To a tee

My sister and I decided to have a day out with our Dad a few weeks ago. Now that's not as easy as it sounds as he and my Mum are incredibly active still and have travelled widely. He is also a keen walker and there isn't much ground left in West Sussex which he won't have already covered. However, I did happen to know that he hasn't yet visited the Wings museum https://gnatbottomedtowers.blogspot.com/search?q=wings+museum so that's where we plumped for. Since my previous visit they have rejigged all of the displays and it was just as fascinating as it was the first time around. Nevertheless it is all WWII related and I've chosen not to blog again about its content as some of it is difficult and I think we've all got enough on our plates right now. What I did find extraordinary though was this set of rules from 1940 for playing golf during these times. The mind quite boggles whilst managing to be frightfully British with a 'keep calm and carry on' attitude about the whole beastly business of war!

It's such an interesting place and the volunteers are an excellent source of information. We rounded off our day with a pint of good Sussex ale in a nearby country pub. Such times are to be treasured. Hope you have a fabulous weekend.

Arilx

The Wings Museum

With the wind blowing an absolute hoolie on Sunday all plans to walk up in the South Downs were cast aside in favour of an indoor activity. I'd only found out about this local museum the day before but it seemed a good contender in the alternative options stakes!

Housed inside an enormous industrial warehouse, this is one of those marvellous and rather less slick museums you get when a load of enthusiastic, knowledgeable volunteers come together and pool their resources. It's crammed full of exhibits which show the impact and cost of the war. It doesn't shy away from the reality....the crashed planes are shown as they were found....tangled fuselage with any casualties listed with them. Some of the casualties have never been found, but it also touches upon events at a local level. It was sobering to learn of the bombing of a local school when the lone bomber had missed his original military target.....28 children, two teachers and a local lady perished. Yet interwoven with all this horror are details which give an insight into how the war impacted the lives of civilians and everyday human stories.

This German horror was called a butterfly bomb. Many children were attracted by its shape and picked them up thinking they were shrapnel. Tragically they were fitted with time delay and anti disturbance fuses so many young lives were lost to them.

This is one of several recreated crash site diaramas. It puts a very different spin on the other WW2 RAF places I've been to where the planes have been restored to their pristine original selves. It forces you to stop and think.

An original Air Ministry scramble bell which was rung for precisely that reason...to alert the pilots to scramble and gave rise to the saying "Don't come round and tell. Ring the bell like hell!" The photo below shows a silk escape map which would have been carried by a Lancaster pilot on operations in Germany.

To finish this small overview the wedding dress of Lily Parish who married her fiance, Arthur just after the end of the war. It's made from a German parachute which Arthur retrieved from a store in Germany when he was out there on active service with the RAF.  Fabric continued to be in short supply for many years after hostilities had ceased.

Now I'm not one that is remotely interested in the mechanics of planes or the historical details of the battles, but even for me it was a place that I would happily return to.

Arilx

The artists in residence

 Back in 1907 the now controversial sculptor Eric Gill [you may remember his Prospero and Ariel statue on the outside of the BBC Broadcasting house was defaced by a man with a hammer a couple of years ago] moved to the small East Sussex of Ditchling. In 1921 he set up the Guild of St Joseph and Dominic which was a Roman Catholic community of arts and craftsmen which drew many others to join him. The museum focuses on this period of the village's development, but Gill is less prominent than he once was reflecting the changing attitude towards him. As a man he was deeply flawed, but the magnificence of his work speaks for itself. I went with my friend E and it was a first visit for both of us. To be frank I can't for the life of me see what drew people here in the first place😆

The village has been here since at least 765AD and was in the hands of King Alfred the Great by the 9th century. By 1086 it was noted for having 196 households which would have been considered large by the standards of the day. It's never been on the rail line and the locals have campaigned hard to stop encroaching development which has kept it small and largely unchanged. It just has a lot more traffic thundering through it these days! Just to warn you that the photos are very buildings heavy this time.

This one is called Crossways and has on it a plaque to the local Dr Linton-Bogle who died in 1964. The side gate has the medical symbol of the rod of Asclepius. He was a Greek God venerated for his healing and his cult believed snakes to be divine creatures.

 

This one dates from 1573.

Ancient bits of timber upcycled into porches.

The Green Welly cafe even has a huge welly on its roof and an appropriately themed door knocker.👢

Close up of a very old lock on an equally old door from the 15th century house "Tudor Close". It looks like it could well be an original feature.

I vote this fellow for being quite the ugliest dragon I have ever had the pleasure to meet. The Saxons often called them wyrms and this one fits the bill rather nicely and whilst we're talking 🔥 breathing monsters the old Fire Station and a Guardian Fire and Marine Insurance Company Mark. Rather surprisingly they were an American company not British as you might have expected.

So to wind it all please allow me to share with you photos of quite the ugliest building I have ever come across....awful isn't it😀 Nowadays it's called "Wings Place.", but once it was called "Ditchling Garden Manor". It was originally owned by Lewes Priory, but then dear old Henry VIII got his fat grasping paws on it after the dissolution of the monasteries. He passed it over to Anne of Cleves as part of the divorce settlement. It's unlikely that she ever visited, but when combined with the house in Lewes he also gave her I don't think she fared too badly from their brief marriage did she.  It is truly spectacular and is even more so when viewed in the flesh.

Another lovely day of adventuring enjoying more Sussex gems.

Arilx