Spam Heads
After receiving a text message from my bank stating that they would never send me an e-mail, I started to wonder just who it is that sends those annoying SPAM mails? You know those ‘I want to be your friend’ ones or the ‘win a voucher’ for your local supermarket. Is it the pale, pimpled faced youngster sat in his bedroom with the curtains closed that I seem to have imprinted in my mind or some slick chap sat in a fancy chair at the top of a plush office block? I suppose that in reality it will be the latter, with a ‘team’ that are tasked with ripping innocents off, and who are always finding clever ways to get hold of your ‘hard earned’. Sadly, they must have more than the odd few victories on some poor souls to be able to keep going! So, with December fast approaching and the pennies being spent at a rate of knots, the not so clued up, internetty / digitally aware (old) amongst us should think twice or maybe thrice before clicking that £200 off bog roll and therefore giving the SPAM heads reasons to keep going with this awful practice!
Party Time
The Christmas work party season is here!
For some it’s exciting, for some it can be daunting, for some memorable, for some forgettable! The staff at Ford Market use the local pub in Yapton and we have a quite competitive game of skittles, followed by a pool competition, whilst imbibing best bitter and the odd strange cocktail and munching through the sausage rolls and Turkey sandwiches.
I believe a good time is had by all, maybe in small part because we all seem to ‘play nicely’ and have an unwritten ‘law’ of no social media. So, come the next morning / lunchtime when your slumber ends, you are not red faced and screaming WTF, OMG or LOL at some embarrassment put on Faceygram or the like, that the whole world gets to see!
We hear stories when people chat about their ‘office do’s‘ 😀 when it seems, they go out for the evening dressed like a superstar and go home looking like a monstar! With a photocopy of a bare bum in their pocket…..
Market
If you are out and about doing a bit of Christmas shopping locally (or voting on the 12th) in Bognor, Littlehampton or Chichester, why not pop in to see us or even stop by first before the shops are open. You can grab a great bargain on the Market which is open every Sunday or come to find that perfect thing for so & so that will not be for sale anywhere else (you never know!) at one of the popular car boot sales we hold on the Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Perhaps ending up with a relaxing lunch at the Oyster Catcher down the road or at one of the lovely pubs or cafés in Arundel which I think looks very festive at this time of the year.
TTFN
C Time
This October has been a strange one for stall holders and trading in general! Normally we have to cope with the blustery gusts and gales during this month strapping down the gazebo’s etc and stock items or anything that could take off to be blown into a field, but it has turned out be just a little soggy! Loads of rain! Bucket loads in fact! With not a lot of wind to blow it away, so on a lot of our opening days, once it arrived it stayed with us for quite a few hours, sometimes with the bonus break of the odd bit of sunshine and warmth and T-shirt weather then back to the wellies! But as we well know, this is Britain, and we should expect to have the ‘four seasons in one day’ (I feel a song coming on) I suppose at this time of the year!
With Halloween fast approaching and the horrible turning back of the clocks an hour nearly upon us, for most of the car boot sales in the West Sussex area it is the time of year when they are closing or have closed down their fields for the winter until the so called ‘season’ starts again next summer. But for all of us here at Ford Airfield it is business as usual, having this unique all weather surface means that we can keep up our popular three weekly sales on a Thursday, Saturday and of course the Sunday Market and car boot sale open every week! Winter Spring Summer or Fall! (another song maybe) so if you suddenly feel that need to come and find a bargain or have a ‘clear out’ of the loft or shed at home or are just one of many carbootaholic’s that we see regularly throughout the year, you can rest assured that we will be open whatever the good old British weather decides to throw at us! Although unfortunately during this year’s festive time, Boxing day falls on a Thursday so will be the only one that we shall miss and not open. Damn! I have now mentioned the dreaded ‘C’ time and I know that it is still two months away so don’t start to panic. Let me remind you that the last Sunday before Christmas day is the 22nd so don’t forget that you will be able to save time amongst all the hustle and bustle on what will be a busy one, by placing your orders with Paul the Butch or Jodie on the front of the meat lorry for your Turkey’s and Sausages etc or with Becky on the F&V stall for the spuds, carrots and of course the lovely sprouts for the big dinner 🙂 up to a couple of weeks beforehand and have it ready to collect. Leaving you plenty of time to enjoy a bacon butty and a cup of tea from one of the catering kiosks or a stroll around the stalls looking for that party jumper or a pair of slippers for Granny. Simples!
