Visit to Applesham Farm – New Date
As a result of the very hot weather, we have postponed the visit to Applesham Farm from Wednesday, 24th June to Monday, 6th July.
This visit is a sequel to Hugh Passmore’s talk about the Farm in January. It will begin with a tour of the Farm which will start at 6.30 p.m. and will last for about 1 to 1½ hours. We will see the Farm from a basic vehicle which can accommodate up to 30 passengers and travel along farm tracks, so it could be a bumpy ride. We are sorry that this means that the visit will not be suitable for those with disabilities. The evening will end with a bring-your-own picnic which will be held in a barn if it is wet. We are not arranging transport to the Farm but we are told that there are plenty of parking places there and we will try to help arrange lifts for those who prefer not to drive. Directions on how to get there and where to park will be sent to those coming. There is no charge for this visit. However, as spaces on the vehicle are limited, please reserve your space by contacting Nicola Mason (nickymason82@gmail.com). If you reserved a space for the visit on 24th June, please remember to tell Nicola whether you wish to join the visit on 6th July, if you have not already done so, because reservations for the original date will not be automatically carried over to the new date.
Next talk
Our next talk will be held at the Steyning Centre on Friday, 18th September 2026 at 7.30 p.m., when our Vice Chair and Membership Secretary, Catherine Mant, will be talking to us about Sussex Cooking and the English Food Revival in the last century. She will be telling us about Sussex culinary delights, such as Sussex Pond, Ifield Hog’s and Rotherfield Sweet Tooth, giving us recipes and samples and peppering her talk with amusing anecdotes.
Visit to the Sussex County Cricket Ground at Hove
We are planning a visit to the County Cricket Ground at Hove on 7th October, which will include a tour of the Museum and a pub lunch. There will be no charge for the tour. Further details will be announced nearer the date. Transport will not be arranged for this visit but we will try to help arrange lifts for those who prefer not to drive. Please tell Nicola Mason (nickymason82@gmail.com) if you would like to join the trip.
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.
Christmas Supper
We held our annual Christmas supper on 19th December 2025. Eighty members and guests sat down to a delicious supper which was prepared by Normandy Dining. This was followed by music from the Sea Jam Jazz Quintet. The evening included a raffle with a number of prizes very generously provided by Steyning traders. We hope that everyone enjoyed the evening.
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.
Glebe Farm
Applications have been made to Horsham District Council (“HDC”) for approval of the matters which were reserved when outline planning permission was granted last autumn for 265 new homes to be built on part of Glebe Farm. The applications and the supporting documents are now available on HDC’s planning website.
For the latest newsletter, please click: June 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
