Latest Homes Sussex magazine

In December a team of ten girls from Burgess Hill School for Girls went to East Grinstead to take part in the Under 18 Sussex Girls’ Chess Championship. The best three players’ scores from each school were compared, and the Burgess Hill School team were delighted to achieve second place in Sussex, and were awarded a trophy. Fonthill Lodge took first place.

Three members of the Burgess Hill team were awarded individual trophies; 3rd place in the Sussex Under 18 Championship, 1st place in the Under 14 section, and 3rd place in the Sussex Under 11 Championship. Three other team members were highly commended and were awarded medals.

Mrs Woroniecki, who runs the school chess club, said: “It was a very exciting day, and I am delighted that the girls did so well. Chess is a popular activity which appeals to students of all ages. Chess club gives them the opportunity to play with students from other year groups and to learn new tactics together”.

How ‘green’ is your scene? Latest Interiors takes a look at how we can all make our homes energy effecient

2007 saw a veritable green revolution in homes and interiors style, and the trend is set to continue – and strengthen – in 2008. Ignore green issues at your peril; modern eco-friendly interiors are practical, stylish and fast becoming the norm. So, if your domestic ethics are as important as aesthetics, what changes can you make to your home? Latest Interiors finds out how easy it is to go green…

Sustainable homes

Having a greener home is actually quite easy. Following a few basic principles will put you on the right track:

• Think small – bigger homes use more energy
• Heat with the sun, solar heating is
  inexpensive, clean and efficient
• Use energy wisely and switch off appliances
  when not in use; opt for low-energy versions
• Conserve water
• When possible, use local, natural materials
  in building and furniture, from sustainable
  sources
• Always recycle

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Daniel Frickelton’s guide to the finest golf courses in Sussex. This month Singing Hills Golf Course

It would be great fun to run a competition for the best rhyming slang name for Singing Hills Golf Club. Those of us who have played this course would have a few suggestions of our own. For instance, ‘Stinging Hills’ would best describe the course on which I sacrificed three golf balls to the hazard gods last autumn and posted what can only be described as an unimpressive score.

“The South Downs form a spectacular backdrop to the gently undulating fairways, lakes and copious wildlife; but Singing Hills is far more than mere eye candy”

‘Whingeing Hills’, on the other hand, would be the course where the ‘golf goddess’ failed at three attempts to put a tee shot on the green at the short par three second hole of the Lake Course. This is the loved and loathed ‘Island Green’, certainly not the infamous 17th at Sawgrass, but presenting the same sort of psychological test on a smaller scale. If you know how far you hit your shortest irons it should be a simple matter to select the right one, take a normal swing and putt out for a birdie or a par, right? However, the hundreds of balls winking at you from the bottom of the surrounding waters are silent witnesses to the fact that this hole is far from simple. It is a mind game.

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Andrew Kay finds that things are buzzing at La Galleria in Shoreham-by-Sea

On a dismally cold January evening the drive through Hove towards Shoreham was less than inspiring. The post Christmas blues had set in, the wind was icy and every restaurant we passed on the way was desolate. It was culinary tumbleweed season.

Shoreham still twinkled with lights as we arrived and we parked easily before making our way against the chill breeze to La Galleria. I expected to find the same desolation but I was wrong. In Hove, all were safely gathered in, in Shoreham it was still party season and the place was buzzing.

We were found a table in a corner, my favourite kind with good views of the whole room, and before long we had menus and soft drinks. Yes soft drinks, both Kevin my guest and I were doing that no booze in Jan routine. Ha ha, I hear you laugh, how long will that last? – and you’re right. Only the next night I drowned my sorrows in a can of beer and two bottles of Cherry B that Santa left in my stocking – lord only knows where he found them.

‘‘My platter of salamis and meats with punchy pickles hit exactly the right spot. I was in fighting mood and a carnivorous treat fitted the bill perfectly’’

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