Author : J. P. Hollingsworth ISBN : 9781840334661 Cover : paperback Price : £7.99
Sitting high on the sandstone ridge known in Sussex as the High Weald surrounded by an abundance of woodland, Balcombe is as charming today as it was a hundred years ago and unlike many villages, it still has its Post Office, general store and public house. The trains of the London to Brighton line still stop at the village station as they have done since the 1850s and the primary school and social club still flourish. The past is preserved and protected, with several parts of the village designated as conservation areas. The old photographs here show village life as it was towards the end of the 19th and early 20th century and record many of the now disappeared residences in the area including the Tower House at the end of Stockcroft Road and a 16th century farmhouse on Row Hill. Thankfully the Half Moon public house is still there as are the Reading Room (now the Social Club) and Stonehall Cottages on the Balcombe estate.