A Sussex Guide
If you're planning to spend any time in the county this summer, the books from the 'A Sussex Guide' series by Snake River Press should be essential companions.
The series runs to more than a dozen titles so far, and every one is delicious. The books are pocket-sized, with brown card sleeves wrapped in dusty-shaded dust-jackets.
'20 Sussex Walks' has been written by Pat Bowen, a former A-level tutor whose students were always delighted by a teaching style that took in storytelling and performance, world folklore and local legends. Bowen has been walking the county since 1969, and in this walking guide her voice is strong; “look out for the flock of rare Bagot goats who live here... but if you do not see them you can take comfort from the story that goats regularly disappear to visit the devil to have their beards trimmed.” Each walk is sub-titled – 'Woods and Water', 'Scramble and Clamber', and 'Wild Brooks and Riverside' for example; and all are graded from easy to challenging.
'20 Sussex Walks' covers the county well, with walks around Devil's Dyke, St Leonard's Forest, Beckley and Rye and Pulborough to Amberley. Sadly missing though is a route around the coastal strip of Littlehampton, Worthing and Shoreham. Excellent maps are provided by John Woodcock.
Two other titles take '20' as a starting point – Lorraine Harrison's '20 Sussex Gardens' (with illustrations by Worthing artist Sarah Young) includes Charleston, Bateman's, Leonardslee, Petworth Park and Preston Park alongside my own favourite Sussex gardens, Highdown, Nymans and Great Dixter.
'20 Sussex Churches' looks at Amberley and Brighton, Eastbourne and old Shoreham. Again, Sarah Young provides the illustrations.
Other books in the series are more thematic, and each theme is treated with a light, personal touch. These small books aren't definitive, instead aiming for a quirky, intimate view of the county. Roland Lewis looks at 'What The Victorians Did For Sussex', Ann Kramer at nearly 30 Sussex women, David Mortimer takes us on a tour of the best places to find 'Sussex Wildlife' and Fizz Carr has the enviable task of examining 'Good Food & Drink In Sussex'.
Peter Bridgewater takes in the odd, eccentric and quirky side of the county, from The Miller's Tomb near Worthing, to the Chattri memorial to Siki and Hindu soldiers who died in the First World War, the Bluebell Railway to Shoreham Airport and Lewes Fireworks to the Bognor Birdman. Rye is 'a completely mad place', Ditchling the scene of 'libertine free love, incest and all-round Bohemian artistic action' and at Lewes 'the curves of the South Downs reveal the giant buttocks and breasts of the Earth-Goddess (or something nuts like that)'
'A Sussex Miscellany' covers poets and writers, pets and companions, giants and monsters and customs and traditions. It's full of verse and dialect, statistics and lists, and a 'splendid assortment of illustrations and engravings'.
And best of all are a trilogy of titles celebrating the creative culture of the county. Folk music, classical, pop and performing heritage are covered in 'Sussex Music' by Marcus Weeks, which includes a foreword by former Brighton Festival Director Gavin Henderson. There are some omissions – Phun City, Jamie Hewlett, Nick Cave and Martin Quittenton's Steamhammer for example – but it's a delightful introduction to the subject.
'Sussex Writers and Artists' does exactly what it says, with biographies of Beardsley, Bell, Belloc and Blake, Gill, Grant and Greene ... the long list a reminder of how important the county is to the UK's cultural landscape. And no, it's not all Brighton; there's Eric Ravilious at Eastbourne, Lee Miller at Chiddingly and Turner at Petworth. The book is by Edward Lucie-Smith – who, if he wasn't the author, might have a chapter in his own right.
Of course, there's some common ground with another title, 'Bloomsbury in Sussex'. Simon Watney's book is a more detailed examination of the famous scene, centred around Bloomsbury homes which were all destroyed in the Blitz, leaving only the group's country homes at Rodmell and Charleston for future generations.
As if all that wasn't enough, there's also a blank Snake River Press notebook, produced in the same shape and size as the other books; ideal for writing your own addition to the excellent 'A Sussex Guide' series.
The 'A Sussex Guide' series from Snake River Press are available, as they say, from all good bookshops – including Methvens, South Street, Worthing and Much Ado Books in Alfriston, both recently featured in The Independent's 50 Best Independent Bookshops in the UK.