'˜Mr Crawley' honoured with High Street plaque

'˜Mr Crawley', Roger Bastable has been honoured by the town's arts council with the unveiling of a plaque.

Born in 1950, Roger worked as a history teacher at Holy Trinity School in Gossops Green.

In 1983, he began publishing books on the history of Crawley and in 1986 he co-founded the Crawley Festival.

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A founding member of Crawley Museum Society, Roger was also a long-standing churchwarden for many years at St John’s Church in the town centre. He died in 2007.

The plaque, the 20th in the Crawley Blue Plaque Scheme and Heritage Trail, is situated above Fox & Sons Estate Agents in the High Street which, in 1950, served the community as Bastables, the family fishmongers. Roger lived above the shop for the first months of his life.

The unveiling was attended by the Mayor of Crawley, Councillor Brian Quinn and his wife Sue, who is a cousin of Roger Bastable, along with other members of the Bastable family, including Roger’s mother Janet and members of the Crawley Arts Council Executive Committee.

Mayor of Crawley, Councillor Brian Quinn, said: “I was delighted to unveil the blue plaque. Roger was a huge presence in Crawley and dedicated himself to researching Crawley’s history and building the community. The plaque is a wonderful way to honour him.”

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Paul Castle, treasurer of Crawley Arts Council, said: “Roger Bastable was a Crawley man through and through and did so much to advance the town’s heritage. We are very pleased to commemorate him in this way.”

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