Kangaroos charity golf day fundraiser

Photos courtesy of Gibson Blanc Photography

Despite fewer teams than usual, Kangaroos held its 9th annual charity golf day at Cuckfield Golf Centre on 17th August. It went with a swing, raising £3,000 for local charity Kangaroos which provides all year round clubs and trips out for children and adults with learning disabilities.

The sun shone throughout and the day was full of fun and friendship which is exactly what Kangaroos offers its members. The day’s proud headline sponsor was local firm, Project Sixty One Electrical Services and other main sponsor was Cuckfield Life, with owner and editor and long term supporter, David Tingley helping throughout the day. Before the golfers teed off, newly appointed CEO Emma Hunt welcomed everyone and highlighted the importance of local communities coming together to support the organisation which will be celebrating its 30th anniversary next year.

The winning team was ‘How’s My Driving’, comprising of Fred Fulford Smith, Steven Trench and Ian Robson. They were presented with the Ella Thatcher Memorial Cup by Kangaroos fundraising coordinator, Samantha Norgate. The runners-up team was ‘The Bogey Men’, and Best Individual Golfer was won by Steven Trench with a score of 41 points. James Teale scooped the ‘Longest Drive on the 6th Hole’ prize.

The Kangaroos team would like to give special thanks to Emma and team at Cuckfield Golf Centre, for all their support and donation of prizes, and to Chris, Clare and Charlotte Jones, to David from Cuckfield Life and Gibson Blanc (Photography) - who all volunteered their time to help on the day.

Holy Trinity Church though the summer

All sorts of fun throughout summer

Despite the unpredictable and sometimes disappointing weather, there was no lack of fun at Holy Trinity Church this summer.
The first week of the holidays saw the return of the popular theatre club, and the children were kept busy writing, rehearsing, singing, prop making and generally having lots of fun working together towards the lively and totally unique production In My Shoes, performed to an appreciative audience made up of family and friends.

The fun continued later in August with Holy Trinity Church’s CrystalFactor-Krypton-Maze. After a grey and overcast morning, around 40 parents, grandparents and children all met on the playing field at Holy Trinity Primary School for an afternoon of fun & games in glorious sunshine! Following an expertly-led warm up, the contestants organised themselves into teams with suitable team names before the first challenge… the dressing-up relay (let’s just say that shirts are difficult to button when you are wearing rubber gloves!)
Other challenges included a dribbling-the-football race, an egg-and-spoon race, even a grown-ups race. There was serious attempt to break the volleyball keepy uppy record, before playing ‘catch the water balloon before it bursts’, resulting in some soggy t-shirts!

The afternoon was rounded off with an assault course, with yet more water followed by squash and cake! Everyone left festooned with stickers, full of delicious cake and a bit out of puff – it was a wonderful afternoon and much enjoyed by everyone who took part. Looking ahead we will be celebrating Harvest Festival at the end of September, with a Harvest Supper for all the family in church on Saturday 30th from 5.30pm until 8pm and our harvest services the following day.

The boss and the bartender - the story of The White Harte, Cuckfield

Jordan and Kevin, at The White Harte, Cuckfield

By Jacqueline Elmore 

The growing trend of pubs being sold to property developers and turned into houses, flats or shops has been on the rise for years. More than 150 pubs shut for good in England and Wales in the first quarter of 2023 with a heavy portion of them being snapped up by developers the minute they went on the market. 

We only have to look at the Ship Inn on Whitemans Green to see how that turned out; once a traditional family owned pub that closed its doors in 2014 and was then converted into a Co-op store. 

There are now only four public houses in Cuckfield, all important in their own unique way and each one of them catering to a different audience. 

Over the years, I have interviewed a number of publicans in and around the area; some new to the business and some who have been at it for years. 

In early 2019, I spoke to pub keeper Jim Ayling, who at the time, with his partner, Jackie had skillfully served the community as landlord of The White Harte in Cuckfield for almost two decades, before brewery Hall and Woodhouse sold it to an independent party. 

Last month, I finally got to sit down with the pubs’ new owner, Kevin Smith to find out how he, a retired helicopter engineer found himself in possession of a 15th century coaching inn and how, with the help of Bar Manager, Jordan Johnson have managed to turn the local drinking den into something of a destination pub. 

Kevin explains: “It must have been around Christmas time, about ten years ago when my friends and I got chatting to some of the locals who were talking about how the pub was going up for sale, and the person that wanted to buy it was a property developer who was planning to turn it into houses. Well that didn’t really sit right with us, given the pubs long-standing history, and its place in the community so my friend and I put in an offer in the hope that we could purchase it before it was sold for good.” 

The developers ended up pulling out of the sale leaving Jim and Jackie to hang on to the pub for a few more years. 

“Once the sale had fallen through, we asked the brewery that if ever they decided to sell the pub again that they come back to us to let us know. And that was exactly what happened. One day I got a call out of the blue from Hall and Woodhouse asking if we were still interested in buying the pub.” 

[This is an excerpt from the full article, published in the August 2023 issue of Cuckfield Life]