Dottie about the White Hart Inn

by Sian Maidment

Whether you’re out day-tripping to Wakehurst, just driving through the area or deliberately dining, drop into The White Hart Inn at West Hoathly for great local food.

“I’ve been Dotty since I was so high,” she says, gesturing knee level. Dotty by name but anything but by nature, the landlady is everything The White Hart at West Hoathly stands for: a strong, enduring presence, hardly seen but felt. The bar barn, dating from 1540, is reminiscent of a banqueting hall; your imagination can easily conjure minstrels and mead. The vaulted beams’ acoustics are dulling the music of chatter and clatter of cutlery, drawing occasional swirls of laughter, like smoke to the rafters.

The barn is spacious “so we can accommodate all combinations of groups and parties” and the adjacent snug and enclosed restaurant mean The White Hart Inn offers ultimate dining versatility from dinner a deux to a grand fête, spilling from restaurant to barn and garden.

Dotty is knowledgeable about the area and her business, her connected thinking recognising competing demands for space. “We limit private functions, favouring availability for regulars, and families are not ostracised – children are welcome in the bar.” The adult only restaurant reserves space for dedicated diners.

Involved, she works with and alongside her young team, like an extended family, having input in the menu because – being a woman – she cares passionately that what’s on offer is appropriate and – as a stridently local girl – that it is locally sourced.

Expressive and articulate she is attentive to standards, and presentation extends from her beautifully manicured nails (and they’re the real thing!) to all the food made on the premises.

Mr B and I dined grandly on a teardrop grading of lightly seared scallops, kerchief-crowns of Portobello mushrooms wrapped in pancetta, fanned pink slices of duck, deliberately placed palettes of salad and vegetables, including fragrant potato and celeriac gratin, and colourful seafood linguini – our little tongues lapping it all up. Ending with raspberry pavlova to share, crisp to scoop into, dissolving on the tongue and finishing as rewardingly sticky soft caramel, we were replete.

See if Dotty and her team can accommodate your party and tastes.

Sian ate at:
The White Hart Inn, Ardingly Road, West Hoathly, East Grinstead RH19 4RA
Tel. 01342 715217

Three course dinner for two (excluding wine) £46.25.

Wivelsfield Village Day

On Sat 18th July 2009, from 10am - 5pm, we will be holding Wivelsfield Village Day on the recreation ground in Wivelsfield Green. Run on a voluntary basis, the Village Day hopes to raise funds for local clubs, community groups and some local charities. Almost 30 local clubs will be participating on the day.
The event offers a range of attractions including:
An easily accessible village location with the main attractions on the recreation ground, while some catering & activities will be in the village hall & pavilion buildings;
Ample free parking in adjacent fields;
Stalls from many local food producers;
A large central arena with displays by clubs & organisations such Burgess Hill Marching Band & a junior football match by Mid-Sussex Blues; children’s races; a tug-of-war competition; and pantomime donkey derby races;
A Kennel Club licensed, fun companion dog show;
Harris’ tradition funfair, a climbing wall, a miniature steam railway, fire engine fun, and a rich variety of trade stands;
A PA system providing a commentary for the day;
Its own dedicated area on the community web site: http://www.wivelsfield.net/.

Saddlescombe: A farm that time forgot

Secretive and remote, historic Saddlescombe Farm and its cluster of cottages lies cradled in a fold of the hills near the Devil’s Dyke. Somewhere along the line, the relentless passage of time seems to have hit a bypass there.

The farm lays claim to 1,000 years of farming history, with evidence of Roman and Saxon activity before that, and the appearance of the farm has scarcely changed since the throne of Good Queen Bess was still warm.

The hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and in the 13th century the manor of Saddlescombe was granted to the Knights Templars as a preceptory, or provincial estate. The link with these proud Christian warriors, so steeped in history and legend themselves, adds to Saddlescombe’s allure. However, the order was not master there for long. The manor and lands were seized in 1308 and the chapel has long gone; but it is possible parts of the old property were incorporated in the construction – a mere 400 years ago – of the Saddlescombe we know today.

An ancient track weaves its way past the duck pond and among the collection of venerable buildings, which include a blacksmith’s forge, a 400-year-old barn, luxurious pens for cosseted rams and a dairy – Saddlescombe was famous for its cattle in the latter half of the 20th century. Particularly fascinating is the 17th century ‘donkey wheel’, a rarity in the South East where only four still exist. It was turned from within by an obedient and industrious moke to draw water from a well deep under the chalk to serve the farm and hamlet – rather like a pet hamster on its wheel, but on a much grander scale.

The centrepiece is the farmhouse itself, with it walled garden and orchard. The warren of rooms, some laid with vast flagstones of Sussex marble, has hardly changed since its Victorian heyday when a bedroom served as a school.

The property was immortalised by Maude Robinson in a book published in 1938, A South Down Farm in the 1860s (republished in 1994), recalling her childhood there and the joys and hardships of a self-sufficient rural community in the middle of the 19th century.

Little seems to have ruffled the gentle surface of life at Saddlescombe over the years and decades. However, in 1942, a German plane returning from a raid on London had a bomb or two left. The crew decided to jettison them as they flew over the Downs and one narrowly missed causing serious damage at Saddlescombe. A cottage lost its glass windows in the explosion. Asked to recall the drama years later, local resident Stan Hollingdale said it had happened on a Thursday. How could he be so sure? “Because I always clean the windows on a Wednesday,” he replied. “If I’d known what was going to happen the next day I wouldn’t have bothered.”

Saddlescombe Farm was bought by the National Trust in 1995 and forms part of the Devil’s Dyke Estate. Since then it has been earmarked for a huge restoration project, says Head Warden Charlie Cain, where the Trust has to strike a delicate balance between “conservation, restoration, preservation and fossilisation”.

Ultimately, the Trust wants the public to enjoy much greater access to Saddlescombe. Warden Graham Wellfare sums up the unique charm of this gem on our doorstep. “It’s the last remaining downland farm that’s intact,” he says. “The collection of buildings chart the evolution of farming over the last 400 years.”

Saddlescombe Farm is staging an open day with country craft demonstrations on Sunday, April 19, between 10.30am and 4pm. Charges are £4 for adults and £1.50 for children. For a more intimate experience, group tours can be arranged by calling the National Trust on 01273 857712.
Saddlescombe Farm, Saddlescombe Road, Poynings, West Sussex BN45 7DE