Sussex deer problem, Lewes bonfire + Brighton boss pizza crazy
Sussex deer problem, Lewes bonfire + Brighton boss pizza crazy
The best curated guide to East (and West) Sussex. What's on in your county, news, food & drink, sport, miscellaneous, history, humour and recommendations
On the agenda: News
Not a week goes by when you hear of deer near-misses, or worse, on Sussex roads. As fallow deer enter the rut, roads can be perilous, day or night.
There are thought to be over 74,000 deer-related traffic collisions across the UK every year, with a significant number of collisions in East Sussex, particularly in the Ashdown Forest area.
Speak to those in the know and there are reasons that this year may be one of the worst, not least with displacement thanks to new housing and deer forced to change tact.
The below image of the Blackboys and Cross in Hand area, shows the state of play with current accidents…
Lewes bonfire night on Tuesday produced its annual array of effigies and colour and led the way in The Guardian and Times.
A rare Pokemon trading card worth up to £30k that was stolen in transit has been returned. The Charizard card had been sent to a valuation company in Heathfield which deals in grading Pokemon cards. Police were called in after the card was spotted for sale on Facebook. Sussex Police said a 23-yr-old man from Polegate was arrested at his home where the card was found and cautioned.
East has trumped West Sussex in a ranking of England’s 48 counties. The Telegraph said Sussex was punching above its weight. Devon, Cumbria and North Yorkshire were the top three.
Food & Drink
In our last issue we profiled the independent Bewl Water Vineyard. We quaffed one of their whites this week and it went down a treat with fish and chips. Now they are offering Social Sussex readers a deal:
Tap in the code SUSSEX33 which will give 1/3rd off a case of six of their award-winning BACCHUS 2022 (£114 reduced to £76) and delivered for FREE.
West Hoathly’s The Cat, above, is one of the i’s best foodie pubs for the autumn.
After a romp on the South Downs; retire to 16th-century The Cat for a steak and ale pie, the newspaper writes. People travel some way for this pleasure. The menu is imaginative, the kitchen has won awards, and the drinks list champions Sussex wines. Comfortably modernised without losing its character, it is much loved by walkers, opera lovers and retired country locals. Four immaculate bedrooms await upstairs. Lunch & dinner from £16.50, Sunday lunch from £21.50, sawdays.co.uk/thecat
Brighton’s new boss Fabian Hurzeler - the Premier League’s youngest-ever head coach at 31 - has had a currywurst pizza named after him, thanks to Village Pizza Kitchen, based in Hurstpierpoint. The Hurzeler’s toppings include a local butcher’s traditional Bratwurst sausage, currywurst sauce, fried potatoes, crispy onions and French’s mustard. “It’s really good, honestly,” said Hurzeler, before joking: “Want to try? No, it’s mine.”
The White Hart in Lewes has received some good reviews from those who have sampled its Sunday lunch (and excellent portions). Now The Times has visited.
Where to walk
There is little better place for panoramic views than Black Down, below, the highest point in the South Downs National Park.
On the Market
Crowborough, above - 5 bedroom detached period house. On the Market - £870,000
Mayfield - Wonderful setting just outside this exceptional character hillside village. Savills, £1.9m
Rye - Detached Grade II listed thatched four bedroom property. Savills, £785,000
Rottingdean, Brighton - 8 bedroom, 5 bathroom Grade II Listed Georgian Mansion House. On the Market - £4.8m
Westmeston - One of Sussex’s finest unlisted homes, says the blurb. Rightmove, £3.9m
East Hoathly - 8 acre plot with private lake. Rightmove, £2m
And finally…
An innocent-looking yellow weed is stirring the emotions and Facebook groups in a rural ideological battle, according to The Telegraph.
“The great reappraisal of ragwort has been led, in part at least, by the modern rise of rewilding – the process of restoring an area of land to its natural, uncultivated state. Isabella Tree, the doyenne of the movement and owner of the rewilded Knepp Estate, West Sussex wrote a passionate defence of ragwort in her book Wilding, urging us to embrace it. In rewilding, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
“We should love our ragwort,” she told the Hay Festival five years ago. “It is a native plant. Hundreds of insects feed off it. Night-flying moths can see it in the dark because it is so luminous. There are 13 endemic species that will only feed on ragwort and yet we have this zero tolerance of it.””