Mapp and Lucia

Friends would drop the names of Mapp and Lucia when discussing the antics of some of our more competitive associates so I thought I’d better find out more about these affectionate rivals, especially as many of their tales are set in Rye, where the author E.F Benson lived for many years.

A couple of upper middle class British women vying to be top dog in a small town and displaying extreme cultural snobbery might sound uneventful but Benson paints the lives of Mapp and Lucia with much warmth and vulnerability. The books are especially joyful if they remind you of people that you know! Any game players out there?

"Mallards", the home of Miss Mapp—and subsequently Lucia—was based on Lamb House in Rye. The house had previously been lived in by Henry James.

The E.F Benson Society organizes regular guided walks around Rye so if you are staying nearby at BeachHaven, why not enjoy a cultural trip ending at Lamb House.

Having fallen for these fabulous characters, we have recently discovered, to our excitement, that Miranda Richardson and Anna Chancellor are teaming up to play the social rivals Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Mrs Emmeline 'Lucia' Lucas in a new BBC adaptation which will be filming in Rye this Summer.

http://bit.ly/1uX8vKG

Lobster à la Riseholme anyone?

She goes…with Eddie Izzard!

To continue the story of Bexhill’s role as the birthplace of British motor racing we travel closer to Beach Haven. 
Hastings and Rye became a hotbed of engineering genius and innovation during the 1950’s. Much of it spun around the creation of the Elva racing car.

                                                                 Frank shows off the prototype Courier

Frank G. Nichols, whose goal was to build a low cost sports/ racing car, founded Elva in 1955. The name, which derived from the French for ‘she goes’, perfectly suited the pretty little fast car. Initially the car was bought by enthusiasts in the US but a new factory had to be built at Hastings to satisfy demand for the ‘sports racer’ the Elva Courier, first built in 1958.

By the 60’s the Hastings factory was producing about 3 cars a week and had a staff of over sixty people. More than 400 Elva’s were made in Hastings until the early 60’s.

Unfortunately, the US distributor’s financial problems resulted in the voluntary liquidation of the company with cars in transit to and already on the dockside in New York.

A much smaller factory in Rye continued to produce sports cars with Frank Nichols at the helm but once production moved to Trojan in Croydon, he severed links with the car whose name was dropped once links with Formula 1’s McLaren were established.

                         Harry Westlake with Dan Gurney who won the 1967 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch

Harry Westlake, another engineering innovator was also based in Rye. He was a cylinder head specialist and was instrumental in the Formula 1 V12 Eagle racing car which won in 1967 with American driver Dan Gurney, the first driver to spray champagne on the winners podium. Weslake and Nichols worked together on the Elva.

Bexhill Museum commissioned a reconstruction of the Elva MKIII, which was aided by Alan Jenner who worked on the original in 1958.  This beautiful looking car is now on display at the Museum to celebrate a bit of local motoring genius.

                                                Eddie Izzard climbs inside the Elva at the opening ceremony.

For more information on the wonderful story of Elva go to www.elva.com

For details on Bexhill Museum, just over half an hour from Beach Haven,visit www.bexhillmuseum.co.uk