Pea-throwing championships; Triple Alliance Beer Festival; summer holiday clubs

The August 2024 issue of the Lewes List

Food & Drink

11 August: The ever-brilliant World Pea-Throwing Championships is back at the Lewes Arms for 2024. Head down for 2pm; for everything else, the Lewes Arms website is here.  

Reminder: Boho Baja – billed as the best burgers and tacos from the team behind the Pelham Arms – will be serving food from a vintage Airstream at Abyss Brewery + Tap in Malling. We’re told the opening will be this month; in the meantime, follow the Instagram page here (not least to see the extremely cool 1959 trailer). For more events at Abyss, visit here.

Reminder: Dalliance at Depot continues pairing weekly musical guests with visiting street food vendors. Happily, the Depot has listings from now until 7 September. See more here.

Reminder: There’s lots on at the beautiful Artelium Wine Estate over the summer, with nights focused on seafood, pizza and “gourmet fire-cooked feasts”, alongside tours and tastings. The vineyard is on Streat Lane, just beyond Plumpton. More here. 

Culture

News: Farleys House and Gallery, the historical home of pioneering photographer Lee Miller and surrealist artist Roland Penrose, in Chiddingly, has a week of free events from Thursday 22 August. Includes galleries and garden entry and the Annual Surrealist Picnic on Sunday 25 August. More here.

Reminder: ​​Glynde Place is offering a series of Invitations to View tours, in addition to normal house public tours; visitors are invited to take a closer look at some of the key artworks in the house, including paintings from the 17th century to the current day. More here.

Reminder: Join guided tours of St Thomas à Becket Church throughout the summer, with an introduction to the church and guided church tower climb. Visitors will be able to hear the ancient 1670 clock in action as it strikes noon, see the oak bell frame from c1400 and the bells dating back to 1566. More here.

Reminder: An open-air cinema experience is coming to Lewes Castle: Bob Marley ‘One Love’ (24 August)  and The Color Purple (20 September) will be shown by Cinestock, a nationwide independent outdoor cinema provider. More here.

Sport & Community

3 August: The next Lewes Book Fair: 40+ book, postcard and ephemera sellers from around the UK, all under one roof. Refreshments available. 10am-3.30pm. 

9-10 August: The Tripel Alliance Beer Festival will be held in the cellars and rear yard of Harvey’s Brewery at Lewes in three sessions over a two-day event. The Tripel Alliance is a collaborative ale brewed between Brasserie de la Senne (Brussels), Burning Sky and Harvey's. It will be among more than 20 cask and keg beers from the three breweries. More here.

News: A Park Run now takes place every Saturday morning at 9am at Malling Rec. As with all of these runs up and down the country, it’s designed as a free, fun, and friendly weekly 5k community event: “walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate.” More here. 

Reminder: Pharmacie, the coffee roaster on the Cliffe Industrial Estate, has partnered up with Shelly from The Body Box (which is based on the other industrial estate, in Malling) with a full body functional strength class every Tuesday 7:15-8am. There’s more on Instagram here.

31 August: Lewes Societies Fair takes place at the town hall at the end of the month. They say: “Come and find a new club or hobby, meet new people, and get involved. Lots of Lewes clubs and societies are represented. The event is free to the public.” More here. 

7-8 September: Laughton Autumn Show features classic cars, military vehicles, fire engines, tractors, arts & crafts, food & drink, falconry and a dizzying list of other things at Laughton Showground. See more here.

14 September: Friends of Southover are running a carboot sale, in the school field, from 12-3pm, raising funds for Patina. More here.

Looking ahead: The Artisan Christmas Fair, organised by The Bevern Trust, a Sussex disability charity based in Barcombe, takes place on 30 November at Barcombe Village Hall, 12 noon-6pm. Email here if you would like a stall.

Family

Reminder: The Outdoors Project is running its kids clubs in Lewes from 15 July-29 August for ages 5-11 in school years 1 to 6. Activities include: Zelda's Epic Adventure, Pokemon Adventures, Bushcraft Survival Day, Wild West Nerf, Water Day, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and Among Us Spy Camp. £39.50 for the day, 9am-3pm in The Paddock. More here.

Reminder: Nature Adventures at the Railway Land run for one more week over the summer: Monday 5-Thursday 8 August 2024 (here). £79 for two days from 9.30am-3pm, meeting at the Linklater Pavilion. More here.

6 August: Clayful Hands is holding a pottery class from 10.30am-12pm at Malling Community Centre for children aged 4-16 (with a parent). Bring an apron, the cost is £20.21; there’s more info and tickets here.

18 August: There’s an outdoor performance of Peter Pan at Lewes Castle, inspired by the Isle of Portland off the Jurassic Coast. More here. 

20-21 August: Growing Wild For Nature with the Garden Guardians takes place at Lewes Castle, and includes stories about nature, seed planting, quizzes, arts & crafts and seedball making. 10am-4pm, £10 including access to the whole Castle grounds. More here.

Until 27 October: A new exhibition featuring never-seen-before items and artworks from the much-loved illustrator Raymond Briggs is open at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft. It’s described as a highly personal show that brings together 30 items from the late author's estate, with over 100 original artworks from his 60-year career. More here.