Bobservation No. 98: Democracy Quiz

Image of St Andrews with inset of Rishi SunakSt Andrews Quiz evening
This annual event, with a brilliant quizmaster, always so well organised and with a delightful supper, has been a great pleasure for quite a few years now. Last Friday the Furzefield Four, comprising the recent and current owners of that property, had a disastrous attempt at answering most of the questions but in spite of that had a most enjoyable evening. This really is a fixture on the local village calendar. Long may it reign!

Democracy?
Considering the ghastly mess that this Government has got all of us into, it is worth reflecting that the poorest will suffer the most and the wealthiest the least. I count myself as one of the more fortunate citizens and am enthusiastic to change this imbalance as soon as possible. Our nation has staggered along under a system that is flawed from top to bottom. Because change should start at the top I suggest the following changes should be considered. The Monarchy should be modernised and be subject to same laws as the rest of us. The Parliament buildings containing the Houses of Commons and Lords should be sold off and the proceeds invested in a new and modern parliament in the Midlands, which after all is nearer the centre of England. Members of Parliament should be elected by proportional representation and the House of Lords members should be similarly elected by the voting public. The Prime minister should only be chosen by the electorate and the enfranchisement age reduced to 17 for all elections. All remuneration and expenses for elected representatives should be carefully scrutinized and either reduced to acceptable levels or scrapped. The revaluation of domestic property should be updated as soon as possible for council tax purposes with second properties subject to double that tax. Having moaned about all that, and to be completely apolitical, I do sincerely wish the new Prime Minister the very best of luck. He seems a decent sort of man and I am delighted we have a leader who, for the first time, is a person of colour. He faces a very difficult journey but, so long as he has support from his own party, he may be able to lead us put of this mess.

Edburton Road Closed

Two week road closure for UK Power Networks for work taking place between Elmside and Perching Manor to install new High Voltage cables.

Proposed Start Date / Time Date: 21st June 2021 Time: 0800

Proposed End Date / Time Date: 2nd July 2021 Time: 1700

The restriction will be effective Day-time only from 0800 to 1800

Access maintained for emergency services, residents and pedestrians

Local’s diversion via Clappers Lane, Henfield Road, Horn Lane, Shoreham Road

Contact telephone number 03700 500792

Edburton Tithe Map

This website frequently makes use of clips from the Edburton Tithe Map of 1842 to illustrate posts. Not a lot has changed hereabouts in the last 180 years so the map is still both useful and attractive. If you have ever wondered how such a map came to be, then the West Sussex County Record Office has an interesting recent post by Abigail Hartley, their Searchroom Archivist. She uses Edburton as an example of a tithe map that is still in superb condition. The map shows the ecclesiastical parish of Edburton, the area served by St. Andrew’s, and thus shows all of Fulking, together with Edburton proper.

The map is still available from the Record Office (details via the link above). Local walkers are probably best advised to order the JPEG version and copy it to a tablet or mobile phone for consultation in situ. Unlike a large scale OS map, the tithe map does not mark the status of routes as ‘bridleways’, ‘public footpaths’, etc. If you are relatively new to the area, and plan to use the map for walking, then you may want to use an image editor like Photoshop to copy those indications over from OS Explorer 122.

A tithe map, like the Domesday Book, is ultimately about taxation. To that end the Edburton map uses colour to distinguish between the buildings then used for human habitation (red) and all the others (grey), typically agricultural buildings for animal accommodation or feed storage. That distinction alone tells us quite a lot about mid-C19 activity in the central section of The Street (between the pub and the building now known as Yew Tree Cottage).

Another feature of the tithe map, not shared with any of the various iterations of OS maps, is that it records the names of (all!) the fields. These names are often full of information, thus ‘Fulking Mills’ is located just where two of the local spring streams merge, an ideal location for fulling mills; ‘Coneybeare’ and ‘Upper Coney Burrow’ were probably both once sources of rabbit meat, the latter conveniently placed for the Perching Manor dinner table; ‘The Rookery’ and ‘Hog Pasture’ need no translation; and nor does ‘Boggy Lagg’ if you make the mistake of traversing it in mid-February with the wrong shoes on.

HDC Open Spaces Survey 2020

Field Paths and Green Lanes
The parish of Fulking falls within Mid Sussex District — but only just. The local territory to our West is all part of Horsham District. Even Edburton falls within Horsham District. Fulking residents know that useful parking discs (i.e., Henfield, Steyning) have to be purchased from HDC, not MSDC. But HDC’s relevant responsibilities extend beyond village car parks. They also look after public open spaces (Henfield Common, for example) and rural trails (a large section of the Downslink, for example) that Fulking residents are as likely to make use of as those living in Edburton. So you may feel inclined to complete their current survey.

Downland Benefice Churches Closed

Downland Benefice
You will of course be aware that the Prime Minister has said that places of worship are to be closed; I have been instructed by the Archbishops and our bishop that the buildings are to be locked. I have placed notices in each of our churches to that effect and, very sadly, the doors will remain locked for the time being. The Archbishops have also said that until further notice we may not conduct weddings or baptisms – so please remember in your thoughts and prayers those whose special days have been disrupted.

Rev. Tim Harford

Downland Benefice Services

Downland Benefice
The decision has been made that public worship will be suspended for the time being. The four Benefice churches will remain open for private prayer during normal opening hours. Weddings, baptisms and funerals will still be able to take place but with as few people as possible in attendance. We we hope we will be able to get back to normal as soon as possible but in the meantime please hold one another in prayer in these challenging times.

Stephanie

[Note also that Toddlers (Fulking Village Hall) has been cancelled for the foreseeable future.]