The wording of Worthing Borough Council's objection to a proposed gypsy camp along the drive of Worthing Crematorium seems fairly clear cut to the untrained eye.

However, I have been contacted by a number of local Romany families who say the people actually making this application to the council are not gypsies at all.

They are, in fact, a combination of new-age travellers and hippies, somewhat different to the traditional Romany travellers.

One thing is for sure, knowing how both respectful and sensitive the Romany people are to death and dying, the last place they would wish to pitch their caravans is the drive of the crematorium.

• And again proof that sometimes we need to realise that Worthing is not all bad.

An advertising sales rep called into my office last week and got talking about the other places she visits on her travels.

One nearby place, which for obvious reasons will remain nameless, has designated "status" with her company.

Status in the fact that female reps have to travel there in twos, and when you do park up in this place, you are told to remove everything of value from view inside your car – a fact highlighted by the number of gangs of youths roaming round the place looking inside parked cars.

I know Worthing is not without incident but, thankfully, we are nowhere near that kind of classification yet.

• Many thanks to the large number of readers who got in touch with me with information regarding the Nelson pub/Nelson Shades in South Street.

With the amount of information I have received, I could make the former hostelry my specialist subject on Mastermind, with local Worthing historian Tony Malone providing the definitive answer in this week's Herald letters (see page 19).

• And finally, happy 90th birthday to Les Tickner.

His name may not mean much to some, but his long-time tenure as bandmaster of the famous Worthing Salvation Army Band saw him make a significant contribution to the town over the years.

His band entertained a large number of people over the years, as well as raising thousands of pounds for many local charities.

He truly is a gentleman in every sense of the word and I hope he and his family have a lovely day celebrating his landmark birthday.


Ian Hart's comment is published in the Herald series every Thursday

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