Newsletter May 2015 M 5 O 5 N -2 D 0 1 Ju 5 B I Sounds Like a Fun Place Under His Management and Full of Le CJ Bailey of the Star Inn, Roffey Strange Things

D 1 ia 9 40 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 m 5 o 5 n -2 d 0 1 Ju 5 b i sounds like a fun place under his management and full of le CJ Bailey of the Star Inn, Roffey strange things. He had many interests and used the premises e to display an eclectic collection of curiosities: a screen made HORSHAM hen C J Bailey died on 9 September 1928 at the age of up of 12,000 stamps, a box and dice said to have belonged to Newsletter 81, the Horsham area lost its oldest publican. Born in Dick Turpin, a dolls’ house constructed from champagne 1847, he had been a man of many parts, and his career had SOCIETY W corks, a telegram sent to the Prince Imperial at Aldershot and May 2015 seen him, variously, as piano factory worker, soldier, valet, a bone champagne cup given him by a couple of balloonists and lastly, innkeeper. He started in the Army in 1871, and as who lost their way and landed in Roffey. Goodness me. a musician in the Queen's Westminster Volunteer Band found Where are they all now, I wonder? himself playing before Queen Victoria. Brian Slyfield Chairman The next year he was with the Royal Horse Artillery, being HDPF - Main modifications reviewed by the then Shah of Persia, and later was part of a fter four years as chairman David field exercise watched over by Napoleon III and Empress ou will recall that just before Christmas the Planning Inspector halted his Moore has decided to stand down Eugenie. Another name he could drop to the locals over the public examination of the Horsham District Planning Framework, telling the Afrom the chairmanship and the bar in Roffey was the Emperor of Russia; he waited on him YCouncil quite plainly that its plan was unsound. He insisted it be reviewed and that committee for personal reasons. when he dined at the regimental mess at Woolwich. provision should be made for a further 2,000 homes over the life of the plan. This came as no surprise to the Society as we had been saying for some time that the David has made a huge contribution Bailey clearly liked the aura of royalty - even though by the Council’s strategy of providing the minimum number of new homes it thought it and pursued the Society's interests with time it enveloped him it was spread a little thinly - and after could get away with was likely to fail. great energy and imagination. the Army he went over to Ireland and took up with the Fortunately David is not lost to us but aristocracy, becoming a valet firstly to Lord Langford and The Council was required to go back with an altered plan within six months. will continue in a variety of ways to later the Duke of Connaught. Changes, called main modifications, have to be published in advance and an support the Society, and hopes to return opportunity given to the public to make further representations to the Inspector. In to the committee at some time in the But at least as a publican he was his own man, and the Star Courtesy Memories of Horsham Facebook our view, based upon the evidence he has heard, he expected to see one or two future. additional strategic sites of 500 or more homes each. While the search is on for a new However, what the Council has proposed is a re-hash of its original plan with only chairman, Rod Cuming our Hon one new site for 150 homes south of Southwater, which fails its own definition of HORSHAM Secretary will provide a central point By the way a strategic site. The rest relies on smoke and mirrors adjustments to previous of contact. SOCIETY Directory figures and a new, and wholly unacceptable, insertion of the word “around” before them all. The North Horsham strategic site, originally intended to provide 2,500 New members homes will now provide “around 2,500”, with “around” being defined as plus or The Horsham Society is a registered charity (No.268949) and is an minus 10%. In other words the figure will now be at least 2,750. Not only is this Inside his month we are very pleased to welcome Mr P Whibley, independent body supported by members’ subscriptions approach misleading, it still fails to explain convincingly how the Inspector’s Redford Avenue; Mr and Mrs T Hogben, Old Holbrook; his month we conclude Lewis target will be met. Bryan’s diary of his WWI PRESIDENT Dr Annabelle Hughes TMr R Bates, Ashleigh Road; Mr N Butler, Farhalls Crescent and Mr and Mrs Hampton, West Chiltington. Texperiences, take a look at Ayshe Court VICE-PRESIDENTS These changes were pushed through a special council meeting on 18th March Lakes which are badly in need of some Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, Nigel Friswell, John Steele despite many of the key figures and other studies not being available to members. love and attention, and learn about Councillors were threatened by scare tactics, and told the district was doomed if CHAIRMAN (vacant) Date for your diary Biffa’s Brookhurst Wood Mechanical they didn’t approve the changes that evening. Nobody mentioned that the problem Biological Treatment plant and its HON TREASURER HON SECRETARY he topic for the Bedford Culture Club’s meeting on 21st had arisen simply because the Council had produced an unsound plan. place in WSCC’s waste strategy. Sarah Powell Rod Cuming May is The strange and fascinating evolution of right- 3 White Horse Road Twing America from Selma to the Tea Party . The speaker will EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Horsham RH12 4UL Roy Bayliss Tel: 01403 268444 be Andrew R Wines. Meetings start at 7pm in the Bedford Paul Fletcher [email protected] pub in Station Road. To book tickets or for further Diamond Jubilee event with Rupert Toovey Nigel Friswell information contact Emilie Myers on 01403 211962. To celebrate our Diamond Jubilee we are delighted to announce a special members only event on 11th June at 7.30pm in the David Griffiths MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Michael Hall Mrs Pat Gale Causeway Barn. John Steele 46 Bedford Road Delivering print solutions to Horsham RH13 5BJ Rupert Toovey, who will be well known to members as a local auctioneer and Director of Sussex based Toovey’s antique and fine DISTRIBUTION ORGANISER Tel: 01403 253946 companies throughout the UK Kathy Gleeson [email protected] art auction house, has kindly agreed to present Treasures from your home - A talk with Rupert Toovey . This will follow a well tried and successful format where guests are invited to bring along an object for discussion and valuation. These are placed on tables The Executive Committee meets at 7.30pm on the first Wednesday of each and form the basis of the talk to the audience. The Printed Word month in the Manor Room behind the Causeway Barn. Members are welcome to attend as observers but it would be appreciated if the Secretary NEW ADDRESS If you have a treasured object you would like to know more about this is your opportunity to have it appraised by an expert. could be informed beforehand. Unit 2 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Graylands