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About Findon
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The Findon Valley Residents' Association is a charity registered in England and Wales: 267009
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Anecdotes from The Worthing Sentinel May 2010 26/5/2010 In 1923 there were 57 cases of tuberculosis, 17 of scarlet fever, 16 of diphtheria and 3 of enteric fever in Worthing. In 1998, Neil Morrisey, Martin Clunes, Lesley Ash and Caroline Quentin filmed the Christmas special of the TV comedy hit, 'Men Behaving Badly', in Worthing. They turned Splash Point into a crazy golf course and renamed the Eardley Hotel the Groyne Hotel. In 1949 FW Butler, coroner for West Sussex, retired - at the age of 90! In 1784 a warrant was issued for the arrest of a Worthing innkeeper called Richard Hodgkinson who was accused of being one of around a hundred smugglers who assembled on a beach near the town armed with firearms and bludgeons as contraband tea and other goods came to shore. In 1924 a monster cake with 150 candles was baked to celebrate the 150th anniversary of High Salvington Mill, which was owned by Miss Darker and Miss Holme. In 1889 commentators hoped the new West Worthing railway station would lead to the construction of a railway line linking it , via a route through Findon Valley, to London. 12/5/2010 In 1958 Findon Valley Free Church members were most impressed by the steel frame of their new church until they found out it had been erected on a Sunday. The Reverend Henry Bonser, minister of the church, said, "It was quite against our wishes and it will not be done again." In 1963 there were calls for the preservation of Findon Village's old Nepcote Lane Forge, which dated back to at least 1823 but was in a very poor condition. Miss M Brown tried to stop its replacement with shops by telling the annual parish meeting: "Future generations will never forgive us if we allow it to disappear." Worthing Town Council agreed to buy the Connaught Theatre in 1968 for £68,000. In 1948 a petition containing the names of more than 500 West Worthing residents was sent to the Minister of Health amid fears the 'seaweed menace' was a health hazard. People complained of sore throats, stomach upsets and body rashes after bathing. During the year of 1906 a search party was sent out after a young servant got lost in the fog on the Downs near Findon. She was found, none the worse for wear, the following morning, having walked for miles, but not knowing in which direction. In 1928/29 it cost the town council £151,933 to run the borough for the year. Today the cost is nearer £15 million and that excludes education and highways. 5/5/2010 In 1963 Worthing actor Ian Holm, whose mother lived in Shelley Road, tgot his big break playing Richard III in Stratford. 1948 saw the destroyer HMS Opportune, which launched two torpedo attacks on the German cruiser Scharnhost during the Second World War, anchored off Worthing on a courtesy visit. In 1905 Borough surveyor Frank Roberts first pioneered the use of tarmac as a road surface in the town. In 1913 hundreds of people gathered on the seafront to witness a Round Britain water-plane race for a £5000 prize put up by the Daily Mail. They saw, a long way out to sea and at a high altitude, a 'plane piloted by HG Hawker pass by at just over 60mph. The pilot later had to pull out of the race - with sunstroke. In 1889 the Kaiser's royal yacht, accompanied by 11 German warships, passed Worthing. The majority of Worthing men who got married in 1982 sported moustaches. Click here to Sentinel Anecdotes Index Click here to top of page.
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