Bank holiday bloc party returns to Rose & Crown, Cuckfield

By James Clark

I think this must be our fourth consecutive Bloc Party held at the Rose and Crown. Every year, we welcome hundreds of people to our special event and each year we are overwhelmed by the response.
This year nothing has really changed. Our objective remains much the same as it’s always been; the aim of which is to bring people from the community together and for everyone to enjoy a fun day out.

As in previous years, there will be a bunch of food trucks serving high quality street food and a large selection of drinks will be available inside and in the outside bar, all from local breweries, vineyards and distilleries.
And please let’s not forget about the music and all the bands that will be performing throughout the day and well into the night.

We’ve also put a lot of effort and work into our beer garden of late, and it really is looking pretty good. So, by the time the party arrives, we should be equipped with a new ping pong table and a number of jovial garden games to keep people busy while they’re enjoying the summer weather and sharing a few drinks.

On a final note, as before, we’ll be donating a portion of our takings from the event to a designated charity. Date for diary: Bank Holiday Monday, 25th August. Gates open at midday. No tickets. No reservations.

Cuckfield's Rose and Crown carpark welcomes The Sussex Peasant

The Sussex mobile farm shop that sells freshly grown produce from a converted horse truck outside the Rose and Crown pub are all about supporting local communities. “We’ve had a pitch here in Cuckfield now for three months and we sell all sorts, from organic pasture fed meats, organic vegetables, fruit, breads and cakes. The common thread is that everything we sell is farmed or produced right here in Sussex,” says business owner Edward Johnstone.

The idea for the Sussex Peasant started four years ago when Edward used to visit local schools selling just a few Sussex grown vegetables and a desire to change the face of food retail by trying to promote local farms and its produce. In that time the business has grown exponentially and is now looking to develop a fish operation just as they have done with meat, dairy and vegetables. “Our aim is to again create something local to Sussex whereby fisherman would go down to the boats in the morning and sell to our markets within hours of catching the fish ready for us to sell.”

The Sussex Peasant also sells its organic produce in and around Brighton and many of the surrounding villages in the area. “We are a small but hugely passionate team that pride ourselves in selling produce that is both convenient and accessible to everyone. I believe that good locally grown food is an integral part of the social and cultural glue that keeps a thriving community and society together.”

The Sussex Peasant now holds a regular spot outside the Rose and Crown pub every Friday from 9am to 4pm. For further information please visit www.thesussexpeasant.co.uk

Poster campaign to slow drivers down

At the beginning of April, the Rose and Crown pub ran a children’s poster competition with the aim of trying to help reduce the speed of the traffic on London Road. The reason for the campaign was due to the concern expressed by local parents at the speed in which some of the cars seemed to be travelling through the village during the ‘stay at home’ period. They then suggested that perhaps some of the local children might like to design a ‘Slow Down’ poster in the hope that their efforts would encourage drivers to reduce their speed when driving through the village. Owner of the pub, James Clark explained: “The idea came from a discussion that I had with my parents one evening over dinner. We were talking about the traffic on the roads and how, although it appeared to be quieter in lockdown, the cars that were driving through the village were driving much faster. So we contacted the Parish Council to ask for their help after which we joined heads and asked the children in the village to create some colourful posters that could be put up around the area as part of a speed awareness poster campaign.”

Read more in July’s issue of Cuckfield Life Magazine.