Estate Numbers are limited by the capacity of the Barn so places must be booked in advance. If you would like to join us for what will Annual Membership: £10 per household Langhurstwood Road be an enjoyable and informative evening please contact Rod Cuming on 01403 268444 or email [email protected] . Family Life Membership: £150 per household Horsham Postage is added to the above rates at £5 per annum West Sussex for out-of-town members Please note that items brought to the event will be at your own risk. You are advised to avoid bringing delicate or fragile All major credit cards accepted RH12 4QD www.horshamsociety.org pieces and, particularly if you think they have a value, to ensure that they are covered by your household insurance in [email protected] case of damage during transit or at the event. Newsletter correspondence should be sent to the Editor: John Steele, 01403 255650 www.printedword.co.uk 2 Old Denne Gardens, Horsham, RH12 1JA (Tel: 01403 272814, email: [email protected]). Other matters should be referred to the Hon Secretary. The Newsletter is published monthly except August and © Individual contributors 2015. No material may be reproduced, copied or stored in a opinions in it, whether the Editor’s or contributors’, are not necessarily retrieval system without the prior consent of the relevant contributor, which should be those of the Society. sought via the Editor. OUR CONCERN IS THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE TOWN 34 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 39

Ayshe Court Lakes: past, present and future Where does all our rubbish go? Nigel Friswell John Steele

he condition of the lakes between During the building of Lyon Court, the nothing could be done to remove the veryone is probably aware of the challenge facing the The waste moves through a variety of electro-magnetic Harwood Road and Depot Road developers, Kenstair Developments Ltd, tree as ownership of the lake could not country as a whole to reduce the amount of waste going separators and vibrating screens and is quickly separated into Tadjacent to Ayshe Court has deteriorated had a cash-flow problem which meant be established. Their then solicitor Einto landfill and to increase the proportion that is recycled. three streams of recovered material: metals (about 3% of the in recent years. It must be close on that Lyon Court was not completed on quoted riparian law which states (in a But have you ever wondered what happens to the waste you total) are sent for recycling, and paper and plastic (about 50% twenty years ago since any serious work time. nutshell) that any owner with land place in your brown and blue-topped bins, and are you aware - mainly plastic bags and non-recyclable containers) can be was done there when much water was abutting a water course is responsible of Horsham’s important role in the process? combusted to generate heat and power and can be used in drained and mud removed. We believe There are two main lakes or ponds with for that water course. I then pointed out cement kilns as an alternative to fossil fuel. that the heavy work was done for HDC another small stretch of water on the that if this was the case, HDC was In West Sussex in 2012-13 we produced almost 375,000 but, as Robert Worley mentions below, other side of Harwood Road near to the responsible for the entire upper lake.” tonnes of household waste and responsibility for its disposal Organic material (about 35%), such as food waste, is sent to some of the residents also worked on primary schools. The upper lake was a rests with the County Council, which in turn works in the anaerobic digestion (AD) tanks which produce biogas, clearing up the area. result of clay workings for the brick “In my opinion, the lakes have potential partnership with two companies - Biffa West Sussex Ltd and which is converted on site into heat and power. The plant has fields which surrounded the entire area. for recreational use. One problem, Viridor. the ability to produce up to 4.2MW to power the MBT The only historical record we can find is The lower lake was an ornamental however, is that both are silting up and facility, and the potential to export electricity to the national the 1840 tithe maps and schedules feature for the big house, Ayshe Court. the cost, amounting to thousands, would Recyclable waste collected by the district and borough grid. The waste from the AD process is a compost-like which show the ‘pond’ and surrounding Prior to the construction of Ayshe Court, not be met by the Council. In the hot councils is delivered to a network of local transfer stations product which is currently used as a capping to restore the land as belonging to the Misses Phoebe, there was a much older building called summer months, stagnant water can where it is bulked up into bigger vehicles and transported to landfill site behind the MBT as a replacement for soil and Mary and Ann Sayers. The Poplars. It is not identified by name produce an unpleasant smell and, at my Viridor’s Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) at Ford. There potentially could be dried and used, together with Refuse on the tithe map but the schedule request, a specialist from HDC tested it is automatically sorted into individual material types ready Derived Fuel, as a fossil fuel alternative. Robert Worley was the first to move identifies it as owned and occupied by the water and gave the ‘all-clear’. The for manufacture into new products. into Bourns Court in June 1969 with his the Misses Sayers. wildlife including mallards and Any rejects or residues from the sorting process (about 12%) wife Barbara, whose family have lived moorhens make the area an attractive Viridor is also responsible for the operation of what were are sent to landfill. in the immediate neighbourhood for Ayshe Court Drive, The Poplars and sight, particularly for youngsters. It has once called civic amenity tips but now go under the name of generations. He has managed to trace Stirling Way were developed 1967-69. been mooted that a footpath might be Household Waste Recycling Sites. This emphasises their The whole operation of the MBT facility is overseen by the more recent history of the Ayshe There was no apparent interest in the constructed on land owned by Bourns much enhanced role in ensuring we pre-sort all our waste engineers working in a central control room overlooking the Court estate including the two Court and its neighbour, Lyon Court, including that which we take to ‘the tip’. MBT machinery hall and aided by CCTV cameras. There is a lakes/ponds. but this would be unacceptable to the separate viewing gallery which runs the length of the MBT residents as it would encroach upon the So much for the waste we put out for recycling, but what building, which is in turn linked to the administration and Ayshe Court was an impressive privacy of the flat-dwellers, especially happens to the rest of our household refuse? This is where visitors centre by an underground tunnel. This ensures that Edwardian house located roughly at