TTFN
HARVEST FESTIVAL
How are we in late September already? This year has seriously gone whizzing by at a tremendous pace, surely it was only Easter just a few weeks ago? But moaning aside, I really quite like this season change from shorts to trousers, new spuds to old, putting the lawnmower away and the hopeful possibility of that Indian summer that we all enjoy, but rarely happens, although we have been very lucky this month so far, and then of course, the Harvest Festival. If my memory serves me correctly, my very first association with this lovely time of the year was at a very young age going to the primary school on Hayling Island. First thing in the morning of the Harvest Festival assembly, along with my sisters, pestering my Mum for something to take into class and ending up with me happily having a tin of beans in my brown satchel. Then being sent on my way really pleased with myself that I had something for the big display in the main hall, where a beautifully made huge, shiny loaf of bread in the shape of a Wheatsheaf would have taken pride of place in the centre of the stage. We would then be sat squashed together & crossed legged on the floor in the packed mid - morning service, looking for our parents that had been invited but felt like they had to attend (so we had to be angelic), and then a lengthy talk by a local farmer or Church member or both, which at that age I maybe only found mildly interesting (boring) & then, eventually we would arrive at the best bit……... going home early!
The years passed and the brown satchel having been retired, I then celebrated the Harvest in my late teens / early twenties by having a glass or two of cider in whatever Sussex local pub put on the best show or best (cheapest) prices etc.
Now as I feel the crunch of the leaves under my feet and my thoughts are drifting towards the autumnal stew, the Harvest Festival still reminds me that it’s time for cider 🙂 although now it is my homemade rough stuff.
This year in the many fields that surround the market & car boot site at Ford Airfield, I noticed that the wheat was gathered in early and new planting completed way back in August! Maybe trying to avoid losing costly crops to the wet weather days that the school holidays brought us frequently this year….
I am pretty sure that the local farmer at my old school mentioned that the Festival was also a time when the workers were rewarded with produce for the great effort and hours put in by them all during this period. A tradition going back to Pagan times, but I suppose that ‘reward’ now comes in the form of ‘overtime’ in the monthly pay packet! We are in this age, when the computerised combine harvest machines are getting bigger and better at the job each year and the farming is more intensive, so perhaps it is only local small farmers that celebrate the season in the old-fashioned way?
I think this year and for the foreseeable, I will continue on with my traditional cider celebration 🙂
TTFN
Food for thought
After listening to a chat on Spirit FM radio the other morning, where someone had mentioned the humble sandwich and its origins being credited, probably to the Earl of Sandwich, who didn’t want to leave the table whilst playing cards to have his meal. I began to wonder if there were any produce, dishes, meals, or snacks that had been named after anywhere or anybody locally. For example, the Michael Fish Pie (Eastbourne) or the Rodney Trotter’s Trotter (Emsworth - Sussex ish). So off to the laptop and Google I popped and was really surprised at the amount of our Cities, Towns and Villages that we have in the foodie world. Sussex Pond Pudding was the one that I had heard of many times before but have never had the pleasure of, looking at the ingredients in front of me I now know why! It is Suet, Butter & Sugar! Could it be that today’s dietary awareness is the reason that it has gone ever so slightly out of fashion? It seems to me that this County should be known as or have the nickname ‘The Old Pudding County’ as I have discovered the number of recipes online is huge. We have the Chichester Pudding, the Sussex Hogs Pudding, the Sussex Well Pudding and the Ashdown Partridge Pudding and at least another half dozen other belly fillers intended once upon a time, to make a little go a long way!!
