The Parish Magazine

The earliest copy of the magazine is in The Chichester Record Office and is dated 1963. The publication covers the united Benefice of Slindon, Eartham and Madehurst and, although it is produced by the Anglican Church, it includes news from the Roman Catholic Church of St. Richard and carries village news as well as church matters. It was produced commercially but in the early 1970s the church decided to economise and bought a Gestetner machine. The material was typed onto skins which were then printed with an inked roller – a somewhat messy business.

Richard Dynes, a local printer, whose wife, Jenny was the typist, responded to an appeal in the magazine and volunteered to help with the production. The team consisted of Richard, Colin Loveless, whose job was to produce suitable refreshment and the then Rector, Reg Gray. After that a group of elderly parishioners met to assemble the separate sheets and staple them together by hand. The editor before 1975 for some years was Josephine Duggan-Rees, a well known local historian; after that Jill Loveless carried out the job for some 25 years.

The next few years saw several editors, who all did an excellent job but, for one reason or another were unable to continue. Glen Hampshire stepped in and edited the magazine for seven years and in August 2013 she handed over the task to Niki Adamson.

Production methods changed too. With the arrival of computers it became much easier and Ken and Bonny Beere did sterling work for many years. The magazine is printed by LollipopPrint in Chichester and distributed by a team of volunteers in the three villages. Currently, there are 330 subscribers.

Copies can be bought in each church and in The Forge, and if you wish to subscribe to the magazine or advertise in it, you will find details inside.