The parish council has prepared a Welcome pack for the village. If we become aware of a newcomer to the village, we like to personally deliver them a printed copy.

This information is mainly aimed at newcomers to Brightling.   We hope you find it useful.  The parish councillor responsible for welcoming newcomers is Katrina Blench who can be contacted on 07841866824, or by email at cllr.katrina.blench@brightling-pc.gov.uk. Another useful contact is the clerk to the Parish Council, Sam Dugan, who can be contacted on clerk@brightling-pc.gov.uk  

In some places we point you to the internet for further information, but if you don’t have access to the internet, please ask Katrina, and we will arrange to provide you with the information in some other way.  Also, do give Katrina some feedback on whether you found this guide helpful, any mistakes, and anything you would like to see added. 

This information is regularly updated and has live links to other information. 

How to find out what’s going on in Brightling 

The two best ways of finding out what’s going on in Brightling are: the village website and The Messenger magazine. 

Village website: This website has an up-to-date calendar of Brightling events, and news items are added regularly with details of things happening in or about Brightling. To get an email when news is posted to the site, subscribe by scrolling down the homepage and entering your email address in the “Keep up to date with Brightling News” section. You can unsubscribe at any time.

The Messenger – news and views from Brightling, Dallington, Mountfield and Netherfield:

The Messenger magazine is published monthly (10 issues per year, two months combined in December and August) and costs £10 per year. It contains loads of local information and also very useful advertisements for local services. It is hand-delivered to your door by local volunteers. For a free trial of 2 issues, email darwell.messenger@gmail.com. Then you can decide if you want to carry on getting it. Or you can buy a copy in Brightling church. 

Social media: There is a Facebook group “Dallington, Woods Corner and Brightling Community. You can also sometimes see relevant messages by signing up to Nextdoor.

Regular village events

Brightling Cafe: held in the village hall 10am to 12 midday on the last Saturday of the month from March to November (except August). It is a great opportunity to meet and make friends over a cup of coffee and a piece of cake. There are stalls with wares for sale as well, such as local growers and producers selling their veg, meat, cakes, preserves and flowers, so it is always worth dropping in to buy some locally grown produce.

Bi-monthly Thursday lunch in the Village Hall: The lunches are popular and use locally sourced ingredients. They usually occur on the second Thursday of the month. The lunches are run by Beverley Quinn (07762 415683 bevalanq@yahoo.co.uk) and Joanna Coleman (07711 944232 colemanjj@btinternet.com). Everyone is welcome. 

Yoga classes in the village hall:
Slow Flow Yoga with Francesca on Mondays 7pm to 8.15pm and Sundays 10.30am to 11.30am. Find out more at slowflowfrancesca.yoga

Brenda at brendaboothkent@aol.com Iyengar Yoga on Wednesdays 9.45am-11am. 

Brightling Flower Show
Brightling’s annual flower show is a quintessentially English summer tradition that has been held for more than 100 years. It takes place in Tower Field, at the top of Rectory Hill, from 1.30pm on a Saturday in late July. Entries include flowers, plants, vegetables, baking, preserves and crafts. There are attractions for all the family, including a dog show, children’s games, tea and cake, a bar and there is often live music in the evening. Contact Joanna Foy: brightlingflowershow@gmail.com or 07917163357. 

Cricket: The cricket pitch is located in Brightling Park – go down the lane that runs through Ox Lodge. Friendly matches take place on Sundays from May to mid-September. Spectators are welcome to come along. Tea is usually served around 4.45pm and visitors are welcome to a beverage or food, after the players have eaten, for a donation to club funds. Find out more about the club and see the fixtures for the cricket season.

Brightling Church brightling.community/the-church/  

The Village Hall is available to hire at very reasonable rates, with special rates for regular users and residents. Email: bookings.bvhes@gmail.com  

Veg Club: Once a month a group of enthusiastic gardeners meets in Brightling at a different house each time to discuss gardening, receive and pass on advice, swap seeds, and occasionally to have a professional talk or demonstration. If you are interested in joining Veg Club contact Cynthia Donald: Email: cynthia@johndonald.com  01424 838287.

Stoolball Club: Stoolball is a sport that dates back to at least the 15th century, originating in Sussex.  Brightling has a ladies team – newcomers welcome, contact Joanne Pennells via https://www.stoolball.org.uk/teams/brightling-ladies or email joanne.pennells@outlook.com There is also fascinating information about the history of the game on the website. 

