Poynings Village near Brighton

Sloe Gin Competition
Just as you thought you had nothing to do, the Sloe Gin hangover competion is upon us again.
Mon Jan 30th - 8pm Royal Oak
'2011 Sloe Gin'
'Mature Sloe Gin'
'Any Spirit + Fruit'
Each entry only £1.00 Please bring some extra of your homemade tipple to cover expenses if you can spare it! Open to the four Downland Parishes. Be there.

And the news gets even better, it's a Monday so it's the locals £5.00 a meal night. Which I would add is also tonight featuring a Chinese New Year theme!

Pyecombe Race Night
Social Fund raising
Friday 27th January, at Pangdean Farm
For those brave folk who manage to get out of Poynings!
Ticket at £5.00 which includes. A drink & an Interval Buffet
Bring your own Alcoholic Drinks
Tickets from Glen 857096. Rae 844036
These race nights are real fun events, sounds great.

Norman Barber - UPDATE

Liz Dedman Seaton from Down Under is trying to find out if Norman was a relative of hers. Her gtgtGrandmother, Jane Elizabeth Barber Dedman, was born in Poynings 180 years ago and sailed to Australia aged 21. Could you let me know if you can help.

Su Jones is organising a collection in memory of Norman. The plan is to raise funds for a memorial bench at the Poynings Cricket Ground. There’s a collection jar in the Royal Oak and all donations I am sure would be gratefully received.

POYNINGS PANTO 2012 - Cinderella

This was a terrific success, lots of fun had by all (Cast included)

Here are some great photo's, send some more if you have any, also I will let you know when the video available. (Preview was a hoot!)

Link to photo's by locals here
Robin Cooks great professional photo's here

Broadband

Register your support for faster Broadband in your area West Sussex - Better Connected and its private sector partners will be working to provide access to broadband in all parts of the County by April 2015 and access to superfast broadband to 90% of premises by the same date. This means that by April 2015 every house and business will have the opportunity to connect to the internet via broadband using a commercial supplier. We are now encouraging all residents and businesses in West Sussex to register support for faster broadband by completing this online form. Alternatively you can call 01243 752018 and ask for a paper copy to be posted to you. Registering your support here does not commit you to sign up to any new service.
Communities that demonstrate the strongest support are likely to be included in the earlier stages of the Broadband improvement programme.

Click here to register

Your views needed on Sussex Police budget
Every year Sussex Police Authority sets the budget for Sussex Police. A part of that process is deciding how much the police element of the Council Tax in Sussex should be. Each year the Authority consults the public on this. If you are a resident in Sussex we would love to hear your views and thoughts on this part of the budget setting process. Please note the closing date for the survey is 31 January 2012 The link to the survey is here
It doesn't take long!

Offshore wind farm

You may be aware that E.ON are putting forward a proposal for an offshore wind farm off the Sussex coast – please see here for more information. Before they submit a consent application, they are holding a 12-week formal consultation period, so members of the community can find out more about their proposals and have their say. They are holding 12 consultation events across Sussex, with some being held in coastal towns and others in rural areas to the north, and will have their plans on display and a number of the Rampion Team on hand to answer questions. All the consultation material will also be on display at a number of public buildings for the duration of the consultation period. A listing of viewing places and all the consultation material is available here .

The cabling route for the wind farm is going to be revealed at these events which may be of interest to residents in and around the Poynings and Fulking area. The Henfield and Albourne events are probably most relevant for you, please see below:
Albourne Village Hall – Saturday 17th March 2012, 10am – 6pm
Albourne Village Hall (main hall) The Street Albourne Hassocks West Sussex BN6 9DJ Parking: The hall has its own free car park.
Henfield Village Hall– Tuesday 27th March 2012, 11am – 6.30pm
The Henfield Hall (main hall) Coopers Way, off High St Rear of Budgens Henfield West Sussex BN5 9DB Parking: Free car park outside hall.

Lending, Borrowing, Helping, Sharing

The Downs at Night
For those of you who like photography here is an amazing picture of the Downs at 3.30 in the Morning (yes, that time does exist)! It was taken by Andy Coupland from his garden in darkness with only the moon lending a hand with a 60 second exposure.
Click here to see the Twilight zone!

More Pictures
Sheila has got an updated fantastic collection of pictures just about Poynings here.
Put on the kettle, make and cup of coffee, put your feet up and enjoy them!

January Church News
Want to know what's happening in January, click here to find out full details

Wanted: Land for Smallholding
There are a growing number of people in the area, who have expressed an interest in organically raising their own livestock on a small scale basis.

We are therefore looking for an initial 1 or 2 acres of land locally, with easy access, appropriate for farming pigs.

It is our dream to grow this into a 'River Cottage' style community based project involving any locals interested in participating and learning about the grass roots aspects of smallholding.

Please contact Stephen or Lesley on 834610 if you have any land that may be appropriate or if you would just like to add your details to the growing list of interested smallholders!

Poynings has a 14th century cruciform Church and if you look at the front of the porch you will see that it is made of flints so beautifully shaped that they fit together like bricks. There is some and has magnificent 15th Century stained glass. It is known as one of the finest village medieval churches in Sussex. The tower is 58 feet high, and accessed by probably the oldest wooden ladder in Sussex! In the Apex of the porch gable you can just see a carved shield which isn't mentioned in any guide books. The arms are those of the Poynings family. The brothers Thomas and Richard de Poynings built the church as it now stands in 1370. This coat of Arms can also be seen on the village sign opposite the church at Cora's corner. Cora's memory lingers here with the corner named after her and a walk, along which has a series of seats presented by the Emile Littler Foundation.

There is also a pub, playing field, cricket pitch (which is well maintained by trained sheep), school/village hall and lots of interesting people.

South and uphill of Poynings is the Devil’s Dyke, a steep coombe, surmounted by an Iron Age fort and provides superb views of the South Downs westwards across to Chanctonbury ring and northwards over the Weald. A railway used to run here from Brighton until the late 1930's which was packed with hysterical day-trippers. A raised bank by the row of cottages below the hotel was the end of the line. If you look carefully, you can still find in the banks on either side of the Dyke, the footings of the structure which strung cable cars across the gulf around the turn of the century. A hundred yards to the east of the restaurant car park there is a slab of concrete for the funicular railway which shot down the steep slope to Poynings from 1897.

The Old School is now the village hall, and in the village centre nestles Glebe Cottage, constructed from flint, with a slate roof and tiny windows.

This is a community site so please visit it often and don't forget to add your views on our Forum. Especially the younger ones in the village (Must be over 1 month).

I hope you will find this easy to use and will encourage more of you to give me some feedback, information and gossip!!

I make no apologies to shamelessly plagiarizing Sheila's hard work on the Newsletter, and all the other contributors.

On the left hand side you should see links to other parts of the site and some offsite links.

Welcome to Poynings Website