I have even learned that many years ago a poisoned Pudding made by a villager slayed a hungry water dragon in Lyminster!
We have quite a few fishy ones having a long coastline, Selsey Cockles, of which I have enjoyed on many occasions with a pint!, an Arundel Mullet (not a seventies haircut) Amberley Trout and a Rye Herring and have also tasted the lovely Goodwood smoked cheese, perhaps I should have had the Sussex Plum heavy biscuit with it!
After a couple of very interesting hours ‘surfin’ and reading, going off subject and coming back again feeling ‘peckish’, the only actual person I could find to rival the great Earl was…... Mrs Maria Ann Smith!
Who?? I hear you cry, well, this Sussexian lady was the first to cultivate the Granny Smith apple! Now I understand that it is nowhere near as popular as the sandwich is today, but I would like to think that everyone has eaten one or at least had it in a pudding at some point, surely? 🙂
I was also very surprised to have discovered that the world famous Banoffee pie was an East Sussex creation by the owner of the Hungry Monk Pub in Jevington near Eastbourne nearly 50 years ago! Maybe a trick was missed by not giving the pie a name that reflected the maker or his pub, but then again it may not have been so successful.
All of this research made my mind drift towards my meal that coming evening and what local tipple would accompany it, so Sussex wines and Sussex breweries were the next task for Mr Google!
TTFN.
AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY
August Bank Holiday Monday
After a somewhat dull & soggy day last July 2018 the SADCASE Classic car club were forced into cancelling their main show of the year that is held on the Recreation Ground in Storrington, West Sussex.
After hearing this through our own car mad landowner, we at Ford Airfield came to the rescue offering the use of our facilities to re – stage the event. It was gratefully received, and the main event MK II was held on the August Bank Holiday Monday on the market and car boot sale area.
What a cracking event it turned out to be! The organisers pulled out all the stops and in not too many weeks managed to get a sunny day and over six hundred well-presented shiny Classic vehicles. These were of all shapes and engine sizes along with their enthusiastic owners proudly chatting to anyone & everyone who stopped to look at their particular prized asset.… It really was a fantastic sight to see on the airfield.
This year on the back of that success they will be returning for ‘The Big One’. It will be held on the same August Bank Holiday Monday, which is the 26th, and will start at 10am until 4pm this year for the general public (owners contact www.sadcase.co.uk) and should be, as the show label says, bigger and better as they have had a whole 12 months for that great organising crew to put their heads together, come up with new ideas & provide a top day out for petrol heads! (and their families ha ha)
This is definitely one for the diaries even if cars aren’t your first love!
There are plenty of other things to do on the Bank Holiday Monday in the area of West Sussex if you want to make a day of it. The Arundel Festival has been running for 41 years! With street entertainment, music in the Jubilee Gardens and many other arts and traditional events. The Garden lovers amongst you will have to visit the Flower Festival at Steyning which is held at the Churches of St Andrew and St Cuthbert. It will be a fragrant feast of colour and it is free entry too! Or maybe a visit to Petworth House’s 700-acre estate and Deer Park which is a lovely landscaped stroll with plenty to see and do for the adults and children alike. Then of course there are the beaches & boy does West Sussex have some! There’s Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Goring, West Wittering, our local one Clymping & quite a few more that are all up to Blue Flag standard or have Seaside awards. We will still be holding our weekly Market and Car Boot sales on every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the year, come rain, shine, snow or tempest, but we love our Bank Holidays off 🙂 hence letting the SADCASE team work their magic!
Wherever you go or whatever you do we hope the sun shines bright for you!
TTFN
School's out for Summer
The School Summer holidays used to be longer and warmer when we were young!
I remember my Mum saying this and now find myself saying the very same thing 🙂 and suppose our kids will say the same thing to their children in the years to come. Mind you, last summer’s kids will have a point with those record-breaking temperatures.
