Old Shoreham Heritage Festival aims to forge a community that will act in the interests of the area going forward

Old Shoreham Heritage Festival is running at various venues over nine days, from September 6 to 15, centred on Adur's ancient crossroads, where the Downs meet the river and the sea.

The festival, with the theme Routes, Networks and Connections, ties in with Heritage Open Days and the 50th anniversary of the Conservation Area.

Gabe Crisp, who has lived in Shoreham for 35 years, said the festival had developed from the seed of an idea sown by residents who were concerned about an old ancient pathway.

Old Shoreham will be celebrated with heritage festival as new Friends group forms to honour Adur heritage

She was a Green Party councillor for St Nicolas Ward at the time and used her connections to build a growing band of people interested particularly in Old Shoreham, the original village and rural parish of modern Shoreham-by-Sea.

Gabe, 59, explained: "We saw that there was a need to form a community in Old Shoreham. Lots of things in Shoreham happen in the town centre and things tend to focus on that area. There was a worry that we were losing Old Shoreham, that it was gradually disappearing to development, a bit of wall here, a hedgerow there.

"We don't want to lose this wonderful ancient asset, so from there, we looked at lots of things and we branched out. There are lots of people who live north of Upper Shoreham Road, between there and the A27, and there is nothing for them, no public space or community centre. We wanted to bring people together."

The idea of FOldS (Friends of Old Shoreham) was born and 55 people attended the inaugural meeting in January.

Gabe said: "The name was my idea because it sounds like you are enfolding everybody. We want to especially reach out to the community in Old Shoreham.

"There are amazing places here, the river valley and the green gap, which we want to preserve, as they are really precious natural resources.

"I want to say a massive thank you to all the people who have worked so hard to turn a germ of an idea into something wonderful as a festival. There are three strands, the heritage, the community and the environment."

Gabe had to stand aside as councillor in April due to long Covid but she said her illness had helped her to understand what it was like for people who cannot go out.

She built the momentum for FOldS and this has now been taken up by the current Green councillors in the ward, Julian Shinn and Gerry Thompson.

As part of the festival, FOlds is running panels that will bring together various bodies with an interest in Old Shoreham, with a view to looking to the future.

At St Nicolas Church, Gerry is one of the speakers at the Think local: action for change in the community discussion on Sunday, September 8, at 7pm and Julian will be chairing The Adur Valley: Shoreham's green gap session on Wednesday, September 11 at 7pm.

Gabe said: "We want to preserve the Adur Valley going forward as a biodiversity corridor and a green gap. We are looking into a biodiversity audit of the churchyard, which will help us by dating the moss."

The festival will include talks, music, poetry, art and practical workshops. See the full programme of activities, which include an art exhibition in St Nicolas Church, workshops, poetry and music, at www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/old-shoreham-heritage-festival.html

Shoreham Creatives will round off the festival by inviting people to help create a banner for Old Shoreham, inspired by the Shoreham Community Quilt.

Gabe said: "People can contribute to something that will remain as a memento for the future."