Your Crowborough N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 9 I s s u e 3

Crowborough Gallery

8th November—Remembrance Day

Visit us online at www.yourcrowborough.co.uk

IN THIS ISSUE...

101 years and going strong - Crowborough Scout Group is as popular as ever

The hills are alive - with the sound of fire-

works. Don’t miss Crowborough’s grand firework display on bonfire night.

Rocking at Luxford - How Phil Collins began his road to stardom in Crowborough

PLUS: Readers offers, Puzzles and more ....

NOVEMBER

5th - Crowborough Fireworks

7th - Straight 6

14th - Bring and Buy Sale

21st - 1st Jarvis Brook Guides

Christmas Fair

21st - Christmas Fair

21st - John Paul Miller

28th - Christmas Craft Fayre

29th - Crowborough 10km

Road Race

DECEMBER

2nd - Carol Service

5th - St Marys Christmas

Market

19th - Chan

Crowborough

Diary

If you would like to add

your event to the diary

please email us at the

newsdesk

To learn more about the

events visit our online

diary

Editor’s Newsletter

Welcome to the latest issue of Your

Crowborough.

Rock fans will be interested to find out about the

legendary producer Tony Stratton-Smith who once

owned a house in Crowborough where he

entertained many famous faces including Phil

Collins in his early Genesis days.

You can also read about the Crowborough Scouts

who have been around for almost as long as the

scout movement itself.

Christmas is just around the corner. At the time of

publishing there are just 50 days to go so if you

are involved in a Christmas event then get it

publicised by sending an email to

admin@yourcrowborough.co.uk.

The Christmas edition will be out in the first week

of December and will be packed with the regular

features, so special offers for that last minute

Christmas shopping and a couple of extra festive

pieces as well – so don’t miss it . Sign up to

receive your regular edition at

www.yourcrowborough.co.uk/subscribe

See you next month!

Visit the YC Store

for a range of

top DVDs

Scouting Today

There are currently 3 Beaver

Colonies (6-7 yrs) 3 Cub

Packs (8-10 yrs) and 3

Scout Troops (11-13 years)

in Crowborough.

Activities include Canoeing,

Sailing, Hillwalking,

Backpacking,

Mountaineering, Climbing,

Camping, Pioneering,

Hiking, forestry, air

activities, archery, go karts,

raft races, soapbox derby,

night hikes, sleepovers,

awakeovers, formal meals,

cycling and bushcraft.

Earlier this year 40 scouts

and leaders went the Far

East where they joined

Scouts from Macau and

Hong Kong, hiking and

canoeing and barbequing

with a traditional campfire

on one of the evenings.

During the trip they visited

the Tian Tan Buddha, and

Po Lin Monastery, rode the

Peak tram to get a fantastic

view above the Hong Kong

harbour and sailed on the

Star Ferry before

C rowborough Scouts is one of the largest and one of the oldest

Scouting Groups in the UK. They were formed in 1908 one year after Robert Baden-Powell started the Scout movement.

Runners

out in

Force

If you’ve been out late the

night of the 23rd be aware

that the pounding you hear

might not be coming from

your head but from the

streets outside.

Crowborough Runners will

be holding there annual

10km road race on Sunday

29th November.

Starting from the Beacon Commu-

nity College at 10am, the runners

will race the streets on a 2 lap cir-

cuit.

The race is supported by the

Crowborough Lions and is part of

the Sussex Grand Prix.

If you would like to run

then an entry form is avail-

able from the Crowborough

Runners website

transferring to Macau. In

Macau they visited the

Venetian, the Macau Tower

and the Circ du Soliel,

before heading into China.

While in China they visited

Tiananmen Square, the

Forbidden City, Olympic

Stadium and the Water

Cube swimming pool in

Beijing. Next they walked

12 km on the Great Wall of

China. Finally after a visit to

the Terracotta Warriors they

headed back to Hong Kong

and visited BP House.

