If the Scots can celebrate Burns Night (and people across the world happily join in), then why shouldn’t we Sussex folk celebrate Belloc Night?
Until fairly recently, people did. Belloc Night, held on 27 July to mark the anniversary of Hilaire Belloc’s birth, was once an almost regular fixture in the Sussex calendar for some. But as it seems to have faded a little since the COVID years, perhaps it’s time to bring it back.
Born in France but Sussex through and through in spirit, Hilaire Belloc travelled the world, yet it was this county that captured his heart. He wrote prolifically (books, essays, history and poetry), much of it inspired by the Sussex landscape, its people and its traditions. If you’ve never discovered his work, now is the perfect excuse. Dip into The Road to Rome, The Four Men: A Farrago, or one of his many collections of poetry, and you’ll quickly understand why he remains one of Sussex’s greatest literary voices.
And, if you’re wondering how to celebrate Belloc Night this year, here are a few suitably Sussex-inspired ideas.
Visit a Sussex (Belloc) pub
Few things were more central to Belloc’s vision of Sussex than the village inn. In The Four Men: A Farrago, his unforgettable walking journey across the county, he celebrates the pub as far more than a place to enjoy a pint. To Belloc, the inn was the heart of a community – where stories were told, friendships forged, traditions preserved and ordinary working people gathered at the end of the day.
Throughout the book he mentions 15 Sussex inns by name, with a further three identified by the Belloc Society. In other works, he mentions more. Some have changed over the years, but many are still welcoming visitors today. So, one of the best ways to celebrate Belloc Night is surely to pull up a chair in one of his favourite Sussex pubs, raise a pint to one of the county’s greatest writers, and toast the landscape and traditions he loved so dearly.
Go on a Sussex walk
If there was one thing Hilaire Belloc loved almost as much as good company and a good inn, it was walking. Indeed, The Four Men: A Farrago is built around an epic journey on foot across Sussex, from Robertsbridge through Heathfield, Tilgate Forest, Lower Beeding, Cowfold, Henfield, Ashurst and Storrington before continuing to Harting and, ultimately, the Hampshire border.
You don’t need to recreate the entire route to celebrate Belloc Night. Simply lace up your walking boots and head out into the Sussex countryside. Follow a stretch of the South Downs Way, explore an ancient woodland, or wander through one of the villages that Belloc knew so well. But if we had to recommend just one Belloc walk, it would be Duncton Hill. Few places are more closely associated with him, and it was about Duncton Hill that he penned one of his most famous and much-loved poems. Standing on the Downs with those sweeping views, it’s easy to understand why this landscape inspired him so deeply.
So, therefore, though myself be crosst
The shuddering of that dreadful day
When friend and fire and home are lost
And even children drawn away –
The passer-by shall hear me still,
A boy that sings on Duncton Hill.
Enjoy a Belloc-inspired supper
Belloc appreciated simple, honest food, and The Four Men: A Farrago is peppered with references to the meals shared along the way. There are hearty breakfasts of bacon and eggs fried together in a single pan, hunks of bread and butter, a chat about Sussex cheese and, naturally, a good pint of beer.
There’s no need for fine dining to celebrate Belloc Night. Instead, embrace the kind of wholesome, unpretentious fare that Belloc himself would have recognised and enjoyed. Gather around the table with family or friends, preferabbly in a Belloc pub, share good food, good conversation and raise a glass to one of Sussex’s greatest storytellers.
Read (or sing) some Belloc
No Belloc Night would be complete without spending a little time with the man himself. Read one of his poems aloud, dip into a chapter of The Four Men: A Farrago, or gather friends together for an informal Belloc reading.
Better still, embrace the spirit of the evening by singing one of the drinking songs scattered throughout The Four Men. On the Excellence of Burgundy Wine is perhaps the best known as is the Sussex Drinking Song, but Belloc’s work is full of humour, warmth and an infectious love of good company. If you’re looking for poetry to begin with, try The South Country, Ha’nacker Mill or Tarantella. Then simply keep turning the pages. Belloc wrote so prolifically that it’s almost impossible not to discover another poem, essay or story worth reading, preferably with a pint or a glass of wine close at hand.
Visit a place that meant something to Belloc
If you’d like to make a pilgrimage of Belloc Night, why not visit one of the places that shaped his life? Start at Slindon, where Belloc spent much of his childhood at Courthill Farm. Wander through the village or head out into the surrounding countryside and you’ll soon see the landscapes that helped form his lifelong love affair with Sussex.
Another essential stop is Shipley, where Belloc bought the old windmill, known affectionately as Mrs Shipley, and made his home for the rest of his life. It was here that he wrote many of his best-known works and entertained a steady stream of friends, writers and fellow travellers.
Finally, pay your respects at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Consolation and St Francis in West Grinstead, where Belloc is buried. It’s a quiet and fitting place to reflect on the extraordinary legacy of a man who did so much to celebrate Sussex, its landscapes, its people and its enduring traditions.
However you choose to mark Belloc Night, whether with a walk, a pint, a simple supper or a favourite poem, here’s hoping that 27 July once again becomes a date that Sussex remembers.
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