useum, is a twitten to take you past some newish flats through to Sainsbury’s. A twitten – for those of you unfamiliar with Sussex dialect – is simply our local word for a passageway. This particular walkway links the old with the new, past those delightful flats that have been well-designed to fit in with the surroundings. You arrive at the other end of the twitten to the supermarket carpark, but around the edge have been retained some wonderful old trees and the area is just about as pleasant as a car park can be!
Turn right and you’ll end up at The Forum, another relatively recent (within 20 years) addition to the town that adds another dimension. A new arrival in this area is Dunelms, who have just moved into the large unit vacated by Beales. Next door is TK Max for those who like a bargain – and who doesn’t? There’s a lovely round café where you can sit outside on a sunny day and eat ice cream or a cake and at the other end of the square is one of those ground fountains with little shoots of water popping up at random. I’ve no idea what they’re called, but children love them. And while we’re in that area, walk a little further, down the steps and you’re at Horsham Library, opposite the modern bus station.
The Bishopric is another historic part of the town, albeit these days choked with traffic from dawn to dusk. You can still see, though, some of the old cottages and imagine how it must have looked when there were no cars and the local cattle market was housed here. It’s a very broad street, but somehow it doesn’t give that impression these days with a broad pavement on one side and cars parked along both sides of the carriageway. You can see some revealing old postcards of this area and the market at the aforesaid Facebook group.
The latest large retail arrival has been Waitrose and John Lewis, who built on the site of the old Ford dealer (I believe) and opened up that side of town. It’s not an unattractive addition, but it has further divided up what has become a town of different parts. Somehow it doesn’t all mesh together in my view to give a coherent whole, but at least we still have some great history and have retained many of the small and individual shops that add to the character of Horsham.
Horsham district is a great place to live, but unfortunately house prices have driven out many of our younger generation. It’s very difficult to buy a house locally unless you’re a high-earning couple or have a large sum to invest. Even the new houses, wedged in as they are on top of each other, sell for ridiculously high sums. It’s probably our proximity to London that provides much of the attraction, since on a good day it’s just a 45 minute train ride to Town. Mind you, with all the recent train strikes and hold-ups, your journey may take considerably longer!
However, with all its shortcomings, we still think the Horsham area is beautiful and a wonderful place to live.