the those on the ground floor.” Biffa and its facility at Brookhurst Wood comes into the visitors and staff do not have to cross the area where refuse junction of what is now The Poplars and picture. The site off Langhurstwood Road was formerly a clay vehicles arrive to deliver their loads. Ayshe Court Drive. The footpath In recent time some work has been done pit for the manufacture of bricks and the land adjacent has entrance to the house was on the little stream that runs from the been owned and operated by Biffa for over twenty years as a The visitor centre is fitted with solar panels, rain water approximately where the studio flats, lake under Depot Road, mainly to try landfill site for ‘black bag’ waste. harvesting for toilets and motion sensing internal lights. Chequers Court, now front Depot Road. and reduce the flooding that frequently The owners of Ayshe Court immediately occurs there. More work needs to be Work on the construction of Biffa’s new Mechanical and We are very grateful to Brett McGuin, Biffa’s Community prior to development in 1967-8 were a done on the stream as well as the lakes Biological Treatment (MBT) facility started in 2010. The Liaison Officer for hosting members of the committee. He is Miss Faulks and an earlier owner was ownership of the lakes either by and banks. Concern by Forest facility is currently in commissioning and is anticipated to be keen to hear from community groups or schools who would Colonel Middleton, who founded the Kenstair Developments or Davis Neighbourhood Council led to a in full operation later this year. Instead of simply tipping the like to arrange a visit to learn more about what happens to the original Capitol Theatre on the site of Estates. Indeed, ownership of the lakes meeting which Cllr Holmes attended County’s non-recycled household rubbish into landfill it is County’s waste and how the Company’s partnership with the current Marks & Spencer. cannot be traced with any certainty to and he reported back that the main now possible to sort it mechanically to recover material that WSCC is making a real difference to our lives and the this day. There is no mention of the problem has been the uncertain can be turned into usable resources and generate heat and economy. He can be contacted by phone on 01403 339169, The entire site, which embraced land on lakes in the Land Registry. ownership of the lakes. A report by power. email at [email protected], or mail: Brett McGuin, both sides of the upper and lower lakes HDC’s legal department shows that Biffa West Sussex Ltd, Brookhurst Wood, Langhurstwood was bought by Kenstair Developments For some years, a voluntary group, the ownership is probably one-eighth As shown in the picture, the site comprises three parts: the Road, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 4QD Ltd of Brighton in 1967, who Lakeside Conservation Volunteers, Bourne Court, one-eighth Lyons Court large-roofed mechanical sorting facility (MSF), an immediately sold off a parcel of land to drawn from residents on both sides of and 3/4 Crown land. It is reckoned that administration and visitor centre in front and, at the back, Davis Estates Ltd for the development the lakes, fully equipped with chain the Crown will take no interest. West large anaerobic digestion tanks. The MSF contains an of what is now Stirling Way, etc. The saws and a flat-bottomed boat, did their Sussex County Council is responsible enormous hanger-like space filled with a complex price paid for the house and surrounding best to maintain the lakes and for the footpaths. This fragmented combination of machinery and conveyor belts which shred, land which then backed onto Harwood surrounding trees but the key people ownership means that there has been no sort and separate rubbish into different output types for House and its land owned by the eventually moved away or died. co-ordinated management although that further processing. Bowes-Lyon sisters, was £75,000! did not seem to stop the work which Robert Worley says that “around four went on two decades ago. Household waste is delivered to the facility and first tipped The development of what is now Ayshe years ago, during a gale, a large tree on into one of two large pits in the reception hall which is kept Court Drive and The Poplars, including the Stirling Way side of the lower lake The lakes are an important area, enjoyed under negative pressure to prevent odour escaping. From here Bourns Court and Lyon Court flats, was fell across the water. This prompted me by a large number of adults and children a large grab hook transfers waste into the first stage which finally completed in 1970. Bourns Court to contact our councillor, Dr David on the way to school and a ‘green lung’ consists of primary and secondary shredders which reduce the should have been named Bowes Court; Holmes, to arrange a meeting with HDC for this part of Horsham. In the present rubbish to an undifferentiated mass of relatively small pieces perhaps an error by a council employee? representatives. The result was that financial climate everyone is pleading for further treatment. 36 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 37

o’clock the same night. There we went into a large demobilisation camp and stayed there until the 7th A Horsham man at war : 1919 April. The final part of Lewis Bryan’s story as told through his war journal Deolali is a small hill station, which is famous for its nearby Buddhist caves, and is located about 100 miles north east of he Armistice having been signed the previous November it is unusual because it is a joint Muslim and Jewish shrine. Bombay (Mumbai). It was used as an army camp for soldiers we pick up Lewis Bryan’s story in Iraq at the beginning of waiting for ships to take them home at the end of the war. Some TMarch 1919. It’s not too difficult to imagine the boredom of Most of the Iraqi Jews left the area in the early 1950s and it is of the soldiers contacted “camp fever”, which was given the doing nothing when all he must have wanted to do was to go now a place of pilgrimage for the Shi’a Muslims from slang name of “doolally tap” as they appeared to go mad. By home to his family. Southern Iraq. The shrine and the adjoining settlement were the 1940s, this phrase had been contracted to the adjective used as a regular staging post during the First World War. “doolally” (mad or insane) and has stayed in our dictionaries On the 1st March, we had a Route March. ever since.. On the 9th, we had medical inspection at 7am and On the 2nd, I went to church and boating in the Church Parade at 9. On the 8th April, we left Deolali for Bombay and went afternoon. aboard the SS Nestor. We sailed from Bombay at 5pm. It On the 10th, we scrubbed our equipment. was awfully hot. On the 3rd, I reported sick with a cold and got some medicine. On the 11th and 12th, I was Orderly Sergeant. On the 9th, it was very good going in the Indian Ocean, sea smooth. On the 4th, we had a Route March. On the 13th, we left Asher camp and marched into Margil Demobilisation Camp. On the 10th, no land in sight; very