In the last issue of Longshot, I reproduced a selection of items from my newly compiled index of Lin(d)field newspaper and magazine cuttings. I have now managed to complete this index, and I would like to thank all those members who responded to my appeal for more cuttings. The collection to date comprises some 166 separate items. Any member who would like a copy of the index can write to me, but please enclose 10 x 2nd class stamps to cover costs. Needless to say, I will be happy to show the originals to anybody who would like to see them. I shall continue to update this archive as and when more items come to my attention. In the meantime, here is another selection of some of the more interesting items.
The format of each entry is as follows: # : reference number; Title of publication, if known; Date of publication, if known; Title of entry, article etc, if any; Brief description of contents (including names)
#65. Worthing Herald or Gazette June 1975
Tribute to Mr Henry Gordon Linfield
“The death at the age of 86 of H. Gordon Linfield severs an important link with the history of this town with the time when glasshouse nurseries covered much of the area…”
#66. West Sussex County Times? August 1973
Dobbin’s new shoemaker
Son of a horsedealer, 18 year old Nicholas Linfield, of Whicher’s Gate Farm, Rowlands Castle, has just passed his exams to qualify as a registered farrier.
#67. Witney and West Oxfordshire Gazette 23 January 1975
Memories of Adolphus Ballard?
Letter from MG Linfield of Black Bourton enquiring whether any readers have reminiscences of Adolphus Ballard, killed on the Western Front in 1915. His father was Adolphus Ballard, town clerk of Woodstock and eldest brother of Mr Linfield’s grandmother.
#68. Worthing Gazette September 1977
75 Years Ago (from the Gazette of September 24, 1902)
Meeting of local guardians to decide what action should be taken in regard to the Duke of Norfolk’s decision to appeal against an increased rate assessment on Arundel Castle. When the chairman protested that they must consider the advisability of ‘squandering the money of poor ratepayers on litigation,’ Mr AG Linfield asked him whether those poor ratepayers would be treated with the same
consideration if they objected to their assessment?
The Board of Guardians voted, by 10 to 9, to defend the action at the next quarter sessions.
#69. Worthing Herald or Gazette March 1979
‘Dutch’ Linfield dies, 82
Wilfred ‘Dutch’ Linfield has died at his home, 3 Farncombe Road, Worthing. He was a brother of the late Sir Arthur Linfield and was associated with all the Linfield nursery companies as well as being a director of the Worthing building firm of Payne and Linfield. He was at one time a county standard tennis player.
#71. Paper unknown 1980
Mushroom Magic!
Corn and pigs produce the compost for a 13 million lb luxury harvest- AG Linfield Ltd at Thakeham in West Sussex produce 33,000 tons of compost material a year on which to grow their mushrooms.
#72. Worthing Gazette 27 August 1980
Crops lost as deadly spray hits gardens
Sompting residents face having to destroy their prize fruit and vegetables following herbicide crop spraying on a nearby field last week. The spraying took place on land used by AG Linfield Ltd. No one from the firm was available to comment…
#75. Worthing Gazette 1980?
20 years ago…
Gifford House had a deficit of 21,884 on the year’s working in spite of many generous gifts… But Mr AG Linfield, chairman of the house committee, said, ‘The position is not as black as it appears on paper. We shall be able to continue for some years yet.’
