A Sense of Place: West Sussex Parish Maps by Kim C Leslie. Published 01 Nov 2006 by West Sussex Country Council. ISBN: 0862605644 Hardback £35 in the shops, £29.50 mail order from WSCC or a mere £20 if you collect it from the County Records Office in Chichester yourself - details
This book is a sumptuously illustrated account of West Sussex through the medium of the village maps produced for the Millennium. It is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the county or its history.
As most Cocking residents will know, our famous Cocking History Column is unique among Millennium Maps in being a column rather than a traditional flat map. The Column was unveiled by Lady Cowdray on 15 April 2005, a little late for the Millennium, but the bronze spiral history of the village since Domesday, the two bronze maps, column and plinth took a lot of organising for a village of little over 400 souls.
Kim Leslie, author of the book and Director of the Millennium Maps Project (now known as the Parish Maps Project), is well known to those involved in the project locally and he spoke at the unveiling ceremony.
In the afternoon of 'Unveiling Day' there was a freak hail storm that blocked the road up to the South Downs behind the village. Your Webmaster took the opportunity of snapping the column in those unique weather conditions. Three of those photographs, including the one on the right, are to be found in the book's entry for Cocking and Kim also plugged this web site - so buy the book! Parish Maps Project website
Summer Visitor
Sunday, 20 August 2006 19:00
This 1913 Burrell Gold Medal Tractor, made an unscheduled stop at Milestone Garage, Cocking today 21 August. Apparently there was a problem with a tyre, but whatever the cause the tractor, once used for timber haulage, made an interesting and nostalgic sight for the handful of locals who witnessed it.
Cocking Church gets a Patron Saint
Monday, 31 July 2006 19:00
Known for having no dedication, Cocking Church was recently given a patron saint - St. Catherine of Siena.
Saint Catherine, born in 1347 (or possibly 1333) died in 1380. She was canonised in 1461 and her feast day is 29th April.
Following extensive consultation, the saint was the unanimous choice of the Bishop, the PCC and the Priest-in-Charge, the Rev Canon Colin Bradley.
Juliet Kay is pictured here collecting a plaque at the annual Sussex Heritage Awards held on 6th July in the De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea. The award Juliet collected was the Public & Community Award for Cocking's History Column which was won despite tough competition from Bexhill's De La Warr Pavilion itself and other projects from around West and East Sussex.
Entries had to involve restoration or a be new projects providing or improving facilities for the community. Other entrants included village halls, clubrooms, signs, museums, libraries, schools, open spaces and entertainment facilities. The category was open to individuals and organisations including councils, clubs, societies, and associations.
Barn Dance
Wednesday, 31 May 2006 19:00
Philippa Gibbons and her team organised a Barn Dance held in aid of the Village Hall Project at Manor Farm on Sunday 17th June. An excellent band and good weather contributed towards its success and it was enjoyed by a good crowd of all age groups from tiny tots to pensioners. This event raised £528.55 towards the project to develop a Cocking Village Hall and Community Centre.
Parish Meeting 2006
Wednesday, 17 May 2006 19:00
On 18th May, the Parish Council Annual meeting was again held in the Church and was well attended by members of the public. The minutes of the meeting of 12th May 2005 were approved and the Chairman, Miss Frances Russell, reported on the activities of the previous year. In particular she explained the progress made on the Project to replace the pavilion on the Sports Field with a Village Hall or Community Centre. Village Hall Project Miss Russell's report was accompanied by an address from the Council's architect, Caroline Mercer. Ms Mercer outlined a vision for the 'centre' based on a development of the Manor Barn, its two wings of attached buildings, the quadrangle enclosed by these buildings and some adjacent car parking. She said that it might be possible to develop a visitor centre for local downland natural history incorporating the nearby defunct lime workings. In answer to questions, both Architect and Chairman explained that matters were still at too early a stage to comment in detail on the cost of building the scheme or running it, but that any final scheme would be based on a sound business case to ensure viability. Housing Needs Survey Mr Austin Wade, Chichester District Council's Rural Housing Enabling Officer, presented the outcome of the recent Housing Needs Survey and explained in detail the various issues affecting the provision of affordable housing. He also outlined the Council's sensitive policy on affordable housing. He said that this resulted in the allocation of a high proportion of rented and shared equity housing in rural settlements to local residents or people with strong local connections. Mr Wade stressed that at this early stage it was difficult to predict what future affordable dwellings Cocking might expect to add to its housing stock, but he speculated that five or six units would be a valuable development. He said that he would be meeting with local landowners, but cautioned the audience not to expect rapid progress as projects could take between five to fifteen years to come to fruition. Other Business The business of the meeting continued with short reports from District Councillor, Mr John Cherry and County Councillor for the Fernhurst Division, Lt Col Tex Pemberton. There was some discussion regarding the speed of traffic through Cocking and Mr Pemberton commented that he hoped Cocking never had a traffic camera as that would probably only follow fatal accidents in the village. He did add that a further survey of traffic speed would be undertaken. Brief reports were delivered on the Sports Field (Mr Brian Kemp), Children's Playground (Mrs Betty Birch) and the Annual Accounts (Mrs Gwen Miles, Clerk to Cocking Parish Council).
After the meeting closed, refreshments were served and a majority of the attendees stayed for a while to continue the discussion of local issues.
A Sense of Place: West Sussex Parish Maps by Kim C Leslie. Published 01 Nov 2006 by West Sussex Country Council.
This 1913 Burrell Gold Medal Tractor, made an unscheduled stop at Milestone Garage, Cocking today 21 August.
Known for having no dedication, Cocking Church was recently given a patron saint - St. Catherine of Siena.
Juliet Kay is pictured here collecting a plaque at the annual Sussex Heritage Awards held on 6th July in the De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea. The award Juliet collected was the Public & Community Award for Cocking's History Column which was won despite tough competition from Bexhill's De La Warr Pavilion itself and other projects from around West and East Sussex.
