This Victorian letterbox is set in the wall of the old vicarage in Telscombe, East Sussex. Allegedly inhabited by the drummer of a famous rock band, the building is in fine repair and the post is still collected faithfully from this long-serving receptacle. You can't help but wonder how much longer this will all last, what with village post offices closing wholesale and the inexorable rise of email (try sending a parcel, mind). The physical presence and survival of these cast iron symbols of another age is nothing short of miraculous and serves to remind us that there were complaints in late 19th century London that letters posted in the city were not delivered within four hours. My how times change. Still, I for one am pleased that there are so many survivors. Telscombe village by the way is 'on the road to nowhere' and is as pretty a spot as you could wish to find, sitting in a deep hollow of the South Downs just a few miles south of Lewes. The benevolent squire of the village, back in the 'noughties, 'teens and twenties of the last century was named Ambrose Gorham. A successful bookmaker, Gorham bequethed the village and farmland to Brighton Corporation and it belongs, administered by The Gorham Trust, to, I suppose, the City of Brighton and Hove to this day. There was never a pub which has kept the place quiet and largely free of visitors, but the Squire built a social club for the benefit of the villagers. This' turf accountant' owned a Grand national winner 'Shannon Lass' and photographs of various horse racing triumphs once adorned the walls of the club. There is a most attractive church (of St.Laurence) on a site where there has been one since 960 odd. It's well worth a detour as you motor between Lewes and Newhaven or are walking the South Downs Way...for the hardy, there's a Youth Hostel to rest your weary bones.
9 comments:
Right, two questions. Is there a wire mesh snail trap in the bottom of the box, and how far to the nearest pint of Harveys?
I haven't seen the box open which I guess I'd need to be able to do to answer question1. 2miles - The Abergavenney Arms at Rodmell provides the luscious liquid!
Thankyou. Somewhere I have a snail trap retrieved from a disused wall box in remote Dorset that was left with its door hanging open. It's just a piece of wire mesh really, such as your mum would use to cool down rock cakes.
Hence 'snail mail' perhaps? Sorry, this is getting a bit esoteric, but GPO-wise I wonder if the snail traps were made like the old Post Office counters -diagonally woven?
How funny you should say that. I went to my nearest post office yesterday, and remarked on the fact that they still have their old bronzed mesh up instead of that armour-plated glass you have to shout through.
Grappling with the dreaded jet lag, I have only just found your excellent blog. Telscombe was one of those little places where friends and I invariably detoured after 'pulling' at the all-night King Alfred Bowl in Brighton.... thus it witnessed several of my greatest failures! More importantly, the Savigny-les-Beaune thread has just stopped me from unpacking my suitcase...I'm thinking of going there right now! Marvellous stuff Jon!
Thanks for that a-f-a. So it was your detritus, I had to explain to my young boys, as being the result of Adders sloughing their skins on Telscombe Tye !
Jon, great blog. Great snails, great post-box.
The cynicism with which the Post Office is being dismantled is breathtaking, isn't it? Here in Hammersmith they moved the main Post Office from The Broadway Centre (as bad as it sounds) to the back of WH Smith in the equally challenging King's Mall Shopping Centre. At a stroke, they halved the Stalinist queues because no-one could find it. And who amongst us knows the difference, actually between a letter large and a letter small? Just how much are they making from this nasty little scam, as the guilt-ridden middle-classes stick too many 1st class stamps on to save the recipient the fag of tracking down the nearest sorting office, paying a quid plus whatever alleged outstanding postage owed? It must be a lot, judging by their record-breaking profitability, even thought they deliver far fewer letters than in years past.
Phew, glad I got that off my chest. Hope Goodwood was good, wood.
Thanks Fred! You've rightly identified the great Post Office scam...better stick another first class stamp on it just to be sure...what a con.
Goodwood was pretty close to heaven yesterday. The Vintage Sports Car Club sprint. More about wandering around the paddock and drinking in the sights and smells - nothing like 'The Revival' - very few people apart from the competitors and two or three hundred spectators. Some jewel- like cars, Bugattis and Delahayes and some fabulous aero-engined Edwardian specials, mainly powered by Curtiss V8s or Hispano Suiza V's.
I've got a feeling that the move towards a gathering of the followers of Ashley is gaining momentum - of course it could just be an excuse for endless fantasy and interminable planning, but that's an end in itself.
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