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Category Archives: Poynings
In memory of Geoffrey Harris
Geoffrey passed away in the Sussex County Hospital on the 4th December 2013. His funeral was held at Worthing Crematorium on the 13th of January. He was one of the very few left of his generation who had been born in, lived in, Fulking/Poynings all their lives. Geoffrey was born in 1929 at Perching Manor, he grew up and worked on his father’s farm as did his brothers. During the war, although under age, he was a member of the Home Guard where he became a crack shot winning many trophies and cups.
Whilst visiting Findon, Geoffrey met Jo, his wife-to-be. They married in 1950 and moved into the house called “The Perch” on the Edburton Road. By 1963 Geoffrey was running his own farm at Findon. As their family grew, they moved to “The Springs”. With a family of three growing lads, Jo decided they had to find an additional source of income to supplement the household budget.
Jo’s father had a smoked fish business in Suffolk which was working very well so she decided to try this idea out. With Geoffrey’s assistance they built their first small smoker. This was a success and soon they were having trial sales of the products and the business started to become established. Finally, the point was reached where Geoffrey had to decide to give up farming and concentrate entirely on the fish smoking business. His decision changed the whole of their family’s lives.
“The Springs Smoked Salmon” was established and grew from strength to strength. They were soon supplying the airlines and top London restaurants with smoked salmon and other smoked items. Whilst working very hard, they also found time to enjoy life with their well earned success. Occasionally he would recount fascinating stories of the wonderful holidays he and Jo had enjoyed in parts of the world which, in those days, were not as readily accessible as they are today.
In 1978 Geoffrey and Jo moved to “Downmere” in Poynings and, in 1990, they retired leaving two of their three sons to run the business at Edburton, whilst the third son went to Australia and started his own successful “smoked fish” business there, following in the family tradition.
I first met Geoffrey in 2003 when I sought his help for information for my book on the history of Fulking and Edburton. He agreed to help and we soon became good friends. The more I got to know him, the more I learned. He had an amazing wealth of knowledge on life in Fulking before and after the war and the vast of changes the village went through from a village of farm labourers, small holdings, nursery staff, etc., to the very different village we know today. He told tales of the problems he had encountered and had had to deal with, ones that required skill and diplomacy. He thought the world of his staff and treated them well.
Alas he will be sadly missed by all those who knew him.
Tony Brooks
[Editorial note: Geoffrey Harris’s own 2007 recollections of his life and family can be found here.]
Sloe Gin
Sheila Marshall writes:
The Poynings Sloe Gin and Homemade Liqueur competition (2013 only) has a new section for our neighbouring villages (Fulking, Edburton, Newtimber, Pyecombe, Saddlescombe, and Woodmancote). Monday (cheap meal night at Royal Oak) 20th January 8pm — £1.50 per entry. This is a community organised event hosted by The Royal Oak.
Poynings Panto
Tickets are still available for these performances: Friday 10th January at 8pm; Saturday 11th January at 3pm; and Sunday 12th January at 3pm. Refreshments at the evening performance. Prices: 3pm Performances, Adult £7 Under-12s £3; 8pm Performances, All tickets £8. Tickets can be bought from www.poynings.net or at The Royal Oak. Sold in aid of Holy Trinity Church Chapel Restoration Fund.
The Downland Churches – December Calendar
Holy Trinity, Poynings; St Andrews, Edburton; St John the Evangelist, Newtimber;
The Transfiguration, Pyecombe [www.downlandchurches.co.uk]
December 2013
Sunday 8th December – Advent 2
10am Holy Communion Newtimber
6pm Carol Service Pyecombe
Traditional Carol Service with the Mid Sussex Brass Band
Sunday 15th December – Advent 3
10am Holy Communion Poynings
11am Holy Communion Edburton
2.30pm Carol Service Newtimber
6pm Carol Service Poynings
Sunday 22nd December – Advent 4
10am Holy Communion Pyecombe
6pm Carol Service Edburton
Tuesday 24th December – Christmas Eve
3.30pm Christingle Service Poynings
11.30pm First Communion of Christmas Pyecombe Edburton
Wednesday 25th December – Christmas Day
8am Holy Communion Poynings
10am Holy Communion Newtimber
Sunday 29th December – Christmas 1
10am Holy Communion Newtimber
Poynings Panto – Dick Whittington
The People of Poynings Present – At Holy Trinity Church, Poynings
Friday 10th January at 8pm
Saturday 11th January at 3pm and 8pm
Sunday 12th January at 3pm
Refreshments at the evening performances
Prices:
3pm Performances Adult £7 Under 12s £3
8pm Performances All tickets £8
Tickets are available now from www.poynings.net or at The Royal Oak
In aid of Holy Trinity Church Chapel Restoration Fund
Southern Water’s metering programme
An open letter from Darren Bentham, Director, Universal Metering Programme
I am writing to update you on Southern Water’s five-year programme to install half a million water meters in households across our region by 2015. This will help secure water resources for the future.
