Southwick Society launches new series of Heritage Talks – and this year is special, as they will be part of its 50th anniversary celebrations

The society was founded on September 25, 1973, and as a registered charity, it runs the the Manor Cottage Heritage Centre in Southwick Street, Southwick.

Nigel Divers, who has been secretary since 1973, said: "One of our first public events was a talk about the South Downs and I am delighted that 50 on, we are still able to offer great talks about local heritage and history. The talks are open to all and we look forward to welcoming everybody. We have been working for Southwick for 50 years."

The monthly Heritage Talks will be held at Southwick Community Centre, in Southwick Street, all starting at 7.30pm. No booking necessary, entry £3 for Southwick Society members, £5 non-members.

Blue plaque unveiled in Southwick to mark house where political activist C.L.R. James wrote his magnum opus, The Black Jacobins

The popular autumn and winter Heritage Talks begin this year with well-known Brighton geographer and local historian Geoffrey Mead on the subject Resorting to the Coast, Sussex Seaside History.

His talk on Monday, September 11, will look at the growth of the seaside as a leisure location, how that evolved from the inland spas, and the buildings and facilities developed for the tourist trade.

The second talk, on October 9, will be about the great Trinidadian radical, historian, cricket enthusiast and writer C.L.R. James, who stayed in Southwick while writing his great book The Black Jacobins about the successful slave revolt in Haiti.

The talk will be by Dr Christian Hogsbjerg, a history lecturer at Brighton University who carried out research for a blue plaque unveiled by the society earlier this year to commemorate James and his stay in Southwick.

The Heritage Talks programme will continue until March 2024, with subjects including Chanctonbury Ring, The Devil's Dyke, Worthing and Sussex Roman Villas.