Hilaire Belloc bought King's Land (in Shipley, Sussex), 5 acres and a working windmill for £1000 in 1907 and it was his home for the rest of his life. Belloc loved Sussex as few other writers have loved her: he lived there for most of his 83 years, he tramped the length and breadth of the county, slept under her hedgerows, drank in her inns, sailed her coast and her rivers and wrote several incomparable books about her. "He does not die that can bequeath Some influence to the land he knows, Or dares, persistent, interwreath Love permanent with the wild hedgerows; He does not die, but still remains Substantiate with his darling plains."

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Sunday 20 November 2016

Secret Shore Project: Smuggling, Folklore, South Coast Songs and Shanties. CD and book...


There have been two very interesting Secret Shore Project developments recently...

Firstly, Chris Hare will be launching his book Smuggling and Folklore in Sussex and Hampshire on the 30th of November at the Beechwood Hall Hotel at 7.30pm in Worthing.

Chris will be giving an illustrated talk about the book and also about how the research was undertaken. He will introduce some of the researchers and explain how important their work was in the writing of the book.

Two hundred years ago the coast of Sussex and Hampshire were alive with the illegal activities of local smuggling gangs. In this book, Chris recounts the real events of those days including the bloody confrontations that frequently took place between the smugglers and the authorities.

This book also delves into the folklore of the south coast and contrasts a survey of local superstitions carried out by pioneering folklorist, Charlotte Latham in Sussex in 1868, with the findings of the Secret Shore folklore survey carried out in 2015.

The book is lavishly illustrated and will make ideal Christmas gift. Copies can be ordered from here 

Secondly, the Project has launched a CD of Traditional songs & shanties of the South Coast towns. They are brought to life by local singers who learnt them at workshops run by Emily Longhurst and Chris Hare, as part of the Secret Shore project managed by the South Downs Society. The words to all the songs are included inside, so that you can learn them yourself.

The Secret Shore project, managed by the South Downs Society, was funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund and this CD is the culmination of the project.

Copies of the book can be ordered here.

Well done Chris!