Forlorn now this iron leads to nowhere
save to a shortsighted whim
synonymous to abandoned towns
where Beeching's blunder echos still
Yet testament still here they lie
as memory fades with brittle truth reminder
tracking to long lost connections
and a politician's gain
No. 15 in the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse
Found an old map in Emmaus
worn and dusty and old
thought to myself 'I'm having that'
went out of the shop with it sold
Familiar but different
there are things long gone away
a past the history books have claimed
from our quaint yesterday
It's the morning after the mourning
the official period done
and though not forgetting Majesty
she's now radiant in the sun
Her long reign now is over
and with Phillip and the rest
she's Queen now where in heaven
everything is just the best
Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse
Four spans across the Adur
at its mouth at Shoreham town
on the road on into Lancing
at the foot of Sussex Down
Four spans of steel construction
admired for sixty years
'til Norfolk Bridge mark II's demise
'midst many local tears
Part of the ‘past to present’ series from Jemverse
Saturdays in the seventies
and me in middle teens
caught the bus oft into Brighton
forty-nine from Southwick Green
then went up to the Clock Tower
through the door and up the stairs
to listen to the music long
on cushions sprawled up there
Virgin Records, ah those halcyon days
for some a misspent youth
but the music that I heard has brought
a lifetime hence of truth
Part of the ‘past to present’ series from Jemverse
Parallel to Oxen Avenue
the ancient trackway lay
from Mill Lane to Upper Shoreham
as a pedestrian way
Elm trees at its southern end
stood by the kissing gate
which though the trackway is still there
has long since met its fate
Part of the ‘past to present’ series from Jemverse
When the Norfolk Bridge first opened
the High Constable had the key
for the old toll bridge in deference
in eighteen thirty-three
The Duke of Norfolk he was present
for a procession up the street
'neath both surmounting arches
and the horse and lion's seat
Designed by W Tierney Clarke
it was the first of three
to bear the name of 'Norfolk Bridge'
in Shoreham by the sea.
Part of the ‘past to present’ series from Jemverse
Now long gone from the harbour
demolished years ago
the Old Crab Inn as once it was
is nestled there below
alongside the old shingle beach
beneath the tunnelled hill
at the bottom end of Gardener Road
for halcyon days to fill
Part of the ‘past to present’ series from Jemverse
As a boy I used to play there
inside the burnt out walls
for hide n seek and other games
within its hallowed halls
once we ventured to the basement
down dark and dusty stair
oblivious to danger
with innocence to dare
But now all these years later
it is a block of flats
though with outer walls remaining
preserved and still intact
Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse
I found it on the high tide line
after a night of fire
the Grand Old Lady of the sea
destroyed by spite and ire
Yet carried on an ebbing tide
along the coast to me
a memory of those boards I trod
now rescued from the sea
So though her grandeur is no more
complete her fall from grace
Brighton's West Pier always will
in history have her place
Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse
The beach Ted Bunker launched his
boat from sadly is no more
once called 'The Gut' its gutted now
no more a shingle shore
Filled in to make a car park
the beach where once we played
is another loss to history
and to the fishing trade
Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse
Just east of the church on the foreshore
bungalows once on the beach
presented a vista of Shoreham
history has put out of reach
Popularised by early movies
actors built many homes there
salvaging old railway carriages
the carriage works then had to spare
Mary Loftus, a music hall favourite
Florrie Ford, Ernie Mayne, Marie Lloyd
all of the lovelies who flocked to the beach
making it hard to avoid
Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse
'Malduppinne' as it was first called
in thirteen forty-seven
by grant from John le Pottere
to his wife in his succession
Its purpose now long lost to time
a museum now it hosts
in the oldest secular building that
the town of Shoreham boasts
From 'Malduppinne' to 'Marlipins'
this build of Caen stone
with flint-knapped chequered walls remains
the oldest one still known
Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse
Up at the top of Buckingham Road
the elms, mature, still stand
a reminder of the distant past
when the manor house stood grand
part of a bygone Shoreham
a remnant of 'The Lanes'
with triangle of trees and shrubs
is all that now remains
When in flight over Shoreham
a hundred years ago
two bridges you would see
'cross the river down below
The Norfolk and the railway
but no footbridge crossing yet
for the town and all its people
had that pleasure still to get
Now where people park their cars
on tarmac for some shopping
once stood an open field where
you'd oft see sheep a-hopping
A shepherd's hut stood to the south
close to its southern border
fenced in with wooden latticework
to keep the sheep in order
On Tarmount Lane in Shoreham town
the shepherd's field you'd see
for many years with grazing
for the sheep that wandered free
Beside old Railway Gardens the old flint wall has stood
built two hundred years ago but still it's looking good
And if its stones could talk and tell the history of the years
of Shoreham since the railway came of all those toils and tears
What a merry tale that would be for us who live
in this town beside the sea and what we wouldn't give
For history books are great to have but the interesting essence
can only come from something that has stood from past to present
So sadly we will never know for these old walls are still
and silent from the years they've seen as they forever will
In Regency Square
where once stood the Pier
Victorian splendour
still evident here
but time has moved on
and the 360 high
is now the feature
high up in the sky
Yet standing here now
the future I hold
is recalling the heyday
('cos yes, I'm that old)
when the West Pier still stood
as a visual feast
besting the new one
a mile to the east
On the South Downs
high, top the hill
we walked around
the Jack and Jill
two windmills there
and standing still
though long time now
since flour to mill
The view gave all
the eyes to fill
where we took stock
of our free will
November yet
not really chill
we wandered freely
with no ill
As a boy I used to play here
inside the burnt out walls
playing hide n seek and other games
within its hallowed halls
Once we ventured to the basement
down dark and dusty stair
oblivious to danger
with innocence to dare
But now all these years later
it is a block of flats
although the outside walls remain
preserved and still intact
You'd never think from how it looks
that many years ago
the boards of this forgotten pier
I walked down oft and slow
Derelict for forty years
and then destroyed by fire
the skeletal remains now stand
as its last funeral pyre
Brighton's West Pier still it's called
but you'll need imagination
to picture once how grand it was
from this last iteration
In Sussex there’s a bridge
Built in fourteen twenty-two
now closing on six hundred years
since its fine stones were new
It spans the river Arun
near Stopham Village where
it’s provided here a crossing
for local folk to share