Cacti and Succulents in Sussex, UK
Sussex has always been a good place in the UK to grow cacti and succulents due to the relatively mild climate and above average sunshine. In the 1950s the Sussex Branch of the National Cactus and Succulent Society (NCSS) was established and membership grew quickly. In due course branches were established in a number of the larger towns. Sussex was also the home of a number of important national collections of plants including the Edgar and Brian Lamb's Exotic collection in Worthing and the Holly Gate Reference collection at Ashington inspired by Clive Innes a view of which is shown below:
A more recent collection open to the public was established by Jonathan Tate at Paradise Park (A botanic gardens and garden center) at Newhaven.
Sussex has always had a number of Cactus and Succulent Nurseries, some such as that of Ernest Hepworth, Les Tookey and Bill Stevens are no longer in existence but we still have two nurseries in Holly Gate Cacti at Ashington run by Jenny Hewitt and PlantLife in Eastbourne run by Stuart Riley.
The Sussex Zone grew out of a committee set up to organise a Southern Area Show in Worthing in the late 1960s. When shortly after this the NCSS set up its zonal structure this committee went on to orgainise a series of very sucussful Zone Shows. In additon to the encouragement of inter-branch activities the zone published a series of year books and also the Notocactus book written by Tony Mace.
Cactus and Succulent Clubs in Sussex
At its peak the Sussex Zone had almost 250 members of the NCSS and there were a number of notable private collections in the area. Regretably few of these still exist and at the moment Sussex only has around 120 members of the BCSS. Several former BCSS branches have unfortunately closed including those in Eastbourne and Haywards Heath. Whilst the BCSS nationally has also declined in membership over the same period, South East England - Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey and Kent seem to have seen the sharpest declines. If you live in Sussex, grow cacti and succulents and are not currently a BCSS member we need your participation.
Details of individual branch and affiliate club activities are given as follows:
Searching all the BCSS Web Pages
This is a customised Google search of the following websites: National BCSS, Birmingham Branch, Bromley Branch, Cardiff Branch, Croydon Branch, Dover Branch, Dublin Branch, Edenbridge Branch, Etham Branch, Exeter Branch, Fife Branch, Highlands and Islands Branch, High Wycombe Branch, Isle of Wight Branch, Kingston Branch, Lea Valley Branch, Macclesfield Branch, Medway Towns Branch, Oxford Branch, Northants Branch, Northumberland Branch, Portsmouth Branch, Shrewsbury Branch, Southampton Branch, Spalding Branch, Stoke Branch, Teesside Branch, Tonbridge Branch, Zone 3 Branches, Zone 12 Branches, Zone15 Branches
The Mace Connection
Suzanne and Tony Mace both have had a very long involvement in Sussex Cactus activities; Tony since 1957 when he joined the Sussex Branch and Suzanne (neé Rayner) who was the founder Secretary of Eastbourne Branch. The MACE collection is now the largest private collection in Sussex some views of which can be seen in the Cactus-Mall picture gallery section. The collection will not be open for view during 2008 because it is likely to be moving but it is hoped it will be open for view at a new location in 2009. Whilst this is primarily a private collection there are always some plants for sale. Tony is currently Publications manager for the BCSS and it is possible to browse and purchase any current BCSS publications at their house in Ansty. Both Suzanne and Tony are fellows of the BCSS and members of the Finanace and General purposes committee of the BCSS - in Suzanne's case an elected post which she has held for more than 25 years. Suzanne has been editor and secretary of the Mesemb Study Group since it started 21 years ago.
Since its inception nine years ago Brenfield House at Ansty has also been the management headquarters for the Cactus-Mall. The web server is based in Dallas, Texas, USA.
