Great British Road Journeys - East Sussex - Crowborough to Hailsham Ep. 21 

Did you notice that signs on the entry to Uckfield are closely cropped to avoid the addition of letters?

6:34 - "Heading away from Escobar Montana Capone Towers..." - classic! I'm even more impressed that the subtitles managed to get it right, too!

1:10 as Mark Twain said: " Golf...a good walk spoiled"... and spoilt for everyone else too!!

I grew up in Sussex. I thought it was boring at the time but now that I am in my 50s I appreciate its subtle beauty and the fact that it hasn't seen many upgrades, thanks to much of it being protected land. National Park, greenbelt etc. It was historically seen as rather an eccentric county and its unofficial motto, "We wunt be druv," expressed a stubbornness that I would like to think is not merely a thing of the past. In its darkest days, Sussex was a stronghold of the British Union of [bundle-of-sticks]-ists but also a hotbed of rebellion and sedition in its juicier moments. The Lewes Bonfire Night celebrations are a sight to behold. Sussex is perhaps not the most obvious place to visit but under the surface there is a lot of fascinating history.

Yep, I can confirm that my grandparents also thought Crowborough was indeed a nice place to retire... so much so that they did precisely that, and lived happily in a house called Longview until the mid 1960's. Some of my very happiest early memories were made there. So thanks for a video that, this week, was full of unexpected nostalgia.

As an HGV driver I’ve delivered my load a few times to swallow business park in Lower Dicker.

Well done negotiating the pot holes at Heron's Ghyll on the A26.

My grandfather, Tony Turner, restored Nutley Windmill back in the 60's, his direct descendant (and my own) also had a pivotal role in 1874 in the windmills history. Tony was a founding member of the presevation society that also restored Bridge Cottage. I spent a lot of time around Ashdown forest, pooh sticks bridge, friends clump, and nutley windmill as a child and have a lot of happy memories of the area.

What East Sussex contributes, Harvey's Brewery for example.

Always used to laugh at Lower Dicker and Upper Dicker on my way to Knockhatch when I was a kid.

Your levels of sarcasm are truly refreshing my friend….😂

Building a palace is a pretty classy thing for a crimeboss to do. The scaffolding will also make his inevitable fight with Spiderman more interesting.

You need to go through Plumpton Green where Trumpton was based on, Chigley is Chailey and Camberwick Green is Wivelsfield Green with the fire station bought in from Barcombe Village.

Conan Doyle was a doctor and hoped profoundly that he would not be remembered only as the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

I spent many happy nights at the Travelodge at Boship roundabout, with my "no sleeper cab" truck in the spacious carpark. It was ideal. Pull up, Little Chef curry for tea, sleep, Olympic Breakfast, on the road again. Once it became Starbucks the site lost a lot of its appeal. Btw John you missed out on a gem just around the corner. The Hellingly Asylum Railway... Look it up!!!

Hoogstraten - good excuse to listen to Sheriff Fatman by Carter USM

Nicholas Van Whatsisface? He's got more aliases than Klaus Barbie....

i heard van Hoogstraten once say he intended the mansion to be his mausoleum and that upon his death was planning to be placed inside it and then have the whole building sealed up, leaving nothing to his family or children

A future series idea.... "Every Disused Little Chief Site". Kind of like those "Every Disused Train Station" that other do.

I'm happy now got my Sunday fix of Auto Shenanigans. Thanks for keeping my smiling. Keep up the good work 😄

You mean to say that you have never needed to hire a medieval building?😮. Remarkable!

Hold it, hold it! Blazing Saddles??? Great video as ever, by the way.

Ooh, a button specifically for that - go on then....

If only you'd gone another half mile or so off the A22 (where the furniture shop was), down towards the Dicker! Had you done so, you'd have come across one of the very best cafés / shops in the county. The Village Shop and Café, as it is known offers fantastic food, a wonderful welcome and, if you should ever ask for mayonnaise on a Saturday, a hearty rendition of the beginning of the Banana Boat Song . . . 'May, ay, ay, ay, ay, o . . .' I think you missed a trick not finding this little jewel. Next time you're in the area, give it a go!

You missed Pooh bridge in Hartfield. Thats where Christopher Robin played Pooh sticks.

