt Farm will start up their cooking of meat samples in the yard. Watch this space for any new developments in the Market Tower, purpose-built in the 18th century.
It’s the first Saturday of the month, so, of course, the Farmers’ Market is up and running in what is officially called, we’ve just found out, the ‘Eastgate Precinct’. So there you go. The organisers, Common Cause, promise ‘fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, cheeses and eggs direct from local farmers, together with bread, pickles and cakes all made with local ingredients by local businesses.’ There’s also information about next month’s ‘Pickled’ event, which will be part of the OctoberFeast celebrations.
The home games are coming in thick and fast, but this one should be a bit special. England are playing this weekend (against Bulgaria on Friday night) which means that there’s no Premiership and Championship fixtures, and Brighton’s game against Plymouth has been postponed. A QPR fan, Joe Doe, came up with a brilliant idea: why not encourage fans with no game to go to, to visit their local non-league club, instead? As the nearest club in question to Lewes is Crystal Palace, we’ll wait and see how many fans this boils down to, but there should be an extra hundred or two on the gate, in addition to the 600-odd Lewes are averaging this season.
It’s autumn, now, so here’s to the Autumn of Love. The inaugural Glyndstock Beer and Music Festival, a fundraising event for a number of local causes, is taking place at the Trevor Arms on Saturday 4th September, from 1pm-11pm. There’s an 11.30pm train from the nearby railway station, so our advice is to walk over there, and get the train back.
If you thought rubber ducks were just for bathtubs, think again. St Peter and St James Hospice are planning to throw hundreds of little ducks into the river to see which floats the fastest. It promises to be a surreal and splendid scene at this family fun day at the Anchor Inn. Ducks cost a £1 each, there will be food and drink, a tombola, face-painting, and popular trio The Desperate Hirstwives will sing songs from the fifties through to the ‘teens. Above all, this is a great opportunity to thank St Peter and St James Hospice for the care and comfort their team provides to families across Sussex.
‘Zocalo’ is the idea of Lewes-based David Burke, who is the head of the ‘White Dot’ anti-TV campaign. In the summer of 2006 he encouraged scores of residents in the hillside Brighton community to turn off their televisions for the night, and instead sit on chairs outside their houses. The event was a great success; Grace Perry filmed it as part of a Channel 4 documentary, and everyone had a fairly wild time. That was that, for a while, until Brighton Fringe performer David Bramwell used the concept of ‘zocalo’ in his act this summer, and then asked his namesake to help him organise a re-run for 2010. It’s taking place after 5pm; if you’ve got any Hanover friends, it might be an idea to join them. Otherwise, just wait a year: plans are in the offing for a Lewes ‘zocalo’ next year.
The Lewes Cycle Challenge is a ‘free, fun competition to encourage people to remember the joys and benefits of riding a bike.’ To take part, all you need to do is ride a bike for ten minutes or more and log each journey on the Cycle Challenge website. Prizes include Odeon Cinema tickets, High Street vouchers, bicycle computers, a tea for two, and if you’re really lucky, a 2011 Trek 7300 hybrid bike donated by Lewes Cycle Shack. There are also a range of activities to help get more people cycling, including Dr Bike maintenance sessions and cycle skills training. Register at 
Critically acclaimed action science fiction, written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Dark Night). Leonardo DiCaprio has supplanted this introduction with the idea that I should go and see the film. 
Quentin Bell, the multitalented younger son of Vanessa and Clive Bell, was a notable ceramicist, writer, educator and artist. This exhibition marks the centenary of Bell’s birth, and presents a selection of his lesser-known illustrative works. The images depict personal narratives that Bell imagined and bound in his leisure time as handmade books and cards for his loved ones. Curator Sophie Shaw explains that through colourful fairytales, pageants, maps and landscapes, Bell’s “humour and irreverence reveals his left-leaning politics and mistrust of received wisdom.” 
Christopher Whittick is Senior Archivist at the East Sussex County Record office, and a veritable treasure trove when it comes to local knowledge and history, as we have found to our great advantage on many occasions at Viva Lewes. This talk explores the many differences between East and West Sussex, positing the idea that the West of the 'county' has more to do with Hampshire, and the East, with Kent. That the underlying geology has led to different agricultural and industrial practices and ultimately to different characteristics and attitudes of the people. "An alternative title," says Christopher, "would be 'why is there no Bonfire Night in Chichester?' There will be a licensed bar, and the event is a fundraiser for Anne of Cleves House.
The chalk and clay soil of the Downs, say Ditchling-based vintners Ridgeview, is much like the combination found in the Champagne region. Lucky for us then, that we can support local business, save carbon and make like Edina and Patsy all at once. Tours of the award-winning Ridgeview estate are offered on a flexible basis – see their website for details 
This grand townhouse has set stage to more art, and entertainment, than the average Council building. You can read all about it in this months Viva Bricks and Mortar column or even better, you can go and have a look around yourself. Council employees Anne Spike and Phillip Pople are hosting guided tours as part of Heritage Open Days, the nationwide event that provides free access to properties of architectural or historical interest. Visitors have open access to the exhibition, ground floor rooms and garden, the upper floors and ‘Thebes’ the stable block can be viewed by guided tour only. From 10.30- 4.00pm.
A traditional country fair with all the ingredients for a curiously fun day out: meat and two veg, ale, crafts and lots of machinery. Expect displays of classic cars, vintage motorcycles, military, commercial and fire fighting vehicles, steam engines and tractors. Ten acres of trade and craft stalls selling a wide variety of goods plus new food court and ‘The Inn in the Field’ licensed bar. On Saturday Woodys One man Band and Status Quo Tribute Band, Statin Quo. Many working areas included haymaking, woodchopping, sawing. A fireworks display concludes the festivities at 10:30pm.
Archaeologist Sue Crooks uncovers layers of history on this free guided-tour of the All Saints churchyard. The tour offers visitors the chance to learn about prominent Lewes residents, their ancestors and society as a whole. For those interested in tracing family trees a memorial record and transcription of the Burial Register of the former church will be available. Visitors can enjoy a cuppa in the Lewes’ Oyster Project café, and peruse the ‘What's On’ showcase, for information about the range of activities scheduled at the centre in coming months. 
Don’t expect Mickey Mouse, but a magical and masterful Nicolas Cage trying to defend Manhattan from the forces of darkness, with the help of a (more) normal bloke played by Jay Baruchel. 
Newhaven fort present ‘a day of nostalgia and remembrance’ to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Expect 1940s themed entertainments from 10.50am, with Britain's Got Talent quarterfinalists the Swing-time Sweethearts and the Seaford Silver Band performing some swinging sibilant showtunes. Enjoy a 1940s dance display from Studio Tempo, a grand array of period military vehicles, and a fantastic finale, as World War II Spitfire & Hurricane unite in a grand memorial flight. There will be fundraising for The Dame Vera Lynn Trust for children with Cerebral Palsy throughout the day. 
‘Eclipse’ is the third in a series of screen adaptations of the superbly popular vampire ‘romance’ novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. I’m told the Twilight Saga is considerably less saucy than vampire stories of old. 
