Lewes History Group

Lewes HMD is putting on a number of virtual events to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2021:

Saturday 23 January 2–4pm (free online event): Haiku workshop on ‘acts of kindness in the worst of times’ from the Holocaust to the present lockdown era. Led by Christine Cohen Park, a writer, workshop facilitator and teacher. Email leweshmd1@gmail.com by 22 January, heading your email ‘event1’ and Lewes HMD will send you a Zoom link.

Saturday 23 January 7–8.30pm (free online event): The Holocaust legacy – discussion panel with local speakers from refugee, anti-racist and LGBT groups. Please note spaces are limited. Click to Register to receive an automated Zoom link.

Wednesday 27 January 8pm (free online event):  Be the Light in the Darkness. Local poets, musicians and others reflect on the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2021. At the end please join us in lighting in our own homes during a two-minutes’ silence. Email leweshmd3@googlemail.com, heading your email ‘event3’ and Lewes HMD will send you a Zoom link.

There will also be four amazing stories from Lewes residents, talking for the first time about family experiences in the Holocaust and other periods of war, find these on the Lewes HMD YouTube page

More information will be available via a window display at the Lewes Tourist Information Centre during the week 15-22 January, and also from the Lewes HMD Facebook page

Click image to enlarge
Please note the film screenings have been cancelled

A Zoom talk

Marcus Taylor: Building Materials in Lewes: our Architectural Heritage

What is it that makes Lewes such a special town? In addition to its superb geographical downland setting, astride the gap cut through the chalk by the River Ouse, and its rich cultural history, Marcus Taylor hopes to convince us that a wealth of building materials over the years has led to some very distinctive streetscapes and fascinating architectural details, which also deserve full credit.

In this rapid, image-led sweep through the centuries, he highlights what Lewes houses are made of and why – and also why that is good news for residents and visitors alike.

The talk will be free, and all are welcome.

Please click to Register in advance for this talk

After registering, you will receive an automated confirmation email containing your personal link for joining the meeting.

Please click on that link to attend the talk 10 minutes before it starts.

We would recommend a computer screen or an iPad as a minimum screen-size for viewing our webinars.

Our presenters will be speaking live, and you can ask questions by typing in the Q&A box in Zoom.

See the Diary page for a list of  forthcoming events organised by the Friends of Lewes

We have four more sets of recollections about living at the Nevill Estate, this time from Robert Cheesman, Alan and Isabel Fennemore, Lorna Iden, and David Sale. Altogether, their memories span almost eight decades, and range from their school days, to bringing up their children on the estate, describing their houses, who their neighbours were, where they did their shopping, the Sheep Fair, the Fun Fair, and much more.

Their evocative and colourful accounts are the result of interviews they gave to the Nevill Street Story team. Led by Ann Holmes, this team has assembled a large collection of  photos, cuttings, and spoken memories about early life and events on the Nevill. This remarkable material is accessible to everyone on the Lewes History Group website, as part of our Lewes Street Stories series.

Start here for our Nevill Memoirs, and then explore their image collection, and Ann Holmes’s account of how the Nevill Estate came to be built, and its early development, at Yes, the Nevill Does Have a History!

View from Hawkenbury Way, about 1980. Click to enlarge