Cuckfield Craft Fair comeback

By Marie Dormer

For many years Cuckfield had a monthly Friday Craft Market run by All Things Nice but this came to an end in 2016 and it has been sorely missed.

Throughout 2017 no one came forward to take on this successful venture. So Cuckfield Parish Council has stepped in and good news: Cuckfield Craft and Vintage Market returns to The Queen’s Hall this spring! The first of five Craft and Vintage Markets in 2018 will be held on 21st April from 9.30am to 1pm.

The Craft and Vintage Markets will have a slightly different style, combining local crafts, with vintage homeware and local produce. We are hoping the plantswoman will return with her wonderful collection of plants. Entry to this event is still free.

Following on from the spring event the next one will be the Summer Craft and Vintage fair on Friday 6th July and then 21st September, 19th October and the last one of the year on 23rd November.

For those who would like a pitch please contact Marie Dormer at Marie.dormer at cuckfield.gov.uk for more details on the markets and a booking form.

Cuckoo Choir on tour in Budapest

By Candy Hood

We are the Cuckoo Choir, an over-60s mixed choir, run by our delightful choir mistress Jane Haughton, with the administrative side run by Sarah Cheesemur. We meet every Friday afternoon in term time at the Holy Trinity Church Hall in Cuckfield.

We repair to the Talbot pub after singing, to quench our thirst and it was at one of those sessions more than a year ago that Peter Cheesemur asked Marta Lindop (one of our singers who is Hungarian and who arranges small choirs and musicians to sing and play in her native Budapest): “When are you going to take the Cuckoo Choir to Budapest?”

And Marta said: “Whenever you’re up for it!” 

So, at the beginning of December 2017, around 30 of us, including our 91-year-old piano accompanist, Fiona Fawcett, packed our thermals and boarded a plane to Budapest for a long weekend.

We sang in the Roman Catholic Church of Fot, with their choir, singing carols in Hungarian and English.

We visited the wonderful Christmas Market and the Thermal Baths at the famous Gellart Hotel, where some of us brave souls swam in the outdoor thermal pool, watching the sun go down and the sparkly Christmas lights come up.

Marta arranged sightseeing trips, including one to an amazing marzipan exhibition that had many extraordinary models and statues all made from almond paste.

The last night included a typical Hungarian meal in a beautifully decorated dining room with local musicians entertaining us, and us them, with our singing.

A really fun time which we hope to repeat and to invite the Fot choir to a return visit and hospitality with us in Cuckfield.

Wealden Stores closes after 17 years...

Cuckfield lost one of its iconic shops when Wealden Stores closed its doors for the final time last month. 

Janine Watts and Dawn Hall have been running the shop for 17 years and held a farewell party for friends and regular customers on Saturday 27th January. 

Dawn said: “Yes we’ve finally retired. We had a fabulous send-off party and it was lovely to see so many friends here.

“Wealden Stores was built around 1880. It was a privilege being custodians of the last surviving village shop in Whitemans Green.

“Leaving is always sad but it was the right time for us. We’re moving to the Isle of Wight. A beautiful place with a less hurried pace of life.”

The shop and premises attached have been bought by a local family and it is understood they want to keep some form of retail outlet going, which is great news for the village.