Most windmills in England were for grinding corn, most in Holland were for pumping water

Any further west and we'll be an expecting a collaboration episode with Paul Whitewick. 😆

Fact for you about Hamilton Palace, there is a mausoleum right under the main entrance where Nickolas will be placed when he dies.

Crowborough golf course is a very popular location after dark coming into autumn for seasonal mushrooms, so much so, in the '90s, they started having security patrolling. Crowborough train station is actually in Jarvis Brook, although now the town has grown to encompass "Jarviland", there used to be some big scuffles between Uckfield and Crowborough youth over the years, you were fine if you said you were from Jarvis Brook or outlying villages if visiting Uckfield or say you were from Ridgewood (now encompassed by Uckfield), or outlying villages if visiting Crowborough. When travelling across Ashdown Forrest, somehow, you missed the nuclear bunker at Kingstanding (the staggard crossroads you've have crossed on your way to Nutley), the site is currently used by Sussex Police for various purposes and inside is quite amazing. from the outside, it doesn't look much and only 1 of the 4 radio masts remain. There was an old cattle market on what is now the Waitrose car park in Uckfield. There used to be an abattoir behind what is currently "Frills All Round" (next to The Station pub), livestock would disembark cattle trucks on a siding where the new station carpark now is and be walked across the road, however, very few would have been walked round to the market site. The old station had a gasworks alongside it, with a gasometer on top of the hill above, this meant the station had gas lighting, which remained in place until well after the gasworks closed (between 1960-63), I believe the electric lights were only installed towards the end of the '70s. Despite the old station building and goods yard now being under the new/larger station car park, the platforms, main track, buffers (from when the line to Lewes closed) and lam posts are still in place and can be found with some exploration, probably easier to gain access from the Western end of the old station, via the industrial estate. Bridge Cottage was still a residential house as late as the 1970s Uckfield was the last confirmed sighting of the infamous Lord Lucan. Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip were a regular visitors to Uckfield House (long since gone) and then later Horsted Place, where she would often stay with Lord Rupert Nevill and his wife, who were not only childhood friends with the Queen, but he was also later treasurer and private secretary to Prince Philip, Duke of Edingborough until his death in 1982. They would regularly attend Sunday service at Holy Cross and Little Horsted churches respectively, along with the regular congregation. Just outside Uckfield, is the hamlet of Piltdown, famous for the discovery of the "Piltdown Man", which was allegedly a missing link between ape and man, however, it was later confirmed to be a hoax. The main perpetrator, was Charles Dawson, a lawyer, who was part of what is now one of the biggest solicitors in Uckfield. The scaffolding still surrounding Hamilton Palace, along with some plant inside the basement of the building and other equipment, was written off by their various owners, after NVH refused to pay their rental, then refused the companies permission onto his land to retrieve their property, even after taking him to court to recover their property or recoup their losses. Allegedly, he still owes a considerable sum of money to builders, rental companies and building supplies companies, despite much being written off as they couldn't retrieve it, even going through the courts. NVH was in a battle with East Sussex County Council to either close the footpaths on his land, or have them diverted from his land, which he lost, but as far as I'm still aware, doesn't stop his security intimidating people using them when they're not obstructed. There are/were a couple of cottages on the Eastbourne Road (old A26) opposite HP, which is still his property, the residents requested repairs to the roofs, but he thought the "common riff raff" were living too close to HP, so he did repair the roofs ... with corrugated iron sheets. inevitably, the residents eventually moved out. I can't remember the details, but he wanted planning permission to knock the cottages down and rebuild something else that side of the road, but was denied, mysteriously, no long after, they caught fire and at least partially collapsed. You missed the big well known landmark on the A26 just past East Hoathly ... The Thatched Garage, The Man For Land Rovers. Originally up in East Hoathly village itself, but then known simply as "The Land Rover Man", he had to change the name when BMW bought the Rover Group and chased after any independent garage that used any of the brand names, without licence or permission, which obviously affected numerous small specialist garages. Just up the road from Hailsham (towards Horam/Heathfield), is the site of the annual Festival of Transport.

