Sounding Out Horsham

Prepare to clear out your unwanted stuff and get your home in order as we discuss decluttering and organising with professional declutter and organiser, Katie Wellman of Make Room to Breathe. As Anna prepares to clear her own home ahead of her move to Norway, Katie shares her top tips for getting rid of the items in our homes we no longer need and talks about her associations with charities in Hor...

South African chef Jean Delport is described as the 'culinary visionary and creative force' at Restaurant Interlude , the Michelin-starred restaurant at the Leonardslee Estate.  Jean has been wowing diners at the restaurant where he leads the team as executive chef since it opened in 2018 and in March 2025 he impressed the judges - and viewers - of the 20th series of the BBC TV show Great British...

English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was born at Field Place in Warnham in 1792, spending his formative years at his family home. His family is well-connected with the Horsham District too.  While he wrote famous poems such as Ozymandias, Queen Mab and To A Skylark and influenced many poets and writers, including Robert Browning, WB Yeats, Thomas Hardy and George Bernard Shaw, Shelley - whos...

Did you know that famous dinosaur the Iguanadon was discovered in Sussex? And that Horsham has its very own dinosaur - the Horshamosaurus?  These facts and more were some of the fantastic discoveries we made by talking to George Graham-Payne, assistant curator at Horsham Museum, where there's a new exhibition dedicated to, yes you've guessed it, dinosaurs!  For fans of palaeontology and anyone int...

After performing live in venues around West Sussex for a couple of years, local band Graffiti released their first single.  Nobody Knows Where We Are Going is now available on all streaming services and is gathering rave reviews. Written by 17-year-old musician Charlie Shuttleworth, who founded Graffiti with friend Alex Wadham-Smith, and produced by Jamie Amos it's the first step in this young ban...

Anna and Emma speak to some of the individuals who make the festive season extra special for us in Horsham. Download this Christmas special 2024 to hear from Reverend Canon Lisa Barnett about the services planned at St Mary’s Church; Rebecca McDowell at the Rec Rink about turning a roller rink into an ice rink and Simon Teesdale at Horsham Food Rocks on plans for festive shopping and festivities i...

Allotments: Maybe not the most fascinating of topics on the surface, but as we dug deeper (yes, we love a pun!) with guest Maggie Weir-Wilson we found out there's more to them than you might think. Maggie, who had an allotment for 10 years, spent two years researching information for her latest book - Growing Together - Horsham's Town Allotments - where she unveils the history of Horsham's allotme...

Jodie Munday is a force to be reckoned with. Having carved out a name for herself as a talented singer-songwriter who has strummed a guitar and sung practically everywhere in Horsham (as well as outside it!), she started teaching ukulele to primary school children.  If that wasn't enough, in 2021, she took on the running of The King's Arms pub on the Bishopric which she has turned into an award-wi...

Ahead of the General Election on 4 July 2024, Anna and Emma quiz the candidates standing for election in the Horsham constituency to find out what issues they think matter most to Horsham's electorate; what governmental areas are most important to them and why they should get your vote.   

Interest in our episode on foraging with James Plumb has been high - it's one of our most downloaded! - and since we met James in September 2022 for our tour around Leechpool Woods, he's been gradually learning more and more about plants and fungi that grow around Sussex and beyond.  With all this in mind, we thought we'd meet up with James again. This time, to find out about the plants growing in...

In this episode we talk to psychic Sue Durdle (who happens to be Emma's mum) about the 'gift' she found herself with 40 years ago.  Sue gives an insight into her work as a clairvoyant and shares many unexplainable instances and stories of people she has met over the last four decades. 

A YouGov survey carried out in 2015 found that author was the most desired job in the UK, with 60% of Brits stating that would be their dream occupation. It's not an easy job to come by, however and, as we found out by speaking to our guest, Lisa Brace, takes A LOT of hard work and persistence to land a publishing deal.  Lisa's first novel - Star Survivor - is out in March 2024 so we talked to her...