The scheme is progressing well with more than 250,000 new meters installed to date, across Hampshire, Sussex and Kent.
Our meter installation teams will shortly be returning to your area, to complete installations which were not possible to carry out in the main phase of our work programme.
These installations did not go ahead as planned for a variety of reasons. For example:
- Most meters are installed in pavements but some must be installed in customers’ homes, which means we have to make appointments with customers and this was not possible during our first visit
- Another utility service may have been working in the area during the main phase of our work, preventing us from completing meter installations as originally planned
- Other unforeseen circumstances which disrupted the programme at the time of installation
We are re-contacting customers who have not had their meter installed to inform them about the situation and assure them that their meter will be installed as soon as possible.
Installation is free and customers will be provided with lots of written information about their meter and metered bill, as well as easy ways in which they can save water, energy and money.
Installation programme
We will be installing meters in the following postcode areas during November and December 2013:
• BN3 4 (Hove West)
• BN3 5 (Hove West)
• BN3 7 (West Blatchington)
• BN45 7 (Poynings)
• BN3 8 (Hangleton)
• BN3 6 (Hove Park)
• BN1 8 (Patcham)
• BN1 6 (Withdean/Preston Park)
• BN44 3 (Steyning)
• BN5 9 (Henfield)
• BN43 5 (Shoreham)
• BN43 6 (Kingston Shaw)
• BN42 4 (Southwick)
• BN41 2 (Portslade)
• BN41 1 (Portslade)
How customers can find out more
Customers will receive an information pack, both before their meter is installed AND on the day of installation. They can also call our Metering Customer Contact Centre on 0333 2003 013 to find out more.
Detailed information about our metering programme is available on our dedicated website at: www.southernwater.co.uk/metering.
First metered bills
In February 2012, we began issuing the first six-month bills to customers who have had meters installed under the programme.
Customers are switched from rateable value charges to metered charges around three months after a meter is installed for their property.
Three months later, six months after installation, they are sent a letter advising them how much water they have used since they were switched and, based on that water use, how much their bills could be.
They will then receive their first metered bill nine months after their meter was fitted.
Support for customers
As households move to metered charges, about half will see their bills go down and half will see an increase. This is because at the moment, water bills are based on the rateable value of the house, whereas on a meter they are based on the amount of water people use.
Working closely with our customers and stakeholders, we have developed a range of tariffs to give people time to adapt to metered charges and make sure that water bills remain affordable for everyone.
We have identified around 108,000 customers across our service area to whom we are offering additional assistance with their water meter and bills, including the offer of free water and energy use checks (Home Saver Checks) and more information on the tariffs and support available. We look to contact these customers directly when installing their water meters.
Please see the attached Q&A document which sets out further key information about our metering programme.
We would be happy to provide any other information you may require. Please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Jones on 01732 375409 or by emailing southernwater@springboard-marketing.co.uk.
Yours sincerely
Darren Bentham
Director, Universal Metering Programme
Southern Water
The Story of RAF Truleigh Hill
An illustrated talk by Roy Taylor, author of Shoreham’s Radar Station: The Story of RAF Truleigh Hill (2007) and the organizer of the Marlipins Museum exhibition on the same topic. Roy served there as a radar operator, using the receiver in the sketch above, during the final years of its operation in the late 1950s.
Poynings Village Hall: 8:00pm Friday 22nd November and 2:30pm Saturday 23rd November. Admission £1.50.