The Witchcraft and Vagrancy Act

 Here in Horsham we are lucky devils because we are able to enjoy three months of free music every Friday night over the summer which covers a wide spectrum of genres. Within that time frame the museum opens its garden once a month with an additional offering. At the last minute I got wind of a "spooky folk band" coming up from Brighton so we decided that day to go down and see what The Witchcraft and Vagrancy Act were about. Were they spooky? You can judge yourself from the photos below which were taken on a very bright July evening.

Were they any good? They were fabulous and definitely a sinister soulful take on traditional folk. I was intrigued when the main singer downed his violin and sat down with a jig doll. I somehow didn't expect it, but it was very fitting. This is the tune which accompanied the dancing wooden figure. I have kept this back to All Hallows as somehow the dark half of the year seems more fitting for their material. The Bonegrubber's Jig.

Arilx

Down at the chippy

Our favourite local chippy has got in on the Halloween mania. The guy who painted it works in the shop and spent days creating it. I love a bit of 👻 and might as well climb on the band wagon He's made a nod to the late Tim Curry who we sadly lost in August. It goes without saying that I came across the artwork when we were there buying a sneaky chippy supper for our recent wedding anniversary!

Have a great weekend.

Arilx

Gritty

Someone just couldn't resist🤣

Arilx

 

Prattle Broth

During the 18th and 19th century  whilst the blokes had the coffee houses, pubs and drawing rooms, the women were left with pots of tea and visitors with which to share a cuppa and catch up on all the news and gossip In a patriarchal society a cup of tea was dismissively referred to as prattle broth, scandal broth or cat lap. I love nothing better than catching up with a friend over a cuppa. A few years ago my friend Arty L bought me this beautiful cup and saucer as a surprise gift. We don't usually exchange presents, but she said she simply she had to get it for me because she knew I would treasure it. Too right!

Arilx

Influenced by....

During his lifetime Oliver Messel was the most famous and highest paid theatre set and costume designer in the country. His clothes were known for being eminently wearable on stage, light in weight and very practical. His work continues to ne influential and Nymans is currently exhibiting these dresses inspired by his work and created by students from Wimbledon College of Arts. Messel was a member of the family who owned Nymans before it passed into the hands of the National Trust. Beautiful.

Arilx

 

Sussex by the sea.

There are just so many towns along the Sussex coast which I have either never been to or not for aeons. Shame on me! On my birthday I managed to tick another one off the list and am now left wondering why it took me so long to visit. Destination Seaford. 

If you love being by the sea, but are not a fan of the whole 'seaside' resort and big crowds thing then this town might just be perfect for you. There are toilets and a couple of small cafes down on the front, but none of the classic attractions and not a funfair in sight. Even the parking is free. Other than oodles of blue sky what we did get down there was this beautiful memorial bench to Claire Sumners who was a local environmental activist and very highly thought of. After the bench was unveiled in 2025, there was a community beach clean held along with a celebration of her life. At the far end you come across the long Shoal community bench which weaves it way along the jetty at Splashpoint like a silver stream. Upon its seats are many fish shaped messages. Many are of too personal a message to share here I feel, but this punning one made me smile. It all felt a little fishy in tone to me🐟 Walk further up and you will see the Martello Tower which was built in 1808 and is one of 103 national examples. It cost in the region of £18k at the time and was put up to keep old Boney from invading. Nowadays it is seeing a second life as a museum, but was closed on our visit.

Having got ourselves orientated and with one of the heritage trails downloaded we headed off up into the town to continue our meanderings.

Any visit that I'm on will almost inevitably a visit to the local church. I'm such a good tourist that I had even contacted the parish office to check the opening hours😀

St Leonard's [the patron saint of sailors] was a Norman church [the arch at the bottom of the tower is one of the remaining features from that time. It was sacked by the French and then restored in 1485 with the tower rebuilt within the old walls. It retains some lovely features as well as some glorious modern additions. I thought the ancient carving of St Michael slaying the dragon most apt as I was born on St Michael's day.

Every church has its many memorials to the great and the good from the local vicinity, but this one to Dr William Pringle is of national interest because he was the first person to officially diagnose dyslexia in an article he wrote for the B.M.A in 1896. He had noted that one of his young patients was a bright lad, but had been struggling with reading and writing. Further investigations led Pringle to discover that the problem was not down to a lack of understanding, but an issue relating to visual perception.

The font is a modern one and although pleasant to look at from afar on its oak plinth it didn't exactly blow my socks off. My reaction changed upon seeing the bowl....a stunning enamelled piece made by Mel Howse💙🩵

Part of exploring always involves a cup of coffee if it's me. Opposite the church stood a cafe with this daft sign outside. We were intrigued and it was recommended to us by two of the patrons who were just leaving as we approached. Well I have to say it was one of the high spots of the day. It's small inside and was packed. The whole time we were there everyone was bantering back and forth with the owner who gave as good as he got. In the end I couldn't resist joining in and when asked if we were from around the area I admitted that we had crossed the county border. There's always a bit of rivalry between East and West and I was reminded that the West is the place where all the rejects from East Sussex and Hampshire are sent. I laughed my socks off and the coffee tasted amazing!

Here's a few of our after lunch treasures as we finished our walk. The frontage of the chemist is still the original one with that unusual contemporary combination of lamp post and dog bowl to be seen.

What a gem. We were made to feel very welcome.

Arilx

Oh the irony.

We have been doing fortnighly reptile surveys in a couple of fields at our local nature reserve for several months. Today was the last one of the season. In all that time we've seen beautiful field mice and voles, but only one slow worm. As we walked home what did we find sunning itself in the middle of the pavement....only a stunning metallic coloured baby slow worm. I didn't fancy its chances of survival there, so rescued it and released in a safer spot nearby. 

 

Arilx