The Brightling Village Trust: Established in 1987, exists to support charitable purposes in Brightling and can also make grants to help individuals and relieve hardship. The Trustees have discretion to support a wide range of activities which will benefit people in Brightling and which are not otherwise supported. Over the years, the Trust has supported many of the village activities in Brightling with small grants, including for example paying for new bell ropes in the Church. The Brightling Village Trust belongs to all who live in Brightling. The trustees, who are Mark Bridge, Charles Everett, Louise Dando, Henry Grissell, Brian Holliday and Nicola Magill welcome suggestions for future grants and activities. Contact: cwveverett@gmail.com.

Volunteering and community involvement

Most of the village organisations and events are run by volunteers. If you’d like to get involved, even in a small way, it’s a great way to get to know your village and to make local friends. These are the areas and groups where volunteers are always welcome.

Bell ringers: Brightling Church has an active group of bell ringers. Contact Mark Bridge 07872 507147.  

Brightling Tree Group: Our Tree Warden, Doug Edworthy, has organised a survey of the tree stock of the parish to discover what we currently have and also its ecological and cultural value. He can use this valuable information to create a tree management plan to guide future decisions affecting trees in the parish.  If you would like more information contact Doug: treewarden@dallington.org.uk  

Brightling Environmental Group: Looking after local biodiversity, reducing energy use and our carbon footprint. Bi-monthly meetings at members houses and annual events organised. Email: brightling.environment.group@gmail.com  

Brightling Cafe: Help out one or two Saturday mornings a year. Email Katrina Blench: katrinablench@hotmail.com.

Church Flowers: Providing a flower arrangement for the lectern once or twice a year, and a windowsill arrangement for Easter, Harvest and Christmas festivals. Contact Jane Oxenford: jane@brightling.plus.com or 01424 838679. 

Flower Show: Muscle needed to help set up tables and so on in the field on the day before and to help take it all down at 10am on the Sunday after. Helpers needed on the day for all sorts of jobs. Email  Joanna Foy: brightlingflowershow@gmail.com.

Village Hall: There is a monthly village hall cleaning rota. Contact Judy Petty: judyp123@btinternet.com or 01424 838868.

Website: Help maintain interesting and up-to-date content. Contact Andrew Wedmore:    andrew@wedmore.com or 01424 838667. 

Local suppliers

As well as the suppliers listed below, many local businesses advertise in The Messenger. 

Carpentry: Paul Rushworth offers bespoke carpentry, joinery for all of the house and home    https://rushworthcarpentryandjoinery.com or 07773 315526.

Logs: We have two suppliers in Brightling: Chris French 01424 838271 and Archie Quinn quinntreecare@yahoo.com 07716 530594. 

Meat: Homestead Farm Meat comes from a farm in Netherfield. Email to arrange purchase: jo@homestead-farm.co.uk.

Newspaper delivery: Yes you can get newspapers and eggs delivered to your door in Brightling. Contact Graham White: graham.pontsgreen@hotmail.co.uk or 01424 838518. 

Pub: Our nearest is The Swan at Woods Corner, Dallington TN21 9LB. Contact: enquiries@swaninndallington.co.uk or 01424 838242. 

Retreats and organic produce: Joanna Gore at Roots to the Moon offers shamanic healings, workshops, ceremonies and retreats. Also in season sells organic and biodynamic veg plants, pork, sausages, bacon, hams and lamb.

Parish council, local and national government

Brightling has an active parish council, which meets every two months. All meetings are open to members of the public, and are publicised on the village website and the noticeboard outside the church. Find out more about the parish council.

Brightling comes under the Rother North division of East Sussex County Council, based in Lewes. Among other things, the county council is responsible for social care, local authority schools, and highway maintenance.

Brightling is in the Burwash and the Weald ward of Rother District Council, based in Bexhill-on-Sea. Among other things, the district council is responsible for bin emptying and almost all planning decisions. Find out the names and contact details of your district councillors. 

At national level, Brightling is in the Bexhill and Battle constituency. Find the name and contact details for our current MP. 

Schools

The local primary school for Brightling is Dallington Primary School.

Secondary schools are Robertsbridge Community College for 11 to 16 year-olds, and Heathfield Community College for 11 to 18 year-olds. 

Vinehall School is an independent, fee-paying, co-educational day, boarding school and nursery for 2 to 13-year-olds, near Robertsbridge.

Planning 

The local authority for planning is Rother District Council. The parish council reviews planning applications and may submit comments to the council’s planning committee, who decide on the application, subject to appeal.   

Emergencies and local resilience 

Emergency plan 

The parish council maintains an emergency response plan for the village.   