Another tradition of

Scouting is the gang show

and Crowborough Scouts

are no different. The gang

shows are always brilliant

and you can find details of

previous shows on their

website. Entertainment is

high on the agenda at

Crowborough and this year

they held their own version

of Glastonbury - The Rock

Festival 2009 – which raised

a good sum of money

despite the really lousy

weather.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the 1st Crow-

borough Scouts you can visit their website http://www.1st-

crowborough-beavers-cubs-scouts.org.uk/

Remembrance

Parade

The annual Remembrance

Day Parade will be held on

the 8th November.

The parade will start at the

Waitrose Car Park at

2.00pm when local

organisations will be

inspected by the mayor.

The parade will then move

off at 2.20pm and proceed

along Croft Road and down

Church Road to the All

Saints Church for a

ceremony outside the war

memorial and a service of

remembrance.

Out with the old

W ith Christmas just around the corner what better

way to get rid of those unwanted items then the

St Mary’s Nursery

School Nearly New Sale on

Saturday 14th November in

the St Mary’s Primary School

Hall.

Most good quality nearly new items can be included but leg-

islation prevents the following items from being sold: Car/

Booster seats, cots / mattresses, door bouncers & baby

walkers, riding hats & crash helmets, hand knitted toys,

food, fireguards, electrical equipment, any clothing with a

drawstring neck.

Sellers should register in advance and items bought to the

school hall between 10am and 11.30am on the day of the

sale.

Items should be clearly labelled with your name or initials

and the price you want for the items. All unsold items should

be collected by 4.00pm or left to be donated to the nursery

or a charity.

Your total sale proceeds minus a 25% commission (plus a

50p administration fee) will be sent to you within two

weeks—just in time to get those Christmas presents in.

For further details or to register please contact Sarah Venn

on 07719 719837 (daytime only please).

Fireworks Display

Crowborough

Council will

once again

be putting on

their annual

firework dis-

play on bon-

fire night.

The event takes place at the Goldsmiths Recrea-

tion Ground starting at 7.15pm with the lighting

of the beacon.

REGISTER TODAY

Make sure Crowborough know all about your club or organi-

zation. Send details of your events to the newsdesk.

And don’t forget to include your club or organisation in the

Your Crowborough directory. Go to http://

www.yourcrowborough.co.uk/ycd for more details

Readers Offers

Visit the YC Store

for a range of top

CDs including :

Mamma Mia

Dirty

Dancing

High School

Musical

PLUS a selection of top

quality books, MP3s, DVDs

and computer and video

games

D on’t look now but Christmas

is only just around the corner. To help you out we’ve teamed up with Stocking Fillers

to bring you nearly 600 enticing and enchanting little toys and curios to create the most

memorable and magical Christmas stockings ever. Be it captivating oddities like the Squishy Mesh Ball or time-tested favourites like

Bubbles and Skipping Ropes, we are certain that you’ll find what you are looking for

here. And with hundreds of items under a fiver we promise you won’t break the bank.

As a special bonus for our readers you can qualify for Free delivery on all orders over

£40. Simply enter the code SFAF1F when you place your order.

Hallmark Christmas Cards

For something a bit different

for your Christmas cards this

year why not try out the cards

available from Hallmark ?

As well as the traditional cards you could send

someone an eCard or for that something really

special try one of their photo upload cards.

Rocking at Luxford

- The legend of Tony Stratton-Smith

Born in 1933 in Birmingham,

Stratton-Smith started out as sports

journalist and, during the 50’s

became the youngest sports editor

while working for the Daily Sketch

in Fleet Street.

While covering the 1962 World

Cup in Chile Stratton-Smith met up

with the legendary Brazilian

composer Antonio Carlos Jobim

and a love affair for the music

industry began.

By the late sixties Stratton-Smith

was a manager for acts such as

Creation, The Nice, and the Bonzo

Dog Doo Dah Band (honestly – it’s

a real group!)

Unable to find a record company

that would release an album by one

of his favourite groups - Van der

Graff Generator - he founded his

own company.

In 1971, Van der Graff Generator

released their album Pawn Hearts.

Not only was much of this work

carried out at Luxford House but

the album sleeve features a picture

of the house on the inside cover.

‘71 was also the year that saw the

arrival of what was to become one

of the most successful progressive

and pop rock groups of the

seventies and the eighties - Genesis.

