16/06/2026
Happy Sussex Day ☺️
Along the lanes of Steyning, where the Downs begin to rise,
Cuthman pulling his barrow under wide South Country skies.
His mother, wrapped in patience, watched the chalk hills drift and gleam,
While the Adur whispered stories like a half‑remembered dream.
Past Bramber’s quiet castle and the fields of Wiston’s fold,
He walked with faith for compass and a rope grown thin and old.
Through Lancing’s windswept meadows, over Shoreham’s salted air,
He prayed the Lord would guide him to the place he must repair.
And when the rope at last gave way beneath Chanctonbury’s crown,
He knew the sign was heaven’s, and he knelt upon the ground.
There he built a humble church with staff to keep it true,
A shelter for the weary and a beacon through the blue.
So Sussex keeps his footsteps in the curve of every hill,
A tale of love and labour that the Downs remember still.
And mothers bless their children when the Steyning bells are rung.
For Cuthman and his mother, who walked Sussex while still young.
