Marvellous Mondays

With a recent tweak by a client to our arrangement [related to other issues not connected to me or my business] I now finish every Monday at 12.30. That arrangement will definitely stay in place because I stopped taking on anyone new or extra hours at the beginning of this year. Whilst I may not be able to get that far distance wise it has opened up the possibility of a few local trip on some of those afternoons. I was quick to take advantage of the new free time and sort out a local adventure with my friend E. Lindfield it was....20 minutes from home and am not sure that I've ever driven through it!

Originally derived from the Old English 'Lindefeldia' meaning open land with lime trees the village sign pays homage to its arboreal roots. If you were to have a check list of everything a good village should have I would suggest this place would meet every criteria....village pond tick, parish church tick, large common tick, beautiful houses from different eras tick [you've got a whole street stuffed full of 'em], independent shops tick, free parking tick and pubs big fat tick. Whereas everywhere else seems to be losing their inns I was amazed at how many there were in such a small area. It's won the 'Best Kept Village in West Sussex' award many times and a newspaper article said that it's been banned from entering again to give other places a chance at winning the title. Perhaps they could take a lime leaf out of their book!

The Toll house...there are no surprises what this building was once used for on the route between New Chapel and Brighton from 1803 onwards. Road charges were about as popular back then as they are now and the the gates got nicked and burnt on Bonfire Night in 1884!

This is the side view of the exposed beams from the former Humprey's Bakery [est 1796] building which dates from the 1300s. It had stood empty for a while and become rather neglected, but thankfully is being carefully restored and will become a private home.

A bit of Edwardian Elegance. The rather wonky upper windows make me wonder whether it's masquerading as a house from this era, but whether there's a much older building lurking behind the frontage. It's lack of symmetry just doesn't quite ring true when compared to other examples I've seen. It makes for a more interesting effect as far as I'm concerned.

Mind you when you see it alongside this one it's no competition in the wonky stakes...all that green wood they used in the construction has twisted to some glorious angles during the intervening centuries. This one was once called Old Place, but now is West Wing and was at one time the village poorhouse. 

These two were tucked away up a side alley. They're always such a good way of finding out about people were up to...naughty persons 'committing a nuisance' translates as weeing where they weren't supposed to!

All Saints church has got Charles Kempe, the stained glass window designer and maker, buried here, but I'd argue that their greater claim to fame is apparently one Robert Stafford who is named in the 15th century as being the priest here. The name might not mean anything, but you might recognise him if I say he was also known as Friar Tuck. Various writs name him as being the leader of a gang of criminals who were poachers, arsonists and murderers. It hardly sounds like the antics of Robin Hood's right hand man does it now. Reading elsewhere the facts seem to be disputed, but according to a writ of 1429 they failed to catch him. The brass grave slab is included because I've never seen a memento mori on one....someone has been kept busy keeping it beautifully polished.

Looking at all the rather marvellous decals on Zachary's van he may not only sweep chimneys, but also sweep by on a broomstick judging by his pentacle. Am not sure that Mr GBT would agree with me festooning the metal wheeled box with greenman and gargoyle stickers👿 Much more fun than your usual dull white van you see everywhere!

As ever all good adventures must end with refreshment of some description so the pub it was. Only coffee on this occasion and although the Witch Inn was tempting it wasn't open. We could have patronised the Stand Up Inn...a place which had no chairs or tables to stop the workforce from tarrying over their beer in the old days, but we plumped for the Bent Arms. It's named after the 18th century Tory politician John Bent, but is nowadays a place of wonder. I showed the carved piece of wood propping up the bar a few days ago...this was the first of its many quirky treasures. There's a very mangy old stuffed bear called Fred who has travelled to Scotland and ended up in the pond one evening no doubt having been given more than a helping hand by a well oiled reveller. Looking at the photo of the copper fire hood I now think that it's probably a pair of bent arms depicted above it. Perfect fodder for us two!

All being well the next Marvellous Monday outing is scheduled for tomorrow.

Arilx