We invite everyone to join us once more to celebrate the start of summer in Sussex at the Caught by the River Day Out on May 2nd. Now in its fifth year, it is a unique day of talks, music, food and beer spread across the Downland village of Kingston, just a few miles from both Lewes and Brighton. We take over the Parish Hall and our friends at Lovebrook Farm provide delicious hot food and cold drinks, alongside a farm shop for those that want to picnic.
Poster: Lally MacBeth
Across the lane, meals and Harvey’s beer are also available in the village pub. And two minutes’ walk away the talks take place in the Parish Hall. Tea and cakes are for sale, Diva, Ben and Andrew man the CBTR stall and this year Laurie will be selling second-hand books.
The line-up…
MC is the antiques dealer and author John Andrews aka Andrews of Arcadia.
Alison Hastie’s new book Green Shoes tells the story of the radical women’s craft collective making hand-made shoes that she set up in Devon forty years ago and the role that clothes and shoes play in all our lives (Kingston residents might also know her as Luke Beeson’s mum!). She will be interviewed by Sally Domingo-Jones.
Paul Frecker will be talking about Cartomania, his book about cartes de visites — a photographic craze from the 1860s where people shared small portraits printed on card. These cards give an extraordinary insight into the lives of everyday Victorians as well as the birth of celebrity culture. Paul used to work in the fashion industry but for the last twenty years has earned his living dealing in 19th century photography. He lives in a converted church in the Scottish Highlands. He will be interviewed by Dr Hope Woolf, Associate Professor in Literature and Visual Culture at the University of Sussex. She is an author of the book Sussex Modernism and curated the brilliant exhibition of the same name at the Towner Gallery.
Michael Smith is an author and filmmaker that lives in Hastings. He will be talking about his latest book Strangers on the Shore, a beautifully written, funny yet melancholic memoir about dreams of living an artistic life, the joys of fatherhood, the pleasure of cooking, living through Covid and a running a bar in Hastings a town you would believe from reading Michael’s book is entirely made-up of misifts. He will be interviewed by fellow Hastings resident Ali Millar. She is the author of a memoir The Last Days that tells the story of her time growing up inside the Jehovah’s Witnesses and most recently a novel, Ava Anna Ada, that was described by Wendy Erskine as being “a work of exquisite strangeness”.
Weird Sussex is going to be a panel event featuring Sam Reid and David Bramwell. Sam is author of The Pin Jar published last year by our friends at Rough Trade Books.. His debut novel is set around Alfriston, written in Sussex dialect and retells three ghost stories set in Downland. David Bramwell is the host of the Catalyst Club and co-author of Long Man and Friends, a guide to Sacred Sussex. They will be interviewed by CBTR’s own Tallulah Brennan.
And at Lovebrook throughout the day… Field Systems present: The Gurdy Stone | 539480 (Easting); 108085 (Northing). A site-specific sound installation, written over the winter of 2025/6 for the CBTR May Day celebrations in Kingston. Four speakers will be placed equidistant to the Gurdy Stone, each playing a loop tuned to frequencies that are correlated to the precise coordinates of the stone itself. The listener is invited to participate in creating their own mix as they wander between the speakers and the stone, listening to the asynchronous loops locking and unlocking to create a generative sound collage built from processed guitar, synths and found sounds from the village and locale.
Please come and join us — the event is really an excuse for everyone to hang out in the countryside for the day. Tickets are limited and it always sell out so please book now to avoid disappointment.
Tickets available here. They are £30 for the whole day. A discount is available for local residents (contact Mathew Clayton for the code) and Lunker-tier CBTR subscribers (check your email inbox). We look forward to seeing you!