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Villages Sussex

BoatieBird said:
Are you based down there then?
My sis-in-law and family live in Bosham, it is a lovely part of the world.
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My boat is down there, I'm generally down there a lot although I've been spending too much time in London lately :(

Bosham is lovely, I took my boat up there to the quay on high spring tide once (it's shallow there)

You should come sailing some time :)
 
i def want a summer holiday in some twee village one year. i like the silences you get when the traffic stops. sitting in an english country garden when the sun goes down and all that shit. strange to think holiday could be fullfilled like that just an hour or so from London.
 
BigMoaner said:
i def want a summer holiday in some twee village one year. i like the silences you get when the traffic stops. sitting in an english country garden when the sun goes down and all that shit. strange to think holiday could be fullfilled like that just an hour or so from London.
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Would recommend Holmbury St Mary for a visit. Twee and feels very remote. Lovely church with interesting graveyard and two very good pubs.

Winkworth arboretum is good for a day out all year round too, it has hills, but we pushchair it with no hassle.
 
two sheds said:
And Lewes, Lewes isn't just for bonfire nightTM
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No, it's for getting really pissed and fighting in the street, and in the kebab shop, and in the pub, and on the late bus back to Uckfield. In fact, pretty much everywhere. I've not been drinking in Lewes for years but it used to be the lairiest place I've ever known at chucking-out time. It does have some great pubs though, and good bookshops too.

Leafster said:
I'm from Forest Row.
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Another place I've not been to in years. Is that brilliant little coffee shop - Java and Jazz or something like that - still there? And is the village still full of hippies, new agers, acid casualties and other assorted oddballs? :D
 
Roadkill said:
No, it's for getting really pissed and fighting in the street, and in the kebab shop, and in the pub, and on the late bus back to Uckfield. In fact, pretty much everywhere. I've not been drinking in Lewes for years but it used to be the lairiest place I've ever known at chucking-out time. It does have some great pubs though, and good bookshops too.
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This. I've seen far more fights in pubs in Lewes than I have in London. And it's got the steepest high street in England.

In warmer weather, Alfriston and Litlington would be a nice day out, Cuckmere Haven if you fancy a walk with baby in a carrier.

If littlies like trains you could go to Isfield on a steam day, my son enjoyed seeing the trains at about 6mos. I like Charleston at Firle if you're into visiting arty houses.
 
villages are weird now in the SE. HAve they been gentrified in the main? Shere had that feeling of just being a little slice of Northcoat Road. Plenty of tweed and Tillys. Hunter boots for the vistitors, big clod hopper cluncky green ones and battered Volvos for the locals :)

it's charm though was the back streets, the little footpaths that led into totally silent countryside, and of course the houses. incredible little gardens and just idylic really.

Tory land.

i said to my wife "where's the chicken cottage?"

there was no chicken cottage.

i don' think I could live there though. I don't have the personality for tight knit community. I like community but i think it would feel a bit like a pressure cooker after a while.

probably one of the most idylic villages i've visited in hte south. i'm sure there are better ones.
 
innit said:
If littlies like trains you could go to Isfield on a steam day, my son enjoyed seeing the trains at about 6mos.
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Or go and have a pint in the Laughing Fish, which always used to be a cracking pub. :cool: Tbh a pint in there is probably money better spent than on the Lavender Line, which is a bit disappointing IMO. If steam trains are your thing the Bluebell is a much better day out.
 
Roadkill said:
Another place I've not been to in years. Is that brilliant little coffee shop - Java and Jazz or something like that - still there?

And is the village still full of hippies, new agers, acid casualties and other assorted oddballs? :D
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I haven't been back there for a couple of years (since my Mum died) but as far as I know Java & Jazz is still going strong.

It still surprises me that people know of Forest Row and its odd mix of residents. To me, it was just the place I grew up. I thought everywhere had its fair share of alternative life-stylers but perhaps not. It was normal for me to see hippies, new agers and other assorted eccentrics about and have "artisan" shops selling goods and produce way before the term became mainstream and subsequently derided (we're talking 1970s & 1980s). I also thought it was common to know scientologist and mormon kids and for other local kids to go to alternative schools like the Rudolf Steiner in the village. So, to sum up, yes, Forest Row still has its fair share of weirdos! :D
 
Oh, I've just remembered that when I was a teenager there was a woman who looked a bit like Kate Bush dressed as a glam witch (if such a thing exists). She used to ride around the village on a tricycle with her little boy dressed as a cowboy sat on the back.
 
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Leafster said:
It still surprises me that people know of Forest Row and its odd mix of residents.
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My Uncle lives there, near the cat rescue centre, which seems to be staffed by complete nutters. A couple of years ago we took the kids down there when they had an Xmas fayre to show them the cats. They had a scary treasure hunt to find Father Xmas but with ghosts, christ knows why. Scared the shit out of my kids and Mum. At the end a lad in a mask jumped out from behind a tree with an axe and chased them back to the pet centre. My Mum nearly had a heart attack :D
 
ringo said:
My Uncle lives there, near the cat rescue centre, which seems to be staffed by complete nutters. A couple of years ago we took the kids down there when they had an Xmas fayre to show them the cats. They had a scary treasure hunt to find Father Xmas but with ghosts, christ knows why. Scared the shit out of my kids and Mum. At the end a lad in a mask jumped out from behind a tree with an axe and chased them back to the pet centre. My Mum nearly had a heart attack :D
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:D

I don't remember the Cat rescue place. When we were young we used to wander across the fields to the Emerson College * Summer Fayre. The staff and students used to put on lots of stuff for the locals to enjoy. I don't remember any axe-wielding going on and as a youngster it was pretty magical. :)

* From their website, Emerson College "provides adult education and learning that integrates the spiritual, social and practical dimensions of life and work" :D
 
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BigMoaner said:
villages are weird now in the SE. HAve they been gentrified in the main? Shere had that feeling of just being a little slice of Northcoat Road. Plenty of tweed and Tillys. Hunter boots for the vistitors, big clod hopper cluncky green ones and battered Volvos for the locals :)

it's charm though was the back streets, the little footpaths that led into totally silent countryside, and of course the houses. incredible little gardens and just idylic really.

Tory land.

i said to my wife "where's the chicken cottage?"

there was no chicken cottage.

i don' think I could live there though. I don't have the personality for tight knit community. I like community but i think it would feel a bit like a pressure cooker after a while.

probably one of the most idylic villages i've visited in hte south. i'm sure there are better ones.
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Shere is the postcard village, so attracts the day trippers, such as yourself. The other villages nearby are very similar, but without the crowds of people on a Sunday.

The whole of the SE is tory land though, not just Surrey.

Tory.PNG


We looked at houses in Shere and other places nearby, Abinger, Holmbury, Witley & Chiddingford, but in the end were too scared to go for such a small place. The thought of running out of Rizlas at 2 o'clock on Sunday and having to drive to get some was too much to bear. So opted for Godalming, which is big enough to have all you need on tap, yet you can walk/cycle all the way from town to Hampshire without crossing more than a single track road (once you've crossed the A3), if you want to.
 
it wasn't actually that busy, which surprised us. the pub was packed, but each street had only or two people strolling about, and they looked like locals
 
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