PRESTONVILLE

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NEWS & VIEW WHAT’S ON COMMUNITY HISTORY

JULY 2016

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JULY 2016

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This is my first piece as the editor of the Preston-ville Friend, chair of the Prestonville Community Association and Vicar of St. Luke’s Prestonville, so I think you could say that after 6 years I have definitely become part of the local landscape!

Prestonville is an extraordinary place with such an amazingly strong community feel and I hope that this magazine contributes to that. We will always feature news from the community association, the hall and the church as well as local history items and news such as the relaunch of the Prestonville Arms. Know your Neighbour is a citywide initia-tive which helps to foster community and you’ll find an article about that in the magazine as well as some information about the possibility of a local version.

This issue we’re initiating a focus on local busi-nesses with a piece about local app developers Aimer Media and if you’d like your business to feature in upcoming issues then please get in touch. We’d also like to feature items from our lo-cal schools and have included some creative work from the pupils at Stanford Juniors and we’ll be working our way around the other schools in the area over the coming months.

The front cover is by local artist Helen Jewell and we’d like to highlight the creativity of our area by including local fiction writing, poetry and any other forms of art that you think would work in a magazine format. We really want this magazine to reflect the interests of our area and would love to hear from you if you’d like to contribute something to future issues.

From the editor...

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Contacts

5St Luke’s Church

6 Exeter St Hall

7Prestonville Community

Association

8&9 The War on our doorstep... bombing at Buckingham Close

10 Looking out for our neighbours

11 One Man and His Dog... Summer at Boat

12&13

A call to Arms... inside the new-look Prestonville

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Aimer High.. up close with a local app company

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Art and poetry from Stanford Juniors

info@StLukesonline.co.uk01273 557772

Phoenix cover art courtesy of local artist HELEN JEWELL

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JULY 2016

StLuke’s

You may have noticed that St. Luke’s has had a bit of a rebrand and we now have a logo featuring a representation of the spire which is so visible from all over the city.

Alongside this we have a lovely new website (www.stlukesonline.co.uk) which includes an

events calendar so you can see at a glance what’s going on. We have also put some thought into the different activities provided by the church and created icons for each along with a brief sentence which we hope will help you to know what we’re trying to achieve.

please visitwww.stlukesonline.co.uk

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Exeter Street Hall news

That’s all for now. But don’t forget you can www.exeterstreethall.org) to keep up to date with news about the hall or by looking at social media.

Prestonville Community Association

COMING TO A HALL NEAR YOU...

TEA CLUB - 8TH JULY 2:30 - 4:00PM (ALSO 9TH SEPTEMBER BUT NO TEA CLUB IN AUGUST)

We have a tea club, for the older members of our community, here at the Hall. We’d like to invite all local seniors (who are welcome to bring their friends or carers) along for a mighty fine brew, homemade cake and the chance to have a natter with their neighbours. Suggested donation £1.00

As you can see, July and August are generally quiet months in the Hall’s otherwise busy calendar, as our dedicated team of volunteers take a short break before launching into a new series of events later on. So here, then, is a reminder of some of

the recent events which took place at the Hall:-

HALL COLLABORATIONS1 Brighton Fringe

Festival 2016The Hall was also extremely pleased to stage the award-winning play The Good Jew, which received several impressive reviews, and was described as “outstanding”.Richard Stamp (Fringe Guru) wrote that ”with effective, creative direction – and more than its fair share of stand-out performances – it makes for a thought-provoking and subtly challenging evening of theatre.”

2 Big Euro Lunch Street Party

Exeter Street Hall recently joined forces with both St Lukes Church and the Prestonville Community Association to make the Big Euro Lunch Street Party an outstanding success. And especial thanks also go to the Real Junk Food Project for providing a wonderful lunch.

3 Bring A Tin Campaign

Our recently launched Community Food Drop is enabling visitors to the Hall to donate non-perishable food to our charity partner Fareshare, who then

distribute it to over 80 community groups across Brighton and Sussex.

Food poverty is sadly a growing problem in our city, but we’ve already got off to a fantastic start, we dropped our latest contributions to FareShare’s warehouse this week, and so far we have provided the equivalent of 73 meals for those that need it.

