Wannock & A Dance Hall on Stilts. Sussex Map Mysteries: Episode 4

Old maps often have curious things on them, which lead us back to a different age. Join me as I discover what some of these things were, and what is left today.
In this episode I visit the village of Wannock in East Sussex, about half a mile from the Polegate crossroads.
Today the village has almost lost its identity, abutted on two sides by Polegate and Willingdon, the latter itself abutting Eastbourne. But it wasn't always thus, and until the end of the 1960's Wannock was famed for its tea gardens, of which there were several (mostly shown are the Wannock Tea Gardens and the Wannock Glen, but there were others, this was a big place if you liked tea... in a garden!).
Join me on this brief exploration of how Wannock became one of the south coast's biggest day trip attractions after the First World War.
As ever, thanks to all the websites and people who have helped me with this.
British Pathe's Film is here, complete with the stereotypical voiceover, despite being only 1963: • Model Village Beware -...
This Flickr user has better quality copies of many of the postcards I featured, as well as many, many more: www.flickr.com/photos/2897663...
This site has information about RNAS Polegate: www.eastsussexww1.org.uk/poleg...
Three years ago I made this video, in search of RNAS Polegate at Wannock: • Looking for Polegate R...
Trevor Stone also made a video in the area: • Exploring RNAS Polegate
I'm not an historian, and all my research has been done through the mighty Goggle and the local library. This isn't supposed to be a complete or accurate history by any means, and apologies if there are any clanging factual errors.

[@geoffreygoldsmith165]

My family moved from India in 1947 to 6 Broad Road, Lower Willingdon. What a wonderful place for a six year old child to discover and grow up. The end of the road then was unmade, and had been the mooring site of the Air Balloons. Heavily overgrown with brambles, which provided an abundance of delicious blackberries in summer, were several weathered concrete platforms complete with rings. These were our castles, to be defended against all comers. Wannock Tea Gardens was still in full swing then and free! Our gang mingled with the visitors and can remember the 'water otter' on a chain, which when nervously pulled out of the water produced shrieks from the crowd when it turned out to be only an old rusty kettle! Simple days. We never understood the Honeymoon Salad 'Lettuce alone'. Far more exciting was the adventure awaiting us across the road. The Old Mill Gardens were abandoned and overgrown. Deeply mysterious and of course closed to the public. The security was practically non existent and easy to avoid when it was present. The next port of call was the Glen. Again long abandoned and overgrown. This was our jungle with it's precipitous paths and fallen rotting trees. The concrete bases for the stilts were ships that sailed on the stream and from where our stick flotilla set sail. We had heard that Toffs used to punt on the pond there in years gone bye but their loss was our gain. Thankyou for stirring some of the memories.

[@saengarunjaiyai6526]

I love ❤️ Eastbourne

[@jagracershoestring609]

I remember walking there from Hampden Park with my parents in the early sixties. Lovely place.

[@Orgoan77]

I grew up in wannock,we had a rope swing up the Glen and played up on the downs So glad I found this channel thankyou for sharing.I never knew that dance hall on stilts existed it looks so cool,such a shame it's all gone now😢.

[@marknice2793]

My Mum and Dad used to talk of Wannock tea gardens, my Mum said she always loved and missed it. Maybe they even took me there as a child? It reminded me of my family and the areas surrounding Eastbourne, where I grew up.

[@dannyking3060]

Great video , nice to see our village history

[@annbuck4378]

Thank you for that. Very interesting and I really appreciate it.

[@annenewton5403]

Thank you we live near but didnt know it then,we learnt a lot from you we didnt know,thank you.

[@kezzaba1]

Thanks whereinsussex I found your channel and that was a very interesting video. We walked along the glen once years ago but I didn’t know the history behind it. I’m off to watch some others now.

[@MrFixter80]

Always wondered where the tea gardens where , where did you find the ring for the airships ? thank you for posting

[@ianturner233]

Hi very good, i am the President of the Socialist republic of Wannock, sadly i am in exile in Eastbourne held captive by counter revolutionaries . There is much more to Wannock, than this , the famous Binne sisters lived and worked in Wannock, did you know that we have one of the CHEMMICAL brothers lives Wannock.Plus the treaty of Versailles was sighed in Wannock, not in Versailles as first reported.

[@whereinsussex]

I didn't realise it was a socialist republic. Next time I'll take my passport if I'm going down the Jevington road

[@TheSeafordian]

Delapodataed?

[@martinstent5339]

The worst thing about this kind of video is that you find out that your childhood memories are just memories, and that the real places are all gone. I somehow thought that the model village was still there, waiting for me to come back one day and visit it. You never said what happened to it, was it taken somewhere else or just loaded into a skip and sent to landfill?

[@whereinsussex]

I don't know. I saw one thing saying moved to Eastbourne seafront but I don't think that is true as that one was open at the same time. I don't know if any parts survive

[@tarvey]

@@whereinsussex Part of the village landed up in the garden of the place known as Holly Blue on the Stone Cross road. Not there now.

[@whereinsussex]

@@tarvey I didn't know that, thanks for the info. A few hundred yards from where I live!