I grew up in Crowborough from the age of 9 after leaving South London near Brixton and It's a lovely place Great golf course which when it snows is awesome as it has a massive hill to slide down on a plastic sheet great fun and did you know that Sir David Jason from only fools and horse lives in Crowborough. Also Crowborough has a massive WW2 Army base there which now is home to Army Navy and AIR CADETS Big shout out to 1414 SQUADRON as i was in back in the 80s

I absolutely love the change of direction for the channel. The videos are even more interesting and engaging and they are as entertaining as always. I was genuinely perplexed when you ran out of roads ( never thought it would happen ) as to what you were going to do next. This is brilliant !! Keep up the wonderful work.

Another fine episode John of many places I have visited. You stopped short of the trek to Pooh Bridge, I was expecting a bit of Pooh Sticks. An episode that was riddled with innuendo and interesting factoids. You are becoming the Michael Portillo of the road world my friend and long may your content flourish.

I saw a couple decades ago a snidey suggestion that perhaps certain business opponents reside in the concrete foundations of Kray Towers.

Another great video. Thanks. When you visit the Cleckhuddersfax area of Yorkshire (a.k.a. West Yorkshire) make sure you check out the village of Upper Butts, which is close to the village of Tong... also near the village of Shelf... 😂

Excellent, Jon! Van Hogstraten is a well known scoundrel and all round Richard Cranium in this part of the world… I see you moving through East Sussex - doing West Sussex and Surrey next?

"Dodgy as f**k" seems like an understatement 🤣

John also you should have mentioned the massive flood in Uckfield in the Year 2000 there are loads of pictures and video as it was 12 FT deep and was on the local news

Brilliant as usual, especially liked the Artists Bridge, what an imaginative idea?

I remember travelling to Lower Dicker in the 80's, where there was a company that produced quality pine furniture by the name of Goldpine. I used to collect a lorry load, and then head off to the nearby transport cafe, before heading back to Portsmouth to offload at the Pine Furniture Centre in North End, Portsmouth. Happy days.

I remember programs about Hoogstraten and that 'house' on TV. He was repulsive and was filmed wilfully blocking footpaths across his land and calling his neighbours peasants. Always wondered what became of the property and I'm quite surprised to realise he is still alive.

I remember Van Hoogstraten from back in the day. He was portrayed by the press as a complete and utter twat, so I’m glad to hear his little house never got finished. As I recall, he wanted his body interred in a mausoleum within the house, and tried to close public rights of way across ‘his’ land. I’m glad the house has never been finished, but it will remain an eyesore for decades, such will be Van Hoogstraten’s legacy. In 2009, he changed his name to Nicholas Adolf von Hessen. What a nice guy!

Rory Graham (Rag and Bone man) comes from Uckfield and the Bus from Tunbridge Wells used to stop there for a while on the way to Brighton.

Yet another awesome vid mate. I wait for everyone as you always give me a little chuckle. Love what you do as you do too by the look of it. Keep it up. Little Dicker lol.

Nutley Village used to have a large pub there on the main road called The Shelley Arms which is now Flats shame as every weekend there was live bands like Dumpy Rusty Nuts and back in 1990 a small band played there called NIRVANA and i met Kurt Cobain and got very drunk with him until the early morning hours as i was good friends with the Landlord and had many a lock in.

Thank you. It's only made fwicking more exciting and awesome because of you. Keep going sir.

Nice cameo by Jon's mum right at the end of his piece to camera.

Cotchford Farm had another illustrious resident a little later on. Sadly, his tenure ended at the bottom of the swimming pool after his pissed off his builders.

The house in Uckfield next to the river was heavily flooded in 2000. and the little chef you said about on the dicker was also a happy eater was further towards Uckfield on the opposite side of A22

The most eventful thing that happens in Uckfield every so often is the river flooding and drowning the industrial state and all the low lying shops on the flood plain. (who'd have thought it) The last major one was in October 2000 and if you search on YT you can find entertaining clips of the RNLI operating 15 miles inland on a flooded high street that's about 6 foot deep in dirty water. Also - it was the last place that Lord Lucan was last seen when on the run.

Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones bought Cotchford Farm. He died in the swimming pool there in 1969.

when you were standing outside Metamorphosis, the sign saying The Dicker was on the opposite side of the main road,

If you end up doing the Uckfield to Haywards Heath route, there's Sheffield Park, both a national trust place and next to it the station of the same name for the terminating station for the bluebell railway!