Look out for our blue “Feed Me” box in the Hall’s entrance and if you’re dropping in, please do bring a tin! Thanks so much.

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK (EXETERSTREETHALL) OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER (@EXETERSTHALL)

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Exeter Street Hall news Prestonville News

Prestonville Community Association

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK (EXETERSTREETHALL) OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER (@EXETERSTHALL)

The Big Euro Lunch in Exeter Street couldn’t have been a nicer occasion. Neighbours getting together, eating delicious fresh food (don’t let the Real Junk label put you off!), chatting and enjoying the sunshine. And it was a showpiece of what the PCA is all about.

In the last few years the PCA has been keen to collaborate with other groups and to reach out to other communities. We put the event together with St Luke’s Church, Exeter Street Hall, the Real Junk Food Project, and of course Exeter Street residents. Reaching out to community groups from elsewhere in Europe was a bit of a tall order, but we kept our European neighbours in mind with flags, Euro-themed desserts and Jannet King’s horizon-stretching Big Euro Family Quiz.

We didn’t, however, oblige people to talk about Brexit, as the Times claimed in its caption to Andy Hasson’s photo of the Lunch. The reason we didn’t was a principle that has guided the PCA throughout its existence. Although the PCA hasn’t steered clear of controversial issues, it has always understood that it is here to bring people together, not divide them. Especially not over Sunday lunch.

For me, it was a perfect note on which to leave the PCA committee – and it was nice that despite my departure the committee ended the day with more members than it started with. In any case I’ll continue to take part in the PCA’s activities as an ordinary member - and I hope I’ll be one among many.

Marek Kohn

BOOK GROUP IN THE PUB The Chimney House (upstairs) 7.45pm, third Thursday of the month. Just read the book and come along. 21 July: Sunjeev Sahota: The Year of the Runaways For more info contact: jannetking@gmail.com

Friends of Dyke Road ParkHelping to improve the environment and facilities in our parkGARDENING GROUP Saturdays, once a month: 10.00–12.00 Meet at Café in the Park Next meeting: 25 June For further dates, see noticeboard in Park or contact: Lydia Napolitano 01273 554956 COMMUNITY GARDEN MONTHLY MUNCH Third Saturday of month @11.00–1.00 Contact: alisonwhiteoak@yahoo.co.ukwww.dykeroadpark.wordpress.com

 BE IN TOUCH... JOIN THE PCA

Email info@prestonville.org.uk to get community news updates and, if you like, join the conversation on: www.prestonville.org.uk

What We’re All About: A BIG LUNCH!

Supporting community activities in Prestonville and neighbouring areas

History with Peter Groves Seven Dials bombings

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Feature JULY 2016

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ll Although I’ve lived close to the Seven Dials for almost 25 years, and must have walked past Bath Street hundreds

of times, it was only recently that I became aware of the devastation that was caused there by a WWII bomb on Monday, October 12th 1942.

When I first saw the photograph of the bomb damage in Buckingham Close, I was not really sure where it was. The building was so damaged it was not possible to recognise it as local to the Seven Dials. Of course everyone in the Prestonville area will be very familiar with Buckingham Place, leading from the Dials over to Brighton Station, and I thought Buckingham Close must be a street nearby, but why didn’t I know it?

It was only after checking on the internet that I realised, Buckingham Close is not a street, but the name of the block of flats on the corner of Bath Street and Buckingham Place, seen so severely damaged in the 1942 photo. It was lunch time on that cloudy and overcast day in 1942,

when four Focke Wulf 109’s approached Brighton from the south, each carrying a 500kg bomb. They swept in low over the town centre and opened up with cannon fire, before dropping their deadly load.

The first bomb dropped on the block of flats “Buckingham Close” on the corner of Bath Street and Buckingham Place. The flats were badly damaged and three people were killed; Joseph and Florence Shepherd and Lydia Townend. The huge blast also damaged houses in the adjacent road, Compton Avenue, where two people died.