Then there was the buying of the school uniform, what a palaver! Being dragged around all the specific shops and not liking the shoes that were being picked for me or the one size bigger jumper to make it last the year! A bit older, then the ‘being clever’ bit and buying my sons kit at the start of the hol's only to find he had grown nearly 2 inches in the six weeks! Moving on a few years when at work on the Airfield, I remember Brian & Viv arriving at Ford Market before sunlight to get their kids clothing stall ready for a busy day, having anxious parents and their moody offspring waiting. Nowadays a quick visit to a well-known superstore who won’t run out of shirts and trousers and it’s done, all for under £20, but I suppose it will still be as traumatic for all involved…..
Well we are hoping for one of those long, not so hot summers in West Sussex, maybe with a bit of drizzle overnight for the watering of the gardens and keeping away the dreaded hose pipe ban!
TTFN
One Of Our Own
This week we have said a sad goodbye to Alan.
He has been a trader with us on Ford Market for over 30 years selling his plants and shrubs and also at Chichester Market on a Wednesday and Saturday. A popular man with both his fellow traders and customers alike, he always had a kind word and a smile for everyone, as well as benefitting us all with great advice about the right and wrong ways of planting in the garden or a story about life in general.
He was a true gent and will be sorely missed by us all on a Sunday morning.
His sons James and Andy are continuing with the running of the stall with the rest of the family at all of the Markets and will no doubt keep up the great level of ‘service with a smile’, which has become the long-time trademark of their Dad.
GONE TOO SOON.
Rest in Peace.
Flamin June!
What has happened with our weather this month? Wellies and raincoats have been dug out from their summer hibernation only to be discarded when it hits 20 degrees + for an hour at lunchtime and put back on for the gusty wind in the afternoon (wellies & shorts are not a good look I am told) I think we had better days at the Market in February this year 🙂 still, this is the good old British weather and what would we have to talk or complain about if it wasn’t so unpredictable.
Hopefully this weekend will bring some sunshine as it is Sussex Day on Saturday, picked as the 16th because it is also St Richard’s Day who was the old Bishop of Chichester back in the 1200’s. There is plenty happening locally from a Town Crier in Arundel to a Festival Choir in Littlehampton, Exhibitions in Chichester and Midhurst or a historic stroll around Bognor’s sunny seaside (details here https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/news/celebrate-sussex-day-with-these-events/) Maybe you can fit one or all of these in around a visit to our Saturday Car Boot Sale.
Well with a little bit of luck it will return to Flaming June soon and shorts and flip flops will be the norm!
TTFN
6th June D-Day
What a great D Day show by the BBC yesterday! We were glued to the TV all morning & back for the brilliant Red Arrows air show in the afternoon and it was all thoroughly enjoyed. At the car boot sale today, everyone had an opinion on the Veterans, happy at first then a bit sad hearing the stories, pleased that they were going to enjoy a trip and service in France today but most agreed that there should be an annual celebration of this size.
Ford Airfield being a WW2 base has an association with D-Day which you can read a little about on this website under ‘The History of the Airfield’ heading.
We are off for the afternoon to Clymping beach or should that be Climping? I think it used to be with a y but the Post office changed it to i, maybe some research is needed 🙂 it is still a bit chilly at the moment when the sun pops behind a cloud, so it maybe a short visit.
Back on Saturday & Sunday for the Market and Car Boot sales, so ‘see you there’
TTFN
PS. The Poppies in the picture are in bloom on the Airfield
Its Summer!
‘Pinch punch’ the first of the month and its officially summer now!
A lovely morning at the boot sale with lots of buyers and sellers here today with the ice cream van being kept busy.
Quite a bit going on in the area this weekend but maybe the biggest spectacle is 3000 Hells Angels riding from Pease Pottage to Brighton, should really be a great sight.
Today is also the 90thAnniversary of Bognor being given the ‘Regis’ name by King George V after he visited for health reasons so maybe a visit to the beach or Hotham park today could be beneficial 🙂
Keep the factor 20 flowing!
TTFN