Genesis had been together since

1967 but in ’71 three of the original

group Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks

and Mike Rutherford were joined

by Steve Hackett on guitar and a

certain Phil Collins on the drums.

The first Genesis album for this line

up was ‘Nursery Cryme’ and during

much of the summer of ’71 where

they rehearsed for much of the

summer of '71 Genesis were

working hard in Luxford House.

H idden away on the corner of Luxford Lane and

Luxford Road you can find a grand house called

Luxford House. Reputedly a haunted house, this

magnificient Tudor building was once owned by the legendary

rock manager Tony Stratton-Smith.

Stratton-Smith’s in-house recording studio played hosts to many

stars of the day including Neil Diamond, Van Der Graff

Generator, Lindisfarne and probably most famously – Genesis.

Luxford House is featured on the inside sleeve from

Van der Graff Generator’s album Pawn Hearts

Nursery

Cryme

Genesis

The first genesis album

to feature Phil Collins on

the drums.

Pawn

Hearts

Van der

Graaf

Generator

Recorded at Luxford

House, the house is

featured on the inside

cover.

Buy the music

Born in

Crowborough

It would be 10 years before Genesis

– then led by Phil Collins – were to

have a UK number 1 album.

Genesis went on to become one of

the top 30 highest-selling recording

artists of all time with approx. 150

million albums sold worldwide and

it all began back in a Tudor house

in Crowborough.

An extended version of this article is available on our website

in the History section.

Listed below are some of the important numbers you might need

Public Services Information

Public Transport

National Rail Enquiries ......08457 484 950

Traveline ...........................0870 608 2608

Brighton & Hove Buses .....01273 886 200

Flight Enquiries .................0870 000 2468

Council Services

Crowborough Library ........01892 664 426

Crowborough Town Council .... 01892 652

907

Societies

Hospice in the Weald ........01892 820 500

St John Ambulance ...........01892 610 183

Police

Non urgent enquiries ........0845 6070 999

Crimestoppers ................... 0800 555 111

Doctors Surgeries

The Surgery, Beacon Road . 01892 652 233

Brook House Center, ........ 01892 652 850

Saxonbury House .............. 08444 773 045

Hospitals

Crowborough Hospital ...... 01892 652 284

Kent & Sussex Hospital ..... 01892 526 111

Domestic Emergencies

National Grid, Gas .............. 0800 111 999

Electricity ......................... 0800 753 8866

Southern Water Services .. 0845 272 0845

Helplines

R.S.P.C.A ........................... 0870 5555 999

N.S.P.C.C. ........................... 0808 800 500

Childline ................................... 0800 111

Citizens Advice Bureau ..... 01892 655 303

Samaritans ...................... 08457 90 90 90

Sources: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Stratton-Smith and http://en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/Genesis_(band)); http://themarqueeclub.net/tony-stratton-smith

Tony Stratton-Smith sold Charisma

Records to Richard Branson's

Virgin Records before moving to

the island of Las Palmas, Spain. In

1987 he fell sick during a visit to

Jersey and died.

In 1993 Virgin Records rel;aesed a

special tribute 4 CD box "The

Famous Charisma Box" containing

a compilation of the label releases

including songs from Genesis, Van

Der Graaf Generator, Lindisfarne,

the Nice, and Rick Wakeman,

Audience, G T Moore, Gregoty

Isaacs and Julian Lennon. It also

contains a booklet with memories

from different people about Tony

Stratton-Smith and the Soho scene.

26 Springfield Close

Crowborough East Sussex

TN6 2BN

E-mail: admin@yourcrowborough.co.uk

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Coffee Break

Take time out to relax with our page of puzzles

and teasers. If you get stuck you can find the

answers in the Coffee Break section online,

where you can also get a daily Crossword and

daily Sudoku puzzle.

Masher

Take the letters in the

phrase below and mash

them into an event

c o n n e c t e d w i t h

November.

For Being Thin

You are in a bathroom with no

windows and the only entrance is

a single door.

You run the bath and shut the

door and the handle breaks,

You turn off the tap and the tap

breaks. The water is still flowing.

How do you stop yourself from

drowning ?