It was obvious that the railway was the target; the second bomb fell in Buckingham Place close to St. Anne’s Children’s Home (see Prestonville Issue 13 Winter 2014). It skidded along the road before detonating on the wall overlooking Brighton Station. Part of the old flint wall collapsed onto the railway below, damaging rolling stock and track.

The third bomb fell in Elder Place (see Prestonville Issue 7 Nov 2012). The final bomb fell in Rose Hill Terrace. In total nine people died, thirty three were

History with Peter Groves Seven Dials bombings

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Feature JULY 2016

seriously injured and many sustained minor injuries during the raid.

If the caption “Buckingham Close Flats, Brighton” is correct, the first photo must be of the rear, which would also explain the damage in Compton Avenue. If there is any doubt regarding the first photo, the second photo captures the doorway portico, which is still identifiable today.

Many Prestonville residents probably walk over the hill to Brighton Station on their daily commute, and have never noticed the tell-tale signs of the damage caused on that day in 1942.

Next time you pass, at a glance it’s not noticeable, however under close examination; it’s not difficult to see the miss-matching

The huge blast also damaged houses in Compton Avenue and two people diedbrickwork of Buckingham Close

flats. The right hand wing has been

completely rebuilt and in the middle the mismatching brick work can be easily seen.

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A new initiative aiming to tackle social isolation and loneliness in Brighton and Hove, by

encouraging residents to get to know their neighbours, recently held its first ever ‘Neighbour Week’ in May.

Whilst social isolation and loneliness is considered a growing problem in the UK across a range of age groups, it is a particular issue for older people who live alone.

Nearly half (41%) of over 65’s in Brighton and Hove live in single households, significantly higher than the 31% in the UK as a whole.

Know My Neighbour, which represents over 20 organisations across the city, hosted a series of events during May culminating in a ‘Know

My Neighbour Week’. Events included: a sold out event in the Brighton Festival discussing the issue of social isolation and neighbourliness; the screening of a short film clip promoting Know My Neighbour throughout May at the Duke of York’s Cinema; a pop-up café with entertainment for people to bring a neighbour along to. Other events were put on by local organisations and groups such as: Brighton and Hove Food Partnership; Time to Talk Befriending; University of Brighton; Impact Initiatives

Hop50+ and One Church throughout

Know My Neighbour Week. Activities included community picnics; tea and cake; and quizzes – all to

encourage people to get to

know their neighbours.In addition to this,

thousands of ‘Hello Neighbour’ postcards were distributed across the city to help residents get to know their neighbours for the first time.

Dave Steell, from Know My Neighbour said:

“We want our city to take the lead on this issue and eventually be the first in UK where everyone can say they know their neighbour. Just finding an excuse to say hello to your neighbour for the first time can be a really important first step.”

Know My Neighbour is a long term initiative and it’s not too late to get involved, as any time is a good time to introduce yourself to your neighbours. The ‘Hello Neighbour’ postcards are still available. For details of where you can pick up postcards, and information on upcoming events and handy tips on how to get to know your neighbour, please visit knowmyneighbour.org

You can also follow Know My Neighbour on twitter @knowmyneighbour using #HelloNeighbour

Community

neighbours

The Prestonville Commu-nity Association and St. Luke’s Church set up The Big Freeze

project in 2011 in which some kind folk across Prestonville agreed to clear snow and ice if the weather turned nasty. We’ve only had two call outs but the scheme is still in

action so if you’d like to help please email info@stlukesonline.co.uk. There is also a possibility this will form the foundation of a

more regular befriending scheme so watch

this space.

!!NOTE!!

Everybody needs good

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JULY 2016

One man and his dog...One of the pleasures of dog ownership is that it helps you see your local area in a different way, largely because you have

to find somewhere, or a variety of somewheres, to walk said dog, which takes you to places you might ordinarily not have visited, or at the very least makes you think about places you have in a slightly different way.

This is a regular guide to local dog-walking options...

