5 part series on life in Ditchling starts tonight

[clapham_gull]

"A VERY ENGLISH VILLAGE" .. on BBC Four at 9:00

I assume that this will be broadcast on BBC2 in the not too distant future.

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For 10 years the filmmaker Luke Holland has documented the life of the village he inhabits on the South Downs, Ditchling.

Luke is a filmmaker with a very distinctive voice and style, and the inhabitants of Ditchling match his eccentricity. These films are up to date and often distressing - they show that the British countryside is being eaten up, literally, by the growth of towns, but also by the urbanisation of village mentalities.

Luke is disquieted by these developments, but he also loves the place he has chosen to live. The sea-sawing between these two emotions accounts for the very special tone of this series, which is both sometimes distraught and always deeply affectionate, conferring dignity to all the people of Ditchling.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

could be interesting - they want to build loads of houses in hassoocks as well

 

[¡Cereal Killer!]

looks crap

 

[chip]

Thanks for that Clapham. I wouldn't normally turn the television on during the week, but that was really thought provoking, interesting and well done.

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

Watched a bit of it but was distracted by Crimewatch UK (!)

Saw him talk about what was on the front of the Telegraph: foxhunting and stuff.

I was down in Brighton (not where I live any more) last weekend and went for Sunday lunch with my dad in the "Barrister Belt" near Poynings. Just like when we used to go there to play cricket against the posh kids, I don't feel much of a connection with people from rural Sussex. Sorry if that's you, by the way...

 

[Hunting 784561]

I thought the programme was good for showing the reality of rural life, like when the dead calves, throats already hacked out, had their skins mechanically removed, in one go.


Euuww

 

[London Calling]

Ditchling, nice place but has for at least a century been a refuge for the Brighton riche

LC

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

Played Rugby for Ditchling many moons ago, great bunch of lads playing for a club in a village inhabited with the biggest bunch of snobs/moaners you're ever likely to meet.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Played Rugby for Ditchling many moons ago, great bunch of lads playing for a club in a village inhabited with the biggest bunch of snobs/moaners you're ever likely to meet.

ditto with the football

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

Cricket ground is nice, shame about the twats that played for them

 

[Lush]

Did they get through the programme without mentioning Vera Lynn?

 

[JJ McClure]

Did they get through the programme without mentioning Vera Lynn?

That bitch trod on my foot at Ditchling bonfire night many years ago. Think I owe her a kicking.

 

[culvers]

He has been making that for years and years and years, i reckon he must have a lot of footage beciuase whenever i saw Luke Holland he had a video camera in his hand. I used to work in the shop on the crossroads and he was always milling about there on Sunday mornings talking to people about the houses, or car crashes or their dogs.

Shame i am out here in Japan now becuase it could have been interesting to watch the final version.

 

[Strike]

Wish I could watch it, as the place I could be moving too (Ifield just outside Crawley), could lose a country golf club and have lots of houses built there.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Played Rugby for Ditchling many moons ago, great bunch of lads playing for a club in a village inhabited with the biggest bunch of snobs/moaners you're ever likely to meet.

Maybe Ditchling villagers should play an annual fixture against Falmer Villagers for the All-Sussex Snobs & Moaners Challenge Trophy

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

Maybe Ditchling villagers should play an annual fixture against Falmer Villagers for the All-Sussex Snobs & Moaners Challenge Trophy

No contest, Falmer residents wouldn't stand a chance.
The Ditchling lot are in a class of their own.

 

[Pavilionaire]

It was a good, thought-provoking show.

Although dominated by the issue of foxhunting (which I find tiresome at the best of times) I thought the dairy farmer made some good points about how he makes no money from producing milk and how all of the profit is made by the supermarkets.

That's a big issue that gets little coverage. I know of two dairy farmers with exactly the same plight. One retired and now his farm is surrounded by wire fencing, the grass is 6 feet high and the farmhouse is falling into rack and ruin...

 

[Man of Harveys]

Five minutes of ruddy-faced oo-arr farmers moaning about something/everything was about all I could take.

 

[Albion Edd]

I saw it last night, the guy who makes it is always wondering around filming. I thought he did a fairly good job, better than I thought it would be.
The episodes should be good, probably less interesting for non-Ditchling people I expect.
There are a lot of snobbish moaners in Ditchling and I expect you'll see quite alot of them in the one about the Sandrock pub being turned into houses, most of the people moaning probably didn't drink there.
I expect I might be in some of it lurking in the background.

 

[Goodfella]

My mum was born & bred in Ditchling, and i have lot's of fond memories of going there to visit Grandma/Aunties/ Uncles etc...

I thought the programme was well put together, and showed it how it really is, good piece of documentary filming, look forward to the next 4 episodes.