Kings Church, Brooks Road, Lewes

Grown in Lewes, led by Ruth Thomson – Tuesday 3 June at 7.30 pm at King’s Church

Following the publication of Grown in Lewes last November, Ruth Thomson, one of the co-editors will give a talk on where the idea for the book came from, who has been involved and will expand upon two of the topics she researched and wrote about. One is the history of Elphick’s, the much loved (and much missed) family-run seed merchant and garden shop that traded in Cliffe High Street for more than 150 years; the other is the rise and fall of the early 19 ^th century Leighside estate, which has been partly incorporated into today’s Railway Land nature reserve. Ruth will recount how its owner, Burwood Godlee, left his mark on the Cliffe area of Lewes – having had a hand in the building of several of its key landmarks.

Copies of Grown in Lewes will be on sale, along with a selection of Lewes History Group publications.

The Piltdown Men, led by Anthony Dicks – Monday 9 June at 7.30 pm at King’s Church

This talk provides a timeline and introduces the characters involved in the discovery in 1912 of Eoanthropus Dawsoni – the much sought-after “missing link” between man and apes – and its denouement half a century later. It is now generally agreed that the architect of the Piltdown hoax was Charles Dawson, but was he merely one of the builders? The talk will propose the identity of the forger or forgers.
Anthony Dicks moved to Piltdown in 1955, just two years after Piltdown Man was finally exposed as a forgery that had deceived the scientific community for decades. He lived and worked on the estate where the Piltdown skull had been supposedly found. One of his colleagues had actually worked alongside the gravel digger who first uncovered the skull; and he got to know Miss Mabel Kenward, who lived in the manor house at the time and clearly remembered the events surrounding the discovery.

A selection of Lewes History Group publications will be on sale.

Members will not need to register in advance to attend this talk. 

Non-members can buy a ticket (£4.00) from Ticketsource.co.uk/lhg

Please arrive in good time for a prompt start at 7.30 pm. We hope you can join us.

We would very much appreciate some help with putting out the chairs for the talk. We need to start doing this from 6.30 pm, and all volunteers will be welcome. Many thanks in advance.