To begin with the most local option, the bit of Bhasvic Field cordoned off for dog walkers is so depressing the Samaritans should have a booth at the exit: there’s something about it that seems to have been specifically designed to bring about a complete collapse of the will to live. You’re hemmed in, it’s muddy, visual interest is provided by some temporary fencing protecting what may be either a pile of rubble the contractors who built the fence left behind or, conceivably, a hotly-tipped entry in the 2016 Turner Prize. Walking

around it feels ineffably like you’re being punished, a sensation amplified by the looming, miserable presence on the horizon of the i360, which frankly looks like something one of those barmy dictators in a former Soviet state would build in order to throw dissidents off.

Trudge up to Dyke Road Park and things are substantially rosier – it’s a genuinely pleasant space, where dog owners and other park users coexist pretty happily - although I can tell you from bitter experience that if you have a dog like mine – obsessed with its gut, to borrow a phrase from Uncle Monty in Withnail And I – you’re advised to avoid it on summer afternoons unless you actively enjoy desperately apologising to irate families, who’ve just seen the last vestiges of their barbeque picnic vanish off into the distance in the mouth of a whippet.

Look out for Alex’s views on Preston Park in October’s edition of The Prestonville Friend

Did you know that you have an ‘A-list’ venue on your doorstep? Last month Tatler rated Brighton

Open Air Theatre (BOAT) No.4 in the best outdoor theatre venues – better than Fulham Palace!

So if you’ve not yet been, or are keen to return, take a look at what’s coming up from now until September.

The setting is perfect for summer evenings and this year we’ve improved access for people with mobility issues and revamped the backstage facilities. It may be over-optimistic but the weather does seem to be kind (mostly).

So, what’s on this summer? For family and youth events, take a look at the action

packed ‘Starboard Festival’ programme (2-17 July) at www.starboardfestival.com

If classical theatre is your thing, we welcome

back Sisata who are doing Tess of the D’Urbevilles this year, plus a plethora of Shakespeare offerings to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of his death!

There’s Folksy’s As You Like It, Hamlet by the Festival Players and Brighton Shakespeare Company Launch with Much

Ado About Nothing. In September ‘88 London Road’s’ production of Treasure Island will be a family friendly musical treat.

Check out www.brightonopenairtheatre.co.uk and sign up for our mailing list or please like our Facebook page Brighton Open Air Theatre and follow us on Twitter @BOATheatre.

We look forward to seeing you all there very soon!

The BOAT Team

Race to BOAT for a summer fun

Alex & Bella

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The Prestonville Arms is being reinvented under the watchful eye of Jacqueline Boucher, who’s been in the restaurant and bar trade for 30 years.Currently living in Woodingdean she will move into a flat above the pub “as soon as it’s finished!”. She loves to swim and buys and sells vintage clothing. “I’m really forward to moving in upstairs,’ she says.” I’ve met a lot of lovely people round here. Everybody’s been so supportive and so welcoming.”

The Prestonville’s facelift is great. Was this all your doing?

Basically the company I work for run The Foragers in Hove and the King’s Head in Lewes; we took over the tenancy and worked with Fullers on this pub. Fullers put a lot of financial backing into the refurb and they also did a lot of the planning, they got a design company to come in and work with us. Ben, the guy from Concorde Design went to loads of old markets and found chairs to revamp.

But we kept a lot of chairs and tables that were here and up-cycled them. What was the idea behind the refurb?

We were trying keep it pub-like! So that the locals still felt it was their place and it wasn’t going to turn into some restaurant dine-y thing that wasn’t theirs any more. Before the refurb I took it over and ran it for four to five weeks, so I got to know the regulars and what they IM

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wanted from their local.And what do people want round here?

I think a lot of people want to be able to come in, relax and have someone cheerful to chat to. From the community’s point of view, they all like a focal point where they can gather. Brigden Street meet here on a Friday for a drink. It’s really a part of the community.

It’s been interesting, a few people have come in and said, Oh, I remember when it was all individual rooms.

They remember when they used to turn up to the off sales counter and you could be given your ale in a pickle jar. For a lot of people it’s been their regular pub for years. What about the beer?

We are tied to Fuller’s so we have everything of theirs.