hot. 5th, Route March. On the 11th, I had an accident. A pair of boots fell from The final page of Lewis Bryan’s journal. Ashar was the old commercial centre of Basra, whilst Margil off the upper rack and cut my head open; had to have it On the 6th, we were on fatigue mending roads and I was the old port area of the city. Margil is now a pleasant dressed in the hospital. On the 26th, we are now in the Atlantic Ocean. took over duties of Company Orderly Sergeant for the garden suburb of Basra, very different from when Lewis Bryan week. was there On the 12th, still very good going and very hot. On the 27th and 28th, we experienced a terrible rough sea, especially through the Bay of Biscay. On the 7th, we left Ammara by train at 5pm, about 700 On the 14th, we had a Roll Call and a final check of On the 13th, we passed Aden at 4pm. of us altogether, and arrived at Ezra’s Tomb the morning names through the 3rd echelon. On the 29th, we are in St George’s Channel and the Irish of the 8th; arrived at Qurnah at 11am, this is supposed On the 14th we were in the Red Sea, terribly hot. Sea; sighted land in the evening (coast of Wales). to be the Garden of Eden. We arrived at the base On the 15th, another Roll Call and still waiting for the (Basra) night of the 8th and marched to another camp. boat. On the 15th, we were in a very rough sea, a strong gale We arrived at Liverpool at 8 o’clock in the morning on blowing, waves beating over the ship like mountains; the 30th April 1919. Disembarked at 10am, proceeded Al-Qurnah (Qurna) is a small village in southern Iraq about 74 16th, nothing doing. still in the Red Sea. to the Crystal Palace (London), where I was demobbed km northwest of Basra, within the town of Nahairat. Qurna is on the 1st May 1919. Arabic for corner and it is located at the point where the Tigris On the 17th March, we left the embarkation camp and On the 16th, weather still rough, strong sea running. and Euphrates rivers join to form the Shatt al-Arab. went aboard the troopship H.T.Shuja. We embarked on Signed L Bryan board 2,100 troops and sailed at 3 o’clock in the On the 17th, it was very rough, strong head wind Ezra was an Old Testament prophet, who led a group of Judean afternoon. blowing, a hurricane. We entered into the Gulf of Suez; After all those years and following his extensive travels, his exiles from Babylon to their home city of Jerusalem. The first passed Mount Sinai. We arrived at Port Suez at 4 o’clock war was over at last. Now he could get back to his family and record of Ezra’s tomb appears in 1820 and the shrine is thought On the 18th, very hot, going well in the Persian Gulf. and left at 9pm; went through the Suez Canal. lead a normal life once again. With all those memories, could to be about 250 years old. It is contained within a tiled room his world ever be the same again? an attractive brickwork building capped with a blue dome and On the 19th, in the Arabian Sea; can see the Persian On the 18th, going through the Suez Canal, we arrived coast all day. Sea smooth. at Port Said in the evening about 6. David Moore

On the 20th, well out; no land in sight, bit of a rough On the 19th, we coaled up and took in water and left at sea, heavy swell. I went on guard in the evening. We had 2 o’clock in the afternoon. We are now in the a terrible rough night, nearly all on board sea-sick. Mediterranean. Is a 20 mph limit coming closer? Pitching and rolling in a heavy sea with a gale blowing all night. On the 20th, Easter Sunday, I went to two church ack in January we carried a report about the introduction services. of 20mph speed limits in Brighton and asked whether we On the 21st, it was very rough but not so much wind. Bshould consider such a scheme in Horsham. Surprisingly, this On the 21st at 3 o’clock in the morning, we had a very did not attract any letters either in support or opposition. On the 22nd, it was very good going; little swell on. We rough thunder storm and got battened down. It lasted are now in the Indian Ocean. only about an hour. Anthony Fletcher, one of our members who has been campaigning for such a limit in local villages and residential On the 23rd, it was a very smooth sea and awfully hot. On the 22nd, we passed Malta. roads in the town, took his case to a recent meeting of the We arrived off Bombay at 8pm and laid in harbour all North Horsham County Local Committee. The Chairman, night. On the 23rd, along the north coast of Africa (Morocco). Cllr Brad Watson, is reported to have said the council is working hard to get a 20mph policy in place. It was pointed On the 24th, we moved into the quay at 6am, we On the 25th, we were going along the coast of Spain and out that whilst it might be possible easily to guage the level of disembarked at 10am and entrained for Deolali, which sighted Gibraltar at 11am; sea smooth. We passed support in a small village it would be harder in the town. But Lewis Bryan’s Boer War, WWI British War and Victory medals. is about 114 miles from Bombay; arrived there at 8 Gibraltar at 1 o’clock. Brighton managed to do it. Would you support the idea? 36 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 37

On the 20th, well out; no land in sight, bit of a rough On the 19th, we coaled up and took in water and left at sea, heavy swell. I went on guard in the evening. We had 2 o’clock in the afternoon. We are now in the a terrible rough night, nearly all on board sea-sick. Mediterranean. Is a 20 mph limit coming closer? Pitching and rolling in a heavy sea with a gale blowing all night. On the 20th, Easter Sunday, I went to two church ack in January we carried a report about the introduction services. of 20mph speed limits in Brighton and asked whether we On the 21st, it was very rough but not so much wind. Bshould consider such a scheme in Horsham. Surprisingly, this On the 21st at 3 o’clock in the morning, we had a very did not attract any letters either in support or opposition. On the 22nd, it was very good going; little swell on. We rough thunder storm and got battened down. It lasted are now in the Indian Ocean. only about an hour. Anthony Fletcher, one of our members who has been campaigning for such a limit in local villages and residential On the 23rd, it was a very smooth sea and awfully hot. On the 22nd, we passed Malta. roads in the town, took his case to a recent meeting of the We arrived off Bombay at 8pm and laid in harbour all North Horsham County Local Committee. The Chairman, night. On the 23rd, along the north coast of Africa (Morocco). Cllr Brad Watson, is reported to have said the council is working hard to get a 20mph policy in place. It was pointed On the 24th, we moved into the quay at 6am, we On the 25th, we were going along the coast of Spain and out that whilst it might be possible easily to guage the level of disembarked at 10am and entrained for Deolali, which sighted Gibraltar at 11am; sea smooth. We passed support in a small village it would be harder in the town. But Lewis Bryan’s Boer War, WWI British War and Victory medals. is about 114 miles from Bombay; arrived there at 8 Gibraltar at 1 o’clock. Brighton managed to do it. Would you support the idea? 38 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 35

