The Middy 100 years ago

About a foot of it had fallen. Bearing in mind the lack of mountains in Mid Sussex the Middy’s comment “the countryside has presented a picture worthy of Switzerland” might be considered colourful. In any event it was the worst blizzard since 1881, the year the Middy had been started.

Even the most trivial incidents seem to have made the paper. For instance, a boy sought refuge from snowballs by running into the hall of his house. A snowball thrown as he went to close the door landed in the family dinner being carried on a tray.

Snow was also on the mind of the Rev Prebendary Bell, vicar of Haywards Heath, who was visiting his wife and son in Italy. He told the Middy snow had fallen in places in Italy where it had not been seen for 15 years, including Naples. It wasn’t explained why the wife and son were in Italy, perhaps on holiday?

You don’t see many wasps or bluebells in snow but the East Grinstead football team, nickname The Wasps ,stung Haywards Heath, known to this day as the Bluebells, by 3-I in a Mowatt Cup match played on a carpet of snow in Victoria Park.

When the Mental Hospital beat St Richard’s 4-0, the snow-covered pitch was marked out with soot.

A letter writer signed “One of the Shiverers” moaned about the lack of proper heating in waiting rooms at Burgess Hill Station.

Another writer complained of the mud-spattered condition of Cants Lane, Burgess Hill, what is now known as Junction Road, writing “It is a disgrace to allow a road with houses to get into such a terrible condition.” George Morris, of Balcombe was fined the then considerable sum of £2 for moving a calf to Haywards Heath market without a licence.

Arrogance towards foreigners was still very much alive. So when Mr L Bliss of London Road reported on his time in Shanghai he generalised: “They, like all Asian races, are naturally dishonest and are extremely clever and dissembling.”

The Middy recorded that incredibly wealthy the late Edward Steinkoff, former owner of Lydhurst estate at Warninglid, had the Memorial Hall in the village built in his memory by his sole heiress Lady Margaret Seaforth, though she was unable to attend the opening. Mr Steinkoff, of German descent, made his fortune in mineral water and the media . He had left £1.2 million, the modern equivalent of about £200 million, at his death in 1906. The hall is still in use and is known as the Seaforth Hall.

At La Scala the productions were The Happy Ending and 40 Winks. This wasn’t the famous opera house, but Burgess Hill’s cinema, still on the same site and now known as the Orion.

A wandering cow from Cuckfield had a night on the town in neighbouring Haywards Heath, smashing a taxi windscreen before being rounded up.

An extraordinary double column was devoted to more than 80 random thoughts, mostly questions, presumably from the editor, some of which might have made stories had then paper been bothered to investigate. Examples were “Have you noticed how one by one houses in Sussex Road and South Road (both in Haywards Heath) are being converted into shops.” And the rather quirky: “Are electric torches popular among young couples who seek the quietude of Lodge Lane Keymer for their evening meetings.” How did the writer know?

This article was recorded on 22 January 2026 for listeners of the Yews Talking News service for blind people and those with impaired vision in the Mid Sussex area. Anyone interested in receiving the recordings or assisting with the reading or recording of programmes may contact Malcolm Hulatt @ [email protected], Telephone 07770 543454 .