#76. The Grower 17 March 1983
100 years of modern mushrooms
AG Linfield Ltd., who celebrate their centenary this year, are claiming it also as the 100th anniversary of the ‘modern mushroom.’ This may not be strictly true, for although Arthur Linfield started growing mushrooms in 1883 beneath the grapes which were his staple crop on two acres in Chesswood Road, Worthing, there is no evidence that his cultivation methods were different from anybody else’s at that time. Yet there is no doubt that the firm he started has had a great effect on growing the crop since he began…
#78. Worthing Gazette 15 April 1983
Linfields celebrate century of growing
You would expect a mushroom to mushroom. But it’s hardly likely that Arthur Linfield, of Chesswood Road, Worthing, cultivating spawn beneath his grapes in the 1880’s, could have foreseen that they would mushroom into the Chesswood mushroom business with its annual 10 million turnover…
#79. West Sussex Gazette 18 August 1983
From a seed sown a century ago
When 14 year old carter’s son Tom Dalman followed the growing tradition of many Thakeham schoolchildren and went to work in the large nursery near his home, he could little have guessed he would still be there 48 years later. It is doubtful, too, that he would have imagined then that he would be sharing in the celebrations this year of the company’s centenary. But these are celebrations 63 year old Mr Dalman is proud to be enjoying. The nursery concerned is part of AG Linfield (Holdings) Ltd., perhaps better known as Chesswood, the mushroom growers.
#80. Worthing Gazette 22 April 1983
Astute in Business: Letter from Frank Cave, former editor of the WG:
The article ‘A business that mushroomed’ in last week’s issued contained one or two errors and a most regrettable omission… AG Linfield Ltd’s centenary was in 1982 and not this year as was implied… the photograph purporting to be of AG Linfield, a son of the firm’s founder, later to become Sir Arthur Linfield, was of somebody else… and the omission, ‘which saddens me as a friend of the family over 50 years, is of any recognition of the brilliance of directive and control of AG Linfield Ltd by Sir Arthur.’
#88. Worthing Gazette 14 September 1984
“In the early 1880s, before there was any Methodist Church in Tarring Road, Arthur Linfield would visit the site of the present building and preach the gospel. Today there is a plaque on an outside wall of the church commemorating the fact that Arthur Linfield (1859-1938) ‘preached from this site’… On
October 7 his grandson, Mr Harold Linfield, will conduct the morning service there as part of the church’s centenary celebrations.”
#89. West Sussex County Times 1984
Coming up from ‘down under’
A couple from Australia, tracing their ancestors, paid a surprise visit to Bernard and Norah Lindfield, of Treadcroft Drive, Horsham recently and spent a busy weekend seeing for themselves places they had only heard of…
#90. Worthing Gazette 1984
Queen honours Sir Arthur’s son, James
A local horticulturist who travelled to Windsor once a month for 10 years to give his advice on the Royal gardens there has been made a Member of the Victorian Order… Mr James Linfield, 73, retired as managing director of AG Linfield Nurseries, Thakeham, now part of the RHM Group, in 1976.
#91. Worthing Herald 9 March 1984
Comedy Revue
Nick Linfield, grandson of Sir Arthur Linfield, has gathered a cast of 11 players from the West Chiltington and Thakeham area to present a comedy revue, ‘Black Sunday – I’m Bored’, at Thakeham Village Hall.
#96. Worthing Gazette 22 October 1982
This was news – 75 years ago. . .
A father was summoned before Worthing magistrates for disobeying an order to have his son vaccinated against smallpox. Mr WH Linfield, the local vaccination officer, formally proved the disobedience, and the father was fined 8/- and ordered to pay 6/- costs.
#97. Worthing and District Advertiser 21 May 1986
100 jobs to go as nursery closes
More than 100 jobs could go because trading losses have forced AG Linfield to close their mushroom nursery at Lyons Farm, Worthing. AG Linfield have been in existence for more than 100 years and have owned the Lyons Farm site for about 30 years. It was originally bought as a glasshouse nursery and later converted to a mushroom-growing farm.
#98. Worthing Herald 13 March 1987
Champion bowler dies at 74
Maltravers Bowling Club at Littlehampton have lost one of their most distinguished and long-serving members and a player of international repute with the death of Mary Linfield. A 74 year old widow, she died in her sleep on Saturday morning at her flat in St Catherine’s Court.
