Highways and Byways in Sussex


Read by Peter Yearsley

(4.3 stars; 11 reviews)

A very personal and opinionated wander through the Sussex of around 1900, illustrated with anecdotes, literary and poetic quotations, gravestone epitaphs and a gentle sense of humour. The author colours the countryside with his nostalgia for times past and regret for the encroaching future, his resentment of churches with locked doors, and his love of deer parks, ruined castles and the silent hills.

(I must add my apologies for my attempts at the Sussex dialect in the chapter on that subject.)

[This book is of Reading Grade of 9.55 (i.e. equivalent to 9½ years of U.S. education. Reading Ease score of 63.72 (on a scale from 100 to 0 .. where 65 is easy, 30 a little hard, 0 difficult). These are Flesch-Kincaid readability scores.] (13 hr 51 min)

Chapters

01 - Preface; Chapter 1: Midhurst 20:47 Read by Peter Yearsley
02 - Chapter 2: Midhurst's villages 28:04 Read by Peter Yearsley
03 - Chapter 3: First sight of the downs 10:34 Read by Peter Yearsley
04 - Chapter 4: Chichester 18:54 Read by Peter Yearsley
05 - Chapter 5: Chichester and the hills 27:58 Read by Peter Yearsley
06 - Chapter 6: Chichester and the plain 30:22 Read by Peter Yearsley
07 - Chapter 7: Arundel and neighbourhood 12:09 Read by Peter Yearsley
08 - Chapter 8: Littlehampton 19:27 Read by Peter Yearsley
09 - Chapter 9: Amberley and Parham 12:55 Read by Peter Yearsley
10 - Chapter 10: Petworth 23:23 Read by Peter Yearsley
11 - Chapter 11: Bignor 9:49 Read by Peter Yearsley
12 - Chapter 12: Horsham 20:44 Read by Peter Yearsley
13 - Chapter 13: St Leonard's Forest 15:09 Read by Peter Yearsley
14 - Chapter 14: West Grinstead, Cowfold and Henfield 10:58 Read by Peter Yearsley
15 - Chapter 15: Steyning and Bramber 16:31 Read by Peter Yearsley
16 - Chapter 16: Chanctonbury, Washington and Worthing 25:11 Read by Peter Yearsley
17 - Chapter 17: Brighton 38:21 Read by Peter Yearsley
18 - Chapter 18: Rottingdean and wheatears 14:20 Read by Peter Yearsley
19 - Chapter 19: Shoreham 12:14 Read by Peter Yearsley
20 - Chapter 20: The Devil's Dyke and Hurstpierpoint 27:52 Read by Peter Yearsley
21 - Chapter 21: Ditchling 5:20 Read by Peter Yearsley
22 - Chapter 22: Cuckfield 18:08 Read by Peter Yearsley
23 - Chapter 23: Forest Country Again 10:13 Read by Peter Yearsley
24 - Chapter 24: East Grinstead 8:42 Read by Peter Yearsley
25 - Chapter 25: Horsted Keynes to Lewes 12:28 Read by Peter Yearsley
26 - Chapter 26: Lewes 28:44 Read by Peter Yearsley
27 - Chapter 27: The Ouse Valley 13:10 Read by Peter Yearsley
28 - Chapter 28: Alfriston 18:37 Read by Peter Yearsley
29 - Chapter 29: Smugglers 13:51 Read by Peter Yearsley
30 - Chapter 30: Glynde and Ringmer 21:22 Read by Peter Yearsley
31 - Chapter 31: Uckfield and Buxted 15:23 Read by Peter Yearsley
32 - Chapter 32: Crowborough and Mayfield 12:26 Read by Peter Yearsley
33 - Chapter 33: Heathfield and the "lies" 24:09 Read by Peter Yearsley
34 - Chapter 34: Eastbourne 18:35 Read by Peter Yearsley
35 - Chapter 35: Pevensey and Hurstmonceux 20:11 Read by Peter Yearsley
36 - Chapter 36: Hastings 15:56 Read by Peter Yearsley
37 - Chapter 37: Battle Abbey 16:57 Read by Peter Yearsley
38 - Chapter 38: Winchelsea and Rye 32:10 Read by Peter Yearsley
39 - Chapter 39: Robertsbridge 30:28 Read by Peter Yearsley
40 - Chapter 40: Tunbridge Wells 29:12 Read by Peter Yearsley
41 - Chapter 41: The Sussex Dialect 27:48 Read by Peter Yearsley
42 - Postscript 41:54 Read by Peter Yearsley

Reviews

Encyclopaedic


(3.5 stars)

I was expecting this to be a tour of Sussex, instead it is a veritable encyclopaedia of the events, people, literature and geography of the area. I’m astonished at the volume of information the author accumulated. Not that I benefitted much from it as I fell asleep pretty much every time I listened to it and so have a lot of vague memories of downs, poems and battles etc. Oh and those Sussex accents. The narrator did an excellent job, even in the chapter on accents, and I thank him for his efforts.

Listen on repeat


(5 stars)

This is one of my go to books when I am anxious or can't sleep. n


(0.5 stars)

This book can not be downloaded. I have tried multiple times at different times.