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Cuckfield Connections
A personal journey of discovery





1891: Blizzard causes chaos for London to Brighton mail Coaches
Sussex Agricultural Express - Saturday 14 March 1891 STOPPAGE OF THE PARCELS MAILS. The drivers and guards of the parcel mail coaches...
Dec 24, 20222 min read
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1882: Horse knocks over two-year old in Broad Street
Accident. — On Tuesday evening, 18th inst., some children were playing on the road at Broad Street as one of Mr. Callow’s flys, from the...
Dec 8, 20221 min read
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1881: Miraculous Escape at The King's Head Hotel
Mid Sussex Times - Wednesday 19 October 1881 Miraculous Escape. —Shortly after ten o’clock on Friday night a serious accident happened in...
Nov 30, 20221 min read
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1793: Thanks for using us for 30 years
Golden Cross, Charing Cross, general traffic for travelling. Brighton and Lewes Original Coaches set out every morning at Seven o'clock...
Nov 11, 20221 min read
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1926: Bertram Mills rides again
Coaching on the historic route from London to Brighton will be revived to-day, when at 10.30 a.m., the Old Berkeley stage coach will ...
Nov 9, 20221 min read
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1818: King-to-be travels on the new road
The Prince Regent travelled over the new road (from Gatton Lodge, near Reigate), by way of Povey Cross, Crawley, and Hickstead, to...
Nov 7, 20221 min read
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1867: The issue of maintaining Cuckfield roads after abolition of Turnpike gates
Sussex Advertiser - Saturday 30 March 1867 ANNUAL LADY-TIDE PAROCHIAL MEETING AT CUCKFIELD. The usual nomination of Overseers took place...
Nov 6, 20222 min read
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1837: Daring highway robbery
As Mr Joseph Jeffreys, timber-merchant, Cuckfield Sussex, was returning home from Brighton market on Thursday evening last, between...
Oct 14, 20222 min read
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1819: Notice: auction of Mid Sussex Turnpike Tolls
Sussex Advertiser - Monday 26 July 1819 Turnpike Tolls to be Lett. WHEREAS at a Meeting of the Trustees of the Turnpike Road leading from...
Oct 13, 20222 min read
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1867: Stagecoaches return to the High Street
SUSSEX ADVERTISER – Saturday 27 April 1867 CUCKFIELD The stagecoaches. Quite a new feature has sprung up on this road, at least to those...
Sep 27, 20222 min read
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1875: Frustrated traveller smashes Slough Green tollgate with Steam Engine
Hampshire Telegraph – Saturday May 1st 1875 SMASHING A TURNPIKE GATE WITH A LOCOMOTIVE STEAM ENGINE At the petty sessions, on Monday,...
Sep 13, 20221 min read
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1868: Great coach horses
Sir, Having attempted a short notice of the journey to Sevenoaks last week, I now come to a short description of the Brighton coach,...
Sep 12, 20222 min read
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1938: Careless driving causes collision at Slough Green
Mid Sussex Times - Tuesday 29 November 1938 COLLISION AT A BEND—CUCKFIELD. Harry Humm Holley, whose address was given as “The Financial...
Aug 2, 20222 min read
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1982: The sporting route to Brighton
by Lynn Atterebury The Brighton coach coming down Cuckfield Hill. from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News of 22 August 1874. The...
Aug 1, 20224 min read
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1867: A survey of the state of Cuckfield's roads
BRIGHTON GAZETTE —THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1867 STATE OF THE CUCKFIELD ROADS. The usual nomination of Overseers took place on Monday...
May 20, 20222 min read
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1870: Desperate farmers mend the roads
As late as the 1870's an observer reported 'roads being mended with the plough, the mire being turned up on the side to dry whilst a new...
Apr 25, 20221 min read
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c1790: How a local landlord greeted weary travellers
Many, and interesting, are the tales told of the Brighton-road, which always has been held in high favour by coachmen. In olden times,...
Mar 5, 20221 min read
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1888: Extraordinary coach driving skills win bet; historic race passes through Cuckfield.
THE ABERDARE TIMES JULY 21 1888 COACHING EXTRAORDINARY. A REMARKABLE DRIVE. On Friday morning of last week the Old Times Brighton coach...
Feb 13, 20225 min read
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1789: A Trip to Brighton
The following is from Rowlandson's 'Sketches on the Road' 1789 In 1789 Brighton was still known as Brighthelmstone, nearly as it had been...
Dec 28, 20214 min read
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c1800: Talbot and its sister Brighton hotel
How the Talbot suddenly took off to become a serious rival to the King's Head in Cuckfield has long been a mystery. But now some records...
Nov 28, 20217 min read
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