Cuckfield Events

Cuckfield Society Village Show – 2nd September 2023

By Julie McDonald 

Next month will see the return of the village show. 

This year we’ve teamed up with Cuckfield Golf Centre who have kindly offered people the chance to play a round or two of miniature golf in the paddock opposite the church. 

Come along for a glass of wine, or tea and cake (from our amazing kitchen team), and browse the exhibits and selected stalls while placing a bid or two to see if you can win a prize from our silent auction. We have some fantastic prizes to win again this year. 

We’re also looking forward to welcoming two pianists who will be gliding their hands across the keys and rolling out some calming music to keep us all entertained throughout the afternoon. And for the little ones, there will be colouring activities and story-time with local author, Sally Symes. 

The committee has been busy working behind the scenes gathering sponsors, silent auction prizes and helping to organise the judging panel. Thank you to all those who have contributed; the show would not be possible without your support. We would especially like to thank, Amanda Rogers and Hermione Pask, two of our newest committee members for all their dedication and hard work. In addition, we would also like to extend our thanks to Marie Dormer for organising the stalls this year. 

If you don’t have one yet, don’t forget to pick up your show guide from Artologie or the Co-op, Whitemans Green. There are also several other businesses in the village displaying copies for you to take. 

There are a range of options available including - horticulture, baking, preserves, homemade spirits/wine, floral, art, crafts, art, photography and a junior section too - so you can choose which classes you would like to enter. 

Closing date for entries is Wednesday 30th August 2023. 

The Cuckfield Society Village Show will take place from 2pm on Saturday 2nd September at the Baptist Church, Polestub Lane, Cuckfield. 


Organisers Jill White and Julie McDonald are pleased to announce the date of this year’s Cuckfield Village Show: Saturday 2nd September.

The pair ran the 2022 event, but are delighted that there is now a new committee of volunteers to join them for this year. “We have been putting our heads together,” Jill explained, “and have had lots of exciting ideas for new show classes for 2023.”

The class categories are: Vegetables, Fruit, Flowers, Baking, Preserves/Drink, Floral Art, Crafts, Art, Photography, and Juniors (up to 14 years). A full list of all the categories can be found below and online (www.cuckfield.org), as the team encourage anyone to think about what they could enter later this year. Some clearly need more time to prepare than others!

Could you create: ‘something made from metal’, ‘a cartoon strip’, ‘an original model made from Lego’, ‘3 choux buns’ or grow ‘the single most fragrant rose’? There are more than 90 classes this year, which include some favourites like ‘heaviest vegetable’, ‘one jar of jam’ and ‘The Katie Stewart Cup’ where Katie’s recipe for a date and walnut loaf cake must be followed and judged.


PRESERVES/DRINK
47. 1 jar chutney, any recipe
48. 1 jar jam
49. 1 jar fruit jelly
50. 1 jar marmalade
51. 1 bottle of homemade fruit spirit
52. 1 bottle of homemade beer/cider
53. 1 bottle of homemade wine

FLORAL ART (use wire/beads/bark/vintage hedgehogs etc., not oasis as this will not be acceptable)
54. A summer wreath
55. A table centre piece inspired by the Coronation
56. An arrangement of dried flowers and/or seed heads
57. A freestyle flower display, in your own container

CRAFTS
58. A bag for life
59. A pair of jeans customised in your own style
60. A white t-shirt decorated in your own style (eg. Buttons, zips, ribbons, pens, bling etc.) 61. A handstitched item of needlecraft
62. A tie-dye scarf
63. An item of crochet
64. An item of knitting
65. Any dressmaking item
66. A sheet of handmade paper
67. A bar of handmade soap
68. Something made from wood
69. Something made from metal

ART – Max 60 x 60cm inc. frame in watercolour, acrylic, pastel, gouache, oil, charcoal, pencil or digital
70. A landscape, any medium
71. A portrait, any medium
72. A still life, any medium
73. A seascape, any medium
74. A painting showing the effect of light
75. A painting conveying emotion
76. Use different art techniques to create a picture (stippling, collage etc.)
77. A piece of digital art, printed on A4 paper
78. A piece of verse or poetry (max. 16 lines)

PHOTOGRAPHY (Max. 20cm x 20cm unmounted)
79. Your garden
80. A Coronation scene
81. A cityscape
82. UK weather
83. Reflections
84. A photo depicting texture, close-up or at a distance

JUNIORS (up to 14 years – age will be taken into account when judging)
85. Something I created at school
86. A diorama in a shoebox
87. A miniature garden (max. 30 x 30cm)
88. Decorate a hard-boiled egg
89. A drawing/painting (subject of your choice)
90. A collage/sculpture made from recycled material
91. An original model made from Lego/similar
92. An animal made from fruit, vegetables or pasta
93. A repetitive pattern made from a potato print stamp
94. A cartoon strip (max. A4)