Ayshe Court Lakes: past, present and future Where does all our rubbish go? Nigel Friswell John Steele

he condition of the lakes between During the building of Lyon Court, the nothing could be done to remove the veryone is probably aware of the challenge facing the The waste moves through a variety of electro-magnetic Harwood Road and Depot Road developers, Kenstair Developments Ltd, tree as ownership of the lake could not country as a whole to reduce the amount of waste going separators and vibrating screens and is quickly separated into Tadjacent to Ayshe Court has deteriorated had a cash-flow problem which meant be established. Their then solicitor Einto landfill and to increase the proportion that is recycled. three streams of recovered material: metals (about 3% of the in recent years. It must be close on that Lyon Court was not completed on quoted riparian law which states (in a But have you ever wondered what happens to the waste you total) are sent for recycling, and paper and plastic (about 50% twenty years ago since any serious work time. nutshell) that any owner with land place in your brown and blue-topped bins, and are you aware - mainly plastic bags and non-recyclable containers) can be was done there when much water was abutting a water course is responsible of Horsham’s important role in the process? combusted to generate heat and power and can be used in drained and mud removed. We believe There are two main lakes or ponds with for that water course. I then pointed out cement kilns as an alternative to fossil fuel. that the heavy work was done for HDC another small stretch of water on the that if this was the case, HDC was In West Sussex in 2012-13 we produced almost 375,000 but, as Robert Worley mentions below, other side of Harwood Road near to the responsible for the entire upper lake.” tonnes of household waste and responsibility for its disposal Organic material (about 35%), such as food waste, is sent to some of the residents also worked on primary schools. The upper lake was a rests with the County Council, which in turn works in the anaerobic digestion (AD) tanks which produce biogas, clearing up the area. result of clay workings for the brick “In my opinion, the lakes have potential partnership with two companies - Biffa West Sussex Ltd and which is converted on site into heat and power. The plant has fields which surrounded the entire area. for recreational use. One problem, Viridor. the ability to produce up to 4.2MW to power the MBT The only historical record we can find is The lower lake was an ornamental however, is that both are silting up and facility, and the potential to export electricity to the national the 1840 tithe maps and schedules feature for the big house, Ayshe Court. the cost, amounting to thousands, would Recyclable waste collected by the district and borough grid. The waste from the AD process is a compost-like which show the ‘pond’ and surrounding Prior to the construction of Ayshe Court, not be met by the Council. In the hot councils is delivered to a network of local transfer stations product which is currently used as a capping to restore the land as belonging to the Misses Phoebe, there was a much older building called summer months, stagnant water can where it is bulked up into bigger vehicles and transported to landfill site behind the MBT as a replacement for soil and Mary and Ann Sayers. The Poplars. It is not identified by name produce an unpleasant smell and, at my Viridor’s Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) at Ford. There potentially could be dried and used, together with Refuse on the tithe map but the schedule request, a specialist from HDC tested it is automatically sorted into individual material types ready Derived Fuel, as a fossil fuel alternative. Robert Worley was the first to move identifies it as owned and occupied by the water and gave the ‘all-clear’. The for manufacture into new products. into Bourns Court in June 1969 with his the Misses Sayers. wildlife including mallards and Any rejects or residues from the sorting process (about 12%) wife Barbara, whose family have lived moorhens make the area an attractive Viridor is also responsible for the operation of what were are sent to landfill. in the immediate neighbourhood for Ayshe Court Drive, The Poplars and sight, particularly for youngsters. It has once called civic amenity tips but now go under the name of generations. He has managed to trace Stirling Way were developed 1967-69. been mooted that a footpath might be Household Waste Recycling Sites. This emphasises their The whole operation of the MBT facility is overseen by the more recent history of the Ayshe There was no apparent interest in the constructed on land owned by Bourns much enhanced role in ensuring we pre-sort all our waste engineers working in a central control room overlooking the Court estate including the two Court and its neighbour, Lyon Court, including that which we take to ‘the tip’. MBT machinery hall and aided by CCTV cameras. There is a lakes/ponds. but this would be unacceptable to the separate viewing gallery which runs the length of the MBT residents as it would encroach upon the So much for the waste we put out for recycling, but what building, which is in turn linked to the administration and Ayshe Court was an impressive privacy of the flat-dwellers, especially happens to the rest of our household refuse? This is where visitors centre by an underground tunnel. This ensures that Edwardian house located roughly at the those on the ground floor.” Biffa and its facility at Brookhurst Wood comes into the visitors and staff do not have to cross the area where refuse junction of what is now The Poplars and picture. The site off Langhurstwood Road was formerly a clay vehicles arrive to deliver their loads. Ayshe Court Drive. The footpath In recent time some work has been done pit for the manufacture of bricks and the land adjacent has entrance to the house was on the little stream that runs from the been owned and operated by Biffa for over twenty years as a The visitor centre is fitted with solar panels, rain water approximately where the studio flats, lake under Depot Road, mainly to try landfill site for ‘black bag’ waste. harvesting for toilets and motion sensing internal lights. Chequers Court, now front Depot Road. and reduce the flooding that frequently The owners of Ayshe Court immediately occurs there. More work needs to be Work on the construction of Biffa’s new Mechanical and We are very grateful to Brett McGuin, Biffa’s Community prior to development in 1967-8 were a done on the stream as well as the lakes Biological Treatment (MBT) facility started in 2010. The Liaison Officer for hosting members of the committee. He is Miss Faulks and an earlier owner was ownership of the lakes either by and banks. Concern by Forest facility is currently in commissioning and is anticipated to be keen to hear from community groups or