Towns and Villages 6
Our June 2019 visit organised by Jean Wright and Enid Graves was to Rottingdean and the Grange Gallery, Museum and Library.
Our guide a member of the Rottingdean Preservation Society brought the village to life for us.
Rottingdean is named after Rota the leader of a band of Saxon invaders, and dene means “dry valley”. The gallery exhibition was a fabulous collection of stained glass work both traditional and modern. Well worth a visit in spite of the downpour which sent torrents of water rushing towards the seafront!
We also managed a dash to the church a short walk away. The garden at The Grange was designed by Gertrude Gekyll and other well known people associated with Rottingdean are Edmund Burne Jones and his nephew Rudyard Kipling, and of course the Copper Family of folk singers, well known all over Sussex.
In July Glennis and Bill King arranged a visit to ”Hidden Worthing”. Our enthusiastic and very knowledgeable guide led us from the Dome cinema on the seafront near to the pier, along the seafront with many historical anecdotes along the way. He led us towards the part of Worthing associated with the fishing industry, on the boundary of the town of Worthing, and then through a twitten to reveal a row of well preserved former fishermen’s cottages.
Other streets in the area had similar rows of cottages. He also pointed out a plaque on the original Lifeboat station, now a private house. A lovely day and an interesting visit.