Defibrillators 

Our nearest defibrillators in Brightling are:

• on the wall of the Village Hall
• on a post almost opposite to the entrance to the Forestry Commission car park at the bottom of Cackle Street, just before you get to the crossroads for the B2096 at Darwell Hole

A defibrillator is portable and can be removed from its box and taken to the person who needs it. It does not require training to use it – it talks to you and tells you what to do. It cannot cause harm if used on someone who does not need it.

If you have any problems or if you have had to use one of the defibrillators, please tell the parish clerk – email: clerk@brightling-pc.gov.uk.

Priority help during power cuts 

UK Power networks operates a priority services register. If you get on this register you qualify for extra help during power cuts. Many households in Brightling will meet the criteria for inclusion on the register.   

Issues and problems 

Bin emptying 

Bin emptying is the responsibility of Rother District Council. The green recycling and black other waste bins are emptied on alternate weeks. Bins have to be put at the roadside first thing in the morning, or the night before, bin-emptying day. For more information see the rubbish and recycling page of Rother District Council website. 

Rother District Council also offers a paid-for service for garden waste (brown bins). 

To preserve the appearance of the village, you are requested not to leave your bin at the roadside the whole time, only on bin-emptying day. 

Dark skies policy 

Brightling Parish Council supports the dark skies movement (see https://www.highweald.org/look-after/dark-skies.html ) and discourages the use of external lighting including security lighting.  Planning permissions for extensions and new buildings normally come with a condition of “no external lighting”.  If your property has external lighting, please consider disabling or not using it. 

Flytipping 

Flytipping on privately owned land is, unfortunately, the responsibility of the landowner to clear up (it can be reported to the police. Roadside fly-tipping can be reported to Rother District Council.  

Hedge trimming 

If you have roadside hedges, you are responsible for keeping them trimmed so that they don’t obstruct the highway. Roadside hedges can legally be trimmed at any time of year, but are normally done during the winter to minimise the harm to wildlife. If the parish council receives reports of untrimmed hedges, it contacts the landowner. If this does not produce a reaction, the matter is reported to East Sussex County Council, who have the power to take enforcement action.

Potholes and drains

Highways maintenance, including mending potholes and clearing drains, is the responsibility of East Sussex Highways, an agency of East Sussex County Council. In the first place, report any problems using their website. If that does not produce a result in a reasonable timeframe, contact the parish council who will escalate the issue.

Verge mowing  

Verge mowing is the responsibility of East Sussex County Council. Brightling is taking part in a pilot study during which the verges are not mown during the summer months in order to protect wildlife and improve biodiversity. Exceptions to this are road junctions and other places where mowing is necessary for visibility. 

Entertainment

Robertsbridge Arts Partnership organises quality, affordable events, including theatre, music, dance, quiz nights and an annual literature festival. You can become a member for special discounts.

Robertsbridge Jazz Club holds events monthly at Robertsbridge Village Hall. Buy event tickets at Judge’s cafe and bakery in Robertsbridge, or find out more on the Robertsbridge Jazz Club website.

The Sussex Bonfire Societies organise a series of spectacular bonfire nights in villages across East Sussex. The celebrations mark both Guy Fawkes Night and the burning of 17 Protestant martyrs in Lewes High Street from 1555-57 during the reign of Mary Tudor. The Robertsbridge event is usually on the second Saturday of November and starts with a procession of bonfire society members from Robertsbridge and other villages, dressed in costume and wielding lighted torches. The evening ends with a bonfire and fireworks display in the recreation ground. Find out more or see how to get involved on on the Robertsbridge Bonfire Society website.

History of Brightling

Find out more about the history of Brightling.

See our information page for more about Brightling’s war memorial, the area during the two world wars, notable historical figures, and to view a large collection of old photographs. The 1995 BBC adaptation of Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons was filmed in Brightling, including Great Worge Farm and Brightling church.  

Brightling is famous for its follies, including a pyramid, temple, tower, ‘sugar loaf’, summerhouse, obelisk and observatory, which were built on whims by John ‘Mad Jack’ Fuller in the early 19th century. Most of them can be seen on or from our public footpaths. Find out more about Fuller’s follies. 

Geography and statistics

Brightling consists of 156 households with a population of 357 (2021). The parish covers approximately 4,000 acres (1,619 hectares) and includes the hamlets of Cackle Street, Hollingrove, Oxleys Green and Twelve Oaks. Brightling is within the High Weald National Landscape (National Landscape is the new term for Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).