schools who would Colonel Middleton, who founded the Kenstair Developments or Davis Neighbourhood Council led to a in full operation later this year. Instead of simply tipping the like to arrange a visit to learn more about what happens to the original Capitol Theatre on the site of Estates. Indeed, ownership of the lakes meeting which Cllr Holmes attended County’s non-recycled household rubbish into landfill it is County’s waste and how the Company’s partnership with the current Marks & Spencer. cannot be traced with any certainty to and he reported back that the main now possible to sort it mechanically to recover material that WSCC is making a real difference to our lives and the this day. There is no mention of the problem has been the uncertain can be turned into usable resources and generate heat and economy. He can be contacted by phone on 01403 339169, The entire site, which embraced land on lakes in the Land Registry. ownership of the lakes. A report by power. email at [email protected], or mail: Brett McGuin, both sides of the upper and lower lakes HDC’s legal department shows that Biffa West Sussex Ltd, Brookhurst Wood, Langhurstwood was bought by Kenstair Developments For some years, a voluntary group, the ownership is probably one-eighth As shown in the picture, the site comprises three parts: the Road, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 4QD Ltd of Brighton in 1967, who Lakeside Conservation Volunteers, Bourne Court, one-eighth Lyons Court large-roofed mechanical sorting facility (MSF), an immediately sold off a parcel of land to drawn from residents on both sides of and 3/4 Crown land. It is reckoned that administration and visitor centre in front and, at the back, Davis Estates Ltd for the development the lakes, fully equipped with chain the Crown will take no interest. West large anaerobic digestion tanks. The MSF contains an of what is now Stirling Way, etc. The saws and a flat-bottomed boat, did their Sussex County Council is responsible enormous hanger-like space filled with a complex price paid for the house and surrounding best to maintain the lakes and for the footpaths. This fragmented combination of machinery and conveyor belts which shred, land which then backed onto Harwood surrounding trees but the key people ownership means that there has been no sort and separate rubbish into different output types for House and its land owned by the eventually moved away or died. co-ordinated management although that further processing. Bowes-Lyon sisters, was £75,000! did not seem to stop the work which Robert Worley says that “around four went on two decades ago. Household waste is delivered to the facility and first tipped The development of what is now Ayshe years ago, during a gale, a large tree on into one of two large pits in the reception hall which is kept Court Drive and The Poplars, including the Stirling Way side of the lower lake The lakes are an important area, enjoyed under negative pressure to prevent odour escaping. From here Bourns Court and Lyon Court flats, was fell across the water. This prompted me by a large number of adults and children a large grab hook transfers waste into the first stage which finally completed in 1970. Bourns Court to contact our councillor, Dr David on the way to school and a ‘green lung’ consists of primary and secondary shredders which reduce the should have been named Bowes Court; Holmes, to arrange a meeting with HDC for this part of Horsham. In the present rubbish to an undifferentiated mass of relatively small pieces perhaps an error by a council employee? representatives. The result was that financial climate everyone is pleading for further treatment. 34 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 39

poverty but this might not be a bad thing as it will give a Robert Worley would like to know c/o the Editor. breathing space to formulate plans for the ongoing From the Committee maintenance of the area. The ideal arrangement may well be Strangely, very little seems to have been written about the a Friends group however the present state of the area suggests Edwardian Ayshe Court house. If you know any more about that some kick-start finance would be needed. the history of this area prior to 1840 or between then and the North Horsham throughout Horsham which shows a Waste bin ping pong 1967 development, please let the Editor know. single footbridge. It is estimated that an initial outlay of around £10,000 would he Society remains very concerned e have commented before on the make a big difference and then annual costs of up to £3,000 My thanks to Robert Worley and to David Holmes for most of about the plans for a new settlement The Horsham Cycle Forum has also unsightly trade waste bins in the would probably cover routine maintenance. It is hoped that the information in this article. Tto the north of the A264. This moved a been pressing for underpasses and Wtown centre. money could be obtained from various sources including step nearer when the Planning appear to have won the support of the Forest Neighbourhood Council via the Special Charge levied Inspector, in his initial findings, told North Horsham County Local When we approached Horsham Council on residents of the unparished parts of the town, residents of HDC that, from the evidence submitted Committee which includes all our local about its powers to require traders to Bourne Court, Lyon Court and Stirling Way (who have an so far, nothing had convinced him that county councillors. Let’s hope they put keep their waste on their premises we interest in keeping the area pleasant) and WSCC for the paths, the proposed allocation was unsound. pressure on Liberty to at last start were told that whilst it encouraged related safety and prevention of flooding in Depot Road. addressing our concerns. businesses to do so, and provided plastic Given that it now seems very likely that sacks on request, it had no power to It looks as if the way forward is to found a Friends group, Liberty’s proposals will go ahead in require the removal of bins. We were possibly with guidance from Sussex Wildlife Trust. If you are some form we have been turning our WSCC axes service told this was the responsibility of the interested in conserving and improving the area around the attention to what facilities we would County Council. lakes please contact the Society’s Hon Secretary or the clerk wish to see incorporated and the overall or many years West Sussex County to Forest Neighbourhood Council, Mrs M Vinall, 40 design of the housing and other Council has provided specialist WSCC has since told us that it will deal Rookwood Park, RH12 1UB, e-mail: [email protected]). building. We will be pressing for the Farchaeological advice and support to with any bins that block the highway or necessary infrastructure improvements boroughs and districts in their role as footpath but has no powers to insist on If anyone knows what has happened to the flat-bottomed boat to be provided before the housing and Local Planning Authorities, and more the removal of bins on aesthetic and the