A look at the Mid Sussex Times 100 years ago

The front page devoted a whole broadsheet column to the annual show and sale at Bannister’s Yard in Haywards Heath. It reflective the importance of the animal market to the town and district, helped by the well-established train service, which was used to transport animals to the town.

Also on the animal front, Wiiliam Webb of Holmesdale Burgess Hill, was fined £5 for breaching regulations by failing to keep in isolation five pigs he had bought at market. He claimed someone had delivered them and the first time he saw them was when a policeman called. He at first refused to pay, but when told he faced prison he changed his mind.

Fred Smith of Haywards Heath was accused of deserting his wife Emily Smith on Boxing Day 1924. The accusation was dismissed after the court heard she had told him to go, and to leave her money alone.

Working in service was common, and a situations vacant advertisement offered a pound a week for a top-class maid and cook. A Burgess Hill Urban District Council meeting heard there was an urgent demand for rented homes. There were many cases of over-crowding and people living in homes unfit for habitation. It was suggested that as private industry would not provide them, the council should consider building more homes. The cost of building a house was said to be £700.

Ditching’s fire brigade was in crisis because of lack of financial support and one speaker at a meeting said the days of voluntary brigades were numbered. It was suggested the parish council might fund the fire station.

Haywards Heath Football Club, known as the Bluebells, led the Mid Sussex Football League Division 1 by nine points in the days when teams won only two points for a win. The Royal Signals were second and the Portslade Gas Works in third place.

The death was reported of Hezekiah Carver, 67, who had been a signal box operator for 40 years, serving at Burgess Hill and Keymer Junction. At La Scala cinema in Burgess Hill Douglas Fairbanks was starring in The Thief of Bagdad. The cinema is still operating in Cyprus Road under the name The Orion.

The St John’s Institute team at Burgess Hill ended the all-time winning run of rivals the Haywards Heath Constitutional Club by taking the Mid Sussex Billiards League title. Haywards Heath had won the title ever since the league started.

A letter writer called “Consistent” accused the Haywards Heath Broadway Traders group of hypocrisy in asking for a ban of travelling salesmen in the town. He claimed the traders were frequently seen shopping in Brighton.

This article was recorded on 13 March 2025 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