Next talk
Our next talk will be held at the Steyning Centre at 7.30 p.m. on Friday, 20th November when Rod Scott, Chair of the Governors of Steyning Grammar School, will talk to us about the plans for the future of the Grammar School. The School has been at the heart of our community for over 400 years and, in recent years, has faced the challenges posed by the Pandemic and Academisation, as well as changes in leadership. The Department for Education has now agreed to build the School new premises on one site. Rod Scott will talk about his journey as Chair of the Governors and will discuss how the single site will affect teachers, pupils and the town alike.
Christmas Supper
We are holding our Christmas Supper jointly with the Museum on Friday, 18 December 2026. Further information about the evening will be provided during the autumn but please save the date.
Steyning Ukrainian Refuge
The Steyning Ukrainian Refuge has told us that they are equipping a house for a Ukrainian family in Beeding and that they still need a washing machine, a microwave oven and a wardrobe. If you can help with any of these items please contact John Stevenson at the Refuge on leadsteyningur@gmail.com. The Refuge will collect, check and install them.
The Grammar School site in Church Street
The Grammar School site in Church Street was sold earlier this year. We had an informal meeting with the new owners and their architect on the site in June and attended a presentation they made to an invited audience on 29th July. Catherine Mant attended both events and has written a note about the presentation which can be read by following the link Meeting on 29th July 2026. The new owners held a public meeting on 9th September to explain their plans and answer questions about them. Their plans are now more developed than they were in July but the overall concept remains the same. They now intend to apply for planning permission.
Visit to Applesham Farm
We visited Applesham Farm in early July where Hugh Passmore gave us a guided tour of the farm in a purpose-built trailer as a sequel to his talk earlier in the year. As he drove us round the farm, he told us about how he runs the farm as a mixed arable and livestock farm as a protection against fluctuations in market prices and some of the problems of farming today, including illegal hare coursing. He also told us that he practises sustainable farming, using traditional methods such as crop rotation and under sowing, so minimising the use of chemical fertilisers and weedkillers. We made the visit on a warm summer’s evening with little or no wind, saw hares enjoying the sunshine and ended up having a BYO picnic in the Passmores’ beautiful downland garden, with its views over Lancing College, the Adur Valley and the coast beyond. Mike Kelly and Jane Oxley brought their sixteen-year-old grandson with them who talked about his life on his parents’ farm and the animals we saw.
Annual General Meeting 2026, Steyning Bowl Awards 2026 and Talk about Steyning
This year’s Steyning Bowl Awards were presented by Neil Jenkins, the internationally acclaimed tenor, on 17th April after the Society’s Annual General Meeting. The awards were focused on those who have made significant contributions to the musical life of Steyning, which produced some outstanding nominations. The Bowl was presented to Zoe Peate and Gary Prior for their lifetime commitment to music, and especially for their work with Cantatrice Voices and Kaleidoscope Singers. Each of the five runners up received Highly Commended Certificates. They were Siobhan Denning, for her work with Chanctonbury Chorus, Diane Gargano for her work with Strummers and Singers, Janet Gawn for her work with Steyning Jazz Club, Christabel Heasman-Cossins for her work with Sing Out Sister and Brian and Marion Sawyer for their contribution to music at Steyning Parish Church.
Before presenting the awards, Neil Jenkins told us briefly about how he and his wife decided to retire to Bramber and their experience of making music in and around Steyning. The evening concluded with a short talk by Maddie Blackburn and Paul Dennison entitled Discovering Steyning, when they told us about how they came to live in Steyning and their love for the town.
Click on this link to see pictures of the evening. After following the link, you can click on an image to see a high quality picture which you can save and print as a souvenir of the evening.
Trip to Chichester Festival Theatre
Members of the Society visited Chichester Festival Theatre on 2 April 2026 where they made a tour of the theatre and stayed on for a matinee performance of BFG by Roald Dahl. Carole Powell has very kindly written a review of the trip which can be found by using the link Chichester Theatre Outing April 2026
Guide to the Conservation Area
A new edition of Harry Ford’s illustrated Guide to the Conservation is now available and can be bought at our meetings for £7.50 a copy. It can also be bought from the the Bookshop and the Museum. The text has been updated to reflect changes which have occurred since the last edition was produced, as well as recent research which has been done on some of the Town’s ancient buildings.
The Local Heritage List
The Local Heritage List has been adopted by Steyning Parish Council and by Horsham District Council. A limited number of copies of the list has been printed and are available at £10 each. They can be bought at the Society’s meetings or copies can be ordered by contacting the Society on cmantsteyningsoc@gmail.com.
For the latest newsletter, please click September 2026: Previous newsletters can be found in the Newsletter section of this website.
Previous events
Details and photos of previous events can be found on the Archive page of the website