#100. Worthing Review 6 April 1990
Abingworth
Article by Jane Hill about Abingworth Hall in Thakeham and its history. Mentions that in 1944 the whole estate of 158 acres were advertised for sale as an accredited dairy farm with residence, farmhouse, cottage, lake, outbuildings and lodge. The bulk of 151 acres were bought by AG Linfield Ltd., whilst the residence, lodge and several acres of ground were purchased by a Miss Burton and Mr Norris and opened by them as a private hotel.
#101. Worthing Herald/Gazette 1988
A couple celebrated their Golden Wedding on Saturday – Worthing couple John and Nellie Linfield. John was 18 when he met 16 year old Nellie in 1932. Soldier John went abroad for six years before they met again and married at Tarring Church.
#103. West Sussex Gazette December 1991
Will the ghosts walk this year?
Traditionally it is at Christmas when the ghosts of Bramber Castle stir… laid up with gout one Christmas, Lord Hubert de Hurst invited young William de Lindfield to the castle to come and cheer him up. But Lord Hubert one day discovers William and his young wife, Maud of Ditchling, embracing in the garden. Lord Hubert, seething with jealousy, devised a plan to entomb the young man in a dungeon in the depths of the castle …
Many years later, so the legend states, after the castle was attacked during the Civil War, a skeleton was discovered crouched in a corner, head upon hands, elbows resting on the knees – these were the mortal remains of William de Lindfield!
#105. West Sussex County Times May 1993
Comedy knight to remember!
The first ever stage production of the Vivian Stanshall comedy Sir Henry at Rawlinson End is being put on by The Orion Players… Sir Henry has been adapted by Nick Linfield, the group’s founder, from the original musical comedy classic by Vivian Stanshall, ex-stalwart of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
#107. West Sussex County Times 31 January 1992
Bill shuts the lid on Workbox
The popular owner of Horsham’s needlework shop, The Workbox, retires in February after 21 years with the business. Bill Lindfield opened The Workbox in the Bishopric in 1971 with his partner and wife Daphne. The business enjoyed continuing success, but now Bill is retiring, the shop is to close, much to the lament of many customers.
#108. West Sussex Gazette 18 June 1992
Thakeham: Name chosen
A new road in Thakeham has been called Linfield Copse, in honour of Mr AG Linfield, the man who established the Thakeham firm now known as Chesswood Mushrooms. Parish clerk Mrs Barbara Laker said: “Mr Linfield played an important part in the village’s history and we wanted him to be remembered.”
#109. The Independent 7 October 1992
Gunman shot by police as siege at house ends
A man was shot by police after a gun siege in which a wheelchair-bound man and woman were taken hostage. Earlier the gunman had terrorised Alan Lindfield, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, as he struggled to protect a woman during the three hour siege at Heathfield in East Sussex.
#113. West Sussex County Times June 1993
100 Years Ago (From the WSG of June 1, 1893)
Littlehampton: Several vessels laden with timber and other building materials have arrived in the harbour, at Littlehampton, during the past week. Building operations are being vigorously prosecuted in various parts of the town… Messrs Linfield and Son are erecting a number of houses in the Gloucester Road.
#114. West Sussex County Times 28 May 1993
Merry Dance in France
A team of morris dancers from Thakeham danced to entertain Saturday shoppers in Le Havre recently. Included in the team, Chris Linfield.
#115. West Sussex Gazette 16 June 1994
Principal officer
Mr Christopher Linfield, of Storrington, has been appointed principal officer for West Sussex Social Services Chanctonbury area office.
#116. West Sussex County Times 2 July 1993
Marriages
Married at St Symphorian’s Church, Durrington, were Robin Linfield and Dawn Mabbott. The groom is the elder son of Mr and Mrs J. Linfield of De Braose Way, Steyning.
#120. Radio Times 30 January 1993
Gorilla Tactics
Part of BBC2’s The Natural World series, the documentary ‘Journey to the Dark Heart’ follows the quest of Bristol zoologist Mark Linfield to capture rare lowland gorillas on film in the Congo. These gorillas are fairly elusive and have never been filmed before- that is, until Mark and producer Gary Dash decided to make a perilous journey to find them.
