Tales of the Heath and Pond

A sad story from the early ninteenth century

In the course of time a Horse and Wagon wash was constructed. The Heath Pond could be approached from Sussex Road by vehicle accesses at each end of where the rail and footpath are, right alongside the water. Between these access points there was hard-standing, contained by a below-water wall about one hundred feet offshore. It was safe to drive a vehicle and horses into the water, guided by the white posts and red railings, and give them a good scrub down.

Most times this was safe, except early in the 1900s a young man had been sent to wash a wagon and horses and something startled the horses and he fell from the wagon, hit his head and was unfortunately drowned in the shallow water.

There were no houses then along the Pond part of Sussex Road to witness the tragedy. The present wooden walkway extended across the wagon accesses at both ends and of course the guide posts have long since gone.