HEWITT'S HISTORY FILES

David is researching the history of the West Sussex Growers Association for its 80th anniversary this year.

But it's a history he already knows well '“ from personal experience.

David began his working life on January 1, 1951, in north-west Kent in a place called Welling at a nursery producing chrysanthemums plus a range of pot plants.

He was there for a year and a half before doing national service and attending Kent Horticultural Institute.

He came to West Sussex in 1963 when he joined Framptons in Vinnetrow Road, Chichester.

"I worked for them until the mid-'70s and then have been around in various places since then."

All of which has allowed him to watch the industry change. "When I joined, a lot of nurseries in Worthing had been built in the 1880s and 1890s. The one that I worked at in north-west Kent had probably been built around the same time, a very Dickensian type of workplace.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette July 18