Hilaire Belloc bought King's Land (in Shipley, Sussex), 5 acres and a working windmill for £1000 in 1907 and it was his home for the rest of his life. Belloc loved Sussex as few other writers have loved her: he lived there for most of his 83 years, he tramped the length and breadth of the county, slept under her hedgerows, drank in her inns, sailed her coast and her rivers and wrote several incomparable books about her. "He does not die that can bequeath Some influence to the land he knows, Or dares, persistent, interwreath Love permanent with the wild hedgerows; He does not die, but still remains Substantiate with his darling plains."

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Saturday 11 August 2012

The Walk!






The Hilaire Belloc walk shall be taking place around 'Kingsland' (his old home in Shipley) on Saturday the 18th of August. We will be assembling outside the old church in Shipley (which has an interesting history as a former Knights Templar foundation) at 11.00 AM. For those of you who cannot make it to the village for 11.00 we will be stopping at the church where Belloc is buried at 1.00:

http://www.consolation.org.uk/n_belloc.php

http://www.consolation.org.uk/n_contact.php

Tea will be served at the church and we intend to picnic there as well. The walk should last for five hours (including the picnic and a pub interlude). Later in the evening, from 7.00 PM, Chris Hare (who is at the forefront of the revival of folk music in Sussex) will be treating us to an evening of folk song and music at the George and Dragon where we will be made very welcome (* please note this is a small hostelry and so you must state in advance whether you intend to dine). The pub is twenty minutes walk from Shipley village:

http://georgeanddragonpubdragonsgreen.co.uk/contact-us


This promises to be a wonderful day out. The countryside, in this part of Sussex, is lovely and the walk, depicted on the map), will be extended to encapsulate Belloc's parish church and his grave at Our Lady of Consolation. Another feature of the walk will be the Knepp Estate and its interesting selection of rare animal breeds. If you would like to attend, and eat at the George and Dragon, please e-mail the organisers at:

thehilairebellocblog@gmail.com

There may be some last minute alterations to the walk and so it would be better to sign up in order to keep oneself informed.

Getting to Shipley by 'public' transport:

The nearest station is Horsham or Christ's Hospital. From both stations catch the number 74 to Coolham Crossroads. I would suggest the 10.29 (Horsham) 10.40 (CH). You will arrive at CC at 10.53. From there Shipley is a five minute taxi ride (and I am sure you will be able to share).

If anyone would like to join the Belloc Society please e-mail the Convener at thehilairebellocblog@gmail.com




2 comments:

  1. Love to go. Have walked up to the windmill a long time ago, but at this time, I have a broken toe! God bless you all with great weather. Some of the most lovely British countryside is in this area..

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  2. I am very, very, very glad to discover this weblog - though I am sorry to say that after three efforts the Facebook link does nothing. So I shall email the Convener.

    I am also sorry I see no way to come to Sussex right now, though hope to another year.

    I have recently been blown apart by Belloc, devouring one book after another plus two biographies (so far).

    There is a profound joy and significance here that I cannot hope to express in this comments box.

    However in case it is of interest to any other friends of Hilaire Belloc - for although he died in 1953 I now feel Hilaire Belloc to be among my dearest friends - I wish to say that I have begun blogging about Belloc myself.

    I think if you click on my name, it should lead you to my Belloc pages, otherwise here is the url:

    http://corjesusacratissimum.org/2012/08/on-hilaire-belloc-fumbling-in-the-footsteps-of-a-giant/

    Friends of dear Hilaire I greet you in cyberspace; another year I hope to meet some of you in Sussex ...

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