June’s talk
June’s talk will be on Friday, 20th June 2025, when David Cordingly will give a talk entitled Art of the Sussex Coast, from Turner and Constable to Paul Nash and Eric Ravilious. David started his career at the Brighton Art Gallery and Museum and then spent twelve years at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, where he organised various exhibitions, including Pirates: Fact and Fiction. He has written books about pirates and other subjects and acted as consultant for the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
As usual, the talk will take place at the Steyning Centre and will start at 7.30 pm. Liquid refreshments will be served from 7 pm. Guests at our talks are always very welcome at our talks, subject to an admission charge of £5 each.
Al Fresco Garden Party
We are holding a garden party to raise funds for our grants between 6 pm and 8 pm on Wednesday, 16th July 2025 at Saffrons, Holland Road, Steyning, BN44 3GJ, by kind permission of Tim Melton and Bernardean Carey. The Riverboat Shuffle will be providing the music.
Tickets cost £20 each, which includes a glass of Smock Alley sparkling wine, other liquid refreshments and canapes. Tickets are available from Steyning Bookshop, at our monthly meeting or by paying online and letting the Treasurer know (adriangobat@hotmail.co.uk) so that the requisite number of tickets can be so that the requisite number of tickets can be set aside. Bank details: Barclays, s/c 20-98-74 a/c 60832235. They are also available via Ticket Source.
Please see this link for further information.
Winchester Trip
In conjunction with the Friends of Steyning Parish Church, we arranged a coach trip to Winchester on 20th May 2025 to see the Hospital of St Cross and the Cathedral. The Hospital of St Cross is a medieval alms house which has a fine Norman church. The masons who carved in the church are thought to have carved in our church as well. A financial scandal at the Hospital provided the idea for the plot of The Warden in Trollope’s Barchester novels. We also had a tour of the Cathedral, which included the 12th Century Winchester Bible and the Kings and Scribes Exhibition about the Wessex Royal Family. A full account of the trip can be found on the Events Section or by following this link Winchester trip.
Annual General Meeting
This year’s Annual General Meeting was held at the Steyning Centre on Wednesday, 16th April 2025. The formal AGM was followed by this year’s Steyning Bowl Awards, which were presented by Nigel Hartley. The Bowl was won by Vintage Years, which also received a certificate. There were six runners up, who all received certificates. Catherine Mant and Nick Bennett ended the evening by sharing their memories of Steyning in the 50s and 60s. A full account of the evening, including photographs, can be found at this link.
Photographic Competition and Calendar for 2026
We invite members to submit recent photographs of Steyning and the surrounding area through the various seasons of the year for inclusion in a Steyning Society Calendar for 2026, which will be published by the Society. You may submit as many photographs as you like (within reason!) and you may make more than one submission.. Please send your submissions to our Treasurer, Adrian Gobat, whose email address is adriangobat@hotmail.co.uk.. There will be a prize for the best photograph which will consist of a bottle of Smock Alley sparkling wine and a tasting at the vineyard, both kindly donated by Sarah Lavery..
Capture the beauty of Steyning through the seasons and have your photo featured in our printed calendar! Whether you’re using a smartphone or camera. Click Competition information sheet to find out how to take part:
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: February 2025