#121. Evening Argus January 1993
On the trail of gorillas
Bristol zoologist Mark Linfield’s week-long trek deep into the jungle can be seen by TV viewers this weekend. Mark travelled north by riverboat – 2,000 passengers and one toilet! – ending up at a pygmy village to find expert trackers. On the way to the gorillas’ haunt they had to negotiate a maze of tributaries of the Congo and huge swamps which surround the area.
#122. BBC Wildlife February 1993
On the trail of the original gorilla
Despite the overwhelming impression to the contrary, the typical gorilla does not live in the mists of the mountains of East Africa. In fact, the first type of gorilla to be seen by Westerners and the one that has the largest population – was the one from the lowlands of West Africa, and it looks very different. And yet, 150 years later, there is comparatively little known about this creature, and no film footage of it. Mark Linfield went to the Congo to try to rectify the situation. We show here what he brought back.
#127. West Sussex County Times 30 October 1981
Research reveals a ‘gem’
Storrington, in common with most large villages, once had its own band. One such band was the Storrington Military Band, founded in 1904. Joan Ham has been very fortunate to come across a hand script testimonial from the bandsmen six years later to the founder of the band, George Trotter. Included among the names: J. Linfield (Bb clarinet) and F. Linfield (baritone).
#128. West Sussex County Times 27 November 1981
Military band’s history
Joan Ham is continuing to ‘dig’ into the history of the old Storrington Military Band. A record of the band recalls: “They played at flower shows, cricket matches, Stopham regatta, gymkhanas, church parades on Armistice Day, and other public events and gave regular concerts in The Square.”
#129. West Sussex Gazette? 1981
Do you remember bandsmen?
Photograph of the Storrington Military Band taken in 1908. Mr Leslie Piper, 75, who played the saxophone and is in the picture, has attempted to put names to all the players, although there are two he was unable to positively identify. Included in the picture: “80” Linfield.
#130. Worthing Herald 18 February 1994
Georgia – the ‘miracle’ baby
Georgia Linfield, born three months early, weighs only 2lb 7oz. She is receiving round-the-clock nursing at Lewisham Hospital. Mum Rachel is celebrating her 25th birthday this week.
#131. Worthing Herald 15 April 1994
Georgia amazes health experts
Tiny baby Georgia Linfield, who weighed no more than a bag of sugar two months ago, is now enjoying life at home in Goring. Her delighted parents, Rachel and Philip, finally saw their wish come true when she arrived at their home in Maybridge Crescent last week.
#135. Brighton Herald 1 September 1905
A cab accident which occurred last week in Trafalgar Street has resulted unhap
ily in the death at the Sussex County Hospital of a vanman named John Linfield aged 57 of 4 Bentham Road. An inquest was held at the hospital on Monday afternoon. On the evening of August 22, Mr Linfield was crossing Trafalgar Street, near the station, when he was hit by a horsedrawn cab which he had failed to notice. He was knocked unconscious and was taken to the Sussex County Hospital. His injuries appeared not to be serious, but his condition deteriorated and he died a few days later. A post-mortem examination revealed an extensive skull fracture, extending from ear to ear, resulting in a fatal cerebral haemorrhage. Whether this injury was caused by the actual fall or by a kick from the horse could not be ascertained. The jury returned a verdict of “Accidental Death.”
#136. Brighton and Hove Times 1 September 1905
This carries a similar report of the Inquest into the death of John Linfield. But it also contains two additional details: (1.) Mrs Ellen Linfield stated that her husband had left at 7:30 to go to work and was in the best of health; and (2.) Thomas Hall was also quoted as saying that if it had not been for the cabman shouting, the accident might not have happened, as it seemed to frighten the deceased and he apparently lost his head.
