03:a Video Trains Guards Van
The demise of the guards wagon, replaced by sliding door carridges.Pulborough is a large village in West Sussex, England, of some 5000 inhabitants, located almost centrally within the county being 50 miles due south of London. It is set beside the confluence of The River Arun and The River Rother. The town looks out over the River Arun across the large flood plain to a backdrop of the South Downs. It should find itself located just to the northern boundary of the proposed South Downs National Park.
Historically, it was a fording place over the River Arun used by the Romans who had a station here being one days march from Chichester on the London road, Stane Street. The Saxons bridged the River Arun here and the River Rother at nearby Stopham. It became an important watering/overnighting halt for cattle drovers providing easy access to water. It is dissected by the important north-south trunk road A29 and east-west (A283 road) routes. It retains some attractive old houses but has been spoilt in the twentieth century by estates of council (social) housing and characterless blocks of low level apartments.
Nearby is the home of the RSPB Nature Reserve Pulborough Brooks, where a wide variety of birdlife can be viewed from a number of professionally constructed hides and with an informative Visitors Centre. There are a number of small hamlets near Pulborough which retain a bye gone age. Hardham, to the south has a small church, St Botolphs, with some of the oldest surviving wall paintings in the country including St George slaying a dragon.
Pulborough is on the edge of commuter belt and remains a most scenic and peaceful place to live, with a variety of facilities including relatively large Sainsburys and Tesco stores, and a railway station on the Arun Valley Line from London Victoria to Arundel. It is around 75 minutes away from London Victoria on the train. It falls within the largest conservative majority in the country.
On 29th of July of every year, Pulborough hosts the famous 12 hour Lawn Mower race, which runs continuously for 12 hours.
Pulborough also boasts one of the fastest growing and most popular Angling Clubs in the South of England, the Society has a number of inititives to support local youngsters, including angling training as well as offering talks to local clubs, youth and conservation groups on the merits of angling and what anglers do to support, maintain and improve habitat in conjunction with Government Depts and other like minded groups.
Earliest records suggest cricket has been played in Pulborough since 1799. Now based at the Recreation Ground, Pulborough Cricket Club boasts numerous Senior and Junior (Colts) teams. Previously a member club of the Sussex Invitation League, Pulborough's 1st and 2nd Elevens were invited to join the Sussex Cricket League (the county league) from the 2004 season. A 3rd League XI plays in the West Sussex League, home matches being played nearby at Watersfield. Pulborough was a founder member of the North West Sussex Colts Cricket League (now known as the Identilam League) in 1987, when it became apparent that schools were not providing adequate cricketing opportunites to local youth. Various age-groups (Under 9s, 10s, 12s, 14s and 16s) now provide ample opportunity to devleop cricket skills, play in a competitive envrironment and ultimately secure the long term future of the club. The club also provides a mechanism for younger players to progress into senior cricket, with two non-league senior teams playing matches on Sunday afternoons. In 2006, the Sussex Cricket Board recognised the club's efforts towards youth sport, and awarded it ECB 'Focus Club' status.
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