Another good thing about running the place for a few weeks was learning which ales work here. There would have been uproar if people came in and it was completely different. The main thing is I’ve bought in a bigger range of spirits and some nicer wines. The wonderful thing about giving it a makeover is we’re now getting lots of different people coming in as well, lots of people in the street who wouldn’t have come in before. It’s a lot more female friendly. I’ve had customers who say their partners wouldn’t have come in here before.And you’re going to be serving food – once the kitchen’s fixed?

We’re going to be doing casual dining - but it’ll be really good bowl food - very relaxed

so people can sit at the bar and or take it to a chair. No menus, just what’s on the chalkboard.

We’ll have a little think at the end of each evening; what do people want, what’s good at the moment, what can we source locally?

We’ll do some core dishes like bangers and mash and burgers – lots of vegetarian options. In the winter it’ll be stews and chilis - comfort food! What do you think makes a great pub?

I think you need happy people behind the bar – people willing to engage with other people. That’s what a pub is about. It’s not necessarily about having a pint. It’s about coming in and having a conversation – a bit like a hairdressers!

Local business Stanford School

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APPYtimes ahead

As businesses go, they don’t come much more local than Aimer Media, a seven year old app

development company set up by three ‘Stanford Dads’: Developer Andy Parle, Publishing Expert Adrian Driscoll and Designer Mark Brown. 

Having met through Stanford Junior School PTFA events, the techy-savvy trio quickly realised that they had more in common than just living on and around Highdown Road and having kids at the same school.  They all

recognised the exciting opportunities presented by the arrival of iPhone technology to create quality interactive content for discerning, intelligent audiences.

You might not be familiar with the name Aimer Media but you, or your family, may well know their work as thousands of people download apps produced by Aimer every day. With over 150 apps to their name, and an impressive 1.5 million plus downloads, Aimer has developed a broad range of apps for a diverse audience. Now a team of five, including marketing freelancer and, you’ve guessed it, Stanford parent, Jane Knight, Aimer specialises in creating apps that use the cleverness of mobile technology to create engaging, informative, non-gimmicky content experiences. 

Major apps for household names like Tate, Royal Collection, Church of England and the R&A, sit alongside smaller local projects for the English department of

Sussex University and Brighton-based cartoonists, Modern Toss.  You can find apps to help you with starting yoga and cycling up mountains, to explore the work of Grayson Perry and understanding modern art, ones that help children to read and another that keeps paramedics up to date. 

All of this is thanks to the close Prestonville Community and Stanford School network.  

Stanford Junior School itself played an important role in Aimer’s foundations as, back in 2004, Andy approached Stanford to discuss how the school could get involved in testing a new interactive voting product he was working on, which could be used in the classroom for quizzes and assessment.  IT teacher Jason Brooker saw the product’s potential and agreed to trial it over the subsequent months, with the support and vision of then Head, Gianni Francesci.  In 2008 it was shortlisted for a prestigious BETT education award for the product

and work with Stanford. Though Aimer moved away from voting systems to apps, this relationship with Stanford was key to the company’s development. There’s a direct line from that work to their multi award-winning, curriculum-oriented ‘Let’s Do Mental Maths’ from the Andrew Brodie Basics series by Bloomsbury which, every day, helps thousands of primary school-aged children hone their maths skills in a fun and engaging way.

Coming soon are the RSPB First Birds activity app, the new Andrew Brodie Basics apps covering Spelling for KS1 & KS2 and the imminent Puppy School app – all due for release in the App Store this summer.

Check out all their apps at www.aimermedia.comFollow Aimer on Twitter: @aimermediaLike them on Facebook: AimerMedia

Local business Stanford School

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DAWN AWAKENSLaying awake in my bed is very boring.Darkness is all around me.My brother stirs, shuts the door and turns on the light.Eyes stinging I stumble to the doorway and turn it off again.

We open the curtains and watch as day begins.Horizon is striped green, red, purple, yellow, orange.The North Star glows brightly.Night is leaving.

We look down into the parkClouds of fog linger among the treesDew clings to the grassFinally dropping into the soil

Seagulls glide in from the sea.Silhouetted against the sky, Shapes dark instead of whiteFlying into the light.

POEM BY ISAAC IN 6W

Art and poetry from the pupils of Stanford Junior School ACTClass

1876-2016

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