#138. West Sussex Gazette 11 August 1994
Remember When by Rob Blann: Turning back the Pages of history
Interview with Ron Page, whose grandfather Tom Page started Page’s nursery in 1887, when the glasshouse industry was foremost in the town. “Father was very friendly with AG Linfield and Edgar Piper; they went to a commercial college together, in Liverpool Gardens, or so I was told.
They both ran nurseries in East Worthing; Piper’s was where Davison School is now; and Linfield had Bridge Nurseries by Ham Bridge.”
#141. West Sussex Gazette 23 February 1995
Remember When by Rob Blann: From sea captain to major producer of mushrooms
Part 1 of the memories of 80 year old Peggy Champ (nee Linfield) about the history behind Linfield’s Nurseries. The story begins with the tale of how her great grandfather, Frederick Young, a seafarer, was lost at sea, presumed drowned, only to return some months later, having apparently lost his memory after being rescued unconscious from the shipwreck. Once home, he switched to a much safer occupation, nursery work.
The Youngs had two sons and two daughters. Edith, the elder, married Arthur George Linfield on January 1 1883 at the Wesleyan chapel in Bedford Row. But they almost missed the ceremony – part of the vulnerable road linking Lancing with Worthing had been washed away, and they had to take a much longer route via Sompting. They just got to the chapel on time, for there was a limit to the hour within which marriages could be solemnised in those days.
Like his father-in-law, Arthur was also involved in the nursery business.
#142. West Sussex Gazette 2 March 1995
Remember When by Rob Blann: ‘Love apples’ and earthy enterprises
Arthur Linfield’s first nursery was small and situated opposite the present entrance to Worthing Hospital Outpatients Department in Park Road. He retailed the produce he grew there from a small shop in Warwick Street.
He acquired his second nursery (Bridge Nursery, by Ham Bridge) in 1884 for an annual rent of 40. He sold his first nursery and the shop in Warwick Street to his brother-in-law in 1886. As business flourished, Arthur took on more new nurseries: in Ladydell and Chesswood Roads, north of the railway line, on the east side of Ham Road and Ophir Nursery on the front.
Worthing was full of nurseries, and it was the Worthing growers who introduced tomatoes to this country (originally known as ‘love apples.’) Mushrooms were also grown, mainly as a catch crop, utilising space in the grape and tomato houses. But it was a risky crop with a high rate of failure – growers persevered because prices were high.
#143. West Sussex Gazette 9 March 1995
Remember When by Rob Blann: Family firm ‘mushrooms’ for Linfield’s
By 1908, AG Linfield’s nurseries employed some 40 men and the first purpose-built mushroom houses were put up. What sort of people were the Linfields? “Grandpa was one of three brothers. . . who were quite sophisticated lads about town. However, Granny, strictly brought up as a nonconformist, exerted considerable influence, and soon had Grandpa’s feet on the ladder of the Wesleyan hierarchy.” The Linfields had a number of children themselves – one of them, Harold, was killed at the age of 21 during the Great War. A War Agricultural Committee made growers take out grapes, peaches and figs from the glasshouses and grow potatoes, of all things. After the war, only a few grapevines were left, and tomatoes took over in most of the glasshouses.
#144. West Sussex Gazette 16 March 1995
Remember When by Rob Blann: Recalling those happy days in the countryside
The First World War changed many things for many people, and for Peggy it meant memorable times in the countryside on a farm at Thakeham, bought just before the war by Mr Linfield and intended for his three youngest sons. By the 1930s, the soil, from long use, was getting less productive and land in East Worthing was acquiring building value, so many local nurseries sold their land and moved out. The growing side moved to the farm at Thakeham, and new nurseries were later acquired at Broadwater (Lyon’s Farm), Sompting (Halewick Lane), Ashington and Climping.