tools used by the Lakeside Conservation Volunteers, © Google Maps commercial units. widely. Historically, this was provided grounds. This was, they told us, a matter free of charge, but a charge was for HDC as planning authority. We have always said that one of the introduced in 2011. Now, following a biggest problems would be the budget review, it has been decided this So we have now put the ball back in connectivity of the new settlement to does not cover the costs and the service HDC’s court and asked what they can Letters and emails the town across the A264. So far all that was axed from the end of March this do. It must be possible to prevent has been offered are traffic light year. eyesores in the conservation area if only two years. Does anyone know anything defunct Friends of Horsham Park the controlled crossings. We consider this to there was a will to do so. We await Panacea Society about Miss Hayward or any other committee was against the proposal to be unacceptable and unsafe for We share the concerns of the Horsham HDC’s response. Meanwhile it does Horsham person, who belonged to the allow cycling in the park. I still pedestrians and cyclists. District Archaeology Group, and many make one wonder whether we really ecently, I spent a few days in Panacea Society? feel the same. others, that an expert and locally need two councils with overlapping Bedford and I decided to visit the We wrote to Liberty twice in February knowledgable resource is being responsibilities and high overheads. RPanacea Museum. This tells the story of David Moore Carole Sorrell to say that we believe that there are only disbanded without any county-wide a fascinating group of people, who Swindon Road, Horsham Holly Close, Horsham two safe and acceptable ways for them alternative arrangements being made. founded the Panacea Society in 1919. It to cross: either by bridge or underpass. Without this opportunities for important Cycling started when four women became Our preferred option was an underpass pre-development archeological interested in the message Joanna Coolhurst and the Park and we thought, given the extent of the excavations will undoubtedly be he Society has long argued for Southcott had sent out 100 years ago development, at least two would be missed, and historical evidence lost better provision for cyclists - better, together with her sealed box of was very interested to read the article needed. forever. Tsafer routes around the town, and prophecies. about Coolhurst Church in the April Recycling news convenient places where bikes can be INewsletter. We have had no reply from Liberty, We have written to Tom Crowley, HDC left whilst their owners use the shops Mabel Barltrop became the leader of the here is good news for those of us despite their declared wish to engage Chief Executive to ask what alternative and other facilities. group and was given the name Octavia, It brought back a particular memory for confused about which plastics can with the local community, and the arrangements are being put in place the 8th and last prophet of the me of the time I belonged to Theatre 48 Tbe placed in the recycling bin and which schematic plan in their leaflet which has locally. Some years ago HDC produced a Visitation. The Panacea Society in Horsham and was the publicity cannot. been distributed to households cycling strategy but too little has members believed that a cure for all officer. We were rehearsing the play More generally, this is a good example changed at a time when more people illness could be found in small squares ‘Canterbury Tales’ and used the church From 1st April all plastic food pots and of the cuts that local authorities are are being encouraged to take up cycling of lint on which Octavia had breathed. grounds for our publicity shots which trays can be recycled. making to what are called non-statutory for its health and other benefits. The group used to advertise in national worked very well in such lovely services, meaning those they are not papers and many people still remember surroundings! Now its much easier simply to required to provide by law. Just because Now the Horsham District Cycling seeing their advertisements. The last remember the plastics that cannot be services are not statutory does not mean Forum has lambasted the County member died in 2012 but the sealed box Whilst writing can I ask if there are recycled: plastic films (clingfilm and they are unimportant - just easy targets. Council for diverting funding intended still exists and has never been opened. other members who, like me, are the covers of food trays), plastic bags, to improve cycling infrastructure and unimpressed with the fact that cycling is plastic bottle tops, polystyrene, toys and wasting that which is still available on They had a very wide following around allowed in Horsham Park? It's bad garden plastics (pots, seed trays etc). AGM unnecessary schemes such as double- the world and there were many enough on the paths but when cyclists decker bike racks in the town centre. followers who lived in this country. One also use the grass it will in time spoil it Remember all items must be clean, dry his Newsletter went to press before Increasingly our councils seem to be such was Miss M Hayward, a 27 year with tyre marks especially when the and loose. the AGM on 16th April but there spending public money with little old nurse from Horsham, who made grass is wet. Twill be a full report, with any committee thought to the public benefit, and contact with the Panacea Society in If you are still confused check out New bike rack outside Boots. changes, in the June Newsletter. inadequate consultation. 1928 and remained a member for some When I was a member of the now www.recycleforwestsussex.org D 1 ia 9 40 Horsham Society Newsletter May 2015 m 5 o 5 n -2 d 0 1 Ju 5 b i sounds like a fun place under his management and full of le CJ Bailey of the Star Inn, Roffey strange things. He had many interests and used the premises e to display an eclectic collection of curiosities: a screen made HORSHAM hen C J Bailey died on 9 September 1928 at the age of up of 12,000 stamps, a box and dice said to have belonged to Newsletter 81, the Horsham area lost its oldest publican. Born in Dick Turpin, a dolls’ house constructed from champagne 1847, he had been a man of many parts, and his career had SOCIETY W corks, a telegram sent to the Prince Imperial at Aldershot and May 2015 seen him, variously, as piano factory worker, soldier, valet, a bone champagne cup given him by a couple of balloonists and lastly, innkeeper. He started in the Army in 1871, and as who lost their way and landed in Roffey. Goodness me. a musician in the Queen's Westminster Volunteer Band found Where are they all now, I wonder? himself playing before Queen Victoria. Brian Slyfield Chairman The next year he was with the Royal Horse Artillery, being HDPF - Main modifications reviewed by the then Shah of Persia, and later was part of a fter four years as chairman David field exercise watched over by Napoleon III and Empress ou will recall that just before