Uckfield used to have a lovely Victorian (albeit disused) railway station. The line to Lewes was terminated at Uckfield due to flooding nearer Lewes sometime in the late 60s (not Beeching as many think). Ever since, there has been a campaign to reopen the line. The station itself was flooded in a storm in the 2000s and was sadly knocked down.

The house in Uckfield next to the river was heavily flooded and the little chef you said about on the dicker was not on the corner. It was further towards Uckfield on the opposite side of A22. And I’ve spent 90% of my life in Crowborough and I now live here

Old Little Thieves and Grumpy Eaters should always be included for retro-indigestion.

I used to live in a bedsit owned by N.V.H. Instead of evicting everyone from the properties he had all of the doors removed on the buildings, including those which people working for him used.

Fascinating and entertaining as usual John, thankyou.

Auto Shenanigans briefly segueing into Dad-Joke Shenanigans on Father's Day. How apt. ;-)

I use to visit Crowborough every summer where my nan lived. Great little town.

🎶 Moving up on second bass behind Nicholas Van What's his face 🎶

Awesome as always 😂😂😂😂😂. I'm going to have to wait to watch your vids, to much laughter after dinner isn't good for me! Safe travels Jon hope you are well.

Devastated you didn't mention that the River Cuckmere runs through the Dicker, and not far from the Bull River. Whoever was in charge of naming things in that area had a lot of fun

Bloody hell, you survived Hailsham!

Glad you survived the potholes of the A26 going down to Uckfield. Many haven’t!

A classic, Jon - cheers!

There's also a Horney Common on the A22 just north of Uckfield.

Thanks John, an exciting Great British video.

Fascinating! Allegedly! 👍

Cotchford Farm was where Brian Jones drowned in 1969

First, thanks for making Sundays great..

Been to East Sussex and what a view it must be with the hills when using a drone. Awesome stuff.

My Sunday morning's ritual is now completed. Thanks John.

Following on from two mentions of 'The Long Man', I would love to hear your comments about the Cerne Abbas Giant, with his giant attributes

You spent a good deal of time ucking around in this video.

love these!

Love this stuff you dig up please keep doing it

That was frickin hilarious, thank you dude. See you in the next one. 😂

This is the best video I've ever seen about anything

A massive and huge congratulations on your channel success John , It has been a mega Journey with you !

Great video John, lovely information 👌👍😀

Nice video Jon. This is a very entertaining series thanks!

Another epic video from my local area

I grew up in Crowborough and I was at school in Upper Dicker. So your journey just recreated the route I took to school every day in the early 1990s.

I used to live on the edge of ashdown forest, there's a former ww2 bunker transmitter site that became a government cold war bunker, and it's now a police training ground. It was sometimes possible to get a tour.

Great work 👏

This particular episode was wicked sweet awesome Jon. Especially with the stop in Upper D1cker.

Love your video all time❤❤

Yay! Another chance to press "the button specifically for that"!!

Chers for another great video Jon, The Mill was featured in Led Zep’s Song Remains The Same concert film.

Ah my old neck of the woods! Grew up next to Uckfield, glad you pointed out the picture house. It's great! Also glad you kept pointing out that there's sod all in East Sussex. It's why I left the place! Another great video, cheers Jon!

Have I mentioned how satisfying dry sarcasm is when it's rooted in earnest enthusiasm and plucky optimism?

Fab episode! Thank you 😂

Nice one, I do this journey alot.

Well, you’ve covered a lot of places where I spent my wild youth on my motorbike with a load of other mates…. Great and entertaining as always.

Wicked. Sweet. Awesome.

Your in my local areas Jon Thank you so incredibly interesting as always Brilliant great watch

Gr8 vid as always MNIJ 👌🏿 Have a WSA week 🤗

The little chef was about a mile back towards uckfield by the turning for gun hill. You also missed an amazing taproom 3 minutes off the a22 at the gun brewery.

Good stuff 👍 that's the to do list finished

I always drive past that spot at 7:17 to get to local attraction called Drusillas zoo - a must for anyone visiting the area! Also, you were so close to my home village of Wadhurst while in Crowborough. It was lots of history, including plane crashes and boxing matches.