John celebrates his first published novel at 75

John Bromley, Cuckfield

John Bromley, Cuckfield

Cuckfield resident and writer John Bromley has just had his first novel published at the age of 75.

His new book ‘The Adventures of Arthur Mulrooney’ is a fictional tale based in a small fishing community in South Devon in the years after the Second World War.

The title character has a secretive past and is obsessed with protecting his anonymity, which then arouses suspicion from the other villagers.

John explains: “I started writing this book about ten years ago. It emanated from a name that just popped into my head. My main inspiration behind the book is really about injustice and that sometimes in life the things that happen shouldn’t happen at all.”

His interest in writing started as a young boy and over the course of his life he has written nine books.

“I used to write and do nothing with them. Once or twice I have made attempts to get some of my other novels published but just gave up as I thought well if they haven’t accepted them this time then they probably never would. So they’ve just been gathering dust.”

John would like to see more of his books published one day. “I have a book in the making that I wrote about 20 years ago. It’s been rewritten about three or four times. It has been to the publishers who offered me a contract a while ago so we’ll just have to wait and see how that goes.”

John is originally from London and moved to Cuckfield a number of years ago to be closer to his family. “We’ve been here now for almost 11 years. We’ve made a good few friends. It’s a lovely village and we’re very happy to be part of it.”

To purchase a copy of John’s new book please visit https://amzn.to/2KeAmVj

Cuckfield Village Show: Sat 7th Sept 2019

By Jill Butler, Vice Chair, Cuckfield Society

Cuckfield Village Show entry classes 2019

Roll up, roll up for the Cuckfield Society’s 14th Village Show at the Cuckfield Baptist Church ,which will be opened by our President Stephen Cockburn.

The village show (which starts at 2pm on Saturday 7th September) exhibits the work of local artists, bakers, dressmakers, photographers and gardeners. Any produce submitted for judging may be donated and auctioned off at the end of the show, so stand by for some interesting boxes of fruit, flowers, cakes, etc. at 4.20pm.

Local traders donated an excellent number of gifts for a silent auction. Amounts can be written on a slip next to an item and then anyone can top that bid by as little as 1p (including you). When bidding stops at 4pm, the last and highest bidder can buy the item.

This year sees a bumper selection of entertainment with two sets from David Spear No Strings Attached plus young musicians from Warden Park School including singer-songwriter Ellie Hagan and Holly Townsend with her band, plus musicians James and Jude from the Brighton-based music college BIMM. In addition, we have pony rides for children (hats/insurance included) and of course, the excellent home-made cakes from the WI, as well as ice creams. The Monday Group will be selling their bird boxes, bee houses, etc. and the NSPCC will be selling spring bulbs.

The Baptist Church sponsored sunflower competition judging is at 3pm. Cups are presented at 3.30pm. Show schedules are available from the Candy Store, Pet & Country Store at Whitemans Green, and the Co-ops.

Please do come along and support your local show. Monies raised go towards good local causes such as the Cuckfield Museum, Holy Trinity school books, Bookfest, Musicfest and the New England Wood Trust.


UPDATE: Show was a great success - see photo round up below…

Bolnore Summer Fete 2019 - round-up

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By Gemma Coombes

Saturday 13th July saw the annual Bolnore Village Fete return to the Woodside on the Tim Farmer Recreation Ground. Work started early with all the preparations, and by noon all was ready for Mayor of Haywards Heath and Bolnore resident, Alastair McPherson, to open the event.

First up in the arena was BPM Dance Academy, who showcased their competition-winning Street Dance routines, as solos, pairs and crews – setting a high tempo at the fete right from the off. Next, keeping the energy levels up was Bounce and Burn who showed off their fitness and stamina, working out to music on mini trampolines. Sussex Supremes showed the crowd their baton twirling skills in between the various rounds of the Dog Show, expertly run by Mewes Vets, enabling the competitors to show off their furry best friends. Meanwhile, over on the netball courts, Woodside Netball team showed their skills with a series of hard fought exhibition matches.

[Read the full story in the August 2019 issue of Cuckfield Life magazine]

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