LETTER: Smashing start to New Year

First, we learn of the closure of the iconic Merrythought in the Bishopric, the last remaining restaurant offering a traditional English bill of fare.

The town - especially East Street - or should I say, ‘The Quarter’ - offers every cuisine under the sun - from all four corners of our shrinking globe - save our own most excellent range of home cooked English dishes.

So it’s farewell to the roast beef of Old England! This is nothing less than shameful - and mainly the result of cheap foreign travel by a less discerning public.

Yet we still dare to refer to Horsham as a traditional Sussex market town. What bunkum!

The demolition of another Horsham landmark - Prewett’s Mill in Worthing Road - is another reminder of our philistine district councillors who did not consider the building worthy of a conservation order - their thinking, no doubt, being that redevelopment of this site would generate yet more council tax income - their motto being, ‘If in doubt - demolish’.

Then we come to the closure and demolition of the Fountain Inn in Rusper Road - another familiar building due to hit the dust in the not too distant future - doubtless to make way for another faceless housing development - along with additional tax for the council coffers.

That said, on the other side of the coin, Horsham is attracting an increasing number of funeral directors. On my last count there are no less than five offering their services to our ever-expanding community.

One is tempted to ask, are we expecting an onslaught of the plague to break out in the near future - just to keep the grim reaper busy?

And the inclusion of a new crematorium in the proposed North Horsham development sounds exciting.

So, cheer up - all is not lost - the year 2015 could offer a breath of fresh air to our ever-expanding London suburb.

ROBERT B. WORLEY

Bourns Court, Ayshe Court Drive, Horsham