East Grinstead

East Grinstead is twinned with the following towns: 

Bourg-de-Péage, France
Verbania, Italy
Mindelheim, Germany
Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Spain
Schwaz, Austria

East Grinstead opticians:

A family run practice, with over 30 years experience in the optical profession.

We have built our business on personal recommendation and referrals.

Being independent allows us the professional freedom to provide you with the very best in eye care.

You can feel confident that your visual needs will be professionally managed and cared for.

We only provide quality optical products, sourced from leading design studios and international manufacturers.

Come in-store for a warm welcome and impeccible service!

www.alexander-opticians.com

Alexander Opticians
97 London Road
East Grinstead
West Sussex
RH19 1EQ

Tel: 01342 323 115
Fax: 01342 326 797
Email: alexmarcou@btconnect.com

I found a great site all about Ashdown Forest…

Originally a deer hunting forest in Norman times, Ashdown Forest is now the largest free public access space in the South East. It is a great place for walking and enjoying spectacular views over the Sussex countryside and is known the world over as the ‘home’ of Winnie-the-Pooh.

The Forest is at the heart of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has national and international protection because of its wildlife. Nearly two thirds of its 6500 acres (2500 hectares) are heathland, amounting to 2.5% of the UK’s extent of this rare habitat. The Forest Centre is the headquarters of the Conservators of Ashdown Forest who are responsible for the managing the Forest.

www.ashdownforest.org

It says “East Grinstead Official Guide” on the following website. I am not sure how official it is but it has a great section on the history of East Grinstead.

Here is an excerpt:

“By the mid-C16 the parish of East Grinstead (modern East Grinstead, Ashurst Wood and Forest Row) contained about 1,000 people, of whom some 300 lived in the borough, which in 1564 consisted of 48 burgages (houses carrying votes for the town’s two M.P.s), 24 cottages, blacksmith’s forge, currying house (for dressing leather), slaughter house, windmill, etc. In 1600 it was described as ‘a very good towne’. It continued to thrive till towards the end of the C18…”

It mentions for example that there where 10 inns in EG in 1850 and 16 in 1900! The people must have been a rather jolly lot back then.

http://www.localauthoritypublishing.co.uk/councils/eastgrinstead/history.html

Many people want to find details for the East Grinstead Cinema so here is the phone number and address:

Atrium Building
King Street
East Grinstead
West Sussex
RH19 3DJ

01342 321666

I have been reading up on the history of Sussex and the early kings.Here is what Wikipedia has to say on the subject of Aelle:

Ælle was the first king of the South Saxons from 477 to perhaps as late as 514, and was the first king recorded by Bede to have held imperium over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In the late 9th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (around 400 years after his time) Ælle is recorded as being the first Bretwalda, though there is no evidence that this was a contemporary title… Read more…

You can see an East Grinstead Roll of Honour page on this website created by John Harrison.

In 1910 there were 207 branches of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) in Britain. Membership of the NUWSS had grown from 13,429 in 1909 to 21,571 in 1910. However, it was not until July 1911 that Muriel, Countess de la Warr, Marie Corbett and Lilla Durham decided to form an East Grinstead Suffrage Society.

The first meeting was held at Queens Hall, East Grinstead, on 8th July 1911. The main speaker was Lady Frances Balfour, President of the London Society of the NUWSS. It was decided that Muriel, Countess de la Warr should become President of the East Grinstead Suffrage Society. Other supporters of the society included Countess de la Warr’s sister, Helen Brassey, Idina Sackville, Margery Corbett-Ashby, Cicely Corbett-Fisher, Edith Fox Pitt, Jane Buckley, Florence Buckley and Helen Hoare.

I was deeply interested in the work of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies and so I decided to take a job with the organisation. I became editor of the NUWSS’s newspaper, The Women’s Franchise, and I learned by experience how to select, produce and edit material… I also organised petitions, deputations and processions.

(2) In 8^th September 1912 The East Grinstead Observer reported a meeting of the local suffrage society.

Lady Helen Brassey and Lady Idina Sackville were the hostesses. Mrs. Uniacke said that surely no one can be satisfied with the world around us today. A great deal wants doing. Women want the right to influence public morals. They understand the difficulty of rearing children with healthy minds and bodies. Men now decide at what trades women shall work. Why cannot women decide?