#145. West Sussex Gazette 23 March 1995
Remember When by Rob Blann: A child’s perception of AG Linfield the businessman
“Grandpa loved children and was delighted to take charge of his grandchildren. When I was staying with him and he’d pop me in the car and head for Thakeham, you couldn’t miss his real kindness. We’d have to stop at the beginning of Sandy Lane, where a ‘retired’ bicycle basket hung on a gate. The car was stopped and out popped Grandpa carrying a well-wrapped joint. He put it in the basket, took out a small envelope – which undoubtedly didn’t cover the price – and came back beaming: ‘Poor old lady can’t get to the shops – always bring her a joint.'”
For 40 years, AG Linfield served on the board of the old East Preston Guardians. On one occasion he asked fellow members why all the workhouse children were sent to the village school wearing the same distinctive dress. He pressed for this to be changed at once.
#146. West Sussex Gazette 30 March 1995
Remember When by Rob Blann: How Linfield’s ‘lake’ fooled the Germans
Arthur George Linfield died in 1938 shortly before the war, leaving behind an exemplary record of public service. When the Second World War started, a War Agricultural Committee was once more appointed, but it had some fairly funny ideas like its predecessor. Some young apple and pear orchards at Thakeham had to be rooted out and planted with Jerusalem artichokes. The nurseries at Thakeham were never bombed, luckily, as it would have been impossible to have escaped from the middle of a glasshouse in a hurry. Over the course of the first half of this century, mushrooms gradually became more and more important to the business, so much so that by the 1950s they had become the most important crop. The firm remained a family business until 1980 when it was taken over by Rank Hovis McDougall.
#147. West Sussex County Times 9 June 1995
Time grows by on mushroom farm
Hugh Sparkes, 65, has retired after 45 years with Chesswood Mushrooms, Thakeham. He recalls the ‘old days’ when Chesswood was “a very big farming company” with a thousand acres of corn and several other fruit and veg operations.
The boss would arrive daily in his Rolls Royce and “never ever not acknowledge anybody.” When the firm was bought out, “it took a lot of adjusting,” he admits.
148. West Sussex Gazette June 1995
50 Years Ago (From the WSG of June 28, 1945)
Warnham: The cricket ground again presented a happy scene on Tuesday on the occasion of the school’s sports meeting of some 30 events. W. Linfield won the Farebrother Cup for boys (awarded for the boy gaining most points).
#149. West Sussex Gazette 7 September 1995
Exhibition returns by popular demand
Old photographs and postcards providing momentoes of times past for Sompting villagers will be on display this month. Mr Bill Lindfield, who has his own collection of photographs and prints, will also be exhibiting at the village hall.
#150. Sandgate Conservation Society Newletter Autumn 1995 (No 41)
The Linfields & Sandgate by Eric Linfield
My great, great, great, great grandfather, Peter Linfield came to Storrington from West Chiltington (Palmer’s Farm) about 1779 and set up his butcher’s shop there. He died in 1791 and his family carried on with the shop for some years afterwards.
My direct ancestor, his second son Edward, married Hannah Hayler of South Stoke in 1795. Her father, Thomas Hayler, had a small plot of land at Water Lane and when he died Edward Linfield applied for the copyhold of Moors. They lived there for about 50 years and cultivated it as a market garden and this was taken over by their son Peter (1810-68) sometime in the 1850s. Edward and Hannah had two other sons, William (1798-1868) and Henry (1807-78), both of whom worked on the Sandgate Estate.
Henry had a daughter, Elizabeth, who gave birth illegitimately to my grandfather, George, in 1862. She was aged 28 and living as a farm servant with Thomas Barnard, the farmer, and his sons at Old Clayton.
#153. The Times 1 November 1995
Letter from Mr Alan M Linfield: Baptism Choice
Sir, Mr CER Blackwell asserts (October 30) that baptism is “essential if there is to be salvation.” However, we should remember that Christ was able to comfort the penitent thief crucified alongside him with the words “today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke xxiii, 43).
#156. West Sussex County Times 16 February 1996
Obituary
John Henry (Jack) Linfield died peacefully at Southgate on February 8 1996, aged 96 years. Leaves brothers Frank and Bert, sister Millicent, and numerous nieces and nephews.
