I was lucky enough to join Bill Martin on our 'A walk in the past (part 1)’, this week. This was the first in a series of historic walks in and around our reserves of Pagham Harbour and Medmerry and wow, what a lot of history Bill has locked away in his head.
We took a stroll around Sidlesham as Bill took us back to the 1930’s and Sidlesham’s part in the Land Settlement Association (LSA) – a scheme during the depression to re-settle unemployed workers, particularly from mining communities and industrial cities in the north-east of England. They were provided with small holdings and given the chance to begin new lives as market-gardeners, with Sidlesham being the largest settlement of 20 set up across the country. When researching these days gone past, Bill made contact with many of the relatives, accumulating so many facts and stories from this era and so was able to show us where various characters and families lived, the stories behind them and recite their letters and articles about them.
1937 unemployed shipbuilders and miners arrived in Sidlesham to begin new life on a Land Settlement Association.
Having crammed so many facts and figures from the LSA into my head that they were starting to ooze out my ears, Bill took us to Sidlesham Quay and the site of one of the country’s largest the tidal mills. Here we learnt about the mill and it’s workings, the harbour as a commercial port in 19th century and then it’s part in the World War.
Sidlesham Mill
Bill finished off our history lesson with the Hundred route tramway, from it’s heyday and flooding, to it’s final demise.
Sidlesham Station
A very informative walk, delivered in Bill’s friendly and candid style, it was a delightful way to spend a couple of hours and I’m thoroughly looking forward to the next installment.