Weds 18th January 2017 I will be giving my next illustrated talk for the Sussex Military History Society at 7.30 for 8.00pm, in the Royal Oak Public House, Station Street, Lewes, East Sussex. Mustard Gas Training Exercise I have been researching Balsdean’s military history in detail for over a year now, and have made some […]
This Lewes Archaeological Group talk should be an excellent one. Lisa Jayne Fisher (Archaeology Services Lewes) will talk about the medieval archaeological remains she excavated last year of the “Manor or purported Manor” of Hyde. Margaret Thorburn – author of ‘An Account of the Manor of Hyde: Kingston near Lewes, Sussex‘ (2001) – will talk […]
Oh no! Rottingdean Village Fair is less than two weeks away!! It will be on Rottingdean Village Green & in Kipling Gardens, Saturday 6th August, 10am – 4pm – just follow the crowds. And all being well I’ll be there with a display of old and new finds and information from this amazing project. I […]
Thanks to Daniel Robertson, formerly of Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, I now have a copy of the only surviving photo (known to me) of Newmarket Farm. It was found in a scrapbook of WW2 photographs taken by the former Brighton Corporation Superintendent of Parks, Captain Bertie Hubbard MacLaren. He was responsible for the 1920s […]
In an earlier post I gave a lengthy description, based on a variety of sources, of the accidental death on 16th July 1945 of Keneric (also spelled Kenerick) Wilson, Private number 14802005, B Company, 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters. This was during a 2″ mortar exercise at Balsdean, in the centre of the South Downs Training Area, […]
As regular readers will know, I am researching the South Downs near Woodingdean (between Brighton and Lewes, Sussex, England). In 1881, and again in 1901, a David Davey and his family were living just a mile and half away in Newmarket Farm (birth place of my mother). He was an agricultural labourer and carter. In […]
The Second World War had a big influence on the Downs east of Brighton centred on the now deserted medieval hamlet of Balsdean. Sometime, probably in May 1942, it was requisitioned to become the ‘Number 3 South Downs Training Area’. This comprised the majority part of the mostly unploughed steep downland hills and valleys between […]
Another year of my Newmarket Farm project has ended – lots of achievements, and even more planned to be done! A big thank you to all who have helped make it possible. You know who you are!! The picture above marks both the end of Newmarket Farm, birth place of my mother, and of the […]
The Dieppe Raid – 19th August 1942 – was one of the more tragic episodes of the Second World War. It involved 5,000 Canadians, 1,000 British troops, and 50 United States Army Rangers. 3,367 Canadians were killed, wounded or taken prisoner, as well as 275 British commandos. The Royal Navy lost one destroyer and 33 […]
An amazing venue with lots of history. The photograph above shows me, head down, working on getting our stand ready at the WW2 Event at Michelham Priory. Little did I know how successful the day would be! The event was bitter-sweet for me. The Second World War saw the destruction of the Newmarket Farm cottage […]
Newmarket Hill 