Christmas the Planning Inspector halted his Moore has decided to stand down Eugenie. Another name he could drop to the locals over the public examination of the Horsham District Planning Framework, telling the Afrom the chairmanship and the bar in Roffey was the Emperor of Russia; he waited on him YCouncil quite plainly that its plan was unsound. He insisted it be reviewed and that committee for personal reasons. when he dined at the regimental mess at Woolwich. provision should be made for a further 2,000 homes over the life of the plan. This came as no surprise to the Society as we had been saying for some time that the David has made a huge contribution Bailey clearly liked the aura of royalty - even though by the Council’s strategy of providing the minimum number of new homes it thought it and pursued the Society's interests with time it enveloped him it was spread a little thinly - and after could get away with was likely to fail. great energy and imagination. the Army he went over to Ireland and took up with the Fortunately David is not lost to us but aristocracy, becoming a valet firstly to Lord Langford and The Council was required to go back with an altered plan within six months. will continue in a variety of ways to later the Duke of Connaught. Changes, called main modifications, have to be published in advance and an support the Society, and hopes to return opportunity given to the public to make further representations to the Inspector. In to the committee at some time in the But at least as a publican he was his own man, and the Star Courtesy Memories of Horsham Facebook our view, based upon the evidence he has heard, he expected to see one or two future. additional strategic sites of 500 or more homes each. While the search is on for a new However, what the Council has proposed is a re-hash of its original plan with only chairman, Rod Cuming our Hon one new site for 150 homes south of Southwater, which fails its own definition of HORSHAM Secretary will provide a central point By the way a strategic site. The rest relies on smoke and mirrors adjustments to previous of contact. SOCIETY Directory figures and a new, and wholly unacceptable, insertion of the word “around” before them all. The North Horsham strategic site, originally intended to provide 2,500 New members homes will now provide “around 2,500”, with “around” being defined as plus or The Horsham Society is a registered charity (No.268949) and is an minus 10%. In other words the figure will now be at least 2,750. Not only is this Inside his month we are very pleased to welcome Mr P Whibley, independent body supported by members’ subscriptions approach misleading, it still fails to explain convincingly how the Inspector’s Redford Avenue; Mr and Mrs T Hogben, Old Holbrook; his month we conclude Lewis target will be met. Bryan’s diary of his WWI PRESIDENT Dr Annabelle Hughes TMr R Bates, Ashleigh Road; Mr N Butler, Farhalls Crescent and Mr and Mrs Hampton, West Chiltington. Texperiences, take a look at Ayshe Court VICE-PRESIDENTS These changes were pushed through a special council meeting on 18th March Lakes which are badly in need of some Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, Nigel Friswell, John Steele despite many of the key figures and other studies not being available to members. love and attention, and learn about Councillors were threatened by scare tactics, and told the district was doomed if CHAIRMAN (vacant) Date for your diary Biffa’s Brookhurst Wood Mechanical they didn’t approve the changes that evening. Nobody mentioned that the problem Biological Treatment plant and its HON TREASURER HON SECRETARY he topic for the Bedford Culture Club’s meeting on 21st had arisen simply because the Council had produced an unsound plan. place in WSCC’s waste strategy. Sarah Powell Rod Cuming May is The strange and fascinating evolution of right- 3 White Horse Road Twing America from Selma to the Tea Party . The speaker will EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Horsham RH12 4UL Roy Bayliss Tel: 01403 268444 be Andrew R Wines. Meetings start at 7pm in the Bedford Paul Fletcher [email protected] pub in Station Road. To book tickets or for further Diamond Jubilee event with Rupert Toovey Nigel Friswell information contact Emilie Myers on 01403 211962. To celebrate our Diamond Jubilee we are delighted to announce a special members only event on 11th June at 7.30pm in the David Griffiths MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Michael Hall Mrs Pat Gale Causeway Barn. John Steele 46 Bedford Road Delivering print solutions to Horsham RH13 5BJ Rupert Toovey, who will be well known to members as a local auctioneer and Director of Sussex based Toovey’s antique and fine DISTRIBUTION ORGANISER Tel: 01403 253946 companies throughout the UK Kathy Gleeson [email protected] art auction house, has kindly agreed to present Treasures from your home - A talk with Rupert Toovey . This will follow a well tried and successful format where guests are invited to bring along an object for discussion and valuation. These are placed on tables The Executive Committee meets at 7.30pm on the first Wednesday of each and form the basis of the talk to the audience. The Printed Word month in the Manor Room behind the Causeway Barn. Members are welcome to attend as observers but it would be appreciated if the Secretary NEW ADDRESS If you have a treasured object you would like to know more about this is your opportunity to have it appraised by an expert. could be informed beforehand. Unit 2 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Graylands Estate Numbers are limited by the capacity of the Barn so places must be booked in advance. If you would like to join us for what will Annual Membership: £10 per household Langhurstwood Road be an enjoyable and informative evening please contact Rod Cuming on 01403 268444 or email [email protected] . Family Life Membership: £150 per household Horsham Postage is added to the above rates at £5 per annum West Sussex for out-of-town members Please note that items brought to the event will be at your own risk. You are advised to avoid bringing delicate or fragile All major credit cards accepted RH12 4QD www.horshamsociety.org pieces and, particularly if you think they have a value, to ensure that they are covered by your household insurance in [email protected] case of damage during transit or at the event. Newsletter correspondence should be sent to the Editor: John Steele, 01403 255650 www.printedword.co.uk 2 Old Denne Gardens, Horsham, RH12 1JA (Tel: 01403 272814, email: [email protected]). Other matters should be referred to the Hon Secretary. The Newsletter is published monthly except August and © Individual contributors 2015. No material may be reproduced, copied or stored in a opinions in it, whether the Editor’s or contributors’, are not necessarily retrieval system without the prior consent of the relevant contributor, which should be those of the Society. sought via the Editor. OUR CONCERN IS THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE TOWN