#157. West Sussex Gazette 8 February 1996
Remember When by Rob Blann: Land sold due to a cash shortage
More memories of 81 year old Peggy Champ. She talks about her grandfather’s younger brother, Frederick Caesar Linfield, who lived in a large house called ‘Woodside’ in Bulkington Avenue, Worthing.
“Nominated by two other highly respected Worthing businessmen, John Roberts and Hubert Snewin, he stood as a councillor for Worthing’s north-east ward and became mayor. He had at that time a corn store at the railway bridge (Broadwater). He also owned the land around Heene Lane, but unluckily for him he had a cash shortage and had to sell it just before the development of it took place.”
#158. The Sunday Times 11 February 1996
Critic’s Choice (television supplement): Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Murder on the Links
Set in France, this story begins with a bit of history involving the murder of a nine-year-old’s father, probably by her mother. Cut to the nine-year-old as a beautiful twenty something (Sophie Linfield), whose boyfriend is off “on business” to South America, but not before he delivers the obligatory “I wish you were dead” to his father.
#160. West Sussex Gazette 6 June 1996
Letter from MG Linfield: ‘Sussex recollections of Kenyatta?’
An appeal for information from readers who may have known Jomo Kenyatta during the wartime years he spent in West Sussex. During this time, he found work at AG Linfield & Sons, market gardeners, of Thakeham.
#161. Daily Mail 11 December 1973
From an ex-English country gardener . . .
As a gesture of goodwill, President Jomo Kenyatta personally cut four dozen roses from his garden at State House, Nairobi, and dispatched them to London for last night’s 10th anniversary of Independence banquet at Grosvenor House. Where did Kenyatta obtain his green fingers? Working in England during the war at a market garden near Storrington, Sussex.
#163. Worthing Herald 1963
Kenyatta invited to West Sussex
Mr Kenyatta has been widely reported as saying recently that now he has been freed, he hopes to revisit Storrington to renew old friendships. One report quoted him as saying that he knew Sussex better than his own home country. Mr Kenyatta’s wartime job was as a nursery worker at AG Linfield Ltd., and at that time Mrs FW Eddolls was in charge of the canteen there. “If he comes here, then we shall be very pleased to see him.”
#164. Worthing Herald October 1963
Jomo Kenyatta at Storrington
Old memories and past friends were the centre of conversation last week when Kenya’s Prime Minister, Mr Jomo Kenyatta, returned to his wartime home at Highover, Bracken Lane, Storrington, the home of Mr and Mrs JR Armstrong. For six years during the last war Mr Kenyatta stayed in the area and with the Armstrongs at their home. He was a nursery worker at AG Linfield Ltd.
#165. West Sussex County Times March 1976
Kenyatta the labourer
In 1939, Kenyatta’s colleague, Dinah Stock, a WEA lecturer and secretary of the British Centre Against Imperialism, convinced Kenyatta that London was not the place to be while bombs were dropping, so he came down to live in Storrington at the home of Roy Armstrong, a Southampton University lecturer.
Within a few months of moving to Storrington, Kenyatta took a job as a farm labourer and later worked in the greenhouses at Linfield’s Nursery at Thakeham for four years, moving nearby to a house in Hampers Lane.
#166. Popular Gardening 1968
Your Garden is in for a Shock!
When you buy a pound of tomatoes in 1968 they may have been picked from plants that have been given an electric shock instead of being nourished on fertilisers. After four years of experiments, a Sussex nurseryman has persuaded plant scientists that he can double his crop of tomatoes this way. Gordon Linfield is no wild enthusiast or crank. He has his feet firmly planted on the Sussex ground. He has been growing tomatoes for over fifty years near Worthing, but his great achievement is the mushroom growing concern he and his brother run.
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The LONG Collection of Newspaper and Magazine Cuttings (Part 1)