House of Commons Thursday 12 January 2006 1310 CANINE PARTNERS 20.Dec.2005 That this House commends Canine Partners for their dedicated assistance to people with disabilities, through the provision of specially trained dogs; acknowledges the improved quality of life, companionship and enhanced independence that a dog can provide to people with reduced mobility; congratulates Canine Partners on the opening of their new National Training Centre at Heyshott in West Sussex; and hopes to draw attention to the extraordinary selflessness exhibited by everybody concerned with the charity. Canine Partners Mill Lane, Heyshott, Midhurst website Tel: 08456 580 480 Email: info@caninepartners.co.uk

Tony Smith asks:.....eMail - May 2006   Although it is unlikely, would anyone have had an association with the Royal Sussex Regiment, particularly with the Expeditionary forces in Egypt and involvement in the Gaza battles of 1917? My Great uncle Henry [Harry] Pledge was killed during the Third battle for Gaza on 6th November 1917. The CWGC advise me that he had no known grave there, but is remembered at the Jerusalem Memorial, he is also mentioned on a memorial in Midhurst, West Sussex. The Sussex County Archivist is searching for material relating to my uncle, we know that he was born in Heyshott, and enlisted in Horsham so he was a Sussex lad. Sadly, all my relatives from that era are all gone now, so I am relying on archives and perhaps the possibility that someone may have had a relative that was there [Egypt] in 1917, and may have spoken of Henry Pledge. Best regards. Anthony Smith tony.smith64@ntlworld.com   more messages here

Midhurst Orion Cinema 1960 Demolished around 1967, Somerfields supermarket was on on this site until June 2007. Note the garage to the left with pumps extending across the footpath. Originally Public Hall opened 1882   click here for more vintage photos of this building & North Street

photo - Frank Wales click image to view from opposite side Midhurst War Memorial Cross Red Lion Street on left, Church Hill to right contains over 60 names from World War 1 and World War 2. see Roll of Honour

LIFE IN THE 1500's (Some of you might remember) Just a few amusing facts ! The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.
Here are some facts about the 1500's: These are interesting...
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children, Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."
Houses had thatched roofs - thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor."
The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet , so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."
(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realised they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer." And that's the truth...
Now, whoever said that History was boring
 
Although some of the above has a ring of truth, the balance must be taken with a 'pinch of salt' or 'tongue in cheek'.....gravelroots