Cuckfield Village Show 2023 entry classes

VEGETABLES
1. 3 beetroot
2. A cabbage
3. 3 carrots
4. 3 chillies
5. 3 courgettes (not exceeding 20cm long)
6. 2 cucumbers
7. 3 leeks
8. 1-3 lettuce, any type
9. 3 onions from seed or sets
10. A bunch of spring onions
11. A garlic or onion plait (min. 7 bulbs)
12. 3 potatoes, any variety
13. A pumpkin or squash
14. An arrangement of mixed herbs, judged for variety
15. 5 runner beans
16. 5 French beans
17. Longest runner bean (1st prize only)
18. 5 tomatoes, any variety
19. Heaviest vegetable
20. The Jo Roche Cup – selection of home-grown produce in a container
21. The most spectacular/amusing vegetable (can enter on the day)

FRUIT
22. 3 eating apples
23. 3 cooking apples
24. 3 pears
25. 3 plums
26. 3 specimens of any homegrown fruit
27. A plate of soft fruits (max. 10 items)
28. A bunch of grapes

FLOWERS
29. 3 dahlias, cactus or semicactus variety
30. 3 dahlias, pom-pom, ball or decorative variety
31. 3 dahlias, any other variety
32. The single most fragrant rose
33. 5 rose heads
34. A posy of flowers

BAKING
35. The Katie Stewart Cup – Date and Walnut Loaf Cake using Katie’s recipe
36. 3 cheese scones
37. 3 brandy snaps
38. 3 chocolate chip cookies
39. 3 choux buns (savoury or sweet, any filling)
40. 3 meringues, any flavour
41. A lemon drizzle loaf tin cake
42. A crown cake, to celebrate the Coronation
43. A vegetable cake (made from beetroot, courgette, carrot etc.)
44. A baked cheesecake
45. A tea loaf
46. A loaf of bread


Friends of Holy Trinity Church are hosting a musical showstopper this March - 23

The Friends of Holy Trinity are hosting a musical showstopper concert

“The rhythm of life is a powerful beat, puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet!” Many of you will recognise this lyric from the musical Sweet Charity, and Coro Nuovo aim to have you tapping your feet in the aisles at Holy Trinity Church in Cuckfield on 5th March 2023.

The Friends of Holy Trinity are hosting a musical showstopper concert with those tunes we all know and recognise from the decades - songs from Oliver, Guys and Dolls, South Pacific, 42nd Street, Finian’s Rainbow and many more! It will be a rich programme of musical treats with duets and solos as well as whole chorus pieces.

The conductor on the day will be Reverend Michael Maine who was previously vicar of Holy Trinity and now guesting for Coro Nuovo. Michael will also be singing a duet or two! Other guests are Rebecca Leggett (mezzo) originally from Haywards Heath and now an established performer. Rebecca, a graduate of the Royal College of Music won the Sussex Young Musician competition in 2018 and is the Coro Nuovo young musician Ambassador. Since winning the competition she is a regular performer with the world-famous Sixteen, The Marian Consort, Ensemble Pro Victoria and ‘Seraphim’.
As you can see Rebecca’s career although mostly classical, she loves to sing musical theatre when invited and her versatility will be very clear to see. David Moore FRCO will be accompanying the choir. David originally from Balcombe was organ scholar at Corpus Christi College, Oxford and enjoys a successful career as a recitalist, teacher and repetiteur.

Come and enjoy what will be a sell-out concert of live hit classics to invigorate us from the winter days. Tickets are now available online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/friendsofholytrinitycuckfield

Greener Cuckfield's Small Steps, Big Changes this November 2022

Greener Cuckfield

Earlier this year our local sustainability group Greener Cuckfield had their first annual general meeting. In retrospect, it was a good event and the results of the election saw the committee retain their seats for another year. There was a lot of positivity in all of the annual reports. Highlights included news of our first grant award and an expansion for our recycling hub at The Queen’s Hall. The hub is now collecting four different plastic waste streams.

Since our annual general meeting, our recycling team has created posters to display all of the sorts of plastic waste that they will now collect from the bins at The Queen’s Hall. They have also launched an information page on our website that can be accessed here: www.greenercuckfield.org/recycling One item that will no longer be accepted is milk bottle tops from 1st December. This might sound like bad news but actually it is happening because you can now put milk top bottles in your blue recycling bins at home as long as they are screwed onto the empty bottle.

We also want to share our most exciting news. Greener Cuckfield are hosting a great event this month called Small Steps, Big Changes. This will be held on 17th November at the Village Hall on London Lane (aka Cuckfield pre-School). Doors will open at 7.15pm and will run from 7.30pm to 9pm. The talks will be short but informative and there will be something for everyone. Speakers include an expert in the field of culinary medicine and a Cuckfield-based sustainable energy specialist. Although entry is completely free, we would ask that you reserve your seats so we can get a good idea of how many people are coming. If this interests you, please go to www.bit.ly/3FLtRI2 to save your seat.