Asian hornets, Jack Draper and secret Sussex

The best curated guide to East (and West) Sussex. What's on in your county, news, food & drink, sport, miscellaneous, history, humour and recommendations

Welcome back readers…

Newsbites

• The swimming leg of the 1066 Triathlon in Bexhill had to be cancelled due to sewage this month. Southern Water warned of a two-hour and 12-minute spill at Bexhill. Organiser James Mitchell said: "It's great for people to be able to exercise and do community events that involve the sea. It's a huge part of the towns on the south coast. And that's being taken away."

• Bee inspectors in Sussex are battling to destroy Asian hornet nests before new queens hatch this month. Ten nests in Kent and Sussex have been found, an area of the UK which has witnessed most sightings of the invasive species. One nest could contain thousands of the predators, which are capable of killing 11kg of insects in a season.

• Bly Twomey, 14, is dreaming of a gold medal at Los Angeles 2028 after claiming her second bronze medal of an impressive Paralympics debut. The Brighton rising star became GB's youngest Paralympic table tennis medallist by winning doubles bronze.

What else we’ve been reading:

• Kate Moss spotted at The Griffin, Fletching

• Take a tour of a series of colourful gardens surrounding a sea-facing East Sussex farmhouse | House & Garden

• ‘I left my London PR job to run my family’s 2,300-acre Sussex estate’

• Gareth Barry signs for Sussex club

• Raymond Briggs exhibition extended to meet demand

My Sussex with… Henrietta Norton, Wild Nutrition co-founder

What would be your perfect Sussex-based day-off? This would definitely be seasonally and mood dependent, but would start with a sea swim or beach walk - Seaford or Cooden Beach - and if it's in the autumn or winter, a session at Nomadic Sauna would be the perfect antidote to the cold. Then I might head over to St Leonards or Hastings on the train for some quirky finds amongst the shops and ending in supper at The Farmyard with friends and family. 

Best pub and why? It would have to be the Sussex Ox. We've been going there for years and start with a mighty walk up to the top of the Long Man, followed by Sunday lunch. It is right at the foot of the Downs and has a great garden with stunning views.  

If I was Mayor of Sussex for a day, I would... Resolve the state of our roads - potholes! And set up more community kitchens.

Favourite shop? Ooh tough one, there are so many to choose from but as a Lewes local, it would have to be Seasons for food on Cliffe High Street and  Freight on the High Street for pure aesthetic pleasure.

Any secret Sussex tips you want to share? If you go to the Sussex Ox in the winter, ask for the table by the fire and next to the bar... but not on a day that we want to go!

Wild Nutrition has 50% OFF YOUR FIRST 3 MONTHS | Use code: HABIT50 

On the market

Crowborough, above - quiet countryside serving only two houses, to the south of the town.  Savills - £1.4m

Wadhurst - Beautiful unlisted Regency period country house set in over 16 acres of parkland. Savills £2.5m 

Staplecross - This imposing Grade II detached five bedroom residence is situated in just over 2.7 acres of stunning formal gardens. On the Market - £1.2m

Eastbourne - Tennis Court and gym building, garage, car port and stores. On the Market - £2.2m

Hartfield - Nestling in 3.3 acres of beautifully maintained grounds, with panoramic views across the adjacent Ashdown Forest. Fine & Country £1.6m

Roedean - exceptionally bright six-bedroom modern house in Brighton. Modern House - £2.6m

How Jack Draper ‘beat up’ Sussex businessman

Britis tennis star Jack Draper has caused US Open waves and is touted as the new Andy Murray. Nice anecdote from the Daily Express this week…

Andrew Newton is a businessman who built a competition standard indoor tennis court at his  home in Laughton, near Lewes. In 2010, Jack Draper’s father Roger came to look at it, bringing Jack, then aged eight, with him.

"I hit a few balls with Roger, with Jack sitting on the courtside bench and Jack had this yellow racket in his hand. Eventually he asked if he could hit some balls with me with that racket. I asked him what was so special about it. He said Rafael Nadal had given it to him after playing with it to win Wimbledon the day before. He was so excited to play with the racket Rafa had used to win Wimbledon, he said it was the first time he'd used it."

Newton told the paper he said Jack was "totally focused and committed". Newton was Sussex's county age group captain at the time, but says the 20 minutes he and Jack played together left him feeling "like I'd been beaten up".

On your doorstep

Fancy a Sussex boat trip? From The Sunday Times... 

Rocketing out of Newhaven Harbour in a high-speed Rib enables passengers to view the chalky white cliffs around Beachy Head as generations of mariners have, only at considerably faster speeds. Two-hour tours cover the key sights, racing past the Seven Sisters cliffs and Birling Gap and onwards to the red-andwhite striped lighthouse at Beachy Head. It's worth paying extra for a private tour to see the cliffs glowing pink at sunset (two-hour cruise from £50, until October 18; sussexboat trips.com). 

The Telegraph has this as one of its top UK gardens to visit…

Great Dixter and Prospect Cottage, Northiam is a historic house, a garden, a centre of education and a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world. Once the home of the gardening writer Christopher Lloyd, it's now under the stewardship of Fergus Garrett. Not far away is the famous garden created by the English film director Derek Jarman, when he was dying, on the shingle shore near Dungeness nuclear power station (gardenvisit.com).

Looking ahead

Sept 14-15, Rye - Local seafood with live music in a medieval seaside town (from £7.50, wineandfoodfair.events).

As ever please do forward on to friends or other Sussex lovers…