As a celebrant / OneSpirit Interfaith minister, Jean Francis has led many life events and celebrations, including weddings, naming ceremonies and funerals.  Although it sounds like a morbid area, it's the last type of ceremony on the list, and the subject of death, that Jean was keen to talk to us about. Understandably, many of us shy away from talking about what we'd like to happen when we die, b...

Get the festive feels in this special Christmas episode recorded in December 2023. Join Anna and Emma as they discuss Christmas traditions - in Horsham, the UK and Sweden - and their favourite things about 'the most wonderful time of the year'   Sound effects from Pixabay

You might not know sculptor Hannah Stewart, but you probably know her work. Hannah's wonderful Horsham creations include the St Leonard's Dragon in the centre of the maze in Horsham Park and the Iguanodon in Lintot Square in Southwater.  Hannah has also carried out many other private and public commissions over the last 20 or so years and her beautiful bronze sculptures can be found in all parts o...

If you, or your children play - or have played - football in Horsham in the last three decades, you will probably have come into contact with our guest for this episode - community football legend Trevor Evershed.  Over the last 30 years Trevor has worked with North Sussex Soccer Academy, waking early every Saturday morning to lead football training sessions in Horsham Park.  He also plays for Rof...

Dr Nikki Tagg is a conservation scientist, who, since 2018, has been working with Horsham-based international animal welfare charity Born Free Foundation , most recently as Head of Conservation.  In this episode we find out about Nikki's conservation work and what it entails while gaining a fascinating insight into her time in the African rainforest where she  was posted to better understand the c...

We divert from our usual format to bring you this pet care Q&A with Zoe Blake The Friendly Pet Nurse.  Zoe, who gave us advice on choosing and looking-after dogs and about her viral campaign Respect The Lead  in Episode 14, returns to answer questions from our listeners about caring for their pets - from answering queries about dribble and scratching issues with cats, to discussing why dogs should...

We talk to René Fay about ‘living her dream’ as the owner of Horsham’s Swedish-themed café Johansson’s Café which she opened in The Bishopric in 2020. René left her small hometown in Sweden more than 20 years ago and, aside from an eight-year stint running a B&B in Austria, has lived in the UK ever since. René dreamt of running her own business – specifically a café – for many years before her dre...

Winter nights might feel gloomy to many of us, but for astronomers, they provide more time to get a closer look at what's in the sky. One person who revels in clear, dark, long nights is astronomy photographer Claire Bradshaw. Over the last few years, Claire has indulged her passion for planets and marvel for milky ways by capturing in-depth images of the night skies on camera. Using a telescope,...

We head back in time with George Graham, assistant curator at Horsham Museum, to uncover a few chilling tales from Horsham in time for Halloween. Listen to find out more about a shocking tale around a gruesome 18th Century punishment and spooky stories centred around St Leonard's Forest.  For more about the story regarding John Weekes, visit Horsham Museum's Crime and Punishment Gallery   Sound Ef...

We head to the outdoors again. This time to Leechpool Woods, to learn all about foraging with self-taught expert James Plumb. In this autumnal episode we gain an insight into the wild food treasures that can be found on our doorstep, discovering a host of fungi, including chicken of the woods and beefsteak fungus and some edible plants.  Follow James on Instagram on @south_east_foraging for more. ...

The Women's Institute (WI) is the UK's largest voluntary women’s membership organisation and has run some very successful campaigns, provided many women with valuable educational opportunities and skills, and been the instigator of life-long friendships over the course of its 107-year history.  Yet some still regard the WI as a group of older ladies 'doing crafts'. As Horsham has a vibrant WI pres...

More than six million people from Ukraine have now have fled their homes following the Russian invasion at the end of February 2022 and have sought refuge in other countries. One of those people is Julia Bondar, a 30-year-old photographer , who left Ukraine with her mother and now lives in Horsham. In this episode Julia opens up about the deep impact the war in Ukraine is having on her life and th...

With more of us working from home and reassessing our lifestyles through the pandemic, it's hardly surprising that more of us have taken on dogs as pets. Dog ownership in the UK has risen 9% - from 24% to 33% - in the last two years. However, deciding to home a hound is a serious business and there are many factors to be considered before committing. One person who can help us make an informed dec...