West Dean

Monday 4th April 2022

West Dean College History & Edward James | West Dean College of Arts and Conservation is a special place for me. I went there several times with my dad, we did courses together - enamelling ( I loved that!), singing (he was better than I was!) and mosaics. We spent our time walking in the lovely grounds (which they do so much with - its even better now than it was then) and sitting in the bar chatting. It was a lovely place for connecting with him - and I did have a little cry today.

What I love about West Dean is the amazing people that are doing the courses there that you get a chance to talk to. This time I am with 7 amazing ladies plus our great tutor. An example of the sort of people that attend - a lady who was in the RAF (ended up managing a team of 1200 people), then worked for armed forces charities before finally retiring - she managed to convince me that Selsey is a great place to live!! A strawberry farmer ,who amongst many other things is writing a novel with her husband. A very glamorous lady who (aged about 17) was stood at a roundabout near Gatwick waiting for her Dad to pick her up and take her home after a party when the Rolling Stones passed by in a van (before they were famous) and asked her to a party - she was so worried about her dad that she said no!

Lovely people, lovely place!