The Middy, November 4 1999

Magnet for the masses

Surprising as it may seem today, pleasure gardens were regarded as one of Mid Sussex's major tourist attractions in the early part of the 20th century.

Outdoor pursuits for today’s 'get up and go' generation range from theme parks to worlds of adventure, to space age funfairs designed to scare the living daylights out of those brave, or daft, enough to try them.

But the genteel Victorians found Mr Edwin Street’s Victoria Pleasure Gardens in Burgess Hill a day out of epic proportions.

Mr Street’s Farm at St John's Lodge on which now stands the Victoria industrial estate, was often home to hundreds of daytrippers from as far away as Brighton and Worthing – quite a distance in the days of nascent transport.

On Whit Monday 1898, the crowd of nearly 2,000 people arrived for their bank holiday entertainment.

And by the end of the season, The Middy had been caught up by the euphoric crowd sweeping through the area: "who has not heard of the Victoria pleasure Gardens? The initial season has been a signal success, far exceeding the most hopeful anticipation of the enterprising proprietor, Mr Edwin Street. "

Lillian Rogers, the Haywards Heath historian, remembers: "I did not go to the pleasure gardens in Burgess Hill and Hurstpierpoint, but my mother did. I remember her telling me she used to come up from Brighton, where she lived, for a Sunday school treats by horse and cart and when they were approaching the gardens, the boys would jump off and run. And of course they could run quicker than the wagon so they could get to the rides first and hog them.

This used to really annoy my mum and her friends! "

On the approach to the hive of excitement, the children would have heard the strain to the roundabout organ, and after paying the six pence admission (children half price), would have been overcome by the treasure trove of delights within.

They could play on the swing boats and the seesaws, go boating on the lake, be entertained by the Burgess Hill string band, ride the paddle steamer and devour the Italian hokey pokey ice cream of Mr Faccenda.

The late Mr F Brown recalls his childhood: "While music was being rendered by the Burgess Hill Town Brass Band, the paddle steamer and rowing boat laden with passengers kept the lake in a continuous ripple… the grounds fairly resounded with jollity and mirth."

The gardens enjoyed their heyday in the years before the Great War, when hordes of squealing holidaymakers would arrive each weekend and make their way down Station Road.

A reporter from the Middy, approaching the gardens on with Monday 1910, was told by the gentleman in charge of the turnstile, a Mr Owen Dumbrill: "over 950 gone in so far – and still they come! "

Edwin died in 1923 aged 66, shortly after the successful reopening of the gardens that year. They closed for good after the Second World War and now exist only in photos, cuttings and memories.

Mark Dudeney and Eileen Hallett’s definitive study, Edwin Street and Victoria Pleasure Gardens (Mid Sussex Books 1997), concludes: "I used to curse the noise made by the old streets organ ", a senior citizen remembers, "but oh how I wish I could hear it now! "

But far from having a monopoly in the garden stakes, Mr Street faced stiff competition from surrounding towns who posted similar treats for country loving city slickers.

The Chinese gardens in Hurstpierpoint opened in 1843 and the proprietress, Mrs C Goode, who previously ran the Golden Cross Hotel in Brighton, wrote "there is nothing really Chinese about it, with the exception that it is equipped with the large lake, lily pond etc, and beautiful woodland walks which are always to be found in a wealthy Chinaman's garden."

This did not stop the crowds descending on the site from Brighton and surrounding towns.

They walked from Hassocks station or a riding horse drawn or arrived in horse-drawn carriages.

The main attraction was undoubtedly the famous boating lake, but other features included 5 1/2 acres of Parkland, a brass band, and a large public bar and 10 rooms.

One vigilant visitor was a certain Edwin Street who made careful notes when planning his rival retreat.

Amusement park included swing boats, shooting gallery, dance and a coconut shy, as well as automatic machines.

Not to be outdone, Hassocks developed its Orchard Tea gardens which boasted similar treats for the outward bound.

Mrs J Sunderland, from Eastbourne, worked in the gardens for several summers in the 1930s, and has many golden memories of those halcyon days of yore.

She remembers: "the gardens were situated where the Hassocks homes estate was built.

"Grand Avenue was the main driveway, with the big gates little ticket office at the entrance, opposite Parklands Road.

"In the gardens there was a huge boating lake, which was eventually filled in to have houses and roads built over it.

"I've often wondered if the folks who bought the houses ever realise there used to be boats where their flower borders bloomed! "

She used to work, with others in the kitchens and huge tearoom, where she catered for the large parties of schoolchildren on outings from London.

She said: "These parties arrived by train and were marched down from the station in long "crocodiles ", and spent the day exploring the grassy spaces of the gardens.

They had boat trips, running races, used the swings, swing-boats and seesaws, and milled around the little stalls buying presents and mementos to take back with them.

Towards the end of the day, they all trouped into the huge tea room, where the long trestle tables had been laid up with white cloths, plates of sliced bread and cakes, dishes of jam, and bread big brown teapot presided over by teachers, with hundreds of cups, sauces and plates.

She remembers how they were all kept on the run replenishing the teapots and milk jugs and running with more bread, butter and cakes. "The country air certainly sharpened their appetites! The chatter was deafening." she said.

When everyone had finished eating, the teacher in charge usually made a little thank you speech, and the staff were given an enormous cheer.

She continued: "Then sadly, they were all marshalled together for the weary trek back to the station – tired, sunburned and clutching their presents and little bunches of garden flowers, which folk in Parklands Road used to put out in buckets – 6d a bunch.

"I guess those bunches would've been a bit bedraggled by the time they got home. Happy days!

"It was tiring work," she remembers, "but I have only happy memories of it all, especially as I managed to buy my first new bicycle, I Hercules, with the wages and tips I hoarded that first summer. "

Children would come from as far away as Bognor and Hastings and extra police were required to contain the hordes on bank holidays. "

Thoughts of gardens today today lead to Borde Hill and Wakehurst place in Haywards Heath and Nymans in Handcross.

Although lacking the thrills and spills of the 'pleasure' variety, they nonetheless bring delight to the thousands of visitors who have enjoyed their beauty and spender for many years.

Acknowledgement Edwin Street and the Victorians pleasure garden by Mark Dudeney and Eileen Hallet.

A Hassocks pageant by Margaret Rose.